#cricket 005.

[xaviermattthews]

x 📲 cricket.

x: i need your unbiased opinion.

[mackmontgomery]

closed for: @cricketcampbell

where: cricket, lori + [redacted]'s

"You hit my front tooth twice," Mack says in an accusing tone from the other end of the couch, once was an accident but twice skirted too close to a pattern and now he finds himself wondering if the launch of sour patch kids towards his face area was more than friendly fire.

The animated version of Mulan on screen had now embraced her life as Fa Ping, deceiving her way through training as the pair of them got distracted by candy.

( Nothing new there. )

"Focus. My mouth is huge, you couldn't have more surface area to work with. Missing is the definition of a skills issue."

[maviscampbell]

closed: @cricketcampbell

location: the kaplan's airbnb, seabrook

"Ted, bring this out there, would you?"

Oliver shoved an unopened family-sized bag of Cheetos into Teddy's hands, accompanied by a gentle push between his shoulder blades to urge him back toward the living room. He left with a grumble of assent, and Mavis, on the opposite side of the kitchen island, very slowly cutting up fruit to throw into a bowl, shot her father a grateful smile.

He and Molly had insisted that they didn't need a meticulous itinerary or to be shown a good time. They were coming to Aurora Bay to be a unit again, for everyone to just exist under the same roof for a while. That meant a home cooked meal and board games on their first night, and it meant everyone.

("Tell Cricket to bring a side," Oliver had texted. Her inclusion had been less of a question and more of a demand.)

It hadn't hit Mavis what having her entire family exist under one roof really meant until after dinner, when they were all crowded around the coffee table and arguing over opening strategies for their game of Robinson Crusoe while simultaneously trying to explain the rules to Cricket. Mavis had only made it few a few turns before she excused herself in the name of grabbing more snacks.

"You good?" he asked gently, when Teddy was out of earshot. "You've been quiet. It's weird."

Mavis nodded as she threw a handful of pineapple into the bowl and looked up for a brief moment to shoot her dad a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, it's just...a lot, you know? In a good way. The best way. It's just..." bringing up a lot of complicated emotions that she didn't know how to put into words yet. Joy, filling her up so much she thought she might burst from it; regret to pop the bubble. Back and forth it went.

She didn't need to finish the sentence for Oliver to hum in assent. He'd always been good at reading her.

"I'm happy," she said quickly, needing to make that entirely clear. "I'm really, really happy you guys are here."

Oliver opened his mouth to respond but stopped short, his gaze wandering just over Mavis's shoulder. She turned to follow his eye line and found Cricket in the doorway.

"Hey, hon," Oli greeted for her, patting the empty stool next to him. "We're just taking a break from all of the screaming. Sorry if it's been a lot."

[solaadisa]

closed: @cricketcampbell

location: women's bathroom, prom

"Okay, double checking teeth," Sola said before leaning forward and smiling widely at Cricket, waiting for her assessment. "Good?"

After getting the all-clear, she turned back toward the mirror and picked an eyelash off of her cheek before returning to reapplying her lip liner.

"Dude, I wish we actually went to high school together," she groaned — definitely not for the first time, but it bore repeating now that they were actually dressing up and pretending to do it for a night.

"Like, we actually would've been such a power couple. Our teachers would've fucking hated us, the mean girls would've fucking hated us. And then we'd go back for our ten year reunion and everyone would be like, 'oh my god, they're literally so hot now,' and we'd be like, 'we've literally always been hot,' and then everyone would be so sorry that they were shitty to us in high school. Like, we deserve that."