Zapped by an Apple | An Appledash College AU Fanfic | Human Characters

⓵⓸ 『 Crystal Empire 』

     The place was just as Pie had described it to be, absolutely brimming with snobbish riches that sent Rachel's orbs twinkling in awe. The floor was lined with a scarlet-hued carpet and the countertops; a shined black-and-gold marble. Rain knew it wouldn't be some lame cheapy-joint, but man, had she underestimated it still.

     Brutish laughter echoed along the lustrous spruce walls as affluent men punched pool tables and fanciful women clanged champagne glasses. Piper's fuchsia curls bounced in front of Rainbow and co. while they trailed behind her into a private karaoke studio lit by colour-changing strobe lights. There, a massive banner with the words 'WELCOME BACK RAIN' hung at the far wall, and multifarious party streamers, balloons and varicoloured decor lay scattered in every direction.

     "Damn..." Rain gaped, and thanked Piper for the whole setup. 

     The girls settled in at one of the booths together, Tiana between Rachel and Piper on one bench, and Rain next to Fae on the one parallel. They gossiped jovially to one another for some hours before that stale sensation began to itch at Rainbow's noggin again. 

     "KARAOKE TIME!!!" Pie interrupted her thoughts with a squeal as she jumped onto the table and surfed towards the small stage. She clenched the microphone with both hands and shot a pointer finger out at the DJ, who winked and said, "Same as usual Pie?" 

     "You bet!" the pink-haired girl answered and as soon as the music sprung to life, she scream-sang to Heart of Glass by Blondie. Fae's lips curled into a small simper as she held her hands tucked atop her lap, and Tiana face-palmed, causing Rachel to titter.

     Three or four songs later, Pie stood panting before reaching an arm out towards the group and offering, "Your turn? Cmon, I know you wanna...Who's next?" After nobody answered, she dragged Tiana on stage. At first, the nerdish woman was reluctant to come up to the front, but about two more songs in and they were practically battling for the mic. 

     The spectacle heaved Dashie into the fun and she sat slapping the table in an uncontrolled laughter. She had almost forgotten about the whole situation with the blonde cowgirl until--

    "AJ!!!!" Piper yelled, beckoning her over with a wave. 

     It was then, that Rain remembered her ignored text, and grunted in amusement at her freckled friend's arrival. 

     Nice of you to finally show up... the young athlete remarked inwardly. She echoed her other friends and called, "AJ!" summoning her with a pat to the seat next to her. If she wanted things to go back to normal, maybe she just had to try harder. 

     AJ wore a maroon, v-cut, long-sleeved crop-top, and as usual, low-waisted jeans. She hesitated for a moment, and then carried out Rain's suggestion seeing as there was no other option if she didn't want to appear rude. She plunked herself next to the haughty athlete and kept her gaze locked to the table--unlike Rain, who's terra-cotta irises cemented to the taller cowgirl like gum to paper. 

     "Will y'all quit that?" Dash was surprised when the AJ spoke first. She blinked suddenly and turned her attention towards Rachel, who was now elegantly golf-clapping at the chaos unfolding on stage. "Sorry," the sporty lass chuckled awkwardly. 

     Rachel could see that, while at first Fae had been enjoying the show, she seemed to have been growing more overwhelmed at the noise, so the fanciful woman lightly touched her shoulder and brought her to the washroom with her in escape while she fixed up her makeup, leaving only Rain and AJ at the booth. Tiana was now five drinks in and carolling fortissimo at Piper, who absolutely devoured the lunacy. 

     Rainbow snuck a sidelong glance at AJ, trying her hardest this time to appear as though she was not. But the cowgirl must have felt it, because she cleared her throat and tapped her roper to the sheen flooring diffidently. "Welcome back," she voiced suddenly in a scrawled tone.