Girl Talk

The girls’ cabin was just like all the others: it had three individual beds on one side, and a twin bed on the other side meant for two people. In the middle there was a dusty rug, but not much else was in there.

The fifth girl that joined them was a delinquent, completely uninterested in talking to them. She told them they could take any bed they wanted because she was planning to sneak out and meet her boyfriend who was also here somewhere.

None of the girls had the guts or the will to stop her, so they just let her go out the window the moment they closed the door behind them.

It was only Airi, Rika, Emma and Agatha now.

“I want the big bed,” claimed Rika right away, making her way over to it.

Emma rushed over first and planted herself face down over the covers.

“Bro, what? I said I wanted it.”

“Let’s have a sleepover!”

“...Huh?”

“I mean, we’re all sleeping in the same room already, isn’t that the same?”

Airi gently set her stuff on one of the single beds.

“Fufu. I think Emma wants a pajama party, yes?”

Agatha covered her mouth with her hand, surprised.

“A pajama party…!”

Emma sat up, bouncing on the mattress with a big smile on her face as she addressed Agatha.

“Yeah, because I’ve never been to one!”

“M-Me neither…”

Airi and Rika looked at each other.

“Oh…”

“Oof. Hard to say no to that.”

Rika felt a pang of guilt at the thought of stealing the twin bed from the budding friendship of the two pure girls in front of her, and set her stuff on one of the empty beds on the other side instead.

Airi sat on her mattress and opened her luggage, preparing her night clothes.

“Well, I don’t see why not? It will be quite fun to get to know each other… Right, Miss Fitzgerald?”

“Eh? O-Oh, yes! I want to get to know you, too!”

Rika looked at Airi, squinting with suspicion at the way she directed that specifically to the other girl. She turned to look at Agatha, who was still unsure of what bed she should pick, and walked over to her until she was invading her personal space.

“...Hey.”

“Y-Yes?”

“I’m Rika Dumas. Nice to meet you.”

“N-Nice to meet you, too!”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Huh!?”

“Or a girlfriend?”

“Eeeeeh!?”

Emma pointed at them with excitement.

“Aha! That’s girl talk, right!?”

Agatha adjusted her glasses nervously, her heart still pounding from the bold questions she had just been asked.

“Girl what…?”

“It’s something that happens at pajama parties! I’ve seen that on TV before!”

“Oh… Ohh…”

***

The girls all changed out of their uniforms, set up a blanket over the dusty rug in the middle of the room and held on to their pillows in a circle as they got ready to dive into a quintessential sleepover experience.

Agatha looked quietly excited, while Emma could barely contain herself and was bouncing in place.

It was very late at night so they hadn’t thought about staying up at all, but neither Rika nor Airi found it in their hearts to tell the two other girls no. Rika was falling asleep over her pillow the entire time, especially as Airi spoke in her gentle voice.

“Welcome to our sleepover, everyone. We are about to begin our highly anticipated girl talk session, which, as we all know, is essential to any sleepover.”

Rika shook her head.

“I’m 100% sure girl talk doesn’t need a formal introduction like that. I say this with confidence and zero prior experience.”

“Oh? Have you never been to a sleepover, Miss Dumas?”

“Uh, I mean… when I was very little, I guess? But all we talked about was cartoons.”

Agatha immediately raised her hand - and her voice, for once.

“We can talk about cartoons!!”

Rika recoiled, surprised at her reaction.

“I don’t really want—”

“Can we talk about games!?”

She raised her hand higher.

Airi tilted her head, confused.

“Games…? Like chess?”

“Like Peruna 5!!”

“Um…”

“Ahh! I know it!”

Emma also raised her hand this time.

“I know Peruna 5! There was a live action adaptation of that! I watched the movie five times!”

Agatha’s eyes lit up, looking at Emma with a renewed sense of camaraderie.

“No way, Emma! You like Peruna, too!? D-Did you also watch the live action adaptation for Peruna 4?”

“Of course! I watched that one four times!”

“And the Peruna 3 one!?”

“I watched that one three times!”

“Ahaha, that makes sense!”

Rika leaned over in Airi’s direction.

“Bro…”

Airi shook her head.

“I’m afraid I also don’t know what they’re talking about…”

Hearing this, Agatha gasped, squeezing her pillow against half of her face to hide her embarrassment.

“Ah—! S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to derail the conversation…”

Airi smiled at her.

“Not at all. You sound happy.”

Rika sneered at her as she tilted her head.

“You’re both pretty cute.”

“C-Cute…”

Agatha pressed her palms against her cheeks. She had never been called cute before, and it only made her face grow redder.

Rika laughed under her breath.

“That’s not girl talk at all, though, if that’s what you were going for.”

“Indeed. It usually involves talking about love.”

“Love…”

Rika nodded.

“Yeah, like your first love, or if you have a significant other.”

“E-Eh…… I-I don’t want to go first…”

“You gotta.”

“!?”

Airi smiled at Agatha.

“She’s only joking. But we would like to get to know you, Miss Fitzgerald.”

“R-Really…”

Agatha squeezed her pillow a little tighter. She was equal parts embarrassed and excited.

“Um. Well. I’m an only child, and my parents are busy all the time, so I usually spend my time playing videogames. Sometimes—”

“Sometimes you crush on 2D characters?” Rika interrupted.

“I-I was not going to say that!!!” Then, more quietly, “but, yes…”

“Haha.”

Airi placed a finger on her bottom lip.

“Hmm. I don’t quite understand how someone could fall for an animated character, but it seems her feelings are real to her.”

Agatha felt a brick fall on her head at Airi’s unintentional bluntness.

“I’m right here…”

Rika tilted her head.

“Have you ever liked anyone made of flesh?”

“No…”

“...I see. This is gonna be tough, then.”

“What is?”

“Getting you to fall for me.”

“Eh!?”

Rika combed her hair back with her hand, waggling her eyebrows at her.

“...Did I sound cool just now?”

“N-Not really…”

“Bleh.”

Airi quietly laughed behind her hand.

“Fufu. Miss Dumas, you’ve never flirted with anybody before, have you?”

“S-So what? Not like either of you are any better if we’re on the same boat.”

“Oh, my. So you also have a cute side.”

Rika whipped her head away from Airi with embarrassment and a scoff.

“I understand!”

Emma suddenly burst out, reaching to clasp Agatha’s hands with her own.

“E-Emma?”

“I understand what you’re going through! Loving someone that doesn’t know you exist… It's really tough! I completely understand!!”

Agatha’s eyelashes fluttered behind her glasses in a few rapid blinks, surprised.

“So Emma also…?”

Airi looked at Emma, analyzing her for a moment.

“Actually, I’ve been wondering about that. Cupid did say we all had experienced unrequited love, didn’t he. But I have a hard time picturing what kind of person Emma would like.”

“...Huh.” Rika also looked at Emma, scrutinizing her.

“That’s right. She seems very dense… Hey, Emma. Tell us about this mysterious person that stole your heart.”

“Me!?”

“Fufu. Now this is girl talk.”

Agatha gently pulled her hands away from Emma’s grip.

“I-I also want to know… what kind of person Emma likes…”

“Oh! I see! Okay, I can tell you all about him!”

Rika held back a laugh.

“At least pretend to be a little coy about it, bro.”

“His name’s Jake Salinger!”

At the mention of his name, the three other girls immediately went quiet.

Then Agatha anxiously asked what they were all thinking.

“...The actor?”