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P2 - Chapter Twenty

"You guys look great," Jambu said with a small chuckle. He held his gaze on me just a bit longer, trying to recognize me in any way, but when he failed, he just shrugged it off. "Come on in."

"Thank you!" Kinkajou brightly answered as she slid into the backseat, followed by me and then Glory. "Jambu, this is Moon."

"Nice to meet you, Moon. You guys got a dance?" Jambu asked as he glanced up at us from his review mirror.

"Turtle, obviously," Kinkajou said as Jambu backed out of the driveway and started driving.

"Deathbringer," Glory said. "You know, the annoying one I keep telling you about."

"Oh, so you talk about Deathbringer a lot?" I asked with a smug expression. "I'm sure he'd like to know that." Glory's eyes narrowed.

"It's not like I'm interested in him, or anything."

"Sure you are," Kinkajou said. "Because remember that one time he climbed in through your bedroom window and you guys almost kissed but I walked in at the last second and interrupted you? Sorry about that, by the way."

"You guys almost kissed?" I demanded. Deathbringer definitely didn't tell me that. "Why don't I already know this stuff?"

"Because it's not important," Glory growled, sending a glare at Kinkajou, who subsided wearily.

"What about you?" Jambu suddenly asked me. "Who's your date?"

I hesitated before responding. "Qibli," I finally answered.

"OH, that dude?" Jambu asked as his face lit up. "I love that dude! He's the coolest! And he's funny--you've got yourself a prize."

I know, I thought as a smile spread across my face.

"You know, my boyfriend, Pineapple, said that Qibli was one of the chillest dudes he's met," Jambu continued. "Yeah, he's cool."

I snorted to cover up a laugh, wondering what Winter would say if someone were to ever call Qibli 'cool' in front of him. Of course, Qibli's only response to Winter insulting him is flirting, which always kept me entertained.

We made it to the school in a matter of minutes, and by the time we got there, Sunny, Clay, Starflight, and Tsunami were all already standing outside of the school, waiting for Glory with impatient expressions.

"Took you long enough!" Tsunami snapped. "Come on, let's go! Your boyfriend is probably waiting for you already."

"She is only this eager to go in because she wants to see Riptide," Starflight explained to Glory as Sunny took his hand and dragged him into the school, Glory close behind them.

"Alright," Kinkajou said optimistically. "Now it's time we found our friends." We waved goodbye to Jambu and scurried on into the school. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dimmer light, but when they finally did, I could see that the place was already packed.

Music was booming so loud that I felt it in my heart, which startled me a little bit. Red lights illuminated by a disco ball plastered onto the roof flew around freely. My eyes scanned the crowd, but I couldn't spot Qibli or the others.

"There!" Kinkajou said, grasping my arm and dragging me off to a far corner of the building where there was a bar stand, and, sure enough, there stood Turtle, Winter, and... Qibli.

Qibli and Winter we're both busily chatting, Qibli probably flirting with him and Winter insulting him right back. Turtle's eyes were skimming the crowd until his gaze landed on Kinkajou and me walking toward them.