World Academy W (somewhere after the transformation and before the final exams)
Yasna struts through school with confidence, with her two female companions. As she walks towards the class, a boy pops his head observing. He wants to approach her and say something but chickens out. "It's not getting to me" she thinks acting as if she did not notice.
The same happens in the cafeteria, where she finds a note with hearts on her tray. "It's not getting to me" she thinks smirking it away.
She opens her locker. A bunch of love notes fall covering her ankles. "It's not getting to me" she thinks standing calm and checks her hair in the locker mirror.
Back home, one day after dinner, Yasna goes back into her room.
Belly-flopping on her bead and with her head in the sheet. "Okay, It's getting to me!" she screams. "How am I supposed to function like this?!"
She grabs her head stressed. Jumping and sitting down, she thinks hard. "Think. Most of the letters ask for just a little bit of attention...How can I do that without completely destroying my reputation?"
Pacing and pondering, the clock moves to almost midnight.
"I know" she smiles excited. "It's perfect."
The next day at school, she finds her friend Ivan in his spot in the school yard. "You want to do what?" he asks intrigued.
"A kissing booth. The annual school fair is less than a month away. Do you want to be a part of it?" the excited girl asks.
Ivan ponders. "Well...getting paid to kiss girls seems like an interesting concept. Count me in!" he smiles.
"Um...I was hoping that you would be my security. Like if someone gets sneaky and things like that..." she says slowly.
"Oh" his face becomes serious again. "That sounds good too. If I get paid, of course. What do you mean by sneaky?"
"Well" she starts. "I was thinking...I'm not gonna do the lip to lip thing. Only cheek. So if someone tries to trick me and moves in for the mouth."
He listens, leaning in. "You mean...like this" he says quickly turning towards her, very close to her face.
"Yes, something like that."
He thinks curling his mouth into a smile. "Okay, I'm in."
"Great! So..."
"Wait wait! Can you explain your entire plan?"
"Okay...like this" Yasna says taking something from her bag. "I'm gonna take this red lipstick and paint my lips. Then, when a customer comes and pays, I'm gonna ask him..."
"...or her" Ivan adds.
"...Fine. Whatever. So when a student comes forward, I ask for their name, act all cutesy and stuff, and give them a big smooch on the cheek. Hopefully, the lipstick will leave a nice mark. What do you think?"
"Hmm...show me" Ivan says curious.
"Okay" Yasna clears her throat and turns to him smiling. "Why hello there Ivan. My you look so handsome today. Let me give you a nice kiss right there" she says putting her lips on his cheek with a loud 'smooch' sound. Her friend moves away with the red mark still left on his emotionless face.
"What do you think?"
"I don't really know. Maybe a little more pressure" he says.
She sighs and tries again. "How about now?" she asks later.
"Hmm...the smooch doesn't sound right. Try to make it a little less granny-like."
"Fine" she says anxious and kisses him again.
After several more attempts, Yasna grunts annoyed. "Was that one okay?"
Ivan's face is now completely covered in lipstick. With a mysterious smile he adds: "Now that I think about it...the first one was just right."
With a vein popping from her head, she grabs her backpack and starts hitting him. "You could have said that half an hour ago!" she yells. With every strike he giggles. "Your attacks tickle me" he says.
Next scene: The fair has finally arrived. The booth is up. Ivan and Šćepan are in black suits with identical black sunglasses standing in total contrast to each other.
"Step right up" Dafina says through the megaphone. "One kiss, one coin! You heard that right. One kiss, one coin."
Yasna sits at the booth. Her palms are sweaty but she smiles nonetheless. A few customers come close shy. She chats them up and kisses them. The line slowly begins to form. Everything goes according to plan. Until...
Wang Yao approaches with his hands crossed. Waiting his turn, he steps up pouting. Yasna looks at him confused. "What's wrong?" he says worried.
He looks around silent.
"Are you okay?" she asks slowly.
"You didn't even ask for my help" he says.
"I'm sorry...I didn't think you'd be interested. You have a good thing going on the other side of the fair."
"Still" he continues still angry. "You could have asked."
Annoyed, Yasna looks at the line behind him. "Look...I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you" she says and stands up. She kisses one cheek and then another.
"There, it's on the house. Still mad at me?" she says acting cute.
Wang Yao looks at her and shrugs. "I guess not" he mumbles and walks away.
"Hey, why does he get special treatment?" someone yells from the line. A scuffle follows.
"Oh boy" she panics. Grabbing the confused Dafina and Alexia she says: "I'm taking a five minute break! But don't worry, these lovely ladies will keep you company." They both blink.
"I didn't agree to this!" Alexia whispers irritated.
"Half of what you earn, you keep. The same goes for both" Yasna retorts faking a smile for the public.
"Oh" her companion replies. "Okay then."
Hiding behind a tree, she contemplates even returning. "What am I going to do now" she says arching her neck back.
"If you ask me..." a male voice startles her.
"I'm on a break!" she blurts.
Basch stands completely still with a portfolio in hand. "I understand that. Judging by you standing here, I believe you are in need someone to help you with your booth. Checking my Economy grades, you will see I am the perfect student for the job" he says and presents her with his resume. Confused, she takes a look: "Don't you have a stand of your own?"
"Well, yes...an energy source panel..."
"What kind of energy?"
"Um...reusable and nuclear. I'm sure you..."
"Really, like thorium?"
"What?"
"You know...Thorium. Like Uranium but way less deadly" she says nonchalantly. (2 out of 2 wise guys I trust recommend it!:) )
"It doesn't really matter...No one is interested in that now when they can have affordable kisses" he says coldly.
"Oh...sorry about that" she says nervous.
"It's alright. Your idea was clearly more profitable" he says calmly. "So, do you accept my offer?"
"Sure! If you can fix this mess, you're welcome on the team."
"Great, let's go" he says as they walk back to the booth moving off screen.
Half an hour later, the booth has a slightly slicker look with three chairs and a new sign. The line is even longer than before. As the girls do their thing at the booth, the new student walks around maintaining order. Despite his insistence, the price has remained the same.
Yasna waves flirtatiously to her last customer and turns to the other. Her smile immediately disappears.
Arthur stands there with his hands crossed. "Look what we have here. The three of you working together without tearing each other's faces. If I didn't know any better, I'd think something illegal is going on" he mocks.
"I assure you, everything is by the books" Yasna replies cold.
"Yeah, we even have Rules of Conduct printed out. See?" Dafina says showing a white paper nailed to the pole. Alexia is too busy canoodling with Albert to talk.
"Show a little class! Will you?" Yasna scoffs.
Ripping her face away, the girl next to her blushes. "Sorry" she whispers as her customer walks away.
"So, did you wait in line just to gawk at us?" Yasna says turning to Arthur annoyed.
"Actually, I came to see what all the fuss was about. I have to say, the selection is quite disappointing" he says and walks away.
"Rude" Dafina comments.
"Mhm, even better. I would have rejected him anyway" Yasna adds.
Surprised, Dafina leans in closer. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Didn't you read the rules? We're allowed to reject customers if we believe they will take advantage of the situation" Yasna says and turns to the next student in line.
Dafina hums. "Good rule."
Ivan walks slowly checking the line. A group of girls close-by glance at him and giggle.
Approaching, he says sternly: "Anything the matter?"
"Actually" one of the girls from the former Soviet block says. "We were just wondering how much to you charge for a kiss?"
Tilting his head, he smiles intrigued. A moment later.
"Hey, make some room" Ivan says pulling up a chair at the kissing booth.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you suppose to protect us?" Yasna says.
"Think about it, this is the best place for me to be in case you need me" he adds as the group of girls from before walk over.
Two hours later, the line is so long it forms a zig-zag many times over. All of the students are either in the line, or working at the booth.
Basch has secluded himself to calculate the gains so far. Yasna approaches anxious. "This is getting a little out of control."
"Mhm...oh, don't worry about it. The fair will be over soon" he says putting another stack of coins into a large bag.
"Good then" she says relieved. "So how much money did we make?"
"Let's see" Basch says typing into his calculator. "When I deduct the workers salaries and the maintenance fees...It will be this much" he adds pulling out a huge bag of shiny coins.
Yasna gasps ecstatic.
"Oh course, after my fee" the boy says typing some more numbers. "It will be this much."
She looks closer with wide eyes. "Why do you charge so much?"
Two teachers come over seeming serious. "Are you two in charge of the kissing booth?"
"I am, I guess. Why?" Yasna asks observing their concerned faces.
"The principal wants to talk to the two of you" the Economics teacher replies coldly.
In the office, the apologetic girl stutters: "I assure you there were no profanity. Just a kiss and a compliment. It's wholesome really!"
"I assure you I arranged that all safety precautions were followed. There was a security at hand and the booth had a clear exit in case of a fire" Basch, who is on the opposite side, adds. Only a nervous sweat drop exposing his panic attack.
"The idea was approved by the designated teachers and they could have told us to stop at any time" Yasna says.
"No one was harmed or force into anything. The procession was closely monitored" the boy adds straight away.
The principal observes the two of them with his hands clasped across his mouth. The silence becomes awkward.
The two students look at each other. "If it is the money we collected..." Basch starts.
"We will gladly donate it to the school. That was the point anyway..." she interrupts.
"...We will gladly give a portion of the proceeds to improve the school. Think about it, it will look good for your next term election" the boy says with wide eyes.
The principal smirks. "Well aren't you two adorable" he says pleasantly amused. The students blink baffled.
The tall slim man stands up smiling. "I didn't call you here to chastise you. I called you to congratulate you on a job well done."
"What?" they say in unison.
"Yes. There has not been a student fair project in history of the school that was as noticed or as profitable. Your Economy teacher plans to give you top scores."
The students smile relieved.
"Not only that...With all the money you collected, you can now chose what the next school building project will be. Think carefully?"
Yasna ponders. "Well an additional track field would be nice. Maybe an out-door cinema."
"And what about you young man?" the principal asks.
Nervous, the boy replies: "Um...I don't know."
"Oh and an amusement park would be nice" Yasna adds. A bubble with a huge rollercoaster and other attractions appears just to be popped seconds by the the principal's hmm.
"I'll think about it. In the meantime go back to your friends. We wouldn't want things to get out of control now, would we?"
The students give a nervous chuckle and rush out. "Oh and young man" the principal adds to the boy. He stops at the door.
"I have been running unopposed for a very very long time" he says confident.
The boy fakes a smile and politely says good-bye.
Back at the booth, we see Dafina's clearly tired face as we hear a lively crowd. "My, your voice is so...shiny" she utters emotionless. Her customer raises his eyebrow confused.
"Do you want the kiss or not?" she replies annoyed. As she gets the coin and kisses his in the cheek, the announcement is heard. "Attention everyone, the fair is now officially closed. Good news. We have managed to collect the money. You can look forward to a new track field and a huge outside beam for movies."
The students cheer.
"That is not all. Since the fair earned some extra money today, the students of the final year will get an all-paid trip to the amusement park next weekend. You can thank the winners of that. Hope you enjoy!"
Everyone smiles. They clap and shout happy. Yasna blushes from the praise, hoping her exposure will not make her enemies too jealous.
On the field afterwards, the stands have been all stored away. The only thing remaining is earth markings and some thrown-away leaflets. Yasna sits next to a tree enjoying the view.
"It was nice of the principal to let us keep our share of the earnings" she says to Basch who was busy counting the coins.
"We did do all the work. Besides, the fair rules clearly state that we are allowed to keep a percentage for our troubles" he says placing the last coin into a large bag.
"So what are you going to do with it?" Yasna asks.
"Probably, invest it. That way I will have even more money."
"And then?"
"I'll invest some more."
Yasna raises her eyebrow. "So you plan to invest and invest...When are you going to spend it then?"
"Eventually" he responds nonchalantly. Seeing her confusion, he sighs. "It may be difficult to understand why, but there is no such things as free lunch. Nothing is given without a price, so we have to stock resources."
"What do you mean nothing is given for free? We have sunshine, water, fruit, laughter and love, don't we?... By your logic, we should check our bank account every time we breath in" she frowns.
A little stunned, he stutters. "Never mind that. What are you going to spend your money on?"
"I'm gonna buy a moped. Maybe something for my mom. Some trinkets. And with the rest I don't know" she says smiling.
"Alright then. If you want I can help you put it to good use" Basch stands up and puts his heavy bag over his shoulder. "It was a pleasure doing business with you. I hope we can work together soon."
"Yeah, it was fun. Maybe we can work on something after college. We can make that amusement park happen if you want."
He smiles "Sounds great. Or we can do something else more realistic and feasible..."
"Oh, okay."
"So have you decided on your college yet?" he asks.
"Not yet. How about you?"
"Psychology" he states boldly. His collocutor looks at him confused.
"I was 100% sure you were going to say..."
"Business. Yeah, I get that a lot. But Psychology intrigues me more for...reasons" he says chuckling nervous.
Yasna stretches. "It's late...I should go. They'll worry about me back home" she says turning to lift her heavy coin back.
The boy leans extending his hand. "Let me help you with tha..." before the swinging bag hits him straight in the nose. He falls down out of frame.
Not realizing what has happened at first, she looks back and squeaks. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Here let me help you" she moves off screen too.
"Ouch" the hurt boy mutters nasally. Yasna involuntarily laughs.
"Some business partner you are. Day one and you already have me in bruises" he says off screen through his nose, not really mad but still in pain. We hear her laughing and crying. "I'm so so sorry. I didn't mean it." (complete)