Back to the party... sort of

Pearl and Jane join you.

"Yo, we should scram," says a worried, full-breasted Jane, jerking a thumb over at Sully and Indigo's intense make-out session.

"Preferably before those two start humping each other," says Pearl, flatly. Without a second thought, she slides her slender hand into yours and squeezes.

"What - what about the Juicer Max?" you stammer, your brain pulled in too many directions at once - Indy's round ass, Pearl's delicate fingers, existential Twilight Zone peril.

Yutong shakes her head. "It's an 800-pound piece of machinery, and it's been here for decades. It's not going anywhere anytime soon. And I for one came here to dance, not taste test - follow me."

Showing surprising confidence in herself, pretty Yutong leads the way out of the Popple Quench R&D lab. Jane throws down her scooter and wheels after her, and Pearl tugs you to follow, hand-in-hand.

You're left too off-balance by the sudden change in dynamics among your friends to do anything but go with the flow. But at least you're good at that much - blending into social situations. You need more context. Pearl's been coming onto you like you're going steady. Well, if that's the case, there would be evidence on your phone, right? Maybe reading a recent text conversation will clue you into what's going on?

Finding an excuse to extricate your hand from Pearl's, you covertly check your message history. At least, that was your plan - as soon as you unlock your phone, a full-spread picture of Nu-Pearl, from the smile down, posed suggestively in her room wearing nothing but a pale pink lacy bra and panty set. Her ridiculous body, oozing sex, practically spills out from the skimpy lingerie.

Holy shit.

However, before you have time to give the photo a proper oggle, Pearl yanks you out of formation from your friends and dodges down a poorly lit alley between machines - the rest of your group disappears.

Quickly dragging you around another corner, Pearl checks left, right, but finds only ghosts and shadows.

"What are you doing?" you ask, utterly lost. You were only halfway back to the rave - you're still in the dark depths of the Popplel Quench plant.

Pearl answers by shoving you back against a decrepit bottling machine. She jumps up on her toes and shoves her tongue down your throat. t glides wet and easy between your lips. Her lips taste like cinnamon. Your head spins, and you forget why and how this is happening.

She breaks off the kiss as suddenly as she initiated it, her lips leaving yours with a pop. She flashes you a hot grin.

You swallow and gape at Pearl. Your lips still taste like hers. "Holy fuck. What was that?"

"It's a new flavor," says Pearl, breathily. She squeezes your hands against her stomach. "Like it?"

New flavor? It's certainly new to you.

"It's cinnamon," you say, trying to sound clever.

Pearl sways left and right, unable to hold still. "God you're hot when you're dumb." She leans in and kisses you again, harder, trying to suck down your whole face. Her whole body presses against yours, soft and curvy.

But that picture on your phone - Pearl in her underwear, for you. She's your girlfriend in this timeline, dumbass. Retroctation: on. The Bimbo Juice changed the past. All the past.

You hold her back. "The soda. It's making you do this."

Pearl lifts an eyebrow. "The soda? Seriously?" She smirks. "Did you not see Sully manhandling Indy like a piece of meat? So fucking hot. It's like he forgot there were other people in the room." She moves to kiss you again.

You block her with an arm. "They're getting married, Pearl! I let it go too far."

Pearl flings your hands away in exasperation. "You always do this!" she says. "You get in your head and shut down and make up excuses - why don't you touch me like that? Christ, how many times do I have to throw myself at you? You want to wait for Jane's feelings, you're focusing on school, you want to keep it above the belt till you're ready. Don't you see? This is why she broke up with you!"

The vehemence of Pearl's declaration shocks you. You have no idea what to say, and next to no idea what she's even talking about.

Pearl misreads your expression and turns nervous. "Chase, no. I-I didn't mean that. I love you, okay? You're the only one for me." She gathers your hands up and squeezes them tight. "We can wait however long you need, Jellybean."