Harper Finkle, Matchmaker?

So apparently it's one-shot day on Twitter (I'm there, at sign SuperGravyMan), and I've decided to participate, since I was going to write this anyway. You should also check out heartvshand's new story, and themessofadreamer's and manhattanProject's whenever they get them up. In the meantime, this story uses a few lyrics from Big Sean's song 'Dance (Ass)'. Yeah, that's always a good sign. It's set a couple years in the future, and disregards a few things that happened on WOWP. On to the story then, shall we?

Disclaimer: I wrote this, but I didn't make any of the people or lyrics up. I just put them together in what I hope is a creative, entertaining fashion.

"Come on Alex, it's right up this way. It'll be fun, I swear!" Harper pleaded as she dragged her friend toward the neighborhood bar, a newly opened place called the Double Deuce.

"Harperrrrr," Alex whined, "just because you finally found out I like girls doesn't mean we immediately have to go looking for them."

"Well... You're still single, and I want you to find someone who makes you happy, like I found Zeke a couple years ago. I seem to remember you helping me with that," She gave her friend a pointed look, causing Alex to smile sheepishly at the memory, "and so now I want to help you."

Alex's eyes widened a bit at that, but she was powerless to resist Harper's determined dragging, so she submitted hesitantly, and before she knew it, they'd arrived.

The place seemed nice enough, with its mostly wooden, circular tables, pool tables at the far side, and a large bar area nearest the door, though it was clearly the type of place that really picked up when the sun went down. There was even a jukebox, which quickly derailed Harper's mission as she noticed it and became enthralled with the machine for a few minutes, leaving Alex to find a table along the side wall.

She returned in the next few moments, excitement clearly written on her face, but the air curiously silent. "Couldn't find anything worth playing?" Alex asked, smiling slightly at her friend's enthusiasm for the old-fashioned things.

"Oh no, it's not that, there's so much to play! It's some new kind of jukebox, and it's hooked up to YouTube, and you can actually find a video and play that through it! I didn't know what to pick first, so I'm gonna think about it for a bit."

It was amazing to Alex how fast technology advanced sometimes. Just a few years ago they hadn't even had YouTube, and now it was getting integrated into even things as old as dirt as jukeboxes.

"Excuse me, miss?" Alex's head shot up at the voice to find a girl who she assumed must be their waitress. "Are you ready to order?" she asked. Yes, definitely the waitress then.

"I... I think... a little more time would be nice, please." She mumbled, embarrassed about being caught in her thoughts, and realizing she still hadn't even looked at the menu in front of her. Thankfully, the waitress smiled and moved on to some other table for the time being.

"Well, that didn't take long." Harper smirked from the other side of the table.

"What?"

"I wasn't even thinking about it then, but I suppose Mitchie is your type..." She trailed off, lost in her own thoughts.

"Oh, not this again! And when did you learn her name?"

"She introduced herself when she came over! She was all 'hi, I'm Mitchie, I'll be your server today', and you just sat there like a bump on a log."

"I was thinking, alright! Like I should be now if we ever want to have lunch. So if you'll excuse me, I need to decide what to eat."

Surprisingly, Harper actually left it at that, though she did get the biggest smile on her face whenever Mitchie came around, while Alex shot glares at her friend whenever the waitress wasn't looking.

It wasn't until they had nearly finished their meal that Harper made her next move. Mitchie was taking advantage of the lunch rush being almost done to clean the tables in their area, as most of them were empty. Harper waited until she was headed to the one in the perfect spot in the corner before putting her plan into action and alerting Alex.

"Woah! I didn't even notice that! Alex, look over there in the corner, this place has awesome wall art!" She whisper-yelled to her friend, helpfully pointing her in the right direction.

Just as Alex turned around, noticing Mitchie's rear end facing them, Harper's tampering with the jukebox kicked in, and music filled the air, along with a chorus of 'Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass'. She looked around at the air, confused at the sound, before turning back to Harper. As she found her friend clearly trying to hold in a laugh and the 'lyrics' she was hearing sunk in, she knew what had happened. Her head shook slowly as she lowered it into her palm.

"I can even use the jukebox with my phone!" Harper giggled.

"Yeah, I figured that out." Alex mumbled without looking up, as the bartender finally shut the jukebox off.

"I don't think they're really supposed to play that song." She giggled again.

"Clearly." Alex sighed, signaling for the bill. They left shortly after.

_)(*&^%$# !

"You really want to have your birthday party at a bar?"

Harper laughed. "Yes, Justin, it's my 21st birthday, and I want to go to a bar. Is that so strange?"

"Well, you never really seemed like the drinking type to me, honestly."

"Who says I have to drink? Just having the option, the freedom to do it whenever I want is fun. I just want to go here and have some fun with my friends."

Justin and Zeke looked at each other briefly from their positions in the back of the group, both clearly still confused, before Justin shrugged and threw up his arms in surrender. "If you say so, I guess."

That was the end of the talk until they arrived at the Double Deuce. The place was already infinitely busier than the first time the girls had been there, though it was getting to be that time of night. Justin and Zeke immediately headed for the pool tables, and Harper sighed, knowing that was likely the last she'd see of them for quite a while. She and Alex got themselves a table, starting with the non-alcoholic drinks for the time being.

A few hours later, and Harper had truly begun celebrating her ability to drink legally. Alex had lost track of her until about half an hour ago, and at that point she could've been anywhere. Alex spotted her when Justin and Zeke had finally gotten caught hustling pool against a couple of very large men.

Justin had shouted for her, and she probably should've helped, but they were adults now, supposedly. If they were going to make bad decisions, they were going to learn to get themselves out of the consequences. It had been a hard lesson for her when she'd stopped relying on him to fix her problems, and now they would have to learn how to do it as well. She had spotted Harper over by the bar as the guys and their new friends got thrown out though, so that was a bonus. And there hadn't been any violence since that effective warning, so things were going pretty well for the birthday girl and her best friend.

"Ooh, Alex! Zeke says they're outside the bathroom window! He wants me to sneak them back in. Isn't that dangerous... It's kinda really hot." She squealed. "I'll be back... hehe maybe." She left for the bathrooms with a smile covering her face.

Then they came in, a whole group of guys about the size of the ones the boys had fought. All of them wore baseball jerseys, as if they'd just come from watching or playing in a game, and most, if not all of them were clearly already drunk. Alex knew they'd be trouble as she watched them walk through the door, and apparently so did the bartender, as he set them up with a table off to the side of the room, yet still right in his field of view, so he could easily keep an eye on them.

Unfortunately for Mitchie, she was the one who would have to serve the idiots. The situation went downhill as soon as she approached and one of them asked where she was on the menu. Any experienced waitress has usually dealt with situations like these multiple times, and Mitchie did her best to keep the topic of conversation on the food, and eventually she did get their orders down.

The likely self-appointed leader of the group, the one sitting at the end of the table and constantly 'entertaining' the others with stories of his prowess, whether athletic or otherwise, was proving to be the most stubborn of the bunch as well. Upon Mitchie's return with the food, he reached for her, attempting to pair it with some line that was undoubtedly hilarious to his friends.

However, physical contact was also where the bartender drew the line. He moved quickly to intercept the head idiot's paw, and Mitchie got as far out of the way as she could.

"Nobody touches the girls." He growled.

Head Idiot was on his feet surprisingly quickly for someone as drunk as he was. "You gonna stop me?" He slurred. The bartender nodded. Then the Idiot pushed him out of the way, and he flew to the side, going through a table as he landed. "Like to see that." The Idiot chuckled to himself, turning back toward Mitchie.

"So hows about you and me get out of here, babe?" He stepped in her direction, reaching out, and Alex suddenly found herself between them. She watched herself grab his hand and push it away as everyone 'oohed' in apprehension.

Unfortunately, Alex was still staring in amazement at her hand, and she failed to see his other arm coming around to club her on the side of the head, and she too fell to the floor.

_)(*&^%$# !

When she awoke, she found herself lying in a bed, Mitchie sitting by her side. She tried to sit up, but a pounding headache made her gasp and lower herself back down.

"Steady there," Mitchie warned her, "the doctor said you got a bit of a concussion when you hit the floor. You're not gonna want to move your head too fast for the next few days."

"You...You're alright?" Alex managed to mumble out as she held her forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks to you. Somebody had called 911 by the time you fell, and they showed up and got him out of there not too long after that."

"Thanks to me," Alex chuckled, "not like I helped much."

"You did!" Mitchie insisted. "Nobody else was stepping in after what he did to Jeff. If it hadn't been for you, I'd probably be in your position right now. I can't thank you enough."

Alex tried to protest a little more, but Mitchie shushed her, leaning over her to wipe some sweat off her forehead. "Nonsense, I think you deserve a reward. You are my hero, after all. That means you get to name your prize." She gave Alex a slightly cheeky smile.

Had Alex been thinking clearly, she'd likely have realized that Mitchie had caught on to Harper's not so subtle matchmaking attempts, as they'd only gotten worse since that first time some months before. At present, however, she was a bit distracted, as not only did she have a head injury, but Mitchie leaning over her had left her with a very... interesting view. She could hear Harper's insistence of her attraction to the other girl running through her thoughts, and she couldn't deny that there was definitely something between them after what had happened the night before.

"What would you say to going on a date when I get out of this place?" She asked.

Mitchie's smile turned into a smirk. "I think that could be arranged." She pressed a small piece of paper into Alex's hand. "Give me a call when they let you out, alright?" Mitchie stood as she spoke, heading out the door.

Alex's gaze followed her there, where she noticed Harper standing in the doorway, a giant smile on her face.

"Don't even say it." Alex chuckled at her.

Now I'm gonna go to bed, but I do love waking up to reviews from you lovely people. See you next time. -SGM-