America: 50☆Stars (Vol. 2)

Episode 9: Baby Shark Wins Baseball

The crowd claps their hands and sings along to their rally song, "Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo~ Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo~ Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo~ Baby shark!"

Alberta groans, "Darn it. They're going to get that song stuck in my head again." He promptly flees the room.

Saskatchewan subconsciously nods her head to the beat. "Looks like they're having fun."

"They sure are..." Quebec grumbles.

"Do you think they're going to win the World Series?"

She scoffs, "J'en doute (I doubt it)." She glares at the celebration on TV. "That should've been me going to the World Series..."

She cocks her head. "Did you say something?"

"Hmph! Ce n'est rien (It's nothing)." She flips her hair dramatically and walks out of the room, still insisting she's not jealous or anything like that.

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"To getting swept!" Minnesota holds up a shot of cinnamon whiskey.

Missouri raises her shot. "To getting swept!"

They clink their shots before downing their disappointment to an unsuccessful postseason.

Across the bar, California glares at the pair of Midwestern states, finding their sarcastic optimism mildly annoying. "Why are you two losers celebrating? You're supposed to act totally sad and embarrassed like a bunch of losers."

Minnesota raises a finger. "Actually, I'm still upset with the Yankees sweeping the Twins...again..." She quietly cries to herself.

Missouri scratches the back of her head. "To be honest, I had low expectations for the Cards. I knew they were going to get beaten by better teams, so it was somewhat of a miracle they won the divisional series against the Braves."

Georgia scoffs, "You call that a miracle."

"Sorry. For you, it was a massacre."

She shudders at the memory of those ten runs in the first inning. "Bartender. Can you be a good man and pour me a glass of wine with the highest alcohol content? I need to get rid of another dreadful loss."

"No problem. Just give me a moment." Nevada finishes making Florida her mojito before checking the wine cabinet.

Florida pats her neighbor on the back. "Cheer up, girl! Don't let that unlucky inning get to you."

"Ironic coming from a team who essentially threw away Game 5 in the first inning," she grumbles.

She laughs, her cheeks burning red. "Yeah. That's true. But hey. For a wild-card team with the cheapest salary, at least it was close and interesting. I can't say the same thing for Minnesota though."

"T-They did their best!"

"Bullshit!" California laughs in contempt. "Everyone had great expectations for you. The Bomba Squad versus the Bronx Bombers. World War III: Who'll drop the most bombs? We were expecting a slugfest, a home-run derby, a battle between two of the best offenses in the American League!" She drinks her wine. "Instead, what we got was something like Germany invading Poland." The girls gasp at her comment.

"Jesus Christ, Cali..." Georgia frowns in disapproval.

"Yeesh. That's cold." Florida sips her mojito.

"Ow..." Minnesota finds herself on the verge of tears again. She knows what California said is true, yet it still hurts to hear the truth out loud and in her face.