Okay, so something I think would behoove you all to know, is that this is the first chapter I wrote after the premiere of "Selfie Improvement" (which, in watching, resulted in some undignified squealing and other noises of pleasure that you all probably didn't need to know about but I digress).

So, the point is, from this point forward, I'll try to make references to that episode, and things that are officially canon about Carol and what not. I still prefer Carol as a total biyatch though, so yeah. Don't expect her to be all Saturday morning suddenly nice to people.

Keyword there: Suddenly. (Refer to tags, people.)

Enjoy!:)

Carol is first to step into the library, not even stopping to have a look around at the entrance like a normal person would.

Not that Carol isn't a normal person… I mean, obviously she is. It's just… Luna's behind her, being geeky and creepy and all and well, you know.

So she just sort of plants herself at the first available computer she can find, taking a deep breath as she sits down in the chair.

"Okay, Carol… You can do this. You survived owning that really mean Corgi for two weeks, so you can handle anything! Especially this silly old project… I mean, yes, Luna is pretty dreadful company, but she's capable. So, like I said before… Accentuate the positives."

Almost as soon as she finishes this relaxing little mental pep talk to herself, Luna is sitting her grody butt down in the seat beside of her, her chair making an awful screeching sound against the floor as she pulls it out.

She turns to look at her, and she's got this dumb, embarrassed look on her face; but she eventually manages to complete the would-be simple task of sitting down in a flippin' chair.

And it makes Carol's blood pressure rise right back up.

Luna just nervously, sickly half-grins as she turns on her computer. As she waits for it to boot up, she readies all of the notes and articles from before, focusing on her monitor, and trying but failing to not make it obvious that she keeps glancing at Carol out of the corner of her eye.

It's bothersome, yes, but the sooner this project gets done, the sooner she can get on with her life.

So, Carol grins (as if) and bears it, doing her best to do the same.

"Uhm… so, what topic did you want to do? The photographers' one?" Luna coyly asks.

"Oh my god if you're going to ask a question don't be such a dweeb about it. Just ask! It's not like I'll bite your head off!"

Carol shoots her an unenthused glare, one that earns her a confused look back.

But she eases up, reminding herself of her little mantra. "Accentuate the positives."

"…Yes, but I have an idea on how to go about it," Carol says with a forced calm demeanor.

"Uhm… Okay?" Luna utters.

"Since you don't know as much about these people as me, I was thinking you could work on getting PointerPoint slides ready and a bibliography while I find interesting data. You can do that, can't you?" Carol explains.

It rubs Luna the wrong way. "Dude…"

"What?" Carol rebuts, already annoyed again.

"That means you'll basically be doing all the work?" Luna follows up with chagrin.

"Duh," Carol wants to say… but she holds her tongue.

"It does not? Look, you said you saw some of Avedon's shots of- uh- The Beatles, or whatever. Maybe you can find some portraits for us to reference, or something."

Luna just shakes her head with disgust. "Why are we even in here?"

"Uhm, to work on the project?"

"No, I mean, why did we have to leave class for you tell me this crap?"

Carol scoffs. "It isn't crap. I know photography, okay? My parents own a studio."

"That doesn't answer my question," Luna retorts, crossing her arms and leaning her chair back with her foot against the wall.

Grumpy face.

"Because- ugh- I needed time to think?"

"…You could have done that back there," Luna coolly responds.

Carol's scowling now. "Look, I just was getting distracted by everything in there. And what does it matter?!"

"Shhhh!"

The girls look to see the librarian, Ms. Valentine, frowning at them with a book in her hands.

They just kind of accept the warning, and return to their friendly conversation.

"Can we please get to work now?" Carol sardonically asks

Luna just shrugs and rolls her eyes as she gets back to work.

For a little while, Carol's able to lose herself in finding some interesting database entries on some of her favorite photographers, like Avedon and Robert Capa.

"You know, for a schmo, Luna did come up with a good topic… Not that I'll tell her that…"

"Huh… She says she remembers me saying something about Avedon at the beginning of the year… I wonder what else she remembers about me, or stuff she knows I know that I don't realize she knows, no?"

She can't help it, she has to creep.

She just barely glances at Luna from the corner of her eye, not really able to see what she's looking at on her monitor, but seeing that- whatever it is, it must be interesting enough that she's managed to stop looking at her like some sort of weirdo.

But just how interesting? Carol has to know.

And what do you know? Luna's actually doing what she was told, looking at some of Avedon's old portraits.

"Heh… I half expected her to be looking at some guitars or something. Or pictures of MICK SWAGGER TEE HEE HEE!..."

"Or something else that's stupid… Like tattoo ideas…"

Grrrr. The temptation is too real. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

Carol actually turns her head now, fully looking at Luna. It takes her a second to notice, but when she does, she looks back with an estranged expression.

"What?"

"Do you have a tattoo?" Carol bluntly asks.

"Uhh… No?" Luna responds with a look.

"Don't patronize me," Carol bluntly follows up.

"Dude?!" is all Luna can really think to say. Like Carol stepped over a boundary or something.

"I was just asking… You didn't have to be snippy about it…" she reasons, returning her focus to her research.

And Luna actually has the audacity to grin as she shakes her head. Like Carol's her clown or something!

"What?" she barks.

"Nothing."

"No- it's not nothing. Tell me!" Carol demands.

Luna just keeps grinning as she meets her with another look.

"You've seriously got to ease up, dude. You've got a major stick up your butt."

What… The actual… Heck…

"Did she just say what I THINK she said?"

"Uhm… excuse me?!"

And she keeps stupidly grinning like this is some sort of stupid game, when it's not!

"Forget it…"

"No! You just said-"

"SHHHH!" Ms. Valentine shushes again, this time with an even less enthusiastic glower.

But whatever. This girl just said Carol's got a stick up her butt, and she's gonna let her have it.

"I do not have a stick up my butt," she harshly whispers.

And Luna actually chuckles. She chuckles?!

"Uhh, I hate to break it to you, dude… But you really do. Everybody thinks so."

Blank expression of total disbelief (all while a blazing inferno rises in the chest).

"What's that supposed to mean? Who's everybody?!" Carol bites back, doing her best to be quiet and aggressive.

"I thought you wanted to get to work?" Luna responds, still smirking like an idiot. She's just toying with her now.

"Not until you tell me who all says I have a stick up my butt!"

Luna's smile finally wanes, and she rubs her forehead. "Look man, my bad. Don't worry about it. Nobody said you have a stick up your butt. I was just messing around… So can we please just work on our project now?"

"Oh… I see right through you, DUDE! You're just saying nobody said I have a stick up my butt so I'll drop it! Well fine! I'll drop it! But not because I'm over it, and NOT because you want me to! The sooner we finish this ridiculous project, the sooner I never have to work with your stupid freckled face EVER AGAIN!"

With that, Carol just wrathfully squints her eyes, burning Luna with her gaze just to show that this discussion is far from over, then reluctantly turns to her screen and preservers.

She's just the bigger person like that.

And while she'd really like to think about what makes the black and white portraiture of Richard Avedon so unique compared to the gritting World War II work of Robert Capa, she just can't.

"Who is everybody?"

"Okay, so obviously Lori. I mean, she acted like we could be friends after that stuff with the selfies… and then she went back to being a total baby just because I told her she could lose a little weight? Like, I'd want someone to tell me if my butt looked big in cargo shorts? Not that I'd ever wear cargo shorts…"

"But who else? Who has she gotten to besides Luna? Does she talk about me with Whitney? And what about Becky and Dana, and all the other girls?"

"HUAH! And what if she's got her whole family in on it?! What if they all go around saying things about me to everyone they know? Like that I have a stick up my-?!"

Skin to skin contact. Luna touches Carol's arm.

"Dude."

It's just the tiniest little tap- just to get her attention. But it was her hand on her arm.

Like- what the heck?! She touched her?!

With the inferno inside of her now blazing into a tornado of hellfire, Carol slowly turns to face her.

And she's just trying so hard to look sooo innocent. Like nooothing's wrong.

"Look at this," she says, pointing her fatty finger at her computer screen to show her some stupid Lookipedia article.

"I found a cool article on the history of portraiture. Like, maybe we could work some history into our article?"

If there was ever a time to just literally make someone spontaneously combust-

"Uh, Carol?" she says, still trying to act like she's such a goody-goody do-no-wrong.

Well, Carol Pingrey knows better than anyone…

You can't bullshit a bullshitter.

"Did you just touch me?" she asks, her eye almost twitching.

"…Uhhh?"

"Why did you just touch me?!" Carol asks again, her voice getting louder.

"Uh, sorry dude. Can you keep it down?" Luna pleas.

"She's such a faker."

"What is your problem with me?!" Carol finally snaps.

And Luna… "What?! I should be asking you that?"

"Oh, don't turn this around on me!"

"Dude- I literally heard you talking smack about me at your locker the other day! And I didn't even do anything to you!"

"Oh, grow up! As if you've never talked bad about me behind my back. I bet you and Lori and all the rest of your cliché gimmick Loud family siblings just love telling everyone how much you don't like me! Well, it's only because you're all jealous!"

Luna just guffaws. "Do you even hear yourself right now? I barely even know you?!"

"Ha ha! Don't play dumb with me, Luna Loud! I know exactly who you are and exactly what you're up to! You just know I'm the smartest and prettiest girl in school, and it eats you up! So you go out of your way to answer all of Mr. Sunderland's question and kiss his fat butt, and play the little miss sweet, and the poser wannabe rock star, all just so you can feel like you're better than me!"

Luna is pretty good at acting like she's shocked, because she actually looks like she's stunned.

"Carol... None of that is true at all. Why would I bother?"

And never in her life has Carol been on the verge of going full-on Jack Torrance on someone like she is now.

"That's the part I'm trying to figure out! Why you would be so cruel?! Like, okay, I said some mean things about you, but whatever! That's no reason to like, have this vendetta against me!"

And Luna is speechless to that. "I've got her now."

"So tell me right now Luna… What is your problem with me, why did you touch me, and WHY DO YOU THINK THAT I HAVE A STICK UP MY BUTT?!"

"Ahem," Ms. Valentine clears her throat, now behind the two girls.

Carol brings herself back down to Earth for a moment to give the librarian her attention.

She just holds her hands to her hips, with a very, very unhappy look on her face.

Kind of like that one burly teacher with the deep voice who gave them…

Detention… Again.

"Dang it."

I have to say, this chapter was particularly fun to write. I sat down and busted it out in like, two hours, (instead of sleeping), because I was really high off of "Selfie Improvement" and I think I was just hitting my groove with the writing there. (Feel free to let me know if you disagree though.)

But, I guess all that should matter to you is that you have fun reading it, which I hope is the case. Sorry if I sound pretentious or full of myself sometimes lol.

Also, in case it's gone over your head, this story now *officially* takes place after the aforementioned episode of the show.

That being said, I'd like to provide some updates.

First, if you're wondering, I have this thing outlined to be about 25 chapters long. You may think now "how can he drag this thing out that long and make it interesting?" but I'm faithful you'll enjoy how things play out. I know I will.

Second, unlike Luna is Strange, I'm just updating when I have a chapter ready this go round. So I'll definitely try to do at least one a week, but know that I'm an over full time college student (18 credit hours this semester, yikes) and that I do have a life outside of fanfiction. Not much of one, but still.

Don't be discouraged though, because as I said before, I'm a writing machine. This story WILL get finished, and hopefully it will be sooner than later. But it could always slow down a bit, is my point. (But don't count on it.)

Finally, I did use some naughty language here, but to reiterate, I'm keeping this thing at a K+ rating. If Shrek can get away with it and still be PG, than I think I can. I still won't go too far into the dark with suggestive and mature themes like I've been known to do, though.

And quick little blurb: I LOVE that they gave Carol a decent role in the show, and a freakin' voice lol. I was originally just imagining Victoria Chase's voice before (How many LIS references is that now?), but now I will gladly get used to Ashlyn Selich's voice:)

Anyway, thanks for indulging me and my ego for a bit. And as always, thank you very much for reading, and please stay tuned for more slow burny goodness!:D