LPS High School AU

Discovery!

"I'm telling you, darling. That boy has "jerk" written all over him!"

Zoe leaned against Sweet Delight's booth as she finished telling the tale of how she and Vinnie had met Shahrukh by the warehouse. Penny Ling had been paying close attention as Sugar Sprinkles and Buttercream were busy making sales.

"Wow Zoe, but why would you let Vinnie go off on his own to look for him? You know how easily he gets lost!" Penny Ling sighed, "and if Vinnie gets lost, you know who freaks out..."

"Right..." Zoe nervously chuckled, thinking back to their blue haired friend, "But I mean, it's not a big warehouse, I'm sure he's fine! Vinnie has gone through worse!"

Penny Ling merely glared as Zoe finally rolled her eyes in defeat.

"Ugh, fine. I'll call Sunil..."

-
Meanwhile, Pepper sat alongside Mitzi, Sunil and Captain Cuddles, who were currently in the middle of a conversation. The girl had been awfully quiet the whole time, seeing as how close she and the Captain were sitting next to each other. Pepper merely looked around the parade, noticing that a couple of floats were already heading their way.

Pepper sighed as her glance went back towards the Captain. However, she felt her heart race as she noticed that he was already staring back at her, a soft smile on his face.

"Gah...." Pepper quickly cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks redden. "S-So! Uh....have you had the churros here yet? They're real good!"

"Oui. Though, I do think that they could be a bit sweeter in my opinion." He chuckled.

"Haha yeah...real sweet..." Pepper mentally face palmed. Idiot!

"Is...everything alright?" He raised a brow. "You have been quieter than usual."

"Who me? Pshh I-I'm fine!" Pepper nervously grinned, waving it off, "I'm just uh...excited! Yup! Woo! Churros!" The girl trailed off. STOP BRINGING UP THE CHURROS!

However, the Captain didn't look convinced.

"Pepper, if there really is anything bothering you, you know you could always confide in me, yes?" Captain Cuddles brought a hand over hers, which made her slightly flinch.

You. You and your dumb nice looking face is what's bothering me. Pepper mentally screamed at how close they were. At this point, being able to hide her feelings for the Captain has become harder than it was before. Perhaps now was a good time to tell him. Wait...

But what about earlier? Clearly, he and Mitzi looked like they were already having fun together. What if?... No, there's no way, she thought. Well, it was better to try than to not try at all...

"A-Actually." Pepper sighed, "There IS something I need to tell you-"

The captain kept his gaze at Pepper as the girl let out a shaky sigh in return.

"The truth is I-"

At that moment, the sound of a phone went off, all heads turning back to Sunil, who dig through his pocket for it. Damn it, Pepper thought.

"Oh, hang on, I need to take this..." Sunil said as he pulled out his phone, putting it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Sunil! So...we may have a bit of a situation..." Zoe's voice echoed from the line.

Everyone raised a brow in question.

"Hold on, I thought Vinnie and Minka were with you?" Sunil questioned. "What's going on?" He asked, quickly thinking of Vinnie.

"They were!....But now they're not."

Uh oh. Pepper grimaced as she looked back at Sunil, who was thinking the same thing.