Finally, FINALLY, managed to finish this chapter. Ugh, took forever to figure out how to end it. Anyway, here you go!
"Okay, what about these edible arrangements?"
Olette turned her laptop around to show Kairi who stopped dancing, took out her earphones and leaned in to get a closer look.
"Oh, I think that one will be perfect," she smiled. "Plus I think it'll go great with the cake the bakery Yuffie works at is making."
Olette giggled as she turned her laptop back around.
"I can't wait to see Naminé's face when she sees it," she said. "She's going to freak."
"Yeah, no kidding," Kairi laughed, placing her earbuds back in. She took a few more steps back, continued the song on her phone, and then started dancing once it started up.
"Seems you're practicing is going good," Olette shouted at her. "I think you'll get through this round no problem."
Kairi smiled and shot her a thumbs up as she continued dancing and mouthing the words to the song.
Olette giggled as she typed on her computer, filling out the order form for the edible arrangements. As she did, there was a knock on the door so she placed her laptop on her bed to answer it. Opening the door she saw it was Selphie with a bag of freshly baked goods.
"Refuel anyone?" she smiled, holding up the bag.
"Oh, that sounds so wonderful!" Olette clapped as she stepped aside to allow Selphie to walk inside. "And you wouldn't happen to have some taiyaki in there would you?"
"But of course," the brunette proudly proclaimed. "I know exactly what to get to boost the spirits of my fellow party planners."
"You rock Selphie!" Kairi said, flashing her a smile as she kept dancing.
"You know I do!" Selphie shouted to be heard over the music in her earphones.
Selphie placed the bag on the desk and occupied the office chair. Olette reached into the bag, pulled out one of the taiyaki, and then sat back down on the bed as she bit into the pastry.
"So, we got the edible arrangements done," she said before taking another bite. "We got the cake ordered but what about where we're gonna hold it? Any ideas?"
"Well, we could rent out a venue," Selphie said, office chair creaking as she leaned back. "Of course that would probably cost more than we can afford. Or maybe we could see if anyone local would be kind enough to donate their house."
Olette raised an eye at the girl.
"Even though I know what you mean by that, who around here has a place that is either big enough or even willing to allow us to host a party there?"
Selphie clicked her tongue. "I dunno, but we won't know until we ask right?"
"We could ask Sora," Kairi suggested, taking her earbuds out once again. She placed them and her phone on the desk before grabbing a taiyaki. "He's got a decent-sized house and yard. We can ask if maybe he'll let us host the party there."
"My my, been to his house already have we?" Selphie snickered a mischievous smirk on her lips. "You two seem to be getting quite friendly since that partner project."
Kairi rolled her eyes before biting into the taiyaki.
"Whatever Selphie," Kairi said. "Back to my point, it's an idea at least. Of course, that's assuming Sora's parents let us but like you said, we won't know until we ask."
"Sweet," Selphie clapped. "So we have something of a plan going then. And while we're at it, I think we should discuss some of the entertainment we could have at the party too."
It took a moment for Kairi to look up from her taiyaki to notice the look Selphie was giving her. She raised an eyebrow in confusion and instinctively leaned back.
"What? Why are you looking at me?"
"Because I think you should totally perform at Naminé's party!" Selphie smiled. "I mean, not only is it great practice for Sing Your Heart Out but I bet she'd love it."
Kairi's eyes went wide at the suggestion at first before narrowing them in thought as she looked down.
"Hmm, yeah," she mused. Kairi smiled and looked back up. "Sounds like an awesome idea. Of course, any ideas for a song?"
"Oh, I got one!" Olette typed away on her laptop before turning it to show Kairi and Selphie a music video playing on the screen. "I think this one will be a good idea."
The three girls listened as the music video played out and when it was done Kairi clapped her hands.
"Yeah, I think I can work with that no problem," she smiled.
Selphie punched a fist into the air. "Awesome. Another task over and done with. We're on a roll now!"
Kairi and Olette laughed at the brunette's antics before continuing their planning.
As it turned out after he asked, Sora's parents were okay with hosting the party at their house. Though they had reasonable restrictions (no one was allowed upstairs where the bedrooms were or in Sola's craft room or "workshop" as she put it, etc.). One of the other rules was that Kairi and the other girls had to help set everything up and clean everything. Sora offered to help after dropping Sola off at a checkup but the teen merely joked that she could help too by keeping Vanitas occupied and out of trouble by having him take her to her appointment instead.
The eldest Calhoun merely rolled his eyes and shrugged with a, "Yeah, sure. Not my party, not my problem."
Sola huffed and smacked him in the chest at his comment. Regardless, Kairi thanked them for their help as well as lending them the house for the party. Sola seemed especially excited when Kairi also told them that Selphie wanted her to perform at the party. Her hands were practically flying through the air that everyone had to ask her to slow down to understand what she was trying to sign. Vanitas just joked that she needed to calm down or she'd send herself to the doctor early with all her excitement over trying to design the backdrop for the stage that she somehow decided Kairi would be performing on.
Kairi just told her that they'd go over the details some more at a later time. At that point, the conversation shifted back towards the next round of Sing Your Heart Out and how Kairi's rehearsals for it were going.
"Pretty good so far," she smiled. "I've been rehearsing in one of the dance studios at the school and my dorm room when I can. The only thing I have left to do is pick my outfit."
"Remember to stay calm now," Sora smirked, leaning back into the couch as Sola's eyes lit up with excitement once more.
The girl ignored him as she was practically bouncing off the edge of the couch next to him.
If you want some ideas, I got some clothes that we can refashion or can even make something from scratch, she signed enthusiastically. The tips of her ears turned red as she meekly added. If you want to of course.
"Yeah, if you don't mind," Kairi smiled. "I'd love to see what you could come up with. Oh, as long as it isn't too much work. I know you've got plenty of projects going on right now."
Sola squealed with delight as she jumped up. She hastily stuffed some more garlic knots in her mouth before grabbing Kairi's hand and pulling her off the couch. The raven-haired girl merely gave a wave of her hand in acknowledgment when Vanitas joked about being careful not to rip Kairi's arm off.
Once the two were in Sola's craft studio, the younger girl pushed Kairi towards the center, made a wait here motion, and then dashed over towards one of the painted dressers in the order. She threw it open, tied a denim half-apron around her waist, and grabbed various sewing supplies before closing it back up. She placed the supplies on the desk in the other corner before rolling over another office chair towards it. Taking a seat in one of the chairs, Sola turned towards Kairi and patted the other one.
Kairi couldn't help but giggle at the younger girl's antics as she sat down while Sola rolled out some paper onto the desk.
Okay, so what kind of outfit are you thinking? She signed after grabbing a pencil. Something more casual or formal? Flashy? Not so flashy?
"Um, let's see, definitely on the more casual side," Kairi said, crossing her arms in thought. "And it's gotta be something comfortable to move in. God, I remember this one time when I was in a play as a kid, the costume they put me in was so tight I could barely move."
Sola snickered but motioned for her to keep going.
"Preferably not something long. I don't want to accidentally step on something while I'm dancing." Kairi shuddered. "I learned my lesson not to do that a long time ago. Um, let's see what else..."
How about this, what's your dance routine?
"Oh, good idea, let me show you!"
Kairi pulled out her cell phone and hooked it up to the BlueTooth speaker on the desk. Getting up from the chair and making sure to stand in the center of the room with enough room as to not knock into anything, Kairi let Sola hit the play button. Once the music started, Kairi got right into the routine she had been rehearsing for the past week. She even sang along to the song as she danced while Sola watched her with a smile, sometimes turning back to the desk to start sketching away.
Sola gave Kairi a round of applause once she was done and sat back down. Once she did, she glanced at some of the design sketches that Sola had already done.
"Oh, I like the skirt on that one," she said, pointing to one of the sketches. "But the colors on this one here look good."
Sola nodded and redrew the sketch with the skirt and also the halter top Kairi pointed out from a different one. After a few minutes of refining the design, the two started to work on the materials for the outfit just as there was a knock on the door.
"Uh, come in?" Kairi called out after receiving an approving nod from Sola.
The door opened to reveal Xion with a plate of fresh garlic knots in her hands.
"Hey, heard a certain someone decided to stuff her face with the last of the garlic knots before coming in here," Xion snickered. "Thought you guys might like some more."
"Thanks!" Kairi beamed.
Xion placed the plate on the desk between the two girls before glancing at the various sketches on paper.
"Hey, this one looks good," Xion smiled, pointing to the colored sketch of the halter dress. "Thinking about this design?"
"Actually, I was personally leaning more towards this one now," Kairi said as she grabbed a garlic knot. She gestured towards the sketch that Sola was diligently scribbling notes around, occasionally scratching some of them out. "And judging from how much your sister is going away working on it, I think she agrees."
Xion snickered and nodded. Leaning close to Kairi's ear she whispered, "It's a good thing you like that one. I don't think she cares about the rest anymore."
"I think you're right."
The two girls giggled while Sola was completely oblivious, absentmindedly grabbing a garlic knot without even looking up. The next two hours were spent constructing the final design Sola and Kairi agreed on. Xion stayed to help as well as she helped take Kairi's measurements while Sola drafted up the pattern.
As the three girls worked, the conversation started to drift back towards the preparations for Naminé's birthday party. Mostly it was ideas of what Kairi would perform at the party.
"I got a few ideas," Kairi said, standing as still as possible while Sola continued to take in and pin the skirt. "Pretty much just a few of the songs I thought about doing for the next round but thought against it."
Xion snickered as she continued to cut out some pattern pieces. "Nice, nothing like hearing the rejected choices."
Kairi gave her a look, which the fifteen-year-old replied with a stuck-out tongue, before answering Sola's question about whether the garment was tight or not.
Are you going to sing by yourself or have some people perform with you? Sola asked, looking at Kairi after grabbing more pins.
"Uh, I'm...not sure to be honest," Kairi shrugged. "Never actually thought about it."
"Aw come on, it wouldn't hurt to ask at least," Xion smiled. "Hell, give me time to practice and I don't mind performing a song or two with you."
"Oh, so you're volunteering then? Glad to have you on board!"
The three girls laughed as they went back to work as the day went on.
And thus, the plot slooooowly moves forward. Very slowly. But it's moving. Anyway, until next time!