"Girls! Wake up! We're going to be late!" Blossom yelled up the stairs. The professor chuckled from where he sat reading the paper at the table. She pouted at him before sitting down on the other side of the table to eat her breakfast. She was wearing her hair up in its usual high ponytail with a small red ribbon in it. Her cream colored uniform was perfectly pressed, the plaid skirt coming down to her knees. She wore a modest white camisole under her short sleeved summer blazer as well as a pair of white tights on leaving very little skin beyond her arms showing.
"It's not that late yet. Give them some more time. I know for a fact that Bubbles was up late talking with Robin and Buttercup was playing video games until one," the professor said. Blossom huffed at that.
"They should know better. If they aren't down here in the next 15 minutes I'm leaving without them."
"Take a chill pill Bloss. It's too early to be so wound up," Buttercup said as she entered the kitchen, snarling out a yawn. Her uniform had clearly been sitting in a pile instead of hanging up in her closet. The skirt was a little shorter than Blossom's but not by much. She had black leggings on underneath it and her shirt was clearly one that had been sitting in the back of her closet for a while, part of a band's name readable just above where her blazer was buttoned. Her hair was pulled back into a very short low ponytail at the base of her neck. She pulled it out and let her hair sit messily around her face. It was a look that actually suited the girl and always somehow seemed intentional and not just lazy.
"Is Bubbles up?" Was Blossom's only response. Buttercup barked out a laugh.
"She's been in the bathroom for ages now. I had to use the downstairs one."
Blossom nodded in relief at this. If Bubbles had been up that long then they should just about make it on time.
"I don't think I'll ever really understand why she needs to take so long. You three are all so beautiful without needing to spend hours in the bathroom." The professor stated. Buttercup snickered as Blossom rolled her eyes.
"But professor, Mark is going to be meeting her at the gates," Buttercup said in a sing-song like voice. The professor scowled at her over the newspaper. "And she hasn't seen him aaall week long. She has to make today extra special."
The professor went back to his paper with a huff at this and both girls could hear a small growl like sound coming from the man. Blossom giggled at this.
"I think half of it is because Robin and her went shopping yesterday," Blossom said throwing a chiding look in Buttercup's direction. Buttercup's smile was sharp in response.
"I really wish you girls would wait until you were 18 until before you started dating. 16 is too young in my opinion."
"Ta-da!" Bubbles exclaimed as she swept into the room. The extra time in the bathroom was clear to the other two girls, as was the amount of money she'd spent on the new eyeshadow pallet she'd bought the day before. Her uniform, while not as well kept as Blossom's, had clearly at least been hanging up in her closet. The skirt had been shortened considerably, coming down to a point just above the girl's mid-thigh. Unlike her sisters, she didn't seem to be wearing anything underneath but knowing that they flew to school both girls knew she was probably just wearing some very short shorts underneath it. She had a V-neck undershirt on under her blazer with her hair curling perfectly in twin pigtails. Buttercup gave Blossom an 'I told you so' look that the other girl ignored.
"You look wonderful." The professor said with a slightly strained smile. "But shouldn't your skirt be a little longer?"
Bubbles giggled in response, moving to grab a breakfast bar from the kitchen.
"Oh professor, it's not that short," she responded. Both Blossom and the professor couldn't help but scoff quietly at that. Bubbles ignored them both. "Shall we?"
"Do we have to?" Buttercup asked, only half serious. Blossom gave her a dull look.
"Yes Bubs, we shall."
Blossom swept out of the room at that. Bubbles bounced along following her as Buttercup dragged her feet along.
"Have fun girls!" The professor called before returning to his paper. He heard the chorus of 'we will's, and one 'I won't', followed by the front door closing. Now alone he sighed to himself.
"Maybe if I stopped paying for those trips? Hmm, saying no to Bubbles though…" the man said, trailing off in thought.
"Mark!" Bubbles exclaimed as she landed on the school grounds just in front of her boyfriend.
"Bubbly!" A teen with short blond hair and brown eyes said as he jogged over to embrace her. He was clearly fit which wasn't surprising as he was on several sports teams throughout the year. When he reached Bubbles he lifted her up and spun her around causing her to giggle and wrap her arms around his neck. Buttercup gagged in response.
"Bubbly, what kind of dumb nickname is that?" She whispered softly enough that only Blossom could hear it with her x-hearing. She sighed in response.
"Don't you start on that again. You just don't like it because it isn't one of your nicknames. Also, lest you forgot, you were the one who encouraged her to start dating him." Blossom said starting towards the school. Buttercup let out a long whine in response.
"But leader girl, you know why I did that. Last I checked, you agreed with me! How was I supposed to know this would be so. Much. Worse."
"I never said I didn't agree. I also never said I did agree. If you'll recall, I said 'this is just going to blow up in your face'," she paused to look back at her sister who was glaring back at the overly sweet display happening between Bubbles and her boyfriend. "This isn't quite what I had in mind but, well, blowing up in your face isn't incorrect either right now."
Buttercup turned to give Blossom a look of despair.
"I know. Regrets. So many regrets right now." Blossom only chuckled slightly in response before continuing back towards the school doors. Buttercup followed quickly, if only to get away from the PDA that Bubbles was doing. It wouldn't be much longer until they started to give each compliment after compliment, both wanting to outdo the other. Then the kissing would start.
They reached their assigned lockers rather quickly and began keeping an eye out. Robin had said she would meet them there before they all split for homeroom. They didn't have to wait long.
"Oh my gosh. Bubs should really tone it down. People are literally going to get cavities watching those two." She said as she reached the two sister. Buttercup gagged again as Blossom sighed.
Robin's hair had grown out a bit over the summer, coming to the bottom of her shoulder blades. She had wanted to try a layered look that suited her well, her bangs framing her delicate features nicely. She wore her uniform the way it was supposed to be worn, knee length skirt, modest camisole under the blazer. She had on a pair of knee length stockings as well.
"Try telling her that. Last time I said something she threw me through the wall," Buttercup said.
"You were making fun of the nickname," Blossom pointed out. Buttercup ignored her. Robin hummed in thought.
"Maybe I should say something. I'm honestly still surprised they made it through the summer."
Blossom and Buttercup were about to respond when they picked up the sound of Bubbles coming towards them. They looked down the hallway in time to see Bubbles skipping towards them, finally done saying her hellos to Mark. Robin turned and smiled brightly at the girl.
"Good morning Robin. I tried to say it earlier but Mark had just complimented my hair and I got distracted."
"You're fine. Where is Mark? Did he not come with you?" Robin asked looking behind the blonde.
"Ugh, don't encourage it," Buttercup groaned out as Bubbles giggled, throwing a slight glare at Buttercup before responding.
"His locker is in a different hallway and he wanted to put some stuff there before homeroom."
Blossom's eyebrows came together at that. The semester had just started and Blossom couldn't remember seeing a backpack on Mark's back. She was startled out of that thought as Bubbles grabbed her arm.
"Speaking of which, we should probably start heading in that direction too."
"Ugh, I guess. Too early for this sh-stuff."
Buttercup cut the curse short from an unusually sharp glare from Blossom. She lifted an eyebrow at that but Blossom brushed it off.
"I'm so glad we have homeroom together again this year," Robin said. Bubbles pouted.
"But we don't all have lunch together! Poor Bloss, you'll be all alone." Buttercup snorted at that.
"I think she'll be able to find a book or two to keep her company Bubbles. Just be glad it wasn't you getting lunch to yourself."
"She's right Bubs. You know me. I'll just read. It'll be a nice chance to get a breather between classes."
Bubbles thought about it for a little bit before giggling in response.
"That's assuming nobody else has your lunch," she said nudging Blossom who scowled in response.
"Well, that isn't exactly a comforting thought. And way too many people came to mind at it too," she trailed off frowning.
"As long as it isn't male it won't be that bad," Buttercup grumbled to her softly, trying to reassure the girl. She was right, too many people came to mind at that thought but the concerning ones were ones she didn't want her sister to have to deal with alone. Robin smiled at the girl, trying to be comforting.
"Well, there's really only one she has to worry about," Robin said. "What are the chances that he'll have your lunch?"
Blossom sighed.
"Pretty high actually seeing as how he's usually in almost all my classes."
"Well, maybe this year will be different?" Bubbles suggested with a nervous giggle.
"Pft. Either way, he gives you trouble again this year I'm officially going to punch him." Buttercup grumbled.
Blossom sighed and reached for the door to open it for the others. She let them go in first and then braced herself before entering herself.
As was the norm, all three of the ruffs were once again in their homeroom. She guessed it was too much to ask that the faculty would agree with her proposal. Even with their mostly clean record since the signing, the faculty still felt the boys needed watched during school hours. This, of course, meant that they were almost always in classes together.
She couldn't help but let loose a tiny sigh. Butch had already started in on annoying Buttercup by giving her the finger. He was also low-key flexing for the girl in the seat next to him, his uniform fitting tightly across his chest. Unlike with Mark though, she was half convinced they just didn't make a size large enough for him. He had been buff before the summer and now it seemed that he'd somehow added to that. The black slacks he had on seemed to be the only thing that actually fit him properly. He had a tank top on underneath his blazer and his hair was in its typical short, spiked style. Buttercup had now started to return his finger giving him a look of pure disgust.
Bubbles looked like she was hanging onto Robin's arm for dear life, to the point Robin had to tap her hands because she was hurting. Boomer's uniform fit him perfectly and the short sleeves of it allowed people to see that it wasn't just because he was skinny. He was all lean muscle. He wore a nice, white shirt on under his blazer and Ali, his current girlfriend, was sitting in his lap laughing at something he had said, fingers running across it. His hair was messy in a way that was either intentional or caused by a very flirty girlfriend. Bubbles was quick to look away and take her seat, far from where the boys were, next to Buttercup.
Brick was casually leaning back in his chair, head down and cap right way around for once to cover his eyes. His hair was in a messy bun as was the norm for this time of year, the lingering heat causing him to want it out of the way. His blazer was left unbuttoned with a tight fitting shirt on underneath, more modest than Butch's but not actually less showing. He was seated between Boomer and Butch and clearly trying to get some last second shut-eye before class. She saw a couple girls she didn't recognize not too far in front of them eyeing him up.
Girls she didn't recognize? That wasn't right. She knew the names of every student in the school. She continued looking at them as she sat next to Robin, trying and failing to place them. She turned to her sisters. Buttercup was now sticking her tongue out at Butch. She sighed and snapped her fingers in front of her sisters face to get her attention.
"What? He started it!"
"And I'm ending it. Butch, stop riling her up. Anyways, do you recognize those girls over there?" She pointed in their direction. All three girls frowned.
"Nope. But I don't ever pay attention. You know that," Buttercup said.
"That's odd. I don't recognize them either?" Bubbles said, finger going to her chin in thought.
"What does it matter? Come on girls, it's not like you know everyone in the school. You probably just haven't seen them before," Robin replied. They all gave her a look. "Well I don't know everyone in the school at least!"
"There were other faces on the way to class that I didn't recognize either now that I think about it," Blossom said half to herself. It wasn't just those two girls either. There were several faces she didn't recognize in the room. She was drawn from her train of thought as Mr. Phillips entered the classroom.
"Alright everyone," the bell rang signaling the start of class. "It is official my time now. Please take your seats."
He waited as the remaining few students went to sit down. Ali pouted, in an overly exaggerated manner, before getting off of Boomer's lap, blowing him a kiss as she sat in her own seat. Blossom heard Bubbles let out a nearly un-hearable huff. She rolled her eyes.
"Welcome to the first homeroom of 11th grade. I'm Mr. Phillips and I'll be the first face you see every day for the next oh so many months so get used to it. First, some quick announcements. I'm sure some of you may have noticed a few new faces around the school. This is because there are, in fact, many new faces at the school. Over the summer there was a rezoning due to a nearby school closing down. As such, many of the students that had been attending that school will now be attending here. Welcome them."
Well, that explained that. Blossom couldn't help but wonder what had caused the school to close down. Maybe she'd look into it.
"Secondly, as juniors you all now officially get to take part in the yearly Tri-villathon! Yay. Leaders of clubs will be mandated to meet on every Tuesday after school. As such, the first meeting will be today. Per the request of principle Keane, our wonderful heroes will be taking charge of the junior planning. Before anyone yells about injustice or favoritism, know that this is so they can better plan security. As we all know, our supers are not the only supers attending school and so, the principal wanted the girls to plan things to help make sure things go smoothly. Boys, from my understanding, the mayor has also asked you to assist them. Don't make me give you detention on the second day of school for skipping. Give me at least a week before that, for sanity's sake."
Buttercup and Bubbles were glaring at her. Whoops! She'd forgotten to mention that to them. They'd live. She should probably have a talk with Butch and Buttercup though about not breaking out into a fight during the meetings.
"Lastly, more for the new students, you have till the end of the week to decide on an extracurricular. The school has an extensive list thanks to the generous donation from Mr. Morebucks. It is still mandatory to be involved in one. I don't care what it is but I will hound you if you aren't in one by the end of the week. Same thing goes if you want to change activities. You all have until the end of the week to decide. Any questions?"
The class remained silent.
"Wonderful. With the re-zoning some class schedules have changed. I'm going to hand out the final products. Come up to the front as I call you. After I hand it to you, please leave for your first period class."
The girls were still glaring at her. She refused to look at them though, watching as students went to get their schedules and paying attention to the new students more in an effort to start learning their names. The boys, when they were called during the j's for Jojo, ignored them thankfully. Although, Butch had sent a wink in their direction before exiting the room that had earned him the finger from Buttercup.
"Blossom Utonium."
She sped up, snatched her schedule, took a peek at her first class and booked it. She didn't make it far though.
"Bossy, where's this meeting thing today supposed to be at?" Butch asked right as she exited the classroom. He and his brothers were leaning against the wall just outside the classroom. She snuck a look back and saw Bubbles skipping to grab her schedule. Not a good sign!
"The junior level writing classroom. It should be big enough. Now if you'll excuse me," she said attempting to speed walk away. Again, she didn't get far.
"Bloss, why don't we compare schedules before you leave?" Bubbles asked as she linked arms with her sister. She sent a smile so sweet towards Blossom she swore she'd end up with a cavity.
"Oh Bubbles I don't think that's necessary. I have a tone of AP classes and you weren't interested in any of those this semester. We already know we don't share a lunch and that hasn't changed I'm sure so I'm just going to-"
"Nah, I say we walk to class together. After all, we probably won't see each other till afterschool. Don't you want to enjoy these last few moments with us leader girl?" Buttercup said sliding up on Blossom's other side. She was boxed in. No way out!
The boys were exchanging a look at this point. Darned Butch just had to go and stop her. Couldn't he just let Brick ask her later?! They were sure to share at least one class together. Heck, he could have even sent her a text. She was sure he still had her number!
"Uh, everything good there girls?" Boomer asked. Buttercup laughed and Bubbles giggled causing all three boys to lift an eyebrow.
"Oh silly Boomer. Why wouldn't they be? Now come on Bloss, don't want to be late." Bubbles said as she began to drag her sister away.
"Now look, girls. There really isn't a need for this. My class isn't even in the same direction as yours!"
"How would you know if you haven't compared schedules with us yet? Unless, you know, you were aware of things before school started today."
"I told you we would be-"
"Helping. Yeah yeah. You said zilch about planning and less about them. Let's us three have a nice talk about this."
Blossom sent a glare at Butch as her sisters dragged her away. She mouthed a very angry 'thanks' at him. He held up his hands in surrender but looked thoroughly amused at the fact she was in a bind. It wasn't her fault she'd forgotten to mention the details! A monster had attacked when she had started talking about it with them and she forgot to finish!
She sat down with a huff. Bubs and Buttercup were not happy. Buttercup had gone on and on about her sport commitments and Butch while Bubbles whined about how she'd have to see the ruffs and not enough of her boyfriend with this. She'd managed to reassure them. Yes, it was a bigger commitment but the point of the competition was to show off which school was best. They'd make sure Buttercup, as the top female athlete in the school, had plenty of sports time. As for seeing the ruffs, they spent most of the day in class with at least one of them. This was just one extra hour or two a week. She suggested Mark maybe driving her home after to make up for the lost time she would have with him and finally she had let up.
She was pulling out her supplies, her first class was math this year, when Brick walked in. Their eyes met and Blossom braced for a comment about the fiasco this morning and how she'd obviously slipped not letting her sisters know all the details before today. Instead, he ignored her and went to sit in his usual spot in the back right corner. She frowned at him. That was weird. Was he not feeling okay?
She shrugged and went to turn around only to be startled as someone roughly bumped into her desk, sending her pens and pencils scattering around the floor.
"Whoops. My bad," a high pitched voice said. Blossom looked to see one of the girls from homeroom who had been staring at Brick. She believed her names was Abigail Christenson. Her uniform was styled in a way similar to Bubbles but unlike Bubbles ended up looking a lot less cute and a lot more of something else.
Abigail flipped her long, straight platinum blond hair over her shoulder and sauntered over to the desk right next to Brick. She sat facing him, leaning forward and rested her hand against his shoulder. He stared at it.
"Hi, my name's Abigail but you can just call me Gail. You're Brick right? As in the Rowdyruff leader?"
"Yes?" He replied, unsure. He dragged his eyes away from the hand and they briefly met with Blossom's. She raised an eyebrow in question and he turned his attention to Abigail. Blossom rolled her eyes. Fine, if he was okay with the new girl invading his space on day one then she wouldn't help. She turned to start picking up her stuff. About halfway through someone started helping her. She internally despaired when she saw who it was. A lanky boy with dark red hair and green eyes stared intently at her.
"Hi Blossom. How was your summer?" Howie asked. She sent a very hesitant smile at him.
"Fine. Yours?"
"Oh I'm so glad you asked. Math camp this year was so educational. It's a shame you had to miss it."
"Yeah, a shame."
"But it's okay! I took lots of notes knowing you'd want to hear all about it."
Her shoulders slumped in defeat. Howie was the one person Blossom wishes she hadn't saved. Not because he didn't deserve saving because he did! She just wished with all her might that someone, anyone else had been the one to do it.
Back in 9th grade Howie had been called out to a shady part of town by some bullies. Apparently he hadn't wanted to run away like he had in his previous school and had willingly gone. While they were there, and yes Howie was being beat-up, the Gangreen Gang had shown up. They'd been causing some trouble in the area and were trying to hightail it away before someone showed up to stop them. They'd seen the uniforms and knew the boys went to Townsville High with the girls and decided to take advantage of the situation. The gang took all four boys hostage while they escaped.
Unfortunately for Blossom, she still refused to let anyone other than herself answer a Gangreen Gang call so she'd been the one to show up. Of course, even with hostages, the gang wasn't really much of a threat and she cleaned up the scene relatively quickly. All four of the boys seemed to decide they had to thank her and proceeded to follow her around and overwhelm her with gifts and attention.
She was thankfully able to set most of them straight quickly enough. Unfortunately she was only able to set most of them straight. Howie's thanks seemed to quickly evolve into a full blown crush then obsession. He frequently asked her out only to be continuously turned down. Right from the get go she'd been straight with him about her lack of interest but he only seemed to change gears. He had gone from appealing to her emotions to appealing to her sense of logic. They were 'geniuses and as such belonged together as their children would go on to do great things'. It only served to annoy and freak out Blossom. Seriously though, who mentioned children before even dating?! He still didn't seem to understand the meaning of no. He'd pretty much told her at the end of last year that as long as she was still single he would continue his attempts. She'd had to push the simulator all the way up to level 18 that night just to blow off steam.
Luckily for Blossom, Howie wasn't able to get too far into his notes as the teacher walked in and promptly started class. She wasted no time once class was over booking it out of the class, ignoring Howie calling her name as she did so. So began the game of avoiding the boy. Again.
Boomer kept the smile on his face as he listened to Ali once again talk about how he should really try using her skincare routine. It didn't seem to matter that he had flawless skin, she thought it could be better. He was slowly going crazy with the mindless babble Ali always seemed to have. It was at this moment that he looked up and his eyes met Bubbles's.
She was walking down the hallway hand in hand with Mark and seemed to have only just now noticed him. She quickly averted her eyes to seemingly pay more attention to what Mark was saying. Boomer couldn't help but sigh softly and drag his eyes back to Ali. She was still talking about skin.
"Boomer, ready for practice tomorrow? I know I am," Mark said as he and Bubbles walked up to them. Boomer raised an eyebrow at their approach.
"I mean, I'm about as ready as I always am," He replied. Ali smiled and laid her hand on his chest.
"Running back again right? I don't know why the coach even bothers with the first practice testing. It's obvious you're still the best for the position."
Boomer winced slightly at his girlfriend's choice of words. Mark was always benched in the big games because his position was also running back. Hell Boomer, wouldn't mind if the guy had the position, he'd even hand it to him, but Brick and Butch were on the team. They'd asked him to play because they knew that the three of them would kick ass. Which they did. Hence the starter positions.
"Fair's only fair Ali. Who knows what's changed over the summer. Coach just wants to make sure he gives everyone the chance to show that," Boomer said softly, trying to lessen the blow. Bubbles' smile had gone tight at the edges and Boomer winced again. This conversation was a disaster and it'd only just started.
"Exactly Al-Al. Wouldn't want coach to miss out on someone's rise to the top," Mark said with a glare at both Ali and Boomer. Ali giggled while Boomer just sighed. He should have just gone to class.
"I'm sure everyone will be great," Bubbles said, laying a hand on Mark's shoulder. He calmed down a little when he looked at her. Boomer on the other hand couldn't seem to look away from her hand on Mark's shoulder. Ali saved him from getting caught by distracting him with a flip of her hair. It had caught him in the side of the face. He sighed, again.
"I'm sure they will but Boomer will be better," Ali said, glaring slightly at Bubbles.
Great, female flex fight with the tool boyfriends being the trophies on display. The smile on Bubbles face seemed so forced to him that it almost hurt. Why would Mark even bring her over here? Everyone knew that Bubbles and Ali had a complicated relationship, constantly fighting in cheer over who had done which step wrong. Coming over here was obviously just going to make Bubbles uncomfortable.
"Well, we'll just see about that won't we?" Bubbles asked. Boomer sighed, deciding he'd had enough of being on display.
"Right, well let's just agree that everyone's going to be doing their best and see what happens. I think that sounds like an excellent idea. Now if you don't mind," he gave Ali a quick peck before turning to the door behind him, "I'm going to get settled in for class."
He all but ran from the conversation and into the classroom, breathing in relief when Ali didn't follow him in. He sat down in a seat near the front. This was the class he'd been looking forward to most, Zoology. When he'd seen the class on the list of electives last year he hadn't stopped to think before writing it down. Once settled he took out his phone and started up a gaming app he'd lately gotten addicted to.
Not more than two seconds later he felt eyes on him and looked up to see Bubbles walk through the door and take a seat a few seats down from him. Boomer nearly dropped his phone in shock. Shit. Of course Bubbles would take this class. No one loved animals more than her! Why hadn't he stopped to think?! Shit! He groaned softly knowing that his favorite class could now, very easily, become his least favorite.
She was hesitant walking into the lunchroom. As was the same with every other year, Howie had been in every single class she had so far. Brick had been too, as well as Abigail. Blossom had made sure to watch her stuff around the girl after the first time. She wasn't sure what she'd done but clearly the girl wasn't a fan. Not of her at least.
The only way Howie wouldn't have this lunch is if his next class was an elective that had second lunch. She knew he wouldn't be in her next class, the teacher had banned him after he'd somehow managed to bring down half the greenhouse they'd been using that day sophomore year for botany. She seemed to be in the clear but there was no way to know. She stayed alert as she found a table in a back corner of the cafeteria that was also close to one of the back doors. She should be good here. She pulled out her lunch and book of the day before settling in, back against the wall so she could scan the cafeteria every now and then just in case. It didn't take her long to get into her book though and she forgot about everything else, only half paying attention to her lunch.
It worked against her as someone promptly sat down right next to her, startling her so much she jumped off the chair, floating a few inches above it. Brick wasn't even looking at her. Rude. And why was he sitting here?!
"You have got to stop doing that. One of these days you might actually give me a heart attack." She scowled at him. He rolled his eyes at her.
"As if. Look, just let me sit here to eat my lunch and then I'm gone okay? I just need a few minutes to breath."
She raised an eyebrow at his tone. He sounded nearly desperate there, or at least as desperate as he'd let himself sound. He still wasn't really looking at her, instead scanning the cafeteria.
"Everything okay?" She asked hesitantly. He heaved a sigh.
"Of course it isn't. She won't leave me alone. I'd rather have Princess hanging off of me again at this point. At least her voice doesn't make her sound like a banshee."
Blossom hesitated before asking. "Do you mean Abigail?" He turned and gave her a look.
"Obviously. You're still floating by the way. Sit. I'll be gone soon."
She realized he was right and quickly lowered back onto the seat. She still wasn't quite sure how to handle this. They'd eaten lunch together before yes, but that was mostly because Bubbles dragged them all together back in 9th grade when they all shared a lunch. Last year there had been a lot less of that as Boomer got his first girlfriend at the beginning of the year. With a string of girls to quickly follow after it ended.
"You don't have to rush. I'm just reading. Feel free to stay but I'm not sure why you think sitting here will stop her. Does she even have this lunch?" Brick shook his head looking to the sky.
"Of course you wouldn't notice." He looked straight at her startling her a bit. He'd spent the day oddly avoiding her so this was a bit of an abrupt change of pace. "For whatever reason the girl seems to hate you so I think she'll avoid your table. And yeah, she has this lunch. I managed to lose her just before reaching the cafeteria. In case you were wondering, Howie has this lunch too."
She quickly slumped down so her book was hiding her face, frantically scanning the lunch room.
"No no no no no please no. Oh my gosh, where is he? Please tell me he didn't seem me."
Brick laughed quietly at her. "Don't worry. He saw me sit down and left, probably went to the library hoping you'd head there to avoid me."
Blossom let out a huge sigh of relief before sitting back up.
"Oh thank goodness he still hates you."
"Well that's a horrible thing to say Bloss. Why oh why would you want someone to hate big bro here?" Boomer said as he seemingly appeared out of thin air on the other side of Blossom. She once again jumped out of her chair.
"Would you three stop that!" She snapped rounding on the blue boy who only grinned at her. Brick snickered on the other side of her and held out a hand for a high-five that Boomer quickly gave him.
"Nice Boom. Sorry Pinky, you just make it way too easy."
She pouted as both boys laughed at her.
"See if I let you sit here again. Next time I'll personally make sure Abigail sees me say no just so she can pounce."
Boomer raised an eyebrow at that as Brick groaned. His face fell into his hands.
"Anything but that please. She won't stop." He growled out. Boomer and Blossom shared a look at that. Blossom had known he wouldn't be fond of the girl when she'd invaded his personal space without a care the second she got a chance. Brick hated people he wasn't close with touching him.
"Girl problems bro? I thought you'd have loved all these new chicks fawning over you."
Brick shot a glare through his fingers at Boomer.
"They can look all they like but this chick won't stop hanging off of me."
"Who?"
At this point Blossom decided to just go back to her book. She'd given Brick a chance to take her help in first period and he'd looked away. She'd let him sit here but she wasn't going to go out of her way to help him.
"See the blond over there? Next to the red head sitting two tables over from Elmer's? That's the one."
"The one who's staring at you like you're a piece of choice meat? Dude do you know how many guys would be thrilled to be you right now?"
Blossom frowned and looked at Boomer. He was still looking at Brick with an incredulous look on his face.
"If you two are going to start having guy talk and drooling over people find another table," Blossom said with a glare.
Both boys looked at her as Boomer raised his hands in defense.
"Not gunna say another word."
She nodded at that before returning to her book. Brick and Boomer talked over her head about their classes so far while they ate. Once they'd caught up their attention went to the end of the day.
"So Pinky, what all does this Tri-villathon involve? What do we even have to plan?" Brick asked.
Blossom sighed before reaching for her bookmark. That was as far as she'd get this lunch it seemed.
"Plenty. The Tri-villathon is planned nearly exclusively by students, juniors and seniors specifically. That way it allows for a fair competition and the winner gets bigger bragging rights. The seniors will be planning the bigger things such as layout and spacing but we have to organize our own displays and events within that. It allows us to get a feel for the event before we become seniors and have to plan the whole thing. With that said, this year there's the additional concern of a certain group attending Cityville."
"The punks you mean?" Boomer asked. Blossom sighed.
"Yup. Because of that, we'll be in charge of security surrounding our space and the school. Although we aren't the hosts this year, the prank war is expected to be bad this year. I don't doubt that Brute will be even more ruthless than either Buttercup or Butch would be and Braudy probably won't try too hard to stop her, if at all. We know from last year that Berserk will support the pranks." Both boys winced at that remembering last year's big prank had been on Blossom. "We might get lucky and Blane might stand in to stop it but if they think that may be the case they probably just won't let him find out about it. I am not having a repeat of last year, understood?"
Both boys were quick to nod at the tone in Blossom's voice. They hadn't heard her sounding that angry and serious since, well, since the prank last year. They exchanged a look. They weren't happy that the Powerpunks and Rowdyrights had slipped through and pulled such a big prank last year. They were pissed when the puffs were on the receiving end of it. It had been a nasty prank too. They'd agreed that day that there wouldn't be a repeat and that there would be revenge. Now they'd have their chance at the later. As if sensing their train of thought Blossom gave them both stern looks.
"We also won't be partaking in the prank war. Understood?"
Boomer and Brick exchanged a look and were about to respond when the bell sounded. Both boys quickly stood with their bags.
"Well what do you know, the bell. Gotta get to band. Bye Bloss!" Boomer said as he walked away quickly.
"Can't be late for shop." Brick said as he quickly slipped through the cafeteria's back door.
Did they think she was an idiot? She saw those smiles on their faces. There would be no pranking this year. She meant it! Fuming slightly at the fact this was probably already a lost battle, Blossom went off to her botany class.
Maybe it was a good thing Bloss didn't have lunch with them this year if only so she would have more time to calm down today. Seriously though? Did she always have to go and take that extra step? It wasn't enough they had to participate? Apparently not.
Bubbles sat down at her usually table with a huge sigh, Butch sitting down next to her, eyebrow raised.
"Still upset with Bossy? C'mon Bubbly, you know that just art class alone isn't enough for you to get your daily dose of the Butch. You should be enjoying this extra time with me instead of pouting over this morning."
She gave him a look telling him how done she was with him right now.
"I think I get more than my daily dose in homeroom alone. Art then pushes me waaay past that. Also, don't let Buttercup hear you call me that. She hates that nickname."
Butch scoffed at that.
"Let's be real sugar cube, you're not a fan of it either."
Bubbles chose to ignore him, instead catching sight of her sister and jumping up waving to get her attention. Buttercup frowned when she saw who else was at the table.
"Am I ever going to get a year where you don't have my lunch?"
"Pft, yeah. It'll be the year sweet stuff here also doesn't have your lunch. Trust me, I'd much rather take shop class with big red but someone had to go showing my drawing that I gave her to all the art teachers. It was a battle lost after that."
"Oh be quiet. You have too much talent to not be in art class. You also have too much fun driving those poor art teachers up a wall so don't even."
"Whatever," Buttercup said rolling her eyes at the two.
Buttercup still hadn't gotten over how weird it was that the two of them were such good friends. Then again, Bubbles could make friends with a rock if she tried. Buttercup sat down on the other side of Bubbles. It was the only way she knew of to get the idiot to not annoy her to the point where her fists itched.
"Still upset at leader girl?" Buttercup asked her sister. Bubbles pouted.
"You aren't? My time with Mark will be cut in half with this!"
Buttercup shrugged as she pulled her lunch out.
"Is it really a surprise though? You know what she's like. She can't say no to anyone."
"'Cept Howie. Brick texted me earlier saying that he's still at it. He sat with Bossy today to keep him away so don't worry 'bout her at lunch." Butch said as he scrolled through his phone.
"What's this about Brickie?" Princess said as she approached the table. Butch groaned at the sight of them.
"Seriously? All girls? All the girls I literally can't hit on? Where's Mitchelson? Mikey? Anyone with a dick?"
All four girls glared at him. Princess had calmed down greatly over the years. Her hair was still as crazy and out of control as ever, barely kept pulled back into a ponytail. She'd long ago given up on the idea of being a Powerpuff girl. There had been a number of years where she had strove to be more popular but after a so-called friend had seriously back stabbed her she decided to really change her attitude. It probably helped that Bubbles had been her shoulder to cry on while Buttercup had hunted those girls down for Blossom to deal with. They never bothered Princess again. Princess could still be a diva but she had decided that day that if anyone dared try to mess with this group of friends they'd have to go through her first.
"Mikey has first lunch but he prefers to eat lunch in the shop room with the other guys." Robin said as she sat down.
"Mitch went off campus but he's also first lunch." Buttercup said around a mouthful of food. Bubbles rolled her eyes.
"So no dicks here but your own. Deal." Princess said with a slight scoff. "Now, what was that about Brickie?"
Butch groaned but finally went to pull his lunch out.
"He said Howie's still at it. Both have first lunch. Lucky for our dear Bossy, he was trying to lose some new chick or something? Anyways, he and Boom spent lunch with her so Howie stayed away."
"Good god, is that creep still at it? She's said no in just about every way possible. "
"Well, at least Brick was there. Hopefully he'll keep an eye out for him. I don't think Boomer is enough to do the trick." Robin said. Butch shrugged.
"Howie bugs big red about as much as he bugs Bossy. He'll sit at her table just to enjoy the look Howie gets when he does so. Plus, apparently Bossy keeps this new girl away?" Butch said, shoving his sandwich into his mouth, swallowing nearly the whole thing in just about one bite. Bubbles looked disgusted.
"I will never get used to that." She said as she took a small bite out of her own food. Butch, having nearly finished his lunch already, started reaching over to grab some only to have his hand solidly slapped away.
"Back off the food Butchie boy. You lost the bet remember? You're only allowed to try my food when I say you can," Buttercup said.
Butch pouted at her.
"C'mon Bitterbitch. That bet was two years ago now. Just a taste?" He whined as he slowly moved his food towards Bubble's food again. Buttercup slapped it away harder.
"Not today. Also not this month after that nickname."
"I don't know how you can just sit there like that Bubs," Robin said watching the two greens argue. Bubbles shrugged.
"I grew up with one. The other one likes me too much to dare mess up my hair. It's fine. I'm the best choice as a buffer."
"Ew. Don't talk about it as if it has feelings Bubbles. It might give it ideas." Buttercup said as she sneered at Butch. He barked out a laugh.
"Whatever. You're just jealous that she's clearly my favorite puff."
"Oh please Butch. We all know I'm about as close to being your favorite puff as you are to being my favorite ruff. If you're still hungry go buy something." Bubbles said without looking at him. "It's a shame Mark doesn't have second lunch isn't it? Ugh, so much worse now that we have to help with the stupid competition thing!"
"Blegh. Gag me. If you're about to start praising noodle hair then I'm gunna go get pizza. Actually, I'm going to get pizza regardless." Butch said standing and then jogging over to the lunch line.
"Ugh, I cannot with you six. I would have to spend an hour in the gym to burn off half a slice of pizza. So. Jealous." Princess complained as she poked at her salad.
"I thought you liked salads?" Robin asked. Princess rolled her eyes.
"Robbie, honey. I like salads but I love things like pizza. I just settle to maintain this glorious figure." Princess said with a slight sneer. Robin glared at her.
"Alright you two. Cut it out. Jeez, not even all the way through the first day of school yet and already you two are about to go at it." Buttercup said. The two of them pouted.
"We've gotten better," Robin tried to argue.
"Whatever. Are you two going to be there afterschool?"
"The meeting? Blossom's representing the StuGo so no, we won't be." Robin gave Bubbles a sympathetic look as the girl pouted.
"No fair."
"Still going on about that?" Butch said as he sat down. He had two slices of pizza, fries and a couple of cookies. Buttercup immediately reached across Bubbles and grabbed a handful of fries. "Really? Go get your own!" Was Butch's only response.
"Yes. I'll continue to go on about it all day. Deal." Bubbles reached over a grabbed one of his cookies.
"Seriously puffs! Go get your own food!"
"Aw, but that's so much work." Robin said giggling at them. Butch shoved a slice of pizza in his mouth.
"Whatever. Though really sugar cube, why all the whining about this thing? Let's be real, you really think Bossy is going to leave many things for us to decide?"
Robin and Princess laughed at that while Buttercup and Bubbles exchanged a look.
"I don't know Butch. You all haven't seen how stressed she's been lately. Not really at least. She keeps adding things to her plate and well, we're a bit worried it's going to end up being too much for her. Buttercup and I have already decided to help more than she usually lets us," Bubbles said.
"Yeah, whether she likes it or not, we're not gunna let her plan this whole thing on her own, and we all know she would if we let her. This summer was pretty rough for her," Buttercup added.
The other three exchanged a look.
"I thought she was just upset about missing out on half of the summer recitals. I know she'd been really practicing for them." Robin said. Blossom a few years back had picked up ballet saying it helped to teach discipline and control over the body. She quickly got addicted to it. Buttercup shook her head.
"That was a small part. You know how busy she was this summer? She planned and choreographed three dances to make up for the fact she missed the recital, attended charity events every week, tutored kids in the not so great parts of town, and that's just scratching the surface. All of this while jumping on any call that popped up. We're getting a bit worried. We might be supers, but we're still human."
Buttercup's words made everyone at the table go quiet. They were all used to seeing Blossom doing everything but Buttercup and Bubbles knew their sister. Even she had a limit and they were worried because no one seemed to know what it was, not even Blossom.
"Well, I'm sure it'll all work out. Plus, we're always here if something goes wrong," Robin said with a solid smile. Bubbles and Buttercup smiled back. Just then the bell rang causing all the teens to groan. Butch quickly shoved his last slice of pizza in his mouth and stuffed the cookies in his pocket before they all got up to leave for class.
"Freedom!" Buttercup cried as the last bell rang. Boomer raised an eyebrow at that.
"The meeting though?"
"Shut up Boom. Let me have my moment," she scowled at him. He shrugged before getting up, sliding his bag onto his shoulder. Buttercup followed him out of the classroom. He was quick to let her take the lead though as he followed her to her locker.
"So, I know we asked Blossom at the beginning of the day and all but I hope you know where this thing is being held cause I sure as hell don't remember what she said."
Buttercup rolled her eyes at him. "You're in luck blue boy. You are currently talking to a Powerpuff and we're certified in helping wittle boys find their way."
He rolled his eyes at her this time. "Sure Miss Green Beast." She frowned at that.
"I've been being better. Blossom even said that I've been doing a good job at minimizing the damage I've been doing. I work hard at that you know," she mumbled the last part. Boomer looked at the girl to see her frowning at the ground and winced. She had been doing better, a lot better in fact.
"Sorry. You know I was just teasing." He threw an arm around the girl, resisting her pretty weak attempt to push him off. "Hell, Butch was even saying after watching that last fight a week ago that you've really learned how to focus things. Really narrow the field of impact into one itty bitty spot. He even sounded a bit impressed. Said something about how it really made the impact greater but smaller? I dunno, but it was cool how you took the thing down."
She smirked before finally giving in and throwing an arm of her own around his shoulders. Of course, to do that she had to float up by at least a good six or seven inches. He really was the tallest rowdy and despite being the tallest puff he still dwarfed her.
She was quick to pull away though as she heard a disgustingly sweet voice.
"Boom boom! Wait up!" Ali cried as she tried to catch up to the duo. Buttercup couldn't help but notice that Boomer had winced slightly at the girl's voice too. She couldn't blame him. There was the nice sweet voice like Bubbles and then there were voices like Ali's. So sweet it just sounded rotten and fake.
"Hey Ali. Sorry about that."
He let out a slight oof as the girl threw herself at him but made sure to steady her. Buttercup rolled her eyes.
"So I was totally thinking that maybe tonight we could, you know, go grab something to eat. You can tell me all about your day while we enjoy a nice meal," she said smiling at the boy while trailing her fingers along his chest. Buttercup raised an eyebrow at that. Boomer winced.
"Actually Ali, I thought I'd mentioned this, but I'm busy today. The ruffs were asked to help out with planning the Tri-villathon."
Buttercup watched the girl closely and saw what she was looking for. Just a brief flutter between her expressions but there had definitely been a flash of anger there. Maybe something more as well but Buttercup was no Bubbles and even when she tried she never really could see what her sister saw.
"Aw, I don't remember. I was so excited. You can't skip?"
"Sorry Ali, it's the first meeting. Brick and Blossom would have my hide if I skipped. I'll make it up to you?" He offered her a hesitant smile. She pouted. Buttercup thought it made her look kind of like a puffer fish.
"Fine. You owe me big mister," she said as she gave him a playful shove. "Call me when you get home m'kay? Mwah!" She planted a big kiss on his cheek before walking away, an exaggerated swing in her step. Buttercup turned and gave Boomer a look.
"I don't get boys," she said rolling her eyes as she watched Boomer try to get the lipstick off his cheek.
"Not much to get usually?"
She rolled his eyes as he pointed to his cheek. He'd done a terrible job getting the mark off and normally she'd just tell him it was fine and laugh as he got looks. Unfortunately, they were about to go into a meeting with her sisters and Buttercup knew Bubbles would be upset if she saw. She roughly rubbed at his cheek until the mark was gone. The things she sacrificed for her sisters.
"There. Now come on lover boy. We can't be late."
She grabbed his arm and started walking briskly down the hall. She could feel the confused look Boomer was giving her but he let her drag him so she ignored it. When they got to the room they could hear Bubbles talking inside. They opened the door to see Blossom with her head down on the desk as Bubbles sat next to her rubbing circles on her back. Bubbles looked up at them as they entered and Buttercup made a point of looking at Blossom in question. Her blond sister sighed.
"It's apparently been a long day for Bloss," Bubbles said. Blossom let out a straggled sounding groan at that. Buttercup winced.
"That bad?"
Blossom raised her head to glare at the two.
"I don't want to talk about it," she said through clenched teeth. Both Buttercup and Boomer were quick to nod. Blossom placed her head back down with another groan.
"So. When does this shin-dig start?" Buttercup asked as she went over and plopped herself into the seat on the other side of Blossom. Boomer awkwardly walked a bit further into the room but stayed standing. He was trying to avoid eye contact with Bubbles who was in turn making sure her focus stayed on Blossom. Buttercup nearly snorted at how tense the two were. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to push Bubs into dating Mark. The whole thing was becoming more trouble than it was worth. Blossom lifted her head again, rubbing at her temple.
"Everyone has 15 minutes after the last bell to make their way here so about another 10 to go."
Boomer nodded and looked around as Buttercup sighed loudly and threw her feet onto the table in front of her. Both Blossom and Bubbles frowned at her.
"Buttercup you're in a skirt!" Bubbles cried.
"And I have leggings on underneath. It's fine." Buttercup waved her off. Blossom huffed.
"It doesn't matter. That's school property and you should respect that. Feet down."
Buttercup laughed and didn't move causing Blossom to glare at her sister. Before anything else could be said the door opened and Brick walked in dragging Butch.
"Can you please stop being such a pain in my ass?" Brick growled through clenched teeth. Butch shot him a grin.
"Nah, too much fun. Plus, Gail is smokin'! Why you don't wanna be all up in that I have no clue big red. Maybe you need another check up with the prof, something has got to be wrong with your head."
"Really? Just sit down. I've had enough of you boys talking about girls as if their pieces of meat for one day thank you very much." Blossom said with a sigh as she moved to take a bunch of paper out of her bag. "First though, one of you place these at each seat please."
The boys looked at each other before both Brick and Butch looked to Boomer. He sighed and went to take the papers from Blossom and do as she asked. Butch and Brick went to the other side of the room and sat.
It didn't take long before more people began to trickle in. There wasn't much talking going on as everyone seemed exhausted from the first day back at school. Blossom had been quick to look busy as Howie walked in. Buttercup glared at the boy when he had taken a step towards them causing him to quickly change directions and sit about half way across the room in one of the few remaining seats. Blossom glanced at the clock not much after that before sighing and getting everyone's attention.
"Alright, I know none of us want to be here right now but after the disaster that was last year's competition the school admin thought it would be best if this year we got a head start. In front of you all is some basic information about the schedule they have planned out for us. As you know, the Tri-villathon is supposed to be planned almost exclusively by the students. This means that this piece of paper is probably about all the help we're going to get. Any questions about it so far?"
She looked around the room as everyone looked over the paper. It was pretty straight forward. By the end of the month the budget needed to be finalized and passed out to each department. The seniors would decide the space allotment in the first month of school. They would all have about two months after the budget to submit their demonstration proposals. The student council would then have two weeks to either accept or reject them. Rejections had another week to resubmit until they had something acceptable. Any fundraising would happen through the remaining month of the semester. All through this, the Powerpuffs and Rowdyruffs would be discussing not only event security but also campus security to try and prevent the school pranks from hitting them. That part needed finalized before the end of the semester so that it could be implemented at the start of the next semester. Bubbles hesitantly raised her hand. Blossom sighed.
"Yes Bubbles?"
"Can we please change the name? I mean Bloss, Tri-villathon? It sounds like something villain related." Buttercup snickered at that.
"No Bubbles. We can't change it. Any other questions?" She paused for a moment before moving on. "Good. Now the reason we're all here is because we are each either the club leaders or leads of our respective electives, sports, and academic activities. All of you will be expected to represent these groups through the entire planning process. If there is anyone who is unhappy you'll be expected to take that into account and see if there is another way. If there isn't and this person is still unhappy then the student council will be available to help. Disagreements are to be handled in a civil manner. If they can't be then I'll have to step in."
She looked around the room at this meeting everyone's eyes to make sure they understood. While Blossom preferred to be diplomatic if they refused to do the same then she wouldn't hesitate to make it know she was in charge at the end of the day. They did not want to turn her into a dictator.
"The student council will be meeting on Wednesday and the budget is at the top of our meeting agenda. We should have answers by the end of the week but don't be expecting large sums of money for each club. The number of clubs in each category will have a large impact on how much each group, academics, sports, and the arts, receives."
People began to speak up, the arts groups clearly not happy as their group had the smallest number of clubs. Blossom held up a hand for silence and everyone reluctantly did so.
"This is the fairest way to go about it and has been how it's done for years. This is also not negotiable. The budget is for the student council to decide on unanimously. As you know, we have members from all three main groups so you will be fairly represented. Our budget also needs to be approved by five different faculty members before it can be finalized. I will not hear arguments about how certain clubs deserve more."
There were a few grumbles but for the most part everyone accepted that there was nothing more to be said. It would be what it would be. Blossom made note of the unhappier faces though, knowing that they may cause trouble.
"Each of the three departments if you will, will have a central team to help with streamlining decisions. They will be available to provide advice as well as to help talk through any disagreements. We've already selected who they'll be. Please listen carefully and make note. These people will essentially be your leaders through this process."
Blossom paused to pull a piece of paper out. She sighed and rubbed her temple knowing there were going to be a number of unhappy people with this and that she was definitely going to get it when she got home.
"First up. Academics. This is the math and science groups. The team leaders are myself, Howie, and Brick. For sports, your leaders are Princess, Buttercup, and Butch." She had to raise her voice as people began to protest. "Lastly, the arts which include the arts, music, literature and history groups will be led by Robin, Bubbles, and Boomer." By the end of it Blossom was near shouting over everyone.
She could feel the waves of disapproval coming from both sides of her. A quick look and she was able to sigh in relief. Her sisters were not happy with her but both made sure not to let that be seen, showing that they supported her decision. Now if only the same could be said for the rest of the group.
She frowned as people began yelling about how unfair it was. The boys in the back each had very different reactions. Boomer was hiding his face in his hands, Butch was grinning like a maniac and Brick was giving her a look that told her just how done he was with her right now. She caught the look on Howie's face and internally winced. That was going to be fun. She sighed before obviously clearing her throat. The noise still continued. She glared at them all.
"Enough!" She shouted.
Buttercup growled slightly and Bubbles smiled her not so nice smile. She sent them a silent thank you for their support and decided then and there that she'd make it up to then. Somehow. Hopefully. Everyone went silent at the three angry puffs. Blossom sighed.
"I understand that you aren't happy but this was the best way to create equal representation," she had to hold up a hand to stop the few cries of outrage at that. "As well as keep things fair. Each member of the leading team is involved in a different facet of each group and there is a member of the student council to allow for your concerns to be quickly conveyed to us. As the ruffs and puffs will be planning security having us in the leadership position allows us to consider everything that is going on and stops any plans from conflicting. We will not be actively engaging in planning the events unless requested to do so or if there are too many disagreements between groups. We will only be in charge of organizing general themes that have to be agreeable with all parties, including all of you. We will mainly be doing oversight to ensure things are proceeding the way they should. I assure you, if there were better members for these roles they would have been chosen. Any questions? And please don't all speak at once, it's already been too long of a day for that."
She looked out at the group of teens and saw a lot of shared looks. People still looked unhappy but seemed not to have any questions.
"Wonderful. Next I want to briefly go over security. The puffs and ruffs will be overseeing this school and event wide. I am warning you all now. No. Pranks."
She glared out at everyone and was not thrilled to see the ruffs exchange a look. She narrowed her eyes at them. Everyone in the room was slightly startled as a shrill ringing pierced the room. Blossom quickly scrambled to get her phone out. Bubbles and Buttercup looked over her shoulder at the hotline alert. All three groaned when they saw what it was about.
"Again?" Bubbles whined.
"Seriously though. This is, what? The third time this month already? Whose turn is it this time to deal with him?" Buttercup groaned as she dragged a hand down her face.
"Me. I'll be back. Can you two finish up?" Blossom asked as she made her way over to the window. They nodded at her as she opened it and zoomed out in a flash of pink.
"We really need to just put the old fuzz ball into a retirement home or something," Buttercup said. Bubbles sighed but clearly agreed. She quickly turned her mood around and with a clap of her hands smiled brightly at the group.
"So to quickly finish things up, we should have more details about security measures soon. Please don't go too crazy with your plans until we've given information out about this. We'll have general guidelines hopefully out with the budgeting. Anything we believe to be against those guidelines will be automatically rejected."
"So don't waste our time." Buttercup said leaning back in her chair.
"Well, in not so blunt terms, pretty much. Please decide on a meeting time for groups to come together outside of these meetings. While you won't be able to do any hard planning just yet it is strongly suggested that you start brainstorming. I think that was it?" Bubbles turned to Buttercup whose face scrunched up in thought.
"There was one more thing Blossom was muttering about. What was it? Right! The pranking thing. If you think someone's about to pull a prank or if the school is about to be pranked you gotta tell someone from student council immediately. If it's found out that you didn't then you'll be held just as responsible as the actual ones at fault. That should be it."
Bubbles and Buttercup exchanged a look for a moment in thought before turning and dismissing everyone.
"Please keep in mind this is a weekly meeting until told otherwise! Same time next week everyone!" Bubbles called out as everyone packed up and began rushing out the door. They sighed when they saw one particular individual in no rush to leave.
"Howie, Blossom wanted to meet with the ruffs before we left so she's not really going to want to talk," Bubbles said, partially to the boys. The ruffs, who had been about to leave, all spun to look at her. Buttercup nodded her head solemnly at them. All three groaned in response.
"My conversation with Blossom won't take long. I simply want to know what her thoughts are about our most recent conversation now that she's had time to think," Howie said as he pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Seriously? It's food time. I'm starving!" Butch moaned as he dropped his bag.
"Leader girl's request. She wants to get a head start. Like always," Buttercup said with a shrug.
"I'm sure her answer will be the same as it was earlier Howie," Bubbles said.
"All the same. I would like to wait to hear from her herself. Typically it only takes Blossom about 20 minutes to handle a call about Fuzzy Lumpkins."
"20 minutes? So we have like, what? 15 more? Fuck this. I'm getting food." Butch said as he zoomed out the window Blossom had left open, a trail of dark green left behind. Bubbles was giving Howie a strained smile. Brick and Boomer both looked down at Butch's bag. Brick then looked at Boomer whose shoulder slumped in response.
"Get me a burger too while you're at it," Brick said as Boomer pulled his wallet out of his backpack.
"Yeah yeah," he said before leaving out the same window in a flash of dark blue.
"Shit. Brick I'm hungry too. Tell little boy blue to grab me something too," Buttercup said as she let her head drop back against the back of her chair. Bubbles continued to smile at Howie.
"Do it yourself puff. You have his number," Brick said as he grabbed his brothers' bags and went to sit down. This time he chose a seat much closer to where the puffs sat. Howie started to fidget under Bubbles smile.
"Ugh. Bubbles. Where's my phone?" Bubbles reached and handed her sister her phone without looking away from Howie. "Thanks. You want anything?"
"A salad please."
Buttercup sent Boomer the text before letting her arms fall to her side. It was a couple more minutes before Howie decided he couldn't handle the smile anymore.
"I really do feel it is important that I talk to Blossom tonight about this. Although I felt she did need time to think it over I also would like an answer while the offer is still fresh in her mind."
Both Buttercup and Brick snorted at that. Regardless of whether he talked to Blossom today or tomorrow they knew that the girl just wasn't interested in anything Howie had to offer. Bubbles was still smiling. Howie wasn't sure he liked her smile much.
"Howie, I promise you that her answer will be the exact same as it was earlier. She really will want to just jump into the meeting with the ruffs right away as well."
"Well that may be a bit difficult as two of them aren't here. I promise not to take up to much of her time, I know how valuable it is. If the other two get back before her then I'll leave," Howie said with a sniff. Bubbles smile took on a slight edge knowing that there would be no convincing the boy to leave. She hoped to make him uncomfortable enough to change his mind but it wouldn't be much longer now until Blossom was back. The chances of Butch and Boomer getting back first were nearly none.
A few minutes later, Buttercup turned her head towards the window as she heard the familiar sound of one of them approaching. Like expected, Blossom was soon floating through the window. She was fidgeting around with her ribbon while she mumbled under her breath, clearly frustrated.
"Bubbles, can you do me a favor and help me with this? Fuzzy was not happy and put up a fight. He ended up yanking my ribbon out and I can't tell if I'm getting it to sit right. It feels weird," Blossom said, not yet seeing Howie. She nodded furrowed her brow at only seeing Brick sitting there when Howie cleared his throat. She winced and looked at him.
Bubbles giggled at her sister as she went over to help. "It looks fine. It might be that Fuzzy messed with the hair tie indirectly. Let me see."
"Blossom. I was hoping we could continue our earlier conversation. Maybe we could move across the hall when Bubbles finished. Butch and Boomer left to get food so you should have a moment or two to spare before they get back."
Blossom glanced at Buttercup who nodded in response and then sighed slightly. Of course. She was honestly surprised that the ruffs were going to stay. She'd only briefly been able to send Bubbles and Buttercup a text earlier in the day about the meeting. She'd wanted to give them a heads up and was thankful she'd done so. She wondered briefly if at least they'd think to grab her something. She was pretty hungry herself.
"Howie, I really haven't changed my mind. My answer's still the same. If you have anything else to say go right ahead but I doubt that you'll change my mind on this," Blossom said as Bubbles sighed behind her. She felt her sister adjusting her hair tie before starting to re-tie her ribbon.
"I'd prefer to have this conversation privately," the boy said with a sniff of the nose. Blossom sighed as both Brick and Buttercup rolled their eyes. Here or across the hall, the teens' super hearing would make it so that it really didn't matter. Blossom didn't want to needlessly drag this out though and nodded gesturing for him to go ahead. She went to follow as soon as Bubbles was done, dragging her feet slightly.
"This why she was so done in earlier?" Buttercup asked. Bubbles nodded.
"Yeah, Howie apparently has some amazing math equation or something about their genetics and how their combined genes would create a super genius child finally capable of solving world hunger or something," Bubbles said as she sat, head going into her hands at the thought of Howie's attempt to woo her older sister. Buttercup started laughing out loud while Brick began to snicker.
"Has she tried saying to fuck off yet?" Brick asked. Both girls sighed at that.
"Minus the F-bomb, pretty much yeah" Bubbles said. They could hear Howie begin to explain his math to Blossom again who kept trying to tell him she wasn't interested only to have him talk over her.
While that was happening both Butch and Boomer returned, floating through the window with several bags of fast food.
"Fear not, food has arrived," Butch said as he started digging through the bag. He pulled out a burger and immediately started chowing down.
"Dude! You better have grabbed me something and NOT eaten it on the way here. Pig," Buttercup complained as she stood and headed over to them. Boomer immediately held out a couple of bags.
"This is yours. Blossom still likes the chicken wrap right? I thought she might want something too. She's back right?" Boomer asked looking in the direction of where Howie and Blossom were. He was still talking over her.
"Someone seriously needs to knock point-dexter into next week at this point. Only so many ways to say no and I'm pretty sure at this point Bossy has used 'em all," Butch said as he sat down next to Brick who was quick to snatch the bag of food off his brother and pull out his own burger.
"I said no Howie! I'm not interested. I do NOT want a relationship built off of reasoning and either way I'm not interested. That's final! Now if you'll excuse me, Butch and Boomer are back and I have things I need to do." They all heard Blossom say. Howie made a few week attempts from the sound of it to continue the conversation as they approached the door. Blossom was quick to shut the door in his face. Even then it took him a few seconds to actually leave. Once she knew he was gone Blossom heaved a sigh and leaned her forehead against the door.
"You good leader girl?" Buttercup asked hesitantly. Blossom stayed as she was for a few seconds before nodding.
"Yeah, just, give me another second or two."
They all turned back to their food at that, knowing that she'd feel their gazes and not appreciate it. After another few seconds she pulled herself up straight and went to sit next to her sisters. Buttercup handed her the sandwich.
"Thank you," she said before quickly taking a bite. She took some time to enjoy her food before setting it down, ready to start.
"So, security. What do we actually need security for?" Butch asked in between mouthfuls of food. Blossom just sighed.
"After everything the punks did last year, from the pranks to the actual disaster that was the competition, the mayors from all three towns asked for us to do what we can to prevent a repeat. Although the mayor of Citiesville promised that he'd punished the punks, the fact that they did that much damage at their own school last year concerned everyone. They're all worried about what the punks might do this year. The rights were asked to keep an eye on them as well and Blane promised me he'd do his best but also said not to get my hopes up."
"So let me get this straight, they asked you for help and you said sure! I'll even rope in the ruffs too," Boomer said with a roll of his eyes. Blossom smirked at him.
"No, I said the puffs would help. Mayor Bellum signed the ruffs up for this." All three ruffs groaned. They'd been hoping to find a way out of it but if Mayor Bellum really had been the one to offer them up for this too then they were stuck.
"It's probably going to be hard for us to all find a time, what with all of us having different extracurricular activities and the two meetings we're already going to have to attend, so I was thinking of just doing these after the Tuesday meeting. There really isn't too much I want to go over right now. I've had a few plans so far. To try and prevent pranks the mayors have hired security guards at each school so we should try and figure out the most likely targets. We can maybe have students help if they'd be willing. The student council can have a sign-up sheet posted for people. We'd maintain something similar for the displays at Farmsville during the competition as well. I just wanted to stress one thing with all of you." Blossom paused and glared at everyone, mostly the greens. "I will not be in support of any pranks. If I find out any of you plan on pulling some I will personally see to it that it's stopped."
Butch groaned and let his head fall onto the table while Brick sighed rolling his eyes. Boomer just shrugged.
"Whaaat? But leader girl! What about your awesome plan?" Buttercup whined. The ruffs perked up at this.
"Bossy planned a prank? This I've gotta hear," Butch said. Blossom turned slightly pink.
"I did not plan a prank. And that plan is not happening. I did that solely for therapeutic reasons and not once have I thought of actually carrying it out." Blossom started to quickly pack her bag with her notes and grabbed the rest of her sandwich. Staying there with the boys that eager was not a good idea. "Anyways, that's all I wanted to talk about and I already have plenty of homework to get ahead on so I'm heading home. Girls, let's go."
Blossom quickly walked out the door as both Bubbles and Buttercup sighed and began packing their bags.
"Uh-uh. No way. I need to hear what this plan was!" Butch cried making a move to follow after Blossom. He stopped when Bubbles cleared her throat and looked back at her.
"Tomorrow at lunch," she whisper, too softly for Blossom to hear. Butch grinned like a mad man, even ignoring Buttercup as she shoved him out of her way.
"What about us?" Boomer whined this time. Brick just sighed again as both Bubbles and Buttercup quickly left to follow their sister.
I had the hardest time deciding on Howie. I kept going back and forth between my OC and using Dexter. In the end, I was too lazy to make this a multiverse fic. The OCs gave me more freedom plot wise.