Ms. Strickland

"Doc?! Miss Lomnocht, how many times have I cautioned you against hanging around with that crackpot Doctor Emma Green? Here is a Tracy slip for you, Miss Baird. Miss Lomnocht, I believe with makes three in a row." The wiry old woman said.

Mary and Jenny took the proffered slips and went to walk away, but the old Principal wasn't done.

"I should also write you up for inappropriate dress. You're a harlot! I knew your mother, and she was a harlot too. I hear you're hoping your little band passes the audition for next week's dance. You should forget it now. No Lomnocht has ever amounted to anything in the history of Bountiful Hills!" She screeched, trying to scare the pupil.

"Yeah, but history's gonna change." Mary smiled.

Later that day, Mary gathered her band in the auditorium to audition. Jenny watched as they played a pop-punk version of the Huey Lewis song Power of Love. However, the man in charge of the auditions stopped them, and dismissed them based on the fact that their attire was "just too provocative". Needless to say, Mary and her band mates were shocked, but went about their day. As they walked home through the town square, Jenny tried to console Mary as best she can.

"You guys are really good. Your youtube videos of your garage performances have hundreds of thousands of views. Just upload that music video you guys made, and it will get you guys noticed in no time!" Jenny said.

"Eh, but what if it doesn't get any likes? What if all the comments are like 'Kill yourself, slut. You have no talent.' I just don't think I can take that level of negativity." Mary said, head slumped.

"Mary, what was it Doc always says? If you don't get off your ass..."

"You won't find out what you can do. I know."

"It's good advice, Mary." Jenny said, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulder.

"Whoa, check out that billboard, she is hot!" Mary said, seeing an ad for a new movie starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Jenny gave Mary a quizzical look.

"How about it? Could you picture her and me? Out on a nudist beach?" Mary asked, placing her hands behind her head and arching her back.

"I dunno..." Jenny said, unsure of how to react.

Mary had been an out and proud lesbian since they entered high school. Mary worried that Jenny would end their friendship, but things remained platonic for the most part. Mary really didn't want to lose her best friend due to a crush. She hoped she'd get over it and move onto someone who actually wanted to be with her that way.

"Well, maybe you can help me find someone like her..." Mary suggested.

"Like...me?" Jenny asked as she leaned closer.

"Uh..." Mary's mind went blank.

"I know you've had a crush on me for a while. I figured I'd make you squirm, but... I've been keeping a secret too."

Jenny smiled as their faces got closer. Mary was wondering if her friend finally saw her as dating material. Then, right before their lips touched, they were rudely interrupted.

"Save the Clock Tower! SAVE the Clock Tower!" An elderly woman shouted at them holding a flyer.

Mary and Jenny looked at the woman, confused.

"25 years ago, lightning struck the clock on top of that tower and hasn't run since. That clock has been in this town square for a hundred years. I'm petitioning the city to fund a restoration in time for its centennial."

"Sure, I'll sign." Mary said, scribbling her name on it.

Mary and Jenny looked behind them to see the clock tower in question. The city of Bountiful Hills had once been filled with rolling hills for miles, but progress had come and flattened many areas that were furthest from the town square. The downtown area adjacent to the square was one of the last places where the hills remained. Due to this, the clock had been mounted on a tall statue to be visible on all sides all around the city. A large obelisk housed 4 clock faces, one for each side, but only one movement controlled them. The bell in the belfry had not been rung in over two decades. However, the most impressive parts were the four large female statues that stood at the base of the obelisk, and held their hands aloft, seeming to lift the clocks into place. Because the statues were naked, many young boys joked that their large breasts were the real Bountiful Hills.

"Thank you for the support. Don't forget to take a flyer. It has all our social media profiles so you can share our cause!" The old woman said before leaving.

"Now, I think we were having a moment..." Mary commented.

"Yeah, I think we were..." Jenny leaned forward again.

Just as they were about to kiss...

Honk-HONK

"Jennifer!" An authoritative male voice called out.

"Its my dad...sorry." Jenny said as she walked over to the car.

"Hey, I'll call you tonight!" Mary yelled out.

"I'll be at my grandma's. Hang on I'll give you her number. Cell coverage is spotty, so she has a landline." Jenny explained as she began typing into her phone.

Mary received the text message with the number, and a shot message:
I love you! Talk later. [Heart emoji] [kiss emoji] [winking face] [heart emoji]

Mary smiled at Jenny as the car pulled away. She then got on her skateboard and went back home. She skated past the entrance for her gated community, "Boson Estates", but a graffiti artist had added an extra arch on the "n" to make it read "Bosom Estates". As she entered the house, she heard her mom and her "friend" having an argument, by which it meant her mom was doing her best to calm down her friend when she had done nothing wrong.

"Don't worry, I'll have the reports emailed to them on Monday. So, please stop yelling?"

"Um, hello Lomnocht! They'll notice it came from your email address. I'll also have to change the email address and make changes so it fits my writing style." The man growled.

"Fine, I'll have to you sunday night so you have time to make chanhes and email it." The meek woman said.

"What're you looking at, douchebag?" He asked when he noticed Mary enter.

Mary found the imposing man intimidating, and didn't want to risk her mom losing her job, so she silently shrugged her shoulder and watched the man turned to leave.

"Now, Seth...you know you still owe me for the other...times" the woman said, but fell on deaf ears as the door closed before she could finish.

"Why do you keep letting him do that to you?" Mary asked.

"I'm sorry I'm just...not as confident as he is."

"If only dad were here." Mary lamented.

"Your father would still be here if he wasn't so shy. How you and your sister were born, I have no idea. He got so scared for some reason, and he just took off." She said.

Mary hugged her mom, and they went to the dining room to have dinner. Mary tried to think of a way to stand up to Seth, get her grades up, get Strickland off her back, and possibly have a new girlfriend?

"By the way, Jenny called you twice." Mary's sister, Dana said.

"Did you finally ask her out?" Her mom asked.

Mary nodded.

"Girls dating girls. Back when I met your father, I couldn't even fathom the kind of world we live in now. So many sexualities and genders. There was just two genders, and you were attracted to one, the other, or both. At least I hope your date turns out like mine." Mary's mom mused.

"We've heard this story before. Someone pranked you, and he saw you naked. You felt embarrassed, so you asked him to the fancy underpants dance." Dana said.

"No, it was the Chantilly Lace Dance. It was when we saw each other dressed up and danced the whole night. He kissed me for the first time that night. I'll never forget it. It was the night of that terrible storm. Anyways, from that moment on, I felt safe. Until he ran away, of course." She lamented.

"Hahahahaha! No Soup For You! Classic!" Dana laughed as an old episode of Seinfeld showed Elaine being denied soup for not following the rules of the Soup Nazi.

Later, Mary laid in bed, asleep. The clock on the nightstand said 1:05am, and her phone began to vibrate. Mary groggily answered it

"Uh..hello?" Her eyes slightly opened.

"Mary! Did I wake you? You're supposed to be here in ten minutes!" Doc said.

"Oh...no, no. I'm on my way..." Mary said, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

True to her word, Mary arrived via skateboard at Twin Peaks Mall at 1:15am. She saw Doc's van parked, so she glided down the ramp over to the van. She saw Doc's cat sitting down behind the van, so she got off her skateboard and walked over, petting the small animal, and asked where her human was. The cat didn't move as an odd sound emanated from the van. The rear gate lifted and ramps lowered. Mary could see it was a car, but no idea the make and model until it was fully on the asphalt...