Chapter Text
Salt bounded across the carpet of Hotel OJ. Making her way to his office, she hummed a quiet tune, reveling in every step she took.
It wasn't often that the jealous bitch boy Paper appears knocking at your door, mumbling something about a requested meeting in your crush's office, after all! She felt so much joy seeing the distaste on Paper's face as he uttered the orders, knowing he doubted the unbreakable love she had for the man he felt for. What an iconic hater.
The very second she knew they'd meet up she got butterflies, and then she squealed from all the butterflies, and then she got more butterflies from the squealing, and then she squealed from the butterflies again! It was like an endless loop of happiness. It didn't even end when she just thought about how she felt ten minutes earlier, giggling down the hallway.
Being in love was just amazing. She knew just why it happened, why she was so. Inanimate Insanity, season one, beginning of episode nine. In dire need of a fixer-upper, Salt would be blessed with a new feeling, a beautiful feeling, by the open-ended, fated universe. A true, endless, undeniable love.
Ever since then, life was amazing. Sure, she totally flunked out of the show, but she was invited to her crush's hotel right after, and now, she spent every day and night with her BCFF! Now and then, she'd catch a glimpse of OJ and freak the freak out. Pepper called her crazy, Paper called her insane, and she never let that stop her.
Finally reaching his office door, Salt peeked through the opened blinds. OJ was shuffling around some papers, creating more categories of stacks of boring information at his desk. She thought about how smart he was, making her even more eager to open the door. She'd rather admire without a glass door in the way.
Swinging through the entrance, a soft bell perched on the doorframe rang out through the office. OJ gave a quick glance to Salt, expecting her to sit down. Grinning, she did, floating to the used office chair across his desk.
OJ's office was as clean a place it could be, every surface of cabinet and drawer covered with the attempted organization of items. Matching his hotel's interior, the walls were sporting a twin-like orange, littered with photos from inside or outside competitions. Salt laid her eyes on a group photo they happened to be in together, twiddling her fingers. There was seriously a photo of her in her crush's office, to remind him of her every day! What a thought…
"Salt." Turning to the speaker, she shuffled closer to the desk, resting her arms atop it.
"Like, yes?" For a moment, she regretted coming here so soon. Maybe she should've prepared a ring for him. It'd at least be prettier than Paper's ugly promise ring he had on, maybe a silver to replicate her cap, with the prettiest diamonds of course.
"... I called you here to talk about something… Really obvious, okay? But it's serious. I had to talk to Paper about it before he got you." Salt really couldn't care less about what he was going to say if it involved that fiber fiend. Every day she questioned how OJ didn't just ditch him.
"I'm like, always serious with you, bae…" Her tone was soft as she got lost in thought. She called him names pretty often now, but every time she was just as happy as the first. it was something about how the words rang out of her mouth like they were lined with pink gel-pen hearts. That was the serious part.
"... You know what?" He laughed curtly. Maybe he wasn't being serious after all and was just here to let her talk again, which would be a hundred times more awesome. There was silence as he stared at the table, hell if she knew why.
"You don't even love me, do you? Just the idea of loving me." Salt rolled her eyes, smirking to herself. Yet another sign she wasn't obvious enough with her affection, and yet another story to rub in Pepper's immature face. She was her bestie, but she never understood love, to the point they'd even fought about it sometimes. Luckily, every time Pepper was forgiven.
"Don't be stupid, OJ! How could I, like, be JK all this time!" Waving her hand dismissively, she blinked slowly. If it wasn't obvious to him, maybe she hadn't been feeling this crush hard enough. She was more than happy to go further.
"That's not what I meant." She paused, perking up with confusion. "Of course your feelings are real, I'm damn sure of that, but you've never given a single care to how I fit into your little fantasy world. Those feelings you get don't have anything to do with me. You don't even know one thing about me."
Staying quiet, she frowned at the targeting. All thanks to Paper, this is how the meeting with her crush had to go. She drew circles on the desk's faux wood with her finger.
"... Is that what you like about me? That I can be your random love interest in this fairytale?" Finally, he set the sheets in his hand down, pages of various info drifting a bit across the table.
Salt was quite used to hearing denial or questioning of her love, but this felt different. His voice was right in her face, and so unnecessarily stern. The silence between his words was so loud, but she didn't feel like talking anymore. Orange Juice stood up and leaned over the side of his desk.
"As you like to say, Salt: BFFR."
She wasn't used to hearing OJ's sigh of frustration. She wasn't used to being speechless. It reminded her of the time she'd once been so before love entered her life.
The aforementioned refused to make eye contact, a mist of guilt welling in her eyes. Love shouldn't save her from these tears now.
"I seriously don't understand a single bit of it. What could possibly have made you this desperate to feel something that you did all… this!" He gesticulated a handsy mess, chuckling ironically. "Give me a reason, Salt. Because I know damn well I've never seen you cry over anything other than a stupid TV show."
What problems could she possibly have? What tears could she possibly shed? The day she and Pepper were forced apart felt like a splitting of her own soul. Going into a competition was the start of an adventure together. They didn't want to improve, not test, but indulge their own friendship. The bliss she felt from being with Pepper mattered even more than the little prize of a million dollars, in fact, picturing winning, all she envisioned was spending it with all with her.
There was a force between them so strong that it hardly let her bear to be alive when she saw her go, just to get locked up somewhere off the showgrounds. She felt no contest mattered anymore if she couldn't participate with Pepper, not if they couldn't be together. A clock ran in her head, counting the seconds, hours, and days they were apart. It measured just how much time in her life felt unbearable, fueling her desire for it all to stop.
It'd be OJ this time, but she'd be happy again. She did everything, just to prove to herself that she was happy again. She cast away the universe, just to be happy again. She'd laugh in the face of fate, to be happy, just like she was.
The girl was tongue-tied. Mostly motivated with remorse, she kept her thoughts to herself. She saw no point in explaining it to him.
"... So do me a favor." OJ had sat down in his chair again, crossing his arms. Preventing a mascara run, Salt blinked away her tears as she finally looked back at him.
"Get the hell out of my office."