Tucked into a corner towards the bow of the boat, Savannah and Trevor had found the perfect spot to continue chatting. The seabreeze seemed to lull the sounds of the party, and allowed for them to enjoy each other's company without the blaring music ruining the moment. And what a moment it was! The stars were bright and visible over the water, the air was cool (but not too chilly), and Savvy was having a great time with her redheaded suitor. What more could she ask for?

Brushing a lock of red hair out of her eyes, Savannah segued the conversation to a new topic. “So what was the beginning of high school like for you? Have you always hung out with the same people, or…?” She truly wanted to learn more about Trevor, and she knew she couldn’t pass up this golden opportunity to do so, but at the same time she was attempting not to sound too interview-y. The inner journalist in her was itching to ask so many questions, but she didn’t want to dig too deep. After all, she only had so many chances to make an impression, and the last thing she wanted to come off as was nosy.

Contented. That was the best way to describe how Trevor felt in that moment. In fact, he had never felt more content in his young life. A nice chilled brew in hand, the sounds of his classmates enjoying themselves in the distance, the beautiful sight of the ocean and night sky before him, and an even more beautiful girl beside him. Trev had his muscular left arm resting comfortably around her shoulders. Absentmindedly, his thumb brushed the skin of her shoulder, savoring the softness. He wondered if all girls felt this soft, or if it was a Savannah exclusive. Either way, he considered himself quite lucky for it.

“Beginning high school wasn’t much different from middle school… except for being able to join varsity. But yeah, my core friend group has pretty much been the same since moving here — Damian, Owen, and Brian, we all kind of grew up together. Not just school either, our families are really close. I try to make friends with everyone, though, I don’t think there is a single person in BHHS that I can’t get along well with. How about you, what was freshman Texas Savvy like?” Trevor responded before looking over at her with a curious grin.

Sav tried not to erupt into laughter, but she couldn’t help it. Instead of opting to make herself seem cooler than she actually was, a common theme among the people whom she’d met here in Beverly Hills, she let the truth spill out like it was nothing. “Freshman Savvy was lame. Yeah, she was pretty lame,” The laughter she was trying to hold in escaped as she remembered how awkward and quiet she was. Since then, she’d come out of her shell, but even remembering how dorky she was made her cringe. “But I’d like to think I’ve moved on from my awkward stage…. that is unless I’m still in it and I just haven’t realized.” Another small laugh escaped her mouth, so she bit down on her bottom lip to cease her giggles.

Trevor chuckled alongside her. Savannah had a contagious kind of laughter. Soft and sweet, like windchimes in the summer. “You? Lame? …I don’t believe it.” Trev said with a teasing grin. He watched adoringly as she tried to bite back her giggles. She was cute. So cute. “Convince me otherwise. What was lame? Did you have braces with headgear or something? Highwater pants that couldn’t catch up with your height?”

“Braces, yes. Headgear, no, but I did get glasses freshman year and the three months where I had both were absolutely heinous.” Sav recalled with bashful smile, not believing that she was revealing this all to him. There was something about him that just made her so comfortable — she didn’t just tell these things to anyone. “I had to give this presentation in English class on Edgar Allan Poe, and one of my elastics snapped off while I was talking — there’s no convincing you that I wasn’t a dork, I’m sorry.” She smirked with a slight shake of her head, as she knew there was nothing he could say that would prove her wrong. “It sounds like you were the opposite of that — you were on varsity freshman year, how many people can say that? Pretty impressive if you ask me.” Savvy nudged him playfully as she commented on his not-lame achievements.

The red-haired boy beamed a grin and laughed beside her as she recounted her dorkier years. He tried to imagine her all awkward in glasses and braces, and only found himself growing more enamored. When she mentioned him being on varsity in freshman year, he shrugged it off humbly. It wasn’t that big of a thing in his eyes. “Both Dames and I went straight to varsity, football’s kind of our thing. Not really special or anything, just a couple of dopey jocks. And hey, you wanna know a secret?” Trev asked rhetorically and leaned in closer to speak softer to her. ^{“I totally had braces in freshman year too.”}

The hairs on Sav’s neck stood up as he leaned in closer. There wasn’t much distance in between their lips, and getting all flustered, she turned to the side and laughed. “I’m sure they looked great on you.” She replied, gaining the courage to turn her head back to look at him once more. “But still, even though it may be your thing, never downplay the fact you made varsity as a freshman. In Texas, that’s like one in a million!” Texans took football very seriously. Lawn signs and everything. Savannah blushed, realizing she would have never had the courage to talk to Trevor as a freshman in her awkward stage. But look at her now!

“I think you’re one in a million too, Texas.” Trevor responded smoothly. The words just, kind of tumbled out, all on their own. Even he was shocked that he said them, but, he didn’t regret it. In fact, he smiled confidently, feeling quite proud of himself. Clearing his throat, he spoke up again. “How about you, you play any sports?”

Swoon.

Sav cheeks grew rosier as her eyes bashfully darted towards the ground. It was like Trevor knew exactly what to say to give her butterflies! Trying to formulate words to his question, she cleared her throat and spoke, “Nope, I’m an athletic supporter, not an athlete. I tried playing sports, but Kindergarten soccer was an absolute trainwreck so I hung up my cleats for eternity. Not the sporty type.” Savvy explained. She’d rather write about sports than participate in them!

“Hmm…” The ginger boy mused at that. He looked over to her with a smirk, his thumb still absently tracing circles into her shoulder as he did. “Maybe soccer just wasn’t the right sport for you. How about we go see what games they have in the game room? You might have an undiscovered talent.” Or, this was simply an excuse for them to have some fun and spend more time together.

“I highly doubt it, but let’s go find out!” Savannah replied enthusiastically. As much as she enjoyed sitting here cozily with him (spoiler alert: she really enjoyed it), this was a party! They needed to go and do something fun and active and the game room was a great way to do so. Taking the last sip of her Angry Orchard, she stood up and placed the empty bottle on one of the tables and extended her now free hand towards Trevor. “I would lead the way, but I don’t know where it is.”

“I do.” Trevor said with a smile and happily took her extended hand in his. Of course he knew where it was, this wasn’t his first time hanging out on the Helmsley yacht, and it certainly wouldn’t be his last. Especially now that Bri was back. Thankfully, by the time the innocent ginger pair had made it down to the game room, the naked card game had already concluded, so there was no need for any more blushing than was usual for the two of them together. Trev’s eyes scanned the room for options, “Looks like there is pool, pong, foosball, darts, air hockey… whatcha feeling?”

Savannah pondered their options carefully, gazing around the room at the different games surrounding them. She already knew she wasn’t a pool shark — they have a pool table in the basement of her father’s house and she loses every time they play — so that was a no-go. The pong table looked crowded, and darts sounded dangerous and she didn’t feel like stabbing Trevor in the eye. She also didn’t feel like hitting any of her limbs against the foosball table pegs. Air hockey it was! “I’m thinking air hockey, that good with you?” Savvy stated, motioning to the table in the corner of the room.

“Sounds great!” Trev agreed and led her over to the air hockey table. He still held her hand as they made their way through the chatting and gaming groups of their classmates. He had no desire to let go of her hand, but he’d probably have to if they were going to play games. They arrived at their destination and Trevor turned to face her with a cheeky grin. “Now don’t be intimidated, but you’re about to play against a bonafide hockey player. Did you bring your competitive spirit?”

“You’re kidding me… is there a sport you don’t play?” Sav replied in disbelief. Not only did he play football, but he was agile and athletic enough to translate that all to the ice! Trevor seemed to do it all. Grabbing one of the paddles and the puck, she continued speaking. “But yes, competitive spirit is ready and raring to go and — oh look, what’s over there?” Attempting to trick him into looking away, Sav began the game whether he was ready or not… it was going to be her funeral, so she may as well score some points while she could! The puck soared from her side of the table to his, clinking into the goal.

Huh? As gullible as a school boy, Trevor’s gaze followed where she pointed, curious to see what had caught her attention so suddenly. Upon seeing nothing of note, the realization clicked. She wouldn’t. The clack of the plastic puck bouncing off the back side of his air hockey goal and the dinging sound of the table recording the scored point confirmed that, yes, she would. “Ohhh, I see how it is. Dirty plays, Texas, dirty plays.” Trevor replied with a chuckle and stepped up to guard his goal properly.

The red-haired boy retrieved the puck and repositioned it to start a new round. He went back to her initial, most likely rhetorical, question and answered it. “I’m pretty terrible at basketball.” He admitted. Damian beat him nearly every time they shot hoops together, but that didn’t keep him from playing on occasion. He wasn’t much good at golf either, but who was besides old rich white dudes? “But yeah, I love hockey. It’s more of a hobby, since ya know, Cali schools don’t really have ice rinks. I miss the cold from back home, so I like to skate at the public rink downtown when I can.” Trev knocked his striker into the puck and sent it gliding towards Savannah’s side.

Savannah couldn’t help but laugh at Trevor and how easily deceived he was. His clueless reaction was absolutely adorable, which made her laugh even harder. With a shrug, she tossed her hair over her shoulder dramatically and dissolved into a smile. “Can’t let you win that easily.” Knocking the puck against the left side of the table, it soared near the goal, but not close enough to score. “Hockey seems cool, lots of moving parts, but I can definitely see why you love it.” Sav commented, blocking her goal with the paddle so that he would have a harder time scoring. “Skating seems hard though, admittedly I’ve never been, but I’m sure when you get that down it’s a lot easier to focus on the game.”

The puck passed back and forth between them a few times until Trevor sent it sailing toward Savannah’s unguarded goal. Sure, he could take it easy and try to let her win, but he was far too competitive of a person for that. Nice guy or not, sport was sport, and that was the fun of competition. No one wanted easy wins, it’s only fun when you have to work for your gains. “Wait… you’ve never been skating? Really?” Trev looked up as the table dinged another scored point. It was a 1 — 1 tie so far.

Sav watched as the puck sailed towards her, and before she had the chance to block it, it slipped into the goal. “Nice shot.” She congratulated him, placing the piece back on the table to continue the game. “Nope, never. I’ve never seen snow, so the thought to go skating has never really crossed my mind. And even if it has, I guess I’ve just never gotten around to it.” The female redhead admitted, hitting the puck back towards Trevor. Skating wasn’t big in Texas, like, at all.

“Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Trevor remarked, feeling a little bit foolish that he hadn’t considered where she came from. Texas was a lot like California, except, even hotter… and way more conservative. So of course she’d never skated! “Winter sports were really big in Colorado. Man, when I was little I wanted to snowboard so bad but my mom wouldn’t let me. Too dangerous, she said. I had these big dreams of growing up to be the next CR — and now we go to school with his kid! Times change.” He laughed lightly knocked the puck so that it bounced against the wall and angled towards Savvy. “I could take you, if you’d like to learn how to skate. I could teach you, it’s a lot of fun.” That, and she’d probably look gorgeous gliding across the ice, all bundled up with a hat and gloves like a proper snow bunny.

Savvy’s lips curled up into an excited smile. Ice skating with Trevor sounded like something out of a romance novel — it was fun, intimate, and she’d get to hold onto him for support. Instead of agreeing right away, however, she decided be a little more flirtatious. “On one condition.” She stated, leaving a large pause in between her words. During her pause, she looked down at her striker and knocked the puck straight into his open goal. “Promise you won’t let me fall?” She asked, looking back up at him with her bright green eyes.

“I would nev—” Trevor began to assure her that he wouldn’t let her fall, but he was cut off by the sound of her scoring yet another goal via distraction. Trev looked down at his own hand, as if it was the one that betrayed him, and his mouth dropped open in shock. He looked back up to his adorable, sneaky little fox of an opponent. “Well, for that, I just might let you fall at least once.” He winked and shook his head with a grin, reaching down for the puck again.

After running around half the boat, getting weird looks from everyone she passed, Josie finally spotted her favorite redheads. For a moment she stopped and looked at the two of them because damn they looked cute right now, but she was going to have to ruin that. Josie was their biggest supporter but Josie needed her best friend right now, it was an emergency level situation. She’d apologize to them both later, but until then she’d be taking her favorite of the two redheads with her.

Speed walking to where the two stood, Josie only looked to Savannah and reached over grabbing her hand, “Emergency situation. I need to borrow you, like right now.” Her internal freaking out was slowly leaking out and she knew Savannah would be able to see it clear as day. As Josie pulled her friend away from the other redhead she simply looked to him and gave him a curt nod, “Hi Trevor. Bye Trevor. I’ll return your date in a bit.” With that Josie lead them to a quiet place that was lacking in people, one where Josie could fully freak out to her friend.

Sav knew right off the bat that something was wrong, but before she could say ‘hello’ or even ‘how’s your night been’ to Josie she was being pulled away from her redheaded boy faster than a tractor pulled hay. “Oh, um okay, I—” She started to babble in a state of confusion and turned to Trev, guilt written all over her face. “Sorry, duty calls. I’ll be back, I promise.” The ginger apologized to him as she attempted to keep up with her friend’s urgent pace. “I’ll find you!” Was the last thing she could manage to say before disappearing with Josie entirely into one of the side rooms that lacked people and music.

“Take your time!” Trevor called out from behind them as the two girls scampered off. He chuckled and shook his head in amusement. Pondering what to do now that it was just him, he pulled out his phone to text Savannah: I’m going to go see what Rye’s up to, text me if you can’t find me later.. He tucked his phone back in his pocket and wandered out of the game room in search of his brother, who he hadn’t seen all night.

Katie had one thought as she crashed into the waves below. What the fuck! She’d fallen overboard. Literally. This wasn’t a show, this wasn’t a bad movie, it wasn’t some story on some forum, this was her fucking life. She hated it.

The water was dark, and cold, so cold the fire of Katie’s rage couldn’t even heat her up. She hated Scott Lyon more than anything. More than waking up early on a weekend, more than meninists, more than fucking hard boiled eggs and people who thought A Cursed Child was canon. She had half a mind to drown, just to spite him, but upon realizing that she would very much prefer living, she swam up, breaking the surface and taking a deep breath of fresh air, gasping as her body adjusted to the shocking cold. Moments later, Scott broke the surface as well. “Oh my god, of fucking course! Of course you jump in after me! Not enough to fucking call me a cunt and let me fall overboard, then you have to play hero too? Go drown, Dirtbag!”

Why did he even bother? Honestly, why? He didn’t know. Why did he argue with her, why did he dive after her to help her? Wouldn’t he have been much happier with her at the bottom of the ocean? The truth was that no, he wouldn’t be happier. Katie gave him purpose; even if it was just anger and hate, it was still driving him, and pushing him in a lot of ways to get better at stupid shit. Like, chess for example. He only played chess because fuck Katie Callaghan, that’s why.

There were a lot of things like that in his life. This, however, didn’t make it any less fucking terrible when he popped up out of the water and she immediately started with him. Backed against the wall and with nowhere to go, but down, Scott immediately launched at her. “I’m trying to save you, bitch! You ain’t gotta jump on me as soon as I come out of the water! I don’t want your stupid ass DYING on my CONSCIOUS.”

Katie splashed water back at him and swam towards the boat. “Oh my god I can fucking swim, asswipe! Jesus fuck! FUCK FUCK FUCK” Katie screamed, her emotions overtaking her rational thought. “AHGGHGHHHHH!! I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING OCEAN RIGHT NOW! GOD I CAN’T FUCKING BELIEVE THIS!” she screamed as she propelled herself towards a ladder that was attached to the side of the yacht. By now, she wasn’t even screaming at Scott, more so the universe.

Upon reaching the ladder, she grabbed onto the bottom rung, hauling herself up and out of the waves. As she climbed, she looked down at Scott, who was nearing the ladder. “If you even try and squint at my ass, I will personally beat you so bad your mom won’t be able to identify your body,” Katie said, shivering from the cold.

“I hope a freakin’ shark eats you.” Scott hissed as he swam toward the ladder. Surprisingly, though, he made a point of turning around as she climbed up the ladder. He waited a few seconds, until he was certain she had enough time to climb up, before he spun around and hauled himself up after her, standing up and looking around. “I’m fucking cold,” Scott grumbled, stomping over to the spot where they’d taken their tumble.

He bent at the knee and picked up his dry (and still slightly warm) jacket, but rather than put it on himself, he went back to Katie and thrust it in her direction. “Here, put this on. So you don’t die of cold.”

Katie looked down at the jacket, then up at Scott. She was cold. Really fucking cold. So cold, that as much as she wanted to set that jacket on fire, she took it, scowling the whole time. “Thanks,” she grumbled, slipping into the jacket and crossing her arms, the oversized sleeves flopping around. “You’re friends with Brian, please tell me he has a change of clothes on this stupid fucking boat,” she said, shaking still, despite the jacket.

Scott had to think about it for a second. He didn’t exactly keep tabs on everything his friends kept on their boats, and whatnot. After a few seconds of thinking, he realized just how cold he really was. His whole body felt like it was shaking, as if he were chilled to the very bone. And he may have just as well been! This was Brian’s fault for making him go on this stupid boat in the first goddamn place. Scott should have never agreed to come, the stupid boat with the stupid rooms for fucking —

Wait, that was it. He looked down at Katie and nodded quickly, “there are clothes that would fit you I think. In the cabins. Come on.” He said, gesturing for her to follow him, as he turned to walk away.

Every bone in her body told her to fight. By now, it was instinct to argue with Scott, no matter what he had to say, but tonight she had a much more powerful instinct kicking. She was fucking cold. So, she fell in line behind him, for a silent, yet shivery walk to the cabins. She wasn’t quite sure what to even say. They’d been fighting for so long, normal conversation felt too...mundane. Strange, alien, complex, yet mundane. Katie was used to there being a fire between her and Scott, not that that means anything mind you, but a fire nonetheless. Small talk was beneath them.

When they finally got to the cabins, Scott froze and stared at the tablet hanging on the door. Go figure. Brian was ruining his life without even seeing him tonight, it seemed. Scott yanked the stupid tablet off of the wall, and scribbled his name on it, before he pushed it toward Katie. “S-sign in.” He said with chattering teeth, the reality of their situation very plain in front of them now.

Sign the guest book, or don’t go inside, freeze, and then die.

Was this real? Of fucking course it was! Great! One hundred percent, this was gonna make it’s way to the rumor mill, and everyone would think she fucked Scott. Despite that, she signed her name, and ran inside as the door opened, shoving past Scott. “Thank Christ!”

Scott sighed and stepped in past her, and the door slammed shut behind them, clicking locked. Yeah, people were gonna assume they got it on, but that was just an unfortunate side effect of this. On the bright side, as small as it may be, the room was significantly warmer than the outside. Once they were in, Scott went to a wardrobe on one of the walls, and opened it, looking inside. “Clothes in there,” he grumbled, glancing over at Katie.

Katie looked over at Scott, before walking over to the wardrobe and picking out a white, cotton sundress. She walked back to where she’d been standing and began to pull off her shirt, but stopped halfway. Turning to look at Scott she fixed him with a stern glare. “Look away. Now.”

Scott shot her a look. “Yeah, like I wanna look at you!” He snapped, before he turned around and put his fingers over his eyes, to further instill the point: he wasn’t interested in her. “Hurry up,” He snapped, realizing very suddenly that he did want to look at her. What was his life coming to? Well, there was a mirror here… Sneakily, Scott peaked through his fingers at mirror.

Katie sighed and quickly began taking off her wet clothes, piling them up next to the bathroom. As she was pulling the dress over her naked form, she looked over her shoulder to see Scott peeking out between his fingers, looking at her reflection. “What the fuck! You perv! God, go fuck yourself!” Katie shouted, her wet hair flopping around as she yelled.

Scott sighed. He really couldn’t catch a break. In reality, he probably shouldn’t have done that, but in a way it was definitely, totally, completely worth it. She was hot, fuck, why was she hot? Even he didn’t have a defense for this one, so instead, he mumbled, “Sorry. I’m sorry.” He said, in a defeated tone, spinning around to face her.

Katie sighed. She was cold. She was tired. She was in a bad fucking mood. She didn’t want to shout at Scott Lyon anymore. She’d done that enough today. She was done. Him sneaking a peek? It was sleazy, and wrong, and for some goddamn reason it made her heart flutter, which was fifty shades of fucked up, but she couldn’t find it in her to fight. Not tonight. Shaking her head, she flopped down onto the bed, her eyes trained on the ceiling above her. “Whatever, Scott. What-fucking-ever.”

Scott was silent as he walked around the room. For once, he didn’t really have it in him to yell at her or scream or even call her a bitch. Rather than try to talk to her or look at her though, he stepped off into the attached room, closing the door behind him. He was gone for a few minutes, before he emerged and walked over to the bed where she was sitting, tapping her on the shoulder, and holding out a steaming mug. “Here.” In the mug was hot chocolate, complete with whipped cream and a few floating marshmallows.

Katie looked down at the mug, automatically distrustful of the offering. Katie liked hot chocolate though, and so she gently took the mug from his grasp, taking a sip, her nose dipping into the whipped cream. “Thanks,” she said, wiping the whipped cream off her nose. They sat like that, in silence, for a few minutes, the only sound that of Katie sipping from her mug. Finally, Katie looked over at him. “Doesn’t Brian or one of the other meatheads need you?” she asked. Shockingly, it wasn’t laced with her usual venom. It was just a question, calm, neutral, matter of fact.

Scott shook his head after she asked the question. “No, I don’t think so. I’m just sort of here now. Brian said not to get drunk, so I’m sober too.” Scott made a face at this, as if it were a grave sin that he didn’t agree with, but he shrugged. “I trust him. Whatever he’s doing, is probably a good idea. What about you? Shouldn’t you find like, Joy or Noah and hang out with them?”

Katie nodded with understanding. “Joy’s off nailing Damian and Noah...I should go find Noah. Sometimes though, I just don’t think he wants to be found. I mean, he’s my best friend and I know him like the back of my hand but sometimes it’s like he just shuts all the windows and closes the blinds, and suddenly I’m looking at a stranger. And yeah, I probably don’t make it better, I’m nosey and a bit bitchy and I meddle, and...I have no idea why I’m saying any of this.” Katie chuckled, shaking her head and looking down at her mug in an effort to hide the blush that was spreading through her cheeks. What the hell was happening to her?

“Well… I can confirm at least one of those things.” Scott said, and though it was definitely a jab at her, his voice didn’t care the normal hate and anger it normally did. Scott caught himself actually staring at her blushing face for a few seconds, though he quickly looked away, and asked the question that was undeniably hanging in the air: “Why are we like this? Why do we always fight, and scream at each other? Seriously.”

Katie shook her head, and shrugged. “Maybe we just really hate each other. Or maybe we are just awful people. Or maybe, we’ve figured out that having someone to scream at is better than having no one at all.” Katie sat there, silent for a moment as her words hung in the air. Suddenly she swung her legs off the bed and stood up, setting her mug down. “I should go find Noah. He’s gonna need my help.”

Scott had nothing else to say. She had a point. All three of them were possible options; they did seem to hate each other, but deep down, Scott knew that wasn’t the case. As for them being awful people? Solid cases could be made against either of them in that regard… The third option? Having someone to scream at was better than having no one at all? That was heavy, and it gave Scott a lot to think about.

When she said that she needed to go find Noah, Scott nodded. “Uh, yeah. Okay. I think I’m just gonna stay here for a little bit. If you need back in, just knock. I’ll open the door.” Scott offered, though he wasn’t sure how she was going to take it. If history were any indicator, then probably poorly. But, it’d been about ten minutes, and they’d done nothing but be nice to each other. Maybe it was a sign of things to come?

Katie nodded, and silently made for the door. Her hand lingered over the handle, as a voice inside her screamed in protest, a voice that had been nothing but a whisper until tonight. She ignored the voice, and turned the handle, opening the door and stepping back into the world.

Scott watched as she left, and after the door clicked shut, he turned to look at himself in the mirror, leaning forward on the desk in front of it. “What the fuck is wrong with me?” He asked, before shaking his head and backing up until he fell on the bed. Silent now, Scott stared up at the ceiling, and folded his arms over his stomach.

All he found himself able to think about was how he shouldn’t have let her leave.

Daisy was bored.

This was never a good thing, because it very often led to her doing things that weren’t exactly recommended, which sometimes led to her parents being involved. Luckily, that wasn’t the case tonight! She just wanted something to eat! Something sweet, and sugary. Maybe cookies! Yes, yes. Cookies.

Daisy launched herself off of her bed, where she’d been sitting and watching Robin Hood; the Disney version, of course. Once she landed on her feet, she briefly glanced at her reflection in the mirror of her vanity table, making a silly face at herself. She scrunched up her nose and made kissy lips, before she stuck her tongue out at herself.

This made her smile wide, before the room filled up with her giggles. She was hilarious!

Daisy skipped out of her bedroom and to the hallway, before bounding down the hall. She reached the top of the massive, beautiful, grand staircase that led to the first floor of the mega-mansion she lived in, and smiled. Rather than walk down the stairs like someone normal would do, Daisy sat down on the railing and slid down, whooshing past her father as he did so. The man paused halfway up the the steps, on his way to his bedroom, and looked down at his daughter as she hopped off the end, “what’s going on, Daisy?” Jayce asked, though he found himself painfully aware of the fact that he might not understand.

“I’m going to the kitchen! To show the world that it’s a piece of cake, to bake a pretty cake!” Daisy called out in response, and when her father didn’t look he understood, Daisy just smiled more, “I’m gonna make some cookies! Peanut butter and chocolate chip. Not like, peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips, but cookies with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips,” she added in explanation. It made sense to her. Besides, who didn’t like the smell of cookies? It was kind of late, sure, but it wasn’t that late! As long as she was in bed by ten, she’d be ready for school! It was a late start day tomorrow anyway. She had time.

“Well, can’t argue with that. Save some for me. Have fun. I think we have all kinds of chips… There’s butterscotch, and white chocolate chips, too. Maybe try those?”

That was an awesome idea! “That’s an awesome idea, Daddy! I’ll give it a shot!” She smiled and waved, before spinning around, and sliding across the floor. The first floor was all hardwood, the entire way through (excluding the bathrooms, which were some kind of expensive tile), and Daisy took advantage of that almost every day. How so? By sliding across the floor in socks, duh! It was fun. The only way it could have been anymore fun was if she had a dog to follow her around.

Daisy sighed mournfully as she found her way in the kitchen, but chose not to think too much about how she didn’t have a dog. She could just go to the animal shelter tomorrow and play and snuggle them all! She looked around the kitchen, and clapped her hands together. Time to get to work!

“First! Gather your ingredients!” The base of the recipe was simple, something that her grandmother on her mother’s side had taught her when she was younger. “All purpose baking flour!” She walked to one of the drawers, and pulled out the big bag of flower, throwing it on the island in the center of the kitchen with a huff; it was heavy! “Baking soda, and baking powder! Salt! Wait, salt’s already there...”

Daisy climbed up onto of the countertop and opened up the cupboard that was high above the ground. This had the finer ingredients, like baking powder and baking soda. “White sugar! Brown sugar! Vanilla extract! ...where do we keep vanilla extract?” She hopped off the counter and put the sugars, and baking powder and baking soda in her arms, tossing them onto the island beside the flour. Then, she began her hunt for vanilla extract. What even was vanilla? Why did it need to be extracted? Why did it smell so fantastic, yet taste so icky? Throwing open cupboard after cupboard, pulling open drawer after drawer… she eventually found the tiny bottle, and put it on the counter beside her other dry ingredients.

At this point, she took her electric kettle and put some water inside of it, setting it to ding once the water reached boiling temperature. “The water is for later! Forget it for now!” She explained, to no one in particular, before going about her collection of ingredients once again. “Eggs! Large! Normal size is okay, but if you look at the cartons at the grocery store, they have sizes! Small! Medium! Large! Jumbo! Large is best for baking, it has the most liquid in it! Get two of them and set aside!” She said, opening up the fridge and pulling out the eggs and setting them to the side.

“Get a mixing bowl!” Daisy said, while pulling out a bowl from a drawer underneath the stove. She put the bowl on the counter, and got a measuring cup. “Okay. Two and a half cups of the flour from earlier! Remember, when you buy flour, to put it in the freezer for one day! This is to keep the weevil eggs from hatching! Weevils are lil bugs that live in all kinds of stuff. Flour is one of their favorite homes! I wish they weren’t real, but they are! Mix the flour with one teaspoon of baking soda and one teaspoon of baking powder! Finally, throw in a pinch of salt.” She said, flicking her wrist as she threw the salt into the bowl, then mixed it up with a spoon.

As she finished thoroughly mixing it all together, the kettle dinged and she spun on her heel. “Time to explain the water!” She got two large glasses down, and distributed the boiling water evenly. Then, she went to the fridge, and got two sticks of hard butter. “Butter! The final ingredient. Take the boiling water from before! Pour it into two cups! Then, get butter. After one minute, pour the water out!” Daisy poured the water out and then stood the sticks of butter up vertically, then flipped the cups upside down and put them over the butter sticks.

“You see, you want softened butter! Some people think that you can just microwave butter to achieve this effect. They would be wrong! Microwaving butter melts it, you just want it softened! Plus, it destroys the consistency! Using heat from the cups to do it doesn’t cause any damage or ruin any proteins! Once the butter is softened, put it inside your mixing bowl! I have a stand-up mixer! I recommend it a lot. At this point, preheat your oven!” Daisy dumped the two sticks of butter, now softened, into a stand up mixing bowl. Then, she went over to the oven, and hit the preheat button, pressing the temperature buttons. “Three hundred and fifty degrees, Fahrenheit! Three hundred and twenty-five if you have a convection oven! I don’t, so I do three hundred and fifty. That’s one hundred and seventy-seven in Celsius! Now, while the oven preheats, complete mixing!”

“Daisyyyy! Who are you yelling at?”

The voice came from upstairs, and caused Daisy to pause for a moment, before she yelled up her answer. “One of my stuffed animals is in here! He’s a llama! His name is Billy! He says hello! I’m teaching him to bake cookies!” She responded, and there wasn’t a response for a solid ten seconds, during which Daisy remained still and patient.

“...kay!”

Good enough! Daisy turned her attention back to the project at hand. Really, shouting out the steps helped her remember them! Which was very important, since she quite liked cookies, and wanted to keep baking them all her life. “In your mixing bowl! Mix your softened two sticks of butter with three fourths cup of white sugar, and three fourths cup of firmly packed brown sugar! Do it until it gets smooth. This could take some time, but never fear, and never ever turn the mixer on high! Keep it on low, let it go slowly if it needs to go slowly.” Daisy explained, watching as the mixer went round and round, round and round. After a while, she seemed satisfied, “now, beat in your two eggs! One at a time. Finally, add vanilla. Just a teaspoon! Vanilla is strong stuff, and it’s mostly for aroma. You want your house to smell like you’re baking cookies! Of course, in my case they also hear it…”

She smiled sheepisly in the direction of her stuffed animal. She hadn’t meant to stress her father out… whoops! All was well, though. “Once you’ve added in the vanilla, slowly add in the flour mixture! Take your time here, it’s one of the most vital parts…” She carefully and slowly moved the mixture over, one big table spoon at a time. Once it was all done, she shut the machine off and pulled the bowl off.

“Now, get your chips! I’m using semi-sweet milk chocolate, semi-sweet white chocolate, a little bit of butterscotch, and a lot a bit of peanut butter! Now, normally you just do one cup chocolate chip and one cup peanut butter! I’m doing one cup peanut butter, half cup milk chocolate, half cup white chocolate, and one fourth cup butterscotch! Keep the chips out, if you’re like me. I like to put some on top of the cookies after they’re baked! If not, put them away. Fold in the chips with your spatula, gently! A spoon works if you have nothing else!” She dumped the sugar bomb in, and slowly folded it in with her wooden spoon, licking the dough off the end after she was finished.

“Take your cookie sheet! We have non-stick cookie sheets! You might need to grease yours some! Be careful not to put too much, or you’ll risk your cookie’s integrity! Really, you should just buy some non-stick sheets. Put rounded teaspoonfuls onto your sheet! When your sheet is full, put it in the oven!” She pulled down the oven and threw the sheet inside, “This makes one batch of eighteen cookies! Bake for eight to ten minutes, or until the edges are golden. Everyone’s oven cooks a lil different! Mine takes exactly nine minutes and twenty-five seconds. Set the timer! Now, comes the hard part.”

Dun!

Dun!

Dunnnn!

“THE WAITING!” Daisy sighed, and set about cleaning up. She wasn’t just going to leave a mess for her mother to have to clean up later! She put away all the ingredients, and rinsed out her baking utensils… when she looked at the timer, there was still time left, BUT. The timer had just over three minutes! That meant she had time. “Oh, quick quick! Pluto, turn on some Disney music!” Daisy said, still holding the wooden spoon from earlier. As she spoke to her assistant, music began playing, as requested.

Daisy beamed. She loved this song! Of course, she loved every song, but she especially loved this song. It was from one of her favorite movies! She held the spoon up to her mouth, and began to sing, pretending it was a microphone. “Open up your eyes and take look at me, get the picture fixed in your memory, I’m driven by the rhythm like the beat of a heart, and I won’t start till I start to stand out!” Daisy had an excellent singing voice, given to her by years of devoted practice and training by various professionals. She really liked to sing, and was somewhat of a songbird, or a songstress, depending on who you asked. In her own opinion, she was above average, but not really all that impressive!

As the second part of the verse began, she moonwalked in a circle around the island she’d used as a baking platform, “some people settle for the typical thing, livin’ all their lives waitin’ in the wings, it ain’t a question of ‘if,’ just a matter of time, before I move to the front of tha lineeee.” She spun on her heel and tipped her body backward as the big pre-chorus line began, “once you’re watching every move that I make, you gotta believe that I got what it takes!”

“To stand out! Above the crowd, even if I gotta shout out loud! Til mine is the only face you’ll say, gonna stand outttttt… til you notice me!”

She slid her way over to the oven and hit the ‘light’ button as she continued to sing, wanting to watch her cookies as they baked, “if the squeaky wheel is always gettin’ the grease, see I’m totally devoted to disturbing the peace, and I’ll do it all again, when I get done! Until I become your number oneeee,” She leaned toward the cookies… Damn — er, dang, nothing yet!

“No methods to my madness, and no means of escape, gonna break every rule, or bend them all outta shape, it ain’t a question of ‘how,’ just a matter of when that you get the message that I’m trying to send.” She climbed up onto the cleared off kitchen island, carefully scaling her way up one of the barstools.

“I’m under a spell, in over my head, and you know I’m going all of the way to the end!” She slid to the end of the island, before jumping down, spinning in the air and landing on one foot, carefully catching her balance with a grin on her face that said ‘I almost got messed up!’ as she sang the second chorus. Then, came her favorite part! The bridge, the build up!

“If I could make you stop and take a look at me, instead of just walking by, there’s nothin’ that I wouldn’t do, if it was gettin’ you to notice I’m aliveeeee!” She paused after that line, looking down at the ground as she got ready for the second part. “All I need is half a chance, a second thought, a second glance to prove, I got whatever,” as she sang the longer notes, she threw her head backward, her hair whooshing after her. “it takessssss!”

She flicked her head back down and took one hand off of the spoon to push her bangs out of her face, revealing a huge smile, before she winked. “It’s a piece of cake.” Then, she sang the chorus until the end of the song.

“Til you notice me.” She finished the song and giggled to herself, then heard the ding! from the oven and smiled widely. “Yay! Cookies are done.” She opened the oven and used oven mitts that looked like Minnie Mouse’s gloves, then scooped the eighteen cookies off onto a cooling rack, finally, she tossed a few of each kind of chip on them as a topping of sorts, then took her phone out, snapping a picture of them.

To: Parker!

I made cookies! I’ll save you some!

She sent the picture, and then got herself a bowl, reaching into the freezer and grabbing the vanilla ice cream. She scooped some into the bowl, then grabbed two cookies, putting the still hot cookies on top of the ice cream. She grabbed the bowl and retreated toward the living room, where she spent the next hour or so watching Tangled until she fell asleep with her bowl still in her hands.

She had been up too late.

Hailey sometimes had trouble sleeping. It could stem from any which thing, from the temperature of the room, to something on her mind. In this case, Hailey thought it had something to do with how hot it was under the blankets. Adding another person to her bed was turning out to be a hot decision in more ways than one. Hailey didn’t want Hana to go, absolutely not, but she was getting bored of laying in bed, little sweaty, and a lot lonely.

Hana was right there, asleep and cuddled up in Hailey’s arms.

But was it the right thing to do to wake her up? Hailey certainly thought so; Hana was hers, which meant if Hailey wanted company, then Hana was certainly meant to oblige. However, Hailey’s father had taught her many things in her lifetime, one of them being that sleep is incredibly important, and should rarely, if ever, be disturbed.

To Hailey’s credit, though, it was technically because of her that Hana was sleeping so soundly. Hailey had given Hana the best sleeping medicine in the world: sex. And good sex, Hailey liked to think! This meant that Hailey was well within her rights to shake Hana awake, right? Yes.

Hailey moved her body a bit, and put her hand on Hana’s shoulder, “Hana? Wake up. I can’t sleep, I’m lonely, and I’m bored.” Hailey said in a soft voice, trying to rouse Hana from her sleep, rather than jolt her awake.

Hana wasn’t normally one for dreaming and her sleep normally involved a fair amount of tossing and turning; part of that might have been because of the mattress in her sister’s apartment but Hana wasn’t ready to make that call uninformed. It came as a pleasant surprise, then, to sleep so comfortably and restlessly in Hailey’s bed. It could well have been the sex that preceded it or it could’ve been the fact that she was sleeping next to someone, regardless she was having a pleasant, dreamless sleep. Because when she was sleeping with Hailey Green, what dream could even compare?

She didn’t want to wake up until it was morning and even then if it meant extra time cuddling up next to Hailey she would tell the sunrise to come back later, but the light words and lighter touch served to make Hana shift and stir. While she wasn’t dreaming, she couldn’t say she was asleep anymore either even though her eyes were closed.

”Whatimesit?” Hana’s words were slurred with sleep as she shifted in place, moving from a curled up cuddled ball to having her legs stretched out as she rolled onto her back. ”Itslate.”

Hailey watched as Hana unraveled herself, and bit her bottom lip subconsciously. She was in love. She was so, so in love. It was a new feeling for her; she’d felt lust before, and maybe even infatuation, but this was different. As Hana got comfortable, and then spoke in that slurry voice, the ice queen’s heart melted and then shattered into a million pieces. Never before in her entire life had Hailey felt as guilty about something as she did about waking Hana prematurely.

Hailey sighed lightly and reached out with a hand, running it through Hana’s sleek black hair, “I shouldn’t have woken you, I’m sorry. It’s… somewhere between two and three in the morning. Will you ever forgive me?” She asked, and in the low light from the TV on the wall (playing anime on low volume for Hailey to have something to entertain her), Hailey’s face could be seen, and it was painted with a sincere look of apology. Daddy was right, as he often was.

Waking someone from their rest was the worst thing you could possibly do to someone.

Being woken up was never a pleasant experience no matter how it was done or when it happened; having the blinds opened so the sun bore down or being jolted awake by a loud noise were equally as bad. While she would prefer not to be woken up until the alarm deemed it so, Hana had to admit that there were worse ways to be woken up than by having Hailey gently rock her from the slumber; and she was hard pressed at the moment to think of any better way. Slowly her eyes opened and the hazy, blurry vision was coming into focus. Hailey was glowing in the light of the television but where Hana was concerned it might as well have been the light of the divine.

”I forgive you.” Hana’s voice was mildly scratchy but at least she wasn’t slurring. Speaking slowly and softly, sure, but her facilities were still in the process of starting up. ”Bad dream?” Hana asked as she shifted in place, rising from laying prone to turning onto her side and propping her head up on her hand. Hana probably looked a total nightmare. Bedhead, puffy cheeks, dim eyes, but two things remained ever a constant: the choker around her neck and the fact that her attention was fully Hailey’s even when in mid-waking.

”I’m here.”

“No, no bad dream. I just… wanted you,” Hailey responded in a still quiet voice, as if she were unsure about talking to Hana this late at night. To other people, Hana may have very well looked like a nightmare, but to Hailey, she was still the girl of her dreams. “You’re really pretty.” Seriously, Hailey? It seemed that this experience had shook the ice queen to her core, and she was at a loss for words, which was a landmark moment in her life.

Hailey was slowly realizing that she was trapped in a passionate whirlwind with Hana Park, the drug dealing softball player, turned collar wearing cheerleader. Her Vanilla Bean. Hailey was ready to be done with meddling in school politics, if it meant she could instead spend her time with Hana. Hailey wanted to get to know her better, until she knew Hana better than anyone. Hailey shook her head, as if to brush away the uncharacteristic and short compliment from before, “I got unbearably hot… I think it’s because I’m not yet used to two people in the same bed while sleeping. I woke you because over the past few days, I’ve found that you are far and away the best cure for any problems I face. And now? I’m facing the problem of a lack of sleep, and a lack of entertainment because I’m lying alone in our bed.” Much more Hailey like. Even slipped in ‘our’ when referring to her bed, which she knew would make Hana’s heart flutter.

Even in the dark of night, Hana went noticeably red in the cheek; in that brief moment she was positively radiant with her smile. All it took was the simple, earnest compliment. Given the situation, with Hana being woken up and surely not exactly in a presentable state, hearing Hailey proclaim how pretty she found Hana was truly genuine. And even if her hair was a mess or whatever bit of morning nightmare she looked like, her smile was surely proof enough that Hailey wasn’t simply blowing smoke. Her smile lingered and ended with a pleasant gasp when Hailey let slip the ‘our’ word. It hadn’t even been a week but already they had things that they shared. Their bed. Their relationship. Hana could think of many things that she would love to be ‘their’ thing and chief among them was their happiness.

”Do you want me to sleep on the floor? I didn’t bring a sleeping bag and...our bed is very comfortable.” Now it was Hana’s turn to use the ‘our’ word and she had to admit: it sounded great. Hana reached over and put a hand onto Hailey’s shoulder and stroked her fingers down Hailey’s arm in a light massage. ”Do you need me to sing you a lullaby? Get you a drink? What can I do?”

Hailey eyes fluttered shut as she felt Hana’s hand on her arm. “Mmmm, like that.” She murmured, shifting a little in the bed to get herself more comfortable. Then she shook her head, “No, absolutely not. You stay in the bed.” Hailey said, leaning forward and kissing Hana on the forehead. Of course she didn’t want Hana to get out of the bed, that would ruin the whole purpose of a sleepover.

“No, you don’t have to do anything of those things either. I just want to talk.” Hailey explained, again running a hand through Hana’s hair, “you’re not very good at keeping yourself secret, did you know that? The girl from this morning, Kit or whatever — she totally knows who you are now. When were you going to tell me you’re an internet celebrity? Here I was, thinking you were just a video game hobbyist.”

Talking. Hana wasn’t sure if she should be afraid or not. Whenever someone said to their significant other that they need to talk it was more often than not bad and Hana braced for the worse. Maybe Hailey being unable to sleep had given Hailey time to think and decide that Hana wasn’t girlfriend material or something. Hana desperately wished that wasn’t the case, she wasn’t sure of many things in life but she was sure she wanted to be with Hailey even for one more day.

When the topic of conversation presented itself, Hana let out a deep sigh; to Hailey it might have sounded like Hana was sighing in the knowledge that her ‘secret’ was out but it was, in fact, Hana letting out a sigh of relief. Why was she even worried? Hailey had not only just given Hana a kiss to the forehead but had said how pretty Hana was. Her worry was misplaced and misguided, and the feeling of her girlfriend’s hand in her hair was incredibly comforting. No wonder dogs had a habit of seeking out pets.

”I am just a hobbyist. A hobbyist that...that kinda takes the genre seriously. I thought if you knew about my hobby that you’d think I was weird. I know, it’s...it’s stupid but it’s not really an easy topic to bring up, especially to someone you love.” The word slipped out without Hana even realizing it, a perk of the rather candid nature of the late night, early morning conversation.

Hailey shook her head to dismiss Hana’s concerns of it being stupid or weird, “actually, it’s the opposite. I think it’s admirable how you’ve built a following all on your own; not many people succeed. Even if you aren’t mega popular, like some of the superstars out there… it’s still impressive.” Hailey paused and tipped Hana’s head back, by pulling on her hair, before leaning in to take a kiss. After she broke away, Hailey looked down at Hana. Maybe it was the lowlight from the TV, maybe something was really there, but…

It seemed like Hailey’s eyes were sparkling. “Besides, you’re my superstar.” She purred, before releasing her hold on Hana’s hair. “Here, show me your channel. I want to see how clickbait-y my girlfriend is, so I can judge you harshly.” Hailey teased, grabbing her tablet from the side of the bed and pausing the anime, navigating to YouTube before she handed it over to Hana.

“And anything else you make… like maybe whatever story you mentioned working on? I saw you writing something, and I didn’t have time to pry.”

Hailey had an uncanny ability to make Hana agreeable and eager. Sometimes it was a perfectly delivered kiss or the choice of words; and sometimes it was both, like in this instance where Hana was practically melting in the bed from the combo of kiss and flattering flirtatious line. Before that, Hana would have been fine never showing Hailey her channel but now? Now it was something she was excited to do, even if it exposed a little bit of the dark side of creating content on the internet. As Hana typed in her channel name, the video titles might not have been all the way clickbaity, but the video stills were victim to the ‘all caps and exclamation mark’ curse. Titles like ‘After 100 Runs FINALLY A Legendary!’ were not that uncommon. The only thing that was missing was Hana’s face pretending to be excited, but her videos were voice over only over the video game footage.

The majority of it was MMO content with fully recorded guild runs for posterity. Hana was about to click over to a video when she froze in place, save for the gentle, subtle shaking of her fingers.

”S...Story? You...you heard me? Oh...Uhm...that’s...that’s not on Youtube, that’s on...on my blog.” Hana had to exhale before continuing. Like a band-aid. Quick. ”On my blog I...uhm...I write lemon fiction. Slash mostly but...lemon nonetheless. My most recent story is...is about a poor common girl having a...whirlwind romantic affair with….with a queen. A queen with beautiful jet black hair and perfect lips.” Was she laying it on thick? Perhaps, but it made Hana smile to recall all the same.

“A queen? Well, I wonder who that could be…” Hailey teased, booping Hana on the nose with her index finger. “So in the story… Does the Queen give the girl a necklace? Maybe one with a gem?” She asked softly, sliding her finger down from Hana’s house, and across her lips. From there, she traced along Hana’s chin. She was barely touching Hana, moving her finger as if it were a feather as she dragged it down on her neck, and to the sapphire heart hanging on the end of Hana’s choker necklace, gently toying with it.

“And then, does she lean forward, like this,” Hailey leaned to Hana’s ear, breathing intentionally slowly and heavily, bathing Hana’s neck and ear in her hot breath. “Does she do this, too?” She spoke in a soft and sensual whisper, as she leaned even closer, kissing the nape of Hana’s neck lightly. “Before she says…” She brought herself up ot Hana’s ear again.

“I love you.”

It was almost as if Hailey had read the story, either that or she was just incredibly perceptive. Or maybe Hana was just obvious. It didn’t really matter given that Hana was tingling at even the teasing touch of Hailey’s finger. It was like ice down her spine and the tease was worth every moment. Every motion made Hana practically salivate, made Hana quiver and gasp, her lips unable to press together in favor of letting breaths of air escape from their parted position.

Hana’s eyes lowered and her skin was awash in goose flesh. The questions were likely rhetorical but even if they weren’t Hana would have answered yes to all of them. For a writer, though, words weren’t forming in her head as Hailey teased ever closer. The warmth of Hailey’s breath drew a quivering gasp that served as a reminder that Hana was truly, utterly, and deeply Hailey’s.

And when Hailey said those three words that Hana never thought she would hear from anyone, she didn’t hesitate. As much as she felt like a deer in headlights, as much as she felt like her heart was about to grow three sizes and beat so hard it popped out of her chest, as much as she would’ve done anything for Hailey in that moment, she seized the opportunity. Hana stole inwards and kissed Hailey like they hadn’t kissed in years. Hana kissed Hailey with a loving intensity that came with the underlying belief that if Hana let go then Hailey would slip away forever. And yet it was Hana that still broke the kiss, eyes flickering in response.

”Yes….she does.”

A highschool boat party, what could be better? Sure, it was on a Tuesday night, which was far from ideal… and Val had to lie to her parents to attend this event, which she really didn’t like doing either. Lying to her parents, that is, not attending events. She was only fifteen and she really didn’t have any business being at a drunk fest at sea, but everyone else was going, and that meant her crush would most definitely be there too. Not to mention, it was a party at sea, which was Valerie’s favorite place to be.

As far as Val’s parents were concerned, she was having a sleepover at her good friend Mallory’s house, since they could stay up late with tomorrow being a late start day at school and all. It was the perfect alibi, especially because Mallory’s parents were cool and would cover for her if her parents called them. Said cool parents were also the ones that drove Mallory and Val to this party, and would be driving them back to their house afterwards to make sure the girls were safe and able to make it to school the next day. The Sheffields, Mallory’s rents, were liberal folk, the kind that believed that the best way to raise their children was to let them experience the world without censorship, to live and learn from the mistakes that they might make, which was why they trusted the girls to attend this fiesta. They were good girls, they could be trusted to make at least halfway decent decisions.

Valerie’s decision making was currently lying in the bottom of one to many glasses of coke and vanilla vodka. That is to say, she probably couldn’t make a good decision to save her life at this point. Thanks to her heritage, Valerie was a lightweight, and right about now she would be rocking the so-called “asian flush” if not for her darker complexion. The amount of her intoxication could only be seen through her eyes, drunken swagger, and slurred speech.

Drunk or not, Val was still doing her best to rock the dancefloor. The DJ was spinning a fly hip hop tune that she could shake what her momma gave her to. When the beat dropped, so did she, taking her toned backside down to the floor and twerking her way back up to a standing position. Val was wearing acid washed jean shorts over a back crop top bikini, which revealed her still-secret turquoise anchor belly ring, and the tassels of her bikini top swung around as she spun on the dancefloor. Valerie had started the night off a little bit chilly, but she had since worked up a sweat, as beads of it were now trailing down her back.

The best way to cool down would be to take to the water. As much as she loved the ocean, Val recognized her own inebriation enough to decide that jumping overboard wouldn’t be wise. Instead, she wandered off the dancefloor in search of the pool. She’d heard about there being a pool. A pool on a boat, what fun!

The scent of rosemary and sage wafted throughout Dahlia’s bedroom. The girl sat at her writing desk along with a set of three lit cream-colored, unscented candles of different heights, as well as a carved incense tray depicting a circle of psychedelic-looking mushrooms meant to mimic faerie ring, at the center of which the source of the fragrant aroma was smoking.

On the desk before her, Dahlia was scrolling out notes on a tablet. Dahlia valued the art of handwriting, and preferred to write most of her essays, blog posts, and other assignments in this manner. The tablet translated her beautiful script handwriting into digital typeface document on her computer in real time using a wireless connection. Doll paused in her writing to reference the two open hardcover books on astrology to her left, tracing her index finger along the pages and nodding to herself as she read. She was still learning the star-based occult science, and she frequently sought out reference material to ensure that she was putting out the best and most accurate predictions that she was capable of. Dahlia Rothstein was nothing if not a respectable, studious witch.

After writing a few more lines in her project, Dahlia sat back in her office chair and studied the wall in front of her desk. On that wall, there was a screen that currently depicted last night’s starry sky. Dahlia flicked her wrist in the air and the screen switched to sky of the night before last. She pondered for a moment, contemplating the constellations, and then flicked her wrist again to go back to the previous night.

Wooden beads rattled as someone passed through her bedroom door, followed by a soft knock on the door frame. Dahlia looked up from her writing, a dark chestnut curl that had been tucked behind her right ear came loose as she did so. Upon seeing the guest in her hippie-style beaded doorway, she offered up a soft smile. “Hi papá,” she greeted loud enough to be heard over the native-inspired flute music that was playing through the sound system in her room.

Judah scanned the area, taking in the full scene, before smiling at his oddball daughter. “Going full Brujita tonight, huh?” He remarked in a teasing tone.

Dahlia responded with a shrug and a grin. “Aren’t I always? ...what’s up?”

Her father made his way over to her bed and sat down at the corner of it comfortably. “I was just coming to see if you were home. I figured you might be hanging out with Brian since he’s back, Ryan said he was throwing some big party tonight. Why aren’t you there?” Judah asked, tilting his head curiously.

“You knowww I don’t like parties, papá,” Dahlia responded, spinning her rolling chair around so that he could see the way she rolled her eyes at the statement. Alcohol wasn’t her thing, and there was sure to be a lot of drinking at the impromptu Helmsley bash. If she wanted to hang out with her fellow wealthy weirdo and childhood friend, she could do so another time, under more preferable circumstances.

“Yeah, yeah, I know… sometimes I question if you’re even my daughter.” Judah said jokingly.

Doll crossed her arms saucily and smirked. “Maybe I’m the milkman’s, wouldn’t that serve you right?”

Her father’s eyes narrowed as he considered the implication that Mia had slept with someone else to produce his beloved Brujita. Mia would never, she knew better, even if he didn’t follow his own demands for monogamy. “We never had a milkman, you’re my little girl, for better or for worse.” He stood up from his perch on Dahlia’s bed to go look over her shoulder. “Whatcha working on?”

“My first week of January’s horoscopes for the school newspaper. I have to turn them in to Trixie tomorrow afternoon.” Dahlia explained as she rolled back around to face her desk once again.

“Ahh… you sound busy. Too busy to join me for burgers and shakes at the Diner, then?” Judah asked in a tone that very much sounded like a sleazy salesman to offer up a deal that she ‘absolutely could not refuse’.

Dahlia smiled wide, because that was a pretty decent offer. The Sunshine Diner had the best non-dairy black raspberry shakes, and her father knew that they were her favorite She was also incredibly hungry after working for so long, brain power could really burn calories, so a burger sounded divine right then. “Never too busy for that, papá!”

Henry found himself to be pretty relaxed, all things considered. Between the cocaine, the sudden rush of feelings for Min-seo, the pressure being applied from Brian to make him do this stupid ass speech thing, and wondering why the helicopter had just flown away, Henry should have been pretty stressed. He didn’t feel stressed, though. Instead, he was chill. He was sitting on the stage where the speech would take place, wearing the glove given to him by Brian. The glove was a little tight on his hand, but he didn’t mind. Like everything that was on the upgraded boat, the glove had turned out to be an interesting piece of technology. By moving his fingers, Henry found that he could control the lights on the floor. He was entertaining himself by trying to move his hand fast enough to draw a cock and balls on the floor.

Neither had worked quite yet, as the lights seemed to fade after following his motions. Sort of like a sparkler, but on a much larger scale. This didn’t stop Henry, who was determined to get at least one of them right. On the floor in front of him, a small crowd had gathered, and were watching his attempts to get the drawing down on the floor. As he got close, they cheered, but when the writing disappeared, they sighed in disappointment.

Henry’s mic was on, but he’d been completely silent for the past while as he made his attempts. Henry’s tongue was hanging slightly out of his mouth as he concentrated, trying to get it down, when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Thinking it was Brian giving him the go ahead to start talking, Henry pulled his phone out and checked the text message. It was indeed from Brian, but the contents of the text message were not what he expected.

From: B-Rye

If you use your index and middle finger, the lines won’t disappear until you make a fist.

This changed everything! Henry stood up from where he’d been sitting, and held out the two fingers, looking like he was making some kind of finger gun as he carefully guided the lines on the floor. Unlike when he’d used to just his index finger, the lines stayed. This time the color of the lines was almost like a tye-dye, as Henry went about his drawing.

He got closer than ever before, and the crowd started to get excited, and when he sealed the deal by drawing a few droplets spraying out of the package, the crowd exploded into cheers as Henry took a bow, still holding the fingers out so the drawing didn’t yet disappear, grinning to himself.

Nice.

When Kit ran off to do whatever it was she did when lacking in supervision, Min-seo had to come to terms with the simple fact that she didn’t know where the speech was taking place. Of course she wanted to be there, her boyfriend was in charge of it and she had to support him in this; plus she had promised to meet up with him after girl talk. And while the girl talk had definitely given Min-seo some insight on how to be a better girlfriend, she couldn’t put any of it into practice until she actually found the stage or her boyfriend. One would lead to the other.

The freshman transfer student wandered, realizing for the first time since her arrival that she wasn’t walking hand-in-hand with Henry. While she wasn’t afraid or anything, it just went to show that she was deeply and utterly lost. This boat was kind of big. All she could do was head to where she assumed a speech would be made. Somewhere open, big enough to host a stage and an audience. She got lost on the way, at some point winding up back where she and Henry had gotten a room, but that just meant she could retrace her steps. It didn't take much longer given that she was able to follow to the sound of a cheering crowd that sounded like the tide, cheering and rolling out in disappointment.

The crowd didn’t factor into much. Min-seo made her way to the side of the stage and up the stairs and, hoping she could get the jump, put her hands over Henry’s eyes, with a smile that was as playful and cute as she could muster. ”Guess who, oppa?”

Henry’s hand closed into a fist again after he felt someone cover his eyes, and the crowd’s cheering died out as the endgame drawing disappeared. While he wanted to at first be snarky and yell at whoever it was that ruined his drawing, when he heard Min’s voice, he melted a little bit and instead turned around and kissed her right on the beautiful smile she’d wanted to surprise him with. “Is it my Ducky?” He asked, looking down at her expectantly as he waited for an answer, looping his arms around her waist.

So this was what being a boyfriend was like, huh? He could live with this, at least for a while.

Min couldn’t be disappointed in the answer, she had made it easy after all, plus it came with a kiss which she was happy to receive and reciprocate in kind. She threw her arms around Henry’s middle in a hug and put her head to rest on his shoulder. It was a rather idyllic moment and one Min would have been happy to let sit but she recalled the other reason why she was so eager to get back to Henry - and it wasn’t just because he was her boyfriend. ”Oppa…” She asked, turning her head to look Henry in the eyes. ”I have...important question.”

She knew if she hesitated she probably wouldn’t be able to muster up the courage. She was just going to have to ask. ”Do you...want...blowjob?” The word almost escaped her but she was able to pull it back and ask, nodding like what she asked was as normal as could be.

The response to Min’s question didn’t come from Henry, at first, but instead it was an echo of her own words, from stating she had an important question on. Henry’s mic had realized that he (or someone very near to him) was speaking, and had happily transmitted the question across the large speakers set up near the stage.

Henry couldn’t help himself. While he knew that he should have probably been the utmost supportive and immediately defense of his girlyfriend, before the people who heard the question could be rude to her, he couldn’t help himself by smile. It was a silly, embarrassing situation, but that’s kind of what made it funny. Henry had a dumb smile on his face as he looked down at her, before nodding. “From you? Yes, absolutely; more than I’ve ever wanted one. When and where?”

Fortunately for Min she didn’t seem aware of the fact that her question was broadcast for the gathered crowd and so her initial response was positive and excited. Unfortunately, the crowd wasn’t such that they could let such a comment go without comment. ”FOR FUCK’S SAKE NOT HERE, PLEASE.” The voice came from a rather tall girl in the crowd and the comment was met with laughter before the crowd saw fit to react.

A chorus of responses followed with the majority being people applauding or otherwise voicing their support. Min-seo’s smile disappeared as the reality of the situation set in and her face turned redder than a stoplight. She could think of doing nothing other than burying her face in Henry’s shoulder, because there was nothing closer to hide her embarrassment behind.

Oh no, she wasn’t taking it well. Henry had apparently chosen the wrong option of the two that had been present to him. He decided to do his best to right the wrong by wrapping his arms around her in a tight, protective hug, rocking her side to side on his feet. Behind him, the lights moved back and forth like a pendulum, which seemed to excite some of the crowd; a lot of them were pretty high. Henry took one of his hands and manually shut the mic ff before he kissed the top of Min’s head.

“Oh, baby. Don’t be upset, they’ll forget about it in like ten minutes. Well, Sam might remember it, but Sam’s harmless. I thought it was sweet of you to ask, it was just unfortunate that it happened, you know… with a live mic. The mic’s shut off by the way.” Henry kissed the top of her head again, before twisting it and shooting a look across the way at Sam. Play nice, you fucking Amazon.

From her convenient spot of being tall as hell, Sam was able to wordlessly respond to Henry’s glance in her direction. Sam lifted a fist and pantomimed a blowjob before also pretending to gag - and not in the way that made blowjobs better. She was not going to apologize for her comment; it was funny as hell. Besides, now everyone was gonna know that the transfer student was going above and beyond. Sam was perfectly willing to file this moment in her head, right next to the other embarrassing moments that she would absolutely use to he benefit in the future.

Min-seo on the other hand was somewhat reassured by Henry’s words; it still wasn't the ideal situation to have a bunch of her peers know that she was entertaining the idea. She was just glad she didn’t also get around to the second part of the question; the crowd didn’t need to know that Min was also about to have a science experiment by way of photographing the act. It was sweet of Henry to look out for her, though, and it only solidified in Min’s mind that Henry was a good boyfriend.

”After...after speech.” And Min-seo was a good girlfriend staying committed to the course.

Henry nodded, and grinned. This was going to be an awesome night! It didn’t seem like anything could go wrong, at least not for him. Sure, other people were probably having shitty nights, but he didn’t care! Out of sight, out of mind. What was in sight, and in mind, was Min and her lips and where they were going to be, if he got this stupid ass speech out of the way. What was he even supposed to talk about?

“Well, I guess I’m gonna turn around and circlejerk about how we’re better than Hailey and Hailey’s friends. Oh and the Weekend Warrior. Guess I’ll mention the school administration too. _{I’m gonna get expelled…}” Henry said, before finally releasing Min-seo from his grasp and turning around to face the crowd, pressing the mic on button. “Okay! If I could have your attention please. Brian traded me a four piece chicken McNugget to stand up here and give you guys one of the Elite speeches. Some people dig these, other people hate them. I don’t care, but let the record show, I always come through with the clutch for my friends.” Henry’s mic was on, the show was on, and whoever was there was gonna get to hear the spiel. Whoever wasn’t? Fuck ‘em, dude.

“You may be wondering why we’ve gathered you here today. If you look to the screens behind me, where I will now project a picture of Hailey, you will see why.” Henry took his phone out and hit a button, before holding the phone out to Min. “Can you hold this, lover?” He asked, before gesturing behind himself, toward a large, LED screen, which now had a giant picture of his sister’s face.

“This is Hailey. She’s my sister. What a lot of people don’t know, though…” Henry reached out with his glove, drawing on the picture as if it were in MSPaint or something to that effect. Slowly, he added a Hitler mustache, followed by devil horns, and a trident. “Is that she is literally worse than Hitler and the devil combined. Now, Hailey has it out for us — literally everyone. You, me, Min… the girl sitting on Sam’s shoulders. Sam herself. Damian. Brian. The Weekend Warrior. Hell, she even kinda has it out for Hana — it’s just a different kinda ‘it.’ Point is, Hailey is the Omen. She ruins everyone’s lives and is generally a cunt.”

Henry paused to take a breath, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry, this is kinda uninspired. I’m on short notice here. Damian would do a much better job, because he gets what the point is, I don’t really. But, in spite of the attempts from my sister, and the Weekend Warrior to take him down, Damian just keeps getting back up. He had to leave early tonight because of relationship problems; and that’s okay. He has his priorities, and rightfully so, Joy is higher than school politics. But Damian just has one thing that he wants, and that’s for everyone to be cool with everyone.”

“Unlike Hailey, unlike the Weekend Warrior, even kinda unlike some of us standing here, Damian just wants people to hang out and be friends. It doesn’t matter where you come from, we’re all equal, y’know? Just find some homies and be friends with them. Don’t let Hailey bring you down, and don’t let the Weekend Warrior make you hate everyone, either. Just be excellent, y’know, to each other. Thank you, speech is over.”

As Henry nodded, his phone started to ring, though he didn’t see it or hear it (it was on silent), Min would at least see it. It was a facetime call from his little sister — on the phone was a picture of Cyndi’s face, along with her contact name: ‘Other Sister (NOT HAILEY).’

Meanwhile, on top of Sam’s shoulders, Kit looked down at her friend. “From the way you complained about this, I thought it would be way more over the top!”

Sam was equally disappointed and glad that the speech didn’t go into the dangerously long territory, like a monologue or something equally as upsetting. The disappointment came because at least with a longer speech it would’ve made the karaoke gambit a lot more rewarding. When the most exciting thing about the speech was the fact that Henry’s China Doll was about to get a lesson in dentistry. ”They normally are. He’s thinking with his dick, dude. Let’s hope for his sake his nut isn’t as short as his speech.” Sam visibly shuddered as she said that, having officially talked more about Henry’s dick than she ever wanted to again.

Min-seo, who had enjoyed the speech even though she didn’t follow much of it, now looked down at the phone given to her. She blinked twice before waving to Henry, in so doing her thumb accepted the call. Min was in no position to chat, especially not with Henry’s sister, it was all she could do to capture Henry’s attention again. ”You have...call!”

Unbeknownst to her, Cyndi’s face appeared on the big screen. It was 10:30 am in South Korea, and once again, she was skipping classes, but today she had a legitimate excuse! She was packing to go home and she was so, so, so excited to tell Parker and her brother! More so Parker, because she usually picked up his calls. It was around 9:30 pm, and there have been times where Parker was with Henry this late. Why? Cyndi never really knew, but her brother had a distinct friend group that always seemed to be near him, or with his phone. It was a logical assumption that Parker would be with him, right now. To her surprise, though, she saw her brother’s face, staring at her.

Oh MY god!

As she fixed her ponytail, her phone held up by Min’s books on her desk, giving a good display of Min’s bedroom, with her ducky on the bed, and Cyndi’s suitcase open (on the bed as well), the youngest Green shined with the brightest smile, “Henry! Hi, Henry!” She was in her favorite pajamas, which had Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh on it. She loved Winnie the Pooh. Mommy always gave her the best gifts. “How are things??? How’s Min liking America? Where’s Parker?” If she knew everyone would see her morning self, Cyndi wouldn’t have called her brother.

Henry stared down at the phone in his hand, wondering why Cyndi seemed so surprised to be talking to him. She’d called Henry’s phone, who the fuck did she expect to answer? Someone not named Henry!? Henry didn’t answer the questions immediately, but he spoke after a few seconds of silence, “Min digs it, I think. We’re on a date, she and me. Parker is at home, and she best be in bed since it’s like… an hour past her bedtime. She lives with us now. Don’t tell either mom. Things are aight, I’m at a party, as you can see.” Henry took the phone from her and spinned it around so his sister could see the crowd.

“See? Anyway,” Henry clicked the camera back onto just himself, “what are you callin’ for? You don’t call that often, I don’t think.” Did she? Maybe she did. The truth was, Henry often wasn’t carrying his phone around, certainly not as much as he should have; Parker usually had it. Why didn’t she have her own phone? Henry didn’t know, and to be honest, he hadn’t really thought about it…

As he stood there, his face contorted a bit into a zoned out look as he thought about Parker and her lack of a phone. That would have to be fixed. Already, Henry had gotten a text about cookies, which didn’t pertain to him because he didn’t get any cookies, and it was directed at Parker. Yeah… they’d go get one in the morning. He, Min, and Kit could go to the store and pick one up. Suddenly, he noticed the open suitcase behind Cyndi. “What’re you packing for, exactly?”

Oh dear. How embarrassing. Henry was at a party and now Cyndi was frozen, in front of the screen. Everyone was looking at her… she was not dressed to impress. No make up. No fashion forward attire. NO BRA. This was truly catastrophic. Why was Henry so chill about it? No girl liked to be exposed to this extent. At least not her! Her happy-go-lucky demeanor suddenly shifted to shyness. Her heart picked up in rate and her cheeks felt hot. Too hot. “Um, well… you see.” She couldn’t even point out that she does call him, a lot, because now she felt like this wasn’t the time to tell her brother how excited she was to go back home. To tell him that mommy figured out how to keep Min there, while bringing her back, so they could spend more time together. “I, uh.” She was choked up and her anxiety was taking over.

“HAVE A WONDERFUL NIGHT! DON’T DO TOO MANY DRUGS, BYEEEEEE.” Cyndi’s face disappeared from the screen. Oh man. Her brother probably wasn’t going to react well to that. She’ll just tell him… another time, that she was coming home.

“Man the only kinda drugs I do is too many. Knock my picture of Hailey lookin’ like Satan off the screen for that kinda shit the fuck is wrong with her? Ain’t got nothin’ important to say then just send a gotdang text. Fuckin’ first Brian gonna call a dude on the phone to say ‘hey dude, bring my ass some greasy ass MacDonald’s because that’s what I, as the son of a gotdamn trillionaire, want as my first, real, all-American meal upon returning to my home country.’ Then this shit, little sis gonna call me up like 'yooo OH SHIT BYE.' Fuckin’ weirdos, whatever, man.” Henry rolled his eyes and dropped his phone back into his pocket. “Oh, yeah. Yo, shout out to my boy Yung Steve. Ay, keep it tight, my man.”

He looked over at Min, and shrugged. “We’re done. Do you wanna go back to the room?”

Min-seo hadn’t really been focused on the conversation between Henry and Cyndi, it was a sibling matter and really all Min could focus on was the fact that she was seeing her room again. It had only been a few months but it was nostalgic and if she didn’t think she had just found a reason to stay, seeing her room might well have tipped her over to the side of going back home.

Min-s eo turned to Henry, giving him a smile that seemed to deepen when she looked at him. Instinctively, because she had seen a vision of home, she moved to wipe away something in her eye but there was nothing there. Just the tiredness, if an excuse had to be made. ”Yes. Let’s go...home.” She meant the room, of course, but for some reason she had home on the brain.

And not even necessarily Korea.

Henry held out his still gloved hand to Min, before he had a sudden reminder of something he had promised Brian he would do. Press the button. Henry pulled his hand away and made a fist, reaching out with his hand and lightly tapping the button. For a second, nothing happened, and Henry even worried that he’d hit the wrong button. Then, very suddenly, all of the LEDs on the boat’s exterior and deck shut off, bringing to a darkness — Henry frowned, now bathed solely in the light of the moon, pulling Min closer to him in an embrace meant to protect her from whatever lurked in the night.

The lights came back on, but they quickly rushed across the floor and up onto the stage, gathering underneath the glove wearer, and dancing around Henry and Min, before there was a countdown. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2… Henry looked at Min, and winked at her. He had the vaguest inkling of what was going to happen: either the ship was about to sink itself, or Brian had fireworks set up.

In front of everyone, he seized the chance and went for it with no regard for human life, pressing his lips against hers in an undeniably passionate kiss in front of everyone. 1. Welcome, to the show. As Henry and Min kissed, there was the sound of music and fireworks going off, starting at the left and going counterclockwise around the entire boat. In the sky, they went off, exploding in large sparkles of different colors, each on a slight delay. Once the final one went off, the circle of fireworks happened again, going the other direction.

After the last one went off, Henry finally broke the kiss, only to hear one last firework go off, this one the biggest of them all. As it soared high into the air, Henry kissed her again, before it exploded high above the bay, ane he wrapped his arms around her tight, holding the kiss until the fireworks ended, and he finally broke apart. “Huh… so that’s what it does.”

Min-seo had heard the saying ‘feeling sparks’ but this was on a whole other level. Min heard the fireworks and from the corner of her eye she even saw them before she closed them, but they may as well have been a message from on high celebrating the relationship she had with Henry. Even though it wasn’t, when she would recount the details of her first kiss, this is the moment she would refer to because while it may not have been their first kiss, it was perfect in every other capacity.

”Oppa…” Min whispered as she placed her head against his side. It wasn’t Henry who was suddenly eager to return to the room, with Min pinching Henry’s shirt and thinking only of what was still to come for them tonight.

And without needing any further prompting, Henry looped his arm around Min’s waist and pulled her off of the stage and toward the room, where they could get some privacy.

Round two.