Linn walked out of the bathroom, followed by a cloud of steam from her hot shower.

“Hurry up, woman,” Amy hollered from the couch. “The show is about to start.”

“I know, I know. Quit rushing me, the world’s not going to end if I miss the first five minutes.”

Amy turned to lean over the back of the couch and gave her a mock glare.

“Are you sure?”

Linn chuckled, still drying her hair with a towel and finally settled down onto the couch. The familiar tune of their favorite tv-show already sounded through the living room. Amy grabbed her chance and swung her legs over Linn’s lap, nestling herself shamelessly.

“I can’t believe you worked overtime on a day when our show is airing.”

“The gall,” Linn gasped dramatically.

“At least you know it,” Amy nodded with a straight face, though her eyes sparked with amusement.

They fell into a comfortable silence while they watched tv. Linn combed through her wet hair with her fingers to help it dry faster. Amy shifted slowly, watching her best friend.

“Hey Linn…” Amy spoke softly.

“Hmm?”

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. For a while now. Just hear me out, okay?”

Amy slipped an envelope from her back pocket. It was crinkled and worn, Linn wondered how long it had been in her pocket for.

“What’s that?” she asked curiously.

Amy pulled her legs back from Linn’s lap and sat up. Just before she handed the letter over, she hesitated. Linn raised a brow at her friend’s strange behavior.

“Why are you so weary about this? You look like I’m about to bite your head off.”

Amy smiled nervously.

“You might…”

Linn took the letter and noticed it was addressed to her, but before she could study it further, the doorbell rang.

“Pizza’s here,” Amy cheered, incredibly grateful for the sudden diversion. “Aren’t you getting it?”

Linn snorted.

“Not like this, I’m not.”

She gestured to her cute, but rather short nightwear. Amy grinned.

“Might save you a tip to show up at the door like that.”

“Just open the door already.”

She gave her a small shove and Amy bounced off the couch. Linn took the opportunity to open the very mysterious letter.

“Dear miss Golden…” she murmured quietly. “With this letter, we would like to congratulate you on winning one of the categories of the ELF-Challenge.”

She frowned. The ELF-Challenge? Wait, wasn’t that the contest that Amy had been hounding her about a few months ago?

“We thoroughly enjoyed your… story…”

She felt the blood drain from her face. Right there, in the letter, the title of one of her fan fiction was printed in bold. She struggled to breathe. Amy rounded the corner with the pizza, but halted quickly when she saw Linn with the letter already open.

“Oh boy…”

“What did you do?” Linn whispered in disbelief.

Amy chuckled anxiously.

“Uhm, surprise?”

Linn’s eyes darkened.

“Surprise?” she hissed. “You used… one of my stories…”

She pointed at the letter and struggled to keep calm.

“How many people saw this story?”

Amy’s hands clamped down on the pizza box. Her eyes flitted to the side, trying to find a way out of this.

“A few,” she spoke carefully.

She refused to meet Linn’s gaze. Linn shook the letter at her roommate in desperation.

“Why? Why would you do this to me?”

“Because you’re good, Linn. Stories like that shouldn’t be stuffed away where no one can even see them.”

“That’s not for you to decide! Those stories are personal, Amelia Jameson.”

Amy flinched at the use of her full name.

“I’ll be the one to decide if I want to make them public or not!”

Linn turned away from her friend and took one final look at the letter before throwing it on the coffee table.

“You snuck behind my back, Amy.”

Her voice was filled with so much disappointment it made Amy’s stomach twist together.

“Linn…”

Amy watched in shock as Linn walked off to her room and shut the door without even looking back.