Queen Barb cheered watching Poppy and Branch leaving for a balloon ride after the Gift Swap. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned to Val Thundershock. The purple rocker girl looked pleased with herself and Queen Barb had to give in and admit that the Queen of Pop was doing a great job with her utopian city.
Val was smiling, looking happy and talking to other trolls of other tribes without the sarcasm Queen Barb was used to. It was a good idea to send her to be Rock's ambassador at the time. It seemed Val had grown with her friendships, learned how to share and to have a little more empathy towards the others… not that the Queen of Rock was a master at it, of course.
"Queen Barb, do you want a tour? We have some crazy stuff at Hard Rock Hollow." Barely keeping her excitement in check, Val almost gave away that she was now a girl who could squeal (controllably and non-girly at all - she reassured herself).
"Yeah, I do! I heard about a stadium!" Queen Barb followed Val, hands behind her back, inspecting the tacky decorations that seemed too bright for her dark taste.
The colorful balloon softly floated with the breeze in a distance that was enough to see that Poppy and Branch were singing and dancing again, but they couldn't be heard at all. Barb cringed at the sight and almost hurled at the sugary feast going on among the clouds.
"Can I ask you something?" Queen Barb approached Val once they entered the Hard Rock neighborhood. Val was lost explaining something about cupcakes with all kinds of toppings and didn't notice that her queen wasn't paying attention at all. "Do Poppy and Branch always sing like that?"
"Yes," Val raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "they are together and all…"
"Uh…" puckering her lower lip, Queen Barb frowned, "I mean, they look happy, but, c'mon… is that all?" pointing out at the balloon, "do they even make out? Jeez…"
"Ah… yeah…" Val nodded in agreement, "that's kind of weird. They are taking things slow… too slow. I'm surprised Poppy kissed his cheek in the first place."
"Wait," Cackling, Queen Barb could barely believe her ears, "You're telling me they are together for months and they haven't even kissed each other?"
"Nope," Val found a scratched couch outside a mushroom and sat down, "Poppy blush even when I mention it. They won't kiss anytime soon; in ten years maybe..."
Stupefied, Queen Barb paced around in agitation. That was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. Smoke was nearly coming out of her ears from intense brain activity. She had to fix that situation. Poppy and Branch didn't even know how to date!
The Gift Swap was a great idea; indeed, it was. Queen Barb had gotten a Hug Watch from a Pop troll she had just met that day. Pop culture was all about love and caring for each other… and still…
An idea brightened in her brain and Queen Barb grinned.
"Oh dear… what's in your mind?" Val asked, sensing a troublesome vibe coming from the royal rock troll.
"We were invited for a Gift Swap… and we all took the chance to understand more about Pop Culture." Running her hands through her mohawk, Barb's grin became a lopsided smirk. "Maybe it's our turn to invite the Pops to know a little more about the Hard Rock ways."
"I see where you are coming from, but I don't see how it's going to help Poppy and Branch to speed things up." Val pointed out. To be honest, Val was a little tired of the sugar all the time, but she wouldn't meddle in their relationship.
"What about we get Poppy to volunteer in our Annual Charity Festival?" Barb jumped on the couch, wiggling her toes and widening her eyes to reveal the greatest idea she had. "We get her to sign in for the Kissing Booth!"
"Wait, what?" It was Val's turn to stand up. She knew her queen like any best friend would, but that was beyond intrusive. Especially because a Hard Rock Festival was taken seriously. It was sealed with pinky promises and no one could walk out of it. If Poppy volunteered for the Kissing Booth, it meant she had to blind-kiss whoever was in line for her. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"We'll count on boy-toy to save her." Brilliant, her plan was brilliant and flawless, but first, they needed to keep it a secret until Poppy signed in.
And they had to move fast, because the balloon had just landed.
"Let's hurry," reaching out her hand to an uncertain Val, Barb ticked her tongue, "Give me pen and paper."
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Branch felt all eyes on him. Trolls were lining up to compliment him. People were shaking both his hands at the same time while others tapped him on the back and made comments on how lucky he was to be in love with no one else but the Queen of Pop herself and even luckier that she loved him back, against all odds!
He hadn't realized many of their friends didn't know they were together and the compliments came as a big surprise.
Branch was actually taking it all with dignity. At first, he would steal a glance or two at Poppy, who had the brightest look on her face as she was equally being excitedly hugged by everyone. She was used to the attention, even if it was bordering unbearable to him.
"Popsqueak!" Loudly, Queen Barb made her appearance like no other troll did.
Poppy approached the Queen of Rock, while Branch stayed behind, having his hand shaken by uncountable trolls.
"I hope you liked the Gift Swap, Barb," Poppy smiled sincerely at her friend, still a little awkward from all the displays of affection she publicly had with her boyfriend.
"It was a great event," Val took a step back, watching her queen nearly imploding from keeping her idea a secret. "I was talking to Thundershock here," Barb draped her arms over the purple girl, "and we thought it would be nice to return the favor."
"Oooh! I love it! What do you have in mind?" Poppy clasped her hands together, squealing as expected.
"It's time for our Annual Charity Festival, and I thought it would be great to have you volunteering for one of the attractions;"
"Count me in!" Poppy barely waited for Queen Barb to stop speaking.
"Good," The form was shown to Poppy on a clipboard and the unsuspicious pink queen didn't even read it down, being blinded with the usual enthusiasm. "Sign your name here,"
Val tried to motion her not to do so from behind Queen Barb, but Poppy didn't see her friend at all. She took the pen and signed her name with clear bubbly letters.
"I'm counting on you to participate," Barb cackled and put her pinky finger up, "Do you promise to go?"
"Of course!"
The two girls sealed the pinky promise with the bright sparkle and lots of laughter. Val felt like she was going to be sick. She couldn't interfere anymore.
"Well, it's time to go!" Queen Barb rolled the paper and put it in her pocket. "C'mon, dad!" King Thrash was engaged in an excited conversation with King Peppy, who seemed to be the one who was speaking the most, while the other just nodded.
"Thank you for coming!" Poppy almost hugged Barb. The last minute she remembered her friend was still new at hugs and stopped herself. "When is the festival?"
"Next week," evilly, Barb shook Poppy's hands, "I'll wait for you at the Kissing Booth."
"Kissing…. Booth?"
Poppy's heart sank.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Okay…" Val took a deep breath.
Poppy's pod had its lights on. It was past bedtime for most Pop Trolls as it was vastly observed (and not at all respected) by the rock girl. It was her chance to have a conversation and not be interrupted.
It would be usual for Val to take out a guitar and lure Poppy out with one loud guitar solo, but her heavy heart and position as Queen Barb's accomplice, made her hold herself back and jump inside the pod like any other troll would.
It looked like Poppy wasn't going to be able to sleep at all. The queen was still wearing her green dress, laying down above the comforter and staring at the ceiling like she had seen a ghost.
"You okay, Poppy?" Val asked, already knowing the answer,
"My gosh, Val…" Sitting up with a jolt, the Queen already had tears spilling out of her eyes before her BFF even had the time to approach. "I got myself in a mess!"
"I was trying to warn you…" Val pointed out sympathetically.
"What do I do? It was a pinky promise, I can't go back now and I don't want to be unkind to Barb." Her pink face wrinkled with sadness, closing off to smiles. Val's frozen heart melted a little and she sat down next to Poppy.
"Look… it's a mess, but I'm sure if you explain it to Branch, he'll understand." It sounded insane and Val knew it. Poppy looked at her like she had grown a second head. Holding her act together, Val mentally reminded herself to go through the plan. "Besides, I'm sure you guys have kissed a lot. It's not like your first kiss will be in the middle of a Festival… in front of all the Trolls in the Kingdom."
Poppy was already pale, but she went ghostly after Val said that. Her hands went to her face, covering her mouth in shock with the mental images that ran through her mind.
"I mean, you're old enough to have a vast experience in kissing, it's not like people will see from miles away that you are inexperienced." She would need to apologize to Poppy after it was all over. It was pure mental terrorism.
"What? Me? Inexperienced? On no.. haha." Even if she tried to sound funny, her eyes were swimming with tears.
"Well… my suggestion is that you get Branch to be the first in the line." She wanted to hug Poppy, but Val needed to leave it there. The pink queen needed to find comfort somewhere else… specifically, down the bunker. "Once you get over the first kiss the promise is fulfilled and you can walk away."
"That's… a solution." Still uncertain, the Queen of Pop could only stare at her knees.
"Cheer up, Poppy. It's not like you'll need practice kissing or anything."
The fiasco was going to be big. She couldn't make a fool of herself in front of everyone. She could already see the headlines everywhere: Pop Queen sucks at kissing as seen in the picture below, sticking her tongue in someone's nostrils.
"Well, I'm off. If you need anything you call me. I'll be at Volcano Rock City helping with the Festival…I'm in charge of filming everything. I like to point the cameras at the Kissing Booth, you know, to register every kiss and store the tapes forever."
"Oh…" Humorless giggling, Poppy waited until Val jumped out of her pod and screamed into her pillow.
