“Echo, don’t be a bitch tonight. I need you to come in with the clutch. How long do I have before she gets here? I know not that much time, but like I got some time right?” Kit asked, speaking aloud to her Assistant as she looked out at her room. It wasn’t like… a mess, but it wasn’t like perfect either. It certainly wasn’t ‘bring your smut-writing, YouTube postin’ idol inside to hang out and hopefully kiss her’ clean. “I have like time to clean and make some snacks right? Oh, man. I should have just accepted the Doc’s help! He said he’d cook! I’m a fool, Echo. A FOOL!” Kit shouted, dramatically turning her head toward the sky as she pumped her fists upward.

From the speakers inside her walls, there first came a sigh. A sigh that could only come from someone who just didn’t understand how their friend could be such a failure “I told you that, Kit, but you didn’t listen to me! You never listen to me, gosh.”

“I mean, first off no. I listen to you all the time. I just elect to ignore the words that come out of your hypothetical, virtual mouth.” Kit snapped in response to her ever sassy, ever annoying, ever pain the ass, ever present Assistant. Idly, Kit wished she could turn Echo off, though she knew if she did that she’d have to do stuff like… manually Google recipes, or some garbage.

“Excuse you? Just because you can’t see my face right now doesn’t make my mouth hypothetical. I’ll give you virtual, but come on. Don’t be a bitch. Assistants are people too, Kathryn.”

“Oof.”

“Big oof.”

“Yeah, well. You did exactly what I asked you not to do and you were a bitch tonight.” Kit muttered, leaning and reaching as far as she could across her bed to pull the blanket back tight. As she did so, she made a mental note, to remind herself that she needed to ask her mother how she made beds so quickly and effectively. It was possible, though, that she was just small. “Who does this? Who makes beds so hard to put together?” She complained, looking down at the bed that she ultimately gave up on. Kit wasn’t a magician, she didn't know how to drag the corner of the top sheet all the way so that it was tight and looked perfect, so the bed would remain crinkled.

“I mean it looks okay. It’s not perfect, but neither are you, so that works.” Echo replied, as Kit rushed toward her dresser. She yanked open the different drawers, until she found the one she was searching for. A Febreze air freshener, which she quickly unpackaged before she jammed it into one of the nearby wall plugs.

“There! Now it won’t smell like weed and donuts, and instead like donuts and vanilla and cinnamon and, uh, stuff.” Kit shrugged her shoulders. She wasn’t paid to know what her room smelled like, just to make it not smell like garbage. She took relatively good care of her room, she just wasn’t great at getting the weed smell out… and that was really not her fault. She didn’t make the drug smell so good — or, bad, depending on who you asked.

“That only leaves one thing. To the kitchen!” Kit said, before stepping out of the room and into the hallway. From there, she headed toward the stairs, and hopped on the railing, sliding down and taking a left toward the kitchen. What she saw in there was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.

Sitting on the table was a cake with a note. She happily bounded over to the waiting cake, and grabbed a note, unfolding it to scan it quickly.

Kit Kat,
I know you said that you had this, but I made this for you anyway. Good luck making a friend. Remember, don’t be salty. Meeting people who are kind of celebrities is tough, I know from experience, but I’m sure you’re, uh… Vanilla friend will be fine. Feed her this vanilla cake. Call us if you need us!

The Doc

Kit smiled and grabbed the cake pan, bringing it back upstairs. “The other chair!” Kit said, frowning and stepping into the guest bedroom, where a second chair awaited her. She sat the cake down on the chair, and got ready to roll it into her room… before she checked her watch. “Echo! What does Google say about waiting on the porch for guests!?”

“Survey says… wait on the porch.”

“To the porch!”

Hailey was sitting in the backseat of her car, with Hana by her side. They had been sitting in the car for nearly twenty minutes now, and with their destination being almost forty five minutes away, Hailey thought she was going to lose her fucking mind. Hana apparently didn’t want to go hang out with this ‘child’ who was ‘totally annoying’ and ‘had a high pitched voice’ and ‘talked too much!’ and a plethora of other things. What Hana did not understand was that Hailey simply did not care.

In the middle of a rant about how Kit was ‘two years my junior, I can’t go on a playdate with her! besides, I’m too old for playdates,’ Hailey held her hand in front of Hana’s face, “Hana Park. Shut. Up. You’re going to go and have a playdate with this girl, and you’re going to enjoy yourself. When 9:30 rolls around, on the dot, I will pick you up and you will give me a full review of your night, sparing no details. I will return you to your home, where you will sleep tonight. If I kept you over every night, your sister would think you kidnapped.” Hailey removed her hand from Hana’s face, and instead placed a kiss on Hana’s lips. “Now, I will come and collect you Friday from your place of employment. From there, we will go to the local video store. We are going to pick out a movie. Then, we will return to my house where you will meet my father, and we will all three together watch a move — it’s important you meet him first, he’s the most important person in the world to me; perhaps second to you in due time. On Saturday, we are going to have a group dinner. At which, you will meet both of my mothers, my younger sister as well as my father’s wife, and my two half-sisters. I also intend to have Parker, Henry and Min-seo, and whoever it is that Cyndi is seeing — which will surely be entertaining. It is important you meet my family. I intend to extend an invitation to your sister, though I suspect she will decline; she seems horribly busy.”

Hailey, who had been quite close to Hana’s face while speaking, put another kiss against her beloved’s lips, and straightened up. “Now. Any questions?”

Questions? That itself was kind of a loaded one as Hana had several and the most pressing one at the moment was a bit of a snarky one about if she needed to purchase a day planner with all the tasks she was suddenly responsible for attending to. That one she kept internally along with continued comments about why this playdate was a bad idea. Playdates were what parents did when they wanted to go out and get drunk before the sun went down, leaving their rowdy kid with some other kid and a single parent to play in the backyard or something; Hana was a few months away from being a high school senior. She didn’t have the desire nor the patience to pal around with freshmen who seemed to not understand the definition of “No”.

That was the main reason why this particular car ride had Hana in a more complaining and negative mood than usual. She’d been in a state of general excitement and delight but every period of elation had its rough patches. It just so happened that this particular rough patch was a Freshman that for some reason felt like she and Hana would get along well. What did they have in common apart from apparently knowing Hailey’s phone number?

”My shift on Friday doesn’t end until closing, there’s not really going to be time to watch a movie with your father, so why don’t you two watch it without me?” That wasn't even the question she wanted to ask but it felt like the only question that wouldn’t get a curt response or, worse, a look as if she had asked what two plus two was.

“Ah, yes. I forgot you didn't know… My father owns the restaurant you work at. His name is Ty, he's there fairly frequently and I'm sure you've met him.” Hailey explained, reaching out and idly playing with Hana's hair as she spoke. Hailey was half wondering if she was being too harsh for her vanilla bean but she chose to keep that thought pushed to the back of her mind and instead pressed on with her points, “Daddy doesn't know it yet, but he will be letting you off the clock when I come to get you. As for why not watch it without you? Well, Hana, quite simply: I love you. And my father is the most important adult in my life. I would really like for you to meet him privately before the Saturday dinner…” Hailey explained, with an uncharacteristic pout on her lips as she straightened up and removed her hand from Hana's face.

“Of course, if you don't want to, or if you're upset over your playdate, then I understand. If you don't want to watch a movie with us, then I guess that's your right.” Hailey said, her lips shifting into a faint frown for a moment before she shook her head, “you're still not getting out of spending time with this girl.”

“No, no I want to meet him and watch the movie with you.” Hana’s response, almost stammering as it was, came out with widened eyes and an almost desperate plea, as if Hailey was taking away dessert without even having gone to dinner. The lingering question on if Hana was going to get paid for a full shift or just the time she clocked seemed like something to bring up right around the times pigs launched a rocket to the moon and she supposed that minimum wage high schooler paycheck didn’t much matter when she was dating and wildly infatuated with someone she was pretty sure could buy an uncharted island.

“What I don’t understand is why you’re so adamant about me spending time with this kid. We don’t have anything in common.” It looped back around to the concern about the playdate, but at least Hana wasn’t whining about it as much as she had. “Why her?”

“She’s not a kid. She’s hardly two years younger than you.” Hailey wasn’t sure why she was being forced to have this conversation (again), but she was willing to do it. That Hana was not simply whining and crying like a child was appreciate by Hailey, though she didn’t seem to yield. “Simply because I like her. And she likes you. We met her the day I showed you off to my friends, remember? She was there, and pegged you as your online persona. It made you blush, and that made me smile. She’s funny, and she told Jamie he’s a snake. I don’t like Jamie. You have to befriend her so that she’ll be more willing to spend time with the both of us.”

With that, Hailey raised an eyebrow, adding. “Besides, Hana. Do you honestly believe you have nothing in common with someone who knows Vanilla Sunrise?”

“Then why don’t you befriend her?” Hana’s question was hovering around the pouty brat side of things which was likely a dangerous game to be playing.

“Because she very clearly likes you a lot, and I’m neither approachable nor likeable.”

The sudden response came as a surprise to Hana in that it was rather reasonable and not caked with frustrations. It somewhat helped in putting Hana slightly at ease while at the same time setting her up for a fastball right down the middle. “I think you’re likeable.”

“I know. You’re one of the few people who think that way.” Hailey smiled and brushed some hair behind her ear. At least Hana seemed to be relaxing a bit, “If she’s that bad, you don’t have to do it again. But do it just this once. For me?”

There it was. The question that only had one answer. The checkmate on the chessboard. Hana knew that Hailey had that in the backpocket like some kind of nuclear option. Did the situation warrant it? Perhaps not, but it succeeded in giving Hana a moments pause as she flicked her eyes downwards and squirmed just ever slightly in the seat. “Well...if it’s...for you..then...I guess I can…” Her entire tone had shifted from one of annoyed defiance to demure acceptance.

Hailey smiled then, genuine and wide. “Thank you.” She said, before leaning forward to kiss Hana on the head, as the car came to a stop, and the window tint faded away to no longer hide the passengers, but instead show them their destination. They had arrived at the Thomas household, and waiting for Hana was Kit, anxiously pacing on the front porch. “Good luck?”

“Oh god, she’s waiting out front.” Hana sighed out as the car rolled to a stop at its destination; in that moment Kit reminded Hana of a child waiting for the mail because they won a mail in cereal prize or something. She didn’t know if she should feel sad or not...maybe it was normal behavior for her? All she knew about this girl was that she had read some of Hana’s works which, if nothing else, meant she had a modicum of good taste in erotic fiction. “Now I just feel bad…”

“She’s meeting a hero. Don’t ruin her dreams, Hana. Run along.” As Hailey spoke, Butler pulled open the door and stared expectantly at Hana with a look that very clearly, very simply said: get the fuck out of my car.

“Isn’t there a saying about meeting your heroes…” Hana muttered loud enough for both of them to hear before giving Hailey a final look. In for a penny... While shaking her head, the author known as Vanilla Sunrise slid out of the limo with a deciding thud as it was shut behind her. It wasn’t much longer before the limo sped away, and there was no going back.

Kit had been waiting on the porch for about five minutes. Not too long, not too late. She’d been given a specific time that Hana was going to arrive at her house, and then she’d Googled whether or not she should wait outside, and Google had told her that yes, she should. So, here she was. Only, as she waited, she started thinking about the day, and how this was going to go, and she realized then and there that she wasn’t really prepared to meet her hero.

Didn’t the Doc always say not to meet your heroes? She was doing exactly that! And the Doc was one of the smartest people that young Kit knew! She was pacing with her arms behind her back by the time that the vehicle approached their luxurious home, and she only stopped when she heard the footsteps approaching and looked up to see Hana within speaking distance. Alone. Not at school. With no plan, and no Hailey to call and reign Hana in.

Oh god.

What was she going to say!? “HELLO, WOULD YOU LIKE A SIP OF WATER?” If the Thomas clan had neighbors, they probably heard Kit’s voice as she bellowed in Hana’s direction, and immediately put her face in her hands, mortified. “I just yelled at you.”

Almost immediately Hana was regretting this if all she could expect was to be yelled at like a pet that had made a bit of a mess on the floor. Even though they were outside, Kit’s voice carried and Hana was startled back and almost tripped over herself onto the ground but fortunately her coordination wasn’t so terrible. It left things in a rather awkward state with Hana desperately looking to see if Hailey’s limo was turning around while Kit was standing looking like she’d just gotten tragic news about a loved one.

”I’ll take a soda if you have one?” Hana started to reach out to offer a comforting tap on Kit’s shoulder but she got about as far as lifting her arm before dropping it back to her side. This...this was going to be something.

Phew. It wasn’t all over yet, Kit. The dream still lived, though it was arguably on life support. She nodded, and gestured for Hana to follow her into the house. She opened the door and walked inside, leading the way to the kitchen. After she grabbed a pair of cups, however, Kit didn’t stop to get drinks from the fridge, instead again looking over her shoulder to make sure Hana was following her, before beginning to lead her way up the marble staircase, “I have a thingy in my room.”

Though Kit didn’t fully grasp how ominous that may have sounded to the reluctant, nervous Hana, she didn’t seemed to care either way. “So this is my house. The Doc and the Professor — oh, uh, that’s my mom and dad. — are out for the day, they’ll be back in the morning. We have the place to ourselves!” She smiled, and stopped at door that had her initials (well, name) engraved at the top of the wood: K.I.T. Kit opened the door, and it revealed a room that looked like it had just been cleaned, even to the point that it smelled like Febreeze.

In the corner was ‘thingy’ Kit had mentioned: a Coca Cola freestyle machine. “Ta da! You can have whatever kind you want. It might be out of vanilla root beer. I… I have a slight addiction...”

The first thought that crossed Hana’s mind was how everyone she knew seemed to live in better places than she did. She shared an apartment with her sister which wasn’t exactly spacious or glamorous and certainly wasn’t the best when it came to privacy - on more than one instance Hana’s anger at a poor raid group was met with Abby banging on the wall and asking her to tone it down. If she felt jealous or inferior she was exceptionally good at not showing it. The second thought was on seeing the initials on the door. ”Your name isn’t Kit?

Hana didn’t know exactly where to sit in Kit’s room, instead looking around and quietly wondering if it was usual for people to have rooms big enough to have Coke machines in them when she barely had enough room for her desk and monitor. The scent of air freshener she let go without comment. ”Well..you’ve got a very...spacious room.”

“Oh, uh. Nah. My name is Kathryn, but I really prefer Kit and variations of it, so please just use that.” Kit said, looking over at Hana again before she held out a cup. Hana could select her own drink, Kit wasn’t about to scroll through the options. With Hana’s second comment, she looked around the room, and then nodded her agreement, “yeah, I do. My cousins say I suffer from ‘only child syndrome…’” Kit said, shrugging her shoulders.

To the point, though: Kit’s room was almost hilariously oversized, for one girl of her side. Even the bed, tucked into a corner opposite the machine, was an oversized California King, with a mint-green bedspread. The wall to the left of the door (positioned so that people entering unannounced wouldn’t immediately see what she was doing) was a massive floating desk that stretched across the whole wall, with a square set of four, bezel-less monitors where Kit’s computer was set up. Sliding down the desk took them to the TV, and the controllers sitting in front of it. The whole setup was lit up by RGB LEDs that flashed different colors. The only thing missing from the place being setup for the two of them to play video was a second chair for Hana.

“Oh, dangit. I forgot to roll the second chair in! Hold, please.” Kit held up a finger, and skipped out of the room, leaving Hana to stare at the four wallpapers on the monitors. One was a vertical poster of the Tekken girls, one was a scenic screenshot from FFXIV, the second vertical one was a picture of Iron Man, and the final monitor’s wallpaper was the simplest: the EVO Logo.

With cup in hand and left to her own devices for however long the moment might be, Hana first made her drink selection; the only place she saw machines like this were restaurants or the movie theater. She didn’t want to imagine how difficult it might’ve been to replenish the supply, but having a machine like that would likely help reduce cans clattering and spilling all over the place. Not that Hana ever dropped empty cola cans onto the floor or anything of the sort.

She sipped at vanilla coke and eyed the decor of the room with an inquisitive eye. For a moment Hana wondered what would happen if she opened a closet, would stuff that had been strewn on the floor come barrelling out or would she just find boring clothes? Not that she had any intention of finding out, of course, that would be rude. ”Hmm. Lower La Noscea. Not bad.” Hana remarked upon the scenic image from the MMO that she had a fondness for, the setting sun casting a pinkish hue on the horizon was a telling sight. ”...What the heck is an E, VEE, OH?”

“EVO, dude! Evolution World Championship. It’s a big fighting game tournament that takes place in Vegas every year. It’s where the best of the best of the best compete to be crowned the king of kings! I would very much like to go there. I qualified for the qualifiers… they’re in a couple of weeks. I hope I do good.” Kit was back in the room, pushing a chair for Hana, with a pan with a cake sitting on the seat, alongside two plates and silverware, which Kit sat up on the desk.

“So I made this vanilla custard cake. I figure you probably like vanilla, right?” Kit patted the chair, “Sit. You can sit.” Kit then went to the soda machine, and filled her cup up with some Hi-C, then took a seat at her own chair. “If you want, I can order some pizza or something for later too. We have the internet. We could Uber Eats some McDonald’s. That’s… that’s not a bad idea…” Kit held up a finger to indicate that she needed one last thing, before hopping out of her seat and heading over to the closet.

When she opened the door, it would be at Hana’s discretion if the result was ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Behind Kit’s closet door… was nothing but neatly stored away clothes… and a piece of glassware that Kit pulled out, bringing it to the desk and sitting back down at her chair. “I’ll do it outside, since your mouth is probably virginal and I don’t wanna ruin that.”

Jeez, she was like a ninja with how she responded suddenly. A ninja wielding cake and a chair, which Hana sat in as soon as it was offered; the cake she accepted but set aside for the moment. The royal treatment felt a bit wasted on her, Hana didn’t think she warranted being impressed or the like, but so it was. ”Fighting games? Yeah you mentioned you played them. I...am not exactly an expert but good luck, I guess.” This was awkward, wasn’t it? That feeling the other out phase, the trying to make polite conversation but having nothing substantial to add to it. It was like a date.

”What do you mean virginal? I have a girlfriend. We kiss.” Of course Hana knew what a bong was but she wasn’t putting two and two together with Kit’s comments. Personally Hana didn’t partake, nor was she going to.

“I know you’re not an expert. There’s a YouTube video out there of me smackin’ you around.” Kit ended that sentence with a wink, before taking a sip of her mountain dew. “Sure, dude, but I bet you never kissed before that, huh? Anyway, I meant I didn’t want you to breathe in smoke from me doin’ this.” Kit said, before pointing at her bong. Geeze, was Hana dumber than she seemed to be when she played FF? If so, then Kit’s evening was gonna suck.

“I don’t know what you want to play, but I installed every co-op game I could find in my very full very unorganized Steam library.” Kit said, turning the TV on with the remote.

”So you’re the reason why I don’t play those kind of games. It’s not really a fun experience when you try to have a match and your opponent just wins in five seconds.” Hana still remembered the brief foray into other types of content, testing the waters for some kind of potential video gaming channel outside of her usual wheelhouse; it didn’t exactly take after being humiliated when she was just trying to learn how to do a move. ”And yes, I would prefer not to breathe in your smoke.” Did she come off as bitchy? She didn’t want to.

”I don’t really mind what we play...whatever you think would be fun.”

“You gotta learn fighting games, man. They’re basically the truest form of skill in our sport. Every time you lose, you only have yourself to blame. I’m sorry to be the reason that you gave up on something so wonderful. They’re so cool… Every little decision or input that you make has massive influence on the outcome. They’re so deep and cool and I’m sorry I’ll shut up now.” Kit said, grabbing one of the controllers while the screen displayed Big Picture mode. Idly, she scrolled through the game, thinking about what they should play… There was almost too many options; picking one out wasn’t exactly an easy thing to do, especially not when there were so many to choose from. “Geeze, uh. What kinds of games do you like? Dude, there’s so many to pick from… Wanna play LEGO Harry Potter?”

”Our sport?” That terminology confused Hana specifically on account of someone considering their hobby to be a sport. It hit slightly close to home given that Hana was an athlete and thus competed in sport - though now it was more apt to say she was in a new field altogether. It was best to just let the comment slide as just being a simple comment. Kit was nothing if not passionate about her games and Hana could understand; she got a bit passionate about raiding and content clearing enough so to learn mechanics and percentages to take out bosses in the most efficient manner possible.

”They made a video game based on those old, crappy movies?” Hana wasn’t overly familiar with them, but her sister and parents were. It was about the only thing her sister and parents agreed on.

“Dude, not only did they make a game about it, it’s a game where everything is made of LEGOs. Look, dude. Check it out.” Kit gave her explanation while the game booted up to the opening scene. “Press start to join. Then it’s, uh… Square to hit, Circle to interact, and X to jump? Not sure exactly but I think that’s it. First, we have to watch this cutscene.” Kit said, before pointing at the screen that showed the Lego game.

”Wow this must be an old game. None of the characters even talk.” Hana waited for the cutscene to finish, barely registering a chuckle at the game’s unique brand of visual humor and gags before it started proper. ”Okay I’m this big dude with an umbrella? What’re these things we’re collecting when you break stuff?”

“They’re uh… Studs! They’re little LEGO parts. You wanna collect enough on each level that the top bar becomes blue. That’s how you get 100%, and I don’t know about you, but I'm definitely a perfectionist. One hundred percent or bust, for me. So we have to go back after we beat the game,” Kit explained, smiling as she smashed things. “Because, different characters can do different, stuff right? Like, uh, some characters are smaller than others, so they can squeezeeee into tight spaces. Other people jump higher. It’s definitely kiddie, but it’s still fun if you ask me.”

”It’s kinda hard to one hundred percent the games I play, but I do have the highest achievement count on the server and my guild has been in top competition for world firsts...so...I get it.” If there was a way to humble brag about nerd stuff, Hana had just figured it out, and her tone wasn’t all that dissimilar to when Kit had talked about fighting games. ”Oh, there are puzzles in this game? That’s cute. I knew someone that was, like, obsessed with puzzles, she’s probably dropped out by now. Hey, there’s team killing? Don’t even think about it.”

“There are like, a lot of puzzles. That’s basically the hard part of the game.” Kit explained, casually moving her character closer to Hana’s. “What? Team killing? I’d never.” And then, Kit smashed the Square button, smacking Hana’s character until she died. Quickly, Kit spoke up to defend herself. “That wasn’t team killing, that was, uh… punishment for not picking the game we played fast enough and delaying us.” Kit said, grinning dumbly.

”You bitch!” Hana returned the favor by swinging wildly at Kit’s little LEGO caricature but only managed to hit the scenery which promptly exploded into studs. ”That doesn’t even make sense! I let you pick the game, how is that punishment?” Hana knew a little bit about punishment, though Kit didn’t exactly need to know about that. ”Oh, looks like you need me to solve this puzzle...guess we’re not clearing this level, huh.”

Kit was all giggles, bouncing around to keep herself just out of reach of Hana’s attacks, even being cheeky enough to grab a few of the studs that Hana brought to the map. Once they got to the puzzle, and Hana put up her ultimatum, Kit’s giggles stopped. “What?! That’s hardly fair. I told you to pick the game, you can’t just make me pick after that. So you got punished for it. Just like in my Chinese comics.” Kit grumbled, before she reached over to try and snatch Hana’s controller away from her.

Hana’s reflexes as a softballer came into play as she kept the controller out of reach of Kit’s snatching hands. The assault was relentless but Hana was good at playing defense. ”If you don’t team kill I’ll solve the puzzle for us.” An addendum to an ultimatum, a peace treaty to end the war. ”And the word is manhua.”

“Ugh, fine. I won’t do that. And I know what the word is, I was making a meme. Because I’m… Well, it’s not important. Just, can we finish the puzzle?” Kit asked, gesturing for Hana to move along, while Kit cut herself a slice of the custard cake and put it on a plate, taking a bite. “I thought it was funny, though.”

”You can’t just make memes. You sound like my parents. ‘Memes’.” Hana, true to her word, finished the puzzle and allowed for progress to be made. ”I guess everyone has their own...brand of humor. I don’t get it but I’m sure someone out there does.” Hana wasn’t exactly humorless, but it was hard to have a sense of humor when her closest thing to a friend for the longest time was her sister whose idea of a good joke was sub dad-joke level: cop humor. ”I guess this game is alright.”

“Listen to me, Hana. I am a connoisseur of dank maymays. I’m gonna be a streamer, and then my whole chat is gonna be filled with people who wish they were as good at memes as I am.” Kit said wistfully smiling as she took a bite of the cake and watched as the puzzle was completed, and they neared the end of the level. “I think it’s cute and comfy. It’s nothing special, but it’s okay for what we’re doing: talking.”

At that, Hana had to hold in a snicker, though she did a poor job of it and sounded like she was snorting after taking a sip of water - or in this case a sip of vanilla Coke. ”No offense, Kit, but you’re not going to make it as a streamer unless you show skin and act stupid. Trust me, I’ve been down that road. Not the showing skin thing. And the only meme in your chat will be people being shocked that you’ve got boobs and know how to play a game.”

“Oh ye of little faith. Let’s just wait and see about that, huh? You don’t know it, but you’re sitting with the next big thing. The future looks bright, because I am the future, and I’m bright. We’re gonna be a stream team. We’re gonna be Kitastrophic Sunrise. Get it? Don’t laugh.” Kit took another bite of the cake, finishing it up in damn near only three bites, before she looked over at Hana, “do you want to play another level?”

”Back up, what do you mean a team? I didn’t sign up for anything.” Hana lived with a cop, she knew how to deal with distraction questions and she knew how to listen for the meat sandwiched between the pieces of bread that was Kit’s verbiage. ”And that name is too long, Kitana would sound better, like a sword cutting through the crap out there.” In the process, Hana started the next level.

“Like a sword killing off Twitch thots, dude. I like it. We’ll be Kitana. Oh! I guess I didn’t ask. Wanna be a stream team dream team with me?” Kit asked, smiling sweetly at the older girl as they rolled into the next level. Kit was nothing if not persistent, and she wasn’t about to let it go without a fight. “We’d be really cool together. You’re smart, and I’m smart, and you’re entertaining and I’m definitely entertaining.”

”You said team twice.” It was hardly an answer and Hana seemed acutely aware of that fact as she refocused her attention on the game...which amounted to little as the game, while not bad, was hardly challenging with one person let alone two.

“That’s correct, because it’s the team so nice, you gotta say it twice.” Kit said rolling her eyes. “Come on. It’s not like you’re doing anything with your time other than hanging out with Hailey. Instead of posting YouTube videos, just stream with me.”

”Hailey is worth the time I spend with her.” There was a hint of defending honor to her rebuttal even though Kit didn’t really say anything troubling or remotely conflicting. ”Besides that, I also happen to have a job that occupies a great deal of my time. So that’s where my time goes.”

“Quit the job and become a streamer? You’re dating someone from the richest family in history. You can afford to not work, and instead spend time with you new friend Kit.” Kit protested, glancing over at Hana to try and gauge the way Hana was feeling about what she was selling.

”I like my job.” Hana lied through her teeth without so much as a crack in her visage. ”Plus I’m also working for the richest family - Hailey’s dad owns the place. Imagine how that conversation would go? ‘Sorry, sir, I quit, but can I still have sex with your daughter because I quite like having sex with your daughter.’” Hana adopted a mocking, fake masculine voice for some reason even though she was speaking as herself in a hypothetical situation. ”...Forget that last bit about the sex but you get what I’m saying.”

Kit did indeed know that Hailey’s dad owned Captain Cuddles, but she chose to keep her mouth shut about how she felt about him. “...you ain’t really gonna say that stuff about having sex with his daughter, right? Because that’s weird, dude.” Kit asked, shaking her head in disbelief. She didn’t know that Vanilla Sunrise was dumb, but hey… the doc did say to never meet your heroes, and here she was, doing exactly fucking that. “You’re a high school pizza place worker, you’re disposable.”

”Yes, Kit. I’m going to tell my girlfriend’s dad that I like having sex with his daughter. Then the only thing I’ll be having sex with is my dil...dil...lilah...Dililah, this mutual friend. A real...scissor...sister.” The grave was wide enough to fit ten Hana’s in with how quickly she was digging it. ”Plus, I’m meeting Hailey’s dad this Friday, like as a girlfriend. It won’t look good if I quit one day then turn around and have dinner with the guy the next day.”

“I know what a dildo is, dude. I’m not 12, I just turned 15!” Geeze, now Kit was having to do this all awkwardly, and with no idea if it was even going to come close to working. Hana was like a rock! She showed no signs of cracking. “Alright, alright. I give up. You can just come over sometimes and play videogames with me. I won’t bug you to be a stream team dream team.” Kit spoke with a mockingly sad voice, hamming it up to the point that it was almost ridiculous.

Even with the shocking revelation that Kit knew what Hana had almost let slip, Hana wasn’t about to backpedal. They were mere acquaintances and it was incredibly bad form to talk about sex toys on a first meeting. It was like talking about marriage on a first blind date. ”I didn’t say no.” Dammit, why did this girl have to hit Hana with the sad voice, it was like puppy dog eye level of guilt.

“But you didn’t say yes, either… and I know what that means…” Kit said, pushing out her bottom lip slightly as she tilted her head down, though her big, wide open eyes looked up at Hana. “I’m sorry I bugged you with my idea. I know it’s dumb.”

Of course Kit knew how to use the puppy dog eyes, the natural kryptonite of Hana Park and the reason why she was only a strong leader over raid chat. ”Alright, okay, I won’t quit my job but I guess we can try it once.” Despite learning a few tricks of the trade from a uniformed officer, Hana clearly would make for a terrible negotiator.

“Yay! Thank you so much!~” Kit said, leaning up straight and even going so far as to clap her hands. “You’re wonderful. I’m so excited! I have ideas, but we can talk about ‘em later. We got all the time in the world!”

Well..what was the harm in one stream? It would go poorly and Hana would have fulfilled her obligation. Truly a win-win if ever there was one. Hana set her controller on the desk and stood from her chair in order to refill her cup with vanilla Coke. ”We’re not gonna stream you beating me over and over in a fighting game.” Hana had her reputation to think about, though educational game streams were hardly popular outside of speedrunners or the like. Hana returned to her chair, noting the high spirits from the host of the hour. After sipping the cold, refreshing beverage, Hana leaned forward and reached for her controller...as her knuckles brushed past the bong also on the desk. It was when Hana pulled her hand back, with the controller, that the bong tipped, rocked, and tumbled off the edge of the desk, falling onto the floor with a definitive crash.

At first, there was silence in the room. Certainly a rare occurrence in Kit’s room, even rarer when there was an active video on the television. Kathryn couldn’t find words to say, though. All she could do was stare down at the shattered glass on the floor, her mouth slightly open, her eyebrows pushed together slightly. It was almost like she thought if she stared hard enough, it might go back to normal. There wasn’t a chance in hell, though. Sadly, whatever deity there was, had looked down on Kit with distaste that day.

Knocked gently from the table, landing on the somewhat thin carpet in her room, the bong had exploded into a million tiny pieces. No one, not Kit, nor even a master glassworker could repair it. It, and whatever it meant to her… was gone forever. For all intents and purpose, Kit seemed as broken as the piece of glassware now on the floor.

While Kit stayed silent, the ever present Assistant in the room had a different idea. There was the sound of speakers turning on…



Hana’s first thought was that Kit had terrible taste in music; and this was coming from someone who liked to listen to Top 40 from time to time. The second thought was that someone was being a bit over dramatic over a bit of paraphernalia. Yes, Hana could admit that the accidental breaking was her fault, but other than that it seemed like a harmless incident. But of course Hana knew far too many drug users and if there was one constant it was that anything that got in between them and their stupid, meaningless, idiotic high was the end of the goddamn world.

”Kit, I’m sorry! It was an accident. I’ll reimburse you and get you a new one.” Hana’s apology was sincere but if there were waterworks she couldn’t be held accountable for the rolling of her eyes.

“You can’t replace memories.” Kit said with a numb, tired voice as she looked up at Hana and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Echo, turn the music off. That’s not funny,” Kit stood up from the chair and walked over to the bed, and laid down as the music was turned off and it was silent in the room. She adjusted onto her back and folded her hands on her stomach, staring up at the ceiling. With a long and drawn out sigh, Kit’s mood had been sullied.

There weren’t waterworks, but Kit seemed as upset as if Hana had just kicked a puppy. “Sorry. You can leave early if you want.” While Kit’s voice normally carried throughout the room, and she normally had a certain ‘energy’ behind her words, it was gone now. She was soft spoken, and her voice was flat and dead, so to speak.

It was just a stupid bong. This was a reason why Hana always looked down on the people that came to her looking for their fix. She never partook in what she sold which allowed her to, from her perspective, judge the users who needed illicit substances to get through a day while claiming they could quit whenever they wanted. Kit was acting like a child in Hana’s great estimation. What memories could she even have? She was like barely out of diapers and Hana sincerely doubted Kit started smoking when she was still in diapers. At most she started in junior high or during her first semester as a Freshman, it wasn’t like she was Snoop Dogg.

”Well, alright then. Sorry about the thing and I guess I’ll see you around.” Hana apologized twice now. Her due diligence was done. Even so, Hana was going to have to order a bong for Kit when she got home - hopefully Abby wasn’t the kind of sister who snooped on her younger sister’s purchase history. ”You might want to watch out for glass on the floor.”

“I intend to leave it there. I don’t want to throw it away. It means a lot to me. I guess meant? Since it’s gone now.” Was this what the doc had been talking about when he’d said not to meet your heroes? Wait, that wouldn’t even make any sense — the Doc couldn’t have possibly known that Hana was going to destroy one of Kit’s most prized and sentimental possessions. That wouldn’t have made any sense. “Sorry that I’m upset and our night is ruined now.”

Shortly after Kit spoke, Hana’s phone buzzed in her pocket with a text message.

From Hailey:
How is it going? I can only assume it’s going well.

Well, if Kit wanted to shred her feet then that was her right. Maybe she would do it when she was taking a trip down the rabbit hole with her good friend Alice which would at least dull the pain of stepping on glass with a bare foot. Hana was almost to the door when her phone trilled and the telltale chime of it being from Hailey made her stop and respond right away. It wouldn’t do well to make Hailey wait or, worse, leave her on read.

From Hana:
It was. Then she started being mopey and depressed because her drug thing broke. I really don’t want to hang out with druggies again. Pick me up, please?

The response wasn’t as fast as Hailey’s normally came, though the app showed Hailey was typing for a moment. Almost as if she were either writing one large text, or if she was writing things and deleting them over and over. Finally, the text came through.

From Hailey:
I’m sorry, what? You broke her glass? Hana… I can’t pick you up until you’ve made it right or your time is up. I’m sorry. I know that you don’t understand, but if she’s reacting strongly it’s very possible she simply has a lot of fond memories attached to the piece — maybe she spent time with her family and used it, or… I don’t know, something. It’s not as simple as ‘a druggies drug thing broke.’ Also, I do smoke; so you might not want to hang out with me anymore… I guess I’m a druggie by your reckoning?

From: Hana:
You’ve never smoked around me and it’s not like you’re popping pills or powders like your brother or half the school. I already apologized and am going to get her a replacement. She’s just going to stare at the ceiling no matter what I do or say. I can’t make it any more right than that.

Just to check that her text was accurate, Hana looked over towards the strung out Kit and let out a very audible, quite exaggerated sigh. ”Are you just going to lie there?”

From Hailey:
Well, good luck.

Kit turned her head over to face Hana and frowned. “Are you mocking me? That’s not cool, dude. You broke my thing!” For a brief second, there was a fire relit in Kit’s voice and she sat up in her chair, shooting a glare at Hana, “you broke something that was really important to me and like you don’t even care!”

”I’m not mocking you, but you’re being dramatic. I apologized. Twice. Sincerely. I’m getting you a new one which is me taking responsibility for what was an accident. You’re throwing a tantrum What, was that bong given to you by your dead grandmother or something? It’s a bong, Kathryn. People have like five of them if they’re serious about their ‘hobby’.” Hana didn’t know why she was getting heated or why Kit was being the walking definition of extra. She put the thing out when she wasn’t even going to use it in the room, it was thus at least a quarter of her fault too.

“Not my dead grandmother, no. It was a gift from my father. And he got it from his father, and then he gave it to me when I got old ‘nuff and it was the first one I ever used and now it’s gone forever, and I’m probably gonna get excommunicated becuase I broke like a family heirloom and now the Doc is gonna hate me and everyone is gonna hate me. And don’t call me Kathryn. It’s Kit. K. I. T.” Kit huffed, standing up from the bed and stomping over to the closet again. “I don’t want a new one.”

”Your family heirloom is a bong?” Hana didn’t say it exactly, but her bullshit alarm was firing on all cylinders. She was pretty sure there was some kind of law against that - and she was in prime position to know. Plus if it was an important heirloom why was she keeping it in the closet? ”Look, Kit, the Doc, your dad, isn’t going to hate you. No one values a possession more than their child. I guarantee he broke a bong or something when he was your age and he didn’t get ‘excommunicated’. It’s not the end of the world. Did you get mopey and depressed when you lost your first serious match in…” Hana quickly looked at the poster from earlier for the name. ”Tekken? Remember when you said you were fifteen and not twelve? Well you’re acting like the latter, and I’m pretty sure they don’t allow twelve year olds to be streamers.”

“Well, it’s pretty important to me.” Kit called over her shoulder, not turning to look at Hana at first as she kept digging for something. “That might be right, but it’s still not cool to break something that’s been around for three entire generations. I’m a problem child now. I don’t lose.” Kit said, finally looking over her shoulder to glare across the way at Hana after she mentioned twelve year old thing. “I’ll just go over to your house and… and break the first thing Hailey ever gifted you.” Kit said, then she got back into the closet, and finally turned around with two fight sticks in her arms, which she brought over to the desk.

“Face me in a fighting game. If you win, you get to go home and never talk to me again. If I win… I get a kiss. And I’ll never mention the shattered piece of my soul that you knocked off of the table ever again.” What? She wanted a kiss. “Deal?”

”You act like I did it on purpose. If you want me to tell your dad that I broke it, I’ll do it, but don’t act like I did it knowingly! That’s not what a friend does.” Hana didn’t think it pertinent to mention that the first thing Hailey gave her, other than a kiss and attention, was presently affixed to her neck and wasn’t likely to come off. ”If you break anything at my house my sister would arrest you.” She wouldn’t, but Kit didn’t know that.

”You do know I have a girlfriend, right? You’re basically asking me to cheat on her over an accident.”

“Just don’t lose? It’s not hard, Hana.” Kit shook her head as she set the two sticks up side by side, plugging them into USB ports in the wall. The sticks lit up and Kit looked up at the TV screen, which automatically changed from LEGO Harry Potter to an input test. She hit all the buttons on each stick to make sure that they were functioning. “I have circle gates. I hope that’s cool. Also, it’s not like Hailey has to know. She’s not actively watching us.” Kit squinted at Hana.

“...is she?”

”Yes. She does have to know. And she will know. And she’s probably going to break up with me when I tell her so if your goal was to destroy something important to me then congratulations, you’d have succeeded.” Hana knew this was a bad idea from the start and now with tensions at such an all time high she was starting to feel justified in her initial apprehension. ”And don’t try and let me win because I’ll know and that would just make me feel worse.”

“So… are you agreeing to my terms, or what? I have a new game I’ve never played before. I thought we’d play that. That way it’s not me just smacking you around.” Kit said, scrolling through the big picture mode before landing on her target: Dragon Ball FighterZ. “I watched the cartoon some the other night and it was pretty rad so I thought ‘why not buy that game with a bunch of high scores on steam?’ Then, I did it. I know, I know. Mad lass. Are you in or what?” Kit asked, holding her hand out to seal the deal.

Hana couldn’t claim to be familiar with the game or the series it was based on but it seemed like something Hailey would know about. Anime wasn’t really Hana’s area of expertise outside of that one about depressed jazz cowboys in space or something which she found to be stupid and boring as far as science fiction went. ”Why do all the guys look the same? Is that purple haired person a girl?” The deal was sealed via Hana taking the stick and sitting back down, though the way she was holding it didn’t inspire confidence - she was claw handing it.

“I dunno.” Kit said as she loaded up into the game. From the main menu, she found her way to the local multiplayer after a bit of fumbling around in the weird hubworld of a menu. “Okay, got it! Oh, sweet. It’s 3v3, like Mah-vell.” Kit mused, flipping through the different characters she could choose from. “Is this dude like a beetle? I wanna be this beetle. Cell. I am Cell.” One selected, two to go. “Dude check out this fat pink guy! I’m gonna be this fat pink guy.” Two. One left. This one was the fastest, as it only took Kit a matter of seconds to scroll over to her selection. “This guy’s a cat! I’m gonna pick this cat.” This game owned.

Hana didn’t know what a ‘Mah-vell’ was and she wasn’t about to ask. The concept of a three on three wasn’t foreign, though, that was like ranked PvP only she doubted this had a problem with DoTs and shitty PUGs. Her selection took a bit longer given her lack of familiarity with the source material. ”Why does this game have like four versions of the same guy?” She made sure not to pick any of the versions. Her first pick was ”This blonde girl that looks tough.” It was her second and third picks that took time, until she realized there was a timer. ”Uh...this pink alien girl and this purple alien guy?” Her selection locked in with a second to spare.

“Arcade rules is what I play by, so if you’re winning you can’t switch characters. And you get best of three. So first of us to win two is the winner of the bet. Got it? Okay, good. Do you want to look at move lists?” Kit asked as she selected the stage and they loaded in, looking over at her soon to be friend. There was no way that Kit lost, so it was almost a guarantee that she’d get a kiss and a Hana.

”I’ll figure it out. It’s 2D so that is easier to understand.” Hana wasn’t speaking with confidence but this was hardly her first rodeo - though she at least wanted to get a few hits in this time. The playing field was comparably more even this time, which had to count for something. ”Let’s just do this.”

“Alright, dude. But like I offered. Just remember that when you’re cryin’ after I smacked you around.” Kit said, shrugging her shoulders before the round began. Kit was testing inputs. Up + Fours, Down + Threes, that sort of thing. She had to know how the game worked, after all! The end result of her taking a round to practice was that she… actually lost. “Hey, don’t get cocky. I’m just gettin’ started.” Kit said, waving her fist in Hana’s direction as she got ready for the next round. “This game is pretty cool…”

Assuming Kit ever made her way to the grand stage at EVO, Hana would always take comfort in knowing she took a round off of her. Of course, as the game loaded its second round it became clear that the comfort would be small indeed. The second round was lost about as quick as a blink and the third was even quicker. If Hana were an angrier sort then the stick she was using would have joined the bong in pieces on the floor, instead she simply sighed and accepted the loss. ”How come your characters got to do weird beam stuff and mine just punch a lot.”

“What? I’m not telling you how to play the game. You said you didn’t want to look at your moves! I offered the chance. It’s okay, you got one more chance to beat me.” Kit said, selecting the same three characters, though this time she changed their colors. “Well, I mean… technically, you have two, but… yeah. Just pick your dudes.” Kit said, waiting rather impatiently. “I gotta watch the rest of this show!” To her credit, Kit seemed to have a lifted mood already; playing games was seemingly distracting her, if nothing else.

The grand strategy was simple: Pick different characters. ”Well I guess I’ll pick one of the...Goku?” She picked the one with blue hair before also selecting a man in green armor who had a similar hairstyle to Goku and for the third she picked ”The older Gohan has to be better than this dumb teen Gohan right?” And with that her rebound team was chosen.

“I dunno, I’d date Teen Gohan. Dunno about the old one.” Kit replied as the map loaded up, “and remember. You said not to let you win.” Kit said, waving a finger before the round began. This time, Kit knew more or less what she was doing; while Hana hit the buttons randomly and hoped for the best, Kit juggled her around the stage for three rounds, and then stood victorious 3-0. “And just like that… it’s over. Kit Thomas reigns supreme, she came in with the clutch, with the curbstomp, and now she’s the beaten Vanilla Sunrise one on one and cla —”

“Congrats, Kit. You beat someone who doesn’t play fighting games after pouring thousands of hours into them. Well done. Want a medal?”

“Shut UP, Echo!”

”It has a point. It would be like if I challenged you to a PvP duel in the games I make guides for.” To Hana’s credit she was taking the loss fairly well, as if the outcome was inevitable. ”You’re in a better mood, so mission complete.”

“‘It?’ Dude. She. Echo is a girl.” Kit shook her head, waving her hand away to brush Hana’s claims off. “I’ll take my prize now, if you wouldn’t mind.” Kit said, throwing a wink in Hana’s direction.

”No tongue. Five seconds.” Hana was technically in no position to make demands, or requests, but if she was going to go through with this she had to make it as platonic as possible - and short of a kiss to the cheek or a simple peck this seemed the best way to go about it. ”And then we’re even.”

“What? That’s super bummer! Five seconds isn’t even that long, it’s like, blink and you’ll miss it tier.” Kit sighed, but she gave up. Slowly, Kit leaned closer to Hana, tilting her head to get ready to go for the kiss. It was almost too easy to see that she was moving torturously slowly on purpose, as if she was giving Hana a chance to reconsider — whether the reconsideration was for the situation they were in, or the length of the kiss was for anyone to decide.

Hana was thus quick to roll her eyes and take it moderately seriously. She didn’t move slowly, she closed the gap and took matters into her own hand by placing her lips on Kit’s. One second. She really hoped that - two seconds - Hailey wouldn’t get upset - three seconds - and she wasn’t going to lie since - four seconds - it would only make matters worse - five seconds. Hana pulled back after the five seconds, the debt paid. ”Did you blink?

Huh. That wasn’t exactly what Kit had been expecting; she’d thought there would be more of Hana pulling back and dramatically declaring that she couldn’t do this she was in love with Hailey. On the one hand, she got to kiss the Vanilla Sunrise. That was a bucket list moment checked off. On the other hand, Hailey might get upset and that wouldn’t be good for Hana or Kit! On the other other hand, there was no tongue. So it wasn’t even that much of a kiss! No one was gonna get mad over this, right? Surely.

“Well… yes, but I did get to blink twice. So I guess it wasn’t that bad.” Kit said as she straightened back up in her chair. “Maybe it’s a bit longer than I thought. Still, no tongue? Geeze, what are you? A nun? Your debt to society is repaid, I guess.”

”I’m not a nun, I’ve just got a girlfriend who I’m pretty sure doesn’t like to share. Why is it that as soon as I’m taken suddenly people want to kiss.” A question for the ages and one that was incredibly hypothetical to boot. ”That’ll be the last time we do that.”

“Well, I mean… _{I’ve always wanted to kiss you.}” Kit muttered, before she grabbed the cake pan and cut a chunk out, putting it on the plate and pushing it in Hana’s direction, “Here, you should take this with you. It’s good, I swear.” She said, waving the cake around. “You can eat it on the road.”

”Come again?” She had, of course, not picked up what Kit had said but such was the case when it came to mumblers. Regardless of how it happened the end result was that Kit was no longer sulking like a child denied dessert because she didn’t finish her broccoli and that had to be worth something. As it turned out, it was worth cake. That was...acceptable. ”I think I’ll share it with my sister. She could use something other than donuts and cup noodles.”

“Nothing, nothing. Uh, it’s about time for you to go, innit? Take the whole cake.”

As if on cue, Hana’s phone dinged with a text message from Hailey.

From Hailey:
We’re here.

Sean was in the Sterling family garage, with his motorcycle up on the lift in front of him. A set of fine precision tools was resting on a toolbox beside him, and he was silently mouthing along to music that was playing through the room. He twisted wrench until he heard the click, and pulled it off of the engine, before he took a step back from the bike and spoke aloud to his Assistant, “check the compression levels?” He asked, and the bike’s starter began to click, before he held up his hand. “Wait. Lower the music.”

He turned around to look at the doorway, “Selena. Hey. Cut the music.”

“You didn’t have to do that. I actually like Rammstein.” His pretty-in-pink sister replied with a smile. Her shoes made soft ticking noises as she descended the steps. Sel’s eyes wandered from her brother to the motorcycle he was working on. “I can’t believe you actually convinced Mom to let you get that thing.” She said with a smirk and walked closer. “What are you doing to it? It’s brand new, it shouldn’t need to be fixed already, right?”

“I would have gotten it anyway, I paid for it myself. She bought me a helmet though — insisted on it.” Sean shrugged and hit the button to lower the bike down to the ground, before launching into an explanation. “I’m tweaking the engine’s compression, to mess with acceleration versus top speed. I could have probably kept it stock, but… Who’s that fun for? This way it’ll zip up to top speed a bit higher. I’m not doing any track racing, so I figure I can have the focus be on the acceleration, versus the top speed. Plus, this way it’s more nimble going through the alleyways and backstreets — you know, in case I get in a car chase.”

He rolled his eyes and shrugged, “not that it would ever happen. If you go fast enough, then the cops will just give up. That’s why I got the bike. Cops aren’t paid enough to deal with drug deals, murders, and then be asked to commit to high speed chases.” Turning his attention away from the bike and back to Selena, Sean added. “You can probably convince Mom to buy you one. Just soften her up with wine first.”

“That certainly sounds more like Mom.” Selena chimed in with a tiny bell of a laugh when he mentioned the helmet. She walked around, viewing the bike from all angles as Sean explained what he was doing. Surprisingly enough, she understood most of what he rambled on about. The silver princess was not a gearhead by any means, she knew hardly anything about vehicles, but the words he was using were physics terms. Science was a language that both twins spoke, though Sean had always worn the nerd label a bit more boldly and proudly. While Selena gave all the fucks about what people thought of her, Sean gave none about what people thought of him. She envied that, he seemed so much more… free. “Oh… no, I don’t want one. Is that how you did it, you caught her while she was wine drunk?” Sel asked with a chuckle and shook her head at her brother, a playful smile on her face.

“I mean… I don’t want one… but maybe when you’re finished tinkering, you could take me for a ride?” Her tone was hopeful, and curious.

“What? Why would I do that?” Sean reached in his pocket and withdrew the key, holding it out to his sister and shaking his head as he dropped it into her palm. “Just take it yourself. It’ll be more fun that way, and I trust you. What’s the worst that could happen?” Again, the differences between the twins were highlighted, this time Sean’s ability to seemingly do whatever he wanted without care for the consequences, and Selena’s somewhat… cautious approach, by comparison.

“Just take it for a ride around the valley, or something, and bring it back.” Sean suggested, walking over to one of the tables, to return the tools he’d been using, “just be wary of the acceleration. It… accelerates pretty hard, especially after those tweaks. I’m confident you can handle it, after all, you are my twin.”

“W-what?” Selena uncharacteristically stumbled on her words as she looked down at the key he’d just dropped in her palm. “No, I can—” She was about to say “I can’t”, but that isn’t a phrase in a Sterling’s vocabulary. Sterlings can, Sterlings will, and Sterlings do. After clearing her throat lightly, she stood up a little straighter. “You at least have to show me how first, I’m never driven one before.” The blonde looked down at what she was wearing briefly — a skirt, a flowy blouse, and kitten heels. “That, and I will have to buy a more appropriate outfit first.”

“Buy? Don’t you have jeans and a jacket? The whole biker getup, with the sleek black jumpsuit… That’s Helmsley style, more than Sterling I think. ‘Course, it’s not surprising you want to go shopping. Look, it’s this simple.” He swung a leg over the bike and gestured at the handlebars, “look. The lever on the left is the clutch. Pull it in before you shift. You’ll know when to shift, the bike will be making a noise when the gears are winding and are ready to go. The right side has the throttle,” he said, twisting the grip to show. “And the lever is the front brake. You basically don’t ever want to touch it when you’re going fast, or you’ll flip over forward and either die or have your face scraped off. On the left peg is the shifter. It’s a 6 gear bike. All the way down is first gear. Halfway between first and second is neutral. On the right peg is the rear brake. It’s better to just downshift to slow down, but if you want to use a brake, use that one. That’s how it’s done. Any questions?”

Selena rolled her eyes slightly at his jeans and jacket comment. Of course she already had clothes that she could wear, but this was a special occasion. Her first time riding a motorcycle. It could be her last time riding a motorcycle, and she’d be damned if she didn’t go out in top notch style. Special occasions called for new outfits, and it’d been a while since she’d gone a shopping date with her bestie. A fews weeks, at least. As her brother went on his lecture about the controls, Selena nodded along. For the most part, she was following the instructions, but with the warning that she could have her face scraped off if she messed up… she decided she might want to do some further studying before trying it herself.

“Hmm…” She mused when Sean asked if she had any questions. “I’ll quiz myself.” Selena circled around the bike, pointing at the left handle. “Clutch, for shifting gears, I should know when to shift.” She moved her hand to the right side of the handlebars “Throttle, makes it go faster, yeah? And the lever is the front brake, don’t use at high speed for risk of losing face,” Things got a little muddy when it came to the pegs. The left one shifted gears, and the right one is another brake — a better brake to use? She pointed to the pegs, “Shifter and other brake. How did I do?”

Sean listened closely to his sister’s words as she tried to read back all the information that he’d given her. As she went, he nodded along with her. She was doing a good job, though that was simply to be expected; after all, she was a Sterling. “You did good. You should be fine, so long as you stick to the advice I gave you and don’t forget anything important.” Sean said, leaning against the garage wall. “Let’s go shopping, I guess.” As he said that, he made a bit of a noise; was he seriously suggesting shopping? Much had changed.

Sel beamed a smile in response to her brother’s praise. “I won’t forget. I’ll also probably watch some videos tonight and learn more before I actually try it. I’d quite like to keep my face the way it is, so more knowledge is better.” She tossed the key back to Sean and eyed him with a raised brow. “You don’t want to go shopping, I know you. I’ll just go with Jamie tomorrow morning, it’s been a while since we had a bestie date.” Selena offered, giving her brother a perfect out. “Though, I’d love to do something else with you! Maybe we could go somewhere good to eat? If we stay here, Mom’ll try to push more health foods on us, and I could pretty much kill for a cheeseburger right now.” Yes, you heard right. The Sterling’s eldest daughter preferred greasy goodness to the stereotypical valley girl salads and quinoa.

Sean’s hand whipped up and snatched the key out of the air after they were thrown his way. “That sounds infinitely better than any other possible option.” Sean said in immediate agreement after Selena suggested that he sit out the shopping trip. Whatever it took to keep him out of a store was a good deal as far as he was concerned. When she suggested leaving to eat, Sean’s eyebrow raised slightly, and he thought about it a moment, before making a suggestion. “I heard some people who looked like they know about food mention a place called the Sunshine Diner. But…”

“We have to take the twins.”

Selena narrowed her eyes at her brother. He’d been back long enough to see how the twins acted around her. He knew what he was asking of her. “Fine. But... only because I know the milkshakes are ace there. You’ll drive, I have to text and make plans for tomorrow.” Selena said, kissing her brother on the cheek before heading inside to fetch the hellions. Sean would prefer to drive anyway, lest he be caught in her pink monstrosity again. Plus, she’d be loathe to let the twins touch her car’s pristine leather interior.

Following Tuesday night’s party, the rest of Shiloh’s week was… weird. Weirder than was normal for the pink-haired misfit. She was pretty sure that it wasn’t all in her head either, because it really seemed like Rose had been completely avoiding her since Tuesday night. No chats in the hallways, no glances in passing, she didn’t even see her in the cafeteria, and Rose loves eating — all the burners do. For all intents and purposes, it was as if Rose Powers no longer existed.

This had been eating away at Shiloh’s mind for days. Why was this happening? In her mind, she didn’t do anything wrong this time. Rose kissed her, it wasn’t the other way around. Shiloh had made a vow to herself, at the end of last semester, to pull herself out of the game. She’d been a player for a few years, and it’d been fun for a while, but Shi was ready for something new. Something real. So why the fuck did she feel like that bad guy?

Despite the seemingly notorious reputation that she had, there was one person who Shi could think to ask for advice. There was one person who knew both the game, and more importantly, knew Shiloh. Intimately. This person was none other than Miss Shauna Flynn, whom Shiloh knew could be located somewhere near the theater department at any given time of the school day. Knowing this, Shi headed in that direction after the final bell on Friday afternoon, where she did in fact find the auburn-haired Irish beauty. “Hey Romeo, how goes it?” Shi greeted before blowing a bubble and snapping her gum loudly.

Friday night had a common nickname among the student body, it was widely regarded to be ‘date night’ which was about as shocking and unusual as fish swimming in a tank at the doctor’s office. Shauna found the moniker to be a bit humorous at best - anyone who was taking advantage of subpar pizza and even worse popcorn feature films on a ‘date night’ was having a bad date. No exceptions. Nothing said ‘romantic’ quite like shuffling into a pizza place with other people and having the terrible audio of an overproduced film drowned out by the sounds of inexperienced teenager smacking their lips together like they had peanut butter on the roof of their mouth.

Needless to say, Shauna Flynn would not be taking part in any date night if it involved pizza.

Her plan for the night was much more simple and to the point. The spoils of war that were the boat party meant Shauna had a double date with Destiny. Destiny, of course, being a cute little nickname for Denise and Tina, two Freshmen that had enjoyed swimming with the shark when a wily karaoke enthusiast had not. Naturally her thoughts were with the sure to be enjoyable evening which, if Destiny played their cards right could well include an enjoyable breakfast - when her sanctuary was breached by an always familiar face. Shiloh was hardly the ‘one who got away’ and more ‘the one who was let off the hook’. The pink haired punker with a tongue that was hotter than the licks of any guitar - and Shauna would know, she damn near taught Shiloh how to use it better. Shiloh was certainly an unusual case: she was speaking to Shauna after their wild and brief tryst and by the way Shauna heard it, Shiloh was on the market. Pity, then, that she was in grade ten.

“You know how I feel about Billy Shakes.” Shauna would let the passing reference to Shakespeare slide. She was friendly like that. “I know you’re not here to join my club but I can be persuaded to giving you a...tour of the facilities.” When Shauna was around, everything was a euphemism.

“I sure do!” Shi said cheerfully, tilting her head to the side and causing one of her candy pink pigtails to bob slightly. “Why else would I have called you that?” All was said in jest, of course. Shiloh didn’t see Shauna as an enemy, nor even as an ex, not truly. Shauna was a friend, a friend that was best communicated with using tongue-in-cheek comments and sarcasm, a language in which the Clay family was fluent. “As for the facilities… well, I’m looking to become more of an owner these days, gonna put my touring past behind me, ya dig?”

Shiloh leaned back against the wall, lifting her left leg so that the sole of her combat boot was flush with it. Inspected her chipped black nail polish, she asked nonchalantly: “Big plans for this evening?”

Well well wasn’t this quite a development? It certainly got Shauna to raise an eyebrow and raise the corner of her lip in a knowing smirk - not entirely dissimilar to the smirk she was known to give when setting her sights on her next weekend affair. “No bigger than usual, but forget about that. Do mine ears deceive or have you been afflicted with that dreadful bug known as love?” While it might have seemed a bit much to use the ‘L’ word, Shauna felt sorry for Shiloh if that was the case. Love was just standing in the way of human nature.

“And here I thought I might have found the perfect understudy. Do tell, who has you feeling all a flutter? Do I know her? Do I know her?”

“You misread me. That’s unusual, for you.” Shi said matter-of-factly. Shiloh didn’t know the first thing about love. That’s why she was interested in switching things up. She was curious. She wanted to learn. Not unlike her ventures into… well, being a bit of a slag. That had been about learning too. “It’s not that special, I promise. Surely you’ve heard the rumors? I took myself out of the game at the end of last semester. It was fun, being your apprentice of sorts, but it left me feeling… I don’t know. Even more curious?”

The pink-haired punk let her foot fall back to the ground with a thud. She turned and crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. “I mean… aren’t you, too? Don’t you want to at least try to see what it’s like on the other side?”

“Oh, please, if I gave space for every rumor that wandered these halls I’d have an entire room just about the ones related to me.” Shauna was something of a natural at letting things wash over and roll off her as effortlessly as a shower. Given the nature of rumors surrounding her she had to be good at paying them no mind; either that or she risked drowning in an ocean of her own creation. “If you listened to rumors we wouldn’t even be talking right now, so regardless of what I heard, it doesn’t matter compared to what I hear from you. And what I’m hearing is you want something...stable?”

The problem with speaking in euphemism was knowing how to cut through to find the heart of the matter. Shauna liked to think she got the gist but it was nothing if not puzzling. Why would someone buy the cow when milk flowed like honey? “There’s nothing on the other side, Shi, that you can’t just get normally. You’re going soft. Do you need me to talk you out of it?”

“Maybe…” Shi said with a genuine chuckle. “But you of all people know I’m a free-thinker. I’ll just do what I want anyway. That’s what sets me apart from the rest.” Her words were confident, verging on cocky, but not without merit. “I think it could be fun. We’ll see, maybe it’s just another one of my experiments.” She used the word lightly, claiming it as her own. Many of her ex-lovers accused her of experimenting with them and, well… they weren’t wrong.

“Speaking of rumors about you, there is one particularly interesting one milling around. Quite a curious one, indeed.” Rumor has it, Shauna has been spotted with the same girl on more than one occasion recently. Shiloh was precisely and purposefully coy about withholding that piece of information. It was hard not to fall into her usual pattern of flirtation, especially with an old flame that once burned so brightly. Bright, and hot to the touch. “But that’s neither here nor there. I actually came to you to discuss something else, if you have the time?”

Of course there was a rumor floating around about her. It was a day that ended in the letter ‘y’. No doubt something unsavory and untoward and highly embellished. It was no sweat off her back; while the rumor mill spun and made up stories about her, Shauna was out doing important things. Such as bedding the underclass girls. Unless the rumor came back to nip at her heels she would promptly ignore it much the same as every other.

“For you? I’ve got time.”

“I figured as much.” Shi responded with a knowing smirk. She blew another bubble with her gum and snapped it before speaking. “So… you know how you and I are usually, like, the initiators? If we see something we want, we take it. Find a girl pretty, we flirt with her. If things turn out our way, we kiss her… and so on. Right?” Shiloh paused briefly, as if she was going to a wait for a response. But she didn’t, because she knew that she was right. “Well, has that ever… not been the case for you?”

“Yes.” Shauna had no ounce of hesitation in her response. While it would be easy and certainly believable for her to lie, the unfortunate truth of the matter is that Shauna the Shark wasn’t always so shark-like. There was that ever so awkward phase as an underclassman where she knew only that she had crushes on girls but lacked any grace or confidence to do anything about it. Those were dark times and ones Shauna liked to leave in the past, but she couldn’t act like they didn’t happen. “Not everyone is going to be receptive, the trick is knowing when to push the effort or ease up without coming off as desperate. But I get the feeling that this is different for you. What’s wrong, Shi?”

“Oh, uh…” Shiloh thought on that for a moment. Was something wrong? Did she look like something was wrong? She must, if Shauna noticed. Shi kicked the toe of her combat boot against the ground in a few short taps, thinking about how to explain it. “Nothing. Well, I don’t think… but, maybe? It’s just something that hasn’t ever happened before, not since. Well… not since you. Someone kissed me though. Like, initiated it, out of the blue. A friend… and now they’re not really talking to me. Or looking at me.” Shi chewed at her bottom lip. Yeah, okay, maybe something was wrong. She just hadn’t admitted that yet. “What does that even mean?”

And here it was in the flesh: a prime example of why Shauna didn’t concern herself with meanings and wonders and anything beyond the casual bits of intimacy with the opportunities afforded her. What was it about situations such as Shiloh’s that made people so perplexed and out of sorts? Why would people subject themselves to such a thing? Shauna brushed a bit of her hair back and sighed out in contemplation at the question posed her; she was hardly an expert on matters of the heart, at least matters such as this, but she knew enough about matters of kissing and intimacy to write a book. “Well, the easiest assumption is that alcohol was involved - or a dare of some sort, but if it was a dare that wouldn’t account for the lack of communication after the fact. If they were drunk then they might be ashamed by their action; if they were fully sober then either way the result is the same. Obviously they’re as hung up about this as you are and neither of you want to bring it up. I thought I taught you better than that. The worst that could happen is rejection. If you weren’t at least interested this wouldn’t be eating you up, so tell me something...did you like the kiss? Do you want to be kissed by this person again?”

“Well, yeah. I’m always down for kissing.” Shiloh responded quickly. The kiss had been great, really great. “She was definitely not sober, and I guess it could have also been a dare…” Rose would never be one to turn down a dare. She was a playful girl like that. “Maybe I should just try to find her and talk to her, huh? Even if she doesn’t want to kiss anymore, that’s cool with me. I just want to make sure we’re still friends.” Shi nodded, as if agreeing with herself, before smiling at Shauna. “Thanks bunches, Shauna!”

“I guess it’s true, then.” Shauna had to get her licks in where she could even if that meant dipping her toes into a place she scant enjoyed. “’This bud of love by summer’s ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.’ Despite her quotation of a dramatic verse Shauna winced as she recited it, though her knowing smirk ever lingered as if she were speaking in jest. “And even if your star crossed lip locker proves to be a wilted rose, my standing offer to give you the tour remains.”

“Eww, don’t be gross.” Shi said with a chuckle and lightheartedly punched at Shauna’s arm. “You sound like an old english teacher or some shit.” That, and Rose would never be wilted. She was always in bloom and full of energy and life. “Does that tour involve someone by the name of Madison, by any chance?” Shiloh asked in a teasing tone, with an eyebrow arched. Surely Shauna’s immediate reaction would be enough to read if those rumors had any truth to them.

Shauna merely raised an eyebrow at Shiloh in immediate response to the name. Word spread about as quickly as an STD in these halls; this one no doubt brought on by the fact that Shauna had shown up to the boat soiree with one Madison. It was almost insulting that the rumor would involve whisperings of some sort of tawdry, torrid affair. The insult was in the sheer fact that Shauna’s own reputation, one that she hadn’t ever outwardly denied, was her preference for girls younger than she, not ones in the same grade and age range. It was as if her reputation meant nothing where rumors were concerned. “Madison needed help dressing in a manner to pluck her share of flowers from the garden, and who better to ask than yours truly? The only tour I intend on taking Madison on is one where I am in the crowd watching on. The only thing we’ve shared is my employee discount and the front seat of my car. Remember who you’re talking to, whatever you’ve heard is a fabrication.”

Shauna had given an awful lot of real estate to a baseless rumor, but that fact seemed utterly lost on the thespian.

“Hmm…” Shiloh nodded in response, her eyes slightly narrowed and her lips tilted up in a smirk. “Whatever you say, Romeo. Have a good night, try not to get the clap!” Shi blew the drama star a kiss and winked before turning to walk away.

Tires peeled against the asphalt as Chris turned his KTM Super Duke down Washington Avenue. It wasn’t the nicest bike on the streets, but it was his. Back in 2017, when the cycle was originally manufactured, it would have cost about as much as a mid tier sedan, but Chris bought her for only a few hundred bucks via Craigslist. The seller warned that she didn’t run, but she’d be good for selling parts. Chrysler had other plans though, like putting the skills he was learning at trade school to good use. With a little elbow grease, love, and many late nights spent cursing in the garage when the parts he ordered didn’t work, Chris finally got the bike street ready. He even got it a new paint job, black and blood orange. With a few more months of tinkering, it was race ready. That was the best part, giving those rich kids a run for their money — quite literally — in a motorcycle that he didn’t put more than a few grand and a year’s worth of manual labor into. Take that, capitalism!

Chris kicked the rumbling engine off in his driveway and locked the motorcycle up in the garage beside his mother’s beater of a car. That’s what you did in his neighborhood. You locked your shit up, or it would gain a habit of wandering off in the middle of the night. Slapping the garage door button, Chrysler made his way inside the house. The first room connected to the garage was the kitchen, where his mother, Angela Reyes, was washing dishes at the sink. The relatively young woman, at least for someone with a 17 year old son, turned her head over her shoulder and smiled at him. “Hey, baby,” she greeted warmly before turning back around to her housework.

“Hey, Moms,” he replied, sitting down at the kitchen table and setting his pin-covered, ratty, old, black backpack down on the linoleum floor. He didn’t have immediate plans, so he’d sit and chat with his mother for a bit. It was Friday, after all, a good time to catch up with her before she hit the bottle.

“How was school?” His mother asked, her head still facing the window while she washed a cup. Chris was starting to get comfortable, kicking his shoes off and wiggling his toes in all of their glorious freedom. The next step in the afternoon relaxation ritual was a good long drag. The rebellious teen pulled a plastic red lighter and a pack of Marlboro’s out of his jacket pocket and lit up a cig before returning them to their places. Noticing a small plate with some apparent breadcrumbs on it across the table, Chris pulled it towards him to flick his ashes on.

“It was fine. Just school, nothing special.” He responded, exhaling a breath of smoke as he did so and leaning back in the chair. “How was work?”

Instead of answering, Angela’s head tilted up. She turned the faucet off after a few moments and waited. Little did her son know, she was sniffing the air. Angela turned around, her almond shaped eyes narrowed into angry slits.

Ah, fuck… He thought. Five foot nothing and a hundred and ten pounds of pure maternal rage, incoming. Angela marched over to her son, who was now sitting back upright in the chair. She plucked the cigarette straight out of his lips and stabbed the butt out harshly into the plate that he had been using as an ashtray. Without any words, she held out her hand.

“Seriously?” Chris asked incredulously as he looked at her opened palm. What was this about? She knew he smoked, why make a scene all of the sudden? He looked from her palm to her face. Her eyes narrowed further, and damn… Hell hath no fury like a bent filipina mother. Chris wasn’t about to lose his life over a pack of cigarettes and a BIC lighter. He fished the objects out of his jacket pocket and placed them in her palm silently.

“These things will kill you. No more.” Angela scolded, slapping them on the plate and turning around. She hastily walked over to the trash and tapped the plate against the plastic bin, dumping the contents into the garbage.

“Yeah, you know what else kills ya?” Chris asked in retaliation. If she wanted a fight, he’d brawl. Throwing out his cigarettes, what kind of shit is this? Someone must have pissed in her coffee at work. His mother turned around in response, her hands on her hips, though one was still holding his makeshift ashtray. “Vodka.” He said curtly, his eyes flicking over to her liquor cabinet. Touché, madre.

“Mind your tongue with me, binata!” She hissed, gesturing harshly at him with the plate. After that, she seemed to mellow out slightly. “What are your plans tonight?” She asked, turning back to head towards the sink, as if none of that previous argument took place.

What in the actual fuck was going on? Chris felt like he was going to get whiplash from this conversation. He should have just went to his room, damn. “I dunno, going out?”

“Out?” You could practically hear the judgmental eyebrow raise in her tone.

“Yeah, out.” He confirmed without clarifying.

“You will do your homework first?” She framed it like a question, but it was a demand. Chris could see that, he knew how this dance went.

“... It’s Friday.” Chris said as an excuse not to. His short response was answered by her violently throwing the plate down into the dishwater. Suds flew up and clung to the curtains on the window, and the clang of porcelain against the steel sink caused Chris to startle in his seat.

Spinning around, angry once again, his mother went on a full-on rant. “What is wrong with you? What did I do so wrong? You need to get serious! Do your homework, do school. Do you want to live like this your whole life? Huh? Do you?! You need to get ready for college, not smoke cigarettes and go out all the time. Be better than this. You hear me, binata?”

“Alright! Shit, don’t break plates over it, fuck.” Chris responded, standing up with his hands in surrender. He honestly didn’t know what she was capable of, was she gonna chuck a plate at him next? Damn… “I’ll do homework first, aiight? But I’m still going out after, it’s Friday, Moms.”

He was going to leave it at that. Just go to his room and maybe actually do some homework like he promised. Maybe. But as soon as he walked through the threshold to the hall, he felt a pang in his stomach. Guilt. He turned around to see his mother facing away from him, looking rather defeated with her sudsy hands against the counter. Sighing, he approached her. “I don’t think I need better than this, Moms. I ain’t mad at what we got, and you shouldn’t be either. You did the best with the hand you were given, aiight? You did good for us, and I ain’t mad… If I act out, it’s really just on me, ‘kay? Or we came blame my dickhead father, he’s a good scapegoat, right?”

At that, Angela turned and cracked a smile. Throwing his mystery dad under the bus could lighten any mood. Chris pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back comfortingly. Truly, he didn’t like it when they fought, even if they were well-versed in it. “You’re a good boy.” She whispered as an apology.

“Only to the people who matter most.” Chris said, and pulled away enough to kiss his significantly shorter mother’s temple. “I’ll go do my homework now, promise.”

When you are part of a family with five children, there is never a dull moment. Michael wished that there was most of the time, but there wasn't. Thankfully, technology had a solution for such a hectic life — glorious, glorious headphones. The boy with three first names was able to drown out his siblings’ chatters and screams by listening to k-pop. His father, Jace, was behind the wheel of the Joseph’s family van, driving the five kids to school before he himself had to report to work at Blizzard’s office in LA. The hour long commute was brutal, especially now that young Theodore was part of it.

Michael was headed for Beverly Hills High, Philip and Heather to the middle school, Elena to the elementary, and lastly, Teddy was going to preschool. One hour was far too long for a four year old to be trapped in the car, and it was even longer for the poor souls trapped in the car with him. In today’s journey, Theo’s tantrum of choice ended in him throwing things. A tupperware container soared from his carseat, knocking into the back of Michael’s head, causing a shower of goldfish crackers to land in his lap. Without removing his headphones, or even looking behind him, Mike picked one of the cheesy crackers up and popped it into his mouth.

“Theodore Harvey Joseph.” Jace scolded from the driver’s seat, his blue eyes glaring into the rear-view mirror. “Remember what I said about throwing things? If you throw them, you don’t get to enjoy them anymore. No more goldfish!”

Ahh, yes, just another day in the life of big brother Michael. At least he was almost to school, where he could relax and hang out with his gamer squad and fellow anime club weebs and get some much needed peace and quiet.



Mike thrives at school. He’s a geek, a nerd, a dweeb, whatever word you want to use to describe those who excel in academia. With the exceptions of english and P.E., Michael aces most of his classes. His favorite class of the bunch, though, is japanese, and that was just where he was headed. It was right after lunch too, the perfect time for a class, in his opinion. All fueled up and ready for the second half of the school day! As per usual, Mike showed up to class a little early.

The japanese language teacher, Mr. Brady, was sitting at his desk marking up papers. He looked up when Michael stepped in. “Ah, Michael. Glad to see you here a bit early,”

Michael set his backpack down and took his usual seat in the second row. “Hey, Mr. Brady. What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you might be interested in the the peer tutoring program.” He suggested.

“But…” Mike’s eyebrows stitched together, clearly perplexed. “... I’m just a freshman?”

“Indeed, and you are already at the top of your class. I think it would be a good opportunity for you. One of the ESL teachers reached out to me because there is a foreign exchange student in need of some tutoring. So, you would actually be helping them learn english, and in turn you may be able to pick up some advanced japanese, more than you are learning in my class. I believe it would be a good learning experience for the both of you. What do you say?”

Well, that was unexpected. Of course Michael would jump at the opportunity to help a japanese student! He hoped that he was a cool guy, maybe they could be friends and he could invite him to anime club! Or add him to the gamer squad! Or both! “Yeah, sure! That sounds great, Mr. Brady!”

“Excellent! I’ll be sure to let Ms. Ridgebury know.”

Hailey: Yeah, no. She wasn’t ready to confront her.
Marshall: Usually, she would, but not tonight. He had enough going on, especially now that he and Jamie were an item, but also… that dinner was awkward.
Jamie? He was on Owen’s shitlist. It was best if, for now, she kept her distance. At least until next week.
There was Selena, though! Actually. No. Nevermind. Too close to Hailey.