#aastuck-open

Some people collected cards, or even pressed flowers or art, but then there were the stranger students at the academy that collected things like crystal balls and beads. Meenah wasn’t really the type for anime merchandise or card games, but one thing that she had a secret stash of was Squiddles™ merchandise that would put any super collector to shame. With the contents of her closet in her room being absolutely clogged with her pseudo-shrine to the children’s show, the young heiress was one that now had issues finding pieces of merchandise she didn’t have. Well, until the comic book store in town had specially ordered something in the hopes that the Peixes would bite the lure.

While the show had been long ended after seven seasons, the Squiddles™ franchise still expanded themselves greatly with the release of their comics and a video game series. And one of the things that came with their video games? figurines and cards that could be scanned on your consoles for in-game content. While Meenah had already collected every single figurine and card from the first series released, the second series of merchandise was mere hours from being released - and the young rebel had full intentions of being first in line so she could buy out every product they had.

What does a coffee shop manager do during the months of November and December? They roll out the peppermint and pack it in for awesome tips. Which is exactly what Meenah did. After spending a week decorating Derse Coffeehouse like it was a frosty wonderland, the teen heiress began her conquest with every form of winter treat and drink she could make, which indeed included the ever popular peppermint hot chocolate. It was all ready, and now as the final week before christmas neared, Meenah got herself set up for another busy weekend - that is, until she realized that her boss wanted the employees to pull absolutely all the stops for the final week.

Music classes at the academy weren’t always just classical stuff - a lot of students couldn’t do more classical music with their choice instruments, anyways - and this one new assignment was far from classic. Students were told to be their own band, be it through recording and overlaying their instruments or playing multiple instruments at once, but the chance to show off in a most spectacular way had the young heiress spinning in her seat until the class bell rang, instantly sending her running out of the room to solidly book the music rooms for the next week straight. Everything had to be perfect for this.

For Meenah, why couldn’t she overlay some of her music recordings and play other instruments live? Not many students would do both, but music was one of the few classes that had the young Peixes prodigy excited and completely ready to blow everyone away. For Meenah, she was always playing as the second instrument in formal performances - her best friend always holding the first piano spot, and the bass guitar not being a wildly prominent instrument - so she was absolute in her decision to be number one for once in this class. This also allowed her to do something she had only previously done in front of her closest companions; sing.

Practicing and recording until her fingers were bruised and tired, even going so far as to pull all nighters in the recording booth, Meenah pushed herself furiously to get everything flawless - the background instrumentation, the overlays, the cueing - up until the very night before the class show. Having bribed the tech team students that were in her physics class, the teen Peixes got to set everything up in the late hours of the night, lighting up the stage and setting up her recordings and keyboard at centerstage, just her school skirt and a black tank top on as she slung her bass guitar strap over her shoulder, readying her fingers on the keys as she inhaled, then exhaled as her music started.

Most kids on campus went out of their way to avoid Meenah when they could - her tall stature and hard personality, combined with looks that could kill (as well as fists), she wasn’t one people approached easily - but there were always exceptions to that. There were people who saw the need to push back, people who wanted to crack her to the core like she had a toffee center, and even people who thought she was attractive in some regards. The last one, she firmly doubted on most occasions, but for the past few days in her classes it felt as if someone was watching her, maybe even following her around campus a bit as she hung out with other students and did her work. It was a foolish worry - especially when she towered over 95% of students around her, like anyone wanted to risk getting caught by her and getting beaten up - but the feeling didn’t go away even when she was in the hallway at her locker.

It’s not that Meenah often used her locker, but she needed a textbook she rarely used that was buried under the athletics gear she had shoved haphazardly in the bottom compartment of the locker, the mess of stuff toppling gracelessly around at her feet as she groaned and bent down to pick up her things. As she was tossing sweaty gym shorts in the locker, something caught her eye as it lay balled up on the ground. It could have been there before all her shit flooded the hallway, but curiosity got the best of the young Peixes as she reached a thin hand out to unfurl the rumpled envelope. It didn’t appear to be originally crumpled up, but if it fell in the avalanche of crap Meenah had, it’d have gotten somewhat mussed up. In clean script on the front of the envelope, Meenah’s name was printed neatly, prompting her to open the small package and reading out:

“When I saw you in class, I wanted to introduce myself. Saying you aren’t lovely would be a lie. I felt that greeting you in front of the class would be rather pressing, but I’d love to get to know you better on Friday after class. I’ll be on the roof.”

Biting her lower lip and cramping the note into her back pocket before someone caught her reading it, the young Peixes snatched up her things and threw her locker shut, storming off towards the one person she could trust with this information - Jane Crocker. As she discussed with her best friend about the situation, Meenah was finally talked into going and meeting this mystery person, even if it was just a ruse to fuck with her. At least now that she was stronger, she could defend herself and hurt the people who tried to hurt her based on her appearance. She could at least handle herself now.

The issue with working at Derse was that there were always open positions that needed to be filled - those of which, were previously owned by students. Students that left the academy because they were either kicked out for not being smart/gifted/etc enough or because they were switching schools for some reason. Either way, the near campus coffee shop needed new bodies to work with, and Meenah - being the student manager - was hellbent on finding someone somewhat capable for filling at least one of the positions.

The first step, as always, was to place a stupid Help Wanted sign in the window of the shop, the next step was simply Meenah spending too much time making shimmery Help Wanted posters to place around the school. If there was a humanly possible way to add more glitter to her posters the teen Peixes surely would have, but at a certain point one had to choose between less glitter and permanent blindness. Roaming around the school grounds when she should have been in english class, the young heiress metaphorically decked the halls in November, wearing a sweater with a huge shark knitted on the front and her usual sneakers and jeans at Meenah went on with her handiwork.