Germ Warfare with the Gal Pals
(Story Summary: One afternoon, three of the four eldest Gal Pals receive some rather shocking news; their "leader;" Carol...has fallen ill! In response to this, they head right over to the Pingreys' house and each offer to help care for her in any way they can. But will their efforts prove successful...or will it only make things worse for Carol?)
As the scene opens overlooking a quaint house in upper Royal Woods, one morning; all appears rather calm and peaceful. Then, at that very moment; this calmness is suddenly shattered by the sudden sound of "ah...ah...ah...CHOO!" After this, the scene quick-cuts to inside the house; where Carol Pingrey, a former High School student and "leader" of the Gal Pals friend group, is found bedridden in her room.
Straightaway, the "viewer" can see that the poor girl looks like a shadow of her former self. Her usual well-groomed hair appeared disheveled, her eyes were crossed and bloodshot, her face was a sickly pale (as well as the rest of her) and snot trails could be seen trickling down from her nostrils. As Carol sank deeper beneath her covers while groaning softly; her parents soon enter the room along with her pet corgi, Alistair.
"Hello, darling" Mrs. Pingrey murmured softly as she took her daughter's hand, "are you feeling any better yet?" With a weary groan, Carol took in a deep inhale through her nose; hoping her sinuses would be clear. Instead, she gave out a loud snort; almost making her sound like a large sow.
"UGH! I feel like trash" she groaned loudly, "my head hurts, my nose hurts...even my teeth hurt." No sooner had she said this, Carol let out a soft shiver and her teeth suddenly started chattering. Without hesitation, Mr. Pingrey retreated to the kitchen to get some tea while his wife remained in the room; where she placed another warm blanket over Carol.
"Not to seem rude, dear...but your father and I did tell you that waiting outside Reininger's for a sale would be a bad idea" Mrs. Pingrey said in a soft yet firm tone, "the weather outside is much too chilly for such things." In spite of her poor state, Carol couldn't help but agree with her mother (albeit reluctantly.) Even though it was the end of March and the end of the Winter Season was but a stone's throw away, the weather outside was not appropriate for camping.
But regardless of all this; after taking a moment to blow her nose, Carol insisted that she took all the "necessary precautions" before going with her plan. "I had my tent zipped up shut, I brought my extra fluffy thermal sleeping bag...I even put on my heavy snow clothes" she mumbled, "how did I still get sick?!" Mrs. Pingrey said nothing in reply; instead, she gave a light smile and shook her head while lightly praising/cursing her daughter's stubbornness.
Then, as she started tucking Carol in nice and cozy; Mr. Pingrey soon returned with a teapot and cup in hand. "Prepared or not, young lady; you still got sick, in the end" he said firmly, "which means you are not to leave home until you're all better, understood?" At the moment, Carol felt like bitterly protesting against her parents' whims; insisting that she had "important things to do."
But unfortunately, her body felt too weak to even raise her hand and her usual youthful spark was felt like a dying ember inside. With all this in mind, she had no choice but to obey the will of her parents; even if it meant she'd be wasting a whole day in her room. Sensing his owner's distress; Alistair gave a soft whimper, walked up to her bedside and tenderly licked her fingers; as if begging her not to be sad.
Touched by this, Carol gave her corgi the most affectionate of pettings she could muster. Next, Mr. Pingrey poured Carol a small cup of tea and helped her drink it as gently as possible. "I added a spoonful of honey to the mixture" he said with a light grin, "it will do just the trick to help ease your sore throat." Carol gave a small yet pleased squeak of joy at this news, took the cup from her father's hands and drank the tea; taking care to not accidentally burn herself in the process.
Then, at that moment; her cellphone rang out on her nightstand. As Carol tried to reach for her phone, she suddenly let out a quick yet very loud coughing fit. This prompted her parents to insist that she remain stationary in her bed.
"I'll answer the call for you, darling" Mrs. Pingrey said firmly, "you stay there and rest." With a weary groan, Carol handed her teacup back to her father and eased her head back on her pillow; mentally grumbling about how much she hated being sick. Meanwhile, Mrs. Pingrey pressed a button on the cellphone and a familiar face suddenly popped up on the screen.
It was Becky and she appeared to be wearing a new winter coat. "Hey, girl" the teen greeted happily, "you wanna model some of the new clothes we got yester..." Before she could finish the remainder of her statement, Becky took a look on her phone and noticed it wasn't Carol she was talking to.
The instant she saw Mrs. Pingrey's face on-screen, she gave a small yelp of surprise; causing the woman to giggle. "Didn't expect to have me answer your call; did you, dear" Mrs. Pingrey jested, "I'm sorry to say that Carol is unable to talk right now." To prove her point was true, she directed the phone towards the bed; showing Becky her daughter's poor state.
To say that this shocked the teenager would be a gross understatement (no pun intended.) "Aw, jeez...what happened, Carol" she cried in shock, "no offense but...you look like Death warmed over twice." Now, on the one hand; Carol knew that this was simply her friend making a sort of joke to lighten the mood a little.
But on the other hand, she wasn't in much of a mood for laughing and simply responded with a sickly groan. "Hang on a sec, girl" Becky said suddenly, "I'm gonna conference in the others quick, show them all what's going on!" At first, Carol felt like protesting the idea; stressing that she couldn't let anyone see her in such a pitiful state.
But just like what happened a few moments ago, she was too weak to say or do anything in retort. Thus, Carol could only watch; as Becky brought up a group call on her end. Within seconds, Dana and Whitney's faces soon appeared on the screen; who also appeared to be sporting new winter clothes on (like Becky.)
As both teens looked down at Carol, appearing eager to greet her warmly; they instantly took notice of her demeanor and froze with shock. "HOLY CRUD" cried Whitney in shock, "Carol, are you...okay?" In response to this, the teen took in a clogged up inhale through her nose and gave the teen a look that seemed to say "is that even a question?"
"Oh, you poor thing" cooed Dana sympathetically, "hold tight, we'll come right over to help you out." Just as the girls were about to end the call there, Mr. Pingrey quickly stopped them; proclaiming that Carol was prohibited from any social gatherings with their friend group until she got better. "We totally agree, Sir" Becky assured, "but you misunderstood us, we're coming over to help take care of Carol."
Whitney and Dana sounded off in agreement with to this plan, adding that it would just be the three of them coming to help. "Oh...Very well, then" sighed Mrs. Pingrey, "but just the three of you, I don't want anyone else getting a nasty head cold like this." Without hesitation; all three ladies nodded, saluted Mrs. Pingrey and vowed to honor her wishes.
"That being said, we should still inform the others about this" Whitney said matter-of-factly, "especially Lincoln." Upon hearing her ward/bestie's name, Carol gave a bit of a sad moan. It was bad enough that her cold would keep her from seeing her best girl friends but not being allowed to see Lincoln was just as bad. Meanwhile, her parents commended Whitney on her idea and urged her to go along with it.
"Just...promise me one thing, girls" Carol croaked softly, "tell...tell Linky not to worry too much about me, you know how he gets sometimes." Everyone let out a light series of chuckles at this comment and then, Becky gave one final farewell before the call eventually ended. Afterwards, all was quiet in the room for what felt like ages...until Carol let out another cough.
"Let me pour you another cup of tea, dear" Mr. Pingrey said while patting his daughter's hand, "then, you just rest up until your friends arrive." Carol said nothing in reply, having only enough strength in her voice to offer up a soft murmur of approval. After that, she snuggled herself deep beneath her covers and eased her head comfortably enough against her pillow.
(Line Break)
The time was now a few minutes shy from being Twelve, Noon and Carol still felt lousy. Even though she didn't feel quite as chilly as she did earlier (thanks in part to some warm tea, a bowl noodle soup from her mother and Alistair resting comfortably with her in bed) the poor girl's other symptoms still bothered her. To her right, the "viewer" could see that her trashcan was now overflowing with discarded tissue wads to the point where it was almost buried away.
Carol's eyes still remained slightly bloodshot and due to her stuffy sinuses, she had the biggest of headaches. "Ugh...I can still taste the muck in my mouth" she moaned bitterly, "whoever said getting sick is 'fun' should be brought out in the street and sneezed on." Alistair gave a sort of raspy dog chuckle at his owner's comment (one similar to Muttley's) and nuzzled his head slightly against her side, thinking it might help make her happy.
"Oh, Al...that's my good boy" Carol cooed softly, "you don't like seeing Mommy sick, do you?" In response to this, Alistair gave a small bark and licked his owner's hand tenderly; as if giving her a sort of kiss. Carol smiled warmly at her corgi's gesture and rewarded him for it with a light pat on the head.
Then, just as she was about to fall back asleep; Carol suddenly heard a knock outside her door. Soon after, she heard her mother calling out to her; saying that the girls had just arrived. "Send them in, Mom" Carol said weakly, "I could really use the company."
Not long after she said this; the door slowly opened and Becky, Dana and Whitney came walking in and greeted her accordingly. But when Carol tried to do the same, she let out a powerful sneeze; mildly startling everyone. "Wow...that's a strong sneeze" Whitney stated, "I think they've felt that all the way in Hazeltucky."
Although one part of her felt like her friend's joke seemed mildly offensive, Carol didn't have it in her to make a playfully snippy comeback. All she could do was lie on her pillow and blow her nose. "Thanks a bunch for coming you guys" Carol croaked softly, "you didn't have to, I mean...I don't want any of you guys to end up like this."
While their bestie's words were true, the girls insisted it was their "duty" to help her; proclaiming that "Gal Pals needed to stick together." "Oh! Speaking of which, we told the others about your situation" Dana stated, "they wanted us to pass on their best wishes to you...hoping it would all help you get better." After saying this, she was moments away from bringing her phone over to show Carol something...until Becky quickly stopped her.
After that; the girls opened up their bags, reached inside of them and collected a facemask that each of their mothers packed for them. But unlike typical hospital facemasks, which were often small and made of paper; these were made from a softer material and each had their own unique look. Becky's was red and had an image of an Ace at the center (making it look like a possible Ace Savvy facemask.)
Dana's was purple (her favorite color) and had a collection of emoji symbols on it and Whitney's mask had a sort of hippie tye-dye look to it, which Carol couldn't help but find it pretty. Once each of their masks was secure over their faces, the girls made their way towards Carol; ready to give her the TLC she needed. "Like I was saying before; we told the others, earlier on that you were sick and they were simply heartbroken" Becky said sadly, "each of them sends their blessings."
With that statement, the girls took out their phones and showed them texts or pictures sent from other members of the Gal Pals crew. Jordan, Stella and Cristina sent her the usual "get well soon" messages, Kat's message was a combination of "get well soon" and a "you're a fighter...don't give in." Cici sent a voicemail to Whitney's phone, which said "get lots of rest and relax, see ya soon;" Phoebe sent her a GIF of a beautiful babbling brook (which, according to her message, often helped her relax during troubled times.)
"Even Haiku sent you a 'get well soon' message" Dana stated, "in the form of a haiku, of course." Carol gave as much of a hearty laugh as she could muster and asked her friend to show the poem to her. "Actually, she didn't send it via text" Dana said matter-of-factly, "she thought it'd be better to have you hear the haiku."
With that said; she picked up her phone, accessed Haiku's message and turned the screen towards Carol. Within seconds; the young Goth's face appeared and at first glance, she seemed to be giving her usual stoic frown. But upon closer inspection, Carol could clearly see the sadness in the young lady's one visible eye.
"Hey, Carol; heard you were feeling under the weather" Haiku murmured, "so, I put together this haiku to help ease your spirits." After taking a moment to clear her throat, she picked up a sheet of paper and looked at her camera with a forlorn gaze. What she said next sounded so eloquent, it left the four teens speechless.
"Winter's chill affects all
A friend has fallen ill
A songbird weeps"
At first, the teens all felt that the poem seemed just a tad creepy. But then, after they took a moment to read the words over a second time; they started to understand the meaning behind it. "I guess this is our lil' raven's way of saying she hates seeing you sick, Carol" Becky murmured, "that was rather sweet of her...weird but sweet."
The sickly teen nodded slightly and the ladies to pass on her thanks to Haiku, next time they saw her. "One other thing, your folks also informed the Louds about your situation" Whitney said bluntly, "Lori was obviously shocked, when she overheard the conversation and Linc...I swore, I thought I heard him yelp with shock on the other line." Upon hearing this reveal, Carol let out a soft whimper; mentally wishing that her friends didn't gossip about her situation.
As if sensing her thoughts, Becky insisted that they needed to tell the Louds about Carol's sickness. "When we signed on to be Linc's guardians, we agreed to inform the Louds whenever anything goes amiss at any time" she said matter-of-factly, "and this includes when any one of us is unable to fulfill our duties."
Despite however truthful her friend's words were, Carol still protested the fact that she told Lincoln about her situation. "The last thing I want is for him to get worried about me" she said with a cough, "you know how he can be sometimes, when a crisis arises." The ladies (sans Carol) couldn't help but laugh at this comment, after witnessing Lincoln's freak outs for themselves.
"You can't blame him, though" Becky said matter-of-factly, "he gets that way with everybody he holds dear...including you." After this was said, the three teens immediately went into "Serious Mode" and got down to business. "First thing we gotta do is help clean you up" Whitney stated, "a good shower or bath always helps me, whenever I get sick."
At first, Carol liked the idea but her cold made her body feel too weak to move very much. As a result, she shook her head slightly; saying (albeit weakly) that she didn't really want a bath at the moment. "Okay, girl; I'm saying all this with love" Dana murmured uneasily, "but...have you looked in your mirror lately?"
Soon after this was said, Becky reached into her purse and brought out a compact mirror. After flipping the lid open, she handed it over to Carol and urged her to look at her reflection. What the poor girl saw next was so shocking; she had a sudden coughing fit, after letting out a gasp.
After taking a drink of water to both calm her nerves and her cough, Carol took another look at her reflection and whimpered sadly. She knew that people always looked messy whenever they were sick...but this, to her, was unbelievable. Aside from her pale complexion; her eyes were horribly bloodshot, she had dried snot trails on her upper lip, her eyelids looked incredibly droopy without her purple eye-shadow on and her bed-head looked like someone assaulted her with hedge trimmers.
"EEEW! Okay...maybe I do need to clean up a bit" Carol murmured with disgust, "but I don't know if I feel up to doing my usual routine." Before anyone else had the chance to speak up, Carol began to list every part of her usual bathing rituals. "To start with...I think a good bubble bath would help make the chill go away" she muttered after taking in a deep inhale through her nose, "I'll also need my dry shampoo."
Without missing a beat, the girls each stood at attention and vowed that they would help her with everything. "I'll go get the bath running" Becky ordered, "Whitney, you go and get the shampoo while Dana helps find some clean clothes for our patient to change into." The latter two teens responded to their instructions with a hearty "YES, MA'AM" and quickly dispersed.
The whole time they went about their duties, Carol watched them with a soft smile and a touched expression. "Gosh, I'm so lucky to have friends like them" she thought to herself, "I just hope they won't feel overwhelmed."
(Scene Change: the Bathroom)
Sometime later; Carol, dressed in her evening robe, entered the bathroom for her soak. Upon her arrival, she saw that the whole tub was filled with just the right amount of pink bubbles; which meant there would be no chance of it all overflowing. "Right on time, girl" Becky stated, "the bubbles are ready and the water's nice and warm."
With that said, the time came for Carol to undress and get in the tub. But before she did, she politely asked for Becky to close her eyes; not wishing to feel awkward about being seen nude in front of a friend. "C'mon, Carol; we're both girls here" the teen said with a giggle, "there's no need to feel shy...but since you're sick, I'll honor your wishes."
True to her word, Becky turned herself around and covered her eyes up; allowing Carol time to do her thing. The instant the sound of water splashing reached her ears, seconds later; she knew it was safe to look again. In the tub, Carol had reclined herself comfortably within a cloud of bath bubbles and sighed blissfully.
"This is nice" she droned softly, "I can already feel the chill melting away from me." Pleased to see her bestie feeling so peaceful, Becky decided to begin the next part of the bathing routine Carol practiced; a nice scrub. "I'll go get your cleansing brush" she stated, "do you want me to do this part for you or..."
Straightaway, Carol stopped her mid-sentence and insisted that she be the one to do the scrubbing. "I may be sick but I can still do some things on my own" she said while puffing out her cheeks defiantly, "er...all due respect." Becky took no offense to her statement, she only smiled at her and gave a "peace sign" gesture; as if telling her "no worries."
However, while she did respect her bestie's wishes; she firmly insisted on helping rinse out her hair for the shampooing part of the bathing routine. "Alright, you win" Carol said with a small yet raspy chuckle, "speaking of which...where's Whitney with the shampoo bottles?" As if on cue, the aforementioned blonde came right through the door; holding what looked like an armful of shampoo bottles.
"Sorry I took so long, girls" Whitney said regrettably, "I had a hard time finding all six of the bottles we needed." Upon saying these words, she looked over towards Carol and questioned the need for six bottles of shampoo. "You guys saw how my hair looked earlier, right" coughed the sick teen, "I need to make sure my hair looks right...even if it does look flat in the end."
On the one hand, the ladies couldn't help but agree; good hair care was important (boy or girl.) But on the other hand, they believed she had perfectly beautiful locks and felt Carol was making a fuss over nothing. But because she was under the weather, the girls honored her wishes and set out each of the bottles neatly on the floor.
"Okay, ladies; here's the plan" Becky stated, "Dana will help me rinse Carol down a little while you apply the shampoo when I tell you, Whitney; understood?" In response, the other two ladies gave a firm nod and saluted their friends like a pair of soldiers. Once this was settled, everyone (sans Carol) quickly went to work.
Over the first few minutes or so, things seemed to go relatively smoothly; Carol was relaxed in the tub while Becky and Dana gently poured warm bath water over each of her limbs. But all that changed when the time came to use the shampoo. "Now, it's relatively simple" Carol said with a light sniffle, "you just need to use one bottle at a time and gently rub the soap into my hair for five minutes."
After taking a moment to do the math; Dana deduced that all this would take, at least a half hour. In which case, it didn't seem like that long of a time to use the bath. With all this in mind, everyone gathered all of their supplies and began the next step.
After taking the first shampoo bottle in hand, Whitney squirted a little of the juices onto her palms and started rubbing it into Carol's locks. For the first few minutes or so, things were going relatively smoothly; which appeared to please Carol greatly. "Ooh! This is nice" she droned blissfully, "hope you don't mind me saying so, girls...but you three are on par with the experts down at the spa."
Flattered by their friend's compliment, the girls blushed softly and thanked her for her kind words. While at the same time, they also warned her not to get used to such treatment. "Don't worry, I get it" Carol said with a light sniffle, "I just...I really need this kind of relaxation right now."
The girls murmured softly in understanding and assured their "patient" that they understood her situation, before continuing on with their work. Overtime, Whitney had just emptied the fifth bottle of shampoo and used it on Carol's hair. But when the time came to use the sixth bottle, she was met with a startling surprise.
Upon squeezing it, the bottle only offered up a small dollop of shampoo; which was barely enough to lather up a child's head of hair. "No...No, no, no; I can't be out now" Whitney thought worriedly, "now, what am I gonna do?" While her mind still raced with worry, the teen looked over and saw that Carol was drifting in and out of a peaceful daze; perhaps due to feeling so relaxed at the moment.
At the same time, Becky and Dana appeared busy with scrubbing her arms slightly with lathered up washcloths. This gave Whitney the ample opportunity to go out and try and find one more bottle of shampoo. "Would you ladies excuse me for a sec, please" she murmured nervously, "I need to go and...find something back in Carol's room."
While still appearing rather drowsy, Carol opened her eyes slightly and murmured something that almost sounded like "yeah...yeah, go ahead" under her breath;" which was then followed by Becky and Dana granting her their permission to leave. "Just don't take too long, Whit" the latter girl said firmly, "we've still got one more bit of shampooing to do."
Whitney gave a nod of understanding, promised to return in "two shakes of a lamb's tail" and stepped out the bathroom door. Afterwards, her earlier calm expression suddenly shifted into a look of worry. "Gotta move quickly, girl" she said while speed-walking down the hall, "I just hope it's where I think it is!"
(Line Break)
As the scene quick cuts over to Carol's room, we find Whitney feverishly digging through her purse; desperately searching for something inside. "C'mon...C'mon, I know it's in here someplace" she murmured desperately, "I always seem to have it...THERE WE GO!" With a joyful laugh, Whitney victoriously withdrew a small bottle of shampoo from her purse.
"It's like I always say, always have some shampoo on hand for hair emergencies" she said to herself proudly, "and this feels like as good of a time as any to use it." With her "prize" in hand, Whitney hurried back to the bathroom and rejoined the others; where she noticed that Carol was looking rather sleepy. At the same time, however; Becky and Dana were both giving their friend soft glares of impatience.
"It's about time you got back" the former grumbled in a hushed tone, "we can't keep up rinsing her hair for long." With a light blush on her face, Whitney quickly apologized for being tardy and tossed her shampoo bottle over. But when Dana caught it, she was surprised to see that it wasn't like the other five they used earlier.
With this in mind, both she and Becky cast knowing glances towards their friend; whose face appeared to be glowing with embarrassment. "Hey...cut me some slack here" she ranted softly, "there weren't that many dry shampoo bottles in Carol's room earlier anyway!" Before anyone had the chance to speak any further, Carol gave a brief yet relaxed yawn and eased herself down slightly into her bubble bath.
After almost ten seconds worth of silence; the girls, much to their relief, saw that she was still in her peaceful daze. Once they saw that the coast was clear, Becky and Dana questioned where their friend found the extra shampoo bottle. "Oh! don't you remember" Whitney said matter-of-factly, "I always carry one of these with me, in case of hair emergencies."
After letting these words sink in, Becky was moments away from almost telling her friend that she was being a tad ridiculous. But then, she suddenly remembered all of the "abuse" her poof had "suffered" over the years; from twigs and leaves being blown into it to terrible bed-head. With such memories in mind, Becky believed that Whitney had the right idea in having extra shampoo bottles on hand.
At the same time, however; Dana quickly pointed out one glaring flaw in her friend's plan. "The bottle you have isn't the right brand" she said softly, "if we use it, the chemicals might not mix well with those from Carol's dry shampoo...and possibly ruin her hair!" While her friend's words were true, Whitney quickly pointed out that there weren't any other such bottles of Carol's usual shampoo in the house.
"It's the best option we've got, right now" she said firmly, "besides...her hair will grow back, if anything happens."
(Line Break)
Sometime later, Carol slowly opened her eyes and was surprised to discover she was back in her bedroom. With a soft yawn, she gave her body a slight stretch and took in a soft inhale through her nose. Much to Carol's surprise, her sinuses didn't sound as clogged as they did earlier; which signaled that she was on the mend (albeit slowly.)
She also noticed Alistair was lying next to her in bed, which made Carol's heart swell with glee. "Nothing like a bath, a nice nap and snuggling with your widdle puppy to make you feel relaxed" she thought to herself, "but...where are the girls?" The instant this came into mind; the door slowly opened and, as if on cue, the girls came walking inside.
"Hey there, sleepyhead" Becky greeted warmly, "sorry if we worried ya, your mom need our help in the kitchen making your supper...if you feel up to eating, that is." Soon after this; Whitney placed a serving tray down upon the bed while Dana placed a cup of water over on the nightstand for later. Upon looking at the tray, Carol saw that it was her favorite comfort food for supper; tomato soup with grilled cheese toast slices.
"Aww! You gals are the best" she gushed softly, "you didn't have to go through all this trouble for me." Almost immediately, the three teens all murmured soft rebuttals in unison; insisting that what they did was no trouble at all. Then, at that moment; Mrs. Pingrey soon stepped in and noticed the girls chatting it up pleasantly.
This all filled her with such joy, after seeing her daughter in such a poor state earlier. After giving the door a light knock, the woman asked if she had permission to come in. "Of course you do, Mummy" Carol said with a laugh, "it's sweet of you to want to check on me."
Not needing to be told twice, Mrs. Pingrey stepped in through the door; holding a new box of tissues and a bottle of medicine in her hands. "How are you, dear" she asked, "did the bath help your..." Before she could finish her statement, Mrs. Pingrey took one look at her daughter and suddenly went silent.
Almost immediately, Carol noticed both her mother's surprised expression and asked if something was wrong. "Um...What's with the look, Mom" she inquired uneasily, "is there something on my face or in my hair?" Upon hearing the second half of her daughter's inquiry; Mrs. Pingrey, albeit hesitantly, picked up a mirror from the dresser and faced it towards her.
When Carol caught sight of her reflection, she seemed...rather calm about it; which left everyone confused. "Okay...is my eyesight still a little blurry" she asked, "because my hair looks a little...wavy in the mirror there." For a moment or so, no one answered Carol's question; feeling worried that she might react poorly to the truth.
Of course, this silence coupled with everyone else's odd expressions were enough to tell Carol that something was amiss. Ever so slowly, she eased her hands upward and started running them through her hair. The moment she felt the waviness in her locks, Carol took one more look in the mirror and gasped softly.
"What the...what happened to my hair" she exclaimed in a raspy tone, "I look like I just time-traveled from the 90's!" After staring at her reflection for what felt like ages, Carol looked over towards her friends; hoping one of them would give her some answers. It was here that she saw Whitney's face looking as red as a stoplight and was biting on her bottom lip like crazy.
"Whit...did you have something to do with this" Carol inquired, "how did it happen, my shampoo never left my hair looking like this." For almost a full minute, Whitney stood in the corner; her face blaring red and her brow sweating like crazy. She wanted, more than ever than to explain herself to everyone.
But after seeing and hearing Carol's reaction to her "new hairdo," Whitney's mind was practically screaming for her to just play dumb. Then, at that moment; she suddenly felt someone's hand rest upon her shoulder, shocking the teen out of her fearful state. Cautiously, Whitney opened her eyes and saw Mrs. Pingrey looking at her with a sympathetic gaze.
"There, there; don't be alarmed, dear" the woman said with a light smile, "you've done nothing truly reprehensible, just look Carol in the eye and speak honestly." With that said, Mrs. Pingrey moved off to the side and gestured for Whitney to speak up. "Okay...to start things off; I'm sorry I messed up, Carol" she began, "while we were shampooing your hair, I discovered we were one bottle short and went off to try and find another one."
At this point, Whitney revealed that there was one moment where she thought she found a new bottle of dry shampoo. But mere seconds later, it was revealed that the item in question was only a bottle of dog shampoo. "Why the heck would there be dog shampoo in the bedroom" Becky interjected, "that kind of stuff should be in the doghouse or something."
No sooner had her friend said all this, Carol suddenly found herself feeling rather embarrassed; which did not go unnoticed by the other ladies. "That...was my fault, sorry" the young lady murmured, "that bottle was part of a set I bought online for Alistair." No sooner had she said this; everyone, once again questioned why Carol had dog shampoo in her bedroom.
"I meant to put it somewhere else, like the kitchen cabinet...but I forgot" she murmured, "sorry about that, you guys." At first, Mrs. Pingrey felt the desire to scold her daughter for her mistake; worried about what might've happened if Whitney accidentally used the dog shampoo on her. But after a while, she decided against it; believing that Carol was already having enough trouble, at the moment.
"As for where I got this bottle" murmured Whitney while gesturing at her hand, "I...always keep a spare in my bag whenever I go places, just in case of hair emergencies." This explanation seemed to please the two Pingrey females but they still wondered how Carol's hair became the way it is after using the new bottle. "Oh, I got this one from the Ren Faire last summer" Whitney stated, "the herbalist who ran the shoppe said it helps 'make your hair as soft as silk'"
After letting all of this info sink in, Carol reached behind her head and started running her fingers through her hair slightly. Much to her surprise, it felt just as soft as her friend said. However, Carol wasn't very keen on the wavy look her hair had; which (according to her) felt "too 1990's."
"Well...look on the bright side" Whitney said with a nervous giggle, "in a few hours, this look will go away and your hair will be flat again." While she knew her friend meant no real offense with her choice of words, Carol lightly scowled with displeasure while softly muttering "yippee."
(Line Break)
A half hour later, Carol had finished up her soup and felt rather refreshed. But her cold still lingered on a little and she was feeling just a little sluggish; perhaps, due to how much her meal soothed her spirit. "How about some medicine" Dana offered, "it might help kick this cold out of you completely."
In spite of herself, Carol gave a light shudder; dreading the idea of tasting "yicky" cough/cold medicine. But not long after that, she let out a sudden sneeze; which was all her friends needed to see/hear. "I know you don't much care for the taste, Carol" said Becky while pouring a spoonful of medicine, "so just...imagine that you're swallowing something tasty like strawberries."
While a part of her still doubted the idea would work; at the moment, it was one of the few options Carol had left. She wanted nothing more than to get rid of her cold and get back to normal and if it meant swigging down bitter cold serum, so be it. As Becky eased the spoon towards her; Carol clenched her eyes, gave a small whimper and opened her mouth slowly.
When she felt the fluids touch at her tongue and slide down her throat, Carol suddenly went into a fit of wild movements. She squealed with displeasure, her arms started quivering and she shook her head violently in an attempt to keep herself from thinking about the bad taste of the medicine. All the same, it made the Carol's friends and her mother feel quite concerned.
"Okay, should we be concerned with all of...this" Dana murmured uneasily, "something about her movements seems alarming." Becky and Whitney nodded their heads wildly in agreement, both wondering what was in the medicine that was making her act this way. But while all of this was rather bizarre as well as concerning, Mrs. Pingrey insisted to everyone that her daughter's mannerisms were "perfectly normal."
"That bottle you used, Becky...it's the same kind of medicine my husband and I used on Carol when she was little" she explained, "even then, she despised the taste of it." As the three teens tried let out a soft laugh at the amusing memory, Carol's behavior continued to tug at their heart strings (just a little.) Finally, after one of them offered up a glass of water to her; Carol quickly snatched it from her friend's hand and downed the beverage like mad.
Much to her relief, it did just the trick to wash away the bitter taste from her mouth and throat; causing the young lady to let out a loud sigh of relief. Afterwards; she placed the cup upon her nightstand, blinked groggily at her friends, murmured a soft "nighty-night" to them and passed out atop her pillow. As they listened to Carol's loud snoring; Becky, Dana and Whitney couldn't help but stare in utter surprise at their friend.
Then, Mrs. Pingrey silently gestured for them to follow her out the door; which they happily complied to. With great caution and care, the ladies tiptoed their way out of the room and shut the door behind them. Afterwards, they made their way down to the living room and collapsed atop the furniture with tired sighs.
"Finally" groaned Whitney, "I mean no disrespect; Mrs. P., girls...but I was wondering if Carol would ever fall asleep." While the two other teens murmured softly in agreement, after witnessing their friend's reaction to the medicine, they wondered if she was okay now. "As I said, she's reacted that way to the medicine before" Mrs. Pingrey assured, "now, she's used up all of her reserved energy; after everything she went through today."
The girls couldn't help but nod/murmur in agreement, recalling how tired they were from helping Carol in the bath earlier on. Once everyone had caught their breath, Mrs. Pingrey expressed her most heartfelt thanks to the girls for all their help. "Think nothing of it, Mrs. P." Becky said humbly, "us Gal Pals always look out for each other."
Whitney and Dana both sounded off in agreement to their friend's words, all while high-fiveing one another with joy. However, no sooner had they done this; Mrs. Pingrey urged them to remain quiet. "Oh, right...sorry about that" Dana murmured shyly, "guess now that Carol's fallen asleep, we're not needed here anymore."
While it pained the girls to split up so soon, after spending the day together; each of them looked at their phones and saw that it was getting rather late. "I best head off for home, then" Becky stated, "Paige is probably worried sick about me...oops, sorry for the choice of words there." Mrs. Pingrey chuckled softly with amusement at her comment, assured the teen that no offense was taken and offered to compensate the girls for all their help.
"No payment necessary, Ma'am" Whitney insisted, "all we want is to be informed immediately, if Carol's shown any signs she's getting better." Mrs. Pingrey nodded in understanding, thanked the girls one final time for their efforts and sent them on their way. Once the door closed, she made her way upstairs to her bedroom; eager to get changed into her evening clothes and relax.
But before that, she stopped herself in the hall and cast a worried glance over at Carol's door. Slowly and silently, Mrs. Pingrey walked up to the door and rested her hand upon it. "Sleep tight, dear" she thought to herself, "in the morning, I hope you'll be back to your old self."
With that, she resumed her walk down the hall and entered her bedroom; closing the door behind her.
(Line Break)
With a great yawn; Carol slowly rose up from her bed, the next morning and gently rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Afterwards, she took in a deep breath of fresh air and discovered...that her sinuses were completely clean. She heard no stuffy inhales, she didn't go into a coughing fit and upon checking her reflection in the mirror, she found zero signs of snot streaks beneath her nose.
"YAY! THIS IS AWESOME" Carol exclaimed joyfully, "no more shivers, no more stuffy nose and no more cold!" With great joy in her heart, she started dancing around her room like a giddy child at Christmas. "The girls did it, they cured me" Carol thought with pride, "I owe them big time for everything they did."
With this thought in mind, she was mere seconds away from picking up her phone and calling up her friends to tell them the good news. When suddenly, there was a light scratching sound from outside the door; followed by a series of soft yet familiar whimpers. "Oh! I know who that is" Carol thought while approaching the door, "I've got a big hug with your name on it, boy!"
She had only opened the door but the smallest crack, when Alistair came barreling through and started running circles around Carol. The sight of the pup's excited behavior filled her heart with such joy, she reached down and scooped him up into her arms; allowing Alistair the opportunity to assault her cheeks with kisses. "There's my good boy" Carol cooed softly, "did ya miss Mommy, huh; did ya...did ya?"
In response to this, the corgi let out a series of loud barks; which in turn, attracted the attention of Carol's parents downstairs. Within moments, they came rushing up the stairs as quickly as possible, curious to see what all the noise was about. When they saw Carol holding Alistair in her arms, Mrs. Pingrey's heart swelled with joy.
"Look at you, dear; you're positively glowing" she exclaimed, "I take it you're all better, then?" After taking a moment to place Alistair back onto the floor; Carol proclaimed that she felt so good, she could wrestle a grizzly bear. "Now, let's not go quite that far, sweetheart" Mr. Pingrey said jokingly, "why not just go outside and enjoy the day instead?"
Not needing to be told twice, Carol raced about her room like a blur; getting herself fully dressed in her morning clothes. Then, she headed downstairs for a nice breakfast; which made her parents feel even more overjoyed. "Oh, boy; I can't wait till I head out later" Carol giggled happily while waiting for her waffles to cook, "the Gals are all gonna flip when they see me."
With that thought in mind, she placed her phone on the kitchen table and pressed a button labeled "Gal Pals." Mere seconds later, the faces of all ten of the other ten Gal Pals soon appeared onscreen. "Hi-Hi, ladies" Carol called out joyfully, "guess who's back on her feet and ready to seize the day?"
As each of the ladies took a moment to look over their "leader" from head to toe, they were pleased to see that she looked like her usual lovely self again. "We're so happy you're well again, Carol" Paige said with relief, "when my sister told me she saw you twitching after she, Whitney and Dana gave you your medicine...I got a little worried." Carol gasped softly at this reveal but it wasn't out of shock or fear.
Rather, she was bothered by the fact that her friends would exaggerate the aforementioned situation. But after looking back on what happened yesterday evening, Carol couldn't quite blame them for feeling that way. "It was nothing serious girls, I promise you" she assured, "I just really, really hate the taste of cough/cold medicine."
The Gals sounded off in agreement with bitter mutterings of past experiences with such medicine; all, that is, except for Haiku. "This might sound strange to you, ladies" she said with a coy grin, "but I actually like that weird taste...makes me think I'm sampling witch's brew." At first, everyone was prepared to question their friend's morbid fascinations.
But they quickly realized...this was all part of Haiku's deliciously weird quirks and thus, chose to disregard the idea. All in all, Carol found it delightful to be talking with her friends again. "I may have been sick for just one day" she said matter-of-factly, "but when it happens, every minute that passes feels like years going by."
Everyone sounded off in unison with words of affirmation, with several of the younger members proclaiming being sick was never as fun as some little kids think it is. But before the group could continue on with their conversation, an "incoming call" icon suddenly appeared on screen; one that bore Lincoln's phone photo. Without hesitation, Carol quickly answered the call and another video chat window soon appeared.
But much to everyone's surprise; they were greeted with a sort of "shaky-cam" view of Lincoln's dresser, instead of the boy himself. At the same, they could hear someone breathing in a raspy tone on the other line followed by the all too familiar sound of blocked off sinuses. While all of these noises did sound rather gross to them, at first; the Gals all brushed it aside and asked Lincoln if he was okay.
"Oh...yeah, I'm good; I just feel a l-little...ACHOO...stuffy is all" the boy said with a sneeze, "nothing for you guys to worry about." Mere seconds after they've let these words sink in, both Carol and her crew suddenly felt an odd sense of déjà vu flow through them. Meanwhile, some of the other Gal Pals proceeded to ask how Lincoln got sick in the first place; especially since he seemed perfectly fine the last time they saw him.
"Ugh! I think I may have got it from Lana, Lisa or Lily" the boy grumbled, "those three are almost always getting their hands on things they shouldn't." Every one of the Gals either softly groaned or muttered words of disapproval under their breath, after hearing this news. Given the amount of times Lisa worked around microbes for "research purposes" and all the times Lana and Lily liked getting dirty; it was a miracle none of them got sick from it all, if not Lincoln.
"It's nothing too serious, though" Lincoln assured, "my parents said it's just a head-cold and a sore throat...after a little rest, I should be fine." The elder Gal Pals, once again felt the mild chill of despair wash over them; the same sensation they'd felt when they learned Carol fell ill. However, the moment this came into mind; everything became clear to Carol and her crew.
"Don't you worry your little head, pal" Whitney assured, "we were there for Carol in her time of need; now, we'll be coming to help you." As if expecting her to say such words, Becky and Dana wasted no time in getting together their gear. At one point, while watching all of this; Carol looked towards the two chat windows and smiled.
"Hope you guys have extra gloves and masks on hand" she stated, "because I'm coming along to help you." Straightaway, Lincoln swiftly yet politely insisted that Carol not get involved; proclaiming that he didn't want to risk his friend/guardian getting sick a second time. Ironically, the other elder Gal Pals seemed to be on the same page but Carol stood firm.
"It's just like you told me yesterday, Becky; we Gal Pals always look out for each other" Carol said firmly, "and this includes our Guy Pals as well." With that said, Carol told her friends to have a spare face mask ready and bring loads of medicine. At the same time, the younger members of the crew started calling out to Carol; asking if they could be of any help.
While all this was going on; Lincoln, meanwhile found himself at a bit of a crossroads. On one hand, he felt worried that his friends and/or guardians might go overboard in helping get him well; much like how his sisters often did. But then, as if sensing his thoughts; Dana caught his attention by giving a soft whistle.
"Don't you worry, Linky" the teen said sweetly, "no matter however many of us decide to come and help you, we'll try our best to keep you comfortable...just like we did with Carol." After letting these words sink in for a few seconds, Lincoln cast a slight glance up at Carol's face; who was giving him a determined yet kind smile.
"You just get yourself to bed while we make some calls" she said in a hushed tone, "we'll see you soon." After that, the group call ended and Carol wasted no time in getting herself ready to leave. The whole time she dressed herself, one lone thought echoed through her head; "if you're half as strong as I was when I got sick, pal; you'll kick this cold in no time."
(First AN: Originally, I intended to add this in the Winter Arc of oneshot stories for the anthology. But since I couldn't find a suitable place for it *timeline-wise,* I've decided to use this idea for the Spring Arc. After all, people can get sick during any time of year; not just the wintertime)
(Second AN: I hope the initial reason Carol got sick made sense to some of you. Over the years; I've heard of people camping overnight outside of stores for opening days for sales or box offices to get tickets to concerts, movies or sporting events. Thus, I figured Carol would certainly be among those who'd camp outside of Reininger's for a sale)
(Third AN: I know that any media containing scenarios involving characters falling ill seems rather...risky, given the current state of things out in the world. But I hope this won't go the way of the One Flu Over the Loud House and get banned)
(Fourth AN: I may be good at writing stories...but poetry is another matter. In short, I stink at it; especially Haiku. As such, I hope I followed the appropriate 5-7-5 Rule; when I made the one that Haiku texted to Carol)
(Final AN: The "Wavy 90's hair" look I gave Carol in this was inspired by an AU image I found on DeviantArt made by TheFreshKnight. In the episode Selfie Improvement, Carol stated that her usual hairdo took six cans of "dry shampoo" to happen. I wasn't fully certain on what exactly dry shampoo was, truthfully.
Therefore, I wondered what would happen if she came up short and she had to use a different variety of shampoo on her hair? Then, I looked up on Google for ideas and came upon FreshKnight's drawing. This gave me the idea of having Carol get a sort of non-flat hairstyle; even if it's temporary.
As for how the shampoo made her hair so soft? As you may recall; in the Ren Faire three-parter, Whitney visited an herbalist who offered her organic shampoo. This would help make her poof softer and easier to tend to.
Since Carol's hair is less thick, by comparison; hers became both softer and wavy. I hope it all makes sense)
