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[img]https://media2.giphy.com/media/6ZqhDXaxSalEc/source.gif[/img]
[sub][color=lightcyan]Collab by [color=76ff7a]Chrissie[/color] [@TootsiePop] & [color=teal]Kavi[/color] [@metanoia][/color][/sub]
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The only thing Kavi wanted to do was not be brought into the middle of whatever shit other people, especially those who were his friends. It put him in an awkward spot and he couldn’t do anything but just sit there and listen to one of them bash the other. It was an exhausting process and something he felt very uncomfortable going through.

But Chrissie couldn’t help it. He knew how she was. In just the past week alone, he had spent hours with her. Whether it was on the phone or at school, he started to understand why she acted the way she did. Why was she so dramatic all of the time and why she had this certain flair about her. Perhaps he wasn’t [i]completely[/i] accurate but he deduced that she loves to hear herself talk.

Kavi wasn’t a stranger to this. He liked to hear his own voice too. It was something they both had in common — well, that and a love for tart fruits. 

As he turned right on Oak Drive, Kavi figured something else about Chrissie.

[color=teal][i]She doesn't need me to respond to keep going,[/i][/color] Kavi thought. He found comfort in that for obvious reasons.

He didn’t want to tune her out. He wasn’t that guy anymore, but when everything he heard was about Stella, he figured it was best to let her continue on. Still, it was finally at the point where he needed to interject.

[color=76ff7a]“Can you believe that shit?”[/color] 

Nearly half of a mile away from the Country Club, Kavi purposely slowed at a yellow light so it would turn red by the time he came to a gradual stop. He took in a slow breath and said, [color=teal]“You look, well hot!”[/color] Kavi acknowledged her impressive dress, taking a respectable amount of time to scale her head to thigh and back up again.

While that wasn’t the response she [i]wanted[/i], Chrissie would accept it wholeheartedly. [color=76ff7a]“At least [i]you[/i] noticed. It takes what? Two eyes? To see this!”[/color] She ran her hand from her cheek, down her chest, to her hip, [color=76ff7a]“That bitch really thinks she’s the shit now that she’s had a Paris makeover.”[/color] 

Raising an eyebrow, with a sudden and abrupt thought, the drama queen took out her phone and went to scan her socials, [color=76ff7a]“I should block her, right? She totally deserves it. I got her on everything. Snapchat, Facebook, twitter, insta.”[/color] Bringing her fiery gaze from her phone to her date, she growled, [color=76ff7a]“Well?”[/color]

[color=teal][i]Why is it always me?[/i][/color] Kavi lamented at his current situation. Regardless of what he does, no matter if he did something to deserve it or if it was one of those rare moments he was innocent, he always was placed between a rock and a hard place. Whether it was Ariel and April, holding strong for his sister while their parents fought, or being fucking arrested, it was always [i]him[/i]. 

As he considered his next words carefully, which was rare for him because he always said the first thing that came to him. He knew the longer he waited to speak, the worse it would be for him because Chrissie would just keep going like a broken record. So, with a sigh and knowing his only option was to make attempts at diffusing this pink bomb, Kavi said, [color=teal]“If that’s what you think you need to do, then I guess you should!”[/color] Kavi offered her a half-smile. It was all he could manage. He just wanted to move on to something less mentally exhausting.

[color=76ff7a]“Too agreeable.”[/color] Rolling her eyes, she went to her phone and closed the Instagram app, [color=76ff7a]“I’ll wait. See if she does something stupid tonight.”[/color] After placing her phone back in her clutch, she crossed her arms and looked out the window, finally going silent. She didn’t say anything more, either because she was out of things to say or waiting for him to add to the conversation. Whatever it was, the silence was a sign for [i]something[/i]. 

When Chrissie’s voice came to a full silence, he thought it was gonna be something he’d welcome. After minutes of her ranting about the infinite amount of ways Stella changed and how she didn’t like it, the silence only seemed to make the wait for the light to change green even worse. It was agonizing. So much so that he sighed and turned up the volume on the car radio. He spent about ten seconds going through the stations, listening to only a second per station until he looked at Chrissie. “Do you wanna maybe give it a shot? I’m a horrible DJ,” he laughed.

Tilting her head, to his old fashioned ways, Chris decided to take it upon herself to connect her phone to his Bluetooth. Spending a minute deciding on a song, she picked something from her musical playlist. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFOvOQ8xLv4]Take Me or Leave Me[/url] from Rent filled the car and seconds later, with a quick finger motion, it was blasting. It was a duet song about a lesbian couple at their breaking point of their relationship, giving each other an ultimatum to make amends or leave. Maureen being a flirt and Joanne being a control freak, it makes sense it would be hard to compromise.

The version that played was straight out of the movie, with the dialogue before the song: [color=76ff7a]“You know what, Miss Ivy League.”[/color] She matched Maureen’s script, word for word, spot-on, while looking at Kavi as if he was Joanne. [color=76ff7a]“I can’t take much more of this. This obsessive, compulsive, control freak [i]paranoia[/i].”[/color]  

Though, assuming Kavi didn’t know Joanne’s part, she immediately changed personalities, [color=76ff7a]“What?!”[/color] 

[color=76ff7a]“I didn’t pierce my nipples because it grossed you out. I didn’t stay at the king club last night because YOU wanted to go home.”[/color]  Chris-Maureen complained. 

[color=76ff7a]“You were [i]flirting[/i] with a woman in rubber!”[/color] Chris-Joanne scowled. 

[color=76ff7a]“THERE WILL ALWAYS BE WOMEN IN RUBBER FLIRTING WITH ME!”[/color] Beat.  [color=76ff7a]“Give me a break!”[/color]  And then, the song started. When she sang Maureen’s part, she made sure she was confident to a fault, bold in a sultry way, and shamelessly [i]right[/i]. 

While Chrissie certainly embraced everything the highly catchy song she put on seemed to present, Kavi tried to keep his focus on the road. The country club was in sight and heaven forbid if he should attract any unwanted attention. But as he kept driving, coming to a stop at yet another red light, Kavi took advantage of the motionless vehicle to watch Chrissie, her energy was infectious and probably for the first time, he saw her smile. And seeing her like that made him smile. He would even make his best attempt at whatever passed for seated dancing. His shoulders popped and locked and he just snapped his fingers to whatever bug Chrissie passed along to him.

Because she was being passionate and focusing on the emotion in the song, Chris was no longer thinking about Stella. [color=76ff7a]“Take me for what I am, who I was meant to be. And if you give a damn, take me baby or leave me.”[/color] She was pleasantly surprised when Kavi started being cute and joining in by doing a jig. 

Honestly, musicals were healing and the only medicine she needed. Once she sang a little bit of the competent, organized, and dedicated Joanne’s verse, and the car started moving again, she raised her arms up in the convertible to feel the wind, raising the volume of her own voice, hoping the whole world could hear her sing. She had no shame. Without a doubt, this showed how fearless she was, how fun she could be with when she wasn’t in a mood, and how much of a star she was growing to be. Shiny and bright, like a diamond. 

[color=teal]”Sing it, girl!”[/color] He cheered her on, the lyrics missing him by a mile but the energy in the car - and soon the parking lot of the country club - was high and positive. 

From where they began this car ride, with both of them feeling frustrated. Kavi’s source was obviously constantly thinking about Ariel and Chrissie was frustrated (that’s putting it mildly) with Stella, but as soon as his date took the reigns of the music selection, he had to admit there was something endearing about Chrissie. She wasn’t perfect and that was something Kavi could relate to.

As he pulled into a spot relatively close to the entrance, Kavi threw all into the wind and turned up the volume to near-deafening levels. The volume paired with his BMW’s impressive sound system, not only would the beats of the song be heard, but the vibrations of the bass would be [i]felt[/i]. [color=teal]“Now that’s more like it!”[/color] He grinned, repeating his same dance moves from before but he put some feeling into it this time around. 

Having not seen Jasper and Ariana parked a bit away, and being closer to where the chaperones were standing, Chrissie hopped out of the car and brought her playful eyes to the teachers, [i]specifically[/i] one, a math teacher who her best friend was in love with, [color=76ff7a]“That’s it.”[/color] She pointed in that general direction and sauntered around the front of the car, [color=76ff7a]“The straw that breaks my back.”[/color] 

She opened Kavi’s door for him, [color=76ff7a]“I quit.”[/color] Leaving the door, and her date, she sang louder than the volume, which was fucking high, and started skipping to the teachers, [color=76ff7a]“Unless you take it back.”[/color] Her dark gaze stopped at Mr. Russo’s face, as she smirked, [color=76ff7a]“Women, what is it about them? Can’t live with them or without them!”[/color] 

For the last chorus, she gave her teachers a show (‘take me for what I am’), like the theater girl she was, and then walked backwards when it was coming to an end (‘take me, baby, or leave me), [color=76ff7a]“Guess I’m leaving.”[/color] Beat. [color=76ff7a]“I’m [b]gone[/b].”[/color] Heavily breathing, but completely ecstatic, she turned her attention back to Kavi and offered her hand for him to grab and join her,  [color=76ff7a]“You ready to party?”[/color] 

With one hand, Kavi grabbed his jacket and her clutch and with another, he was whisked out by Chrissie’s pull. He wasn’t able to stop smiling. [color=teal]“Oh, I’m ready to party! Are [i]you[/i] ready to party?”[/color] Kavi found himself shouting, not caring who else heard him.

[color=76ff7a]“Well, duh. I wouldn’t have asked you if I wasn’t ready.”[/color]

After staring at her for a long moment, Kavi sighed and laughed. [color=teal]“Then what are we waiting for?”[/color] With a smirk, he led her towards the entrance in a half-jog.[/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/color]