This is, as I've learned, another reference to a fanfic that I'm not familiar with. So instead, I'm going to write about…well, whatever this is. :P I got a little stuck on it, but I hope it went well!

Day 25: Reese Anders

Sissi didn't know why she hadn't tried this years ago.

She'd positioned herself in the middle of the quad, leaning casually against one of the trees. Ulrich was nearby, next to the vending machines, talking and laughing with his loser friends as usual. It really made her sick to her stomach to watch. He was better than those bozos and he knew it, so why was he wasting his time on them? If he knew what he was missing without her, he'd never bother with anyone else.

Which was exactly what she had to prove to him now.

She made sure she was in his light of sight first - which she was, even if he wasn't paying attention. She pulled out her phone, turned it on, and opened up her contacts. Then she scrolled through them, closed them again, and held the phone up to her ear.

After several seconds, she pasted an enormous grin on her face. "Heeeey, babe!" she said, as loudly as she could. "How are you doing? Did you have a good day? Well, aren't you the sweetest!"

She turned back to look at Ulrich, eager to see if he'd heard. At first she thought he had - but then he looked inside the vending machine shelter and laughed, so he must not have been focusing on her. "Oh, Reese, you're so funny!" she screeched, even more loudly. "I can't wait to hang out with you this weekend, it's going to be amazing…"

She was attracting some stares, and even a whisper or two, but no one was getting curious enough to actually go up to her and ask what was going on. Not that she cared - let them talk! Their attention would only make her reputation stronger.

She threw her head back mid-laugh to check on her mark, and - bingo! He was staring right at her, looking betrayed - or was he just confused? It didn't matter, he was looking. Odd was leaning over and saying something, and she thought she could hear her name. "What?" she said, louder than ever. "Really? But that's so expensive! Reese, you don't have to do that for-"

She stopped cold. Ulrich was walking towards her - and even if Yumi was close behind, Ulrich was walking towards her! She turned away, so he wouldn't see the screen. "Oh, I'm sorry, I gotta go. Someone is trying to talk to me." She made exaggerated kissy noises. "Love you, see you soon!"

She tapped the end call button and made a show of whirling on them in an apparent rage. "What do you want, Ulrich? Can't you see I was busy?"

"Yeah, you looked real busy to me," Ulrich said, fixing her with a blank kind of look.

"Busy screaming across the entire quad." Yumi looked much more explicitly annoyed.

"And what's the problem with that?" Sissi tossed her hair. "Can't a girl enjoy her new boyfriend in any way she likes?"

"New boyfriend?!" Ulrich's eyes went wide - he was invested now. "Wait, who-"

"His name is Reese Anders," Sissi said, trying her best to sound besotted. "And I already know he's the boy of my dreams!"

She clasped her arms together, and swung them to her side. Yumi cringed, while Ulrich creased his brow, and put a hand up to his chin. "Reese Anders," he said. "Reese Anders…I've never heard of anyone named Reese Anders-"

"He goes to another school," Sissi said quickly. "You wouldn't know him."

"Have we ever seen him around?" Yumi said, narrowing his eyes.

"No, well, I haven't brought him here yet," Sissi said. "You know, with my father around, there might be questions. We just sort of…hang in the city, and chat, and eat at cute cafes and got to the movies…"

"So, how do you know this guy?" Ulrich interrupted. "Where does he go to school?"

"Oh - well -" Somehow she couldn't come up with a name right on the spot that they wouldn't just see through, so she took a leap of faith. "It's somewhere up further in the city?"

"Wait, he's your boyfriend and you don't know where he goes to school?" Yumi said.

"It's…I never caught the name." She grinned at them. "It's further in the city, that's all I know! I haven't actually been there yet. Maybe I should ask him to take me-"

"Wait, so you just meet this guy in the city?" Ulrich said. "Alone? When?"

"Hey, what is this, the third degree?" Sissi balled her hands into fists and glared at them. "If it works for him, then it works for me! We're in love, and that's what matters!"

"I…don't know," Ulrich said - and to Sissi's surprise, he looked concerned. "This guy sounds like a serious creeper, Sissi."

It wasn't exactly jealousy, but it would have to do. "Oh…well, that's it! You're absolutely right!" Sissi grinned, more at her own ingenuity than anything else. "I can't believe what a fool I've been!"

She whipped out her phone, and began pressing random buttons. "I'll go ahead and break up with him right now," she said. "And by text message, too, so he knows just what he's worth!"

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other as she typed, either very concerned or very confused, and then back at her. She was just wondering why they didn't seem more relieved when Yumi said, "Sissi, your phone's off."

Sissi froze, wearing a half-smile, and looked back down at the screen. "Well - so it is!" she said. "But that's because I already finished! And aren't you glad I'm out of that terrible situation?"

She grinned, but Ulrich didn't return it. "Something tells me you were never in trouble to begin with."

"What?" Sissi made a show of being scandalized. "You think I made him up?"

"You're the one who said it, not us," Yumi said.

"Ah…well…" She'd clearly gotten herself in more trouble than she'd intended. Would she rather be seen as a liar, or have them tell her father she'd been seeing strange boys? She supposed that once she'd hit rock bottom, there wasn't much further to fall. "I may have exaggerated the whole 'boyfriend' thing-"

"Goodbye, Sissi," Ulrich said without looking back. He and Yumi disappeared around the corner, and by the time Sissi reached the woods they were gone.

- Carth