Lily

~

Alice frowned at Lily’s answer. Fact of the matter was they didn’t know the answer -it had been puzzling them all day- but the answer sounded so ludicrous that Alice couldn’t say for sure if it was correct. “An umbrella?” Alice repeated. “Why would anyone want to put an umbrella up a chimney? That’s dangerous and entirely impractical! Surely that can’t be the answer.”

~

“I’m not sure” she shook her head “maybe it’s not supposed to be practical?” Lily gave a shrug, “but if you think about it it does make sense. When an umbrella is down it’s like a pole or a stick so it’d go down a chimney just fine, but when an umbrella is up it wouldn’t fit up a chimney”

Alice found themselves rather perplexed, walking through the streets of Andromeda and muttering something on repeat to themselves. See, Alice had skimmed through an old and relatively boring book at breakfast that morning, and happened on a page with a riddle. Unfortunately, the page was a little worse for wears, and now the question had been stuck in their brain all day. “What can go up a chimney down, but not down a chimney up? Up… but not down… Or down but not up…”

“Oh, I think I’ve heard this one before. Is it an umbrella?” Lily asked, she hadn’t heard this particular riddle in a while, but she had had a teacher in the third grade that would put a new riddle on the board every day for his students to solve. If you got it correct you’d get your choice from his candy drawer.

Lily: I have to run a few errands, but if you wanted to come over today I could text you my address

Jasmine: I'm still closing the restaurant so I'll be there afterwards

Anna bit her lip for a moment when the brunette said she wouldn’t kill it, she was hoping she would, but she’d be okay. Maybe, without the murder of the a arachnid on her hands for the day. But if she caught it then maybe she wouldn’t be filled with guilt of killing a spider. She looked at the girl and said “okay but if you and I catch it then I’ll still give you free popcorn.”

“Deal” she smiled at the agreement of free popcorn “do you have a water cup or something?” she asked “oh and either some napkins or oh maybe one of those things the nachos or hot dogs go in.”

Jasmine: Perfect, I am rather excited to try it.

Lily: we should have a total at home spa day

Jasmine: well that sounds just amazing right now

Jasmine: Perfect, I am rather excited to try it.

Jasmine: I wrote an email and sent it off to the company and they told me they didn't realize one ingredient was higher than the other in that batch. It was insane. Legally I was awarded a sum not a large sum but a sum nonetheless. And I got to practice some legal jargon on them so that was nice.

Jasmine: Well I never really get those kind of items for myself so this is a real treat but how do you use face masks properly because one time I messed up and ended up with a rash on my face.

~

Tina paused for a moment, pursing her lips. Truthfully, she hadn’t thought about what she was going to do, given how much was going on in her life outwith this marriage thing. Tina didn’t have an answer for anything lately. Things just happened, and she put them away in a drawer out of sight. “I haven’t thought that far ahead,” she admitted finally, sinking into her chair with a sigh. “But I don’t think they have either, so I guess I shouldn’t worry about it, right?”

~

“Right” she nodded “So why is it again that you’re the one planning all of this on your own? It’s not even your wedding, real or fake. Where are the boys? You should call or text them right now and tell them to help you, or at least demand some sort of compensation for all this work and effort”

Anna was working later than usual, there were still movies going so it wasn’t like she was all by herself but still she didn’t like the time she had to be alone when she was at work. And she really didn’t like it when something spooky happened and she was manning the counter by herself but tonight when a spider the size of the bottom of the small soft drink landed on the phone she went from “I’m going to die” to “I’m going to pee my pants” to “I’m going to kill it” she went to hit it on the landline phone and she missed. “Dang it, I thought it I had it!” she said before seeing someone else there. “Sorry, how can I help you? Or can you kill a massive spider for me? I’ll give you free popcorn?”

The movie was somewhere into the second act, at least Lily hoped it was as it seemed to be moving very very slowly, and she’d gone out to grab some more snacks. She was nearing the concessions area, still trying to decide if she was in the mood of something salty or sweet when she was suddenly caught off guard by the woman hitting the phone on the table. A spider. Ah yes, that sort of explained things. Most people were not very into spiders. “How about I catch it for you?” Lily wasn’t a huge fan of the eight-legged creatures either, but she doubted it had done anything to warrant a death sentence. 

“I’m praying to the high heavens that the one Lost Boy braincell doesn’t find them before they change their mind, because they might figure out where to get paperwork,” Tina snorted, blissfully unaware that Peter had, in fact, found some paperwork and tried to make Wendy sign it. She knew there was more to it than that, but they didn’t, and the thought was what counted apparently. “Or that it does find them and makes them see sense for once. But– I mean, it’s been a few weeks now, so I’m starting to lose hope on that one.”

“What are you going to do if they actually go through with...whatever this actually is?” Lily looked down into her cup, still trying to wrap her head around the idea of Peter and Tobias. While she had never pegged Peter for marriage of any sort, she’d always figured it would have been Tina, even if it was fake. Once upon a time she might have thought Wendy, but she knew that ship had sailed. 

Jasmine: I mean I suppose so? What kind of items?

“I would love that, Lily.” Her words genuine as she looked up at the other girl. A slight seriousness took over her features. “I’m sorry, that we weren’t closer before. We should’ve been great friends a long time ago.” Wendy didn’t feel like diving into what had prevented them. “But, now that we are, I promise to protect you from any would-be admirers.”

“Hey, none of that” she shook her head as Wendy started to apologize “the past is in the past and so is this drink” she laughed looking down to notice the empty glass now in her hand. She lifted her hand to get someone’s attention before ordering herself another one. “Wendy Darling my heroine” she smiled at Wendy’s promise.

“Peter doesn’t seem to think it’s a game at all,” Tina admitted, though she was glad that Lily at least knew where she was coming from. At the offer of some cake, Tina nodded, scrambling under her pile of scrap papers for a fork she had used earlier. “Have I told them that it’s stupid?” Tina continued, taking a small piece of the cake. “I told Peter, but he wasn’t very happy about it. Also told him they would have to do paperwork to try to put them off, but apparently that didn’t work.”

Hearing that he didn’t think of it as a game was weird. Wasn’t everything a game to Peter? Even if that wasn’t true, something like this felt like it certainly would have been. “Well, at least I doubt they’ll be able to do anything with the paperwork” she slid her fork down into the side of the cake closest to her “Or maybe they’ll get bored before they even find it”

🌟- For a secret wish or desire of theirs

 “to be able to head up a program that teaches people about indigenous cultures and history with lessons or courses that are taught by people from different indigenous groups”

🍏- For something they secretly wish didn’t exist

 “protein shakes. they always taste like chalk”

🍻- For something bad/mischievous you did as a child or teen that your parents don’t know about

“Probably all the times I snuck out past curfew”

👻- For something that scares or disturbs them, but they refuse to tell anyone

(already answered)

☢️- For a controversy or scandal they have been able to keep mostly under wraps

“nothing that I can think of”

📒- For a secret journal/diary they keep (Bonus: Share an entry from it!)

“nice try, but it’s called a secret diary”

Lily still has a stuffed floppy fox that she’s had since she was a kid