Troy’s mission was the hardest one in the world, he thought. Waking Kylie up wasn’t an easy fucking task, she didn’t want to get out of bed, that’s simply what it boiled down to. But, he had a plan. At least her friend had already left, with Belle gone, dragging Kylie out of bed would be a lot easier… but, Troy had a plan for something different than the usual ‘hit the bitch with a pillow until she wakes up.’ No, Troy would use his environment this time.

He stepped out onto the balcony of Lala’s home, and reached out with an ungloved hand. Slowly but surely, Troy Blake prepared his weapon. He rolled the perfect snowball. Troy even went so far as to make the snowball two brothers, which he held behind his back in his other hand, and then stepped back into the house. As he was taking the brief step back to their room for their stint in Westworth, Belle met eyes with him and shook her head — but Troy had no eyes for her protest. “Don’t do it man.” Belle implored him, but Troy had no ears for her protests.

The young man turned into the bedroom. He stood above his beloved, watching her chest rise and fall, her eyes closed lightly, though he knew she was conscious. “Ky…” The man said, his voice soft and loving, “it’s time to get up, baby.” He said, in that same loving voice, before chucking the snowball in her face.

Oh-my-fucking-god. Kylie shot up from the bed, her face in pain and cold. Using the blanket as a towel, she angrily wiped the snow off her face and shot her eyes open, immediately bringing it to a glare, “Troy Markus Blake the Third! That is NOT--” Kylie’s words were cut off by a second snowball smashing into her face.

“Now maybe you’ll get up on the first time I say.” Troy said, an apparent hint of annoyance in his tone. Kylie slept so much! No matter how much he tried to break the awful habit, she just kept sleeping! So this was how he dealt with it today. Usually he hit her with a pillow, but this… this was much better.

Did he want to die?! Kylie stood up on the bed in frustrated protest, this time letting the snow trail down her face and drip onto her chest, “You never let me sleep in! What’s so wrong with wanting sleep?! Isn’t this our vaca--”

And the third snowball flew, hitting it’s mark. This one went right in the center of her cleavage, before Troy spoke. “First off, you have to go buy a stupid dress for this stupid dance I have to attend because you signed me up for it. I fucking hate dances and social gatherings. Secondly, sleeping in is for the weak. You’re burning daylight. Thirdly, this is a vacation for Davy, with his shattered heart so he can pick up the pieces. It’s business as usual for the rest of us, only reason I came, and therefore you came, is to be sure he doesn’t neck himself.”

Hmpf. He did have valid points. Grr, she hated when he was right - which was nearly all the time. Not saying another word, she hopped down, crossed her arms, and left the room in her scantily clad pajamas to go to the potty. He won this round, but she would pay him back ten fold. Just wait. They had snow for days. She’d have to plan her attack carefully.

Meanwhile, in Jude’s world, she was in the room where the twins had slept in, staring at the sleeping beast that was Bartimaeus Locke, or what he preferred, just Ty. Also known as Julie’s boyfriend. He was out like a light! Did no one care to wake him up? Of course not. Jude was one of the few Candies that thought about anyone other than themselves or their boyfriends.

Fully dressed, having stolen Ty’s hat out of his bag to compliment her outfit, a white sweater with black paint splatter on it and black jeans, Jude hovered over her friend on the side of the mattress and contemplated how to wake the beast up. She already knew her friend was a heavy sleeper and it was a mission to escape his hold. If she were going to wake him up, she needed to do it right.

But what should she do? What would wake him up? Sitting down on the bed, she brushed his hair out of his face with her cold hands and wondered if she should go the rude methods route. Bucket of water. Or worse, a bucket of snow. Or try to think of a reasonable way that didn’t start his morning off badly. Jude rarely had the job of wake up duty, since she was always the one still sleeping. Shaking would fail. Her voice would fail. Hell, slapping would fail too.

Hm, she didn’t know if this would necessarily work but it was worth a shot. Grabbing Ty’s phone, she quickly broke into it, having figured out his password awhile back, and searched for something. In time, she found it. His cousin’s ringtone. Alyssa Green. Hey, she didn’t know if it was going to work but she might as well try! And if it didn’t, that would mark another method off the list. After turning Ty’s phone volume on high, Jude paused for a second to look at his cute, sleeping face and then she pressed play. The once silent room was filled with music that usually signalled the bane of Ty’s existence was calling.

People. Always. Called. When. He. Was. Sleeping.

Every goddamn time, no matter what. No matter where he was, no matter what he was doing, who he was sleeping with. Didn’t matter, someone always called to wake his ass up. Like, come on? He was in bumfuck Colorado, and was that SERIOUSLY Alyssa’s ringtone? Did that twat rest for nothing? Did she not understand the words ‘winter vacation?’ That didn’t mean ‘winter bug Ty.’

Ty’s eyes did not open, but his hand slapped around for his phone. He did not find the hard plastic case, instead, he found soft flesh. Still blind to the world, Ty patted his way up Jude’s thigh, to her waist and up her stomach. Up until he got to the chest, he’d assumed it was just Julie, but the lack of boobs confused him. He reached up further and instead felt Jude’s face.

“Jude… I’s sleeping…” He grumbled in hardly recognizable tones, lazily cracking one eye and grumpily looking at her. “Nice…” Ty paused to yawn widely, both eyes coming up against his will, “hat.”

A gentle smile rose on Jude’s face. Motherly, loving, just like her mother. “I got it from one of the bests.” She stuck her tongue out playfully and then nudged him softly. “Everyone’s just about ready to leave. Most of the boys are going to the mountains, with Melody and Noli, because well… Melody and Noli. The rest of us are going shopping in Denver. If you’re too tired, that’s fine. I’ll let everyone know. I just didn’t want you to wake up and see everyone gone.” Not once did she raise her voice and she paced herself so that his waking mind could take in everything she was saying.

Ty slowly sat up and stared at Jude. With a careful hand, he reached out and took the phone out of Jude’s hands, turning the music off with a tap. “Man… neither of those things sound appealing to me. I already went snowboarding and shoppin’ is only cool when the girls try on lingerie and swimsuits and shit. You’re a girl Jude. Do you think the twins would be salty if I just slept?”

“Depends… Julie and Izzy are surprisingly the lower… maintenance ones. Julie just spoil her, usually in the form of food, and Izzy… well, just don’t get her angry. I think the bigger thing is, how okay are you with Julie having complete control over your wardrobe for the dance tomorrow? Do you care? Do you realize she’ll listen to all her friends? Do you know what the girls would make you wear if you allowed them that freedom?”

“Well, no. But I mean it can’t be THAT much worse than what I’d normally wear, could it?” Ty asked in a groan, as he moved some of his hair out of his eyes and sighed. “Unless they want me to just paint a tuxedo on my naked bod. I guess that’d be worse.”

Jude blinked at Ty for a couple of moments before tilting her head, “I guess we could find out what they have up their sleeves.” Did Ty forget who led the Candies? And what they’ve done in the past? Don’t give them any ideas. He might very well go to the dance tomorrow basically naked.

“Alright, damn. I guess I’ll go. Leave me be, I’m not wearing underwear under the blankets.” Ty blew at his bangs. He had to go shopping… Whatever, he’d make it fun somehow.

With faint blush on her face, she adjusted the hat on her head, bringing her mind away from the fact that he was actually naked this very moment, “O-oh… okay.” Time to reconvene with her girlfriends.

Okay. There might have been regrets. This was far more people than she realized… Lala was not used to this amount of people. Heh. That’s okay. She got this on lock. Multitasking. Ready, set, go. While she messaged people on the group thread, not needing to look at the screen while she typed, Lala met her gaze with Madi's and laughed in amusement, “Dude. If it wasn’t for CR finding the bro-love of his life, I’d be like fuck this shit. Let’s all have a snowball war. But, the dance is just around the corner and I know he’d appreciate me looking good…” Letting out a dramatic sigh, Lala stared past Madi, catching sight of Julie making her way to Lila. Hopefully Julie didn’t offend her friend… god, there was not enough time in the world to understand all these people.

“I wouldn’t really know how to ‘look good’ without your guys’ help. I’m bad at this shit, Mads. But it’s all good, we’ll get through this day and it’ll result in us all having nice dresses and whatever else you get when you’re shopping for a ball.”

To: Luna Woodland

My B. This is mad late. Hey, we're all fam. Come along. I hope you don't mind... a lot of people. Like a shit ton of people. No joke. We have guests over. But don't worry! I got you. I'm getting help myself... finding a dress.

We'll figure out the ride situation when everyone is here! Got a few rent cars and my dad's car if need be. See you soon.

- Lala

“Are you french?” Juliana pranced on over to the new girl that entered the house, who looked fanciful and without a doubt was one with style, “I don’t recall meeting you yet, I’m Julie. And you’re right. There’s a lot of people. But, I’m kind of use to it. You see, our friend is sad face panda because he lost the love of his life… break ups are so sad. ANYWAYS, us friends, we’re from LA, mind you, decided to take a trip to the mountains! And somehow, we found our way here. Crashing at Lala and CR’s. Convenient that they live next door to each other.”

“Lila!” Lala called out, still at the kitchen counter, scanning the thread to see who did not contact her. Well, that was easy. The people she saw more often than not: Desi, Remy, Rachel, and FiFi. A few others too. Nice. “I leave CR for one day to go galavanting at the mountains and he not only brings home a best friend, but a bunch of city folks.”

<sup>LAST CALL. YA'LL COMIN OR WHAT? GET HERE.

Desi. Please. Don't leave me hangin. I need you.

Has anyone heard from Remy?

GET HIM TOO.</sup>

“Hey! The city is the best.” Julie defended her home front. “Maybe one day ya’ll can visit us! That would be super awesome.” The bubbly latina bounced in place and then saw Belle make her way to greet the girls waiting outside. She stepped to the side so she could do her thing.

Picking up the tail end of Sadie and Sophia’s conversation as she stepped outside to be greeted by the cold December winds, brushing her pale, warm blooded cheeks a soft pink, Belle shook her head vehemently. What was this girl going on about? “Of course you need a new dress, what are you? Are you crazy? Shopping is the best part of life. Hell, I might buy two dresses just because I feel like it.” She shook her head and sipped at her hot chocolate in her beautiful thermos. After allowing it to warm her chilled veins, she spoke once more. “Anyway, sup? I’m Belle~! I’m new round here, temporary, too. I convinced Lala to do this shopping trip, you’re welcome.”

Did Mariah want to go shopping? No, not really. But she would anyway, out of love for Lala. Did she have money to spend? Fuck no, she made 9.30 an hour, and that’s only because they had to, she knew damn well Grandpa didn’t want to pay her well. Did she really care about these LA kids? Nah, dude. They were freakin’ weird. Did she worry about Remy after he kinda sorta had his heart ripped out of his chest and put throw a wood chipper? ...yeah, she did.

Without much of a knock or any indication of her presence, Mariah let herself into Remy’s home. Stepping into the kitchen where she saw her friend, Mariah moved about the kitchen with sweeping motions, shaking her head. She closed all of the windows, and looked over at Remy, finally addressing her friend. “Hey, buddy. How are you feeling? What’d ya make me?” She asked Rem, kissing her friend on the cheek. “Hey, man… I dunno what exactly happened, but I want you to know that I’ll be with you till the end! The bitter end, and if someone snubbed you I’ll shank them with a toothbrush — Pops taught me how to make one of those, apparently, when you’re in prison… that’s kinda important? I dunno.”

Quickly, Remy used his sweater sleeve to wipe Jar’s name off the window pane. With a nervous laugh, he tried to play it off like he was okay. He wasn’t okay. “Desi! Hey, um, nice seeing you… in my house. Make? What did I make…? Food. I made a lot of food.” A blubbering mess. “The breakfast kind.” He turned to face her, scratching behind his ear, his eyes were bloodshot and encircled with darkness, “There will be no shanking with toothbrushes. I’m fine! Don’t worry.” He waved his hand, as if he was brushing everything he was feeling aside, and he smiled at her, but it lacked the warmth that his closed friends knew he had.

“Bulllshittt, my guy. If you’re fine, then I must be like, The happiest person on earth and to be HONEST, I’m really not. Tell me what went down before I start texting and pestering your younger sister. And feed me.” Desi declared, sitting down at the kitchen table expectantly. Did they have time for breakfast? No. Did she care? FUCK NO. Hungry.

W-wah? Trying to defend his depression and make it seem not as bad as it was, Remy countered, “What are you talking about? You have no proof that I’m going through something.” Oddly enough, he obediently started making Desi a plate of food, piling all her favorites on it.

“I just have this feeling. Call it women’s intuition. Remrem, talk talk.” Desi demanded, thumping her fork on the table as the plate of food was thrown in front of her. “How can I help fix the issue if I can’t know what it is? Talk to me, or I’m just gonna start shanking the gay people at school with a toothbrush.” Mariah said, waving a fork with a piece of pancake on it, covered in syrup.

The last comment actually got a chuckle out of Remy. Taking in her request, while watching her in silence, his eyes scanning her expression and her hand gestures with the fork, Remy slumped into the seat beside her and brought his attention to the food. He hadn’t eaten much for the past couple of days. Fruit was really all he could manage to swallow. “I made a mistake and I really… hate myself for it.” He grabbed an unused fork and started playing with a small grape on the table, like a hockey puck.

“Well, what kinda mistake did you make? Hey, pass the black pepper.” Mariah said, gesturing as she attacked the food again. “I’m starving. Skipped dinner on accident last night. ...and lunch. ^{...and maybe breakfast.} But no matter! This is about you, my friend, my darling, my dude. So what went down? Are you sure I don’t need to shank someone?”

“If there’s anyone that needs shanking it’s probably… me.” Remy gently stabbed the grape on the table, while reaching for the pepper with his other hand. In time, Desi was gifted the black pepper and his mouth was rewarded with the grape he pulled off the fork with his teeth. He chewed for a moment, not saying anything more for at least thirty seconds, and then he heavily sighed. This was inevitable and she would give him hell until he told her everything - or well as much as he could in his state. “I ruined something good. I ruined my friendship with my best friend because I thought we could… I thought there was a possibility that he and I…. I thought… it doesn’t really matter now. I should have known better. I should have kept everything to myself and left things… the same. I shouldn’t have said…” I love you.

With sudden force, Remy threw the fork at the table causing it to ricochet off it and go in an aimless direction. “I’m fucking stupid, Mariah.” With obvious anger and sadness, all at the same time, he buried his face into his palms.

“Oh, Jar? Man, I dunno if I can shank the homie… Well, it’s okay. I don’t think you’re stupid. But I think you probably shouldn’t throw sharp metal objects all nonchalantly… You could hurt someone, or yourself. I think whatever you told Jar, it’s probably not as big a deal as you think? What I'm thinking, and I might be wrong, but I figure you tried to get Jar to go to the dance or something and cuz it threw Jar off — he probably don’t realize he’s a little gay — he turned you down. Probably aggressively.” Mariah said, chomping on a bite of hasbrowns. Man, she loved food so much. She loved it almost as much as she loved AC/DC. Almost.

“Yeah, sure.” The boy was disheartened and it would take more than the unlikely truth being told to him to make him feel better. Honestly, he just wanted to… sleep. “You can take as much food as you want to wherever you’re going today. I wouldn’t be able to eat all this by myself, anyways.” And it wasn’t like he was going to eat any of it anyways. His dad had already come downstairs, scold him for making the whole house cold and wasting the heat, then graciously took his, his future mom’s, and his sisters’ lunches with him. He was going… somewhere with them. Remy wasn’t really listening to his father. All he knew was his dad was going out with his girls. On the bright side, Remy would have the house to himself.

“What the fuck are you talking about ‘you’re going’? You’re coming too, dude. You think I’m goin’ down there with those crazy ass, ghetto ass, catty ass bitches from LA alone? Lala can only protect me from SO MUCH. I’m very tiny. You’re very tiny. We’ll be tiny together. And we’ll handle the Jar thing, y’know? Don’t worry about it, we’ll tackle that another day. For now, shopping. Sorta. I ain’t got no money.” Deserae scooped the last of her potatoes into her mouth, with a satisfying crunch. “You aren’t weaseling out of this, I don’t care how depressed you are.”

...“What are friends for?” Remy was left with no choice, literally. But, his friend did have a point. He shouldn’t abandon her to deal with the LA crew, who knew what they were capable of. They were… different, to say the least. After clearing his throat, he begrudgingly asked, “When should we head out?”

“‘Bout thirty minutes ago. We’re kinda late. I don’t care though.” Wordlessly pulling out her phone, she pecked out a text to Lala.

To: Lawls LOL
mission accomplished he is on board and we are standby for drawp
repeat we are standby for drawp
by which i mean imma drop the rest of this pancake in my mouth then we’ll be on our way to your house much love

“Now I’mma finish this food, then we can leave.” Mariah said smoothly, looking up from the plate and sawing into another pancake.

The wooden pasture gate closed noisily behind Ffiona as she stepped into the late morning sun. A bundled up ginger meandered out into the sparkling white fields, snow crunching pleasantly beneath her leather farm boots. She took a few moments to soak in the natural beauty of the scene, as delicate snowflakes peacefully glided down to join their siblings on the frosty earth. It was like walking into a snow globe, or a Thomas Kinkade painting, and becoming a character in a living work of art.

Most of Colorado was downright breathtaking in the wintertime, but no place was quite as awe-inspiring as the Lewis Family Farm. There was a reason that couples from cities, and even states, away traveled here to begin their happily ever afters, and it wasn’t solely the magnificent, insulated event barn. The acres of gently sloped plains and the heavily wooded perimeter served as a stunning landscape for wedding photography, no matter the season. There was even had a ceremonial arch, which was strung with fresh flowers and tulle in the summer, and twinkling white lights and shiny fabrics during winter.

Running around in the middle of the snow-blanketed pasture were over half a dozen horses, joyfully prancing in the powdery white, as if they had never been allowed freedom before. They had, of course, been let out for roaming and riding every morning for as long as Ffiona could remember, they were just being dramatic. Hamming it up in the epicenter of the revelry, was Genie, a twelve year old dapple gray that was gifted to FiFi on her 5^th birthday. Each of the Lewis children received a horse of their own to grow up with - and learn responsibility by taking care of - at the age of five.

Letting her best animal friend have her fun for a few more minutes, Ffiona watched as Genie rolled about in the snow. The silly gray creature rocked to the left and right, kicking her long dark legs in the air, and wiggling her back along the icy ground, as if she had an itch that she just couldn’t scratch. Ffiona giggled before bringing her thumb and forefinger to her lips, sending forth a sharp whistle that cut through the frosty air like a falling icicle. Genie rolled over and perked her ears up at attention, but lazily remained down.

“Come on, old girl!” FiFi beckoned the mare with another whistle, and this time, she obeyed. The redhead clipped a lead on Genie’s bridle and guided her toward the stables, which Ffiona had spent the majority of the morning cleaning and supplying with fresh hay. Once inside the barn, the horse snorted and clopped her hooves on the floorboards, while Ffiona removed her bridle. Fi stepped away to store Genie’s gear in the tack room, fetching a fluffy wool blanket and throwing it over her shoulder along the way.

This far away from the ranch house that Ffiona called home, the wifi did not reach the cell phone in the back pocket of her light blue jeans. As the Lewis’ had a limited shared family plan, and Fi cared too little for the internet to keep her data on at all times, she did not receive the Facebook message notifications regarding the two day trip plans. If her friends wanted to get ahold of her, they knew that the best way was to either call or text her, preferably call, because Ffiona loved talking.

Instead of being addicted to technology, like many of her classmates, Ffiona was humming to herself and brushing out Genie’s silvery mane on this lovely snowy morning. The ginger stroked the horse’s salt and peppered hair with tender love and care. Once thoroughly done brushing the tall beauty, Ffiona draped the fresh, warm blanket over her back, and patted her hindquarters. “Good girl.”

As a finally step in the princess treatment, Ffiona walked off once again to get some horse snacks. Genie nosed the back of Ffiona’s head knowingly, lifting up the knitted hat and causing her hair to mess with static, when she started to walk away. Aftering pulling the hat down and going on her way, FiFi came back with a carrot in her left hand and two sugar cubes in her right. Genie immediately went for her right hand, which Fi had closed in a tight fist.

“Ahh-ahh! Vegetables first, missy!” FiFi chided, pulling her hand away playfully, offering up the carrot instead. The horse gladly took the crunchy orange snack, but eagerly looked to the sugar-bearing fist as she chewed. Ffiona giggled again and finally held out the sweets in an open palm. Genie licked up the cubes as fast as lightning, whinnying with glee once she was finished. FiFi grinned at her beloved pet before putting each of her hands on Genie’s pure white cheeks, and leaned her forehead up against the creature’s lowered crown. “I love you, Genie-Beanie,” she murmured softly.

Rachel had realized that meeting at ‘their spot’, which was somewhere in the woods by the lake, at a specific tree where they hid a memory box inside the tree hollow, which throughout the years occasionally had critter visitors, was not a good option. AND KNOWING FIFI, SHE WOULDN’T CHECK HER DAMN PHONE. So, she did what she did best. Rode her bike in the freezing cold, completely decked out with winter clothing, praying to the gods that there was no ice yet, speeding to her best friend’s house. For honor! For glory! For the sake of convincing Fifi to go shopping with her because her presence was absolutely needed.

In time, she unceremoniously hopped off her bike, dropped it to the ground, and charged with reckless abandon to where she knew the nature-loving ginger would be. When she did arrive at her destination, she was completely out of breath, “I feel like... coming here by foot… would have been... easier... “ She took her hat off and waved it at her rosy cheeks. Her heart was pounding and she could feel every beat trying to boom out of her chest. She was hot as hell. Riding bikes in the snow was no joke. One day she’ll have her license, that day was not today.

After she had a short cool down period, she looked around for one, handsome white and black speckled stallion, “Where’s Tucky? My fav.” Tucker was one of the older horses, but Rachel felt like when he stared into her eyes, they had a spiritual connection. Her spirit horse. He was an old soul and she loved how… calm he was. Usually. He used to be quite the active one too, but now all he wanted to do was be a lazy bean and sleep. Who could blame him? He’s had a long life and deserved all the sleep.

Ffiona’s eyes peeped open when she heard someone else enter the stables. Lifting her forehead off of Genie’s soft, fuzzy face, Fi expected to see one of her siblings making their way in. They had to take care of their own horses as well, after all. Instead of Trevor or Gwyn, it was Fi’s childhood bestie, Rachel, who bounded into the barn, breathless and red in the face. FiFi smiled in warm contrast to the chilly air around them. “Tuck’s still in the pasture. They’re having the time of their lives kicking up the fresh snow out there.”

The redhead patted Genie gently before stepping out of her section of the stable, and latching the gate closed behind her. Genie settled into a comfy spot, nestling into the fresh and fluffy bed of hay, once Ffiona left her there. “I was gonna bring him in next, since the youngin’s seem to be sleeping the first day of winter break away. Wanna come?”

“ABSOLUTELY! I love him so much.” Rachel put her hat back on so that her hands were free to help Fifi groom and feed him. As she followed her friend, to the best horse in the freaking world, Rachel decided it was time to make her proposition - since they only had so much time, “Sooooooooo, after this, you should spend time with me. Doing stuff. Particular stuff. And it would make me uber happy, uber excited, uber… loved! If you came.” Start it off vague. Yeah, that’s a good route.

“Sure,” Fi responded, as she didn’t really have any plans for the day after her responsibilities were taken care of. Work at PJ’s wasn’t scheduled to start for three more days, and she had to cheer at the game later, but whatever plans Rachel had in mind shouldn’t interfere with that - because she also had to cheer later. It would be a good day for boarding, but Rachie didn’t really like the slopes all that much, so that was unlikely.

“Why are you acting like it’s something that I need to be convinced to do?” Ffiona asked as they headed out into the pasture together to fetch Tucker and bring him into the stables. He would be getting the prince treatment - rather than the princess - but it would be equally as royal, especially with Rachel here. She loved the old beast, and would probably give him extra sugar cubes when Ffiona wasn’t looking.

Gotta’ play it cool, Rachel. “What? I’m not acting weird. You’ll totally be okay with doing this. Like 100 and 10 percent okay. That’s what you’ll be.” Nodding to herself, Rachel scanned the stable, excited to be reunited with her beloved horse. Well, he wasn’t HER’s, but she’d like to think he was.

Okay. It was time to drop the bomb. “So… you already know that me and Lawson are going to the dance together, right? Well, you see, a bunch of the girls and Remy. Probably Remy. Desi is most likely dragging him to come. Will be taking a trip… to Denver. To go shopping. And I have no clue what kind of dress I should get!” Her eyes widened in alarm. The blonde was always quite the expressive girl. “I hold your opinion above nearly everyone else! Probably over everyone else… yeah, you definitely trump my stepmom by a ton. She’d make me wear a dress from neck to toe. Hell, she’d probably cover my face too if she could. WHICH, I don’t understand why because SHE shows skin all the time.”

Ffiona nodded quickly, having no trouble keeping up with her best friend’s rambling. One of the reason they got along so well was because they could talk at their most comfortable pace with each other and have no trouble while, to other people, they sounded like someone accidentally hit the fast forward button on a VCR player - mouths mouthed at lightening speed, the occasional word could be pulled out, but everything else was incoherent gibberish. “YESSS! Oh ehm gee, I’m so excited about you and Law! Of course I’ll come, I absolutely must help you look fairy tale gorgeous, like a queen fit for Linthia itself. You will definitely sweep Lawson off his feet, faster than a dancing broom. Like that movie… uhmm. Uhh.”

“Fantasia!” Rachel chirped in. Did Law like her like that? She assumed this was just friends going together because it was better to go with someone rather than alone. Well, even if he didn’t like her like that, she would enjoy every minute of her time with him. He was so sweet to ask her to the dance and it gave her butterflies that someone other than FiFi wanted to take her.

“Yes! Fantasia!” Ffiona talk-shouted excitedly, doing a little hip shaking dance to punctuate the exclamation. And then she stopped dancing, abruptly. “Also, poor Remy. We need to cheer him up. He hasn’t quite swept his bae up yet. The dance, all magic will be made at the dance! Oh, alsoalso, IIIII have a date to the dance too. Well, a friend date, but still.” The ginger girl’s freckled cheeks colored with blush. “Lana asked me.” she said with a girlish giggle. By now, they had corralled Tuck into the stables and began work on brushing him out and getting him settled inside. Ffiona handed Rachel the brush and went to go put his bridle in the tack room.

“Oooooooh. Lana-Banana. Such a cutie-patootie.” Pausing for a moment, she placed the brush on Tuck’s loin, “I really do hope things turn over for Remy… he hasn’t been his smiley self and it makes me sad.” Rachel pouted in worry. Smiley not smiley was weird. She was curious what happened but didn’t think he wanted to talk about it. Doesn’t change the fact that he looked like an absolute mess this entire week.

Yes, the dance will be magical for him and she and FiFi would make it so. It was going to be the best dance he’s ever been to. Yepp, she officially decided to make Remy a dreamer again.

“Will I have some influence over your wardrobe tomorrow? BECAUSE, I know exactly what character I would make you resemble…” Rachel’s lips rose into a devilish smirk. If FiFi allowed her, oh man, this would make her day. Her life. There was this one particular character that Rachel believed FiFi could pull off amazingly, at least look-wise. Gently, she brushed Tuck’s croup and then walked to meet his groggily gaze. Resting her forehead against his, ever so lovingly, she whispered to her animal companion, “I think she’d pull off the sexy Sybil, don’t you think?” The hot redhead enchantress was to DIE for. Literally. A lot of people died for her - willing and not.

What? A girl could dream!

Ffiona rolled her eyes jokingly. “I guesss.” It was obvious by her smirk that she was actually looking forward to the fashion adventure. FiFi didn’t go out and do… girly things… very often, so times like these were always special occasions. Maybe someday, she could also find her happily ever after. “So, you said Denver? How are we getting there? I doubt Poppa will let me borrow the pick-up for a trip that far. And you don’t have a car…” Ffiona asked, now in front of Rachel and the horse, with some snacks and a blanket in hand for him. She handed the treats to Rachie for her to feed Tuck, while she covered his back up with the blanket..

“Lala and CR’s guests have rentals. So I’m assuming once we get to Lala’s, we’ll pile in cars that take up that whole grove… it’s been very lively there. Oh!” Rachel graciously grabbed the treats and fed the horsey, “So, those two have been together for their entire lives, right? We should definitely convince Lala to spice things up. Maybe, we can make her uber sexy, like how I’m going to make you! Make CR’s heart go boom, boom, boom.”

“Oh myyy, sounds like fun. I don’t know about me getting sexy, that sounds… I don’t know.” Fi laughed and waved it off dismissively. Who was she going to try to impress? Thus far, there haven’t been any heartthrob romantic interests for her in Westworth. Ffiona’s future person, they’d have to be one hell of an individual to capture and tame a heart that was as wild and free as hers. Perhaps not even capture it, ideally they would run alongside her. “Well, we can be done in here, then. I’ll go beat Trevor out of bed with his gross drooly pillow, and he can take care of the rest of the barnwork.”

The girls locked up Tucker safe and sound alongside Genie’s stable, before trekking towards the Ffiona’s home. “Tell Momma about the plans, I’ll be right back.” Ffiona ran in the house quickly, only kicking off her snowy boots in the mudroom before scampering up the stairs and calling out for her brother to get up.

“Tell me what?” Eleanor said from the kitchen, peeking into the entryway, where her daughter had left Rachel standing in the dust of her tracks.

“Oh hey, Miss E! You see, tomorrow is the dance and for dances you wear dresses. Fifi and I, well, we were invited to go shopping. Take a trip to Denver with a bunch of friends and those kids everyone’s been talking about! From, uh, Cali. Yeah, the Cali kids. News travels fast and it isn’t like we live in a big town. So, most of the girls in my class are meeting up at the Foxley’s and then carpooling to the city to get some nice… clothes. For the dance.” Rachel never was one to explain herself well, but luckily Eleanor was use to her roundabout way of telling things.

“Oh, that sounds lovely. Can’t hardly ever get my girly in a dress. Pictures will be needed. When are you heading to the Foxley’s?”

After assaulting him with his own pillow, as promised, Ffiona trotted back downstairs with a very sleepy, grumpy-faced Trevor following after her. “Help acquired, ready to roll.” FiFi was wearing a different outfit now, hopefully one that smelled less like a barn… but Ffiona always smelled a little bit like a farm, and she didn’t find that fact all that unappealing. Lord only knows how she managed to undress and redress in that amount of time, it seems that everything Ffiona does is high speed.

“Now, it seems.” The curly blond haired girl grinned at FiFi’s mother, before she gave Trevor a little nudge on his shoulder, “Wake up, sleepyhead! It’s time to enjoy your day and play with the animals.” From there, she allowed FiFi to drag her.

“I assume Rachel told you?” Ffiona said, hooking her arm into Rachel’s to start ushering her out. Like Ffiona herself, Rachel could stand and talk to someone for an eternity, if she was left to.

“Dance. Dresses. Denver. Check three times over, triple D!” Eleanor smiled wide and proud at her cheesy pun. “Go hop in the car, I’ll be right out to drive you over to Lorelei’s” FiFi said her thanks and quite literally dragged Rachel outside. Eleanor told Trevor that he could find breakfast in the fridge and fetched her keys.

“Do you girls have dates to the dance?” El asked once she was settled into the car and turning the ignition. It took a few turns for the engine to cough to life, which was common in the cold weather. Eleanor expertly backed the station wagon down the quarter-mile long dirt driveway. The driveway was so long that it warranted it’s own name, which was aptly called “Lewis Lane” on all official maps.

“Lawson…. asked me.” Rachel shyly responded. In all honesty, she couldn’t believe that she was going to the dance with a boy. This was beyond her! Would he even like how she danced? She was a damn dork. Watch. Law was going to find something weird about her and end their night short. It was nerve-wrecking thinking of all the ways this could go wrong.

“And I’m just going as friends with Lana. OH! Do you think I should still match colors with her?” Ffiona asked Rachel quickly, realizing that there might be something to this dance date thing that she was missing. Were friend dates supposed to match? “Maybe just… colors that go?”

“Lawson, is it?” Eleanor asked, raising her eyebrows at Rachel through the rearview. “He seems like a nice boy, comes from a good family, those Barrett’s.” El nodded in approval, turning onto the street that the Foxley’s lived on.

“Mm, yeah… he’s really nice.” Fiddling with her fingers, Rachel looked away from the mirror of the woman fixedly staring at her and answered her friend’s question, “I think friends could do whatever they want! I was going to suggest a dark, ivy green dress for you. Your hair would look absolutely gorgeous with that color. I think Lana is coming so you two could always try to coordinate while we’re there.” The blonde shrugged, not really knowing the answer to the question. There wasn’t anything wrong with them matching if they wanted to match!

“Oh, good! Green sounds nice, that’s my favorite color. Like the grass and the trees and nature!” Ffiona grinned at her best friend, and her mother chuckled. These girls were so full of energy. Young, vibrant, positive energy. The car pulled to a stop in front of Lorelei’s parents’ house. Eleanor dug around in her purse, causing a few crumpled grocery receipts to fall out. She then pulled three crinkly twenties out, and passed them back to the girls - two for Ffiona, and one for Rachel.

“A little extra for you both, get something pretty, and BE SAFE in that city! Call me if you need anything, like a ride home. Or expert motherly fashion advice.”

“Thanks, momma!” Ffiona said, pocketing the money in her jeans and checking for her phone. “I have my cell if there are any emergencies… or advisement needed.” The redhead said teasingly and opened the door to hop out and join Lala and Company inside.

“See you later, Mrs. E… I’ll make sure we take lots of pictures.” And with that, Rachel trailed behind her best friend. Onward they go!