Battle of Buttons: Sally's Date (Part 7) (Patreon)

Part 1: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64548439

Part 2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/battle-of-part-2-64785102

Part 3: https://www.patreon.com/posts/battle-of-part-3-67312625

Part 4 (Glitch): https://www.patreon.com/posts/battle-of-date-4-67695714

Part 5 (Kenzie): https://www.patreon.com/posts/67923270

Part 6 (Rosy): https://www.patreon.com/posts/battle-of-rosys-68067250 

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Three humans (Nick, Hope, and John Wiseman) sit behind judges’ panel before a lifted stage, in front of a table covered with a purple cloth that reads “TRUEST LOVE QUEST💜 " in sparkly silver cursive. The center judging chair, twice as large as the others, holds Gil. The demon smirks as he stares at a gilded, doorless birdcage onstage, within which stands a disgruntled, tiny Ambrose—his voice now too soft a squeak for his enraged tirade to be heard.

Next to the birdcage, Kent, Glitch, Sally, and Grayson sit in a row of armchairs. None of the contestants make eye contact with each other, the awkwardness of Ambrose’s recent imprisonment still lingering in the air.

Nick, dreamily: This is the best dream ever.

Ambrose’s squeak is almost inaudible. However, given the expression on his tiny face, it is probably an obscenity.

Grayson looks sympathetically at his shrunken coworker.

Grayson: Gil, was this really necessary?

Gil, indignantly: He shot me.

Grayson: Perhaps he reacted poorly, but you invaded his memories.

Gil: He shot me. In my own realm.

Grayson: Well, yes, but only with a stun gun. Miniaturizing him as punishment isn’t—

Nick: Now, now, Gray. Kim pulled out a gun on our host. I, for one, say that he's getting off easily.

Nick gives Gil a hopeful look.

Nick: Too easily?

Gil, frowning: I’m still attempting to comprehend how he managed to hide a weapon from me. Not to be a braggart, but I’m very observant.

From within the birdcage, Ambrose continues angrily squeaking.

Gil snaps his fingers, and a cloth of burgundy velvet appears over the cage, muffling the cries of its tiny captive.

Nick: Best. Dream. Ever.

Sally scowls at him.

Sally: Well, I think this dream is the absolute worst. I’ve had to sit and watch three other people get cozy alternate versions of the person whom I love.

Glitch: But they're all alternate versions. It’s not as if we’re all dating the same person.

Sally: Aren’t we? The exterior may be different, but it still feels like El.

Kent: . . . Ellis thinks that Talia is immature. They wouldn’t date.

Talia: Exactly, and in my world, Kenzie’s quietness creeps Elliot out. We’re clearly all in love with different people.

Talia glances at Kent, her demeanor uncharacteristically hesitant.

Talia: Your partner thinks that I’m immature?

Kent nods.

Talia: Oh.

Sally, grumbling: I still don’t like it. Knowing that there are universes where El and I don’t end up together . . . it feels wrong.

Nick opens then closes his mouth. A complicated expression passes over his face, then he glances back at the covered birdcage and smirks.

Nick: Yet some things feel so incredibly right.

Gil: Ambrose Kim’s incarceration was the natural consequence of his actions. He’ll be released once a winner is decided.

Sally: I intend to be that winner.

Gil: Fantastibar! There’s the fighting spirit that I so admire your character. I assume you have a strategy? You do become, after all, one of Unity’s most skilled M—

Gil’s crimson cheeks flush an even deeper red. He covers his mouth with one clawed hand.

Gil: Forgive me, but that would be spoilers.

Sally: Huh. So that’s how it feels.

John, sotto voce: It’s incredibly annoying.

Hope elbows her husband’s side, and John falls silent.

Sally: But, yeah, I do have a game plan. Inspired by . . . let’s just say a little birdie gave me the idea.

She grins slightly, glancing at the nearby cage imprisoning Ambrose.

Sally: Gil, can I use a memory for my date? Like you did with Kim?

Gil: Intriguing! As far as I’m aware, it’s not against the rules.

Grayson: As far as you’re aware? But aren’t you the one who makes these rules in the first place?

Gil, dismissively: Semantics.

Grayson blinks.

Gil: Now, Sally, tell me about this memory.

Sally: I want to use my first kiss with El as evidence that we should be together.

Gil looks disappointed.

Gil: I’ve already played through that scene. It happened when you two were watching a movie together.

Sally: So, you’re definitely a creepazoid stalker, but no. That wasn’t our first kiss.

The scene goes pitch black.

Sally’s Voice: Let me set the scene. My first kiss with “Button” happened eight years ago. I was fourteen.

John’s Voice: You’re still only twenty-two? Interesting. In my world, you and Button are both—

Hope’s Voice: Shush.

Sally’s Voice: I was fourteen, and El had joined me on a trip to visit my cousins down in San Diego. When our parents left together for a weekend doing vineyards, Isabel and Castel decided it would be the perfect opportunity to host a party.

As Sally describes her memory, each thing she talks about begins forming in the darkness, illuminated versions popping into existence: a bungalow-style living room, complete with streamers, large bowls filled with ranch chips, and jackets strewn across the backs of furniture. On the center table is a large metal keg.

Sally’s Voice: The party was pretty small, maybe fifteen people total. Most of them were already juniors, so El and I felt super cool. Well, I felt super cool. I think El was just happy that none of the other students were Ments. It let her relax, you know?

The living room fills with teenagers. Most are chatting or dancing; all are pretending to enjoy the watered-down beer that they sip from red plastic cups.

Sally’s Voice: Um, Mr. and Mrs. Wiseman? Don’t worry: El and I didn’t drink.

Hope and John’s Voices: We know.

Sally’s Voice: . . . Right. But you couldn’t have known about the kiss, because even El didn’t know about the kiss.

Talia’s Voice, whispering: The plot thickens.

Versions of Sally and Button appear, both in their early teens, seated together in a loveseat off to the side. Sally’s curls are flat and frizzy, still in recovery from a chemical straightening procedure that she read about in a magazine and never attempted again; the lopsided hemline of her baby blue sundress marks one of her first tries at sewing her own clothes.

Sally’s Voice: Castel and Isabel had a crush on the same guy in their class, so they’d agreed on a way to find out which one of them he liked back. . . Which turned out to be neither, but that’s not important. What’s important is the game.

Golden script forms over the heads of two of the teenagers: “Isabel Duran” over the head girl with chestnut hair and warm brown eyes, and “Castel Duran” over the head of a boy of the same age and with identical coloring. The two are clearly twins.

Isabel stands on top of the couch, tapping the side of her red cup with a plastic fork.

Isabel: Attention, everybody! Can I have your attention?

None of the guests pay her any attention. Castel cups his hands around his mouth and yells.

Castel: BAND, TEN-HUT!

With the exception of Sally, Button, and a handsome but confused-looking boy, the guests’ heels click together and their backs straighten.

Guests: One-two!

Nick’s Voice: Wow. That’s . . .

Nick is laughing too hard to finish his sentence.

Nick’s Voice: Just wow. You and Button being at a high school party suddenly makes perfect sense.

Sally’s Voice: Oh, stuff it. 

Nick's Voice: Nerds.

Sally's Voice: Castel was drill sergeant in the marching band. Isabel played flute. Most their friends were in band as well.

Now that she has everyone’s attention, Isabel looks distinctly uncomfortable. She glances at the clueless boy, blushes, then awkwardly looks down at her feet.

Isabel, softly: It’s, um, time to play Spin The Bottle.

Clueless Boy: What did she say?

Castel, yelling: We’re playing Spin The Bottle! NSFW Style!

There’s a few hoots and whistles from the crowd, despite no one seeming to be sure exactly what that means. With a grateful look at her twin for getting the crowd’s attention, Isabel speaks up.

Isabel: The rules are simple! Everyone who wants to participate, write your name on one of the slips of paper that Cas passes out.

Castel circulates the room, collecting names in a Santa hat. He pauses in front of Sally and Button, hesitates, then shrugs. Sally waits until Button declines, and then shakes her own head. Castel moves on.

Isabel: Harper said she’d rather die in a fire than kiss any of you, so she’ll be our facilitator.

Random Guest: No one wants to kiss a bassoonist anyway!

A girl wearing a cropped top flips her blonde hair with a smirk.

Harper: That’s not what your mom said last night.

Castel: Point to the reed section!

Nick’s Voice, whispering: Nerrrrds.

Hope’s Voice: Shush.

Isabel, in a nervous rush: Um, anyway. Everyone closes their eyes, then Harper pulls a name from the hat. If she taps you on the shoulder, that means she pulled your name and you get to kiss someone. Anyone you want whose in the room.

Harper: Except me.

Castel: And just to be really kinky (and to make sure that no one cheats), we have blindfolds for everyone.

Isabel: Which you only wear if you want to, obviously! If you don’t want to kiss anyone or get kissed, that’s fine. There’s a ping pong table downstairs.

Random Guest: What if we just want to watch?

Castel: Nah, that ruins the mystery. Only Harper gets to know.

Harper: Because I could literally care less who you walking hormones slobber on.

Button: That saying implies that you do actually care, you know?

Harper rolls her eyes.

A few teenagers leave the room. Isabel and Castel both look relieved when their crush chooses to stay. Castel begins handing out scarves for guests to tie around their eyes while Isabel continues to explain the rules.

Isabel: Once you’ve finished kissing the person of your choosing, sit back down in your seat. Then everyone takes off their blindfolds, and the kissee guesses who just kissed them!

Button, to Sally: This is nothing like Spin the Bottle.

Sally, with the world-weary sigh: So dumb, I know. But I do want to see who Rylen selects.

Button: That’s the guy your cousins both have a crush on?

Sally: So awkward, right?

Button: Soooo awkward. How do they even know he’ll be picked to kiss someone?

Sally: Harper is Izzy’s best friend. She promised to tap him on the shoulder.

Button: So much for an unbiased judge.

Button flutters their lashes at Sally in an over-the-top fashion.

Button: Anyone you’re hoping to share intimacies with?

Sally, a little to fast: No! Ew! No! I mean, obviously not. Otherwise, I would’ve put my name in the hat.

Button gives Sally a curious look.

Sally: So, er, I could kiss them.

Button: Plus, it’s not like you know anyone here. Except your cousins.

Sally: Gross. 

Button: Someone might still kiss you, though. You never know.

Sally: Someone might kiss you.

The two glance at each other and giggle.

Button: Look, maybe we should just go downstairs.

Sally: No!

Button’s brows raise with surprise at Sally’s adamant tone.

Sally: I mean, we need to stay. To, um, support Isabel and Castel.

Button: I guess.

Sally, nervously: Are you really that against kissing someone?

Button hesitates, and gives Sally a long look.

Button: I guess not. But-

Harper: Blindfolds on, horndogs!

Harper turns the lights off to make it harder for people to see. Button and Sally tie their scarves around their eyes, but Sally takes a little longer doing hers. She then lowers her scarf and waves a hand in front of Button’s covered eyes.

When Button doesn’t react, Sally turns and gives a thumbs up to Harper, who grins widely back.

Harper: First name is drawn!

Sally’s Voice: Truthfully? The game was more for me than it was for my cousins. Izzy noticed that I had a crush on El, and she was willing to help me out.

Younger Sally takes a deep breath. Careful not to jostle the couch, she stands up and moves to Button’s other side. She leans forward . . .

Then immediately loses courage and takes a panicked step backward, tripping over a potted plant.

Castel: Oooh, looks like someone’s on the prowl!

The guests snicker. Sally, on the other hand, looks like she’s on the verge of tears.

Button: Quit it, Castel. They’re probably nervous enough without you poking fun.

Sally smiles at Button’s unknowing defense of her. Emboldened, she leans forward and cups Button’s chin.

Button’s lips form in a soundless “oh,” and then Sally—without grace or finesse, but with plenty of feeling—presses her lips against Button’s.

A moment passes, neither moving, until Button pushes Sally away.

Button: I’m sorry.

Sally’s expression turns horrified. As quietly as possible, she tiptoes back to her seat and sits back down without alerting anyone to her presence.

Harper: Blindfolds off, guessing is a go! Wiseman, who do you think kissed you?

Button whips off their blindfold. Upon seeing Sally still seated beside them with dejected expression, they hasten to attempt to make her feel better.

Button: I didn’t want someone to kiss me, I swear!

Sally: Someone kissed you?

Button: Yes, but I would never have put on the stupid blindfold if I thought that would happen! I think it’s just because I defended them to Castel, and they felt grateful, so . . .

Button trails off as Sally’s smile becomes increasingly forced.

Button: It meant nothing, Sal. I promise. There’s no one here that I wanted to kiss.

Sally: No, it’s fine. I totally get it.

Button: I’m sorry.

Sally forces a laugh.

Sally: Sorry for what? For getting kissed when I didn’t?

Button: . . .

Sally: Because you don’t have to apologize for being irresistible! Don’t be stupid.

Button: Yeah.

Sally: Yeah.

An awkward silence falls between them, and the game continues.

Sally’s Voice: We were both convinced that the other wasn’t interested. Then I got kissed by Rylen, and—

Talia’s Voice: The guy that your cousins liked? Wow, Riverdale, I didn’t know you had it in you.

Sally’s Voice: I didn’t! I think Rylen just wanted to make it clear to my cousins that he wasn’t interested in either of them. But after he kissed me, Button just got up and left the room, and Isabel and Castel were both upset even though they wouldn’t admit it. The trip ended with all four of us all pretending like the party had never happened.

Gil’s Voice: With you and Button no doubt exchanged tortured glances across the room for the rest of the week.

Sally’s Voice: Pretty much. With neither of us having a clue what the other was feeling. I thought that I’d misread El’s emotions, and that I’d just been projecting. It had taken all my courage to kiss them, and then . . .

Gil’s Voice, sympathetic: They claimed it didn’t mean anything.

Sally’s Voice: It took a while for me to realize that El wanted me to know it hadn’t meant anything only because it hadn’t been from me. I just figured that they didn’t even see me as an option, or that El knew it was me but wanted to reject me without hurting my feelings.

Talia’s Voice: Oh my god. You’re both idiots.

Sally’s Voice: Maybe. But we’re also idiots who have been in love for a VERY long time. So everyone else should just back off.

No one replies. She does, after all, make a good point.

Then there's a muffled squeak.

Grayson's Voice: Not to change the subject, but . . . Gil, could you please let Kim out of his cage? I'm afraid he's going to injure himself.

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Part 8: https://www.patreon.com/posts/68856010