"This is a bad idea, Shawna. You need to calm down," Barb said as she followed Shawna at a brisk walk.

Shawna stormed across campus, heading for the fine arts building. More specifically, she was aiming at the fashion design department. Marla used the studio to work on projects. Shawna knew Marla would be there alone because she got the information from Sandra after a few choice threats. Barb understood why Shawna was looking for Marla, and she tried everything to stop it.

"I've had enough of her," Shawna said through gritted teeth.

"Don't pick a fight. Bledsoe is looking for a reason to get rid of you. Don't give him one," Barb said.

"I don't care anymore. Someone has to put her in her place."

Shawna stepped around Barb and entered the building. She found the elevator and rapidly pressed the button.

"Hitting it more than once doesn't make the elevator come faster," Barb said.

"Shut up."

When the doors opened, Shawna repeated her behavior with the second-floor button. Barb gave up trying to talk her out of it and chose to play peacemaker instead. She hoped she could prevent a fight. They exited the elevator and found Marla's room at the end of the hallway. Shawna opened the door and spotted Marla sitting at a table. Marla didn't seem surprised to see Shawna. Barb guessed Sandra warned her. Shawna was the one who felt surprised. She didn't expect Chloe to be there. However, Chloe's presence didn't deter her from her mission.

"Marla! I bet you think you're real funny, don't you?" Shawna hissed.

"Bitch, I'm hilarious," Marla replied. "I take it you got my text."

"You're not even going to deny it was you?"

"I was only trying to show you Felicia was fine and having a good time," Marla said sweetly. "You didn't believe me when I said I wouldn't hurt her."

"Yeah, right. I'm not falling for that. I know why you sent that to me."

"And why is that, Shawna?" Marla asked, but Shawna didn't answer. She bit her lip and scowled at Marla, making her chuckle. "You can't even say it. I thought you were out and proud."

"Shut up."

"Shawna, don't let her get to you. She's pushing your buttons. You said your peace. Come on. Let's go," Barb whispered.

"I once called Felicia your pet, but I was wrong. You're the little puppy dog in this relationship—or lack thereof," Marla said. "She's never going to love you. I was trying to help Felicia find somebody."

Shawna lurched, but Barb grabbed her. She held firm until she felt Shawna relax.

"Marla, leave her alone," Chloe pleaded.

"Stay out of this, Chloe," Marla said, returning to Shawna. "Honestly, you're setting a bad example for your pledges with this behavior. I won't have you teaching my sister to be so hotheaded."

Shawna looked at Chloe and sighed. She hated to admit Marla had a point, but she felt guilty about doing this in front of Chloe. Chloe couldn't hide her disappointed look. When Shawna saw it, she backed down. Barb gently rubbed her back and directed her toward the door. Unfortunately, Marla had more up her sleeve.

"I kind of like Felicia. She's a good kid, and I wouldn't want you corrupting her. Maybe I should call Felicia's mother and tell her about your little obsession," Marla said.

"Oh, that's it, you bitch!" Shawna yelled. She moved so quickly that Barb couldn't hook her arm. Shawna ran toward Marla, swinging her fist. What happened next baffled Shawna. She ended up flat on her back with the wind knocked out of her, but she didn't remember Marla throwing her. It happened too fast for Shawna's brain to register it. Shawna's head buzzed, and her ears rang as she looked at Marla's smirking face.

"Did I forget to tell you I'm a brown belt in Judo?" Marla asked.

"Fuck you, Judo Judy. When I get off this floor, your ass is mine," Shawna replied breathlessly.

"I doubt that," Marla laughed before refocusing on Chloe. "Look what happened, Chloe. I tried to be nice, and your friends attacked me. Are you happy now?" Marla asked as she walked out the door.

"Mistress Shawna, are you okay?" Chloe asked.

"Leave me alone, Chloe. Please," Shawna said, pushing herself off the floor. Barb tried to help her, but Shawna brushed her aside. "Both of you leave me alone," she added. They watched Shawna limp away. Barb and Chloe exchanged worried glances but didn't say a word.

***

When Barb returned to her dorm room, she braced herself to tell Hailey about the incident. The problem was that Hailey seemed to already have something on her mind. Barb discovered Hailey wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt while munching on pizza rolls. She had that far-off gaze she always got when she contemplated difficult problems or decisions. Barb knew the look too well.

"Uh, oh. What's up with you?" Barb asked.

"Nothing," Hailey replied.

"Don't try that on me. I know when you're stressed. You're wearing your stress pants."

"Stress pants?" Hailey asked, snapping out of her thousand-yard stare.

"Those are the sweatpants you always wear when you become overwhelmed. I can see the pizza roll stains on them."

"Whatever," Hailey grumbled. "I have a lot on my mind, but I'm not overwhelmed."

"Talk to me, sis," Barb said, sitting beside Hailey on the floor.

"Do you think I'm a bad friend to Dan?"

"What? No! You two are like peanut butter and jelly. You get along great."

"Then why can't I tell him to move on for his own good? I never should have let things get this far without cutting him loose."

"Okay, back up. What are you talking about?"

"He so clearly still has feelings for me. But instead of putting my foot down, I humor him. He's going to end up getting hurt. I'm going to end up getting hurt!"

Barb chose her words carefully. She knew the answer but wasn't sure telling Hailey was the wisest decision. Sadly, her hesitation tipped Hailey off to the truth.

"Don't sugarcoat it, Barb. I can see the wheels turning in your head. Be straight with me."

"Maybe you can't tell him to move on because you have feelings for him too."

Hailey hung her head and sighed. "I think I do, but also think I'm wrong for him."

"I disagree. You two have great chemistry."

"Look at Kennedy! She married her best friend, and it ended in disaster! What if that happens to us? I wouldn't be able to handle that."

"That's Kennedy. You can't compare yourself to her. These are different situations. Besides, I know Dan. He isn't like Kennedy's ex-husband."

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"No, he's not, but I'm still afraid to risk ruining our friendship."

"I'm probably not the best person to come to for relationship advice, but I think you should follow your heart," Barb said.

"Yeah, I probably should have gone to Shawna. We have similar woes," Hailey laughed.

"Um, speaking of Shawna," Barb said, looking worried enough to make Hailey frown.

"What happened?"

Barb explained the fight to Hailey, exaggerating slightly as always. This wasn't the best tactic, but Barb couldn't help herself. She was a storyteller. When she finished, Hailey looked even more stressed. She stuffed two pizza rolls in her mouth before responding.

"I'll give Shawna some time off. We can swap activities this week. Let's do the scavenger hunt. Shawna doesn't have to be there for it," Hailey said around a mouthful of pizza rolls. Barb understood every word because she learned Hailey-speak long ago.

***

Elsewhere, Felicia approached Shawna's apartment door and knocked softly. The door opened a crack, but it swung wide when Shawna saw who it was. Felicia's face fell once she saw Shawna's red and puffy eyes.

"Are you okay?" Felicia asked.

"I've been better. Come in," Shawna said, stepping aside to let Felicia through.

Felicia waited until they were sitting on Shawna's couch before she spoke again. "Why did you fight her?" she asked.

"Because she sent me this," Shawna said, showing Felicia the text message.

When Felicia saw it, she groaned and rolled her eyes. "Nothing happened, Shawna!"

"I-I know," Shawna stammered.

"Do you?" Felicia asked a little more forcefully than she intended. She softened when she saw Shawna's reaction. "I'm sorry, but please don't get jealous. We've talked about this."

"You're right, Fel. I'm sorry."

"You promised you would back off some. I told you I needed time to think about us. That hasn't changed."

"I know it hasn't."

"Please, respect me enough to let me figure things out. You know how much I care about you," Felicia said, squeezing Shawna's hand.

"I care about you too," Shawna said. She leaned a fraction of an inch in Felicia's direction but stopped herself. "S-sorry," Shawna muttered.

"See, that's the problem. I need you to give me the time and space to discover if I'm in love with you. If you can't do that, it will be hard to be around you."

"You're right. Please forgive me."

"I forgive you," Felicia smiled. "But for the love of god, please stop letting Marla get to you!"

"I promise I will."

***

The pledges felt confused when they didn't see Shawna at their weekly club meeting. Chloe didn't tell them what had happened for Shawna's sake. Thankfully, Hailey distracted them from this when she announced what they were doing.

"We're going to have some fun tonight. Everyone could use a stress reliever right now. I'm sending you on a scavenger hunt. You have until ten o'clock to find at least ten items on this list," Hailey said, holding up a paper. "You can search thrift stores, pawn shops, and retail outlets, but the HRT and school prop departments are off-limits."

"What if we have the item at home?" Claudia asked.

"That's okay, too."

"That's good because we're all broke college kids," Claudia laughed. "Are you going to give us money for this?" she then asked. Hailey answered her with a blank stare. "We'll have to pool our money," Claudia muttered.

"What do we get if we find all ten items?" Hana asked.

"Bragging rights," Barb answered, giving Hana a thumbs-up.

"That's it?" Kennedy asked.

"Oh, wait," Barb said. She pulled out her wallet and dug inside it. "I have this gift card to Barnaby's. Never mind. It's expired."

"Barb, I'm pretty sure Barnaby's went out of business two years ago," Keisha said.

"I should clean out my wallet more often."

"Also, you have to go in one car. You can't split up to find the items," Hailey said, earning a collective groan.

"Does anyone drive a minivan?" Chloe asked.

"I have an SUV," Kennedy answered.

"Close enough. Mama K is driving," Claudia replied.

They piled into Kennedy's SUV. It was ten years old and dented, and one window wouldn't lower, but it ran, and they fit inside it. Tamara was at play practice, which made it easier. There were only four of them. While Kennedy drove, Chloe read the list of items.

"A vinyl record and a VHS tape? You have those, right, Mama K?" Chloe asked.

"Wow, thanks for assuming," Kennedy laughed. "But yes, I do. We can swing by my apartment."

They knew they had to hurry, but looking through Kennedy's collection of records and tapes sent them down a small rabbit hole. The girls laughed at some of the obscure and odd names.

"I don't think my parents would even recognize these," Claudia said.

"Yeah, this is my B-movie collection," Kennedy said.

"Werewolves in Space?" Hana asked, laughing hysterically. She held up a tape. The picture on the front showed a werewolf wearing a space suit floating outside a shuttle.

"Don't laugh. That's a classic," Kennedy said.

"We're taking this one," Hana said.

"Oh, sweet! I just listened to this album on Songcast yesterday," Chloe said, holding up an old vinyl copy of an album called Facesmasher by the band Hollow Skull. The cover depicted a large fist smashing a comical-looking skull with googly eyes.

"Really? I never would have thought you liked obscure 80s metal," Kennedy replied.

"That was a joke, Mama K."

"Oh, right."

Thankfully, they tore themselves away from Kennedy's apartment and headed to a thrift store for the next few items. The problem was that this offered more distractions. Chloe spotted an old board game that gave her pause.

"Marla and I used to play this when we were kids," Chloe said, touching the box. Kennedy saw the look in Chloe's eyes, making her heart ache. "Things didn't always used to be like they are now. I miss those days."

"Chloe, I'm sorry," Kennedy said, rubbing her back.

"I wish she would tell me what happened."

"She will when she's ready."

"Yeah, but how much damage will she do in the meantime?" Chloe asked, turning away from the game and moving on.

"Oh, hey, look! This has a cow on it," Hana said, lifting an old butter churn adorned with a crudely drawn cow. One of the items on their list called for anything with a cow. They didn't have to guess who added it.

"What is that thing?" Claudia asked.

"It's a butter churn," Kennedy explained. "They used to make butter with those things."

"How?"

"Like this," Kennedy said, working the stick up and down. Her actions caused a fit of giggles. Kennedy rolled her eyes, walking away and muttering.

Before they left, they also scored a hula hoop, a chicken knick-knack, and a large pair of shorts covered in flowers. They chose a pawn shop next because they still lacked four items. Some of them felt nervous as they entered. The guy behind the counter eyed them warily. He had a strange appearance, including a loose shirt with the top three buttons open to reveal his hairy chest. His hairline had almost escaped his head, and he had taken the emblem from an old Plymouth Fury and turned it into a necklace. They weren't sure if he was trying to be ironic. The flowing script lessened the impact of having the word "fury" hanging around his neck.

"I wonder if this old VCR still works. We could watch Werewolves in Space," Kennedy laughed.

"Of course, it works. I wouldn't sell broken stuff," the man behind the counter yelled.

"Right. I meant no offense."

"Is that on our list?" Hana asked.

"No, let's keep looking."

The shopkeeper stared at them, making Kennedy uncomfortable. She felt he didn't want them there any longer, but his demeanor changed when they discovered something amazing.

"The list calls for something ridiculous, and I think that counts," Kennedy said, pointing at a strange sculpture of a donkey. It looked like something someone made in art class. The paint was peeling off, and it was cross-eyed, but Kennedy thought it was ugly enough to be beautiful.

"You want to buy that thing? I keep it around just for laughs," the owner said.

"How much?" Kennedy asked.

"I'll give it to you for $25."

When they returned to the club room and showed the sisters their haul, they stared at the donkey sculpture for a solid minute in silence.

"What the hell is that?" Keisha asked.

"It's our new mascot. We call him Jack," Kennedy smiled.

"We got all ten items. What did we win?" Hana asked.

Barb dug around in her wallet again and produced a small piece of paper. "I have a coupon for riced cauliflower," she said.

"We'll take it," Hana shrugged.

***

Meanwhile, Felicia sat in her dorm room, talking on the phone with her mom. She had told her about the fashion show but left out any details about Shawna.

"Well, it's good to know you got a job. Lord knows you need to pull your weight a little. I'm paying for your school," her mom muttered.

"It was a one-time gig, Mom."

"My point still stands. You should get a part-time job."

"It's hard. I'm so busy with classes and club."

"Oh, yeah. How is your club doing?"

"We're good. Pledging is going well."

"You've got a fall social coming up soon, right?"

"Yeah, we do. Apparently, it's a Hootenanny now," Felicia said, making her mom laugh.

"That's a word I haven't heard in years. So, have you asked a boy to be your date yet?" her mom asked, emphasizing the word "boy."

"I'll probably go alone because I'll be taking pictures most of the time. Shawn..." Felicia said, but she stopped and mentally kicked herself for the slip-up.

"What was that?" her mom asked. "I heard that. Did you almost say, Shawna?"

"No, I was talking about a boy named Shawn."

"Don't lie to me! I forbade you from seeing her. Do I need to come down there and smack some sense into you!?" her mom yelled, making Felicia squeak. "Stop squeaking!"

"Sorry," Felicia said. She gripped her phone tightly and was surprised her mom couldn't hear it cracking.

"You remember who pays for your college, young lady! Stay away from that girl!" her mom yelled and hung up the phone.

Felicia stared at the screen and felt shocked it wasn't breaking because of how hard she squeezed it. Tears streamed down her face as she resisted the urge to hurl the phone across the room.

"Okay, Mom. If you want me to ask someone to go to the social, I'll ask someone."

***

Shawna calmed down after talking with Felicia. She was preparing for a night of TV and popcorn when she heard a light knock on her door. Shawna opened it and beamed when she saw Felicia standing there.

"Fel-Fel! I'm about to watch some TV. Wanna join?" Shawna asked.

"Were you planning on asking anyone to the Hootenanny?" Felicia asked.

"Well, I mean, you know who I would ask..."

"I'll probably be taking pictures most of the time, but I'd like it if a friend kept me company," Felicia smiled. She stifled a laugh when she saw Shawna's face light up. Shawna looked ready to pass out from glee. "But just as a friend, okay?"

"I can live with that," Shawna said.

"Can you? This is your chance to prove you can."

"I swear! Now, do you wanna watch a movie?" Shawna asked, opening the door wider. Felicia nodded and entered the apartment. Shawna had to fight not to cry tears of joy.