1For all intents and purposes, there were only a few, specific things that Audrey Belrose said "no" to: all-night Star Trek: TNG "best of" marathons, "who's better: the Original or Friendship is Magic version Pinkie Pie?" debates, playing "edgy male anime character 0783" video games, video games in general, really...in fact, it was safe to say that a conservative 90% of Nikki's interests didn't cross over with hers.
And for that matter, there wasn't really a lot of crossover with Tiffany's interests either (cheerleading, other extracurricular activities...being perpetually happy all the time), but at least the cheerleader didn't intentionally try to force them on her friends, and she knew enough to cut her losses after both Four Eyes and her said no.
Honestly, how the three of them became and remained friends was something of a mystery.
There were also plenty of things Audrey would unequivocally agree to on the spot. Lusties nightclub was rarely without the young woman's presence, so much so that, should she ever have to pay for her own drinks, there was a tab with her name on it. She also loved the Theatre, and would even sometimes take her friends with her when a performance of Les Miserables came to town. (One day, Hamilton...) And, since she was still technically in college right now, she was always punctual to the group study dates with Tiff and Niks. She probably didn't strictly need the extra scholastic help, it at least got her out of the house for a few hours.
Little did she or any of the others know that it was one of these sessions that would bring them closer together...in a manner of speaking.
It was toward the end of the evening when she noticed the extra papers that Tiffany had tucked into her binder.
"What are those?" she asked, gesturing to the offending papers as she nursed her pumpkin spice chai latte. They looked slightly more colorful than Tiffany's notes normally did.
"Hmm?" Tiffany looked up. "Oh, these!" She tugged a sheet out and handed it to Audrey. She then repeated the procedure with Nikki. "It's something GU is organizing to help raise money for the local soup kitchen."
The paper read, in a bold orange font, "First Annual Glenberry University Charity Spelling Bee (for the benefit of local charity institutions)", along with cartoon graphics of bees flying around the page. On the bottom, there was the address and date for the competition, plus info letting people know they could participate on their own or on teams.
"...isn't that a little 'elementary school'?" Nikki asked, studying the paper over the top of her laptop screen.
"I know, right?" Audrey almost threw up in her mouth a bit agreeing with Nikki on something but pushed it back and continued. "Which boomer on the faculty decided that THIS was the best way to get rich assholes to donate a few bucks to poor people?" She then gestured to Nikki, "I don't even think Nerdzilla would find that fun, and you know the kind of things she's into!"
"Fuck you too, Belrose...," the blunette muttered.
"Seriously, I'd love to meet poindexter that came up with this shit."
Tiffany slowly raised her hand. "Guilty..."
Both girls blinked for a moment, glanced at each other (and not finding whatever answers they were seeking), before turning back to Tiffany and voicing the one question that was on their minds in unison.
"Why?"
"What the fuck were you smoking?"
Hey, I never said they had the same thought as each other.
"I mean, why not?" she expounded when neither of her friends agreed with her. "It's a competition that doesn't rely on physical ability- so anyone can compete- and it promotes literacy, so even people who get eliminated can walk away just a little bit smarter than then were before!"
"Well, that explains why Lord Asshole-"
"Please stop calling the Dean that."
"-approved it in the first place."
Nikki glanced at the flier once more. "Is there a prize for winning? It just says 'First Place prize TBD'."
"That's the thing, we're still looking for something that could work as a grand prize for the Teams bracket, but you could win a gift basket with vouchers for a bunch of local restaurants if you compete in the Singles bracket!"
Neither girl looked particularly impressed.
"Yeah, I don't know...," Nikki hesitated, "I try to control my food intake due to my allergies, so I don't really eat at any place I haven't personally vetted. Besides, veal goes straight to my hips."
Yeah, THAT'S where all that fat goes..., Audrey thought. "I can afford to eat wherever I want already; coupons are worthless to me."
That took the wind out of Tiffany's sails somewhat.
"Well...what if we competed as a team?" she suggested. "I'm sure the committee will find something to entice people to enter."
"Are you open to suggestions?" Audrey spoke up, "Hamilton tickets, and they don't even need to be box seats."
"Ooh, what about $1000 in Steam credit?" Nikki added, her eyes sparkling behind her way rimmed glasses. "Or, like...some vintage arcade cabinet? I've been trying to get one for my apartment, but those things are crazy expensive…!"
"Guys, this is for charity; unless someone feels like donating either of those things, I think you're going to have to settle for something more reasonable," Tiff cautioned, "We only have so much budget to work with for this; we're supposed to be entirely non-profit."
Nikki visibly deflated.
"Really?" Audrey then whipped out her phone and hit speed dial. "Gimme a sec."
Both the cheerleader and the nerdy girl raised an eyebrow at this; what was Audrey up to? Normally, she was content to let others fix their own problems, to put it mildly. If there was a vending machine on the fritz, she'd either wait for someone else to tell the janitorial staff, or just head to the next one and hope for the best. Or, in extreme cases, just have something delivered to the campus. (True story, btw.) The point being that she usually wasn't the most altruistic of people.
If either of them were the betting types, they'd bet the debutante had an ulterior motive up her sleeve.
"Hello, Aunty Brooke?" she said after a moment, suddenly going through what they would later recall as a horrific transformation: Audrey's expression suddenly morphed into a perky and cheerful one, not unlike Tiffany usually sported. "Hi, how are you?~ ...oh, I'm doing fine, thanks for asking!~ How's the island doing? ...well, just make sure she doesn't do it again; 'spare the rod, spoil The Help' and all that.~ ...well, I was wondering if you could do me a teensy, tiny little favor. ..oh, nothing major, just a little donation to this charity I'm participating in. ...well, maybe some Broadway tickets to Hamilton?~ I know a lot of people here in Glenberry would pay for a chance to win them. ...yeah, it doesn't need to be the earlier showtime: it takes a hot second for 'normal' people to travel to New York. ...Thanks, Aunty, you're the best! Kisses!~ *mwah!*" Then she hung up.
It was only then she noticed her friends' slack-jawed looks of shock. "...the fuck are you bitches looking at?"
And equilibrium was restored.
"Who are you and what have you done with Audrey?" demanded Nikki, slowly reaching into her tote bag.
Fortunately, cooler heads that Nikki prevailed, ignoring the blunette's attempts to stealthily retrieve for her tinfoil hat. "I didn't know you had an aunt," Tiffany remarked.
"Tch, of course I have an aunt! I know I mentioned it before. But yeah, you've got your prize for the stupid spelling bee now."
"Wait...really? Just like that?"
"Um, did I fucking stutter? Yeah, just like that. Well...they probably won't get here until tomorrow, but aside from that, yes."
Nikki continued to squint at her (currently raven-haired) friend.
"Oh my gosh, Audrey, thank you!" Tiffany leaped forward, embracing the debutante. "This means so much to me!"
"Yeah yeah, turn off the waterworks already..." She shoved Tiffany back, smoothing out her blouse. "I've just been waiting for a chance to go to Broadway, so don't get the wrong idea or anything, ok?" She wore her usual scowling expression.
"I guess that means you're going to compete?" Nikki ventured, having abandoned her quest for inner-cranial security after hearing her friend's reasoning. "Well, I can't say I'm not surprised, but if that's what you want then we'll wish you the best of luck; I've had to compete in a Bee or two in my day, and it can get surprisingly cutthroat if you're not careful."
"Lemme get you a sign-up form!" Tiffany offered. She leafed through the papers in her folder, "I'll hand it in for you once it's filled in."
Audrey snorted in disbelief.
"You both have another thing coming if you think in wading into the nerd den on my own; if I have to fucking suffer through this to get my tickets, then I'm dragging you bitches with me!"
Nikki burst out laughing for a moment before she realized neither of the other girls was joining in. "...wait, you're serious?"
"Audrey, I'm on the planning committee; I'm not sure how ethical it would be if I participated..."
"Then just quit," Audrey suggested, "it's already set in stone for this weekend, right?"
"Do you know the list of words they're using for this?" Nikki asked, and Tiffany couldn't help but notice traces of the blunette's trademark "please kill me" expression she usually got when Audrey dragged her to Lusties.
She also saw the absolute lack of nonsense in Audrey's face as the debutante stared at her expectantly.
"Well...none of them; we'd decided it would be best to wait until the day of the Spelling Bee itself to finalize the list so people couldn't cheat off it." She let out a tired sigh. "Alright, if it means I get to spend time with the both of you, then I'm in." She leafed through a few more papers and pulled one out, clicking open a pink ballpoint pen. "I can fill most of this in myself, but just for the record, what other languages do you two know?"
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Throughout the week the girls each took measures to prepare for the Spelling Bee in their own ways.
For Tiffany, she picked up a dictionary and spent her dinner time (oily fish and kale) and breakfast (whole grain and berry muffins with a dark chocolate mocha) pouring over the tome, committing complex words to memory. It helped that she was already on the cheer squad and had already developed a knack for memorizing how words were spelled. She also made a bigger effort to incorporate those words into her everyday conversations in order to further cement them in her mind.
Nikki took a decidedly different approach. While she also read more, she elected to do so with various sci-fi and fantasy novels, reference books, and fanfiction (though sometimes that was a crapshoot for proper spellings). She already had an eidetic memory, so "quantity over quality" was the word of the day for that week. She also had her online friends quiz her during their raids (which could NOT be rescheduled until after the limited-time event was over, thank you very much!).
As for Audrey, she wouldn't say what she was doing to prepare. In fact, she mostly made herself scarce for the rest of the week, only showing up for the classes she absolutely had to so she could keep her grades up.
Even when Tiffany or Nikki saw her around town all she'd say was "Fucking lay off my ass, will you? It'll be fine!", so they mostly left her to her own devices.
Eventually, the day of the big charity event came to pass, and the three girls found themselves milling about by the stage of the auditorium, waiting for the contest to start.
"How the fuck did Miss Yumi of all people get tapped judge this sham?" Audrey "remarked". "Shouldn't she be 'tutoring' the football team behind the bleachers?"
She received a light smack to the shoulder from Tiffany. "I asked her to before I dropped off the planning committee," the cheerleader explained, "she seems genuinely exuberant to volunteer as well."
"Wait, really?"
"Yup! Her exact words were 'Hell, it beats grading the same paper over and over, so sure, count me in!'."
"...yeah, that sounds like her. Still, I'd be surprised if she didn't have a flask hidden in her garters, right? Am I right, Nikki?"
She received no response from the bespectacled girl.
"Um, hello, Earth to Ann-Marie?" She snapped her fingers at Nikki. "Has the mothership landed yet? I said-"
"I heard you the first time!" Nikki snapped, quickly flashing Audrey the bird with her glare. "It's just...there's something off about that woman next to Miss Yumi."
"Mrs. Belmont?" Tiffany wondered, casting a glance at GU's resident professor of English Lit, her hair done up in a neat bun and wearing a patterned cardigan in this instance. "What about her? She looks like she always does."
"No no, not her; the other one!" She gestured to the other side of Aiko Yumi where an unfamiliar face sat. This woman was more on the petite side than the other two judges and looked entirely out of place here, frankly: a saucy looking red dress that just barely reached her thighs, gaudy jewelry that clatter with every small movement she made, and short, light brown hair that must have had 3 gallons of product in it with how it was shaped. The word "spritely" came to mind for some reason.
"She looks fine to me," Audrey piped up, "Maybe you're just jealous that she looks like she could actually snag some dick if she wanted?~"
"Oh, fuck off with-!"
"Hey!" Tiffany snapped, "Nikki, please watch your language; I see some younger kids around. And Audrey? Please don't antagonize Nikki before the competition even starts. We can't win if we're all kicked out."
Audrey actually had the good sense to look remorseful after Tiffany's rebuke.
Then her expression turned thoughtful for a moment. "...could I do it after we win?"
"Audrey!"
"Geez, I was just fucking kidding, alright? Don't have a cow or anything..."
Tiffany took a deep breath before she responded. "Look, I don't know if this is from nerves or whatever, but we've got this! Nikki could probably win this thing in her sleep if she wanted, and I'm not too shabby myself when it comes to academic-related things. And Audrey...you've certainly got spirit, and no one can take that away from you! So let's put our petty squabbles aside and we kick this Spelling Bee's butt; who's with me?"
Before either girl could respond to Tiffany's impassioned pep talk, she heard a slow clapping from behind her, followed by a voice she knew all too well. "Oh my, that was just brilliant, Miss Maye. Truly, never has a cheerleader moved mountains so with mere words.~"
She didn't even need to turn around to know the voice belonged to someone who'd very quickly risen up her "vehement dislike list". (Granted it was a relatively short list, so it wasn't a difficult feat.)
"...why hello there, Adrian Taylor," she said in an overly perky voice, slowly turning around to face the British exchange student. "What a nice surprise seeing you here!~ I didn't know you you'd be participating in this today.~"
"Well, I am." The auburn-haired young man nudged his glasses further up his nose. "I mean, normally I wouldn't have even bothered with this little dog and pony show, but then a little bird told me that tickets to Hamilton were at stake, and you know how I enjoy Lin-Manuel Miranda's body of work."
"Boy, do I ever!~" Her eyebrow was starting to twitch. "It's such a shame that we never got your production of Bring It On: The Musical off the ground...~"
"Indeed, but se la vie; evidentially Glenberry wasn't ready for that bit of dramatic brilliance..."
"Then where's the rest of your team?" Nikki asked. "Those tickets are only for the teams' bracket, right?"
"...Nicole, was it? Yes, you would be absolutely correct about that."
"...so?"
"So, they'll be along shortly. I believe the phrase you Yanks use here is 'grabbing a quick shag' behind the bleachers.
"Hey, I'm not-!"
"Knowing them," he continued, heedless of the indignant blunette, "they should be along any minute now. In any case, I'll leave you lovely girls be for now; may the best team win.~" He gave a wink, then sauntered off towards the entrance.
By this point, Tiffany looked like she was about to literally explode with how much she was twitching.
"Uh, Tiff?" Audrey gave her friend a light poke. "You're looking like, well...me a little."
"I'm fine," she lied, letting out a frustrated sigh, "I don't know what it is about that guy, but everything about him just gets under my skin."
"Maybe it's his narrow-minded view of us Muggles?" Nikki suggested.
"His smug, condescending voice?" Audrey ventured.
"Well, whatever it is, I'm really going to enjoy wiping that grin off his stupid face." Tiffany held her out in front of her, "what do you say, girls; ready to kick some British ass?"
"Hells yeah!" Nikki added her hand atop Tiffany's.
"Eh, fine, I guess...," Audrey 'enthusiastically' stated as she followed suit.
They all added their other hands to the pile, just in time for the MC to announce that things were about to get underway.
The MC being the spritely woman in the red dress Nikki pointed out earlier.
"Alright kiddos, gather 'round; I'm about to explain how this thing is gonna work for all you people who haven't lost your B card yet, so bee there, or bee square." There was a brief kerfuffle as the participating teams found their seats. "So this is basically gonna work just like the National Spelling Bee does: you get a word, you can ask some questions about it, you spell it, yada yada. However, because we don't want this to be boring as sin, there's gonna be a couple extra rules."
There were murmurs of confusion throughout the crowd.
"I know this seems scary but since it's your first times, I'll be gentle. Basically, the judges, us, will ask one person from a team a word, then, pass or fail, we switch to the next team, and so on until one team misses a word. Also, all the words have been sorted into six categories, and you have the option of picking which category you get a word from when it's your team's turn. Simple? Ok, let's start this bitch!"
"Well, at least it'll make things more interesting," Tiffany remarked.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
As the Spelling Bee got underway things actually proceeded fairly smoothly, the participants all seeming to comprehend these new rules. What was a little strange were the categories themselves, things like "world languages" and "pop media" and "miscellaneous", among a few others, and it was clear that there were more than a few closet nerds on the planning committee.
The "Best Friend Squad" (as Tiffany had labeled them on the submission form) ended up doing quite well, their various methods of preparation getting them through the first couple of rounds with only a couple of times when they stumbled.
There were a few snickers when Tiffany almost forgot the second "e" in Fiancée.
Eight total teams had joined, and by the time six were eliminated only the Best Friend Squad and Adrian's team remained.
"Alright, good job, teams," the pixie-like woman cheered, "but don't bask in the afterglow just yet, cuz there's one more twist now that we're at the final round: instead of going in a line through each team member, you can pick which member- giggity- gets to spell when your turn comes around. Giggity."
"Does she really need to throw all those innuendos around?" Nikki wondered aloud.
"Other than that, everything will still work like it has been so far. And according to my randomizer app, Team Miranda gets the first word."
Tiffany took a moment to glare at Adrian, who gave a cheeky salute right back.
"I'll be going first, and I'd love a word from 'Sci-fi & Fantasy', if you please?"
Aiko picked a card from one of six little boxes in front of her, handing right over to Mrs. Belmont.
"Your word is…'faerie'."
The Brit cleared his throat. "F-a-e-r-i-e, faerie."
"Correct."
"Psh, that was an easy one," Nikki remarked.
"Was it?" Tiffany asked, "I don't think I would have gone with that spelling."
"You mean because you're not a fuckin' teen that thinks Alt Subject is the height of fashion?"
Three guesses which of the girls that was.
"Hey, Best Friend Squad? You're up, bitches."
"Sorry!" Tiffany called back. "I guess I'll go next. Um...I'll take a word from Miscellaneous."
"...your word is 'hapax legomenon'."
"Hmm...could I have it in a sentence, please?"
For the next sixteen words after that, each team managed to get a good run where none of them missed a word, even Audrey and her enigmatic preparations. Adrian liked to show off when it was his turn (spelling the word without asking any of the defining questions) but otherwise spelled everything correctly. Surprisingly, Tiffany was able to compartmentalize her frustration with the Brit enough so she could focus on the competition.
Until she noticed an unforgettable face sitting in the back of the auditorium, smiling and pointing the lens of a video camera in her direction.
Wearing a very familiar leopard print, spaghetti strap tank top.
"...what's up?" Nikki whispered while one of Adrian's team had their turn, "You look like you just saw a ghost."
"No, a ghost would be preferable to her..." She let her hand fall into her hands. "Of all the times for her to show up, why did it have to be now?"
The blunette glanced out into the seating, soon spotting the offending presence. "...you mean Miss Jessie? But she seems like such a nice person; she always tips well when she comes in for a coffee."
"Well, long story short, she and I have a...tenuous relationship."
"...that's correct," Mrs. Belmont confirmed, nodding to the opposite team as their turn ended. She then turned to the Best Friend Squad, "Which member will be in this round?"
"Don't worry," Nikki whispered reassuringly, "I've got this." She gave Tiffany a wink before standing up. "That'd be me, ma'am. I'll have a word from 'Sci-fi & Fantasy'."
"Very well." A card was handed to her. "Your word is 'berindium'."
Surprising no one, Nikki spelled it correctly without using any of the defining questions.
She then mimed dropping a mic in Adrian's direction.
"Don't get a swelled head there, Mr. Spock," Audrey jibed, the azure-haired nerd looking smug as she returned to her seat.
"What can I say? I'm just built different.~ Isn't that right, Tiff? ...Uh, Tiffany?"
She'd meant to nudge the sandy blonde for confirmation of her genius, but Tiffany was to busy muttering "This is fine, it'll be fine, she's not even here right now, this isn't going to turn out exactly like that talent show during 8th grade did..." to herself.
She elected to leave her friends be for the moment.
Nikki was about to turn to Audrey (a last resort) to ask what was going on with their mutual friend when an exclamation of "YOU WHAT?" rang through the auditorium, and people could swear they saw a thin trail of smoke rising from his burnt red hair.
"Sorry, Champ, but you ain't in Jolly Ol' London anymore," the petite brunette (who still hadn't given her name, weirdly enough) said, "but here in America, we don't spell 'encyclopedia' with an 'a'. And before you ask, that's how it is spelled on the card, so that's what we're accepting as correct for this competition. Maybe next time, huh?"
Adrian looked like he wanted to say more, as evidenced by his barely contained, indignant rage, but he instead went back to his seat and sat down with a huff.
"Best Friend Squad, you're up for the win! Who're ya gonna send to the hot seat?"
"Ok," Nikki said, "So, Tiffany's still in her own little world right now, so I think our best bet to win is for me to go up and-"
"I'll do it." Without even waiting for her friend to finish, Audrey stood up and walked over to the podium on stage.
Nikki was too flabbergasted by Audrey's brazen action to really do anything but sputter in shock.
"Alright! And what'll be your poison for this last round?" the woman asked.
"Miscellaneous," the debutante answered.
"Daring, I like it! Ok judges, tell her what hot, steaming word she's gonna receive out of the literary gloryhole!"
"Oh, that one was on purpose!" Nikki shouted from her seat, to which the woman just shrugged.
"Your word is...," Mrs. Belmont emphasized, clearly trying to keep things on track. "...'Javert'."
Audrey looked pensive. "...what part of a sentence is it?"
"It's a noun."
"...what country is it from?"
"French."
Nikki was on the edge of her seat at this point. She'd known Audrey for a good while now, so she could tell the girl was just stalling even though she at least thought she had an idea of how the word was spelled.
"Why is she stalling?" she wondered aloud.
"...Hmm?" Somehow, Tiffany managed to snap out of her fugue state at this. "Who's stalling?"
"Audrey. She clearly knows how that French word is spelled, but she's just dragging this out for some reason."
Tiffany glanced over at her friend, who was still looking pensive. She was also tapping the side of her chin.
"...Javert: J-A-V-E-R-T, 'Javert'."
There was a pregnant pause as everyone waited for the verdict from Mrs. Belmont.
"...that is correct."
A round of applause sounded throughout the auditorium, both Tiffany and Nikki jumping to their feet as they cheered the victory Audrey just secured for them.
"And with that, Team Best Friend Squad takes the W!" the pixie-like woman announced, "Congratulations, you sexy bitches.~"
"Well done, Miss Belrose," Mrs. Belmont praised, "You and your friends can collect your prize once the Singles bracket has wrapped up.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
That evening the three of them sat in Tiffany's dorm room, a bottle of peppermint schnapps half-finished on the table as the girls relished in their victory.
"I still can't believe Audrey of all people cinched us the win on that!" Nikki marveled, "That's like...like Ottocon getting the final shot on the Tyrant with the standard Megabuster...!"
"I told you bitches I knew what I was doing...!" The debutante poured herself a new glass of the frou-frou booze. "Like I wasn't gonna give a real fucking effort for Hamilton tickets!"
Tiffany, who'd already indulged in the celebratory drink by this point, chose this moment to giggle. "Hehe...did you see Adrian's face? He looked like he was about to tear his stupid hair out! *hic!*"
"That was pretty satisfying," Nikki agreed, taking a cautious sip from her glass, "To be honest, I probably would have gotten that word wrong; my knowledge of musicals begins and ends with Spamalot and the Pokémon musical."
"Which we're going to cure you of once we reach New York," Audrey said, pointing at the blunette.
"Hey, Audrey?" Tiffany glanced over at her wild-child friend, "...what'd you do to prepare from the spelling bee...?"
"Actually...yeah, that's a good question!" Nikki also focused on Audrey. "Every time we asked you, you basically just told us to go screw ourselves."
"I mean, wouldn't you if people were badgering you every fucking second? I basically just didn't drive myself fucking crazy worrying about it; both of you are like, stupid smart, so I figured you'd both take care of the really hard stuff and I'd just pick up the slack."
"...so you're saying that you did nothing and let us do all the heavy lifting?"
"Hey, we wouldn't even have the damn tickets if it weren't for me!"
"It's ok, Audrey." Tiffany brought the debutante into a somewhat clumsy hug, stroking her friend's raven locks. "We still love you.~"
"Don't put words in my mouth, Tiff," Nikki said.
"Also, knock this sappy, Hallmark movie bullshit off!" Audrey's (halfhearted) attempts to dislodge her preppy friend accomplished nothing.
"Let me love you!"
Don't worry, folks; Tiffany fell asleep after a bit, dreaming of sitting in the front row as men and women in colonial dress danced on stage, singing about Alexander Hamilton.
Audrey and Nikki both made sure she was tucked in, then headed off to their own respective domiciles.
fin.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Sometime later, in another part of the city…
"Wow, he really missed 'encyclopedia?" Lola remarked. She'd been hesitant at first when Jessie insisted on showing her footage of her daughter's spelling bee- she only had a few hours before she needed to turn in for the evening; there was an early flight she had to be on tomorrow -but had loosened up a bit when she'd learned that it was recorded yesterday.
The homemade Bon Bons and apple daquiries also helped.
"I mean, I get that he's clearly from across the pond...but you'd think he'd have known we spell it differently here in the states."
"Oh, that's not even the best part, though!" Jessie then scanned forward in the footage, now showing Tiffany, the rude girl from Nutmeg, and some other bitch all held hands on stage, accepting a blue ribbon and an envelope from the pixie-like brunette MCing the event. "She looks so beautiful when she smiles…"
"Why didn't you go congratulate her? Seems like you had a good opportunity."
"I suppose...but I didn't want to step on her moment, you know? There was this one talent show when she was in 7th grade-"
"I know; you've told me that one a dozen times already."
"My point is that I wanted her to have a good memory without me 'momming' it up and embarrassing her."
"Fair enough. ...hey, got any more Bon Bons? I could use a snack in this next flight."
really fin.
Welp, that happened. TBH, when I started writing this, I wasn't nearly expecting it to blossom into this BEAST. But hey, I ain't complaining. Just means more content for you guys, amiright? Anywho, y'all know the drill by now: Review, Fav, stay safe, and be Excellent to each other.