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JAMIE: (Sent a photo)

ROSALIE: ??? Are those FLORAL PRINTED SLACKS?

JAMIE: (Sent a photo)
It came with a peacock blazer.

ROSALIE: Yes to the pants, no to the peacock

JAMIE: LAME the peacock pulls the whole LOOK together

ROSALIE: I will absolutely NOT agree to the peacock blazer
but I will 100% agree to the floral printed slacks

JAMIE: Ok fine I can work with that.
Red and black then?

ROSALIE: Yeah that sounds good.

***

Lu brought her stereo to Bradshaw Saturday morning, and Brynn was the first to hook up her phone. Ray was already groaning before Brynn even cycled through her designated playlist, and the instant Rose Royce came on the speakers, everyone was doing the same. Brynn smiled diabolically from beside the brat fry stand, wiggling her eyebrows at the crowd of soccer players.

They picked a surprisingly warm day for the car wash, and it was all by pure luck. The temperature teetered around the high sixties—sunny, with little to no breeze. Rosalie couldn't have felt more blessed for it. The previous year they stuck themselves with a chilly morning and even chillier water for cleaning cars.

"Talkin' 'bout the car wash, YEAH!" Brynn sang with a shimmy of her shoulders, sidling up to a disinterested Alyssa. Alyssa rolled her eyes, twisting a finger through her sleek blonde hair. She glanced over at Rosalie, who shrugged and offered an apologetic smile.

"I did not ask for the classics," Alyssa said. "What happened to real music?"

Brynn feigned horror before Lu backed her up. "I never thought you had great taste anyways, Alyssa."

Alyssa's jaw dropped, and Ray clapped her hands with a laugh. It was at that time that their first customer rolled up.

The thing about living in Montgomery County, and attending a private high school, was that parents tended to buy expensive cars for their kids, and even more expensive cars for themselves. The car wash was always a success because of Montgomery's avid love for fancy vehicles that Rosalie just couldn't wrap her head around. The fact that they entrusted a bunch of high school girls to do their cars justice was just out of the question—they mostly did it to show off their Mercedes and Lamborghinis in a row of other crazy cars.

As the girls readied their cleaning weapons, the driver stepped out and went to the brat fry. Rosalie watched after him before turning to Juliana with a discreet, "Cha-ching!" action.

The car wash happened every year. It was a sort of... Girls Soccer Team Thing, which also meant that it was a Sports Thing in general. The boys team had a whole pizza fundraiser, and the theatre and choir kids had their whole concert raffle fundraiser. The football guys had their chocolates and scratch offs and what-have-you. Rosalie didn't pay much attention other than to ensure the success of her own fundraisers against theirs.

Ray and Juliana had spent Friday night at the Mason residence in a makeshift assembly line. All their advertisement signs were made then, and were now in the hands of the first years Kim Simons, Erin McAllister, and Jordan Sakamoto. The three of them twirled them out in the center, grassy knoll of the boulevard. Jordan tossed hers into the air, and spun around to try catching it from behind. She failed miserably, much to the amusement of Kim and Erin.

Traffic pulled in before long, and their line of customers gathered around the brat fry stands lined with cookie packages from Lu's effort. Brynn still had control of the stereo, so when a familiar blue Maserati. Rosalie left her stand among the vehicles, passing her sponge to Juliana. Unfortunately for her, though, there weren't many places to go other than the brat fry where the car owners stood.

Pittmen's car doors opened.

"Hey ladies!" Jamie-Lee said with a flare, throwing an arm up. He propped a foot up on the open ledge leading into the Maserati's passenger's seat, showing off a pair of salmon-pink khakis and a polo.

"Jesus Christ, Jamie, you look like you took two steps off a golf course for a whiskey old fashion," Alyssa said to the amusement of all the varsity girls veterans.

Rosalie grabbed a sign from off the stone hedge lining the Bradshaw sidewalk, grinning as Jamie-Lee pushed his sunglasses up, hand over his heart. His brunette hair spiked into a tuft behind his glasses. As he argued with Alyssa, Lennie Pittmen shut the driver's door and pocketed his keys. Jade was the closest to him, too shy to manage a simple 'Hello', but Brynn was there to blush and wave. Lennie offered a smile before turning to open the back seat door.

Harper stepped out, heels clicking on the pavement. She was wearing a pink sundress and pilot glasses pushed up to hold her heavy, blonde hair back. She flicked her hair over her shoulder, and Rosalie imagined the cameras, the lights, and a photographer counting down as Lennie and Harper both turned towards the curb and took their steps to fame. Rosalie was certain Brynn was near-fainting, which just meant that Jade was no better—both of them holding their breaths.

Rosalie was rendered speechless and motionless a few paces away from the brat fry stand Jade's dad was running. Unfortunately, that meant she was stuck staring at Lennie and Harper, and wound up catching their attention.

"Mason," Lennie said, and instantly Rosalie stuck her nose in the air and shot him a withering stare.

"Pittmen," she said, tucking the sign beneath her arm. "Thanks for coming by."

"Yeah—The Berrys organized an impromptu outing. The weather and all," he said, and Rosalie nodded and hoped she looked as pretentious as she felt, eyeing Pittmen down her nose.

"Pity Jamie didn't invite you," Harper said, and though her tone didn't suggest an insult, the words did. Rosalie could hardly bother to look at her, not when she saw the way Pittmen's eye twitched at the comment.

"It's fine. I'm not really into grandiose republican country clubs," Rosalie said, and the look on Harper's face made it worth it. Rosalie pegged her pink dress with an unimpressed stare before adding, "Or dressing up for wrinkly old men."

"Yikes, Rosie," Joanna chimed in from behind. She swung up, arm resting on Rosalie's shoulder. She pointed a lazy finger at Harper's getup, and Lennie's sour glare. "Pittmen? As in... Senator Jolie Pittmen?"

"Yeah, that's my mother," he said, slowly, as if navigating the minefield that was Joanna's personal opinions.

Joanna settled with a hard, cold stare before offering an approved nod. "Alright. Then I'm guessing Harper's the republican one."

"My parents are," Harper remarked, looking disgusted.

Joanna laughed, glancing at Rosalie before saying, "Well, I wish you the best. C'mon, Rosie, duty calls."

She tugged Rosalie by the wrist, and together they headed back to the mist of water drenching Lennie's Maserati. Jamie was there, still arguing with Alyssa. It was when Rosalie and Joanna showed up that he became distracted long enough for Alyssa to nab Brynn's hose, stick her thumb over it, and send a spray of water at Jamie's back.

Jamie leapt with a girlish screech, spinning back around. His white shirt became entirely see-through, dripping over his now-magenta shorts. Alyssa stepped back, laughing nervously before shoving the hose at Brynn and running for it.

Jamie-Lee roared, "You're dead, Maddox!" and grabbed a pail of water from the curb. He sloshed it over the Maserati's hood, nailing Juliana across her freckled face. She gasped, eyes shut, black hair sticking to her face and neck.

"Oh—Oh God," Jamie said, suddenly aware of the death glares now pinning him from all sides.

"You've done it now, Berry!" Lennie shouted from the stand, hamburger in one hand.

"Get him," Ray said, voice pitched low.

Jamie ran around the Maserati like his life depended on it, three sprays of water shooting in his direction. They pinned him, one on the shoulder and one on the hip, and he staggered with a shriek, tumbling across the asphalt. He barely got to his feet before Brynn was on him, screaming like a banshee. She slopped soap onto his cheeks before he could get her off. He stole a pail of water from a nervous sophomore and sloshed it straight into Rosalie's face.

He gasped, hand over his mouth. "Oh shit! I'm so sorry—" he started.

"Oh, you will be! Take this, motherfucker!" Joanna screamed, swinging up a hose, channeling the spray straight into Jamie's soapy face.

Rosalie scraped the water out of her eyes, gasping. Her hair fell out of its ponytail, and over her very white, and now very see-through shirt. Juliana was filling up another pail when Rosalie stormed over to her, ditched the sign, and snatched up the pail.

"Now is the time for murder," she declared, and went off to hunt Jamie-Lee Berry to his grave.

She took to the curb, running down the length of the cars all lined up and being cleaned by the other teammates. She skidded to a halt where Jamie took a hard left towards the curb between an Audi and a Porsche. He stopped, eyes wide, and shirt oh-so transparent. Rosalie spared a split second to admire how soccer did him justice before swinging the pail back.

She shoved the water in an arc that took him out at the torso. His shock only lasted a second before he was running at her as she laughed in his face.

He slammed into her, gross and wet, shirt sticking to Rosalie. She shrieked, feet leaving the ground. He swung her around, sending her head spinning. Instantly, Ray abandoned the attack effort, and Jamie raised a fist in victory.

"I can't believe you just used me as a meat shield," Rosalie whined, dropping back to the ground. Jamie gave her a squeeze, laughing and reminding her that she was pressed flat up against his muscled chest and hot damn she never felt anything like it. She flushed red, and was then grateful for the fact that no one could see her face when she was staring at Jamie's chest.

When she finally did step away, she plucked her soaking shirt off her chest to disguise the outline of her very-visible bra. She shook it out, but it would take a good hour before it would be opaque again. Jamie turned to Lennie and Harper as Ray claimed Rosalie by the shoulders and spun her back to Juliana. Jamie punched two fists in the air and swung them down, pointing his fingers at Lennie, who looked more annoyed than anything.

"Dude, you are not getting in my car like that!" Lennie said.

Jamie froze. He stared down Lennie like a dog stares down another dog across the a great expanse of open grass before going in for the kill. Lennie froze too, stance wide and ready to spring. Harper put a hand to her sunglasses atop her head and moaned, "Oh no..." just seconds before Jamie took off like a goddamn racing greyhound. Rosalie knew just based on spring track meets that Jamie-Lee was a force to be reckoned with on the course. And, despite wearing white golf shoes drenched with water, he caught Lennie in no time at all.

Rosalie put a hand to her now-frizzy brown curls and stared in horror as Jamie tackled Lennie with no reservations. Ray swung up beside her, dropping her arm around Rosalie's shoulders. She had a few good inches on Rosalie, and so being Ray's local armrest was in Rosalie's job description.

Watching Jamie-Lee Berry tackle Lennie Pittmen with a dozen soccer girls as witnesses (along with Mr. Dalby at the grill) was somehow... refreshing. Rosalie didn't feel at all like her junior year self, and for that, she was grateful. She made progress, right? She made new friends and was going to Homecoming with Jamie-Lee Berry. Junior Year Rosalie would faint at the sound of that, mostly because last year Jamie-Lee was the main reason Ray's patio door shattered at the Welcome Back Party. Ray still held a grudge, and also a pail of water to execute her still-brewing rage.

"Why don't... you go twirl a sign around, yeah? Maybe your raw post-pubescent woman-ness will prevent another outbreak of testosterone," Ray suggested, giving Rosalie a firm pat on the shoulder.

"Well, by that logic, I'll just cause car crashes," she said, slumping off to fetch her lightly-soaked advertisement sign.

As she left, Joanna came to stand beside Ray, cupping a hand over her mouth to say, "That hot pink sports bra might!"

Rosalie turned to peg her with a scowl, only to find Ray whipping her hand out to smack Joanna upside the head. Ray turned an innocent smile onto Rosalie and held a thumbs up. "It looks great, babe!"

Rosalie snatched the sign up from where it sat against the curb near Lennie's Maserati. She plucked the front of her shirt out, momentarily obscuring the view of her sports bra.

***

Luanna Williams stopped by the far entrance to the Bradshaw parking lot to claim Erin's spot in the advertising department. Erin saluted Rosalie and Kim before making her way back to the line of cars covered in white suds.

"Hey. How's it going over there?" Rosalie asked.

"Really good. We've covered the costs of food and cleaning supplies," Lu said, holding her sign up to a nearby car. She gave it a little, half-hearted wave. "I was just worried about you."

"About me?" Rosalie said with a little laugh, lowering her sign. "Why would you be worried about me?"

Kim Simons glanced at them out of the corner of her eye from the opposite side of the parking lot entrance. Her hair was thrown up in its usual round bun, stray bits of curls spilling out at the sides. She went back to waving her sign, though Rosalie knew she was paying attention to every word.

Lu turned to Rosalie, and after a moment of debating herself, she at last said, "Joanna might have mentioned that you two hung out last night."

"Um, yeah, we were studying. We have a lot of the same classes together. Actually, all of the same classes," Rosalie confessed.

"I'm just—I know you're super confident with who you are and stuff, but... don't let Joanna make you think you're anything you aren't, alright? People like her are really good at convincing girls that they're depressed problem cases," Lu said, looking back at the road. "Sort of what happened to me. But I actually was a problem case, so my whole scenario is a bit different. You're perfectly okay the way you are, Rosalie."

"Thanks, Lu," she said, with a genuine smile. She went on smiling, but it started to feel strained after a while. "And I don't know. I think she's helping me out a lot. Like, Lennie was one thing, but I don't think I ever actually actively decided to date because I wasn't sure who I liked or what, anyways."

"Right, right, and that's totally fine to debate that. Lord knows I had my fair share of sexual experiences before realizing that girls are not for me," she said with a nervous laugh. She glanced at Rosalie with a sly smile before adding, "Studying abroad in France was an experience."

Rosalie threw her head back laughing, "I'm sure it was. And even if Joanna's hitting on me too hard or whatever, I'm cool with it. I think it's funny."

"Cool. But the second it isn't funny, tell me." The hard edge to her voice had Rosalie glancing back at her. Lu raised an eyebrow. "I mean it, Rosalie. Some lines are not meant to be crossed, even for the sake of 'figuring it out.'"

Rosalie rolled her eyes, smiling. "Yeah, sort of like how Sami's so convinced that Jamie's crossing a line."

"Jamie's always crossing the line. But that boy knows the line, and then Thee Line. Like, the unforgivable one. He won't cross that, trust me," she promised, and after a small, devilish grin, she said, "Mostly because I already had a chat with him about it. We used to be friends when I crossed the regular line two years ago."

"Ah. Were you two, like, partners in crime."

"Something like that," she said, and Rosalie tried to remember Jamie-Lee and Lu back then. Lu wasn't in soccer freshmen year, so Rosalie had no reason to know her. Her own senior class was comprised of five hundred students. She didn't know all of them personally, sort of like she had yet to stand face-to-face with Rose Jason and yet everyone seemed to know her misnomer.

Everyone.