Dear reader,

August 28, 2022

xxxxxxxxThe flagon was proving a formidable foe. Since the beginning of the game, Maggie had smacked someone, argued, tried to insist that she wasn't a bully, and worked a confession out of Bubba McGarry.

What an interesting game, indeed.

True to her word, Maggie raised her palm again, focusing on Bubba's right cheek. Left hand raised, eyes trained on his face. She swung once more, hitting squarely on the apple of Bubba's cheek and laughing loudly as heat radiated from her palm to Bubba's cheek. Karma was a sweet, sweet enemy. You messed with June Selwyn, you got the horns. Or, rather, the palm. To the face.

Ravenous violent appetite sated, Maggie went to spin the flagon again. Her smile was bright, as were her spirits, and nothing could bring her down.

The flagon spun, and spun, and spun, and spun. And landed on June Selwyn.

No, this shouldn't have been cause for stress or confusion, as they were best friends and best friends could certainly partake in friendly spirited hand shakes and hugs. Much like June had with Finn just moments earlier, Maggie should not have been worried, hot under the collar, stressed out about how best to complete this.

On one hand, she could just say no, she wasn't comfortable with following through with an action. She could retreat.

On the other, Maggie Hawkins didn't back down. Not ever. Plus, June might be offended if she ventured to retreat.

With a gentle hum, turning to June with her brows furrowed, Maggie knit her fingers together over her lap. Uncharacteristically shy and quiet. "So, uh," feelings were hard. Maggie wasn't even sure that she was having feelings, or that she was meant to feel the things she thought she felt. If that made any sense at all, which it very well might not. "Hey."

Maggie's body always moved quicker than her head. Her heart's desire far outweighed her brain. It was a curse, truly, because her hands were up and on June Selwyn's face in an instant. There were about two seconds where she gazed into June's eyes, her own wide and searching, and then the thread was cut. The connection lost. Maggie leaned in and pressed her lips to June's, brief and soft and gentle, before she pulled off a moment later.

Her first kiss. With her best friend. Who was, with luck, not pissed off?

"Ha! I win the make-out session of the year award, right?" Maggie paused. "... was that okay?"

The pang in her chest solidified, once and for all, that there was something wrong with Maggie Hawkins.

INTERACTIONS | @Bubba McGarry, @June Selwyn

@Finnegan Conner | MENTIONS

Bubba stood there, unmoving, unspeaking. He didn't know what to say, for the moment, he didn't think he even had the ability to speak. He simply could not believe he'd said what he said. In fact, if the memory hadn't come flooding back when Maggie quoted him, he would never have believed he said it. It must've been the situation, maybe the familiarity it engendered when Alan had told George's story at the detention. He just couldn't explain it. He was literally afraid of ever learning Incendio because he was afraid of what could've gone wrong. It was simply not something he would've joked about let alone threatened.

Bubba finally at least regained the ability to move. He brought his hand up to his newly injured cheek and held it there. He wondered if they made double icepacks for these situations. The pain stung but it was nothing compared to the inner turmoil he was feeling. He wished he could just dissolve into a puddle of nothingness. He looked hopelessly around for a hedge to Homer Simpson himself into, but to no avail.

It was time to spin again. God, please God, no. Not again. Bubba was not sure if he could handle if this time. He watched June spin the bottle. It was like watching David Hasselhoff running on the beach in slow motion. It finally stopped. On him. Bubba didn't wait. He just turned tail and walked right out of there. He needed to explain to June but this wasn't the time or place.

Bubba McGarry has left the thread

Interacting: N/A Mentioning: @June Selwyn

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Ramzy was a little more than taken back from the once again violent encounter, 'Why are they so keen on beating up on Bubba? Sure he was annoying, but geez...' Ramzy watched as Bubba took his turn next as she counted who would have the bottle next. 'Ugh! I'm spinning again!? Well, I mean... maybe that's a good thing? Then the starting choice is always mine, I suppose.' Her thoughts were cut short when Bubba stood up abruptly and seemed to have stormed from the tent. 'What had I missed?' She thought as she followed the neck to the receiving end. 'Ah... June, yes, maybe it was a good idea Bubba left. He didn't seem to have any more cheeks left to smack.' As Bubba left the tent, she reached out to grab the bottle once again. She spun the glass object and started staring off into her thoughts' abyss. 'Who could I possibly get this time? Maggie? No, no... god, no... I like my cheeks, Ramzy's eyes flicker to the rest of the tent members as she continued to think to herself, 'Maybe the other red-head in the tent... I mean, she doesn't seem that bad, and there's Finnegan. He seems like a nice lad. Of course, I already had June, so maybe it's a good thing we don't match aga- The sound of the bottle not rotating against the tent's floor caught Ramzy's attention as she looked up to see who would be her new 'victim'?

EmmaLee, another member of Ramzy's tent, she didn't interact much with EmmaLee, but from just sitting in the tent with her throughout the game, Ramzy got the impression that she would not like her. 'I'll be highly mistaken if I offered something now, and for her to possibly take it the wrong way.' "Uh... I'll just pass for this turn if that's alright with you. Ramzy spoke to EmmaLee, 'Even if it wasn't okay, I wasn't going to interact with her, I mean... who really can make me? Her eyes caused to the two more physical ones of the tent, 'Erm... okay... maybe they can, but I doubt it.' Ramzy tucked her knees to her chest as she leaned her chin against them and passed the bottle to the next awaiting person.

Finnegan took a moment to settle into the hug, but he did, and June was grateful. Her thoughts violently whipped around her mind, the current reality almost seeming like a dream. A small smile found itself on June's face as Finnegan whispered to her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Thank you."

She pulled away, retreating back to her safe house, back to Maggie Hawkins. The flagon was spun and spun, but June wasn't particularly praying attention. That is, until Maggie turned to face June, breaking her trance-like state. June looked at the bottle. It was pointed at her.

She turned to face Maggie, who had cupped her hands around June's face and was looking into her eyes. Perhaps she was checking in on her? Or asking if she wanted to leave? "Oh! Well, I suppose-" June was interrupted by the last thing she was expecting to experience (but that was entirely due to her lack of familiarity with the game). Maggie Hawkins was kissing June Selwyn. With her mouth. On the lips.

June's eyes widened, but she didn't pull away. It was brief, but the sensation was... Odd. June wasn't expecting that she would have her first kiss until she was at least a fifth year. But Maggie Hawkins had a tendency of pulling June into situations that she never could have foreseen, so this wasn't entirely unsurprising. Still, it was very, very unexpected.

A moment went by after Maggie pulled away, June's face staying in a shell-shocked state. She finally relaxed before reaching to grab the bottle, as it was her turn to spin. "Well, I wouldn't consider that 'making out'..." June looked at Maggie in the eyes, trying to communicate a sense of kind sincereness. "It's okay because you're my friend, Maggie."

With a twist and flick of her wrist, the bottle was twirling about in the centre of the group once more. June's facial expression visibly changed as the bottle began to slow, its trajectory headed right towards Bubba McGarry. "Absolutely not." June leaned forward and gave the bottle another spin before it was able to fully stop, hoping it wouldn't do the same thing again. Not that it mattered, anyways, as Bubba had stood up to leave moments after June re-spun the bottle. June definitely didn't like Bubba, but the fact that he left rather than simply retreated was a bit of a blow to her ego. Then again, he had just been slapped twice.

The roll of the bottle slowed again, this time pointing at Maggie, who was a much, much better target. June's face flushed a bit as she was reminded of the fact that she had just had her first kiss with her. Hmm.. Well, June couldn't just hug her or give her a handshake after that. She closed her eyes, and leaned over to give her best friend a sweet peck on the cheek.

EmmaLee winced as Bubba was smacked again and scowled as Maggie laughed gleefully at his pain. You know, whatever conflict the three of them may have had before meeting here did not warrant quite this reaction from the other girl, especially when Bubba looked so distraught himself. Then it was June's turn and she twirled bottle. Before it had fully stopped on Bubba, she twirled it again and Bubba was gone.

EmmaLee sighed as he left and brushed some invisible crumbs off her dress. This game didn't seem to be turning out as fun as anyone had hoped. It seemed everyone was getting upset left and right.

When the bottle was spun and it landed on EmmaLee she smiled a little and looked up at the red-headed girl from her tent. Her smile fell to a frown when Ramzy just curled up and decided not to do anything. EmmaLee sighed again, dusted off her skirt again, and stood up.

"That's alright." EmmaLee said, calmly and delicately, to Ramzy, but also to the remaining three players. "I think I'll take my leave too. This isn't turning out as fun as I had hoped and maybe it's best that it be called here."

She wasn't upset that she had been rejected. She really hardly knew anyone in this tent and had no solid opinion of them. Even Maggie who maybe wasn't so violent when she didn't have a beef with you, but this wasn't the best first impression on her part, especially since she seemed to enjoy Bubba's pain so much. Maybe this game was more fun when you knew each other and when a third of the group didn't have some kind of problem with each other. Maybe she would just skip it next summer camp.

She nodded a little. "I suppose I will see you all around at school. Good night, all." She said, turning and heading out of the tent herself. She frowned deeply as she walked away and tried not to let the disappointment wash over her in waves. Admittedly, she wished more than ever that she had just gone to Greece with Kiernan, Grace, and Alura over the summer instead.

EmmaLee LeDames has left the thread.

Interacting with: @Finnegan Conner Mentioning: @Bubba McGarry @June Selwyn @Maggie Hawkins

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Date: 28th August 2022 Outfit: x

After receiving her long awaited hug, Adelaide patiently waited for the next round whilst helping herself to some of the fruits available. And then someone had spun the bottle and it landed on her. She looked up at the boy and smiled as he held his arms out wide for a hug. "Alright," she agreed, smiling as she stood up and wrapped her arms around him.

Honestly, it was quite funny to Adelaide how he had to stand on the tips of his toes just to be able to wrap his arms around her and rest his chin on her shoulder, but it was a very comforting hug nonetheless. Probably one of the best hugs she's ever gotten, honestly. "You're a very good hugger," she commented before starting to pull away. At least, she tried to, but Finnegan surprised her with two more hugs to apparently 'make up the difference'. She laughed before thanking him and heading back to her spot.

It appeared many people were leaving, the drama happening between Maggie, June and Bubba not entirely resolved and honestly Adelaide had no idea what was going on. All she knew was that Bubba had just left the tent, and also Maggie kissed June on the lips. Go her, honestly. Someone else had also left and their group was slowly dwindling. Maybe Adelaide should take her leave too, but she thinks she'll stay for at least one more round.