Day 4 - Amy's scavenger hunt for Karma's birthday
Karma smiles as she opens her eyes, excitement flooding through her. Today was not just any day. Today was her birthday. That's right. The day when Karma Ashcroft was introduced to the world. With a joyful sigh, Karma sat up and stretched her upper body, prepared to get ready for a wonderful day of school.
Adjusting her ostentatious 'Happy Birthday!' pin, Karma looked around for her best friend, surprised that Amy hadn't called her with the traditional first line of the scavenger hunt. With a frown, Karma got onto the bus and sat by herself, fidgeting as she wondered if Amy was sick, or worse, forgot about her birthday. Dismissing her fears, Karma put on a smile as she got off the bus, preparing herself for the day ahead of her.
As she walked down the halls of Hester High, Karma was pleasantly surprised when people wished her a happy birthday. By the time she arrived at her locker, Karma had given up all hope of seeing Amy for her birthday. Entering her combination without a thought, Karma frowned when the latch didn't open with ease, having to push the latch multiple times before the metal door swung open. WIth a startled cry, Karma jumped back as ribbons, Keurig coffee cups, and flowers fell from her locker, spilling onto the hallway. Laughing, Karma looked at the items, seeing a neon blue card attached to one of the flowers.
"Happy Birthday you dork! The first clue is pretty easy, but I hope you're prepared to miss most of school. Where would your Ethel go when she's mad?"
Karma giggled at the easy clue, putting her bag in her locker before carefully shutting it. She threw the fallen items out and proceeded to make her way to the school's rooftop, dodging the teachers that were prowling in the hallways.
Opening the metal door, Karma looked around the roof, expecting to see the note in plain sight. Unfortunately, Karma had to look all over the area where Amy would usually sit, eventually coming across a taped green note card. Shaking her head, Karma read her friend's messy handwriting and felt the usual jolt of elation when she did the scavenger hunts.
"You didn't think it would be THAT easy, did you? Come on, give me some credit. The next clue is near Kim Jong Un's locker."
After a few minutes of thinking, Karma cautiously made her way towards Lauren's locker, trying not to come across the blonde ball of anger. With a silent thank you, Karma grabbed the pink card sticking out of the edge of the locker, running away in case Lauren was nearby. So far, Amy's hints had been rather easy compared to last year, but this had happened before. Amy would give Karma easy notes because she wanted to give Karma her birthday present as soon as possible. It only happened a couple of times, as Amy only made certain things really special for the both of them.
"Congrats! You survived! At least, I hope you did if you're reading this… The fourth note is where we competed for the highest amount of baked goods."
Karma chuckled as she walked to the large tree on their high school's faux quad, looking around for some brilliantly colored note card. Not seeing anything, Karma started wandering around the area, eventually coming across a note card taped to the front of concrete steps so that you could only see it if you were walking up the steps.
"Had to look for that one, didn't you? Alright, I'm getting impatient. The second to last hint is where Everyone Really Marks Anything is."
Karma raised her eyebrow at the note. "What the hell does Everyone Really Marks Anything?" With a frustrated sigh, Karma sat on the steps, trying to remember if this was something that was special to them. As she zoned out, her eyes happened to focus on the capital letters, finally seeing that it spell out Erma. "Idiot!" With a sound of excitement, Karma sprang up and practically ran to the cafeteria, dashing to the register Erma resided. Lucky for Karma, her searching took a good bit of time, as the first lunch period was starting. After all, Karma had basically traveled all around the school looking for notes.
When she reached the register, Karma was relieved to see the lunch lady, and walked up to her. Thankfully, Erma already knew what was going together, as she handed Karma an orange note card with a smile as the brunette approached.
Sitting down in a nearby chair, Karma ripped the tape off of the note, eager to see the hint that would lead her to her present.
"Thank goodness you found this! I'm getting hungry! The last 'note', and your present, is waiting where we declared our fakeness."
The brunette quickly got up and made her way to the gym, opening the wooden doors with a burst of excitement as she spotted a blonde head of hair on the bleachers. The blonde head lifted as the doors banged shut, turning to face Karma. Amy grinned as she noticed Karma holding all of her cards as her best friend ran towards her. Amy met her at the bottom of the bleachers, holding something behind her back.
"So, what's the big gift? It has to be something big if you gave me somewhat easy hints." Karma said eagerly, trying to see if she could spy the gift behind Amy's arms. Amy laughed, blocking Karma's vision.
"You just have to answer me one question first."
"Yes, of course, anything!"
With a laugh, Amy took one hand behind her back, empty, and placed it on Karma's cheek, effectively changing the tone of the situation. "I know we don't talk about it, but we both know our feelings for each other pass the best friends level. So, would you be my girlfriend? My actual girlfriend, not a pretend one to get a guy."
Karma, stunned by the bluntness of Amy's question, just nodded, subconsciously leaning in when Amy did so. This time, instead of a kiss with the intention to fool, was filled with what they felt a few weeks ago in Amy's bedroom. It was passion, friendship, caring, and a slight hint of love. Karma's senses woke up when she felt Amy smile into the kiss, and she too, responded with a smile of her own, wrapping her arms around Amy's waist. Her arms paused when they grazed the other hand behind Amy's back, feeling some circular, hard plastic.
Breaking away from the kiss, Karma only raised her eyebrow, causing Amy to blush furiously as she pulled a travel coffee mug out from behind her back. It was designed with the picture of the two of them when Amy was dressed up as a scarecrow, fooling around with Karma. "I thought you would like it. I had it customized and on the back it says Happy Birthday on it. It's stupid but I thought you would use it. And I have all of those coffee pods and flowers in your-"
Amy was cut off by Karma laughing, kissing her girlfriend to show her appreciation.