Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight: Fall into Winter

Compulsory Relaxation
The fact that the end of the Halloween season usually caused some depression throughout Zeitgeist might lead you to think that the epicenter of the post-Halloween blues would be the Glass. Surprisingly, however, this is not the case. Sure, the Lookzens don’t want Halloween to end, but at its end, they have to hit the ground running to get back up to speed on their classes, as well as to prepare for the Winter Holiday Season (or WHS), so they don't really have time to dwell on it. The Crumpets were by no means an exception to this, especially as this was their rookie year, and they had only a very short period of downtime before they had to start promoting again.

Having seen AmJi’s pictures of the girls sacked out on the couch at Thornbury during the Goodbye Halloween party, EinBe worried that the Crumpets were overdoing it. Even though the girls looked fine and they claimed to be feeling “super good,” EinBe wanted them to get some proper R&R while this brief window was available. However — and much to their frustration — it was all but impossible to get the Crumpets to relax. In fact, when EinBe gave them orders to go do something fun, their first choice was karaoke, prompting their managers to revise their orders to “go do something fun that doesn’t involve singing or dancing.” (The blank look that the girls gave them in response to this was epic.) Even though they were still confused as to how singing and/or dancing didn’t qualify as fun, Tabitha suggested go-karts. Now her unnies knew that while she almost certainly would win every 'race,' it still sounded like a fun, non-singing/dancing alternative, so Enid called the park to make arrangements.

While they were getting ready to go to the indoor go-kart park, Analey was texting with Jimmy, and told him what they were going to do. It happened that Jimmy was at Thornbury, sitting with some members of the student press, who upon learning that the Crumpets were going on an outing, decided that tagging along and getting some casual footage would be a good idea. At first EinBe were inclined to say no to this, as they felt that it would just turn their relaxing outing into work. However the girls pointed out that unless they were tucked away at Crumpet Hall, they were actually more relaxed with cameras and chaos surrounding them.

In a vain effort to get the girls to exit “promotion mode” for a bit, Bess told them, “Okay, as long as there is no singing or dancing involved.”

“Can we sing on the bus on the way to the park?” Sarah asked (she was struggling with the concept of how one could ride on a bus for thirty minutes without singing).

“Sure, as long as there is no filming, you can sing on the bus,” Bess replied.

Thinking that they had, more or less, managed to arrange a fun, non-idol day for the girls, EinBe headed to the kitchen for a cup of tea before the bus arrived. While they were warming up the water, they overheard the girls talking excitedly about the day. At first this was nicely validating.

“Good, they are finally talking about something other than performing.” Enid whispered to Bess.

Unfortunately this didn’t last long, as they then heard Yulia say, “Ooh, we should get some shots like when Choa crashed her go-kart on Car Center.”

“Good point, although she didn’t really crash, she just kinda went off the track a bit,” Kari interjected.

“True, and we probably shouldn’t even do something like that, since everything needs to look unplanned. Maybe we could get some footage like when BerryGood was driving the virtual Baja truck before their performance at Dream Concert?” Sarah added.

EinBe just stared blankly at the girls who were now fully immersed in planning every detail of their 'unscripted day-off' concept videos.

Shaking her head, Bess said, “I don’t think they can turn it off. I really don’t.”

“I know, but they do seem quite happy. What worries me is what happens to them when all of this comes to an end?” Enid replied, adding, “Maybe we should talk to Victor about how he handled it when he left the spotlight.”

“Agreed. While I think that their retirement from idol-dom is a long way off, far too many idols have that choice made for them much sooner than they would like,” Bess said in a somber voice.

On the bus to the go-kart park, EinBe were alone in their worries about the girls’ long-term future, as the Crumpets and their student-press entourage were completely focused on making the most of this “spontaneous and completely casual day.” All of this planning displaced any singing, which turned out to be a bit disappointing to Skeeter, who had, over the years, somehow not only become accustomed to driving with complete auditory mayhem behind him, but now actually liked it.

When there was a brief lull in their planning session, he said, “Are you girls resting your singing voices today?”

Their ears perked and their heads popped up from looking at the various tablets that were going around.

With a tone of curiosity, Yulia asked “Are you missing our singing?”

“Sure am,” Skeeter replied. “I’ve been driving you girls around for how many years now, and this is the first time you haven’t been singing and going completely nuts — that or passed out from exhaustion.”

Suddenly the bus was filled with the excited yelping of the girls who had always thought that he was simply a very tolerant driver. The fact that he actually liked their antics was quite possibly the most validating compliment they could imagine. It was a good thing that they were buckled in, otherwise they might have rushed up and dogpiled him (restraining sudden waves of enthusiasm is the second most important function of a seatbelt).

At any rate, the girls quickly settled into a Mamamoo-styled harmony and dropped “Um Oh Ah Yea” for their appreciative driver.

Before they got very far into the song however, the student press instinctively pulled out their cameras, prompting Tabitha to stop the singing.

“Woah up there, chingu (friends), there can be no filming of this, as we are on performance restriction today,” she told them.

A collective and disappointed “Aww!” filled the bus.

Bess shook her head. After looking at Enid for agreement she said, “Forget the no-filming or singing bit. You girls seem happiest being in the spotlight. Regardless, don’t expect that Enid or I to stop worrying about you and your sanity.”

The Crumpets shot their managers' heart signs and derp faces, and then quickly returned to “Um Oh Ah Yea.” By the time they arrived at the park, they had sung two more songs, played a game, Sarah did a very bad job telling a joke (which actually made it funny), and they had completely forgotten about any further planning.

Go-Karts
When they debussed at the track, Tabitha started to tell everyone about the karts that they would be riding: “Now, these are electric karts, so unlike the gas engine karts we have ridden in the past, these will have more torque out of the bucket. However, they…”

Before she could finish, Tinsley put a finger to Tabby's lips and said, “Shhh, shhh, just say that these are electric karts and they are really fun.”

Tabitha blushed and said, “Sorry, you can take the girl out of the race, but you can’t take the race out of the girl.”

With their fun restored, they headed to the entrance. As they excitedly scampered across the parking lot, Sarah, who is, by the way, a notoriously slow driver, slipped up next to Tabitha and started asking her questions about how the karts handled and what strategies she might use in the races. This surprised Tabitha, but like Kari when it came to airplanes, she never tired of the subject and was always more than happy to share her knowledge.

Once inside, the student press quickly dispersed, looking for the best locations from which to film the action, while the Crumpets, their Managers, and Skeeter were briefed on safety by the track’s staff. After what seemed like a really long process, the girls were finally strapped into the karts and ready for the first run of the day. (EinBeSke sat out the first round because only six karts could be on the track at one time.) At the starting flag, the girls puttered slowly off the line onto the track.

Tabitha, who had purposely been placed at the back of the pack, exclaimed, “Seriously!” (yes, her unnies were messing with her) and started weaving her way toward the front.

Much to Tabitha’s surprise, Sarah, who was also at the back of the pack, started moving up as well. It took most of the first two laps for TabSa to work their way free of the pack, but once they were clear, they entered into an epic duel.

Clearing the crowd, Tabitha looked over to see that Sarah was nearly parallel to her. She shot her maknae an inquisitive look and received a casual smile (that seemed to have a mischievous undertone) in reply. Tabitha's eyes narrowed and she pressed on with Sarah hot on her heels. Each 'race' was five laps, and by the middle of the third lap TabSa were lapping the other members so that they were back in traffic, albeit a bit more spread out than at the start. Since Sarah had managed to keep up in the open, Tabitha decided that her only hope was weaving through the traffic. The problem was — aside from keeping her tenacious maknae at bay — using the traffic to her advantage without causing any accidents, or scaring anyone for that matter. Tabitha had to use skillful finesse on a level that she hadn’t since she retired from racing a few years ago. Her skills ultimately won the race, but Sarah came in a surprisingly close second.

After parking the karts Tabitha made a beeline to Sarah, but before she could say anything, Sarah exclaimed, “Daebak, nice racing!” and gave Tabitha a jaunty hug.

Tabitha hugged her back and said, “Thanks, but more importantly, where did that come from?!”

“Oh, just beginners luck, I guess,” Sarah replied and then casually said, “Want a soda?” Whereupon she spun around and trotted off to the snack bar with a bewildered Tabitha in tow.

Rallying at the snack bar, the Crumpets chattered excitedly about Sarah's epic second-place finish. Because they were genuinely impressed and wanted to talk about it, and because they were in a rush to get back to the race floor to watch the EinBeSke’s race, Tabitha couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

The Crumpets arrived at the starting line just in time to watch the comedic efforts that the track’s staff had to go through to get EinBeSke into the karts (persons more than a few decades north of the single digits tend to be flexibility-challenged). Once they were buckled in and had their helmets on, the green flag dropped and EinBeSke launched with about the same alacrity that the girls had when they were messing with Tabby. EinBeSke’s race may have been anything but epic, regardless, all of the Crumpets, except for Tabitha, who was a bit distracted, got caught up in who would win. The race finally ended with Skeeter as the winner, and this was largely because EinBe were showboating and kept crashing (mugging for the cameras isn’t a good thing whilst driving). At any rate, Tabitha tried again to talk to Sarah, but was interrupted by the student press, who wanted to get some pictures of each of the races’ drivers.

Rascally Maknae
After the photo shoot, there were several more races, photo shoots, and finally an interview. When the group gathered in the snack area for the final segment of the day, Tabitha had yet to corner Sarah long enough to find out how she had done so well, and not just at the first race but also at all of the subsequent races, where she was hot on Tabby's heals the entire time. The group was seated at bistro tables lined up in front of the cameras in a makeshift press gallery.

After the standard round of introductions, the interviewers, Zunny and HaHa, posed the first question to Bess, with Zunny asking, “What is it like managing the Gothy Crumpets?”

“Well, it is wonderful; the girls are fantastic, they are energetic and a bit chaotic, but they always work hard and they are just fun to be around,” Bess responded.

After a few more questions, HaHa commented that Sarah had looked very confident on the track and that she did very well in keeping pace with a one-time, semi-pro racer like Tabitha.

“Oh, HaHa, you flatter me,” Sarah replied in an oddly theatrical tone. She then went on to explain the dealio. “You see, even though I am known as a slow driver, I thought it would be fun to try to give Tabby a run for her money as a distraction from her burdens as our leader,” Sarah said in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.

At first, Tabitha sat smiling and nodding in proper interview fashion. However, as Sarah went on, Tabitha’s ears began to perk and her expression changed.

Sarah continued, “I figured that, sooner or later, Tabitha would want us to have a go-kart day, so I started practicing in secret. Coincidentally my training was at this very track."

At this point several of the track’s staff, who were watching the interview, shouted, “Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!”

Sarah pointed to them and said, “Shout out to, ma peeps at the track!” Then she shot them heart signs.

Sarah’s revelation of her clandestine training and the fact that it was designed to mess with Tabitha caused wide-eyed looks of astonishment on all of the other members’ faces, but none more so than Tabitha.

Hopping off of her stool, Tabitha exclaimed, “Why, you sneaky, rascally…” (At this point, most everyone was even more wide-eyed as Tabitha made her way over to Sarah, who, by the way, didn’t look the least worried.) “...adorable, clever, best maknae ever!”

TabSa hugged and danced around like crazy people. After they settled down a bit Sarah said, “I hope now you will start racing again, even if it is just every now and then. You should keep doing it because you love it."

“Tell you what, if you race with me on a team, I will,” Tabitha replied.

Sarah was surprised and flattered, responding, “Wow, okay, sounds like fun. But we will need a third driver.”

“Oh, I’ll bet we could con Tinbot into it. She isn’t the worst driver out there,” Tabitha said.

“Hey! I am in the room, you know!” Tinsley shouted.

And so it was that team TabSaTin was born, and would go on to do quite well, winning their division several years in a row.

As they settled back into the interview, Tabitha asked Sarah how she had managed to slip out to practice at the track.

“Well, you know that accounting class that I was supposedly taking at the city college?” Sarah said. “I figured that none of you would ever ask me anything about it, and no one ever did; I was here practicing.”

“You were here!” exclaimed Bess.

“Oh, it’s okay Bess. Enid knew where I was,” Sarah replied.

Bess looked at Enid. “What? You knew?”

“Well, you aren’t exactly the best secret-keeper. Besides, you already thought that she was taking the train to the college, so this is just a dozen stops further,” Enid responded with a sheepish look.

At this point Zunny gave them a little, “Hey, we're filming here” cough.

EinBeTabSa turned a bit pink, and smiling unnaturally, they snapped back into interview mode, with Bess whispering to Enid out of the corner of her mouth, “We should talk more about this later.”

Christkindl Fest
A couple of days after their go-kart outing, the girls jumped back into full-swing promotion mode. As you probably expect, they had a lot of activities to attend to. In fact, it was such that when Sarah’s birthday arrived, they — as with Kari’s B-Day — had to celebrate on the fly. In this case, on a free-ish evening, they had a nice dinner downtown at the Stone Road Tea Room. Partly fulfilling one of Sarah’s bucket-list goals, they all wore hanboks (traditional Korean dresses). Of course she really wanted to do this in Korea, but she had yet to be there on her birthday or with her members.

As the WHS was now upon them, their first official Winter gig was also their first show ever outside of the greater Zeitgeist metropolitan area. In the small mountain town of Pinedale, which is about an hour and a-half drive west of Zeitgeist, developers had recently built a factory outlet mall, creatively named the Pinedale Outlet Mall (of course the girls just called it P-DOM). Even though it had been open for a few months, the official grand opening was going to be a Christkindl market and festival (a German-themed Christmas affair), and the Crumpets were slated to be the headline act in a free concert held in a small amphitheater in the mall’s parking lot.

Now you might be thinking that the Gothy Crumpets are a rather odd choice for a Christkindl festival, and frankly, you are probably right. However, the mall’s management company was desperate to secure inexpensive entertainment. Initially Bess and Enid were a bit reluctant to even present the idea to the girls but, they reasoned that because the Crumpets loved the Nightmare Before Christmas, they already had a bit of a bit of a Christmas connection, and so maybe they would be interested.

I should probably point out that when the mall’s management contacted EinBe, it was well before anyone knew that the Crumpets debut was going to be so successful (they had already sold over three thousand albums at the start of the WHS). At any rate, when EinBe told them that they could headline a show that could also include some other acts from the Glass, the girls jumped at the chance as they were eager to show that they could shine on any stage regardless of the theme. In the end, it really made sense for the Crumpets, as it not only gave them additional exposure, but it was also a good opportunity to work up a nice WHS repertoire for all of the other appearances that they were hoping to do.

The Crumpets, along with the Raspberries, Interrogative, and the Screaming Beets (these last two had yet to even be officially formed) prepared a very nice show that paid homage to many of the world's great winter holiday traditions. They named their show “Looking-Glass Solstice,” and despite it being a free show, they were ready to go all-out (well, as all-out as one could go on a tiny concrete stage in a parking lot).

At any rate, while the performers were excited about the show, EinBe and Dean Eobseo were not as they were struggling with P-DOM’s management company, which wasn’t doing well in keeping up with their end of the deal. In fact, the P-DOM managers were so bad that they came to be known as the “Three Poop-Heads” or “3PH.” I won't bore you with the details and will just leave it at saying that it was becoming a rather contentious affair.

On the morning of the show, Skeeter drove the performers up into the mountains in the school’s biggest bus, which was followed by a convoy of support vehicles. EinBe and Dean Eobseo had gone up the day before with some support staff to check on conditions, which turned out to be a good thing, as the mall was far from ready to receive the performers. While Bess and Enid were scrambling to make the tiny, concrete ready-room behind the stage somewhat presentable, the Dean worked with Campus Services to arrange for a mobile sound system to be brought up along with the students, because what the mall was providing wasn’t anywhere near up to the task. By the time the students arrived the next day, things were looking reasonably decent, but poor Dean Eobseo was being hounded by 3PH, who were complaining about everything, even though virtually all of the shortfalls were on their end. In fact, about the only thing that the mall seemed to be on top of was snow removal, with their maintenance department having cleared almost all traces of a recent snowstorm.

Unaware of the drama that had been and still was playing out, the girls and their cohorts set about familiarising themselves with a stage that they had never seen because its construction was finished only a few weeks prior. The first issue of concern — for the Crumpets anyway — was finding a place for Harey, as this stage was only a little bigger than the mobile unit on which Harey and the Crumpets were a very cozy fit. The mall was supposed to have supplied a hanging shelf for him to sit on, but of course they didn’t. So it was up to the students to figure out what to do. Ultimately they were able to ad-lib a platform on which Speck and his drum set could sit, with Harey — wearing a Santa hat — peeking out from underneath. The next issue was making sure that no one, most especially the Raspberries, fell off of the often crowded stage. For this, they made a makeshift rope-railing, and covered it in evergreen garland. The mall’s management was unhappy about the railing because they felt that it blocked too much of the view of the stage (which it really didn’t) but Dean Eobseo told them if it were taken down, the show was off, so they begrudgingly let it stay. With things in the best order they could be, the crowd began to arrive. The sun was out, it was starting to warm up a bit, and the students were eager to do their thing.

Warm Reception, Icy Exit
Even though the Crumpets were the headline act, which typically meant that they would go last, “Looking-Glass Solstice” was arranged so that all of the acts intermingled, giving all of the students a chance to perform with one another. The crowd greeted the performers warmly and there were even a number of Familiars in the audience, who got some fan chants going. Things were proceeding very well, and at about the midpoint of the show the Crumpets had a rest break and wardrobe change, so they left the stage to the Screaming Beets.

The girls filed off of the stage and headed down a concrete hallway to the ready-room. One by one, they disappeared into the tunnel, with Yulia being last in the line. As she was going down the stairs at the beginning of the hall, she suddenly slipped and fell forward. She was carrying her microphone in her left hand and put her right hand out to stop her fall. Despite only falling from the second-to-last step, all of her weight came down on her right wrist, causing it to snap in a gut wrenching manner. The sound alone was worse than a dentist's drill, and her poor wrist was bent unnaturally, looking like a straw that had been chewed on by a nervous teenager.

Only a few fans and a nearby security guard caught a glimpse of Yulia suddenly disappearing from view. The force of the impact left her dazed, so she remained on the ground for a bit. While Yulia tried to come to her senses, Sarah, who was in front of her, turned to see what was going on.

Not fully aware of the nature of Yulia's injury, Sarah giggled, “Lia, what are you doing?”

It didn’t take long for it to become clear that this was far more than a bruised knee or ego. “Lia!” Sarah exclaimed, and then started shouting, “Help, help, I need help!” Looking up, she saw that the security guard was already right there and calling for the medics.

The paramedics entered through the ready-room from a back door and came up the tunnel, so neither the Beets nor the audience knew that there was trouble, and the show went on. After examining her and stabilizing her arm with a splint, the medics moved Yulia to the ready-room, where it was warmer.

Sitting in a folding chair, with her arm propped on a stack of boxes, and her head swimming, she kept saying, “I’ll be fine. How’s my mic? Did I break my microphone?”

Her unnies gathered close, leaving only enough room for the paramedics to care for her.

Sarah ran her hand over Yulia's head and said, “You're going to be okay and your microphone is fine.” At that moment she looked down to see that Yulia was still holding the microphone in her hand and gripping it so tightly that her knuckles were white.

“Oh no, Lia, is your arm starting to hurt?” she asked.

Yulia replied, “No,” whereupon she threw-up and started crying.

After Yulia tossed her cookies, which got all over her microphone, as well as a fair bit finding its way onto both Sarah and Tinsley, Enid (who was nearby but wasn’t hit) scrambled to get paper towels and wet naps. Trying not to make Yulia feel any worse, TinSa set about cleaning in as casual a manner as possible. While they were working, Sarah asked one of the paramedics if they could give Yulia something for the pain, and it turned out that they were already talking to the doctors at the hospital about it. After what seemed like an eternity, Yulia was given a shot of morphine and, at least for the moment, she was somewhat comfortable.

A Strategic Retreat
Unfortunately Pinedale's hospital wasn’t very big, nor was it equipped to properly deal with the nature of Yulia’s injury, so Dean Eobseo worked on making arrangements for her to be taken by ambulance to Zeitgeist General Hospital. While he was on the phone, 3PH stormed into the ready-room and started going on about how they weren't liable. Dean Eobseo was getting seriously perturbed, but before he lost his cool, Bess lost hers and then some. Channeling Sergeant Apone, she forced her way in between the Dean and 3PH.

With a ferocity that scared the bejeebers out of 3PH, Bess roared, “We have an injured student here, the Dean is on the phone with the hospital, and I don’t give a damn about who is liable or any of your nonsensical crap! Now, you will turn yourselves around and march out that door so we can finish this conversation outside!”

Bess pointed to the back door where Amber, who had come in with a question about the next set was standing, and she casually opened the door and waved her arm to escort 3PH out.

When 3PH hesitated, Bess shouted, “Now!”

While Bess was outside giving 3PH a verbal thrashing, the paramedics prepared Yulia for the ride to Zeitgeist. Amber slipped over to Tabitha and said, “The Beets just started their last song, what do you want to do?”

“Oh, uh, blast it all, okay, okay...” Tabitha stammered.

“Don’t hurt yourself. Maybe Interrogative and the Beets could fill in,” Amber said, trying to calm the situation.

Tabitha smiled and rubbed Amber's shoulder, “Thanks, let me run it by the girls.”

Tabitha called her non-injured mates into a circle to get their feedback. Not being with Yulia in her moment of need was unthinkable, but so too was bailing out on a show. While the Crumpets were struggling with their decision, the medics moved Yulia onto a gurney. Even though they did a good job, and she was on morphine, it still caused her some pain, and at one point she cried out. The sound of Yulia’s yelp caused Sarah’s knees to buckle and Kari had to grab her and hold her up for a moment.

“That's it, we are going to the hospital,” Tabitha said, whereupon all of the girls put their hands out together and declared, “Fighting!”

With the decision made and time running out, Tabitha grabbed Amber and headed for the stage. On their way Amber slipped on a small patch of ice on one of the steps.

She didn’t fall down, but she did say, “Dang, that must be what Yulia slipped on!”

AmTab continued on to the stage, arriving just as the Beets received applause for their final song. Squeaker, the Beets leader and main vocalist, looked over at AmTam with a puzzled expression. AmTam waved awkwardly to the audience and went over to Squeaker for a quick meeting, after which Amber and Squeaker went to talk to the other Beets, while Tabitha addressed the audience:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, one of our members, Yulia, has been seriously injured in a fall and will need to be transported by ambulance to Zeitgeist for treatment.” She took a deep breath and went on, “The severity of this injury, while not life-threatening, is such that we feel that we must be with her. As such, the Beets and Interrogative have kindly volunteered to fill in for us.”

Nearly in tears she went on, “I am sure that our school-mates will give you a great show, and we promise that we will come back as soon we can and give you another free show to make up for it.”

Tabitha realized that she was overstepping her bounds by offering a free show, but she had some money squirreled away and a credit card, so she figured she could make it happen even if it took her twenty years to pay it off. At any rate, she thanked the audience, the Beets, and Interrogative, and raced off of the stage to join her mates.

As she went, the Familiars began chanting in support, “Crumpets Fighting. Yulia Fighting. Yulia, Yulia, Yulia!”

Back in the ready-room, Sarah heard the crowd and asked Yulia if she could hear them chanting for her.

Yulia mumbled, “Mmm, cute, they are very nice people. Do I have my microphone? I think my part is coming up.”

Sarah reached down and tried to slide the mic out of her hand to show it to her, but it still wouldn’t budge, so she just replied, “You do have your microphone, but we are on break, so you can rest.”

“Can I sing a little song?” Yulia asked in a small voice.

“Of course you can,” Sarah replied.

Yulia’s first song — first because she sang softly to herself all the way to the hospital — was Girl’s Day’s “Hello Bubble.”

Road Trip
While Interrogative and the Beets started their ad-libbed show, the medics loaded Yulia into the ambulance. They allowed Enid and Sarah to ride with her, while TinTabBeKaAn boarded a bus to begin the long journey back into the city. As hard as it was, Dean Eobseo needed to stay behind at the P-DOM, as there were still many LG students there, not to mention that he needed to wait for his attorneys to arrive so he could unleash them on 3PH (who were now nowhere to be found).

While he waited, Dean Eobseo enjoyed, as best as he could, the rest of the show that the newly combined Scream-Ogative put on. Thankfully 3PH were, for the time being, not adding to his worries. Back in Zeitgeist, Jimmy, who had been at the Stage Technicians and Geeks Expo (or STAGE), got word of the accident and started spreading the news. Because cell service was spotty for Bess and Enid as they made their way down out of the mountains he also helped out with arranging airplane tickets for Yulia’s parents.

At one point, after emerging from a long tunnel, the girls knew that they were in a cell phone service window for a few minutes, so Tabitha tried calling Sarah.

Fortunately the bus and the ambulance were both within a reception zone and Sarah answered in a hushed voice, “Yeoboseyo.”

“Hey, how’s Lia doing?” Tabitha asked her.

“She’s okay. I think she is kind-of in a state of meditation. She’s been focused on singing since we left the mall. Here, listen,” Sarah held her phone up to Yulia’s mouth. Tabitha put hers on speaker and turned up the volume.

Now Yulia is not the strongest singer in the Crumpets, and sometimes she struggles a bit with consistency. However, in her state of trance, her singing was perfect. They didn’t get to hear her for very long before the signal was lost, but the bit of Jung Eunji’s “Hopefully Sky” that she was singing brought them to tears.

“She sounds like an angel!” Kari exclaimed.

“Poor thing, she must be so scared,” Tinsley said solemnly.

Reflecting on Yulia’s second love after dancing, Analey said, “What if she can’t play the piano?”

Bess, who had just come down a bit from her anger at 3PH, but was still feeling spunky, interjected, “I am sure she is scared and hurting, but she is a Lookzen and Crumpet.”

Tabitha looked at Bess and smiled, “That's right, and we will be there for her. She can still dance, and if need be, we will play the keys she can’t."

The girls all looked at each other, and despite being buckled in, did their best to hold their hands out into a circle as they exclaimed, “Crumpets Fighting!”

At this point Analey noticed that Skeeter was sniffling. She turned and whispered to the others, “I think that Skeeter is a bit verklempt. Maybe we should sing an upbeat song for him.”

Their impromptu rendition of Rainbow’s “Who” brought a smile to Skeeter’s face, and they all did their best to keep a stiff upper lip for the rest of the trip.

Zeitgeist General
If you passed by the hospital that evening, you might have thought that something really big was happening, as a sizable group of Familiars, students, and student press waited at the ER parking lot. (Not that Yulia’s injury wasn't a big deal, it's just that this wasn’t frontpage news…

Well, actually it was — in Pinedale anyway.) Now, before you get worried that the well-wishers were potentially in the way or causing a nuisance, I can assure you that they weren't. The LGC is only a block away, so any Familiars who drove parked at the LGC and walked over, and we are talking about Lookzens and Familiars here, so rudeness was not an option. Case in point: to avoid congesting the parking lot, the well-wishers lined up on the sidewalk by the street, where they clutched their hastily drawn signs, and shivered in the cold as they waited for Yulia to arrive.

When the Pinedale ambulance appeared, the crowd held up their signs and chanted for Yulia. Unfortunately, their chanting wasn’t very audible in the ambulance, and Yulia was in too much pain to do anything more than keep her eyes tightly closed and sing as perfectly as she could. The well-wishers’ efforts were, however, not in vain, as Yulia did, of course, get to see the videos of her arrival, and she was extremely touched by the concern she received.

Once inside the hospital, there were too many questions and interruptions for Yulia’s singing to distract her from the pain, so she asked for more morphine. Unfortunately, even though the dose she was given in Pinedale was very small, she would have a long wait before she could have more. Adding to her suffering were tests, x-rays, and examinations, all of which required her to be moved around and caused her a lot of pain.

After being poked and prodded to within what Yulia was sure was her breaking point, the doctors finally determined that if she were going to have any chance of retaining full functionality in her hand, she would need surgery. Luckily there happened to be a very qualified surgeon on site who would be available in a short while. So, with her parents’ over-the-phone buy-in (they were getting ready to board a plane to Zeitgeist when the call came in), preparations began for her operation.

In one of the hospital’s lobbies, the rest of the Crumpets, who had arrived about five minutes after the ambulance, huddled together, anxiously waiting for information. Eventually Enid emerged to let them know what was happening. “Well, the news isn’t good,” she began. “The injury is severe and may include nerve damage.”

Everyone gasped and held hands.

Enid went on, “Fortunately there is a surgeon here who specialises in this kind of thing. So she is going to have the very best treatment possible.”

“When will she have the surgery?” Tabitha asked her.

Enid explained that the operation would take place very soon and that the girls could go in and visit her briefly before it was performed.

TabKaAnTinBe followed Enid to Yulia’s room, where Sarah was holding her uninjured hand and telling her one of her signature, awkward, totally irrelevant, and yet delightfully charming stories.

Sarah looked over at them and said, “Look, Lia, our unnies are here.”

Yulia struggled to focus, as she was now pretty doped-up with pre-anesthesia. With a giggle, she said, “Bess isn’t our unnie, she is our sunbae,” (A respectful term for someone older than the person speaking to them.) “Annyeong, hashimnikka, Bess Sunbaenim.”

“Oh, Lia, you silly goose,” Bess said, as she kissed her forehead.

“You mean, pabo geowi,” Yulia mumbled.

“Wow, did you guys have Korean language lessons on the trip down or something?” Tinsley remarked.

“No, she sang all the way down. It has just been the last half-hour or so that she has been speaking a lot of Korean and some French,” Enid answered.

During the conversation, Analey, who has a bit of a hospital phobia, was nervously chomping her gum and blowing bubbles. Yulia looked up, reached out with her left hand, and gently popped Analey’s bubble, while giggling, “bulle.” (French for “bubble”.)

While Analey was peeling bubble gum off of her face, one of the nurses came in and told them that it was time for Yulia to go into surgery.

The girls all put a hand in on Yulia’s (or on her leg if they were on her right side), and recited, “Right now we are Gothy Crumpets. From now on we are Gothy Crumpets. Forever Gothy Crumpets! Yulia Hwaiting!”

Yulia mumbled, “Crumpets Hwaiting,” and seemed to fall asleep.

The girls all whispered, “Yulia saranghae,” and reluctantly left their friend to the nurses.

As they were filing out of the room, Kari, who was eager not to be thinking about the surgery, said, “We really need to work on a slogan of our own.”

“Good point. Maybe Yulia would like to tackle that while she is recovering — that and teaching me some French,” Tabitha responded.

“We will also need some fresh choreography if we get to perform at the Snowflake Ball. I’ll bet Lia would have fun working on that while she is convalescing,” Sarah added.

Bess looked at Enid, and shaking her head, said, “Do you see what I mean? They simply cannot turn it off.”