Episode 6 - Mark's favorite form of torture is movies

The Favorite Movie sleepover had only been suggested a few days ago and yet, Jasmine knew this was going to be the best thing that had happened to this club since sliced bread. Jasmine had been anticipating this event for the past two days and at this point, she was positive that Mark and Monet were getting exhausted with her levels of energy. Regardless, the three of them were busy getting ready for the first-ever Rejects Club event. They had help from Jasmine's Uncle Henry and things were buzzing around the room. Between the Bluetooth speaker playing in the background and their mindless chatter about just about anything, the room felt alive. The party wouldn't start until six o'clock, but considering it was now five, they felt like they were running out of time. And so, with the help of Uncle Henry, Monet pushed her exercise equipment against the wall and set out to roll out the rug they used on occasions like this. Jasmine had busied herself with setting up the snack table while Mark worked in the house, finding and bringing out the ridiculous amount of pillows and cushions that Jasmine's house had seemed to accumulate over the years.

Ever since school ended, they had been working on this party. It started with Aunt Melissa taking them to the store before Mark and Monet realized they'd left their things at Mark's apartment and had to pick them up. Then, they had the hassle of trying to set up the TV screen, that even though Jasmine had promised would be done before today, and had been promising that for months, still remained untouched until now. There were a few pillows and blankets already sprawled around the ground from other times that Jasmine, Mark, and Monet spent the night in the storage space they called their Warehouse. Between jobs, Monet, Mark, and Jasmine had slipped into the house to change into their pajamas and so now, they were completely ready for the rest of the night.

"I'm serious," Jasmine groaned, leaning forward on her pillow stack and drawing the blanket around her tightly. Since they were the first ones there, they had gotten to claim the best spots so it was no wonder that Jasmine was smack dab in the middle of the room. Center of the attention, of course. "Mark, I'm not kidding. What movie did you bring?" Mark chuckled and shook his head, drawing a whine from Jasmine. The whole time, she'd been grilling him to find out what his movie was, only for him to refuse to tell her. At this point, it was only pure stubbornness keeping the both of them going. "Mark~! Come on!" Mark shook his head again and leaned back on his hands. He flipped his head back so that his hood fell off and shook his hair out. It didn't matter much though, since the second he finished, Monet quickly reached over and pulled his hood back on.

"Mark! Come on! I want to know! I want to know what you brought so badly! I'm forced to conclude that you brought that stupid movie again just to make me suffer!" Jasmine protested, picking up her bear and holding it close to her like a self-defense mechanism. Mark chuckled and flashed her a smug smile.

"No! That defeats the whole purpose of a secret! So you don't get to know!" Mark replied with a light laugh. "Why don't you interrogate Monet about her movie instead? I'm sure that she brought a good one that you're dying to know!" Monet looked up from her phone, almost frozen, and sat back on her knees, dropping her hands in her lap. A slight blush covered her freckled face now that she was drawn into the center of Mark and Jasmine's banter and she shook her head.

"Oh, come on, that's a joke. You know we're watching Karate Kid again," Jasmine replied with a small chuckle and shaking her head. Monet's blush deepened and she let out a small "yeah" before wrapping her own blanket around herself. Mark and Jasmine laughed a bit at her, all in good fun, and Jasmine poked her sister in the side. The spot always caused Monet to unconsciously cave and this time was no different, a small laugh escaping her lips as she twisted out of Jasmine's reach. "And you know exactly which movie I brought so it's completely unfair that I can't know yours!"

"Ocean's Eleven. We get it, you're a Miss B nerd. You don't have to remind us," Mark laughed. He too reached out to poke Jasmine in the side but the young actress squealed and pushed him out of the way. In a swift motion, she darted over to Monet's side and into the safety of her sister's arms. Mark groaned and gently kicked Jasmine's leg. "No fair. You're a cheater, Jasmine Ender!"

"Haha! I win!" Jasmine laughed, laying her head on Monet's stomach with the glow of victory still on her face. From where her Uncle Henry was, they heard him laugh and start over to them.

"You guys don't ever grow up, okay?" Henry asked with a small laugh as he stopped next to them. The trio laughed and shrugged. "Anyway, the TV and your CD player are hooked up. I left the remote on top of the TV. You guys stay responsible, okay? You're mature teenagers now." The nice thing about living with her Aunt and Uncle was that Jasmine knew they trust her completely. Jasmine, Mark, and Monet had been having sleepovers for years and they had their parents and guardians complete faith in them staying safe and responsible. "Now, I would tell you to not stay up too late, but I did the math. You'll be staying up all night, so lucky you don't have school in the morning. Don't be a grump when you three crash at the house tomorrow though, that fair?" He tapped Jasmine's side with his foot lightly and she giggled, giving a half-hearted attempt to push her uncle away while Monet just shifted so they'd be more comfortable. "Alright then, I think that's it. Have fun! Goodnight! Love you!"

Henry started over to the door, blowing Jasmine a kiss as he left. Jasmine smiled back and called out; "Love you too!" and with that, they were left alone for the rest of the night. Just them and the Rejects Club.

Surprisingly, there were only a few minutes of useless chatter before people started showing up. The first person who had decided to show up was Sasha, though it shouldn't have been surprising. She had what looked like a sleepover bag though it was filled more than your average person and it took Jasmine a minute to remember Sasha had brought her own gluten-free snacks. The girl was decked out in blue and gray owl pajamas and it matched her gray, fuzzy blanket perfectly, which completely contrasted with Monet's black and camouflage night clothes that were visible when she got the door. After the typical greetings, they talked for only a few minutes before other people started to show up.

Once the door was knocked on again, people started showing up really fast. By the time Leo had settled in, Isa and Anthony showed up together, discussing some movie that Jasmine had never seen nor heard of before. The span of films was very different as well. Sasha and Isa had both brought romances, just from different time periods, while Leo had brought a comedy. Surprising everyone, Anthony had also brought a movie, but when it was revealed that it was one of the most boring films that were ever created, the group was not looking forward to Anthony's turn. By the time it was concluded that they would watch Anthony's film last to put them all to sleep, the two no one had been confident had shown up. Cleopatra Blackheart was here.

It was odd to see Cleopatra without her normal goth get-up. When Monet opened the door on her, they were surprised to see her in a sweatshirt and leggings, face lacking her typical makeup and rather plain for once. Her bag was in her hand but instead of stepping into the room right away, she set her bag down and turned away from everyone. Raising her hand in a wave to whoever had dropped her off, a small, kind smile decorated her lips, and anyone who hadn't already stopped talking, suddenly shut up. When Cleopatra turned back to look at the group, her blank expression returned just as quickly as it had disappeared and she picked up her bag once more, walking into the Warehouse. "You all suddenly got really quiet. Relax. It's not like I'm playing on shooting the place up or anything like that." There was a nervous chuckle from a few in the group but no one seemed to want to call Cleopatra out on her inappropriate joke.

Cleopatra only shrugged her shoulders at the silence and moved into the room, gently closing the door behind her. Her bag was dropped by the door with the rest of the sleepover bags and she slowly walked over to join the group. Her posture was confident but Jasmine knew that the other members weren't comfortable with Cleopatra yet and that was bound to leave some tensions that the goth girl was feeling. It was something that Mark and Jasmine had talked about whenever they were planning things for the club together. Between Cleopatra and Kyra's conflict with each other and everyone else's obvious dislike for Cleopatra, things seemed to be awkward among the group. To solve all of those problems, Jasmine made the impulse decision to wave Cleopatra over to sit by her. If Cleopatra and Kyra sat with Jasmine, Mark, and Monet, there would be only the tensions between Kyra and Cleopatra, so the rest of the club could enjoy their night.

Cleopatra didn't seem to have an issue sitting down next to Jasmine. She knelt down on her knees and pulled the ribbons and hair ties out of her hair, letting down her typical pigtails and shaking the marks out easily. Her black curls bounced lightly around her and the room seemed to remain quiet, a new side of Cleopatra Blackheart that no one was expecting to see. Now they were just waiting on Kyra to show up and they could finally start the night.

To remove the tension Cleopatra's entrance had created, they decided to talk about the movies they had picked out as their favorite movies. Mark refused to tell anyone what his movie was but at enough pleading and banter, he leaned over enough to whisper the title in Monet's ear, successfully annoying Jasmine more. Monet giggled at the movie, and so Jasmine was forced to conclude that he had picked her least favorite movie of all time. So, to retaliate, she filled everyone in on how Monet watched Karate Kid so many times that she had to have the whole movie memorized by now. Monet covered her face, a slight blush spreading across her cheeks, as Jasmine informed the group that they would never make it through the movie without at least one 'I can actually do that now' from Monet.

After what felt like forever, Kyra finally showed up. It had honestly been about seven minutes, tops if Jasmine was correct, but she had never been one for patience anyway. As Kyra was let in by Mark, the younger girl stepped into the Warehouse hesitantly, so unlike the closed-off and confident girl they were so used to seeing. It was only a second later that Jasmine realized that this had to be one of the first parties that Kyra had been invited too. Kyra might have been good at hiding her emotions but as she glanced around the room, she looked like an anxious freshman that got invited to a college party. Jasmine shot Mark a look and he turned back to Kyra, showing her where to set her bag and where the snacks were before inviting her to sit with him on the floor. A second later, Kyra had joined Jasmine's little floor gang.

"I can see that you're still wearing your gloves," Cleopatra remarked as soon as Kyra sat down on the floor. Kyra tilted her head slightly and her expression hardened.

"I can see that you brought your colorful attitude," Kyra replied without missing a beat. Cleopatra scoffed lightly and rolled her eyes, folding her hands together in her lap. Kyra crossed her legs Indian style before leaning back on her hands, almost challenging Cleopatra. This was about to go downhill.

"Anyways-" Jasmine interrupted, almost placing herself between Kyra and Cleopatra before their little argument could get worse. It didn't seem to matter that Cleopatra and Kyra had bonded slightly over their shared love of classical literature. They were complete opposites and their personalities clashed; they didn't like each other and it was looking unlikely that they ever would. Jasmine needed to keep the tension between them from getting worse and fast. "What movie did you bring, Kyra?"

The distraction seemed to do the trick but when Kyra's gaze focused on Jasmine, there was a hint of anxiety in the detective's dark blue eyes. "I... I didn't bring one. I can't remember the last movie I watched, let alone my favorite one." Kyra shrugged her shoulders and shifted into a more relaxed position on her hands. Jasmine froze and glanced over in Mark's direction, almost mad to see that he was trying hard to now laugh at her. Almost, being the keyword. In his position, she'd probably be doing the same. Instead, she just refocused her attention on Kyra and flashed her an apologetic smile.

"I am so stupid, I'm sorry," Jasmine laughed nervously, throwing her ponytail over her shoulder. "I totally forgot about that, Kyra." The younger girl shrugged her shoulders in response and Jasmine took that as a good sign. "Alright then! We can officially start! Who wants to go first?" There was a cacophony of sound as the majority of the club wanted to go first, but Jasmine had mostly just asked to be polite. She already knew who was going first. "Mark's going first. Mostly because he's trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible so I won't pick him, but also because I really just wanna know what movie he picked out before it drives me insane." Mark laughed from where he sat and Jasmine let out an audible groan, knowing that laugh meant nothing but trouble for her. "Mark, you're the worst. Anyways, y'all probably have this figured out by now, but we've got food and drinks over there. And we've got the floor to watch movies on with a crap ton of pillows so y'all get settled. Mark, just put your stupid movie in so we can get your torture over with as soon as possible." Mark chuckled and stood up, looking as though he was about to protest but Jasmine interrupted him. "No! Don't even give me that! I know that this is just some huge ploy to embarrass me."

After everyone was settled down with enough food to last them maybe thirty minutes and all snuggled into their blankets and pillows, conversation filled the room while Mark put his movie in. Jasmine glanced around the room, almost mesmerized by how easily this event had come together. It was almost like the elementary sleepovers she had when she was way younger, but she had a feeling this was going to be way more fun. When Mark got his movie in, the marathon had officially started.

The movie Mark had ended up choosing was Faith and Trust, the one and only movie that Jasmine had acted in and absolutely hated. Of course, out of all the movies, Mark had to choose this one. Jasmine groaned and let her head drop to her pillow the second the title screen played. With Monet's hand on her shoulder the whole movie, Jasmine spent the whole movie hiding under her fuzzy blanket on her phone with her occasional dramatic groans and complaints as the only reminder that Jasmine was even alive. She was convinced by the laughs she got that her commentary was the only reason they kept the movie on in the first place.

Once Mark's torture was over, it was Leo's turn to put in his movie. As they made the switch, everyone in the Rejects Club and Jasmine did mean everyone, tried to compliment her on the film, but Jasmine shot them down rather quickly. "No! Don't try that, please! It's not that bad of a film! It's your basic B rated film. I just hated working with that kid on, like, a spiritual level, and the director uber uncomfortable. And being on set wasn't even that fun. I wouldn't do it again. I'd rather forget the whole this. Aunt M agreed with me. If I was ever in a contract or a movie with that director again, she'd sue and she's not kidding about it." That got the group to shut up and Jasmine nodded proudly to herself. A few looked like they were going to ask some more questions but that was when Leo's movie started and they all settled down to watch the next in a long series of movies.

After what ended up being a long, long night, everyone had left by nine and get some real sleep in their own beds, since falling asleep on the floor at three am wasn't considered a good night of sleep. Although, they all seemed to enjoy the time they had spent together, so Mark and Jasmine counted the whole night as a win for the Rejects Club. This had been a great idea to get the group to bond and they made sure to congratulate Monet on her successful idea. Even if the great idea did involve them spending hours cleaning up the mess once everyone had left. Mark and Monet ended up cleaning the floor, moving the rug back to its position in the corner, and replacing Monet's exercise equipment in its place. While they were putting everything back where it went, Jasmine was at the snack table, taking care of the snacks and drinks before they could get another rodent problem in the Warehouse.

"Do you remember when we found this place?" Mark asked, looking over at Jasmine as he paused from sweeping the floor. "You know, like when we found it for the very first time." The blonde girl nodded her head, glancing over her shoulder to look at him before returning her attention to the task at hand.

"Of course. We were, like... What was it? Nine or ten and I had just moved in with Aunt M and Uncle Henry not that long before," Jasmine replied with a shrug of her shoulders, zipping a bag closed. "And we were playing Blaten because I don't think we went a day without playing that game." Monet scoffed and chuckled, rubbing her eyes gently before returning her worn punching bag to its original place from the ceiling.

"If I remember it properly, Jasmine was constantly throwing a fit about how we didn't have a proper base for our travels," Monet replied with a yawn, leaning against the wall as she spoke after stepping off the step stool. "And we decided that this storage unit looked like a good enough place to get Missy to shut up." Mark laughed and Jasmine blushed slightly, turning on her heels to look her oldest friends in the face.

"Listen, you can't not have a make-believe world and not have a base! We had been playing Blaten for at least a year at that point and we didn't even have a base! You can't blame me for that one, Miss Knight!" Jasmine protested. Monet rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out teasingly, but she smiled and shrugged her shoulders anyway. Jasmine knew she understood the point she was making, even if Monet wouldn't admit it.

"Yeah, and then we broke into the building and got into major trouble years later for it," Mark pointed out as he finished his last bit of cleaning, dumping the dust from the dustpan outside in the dirt. Then he turned back to Jasmine and shot her a playfully annoyed look. "Now hurry up, Missy! We want to go in and sleep!" Jasmine faked offence and gasped.

"You say that like I'm not trying, my dear Good Sir! Which, in fact, I am. If you want to go inside so badly, you should come and help me," Jasmine whined. Mark chuckled again and rolled his eyes. Despite their pretend annoyance, he and Monet came over to help her anyway. They filled the time with talk of their imaginary world they had come up with years ago, back when they were nothing more than clueless children. Back when they were defenders of their dear world of Blaten and it's wonderful and interesting citizens.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Monet supposed Mondays were awful. When the school decided to put her three day weekend to a stop and start up again, Monet was already ready for it to be over. She knew that she had a three day weekend and spent most of that time sleeping, even skipping her own Martial Arts class Friday night for it, she just wanted to go home and sleep for hours. She felt sore, though she wasn't really sure why that was. Sure, she had slept on the floor Thursday night, but she had only been at her teaching class on Friday, which wasn't all that hard, so it didn't make sense why she was so exhausted. She wasn't even looking forward to her teaching class tonight and she had grown quite fond of her nine and ten-year-olds over the summer. They were definitely a more rowdy group of kids but they were desperate to impress her and she loved their efforts, but she didn't think she had the energy to work with them tonight. At all.

But today was going to be different. When Mark's mother, Rebecca, had picked both Mark and Monet up from Jasmine's house, Monet had snagged her old guitar from the Warehouse. It had been there since the beginning of the summer, where Monet had promised herself that she would work on it, but the truth was that she hadn't touched it since then. She was just lucky that it hadn't been seen during their Favorite Movie Marathon because it spared her a lot of questions, but she was sitting in the back of the bathroom with her guitar now. She had sworn that she was going to play again and now seemed like a good time since there wasn't anyone around to judge or tease her, but she couldn't seem to actually play anything. She was leaning against her backpack at the wall for support, guitar across her lap and positioned to play, but she hadn't worked up the courage to strum the strings yet. Too many memories held in one device and while she swore that she'd continue playing, Monet couldn't actually remember the last time she practiced regularly.

Closing her eyes, Monet strummed the strings carefully. The guitar played an out of tune cord and a new memory played through her mind, something she wasn't sure if she wanted to remember, but she just shook her head. She adjusted the cords on the guitar and strummed again, this time guarding her memory more carefully. She hadn't been playing for this reason, too many things she wasn't sure she could live with if she remembered them all, but she continued to tune her guitar anyway. It had been her thing before and Monet was determined to take it back now."

"I didn't know that you played guitar, Monet," Isa said softly, making her way into the bathroom stall and sitting down on the ground to join her. Recently, Monet had moved away from the cafeteria bathroom and to the one in the center of the high school side of the building. And by recently, she meant today, but it seemed like Isa had followed her anyway. It wasn't like Monet was trying to push Isa away from her or get her to leave and if Monet was being honest with herself, she did like Isa's company during the lunch period, but she couldn't stand the sound of the lunchroom chaos anymore. It echoed in the bathroom and it ended up being too overwhelming for her now. And so, Monet had moved away from all of that to spend her lunch period in the high school bathrooms. She had been confident enough to play again because of it. But now Isa was here, just like every day and part of Monet wished that she had just stayed away.

Unable to find the right words to say, Monet just shrugged her shoulders and moved to put her guitar away. The last time she had played in front of anyone was at the beginning of summer and that had been Mark and Jasmine. In fact, the last time she had willingly played in front of anyone that wasn't Mark or Jasmine had faded from her memory, back to a time that Monet couldn't quite remember. Isa was quick to stop her. "You don't have to put it away!" Isa said, crossing her legs over each other in Indian style. "I think it's pretty cool that you can play. Not a lot of people can play instruments, you know." Again, without much to say, Monet just shrugged her shoulders.

"I haven't played in front of anyone in quite a while," Monet replied, her tone a little harsher than she meant it to be and she bit her tongue. "I... I'm out of practice, I guess." Isa didn't say anything, just reached into her book bag and pulled out her computer, opening it up and starting to type on it. She didn't look up at Monet, almost expecting her to keep the conversation going. "I haven't played at all in a while. I guess I just lost the motivation for it or something like that. It's not that big of a deal." At that comment, Isa's eyebrows knitted together and she looked up.

"You lost motivation to play?" Isa asked, almost confused. "Why? If you don't mind me asking." In response, Monet let her shoulders shrug again. "Oh, well, I guess I get that. I won't judge you for it. My dad plays so I was just curious. You don't have to play if you don't want to, but I'd love to hear you sometime. If you wanted." Monet paused for a second, the words processing in her mind. When she decided that Isa wasn't a threat and if she really had been one, she wouldn't be here right now, Monet sighed and took her guitar out again. She sifted through her music book and loose sheet music, trying to find one of her favorite songs to play. When she finished it, she laid it out and finished tuning the guitar, which got Isa excited. The brunette looked up from her computer again and smiled, clapping her hands together excitedly. She didn't say anything, however, deciding it was safer to let Monet play when she was ready.

It took Monet a few tried to figure out how to play again, but once she did, the music flowed naturally. The notes flew from her fingers and created colors around her again. She had forgotten how much she loved music, especially playing music, and how much she loved to paint the world with it. It felt just as natural to her as breathing, although she didn't dare sing. She used to sing and she normally did when she was with Jasmine and Mark, but not around Isa. She could play in front of her new friend but she couldn't bring herself to sing just yet. No, the singing would remain between her and her fellow warriors from Blaten. But like the notes, the lyrics flooded her mind and she found herself humming them softly anyway.

When the song was finished, Isa stopped her typing to clap for her. "You're really good at playing, Monet. Why haven't you played in so long? You could honestly make a career out of this if you wanted." Monet fiddled with the paper in front of her.

"I dunno, honestly. I guess martial arts kinda eats up most of my time," Monet said, picking up her sheet music again to file it away with the rest. "How's your book coming then?" Isa smiled a bit, eyes brightening at the mention of what she had claimed to be her pride and joy.

"Slowly, but surely, I'll tell you," Isa replied, taking a break from typing to hold a real conversation with Monet. "I've set a goal for myself to write every day and so far, it's been helping. But... I haven't quite figured out the ending yet." She glanced down at her open laptop again with a sigh. "But, then again, I suppose we never really figure out the ending of the story until we get there, right? That's the joy of writing. It's like creating your own world and watching it blossom and grow on its own."

"It's kinda like how you can teach kids the basics of martial arts, but you can't teach them how to use it in a fight," Monet agreed, trying to figure out something to relate to. She might not be an author like Isa, but she could relate somehow. Isa nodded her head in agreement and looked back up with a small smile.

"Yeah, exactly like that. You can raise them in all the right ways but when you send them out on their own into the world, you can't be sure of what they'll decide to do," Isa said. She paused for a second. "Are you going to put the guitar away? I thought you played nicely and if you wanted, you could always practice while I'm writing." Monet froze for a second, thinking about the offer.

"I do know some hymns?" Monet offered, though it was almost more of a question. Isa chuckled and smiled, nodding her head.

"Sound good to me!" Isa agreed. "Do you know Amazing Grace? That's one of my favorites." Monet nodded her head and thumbed through her music again, looking for the requested song. Sure, she wasn't ready to perform in front of people and she certainly didn't like it yet, but this was Isa. She had never judged Monet before. Why would she start now? And maybe, just maybe, playing guitar again would be enough to get Monet out of this funk she was currently stuck in now.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Mark's home!" Mark's sister, Julia, announced as he walked through the door. With a laugh, he waved at her before turning to say goodbye to Jasmine and shutting the door. She would have stayed over and Mark knew that, but she did have a video meeting that started in thirty minutes for her job. When he turned back around, Julia raced over and hugged him tightly. In all honesty, Julia was a lot like him, from her brown hair, curious blue eyes, and fiercely loyal personality. She also had taken to absolutely adoring her older brother, although he wasn't quite sure why that was. She was eight now, around the same age that Mark had met Jasmine and Monet, and he couldn't go a whole day without Julia informing him that she was going to find her own Jasmine and Monet. He'd always chuckle and nod along with whatever it was she was saying. Although, when she'd get upset about not finding them yet, Mark would gently remind her that maybe, she just wasn't meant to find them until later.

"Hey, Julie. How was school?" He asked, slipping his backpack down on the floor and taking his shoes off. Julia followed him as he went into the kitchen to say hi to his mother, where Julia had come from when he stepped through the door. She followed him and jumped up on the counter, no doubt where she had been before.

"It was awesome! We did this project in art with this really sticky glue and there were pieces of colorful paper and glitter and everything like that! But we didn't have to use it all if we didn't want to. A lot of the boys didn't want to use the glitter because they said it's for boys but Adam wanted to use it and then his friends teased him. Then I told them to leave him alone because they just didn't understand how pretty glitter was and how everyone can use it because you told me that anyone can use it. Remember? But then, Holden? He convinced Maia to throw glitter in my hair and so both of them got into trouble and I had to take a bath when I got home. See? That's why my hair is wet," Julia responded, talking at least a mile a minute. Mark just laughed softly and tugged at her hair gently, leaning back against the counter next to her.

"Seems like you had a far busier day than me, then," Mark replied with a smile. Julia shot him another one of her cheesy grins and shrugged her shoulders.

"How was your day?" Rebecca asked as she stirred the pasta in the pot on the stove. Mark chuckled a bit and put his hands in his sweatshirt pockets.

"I think it was one of our best yet! Everyone was still buzzing from the Movie Marathon on Thursday and that's all we really talked about. Oh! And I think everyone's finally getting used to having Cleopatra, Kyra, and Monet in the club. They're actually pretty chill around them now. And it's nice to be around Monet more. We haven't been able to hang out much since the beginning of the summer and I missed being around her. Overall, Jas and I are pumped that this is working out as we hoped." Mark smiled as he spoke, thinking back to the conversations that they had over the meeting. For the first time, it seemed like they were finally bringing Cleopatra and Kyra into the conversation on their own, and even more shocking, the two girls seemed like they actually cared about what they were talking about. He remembered seeing Jasmine's face light up once that happened and how she seemed just a little more excited as the club went on. He was mostly thrilled that this was one of Jasmine's grand ideas that were actually going really well.

"That's wonderful, Mark. It really is. Can you hand me that strainer?" Rebecca asked, pointing over to the strainer that was on the kitchen table. "Is Monet home tonight? Maybe she would like to join us for dinner." Mark shook his head as he walked over to the table for the requested object.

"Nah, she's got martial arts on Mondays and Fridays now," Mark replied as he handed Rebecca the strainer. "She'll probably be over tomorrow though. She's always complaining about her father never being around and I know she hates being home alone." Julia nodded her head quickly.

"Yeah! Monet should come over! It's always fun when she comes over and she teaches me new moves like this. Hi-ya!" Julia shouted, kicking her leg out and nearly missing Mark. He just chuckled and gently smacked Julia's leg away.

"Of course Monet can come over whenever she feels like it," Rebecca replied with a chuckle. "Just, you know, be careful, Mark. Would be a shame if the two of you were left alone." Mark's face went red and he groaned, shaking his head quickly.

"Come on, Mom! We're not even dating!" Mark whined. Rebecca just laughed and returned to her pasta.

"But you like her!" Julia said in a sing-song tone. She reached over to pull at Mark's hoodie string and he groaned more, squirming out of her grasp.

"Julia, stop it! I don't like her!" Mark protested, straightening out his hoodie string again. Rebecca turned away from where she was cooking dinner and gave him that one motherly look that every child has received at least once in their life.

"Now, Mark, don't even start with that. You've been crazy about her for the past six years at least," She replied with a smile. Mark whined and shook his head, shoving his hands deep into his hoodie pocket.

"Yeah, Markus, you have!" Julia poked him in the shoulder and giggled. The use of his full name was in an attempt to intimidate him and Mark appreciated the attempt, just not when it was directed at something he thought he was really good at hiding.

"Come on, guys, please!" Mark protested again. "Leave me alone!" Rebecca laughed and returned to making supper.

"Alright, alright. Fine, we'll leave you alone. Just remember that you're sixteen. You're at the age where dating and finding love is normal. And you've been friends with Jasmine and Monet since you were in second grade. It's not surprising that you've fallen in love with Monet," Rebecca shrugged, playing it off even though Mark knew she was just continuing the conversation as normal. And Mark knew she was right. He had a childhood crush on Monet Ivory ever since the day of the Great Mud War when they both had come home covered in mud and declared to his mother that he was going to marry Monet one day. The specific time had been nine years later and as he got older, he realized it meant that he would be getting married at nineteen. Still, he wished he had held onto that childhood innocence. Now they were older and things had gotten a whole lot more complicated. Now, it wasn't as easy as it would have been then. He had to get to know her. He had to make sure that he wasn't ruining his friendship with her. He did know her for years, sure, but it wasn't the same kind of friendship that he and Jasmine had shared. He and Jasmine could tell each other anything and they could trust that the other would always be there for them. He knew Jasmine's weak point and what was for her the most. He knew what made Jasmine tick. But despite knowing Monet for just as long, he couldn't figure out Monet. He didn't know why she stopped playing guitar. He didn't know why she acted the way she did or what made her tick. She just didn't make as much sense to him as Jasmine did. Maybe that was why he had a crush on her.

"As nice as that sounds, Mom, even if I did step up and asked Monet out, I still have Jasmine to think about. I can't just start dating my best friend's sister. If things didn't work out... Do you know how awkward that would be?" That was his other problem. Jasmine was his best friend, of course, but she was also Monet's sister and the other half of their friend group. He had a feeling that if he started going out with Monet, assuming that things went well, he would start excluding Jasmine. He didn't want to make her feel like she didn't belong with them anymore. He was deathly afraid of that. They had all their teasing and jokes about what would happen if one of them grew up and got married, but the real topic had never actually come up. Sure, dating was fine, but not when it was his best friend's sister. "I mean, do you get it? Jasmine's Monet's sister. I don't want her to feel like I don't care about her or that I'm abandoning her now. I don't think her heart could take it."

Rebecca nodded her head slowly, a small smile ghosting her lips. "You're a really great kid, you know that Mark? You're thinking about Jasmine before yourself and you've been patient for years because of it. There are not enough people like you." Mark smiled and shrugged his shoulder before Rebecca spoke again. "Now, go do your homework, Markus. I know you have some." Mark laughed and turned to walk out of the kitchen. "And you better actually get it done this time and not wait until the morning again!"

"Jasmine will have my head if I don't do it now!" He chuckled, opening his bedroom door and shutting it again once he was inside. Then, he sighed, leaning against the door slowly. He had made his situation seem relatively small when talking to his mother but the truth was, he had been thinking about it for the past few weeks now. Ever since he and Monet had started interacting again on a regular basis, it had been the first thought in his mind. He was hopelessly in love with Monet Ivory, wasn't he? But that couldn't be a concern of his right now. Because now they had a club to think about and a group of people to befriend. He wasn't a stranger to Jasmine's antics. He knew that when she had an idea, she just went ahead and did it. That's why he was so chill with it all. Still, the club was going to end up being one of the strangest things he'd ever allowed her to drag him into. Oh well. This was Jasmine Ender he was talking about. It had been what he was expecting, after all.