Chapter 5: awkward interactions

"Do you got it?" Fionna asked Cake, securing the last leg of their open tent and peaking over at her.

"A-almost…there!" She stuttered and sighed once it was secured as well.

"Awesome, and thanks again for helping me with this thing," she said as she started to set up the table.

"No problem, girl. This sounds super rad. I had no idea they did this every year," she replied while unpacking the flowers.

"Do you know who's camped next to us? It looks like they arrived super early," Fionna asked after she noticed the spot to her right. It has pictures of what looked like face paints, and a table with a large black box on top of it.

"Uh, I dunno. Lemme check," Cake took out a paper from her back pocket and looked through the map portion. "Uhmmm…I have no clue how to even read this map."

"Let me see it," Fionna took the map from Cake and looked at it. "Crap, neither can I."

"Is there someone we could ask?" Cake wondered.

"I dunno, but they'll have to show up sometime. It looks like they're a sponsor as well," she pointed out.

"I guess…do you know what they're doing for fundraising?" Cake asked.

"Uh, it looks like face painting," Fionna said looking over her shoulder.

"Hopefully they're nice. We're stuck with them for a good 24 hours, and I don't want it to be an annoying rivalry," Cake muttered while looking back at the map and trying to decipher it.

"I'm gonna start arranging the flowers and put the rest of the stuff in our tent," Fionna informed her.

"Okay…I'll try to figure out this damn map," Cake replied.

"Oh, and when you're done could you check the activity list and their times? I forgot a whole bunch of them and Lucy wants to know," she requested.

"Uh-huh."

Cake busied herself with the map as Fionna arranged and rearranged different bouquets. She had already set out a few the night before, but those were just regular groups of flowers. Roses, daisies, daffodils, etc. The florist did her best not to touch the delicate petals, and admired their lovely petals while she arranged them. She sighed and smiled before sniffing the new bouquet. A part of her secretly wishes no one would buy her flowers so she could keep the beautiful petals to herself. Their natural perfume always lingered on her blond locks and pale skin. Cake always asked what perfume or body spray she uses, but she just chuckles and says it comes with the job. The light breeze splayed strands of golden hair across her lips, instantly adhering to her Chapstick and vexing the pacified blond.

"Hey! Fi!" Cake shouted despite her only being three feet away. Fionna flinched and nearly dropped her flowers.

"Geez, Cake! Calm down, I'm right here," she snapped.

"Sorry, but I finally figured out this damn map!" She squealed with delight.

"Really?" She stepped closer to her friend and gazed upon the difficult map.

"Yeah, we're right here, and…our neighbor is this guy," she told her while pointing to their places.

"Okay, but who is it?" Fi asked.

"Uh…it says 'Bubba's Bakery'," she read.

"Oh, I know him. He owns the bakery two stores down. I've heard he's very nice and has a b-"

"Yeah, yeah. He sounds wonderful, but why would he be doing face painting?" Cake interrupted while looking skeptically to the set up to their right.

"Oh…yeah, that doesn't make sense. Who's on the other side?"

"Uh…I'm not sure, there's a stain on the map," she confessed sheepishly. Fionna rolled her eyes and smiled slightly at her friend.

"I guess we'll just have to continue to wait and see," Fionna shrugged and continued to set up when she heard her name being called.

"Fionna Murtons?" A short plump woman with a clipboard called. She wore her hair in a low pony with a purple shirt and white capris.

"That's me," Fionna smiled and walked out in to the sun. The lady smiled and looked back down to her clipboard.

"Great, I'm glad you could make it. You're shoppe is called 'Fionna's Flourishing Flowers,' correct?" She asked. Fionna nodded.

"Yup, that's me," she confirmed. The woman grinned and marked something down on her clipboard before looking back up to the blond.

"Excellent. For the next 24 hours your sponsor buddy will be the gentleman to your right," she told them.

"Who is that?" Cake asked. "We haven't seen him and we arrived a bit late."

"Uh…" the lady checked her clipboard, holding her pen to the page and reading across it before smiling again. "Ah! Here he is. His name is Marshall and he has a tattoo parlor called 'Think Ink,'" she informed them. Fionna almost threw up her cheep breakfast burrito. Did she say…

"Marshall? As in…Marshall Lee Abadeer?" Fionna questioned.

"That's the man exactly! Why? Do you know him?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, Fi definitely knows Mr. Abade-uh!" Cake was interrupted by Fionna's elbow jabbing in to her ribs.

"His shop is next to mine, and we…don't exactly get along," Fionna explained.

"Well, good thing it's only 24 hours, right? Hopefully you won't be jumping at each other's throats because some of these challenges require a lot of trust."

"Challenges?" Fionna repeated. The woman nodded.

"Yeah, the challenges."

"I'm sorry, what challenges?"

"The sponsor challenges. It's apart of the fundraiser. All of the sponsors have a partner and they all compete in a series of challenges. Everyone else can bet on the team they think is gonna win, and the winners get a nifty poster and a free 'American Cancer Society' tee-shirt," she informed them.

"Wait…I didn't read anything about challenges in the letter."

"Haven't you been receiving the emails? We've been sending separate emails specifically to the sponsors so they knew about this."

"Um…I can't recall receiving any extra emails…sorry," she admitted.

"It's fine, what you're wearing is fine, and it won't really matter if you lose. All that matters is you have fun, and kick cancers butt!" She exclaimed.

"Um…okay, but is there a way I could possibly switch partners or something?" She practically begged.

"I'm sorry, but if I move you to someone else the whole list is gonna be messed up. I'm sure you can set aside your differences for 24 hours in the name of cancer awareness, right?"

"I don't kno-"

"Well, if you're not that dedicated and refuse to play with your partner, you can sit out or pack up and leave," she said not as cheery as usual.

"W-wait! No, t-that's not what I'm saying-"

"Excellent! I'm so glad you are willing to cooperate with us and your partner," she smiled before walking off to the next tent.

Fionna stood with her jaw dropped to the floor. She still couldn't believe what she had been told, and she still couldn't believe that of all the people in this event she was stuck with the one she absolutely couldn't stand. Cake was just as shocked. Not because she was paired with Marshall, but because of how quickly that woman went from sweetheart to total bitch in five seconds. Needless to say, both girls were unhappy with what had just happened. After a few moments Fionna closed her jaw and raked her fingers through her hair in frustration. She groaned, and shifted her palm over her face.

"This is just fucking perfect," she growled.

"Wow…this is gonna be interesting to watch," Cake chuckled.

"Shut up," Fionna snapped.

"I'm gonna have to get an extra large bowl of popcorn for this. Wow!" She laughed.

"Cut it out, Cake," Fi frowned.

"Can I film this? I really wanna remember this forever," she provoked.

"Cake!" Fionna shouted. Instead of stopping, Cake disintegrated in to annoying giggles while Fionna hid her face. She grumbled before returning to her flowers, only to realize she had finished and had to haul all the boxes back to their car. The florist sighed and picked up the first box.

"I'm gonna put these back in the car, feel free to join me once you stop laughing your ass off," Fionna said.

"Yeah-ha-ha! Okay, h-have fun!" Cake snorted and clutched her stomach from laughing too hard.

"Shut your big mouth before you catch a fly!" Fionna shouted over her shoulder when she accidentally bumped in to someone and dropped the empty cardboard.

"Oof!" She grunted once she hit the gravel, catching herself with her palm and feeling the fresh cuts burn in her calloused skin.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," said a familiar voice as a hand was offered to Fionna. She accepted the helpful hand and allowed the stranger to pull her up.

"No, it's fine. I wasn't…" she trailed off as she found herself face to face with the one and only Marshall Lee Abadeer. He smirked at her sudden silence.

"Looking? I could tell by how loud you were yelling at Cake," he teased. His smirk widened enough to show his teeth as Fionna's cheeks flushed a dull pink. Oh crap. This was not good.

"U-uh, y-yea," she stuttered.

"So, your booth is next to mine, right?" He asked.

"Yup…unfortunately," she muttered the last part to herself while she looked down at the broken gravel.

"Cool, the lady told me we're partners," he told her. Fionna stared up at him firmly, confused by how he could talk so casually to her after…after what they "did" (even though they agreed it never happened…)

"Yeah. I heard." She said harshly. He chuckled.

"Look at us, we're having a normal conversation without jumping at each other throats. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship," he joked, placing his hand on her shoulder and laughing slightly. Fionna instantly shrugged it off.

"Please don't touch me," she said sternly. Marshall blinked, pulling his hand away and shoving it back in to his pocket.

"Uh, okay…May I ask why?"

"You've touched me enough," she said before picking up her box and rushing past him. Marshall sighed and turned his head to watch her walk away, and then ran his fingers through his hair. It was quite warm today…he was starting to regret wearing jeans.