A/N: Hello friends! It's been a very, very, very long time. I didn't forget about Most Likely to Succeed, I promise! A global pandemic did throw me off course though, I'll admit. I hope everyone has been staying as healthy and as happy as possible. Here is Chapter 10 of Most Likely to Succeed, and it's pretty intense and I'm really proud of it and hope you enjoy!

I do not own Codename: Kids Next Door or any characters, just ideas.

Friday - 1:19 p.m

McClintock High - Band Room

Screwing around with the mouthpiece on his saxophone, Hoagie muttered profanities under his breath while angrily gritting his teeth. He hated homecoming week. Spirit days are fucking stupid, what kind of high schooler wants to participate in 'Meme Monday', 'Tourist Tuesday', 'Wacky Wednesday', 'Throwback Thursday' or 'Fun School Spirit Friday'? It's stupid. And it's stupid the band director is forcing all of the kids to participate. It was stupid that he specifically came up to Hoagie and Bartie and Herbie and Kade and Virginia and said if they decided to opt out of spirit week, he would make their lives even worse than normal. "Davis can suck a fat one," Bartie grunted under his breath, angrily cleaning his trumpet right beside Hoagie.

"Christ, you two act like having a little school spirit is going to kill you," Kade said, "You were fine,"

"It's just a load of bullshit to further establish the hierarchy. You know damn well the only people that are going to participate in those bullshit themes are the cheerleaders and the athletes and the freshman." Hoagie said, "Assholes that peak in high school,"

"Jesus, you are angry today, Gilligan. You gonna Hulk out?" Hoagie's blue eyes quickly darted over towards Kade in a glare. Kade rolled his eyes.

"I just don't know why I decided to do marching band," He muttered and then gave a fake look towards Virginia and Kade, "Oh yeah, because you two were all like 'ooo it's our senior year, we might as well do it, blah blah blah'. Fuck you," The two only rolled their eyes in response.

"I can't believe we're going to have to listen to them announce the court," Bartie groaned, putting his head in his hands, "As if their heads aren't big enough as it is,"

"Big heads, no brains," Herbie muttered, making Hoagie look over at him and laugh.

"Wanna place bets on who's on court?" Virginia asked, even though she knew the answer already and began searching her bookbag for her wallet. Hoagie put down his saxophone and reached into his back pocket, grabbing his brown leather wallet.

"There are five each right?" Hoagie asked, Virginia nodded. He clicked his tongue and tapped his foot in unison in thought. "Eva. Henrietta. Fanny and Lizzie, obviously. And Valerie," He nodded.

"Oh, no. Kuki all the way, not Valerie, she's awful." Herbie argued, making Bartie shake his head,

"Yeah, dumbass, Kuki's too nice to be on homecoming court. Besides, she'll probably be on prom court. Homecoming is always for the cheerleaders," The sandy-haired boy said,

"Kuki is a cheerleader, dumbass," Herbie responded, mocking Bartie's tone,

"She's not…" Virginia hesitated, "Kuki isn't like them, I think she only does it because she's scared of rejection," Actually, she didn't think, she knew. The Japanese girl had told her last year when they were six of the 'Married Murderesses' doing the 'Cell Block Tango' during their school's production of Chicago the Musical.

"Whatever," Hoagie muttered, "For the rest, I have Patton, Beatles, both Doblemitz's, and Seth,"

"Yeah, I think those five dipshits are probably our only option-"

"Hey! Will the five of you stop screwing around and go to the gym and warm up?!" Bartie looked over at the band director and groaned. Davis simply shook his head and muttered what Hoagie thought was "Jesus Christ" under his breath. The other four groaned as well, regardless, they still stood up, grabbed their instruments and headed for the gymnasium.

Friday - 1:22 p.m

McClintock High - Gymnasium

Kuki (and all of the other senior cheerleaders) dressed up and looked the best she possibly could. Wearing a lavender, long sleeve, midi dress that was fitting, but flattering, with wedges, she felt pretty good. Nervous, because she was sure the race would be between her and Valerie. Just thinking of the humiliation of not being on homecoming court with her best friends made her nauseous; it would simply prove that she doesn't belong.

All of those years of faking it until you make it were about to go down the drain for Kuki Sanban. She could feel it in her bones.

Sitting beside Henrietta and Valerie, she half-heartedly listened to the gossip but mostly focused on watching the crowds of high schoolers pour into the gym. Freshman were talking so loud they were nearly screaming to their friends right beside them, which makes sense seeing as this would be their first high school pep rally. Sophomores were significantly less enthusiastic than their younger peers, already being through the thrill of their first year of high school. Being that young, unless they have older siblings, most of the underclassmen had no idea who a lot of the upperclassmen were. Kuki was sure they heard things and saw the football players as Gods and saw the cheerleaders like herself doing their lip gloss in the bathroom mirror, but they didn't know them. Which is why she considered it slightly unfair that they were allowed to vote for homecoming king and queen.

She supposed it was just the administration trying to teach them young about the high school hierarchy.

Continuing her people watching and occasionally nodding along to whatever bullshit was spewing out of Fanny's mouth she watched the marching band walk in and focused in on the five losers that had been inseparable since seventh grade. Seeing the five of them laugh made her wish she wouldn't have cheered. Sure, she wouldn't have been friends with them in the fall (she wouldn't be caught dead with an instrument in the marching band) but by the time the musical came around, she could have weasled her way into their little friend group.

Her attention was quickly averted when she saw Abby Lincoln and Rachel McKenzie walk in side-by-side both chuckling about something. The two had to have felt the five cheerleaders' eyes follow them up until the point they sat down on the bleachers. Kuki felt her stomach drop when her friends fell into silence as the duo walked by. She knew they were going to go after Rachel like vultures. Fanny spoke up when the two had passed, but spoke loud enough so that they could probably hear, "Didn't realize Abby hangs around whores now," Kuki felt herself flinch. She saw Abby flinch, but kept walking. Rachel, on the other hand, had no reaction at all.

She supposed that Rachel only stands up to mean girls when she's drunk.

For once, Lizzie didn't seem too into it. She laughed along with Fanny, but didn't offer any snarky commentary. She only leaned back onto Nigel's good knee and held his hand. Odd, Kuki thought. She shrugged it off, probably on her period or something; Lizzie always ends up sad and quiet when it's her time of the month.

The gym was suddenly soundless when the principal began tapping on the microphone. He took a deep breath and put on his flashiest smile, "Ladies and gentlemen, today we find out who you, the student body, chose to be on this year's homecoming court!"

Kuki felt her heart drop into her stomach and then her stomach drop down to her feet. She knew whoever was nominated; someone was going to end up left out and pissed off.

She supposed she could just kill herself for attention when she wasn't nominated.

The raven-haired girl knew that it didn't really matter, especially in the large scheme of things, whether or not she was on homecoming court. One, there are people dying. Two, the planet had like maybe forty years left before climate change destroys everything and three, there was always prom. But was there prom? Probably not, she decided.

She supposed she was destined to be a loser and an outcast for the rest of high school.

The principal held his smile and let out a small laugh, "Ladies first," He dramatically pulled out a piece of paper from the back pocket of his dress-pants and unfolded it. "Eva Bates!"

Obviously Eva was the first one up. She was the prettiest girl in the entire school; she had been since freshman year. The redhead stood up and plastered on her picture-perfect bright white smile, walking up to the principal, who handed her a sash and a small tiara. Kuki had the overwhelming urge to punch her in the face when she turned around and princess waved to the crowd, sending everyone (mostly the boys) into applause.

One by one Principal Wilson called her friends up. First Eva, then Fanny, then Henrietta, then Lizzie. It was between her and Valerie, just like she predicted.

She didn't really feel anything immediately after he called up the blonde instead of herself. Once she saw her put the sash on she felt her stomach drop and she could feel eyes from the people sitting in the vicinity on her. Specifically Nigel's. She couldn't stop herself from glancing back towards him and shivered at the look of pity in his blue eyes. Kuki only gave him a tight-lipped grin when he mouthed "sorry".

She supposed she could drop out and just take the GED test, she would have no problem passing that.

Kuki didn't even bother listening to Principal Wilson announce the boys, she knew who was going to be up there. Though, admittedly, seeing Wally Beatles stand up there in his wrinkled button down and khakis and a blush across his cheeks made her feel… slightly relieved. Safe, almost. She had the overwhelming urge to go up to him and give him a hug and tell him everything was going to be okay, like he was a puppy in a thunderstorm.

The dark haired girl tried to put on a brave face as the assembly ended and everyone began to head outside, leaving for the weekend. "Congrats guys!" She exclaimed as Eva pulled her into a hug.

"Should've been you," She whispered in her ear, making Kuki shiver. She couldn't decide if this was Eva finally showing some form of human emotions, or if she was trying to stir the pot between the group of girls.

Finally, when the gym had cleared out and Kuki managed to make her way to the parking lot, she took a deep breath. The crisp, fall air felt so good flowing through her nose, she finally felt her heart rate go down. Pulling her lanyard out of her bookbag she unlocked her car and sat in the driver's seat for a few seconds. She wanted to cry. She wanted to turn up the music, roll down the windows, and drive 90 miles an hour while sobbing.

She supposed she could just go home and snuggle under some blankets and get all of her tears out before the game. As she was trying to calm herself down before starting the Prius, a knock on the passenger window made her yelp and jump. As she went to roll down the window, Lizzie simply opened the door and sat down, "Wanna hang out?"

"Um, not really-"

"It should've been you, b-t-w," She reached behind her and buckled up, "Can we go to CVS? I need some Gatorade for tonight- whatever you want is on me,"

She supposed she could just jerk the wheel along the way and put herself out of her misery.

"Yeah, sure,"

What they were standing in was not the food and beverage aisle that the pharmacy has to offer. Kuki felt her palms moisten as she watched Lizzie carefully pick out three pregnancy tests; First Response, Clearblue, and e.p.t. Kuki couldn't necessarily complain though, Lizzie kept to her word and did get two Fruit Punch Gatorades, one for herself and one for Kuki.

The redhead said nothing to Kuki, but simply walked up to the checkout. The raven-haired girl followed her, feeling sort of numb. Lizzie couldn't be pregnant. She kept telling herself that her friend (was friend even the right word? Yes, Kuki figured in the current situation it was) was not pregnant. Lizzie was overdramatic, that was one of her defining traits. Besides, Nigel is smart, he knows better than to not use protection.

Lizzie inserted her card into the machine and next thing Kuki knew, they were back at the Sanban household. Lizzie squeezed Kuki's hand and the two went into the bathroom that the seventeen year old and her little sister shared. Kuki tried to ignore how uncomfortable the whole situation was and as she listened to the sound of Lizzie peeing.

Lizzie finally made her way through five bottles of water and the three pregnancy tests and sat beside Kuki on the edge of the bathtub. The five minutes went by achingly slow and in aching silence between the two. It's not as if they had much to discuss anyways because they weren't really friends. Kuki realized that none of them were really friends. They hung out and got drunk and cheered and gossiped together. That's it. Unless maybe that's all friends did together and these girls would be the most intimate friendships Kuki would ever experience. She shivered at the thought.

The timer went off and Lizzie stood up and looked at the tests. She turned back to Kuki who had her dark eyebrows raised in suspense. "All three," She whispered nearly inaudibly. Sitting back down on the bathtub beside the Japanese girl, she let out her first heart wrenching sob. "Fuck,"

"Lizzie-" Kuki wasn't even sure why she began speaking. What was she supposed to say? 'Sorry you're knocked up' didn't seem too appropriate at the moment. Lizzie began talking again (something she was fairly good at),

"I can't be pregnant." She sobbed. "It'll ruin his life." Kuki felt her eyebrows cinch together as she pulled Lizzie into her side and began rubbing circles into her back.

"Are you seriously worried about Nigel right now?" Kuki asked. Lizzie only nodded. "You might be pregnant, Lizzie. You shouldn't be worrying about Nigel. You should be worrying about what's best for you. And this potential baby."

"He just," It was hard for Kuki to understand her due to how hard she was sobbing with her face buried in her hands. "He's had such a shitty year. One thing after another." She looked up, and the look on her face made Kuki's heart break. "This would ruin him! He's already smoking cigarettes, he'll probably move on to crack now!" Kuki was sort of shocked to feel the pang in her chest, she was actually feeling sympathy for the devil. She was really shocked that Lizzie was thinking about Nigel of all things, and how it was going to ruin his life, not hers. Surprising, considering Lizzie is one of the most selfish people Kuki had ever met.

Lizzie continued crying and Kuki continued trying unsuccessfully to comfort her until suddenly she stood up and wiped her face. After fixing her mascara as best she could in the mirror, she turned to face Kuki, "Wanna get Taco Bell before we have to head back to the school?" Kuki nodded.

She supposed she could go for Baja Blast after the fucked up day she had.

Hey, at least she wasn't pregnant.

Friday - 9:24 p.m

McClintock High - Mustang Stadium

"Thank God that's over," Hoagie said aloud, taking off his marching band uniform hat. Once he finished undoing his god-awful and horribly tight up-do that Davis insists that all the girls (and Hoagie) have, he flipped his head over and shook his hair out.

"Homecoming hell is over," Bartie sighed in relief, grabbing his water bottle and his trumpet case, "And we lost!"

"I love it when we lose. They look so sad," Herbie added with a laugh. The five teenagers turned to look at the football players slowly walking back to the locker room with their heads hung low.

The five went back to the band room to change out of their stuffy and uncomfortable uniforms before parting ways for the night. Unfortunately for Hoagie, he showed up late and had to park much farther than the rest of his friends. Which explains his confusion as he approached his vehicle. "Oh, hey," Hoagie smiled and raised his eyebrows at the two girls who, interestingly enough, looked like they were expecting him.

"Finally," Rachel exasperated, her arms crossed as she leaned against the Subaru. Hoagie let out a laugh and looked expectantly at Rachel and tried actively to avoid making eye contact with Abby so that he didn't melt into a puddle.

"Didn't realize two women were expecting me," He wiggled his eyebrows, causing both of them to roll their eyes (and made Abby blush just a little bit) and walked over to the SUV, opening the back and carelessly throwing in his balled up uniform and saxophone case. Abby let her eyes follow him when she was sure he couldn't see her staring. He donned a plain white tee shirt and athletic shorts that went all the way to his mid-thigh. She wasn't really sure what she was expecting his legs to look like. They were big, and if she were writing a novel about his legs she would describe them as tree-trunks. Muscular tree-trunks. Hairy, muscular tree-trunks. To resist from letting her eyes travel to what was above the legs but below the torso, Abby looked down. Socks and sandals. Interesting choice.

"My car won't start." Rachel deadpanned, looking at Abby, who was clearly drooling (maybe drooling was a bit dramatic and a bit out of character for Abby, but Rachel insists that she was definitely drooling). Hoagie slammed the back of the Subaru shut and raised his eyebrows expectantly at Rachel. "Oh Hoagie, please help us," The blonde put on a 1950s accent, clapped her hands together and dramatically begged. Hoagie laughed, shook his head and walked over to her car, popping the hood, then quickly did the same thing to the Subaru.

"Dumb question, but indulge me, do you know what's wrong with it?"

"A little sexist of you to assume that I don't know what's wrong with it," Rachel stood beside him, looking under the hood of the 2017 Honda Civic. Hoagie looked over at her with raised eyebrows. "But no. I don't."

"I guess we can just jump it and see what happens," He shrugged.

After what seemed like forever, Rachel's car finally started again, which made her sigh in relief. "Oh my god, Hoagie, thank you so much,"

"Don't mention it, no biggie," Rachel then slyly looked between Abby and Hoagie with a small grin on her face, then looked directly at Hoagie,

"So, are you guys going to homecoming tomorrow?" Hoagie raised his eyebrows. She knew he wasn't going. He would never go to a school dance. They just had this conversation at lunch earlier in the day.

"No," It was clear that Rachel was trying to do something, but Hoagie had no idea what. Her dark eyes bulging out of her head and her eyebrows raised high, she was staring at him as if he were the dumbest person alive. At that moment, Rachel thought he was. "But… we're hanging out at my house afterwards. If you want to come by. If you're not already busy," Hoagie nodded, proud of himself for finally catching onto what Rachel was going for. Although, Rachel already knew all of this. So why-

Oh.

"Sounds good to me," Rachel grinned, "Abby?"

"Oh, I don't know. Depends on whether or not Muffy gets too drunk to hang out or not," Abby shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. If she were honest, she would much rather hang out with Rachel and Hoagie than Muffy and Angie and Anna. They were being jerks lately anyways.

"Gotcha, gotcha," The three engaged in small-talk for a few more seconds before saying their goodbyes for the evening. Him and Tommy stayed parked at the stadium until he saw Rachel and Abby successfully pull out of the parking lot and drive down the stretch of road. "Fuck. I'm such an idiot," Hoagie spoke to himself as he was getting ready to turn out of the parking lot, unfortunately forgetting that his younger brother was in the passenger seat.

"What are you talking about?" Tommy wondered aloud, not even bothering to look up from his phone. The elder Gilligan tightened his grip on the steering wheel (which he noticed was sticky. Why was it sticky?) and let out a deep breath.

"Nothing." This time, Tommy did look up from his phone and with a raised eyebrow turned his head toward his older brother. Quickly, he reached up and clicked on the ceiling light, leaning closer to Hoagie's face.

"Why is your face red? Hm?"

"Dude, what the hell? I'm driving!" Hoagie exclaimed, reaching up to turn the light back off. Tommy swatted his hand away,

"Oh, man. You can't be serious!" Tommy laughed as Hoagie finally turned the light off. "Which one?"

"Shut up,"

"Which one?" Tommy insisted. "It doesn't really matter either way, obviously." Hoagie could feel himself pressing harder on the gas pedal and twitching. "Neither of them would ever have anything to do with you," He laughed and then quickly started yelling as Hoagie slammed on the brakes, bringing the Subaru to an abrupt and heart-racing stop. "What the hell is wrong with y-" Before he knew it the SUV was in park and Hoagie was glaring at his younger brother.

"Get out."

"What?"

"Walk home. Get the fuck out of my car."

"Fine! Fuck you!" Tommy unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door, slamming it shut.

Betty Gilligan was more than used to listening to the relentless arguing between her two children, her mother, her ex-husband, herself. It's all she's ever known. It was more startling to hear the front door open and close with no yelling or swearing or even talking as the two (or so she thought) high schoolers came in. "Dinner's in the oven,"

Hoagie halfheartedly nodded, but instead of entering the kitchen he walked upstairs, slamming his bedroom door shut behind him.

He knew Tommy was right. Maybe that was why it pissed him off so much. Or maybe it's because he got his hopes up about Abby. He laughed dryly to himself and shook his head, I should've known better.

Instead of listening to his thoughts, he shook his head and stripped down to his boxers and grabbed a towel, opting for a hot shower.

A/N: I won't lie, I've been working on an updated outline and some more chapters, but I genuinely have no idea when I'll have the next chapter out. Hopefully it won't be as long of a wait. I plan on coming to a conclusion to this fanfiction even if it's the death of me. Thank you so, so much for reading and I would really appreciate a review - tell me what you thought of the chapter, any suggestions, hopes for the future, I would be grateful for anything (except for hate LOL)! Until next time, stay safe :)

xoxo,

Maddie