she must be heaven sent

“Oopsie,” Annelise repeated, her voice flat, as she stared at the blonde. She saw the finger coming towards her nose and moved her head, but the combination of her reflexes, and the drunken aiming meant it hit her in the cheek. “Well, that is a possibility. But I might step on…something.”

“Maybe it’s a boy vs. girls thing. I’m convinced that boys don’t actually have taste buds. But it’s just a theory that I’m working on.” Stay focused, she told herself. As amusing as the other’s ramblings were, she did have a goal (besides having fun at the party) and that goal was one Meghan Morrison. “Well, I don’t know if I mentioned, but I am sort of new, and like, I don’t know anyone, except for you, so, like, just fill me in. Tell me who I should know. If I see anyone especially luscious, I’ll shout.”

“Oh! Oh! Boys are the worst. Them and their taste buds!” Faye might still have Jesse on her very drunken mind but she was determined not to get into it. At least, not with Cool-Pink-Hair-Girl. Faye giggled when she said ‘luscious’ and was suddenly not sad about Meghan anymore. Who knew? Maybe even on this most magical of nights, things could be good again with her. Tomorrow held a plethora of possibilities. Heh, plethora. What a weird word! “Isn’t plethora the weirdest word ever? But ohmygosh, yes. Love it! Consider me your Havensdale tour guide. I mean, there’s me obvi. My absolute besties Quinn and Isabel are amazing but they’re... I, uh, huh. I kinda lost track of them though. Oh! Juliette Palmer is ah-mazing but...but she ghosted, actually, at prom. Oh jeez. This isn’t going super great, huh? There’s---,” oh! She got it! “I’ve got it!”

For the record, I think you’re totally cool and funny. But, hey, now that I’m gonna be out there in the real world, there’s gonna be an open position for ‘super cool and funny person’ in the school, if you really wanted to try and fill it [he winks]. Oh, I knew you would be. Call me psychic or whatever, but drunk people somehow always have the munchies. That, or they’re all puke-y, but you have way too much energy to be at that stage yet. [He mimes his mind being blown] chips ON a sandwich? Are you sure you can handle that kind of awesomeness? I make really, really good BLT/potato chip/onion ring sandwiches…..

That does not help at all, but I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. This is gonna be the last Beaumont Bash, so we have to really outdo ourselves this time. Shit, am I gonna have to become a teen dad just to carry on this legacy as soon as possible? Nah, I’ll leave that one to Ricky. He’s probably got a kid or two out there already. Don’t tell him I said that.

Aw, Steven! That’s so nice of you to say, ohmygosh. It’s fine, like, I know I’m sometimes just the worst, you know? On purpose. But I don’t- Like, I don’t want to be, I just... If there’s a job opening, maybe. Next year could be totally different, forsure. Oh, ew. I hope I don’t get all puke-y, that’d be embarrassing. Plus I heard what happened to the vase in Greg Porter’s living room at the last rager he had. [ Giggles profusely at his mind blowing! ] Yes! I’m ready to take on this challenge. In a way, I’ve been training for it all my libe- life. Yes to all. Or, like, all on the one sandwich? I trust you, either way.

Sophia watched the sudden shifts in the blonde, glad that she wasn’t having to hide her amusement because she wasn’t sure she’d be able to do so. She had been pretty sure that she was going to have to enchant one of the high schoolers, but, nope, just get them drunk. So much easier. And much funnier. “Drinks. We were talking about pink drinks. Which are such a pretty color.” How lucky that she’d found one so shallow! “And so much yummier than beer. I’m not a big fan of beer. I wonder if they have other color drinks. I bet purple would be nice too.” A gentle tug on her hand and they were inside. “Yes. I think we should be.”

“Oh my gosh, no! Beer is terrible. They make it out to be like, this super great thing that you have to have after winning a football game but bleugh. So gross. Ooh... We’re inside now. I think my mom had that exact picture frame before throwing it out ‘cause she just hated it one day.” Faye was, to say the least, a chatty drinker. It helped that she suddenly thought the world of this pink haired genius who reminded her so much of her dearest Meghan. “Amazing, yay! And like, if you want me to introduce you to anyone else, I totally can. Especially if someone is, you know... You think they’re-,” she lowered her voice conspiratorially, “Cute. You could start a whole thing tonight.”

She’d kind of lost track of Faye somewhere between the poor blonde losing the election and everyone piling into their cars and party-vans and fancy limos to head to the after-party. But when she spots her, Val quickly makes a beeline in her stilettos– whoever switched to flats were just weak. “Hey, are you– Wait, what are you doing?” she asked as she stared at the phone. “Are you drunk?”

“Oh wow. Okay.” Jamie let herself be pulled from another conversation and smiled for the photo, trying not to let Faye’s hair get stuck on her lip gloss. At this point, Jamie was sure that everyone had heard about Jesse and Faye’s argument outside of prom, but from all the different versions she had heard, she was sure the facts were a bit jumbled. One thing she was sure of though, was that he couldn’t possibly have been stealing her ballots. What the hell happened that night she slept over? “Hey Faye! You look like you’re having a good time!”

“Hi Jamie! Ohmygod, Jamie,” she said at a totally normal volume (yeah, right), waving her hands excitedly as if she’d never seen her before. “My favourite McArthur, the most beautiful McArthur ever! Look at you, ohmygosh. I can’t even. See?” Faye held the picture up to Jamie’s nose to fully prove her point, giggles spilling out haphazardously as she pocketed her phone. “Yes, thank you for noticing. This is, like, the funnest party I’ve been to in forever. Are you having fun? Very cool of you to be here, by the way. You’re well on the way to-,” she sang her next words-, “High school stardom.” She beamed at Jamie before something suddenly hit her and she just had to say it out loud! “Oh my god, Jamie. Do you, like, know what the problem is though? Boys. Aren’t they just the worst? I mean, seriously. Seriously!”

Well, as long as I was referenced, at least. I’m sure I’ll turn up eventually. [ smiles a little like wow this feels pleasant ] Thanks… Faye. You look really lovely too. Can you believe we survived junior year?

Absolutely! There’d be no other way to get through the meetings. I- Um, of course. You’re welcome, Juliette. [ Absolutely not smiling at that comment (a lie, of course, she was absolutely smiling ] Thank you. My aunt used her pull with Stella Bell to get me a sympathy dress, I think, since the birthday one was a dud. Ha, um, no? I mean, somehow, right? I’m glad we did though.

Oh no. The smile was gone. Had she been too obvious in her disdain for the whole conversation? Sophia pasted a wider smile on her face, tilting her head to the side in what she knew would make her seem more welcoming. “Are you okay? You seem a little…Do you need another drink? I’m going to go get us each another one of those neon pink drinks they have inside. They’re really good. How does that sound? I think that sounds super good, okay? Yeah, let’s do that.” She had a feeling that if she got the younger blonde a bit tipsier, she could get even more information about Meghan Morrison. “She’s totally here. I mean, senior prom is the biggest event of the year. Like, a huge deal.”

“Of course! I’m totally, totally okay. I’m like, A-okay, you know? I was just- Huh?” Faye was quickly distracted by how lovely that Sophia With The Pink Hair was being, beaming especially bright when she mentioned the ‘neon pink’ drinks. She was totally falling in love. What a dreamboat. She made a very tipsy mental note to text Isabel and Quinn about her. “I would so totally love that, yes! Thank you. You’re so nice. Did you know you’re so nice? We should get a picture together! With- With the pink drinks to match your pink hair. It’ll be amazing,” she gushed, letting Sophia lead her in the right direction. “We should be friends.”