The hot breakfasts were placed on the table, and Hillary took a look at the clock on the wall.
“All right, you have 30 minutes before we have to leave. And considering the effort I put in to make these for you on a dime, I expect the same courtesy when it comes to eating them.”
Brielle and Tina scarfed down their plates of waffles, while Hillary took her time; they would have to head off to school soon, and they both knew what they would owe their mom if this episode caused them to be late. But in a seeming attempt to rub her victory in, Brie literally licked her plate clean and placed her dishes in the sink before she got her shoes on, much to Hillary’s amusement. Thirty minutes after their mom’s warning, both redhead sisters were ready to get out to the minivan.
It was almost summer, and the sun was out and the weather was warm, but there was still a last stretch of classes to get through and tests to pass. Brie and Tina attended the same school complex, which was divided into large buildings that separated the different levels. It wasn’t too far from their house, but it was also on the way to Hillary’s job, so on days where she worked, it was convenient for their mom to drive them to school and drop them off on the way. Tina was let out first in the high school complex, waving goodbye to her mom before her friends came to greet her. And Brie’s building was around the corner, where she hopped out to the curb.
“Can we have waffles for dinner?”
“Uh, no. Have a good day at school Brie!”
Worth a shot. As her mom drove off, Brie turned and began to walk across the grassy field towards her school’s front entrance. She made it halfway there before she heard her name being called, and saw her two friends Alexa and Erin sprinting towards her waving their hands. The two of them were peas in a pod with Brie making three, and pretty much always welcome to stop by her house; Hillary loved them, and Tina had no complaints either. While their energy levels could add to higher than the sum of their parts, fortunately they were almost always rather contained, and never really spiralled out of control. Except for the incident with the dog park, but that didn’t count. Brie enthusiastically greeted them after they borderline tackled into her, and the three stepped aside on the grass for a morning chat.
“Why were you late, hmmm?” asked Alexa, a tan girl with short brown hair. She was adventurous like Brie was, always trying new things or starting different hobbies, which often served as the catalyst for whatever weekend adventure was coming up.
“Yeah, you were almost going to get expelled” Erin added to the sarcastic interrogation. She had short black hair and was full of spunk; she had a heart of gold, but her ability to stand up to older kids often left a lot of people feeling surprised. It helped get them out of trouble every once in a while, but it also stopped others from maybe stopping them from getting into trouble.
“Oh hardy har, bell hasn’t rung yet. Anyway, we were attacked by a squirrel this morning.”
“What?”
“Well, I guess leveraging my mom for free waffles was what took the most time, but the squirrel started it.”
Brie went on to explain the unusual morning her and her family had; unusual for anyone except them, and both Alexa and Erin could readily believe it. Once she finished, Erin got a mischievous glint in her eye.
“You really need to do something about this ticklish problem of yours, Brie, otherwise you’re going to get… tickled out of your exams or something. And repeat school.”
“Let me know when the test is onAHHH!” Brie had started to reply, when Alexa shot her arms out and squeezed the redhead’s sides from behind. An expert tickler, Brielle had raised her guard as soon as she saw Erin’s expression, but failed to account for the brunette thinking the exact same thing behind her. Worse, she stumbled forward into Erin, who was happy to follow through with the threat she had implied. She squeezed Brie’s sides in return, “passing” her back to Alexa like a ball; Brie rocked back and forth between her two friends, clutching her arms into her body to try and protect herself but being unable to do so against for prodding hands.
“Heyhehehee… stahahap it!”
“Ooh, look, I’m an angry squirrel, tickle tickle tickle!!!”
The two girls continued to pester their friend, while Brie dropped her arms to her sides, shutting them against her ribs tightly. This opened up her neck, and her stomach: Alexa went to the former, darting her fingers in and out of under Brie’s chin, while Erin scribbled her hands across her friend’s midriff, the thin loose shirt providing little protection. But Brie was no amateur; she had used this trick to get herself out of a bind with her mom and sister before, taking intentional hits and distracting her ticklers from where her arms were. Powering through the tickling, she bent her wrists and hands up, landing unsuspecting pokes to the sides of Alexa and Erin, both of whom were also very, very ticklish.
“Hey!”
In the instant they jumped back, Brie’s experienced arms came up and pushed them over, not giving them a chance to recover. Her two friends fell on their backs into the grass, and Brie hopped down before scooping up all four of their combined feet into an armlock. Shoes popped off one by one, and having been tickled by Brie many times before, her two friends went into a playful panic mode.
“Nonono wait I’m soreEHEHEHE!!!”
“Brie no waitahHAHAHAHA!!!”
Trapping all four feet into one arm, Brie skittered her fingers across her friends’ socked soles with her free hand, sending them into a laughing fit on the grass. Erin and Alexa pounded their fists on the ground as their stomachs heaved in and out, but they were in no position to sit up and tickle Brie back; she had won in just one move.
“See what a little tickling can do in the morning? Hm? Hmmm? Maybe I should write to the school board and have YOU disqualified from exams for being too ticklish, or whatever you said.”
“STAHAHAHAP!!!”
“YOU WINAHAHAHA!!!”
“Ahem, the bell is ringing. And so are my ears.”
Brie suddenly stopped tickling the feet in her clutch, becoming aware of the shadow looming over her. Her two friends also looked up, while catching their breath; all three smiled awkwardly at the sight of Miss Carol, their favourite teacher. Carol likewise smiled down at them, from behind her thick black glasses, red lipstick, and very wavy blonde ponytail, but her smile was one less of guilt and more “I’m letting you off easy.” Sure enough, the school bell was ringing, just not loudly enough to be heard over the laughing fit happening on the front lawn.
“In our defense, nobody interrupted us.” Brie shrugged.
“I’m doing that now. You’re not late, but if you don’t give your friends their shoes back, they might be.”
Miss Carol was a sweet teacher with never-ending patience, and the entire school adored her. She taught English studies, and was responsible for making sure the class was never boring; she also had a drive to want her students to succeed, and Brie was incredibly thankful for all the gentle pushing and nudging she had given to help her through what was otherwise a slog of a school year.
Unable to disappoint Carol, the trio got up and brushed the grass off their clothes, before Erin and Alexa were given their shoes back. Smirks were exchanged, as were wordless promises that this wasn’t over, but truth be told it wasn’t unlikely the three would be on a completely different topic come lunch break. Carol smiled as she watched them file into the school with the rest of the students.
For Brie, first period Geography was a snooze. But, things got much livelier later on in…
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