Sarah quickly changed back to the little mouse with the hissing cats. Alex laughed at her and took back the controller. "Lemmie show you how it's done."
-
The little mouse on the screen ran around quickly, sometimes jumping off of cliffs and turning into a bee at the same time. Turning right back into the mouse when it reached the other side of the cliff. He jumped over the objects and ducked under the floating ones, not dying until he reached the finish line. When he crossed over the line the little mouse began to dance. Little speckled were sent from it's want and then the cats began to dance with it.
Alex handed the controller back to her with a smirk. The screen began to sparkle again and a little bubble popped up. "New high score!" Said a programmed voice. A timer showed up with 32 seconds written on it. Sarah just crossed her arms and said "Show off."
seconds written on it. Sarah just crossed her arms and said "Show off."
"Honestly, eventually you will get used to the controls. Your mind will adapt and it will become muscle memory to you. The more you practice the better you get."
"Ok but what game is this even? I've never seen it before."
"It's called the mouse and the bee. There's a sequel to it called the shark and the whale but that one's not as fun."
"Oh ok."
"Wanna try again? I doubt that you could ever beat my record."
"Oh yea? Wanna bet?"
"Sure, how much are we betting?"
"We're betting on our pride, isn't that enough?"
"Fair, fair." Alex replied. "Challenge accepted."
After 10 rounds later Sarah looked over at Emily who was still fiercely typing on her phone and decided to keep playing.
10 minutes later Sarah beat Alex's high score. "Haha! I win, you lose!" Sarah teased.
"Yea but I got a new high score now, you don't win. The bet was to beat my high score. We never decided what one."
"Hey! That's not fair! I win and that's that. We are not changing the rules now."
"Whatever, you're just mad cause you know you can't beat me."
"Am not! I just can't keep Emily waiting any longer and I won anyway." Sarah said as she scurried away from Alex before he could say anything else.
"Hey Emily, what are you doing? You look mad." Sarah said as she sat down.
"Ugh! Do you see this?!" Emily said as she clicked a few things and flipped her phone around to show Sarah something. "They are saying that you cheated on the event! They said that you don't deserve the win."
Sarah looked closer at Emily's phone and saw that John Terra's fan club had banded together to insult Sarah. "John Terra did better than her" "Sarah must have cheated, how could she win against John Terra?" "She probably bribed the judges" Sarah looked at Emily and with a shrug said "Whatever. They can say what they want. I know what I did or did not do, their opinions don't matter to me."
"How does this not affect you? This makes me angry and it isn't even me that they are trash talking!" Emily said, shocked that this had no effect on Sarah whatsoever.
"I mean, sure, it kinda hurts that nobody thinks that I am capable enough to win. But if they were to actually see the dresses next to each other without knowing who's who's, I am certain that they would choose mine. They only say this stuff because it was made by their idol." Sarah explained.
"Oh well… ok, if you're sure it's not bothering you…"
"I'm sure." Sarah confirmed.
"So." Emily said, "You and Alex? What's going on there?"
"Alex?" Sarah said, surprised at the question. "Alex and I have been friends since middle school."
"Are you two going out or something? You guys seem super close."
"No, we're not. We just bonded quickly and are super close. I like Alex a lot but not in that way."
"No Alex? Then what about Max?" Emily asked.
"Nah. Not Max either. He's my best friend and I would never want to ruin that over something as silly as that. Plus Max has a girlfriend so even if I wanted to, I couldn't."
"Ooo Max has a girlfriend? What is she like?"
"Her name is Vanessa and she sucks. She's so rude and controlling. She enjoys bullying and flicking her glossy blonde hair with false dark roots around."
"Ugh." Emily responded, "She sounds so petty."
"She really is." Sarah said as her phone began to ring. She picked it up and answered it when she saw Max's name pop up. "Hello?" She said.
"Hey, what's up? You texted?"
"Yea, I have something for you when you get back. Where are you?"
"Almost back at the palace. The tailor was behind. How did the competition go?"
"Great! I won! I won the popular vote too."
"Good job! I knew you would, you should go tell my mom about it. I am sure she would like to hear!"
"Ok, will do. Text me when you get here. The thing for you is urgent."
"Alright. Bye." Max said as he hung up.
Sarah turned to Emily and said "I have to go! Max told me to tell his parents about my win. Talk to you soon!" Sarah walked to the door and quietly shut it behind her.
Emily shook her head and switched screens on her phone.
-
Knock...Knock...Knock…
"What do you want!" Jenny's voice came from the other side of the door.
"Hi Jenny! It's me, Sarah." Sarah answered.
"Ok! I'm coming!" Jenny said back. There was fumbling from the inside of the room as Jenny hurried over and the locking mechanism was turned off to open the door.
When she opened the door Jenny gave a nervous laugh and said "I was gonna visit you and Max soon but didn't want to disturb you guys and your new friends."
"Sure Jenny, Sure." Sarah said sarcastically. "You sure that's the reason, or is it just that you didn't want to feel guilty when you saw how many people were sharing the rooms with."
"What? No!" Jenny said with a nervous laugh.