It seemed to be a pretty average day down at the coffee-shop, despite everything that had previously transpired last night; it was almost as if the storm had never came to Simport how normal the business was here today. There were about a minimal amount of customers here, which was good enough for Jenny to tolerate, since it'll be easier for James to find her in here; and also, it means less noise for them to hear each other, since rambunctious patrons were the main reason why they would never hang out in here. Not to mention, with there being less customers here than most days, Jenny was able to receive her and James's coffee in a short amount of time.

While she was waiting for her best friend to get here, Jenny was silently staring at her laptop while listening to the music that was playing on the coffee-shop's radio up above her; the song in question was 'Thinking Out Loud' by Ed Sheeran. She wasn't doing anything too special on her computer, aside from playing a few games that she had on it, which was usually what she'd do whenever she waited for anything; whether it be waiting for her friends, for classes, or even whenever anything eventful happens during her work. Thankfully, none of the workers, or any nearby customers, has a problem with her playing video-games in here.

Eventually, James arrived at the shop, prompting the geeky girl to call out his name while waving for his attention. "Over here, dude!" Jenny shouts.

James immediately turned around and saw his best friend sitting in one of the booth-tables, prompting him to walk over and sit down in the seat across the table from her. "Hey, I'm sorry if I was a bit late trying to get here." He told her once he was seated. "Let's just say that my mom had to borrow my car in order to get to work today, so I had to walk here instead."

"It's totally fine, dude." Jenny reassured him. "It's not like you're really missing anything here, other than your coffee being ordered."

"Oh, thanks." The emo said as he takes his cup of coffee from the girl's hand. "But...you didn't really have to do this for me, Jen; I could've ordered this for myself instead."

"It's fine, James; but the next time we eat out together, I'm gonna let you order for both of us."

"Fair enough." The emo agreed, before taking a sip of his coffee. "So, um...how has been for you during that storm last night?"

"Would you consider being forced to remain in your workplace with nothing to do but sit around and wait until morning, with your phone's battery almost dead, and nothing to eat except for blueberry muffins and some fruit, to be a good night?"

"So...I'm guessing it sucked?"

"No shit it sucked." Jenny answered before taking a sip of her coffee. "On the upside, at least Roxie had some ice-cream from her parlor stored in the break-room's refrigerator; but too bad the only way I was able to even get some is if I don't eat from the container, and make sure that her scoop is washed immediately after getting my bowl." She then places her cup aside so that she can continue playing on her laptop. "What was even worse is that, once it was morning, I had to go and investigate the mall because some random dude decided to play with the electricity while taking shelter there. Thankfully, that issue solved itself once me and Ian showed up."

"Whoever decided to take shelter at the mall last night must've had a blast." James commented.

"I thought the exact same thing as you did." Jenny told her best friend with a smile, before she decided to ask him something now. "So, how was everything with you and your family last night?"

"Truthfully, I guess you can say that my night sort of varied throughout the past ten hours or so." James answered as he circled his finger around the lid of his cup. "Most of the time, I'm finding enjoyment in my room, playing video-games on my laptop; and then there were times where my mom couldn't help but pester me about not applying me for law-school yet."

"You still haven't appeased Nancy about that, huh?"

"No, I haven't; but I did promise her that before I go to bed tonight, I'm going to start applying." The emo then stared at his cup, now cringing at the thought of something that may hinder his life thanks to this promise. "Hopefully, there's a law-school somewhere in Simport, because I really don't plan on packing up and leaving town if there's not one around here."

"I'm pretty sure there is." Jenny then took a sip of her drink again, before placing it aside. "You can look it up online once you get back home."

"I'm sure I will..." The emo huffed, before deciding to change the subject to something else. "So, what else is new?"

"Well, I forgot to mention this, but...apparently, a photo of Summer Baxter was sent to every single girl that we know; from Amelia to Yuki." Jenny then pulls her phone out of her pocket and hands it over to her best friend. "I was just leaving the mall after Ian and I finished our investigation, and when I took out my phone to see if you were on your way here, I was greeted with this."

James took his best friend's phone and gave the photo a puzzled look. "What the heck happened here?"

"Beats me; but knowing how much Summer treated me like shit back in high-school, I'd say that this was well-deserved if you ask me." Jenny was then given back her phone.

"Who sent you that photo anyway?"

"Ironically enough, Crystal."

"Her again?" James then muttered while rolling his eyes; it was pretty clear he was still bitter about almost getting in trouble with Stacy yesterday, thanks to the rebel girl's actions. "Why the hell is she the one sending you that? Come to think of it, how was she able to get a photo like that?"

"I don't know; but however she did it, at least she's doing us a favor."

"I'll be grateful of her 'favor' once Chaz McFreely also get his 'just desserts' for the shit he put me through back then."

After rolling her eyes at the statement that was made by her best friend, Jenny decided to shift the focus back to Crystal; because she knew talking about his past with Chaz was just going to rile him up. "Did you ever figure out what Crystal found in your stepsister's bedroom?" She simply asked.

"I don't know." The emo answered as he took a sip of his drink. "I still haven't asked her about it yet."

"You're just going to let it stew until she reveals it to everyone, huh?"

"Probably...I mean, it's not like we have any interest in talking to each other anyway; but whatever she's found in that room, I hope she doesn't end up causing too much of a shit-show because of it."

"Knowing how much Crystal torments anyone who torments her, it's going to be a shit-show regardless."

"Good point..."

Jenny then took another sip of her coffee, before deciding to change the subject once again; but this time, she decided to ask him about something that's been on her mind all day yesterday. "Hey, speaking of 'letting it stew', do you mean if I ask you a question?"

"Of course." James replied with a friendly smile. "What is it, Jen?"

"What was it that you were going to tell me yesterday?"

"What do you mean?" The geeky emo asked, now baffled at what his best friend was even talking about.

"Before Stacy stopped by, and before Nancy came back and made things more awkward for us, you were going to ask me if I was wanting to do something with me, like, whenever I wasn't busy." Jenny explained to him.

"Oh, that, uh..." James hesitated to speak onward, as he felt very unsure with how Jenny was going to react upon hearing the rest of what he was about to say; but regardless, he proceeded to explain himself anyway. "I was just...uh, wanting to see if you were willing to invite me over to your house so we can play even more video-games together."

"Really? That's what you were going to ask me yesterday?" It was pretty clear from the tone of her voice that Jenny didn't believe anything that James had said. "You want to come over to my house to play more video-games, despite the fact that, since we're friends, we have the freedom to do that already?"

"W-Well, w-what were you going to ask me?" The emo sheepishly asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"You told me to go first when we both had something on our mind, so..."

"Well, I was going to tell you that..." Jenny paused, also seemingly hesitant to reveal what she was about to say; despite the look on her face suggests otherwise. It was clear that, just her best friend, she too was nervous about saying what's on her mind; and just like what her friend did, she couldn't help but also make up some stupid obvious lie as well. "I was just going to tell you that I've always loved...unicycles." She said that last word rather slowly, yet awkwardly, compared to the rest.

Obviously, after having to hear this, James couldn't help but give her a very weird look. "Okay..." He said, clearly unsure how to even respond to something like this.

'Did I really just tell him that I like unicycles? I'm such an idiot!' Jenny thought to herself as she kept her eyes focused on her laptop. 'Why didn't I just tell him that I'm into him? It's not like I haven't told him about any of the guys I'm into before; so...why wasn't I able to tell him of all people that...I'm into him?' She glanced away from her computer for a second to look at him, watching him stare out the window next to him. 'Damn it, I hope he doesn't think I'm a total chump for saying that...'

'What the heck was I thinking when I said I wanted to hang out at her house one of these days? We'd probably do that anyway, now that we're hanging out with each other again.' James thought to himself as he stared out the window, watching a few work-vehicles drive past the coffee-shop. 'B-But I can't just tell her that I've always had a crush on her; what if she thinks I'm a loser for feeling this way since...the seventh grade? We've known each other, like, way before that; and then she suddenly hears about this!' A knock on the window suddenly takes the emo out of his thoughts.

"Hey!" Derek shouts from the other side of the glass. "I see you eyeing Brandi as she was walking by, Loser-ton! She's mine!"

"Fuck off, Oaken!" James shouts, flipping the bird at the bully outside.

"What the heck, dude?!" Jenny exclaimed, giving her the geeky emo an irritated look. "You didn't have to go and do that!"

"Don't worry about it, Jen; because it's just Derek Oaken." The emo said in a cocky tone. "The dude's barely a threat, and he's a way bigger loser than I am."

"Uh, funny you should be saying that now..."

James then turned his head to his right, seeing Derek was now inside the building, standing next to the seat where he was sitting at; and needless to say, he was pissed. "Well, shit..." The emo muttered to himself, before the latter grabbed him by the shirt-collar.

Meanwhile...

Now that it was morning, Crystal was finally able to leave Club Candy and do whatever she pleased once again. Minutes prior to her leave, Sapphire offered the rebel to join her, as well as her girlfriend, to go out and get some breakfast together, since the two of them have been becoming such good friends recently. Sadly, as generous as the offer was, Crystal declined, as she didn't want to be a burden for them to deal with, especially given that she had stayed at their club overnight; and not to mention, Crystal already had plans of her own anyway. Although, she does hope that those two invite her to go and do something together one of these days.

At the moment, Crystal was sitting on the bench outside of Club Candy, waiting for Annie to come pick her up. During her wait, Crystal couldn't help but stare at the building that was right across the street from where she was sitting; it was the auto-shop where Chaz and Tim work at. She didn't see either of their cars parked in either of the two alley-ways that were in next to the building, and it didn't seem like the place was even open, which to her was odd; regardless of any sort of circumstance, the auto-shop was usually open to the public, no matter what. She wondered what was going on, but she unfortunately didn't have time to check; because Annie was just arriving now.

"Hey, dude, sorry I was late trying to get here." Annie said after rolling the window down. "I had to get ready for my first day of work today, then I had to deal with the traffic on the way up here."

"No problem, dude." Crystal said as she got into the car. Once she was seated, she turned to look at her friend, seeing her in the uniform she was given by her manager yesterday. "Wow, just look at you, Annie..."

"I know, right?" The rocker asked with a slight chuckle.

"I honestly never thought I'd see the day you'd actually be working a real job." Crystal commented, only to receive a glare from her red-haired friend. "Hey, no offense, dude..."

"Eh, to be fair, I didn't have faith I'd ever get one either; but...hey, at least someone told me to stay positive through this situation, and lo and behold, I got the position." Annie then started up her boyfriend's car again, before putting on a smile and beginning to drive. "I gotta thank Rhonda again for giving me hope through my trying time."

Crystal could only roll her eyes at what her friend was actually saying to her. "Yeah...I'm just saying, dude; but 'having hope' ain't gonna get anyone anywhere." She remarks with a scoff. "I should know, since Summer and Stacy are still actively trying to ruin me and Yuki's life."

"This coming from the girl who actively bullied every single cheerleader in your entire school, as well as now actively trying to do everything in your power to ruin their lives; and that's not to mention the fact that you had just sent a humiliating photo of Summer to every girl you know, including me and Katie." Annie then retorts.

"Well, Summer deserves it for being such a fucking bitch to me and some of my friends." Crystal stated, clearly not remorseful over her actions, including hers from last night at the 'Love and Lunch'.

"There's also the fact that you had snuck into Stacy's bedroom and stolen some nude selfies from one of her old phones yesterday."

"Well-" Crystal immediately stopped talking, realizing what the rocker had just said. "Wait...I didn't tell you about that yet."

"Katie told me about it last night; however, she's a bit skeptical about the legitimacy of what you're saying, considering she hasn't even seen those photos yet."

"Well, what did you expect me to do; send those photos to her on the first day at work, while there's the chance that her own father might end up noticing them in the process?" Crystal asked while giving her friend a glare, as if to tell her to not ask her such a stupid question. "I'm actually going to show them off to you guys later tonight, when you and Katie are both off the clock and when we're out, like, getting dinner or something. By the way, I may need your help picking out which photos I should send to everyone when the time comes."

"I'm sorry, you need our help for that?!" Annie exclaimed in disbelief, swiftly turning her head to glare at the rebel sitting next to her.

"Yes." The rebel answered bluntly.

"Why?!"

"Well, for the absolute Hellspawn that she is, Stacy sure knows how to take good selfies of herself." Crystal then replied as she took her phone out of her vest pocket. "There are just so many from the bunch I stole that are too fucking amazing for me to decide on, especially this one where she's holding her phone up in the air and aiming it down at her body; it's like I'm getting a bird's eye-view of one of those statures that you'd see on a fountain somewhere in Europe." She then held the phone right in front of the rocker's face. "Seriously, check it out and tell me how good it is."

"Dude, I'm driving!" Annie exclaimed as she nearly swerved on the road because of it. "Get that phone outta my face!" She then shouts as the rebel quickly moved her arm away from the rocker's face.

"Alright, alright...I'm sorry..." Crystal muttered, putting her phone back into her pocket now. "Still though, when you and Katie see these photos, you'll probably like them as much as I do."

"No offense, dude; but aren't you the slightest bit worried that this whole revenge-scheme of yours is gonna bite you in the ass later on?"

"I doubt it." Crystal nonchalantly answered. "Besides, it's not like anything truly bad is going to happen once all of this is finally over. Goth Boy and Yuki's relationship will no longer be at risk, Chaz and I end up together, and Summer and Stacy finally learn to leave us the fuck alone; it sounds pretty fair for everyone involved if you ask me, Annie."

"It's times like these I wish I had brought Katie along with me...she'd be able to reason with you about this better than I can..." Annie muttered to herself, before noticing that the light ahead of her had just turned green. "Anyway, where am I driving you to again?"

"Back to my house, obviously; I have to get ready for work. Apparently, the pharmacy wants me to come in early rather than work the usual late-shift for some odd reason; I'm guessing Blaine finally had enough of working the morning rush or something." The rebel then rolled her eyes at the thought of that. "I've always warned the manager that this was bound to happen; Blaine was never exactly a 'morning person' to begin with."

"Thank God the pharmacy you work at is right next to the mall." The rocker then commented.

"Indeed; it's probably one of the main reasons why I even work there." The two tomboys high-fived each other, as they continued to drive to the Montell's House.

Note: So, as we can see here, James and Jenny have themselves a bit of a chat; but unlike last time, where Jenny has feelings for another guy while James is left to try to win her heart, the two have feelings for each other (honestly, looking back, the whole 'Secret Admirer' idea was a tad bit convoluted). Also, Annie's back, and she and Crystal have a little chat of their own; but it's nothing too special compared to the first section, aside from the fact that it's revealed what Crystal's job is, which is a pharmacist.

Now, let's see what reviews we have today...

lordgemini: The whole section revolving around Ray and Stacy was the part that I had struggled with the most in that chapter, since most of the dialogue I was writing made it seem like Ray's intention was to cheat on Raven, which I wasn't trying to make the case here. Also, Nancy was originally going to be in that part too; but changed my mind soon after.

Anyway, that should be it for now. Summer and Luke will be focused on in the next chapter, and I'm hoping that Goth Boy and Yuki will appear too.