After such a tense confrontation with the inkling boys, the momentum of the evening was pretty much ruined for Aurora and her friends. The frolicking spirits they had shared upon first entering the square were quite diminished by the time they had dragged themselves to the back of the line, and when Aurora and Eight joined them, their feeling was mutual. It also didn't take them long to notice Eight's condition once she entered their sight. The way in which their friend's guava drink, the only thing she had gotten from Crusty Sean's, had ended up out of her cup and all over her entire body was certainly no mystery to them. Ula was filled to the brim with anger by the boys' cowardly act, and Bella found it to be no treat either, but Ophelia kept insisting that the girls contain their emotions and avoid doing something that was going to get them deported. Eight seemed to be in agreement on that decree, despite having been the victim of their attack to begin with.
As the sun continued to fall closer to the horizon, and the crowds scattered amongst the square transitioned to those looking to get their evening battles in, Aurora and her friends waited out their second trial of patience in line by eating their food silently. Ophelia offered to return to Crusty Sean's to get Eight a replacement drink after seeing the dreadful state she was in, but she politely refused with a shake of her head. Her incredible passiveness boggled her friends' minds a lot of the time, especially when such an attack against Bella or Ula would've resulted in nothing short of fresh inkling calamari. Aurora worried about what her friend's opaqueness could've been hiding, or…if there even was anything to hide.
The only time their gloominess seemed to subside, if for just a moment, was back up at the Splatfest kiosk. It didn't take them quite as long to reach it the second time, as there were fewer large groups after dinnertime. Aurora also noticed during their wait that there were more octolings in line than there were at the start of the evening, a likely result of the inklings finishing their errands and dispersing from the square. The change made the atmosphere around them more tranquil, allowing them a chance to indulge in their new Splatfest tees without having drinks splashed in their faces. Bella, Ula, and Ophelia each received their shirts with pride, gawking feverishly at their red-orange hues and flashy, Team Looks insignias. While they knew their shirts were going to be brandished against Aurora and Eight in the Splatfest, their excitement for the battles was still just as unparalleled as it was for the rest of the festivities. Maybe even more so.
To Aurora's and everyone's surprise, as they were all stepping away from the kiosk with their three new t-shirts, another octoling boy approached their group and attempted to ask Bella out to the Splatfest. He explained that he had seen her standing up to the inkling boys earlier, describing her bravery in the ordeal as "inspiring" and "extremely sexy." Bella's response, amidst a maelstrom of flattered giggling and effusive 'veemos' from Aurora and Ophelia, was a fake smile and a stern "nah, I'm good." Ula seemed particularly aggravated by the whole thing, like she had been with the first guy, especially with her friend's reasoning for rejecting her second admirer of the evening. According to Bella, his taste of clothing wasn't fresh enough, and he looked too much like a Clash-Blaster-user. As if that really mattered.
By the time the girls had wrapped up their activities, the streetlights around the square were just beginning to turn on. The square itself was still somewhat lively with squids and octos, however, though Aurora and the others knew that that would change within an hour or so. Once Inkopolis Square went quiet, everyone knew to start heading back to their homes. Aurora and her friends, at least, preferred to do so sooner rather than later. Even Ophelia, who was never reluctant to visit shady areas of the city and deal with shady individuals, knew she had no business wandering the sprawling streets of Inkopolis after dark.
Luckily, the girls were not homeless. There were indeed a few octolings in the city, and even a few inklings, in fact, who lived that way, but Aurora and her friends knew how to make ends meet. From the very moment they first stepped their wandering tentacles in Inkopolis, they always stuck to each other like glue. Currently, they all shared a single apartment on the lower-end side of town, with the exception of Eight, who owned her own place a few blocks over by the Deepsea Metro station. Eight's place was supposedly a bit less modest than her friends', but…since none of them usually opted to intrude on her space and stay there for a night, no one knew much about how she lived by herself. They also wondered how the hell she managed to afford a better place without roommates, for that matter.
The girls' apartment was mostly funded by Ophelia's income with the Grizz, so she was the one who owned the contract. Still, Aurora, Bella, and Ula contributed whenever and however they could. If someone, frequently Ula, couldn't put forth a sufficient slice of the rent for the month, they usually made up for it by doing the laundry or cleaning their single bathroom. The living space was certainly cramped for four octos, sure, but it was comfortable to them. They were comfortable with each other, after all.
After departing from the square with their Splatfest tees and their full stomachs, the group recovered their weapons from their storage and took the metro on their way back to the apartment complex. Major parts of the city, like the square, of course, had jump pads to which squids and octos could super-jump, making travel to such places in the morning quick and easy. However, only the nicer districts had those same amenities, like the blocks of luxury high-rises populated by celebrities, business squids, and certified X-rankers. For modest octolings living basic lives…like Aurora and her friends…there was the Deepsea Metro. No jump pads existed within a ten-to-twelve-block radius of the girls' apartments.
The ride itself was rather uneventful. Aurora and her friends spoke idly amongst themselves while in the subway car, ignoring the ambient chatter of other octos around them doing the same. Aurora noticed a couple things during the ride, the main thing being the prevalence of glances she and her friends seemed to be getting. Octolings of all varieties dotted the subway car with them, and she noticed that the wandering eyes seemed to be coming from the males, primarily. She wasn't sure if, perhaps, they had noticed her friends' little skirmish with the inkling boys earlier that evening, or if they were just checking her and her friends out a bit before the Splatfest. Though she had her hearts set adamantly on winning over Midas, she decided that she definitely wouldn't mind getting shown a little love from an octo boy or two. Bella was pretty lucky in that regard, she felt.
When the car stopped at their station, the girls strolled through the tunnels, up the stairs, and out into the familiar sights of their district. It looked like an entirely different city than the one surrounding the square. Fewer streetlights seemed to work properly. There was more trash peppering the sidewalks. Shops had less flashy signs out front. Political statements were graffitied on the walls of alleyways in multicolored ink. To Aurora and the others, though…it felt just like home. Inkopolis Square was certainly a testament to the city's status as a modern utopia, but it was the rundown districts bordering the slums that accepted Aurora and her friends for who they were. For that, they never grew tired of the sight.
Aurora, Bella, Ophelia, and Ula still had a few blocks to cover upon emerging from the metro station. The buildings around the station itself were not quite as dilapidated as the ones that housed Aurora and the others, those being a little closer to the actual slums. It was here, though, across the street from the station, that Eight's apartment was located. Therefore, when the group stepped out onto the sidewalk amongst a few other octolings, the girls had to part ways with their quiet, fruity-smelling friend for the night. Their goodbyes were never too involved. Eight simply slung her E-Liter around her back and turned to give her friends a kind wave before preparing to cross at the crosswalk. Aurora joined the others in waving back to her, and as she did, she saw Eight's gaze fall directly onto her, where it stayed for a pensive couple of seconds. She wondered what could've been implied in that gaze. The one thing she did know about it, though…was that it made her feel bad for leaving her alone again.
Following a fifteen-minute walk or so, the girls arrived at their apartment complex and scaled the wall of the stairwell using ink from their weapons. It was technically against the landlord's policy for tenants to ink the building in any way, but nobody living there really cared much, and neither did the landlord. The way the girls figured, if someone had a problem with them splattering the walls and slithering up them in their octo form, they would've heard a complaint about it at some point. Such were the benefits of living in the hovels.
Ophelia had her apartment key handy when the group approached the front door. She tried the lock a few times, succeeding only after three or four tries, as usual. They were all familiar enough with their living conditions to know that the finnicky lock was never going to get fixed, so none of them bothered to bring it up to the landlord. They certainly weren't paying for such a luxury, and neither was he.
The living room of the girls' home in the city lay just beyond the door, with an old, box TV sitting on a stand to the right, and a rugged, scratchy couch just a few feet in front of it. A loveseat of similar quality sat next to the couch at a slight angle, with various-colored stains dotting its cushions and armrests. Posters were strewn across the walls by the TV, sporting logos and group pictures of the girls' favorite octoling music groups. The doorway to their only bedroom was on the left wall behind the couch, containing both a twin-sized bed and the bathroom. Through the doorway in the back of the living room was the kitchen, which was never stocked with anything more than cereal and a few assortments of munchies. Lastly, the centerpiece of the living room was the rectangular coffee table between the couch and the TV, where Ophelia usually kept her bong. In fact, the first thing she did after stepping inside and removing her shoes was walk up to the couch, remove her bong from within her jacket, and set it gently on that table.
Bella, on the other hand, had a much different idea upon entering the apartment and removing her boots. As soon as she felt the liberating touch of their unvacuumed carpet against her socks, she tossed her dualies and her t-shirt to the side, sprinted around Ophelia and the coffee table, morphed into her octo form, and threw herself against the loveseat with full momentum, nearly knocking the furniture over with her unrestrained weight. She let her tentacles fall over the armrest as she sunk into the cushion with a satisfied, bubbly-sounding sigh. Aurora liked watching her do that, though she never had the courage to try it herself.
"Long day, I see." Ophelia mused aloud with a slight chuckle. Now that she was free of her shoes and the seaweed paraphernalia in her jacket, she took off her cap and her shades, shook her head to let her inky hair flow freely, and kicked back onto the couch. "Nothing beats the feeling of letting the day's tensions whisk away."
"I'll say." Ula grumbled, exhaling profusely. "I think I need to take a shower. Hopefully it'll help me forget about those faggot inklings from earlier."
Bella quickly morphed back into her kid form to shoot a response. "Try running a lighter shade of ink this time. It can help lift your spirits."
"Nah, because then the sun will reflect off my hair in the morning and wake me up at the ass-crack of dawn." Ula quipped while slumping off toward the bathroom. "I'll take it dark, thank you very much."
Ophelia raised a finger to get her attention. "Just don't run it for too long, because I was probably going to…" She stopped short, mid-sentence, as she heard the bathroom door close in the other room, signaling that Ula had ignored her. She lowered her finger and shrugged. "…or…never mind."
Unlike her friends, who appeared to settle right in as soon as they stepped through the door, Aurora still hadn't brought herself to sit down anywhere yet. It had been a truly eventful day for her, and she couldn't seem to get her mind to quiet down. There was the Splatfest announcement, her first gaze into Midas's addicting eyes, the unfortunate confrontation with his friends, and…the rematch agreement thereafter. She felt like there was a certain…bittersweet quality to the whole thing. She may have felt less content now than when she had woken up that morning, but she also had something to shoot for as well. Her hopes of finding a boyfriend were always ever strong since moving to Inkopolis, and now…now she had her target. She just never expected him to be an inkling.
However, in opening this opportunity for herself, Aurora also created some additional obstacles. For one thing, she had to get her friends onboard with the rematch, and they weren't even yet aware that it had been set up. She now had until the end of the night to inform them of the agreement…and earn their willingness to take up arms against the inkling boys a second time. After all, without a team, there wouldn't be a rematch. Considering Ula's desire to "punch their lights out," among other things, well…she dearly hoped they'd be capable of settling the differences honorably…for her sake, if no one else's.
Also…they actually had to win the rematch, which…was not something she could plan for.
By reading their body language, Aurora could tell that Bella and Ophelia were not planning to get up from their positions anytime soon. Due to the limited number of comfortable sleeping places available in their apartment, the girls shared a pact to sleep in different areas of the living space on different nights. Someone would sleep on the couch, someone would sleep on the loveseat, someone would be fortunate enough to sleep on the small bed in the bedroom, and the last one would try to sleep in the sleeping bag that was at the foot of the bed. Usually, the only fights that ever occurred between them were over who would have to be stuck with the sleeping bag. Tonight, since Ophelia and Bella seemed to have claimed their territory already, Aurora assumed that she would be contending with Ula over ownership of the bed. Maybe Ula would have the kindness of hearts to let her dear friend lay her weary body on the bed for the night, she thought to herself hopefully.
Bedtime was still a ways out, though. After coming home from a long day on the town, Bella and Ophelia usually liked to flip on the TV and chat for a while. Aurora, of course, wanted to join them, hoping that the mindless activity would straighten out her thoughts…as if everything else that day hadn't already failed to do so. Before she could sit back and truly relax, however, she required something important from the bedroom. The first thing she did after finally removing her shoes and setting her stuff aside, then, was wander over to the bedroom to get it. Shortly after she began moving, she glanced over in time to see Ophelia reach for the remote and turn on the TV, which confirmed her assumption from earlier.
As Aurora stepped around the back of the couch and through the doorway to the bedroom, she surveyed the bed and the sleeping bag in the back-left corner of the space. The thing she was particularly quick to notice was Ula's clothes, which were strewn across the bed in haphazard fashion. Her jacket, her shades, her leggings, her socks…all of it. Even her underwear was there, sitting on top of the stack like it had been lazily tossed there after everything else. Upon seeing that, Aurora knew that the bed had already been claimed. If Ula was willing to mark her territory on the bed by undressing in the bedroom instead of the safety of the locked bathroom, Aurora figured, then there was no point in trying to dispute her. The sight of her friend's unwashed undergarments on top of the bed sort of turned her away from sleeping on it anyway. If that had been Ula's intention, then…it certainly worked.
With that, she continued with what she had entered the bedroom for in the first place. She was looking for something, though…upon first glance…she couldn't seem to find it. She had slept in the sleeping bag the night before, so she expected to find it there on top of the pillow, but it was not. Curious, she walked farther into the room, toward the sleeping bag and the dresser that sat beside the bed. She checked around the sleeping bag itself, as well as under its zip-up comforter. After that, she shimmied over to the dresser and pulled open all the drawers, sifting through her friends' folded clothes in order to search each one thoroughly. Finally, she lifted up the sheets of the bed, taking care not to touch Ula's discarded clothes, but her item was not there either. She let out a confused huff before turning around and walking back out of the room, ignoring the sound of the showerhead turning on behind the bathroom door.
She stepped up behind the couch and leaned over it to look at Ophelia.
"…'Lia?"
Ophelia turned slightly, keeping her attention on the TV. "Hmm?"
"Do you know where he is? I can't seem to find him." She asked timidly.
"Where who is?"
Aurora tapped her fingers together sheepishly. She was slow to answer her friend. "You know…him."
After a short pause, Ophelia turned all the way around and glanced at Aurora. "Who's 'him?' I know a lot of 'hims.'"
At that point, Aurora started to feel like Ophelia was messing with her. She knew that Aurora didn't like saying the name of her special item out loud. She was sensitive about having it around her friends as it was, especially with Bella's tendency to make wisecracks, so not being able to find it already put her in a state of mild discomfort.
She glanced over at Bella, who was still occupying the loveseat in her octo form, to make sure she wasn't paying attention. Then, she leaned further in towards Ophelia's ear and spoke in a hushed whisper. "…Where's Wah-Wah?"
Ophelia failed to stifle a small giggle, which angered Aurora just a bit. Luckily, Bella didn't seem to hear any of it, as her focus was still on the TV. "Don't worry, I knew who you were talking about. You're just cute when you say his name, so I wanted to hear it again."
Aurora sighed in exasperation. "Where did you put him?"
"Hey, hey, relax. He's over on the kitchen counter." Ophelia answered calmly, at the same voice level as her distressed friend. "I washed him a little bit before I left for the square this morning. Thought you'd appreciate it."
"Oh." Aurora babbled as she stood back upright, surprised by the sudden kind nature of the incident. "Well, um…I do. Thank you."
With that, she turned away from the couch and strolled hastily to the kitchen, allowing Ophelia to return her gaze to the TV. On her way, she noticed Bella's big, nosy, octopus eyes following her as she passed by the loveseat. She wasn't sure if Bella knew the thing she was after, and if she did, whether she was planning to poke fun at her again for it. Aurora met her glance with an unreadable expression as she stepped through the doorway to the kitchen.
Once there, the fretful octo flipped on the light and directed her attention straight at the counter by the sink, as Ophelia had described. When her gaze fell upon the item sitting atop its granite surface, a relieved grin appeared on her face. It was a soft, moderately-sized plush doll of a whale, with pliable fins, black button eyes, and a gentle, but enormous, tentacle-stitched smile. Aurora had been in possession of that plush doll since the dawn of her earliest memories in Octo Valley, and…before she met the other girls…he had been her only real friend. He was the only possession she had decided to take with her on her exodus to Inkopolis, amidst the mocking she had often received for having him. She didn't care that she was too old for him. He was her Wah-Wah.
Aurora squeezed the plush tightly against her chest the moment she grabbed it from its spot. He always managed to ease her weary spirit, even after the toughest of days. With him in her grasp, she swung around and pranced out of the kitchen with a rush of renewed confidence. She almost forgot to turn the light back off, even, but she was able to reach her arm out and do so without losing her stride.
Back in the living room, she was surprised to see Bella in her kid form all of a sudden, sporting a new, casual sitting position that left her feeling suspicious. She also noticed that Bella's gaze was on her as she passed by the loveseat again on her way to the couch, which piqued her wariness further. Her witty friend had been waiting all evening for this moment. Aurora could tell.
Just as she reached the empty side of the couch and sat herself down with her childhood companion, it began.
"Aww, is Wah-Wah gonna be joining us for TV tonight?" Bella quipped with a smug grin.
Aurora rolled her eyes. "Not tonight, Bella. Please."
"What do you mean?" She replied defensively. "I don't even get to say hello?" She put a hand on her chest in an "offended" sort of manner.
"No. He doesn't want to talk to you." Aurora fired back.
Bella's grin was already too wide for its own good. "Why wouldn't Wah-Wah want to talk to his big Auntie Bella? Doesn't he love me too?"
"Quit saying his name! It's private!"
"Will he at least give me a hug?" She leaned forward and extended her arms. "Come here, Wah-Wah! I want to play with your little fins!"
Aurora gritted her teeth as her ink ran to her face, filling her cheeks up with the same shade of purple as her hair. "He doesn't love you, Bella! Just stop! There's nothing wrong with having him at my age!"
Bella fell back against the cushion of the loveseat in a playful fit of giggling, the likes of which pissed Aurora off more than she'd like to admit. She challenged her friend's seething glare with a puckish one of her own. "You know I love you, Aurora. Even if your plush doesn't love me. You're just really cute to mess with sometimes."
"You do it all the time, though…" Aurora mumbled under her breath. Bella didn't seem to hear her.
Not long after Aurora got settled in, and Bella finally gave her a break from all the teasing, Off the Hook took over the TV with the late evening news. The girls always loved keeping up with current events in Inkopolis. In doing so, they were ever more engrained in the city's culture, following wholeheartedly in the ups and downs of its citizens. Of course, there was also the fact that they idolized Off the Hook like a flock of young schoolgirls.
"Damn…Marina is a goddess." Bella sighed when the pair first appeared on screen. "How are those jade-tipped tentacles not extensions?"
"Wish I could rap like Pearl. I feel like I look the part sometimes, but my lyrics fall flat like a hockey puck." Ophelia chuckled nonchalantly. "She's like a prodigy at her age."
Aurora just smiled softly. "I like their confidence."
"Hey hey hey, y'all know what time it is!" Pearl's adolescent voice boomed through the TV's staticky speakers.
"It's Off the Hook, coming at you live from Inkopolis Square!" Marina followed. "Where it looks like, for the first time in a while, we're still not alone during our evening broadcast!"
The girls watched the TV adamantly as Pearl shifted around in her seat and took a quick glance through the glass behind herself, noticing the bundles of inklings that were still wandering around the darkened square. "Wow, you're right…gee, I wonder why!"
"Good question…" Marina let herself trail off, putting a beautifully manicured hand on her cheek. "Could it be that thing that we announced earlier this morning?"
"Riiiiight, that thing…" She paused. "…you mean that big Splatfest?"
Marina turned to look at the camera. "That's right, Pearl, and for all you busy bees that missed it! The Splatfest gods dropped a real juicy one on us this year!"
"I still think you're selling yourself short by choosing Personality, 'Rina." Pearl jabbed.
"But Pearlie, it's shallow to chase a perfectly good cephalopod for just their looks. We all have feelings…aspirations…"
"Get outta here with that drab, my gal! I got you in my life, and you're, like…the hottest thing to ever swim through ink! I wouldn't have it any other way!"
"Aww…Pearl…"
"Plus, when you're gettin' your absolute guts railed outta ya, nine folks outta ten will tell you that they'd prefer a perfect ten at the helm!"
"PREACH, girl!" Bella hollered at the TV, causing an occupant of the floor above them to bang something against the ceiling.
Marina stood straight up suddenly, startled by her brash friend's suggestive statement on live TV. She put a hand over her face to conceal her cheeks. "Ohh, Pearl, let's…uh…" She glanced at the camera. "…let's watch what we say! I, um…I don't think…the, uh…producer is very happy with us now."
"Bite me." Pearl fired. She locked her eyes directly onto the camera and flexed her eyebrows, sporting a grin that could melt steel. Bella and Ophelia were in absolute hysterics, knowing well the reactions the pop star's antics were probably causing among the city's male viewers.
Marina seemed like she wanted to laugh as well, but she uncomfortably kept her composure. She looked like her producer must've been giving her and Pearl quite the death glare at that moment.
"Well, anyway…we're finding that this year's Splatfest has some of the best voter turnout in the events' history!" She stammered.
"Hell yeah! I think our stats guy said something about there being more voters today than total participants in last year's fest!" Pearl exclaimed. "I don't rock with numbers much, but that sure sounds like a lot to me!"
Marina nodded enthusiastically before looking back at the camera. "And he also said that it wouldn't have been possible without my fresh, fellow octos out there joining in on this year's fun! A big shoutout to all of you!"
Bella made the classic, "stay fresh" hand gesture at the TV in response to her idol's mention. When Aurora and Ophelia saw it, they did it, as well. It felt great to be included in something. In answering to Marina like that, the girls loved to imagine what it would be like to actually meet her, the most famed and beloved octoling in the city, in person. Perhaps they would get the chance one day.
During their gleeful moment, Pearl picked up the baton with the outro to their first segment. "So be sure to jump on out here tomorrow if you haven't already! It isn't too late to vote until we take the stage on Splatfest night!"
"Yep, and don't be afraid to get down-and-flirty when you do!" Marina added. "The hearts are really going to be flying this year."
"Or the clothes, if you're on Team Looks." Pearl mentioned with a wink. "Now then, for those of you looking to get the early-bird special tomorrow, here are tomorrow morning's sunrise venues!"
Marina's advice about the flirty nature of the Splatfest made Aurora think heavily about Midas again. She had been sufficiently distracted by both her friends and the comfort of getting home as soon as they had entered their apartment, but now those mental blockades were once again crumbling. Every desire for a romantic companion that she had built up over the years, every craving for a boyfriend's embrace, every urge to engage in some playful roughhousing, and every private itch that she secretly yearned to have scratched…it had all fallen onto Midas, in just one cursed, cod-damned day. She was going to drive herself crazy over him. As she hugged Wah-Wah heartily against her chest, in fact, she caught herself closing her eyes and fantasizing Midas's face in his place.
Those thoughts also, in turn, reminded her of the crucial matter that she still had yet to discuss with the others. They still weren't aware of the important rematch that was scheduled for them tomorrow. If they lost that rematch, or didn't even make an appearance, for that matter, her chances with Midas would be shot, unless she took even more reckless measures. She knew the critical significance of informing them about the battle, but…she couldn't decide whether she should confess the stakes to them…or keep that part a secret. On one hand, knowing that their friend's future with the new love of her life would be hanging in the balance could encourage the others to give it their all, or…it could cause them to refuse the rematch entirely. Eight had the full story, of course, and Aurora knew that she would fight for her, but she was just one octo out of the four that she needed to convince.
"You know, I have a feeling those inkling pussies in the square earlier were voting for Looks just because they didn't want to join Marina's team." Bella piped up, surprising Aurora with the similar subject change.
"Right…she is an octo, like us, after all." Ophelia replied. "And I think we can all agree that those guys were…um…pretty racist? Even more than usual?"
"Oh, totally. I don't think I've faced such pointless hatred for octolings since our first week in Inkopolis." Bella mentioned.
Aurora had more insight about the boys than her friends did, since she and Eight had been putting up with them for a while before the others had even arrived. Unlike them, she could tell that the real culprit of the fiasco in the square had been the Splatling guy. The .96 Gal and the Dynamo Roller did seem to share in his prejudice, sure, but their rude etiquette seemed to mostly be fueled by his actions. Whatever made that Splatling guy tick…it clearly had something to do with staunch inkling-supremacism. He was driven by his distaste of octolings, his friends were driven by their loyalty to him, and then…there was Midas. What the hell drove Midas?
"Midas isn't racist, though." She blurted, without looking up.
Ophelia and Bella both turned to her. "What did you say? Who isn't racist?"
Shit, Aurora thought, she had just said that out loud. She wasn't supposed to do that. "M…Midas. I don't think he's racist."
Bella raised an eyebrow. "Who's Midas?"
"…One of the guys. The one with the…Squiffer…" Aurora uttered, trailing off awkwardly. She really shouldn't have used his name like that.
"Oh, I think I know who you're talking about." Ophelia put a hand up to her chin. "How do you know his name, though? Do you know him from somewhere?"
She looked up at them. "No…his, uh…friend told us."
That response just seemed to make Ophelia and Bella even more skeptical. They shared a glance with each other before turning back to Aurora at the same time. "Why would they tell you what the Squiffer guy's name was? Weren't they giving you and Eight a hard time?"
"Yeah, and why use his name anyway?" Bella added. "I wouldn't even piss in the ink those bastards swim through. Though, now that I think about it…"
"Just forget about his name!" Aurora shouted suddenly, cutting off her friend. Their expressions changed at her little outburst. "He was on his phone the whole time we were in the line, and even while they were bothering us. I'm just saying…I don't think he hates octolings like his friends do."
"So…you're giving him the benefit of the doubt?" Ophelia questioned. "I mean…it's nice of you to always seek out the good in others, Aurora, but…that Squiffer guy wouldn't be friends with those other inklings if he didn't share their opinions about us to some degree. They're lost causes to us."
Bella kicked back a bit and threw her hands up behind her head. "Exactly. Once a prick, always a prick. Not sure about you, but I think Ula and I can agree that we don't want to deal with those guys ever again. I wouldn't be held responsible for anything that'd happen if we did."
Aurora was saddened by their outlook. Of course, she herself didn't appreciate getting called a pit-dweller by those guys either, so she couldn't necessarily blame them for not wanting to tangle with them ever again. However, she needed her friends to tangle with them again, for without that rematch battle tomorrow, her next wave to Midas would be a wave goodbye. Her friends' intense unhappiness with the boys made her feel kind of selfish for setting up another battle with them without their permission. Eight's wariness towards her proposal, then…started to make a bit of sense. She was totally about to throw her friends into the gauntlet in order to have a chance at Midas's tentacle in the Splatfest. Yikes.
In that case…she figured now was the time to get the hard part out of the way.
Initially, she could only murmur incomprehensibly in response to Bella's statement. Both Bella and Ophelia seemed to notice it, and as such, they gave Aurora their attention. However, Aurora didn't exactly know how to frame the statements the way she wanted. She certainly didn't want her friends getting angry with her, but…with the deed already done, it was potentially too late to avoid that.
"Gonna have to speak up, Aurora." Ophelia said plainly.
Aurora swallowed a massive lump in her throat, just as she had done before giving the proposal to the Splatling guy earlier that evening. Somehow…giving it to her friends seemed to frighten her even more. "Wh…What if we could…maybe…settle it with them on the battlefield? Instead of…you know…beating them all up?"
Bella gave her a deeply skeptical glare. "A rematch battle? With those guys?"
Aurora nodded. "…Sure. We've played against them once already, so…we should know their strategy, right? It would g…give us a chance to redeem ourselves." She stammered. She didn't feel like she was being very convincing.
"Didn't you hear those guys earlier?" Ophelia cut in, sounding slightly bothered. "That guy with the Splatling seems more willing to cut off his own tentacles than yield to a group of octolings. It's a miracle they even played fairly against you guys the first time."
Bella nodded quickly in agreement. "Yeah, and what if we were to win the rematch? Knowing them, I'd worry about them dropping their weapons and trying to club us for showing them up like that. I can take a few hits, but it's not like I'm eager to go finding a fight where there doesn't have to be one."
"Right. Like I said before, those nasty squids are lost causes to us." Ophelia stated. "Even if we wanted to, I don't know how we'd go about contacting them to even arrange a rematch."
Here it comes, Aurora thought. She looked between her two friends with diminishing resolve as she listened to their responses, knowing that whatever happened next was going to be at someone's expense. It was stupid of her to act impulsively on this matter the way that she had. Why did she have to be so impulsive about everything?
"A…Actually…" She began nervously. "…here's the thing…"
Bella cocked her head almost immediately upon seeing her friend's uneasiness. "Aurora…what did you do?"
Aurora paused when she got cut off, finding it nearly impossible to resume her previous statement. She started compulsively stroking Wah-Wah's back while she struggled to find a way to regain the situation. With a quick glance upward, she could see both Ophelia and Bella staring her down intently, eyes piercing through her own like charger shots. They knew how reckless she tended to be, and the fact seemed to show with how quickly they seemed to figure her out.
Her gaze fell back downwards. She began stroking a bit faster. "I…I spoke to him after you guys left. We're…supposed to meet them t…tomorrow afternoon. At one of the rotation venues."
Silence fell upon the room for a moment, the only sounds coming from the voices of Off the Hook on the TV. Aurora did not want to look her friends in the eye. The regret she felt was already escalating quickly, and she hadn't even heard their responses yet. Regardless of what they ended up saying, she felt like they were going to hate her for what she did. The only thing she could do…was continue stroking.
Ophelia, after briefly sharing a glance with Bella, slumped against the back of the couch. Her expression reflected the slightest bit of shock, but in reality, she didn't seem that rustled. "Well then…that's a twist."
Bella's face, on the other hand, was a little more animated. "And…what did you do that for, exactly?"
"Pleeeease don't hate me! I don't know why I thought it was a good idea!" Aurora suddenly wailed, pressing her plushie into her abdomen. She didn't cry, though she did feel quite embarrassed. Embarrassment was usually the outcome of her impulsive actions.
"Hey, hey, Aurora?" Ophelia cut in, raising her arm in her upset friend's direction. "What's the magic word?"
Aurora held her breath as she glanced to her side. "Um…relax?"
"That's it. There are still some goodies sitting on the table for you if you want them. All you gotta do is take some and step out front. Don't even need to ask." She explained calmly.
"Y…You girls aren't…mad at me?" Aurora whimpered. She looked at both of them with a guilty, sorrowful weight on her conscience. Though her crime was not really that serious, she had a nagging tendency to inflate the direness of her errors in her own head. If she were to take up Ophelia's offer and step outside with the seaweed, she knew the problem would only become worse.
"Well, you did kind of put us in a tough spot here." Bella answered matter-of-factly. "But…nah, I'm not mad at you. I can see why you did it, and…to be honest…it's really just a bit of an inconvenience. That's all."
"Yeah, just…make sure you ask us before signing us up for any more battles." Ophelia added with a smirk. Aurora smiled weakly back at her.
The thing was, Aurora had not, in fact, done what she had done for the reason Bella was thinking. She and Ophelia were assuming that their doubtful and apologetic friend had set up the rematch battle with them in mind, for the sake of taking back the honor that had been stolen from them in the square. That was probably why they were so forgiving of her mistake. She still withheld the guilt of knowing why she had really done it…and whether her friends would forgive her as easily if they knew it as well.
"So…what are we doing, then? Are we gonna fight them?" Bella asked. "Because I think forfeiting would look…reeeeally bad on us."
Ophelia shrugged. "It's not like I'm doing anything tomorrow. I was actually hoping we would hit up the venues again soon, especially with the Splatfest coming up. Been meaning to stretch out and shoot the gunk outta my Hydra for once."
"You'll do it, then? We're gonna battle them?" Aurora asked hopefully. An optimistic glimmer shone in her eyes, striking Ophelia and Bella the way it always did.
"Sure, we can make our comeback that way." Bella replied blithely. "I wasn't about to go looking for revenge myself, but seeing how you've already set it up for us, well…" She looked back at Ophelia, then at Aurora. "…I guess it'd be pretty fresh of us to try. Which, now that I think about it, we need to get Ula's ass out here so we can hear what she thinks of it."
"Yeah, she's been running a lot of ink in there. 'Bout time someone get her before she cleans out my bonus from the Grizz this week!" Ophelia agreed. She made a hand gesture to encourage Bella to go yank their friend out of the shower.
As her friend stood up from the loveseat and power-walked to the bedroom to disturb Ula, Aurora couldn't help but smile. She was excited that her friends…or half of them, at least…were miraculously onboard with her crazy rematch plan. They didn't deserve to be tugged around like that, as pawns in her "ultimate scheme" to get in Midas's shorts. At least…that's what she felt like she was doing, anyway. Regardless, she didn't want to tell them about her crush yet, not because they'd be less willing to battle for her, but because they might scold her for chasing after an inkling. After all, that's what Eight had done back in the square, after Aurora felt like she could confide in her.
"Oh, Aurora, did you tell Eight about the rematch at some point? Because we would probably need to text her and let her know." Ophelia mentioned.
Speak of the devil, Aurora thought as she nodded her head. "Yeah, Eight knows. She was standing next to me when I brought it up to the boys."
"Ohh, pfft…duh. Of course." Ophelia scoffed and smacked herself in the forehead. "Well, hopefully she'll be willing to battle with us. Bella and I are down, but…I'm not so sure about Ula."
Just then, the two of them heard the echoing sound of the toilet flushing from through the bedroom doorway, followed closely by a loud, pained scream. The scream punctured through all the thoughts going through Aurora's head at that moment, and it cut her exchange with Ophelia rather short. They both turned around toward the bedroom, where, just a few seconds later, Bella came proudly strolling out. Both pairs of eyes stayed locked on her, in silence, as she walked casually around the couch to the loveseat and plopped back down in it. She looked back at them.
"She'll be out in a minute." The mischievous octo said. She then morphed back into her octo form to wait.
However, it did not even take a minute. Within moments of Bella returning to her seat in front of the TV, Ula came storming out of the bedroom with a towel wrapped hastily around herself. She clearly hadn't had time to get dressed, between barreling out of the bathroom after Bella, throwing on the towel, and appearing before her friends in disheveled condition. Her first order of business was to give Bella the most disapproving glare she could muster. As usual, she did not look pleased.
"What the hell was that for?!" She clamored.
Bella morphed back into her kid form, revealing a typical, shit-eating grin on her face. Her frequent morphing tended to leave ink stains in the loveseat, but no one really found it to be a big deal. "You were taking a while. I just felt like you needed a little nudge."
"Bitch…have you ever tried dipping your entire body into an Explosher vent?" Ula rasped bitterly. "Because that's what that shit felt like just now."
"Well, uh…maybe you should've locked the bathroom door!" Bella retorted with a giggle. "I considered just pulling the shower curtain when I got in there, but I decided that I didn't want to lose my innocence."
"Say you're sorry, then, or I'll drop my towel right here in the living room." Her displeased friend challenged. "Don't think I won't."
"Aww, come on! Don't be a party-pooper!" Bella pleaded.
Ophelia fixed her eyes on the TV and refused to look away for the next few moments. "I'd apologize, Bella. Don't think Ula wouldn't subject all of us to a punishment like that."
She sighed childishly. With pressure from two of her friends, she couldn't argue. "Ugh, fiiiiine. I'm sorry, Ula. Just don't make it so easy for me next time!"
Aurora wouldn't have put such a thing past Ula, either. It wouldn't have been the craziest thing she had done. She herself usually took a backseat during her friends' weird skirmishes, as she had done just earlier that day at the canal. Her only concern was what Ula would think of the rematch news, and beyond that, nothing else mattered.
"So, what am I out here for, anyway? What's so important?" Ula queried impatiently.
"Bills, first of all." Ophelia chimed in. "I know you're weary, girl, but running ink all night ain't cheap. We all gotta chip in on those costs."
"You girls know I don't have any money." Ula grumbled back.
"Exactly, so let's be mindful of how much we use stuff. It's okay that you can't shell in on our bills, but you gotta try being a little more conservative. If money gets tight, you know…I may have to quit spending on seaweed for a little while." Ophelia warned.
Ula groaned loudly and rolled her head back. "Okaaay, fine, shorter showers it is, then! Anything else to brighten my evening?"
"Yes, actually." Bella answered. She pointed at Aurora. "Aurora set us up for a rematch battle with those inkling brats tomorrow. Think you'd be up for that?"
Ula followed her friend's finger and settled her gaze on Aurora right as she was giving the announcement. Aurora quickly retreated into herself when she realized she was under Ula's scrutiny, as she knew her dark-haired, dark-souled friend would not tolerate her actions as much as Bella and Ophelia had. She saw Ula's eyes squint at her while Bella was giving the news, making her, once again, rather uncomfortable. Therefore, she held up her arms and shielded her face with Wah-Wah.
Ula continued squinting at her for another moment, then she turned back to the others. She grunted and shook her head.
"Fuck that shit."
"So…you don't want to get a bit of revenge on the battlefield?" Bella asked. "Blast them with Tenta Missiles, maybe?"
Ula shook her head again. "Nope. If you girls care at all to see me not wind up in a snow globe next to DJ Octavio, you'll keep me from ever seeing those turds ever again." She clenched her fist. "Because if I ever do, it won't be Tenta Missiles I'll be blasting them with, that's for sure. Get Eight to do it."
Bella and Ophelia looked awkwardly around the room for a few seconds while Ula's uncompromising reply hung in the air around them. Aurora's face was still buried behind her plushie, despite Ula's attention having fallen elsewhere since her earlier glare. In general, whenever Ula gave ultimatums on such a degree, the overall mood of the room tended to dissolve a little bit. The last time she had actually been seen acting violently towards someone was back in Octo Valley, but it had been enough to establish her disposition as an octo not to be trifled with. Bella's insistence on messing with her so frequently, then, was quite the mystery.
After a bit of time spent standing next to the loveseat in nothing but her towel, Ula looked up at the TV just in time to see Pearl and Marina closing out their evening news segment. They stood in their places and made the "stay fresh" gesture with their hands, accompanying the motion with their classic, "Don't get cooked, stay off the hook!" This time, nobody in the room reciprocated their choreography.
"Damn…so I missed Off the Hook again. Figures." Ula groused.
"Well…you did decide to take a shower." Bella mumbled quietly. "You didn't have to do that right then."
Ula scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, Bella, of course I did. I desperately needed cleansing after being insulted by those assholes." She then turned her head to look at Aurora again, intimidating her in the process. "Better get ahold of Eight, because if she won't battle, the deal's off. I'm heading back in there to change into comfy shit, and after I do, I'm going to bed. I've had enough inklings for a couple days."
Ophelia shrugged. "If you say so. Sleep tight."
Bella shrugged as well, adding a friendly wave to the end of the motion. "Dream of sea snails!"
"Doubt I will." Ula muttered. Still holding her towel above her chest, she turned around slowly and sauntered back into the bedroom. Bella watched her lethargic trudge until she disappeared from sight, hearing her disgruntled utterances along the way. "Pit-dweller…for fuck's sake…"
When all was said and done, the room fell silent again. Nothing interesting was usually on TV after Off the Hook's evening news session, so Ophelia reached for the remote and turned it off after Ula left. In the absence of the TV's blueish gleam, the dim overhead light cast a mellow glow over the trio as they sat in their spots and savored the lack of noise. It was the quietest atmosphere the girls had been in since they woke up that morning.
"Thinking Ula's got the right idea?" Ophelia queried.
Bella glanced at her. "About what? Those boys being assholes?"
"Well, yes, but…no. I was talking about going to bed."
"Oh." Bella chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose it wouldn't hurt."
"Speaking of which, Aurora?" Ophelia paused for a moment while Aurora turned to her. "Weren't you going to ask Ula for the bed in there? I'm pretty sure you already slept in the sleeping bag last night, and Bella and I were probably going to sleep out here tonight."
Aurora recalled what she had seen in the bedroom while looking for Wah-Wah earlier. She shook her head. "Ula seems…upset. I'm just going to let her have the bed again."
"You don't have to be so timid, you know. Ula may be grumpy, but we're still her friends. I bet, if you were to go in there right now and flop down on the bed before she gets changed, she won't do anything about it." Bella assured. She sounded completely serious, though…it was hard not to interpret it as a joke.
"That's…that's okay. I'm not going to take my chances." Aurora declared in reply.
"Ula raised another good point, though, which I think you should address before you head off to bed, Aurora." Ophelia mentioned, lifting a finger to get her attention. "You should probably contact Eight, just to be sure she's willing to join us for the rematch. Better to do so now than the day of."
Aurora stared at her for a moment, failing to answer her right away. She didn't know why she was hesitant to give a swifter response, but she figured it wouldn't make Ophelia think any differently of her answer. "…Okay."
The truth was, Aurora already knew that Eight was onboard with the plan. Unlike her other friends, she had actually gotten the chance to talk to her back in the square, and from that, she felt like Eight understood her enough to be her aide in the struggle. Eight knew what she was after. Ophelia, Bella, and especially Ula, however…they did not. Aurora knew Eight would give it her best shot. She knew she could safely share her secrets with Eight. She knew she could depend on Eight. However…
…she wasn't sure how Eight felt about everything she was putting her through.
Nothing in the world could match the feeling of victory.
When the timer rang, and everyone in the arena knew that the match was over, Aurora and her friends threw down their weapons and celebrated vehemently, flopping wildly around the puddles of ink in their octo forms. Rounds of cheering emanated from the onlookers that were spectating the battle, adding copiously to the triumphant atmosphere that encompassed the octoling underdogs. Indeed, victory came at the price of incredible trial and effort, but this time, the girls' efforts had certainly paid off for this moment. They had managed to prove themselves against the inkling bullies and reclaim their freshness in the eyes of their peers.
It didn't take long after the final bell for the Splatling guy and his two lackeys to swim their way to Aurora and the others. When they emerged from the ink near her friends, in the wake of their own defeat, the inklings faced an eruption of laughing and booing from the crowd. They wielded their weapons with shame, but they took the unkind reception without any sort of reaction. They knew they had been inferior in battle, and they accepted their failure dutifully.
"Anything you have to say for yourself?" Bella taunted, a dualie-wielding hand on each hip.
The Splatling guy looked at the ground. He sighed. "You girls pack a punch. My cowardly tactics and cheap splash walls were no match for your agility and prowess. I guess octolings are fresher than I gave them credit for."
"Yeah, and we're not fuckin' pit-dwellers, you hear?!" Ula yelled from within the crowd of onlookers. She stepped through the squids and octos around her and flashed her middle fingers at the inklings, who took her gesture willingly. They turned away.
"Yes…you are not pit-dwellers. We can see that now." He uttered.
"And don't you be forgetting it." Ophelia added with an authoritative glare. She hoisted her monstrous Hydra Splatling upright and intimidated them through the glint of her shades.
Finally, Eight spoke up from her mysterious silence and gave the losers the sendoff they deserved. "Go away, and never bother us again. And make it fast…so we won't have to look at you anymore."
A savage move by Eight, but it worked out beautifully. The inklings, knowing that they were inherently under the boots of their octoling victors by virtue of their defeat, obeyed their order. Without another word, they morphed into their squid forms and, upon flopping onto the ground and blending in with their ink, swam off into the distance in a trio of ripples. True to Eight's command, they were never to be seen by Aurora nor her friends ever again.
That was the case, at least, for the Splatling guy, the .96 Gal, and the Dynamo Roller. However, there was still a face that had yet to make an appearance after everything had wrapped up. It was a face of a particular importance, and luckily, it didn't take long to arrive after the others took off on their exile.
Shortly following the disappearance of the three inkling boys, another ripple in the ink came rushing forward from around the corner, stopping just short of Aurora and her friends. They all turned to see who it was, and sure enough, when the squid hidden within morphed into his kid form, they found themselves staring down Midas. Midas, while sharing in the defeat of the rest of his team, had not received the same banishment that they had. Therefore, as he stood before the octo girls and settled his sight on Aurora, they all watched him without a word.
He stepped towards her very deliberately, stowing his Squiffer on his back without breaking eye contact. He stopped when his feet reached the end of his ink color, prompting Aurora to walk forward and close the gap between them. Her friends continued to watch the exchange without saying anything. Aurora couldn't even see them anymore. All she could see was Midas…her prize.
He surveyed her on her approach, drinking in her form like he was seeing her for the very first time. He didn't smile, but despite that fact, Aurora could see his admiration through his eyes. She was his maiden, having won him in the toils of battle. Though he may have lost with the rest of his team, he felt the effects of her victory all the same, for now he got to be hers…and she got to be his.
"I loved watching you battle." He breathed. "You were like nothing I've ever seen before."
"…I did it for you, Midas. I had to have you for the Splatfest." She answered passionately. She kept reaching for him, stopping herself hesitantly each time. She wanted desperately to feel him against her body.
"Such valiance…such grace. If you wanted me that badly…all you had to do was ask. I would've swept you up in an instant." He maintained his steady, unyielding expression as he reached through her arms and planted his hands around her waist, eliciting a slight gasp from her. "You are the pinnacle of octoling beauty. You even show it in the way you fight."
With his hands now settled on her, inching precariously towards some of her "rounder" features, Aurora found the permission to place her own hands on him. She rested her palms gently against the front of his vest and slid them up towards his shoulders, feeling for herself how poorly the garment fit on him. His chest felt like it could break free of that vest at any moment. She shuddered weakly at the feeling, answering to it by thrusting her own chest against his…so that he may feel for himself the additional curves she had to offer. She hoped…more desirously with each passing second…that he would start getting explorative with those hands of his. Those hands…which were now boldly grasping her ass.
"Mmm…" She moaned. "…have you ever wondered what octoling tastes like?"
"Oh, Aurora…you know I'm dying to find out." He stated seductively.
Midas leaned his face in at the same time she did, and their lips met in the middle, engaging rapidly in an aggressive kiss. Sparing each other the middle-school stuff, they dove right into battling each other's tongues, fighting ardently to get in each other's mouths. Aurora wasted no time in establishing a grip on her inkling, pulling him against her by his lower back. Each time they came up for air, their mouths remained sloppily connected by a stretchy ink strand, whose color was a dirty mixture of its hosts' team colors.
The lovers held no regard for the bystanders around them. Within just seconds of starting their intense make-out session, Aurora's knees buckled underneath her, and she pulled Midas down with her until he was positioned on top of her on the ground. From there, it was only a matter of time. Aurora's world disintegrated around her as her senses lost focus and became powerfully overwhelmed by Midas's body. She began losing the turf war going on in their mouths, as she could not hold back the strong moans that kept emanating from her throat. She could really feel how ready he was through both their shorts. It only served to prep her further as well.
Once he felt her start to falter from returning his kisses, he took it as an invitation to begin planting them down her neck. While doing so, he sifted his hands around to the front of her pelvis and stuck them underneath her shirt, caressing her bare abdomen as if it already contained dozens of his spawn. He slowly worked them farther up from there, feeling around the fabric of her bra…and welling up within her an uncontrollable desire to have it removed. He was being so patient against her yearnful cries…teasing her with his every move…wringing from her every savory drop of lust he could draw…until it drove her to absolute insanity. If he didn't start removing her clothes soon, she felt like she was gonna…
…like she was gonna…
…she was gonna…
…Oh cod…she was gonna…
Aurora jolted awake suddenly as an unprecedented surge of pleasure exploded through her body, locking her in a sort of vice-like paralysis while her involuntary moans filled the bedroom. Every inch of her was filled to the brim with this feeling, causing her to twitch under the sleeping bag cover with each electric wave of it that passed through her. Her senses failed to return to her completely until about ten or fifteen seconds later, when the rushes slowly began to subside. At that point, she was finally able to piece together what had just happened.
For one thing, she had just inked the crap out of the sleeping bag. Her hand was already stuffed down her shorts, which explained how she had managed to do this to herself, and by moving her fingers around in there, all she could feel was warm, slimy ink coating the insides of her thighs. It was obviously on her hand as well…and her shorts…and the sleeping bag cover. It was everywhere.
On top of that, Aurora realized that her wide-open mouth was pressed firmly against Wah-Wah. She quickly withdrew her face from the fabric that made up his cheek, and she reached for it with her free hand to survey the damage. Unsurprisingly, her childhood plushie had unwillingly gone on the ride with her. She had apparently made out with him in her sleep, and in doing so, she had gotten him soaked with her saliva. There was no way for her to know how long she had been slobbering on him like that, so the only thing she could assume was that he needed to be washed again. Badly. And…everything else, of course.
She had a feeling she would be doing her own laundry tomorrow.
In the wake of her unexpected orgasm, Aurora's first sensible thought was whether she had awoken Ula with her moaning. Judging by the snoring coming from the bed, however, her question on that was answered rather quickly. That would've been the worst possible level of embarrassment for her. For both of them, in fact.
Aurora didn't know what to do with herself. Her comfy bedtime shorts were soaked, and so was the inside of the sleeping bag. Not to mention her Wah-Wah, who also felt too damp to keep close to her body. She laid perfectly still in the middle of it all, hand still in contact with her nether region, panting heavily while her heartrate gradually returned to normal. And, of course, her mind was still saturated with thoughts of Midas. She just…could not get him out of her head. How was she even going to get back to sleep?
She sighed. After such a crazy dream, her thoughts about what she had experienced continued to swirl around unimpeded. With nothing else to do but lay there and think about her crush, Aurora quickly found herself resuming her previous activity before she could pull her hand out of her pants. Starting with a gentle, circular motion, the lustful octo failed to hold in another long, deep moan as she surrendered herself and let the feeling overtake her a second time. Her bedding was already completely ruined, she figured, so there couldn't have been any harm in giving her body more of what it desperately craved. She didn't care that Ula was sleeping right next to her. With all of her walls crumbled, she gave in and just…let it happen.
She had to win the rematch tomorrow. Every fiber of her feeble being was attached stringently to that cause. If she and her friends couldn't prevail over the inkling boys, then…
…were these nights ever going to stop?