Guilty Pleasures- One-shot

It was a beautiful day outside. The sky was a pretty azure color, the birds were chirping, and the sun spread its heat on the people below. And yet, one odd girl was lurking around in dark sunglasses, a coat, and a fairly large hat that looked too big on her. Her name was Cass.

Cass had an important mission, but one that no one could know about. Not even her closest friends, Max Ernest and Yo-Yoji. No one, and I mean no one, could know about this. Except you, who, by reading this, will find out. You're probably curious by now, but I warn you… you will receive serious consequences if Cass finds out that you know. Because Cass only told me. And I'm not supposed to tell you. So if you want both of us to live,

Turn back right now before it's too late.

And… you're probably still reading this, aren't you. Oh well, you dug your own grave.

Cass had an appointment at the MNP.

Well… what's the MNP? You're probably asking. If you've read the last book (which, by the way, neither Cass or Max Ernest or Yo-Yoji know about), you might have an idea. Might. But because you're reading this anyway, I might as well as tell you:

MNP stands for 'Mall Nail Salon'. That's right, Cass is going to get her nails done. (Should I reiterate no one can know about this?)

Cass looked around once more to make sure no one that she knew was here before cautiously opening the door to the small salon shoppe. The door opened and a small bell rang. Cass inhaled the smell of nail polish and smiled (she was really scaring herself). A young woman in a blue and pink apron with a big smile greeted her. "Hi! My name's Crystal. What would you like? A manicure? A pedicure? Both?"

Cass smiled sheepishly. "Um… I think I'll just take a look around for now."

"Ok. Holler when you're ready."

Cass walked over to the nail polish shelf and began examining each bottle meticulously. Her eyes drifted from color to color until she found the perfect color- a beautiful aquamarine/turquoise color called "Moonstone Magic". Just looking at it made her feel calm and relaxed, and ready for any challenge. Yup. This was it. "Uh… Crystal? I think I want this one," she called out to the young woman who was preparing a small table. Crystal looked up.

"Ah, so you'd like the "Moonstone Magic". Wonderful choice. What's your name again, honey?"

Cass gulped. "Cass," she whispered, in case anyone heard her.

"Ok, Cass, please take a seat." Cass took a seat at a table, and Crystal sat across from her. Since Cass had stopped chewing her nails, Crystal said that they were in pretty good shape. She opened the bottle and slowly began applying the nail polish on Cass's fingers. Cass liked the feeling, and she closed her eyes for a little. Wow, she had really let herself go, she thought. She was becoming a complete girly girl. And yet, she kind of liked it. Her peaceful state was only interrupted by one familiar voice:

"Um… hello?"

Was that… YO-YOJI?!

Cass began to panic. Crystal had excused herself to help the new customer. He could not see her yet (there was a curtain between where he was and where she was sitting), but she could see his neon colored sneakers through the small bit that the curtain didn't cover. She had to think fast. He would come in here any minute. Although… what was he doing in a nail salon?

"My mom asked me to bring her some nail polish colors," Cass could hear Yo-Yoji say rather grumpily. "She said three of them… um… what were they… I think they were… Sunset something… Blood Orange? What kind of a name is that? And… the third one… I forgot. Oh well."

"Ok, so Sunset Glory and Blood Orange. Excuse me. I need to go check on my other client."

"Um… Crystal? I kind of need to go to the bathroom," Cass whispered, hoping that Yo-Yoji wouldn't recognize her voice. She immediately dashed off into the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?! The bathroom is in the room on the other side of the curtain…" Crystal called after her.

Wait… going to the bathroom means going into the other room, where Yo-Yoji is, which means bumping into Yo-Yoji, which means dying, Cass realized. "Um… I don't really need to go to the bathroom anymore," Cass told Crystal. "I can wait."

"Ok, then. Let me just get some bottles to a boy in the other room."

Cass breathed a huge sigh of relief when she heard Yo-Yoji say, "Thank you! Have a nice day!" and exit. Phew, that was close. Too close. She decided that this operation had to be a bit more long-distance in the future.

Crystal returned and finished painting her nails. After paying Crystal, taking a satisfied look at her nails, and feeling relieved that no one saw her on this mission, Cass happily walked through the curtain. Well, her timing was a little off…

"Oh! I just remembered what third color my mom wanted! I'm almost positive it was called Lady Lips-" Yo-Yoji trailed off upon seeing Cass. "Uh… Hi, Cass," he said with his mouth agape. "What are you doing here?"

Cass's eyes darted nervously all over the room, eventually choosing a spot on the ground. "I, um…. got my nails done," she said in a quiet, meek tone, which, Yo-Yoji noted, was very unlike her.

"Can I see them?"

Cass gingerly lifted her hands so Yo-Yoji could see them. At any moment, she was expecting him to burst into a fit of laughter, and then immediately call Max-Ernest to double the humiliation. She knew she would never hear the end of this. Instead, all she heard was…

"Cool! I like it."

What he meant to say was, I like you.