Ch. 9

A/N: As always thank you so much for supporting this story, and my writing. Your reviews make the sleepless nights and headaches well worth it. Stupid real life keeps trying to get in the way of my writing schedule, that or the chapters I write are way too long (probably a combination). This chapter contains Oliver's birthday, and if there is one thing the boy likes as much as his doughnuts, it's singing...

[Amended Disclaimer: I don't own any of the songs mentioned in this chapter, they belong to the artists who wrote them]

It was Friday afternoon and Gail had picked up an extra shift after Holly had turned her down for a ride, so she was working a double. In fact, she was pretty much working a double all weekend to make up for the lack of work earlier in the week because of her hand. Charlie had given her off till Thursday and even then she had only worked a short shift, even if it was the closing one. It was still early in the day, the dinner rush was just about to begin and since it was Friday, it meant a very busy night.

Gail felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took a quick glance around to make sure her boss wasn't looking and felt a small smile tug at her lips when she saw the name on the screen. She opened up the new message.

Nerd Champion: Thanks again for the help Danger.

Checking the time, Gail figured Holly was already at the airport and waiting for her flight to board. Since she wasn't texting a bunch of expletives, Johnny must've actually done something right. She would have to remember to talk to Steve or Oliver about getting Johnny out of some parking tickets in appreciation.

Officer Danger: Don't mention it. Enjoy the trip.

After tapping out the quick response, Gail pocketed her phone and focused back on work. She was still getting used to handling the drinks with her brace on, but at least the swelling was going down and the pain slightly subsiding. She was still staying away from the stronger stuff, but the aspirin was helping take the edge off a bit. On the plus side, being injured meant Charlie couldn't force Gail to wait on tables since she couldn't hold the tray.

"Who ya talking to?" At least it was Traci who busted her.

"A friend," Her instinct was to say it was none of the other girl's business, but her and Traci worked well together. Plus, she would just keep pestering her anyway.

Traci snorted.

"What? I have friends." The blonde snapped.

"I'm sure you do, what with your sparkling personality." But Traci's tone wasn't its normal teasing one. In fact, she seemed pretty annoyed.

"And here I was going to see if you needed help studying for midterms, but hey be a bitch."

"Sorry, did I out-mean you Gail?" Traci rolled her eyes to emphasize her sarcasm. She ordered the drinks she needed for her tables.

Gail glared at her as she poured the drinks, contemplating if she had been body-snatched, "What crawled up your ass?"

"Nothing." The dark-skinned girl grumbled. She grabbed the drinks off the bartop that Gail had poured for her table and stomped off.

Pulling out her phone, Gail fired off one more text.

Officer Danger: What is the scientific feasibility of body snatching?

She received a response almost immediately.

Nerd Champion: I'd watch out for pods if I were you.

Gail snorted a laugh and returned her phone to her pocket once more. What a nerd.

At the end of shift, Traci waited around for Gail, she owed the girl an apology.

"Hey I'm sorry about before, I had gotten into it with Dex before shift and I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"Whatever Trace." Gail replied with a snarl as she barreled past Traci on her way to the door. She was tired and she was no one's punching bag. The other girl was lucky that she wasn't telling her where to shove her apology.

Traci caught a hold of Gail's good arm, her big brown eyes pleading with her to listen, "No, really Gail, I'm sorry." She apologized sincerely.

While Gail regularly took out her bad moods on anyone who was stupid enough to cross her path, Traci was usually better at staying even-tempered. So it wasn't that hard to believe that she was sorry.

But Gail was a ball-buster, so to speak, "Are you just sucking up to try to get my help?"

"No." Traci responded honestly. But she turned to give Gail one of her thousand-watt smiles, "Though I could use it."

Gail snorted, "My services are gonna cost you." She warned.

"No surprise there."

The two girls returned to normal and walked back home mocking the customers they had dealt with.

The next day the girls were sitting around, finishing up what was left of Chloe's cooking for lunch before Traci and Gail had to head to their shifts. "Alright Price and Peck, it's your turn to clean this weekend." Juliet pointed out.

Gail shot a look over at her roommate and started to reach for her pocket, "Oh no, don't even try it Grumpy, you cannot pay me to do this all by myself." Chloe warned. She liked the extra spending cash but she was not about to clean the whole house alone.

Gail huffed and rolled her eyes. Without saying a word she got up from the table and put on her boots.

"Where are you going?" Chloe and the rest of the girls exchanged worried glances, except Frankie who was just amused. Everyone had a feeling the blonde was about to make a run for it and leave her roommate stuck holding the mop, so to speak.

"To get us a cleaning crew. Come on Princess put on your glass slippers." Gail cryptically explained.

Chloe was still confused but she grabbed her shoes too, while the rest of the girls watched.

"You do know that Chris went back to Timmons this weekend right?" The redhead asked, figuring the amiable boy was the intended target.

"I know. I've got a better plan." Gail had a mischievous smirk on her face as she made her way over to the door. "So Princess have you ever played poker with Nick?"

Chloe's face lit up with the realization of the con they were about to run as she followed her roommate out. This was going to be fun.

"Oh, they have no idea what's about to hit them." Andy remarked. She had seen Gail fleece Nick at poker multiple times, so there was no way he would play her. But she knew all his tells and Chloe was a card shark.

"This I gotta see." Frankie remarked and the rest of the girls followed out in hot pursuit.

A couple of hours, five games of Mario Kart against Dov, and Nick literally losing his shirt at poker later, Gail and Chloe were perched on the couch ordering their new servants around.

"Seriously, this is all your fault." Dov grumbled as he washed the windows in the living room.

"My fault? You were the one who fell for the trap with the video games I knew better than to play the blonde one." Nick pointed out as he mopped the floor in the kitchen.

"You could've warned me."

"You wouldn't have listened. Suck it up Epstein and take it like a man." The taller boy pointed out as he Chloe called him over to refill the girls' cups.

The roommates clinked glasses of fresh made iced tea courtesy of Nick, as they listened to the boys bitch.

"Is it weird that I find the sound of their bickering comforting? Like waves lapping against the shore." Gail's silky voice mocked the boys.

Her roommate snickered as she ordered Nick to fluff her pillow. "It really adds to the ambiance in here."

The girls enjoyed their victory all the way till Gail left for work that night.

The week was flying by. After double shifts all weekend and classes all day Monday, Gail was beat. During the few hours she was not serving the patrons of the Lucky Penny, she spent them mostly studying and occasionally trying to sleep, though never allowing her body to go into too deep of a sleep, she still didn't want to risk another nightmare or waking up her roommate again. She didn't bother running, reasoning that she just didn't have the energy rather than admitting she just didn't want to go alone.

Even though her new buddy was across the country, Holly still managed to cheer up the blonde amidst her hectic schedule. Thus far, the brunette had texted Gail each night usually after 8pm Vancouver time, about random stuff or in answer to ridiculous questions the blonde had posed earlier in the day. She chalked it up to the medical student craving interactions with people her own age, while she excused her own overtures as her trying to keep the nerdbrain sharp. She figured the brunette was texting all her friends and probably her girlfriend, so it wasn't a big deal that they talked.

"I thought I told you to stay away from her." Gail glanced up from the text she had just received Holly to find herself the recipient of a very angry glare from the already incensed redhead. It was Tuesday night, the night before Holly was due back to Toronto, and clearly McD had thought it necessary to seek out the blonde and threaten her, again.

Gail didn't respond she just smirked at the redhead, completely indifferent to anything she could say, irking the other girl even more.

"Lisa told me you're the one that sent Holly on her little get-away." Jess continued, clearly unimpressed with the blonde's generosity, something that had sparked yet another display of the girl's antagonistic nature. "It isn't going to work."

"Your venom is getting on my shoes. Either order something or get the hell away from my bar." Gail responded coolly, she wasn't about to discuss Holly with her girlfriend, especially when she wasn't around. Although, Gail did notice that McD had said Lisa was the one who told her, which meant Holly hadn't mentioned Gail's involvement, and she wondered if it had been done on purpose.

"Or what?" Jess was hell-bent on picking a fight with the blonde. She had been pissed since Holly had left and finding out that the bartender from the Penny had been responsible for the trip was the last straw.

Gail maintained the intensity of her glare; she wasn't about to back down from a bully. "We have the right to refuse service."

"You seem to think you have a lot of rights, like spending time with my girlfriend and trying to buy her affection."

Gail laughed without humor. Technically, Gail had done no such thing, so whatever trouble was brewing in paradise, she had nothing to do with it. She couldn't help it if Holly was finally seeing her girlfriend for who she really was. "Holly's a smart woman."

"What's that supposed to mean?" McD was actually snarling at that point.

"You want to be a doctor, figure it out." Gail maintained her icy demeanor.

"That's right, I'm going to be a doctor. Do you really think you can compete, when your grand achievement is pouring drinks? Something you can't even do properly."

Gail opened her mouth to respond, ready to eviscerate the girl in front of her, but she was interrupted by the arrival of her boss.

"Everything alright ladies?" Charlie questioned as he tried to break through the thick tension that had settled around the two young women.

"Actually no, I was just trying to get a drink and your bartender was refusing to serve me." Jess lied as easy as she breathed.

Charlie remembered the girl from the nachos incident and had a feeling that there was more to the story but he didn't want to get into it. His job was to supply food and booze to paying customers. He turned to his employee who was gearing up to object to the other girl's claims, "Can you help Traci with the food for Table 12? She can't carry it all alone."

Gail snapped her mouth shut but didn't stop shooting looks that could kill at the redhead. She stomped to the kitchen window to help Traci set up the trays to carry the food out.

"So what can I get you?"

"You know what? Forget it. I'm not going to spend my money in a place with such bad service." At that Jess stormed back out the way she came, believing that she had made her point.

"I don't know what your problem is with that girl but just stay away from her." Charlie warned his employee once she returned to behind the counter.

"She's the one with the problem." The blonde pointed out, she had been innocently minding her business when the other girl had accosted her.

"Well stop bringing it to work."

Gail nodded and accepted the reprimand, she understood that this was her job and he was her boss. Once Charlie left, she looked back at her phone with the open message. She deleted the portion of the response she had already typed and slipped it back into her pocket, leaving the last text unanswered.

Her eyes were open but it was completely dark. She couldn't see anything around her. She tried to move but she couldn't. Her body wouldn't cooperate, barely shifting an inch. She could feel something tight around her wrists; it felt like plastic digging into her skin. She was restrained. When had that happened? She wanted to reach for her phone; it was in her pocket where she always left it. But she couldn't. She willed her body to try again, to try harder but to no avail. Then she heard the thump of something hitting metal and the ground around her shook.

Gail's eyes snapped open, but at least this time it wasn't her whole body responding. She could feel her hand throb; it was still curled tightly into a fist. She relaxed it and glanced around the room, her roommate was nowhere in sight. She sighed and pulled herself up in the bed. She took a few deep, calming breaths. The pain in her hand wasn't subsiding so she decided to head to the kitchen for a new ice pack.

Once retrieved, she headed into the living room and looked out the window. The lights were still on in the mancave. She pulled her phone out of her sweats and tapped out a quick text to Chris asking if he was awake.

He responded instantly that they were still playing video games with some of the girls and invited the blonde over. It was 1am but Gail knew she wouldn't be able to sleep, so she grabbed her boots and headed next door. She figured that with only one hand, the others might actually stand a chance against her.

Frankie came home to find her usual visitor sprawled out on her bed. Gail had a textbook propped open like a tent covering her face as she laid on her back.

"I don't think studying works like that." Frankie pointed out as she dropped off her stuff and leaned up against her desk.

"It does when you can't keep your eyes open." The blonde muttered, her words muffled by the heavy pages.

"Too much time playing video games?" Frankie had bumped into the rest of the freshmen on campus and they all looked like zombies. Apparently, staying up most of the night killing one another in Death Domain was considered a good study break.

Gail finally removed the book and tossed it on the ground beside the bed and her bag. "Too much time at work, serving beer to drunk college kids." Gail corrected the misconception. The video games had very little to do with this level of fatigue.

"Speaking of, I heard you had a run in at work yesterday." Frankie had visited Lisa the night before, who had been more than happy to share the story about Jess going to the Penny to "get Gail to back off" of Holly. She hadn't liked it too much when Frankie told her that she hoped Gail kicked Jess's ass. That had put a damper on the night so Frankie had bailed early.

"God, what is it with people opening their mouths?" Gail asked rhetorically. If Holly's friend hadn't opened her big yap in the first place, she wouldn't have had to deal with the headache she always got in McD's presence.

"So what happened?" Anderson really wanted to hear it from the blonde's point of view. She was also still hoping that Gail had knocked Jess out, but that was just wishful thinking.

"Ask your girlfriend, it's her fault anyway." The blonde groused. Stupid Boob Job and her stupid trap.

"Who?" Frankie asked with genuine confusion. If there was one thing she definitely did not have, it was a girlfriend. In fact, she had been having a bit of bad run lately. She would meet women, she would make them laugh, it would be the best sex of their whole lives and then they just couldn't keep up. They'd get jealous or feel inferior (which they usually were) and then it was all broken hearts and class transfers.

"Dr. Boob Job."

Frankie snorted derisively at that one, "BitchTits is not my girlfriend, she was just convenient." Emphasis on was; Frankie was pretty sure last night would probably be the last she heard from the medical student.

Gail wasn't paying attention though, she was still pissed that the other girl had sent a torpedo her way, "Whatever, either way, she needs to learn to keep her mouth shut."

Ignoring the rage against Lisa, Frankie decided to ask a more important question, "Is there a reason you wouldn't want Jess knowing that you were hanging out with Holly?"

Gail glared at the other girl through narrowed eyes. She wasn't a cheater and she certainly wasn't anyone's mistress. She didn't understand why everyone made a big deal if she was friends with someone with a girlfriend, why did it automatically mean they were cheating or Gail was trying to seduce them?

She scoffed at the implication, "I don't give a rat's ass what McD knows or doesn't know. I just don't appreciate her coming into my job and causing problems."

"Well she's an idiot." Frankie conceded. She knew Holly wasn't a cheater, but the blonde was certainly tempting. "So you and Holly have been getting close."

Why wouldn't she just drop it already? Frankie was like a dog with a bone, so Gail pointed out the obvious, "You were the one who introduced us so we could be friends."

"Hey, I'm not saying anything. Holly's awesome and if you two hanging out pisses off Jess then I'm all for it." That much was certain, but Frankie still probed a little further, "But are you two really just friends?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gail snapped, getting fed up with the interrogation that she had already answered.

Frankie held up her hands in self-defense, "All I'm saying is you're hot and she's hot, there has to be at least some kind of sexual tension."

"No, there doesn't." Gail chose to ignore the butterflies she felt every time Holly quirked her crooked smile her way and every shock she felt anytime the brunette touched her. They were just friends, her body was just being stupid.

"Yeah right, keep telling yourself that Peck."

Gail decided not to fight back, settling for a simple eye roll. She was playing with her phone, flipping it around while lying on Frankie's bed. She had contemplated asking Holly if she needed a ride back from the airport but had decided not to. She was tired and trying to squeeze in some studying before work again, so she didn't have time to offer up any more chauffeur services. Plus, the brunette's girlfriend was probably driving her anyway.

The blonde continued to absently stare at the ceiling contemplating her conversation with Frankie. Was everyone so up in arms about her friendship with Holly, the same reason they were with Chris? Was it really not possible to just be friends with someone? Even though, she felt only friendship for Chris, she had the inkling that he felt more but he had a girlfriend. More poignant examples were Nick and Andy (she knew), Jerry and Traci (he stated so the first night), Sam and Andy (duh), and Dov and Chloe (she suspected). In all of those situations, the guys wanted way more than friendship with the girls, even if that was all they settled for.

Frankie watched the blonde in her quiet contemplation. She was clearly trying to work out an answer to some question that was bugging her. At the rate she was going, she might be there all night and Frankie wanted her bed back. "Last I checked my ceiling wasn't a magic eight ball. It doesn't have answers. So spill."

"Can lesbians just be friends with girls?" Gail blurted out. This was one of the stupid questions she probably should've asked Holly that night at the bar when she was asking about dates and clothes.

"What?" Frankie asked suspiciously, she wasn't entirely sure if Gail was about to be overtly offensive or just unintentionally so.

"Well guys and girls can't be friends," Gail stated like it was a forgone conclusion.

"I'm friends with guys," Frankie retorted, spoiling Gail's theory.

"You don't count, you're gay. You said it yourself, the boys already know they don't have a shot with you." Gail pointed out, "But I'll rephrase, straight guys and girls can't be friends, one always develops feelings for the other and it never stays platonic. So I was wondering how it works for lesbians."

"Well I'm hot so I don't think I'm a fair person to judge that." Smirking at the exaggerated eye roll from the blonde, she went on. "Technically there is the lesbian sex web. And a lot of girls fall for their straight best friend. I don't know how often it goes the other way. But I guess it's possible for two attractive people to not be attracted to each other, though I don't think happens. Hold on a sec."

"Hey Jules." Frankie shouted across the hall.

"What?" The other brunette asked.

"How badly do you want to jump my bones?" Frankie had an impish smile on her face that Gail shook her head at.

"So badly, I can barely hold back even as we speak." Juliet sarcastically replied.

"See not possible." Frankie rested her case.

Curiosity got the better of her and Juliet appeared in Frankie's doorway. "What are you two talking about?"

"How badly you want me." Frankie flippantly replied.

"Anderson, there is not enough room in the bed for you, me, and your ego." Juliet retorted.

"Who says we need the bed?" Frankie responded cheekily, sealing her victory when Juliet conceded with an eye roll. "We were talking about if it's possible for people to be friends without at least one of them being attracted to the other."

"And you decided that of the two of us I'm the one with the crush?" Juliet queried.

"Obviously." Frankie pointed out before adding, "Peck here has a crush."

"On you?" Juliet checked curiously.

"No I don't." Gail retorted touchily, before launching into a soliloquy. "And for once she's actually not talking about herself. I have a friend and everyone else has decided it's something more. Which it totally isn't. We just hang out and talk occasionally, but it's not a big deal, I don't even like her like that. Besides, she has a girlfriend and even if she didn't, the whole sexy librarian thing is so not my thing. Plus, I'm not into relationships. I'm not looking for anyone to date or to be someone's girlfriend. I'm good alone, I don't need anyone."

"That was good, that was like seven lies in a row." Frankie pointed out as she exchanged a look with Juliet. All that rambling had just confirmed Frankie's suspicions.

"Leave her alone Frankie." Juliet cautioned her friend, the blonde one was mercurial at best and this topic seemed to get her particularly worked up.

"She's the one in my bed!" Frankie reminded her childishly.

Just then Chloe came bounding up the stairs interrupting the argument that was brewing by breezing past Frankie and Juliet and plopping onto Frankie's bed with Gail.

This time it was Juliet who gave Frankie a look, that the other girl shrugged off, before heading back to her room.

"Get off Princess I was here first." Gail grumbled as she tried to push the redhead off of her with only her good arm.

"Unless this is the two of you propositioning me for a threesome, both of you need to get off my bed. You have your own room, that you share, to cuddle in." Frankie complained.

Chloe ignored the other girls' blustering, "Are you two chipping in for Oliver's gift?"

"Yeah, yeah whatever, just let me know how much," Gail huffed, still trying to shift her weight, and Frankie nodded along.

"Awesome he's going to love it. Trust me." The whole group had pitched in for season tickets for hockey after Steve had called in a favor to make the price reasonable and the seats pretty decent.

"Did you really just come up here to get money out of us?" Gail asked crossly.

"Actually, I was just coming up to see if you two wanted to grab food with the rest of us tonight. Since you're both antisocial, I'm the one they volunteered as tribute."

"I have work." Gail rejected the offer, though talking about food caused her stomach to rumble. She would have to grab something from the fridge before she headed out and then eat later at work. She checked the time on her phone that she was still toying with. "Speaking of, I have to get going, which I need my now broken legs to do. In case I wasn't injured enough."

Chloe rolled her eyes at her roommate's grievances, before looking at the uncharacteristically quiet Frankie, "What about you Crankypants?"

"I have better things to do Muppet," Frankie spurned the other girl's offer. She didn't really know what she was going to do that night, but hanging out with the freshmen was at the bottom of her list, especially if the boys were around.

"Your loss." Chloe bounced off the bed and pulled Gail up with her by her good hand. The two headed down the stairs as they restarted their bickering.

Frankie watched the two girls leave with a strange feeling of disappointment settling in the pit of her stomach. She shook it off, and went back to getting ready for a night out.

It was finally the big day and as Oliver returned from his patrol that Saturday, he was the target of his fellow rookies' teasing. Apparently he had a hot chick waiting for him at his desk. He briefly wondered if it was his new girlfriend, but he had just seen her that morning and she was supposed to be busy making potions (or something) all day before they went to the bar that night. When he turned into the pit, he noticed the long blonde hair and chuckled a little to himself, secretly wishing the other officers had known who they had been talking about, they would've pissed themselves if the Superintendent had heard them.

He pleasantly greeted his second favorite girl in the world. "So my Petulant Peck what brings you into enemy territory?" He knew his little buddy avoided the station like the plague, probably from one too many bring your child to work days growing up.

"I thought the birthday boy might like a little lunch. Figured all that tough policing you pretend to do might make you hungry." Gail poked fun at her friend as she spread out her offerings on his desk

"Ah, so you remembered." Oliver pulled the girl into a hug that for once she didn't try to wriggle out of.

"How could I forget? It's all anyone in the houses will talk about. They are pants-pissing excited to go to a real "cop bar" and hang out with the Blues. I'm pretty sure they're looking forward more to your birthday party than to their own." Oliver had become a bit of a staple at the houses. Between already being friends with the seniors and being a bit of a mentor to the freshman, plus being Gail's special buddy, he was a popular face amongst the college kids.

"See I'm not the only person who loves karaoke. You gonna sing a duet with me darlin'?" Oliver implored with puppy-dog eyes.

The blonde responded dismissively, "I don't sing." Unless I'm high on oxy she mentally amended.

"Peck, I know for a fact that with enough tequila, you my friend will do just about anything once." How many times had she drank him under the table? It was enough to know that with the right amount of alcohol the blonde would get up on stage with him without asking twice.

"That's because Jose is a better friend than most, Ollie." The misanthropist expounded before amending, "Present company excluded."

Oliver nodded in agreement as he started poking around the bags the blonde had brought with her. "I'm starvin'. So what'd you bring me?"

"Schwarma and dessert."

Oliver's face lit up like a kid who had just gotten a bike for Christmas. He had been the one to introduce his blonde buddy to the wonders of the Middle Eastern dish but he appreciated her picking up his favorite none-the-less. He also really loved the girl when he noticed the baker's dozen worth of his favorite doughnuts nestled on his desk with a bow on them. "You're too good to me darlin'."

"Tell me something I don't know. Are we going to eat or just stare at it all day? I'm pretty sure your lunch break doesn't magically get extended just because you came into the world today." The blonde snarked.

"Today is an awesome day and you know it." Oliver had a huge smile on his face.

It was contagious, "I do. Happy Birthday, Ollie!"

"Thanks!" Oliver replied his mouth already half-filled with delicious chicken.

They tucked into their food quietly. Once they were both almost done, Gail spoke up.

"So who'd Brother Peck invite out tonight?" She tried to sound nonchalant.

Oliver tapped his chin as he tried to remember, "Well, obviously everyone from the houses, everyone from 15, some friends from the academy and some from college. I'm pretty sure if even half the people he invited show, the bar is going to be packed."

"I wouldn't be surprised if everyone showed." Oliver was a popular guy, it was pretty hard not to like him. She wanted to specifically ask if Holly was coming but that would launch the boy on a fishing expedition for why she wanted to know. She probably could've asked the brunette herself but they hadn't talked since Gail ignored that text Tuesday. Even when she ran, she hadn't seen the other girl. She had assumed the brunette was busy trying to make up for being gone and she didn't want to bother her.

"You asking about someone in particular?" Oliver asked faux-innocently.

Gail shook her head forcefully, "Nope. Just checking if there was anyone I needed to avoid besides Nicholas."

"I can tell him not to come." He was still just as pissed at the boy as his blonde friend. So he would have no problem kicking him out of the party.

"Nah don't bother, everyone else is going and he has McNally to keep him distracted and Sammy to cockfight with." Gail was getting used to having her ex around. They could almost get along when he wasn't hitting on her. Almost.

"Well just say the word darlin' and he's gone." Oliver gave her one of his menacing cop faces which just caused the blonde to laugh.

Still chuckling, "I know Ollie, that's why you're my favorite."

"Aw darlin' are you just saying that cause it's my birthday?"

"And because I want some of your doughnuts." Oliver laughed one of his belly laughs and pushed the box closer to the blonde. She was a woman after his own heart.

The house was abuzz with the girls getting ready for Oliver's party.

"I'm telling you it's the eyes. They're the windows to the soul. Eyes can't lie. You know they say 60% of men look at your eyes first." Andy explained as she applied even more mascara in the mirror.

Next door, Gail was hogging the bathroom mirror applying her ruby red lipstick. She couldn't resist the urge to mock McNally's naivety. "Yeah, well 60% of men are lying with their mouths. It's all about lips McNally. Big red lips. It's primal. It's kind of like a..."

"It's kind of like a monkey's butt." Andy filled in the blank and sniggered at the blonde's indignant face.

"Oh that's real nice. That's very appealing," Gail sneered. She was certain she was right, having been the target of many lip looks from guys and girls alike.

"I'm just trying to be honest." Andy replied.

"You want to be honest, be honest. BOOBS. All that other stuff is just window dressing." Traci mocked them both from her spot on the bed as she read a magazine. She had been ready a half-hour ago and was just waiting on her boyfriend to show up to join them for the night.

"See." She emphasized as she pointed to Chloe who had just bounced into the room with a bottle of tequila and shot glasses.

She was referring to the skimpy black tank top Chloe had on that barely covered her. "Rude Traci, I have a sweater to put over this." The pink garment was tossed at Traci's head, who swatted it away.

"You ladies ready for an awesome night?" Chloe was extra vivacious that night.

"I'm ready, these two take forever." Traci complained, sitting up on the bed.

"Hurry up slowpokes, the cabs have already been called and we still have drinking to start!" The redhead chastised.

"Where are the seniors?" Andy asked as she did the last finishing touches to her makeup.

As if on cue, they could hear Juliet dragging Frankie out of her room. "Seriously, you are so high maintenance."

"Whatever, who has the booze?" Frankie asked before even reaching the room.

Chloe poured out the shots, passing them out to everyone, but lingering next to Frankie who she served last.

"To Oliver and singing our asses off tonight." The girls toasted before heading out to meet up with the guys.

The bar was packed with people ready to make fools of themselves on stage in honor of Oliver's birthday.

Thus far, the boys had been dominating the show with Dov's rendition of "Baby Got Back". Followed by a duet with his roommate of "Endless Love." Understandably, the girls had filmed that one on their phones for blackmail later.

Sammy and Jerry had wowed the crowd with "You Give Love a Bad Name," directed at Andy and Traci, much to Dex's annoyance. Which only pleased the rest of the friends even more, since pretty much everyone hated Dex.

Chloe had just returned from singing "Don't Stop Believing" with Nick. Gail didn't know how she had convinced the boy to sing it but she also didn't question their friendship, she didn't care. Funnily enough, the daggers she usually threw at Collins were nothing compared to the look on Frankie's face the whole time. And she had the audacity to tease Gail about Holly.

Chloe reunited with the rest of the group and was handed a drink. She joined Andy in trying to convince the other girls to do "Man! I Feel like a Woman."

"Come on Gail, sing with us." Chloe and Andy begged in unison.

"I don't sing." The blonde dismissed them.

"We've heard you in the shower, you totally sing." Chloe pointed out. Andy knew from past experiences that not only could Gail sing, but she could put on a hell of a show but whenever she brought up their shared past, the blonde usually got pissed at her so she kept her mouth shut.

"Not without more booze," Gail pointed out. So the girls ordered more shots.

They continued to negotiate, while Oliver and his TO Noelle sang "Islands in the Stream" much to everyone's amusement. Gail was pretty surprised since she had heard that his TO was a major hardass; a great teacher but not someone to try to bullshit or suck up to. Though watching her and Ollie sway as they sang along to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers was an image she was planning on carrying with her through her own rookie days still to come. Thinking about her future career as a police officer was enough motivation for Gail to down a couple more shots swiftly.

The man-of-the-hour finished up and called Traci to sing next.

"Well we can't disappoint the birthday boy," Traci took one more shot before she hopped on the stage as the opening notes to "Let's Get It On" began.

Gail was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol and decided to mess with Traci. She snuck up behind the other girl with her back to the crowd. She turned around when people began to snicker and gestured for them to be quiet.

Nash started to sing in an exaggerated Marvin Gaye impersonation:

"I've been really tryin', baby.

Tryin' to hold back this feeling for so long..."

The pause in the song was Gail's cue and she jumped in, catching her friend off guard much to everyone's amusement:

"And if you feel like I feel, baby..."

She sang with some of the most exaggerated hand movements and facial expressions ever seen, though her velvety voice blended in well with Nash's.

"Then, c'mon, oh, c'mon

Let's get it on

Ah, baby, let's get it on..."

Gail was so distracted singing her drunken heart out that she hadn't noticed the arrival of the newest party guest, but Frankie did. Last time Frankie had talked to Holly, she had been swamped with trying to catch up in school after flying off to Vancouver. At the time she didn't think she was going to be able to make it to Oliver's party even though Frankie, Oliver, and Steve had been hounding her the past three days. She wondered what had changed the med student's mind.

She watched the brunette make her way over to the birthday boy planting a kiss on his cheek and handing him a gift as he gestured wildly to the stage. Holly watched Gail sing with unbridled amusement as Oliver continued to tug on her arm and talk into her ear. Listening to Gail croon out the lyrics, Frankie couldn't help thinking that the song was strangely appropriate for the blonde. Even if Gail wouldn't admit her feelings, Frankie knew she had it bad for the brunette, but there was still the issue of that pesky girlfriend of Holly's, one who didn't appear to be present at the moment. Just then Frankie got an idea, an awful idea. Frankie Anderson got a wonderful, awful idea!

She figured out a quick plan of action but in order to execute it she needed to act fast and she needed support. Luckily, she caught sight of her target's brother and managed to snag a hold of Steve. She quickly filled him in on her scheme. Taking one look between the girls he got the same mischievous glint in his eyes that his sister often did, right before she mocked someone incessantly. He quickly agreed to participate and moved closer to the stage, getting into position. Now she just needed one more helper. Her eyes locked onto a very perky Muppet heading her way.

Chloe walked up beside the lounging brunette, gesturing to the bartender for another refill. After getting her drink she turned around to leave but Frankie slipped an arm around the petite waste and pulled the redhead flush against her side, she whispered into her ear to let her in on her plan and what she needed. The move was probably unnecessary, but she smirked when a shiver ran down the other girl's spine as her breath curled around her ear. The reaction from the redhead spurred Frankie to brazenly brush her thumb along the exposed skin on Chloe's side from where her shirt had ridden up. The redhead had lost her sweater earlier in the night, much to Frankie's appreciation. Chloe grinned and nodded along to the plan. Unfortunately for Frankie, the two girls on stage finished their song sooner than she wanted, so she had to reluctantly let go. Chloe grabbed a couple of shot glasses and headed in the other girls' direction, while Frankie followed close behind.

Steve was already on stage as Traci made her exit, grabbing his sister's hand to stop her from bolting too.

"Hey, hey, one more sister dear, the crowd loves you." He distracted her as Frankie selected the next song for the girl to sing.

"I need more booze to sing alone." Gail needed additional liquid courage to stay on the stage alone, lest her fear of public speaking kicked in.

Chloe appeared like magic with shots in hand which both of the Pecks swallowed down with a grimace.

The two gingers bounced off the stage as the music started, leaving Gail to fend for herself. Now she was the center of attention and she hadn't even chosen the song. But she quickly recognized the '80s guitars. Crap. The blonde had to make a decision she could sing the song that the evil orchestrators had picked for her or hop off stage. The alcohol must've been getting to her because she found herself singing out the lyrics to the applause of the crowd.

"Jessie is a friend,
Yeah, I know he's been a good friend of mine
But lately something's changed
It ain't hard to define
Jessie's got himself a girl and I want to make her mine..."

Gail looked across the crowd as she crooned out the lyrics to Rick Springfield's song. She spotted Chris, who was shaking his head in dismay. She vaguely remembered him mentioning something about his mother dressing him like the singer for Halloween when all he wanted to be was Spiderman. His discomfort made Gail smirk as she continued singing the song.

"And she's watching him with those eyes
And she's lovin' him with that body, I just know it!
And he's holding her in his arms late, late at night

You know I wish that I had Jessie's girl
I wish that I had Jessie's girl
Where can I find a woman like that?"

That's when she looked over to the birthday boy to see how he was enjoying the show she was putting on; she was doing her best rock star impression, even mocking his rocker face that she had seen every time he gave her a ride anywhere. She was shocked when she noticed who was with him, but she suddenly understood why the others had put this particular song on for her. Gail wondered if the brunette's girlfriend was around but quickly decided that it didn't make a difference if she was. This was just going to be more ammunition for the girl to hate Gail, so she might as well have fun doing it.

She sang the next verse before coming back to the chorus:

"'Cause she's watching her with those eyes
And she's lovin' her with that body, I just know it!
And she's holding her in her arms late, late at night"

Gail had changed the pronouns of the song. It must have been the tequila, which makes her do stupid things. But if Frankie and company had wanted a show, then she was going to put one on. She didn't give it much further thought as she continued to plough through the song the same way, eventually coming to the final chorus.

"You know I wish that I had Jessie's girl
I wish that I had Jessie's girl
I want Jessie's girl
Where can I find a woman like that?

Like Jessie's girl
I wish that I had Jessie's girl
I want, I want Jessie's girl"

She finished the song with a flourish as the crowd cheered, particularly Frankie, Steve, and Chloe. One person though was definitely not cheering.

Holly was pissed; no, Holly was livid. She tore her way through the crowd, heading straight for Frankie and Steve. Steve bolted and went to hide by his real girlfriend. Frankie stood her ground even though she was pretty sure she had never seen her friend so angry before. She didn't know what the big deal was; it was just a joke. Maybe sober Holly couldn't see that. Maybe she should buy her a drink? Drunk Holly might find it funny. Drunk Frankie found it hilarious.

"What the hell was that Frankie?" Holly demanded the second she was within earshot.

"What's wrong Holls? Didn't like the song?" Frankie tried to maintain her innocence but the half a bottle of tequila she had probably consumed by then was making it hard for her to not laugh.

"What kind of game are you playing?" The bespeckled brunette was shit-ripping mad and getting the run around from her drunken friend was only fueling the fire.

"I'm not playing any games, it was a good song and a great performance. It's too bad Jess missed it, where's she at anyway?" Frankie was poking the bear.

Before Holly could respond Gail stumbled her way off the stage and towards the two women who were stationed at the bar now.

"Did you think that was funny?" Holly turned her ire on the performer.

"Did I think what was funny?" Gail tried to clarify, her reasoning was already muddled from the alcohol coursing through her veins.

"That song."

"I didn't pick it." Gail defended herself.

"No, but you were the one who changed the lyrics." Holly pointed out crossly.

"What's the problem, Nerd? It was a flattering song. It's just too bad your girlfriend missed it." Gail switched from defense to offense.

"Wow I expected this shit from Frankie but not from you." The hurt was evident in Holly's voice and she stormed out of the bar before Gail could stop her.

Shit.

A/N: Having Gail sing that song was the entire inspiration for McD's real name and pretty much her entire existence. Next chapter Gail will try to make amends and we're going to have a little extra fun at the Lucky Penny.