Kaitlyn came away from the tournament with a skip in her step. For the first time ever, she'd managed the impossible: she'd actually won the whole thing.

I did it! Finally! After all this time, I finally, finally won!

The achievement felt like a real milestone to her. It was no Bara Bash, and it was against the most inexperienced versions of everyone that she'd ever meet. But regardless, none of that dimmed her excitement or the pride welling up in her chest.

The win didn't just earn her bragging rights and reputation, either. It also meant she took home a bit of prize money. The amount was admittedly small—a whole $150, half of the $300 prize pool. She could earn the same from a few days working at Chella's, and considering that tournaments only happened every two weeks, they weren't exactly going to replace her job. Still, it wasn't about the money. It was about the accomplishment.

As the weeks flew by, she ended up winning the second tournament as well. By the third, though, Ian had improved enough to bring his plot armor to bear. Between that and ZoggyWoggy's own skill increases, she found it harder and harder to win as convincingly as before. Second place behind Ian was as much as she could manage in a hard-fought series of games. But while the results showed she still had plenty of room to improve, the competition also assured her that she really was keeping her skills sharp.

Aside from that, she spent the majority of her weeks engaged in her other activities. She made a few pretty significant breakthroughs in lab, finally managing to optimize her Western blot conditions perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. The assay still had the annoying habit of just refusing to work sometimes. But It only happened once every few loops now, so it wasn't that big of a deal to just re-run it.

Kaitlyn also spent a lot of time on Kate's Kitchen. Heather's sheer enthusiasm over her desserts had prompted her to expand more in that direction. Caramels, truffles, peanut butter fudge, and all sorts of little no-bake sweets began to pour out of her setup. Just as expected, they were a huge hit.

They're not the prettiest things yet. My fudge in particular looks a little plain. But once I'm more comfortable with the recipe, maybe I'll start getting fancier with the decorations and some other artsy flourishes.

Making food pretty was something she hadn't played with too much, especially since she'd been working with entrees for so long. For those, taste and smell were the biggest factors, so long as they didn't look actively gross or unappetizing. But she found herself looking forward to experimenting with drizzles, sprinkles, and other sorts of decorations at some point. Maybe she could even get Scarra to teach her some tricks on that front.

For now though, the treats were tasty and sold well. That was all she could really hope for.

Despite the sheer profitability of desserts and her spice blends, Kaitlyn still very much enjoyed making food. As creative as she'd gotten, she needed breaks from Cappy's fare pretty regularly for her own sanity and taste buds. And considering that she literally had a business built around selling her cooking, it only made sense to keep scaling up those homemade meals for a group. At this point, it was practically a given that she would always cook for a crowd.

She stood in front of her large stockpot, gazing into its depths. The deep maroon surface of the chili bubbled gently as she stirred, adding a few last minute pinches of salt or other spices to get it just right. White tendrils of steam swirled lazily into the air as she worked, filling the common room with the decadent smell.

It made her feel a little bad, to be honest. The food smelled delicious, but also strong enough that she wished she could crack the windows open. Even if it would disperse naturally in a few hours or so, the thought of random passerby being assaulted by her chili made her second guess cooking a dish like that here, not to mention curry. Heather didn't agree, though. The blonde insisted that it was just good advertising.

Kaitlyn glanced back at her roommate. Heather was standing a few feet away, near one of the common room tables as she chatted with a gaggle of other girls. They were one of the socialite groups that Kaitlyn recognized from past loops, though not the same one that went to the Maze of Ills concert.

"Ugh, I'm so ready for midterms to be over…"

"Right? My brain's gonna melt from all this cramming."

"Totally. I'm like, getting bags under my eyes…"

The other girls had arrived early to pick up their food, mostly because they had to run to class right after. That much Kaitlyn remembered. She usually paid them no mind at all, but it wasn't like she had much else to do than listen in.

"...At least yours are all next week. I've got my first on Monday, and my last isn't till the next Friday. Can you believe it?"

"No way."

"Ugh, that sucks!"

"That shouldn't even be allowed…"

"I'm like, totally gonna need a break after this," she heard Heather say. "We should do something after, to celebrate!"

"Omigosh, yes!"

"Absolutely!"

"We should go off-campus!"

"Oooh, there's this cute cafe that I've been wanting to check out for ages…"

"Oh!" One of the other girls piped up hopefully. "We could go to the new bowling alley in town. I heard it's pretty neat! It's got a super modern arcade, too…"

Kaitlyn almost snorted in surprise. A suggestion like that seemed pretty out of place for a group like that. Still, it only elicited a light round of teasing and giggles as ideas continued to fly.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Soon, Heather chimed in. "My vote's for the cafe. It's like, right next to the mall, right? So we can totally hang out there after!"

"Yeah, but bowling sounds fun, too," another high-pitched voice chimed in. "I've only been a few times, but…"

"It's really fun!" Clara encouraged her supporter. "You don't have to be good at it. It's fun to just hang out, too!"

"Clara, didn't you just get your nails done? Won't bowling, like, totally mess them up?" Heather's tone painted a vivid mental picture—the girl was probably standing with her hand on her hip, one eyebrow arched."

"They're not that long," Clara dismissed the objection. "Besides, I love bowling. I used to go all the time with my dad! Though I'm not as good as him."

Kaitlyn heard a few others chime in with support for the idea. Then, Heather spoke again. "I've heard kinda iffy things about that place. I know people who've gone, and they say it's kinda meh. Especially the food."

"Really?"

"What do they even serve?"

"Stuff like pizza and hotdogs, I think."

"I like pizza!"

"Yeah, but have you been to Dice's at the mall? It's the best pizza around, I swear…"

Heather continued amidst the chatter. "Plus, isn't bowling, like, expensive too? If we go to the mall, we don't hafta pay by the hour, right? Not that I mind, but…"

She left the words hanging, the implication obvious. Clara spoke again, a little more deflated this time. "Good point… I mean, the mall probably is a better idea…"

"We can go if you really want!" Heather assured her, extending an olive branch. "But like…"

"No, it's ok." She heard Clara shake her head. "You're right. The mall's gonna be better for everyone."

As the group's chatter turned to other topics, Kaitlyn gave the chili one last taste and nodded. It was finally done. Time to start serving.

"Food's ready!" She called the words over her shoulder, eliciting a round of excited grins and squeals. The group hurried forward as Kaitlyn began ladling the meal into containers. "Be careful, it's really hot. You should probably grab it with a napkin."

With a flurry of enthusiastic thanks, the girls rushed away toward the elevator with their prizes in tow. In moments, the sounds of their bubbly voices cut off as the door closed and they began to descend.

Come to think of it, are they going to eat that in class? I can't imagine what that's like for the people sitting next to them…

Kaitlyn prepared another serving for Heather, this one in a pilfered bowl from Cappy's rather than a takeout container. The blonde's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "Awesome, Kate! Thanks so much! Lemme post that it's ready for pickup, then I'll dig in."

She whipped out her phone and started typing, thumb flying across the screen with practiced ease. As she snapped a quick picture, Kaitlyn tilted her head. "Was that a good idea?"

"Hmm?" Heather asked distractedly.

"I mean, that other girl really sounded excited about bowling. Why not go for it?"

"Oh! That," Heather finished posting and slid her phone away. "Like I said, it's really not that good. I know the place, I've got connections who've already gone. The place was super disappointing, especially for somewhere new. It looked all dingy and stuff. And it is expensive."

"Is it really? I mean, the mall would be pricier, if you do any shopping."

"Well, duh. But you don't hafta spend anything, y'know?" She waved a hand dismissively. "Plus, bowling's lame. At the mall, there's like, something for everyone! We can spend a whole day there!"

"Couldn't you do both?"

"They're in totally opposite directions. It would be a huge hassle." Heather sat down and blew on a spoonful of her chili before taking a bite. Her face lit up as she wiggled in place. "Mmmm! Kate, this is amazing! Seriously, how are you so good at this?"

Kaitlyn smiled wryly. The girl was her friend, but times like this reminded her of how manipulative she could be. Especially when she really wanted something.

I envy her confidence, for sure. But it also has some downsides. She always thinks she knows what's best for everyone. Granted, she really is right a lot of the time… But not always.

That's what had happened to Alex. The athlete had gotten caught up in Heather's ideal image of what he should be, without either of them considering what he wanted to be. In the process, he ended up going down a path that just didn't make him happy. That's why it had never worked between them.

Kaitlyn turned back toward the chili and stirred in silence. Then stirred some more.

A few seconds later, she stopped.

Wait a minute.

She frowned into the bubbling pot, her gaze going distant. Something was nagging at her. Something that felt important.

No… no way… right?

Her breath caught as she realized what it was. Quickly, she began reviewing her behavior over the past loop as her heart sank. It pained her to admit it, but there were some parallels between Ian's bad ending and Alex's. Not positive ones, either.

Have I… have I seriously been acting like Heather?

The realization hit her in the face like a bucket of cold water. She shook her head vigorously, denying the very idea. No. It can't be true. It's totally different!

Sure, both she and Heather had been getting the male leads to study for their own sake. And maybe they'd both ended up monopolizing a lot of their time in the process. But it wasn't like she'd ripped Ian away from his other friends. They still hung out with other people! They went to tournaments and invited John over! He'd never complained about it, either!

…Aside from that one time, after midterms. Where he was sad about not having more time for his game…

Kaitlyn winced. In hindsight, maybe she should have taken that objection a little more seriously. But it was the only time he'd said anything. She couldn't be blamed for missing it, right? And besides, as opposed to Alex, Ian had seemed happy through most of the loop. Even at the end, he'd been content. That was completely different from Alex's pained smile.

…But I already know that I missed something. What if… what if I just didn't want to see it?

Everything she'd done had been for Ian's sake. Helping him with grades, helping him with social interactions, practicing with him… all of it. If nothing else, her intentions had been better than Heather's. But at the same time, she couldn't ignore reality. That loop had given her a bad ending for a reason. Maybe this was it.

"Hiya! Here to pick up?"

Kaitlyn jumped as Heather's bubbly customer service voice called out to an approaching group of students. Looking over, she saw that more customers had begun filtering in behind them. Her revelation had gotten her distracted enough that she hadn't even begun dishing up chili yet.

Spinning back to the stockpot, she quickly began preparing containers for the incoming crowd. All the while, her mind continued to process the bombshell that had sent her reeling. It was a tough pill to swallow. But it also had the ring of truth to it.

I know I didn't do everything right last time. That's a fact. Still… I really didn't think I had gone THAT wrong.

Suppressing a sigh, she got back to work. She might need to go for a longer run than usual in the morning.