Chapter Text
“Yeah, I know, she was so sur-prised!” said Pin as we walked to her house. “I mean, it’s like Flower’s never seen a bug before.”
“I can’t believe it’s been like 5 years, and she still hasn’t gotten over her fear of bugs.” I replied. “But it serves her right. Let’s see if she ever comes back here again.”
Pin chuckled a bit, then looked up. “Oh! Guess we’re here,” she said. She was right. We were standing in front of her house.
“Yep!” I said. “I should be heading home too. Bye, Pinster!”
“See you, Coin Crea-ture!”
I waved at Pin before walking in the opposite direction. The sky was already turning purple; I didn’t even realize how late it had gotten! Definitely time to go home. When I got to my house, I lay down on my bed with a content sigh. What a simple yet satisfying day! Sure, the non-competition life was taking some getting used to, but getting to spend so much time with my friends was almost better.
I wonder what I’m going to do tomorrow, was my last thought before drifting off to sleep.
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Ding-dong!
I groaned and rolled over to look at my alarm clock. 6:07 A.M. Who in Goiky is coming over this early?
When I opened the door, I was surprised to see no one there. I looked down and saw some sort of letter?
“What’s this?” I asked. “And why am I talking to myself out loud?” I picked up the letter and opened it.
Dear Coiny,
Congratulations! Because you are not in the LOL at this point in time, you are eligible to compete in the new season of BFDI.
Please attend a mandatory informational meeting in the Yoyle City Science Museum at 7 A.M. sharp. If you do not show up, we will track you down.
Ugh, what a way to end a letter. And it didn’t seem to be signed either.
Might as well do it since I’m already up, I thought. It’s not like I have anything better to do.
So I ate breakfast and started heading in the direction of the science museum. I was almost there when I saw Golf Ball and Tennis Ball.
“Hey there, Coiny!” TB said when he saw me.
“Hey TB!” I replied, walking over. “You guys got invitations too?”
“Yeah,” said TB. “But I practically had to drag Golfie over here; she had a bad experience last time we went to the science museum.”
I glanced at Golf Ball. Yeah, she looked pretty mad. I decided to ignore her so as to not make things worse.
“So who do you think is gonna host this season?” I asked Tennis Ball.
“Oh man, I don’t even wanna think about that!” he exclaimed. “Let’s just hope it’s someone reliable so we don’t have a repeat of BFDIA.”
I nodded, then looked over to see the science museum. “Well, guess we should go in,” I said.
“Coi-ny!” I heard my name in the distance. I turned around to see a white thumbtack heading my way.
“Pin!” I called back, waving her over. “Glad to see you’re joining us in the new season!”
Pin smiled and we both walked in. It was much bigger than I expected. We would’ve been lost, but there were very obvious signs leading us to the Assembly Hall. We followed the signs and were led to a huge room where there were already about a dozen people waiting and talking. Over in the corner was the entirety of FreeSmart, minus Match, gossipping about whatever girls gossip about. Tennis Ball and Golf Ball had found a spot near the wall to sit and wait. Then I saw Nickel go over and try to infiltrate GB and TB’s quiet space. Bomby and Fries were standing in another corner, doing nothing. And Gelatin and Firey were tying their legs together right in the middle of all the chaos. I was surprised to see Firey; I had no idea he was let out of that cage!
“Let’s wait here!” Pin said, grabbing my arm and leading me to a quiet spot by the wall. We sat in silence, watching people walk in. But that's the thing with me and Pin, we can sit in silence and it doesn’t have to be awkward.
I watched as Rocky, Spongy, Woody, and Yellow Face came in all at the same time. “Looks like the weirdos decided to form a group,” I chuckled.
“Coi-ny!” Pin slapped me. “Not nice!”
“But I’m boreddd!” I whined, looking at the clock on the wall. “And there’s 4 whole minutes left before this thing’s gonna start!”
Pin rolled her eyes. “Always so dra-mat-ic. I’m telling you, Coi- ny, if you don’t-”
Pin was interrupted by the doors opening again. And who should walk in but… Needle!
“Needle! Needle, over here!” I exclaimed excitedly. She didn’t seem to hear me. “NEEDY!”
She was over here like lightning to slap me in the face. “Don’t call me Needy!”
“Hehe, sorry about that. I had to get your attention.”
“What do you want?” she asked, sounding exasperated.
“I was just excited to see a fellow WOAH Buncher!”
“Am I going to need a new catchphrase? I told you to stop calling me that! We can be friends, but I don’t want to be associated with any team in BFDIA.”
“Fineeee…” I pouted. Then I brightened. “Wanna sit with us?”
“Uh…” Needle looked around. “I was actually going to talk to Golf Ball and Tennis Ball about something. But I’ll see you later!” She went over to The Balls’ side of the room without so much as a wave. I huffed.
“It’s okay,” Pin said, patting my back. “She’s just… going through some stuff right now, I think.”
I would have sulked some more, but the doors opened again and in walked Flower… and Evil Leafy!
“Guess what, everyone!” Flower yelled. Everyone groaned at the sound of her voice.
“I wouldn’t react that way if I were you,” she continued. “You know why? Because I, the amazingly beautiful Flower, have befriended a KILLER! That’s right! I am now friends with Evil Leafy!”
“That was just pathetic,” Pencil deadpanned.
“Grr! EL, get her!” Flower exclaimed. Evil Leafy did nothing. Everyone laughed as Flower went off to sulk.
I looked at the clock. One more minute. The door slammed open. I looked up. It was Leafy! But metal, of course. She did not look happy. It was kinda scary, if I’m being honest. Leafy went as far away from everyone as possible, ignoring the weird looks she was getting.
“What’s wrong with her?” I whispered.
“I don’t know,” Pin replied. “I’ve never seen her so up-set.”
That conversation would have to be put on hold, because at that moment, we heard a loud bell coming from the center of the stage. I followed the sounds and saw someone I didn’t think I’d ever see again.
The Announcer.
“Welcome, contestants, to IDFB!”