She frowned, her stomach churning. She wasn’t sure if she was feeling ill because of the terrible situation, or because she and Jackson were in the same room. “Cora hates the idea of birthday parties. What makes you think that something this big would make her happy? Do you know her at all?”

Jackson looked confused, and turned to Mark. “Minnie, is everything alright?” Mark asked.

“Yes dear, is everything alright?” Cora’s mother asked, walking towards the three. MinHee swallowed and shook her head. “You’re worried because Cora and I don’t have the best relationship, aren’t you?” That wasn’t the first thing on her mind, especially since Cora had apologized and seemed to be on good terms with her mother, but it was an important factor. She shrugged her shoulders and opened to speak, stopping before any noise came out. “Sweetheart, I think everything will be fine.”

There were at least a dozen or more florists in the room, double for the amount of people dressing the tables, and more than enough people to form an army decorating the room entirely in pink. This was not Cora’s birthday party. This was Cora’s worst nightmare.

MinHee reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, typing a message asking Cora’s mother if she could speak to Jackson and Mark alone. She then handed it to Cora’s mother, who looked surprised. “Of course, dear.” She said, moving awkwardly away from the group and towards one of the workers, who she proceeded to grill on the procedure of potting the flowers.

MinHee viciously turned to Mark and handed him her phone, which had a text demanding to know what he thought he was doing. “Cora’s parents contacted Jackson and I earlier this week and asked us to help them prepare a party for her. I told her mom this was a little over the top, but I’ve been trying to get into her good graces, and letting her create an entirely pink party seemed like the easiest way to do so.”

MinHee took the phone back. “Is getting in Cora’s mother’s good graces worth being put on probation with Cora?”

“I don’t think she’ll be that upset that I tried to get along with her family.” Mark said matter-of-factly. He then smiled. “Probation?”

MinHee nodded, still frowning deeply. “She’s going to stop texting you, stop seeing you, and make a disgusted noise every time she hears your name for a month, and I really don’t feel like having to deal with it because you were careless.”

“Are you saying I shouldn’t try to get along with her parents?” Mark asked, and MinHee shook her head. “Are you saying that her mother shouldn’t try to make things better between the two of them?” MinHee shook her head again. “I already have a plan, MinHee. I will be at that apartment the night before, the morning of, and all day before this horrendous party takes place. I know what I got myself into.”

MinHee crossed her arms over her chest and frowned after passing him the phone. “You better be right.” She then turned to Jackson. “And just what are you doing here?” She signed it first, and as he tried to decipher what she had said, she passed her phone to him.

He nodded. “Right. Well, Cora’s mom asked for both of us to come, so here I am. And then she asked for us to get you, without Cora’s knowledge, so here you are.” MinHee frowned. “Look, this is important to her mom. She was so excited about the entire idea.”

“She always is.” MinHee sighed and turned to Mark. “Can I leave now?”

“I’m pretty sure Cora’s mom wants you to help out.”

Cora lay on her back on her bed with her phone held above her face, scrolling through her feed. The other dancers had gone home hours before, but Maria had stuck around with Cora. “MinHee will definitely have the final say on the outfits, since it’s her specialty,” They’d been discussing the final outfits for their final performance. “But I think it’s still good to get a head start now, before we get any closer to the final performance.”

“Why is it even called the final performance? Everyone in the performance is from the Freshman class. We aren’t leaving. It’s just our end of Freshman year performance.” Maria sighed, pulling her legs up and sitting cross legged on the chair she’d pulled to the side of Cora’s bed.

Cora shrugged. “It makes a little sense. Like it’s our last Freshman performance.” Ginger leapt up beside Cora and meowed loudly. “Fatty’s hungry, I’ll be right back.” She shot off the bed, wrapping her arms around the cat and lifting it off the bed before exiting the room and striding towards the kitchen.

On her way there, the door opened and an annoyed MinHee strode into the room with her arms crossed over her chest. “Minnie,” Mark sighed, following her inside. The two came to a stop when they spotted Cora, who was swinging the cat around the room. She stopped, holding Ginger beneath her armpits and stared at the two. The cat didn’t budge. “Hello.” She said, looking between the two. “Where’ve you been?”

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