"C'mon," Franke muttered through gritted teeth as she tugged hard on her own hair. "Come out you stupid- gah!"

She would have thought that keeping gum from getting into her hair would have been a skill she would have long mastered by the ripe old age of ten. And yet here she was, outside of the girl's cabin in the middle of the night, a fistful of hair and a sizeable chunk of sticky, bright purple Bubble-yum brand gum in her hand. She yanked again and was rewarded with only an aching head for her effort. Why me? she thought piteously to herself, thumping her head against the wall of the cabin.

She didn't even know how it had happened. In direct defiance of the Coach's ridiculous sleep schedule, she and Kitty had decided to have their own private slumber party in Kitty's bunk ("no way that a man who lives in a tree house is telling us when to go to bed"). Things had been going pretty well- they'd done their nails (Franke was particularly proud of how nicely the glittery silver swirls on Kitty's ring finger had come out) and had come up with several fun rumors to spread around the camp regarding several of their bunkmates. At some point in the night Franke had popped two pieces of grape bubblegum (not her favorite flavor but she'd run out of strawberry) into her mouth, chewing on them until they were flavorless and occasionally blowing comically huge bubbles.

The final bubble had been her downfall. It had been enormous, bigger than any she'd ever blown before, its massive size obscuring her face entirely. Franke had thought the bubble quite the accomplishment, but Kitty unfortunately had not, as she had hurriedly scooted over to the other end of the bed. "Ugh, Franke," she had said as she levitated her make-up case out from under her bunk, her tone conveying disgust. "That's gonna get everywhere when it pops, girl." She had then opened the case up and focused all of her attention on the contents within, studiously ignoring Franke as she did, as though to say 'you do not exist until that bubble is gone.'

Immediately Franke had set to work on righting her wrong, popping the bubble with her finger without really considering the consequences of that action. The bubble exploded and Kitty's prediction came true, the sticky remains of it covering her nose and mouth. There had been no time to lose- Kitty had not yet looked up and the last thing Franke wanted was for her gorgeous, super-cool girlfriend to see her like this. She had shot up off the bed and darted for the exit, announcing her need to use the bathroom before Kitty could even question her.

She'd squatted at the side of the building, right by the window, and began hastily removing the gum from her face and clothes. That had been easy enough, as the stuff had peeled away with little resistance and she had tossed the gum onto the grass, satisfied that she was once again presentable. It was not a satisfaction that had lasted long, for when she moved to rise she noticed that her curl felt strangely limp and heavy. She had brought a hand up to investigate and had discovered the wad of gum, trapped within the strands.

In the minutes since Franke had not been able to make any progress on removing the gum from her hair, and in truth seemed to be making the situation worse. Every time she tugged more of her hair became stuck to the gum, tangling with the other strands. Eventually she gave up, realizing that the gum wasn't coming out until morning at the earliest. "And it's right on my curl, too," Franke lamented as she sat back on her rear, folding her knees up to her chest. By this point Kitty had to be wondering what was taking her so long to get back. Franke could only hope that Kitty would assume that she'd gotten lost in the darkness- it had happened before. I'll have to go back in eventually, Franke thought, dread pooling in the pit of her stomach. It's not like I can stay out here all night. The grass nearby rustled and Franke stiffened in response to the sound, not sure of what mystery creature had the made noise and not particularly eager to find out.

What were the chances of Kitty just not noticing that Franke had a big wad of gum stuck in her hair? Zero to nil, Franke guessed- she might have gotten away with it if the gum had been orange, but the purple stood out too much against her red-orange curl to not be visible. The darkness wouldn't help her either, as Kitty had eyes like her namesake and could zero in on any perceivable flaws a person might have regardless of the quality of the lighting. Perhaps it would be better to just slink back into the cabin and humbly beg for Kitty's help in getting the gum out. Maybe I could just say that the gum got in my hair when I was going back to the cabin, Franke thought, her spirits lifting a little. Yeah, I could say that a bird spit their gum out while they were flying over me…

Franke smiled, got up, and then promptly plopped right back down; knowing that there was no way that Kitty would ever buy a story like that. She groaned, putting her hands in her head, feeling very much like the awkward little loser in pediatric shoes she'd been before Kitty had taken her under her wing. She envisioned her return, could see Kitty's white, perfect teeth as she smiled and reached out to playfully tug Franke's curl as she often did, teasing her about the length of her absence, her tone light enough to keep the words from being mean. Then her fingers would come across the gum, and Kitty would recoil, snatching her hand back, a look of distaste usually reserved for campers at the bottom rung of the social ladder gracing her features. The thought of Kitty looking at her in the same way that she looked at Milka or Crystal made her feel physically ill, her stomach twisting uncomfortably as her heart began to hammer in her chest.

A strange sensation began to creep up the back of her neck- it was the odd feeling that one got when being stared at by another human being. Franke snapped her head up and cast her gaze up at the window, fully expecting to see Kitty staring down at her with mockery and disgust mingling in her expression. Thankfully, it was not her, but some other girl, who had ducked down the instant that Franke's eyes met hers. She'd disappeared too fast for Franke to have gotten a good look at her, but the bright blue eyes had identified her as Crystal Flowers Snagrash.

The relief that flooded through her was short-lived, as not a second later she heard the soft thump of footsteps treading across the cabin. Oh God, Franke thought, the blood draining from her face, It's Kitty for sure! Crystal told her I was out here and now she's coming out to find me! Franke couldn't move, her anxiety freezing her in her spot, and it took all of her energy just to cover the gum with her hand.

Again, Franke's guess was wrong, for it was Crystal who rounded the corner, peering down at Franke almost shyly. "Franke?" she asked, her usually loud and irritatingly peppy voice hushed and her hair free of its usual high ponytail. "What are you doing out here? Are you okay?"

Franke scowled and turned her head so that her curl was hidden from view, annoyed that Crystal had frightened her twice within the span of thirty seconds. "I'm just fine!" she said snootily, mimicking the tone that Kitty often took when conversing with people beneath her notice. "I'm…" she trailed off, unable to think of a plausible excuse for sitting out here so late at night. A conveniently timed 'hoot' coming from the branches overhead provided her with inspiration. "I'm bird-watching. For like, owls and bats and stuff."

"Oh! That sounds like fun!" Crystal said cheerily, looking upwards to search for the owl that had called. She sounded like she fully believed Franke's story. And why wouldn't she? Franke thought smugly as she unconsciously fiddled with the gum. If I was gonna form a Dumb Girls club, she'd be my second-in-command.

Crystal pointed up at a high bough jutting out from the tree's west side, oblivious to Franke's mean thoughts. "Hey, I think I see the owl over there!" she yelled, speaking way too loudly for Franke's comfort.

"Not so loud!" Franke hissed, fearful that Kitty would overhear and discover the real reason Franke had left her. "You're, uh," she looked uneasily at the window, then back at Crystal, "you're gonna scare the birds away."

Crystal clamped her lips shut, her cheeks turning red. "Sorry," she whispered. There was the sound of wings flapping above, and a half-second later a shadow passed over them. "I think I scared it off," she confessed glumly, her head hanging low.

"A-and just before I could, uh, watch it!" Franke said, trying to infuse as much outrage into her voice as she could. Though really, she was glad that the owl had left- those things creeped her out, with the weird way they rotated their heads.

"I'm sorry," Crystal said, looking guiltily down at her socked feet. "I should have known not to talk so loudly. I'm so stupid, sorry."

Franke rolled her eyes. "Well, duh." She pointed at Crystal accusingly. "You gotta go," she ordered. "Your hair is like, too bright, and the color doesn't go with your, uh, eyes?" Well, that wasn't really true; the clear blue of Crystal's eyes actually looked pretty good with the magenta shade of her hair, especially with it loose around her shoulders. Franke had only said it because it sounded like the sort of cutting remark Kitty would sling at an annoying pest. "That's why the birds are flying away. So you need to leave."

The wounded look that came into Crystal's eyes made Franke falter and flinch, but she had to stay strong- it wasn't like she could let Crystal see the embarrassing predicament that she'd gotten herself into. "Sorry," she muttered again, the shakiness in her voice making Franke's heart squeeze. "I'll just go…"

It seemed like this should have been a victorious moment for Franke, but she found that she couldn't really revel in it in the same way that she would have had Kitty been by her side. Franke put it down to the fact that she still had to eventually go back into the cabin and face the music. "Yeah, you better go," Franke said, her parting shot lacking any real bite.

At the exact moment Crystal turned to depart Franke began to feel a strange tickling creeping up her ankle and then up her calf. Her guilty conscience? No, it was some gross vermin crawling up her pants! She gave a strangled yelp and kicked her leg up furiously, ejecting the creature into the air, where it sailed up in an arc before plummeting down to the ground. "What is it!" Franke shrieked, scurrying away from the thing in a backwards crabwalk as fast as she could. "Is it a snake? It's a snake, isn't it? Oh my God, it totally bit me!" she wailed as she moved, stopping only when her back collided with Crystal's legs. "I'm gonna die!"

"I think it's just a lizard," Crystal said gently, and sure enough, she was right. The little yellow thing gave them a beady blink before crawling off and disappearing into the grass. "Even if it bit you, they're not poisonous," she explained, the reassurance comforting even as Franke realized that she had not, in fact, been bitten at all. "So you won't die, don't worry! Trust me, I know!"

"O-Oh, that's good," Franke stammered out, her breathing and heart rate beginning to slow down. She looked up just as Crystal looked down, and for one brief second, their eyes met. She has really long eyelashes, Franke observed, her situation momentarily forgotten. I bet she doesn't have to use mascara.

It was hard to tell in the minimal lighting, but it seemed like Crystal's cheeks turned a little pink. She broke eye-contact first, her gaze drifting to the left and falling, much to Franke's horror, onto her curl. The one with gum stuck to it and everything. Franke froze, her breath caught in her throat, hoping that Crystal just wouldn't notice the sticky, purple mass tangled in her hair.

Tragically, that was not to be. "Franke," Crystal said, and man, it seemed that time had slowed down deliberately to make this moment as tortuously long as possible. "You got," she pointed downward at Franke's curl, "something in," tears formed in the corners of Franke's eyes, "your," don't say it don't say it don't say it, "hair."

All at once, Franke's too-cool-for-you-mean-girl persona crumbled like a cookie with too much flour in it, leaving only a sobbing, desperate mess that no one would want to eat in its place. "Don't tell Kitty!" she cried, throwing her arms around Crystal's knees, as though to stop her from doing just that. "You can't, please! I'm begging you!"

"Whoa! Franke, what…" Crystal stumbled back, thrown off balance by Franke's weight. "What's wrong?" she asked, placing her hands on Franke's shoulders to steady herself.

The story came tumbling out of Franke's mouth, her words falling out so fast that they became as mixed up in each other as the gum was in her hair. Crystal listened without saying anything, her eyes wide as she did her best to comprehend Franke's rapid speech. "If Kitty finds out about this," Franke said, the tears now flowing down her face, "she'll drop me like a pair of last season's Prada's." She sniffed, making a wet, mucusy sound. "And then I'll go back to being a dork like you! Uh, no offense."

"None taken! I wouldn't want to be a dork like me either!" Crystal's tone was sweet and soft, soothing Franke in the same way that a bowl of peach sherbet did when she was feeling down. "I won't tell Kitty," she said, squeezing Franke's shoulder. "Your secret is safe with me."

Franke looked up at her dumbly, blinking her tear filled eyes as she waited for whatever toll Crystal was planning on charging her for this favor. When seconds passed and none came, Franke let out a shaky breath and hugged Crystal, her shoulders sagging with relief. "Thank's Crystal!" she said, her voice hoarse after all that crying. "You're a real pal!"

They stayed like that for a moment, Crystal with her hands around Franke's shoulders and Franke on her knees, arms around Crystal's waist. Then they sprang apart, realizing that the embrace had gone on a little too long. "So," Crystal began as Franke got to her feet. "What are you gonna do now?"

Good question, Franke thought as she dusted herself off. "I guess I'll just…keep my head turned to the side until I go to bed?" she said, turning her head to the right so that only her profile faced Crystal.

Crystal furrowed her brows. "That's…a good idea," she said, her tone polite in the way one took when they wished to let someone down gently. "But um…" she gestured awkwardly at Franke's head. "You can still see it." The weight of the gum and all of the pointless pulling Franke had subjected her curl to had put it out of place, and there was little chance of her being able to fix it. "Well, maybe Kitty won't be able to see it, because it's so dark and all!" Crystal said, smiling in a manner that implied that she did not believe her words.

Franke heaved a despairing sigh, wanting nothing more than for a huge sinkhole to form beneath her feet and swallow her up. Such a thing was unlikely to happen, so Franke had little choice but to walk back into the cabin, sit down next to her foxy, brilliant girlfriend, and admit that she had gotten gum in her hair, like a toddler running to her mommy. She's gonna think I'm a total loser. I might as well strap those pediatric shoes back on.

"Peanut butter will get that out."

Franke blinked and stared blankly at Crystal, not sure if she had heard her right. "What?"

"The same thing happened to me," Crystal said, rubbing a few strands of hair between her fingers. "Well, not the exact same thing. A boy on my street spit gum out at me and it got in my hair."

"Ugh!" Franke wrinkled her nose, outraged on Crystal's behalf. "Boys are so gross!"

"Ha, yeah, people can be real meanies!" Crystal said, laughing. "Anyway, my mom put peanut butter on it and it came right out!"

Franke raised an eyebrow, not convinced. "How the heck would that work," she asked incredulously. "Putting one sticky thing on top of another sounds like, you know, the opposite of a good idea."

Crystal shrugged. "My mom said that the oil in the peanut butter makes the gum weaker. I dunno why, but it worked for me." She looked down at her feet, twining her fingers together. "Sorry, I don't know anything else that could help."

Dubious as she was, Franke couldn't think of anything better either, aside from just cutting the damn curl off (the idea of which caused her physical pain). "Alright," she said, sighing, feeling as though she had just hit rock bottom. "Let's do it. You go get the peanut butter and I'll wait here."

Crystal's face fell. "Um, I don't have any."

Franke smacked her forehead. "Then why," she groaned through gritted teeth. "did you say anything at all?"

"I-I don't," Crystal stammered, putting her hands up in front of herself. "I mean, I don't have any in my bunk." Her face brightened as an idea struck her. "But they probably have it in the Main Lodge. You could go get it!"

Hope flickered and died within Franke's chest. "Yeah, that would be really smart if it wasn't the middle of the dang night!" Franke huffed, blowing her bangs off of her forehead. "The place is closed."

"Actually," Crystal said, smiling, "The doors are still open."

"What? Doesn't Chef Cruller lock the place down?"

"He does, but the Coach always opens it back up to get snacks." Crystal grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. "He never remembers to lock it back up."

Franke couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face, glad to finally see the light at the end of this tunnel. "Well heck, it's worth a shot!" she said, already speeding off towards the bridge. She stopped when she noticed that she wasn't being followed, looking back to see Crystal still standing in place and watching Franke with an uncertain look. "What are you doing?" Franke snapped impatiently. "Let's go!"

"You want me to go with?" Crystal asked, pointing to herself.

"Duh! You're the one who knows how to do it!" Franke said, rolling her eyes.

"Alright then!" Crystal exclaimed enthusiastically. She took a step forward and then stopped, looking down at her dirt stained socks. "I guess I should put my shoes on first."

"Fine but hurry up!" Franke said as Crystal darted back into the cabin. A breeze blew, blowing the gummy curl against her neck. "Knock it off!" she said to it. "Man, I can't wait to get you out of my hair!"

Franke had, during the course of her stay at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, walked back and forth between the cabins and the Main Lodge more times than she could remember. It'd never been any trouble for her- the weather was usually pleasant and mild, the foliage vibrant, and the little woodland creatures cute (although Kitty did not much care for the wildlife) and the path so smooth that she could easily ride a skateboard over it (and wouldn't it be so cool if she could show off her mad skills to Kitty?).

At night, however, it felt like Franke had stepped into a completely different world, one abundant with bugs and where unknown creatures made strange noises and flitted through the mesh of the branches too quickly to be seen. Here in this dark, creepy world, illuminated sparsely by moth-swarmed lanterns, shadows played tricks on her eyes, making her think that the trees and shrubs she saw everyday in the sunlight were actually monsters lying in wait, ready to pounce on her and make her hair look worse than it already did. This place was both eerily silent and overwhelmingly loud. Overall, it was much quieter during the night, with only the cricket song filling the air, which made any singular noise- the crack of a twig snapping underfoot or the wind rustling through the trees- all the more noticeable and off-putting. Needless to say, Franke was more than a little unnerved, and secretly glad that she was not out here on her own.

Her companion, walking slightly ahead of her, seemed unfazed by her surroundings, even as Franke bit her lip and rubbed her arms anxiously. "We have to be careful around here," Crystal said once they reached the halfway point. "The cougars like to hang out in this area."

"Cougars!" Franke yelped, knowing that Crystal definitely did not mean hot older ladies like Jodie Foster. She stopped dead in her tracks, shaking with fear, her eyes darting this way and that. "Oh God," she said, the hairs on the back of her neck beginning to prickle. "One's trying to set me on fire! I can feel it on the back of my neck!"

"No, no Franke," Crystal said, turning around to face Franke. She placed a hand on the back of Franke's neck, the coolness of her skin calming Franke's frayed nerves. "You're okay! The cougars have to be closer in order to set you on fire! That's what Clem says," she explained, nodding sagely.

That abated Franke's fear a little, but she was still freaked out. "But they're like, near the lodge, right?" she asked, looking over at the area surrounding the building. Was that movement she saw, over by the stairs? She couldn't tell, and at this point, didn't' have the courage to go any further to find out. She turned on her heel with every intention of retreating to the relative safety of the cabins- as bad as it was having gum stuck in her hair, returning with a ton of burns and scratches was a million times worse. "We gotta get out of here! Those lions are gonna burn our eyebrows off!" The thought of having to draw her eyebrows in every morning made her shudder.

"Franke no!" Crystal reached out and grabbed Franke's elbow, her grip surprisingly strong. "We can sneak by them!" she said as she pulled Franke back. "We just gotta believe in ourselves!" She smiled, the light from the nearest lantern giving her features an attractive glow. The amount of enthusiasm infused in the words bolstered Franke up a little, and she relaxed, just a tad. "If you want, I know a cheer that'll get you all fired up and ready to take on those cougars!"

"That's the last thing I want!" Franke said, pulling her arm out of Crystal's grasp. "No cheers! I'll keep going but, uh…you go first. Since you got the power of good vibes or whatever." Franke did not say that she hoped that if they ran into a cougar Crystal would be the one it went after first.

"Okay!" Crystal replied, not at all afraid, making Franke wonder if she was genuinely that brave or just really, really stupid. She took Franke's hand (and wow, Franke couldn't help but notice that they were a little rough- maybe she could loan her some of Kitty's pearl-infused hand cream once this was all over) and began leading her to the Main Lodge. Their pace was fast enough to make good time but slow and careful enough to avoid attracting attention. Franke stayed as close to Crystal as she could, occasionally stepping on the back of Crystal's shoe, too focused on keeping a lookout for cougars to watch where she was going. As they approached the lodge (and by extension, the area where the cougars were more likely to be encountered) her hold on Crystal's hand tightened, her nails unintentionally digging into Crystal's flesh. If this bothered Crystal, she didn't show it, as she gave no indication that she was experiencing any kind of discomfort.

They had reached the stairs leading up to the entrance of the lodge when they spotted something underneath the porch. Franke came to a halt, the blood draining from her face as she took in what appeared to be the biggest beast she had ever seen- it looked to be twice the size of a normal cougar! "Oh…my…God…"she whispered, her voice trembling. "Crystal, look at that thing!" She pointed over at the large, furry mass. "It's huge! How're we gonna get past it?"

Crystal paused, squinting and leaning forward to get a better look. "Don't worry, it's not a really big cougar," she said after a moment of inspection.

"Oh," Franke said, letting out a breath that she hadn't known she'd been holding.

"It's two cougars! All curled up together!"

Franke instantly stiffened, clutching Crystal's hand hard enough to make the other girl wince. "How's that better?" she snapped, still managing to feel annoyed even as her heart rattled in her ribcage. "Two's harder to run from than one!"

"Franke, I don't think they're gonna chase after us at all," Crystal said, taking a step towards the stairs. "They aren't even looking at us, see?" Sure enough, the two cougars hadn't noticed their presence, as they were too absorbed in each other. "Aww," Crystal said as one began licking the other, "they're so cute!"

"Yeah, the big scary fire cats are adorable," Franke whispered sarcastically as she yanked Crystal's arm back. "Let's go while they're being all lovey-dovey!"

"Oh, good idea." The two girls rushed up the stairs, favoring speed over stealth, their footsteps making hard thumps on the wood as they ran. They were in the lodge within seconds, unharmed and unnoticed by the cougars, the door slamming shut behind them with more force than was perhaps necessary.

The room before them was dark, cool, and smelled vaguely of old cheese but Franke felt herself relax, because she was pretty sure that nothing in here could set her on fire or tear her to shreds. "Thank God we made it," she said, her voice bouncing off the high ceiling and echoing softly. She cast a glance towards the door. "They…they won't follow us in here, will they?"

"Um, well, I guess they could burn the door down if they really wanted to get us," Crystal answered, wandering over to the right side of the room.

"What!?"

"They're not gonna, though!" Crystal assured quickly. "Didn't you see them?" Her tone took on a dreamy, romantic quality. "They were all cuddled up together! I think they were in love!"

Franke scoffed. "They remind you of you and your boyfriend?" she sneered. Her laughter died when she saw Crystal pause, and she could make out the motion of her shoulders drooping in the darkness. Clearly Franke had hit a nerve, but for some reason it didn't make her feel very good or cool. If anything, it had the opposite effect. "Crystal, hey, uh," she began awkwardly. She moved forward, the floorboards creaking as she walked. "I didn't- Sor-ow!" Her shin made contact with one of the tables, cutting off her apology. "Dang it!" she yelled, bending her knee up and rubbing the sore spot. "Where's the light switch?"

"Over here!" Crystal said, jogging over the switch by the canteen window. Her voice betrayed neither hurt nor bitterness at Franke's comment, like she hadn't heard it at all, leading Franke to wonder if the darkness had just been playing tricks on her again. The lights came on, illuminating the cheap wooden tables and the stage, Phoebe's drums and Quentin's…DJ things (what were they called? Kitty had said they were table-somethings) still set up on it. It felt strange to be in the lodge at a time like this, with nobody sitting at the tables or behind the counter making gross, over-cooked food. "I've never seen the lodge so empty before," Franke said as she glanced around. The silence permeating the room was more than a little unnerving, considering how noisy and crowded the place normally was when Franke was in it. "Kinda quiet in here, huh?"

She had asked the question more to battle the silence then out of any desire to hear Crystal's thoughts on the matter, but Crystal's answer didn't give her any comfort at all. "Clem says that we get nervous in quiet places because that's when our thoughts are loudest," she said, apparently picking up on Franke's unease, "and there's nothing to distract us from the bleakness of our reality."

"Ugh," Franke said, wrinkling her nose. Clem Foote seemed like the kind of guy who would say something bizarre like that. Of the dudes at this camp, Clem Foote was by far the one who weirded her out the most, with his gangly limbs and buck-tooth grins that never reached his eyes. "Homeboy needs some Clinique under-eye cream and a whole lot of Prozac," she said, repeating word for word what Kitty had said about him. It was only after she said the words out loud that it occurred to her that it might not have been smart to do so. Clem was Crystal's friend (maybe crush?) and as naïve as Crystal was, she might not take too kindly to a direct insult against him. Luckily for her, Crystal didn't seem to register the comment as a jab, perhaps because she didn't know what 'Prozac' was (though, to be honest, neither did Franke). "Is the kitchen door open?" Franke said, quickly changing the subject.

Crystal walked over to the door and turned the knob. "Yep!" she chirped as she pushed it open. "Looks like the Coach was already here."

The kitchen was small, but clean and neatly organized, the floors free of dust and not a single dish in the sink. Only a slightly open cabinet door indicated that someone had been there before them. "You think the peanut butter is there?" Crystal wondered, pointing to it.

The cabinet was too high for either of them to reach physically, so Franke had to use telekinesis to open it up all of the way. An assortment of boxed crackers stood on the shelves. "I don't see any peanut butter," Franke said, pushing the boxes to the side to see if it was in the back. "Looks like it's just crackers- oh, is that Cheez-Whiz?" She pulled the can down, along with a box of Ritz and floated them down to her hands. "Sweet!"

"Oh, wow!" Crystal said, her eyes wide with admiration. "How'd you get so good at TK, Franke?"

Grabbing objects out of a cabinet that was at most a few feet over their heads was not a particularly impressive feat, but Franke puffed up with pride anyway, the praise immediately going to her head. "Oh, I've always been this good," she said as she pulled out a roll of crackers from the box. Okay, that wasn't necessarily true; Kitty had taught her most of it. But she'd been a fast learner, Kitty had said so herself! She floated one cracker up out of the pack. "You should see me weave a friendship bracelet!" She shook the can of Cheez-Whiz and pointed the spray tip at the hovering cracker. Unfortunately, nothing but came out but a stream of air. "What the heck?" Franke said as she pushed down on the tip again. "It's all gone!"

"I guess the Coach likes cheese and crackers too, huh?" Crystal said, looking as disappointed as Franke felt.

"It's just not my night." Franke put the can on the counter, slamming it down with more force than needed. "What kind of jerk just puts an empty can back in the cabinet," she grumbled before popping the cracker into her mouth sans whiz (totally not as good). "You want some?" she asked, offering the pack to Crystal.

Crystal hesitated. "Won't we get in trouble?" She looked down at the pack, her hand raised as though ready to take one.

Franke shrugged. "I mean, we're already gonna steal peanut butter," she pointed out, gesturing to the gum in her hair. "And besides, this food's for us anyway. We're just eating it a little early."

That was good enough logic for Crystal, who accepted the pack and took two crackers out of it. "Thanks Franke."

"No prob." She glanced around the kitchen, wondering where to start looking for the peanut butter. Though the kitchen was small, there seemed to be many places to search-there were several cabinets above and below the sink, plus a refrigerator and freezer on the left side of the room, and a door to what had to be a pantry directly across. Franke had no idea where to start, only knowing that Kitty's suspicions regarding her whereabouts would grow with every second that passed. She stood, frozen in place, her brain working as hard as it could to figure out what to do next. It wasn't doing a very good job, being unaccustomed to actual thought. Man, she thought as she stuck a finger up her nose to prod her brain into doing a better job of thinking, I wish Kitty were here to tell me what to do…

"Wow, this pantry is really big!" Crystal had walked over to the door and opened it as Franke stood around picking her nose. "It's way bigger than the one in my house!"

"Oh great…" Franke muttered despairingly to herself.

Crystal turned to look at her and Franke was only just able to remove the finger from her nose. Luckily it seemed like she hadn't caught Franke in the act. "I'll look in here," she said, "and you can check the cabinets, since you rock so hard at T.K.!" She blinked, suddenly unsure. "I mean, if that sounds like a good plan. If it's not stupid."

In less dire circumstances Franke may have objected to taking orders from somebody of such low social and economic standing. During these most desperate of times, however, she was too glad to be given something to do to care that the girl directing her was someone she had made fun of not a few hours earlier. "Sounds good to me!" she said, already focusing her telekinesis on the cabinet next to the one with the crackers in it. "We'll find that peanut butter in no time!"

'No time' turned out to be a good five minutes. Each of the cabinets was packed full, and she had to take a lot of stuff out in order to make sure that the peanut butter wasn't hiding somewhere in the back. Most of it seemed to consist of spices and sauces, none of them often used if the state of the food here was any indication. Well that sucks she thought as she put three bottles of garlic powder back into the final cabinet. Maybe one of the bottom cabinets? There was even less of interest there, as all of them were devoted to cleaning supplies and lighter fluid.

Franke checked the refrigerator next, and quickly gleaned that she would not find what she was looking for within it. Which shouldn't have been surprising, because who puts peanut butter in the fridge? She was about to close the door when the sight of something horrible and disgusting stopped her. "Ewww, nasty!" she squealed, recoiling from the fridge.

"What is it?" called Crystal from the pantry.

"Chef Cruller made potato salad again," Franke said, the smell of way too much mayonnaise making her stomach churn.

"Oh, darn," Crystal said, sighing. "Didn't we have that last week?"

"Yeah, and it's got even more celery in it this time," Franke replied, the little slivers of green mixed into the goopy off-white concoction making her think of boogers. "Gah!" She slammed the door closed. "Dunno about you, Crystal, but I'm skipping dinner tomorrow."

The response to this was a shriek, a thud, and the sound of something clattering to the floor. "Crystal?" Franke rushed over to the pantry, finding Crystal on her hands and knees, peering under one of the shelves, an overturned stool nearby. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Crystal answered, her voice straining a little as she reached underneath the shelving unit. "I found the peanut butter, but then I dropped it." She inched forward, trying to get her arm further in. "It rolled under here, but…" She gave a shaky sigh and sat back up, her eyes watery. "I can't get it. It's too far away."

Franke blinked, startled by how upset Crystal was by this minor accident. "H-hey, Crystal," she said, awkwardly attempting to gentle her tone. "It's not a big deal! Just use T.K.!"

"I tried!" Crystal said, looking down and fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "But I can't see it all that well," she sniffed, her shoulders sagging, "and even if I could see it, my T.K.'s just no good!" She looked back up and oh God, were those tears in her eyes? Were her lips seriously quivering? "I'm sorry. If I wasn't so clumsy and stupid I wouldn't have lost the peanut butter!"

Despite how often she and Kitty ridiculed others, Franke had never actually had anybody burst into tears in front of her the way Crystal was about to now. It wasn't something she was too keen on experiencing, especially tonight of all nights. "It's fine," she said quickly as she knelt down to Crystal's level. "I can just…" she forced her gaze away, unable to meet Crystal's red-rimmed eyes. "Don't cry, alright?" She ducked down to peer underneath the shelf before Crystal could respond. It was difficult to see, and dusty too, but Franke could still make out the shape of the jar all the way at the back by the wall. She grabbed it easily with her T.K. and pulled it out from under the shelf. "Got it!" she said as it hit her hand. She rose back up; sitting on her heels as she proudly presented the plastic jar to Crystal. "See! It's all good! No harm done!"

"Thank God!" Crystal exclaimed, wiping her eyes and nose with the back of her hand. "I thought I'd ruined everything!"

Franke blew a strand of hair away from her mouth. "No way! I mean, you're the one who found it in the first place!"

Crystal smiled broadly, the tears gone from her eyes. "Well, we wouldn't have it if you weren't so freakin' good at T.K.!"

Franke grinned back. "I'm awesome like that." And then, because she was feeling good and because it seemed like the right thing to do, added "And you're not so bad yourself, you know? You were pretty cool when we were getting here! Like, you weren't scared of those cougars at all!" Issuing the comment felt nice- Franke couldn't recall the last time she'd given one to someone who wasn't Kitty- and the blush that spread across Crystal's cheeks made it all the better.

"Um, wow, Franke!" Crystal said, giggling, "that's really nice of you to say!"

"It is nice of me to say that," Franke agreed, a light, happy feeling spreading throughout her chest. "We're both pretty rad, huh?"

"Well, I don't know about me, but you totally are!"

Franke was about to argue with that statement but then she suddenly remembered that Kitty, her beautiful, amazing, number-one girlfriend probably would not have been too happy about Franke calling some other girl cool, especially if that girl was Crystal Flowers Snagrash. And then she remembered that she still had a big chunk of gum stuck in her hair and that she really needed to address that issue if she ever wanted to look the aforementioned girlfriend in the eye ever again. "So like," she said, handing the peanut butter over to Crystal, "what do we do? Do we just put the stuff on the gum?"

Crystal took the jar and began unscrewing the lid. "Pretty much."

"And it'll just come right out? Just like that?"

"Yep!" Crystal set the lid on the floor and dipped her fingers into the jar. "Well, we did have to wait a minute or two for it to do its thing, but it worked!" She pulled her hand out, a glob of peanut butter stuck to her index and middle finger. "It didn't hurt at all."

Franke stared at the light brown goop, suddenly having second thoughts about putting it in her hair. "Are you absolutely sure it was peanut butter your mom put in your hair, and not some gum-removing shampoo that looked and smelled exactly like it?"

"It was peanut butter," Crystal insisted, lifting the jar for Franke to see. "The jar looked just like this." Crystal frowned, her brows knitted in concern. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to," she said, picking up on Franke's hesitation, "but this is what helped me."

Franke sighed, knowing that the peanut butter was her only option and that it would be pretty stupid to back out now after going to all this trouble to get it. "Alright," she said, screwing her eyes shut and turning her head so that her curl faced Crystal. "Let's do this."

She heard Crystal put the jar aside and then the scrap of her knees on the linoleum floor as she moved to sit in front of Franke. Franke flinched as Crystal's fingers clamped down on her curl and she instinctively wanted to crawl away from what she knew was coming. "I'm gonna put the peanut butter on the gum now," Crystal whispered, her breath hitting Franke's neck as she spoke. Franke nodded to acknowledge that she had heard the warning and gritted her teeth as she felt Crystal smear the peanut butter onto the gum and her hair. The sensation wasn't uncomfortable- Crystal was careful not to pull too hard on the curl, and having peanut butter in her hair wasn't any worse than having gum in it- but Franke couldn't stop herself from thinking about what Kitty would think if she were to find her here like this. This had better work…

"It will work," Crystal said as she pulled away. "Don't you worry!"

Franke's eyes flew open. "Hey! Did you just read my mind?"

Crystal was swift to deny the accusation. "I'm about as good at telepathy as I am at telekinesis."

It took Franke a moment to figure out that Crystal was saying that she sucked at telepathy too much to have read her mind. Franke shook her head (and ew, it felt even weirder now than it had when it just had gum in it), supposing that the stress of the situation was making her confused and that she had spoken out loud. "Now what? How long do I have to keep this junk in my hair?"

Crystal told her that it would only need to be in there for two minutes at most, and suggested that they go back out to the kitchen. "We'll wash your hair out in the sink," she said as they got up.

They walked out of the pantry, Franke following Crystal once again and proceeded to stand in front of the sink. An awkward silence fell between them, as there was nothing else to do but wait for the peanut butter to do its job. Franke placed her arm on the sink, her fingers tapping in rhythm with the water dripping off the faucet. "So, uh," Franke trailed off, wanting to break the silence but unsure of what subject she should break it with. "You, um, come here often?"

Crystal cocked her head to the side. "I come here every day to eat," she answered after a moment's hesitation, puzzled by the simple question.

"Well, duh," Franke said, rolling her eyes, more at herself for asking such a dumb question than at Crystal for responding to it. "I meant," she added hastily, having thought of a way to salvage the situation, "do you sneak in here a lot?" There, now Crystal was the one who looked dumb for not catching onto Franke's meaning.

"Oh!" Crystal said, slapping herself hard enough on the head to leave a mark. "Only once before. Me and Clem were getting supplies for The Project!" Her hand flew to her mouth to cover it, her eyes growing wide.

Franke raised an eyebrow. "Project? What project?"

"J-Just a super boring, totally not-interesting at all thing me and Clem are doing," she replied, her words coming out in a rush and the pitch of her voice high and grating. "It's so boring that if I told you about it we'd both fall asleep, ha-ha-ha…"

"Uh-huh." Something seemed off about this explanation, but Franke couldn't put her finger on what it was. She couldn't recall any of the counselors assigning any projects (just a bunch of dumb worksheets) but then again, she and Kitty rarely attended class. Maybe she had just missed the one that it got assigned in. Or maybe Crystal's lying and she and Stretch Neckstrong came here to like, make-out, she thought as Crystal smiled at her in a way that seemed very uncomfortable. It was a reasonable explanation- those two were always going off to isolated places together. What else could they be doing other than sucking face? The image that popped into her head made her almost as nauseated as Chef Cruller's potato salad. Ugh, how do you even kiss a guy with buck-teeth? "So," she said to prevent herself from further imagining the logistics of a Clem-Crystal make-out session. "Can this stuff come out now?"

Crystal blew out a breath, as though she were relieved by the change of subject. "I think so."

"Thank God." Franke quickly brought a hand to her curl with every intention of just yanking the stupid gum out once and for all.

"Wait!" Crystal yelled, snatching Franke's hand and stopping her before she could do so. "You shouldn't just pull it out. You have to go slow." She let Franke go and took the curl gently between her fingers. "Let me do it."

The actual extraction, while not painful, was certainly not pleasant. Franke had assumed that both the peanut butter and the gum would just slide out the moment Crystal combed through the curl. This was not so- the gum was looser, yes, but it was still pretty tangled up. Crystal had to separate the gum from her hair strand by strand, and she did so as quickly and gently as she could, murmuring soft apologies whenever she thought she had tugged too hard. The process took a few minutes, which Franke bore with clenched fists and a bitten lip. I'm never chewing gum again, Franke vowed to herself.

"It's out!" Crystal declared, holding up the gum. "Sorry it took so long!"

Franke stared at the little purple ball that had been the bane of her existence for the past fifteen minutes. She was shocked at its size, for she had been certain that it was at least as big as a golf ball. But no, the lump before her wasn't any bigger than a pea. "Just throw that thing away!" Franke said, turning her head away in disgust. Looking at it, and seeing strands of her own hair still stuck to it made her more angry than she could ever recall being in her life.

She rinsed her hair out in the sink as Crystal disposed of the gum. The peanut butter thankfully came out much easier than the gum did, but it was still kind of gross, landing in the sink in soggy, brown clumps before going down the drain. When she was done, she stepped aside to let Crystal wash her hand off. "Dang, I wish I had some shampoo," she said as she dried her hair off with what she hoped was a clean dishrag.

Crystal glanced over at her. "We could always break into the showers."

Franke snorted. "Nah, I've had enough of that for one night." Crystal turned the sink off and Franke handed the dishrag to her. "I'll just go in super-early." She would need to- her curl was limp and frizzy instead of bouncy and stylish, something that she would have to remedy first thing in the morning. As it was, she was too tired to even think of sneaking into another building, and her hair still looked way better than it did when it had gum in it.

And if it hadn't been for Crystal, it would still have gum in it. Franke felt the strangest need to express this sentiment, but she didn't really know how. The only person she had said 'thank you' to in the past few weeks had been Kitty, and she definitely couldn't thank Crystal in the same way that she thanked Kitty. "Man," she began as Crystal dried her hands. "You really saved my bacon there." She immediately felt foolish for saying such a cheesy thing- it sounded like something her dad would say- and a bright red blush erupted on her face, a look that was not at all flattering with her hair color and complexion. "Uh, thanks."

"It was no trouble!" Crystal said as she folded the towel back up and set it down on the counter. "I'm always happy to help!"

Was Crystal serious? Franke thought that this whole thing was a huge amount of trouble. Had their positions been reversed Franke couldn't see herself going to such lengths to help Crystal out. I probably would have just laughed at her, Franke thought, the reflection causing an unknown and previously unfelt emotion to claw at her chest. Whatever it was, it prompted her to thank Crystal again. "You seriously rock, sis," she said, stepping forward to put her hand on Crystal's shoulder. "I don't know what I would have done without you!"

"Oh, gee, Franke," Crystal said, her eyes shining. "I'm sure you would have figured something out without me, but it's nice to know that I'm not a completely useless piece of human garbage!"

"Um, what?" That was a weird thing to say, and it reminded Franke of why Crystal was counted among the dorks of the camp. But…Franke had to admit, she was probably the coolest dork among them. Like, the Queen Dork.

"Should we head back now?" Her Majesty asked, looking towards the door.

Franke was about to answer in the affirmative when an idea struck her. They were both alone and unsupervised in the pantry, all of the camp's food right at their fingertips. "Hold-up Crystal," she said, a devious grin spreading across her lips. "I don't think we should go just yet…"

The pantry-raid turned out to be a brilliant idea on two levels- one, it allowed Franke to stock up on the most highly-desired snacks and drinks, which she could hoard under her bunk for her and Kitty's exclusive enjoyment (and maybe Crystal's too, if she liked orange soda and Famous Amos cookies). Two, and more importantly, it gave Franke an excuse for her extended absence, as she could just say that she had decided to break into the kitchen and steal as much food as her arms could carry on a whim. It had the added benefit of making her look like a cool girl who just casually broke the rules whenever she wanted instead of like a dope who had spent the night experiencing one humiliation after the other.

Kitty had luckily been asleep when she and Crystal arrived back at the cabin, her body on its side and make-up case still open on her lap. When Franke had woken her (waiting until after Crystal had situated herself back into her bunk to do so), she'd regarded the bounty with surprise and delight. "Hmm," she said as she grabbed a bag of Sunchips. "You did good, Franke. The food here still sucks, but you got all of the half-decent things." She looked up, a pretty, approving smile on her lips, and dang if that smile didn't always knock Franke off of her feet.

If Kitty noticed that Franke's hair was still a bit damp, or that her curl was a bit limper than usual, she didn't remark on it, thus allowing Franke to relax, her ordeal finally over and done with. Never one to reflect on a difficult event, Franke promptly put the incident out of her head until two days later.

Franke and Kitty were standing guard at their usual spot in front of the bridge, charging their usual toll of one arrowhead to anybody who wanted to cross. It was an activity that Franke always enjoyed- it made her feel smart and powerful, telling people to fork over their arrowheads and actually having them do so. Before she had met Kitty, nobody would have ever given her anything just because she had demanded it. It didn't hurt that she got to hold her girlfriend's soft, callous-free hand for an extended period of time either.

They'd just dismissed Quentin Hedgemouse (who, in his love-struck daze, had given them two arrowheads instead of one- boys were so stupid) when Crystal and Clem walked up. Franke didn't give Clem a second glance (looking up at him made her neck hurt) but her eyes met Crystal's and she was instantly reminded of the events of two nights ago. She cut her gaze away, worried that a lingering look would set off Kitty's suspicions.

"Gooood Morning!" Clem greeted, the exuberance in his voice making both Kitty and Franke wince. "How're you all doing? Are you ready to take on the day with a bright smile and an attitude of gratitude?"

Kitty and Franke looked at each other, a look of amused derision on both of their faces. I'll let you take this one, baby, Kitty thought, squeezing Franke's hand encouragingly. There's a lot to work with here.

Franke nodded, smirking as she turned to face Crystal and Clem. "Uh, no," she said, holding out her hand, "but we are ready to take your arrowheads. Pay up!"

Hmm, not bad, Kitty thought, a note of approval in her telepathic tone. But you could've insulted them more. I mean, look at Crystal, her scrunchie doesn't match her leg-warmers.

"Your sweatbands don't match," Franke added clumsily, gesturing at Clem's wrists.

We gotta work on your timing baby, but good try.

"Ha-ha, yeah," Clem replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, about the whole arrowhead thing…"

"We've only got one!" Crystal blurted, pulling the arrowhead out of her skirt pocket.

"As it turns out, you two aren't the only bloodsuckers draining the weak and defenseless in this establishment," Clem said, grinning and shaking his head. "Who'd a thunk it?"

Franke was momentarily puzzled as to why this was a problem- it cost an arrowhead to pass, and they had one. Then it hit her; there were two of them and ergo, it would cost two if they wanted to cross the bridge. "So you're too broke to pass," Franke said. "Guess you guys better start digging then!"

The comment had been directed at Clem, but it was Crystal who spoke next. "We did that already," she said, holding up their lone arrowhead. "This was the only one we could find."

"Aww, that's a shame," Kitty said, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "And you just missed our two-losers –get-to-pass-for-the-price-of-one sale. Oh well, better luck next time."

Crystal frowned as she looked down at the arrowhead. Her expression made Franke remember the look she'd had two days ago, after Franke had told her to go away. "You know," Franke began before she could stop herself. "You have an arrowhead. You could pass."

Crystal looked up at her, blinking as though Franke had just said something incomprehensible to her. "I can't just go by myself," she said, shocked that Franke would even suggest such a thing. "Me and Clem always go to breakfast together. And lunch."

"It's okay, Crystal," Clem said, patting her on the shoulder. "You go get something to eat." He was smiling as he gazed at Franke and Kitty, but the bitterness in his eyes was so strong that Franke could almost taste it. "I've lost my appetite."

"No way!" Crystal said firmly, planting her feet and placing her hands on her hips. "I won't be able to eat if you're not here with me! I'll be so sad that I'll just puke everything back up!"

"Um, girlfriend," Kitty said, her lip curling in distaste. "Dial it back a bit."

"If you starve, I starve!" Crystal said, her tone leaving no room for argument. Starve? Didn't Crystal take a bunch of snacks with her when she'd left the lodge with Franke? Oh wait, no, most of that had been the stuff she'd been helping Franke carry…

"Well, shoot, if you insist!" Clem said. "Three cheers for going hungry! Hip-hip-"

"Hooray!"

"Wait! Stop!" Franke yelled before they could go any further. "Don't- you guys can pass!"

Clem and Crystal paused mid-cheer, their arms still raised above their heads. "What?" Clem said, eyeing Franke skeptically.

Girlfriend, thought Kitty. What the hell are you doing?

Franke wasn't quite sure herself. Before, she would have been more than happy to block Crystal's way and ruin her breakfast. For some reason though, her conscience had decided to emerge from whatever hole it had been sleeping in to prod her into throwing Crystal a bone. Was it because of how quick Crystal had been to help her out the other night? Because she hadn't spoken a single word of what had happened to anybody else? Because it had actually been kind of fun hanging out with her, even if she was a total dork who hadn't realized the eighties had ended a million years ago?

If we don't let them go, Franke thought, for once carefully choosing her next words, they'll, like, bug us with their stupid cheering all morning. She let go of Kitty's hand before she could protest and stepped to the side. "Give us that one and you can go, alright?" she said, pointing to the arrowhead.

Crystal's eyes widened, awed at the sheer amount of generosity being shown to her. "Really? You'll let us both go through?"

"Yeah. But you'll have to pay us back later," Franke replied."

"With interest," Kitty added, deciding to go along with it. "It'll cost you two arrowheads per person the next time you want to cross. We're not running a charity here."

"Wow! Thanks you guys!" Crystal said, her voice bursting with joy as she bounced over to Franke.

"Oh, great," Clem said, sounding significantly less enthused. "I'm so excited to be in your debt that I could just…scream! Really loud!"

Crystal gave the arrowhead to Franke, a grateful smile on her face. "Thank you," she said, and geez, why did it sound like she was about to cry? "I really appreciate this. You're awesome."

Her hand seemed to linger on Franke's for longer than was appropriate (at least, in front of Kitty) so Franke snatched it away. "Okay, I know that," she said gruffly, face flushing a little as she looked away. "Just…you know, don't expect me to be so nice again, okay?"

"Don't worry, we won't," Clem said as he passed by. "Thanks for being decent. I know that's hard to do when you've never had to empathize with another person before!"

"Be careful that you don't accidently throw yourself off the bridge, Clem," Kitty said sweetly at his back. "I'd hate for you to fall and die before you paid your debt off."

"Ha-ha, no promises!" With that, the two hurried across the bridge, Crystal turning back to give a small wave. It wasn't returned.

Franke took a deep breath and braced herself, knowing that Kitty was probably wondering what the hell had just come over her. She turned to face her girlfriend, who was staring at her with an unreadable expression on her face, a look that indicated neither anger nor approval at what Franke had done. Somehow that made Franke more nervous than direct anger. "Uh," Franke said, sweating beading on her brow as she squirmed under Kitty's impassive gaze. "Three cheers for getting rid of those losers, huh?"

Kitty allowed one agonizing moment to pass. Then she smiled, baring all of her white, sharp teeth. "Tell me about it," she said, shaking her head. "Just hearing that Clem guy's voice gives me split ends. Good call, baby."

Franke breathed out, relief coursing through her whole body. "God, they would've been at it all day if we'd let them stick around."

Kitty hummed in agreement. "You've been taking charge a lot lately. First those snacks and now this. It's not like you." Her eyes met Franke's, those strange, beautiful spiral irises captivating Franke like they always did. "It's kind of hot, don't get me wrong. I'm just wondering where all this is coming from."

Franke blushed and shrugged. "I'm just learning from you, that's all," she said. "I dunno. But hey, now Foote owes us a favor!" She grinned, eager to come with some humiliating task for him to complete to clear his debt.

"Oh, so it's Clem that owes us," Kitty said, picking a piece of dust off of Franke's shirt and flicking it away. "Interesting. Why not Crystal?"

Franke's mouth suddenly went dry. Kitty's tone- questioning and innocent- was one Franke had heard before, and it always made her think of a cat gazing at a mouse it wanted to pounce on. She swallowed. "O-oh, well," she said, "She had the arrowhead, so…" she trailed off, her brain suddenly disconnecting from her mouth.

"But how do you know it was Crystal's arrowhead?" Kitty inquired, sweetening her voice. "Maybe Clem's the one who found it, and he gave it to Crystal to hold because his bargain-bin shorts have holes in the pockets."

"Um…I guess…" Franke had no answer to that, but luckily for her, Elton Fir had chosen this moment to approach, arrowhead already in hand. "Hey! There's uh, what's-his-fish-face!" She held out her hand for Kitty to take. "Bet he's got our uh, homework and junk."

Kitty, still smiling, took Franke's hand squeezed it hard enough to make Franke wince.