"Morning."
"Morning, Z."
"So Jack and I had a question." Shawn said as he and Jack stood up, making their sister groan before she turned around.
"Oh no. I'm gonna regret this, but yes?" Amzie asked with a sigh as she looked at her brothers.
"So we were thinking and normally the dad walks the bride down the aisle, right?" Jack asked, making Amzie nod as she crossed her arms.
"Yes, and thank you for reminding me that I don't have one!" Amzie said with a sarcastic smile.
"—so that's why we were wondering who was gonna give you away." Shawn finished, making Jack nod.
"Yeah, so who's it gonna be?—me or Shawn?" Jack asked, gestured in between the two of them.
"I don't know." Amzie said with a shrug before she walked over to the kitchen island and grabbed a banana. "Doesn't matter to me."
"It's important to me!" Shawn and Jack chorused, Amzie chuckling as she looked at them.
"Look, you two work it out yourselves, okay?" Amzie said with a shrug before she sat on the couch.
"It should be me." Shawn said as he looked at Jack.
"Why?"
"I raised her." Shawn reminded with a small shrug.
"I—have the same dad as her." Jack said with a proud nod as he put his hands in his pockets.
"So do I!"
"I'm leaving." Amzie decided before she got up and left.
"Hey."
"Hi, my girl." Luke said with a smile as Amzie walked into the bakery.
"What are you guys doing tonight?" Amzie asked as she leaned on the back of the chairs.
The boys all glanced at each other before they tried to think of an excuse to give her. "Wrestling match."
"Dance lessons."
"Science fair."
"Build a bear."
"Okay." Amzie said with a suspicious nod. "Well, can I come?"
"Why?"
"Because!" Amzie said with an exasperated sigh before she sat down between Zay and Farkle. "Ever since our graduation party, Shawn and Jack have been arguing nonstop about who gets to give me away and the girls are out of town. Please?" Amzie asked, giving Luke her famous puppy dog eyes.
"Don't give in. Don't give in." Lucas whispered into Luke's ear.
"Of course you can, baby." Luke said before Amzie smiled triumphantly, making the boys sigh.
"Damn it!"
"I'm not saying I'm scared—because I'm not—but that ain't safe." Zay said as the group walked toward the cafe.
"It was just a rat." Farkle said with a bored look as he looked at his best friend.
"—with a saddle!"
"Where are we going?" Amzie asked as she glanced around the street.
The boys all glanced at each other before they stopped in front of the cafe, Luke turning to look at Amzie. "Listen, before we go in here, you can't judge, okay?"
"Okay. I promise."
"Okay. Come on." Luke said before he led the group into the club.
Amzie glanced around the club in wonder before she turned to look at the boys, her eyes raised as she put her hands in her pockets. "So you guys sneak out to a poetry club every Friday and you thought that wouldn't be something I'd enjoy?"
"Well, we didn't know." Zay said with a shrug. "You're like a tornado: you're unpredictable!"
"Thanks." Amzie said, giving him an annoyed smile. "So what do we do?"
"We have an hour to write a piece of poetry and then you can either share with your group or you can go onstage and read it to the whole club." Farkle explained as he led the group to one of the tables.
"—and there's an endless hot chocolate bar." Lucas added, making his sister gasp.
"You guys should've brought me here sooner!" Amzie said before she ran over to the counter to order, making the boys chuckle.
"I think I should go start a tab." Luke said with a chuckle before he followed after her.
"Babe, why aren't you writing anything?" Luke asked after he glanced over at Amzie, who was doodling on a napkin. "Time's almost up."
"Oh. I had my poetry journal in my bag." Amzie said with a shrug as she held it up. "It has tons of poems in there. I'll just pick one."
"Wait." Lucas said, him and the boys sending Amzie confused looks. "You actually like poetry?"
"Yeah. You thought I didn't?" Amzie asked with a confused look as she tilted her head.
"No. We knew you did. We just didn't know you wrote it." Farkle said, the boys nodding in agreement.
"Yeah. We thought it was a running joke like Luke not being able to spell his middle name." Zay said with a small laugh.
"Okay. Not a joke." Luke said as he looked at Zay.
"Why would you guys think that I was lying about my poetry?" Amzie asked as she put her pen down.
"Z, pumpkin, don't take this the wrong way, but you're a very scary being and poetry is something more suited for grandmas and men in touch with their softer side." Zay said with a small shrug.
"Yeah, you liking poetry is like a king cobra playing peek a boo with a baby bunny: it just doesn't make sense." Lucas said, his sister sending him an unamused look.
"—or just doesn't happen." Farkle added with a small chuckle, Zay and Lucas chuckling in agreement.
"Come on, baby. They're just kidding." Luke said with a smile as Amzie looked at him.
"No. I'm not gonna sit here and trade insults with the four of you like we're twelve again because first of all: we're not twelve and second of all: I would win." Amzie said before she stood up and left, her poetry journal accidentally falling out of her bag.
"Baby, wait. She dropped her journal." Luke said before he picked the journal up, scanning through the page it landed on. "Wait. You guys, her poetry's actually really good. Look."
Luke handed the journal to Zay, who looked at the page before sending the Ross boy an unamused look. "This is a doodle of her stabbing me in the eyes with colored pencils."
"Oh. Wrong page."
"I'm home." Amzie announced as she walked into her apartment, her tossing her bag on the floor.
"Hi, bug." Katy said with a smile as she looked up from her tea. "Did you have fun?"
"No."
"What happened, darling?" Jack asked playfully.
"The boys took me to a poetry club." Amzie said with a sigh as she sat on the couch.
"What's so bad about that? You love poetry." Shawn said, his brother and wife nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, but then they found out that I actually like poetry and made fun of me." Amzie said as she played with her bracelet.
"What do you mean?" Katy asked after she and the boys shared a confused look. "It wasn't a secret."
"I know, but they thought I was just joking or something."
"It's okay, Z. You're great at poetry. You get it from me." Shawn said before he looked at Jack. "That's why I should be the one to give her away."
"That is not a valid reason!" Jack said with a yell, Amzie rolling her eyes before she got up to answer the door.
"Hi, baby."
Amzie rolled her eyes at Luke as she crossed her arms. "What do you want?"
"You dropped this at the club." Luke said as he handed Amzie her journal.
"What'd you do?" Amzie asked as she tossed the journal onto the entry table. "—read through it and make fun of me?"
"No, but Zay has a few questions about the art in there." Luke said as he pointed toward the table. "Baby, I'm sorry, okay? We shouldn't have made fun of you for something you like."
"I guess I can forgive you." Amzie said with a playful groan, making Luke's face light up. "One day."
"Great! Can I spend the night?" Luke asked, making Amzie scoff.
"I don't forgive you that much."
"I named her!" Shawn said, making Amzie and Luke look over.
"Well, I didn't know either of you existed at the time!" Jack retorted.
"Actually, can I spend the night with you?" Amzie asked as she looked at Luke, making him nod before they left.
"Where are you taking me?" Amzie asked as Luke led her down the street. "—to the bakery so Zay can criticize my drawings of him again?"
"Come on. Come on. Let's go." Luke said with a chuckle before Amzie walked into the bakery to see it decorated with streamers and a banner.
"What is all of this?"
"Well, the boys and I read your poems and we felt bad about making fun of you, so we decided to throw you an apology party." Luke explained, the boys nodding in agreement.
"We even made you a cake!" Zay said before he moved out of the way, letting Amzie look at the cake they decorated.
"Z, we're sorry. Please forgive us." Amzie read with a small chuckle.
"—and we got you a present." Farkle added before he handed her the gift bag.
"We did?" Zay asked, making Lucas elbow him.
"Yes, we did."
"—a new journal?" Amzie asked after she pulled the black leather book out of the bag.
"Yeah. We saw that you only had a couple blank pages left, so we thought we'd give you another journal so you can keep writing." Lucas said, Farkle and Luke nodding in agreement.
"Thanks, guys." Amzie said with a smile before she hugged them.
"So pumpkin—this is an honest question, so please don't break me—but why do you like poetry?" Zay asked, making Amzie shrug.
"I don't know." Amzie admitted as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Shawn used to write poetry when he was growing up and I like music, so."
"What does music have to do with poetry?" Lucas asked as he sat down next to his sister.
"Well, sometimes you can make songs with poems. Like this one." Amzie said before she looked at one of her poems, letting the boys read the page.
"i'm so insecure i think
that i'll die before i drink
and i'm so caught up in the news
of who likes me and who hates you
and i'm so tired that i might
quit my job; start a new life
and they'd all be so disappointed
cause who am i if not exploited?"
"—and then I could use this one as a second verse." Amzie said as she pointed at another poem.
"i'm so sick of seventeen
where's my fuckin teenage dream?
if someone tells me one more time
"enjoy your youth!" i'm gonna cry
and i don't stick up for myself
i'm anxious and nothing can help
and i wish i'd done this before
and i wish people liked me more"
"So you could use this one as a chorus?" Farkle suggested as he pointed at another poem.
"all i did was try my best
this the kinda thanks i get?
unrelentlessly upset
they say these are the golden years
but i wish i could disappear
ego crush is so severe
god! it's brutal out here"
"Yeah. See? We have a song right there." Amzie said as she closed her journal. "Sometimes I write songs just for fun and all of them start out as poems."
"Maybe you should consider becoming a songwriter." Luke said, Amzie nodding in consideration.
"Yeah. Have an Austin and Ally moment." Zay said, making Amzie chuckle and look at him.
"—except I'm both Austin and Ally?" Amzie finished with a chuckle.
"Mmhmm! You'll make a fortune!"