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It seemed that as soon as Cara snuck back into her room and plopped down on her soft bed the sun had risen and she was sluggishly pulling herself up to get ready for the day. She took a quick shower and got ready as normal, putting on a maroon tank top and her favorite jean short overalls. She had a bowl of fruit loops before saying goodbye to Apollo and riding her bike, 10 minutes to where the Fourth of July parade was supposed to be as well as where she was supposed to meet Bishop, Natalie, and Heather.
Cara found a bike rack and left her bike to go find Heather and Nat. She was walking around looking everywhere till she ran into them. Literally. "Sorry" She quickly said looking up to see just who she was looking for. "Oh my God finally I was looking everywhere for you guys" Cara said relief in her voice.
"Same. Hey" Nat said and Heather also said a quick "hi." Cara looked to where heather was pointing hearing her say "Oh. Look there is Bishop." Nat followed saying "Oh, and, Diggins." "Ooh maybe we can work him for intel." Cara said a playfully mischievous smirk on her face. As the three began walking over to meet them.
"Hey" Bishop said upon seeing the girls. Cara immediately ran to Diggins side, taking his arm "So Diggins heard anything from the judges yet?" She asked batting her eyelashes looking up at him with a sweet smile "Not yet," Hearing this Cara dropped the act letting go of his arm, letting out an audible sigh. "Patience, grasshopper. Patience." He said with a chuckle as he looked over at her.
They turned back to the parade and saw a truck that was sponsored by the company Heather used to work at. The bed was filled with employees they had signs and cutouts of different electronics on they heads. "Mainstream Wireless wished you a safe and happy fourth" they heard the announcer say. "And to think that could've been you" Bishop chuckled nudging Heather with her arms "Mm" Heather humed with mock amusement.
"Why don't you wave goodbye to the Ghost of Shittier Jobs Past, Heather" Nat grabbed Heather arm, waving the flag in her hand. "Yeah? Which finger should I use?" She replied and they laughed. "And How 'bout them tri-county beauty queens, huh?" could be heard as the float drove by notably with Leela. "Oh. check out Leela." Natalie said once they say the girl in her red dress a silver crown on the tip of her head. "She looks beautiful" Nat continued as Leela tossed a rose to Bishop.
"She's into you" Diggins said teasingly as Bishop stared back at the girl."Shut up" Bishop shot back. "Oh uh you've got some drool on your chin Bishop" Cara teased gesturing to her own chin as he playfully rolled his eyes. "All right later, losers." Diggin said before he began walking away.
The other four started walking in the opposite direction when Nat, who had trailed beside the group a little said "Uh, Guys?" showing the american flag she had with the panic symbol. "I mean it's got to be a clue, right?" She asked when the three had turned around their faces not contorting with confusion.
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With the first clue the four walked over to a park, Bishop and Heather immediately jumping on the swings seeing who could go higher. Natalie rolled her eyes as her and Cara walked over to a bench trying to figure out what the clue meant.
"Seriously?" Nat asked looking between Cara and the two "seven" year olds on the swings. "We just got our first clue in weeks, and now you want to recapture your sense of childhood joy?" She continues annoyed. "It's a national holiday, Nat. Slacking off is patriotic." Bishop replied as Natalie let out a small huff.
"I'm gonna go find Shawna. She says the marching band has a musical float. Maybe that's supposed to be the key?" Nat said as she got up from the bench walking over to the 2 on the swings
"Good luck, Sherlock" Bishop chuckled, as Nat continued to walk away.
Once Natalie was gone Cara popped up from the bench running over to the open swing next to them. "Oh now you join us?" Heather said almost accusingly. "Hey I knew she was gonna get on your asses about it and I didn't wanna be apart of it"Cara defended with a shrug, kicking off the ground.
The three giggled at her true statement before Heather said "Do you remember when we were kids and my mom used to say if you swung high enough you could kick the clouds around with your toe?" fondly remembering the memory. "I remember she said that the Man in the Moon was a kid who face-planted in a pile of wet concrete." Bishop laughed.
Looking up at the sky, "One time I asked her why it got bigger and smaller, and she said "construction." So for years, I thought there was an astronaut doing repair work on the moon." Cara listened to the story a soft smile on her face thinking of the silly stories she was taught when she was younger.
Hearing the ding, Cara looked down at her phone "Hey do you wanna go to the nail salon with me?" the text from her mother read her smile grew seeing the text as she replied "ofc I'll meet you there" Getting up from the swing she said "I got to go um some very important urgent family business just popped up and I need to get home but I'll see you guys later" Cara said before briskly walking in the direction of the nail salon.
