Episode 5 - MARK QUIT MAKING FACES I SWEAR

"Hey guys, it's Jas here! Long time, no see, I know. Well, actually, for me it has been. For you, it's only been a few days. Between filming, coming back, and the start of school, I've been really busy, not to mention that I started a club with Mark at the beginning of the year. Between all that, I haven't filmed in weeks and in order to get back into the groove of things, I figured I would do a Q&A video. It's a good chance for you to get updated on me and for me to have something easy in between my busy schedule. I posted..." Her voice trailed off and she looked to the side, starting to laugh. "Mark stop!" The camera fell down to her side as she laughed.

The camera cut and Jasmine came back into focus, Mark now in the background, who was doing something on his phone. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted." She gave a pointed, teasing look in Mark's direction. "I made a post on my social media accounts asking for everyone to ask me questions. So far, my phone has been exploding since then. I'm really excited to do this since I haven't done one ages. So, let's get right to it!" The camera cut again and she was sitting on the couch. Jasmine didn't film many videos there but it was where she normally filmed her Q&A ones. "First question... Mark, quit it!" She whined and looked off the camera. "He's making faces at me!"

"No, I'm not!" Mark replied with a laugh, but it was clear from his tone of voice that he was in fact doing what he was accused off. Jasmine giggled a bit and looked down at her phone once more, about to start, but suddenly she stopped and looked back over with a small giggle and a playful glare. "I'm not doing anything, Missy. Make your video!" Jasmine looked down one more time, only to have a pillow thrown at her. The shock took a minute to register but when it did, she was up and the video cut once more.

After showing a black screen that said 'a few hours later', Jasmine was back at the couch. "Alright," She said through small pants. "Now that we have that taken care of, we can finally get onto what you stars have to ask me. BEFORE Mark interrupts me again." She giggled and looked down at her phone. Like most celebrities, she had a special name for her fans, stars. The name had been around for almost as long as her channel, give or take a few months. "Okay, question one from Helpro98 'One food you want to try but haven't?'" She looked up again. "It'd probably be octopus. I mean, I don't really like the sound of it, but I feel like you haven't lived until you get to say you've tried octopus." She went to look down again but Mark called out her name.

"Why haven't you tried it yet?" He asked her. Jasmine was quiet for a second.

"Oh yeah. It's because Uncle Henry's allergic to seafood. That's why we can't get it. Tommy wants to try it too though," She said with a shrug. Then, she turned her attention to her phone again. There was a small cut in the video to where she had the next question. "Okay, this question is from HeavenM4345 and it's 'Favorite role and why?'" Jasmine looked up and set her phone down in her lap.

"Let me guess, Meredith?" Mark asked with a laugh before Jasmine could say anything. The smile on Jasmine's face turned to a playful frown and she threw the pillow next to her at him. They knew that she hit him because even though he was off camera, the laughing was definitely from a hit.

"Okay, yes, it's Meredith Blumer." Jasmine turned her attention back to the camera. "I guess I'd say Meredith because it's my first role and the role that everyone knows me as, so it's near and dear to my heart. However, I do like other roles that I've had like Cole Spinner, Kris Cooper, and Anabeth Kenderson. Those were all great roles too. I mean, they're all great for different reasons." There was another cut to where Jasmine had another question. "MasonLetsPlays asks 'If you could be anything else, what would you be?'" Jasmine set her phone down again. "This is actually a really good question. If I could be anything else, I kinda wanna be a director or a teacher. I love acting, don't get me wrong. But when you've been in acting for almost eight years, it's a lot, especially for a child. I'm not going to stop and that's not what I'm implying at all. However, if I had to choose something different, it's definitely be either directing or teaching. Directing would keep me in the acting world and I would get to watch other stories come to life. I think it'd be a really cool job. However, teaching would also be an awesome job. I'd probably do elementary levels and all that, so working with kids. I love kids and watching my sister interact with her kids is amazing. I think I just like making connections with others." Mark started to say something off camera, but whatever it was didn't seem to be appropriate because Jasmine had bleeped it out. Whatever it had been must have been pretty good though because the reaction on Jasmine's face was certainly going to become a meme.

"Mark no! This is a family friendly space!" Jasmine whined, covering her face. Mark laugh and he said something else, too quiet for the camera to pick up because Jasmine whined once again. "Mark! Rosie and Tommy are in the other room!" Mark chuckled and the camera cut again. Jasmine was back to answering more questions.

"Okay, Ellie Primer asks 'What's the funniest way you've seen someone being fired or quit?'" Whatever Jasmine was thinking of, it was a good one because she couldn't finish speaking before she started to laugh. The video cut again to where she was calm and collected. "Okay, okay, so I was on set a while ago, back when we were working on the first Miss B Jr and we were in the middle of filming the forest scene. It was Kyle, me, Jason, Ann, and Gabe in the scene and we just couldn't get it right! We spent literally two hours filming this one small scene and every time, someone would just end up laughing. So, it'd been about two hours, right, and we finally called a two minute break to calm down. After that break, we came back, completely determined to get this right. We start it over and within the first word, Gabe had it screwed up and he just shouts 'That's it! I'm done! I'm just done! Y'all can find another person to play this, I'm out, dog!' And he literally said dog and as he turns around, he twisted and ran into..." She broke down laugh again, pulling her knees up onto the couch and leaning back against it. Once she could speak again, she continued. "He twisted, like tripped over his own two feet, and trips over this rock and flips over it, falling down and rolling over a couple times cartoon style. It was the funniest thing ever." She could barely finish the story without laughing. In the background, Mark was laughing as well. There was another cut and it changed back to Jasmine on her phone with the next question.

"UnicornsRReal2 asks 'Favorite animal and favorite subject?'" She looked back up, playing with the fluff on the pillow next to her. "Bears are easily my favorite animals. I used to collect teddy bears when I was younger, but when I moved in with Aunt M and Uncle Henry, I got rid of them all. I think I gave most of them to charity, actually. I do want to start collecting them again though. And favorite subject..." She thought for a second. "I'm going to be different and say math. I actually really, really like math, which is weird because I'm the type of person who would hate classes like that, but math was the only one that gave any sort of challenge to me in school." She stopped and looked over off screen, undoubtedly where Mark was sitting. She giggled a bit. "Don't make that face! It's not that bad! Just because you're flunking math doesn't mean I can't enjoy it!"

The camera cut again. "This one is from Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend. 'Small town or city life?' Oh! I love this one!" Jasmine got excited and looked up. "Okay, so for all of you who haven't been around long enough to know about me, I actually don't live in Hollywood or wherever other big movie stars live. I live in a small town, with only about five thousand people. All of our big places, like Walmart, Target, and Cosco, are about twenty minutes at least. We have a few small shops and a Hy-Vee, plus a hospital, which is nice, but that's about it. Still, I would say small town any day. I love living in a small town and there's something about it that makes the community here better. Plus, with a big city, it's not a personal. The people I've met here and the friends I've made at school here are so much better than anyone I could ever meet in a school in Hollywood. I get recognized here, sure, but it's mostly by the little kids. Most of the adults remember me as little Jas who used to ruin around the town barefoot with her sister. It's also nice because the people at school treat me like any other person too. So yeah, small town for the win."

"Did you and Monet really run around town with no shoes?" Mark asked. Jasmine giggled and nodded her head.

"I will never forget the time that Monet and I were running around the park and she got glass in her foot and we didn't realize until she got sick and Mom had to take her to the hospital." Mark must have made a face because Jasmine started to laugh again.

The camera cut one more time and Jasmine was back to looking at questions. "Oh, I love this one! From EarthandMars, 'How long have you been friends with Mark and how did you meet?' That's a long one for sure." She looked over at Mark. "It was ages and ages ago, right? Like, eight years or something. Monet and I were barely eight, I think. But yeah," She focused her gaze back on the camera in front of her. "We've been friends for about eight years now and we met because I was throwing rocks into the road and I popped his dad's truck tire. Luckily, he lived in the same apartment building, so he was already there, but still. After that, we've really been inseparable."

"And your parents had to pay for the tire and Clara had become really good friends with my mom." Mark's voice came from off camera. Jasmine nodded her head. "Those were the good ol' days were life were simple." Jasmine nodded her head again.

The camera cut one more time. "I actually have to leave because we have to get Mark home, but thank you for all the questions! I really enjoyed reading through them and if I didn't get to yours, I'm really sorry. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the video! If you do, please give it a like and if you want more behind the scenes talks with me, Jasmine Ender, go ahead and subscribe so that you get more videos like this! Remember y'all are shining stars and I love you all! Lots of love, Jas!" She brought her hands to her lips and blew a kiss and with that, the screen went black as the video ended.

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Kyra hated Mondays. In fact, it was safe to say that Mondays were her least favorite day of the week, though today was definitely the worst Monday she had in awhile. Her nightmares were getting increasingly worse, leaving her with barely an hour of sleep on average and more than enough restless hours to fill the void. Normally, she'd use the hours to work on her cases and homework but between finishing all her current homework and hitting a roadblock in the case she was currently working on, Kyra was left with one of her most boring and annoying nights to date. Forced to come to school in a near trance state, Kyra was almost looking forward to the club meeting after school. She'd do anything to distract herself from the mess that she was slowly becoming over the case her Grandfather currently had her on.

It just so happened to be Kyra's favorite time of day, Lunch. Well, it was her most and least favorite part of the day, anyway. At lunch, Kyra was given a full thirty minutes to do what she pleased and she spent that time focused on her favorite book, which just so happened to be Sherlock Holmes, of course. It happened to fill whatever quota of reading she felt like she needed to fill that day to pass off the rest of the day functioning normally. However, she was starting to be reminded of her new-found loneliness and she hated it. Sure, Kyra had always been alone, something she hadn't really minded, but ever since she started going to the club, even if it was only for about four days now since her invite, the overwhelming wave of isolation had swept her away into a tsunami at sea. Kyra knew she was great at blocking off her emotions so why couldn't she now? Ever since she had started considering that stupid club that the actress and her best friend had started, Kyra had never felt more alone in her life, no matter how much Mark and Jasmine tried to interact with her.

Ever since she was little, Kyra knew how difficult she was to befriend. Even before her life had turned upside down, she had always been the socially distant kid. In elementary school, Kyra had one friend because of her picky nature when it came to deciding her classmates friendship material. She had always wanted a friend who would stick with her to the end, making children who came and went difficult for her to comprehend. She had always known this about herself. It's why it was so difficult for her to get along with Mark and Jasmine. They were nice people and Kyra was sure that they had her best interests at heart but at the end of the day, Kyra didn't know if she could trust them with what was left of the fragility of her heart that she was so desperate to protect. No one she knew anymore was willing to take the time and patients that it took to earn her trust and so, Kyra had been perfectly content to be on her own. She was happy being sealed away in her bubble and living life on her own. Sitting in the corner of the room, reading her book, was perfectly acceptable and some day, maybe it wouldn't bother her anymore.

Well, it would have gone that way if it were up to Kyra. However, nothing ever did seem to turn into her favor, now did it? Kyra made it to her usual spot in the lunchroom, the back corner with a simple desk to serve as her table top, although she never brought any lunch with her anyway, and reached for her book. The motion was robotic and without thought, so when her hand returned empty, Kyra was confused. Her eyes knitted together, hidden by the shadows of her corner, and she slipped her backpack off her shoulder, setting it on top of the desktop to continue her search. She checked between her books and folders but nothing. That was odd. Kyra could have sworn that she had placed it in her bag this morning. She knew she had it because it was resting on top of her gloves and she had taken care of both of them at the same time out of convenience. But they weren't here so where could they be? Kyra huffed and dug through her back again, almost convinced that it had been missed in her previous search of her bag. Well, she had been. Until she saw the note.

In all honesty, the note didn't look like anything special. It was just a piece of notebook paper that had been folded a few times so that it appeared smaller and could stand on its own at the corner of the desk. Kyra supposed she should have seen it sooner but she hadn't even been paying attention when she had first walked up. However, now that she had seen the note, she knew exactly who was behind this little trick being played on her. Kyra sighed and picked it up, scanning the note carefully. It was Jasmine, of course. Kyra should have expected. Why she fell for the blonde girl's antics, Kyra was clueless and she was even more so as to why she continued to play along with them. However, she read over the note. 'Check the gym doors.' What was that even supposed to mean? Kyra groaned and crumpled up the note in her hand. Her eyes betrayed her for a second too long and she found herself staring over at the gym doors anyway, despite how many times she told herself she wasn't going too. Jasmine seemed to know exactly when she was looking over and made eye contact with her. How that worked from across a room, Kyra had no idea but it seemed to do the trick. Jasmine Ender had the energy about her, didn't she?

Jasmine smiled at her and seemed to put an end to whatever conversation she was having. Kyra was about to look away again when Jasmine rose to her feet. The whole ordeal couldn't have taken more than a few seconds but it seemed to have gone on for minutes in Kyra's head. It didn't take even a second for Kyra to identify that book Jasmine was waving over her head. Those torn pages, random slips of paper mixed with sticky notes, and well loved cover? Kyra could recognize her beloved Sherlock Holmes book anywhere. There was no winning this... whatever Jasmine thought this was, was there? With a sigh, Kyra gave into the game and picked up her backpack once more, throwing away the note in the trash on her way over. Jasmine sat back down as Kyra approached her with another one of her smiles, the book still clutched in her hand. Leave it to Jasmine to ruin Kyra's perfectly fine reading time, of course.

"My book?" Kyra asked, dropping her backpack down as she made it to the table and sat down in the chair it landed next too. Jasmine tilted her head, almost confused, before Kyra sighed and explained her question. "How did you end up with my book? From where it was inside my bag." Jasmine laughed slightly, almost like she was embarrassed, and shrugged her shoulders. It gave Kyra the perfect amount of time to take a quick glance around the table. It was just Jasmine, Mark, and herself. That was all well and good but wasn't that out of the ordinary for Jasmine? Why on heaven and earth was she giving Kyra all this attention?

"Ah, right. Leo. I know you two are in the same Geometry class fourth period. I also know that there is a quiz today. He sits in a position in which he would have to pass you to get to the teacher's desk, according to how he mapped out the teacher's desk. It really wasn't that hard to get him to snag it for me," Jasmine shrugged, her nonchalant tone only rivaling Kyra's own at the moment. If Kyra had really wanted too, she could have rolled her eyes. Given that she was functioning on less than an hour of sleep now, she really didn't have the energy to care though. She just retrieved her book from Jasmine's outstretched hand and set it on the table in front of her with a small sigh.

"Let me take a wild guess and say that he used the classic 'let me drop one thing and pick up two' when I left for the bathroom, am I correct?" Kyra asked, folding her arms over her book, almost like she was worried about someone stealing it once again. "It's the only logical time he could have grabbed it without me noticing..." She paused for a second, as if noticing a small, but important detail. "Where is Leo anyways?"

"Sitting with Sasha and her friends today," Mark chimed in, reminding Kyra that he was, indeed, still present at the table. That was all Kyra needed to look down at her book, running her fingers over the side of the pages and thumb through a few of her notes. "I guess we figured that it would be easier for you to adjust to sitting with people again if there wasn't a hoard of us at the table, you know?" Jasmine nodded her head in agreement, the movement drawing Kyra's attention out of the corner of her eye, before the blonde actress started to speak.

"I know that Mark and I normally sit along together. But, like, you know, that's not exactly what you're doing. Sitting alone like that isn't good for you," Jasmine said with a shrug. She returned to her food, picking up a carrot and chomping down on it. "So, anyway, now you're sitting here." Kyra really did roll her eyes then.

"And this is any authority of who?" Kyra asked, shaking her head only in her mind. Jasmine laughed and flashed Kyra her signature smile and peace sign.

"Me, obviously. I'm the one making the calls here," Jasmine replied with a teasing smile. Kyra sighed, thumbing through her book again. Jasmine was certainly something. Something that no one really knew what to do with.

"Oh! Not to alarm you or anything, but we also invited Cleopatra to sit with us," Mark said, shifting in his seat and looking over at Kyra. Maybe he wasn't looking over at her because he didn't want her to feel like someone was watching her. She wasn't really sure what to think anymore. "I say this because I know that you and Cleopatra really didn't hit it off well on Thursday. I'm not gonna lecture you or anything like that. I don't even care why you don't like each other, it's not my business. I just wanted to let you know that she'll probably be coming so that you aren't alarmed or a fight gets picked or anything. We told her the same thing." Kyra shrugged her shoulders in response, starting to drum her fingers lightly over the book. It would make sense. Cleopatra was just as much a part of this club at anyone else, so it only made sense she got treated the same way Kyra did. It didn't mean she liked Cleopatra any more, though.

"Well, if Cleopatra has a problem with me, she can make it clear herself," Kyra replied, looking up from her book for a second to see the people who had almost basically claimed her as their tablemate now. Jasmine opened her mouth to respond but stopped. Instantly, Kyra knew why. Without even having to turn around, she knew that Cleopatra Blackheart had appeared right behind her.

"Sherlock Holmes? I suppose I'm not surprised," Cleopatra said, sitting down next to Kyra and completely disregarding the idea of personal space as she leaned over to read the book title from under Kyra's hand. "Well, I guess a detective would find that kind of book interesting. Classic literature is going under appreciated these days, wouldn't you agree?" Kyra blinked, staring down at the cover of the book. Cleopatra's kind tone took her by surprise. This wasn't the same girl who had picked a fight with her in the hallway only two hours ago. Cleopatra put her for a spin, that was for sure. She couldn't figure Cleopatra out, that was for sure. Was she being sarcastic or serious? Who knew? Based on the way Cleopatra's eyes never shifted emotions, Kyra figured that no one would ever be able to figure it out. Such a lucky little talent, Kyra thought, sulking quietly in her head.

"Personally, I'm a Jane Austin fan myself. However, it doesn't mean that I can't appreciate other forms of classic literature. Honestly, and I know I've probably said this already, but not enough people read the classics. Everyone's all about the newest teen drama or the next hit young adult romance novel or that super odd sci-fi book. That is, if people are even readers at all." Cleopatra shrugged her shoulders and pointed to the book in Kyra's hand, asking for her silent permission to take it. Kyra raised her hands up and Cleopatra scooped the book up gingerly and flipped through the old pages with a careful touch. For a moment, and only for a moment, Kyra could have sworn that a flash of emotions shone in the goth's eyes before it disappeared as quickly as it came, too quick for anyone to identify it.

"Okay, but think about this. What are the classics going to be in the future? I mean, think about it. Those books had been the hit books of their time and now we call them classics," Jasmine jumped in. It sounded like she didn't really care about what was happening in the conversation. She just felt the need to speak. It would have been annoying if Kyra hadn't already gotten used to Jasmine's antics. "I dunno. I think it's interesting to think about what people will be reading in a hundred years from now. Like, what books will they be reading? Will the classics stay the classics or..."

"Woah, Missy. Hold it. Calm your horses," Mark laughed slightly. He set a hand on Jasmine's shoulder gently. "No need to ruin Cleopatra and Kyra's love of literature so fast." Jasmine blinked, as if realizing for the first time that what she was doing might have been ruining something, and she chuckled to herself, going back to her lunch. Which, actually, was perfect because it meant that Kyra had the chance to speak up.

"Cleopatra Blackheart, sixteen, five foot four, and a goth. But not just any goth, a Lolita goth. Lace to cover something up, am I right?" Kyra started, leaning forward in her seat slightly. Cleopatra's expression shifted back, giving Kyra barely a second to watch each of her facial features return to its normal position in Cleopatra's blank expression. She should stop, Kyra knew that. If she didn't want to make Cleopatra hate her more, why continue? And yet, Kyra continued doing the only thing she really did know how to. Inspect and observe. "You're a fan of literature, specifically the classics. Favorite class is probably English. You tend to skip school on Fridays, a habit I don't have to know you for very long to learn, and I'll take a shot in the dark and say you've completely skipped out on PE, haven't you? And then there's your mean girl attitude, though I don't need much explanation for that." Cleopatra opened her mouth to say something but Kyra held up a hand, silencing her so that she could finish. "However, I believe there is more to you. Your blank eyes say so." Kyra leaned forward on her folded hands, resting her chin on top of them. Cleopatra just smirked slightly and copied her position, folding her lace-covered hands together under her chin and letting the book rest on the table below her. Her bored, brown eyes met the detective's own curious, blue ones.

"Hm, let me see. Kyra Kingsly, fourteen, five foot, about one or two inches, and known as Detective Purple Hair from the Lockwood High Lock In case by just about everyone. I know you're a fan of classic literature, considering that Sherlock Holmes is clearly your favorite book. But I think science is definitely your favorite subject. I'd say Forensics but since you're too young for that class, I'll guess Biology," Cleopatra replied, not even batting an eye to the way that she copied Kyra's tone perfectly. "You have this nasty little habit of reading people like a book wherever you go and I don't think I've seen you go a day without those gloves of yours, let alone take them off. Perhaps a bit of a germ freak, but your boring personality has to be considered as well. Let me also take a shot in the dark and say that there's more to you as well, am I correct?" Cleopatra's smile was sly and the way her gaze dropped from Kyra's let her know that this conversation was finished. She's good, Kyra thought to herself, half scolding herself for even starting this whole conversation. She didn't appreciate feeling so open for the rest of the table to see, even if it was just Jasmine and Mark. Cleopatra was... different? Difficult? Kyra wasn't sure what word she was looking for yet.

"I had no idea you were so observant, Blackheart," Kyra replied, a slight edge on Cleopatra's last name. She had her suspicions and would go as far as to say that Cleopatra's name was not her real one but that was a whole other conversation for later. Kyra instead just held her hand out and Cleopatra closed the book she had been looking at again and held it out for Kyra to take again.

"I had no idea you'd be this nosey and yet, here we stand." The Lolita girl gave another small smirk and leaned back in her chair, smoothing her dress out and crossing one leg over the other. "I do suppose that it is your job though, is it not?" Kyra only shrugged her shoulders in response, slipping the book back into her backpack and standing to leave, knowing the bell would go off any second now. Cleopatra stopped her from turning away, however, with her next words. "You know something, Nancy Drew? Sherlock Holmes sounds like it might actually be a good book."

"Only if you care about mysteries, murder, and questions beyond answers, of course." There was still plenty of tension between the two of them, tension that would need a sword to cut through it. Each girl still had a clip at the end of each sentence proving just that. And yet, for some odd reason, Kyra had a feeling that whatever had just occurred at the lunch table had given them just the slightest bit of respect for each other. Maybe not the same way, but respect nevertheless. "I suppose Jane Austin doesn't sound half bad either."

"Oh, they are wondrous books! Filled with plenty of heartache and love. I believe you should consider giving them a try," Cleopatra replied. She shot Kyra a careful smile, one that would appear friendly enough but the dead look in her eyes that Kyra had been trained to find told her otherwise.

"I think I just might." Now that she thought back on it, that must have been how Kyra ended up with a copy of Sense and Sensibility in her locker at the end of the day. Cleopatra Blackheart was the only person who made sense.

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Once the club meeting was over for the day, Monet was on her way to her martial arts class when she got the text alert. With a sigh, she pulled it out of her pocket. Knowing her luck, it was probably her father telling her that she was going to have to walk home from martial arts again, working late hours for what seemed like was the tenth time this week. Instead, she was thrilled to realize that it was only from Jasmine. And then the anxiety kicked in and she opened it, leftover fears from the one time that Jasmine broke her ankle on a set and Mark and Monet had to hop on the next plane over to see her.

When she opened the text, she was greeted by the familiar screen of a texting app that Jasmine had downloaded on her phone for this very purpose. She hadn't bothered to learn the name of it and considering that it was Jasmine's idea, she figured that she probably should. She didn't seem to be the only one who didn't know what was happening. Jasmine had added eight other people to this chat and scrolling through the names, she found that it was the entirety of the club.

Under the tab that read #General, Jasmine had left a message.

Jasmine Ender: Hello, hello people! So, I figured that since we've got a solid nine people in our club now, we need a group chat! Hence why I've been kidnapping your tags and forcing Discord on you. That way, if I'm ever gone for filming, y'all get to bother me just as much as I bother you!

Mark Nijer: ew. Why would anyone want that

Monet laughed softly to herself and started to type up a response. She really shouldn't be surprised by her sister's antics anymore. Not when it ended up this fun.

Monet Ivory: I can see that.

Cleopatra Blackheart: I suppose it's not a terrible idea.

Monet smiled softly to herself as she pushed open the door to her martial arts club. In actuality, her class wasn't for another two hours and she could have gone out to get something to eat or even just stayed out just a little bit longer, but she didn't care all that much. Instead, she just made her way inside to the locker room and unlocked her respective one. Her phone continued to go off as she grabbed her uniform and shoved her backpack inside. She would have left her phone in there as well but she was too intrigued by all the messages coming in that she took it into the stall with her while she changed into her uniform. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had received so many texts like this.

Leo Hansen: thsi is go n abe fun !1

Cleopatra Blackheart: Oh, wonderful! Leo brought his horrible grammar with him!

Anthony Baltomore: We can all see that. You don't need to point it out, Blackheart.

Kyra Kingsly: and cleopatra brought her sour attitude. leave leo alone about his typing.

Cleopatra Blackheart: Ew, you can't type either, Kingsly.

Jasmine Ender: If you don't quite bulling each other, I will change your names. And as every story ever shows, you don't want that to happen.

Monet laughed to herself and shook her head slightly. She finished tying her sash around her waist and opened the stall door again, getting vaguely reminded of the bathroom lunches that she had been having with Isa recently, before shaking that off as well and turning to pick up her clothes. Once they were safely back in her locker, she grabbed her homework out from her back and set it down on an armchair not too far from her, shutting the locker door as she moved. With the hour and a half that she had left, she certainly could get it all done, but Monet could honestly see herself putting it off until the very last minute once more. It didn't even matter anymore if it was right. Just as long as she got it done.

So, instead of doing what she was supposed to, Monet procrastinated on her homework and instead took time to study her clubmates. Over the hour and a half of time, she had learned a lot about them just from the way that they typed. For example, Kyra used a stylus to type so she never had to take her gloves off. It was obvious in the way that nothing was ever capitalized in her messages. And she figured out that Leo's brain worked faster than his fingers and that's why most of his messages ended up being half gibberish, always taken upon someone else to interpret what he was trying to say. Anthony, Cleopatra, and Isa were big on proper grammar and while it seemed that Isa didn't mind so much, Cleopatra and Anthony seemed to care when other people didn't also share their love for the English language in the way it was meant to be used. Of course, Monet already knew Mark and Jasmine. She'd known them since she was very young but it was still fun to watch them interact with everyone on the chat. Currently, Mark and Jasmine were taking the leadership roles for the group, even having a role under their name to prove it, but Monet knew that eventually, that would change. At some point, Jasmine would prove to be the handful that Mark and Monet had come to love her for.

There were a couple of other things that Monet had learned that didn't need deep analysis on. For instance, she learned that Kyra had a job at the local police station working for her grandfather. Although that shouldn't have been surprising, it was slightly shocking to learn that the fourteen-year-old girl worked there until nine pm every day. Monet also learned that Isa took a couple of thirty-minute chunks out of her day just to focus on her writing, which made her story's progress fly by. Cleopatra spent a lot of time at a coffee shop in her hometown of Lockwood, where she always got the vanilla tea. Leo mentioned that he was going out for basketball and soccer so he spent a lot of time at the gym and Anthony liked to walk home from school, much like Monet herself, because he found it much more relaxing than a car ride.

Monet knew she should do her homework, really she did. But she was learning a lot and it was awesome. She hadn't ever had friends like this before and it was fascinating to see how people's attitudes changed over text. Some of the members seemed more comfortable while others were more teasing and playful. The club was certainly something and while Monet knew it would take a while to get to the point where everyone felt safe with each other, the group chat was certainly a step in the right direction. Whatever the end goal of this club was, whatever Jasmine had planned, Monet had a feeling it would be good for the members of it. That was one of the things that just made Jasmine, Jasmine Ender. Always thinking ahead and always creating a world where everyone could just be themselves. And while Mark would always be her right-hand man, Monet would forever be her sister's number one fan.

For the first time in a long time, Monet had a feeling that this was one of Jasmine's better ideas. And no matter how chaotic the world got, she would always be Jasmine's solid foundation of support.