Chapter 131 – Girl’s Night
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The psychic puppet with dyed blonde hair, Nikki, was having a rough week at work. She was part of the Chosen Ones' research support staff, which basically meant she was responsible for doing all the legwork for the actual analysts. Whether it was compiling survey results into a big spreadsheet, calculating budgets, running sales figures, or creating presentations for the executives, she did it all. The sheer amount of grunt work she had to do was staggering. And God help her if anything was out of place when her boss popped in for a spot check. While it wasn't a physically demanding job in the way that, say, being a construction worker was, it could still be very mentally draining at times.

The worst part about it all, though? The analysts were completely incompetent. They were always making her do research for projects that were bound to fail or were otherwise just completely pointless. And they never listened to her when she told them something was a bad idea. It was so frustrating! Why did she even bother coming to work every day if everything she did was a total waste of time?

At least she got to lord her fancy-pants job over her friends Cookie and Karen, who worked together at a gift shop selling posters and T-shirts to hapless tourists. If she had to hear Karen go on another rant about how much she wanted to quit, only to sheepishly add that she couldn't afford to right now, she was going to lose it.

Oh, wait.

"...and TJ came in late again! I swear, he's useless. Why am I the only one who shows up to work on time? If Cookie wasn't there, I would have quit a long, long time ago. You don't know what it's like, having to deal with all those idiots every single day of the week..." complained Karen.
"Mmhmm..."

"Seriously, Nikki, you don't know how bad it is! I would kill someone to have your job!"
"Trust me, it's not all that great."

"Aahhh! Slow down... you two are walking too fast! My legs hurt..." moaned Cookie, lagging behind as always.
"Sheesh. Come on, Cookie! Why'd you want to go to the mall if you hate walking so much?" said Karen with a scowl.

"Because I wanted to see the new dresses at Honey Dress! You know, the ones with all the cute animals on them? They had one with like, a whole bunch of puppies..."
"You're such a baby, Cookie."

"I saw them online and they're sooo cute..."
"Just order them online then..."

The girls laughed as they walked through the mall, not really paying attention to where they were going. It didn't even seem like Cookie cared about going to Honey Dress that much, because she wanted to rent a movie, get ice cream, and go shoe shopping first.

"...they had another fight last night, right in front of the customers! I mean, I get that Sophie is always nagging at him, but he needs to listen! They're in a relationship, isn't it supposed to be a two-way thing?" said Karen, walking quickly in her boots, arm-in-arm with Nikki. Poor little Cookie was struggling to catch up. Maybe it was because her legs were shorter.

"I feel bad for him, honestly. If I was dating someone like her, I'd probably start drinking too." replied Nikki with a frown.
"Ronnie can do better. Have you seen her without makeup on? She looks like a dead frog."

"God... you're so mean."
"Am I wrong?"

Nikki laughed. Karen was always a little too honest. It was one of her best and worst qualities. And of course, it came back to bite her more often than not.

"I still can't believe they didn't have my size. I need a smoke..." groaned Karen.
"Can I bum one off of you?" asked Cookie, a pleading pout on her tiny face.

"Sheesh. I thought you quit."
"I did. I quit three weeks ago. But I want one now."

"Fine. Let's go."
"I have to go to the bathroom though..."
"Go to the bathroom then!"

Cookie moped her way over to the bathroom. Karen and Nikki giggled at her as they walked over to a bench to wait for her.

"I don't think she even needs any new dresses, do you?" asked Nikki.
"No, she just got like three, and she doesn't even wear them. She likes to look at them though," replied Karen lazily. She was tying her boots with a distant expression on her face.

"Yeah, she's crazy."
"Yeah..."

"Hey, Karen, um... was everything alright the other day? You know, with your boyfriend?"
"Yeah. Rex isn't my boyfriend. We're just friends. He's going through a hard time right now, that's all."

"Is he going to be okay?"
"I hope so. He just needs someone to have his back, you know? He's like my little brother. He needs someone to look out for him."

Cookie happily skipped back over, a goofy smile on her face.

"Smoke time?"
"Yeah... let's go."

Cookie was already on her way out the door, digging her lighter out of her pocket before the other two even had a chance to get up. The three friends walked outside and headed over to an empty blue plastic bench right next to a 'No Smoking' sign.

"Where do you wanna go next? Tanning?" asked Cookie with a silly smile.
"I don't know. I have to go soon," responded Karen quickly.
"What about you, Nikki?"

Nikki was quiet. She was checking her phone, only half paying attention to the other two girls.

"Hello? Earth to Nikki?" said Cookie, waving her hand in Nikki's face for emphasis.
"What? Yeah, I don't care. We can do whatever. We can hang out at my place if you want."

"Do you want to get dinner real fast, Karen?"
"Yeah, let's do that."

"Yay! I want pizza!"
"Little Man's Pizza is pretty good."

"I don't want to go to Little Man's. I want Creepy's Pizza!"
"Cookie, why do you want us to go to Creepy's Pizza when we can go to Little Man's which has better tasting pizza and is closer?"

"Um... because Creepy's Pizza has pinball? And I want to play pinball?"
"Fine! We can go to Creepy's!"

"You always take Cookie's side!"
"That's because if I don't, she just complains until she gets what she wants anyway."

"I do not! You just don't like to have fun!"
"Blah, blah, blah. Let's just go."

The girls put out their cigarettes, grabbed their purses, and walked down the sidewalk towards Creepy's, not in any particular rush to get there. The sun was setting, casting a purple glow over the city.

"Her birthday is next week. What should I get her?" asked Karen.
"Candy. She likes candy. Well, I know she likes gum," said Nikki.

"I guess that's good for last minute. I was going to get her something else though. I was thinking of getting her some headphones."
"I think she'll like the gum more. Just get her, like, a whole box of gum."

"Doesn't it get stale, though?"
"The texture changes a little but it softens back up inside your mouth. It's not like it goes bad."

"Ah! Girls, look!" said Cookie with delight. "It's a fortune teller! We should get our fortunes told!"

Cookie pulled on Karen's arm, dragging her towards a decrepit building sitting between a food cart and a stall selling bracelets. The sign outside read: 'THE AMAZING CLAIRE, FUTURE REVEALED!' with an accompanying illustration of a crystal ball.

"C'mon Karen, let's go in!"
"No! Let go of me, Cookie! I'm not going in there! I'm not getting my fortune told by some fake psychic! Nikki, back me up here!"
"Yeah, Cookie! We're not playing your stupid games right now! Let's go eat!"

"You're just scared, Karen! You're scared to know your future!"
"I'm not scared! I just don't want to waste my money on a fake!"

"I'll pay for all of us!"
"Cookie..."
"Please?"

Karen and Nikki exchanged glances. They really, really did not want to get their fortunes told. They'd both experienced more than enough supernatural freakishness to last them a lifetime and they were in no mood to relive the horror. But if they didn't go in, they'd be subjected to Cookie's whining for the rest of the night. At least if they got it over with, they'd get to enjoy their meal in peace.

"Fine..." moaned Karen. "But we're going to Little Man's Pizza after this. Not Creepy's Pizza, not Cassandra Pizza, Little Man's, got it?"

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