The apology

During the afternoon we did Ms. Stick's tasks, so we were sending line messages, and printing and delivering scripts. Except for Romeo and Juliet, the parts had not yet been assigned but I was going to leave that up to our director. We invited all the members of the FBY, Therese and Eve and the prince's fan club. That should be more than enough for all the roles and still have some people left that could function as helpers behind the scenes.

After that, we had to visit Ms. Lourdes. Ms. Odes would present us with some fancy gadgets this afternoon after all.

When we arrived, Ms. Odes was already there. When she saw me, she ran toward me, hugged me, gave me three kisses switching between cheeks, and then did the same to Anna. It felt really overwhelming, and it was done before I truly realized what was happening.

“Claire, Anna, I could not have done it without the two of you.” She was clearly starting with the end of her speech again...

Ms. Lourdes interfered. She seemed rather annoyed. “Cath, give the presentation we prepared, so that they understand what you are talking about!”

“Oh right.. She then nervously started rearranging some papers that were in front of her, and started presenting her findings:

“Yuridium is a special element, in the sense that it only reacts to living cells that are in a certain state. This state only ever occurs, from what I have found so far, when a girl has feelings for another girl. When they both have feelings for each other, the readings become even higher. There is more to it, but I have not yet discovered everything. It is not like I have been researching yuridium for a long time.”

She then went over to the next slide.

“I also did an examination of your brother's DNA, and found a similar effect. When a girl has high yuridium receptivity there is an activation in his genome. So basically you were right that he falls in love with girls that like girls. But when I put a girl's DNA with yuridium receptivity in contact with your brother's, the yuridium receptivity skyrockets and then rejects your brother's DNA fiercely. So that could explain all the bad breakups he has had, and why they always started dating girls afterward.”

So basically Frank's bad relationships were written into his DNA... Poor Frank. Maybe he should start going out with girls that he doesn't feel an attraction for at the start?

“Those are the basic facts. After yesterday's fiasco, Ms. Lourdes and I went over what we could already safely make, and that resulted in the following gadget.”

She took a small round keychain with a led light on it out of her pocket.

“This gadget, containing pure yuridium, can measure yuridium receptivity. If the light turns yellow, the girl in question is susceptible to having feelings for another girl. If it turns green, the numbers are very high, and the girl in question most likely has very strong feelings for another girl. If it turns red, that means the current receptibility is under 10% and thus negligible. It is important to know that susceptibility is a momentary recording, so open to change.”

Then she proceeded to the dangerous part.

“Let me give you a demonstration”, and she started to point the device to Ms. Lourdes. But Ms. Lourdes had clearly foreseen this development, and took the device away from Ms. Odes and said “That won't be necessary. We know you tested it thoroughly.”

I clearly saw the light turn green for a second. I guess there was something about that gossip about Ms. Lourdes, and that she had her own secrets that she wanted to keep.

Anna and I both received a key chain. I was certain this gadget would come in very handy on the job.

Our meeting lasted until classes were over. We met up with Elsa, Elodie, Gazette, Eve and Therese to go to the hospital. Elsa, Elodie and Gazette would go by tram because we would not all fit into the car.

While we waited in the hospital entry lounge. I nudged Eve and Therese to the flower shop. I looked up the flower language on my phone and found out that white orchids would be the best choice to express their regret. Since Tina's parents ran a flower shop, it was important to look these things up. Who knows what message you could be sending if you just picked something out.

They both bought a bouquet of white orchids. When I saw the look on their faces, it was clear that they really felt sorry and wanted to apologize.

When we arrived back in the lounge, Elodie and Gazette had already arrived. Apparently Elsa had already gone up to Tina's room. Elodie was holding a camera and filming everything, while Gazette was holding a microphone and commenting.

They were making this a documentary. Gazette said “This is the origins of the idol group Yuri Blooms. How many formations can say that they have footage of the exact moment they formed? Depending on how it all goes, this might become a huge hit!”

Gazette had found her scoop of the day, and was going to make it the biggest thing she possibly could.

When we arrived at the floor where Tina was lying, I noticed Therese and Eve tense up. Anna went up to them and said “Girls, take a deep breath and try to think of something that soothes you, it is completely normal to feel nervous in this situation.”

Anna really came over like a true pro when it was needed. Therese and Eve nodded and took each other's hand, intertwining their fingers. That seemed to buy them the necessary courage. They went forward, still nervous, but with determination.

Gazette was whispering her report, while Elodie was taking enough distance so that her filming would cause the least disruption possible.

Anna and I watched the whole spectacle from where Elodie was standing. It was only right. This was between the four of them.

Therese and Eve knocked on the door. Elsa opened and let them in.

They went inside, and started apologizing, and offered the flowers.

The flowers were accepted.. so far so good. They were talking for a bit, but suddenly Tina said “I'm sorry I cannot do this. I cannot forgive the two of you just like this. You changed your mind and see things differently now? You paid for the damage you caused? There is still the fact that you blew our date out of the water. I don’t feel like you girls compensated for that at all.”

Elsa immediately hugged Tina to show she supported anything Tina would decide.

Therese and Eve clearly did not know how to react to this, but after a short moment Eve pinched Therese's hand, and answered “If you don't think it is enough, then tell us what you want. We would do anything to make it up to the two of you. Just name it.”

Then Tina said “Anything you say? Okay I will take you up on that offer.”

I could see the fear start to come over Therese and Eve.

“The most unforgivable thing the two of you did was ruin our first date. So the two of you will organize an outing this Sunday for everyone at the FBY, and the two of you will make sure that everyone is having a good time, while making sure everyone has some quality time with their lover too.”

Was I just dragged into this? I would have to offer up my last free day of the week if they accepted...

I saw the final omen. Eve and Therese looked determined at each other. Then they nodded and said “You can count on us. Look forward to it!”

After that the mood cleared a bit. Gazette was really excited. “This must be the most dramatic start of an idol group ever, and we have got it all on film. We did not even have to fake it! Oh I can't wait to get images of all the beautiful couples on Sunday. Especially you and Ms. Lyst. The two of you look so good together. So good that you would think you've always known each other.”

Anna and I started blushing and by the time we got ourselves together it was too late to clear up the misunderstanding. They were already talking about something completely different.

“Do we look that much like a couple?” I was thinking to myself. I went over everything Anna and I did during the last week, and the image when I woke up on her lap while she was caressing me popped up in my mind. I felt my face go red again up to my ears. “It's not like that! It's not like that! I like cooking! But even when I started thinking about cooking, I started thinking about cooking for Anna, and the face she makes when she enjoys the food I made for her, so my face turned into an even darker shade of red.

“Claire! Claire!” I looked up and saw Anna looking worried at me. “Are you alright? I woke up from my daze a bit embarrassed. I hope nothing important happened while I was daydreaming. We are all done here, it is time for us to go to Femme Fatale and get ready for tonight. Thea will be delivering your dress.”

I went to give everyone a kiss to say goodbye. They all wished us good luck on tonight's show and Tina said “See you at the amusement park this Sunday.”

Amusement park. I should have paid attention. I never liked those places. It would be impossible to get out of going now.