SPOILERS: This chapter and further chapters contain spoilers for Academy M - Chapter 2.

164.)

Blossom’s eyes were wide, like opening gifts on Christmas morning. It was the kind of excitement that a young girl with braces might have, too embarrassed to show her teeth in a full smile. An old habit, maybe? But it only took one paragraph for her expression to change to a coy grin.

"You know, Mia Moore, if I didn't know any better, I would say that this setting seems awfully familiar. How many other beach houses are decorated with such gaudy feature walls?"

"I hear it's very common in regression facilities," I shrugged. But the fact of the matter was: Academy M was set in Blossom's beach house. Or rather, it looked like Blossom's beach house. I just needed a small, safe place for Judith, and I couldn't think of a better one.

Blossom elected to let that one go. She kept reading. Judith was a really cute character. For someone who woke up in a strange place and not allowed to leave, she was handling it really well.

"Aww, Judith is worried about her dad! She's such a Blossom insert!"

"I don't know about that." On paper, Maria was closer to a Blossom insert. She was tall and sexy and great with her words. She never cowered from anything. But Judith had some Blossom in her; Judith was smart and willing to adapt to a situation. Neither of them were anything like me.

"Maria's really going hard on the gaslighting, huh?"

"Too much?" I asked.

"Nope. Super hot. In a story way."

"That's what I was going for," I laughed nervously. We'd had enough conversations about the difference between fiction and reality; we didn't need to get into that again. Speaking of reality, Blossom was just getting to the part where Maria revealed that her version of the beach house and Judith’s were different. Just a bit more gaslighting.

"The idea of what you see and I see are different things is so powerful, and so interesting," Blossom said. She almost used the word “hot” again, but she was still trying to tone that down.

"I guess the beach house could be my heaven?! That's SO cuuuute! Maybe she's an Amy insert?" Blossom teased, nudging Amy's arm with her own.

I blushed. Sure, the beach house was a nice getaway. But Heaven...?

"Just keep reading," I said.

This chapter was long. Longer than the other one for sure, and longer than most of my Academy Works chapters. She got to the part where Maria got Judith strawberries, even though Judith was allergic.

"Should this be a chapter break?" Blossom asked. "That is a pretty big mistake."

"Yeah, uh. I thought about it..." Actually, it had been a chapter break! But as I kept writing, I went back and changed it. "I think I want to make a point that not every mistake is a big deal, maybe? Or, uh... that there are mistakes that aren't Capital M Mistakes?"

"That makes sense. But allergies seem like a big mistake to make," Blossom said.

"That's true..." To be honest, I still wasn't sure. I wanted to keep my chapter count low, because there was a lot of story to tell. Was I overcompensating?

"This is some excellent recovery from Maria, though, let me tell you. This woman is sharp as a razor blade and she doesn't skip a beat. Straight into more gaslighting when called out about the patient records."

And then, just a heartbeat later.

"Can you do that for me?” Blossom quoted. “Maybe I can use those words and build an association for you, as well."

"I... uh..." Okay. That really caught me off guard. Or, maybe it was the idea that caught me off guard more so than Blossom suggesting it. In the story, Maria decided that "can you do that for me?" would become a routine phrase for Judith. Something she would associate with making Maria happy, and doing the right thing. A phrase that Judith would be helpless against. My face was warm.

"Oh, I think I stumbled into something," Blossom teased, noticing Amy's blush.

"Shut up," I muttered, shrinking into the couch a little. "Just read the stupid story."

"Okay cupcake; you be good and keep the sofa dry while I do - can you do that for me?"

Blossom Brixley winked and directed her gaze back to the laptop and away from Amy's burning red cheeks.

"Even a Touch from the marker can’t fix depression? I love that, actually. It's like 'hey we can rewrite so much of who you are, but depression's a bitch no matter what'. Totally relatable."

"Yeah... can't have the markers used for good, right?" But I was too embarrassed to laugh. My cheeks were still pink.

Blossom read on. It got to the part where Maria was gaslighting Judith about her reading ability, writing down random symbols and calling that "words". She was trying to convince Judith that she couldn't read anymore.

"I mean, that's so baby," Blossom said. "But why?"

"Control," I shrugged. "The more Judith depends on Maria, the better."

"Seems convoluted. If the markers can take away memories and stuff in other stories, couldn't they take that away too?"

"Sure, I guess... but..." Hm... maybe Maria's motives weren't clear enough. I should mention something about that in the next chapter.

"You know, maybe I have one of those markers, and that's the reason why you're so smitten with me?” Blossom teased. “Maybe I Touched you with it and now you need Blossom in your life?"

"Sounds like a roleplay idea," I teased. But the more she read, and the more I thought about it, the more I liked the suggestion. I mean, the markers were basically Super Hypnosis. That would make for a fun roleplay. But I was pulled away from my fantasy as Blossom got to the end of the chapter.

"Maria... Porter?" Blossom blinked a few times. "Porter, like Miss Porter? Like Nana in Academy I?"

Blossom looked at me incredulously, and I flashed her an innocent smile. A big reason why I didn't want to end Mistake Two on the strawberries thing was because I wanted to end it on the name drop. It had a lot of implications.

"Hey now, what a second, wait wait, there's more, right?” Blossom whined, like the fangirl she was. “You can't just… just humanize Nana Porter here and then not give me more."

"I don't know if 'humanize' is the right word," I said. "And this chapter is already longer than usual."

"I guess I'm being greedy, huh?" Blossom pouted.

"It's okay, I like the enthusiasm." But I still hadn't asked what I wanted to ask, so I said: "Did you like it?"

"Oh I loved it. I love these two. Even the obvious inserts aside, I am really into the two of them because it feels weirdly like they're both equals."

"Equals?"

"Yeah, like. Maybe because Maria isn’t using Touches to get what she wants? I don’t know, but it feels unique. They obviously aren't the same. But they're kind of the same. Or, trying to be the same? Or... something. I can't verbalize it."

Hm. Did Judith and Maria feel like equals to me? Not exactly. But I was writing from Maria's perspective. Of course Maria didn't see it that way. If she did, she'd probably be pissed off about it. Blossom didn't know it, but she was helping me structure some future stuff in Academy M.

"I don't have any more right now," I said apologetically. "And I don't think I can write more right now. I'm kind of exhausted."

"That’s okay. You actually finished writing at a reasonable time," Blossom laughed.

"Yeah, I guess I did." I started early, but I got really into it. It was only seven in the evening.

"So let's get dinner." She was already dressed for it, and Blossom didn't want to waste a good outfit.

To be honest, I was exhausted. I wanted to sleep, but then I'd just wake up at two in the morning. And if I couldn't write, I'd bake. Yeah, dinner was the best option.

I went upstairs and changed out of my pajamas, into my day clothes. I looked at myself in the mirror. I usually felt better about myself after writing a good chapter, and today wasn't an exception. I was kind of cute, if it wasn't for the bags under my eyes.

It was already dark outside when we got into Blossom's car. She turned the heat on full blast and I hid myself inside my big fluffy coat.

"When I was little, I used to think about sci-fi stuff, like the tubes that go out to connect to the ship,” Blossom babbled. “And if we had those, you’d never need to go outside to get into the car. I really expected that when I grew up, we'd just have that. And here I am, in college, and we still have to walk out into the cold to get into the car and then wait for it to heat up."

I smiled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Like, portable climate controlled hallways."

"Where do you wanna go, cupcake?" asked Blossom.

"Not sure. There's not many restaurants around here."

"Then let's just drive until we find something."

So Blossom and I drove up the road, onto the freeway. The car took a while to heat up, but once it did I was a lot more comfortable.

We passed a few diners off the highway, but the longer we stayed in the car the less we wanted to leave it. I kind of wanted to hit a drive-thru so I wouldn't have to be cold again. But Blossom found a sports bar that was open late about half an hour from the beach house, and I was too tired to argue my case.

"It'll be fun, don't worry; I love joints like this. And let me tell you… countries without late night sports bars serving wings and mozzarella sticks? They're missing out big time."

Walking into a bar with Blossom Brixley was like walking into class late: heads turned. Thankfully, none of them looked at me. Blossom and I got a booth in the corner, which was a kindness that no other wait staff in my life would ever top. I sunk into the hard padded bench and unzipped my coat.

"You come to places like this often?" I asked.

"All the time, with Becky. That's college."

I think I'd been in a sports bar twice in my whole life. I didn't know if Buffalo Wild Wings counted. It wasn't really my scene, but they had pinball and pool tables like in the movies. And I felt uncharacteristically safe with Blossom.

"We should totally take you out to more places; me and Becks. I think you'd like it." The sports bars themselves, maybe not, but certain college experiences were just worth having and Amy was a rather sheltered girl.

"Yeah, I guess. Like you said, it's college."

I knew my experiences of "college" were different than Blossom's, but I was only twenty years old. I still had time to live out all those stupid movie tropes. If I let myself.

"Speaking of Becky..."

"Is this a jealousy thing?" Blossom asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

"No, actually. I just thought... you said Becky wanted to hang out more. We should do that."

"Wow... I didn't think I'd hear that from you, cupcake."

"I want your friends to like me," I said, picking at my fingers a little. "And Lin wants to meet you anyway."

"I want my friends to like you, too." Blossom concurred, with a winning smile spread across her face. "And honestly? I think they do. Becky has her own issues, but she wants to get to know you better. And I think I'd like to get to know Lin, as well. Although I bet she's in the 'on Blossom Brixley is popular and easy, she must be vapid and shallow' camp still, huh?"

This wasn't insecurity from Blossom; it was more like a legitimate opportunity for her to invite Amy to share if those things were true. An opening.

"Lin has no idea who you are," I shrugged. "Only what I've told her, which is... not much." I worried that Blossom might be offended that I didn't talk about her with anyone but my therapist. But she knew me better than that. My hesitance wasn't a reflection of her.

"Should I dress more modestly when I meet her?" Blossom teased.

"Just be you," I said. "You're very likable."

"Aw cupcake! That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said about me. Blossom Brixley: Likable!" She grinned with all the cheekiness of a troublemaking cat, and looked down at the menu for wing flavor options. "Tell me three things I should know about Lin before I meet her."

"Oh jeeze. Uhh..." Blossom was looking at the menu while I thought about it. Maybe I should have been looking at the menu. "Well, her name isn't Lin. It's Michelle."

"Uh. What?" Blossom looked downright incredulous.

"Lin is her last name. She hates her first name, because it sounds too much like a 'white woman at a grocery store with a handbag of coupons'. Her words."

"She's right; Michelle does sound like a bit of a Karen name. Lin is much cooler, and that’s coming from a girl named Blossom. Two more facts. Also: do you like bone-in or boneless wings?"

"I don't care," I said. Then, after thinking about it for a moment, I added: "but I'd like boneless." I wasn't sure there was an attractive way to eat anything with a bone on it.

"Fact number two... Lin likes video games. She's thrilled that I got a Switch for Christmas, because we can play Pokemon together." But Lin had already finished the Pokedex, and I just arrived at the school, so I wasn't sure how we could play together. I didn't even have a single badge.

"I don't know much about games, personally. She's gonna think I'm so lame."

Blossom Fact: Blossom wasn't much of a gamer. She had a pretty clear distinction between "the things from before she was cool" and "the stuff now that was cool" and it was very hard for her to reconnect with anything from the former category. Was this a chronological version of her circles? Maybe.

"I don't know much about games either," I admitted. "As long as you're okay listening to her talk about them, I don't think it matters that much."

"And fact three?"

"Well, she's a tutor, like you. So that's something you have in common."

"What does she tutor?" Blossom asked.

"Math and science, I think. She does it for some of her parents' friends' kids, so like... middle school and high school." Blossom, on the other hand, tutored Italian at our college. They weren't exactly one to one, but maybe it was enough of a similarity that they could bond.

"She sounds like a clever girl. You have good taste in friends, cupcake."

Blossom punched in their order on the little touchscreen console by the edge of the table - Buffalo Wings, BBQ Wings, and Sweet Chilli Wings; all boneless, with some fries and extra carrots and celery sticks.

"I'm gonna get a DC, do you want one?"

"Uh, sure."

Blossom finished tapping things on the little screen and leaned back in her seat.

"You seem really cool about this 'meeting your best friend' thing," Blossom noted out loud.

"I'm not the one with the spheres," I shrugged. "I'm more worried that it'll be awkward. Neither of us have dated anyone since we became friends, so this is new territory for us."

"Oooh, is she having the same jealousy problems that Becks has been having?"

"Ha. No, not at all." Lin wasn't the jealous type, and she was often so busy that finding time together was already a treat. Most of the time we hung out, it was just body doubling. I wished I could write in front of her; I would have had a lot more time to work on Academy Works.

"Well that's a relief! I don't really get jealous either. Like maybe I don't feel it, or I feel it differently, or I'm just built differently. Brixley Tough. Maybe I was jealous in the Before Times™️. Or like, in high school maybe I felt possessive."

"The things you are saying are so alien to me." I shook my head in disbelief.

Our food and drinks came a while later and Blossom and I shared the meal. The caffeine in my Diet Coke wasn't helping that much, and by the end of dinner I was well and truly exhausted. But I had to give Blossom credit: the random sports bar had really good food.

When we were done eating, Blossom paid the bill and we got ready to go.

"You know, usually it's people wanting to take me out to dinner. It's nice to have someone I can take out for a change."

This was, admittedly, probably Blossom’s fault. She didn’t chase people. But now that she had, she was extremely pleased that she decided upon Chasing Amy.

"Well, it's nice to have a reason to go out at all," I said softly, hesitating by the front door. I'd zipped up my coat, but it was still freezing outside and Blossom's car was going to be cold again.

With no regard whatsoever for her comfort or wellbeing, Blossom pushed open the door and sauntered out without a coat. Or long pants. Or close-toed shoes. Ugh.