A Dish Fit For the Gods: Popcorn

Characters: all the senior girls; major roles are Cammie, Macey, Bex, and Tina

Rating: K+

Summary: Of all the things Cammie had missed over the summer, movie nights had to be the most trivial.

Notes: set during OSOT, the night after the girls make up and fix Cammie's hair


It came down to one, simple word.

"Popcorn?"

That word, not really worth much at all, spoke a thousand more to Cammie. It was an apology, a forgiveness, and a peace offering all in one. Though the night before had technically revived their friendship, Cammie worried that she still wasn't quite welcome.

Until Macey offered her a bowl of popcorn.

Cammie smiled as she grabbed a handful and followed Macey into the commons, where Bex, Liz, and the other senior girls were seated throughout the room. Tina and Courtney seemed to be arguing over which movie they wanted to watch. Bex rolled her eyes and turned to Cammie automatically. She faltered for a moment, as if realizing that she was supposed to be angry, then seemed to remember that they'd made their peace. They stared at each other for a moment before Bex smiled and patted a space next to her on the couch. It wasn't exactly like it had always been before, but it was a start.

Tina and Courtney's argument was becoming heated. As far as Cammie could tell, Tina wanted to watch a cheesy rom-com, while Courtney was opting for a Bourne movie.

"We've watched the Bourne trilogy a million times!" Tina yelled. "Valentine's Day is new."

"But it's a classic," Courtney argued, flinging around a DVD of The Bourne Identity. Both girls were looking a bit, ah, flustered, with crazy eyes and wild hand gestures.

Cammie spoke up. "Why don't we take a vote?"

This was normal. In fact, this exact situation happened almost every time the girls decided on a movie night. Two of the girls - usually Tina and Bex, though Courtney had joined in on her fair share of fights - would argue over which movie to watch, and Cammie would take a poll.

Everything was running as it normally did, but somehow it was different.

Every girl in the room froze and stared at Cammie. All at once, they seemed to notice that she was not only in the room, but also seated next to Bex. Cammie watched the gears turn in Tina's eyes as she analyzed the situation. The room's entire atmosphere seemed to shift as Tina and the rest of the girls all came to the same conclusion - Bex and Cammie are okay. Bex and Cammie are friends again. Cammie is back.

Tina broke into a grin, and the world started turning again as the girls returned to their controlled chaos. "All in favor of a perfectly cliché rom-com featuring such glorious eye candy as Topher Grace and Bradley Cooper?"

Several of the girls raised their hands, including Bex, much to Cammie's surprise; she almost always preferred action to romance. Cammie suspected that Bex had seen enough action for a lifetime, and didn't need to watch it again in a movie. Silently, Cammie raised her hand along with her best friend.

Tina smiled smugly as she counted. When she was finished, she turned to a very glum Courtney Bauer. "Seven. I win." Courtney rolled her eyes and stalked to a beanbag in the corner of the room.

While Tina set up the movie, Liz popped up out of nowhere and sat on Cammie's left. "Hey, Cammie!" she chirped. Unfortunately, she took the last available seat on the couch, so Macey was forced to sit on the floor. She pouted, but Cammie knew she wasn't really upset.

It wasn't much. Just a movie night with her friends - her sisters. In fact, it was quite trivial. But it was enough. Cammie had her roommates back, her boyfriend had stopped ignoring her, and things were slowly going back to normal.

She looked around at the room full of nine giggling, happy girls. So much had been taken from her – her father, her memory, her sanity. But she still had her sisterhood, and she couldn't help but think that that was all she needed.