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Impossible Spindle

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Florence really wasn't sure what she was thinking when she agreed to an innocent game of spin the bottle with her friends. She certainly wasn't sure what the game was about except for a few minor details: someone spins the bottle and whoever it lands on gets to be asked a question by the spinner. It was pretty basic and she agreed with the intention to do just that. She tended to be bored alone on weekends anyway, so what better way to make use of that time than by spending some much needed time with her friends. Except, she would soon come to learn that it wasn't just an innocent game of spin the bottle, and it certainly didn't just include girls.

She sat in the circle beside Anne and Cole having finally learned that it wasn't questions that would be asked ⸺ it was kissing that would be shared. How gross! The worst part, dumb Billy Andrews and his group of minions were in this circle as well. Well, at least she had Anne.

Before she could even process what was happening around her, it was her turn to spin. In fact, she was the first one to go in the group. Hesitantly, she reached forward and spun the bottle casually, waiting worriedly to see which broad she'd have the unfortunate luck of kissing. Spinning, spinning, spinning . . . and it stopped right in front of Billy.

Billy's eyebrows raised in surprise before his previous cocky demeanour returned. "Ew! I will not be kissing an orphan."

Florence scoffed. "And I will not be kissing a foul-mouthed brute."

He contemplated another comeback for a moment, but gave up and rolled his eyes instead. He'd never reveal it out loud, but he secretly already knew that she was way better at insults than him. "Oh . . . Fine! I'll do it."

The girl shrugged and stood up when he did. She quickly verified, "For the record, I will only be kissing him on the cheek."

The crowd booed, and one even said, "But that's not the same thing!"

"The rules stated before the game began said nothing about cheek-pecks being forbidden," she explained, "Plus, you never specified what kind of kiss was allowed."

"Whatever . . ."

"Billy, Billy, here." One of the blond boy's friends had loudly whispered, ushering him over to where he was sitting. He whispered something incoherent in the boy's ear and a smirk slowly made its way to Billy's face as he eventually pulled away and stood up straight. Florence furrowed her brows but didn't make much of the entire exchange.

"Let's get this over with."

Billy turned away so the side of his face was visible, a bored expression visible. Well, as if she didn't make it obvious enough already, she wasn't very keen on doing this either. At least not with a foul-mouthed boy like Billy.

Florence hesitantly got on her tippy toes and moved closer. Just as her lips were about to touch the skin of his cheek, Billy quickly turned his head, causing her lips to brush against his. When she realized what happened, she pulled away quickly, shock and embarrassment written all over her face as the stupid boys involved laughed hysterically at her. Even some of the girls had small smiles that they were clearly trying to hide but failing to do so. Josie, however, looked absolutely livid. And no, it wasn't because she was upset at the boys making fun of Florence.

Florence fisted her knuckles and silently picked up her books, commenting under her breath, "Idiots."

She turned around to walk out of the room without another word but stopped at the repeated calls of her name. She sighed and turned around to see Diana Barry insisting. "Come on, Flo, stay for a little while longer? Just one more round."

Florence thought about it for a moment before ultimately nodding her head and slumping down in her previous seat. She glanced around the room as the laughter had calmed down now, and then her gaze landed on Billy. Leaning back, he had his hands behind his head as he still had the audacity to smirk at her even after everything he'd done. She just about lost it when he paid her a sly wink, and she glared at him in return.

***

"I am absolutely convinced that your brother is the devil in disguise," Florence confessed to Prissy one afternoon as the girls made their way back home from school.

"Oh? And why's that?" Prissy asked curiously, holding onto her designer book bag with ease. She wasn't going to lie: she had noticed how unusually irritated the brunette was ever since returning from the weekend.

"He, he . . .!" Florence's cheeks flustered at the unhappy memory. "Nothing. It doesn't matter."

"Trust me, it does. You seem so out of it for some reason. And it certainly doesn't help that you keep mentioning my brother as if he was the cause for⸺" Realization hit Prissy. She glanced at her best friend with raised brows. "He was the cause for this, wasn't he?"

Florence sighed with a nod. "It's . . . embarrassing. I don't want to remember it. However, because you're my best friend and you don't appreciate your brother and his antics just as much as me, I'll tell you."

Prissy waited patiently.

"We were playing a game of spin the bottle and I only meant to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned his head quickly, mind you on purpose and kissed me on the lips instead."

"No way!" Prissy's laughter boomed all across the woods, reaching land for land while Florence just frowned. She continued to laugh and the brunette just about thought her friend was going to fall over or something, but she thankfully didn't. In between laughter, she managed to utter out that she wasn't even surprised.

"Ha, ha, very funny." Florence crossed her arms, her nose stuck up in the air as she actually believed that her friend would console her during a time like this. But lo and behold, she ended up doing the exact opposite of that. Seeing as Prissy wasn't going to shut up about this any time soon, the Robinson girl sauntered away by herself.

"Florence, wait!"

The said girl heard her name from behind her but she wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon. She was feeling more embarrassed than yesterday at this point.

The sound of her footsteps grew louder as she approached closer to her. She finally turned around to see the blond standing about a meter away from her. She looked genuinely apologetic

"I'm sorry, Flo," Prissy said, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Florence stared at her for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip as she thought about what to say next or whether it was even okay to say anything. She quickly found her voice as Prissy looked just about on the verge of tears.

She smiled softly. "It's okay. I forgive you."

Prissy wrapped her arm around the younger girl's shoulders as the two of them continued on their way to their homes together. The calming silence didn't last very long, however, as Prissy brought up something that had Florence curious for no reason.

"Do you think this is a sign?" Prissy said, grass crunching beneath her feet.

"Do I think what is a sign?"

"You know . . . the fact that Billy kissed you on the lips rather than you on his cheek. On purpose or not, maybe this means that⸺"

"What are you exactly implying?" Florence asked suspiciously.

Prissy paused, looking around awkwardly before she pointed at her mansion of a house just across from the prairies, clear insight. She smiled widely. "Err, Nothing! That's my house, um, Don't make much of it! See you tomorrow at school, Flo." Before the girl could question her any further, the blond hurried away to her home, leaving a slightly confused Florence behind.

Florence felt speechless. What was Prissy implying? 

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Author's Note:

What do you think Prissy was implying? Hehe . . .

Everything aside, the game part was so much fun to write. I had actually planned out the scene months ago, but because  I'd run into writer's block, I was never able to stuff it into an actual chapter until recently. 

Are you missing Gilbert Blythe? Don't worry, he'll be back soon as he does happen to be a huge part of season 2 of my story.