Established October 2015   ​All Rights Reserved 

Established October 2015   ​All Rights Reserved 

Chapter Fourteen:  Crumpets go to School

Reality Comes to the Glass
Bright and early on Monday morning, a parade of ZBC vans arrived at the LGC. The ZBC PDs expected that the campus would be fairly quiet, as some of the city was still digging out from the storm, not to mention that the sun had only just cleared the horizon. What they found, however, was not only an exceptionally well-shoveled campus, but also a buzz of activity as if a major event were happening. As she got out of the ZBC van, Jisook, the lead PD, wondered aloud if the students were out hoping to get on TV. Gracie Ann, sporting a fierce, business look, came out to greet them and overheard Jisook’s comment. She told the crew that this was the typical level of activity on the campus, from early in the morning until very late in the evening, all week long and even on most weekends. 

"No wonder you suggested we bring a big crew. This is like one enormous movie set; we are going to have no problem finding background shots," Jisook replied as she shook Gracie's hand.

Gracie led the PDs into the school library, or “the Shelf,” as the students call it, where she introduced them to EinBe and Dean Eobseo. After the introductions, Jisook, whose eyes were as big as saucers, commented that the Shelf was every bit as impressive as the National Library and that she just might need to become a student again. 

The Dean looked at her and rubbed his beard. "You know our Video Journalism department has room for growth…" 

"Vic– Dean Eobseo," Gracie interrupted. "The reality show." 

"Y-yes, of course," the Dean stammered. Patting Jisook’s arm, he finished, "We'll talk more later."

Gracie leaned into Jisook and said, "Keeping that man focused on one thing at a time is a full-time job." 

Jisook laughed and replied, "Trust me, as a PD I know all about the challenges of keeping brilliant people on a single track."

While EinBe, the Dean, and the ZBC PDs were setting up in the Lewis Carroll Reading Room (a.k.a. The Rabbit Hole), the Crumpets rallied in their kitchen area. 

"Are you sure we should be dressing in school uniforms for this?" Sarah asked Analey as she fidgeted awkwardly with her tie. 

Analey helped her with it and said, "That is what ZBC asked for. Apparently it plays into their concept that will be revealed at today's meeting." 

Kari sauntered over and said, "I'll bet you a week's chores that they are going to be making the first episode a bit of parody of SNSD's ‘Girls Go to School.’" 

Rather puzzled, Sarah said, "But the Soshi weren't wearing school uniforms."

To which Kari answered, "No, but the School of Rock students were." 

At this point they noticed that Tabitha was clearly trying to slip unnoticed out of the kitchen. Grabbing her arm as she slid by, Kari said, "Woah up there, Tabby Cat. You know what today's concept is, don't you?" 

Tabitha winced and replied, "We will all know what the concept is here in just a few minutes." 

Sensing a Soshi connection, the Crumpets surrounded Tabitha and excitedly grilled her for information. Sarah and Tinsley tried using aegyo, Yulia took a flattery approach, while Kari and Analey opted for bribery. Despite the intensity of their assault Tabitha was an unbreakable wall, which was quite a feat as keeping valuable Soshi information secret from her unnies was, in her mind, a somewhat ethically questionable thing to do. 

Probably near her breaking point, Tabitha looked over at the clock and, much to her delight, was able to announce, "Oh, look, it's time to go!" 

It took a moment for her beagles to stop yelping, but one at a time, they also looked at the clock and conceded that they would now need to endure not only the painfully long five-minute walk to the Shelf, but also the "who knows how long it will take for their concept to be revealed in the meeting" part.

The Rabbit Hole
As they made their way to the Shelf, the Crumpets were, at first, reasonably calm. However, as their walk progressed, one by one, they began excitedly revealing the evidence that convinced each of them this might be a Soshi-related concept. By the time they walked in the front door of the temporarily closed library, they were completely spastic, like lumplings on a Halloween sugar high. As they invaded the lobby, their chaotic yammering was clearly audible in the Rabbit Hole where, sitting in a fancy leather chair, Bess heard her girls approaching and calmly announced, "Here we go." 

Surprised by how boisterous the girls were, Jisook cocked an eyebrow and said, "Is that the Crumpets?" 

Dean Eobseo looked over at her and casually answered, "Yes, they are very energetic." 

Jisook swallowed hard and looked around at her colleagues, who all seemed to be, like her, wondering what they had gotten themselves into.

When they arrived at the big wooden door of the Rabbit Hole, the Crumpets were still oblivious to the surprised looks of the crew set up to film them from both the upper floor and from in between the rows of bookcases. Tabitha raised her hand to knock on the door and her still-yelping beagles instantly became quiet and proper. 

After knocking she peeked her head in, and with a bright smile asked, "Are you ready for us?" 

"Yes, yes, please come in," the Dean replied as he stood up. 

Filing into to the oak-paneled room, the Crumpets found that EinBe, Gracie, Dean Eobseo, and the ZBC PDs, who were also now standing, were lined up on one side of a big table, while six empty chairs waited for them on the nearside, like a scene from a Parliamentary inquiry. 

Sarah grabbed Analey's arm and whispered to her, "Heol, this seems so official. I think we are underdressed."

Dean Eobseo proceeded with formal introductions and then asked everyone to have a seat. Clearing his throat he began, "Ladies, the ZBC producers have shared with us their theme for your reality show, and as the Dean of this school, I have the privilege of sharing their concept with you at this time." 

The Dean paused for a moment, allowing the already overwound Crumpets to wind-up even more. Feeling that the tension was now too much, Enid swatted him on the arm. He gave her a surprised side glance, and rubbing the spot where she hit him, he announced, "The concept is a parody tribute to SNSD's ‘Girls Go to School!’"

The Crumpets sat dutifully still, and aside from not blinking or breathing, they showed no outward signs of reacting. Jisook looked around the perfectly still room, wondering if time had just stopped. Slowly, a mischievous grin appeared on the Dean's face. This time Bess swatted him. 

Dean Eobseo, now rubbing his other arm, smiled and said, "Ladies, this isn't a formal meeting." 

The Crumpets held their poses for a moment longer and then suddenly exploded with excitement. 

While they squealed and spastically roughed each other up Jisook leaned in and said to Gracie, "You weren't kidding, they really are suckers for anything that connects them to SNSD." 

"Yep, I hate to think what it would be like if they ever met them face-to-face," Gracie replied.

In reality, other than their show having a similar title: "Crumpets Go to School," and a handful of tie-in bits, there wasn't actually much by way of a Soshi connection. Regardless — in their minds anyway — the Crumpets were now connected with their idols on an ethereal level. 

Bess called the girls back into order by saying, "Ladies, while not formal, this is still a meeting," whereupon the Crumpets quickly returned to business mode. Dean Eobseo turned the floor over to Gracie, who explained that over the next four weeks, ZBC would be filming everything imaginable and that, aside from a few pre-scripted bits, the girls should just go on with business as usual. With assistance from ZBC, it was hoped that during the month of filming both the Children's Hospital and the Pinedale shows could take place, as well as getting started with the filming of the “Bibbity” video. While this was a lot to fit into such a small span of time, much of the leg work was already in process, and both the Glass and ZBC would be bringing full resources to bear. 

The meeting at the Rabbit Hole only took about twenty minutes as Dean Eobseo held firm to the concept that anything longer is a poorly planned waste of time (frankly he can't sit still much longer than that), so they wrapped things up and headed out to film the first pre-scripted bits. Gracie and the Dean took two separate film crews out for tours of the campus, while the girls took a third crew for a tour of their dorm. Jisook went with girls because she was "dying to see what kind of accommodations the 'Crown Jewels' of the Looking-Glass Academy have."

Gangnam Dorm
As they walked up the hill toward Crumpet Hall, Tabitha said to Jisook, "We really aren't the crown jewels of the Glass. That is just something Dean Eobseo said once in a while around our debut. We tend to consider ourselves more as students who are just too chicken to graduate and get real jobs." 

Jisook laughed and replied, "You are too humble. Everyone in Zeitgeist knows that Papa Eobseo holds the six of you in the highest regard possible; the way he lights up when he talks about his girls and the confidence he has in your abilities is renowned." 

Tabitha's eyes got big as she contemplated just how much the Dean had invested in them. 

Jisook patted her on the back and said, "It's okay, you're entitled to an ‘it's too late now’ case of the overwhelming responsibility willies." 

Tabitha cracked up and replied, "You have a delightfully messed-up sense of humor. I think you are going to fit in nicely." 

Trotting along next to them, Tinsley tossed out, "Yep, she seems pretty cool. A bit over the rainbow too. We should call her ‘Sookiemonster.’" 

And from then on, they did.

When they arrived at the Crumpet Hall portico, Tabitha called out, "Mimzy, please open the front doors," whereupon they smoothly swung open. Saying, "After you," she held up her arm to invite their guests in. 

The ZBC crew filed in, followed by the Crumpets (EinBe had already slipped in a side door to direct traffic on the inside). When the girls entered their hall, they immediately gasped and tripped over each other. You see, the entire first floor had been decorated in pink and white balloons, clearly mimicking the way that the SNSD dorm had been set up at the beginning of "Girls Go to School." Naturally the Crumpets were very excited, but they were also perplexed by how anyone managed to do this in the half-hour that they were away. 

The answer to this question was revealed when Amber's face appeared on every screen on the first floor, "Greetings, Gothy SONEs (SONE = SNSD fans). We have, as you can see, invaded your territory so as to ensure that you feel properly connected to the great ones." 

With her cohorts clamoring for facetime behind her, Amber went on to explain that EinBe had let her, Jimmy, Interrogative, and the Screaming Beets into the basement that morning where they inflated 785 balloons while the girls were getting ready. Once the Crumpets had left the building they commando’d up to the main floor where they, following a precise plan, duplicated the pink and white balloon-wall heart that had been put up for the Soshi back in 2007. 

Bouncing around with delight, the girls and the balloon squad shared a spastic vidcon. At one point, Kari dropped to her knees in front of the giant balloon heart, held her arms in the air, and exclaimed, "I love this so much! It's like I'm in the Gangnam dorm on that glorious night!" 

Even though they were having fun, Amber and many of her conspirators needed to get to class, so the Crumpets ended the chat by singing them the “Neoreul Saranghae” song. When the video screens went dark, the girls stood in a daze, quietly staring at the wall of balloons and taking in the symbolic meaning of their comrades’ gesture. 

Lost in the moment, Tabitha mindlessly opened a bottle of Z-Edge that she had tucked into her skirt pocket. Upon chugging the now-warm beverage, a deep sense of satisfaction came over her, and she let out a casual burp slip out. Because the other Crumpets were equally lost, there was no immediate reaction to her indiscretion. In fact, had it not been for Bess letting out a small, giggle snort (which opened the floodgates of laughter), Tabby might have never been called out on it. 

As the laughter over her indiscreet burp rose, Tabitha's eyes opened so wide she couldn't blink. Horrified beyond words, she slowly turned around to face the cameras. At first pale with embarrassment, she whispered, "eotteohke," and her face flushed red. It took a moment for her unnies to respond, but as soon as the penny dropped, the Crumpets rushed to the aid of their fallen leader, which inevitably just added fuel to the fire. 

As they surrounded her, Tinsley whispered to her, "At least you didn't fart." 

Mortified Tabitha covered her face, started prancing, then repeating, "Heol, heol, what have I done?!" 

"It's okay, Tabby," Sarah said with great empathy. "I survived the whole potty-emergency-sneeze-face thing!" 

Recalling the depth of Sarah's embarrassment from that moment, Tabitha began to find her inner strength and was just about to get ahold of herself when Yulia said, "Yea, don't worry, there is plenty of pre-burp footage of the balloon wall. We can just re-live that part." 

Although sincere in her attempt to comfort her, Yulia had actually just pointed out the part of this that was weighing most heavily on Tabitha's mind: This moment, burp and all, would be now immortalized on their reality show.

When the commotion died down a bit, Jisook, who understood how magical the moment had been for the Crumpets, and how devastated Tabitha felt having besmirched it, broke with protocol and entered the scene. "Tabitha Ssi, as senior PD on this project, I have the ability to edit out any content, and while this incident was actually quite funny, I will make sure that your perfect Soshi moment isn't — on tape, anyway — marred by it." 

While Tabitha was very grateful for Jisook's empathy and willingness to ease her suffering, she also felt duty-bound to do what was best for the show, so she asked her to edit the scene in whatever fashion told the most honest story of the Crumpets. Tabitha's instance on candor gave Jisook carte blanche, and when the show was posted, Tabitha's burp was not only present, it was a point of focus shown in slow-motion. In the end Tabby's burp went viral (nearly rivaling Sarah's PESF), and “Sookiemonster” became the Crumpets favorite PD.

Interlude
After the Z-Edge cloud cleared, the Crumpets continued (or, actually, began) the tour of their dorm. Once they had covered the main floor, and the cameras followed AnKaYuSa up to their rooms on the third floor and Tinsley cornered Tabitha to make sure that she was, in fact, okay. Tabitha insisted that she was, but Tinsley sensed that she wasn't being entirely honest, so she hatched a plan sure to ease Tabby's distress. When it was EinBeTabTin's turn to show off their second-floor digs, Tinsley approached Jisook to discuss her plan to restore Tabby's righteous chi (restoring one's righteous chi is a favorite saying of Tinsley's that she got from the label of an herbal cold medicine). At any rate, Jisook was on board, so Tinsley passed her idea on to her unnies, who also agreed with it. While the wheels of operation RTRC were in motion, they would need to wait for nightfall before their plan could be enacted. 

Having had much less real estate to cover than either Dean Eobseo or Gracie, the Crumpets were done with their tour well in advance of lunch, so they decided to have a vidcon with Yena. However, this first required getting her mom's approval, as footage of it could potentially appear in their reality show. Because this entailed a rather long conversation, what with all the legal bits that had to be covered, Jisook fielded the call in Tinsley's room whilst everyone else hung out on the first floor, where the girls pulled out their instruments and performed an impromptu mini-show. 

After her phone call, Jisook came downstairs and was completely shocked by the fact that she had not been able to hear any sounds coming from the first floor, which had by this time erupted into a boisterous sing-along. Their mini-show would have gone on much longer but Tinsley, who had managed to dutifully finish the song that they were in the middle of, despite having seen that Jisook was back, hopped to her feet and excitedly asked her if they were going to get to include Yena. While it turned out that they indeed were going to be able to have her in as much footage as they wanted, they would have to wait until the next day to have their vidcon, as Yena was quite exhausted from her treatments. 

Tinsley pushed out her bottom lip and said, "Seulpeun il-ida (it's so sad). Our poor little Crumpling. We should send her an e-card that she can look at when she wakes up." So the girls sent her a card with a cute voice message and resigned themselves to having to wait to talk to her. 

With time to kill, the Crumpets decided that a game of tunnel tag was in order. However, when they took the crew to the basement, which is how one accesses the school’s tunnel system, Analey and Sarah, who were the dorm’s maintenance team for the month, somehow ended up giving a detailed lecture on how the building's ventilation system worked. As odd as this may seem, everyone really got into it, and for the next hour or so the girls showed and explained many of the technical aspects of their home. In fact, their technology-tour bits ended up being a very popular part of the show and even resulted in a spin-off miniseries called "Crumpet Tech." At any rate, eventually lunchtime came and they headed to Thornbury to meet with the other two crews. After a lunch of cheeseburger sliders, samgak-gimbap, and jalapeno poppers (that's what the girls ate, anyway), it was off to an afternoon of classes and practice (all of which was filmed, of course).

The Barge
After a long day of filming, almost everyone was rather drained, and none more so than Tabitha, who was still feeling the burden of her burp incident. A late dinner was had at Thornbury, where Jisook announced that there was one more thing that needed to be filmed that day. 

Knowing that Tabitha herself would never complain about being tired, but that she would notice if the others didn't, the Crumpets had decided in advance that they would put on a bit of an act, which was why Jisook was the one to make the announcement. Upon hearing of their additional mission, the girls moaned and groaned, prompting Tabby to say, "Oh come on now, you can sleep when you are old. One last push for the day. Crumpets Hwaiting!" 

Now, I must admit that while Tabitha used energetic words, they still came out a bit lethargic. Nonetheless, her mates got the message and quickly snapped to. 

"Where are we going?" Tabitha asked Jisook, who answered, "Down to Old Southbridge." 

Tabby cocked her head to one side and started to say something when Tinsley, who knew that she was about to ask how Jisook knew anything about Old Southbridge, interrupted her, saying, "Mmm, yes, the city lights reflected on the glassy waters of the Hawkesbury river. How lovely." 

Tabitha was too drained to do anything more than roll her eyes and dismiss Tinsley's peculiar comment as just another Tinbot idiosyncrasy. 

In support of Tinsley's distraction, Yulia said, "Since it is a pretty good haul down to the bridge, maybe we should take the Barge (a rusty old school bus that was abandoned on the site before Dean Eobseo even owned the property)." 

This idea was met with great enthusiasm, so Bess called Skeeter to see if he could bring it up and take them out in it. Skeeter was thrilled to get to fire up the "old gal" and drive her around for a bit, so it only took him about ten minutes to get the Barge to Thornbury. 

When the old bus pulled up it was chugging, backfiring and didn't seem up to the task of even the shortest of journeys. Jisook coughed and said, "Uh, is this thing safe?" 

All the lookzens laughed and Sarah said, "This is our favorite bus!" 

Repulsed, but feeling obligated, Jisook reluctantly decided to let her crew get on board. Inside, the bus was every bit as time-worn as the outside and the ZBC crew didn't look like they wanted to sit down. 

"Is that a dead rat?!" one asked out loud. 

"No that's Hector. I call puke stain!" Yulia shouted as she climbed over the seats and headed past them to the back of the bus. 

"Dang it, you always get puke stain. Oh well, I call cockroach corner!" Sarah exclaimed as she too started clamoring over the seats. 

After reluctantly sitting down, Jisook took a bottle of hand sanitizer out of her bag and slathered on a big glob. Looking over at one of her crew members, she said, "At least it doesn't smell as bad as it looks. In fact, it doesn't seem to smell at all in here." 

Once everyone was seated, Skeeter headed out. The bus jerked and wheezed its way slowly through the campus and the girls giggled wildly with every jolt and backfire. Even EnBeGra and the Dean seemed quite entertained by the disheveled ride. 

When they reached the east gate of the campus, Skeeter announced, "Sorry folks, gotta turn off the fun for a bit," whereupon he flipped a switch on the dashboard and the Barge suddenly sounded like a fine-tuned and proper machine. Pulling out onto the public road, the bus felt smoother than any Jisook had ever been on. 

As they cruised quietly down the boulevard, Jisook closely examined the bus’s interior and suddenly exclaimed, "It's a fake! This isn't a run-down bus at all! It's a prop!" 

Tinsley, who was sitting in the 'exposed springs' seat behind her, suddenly popped up and said, "Precisely! Sorry I startled you…okay, actually, I meant to. At any rate, the Barge was a student project from our Consortium days." 

Then Analey, who was sitting across from Tinsley in the 'yellow stain' seat (mustard, people, mustard) added, "That's right, we took an old abandoned bus and fixed her up. Every nut, bolt, and rivet on this bus has been restored, modernized, and made to look like garbage." 

"But why?" Jisook asked her. 

 Analey answered with great pride, "Because it's cool".

At this moment the Barge pulled into the Consortium parking lot and as soon as the tires were back on private property, Skeeter flipped the switch and the bus returned to its unkempt character, prompting a cheer from all the Lookzens, as well as from Jisook, who suddenly understood the magic of the Barge. After piling out of the bus, the group stood for a moment, admiring how perfectly awful the Barge looked. 

"I'm surprised you didn't give her a real name," Jisook commented. 

Yulia responded, "We did. Her proper name is Oblina Morticia Abigail Everglot Nightshade." 

Jisook nodded in approval and Skeeter proudly patted her (the bus, not Jisook). 

NaNeun Hal Su Issda

Everyone gathered around Jisook and looked at her for direction. Unfortunately all she knew of Old Southbridge was what Tinsley had told her, which wasn't much, and Tinsley was still staring wistfully at the Barge, remembering all the bits that she had designed. 

"So, Tinsley, it looks like the city lights and even the moon are nicely reflected on the river's surface," Jisook said, trying to get her attention. 

Tinsley's only response was to mutter, "Uh huh." 

Sensing that there was some deception going on, Tabitha said, "So, Sookiemonster, perhaps you could show us where on Old Southbridge we should be for this last shot of the day?" 

Jisook looked around but the only bridges in sight were some distance away to the east and west, and neither one was named Old Southbridge or anything close to that. Just when Jisook was about to cave in and admit defeat, Tinsley suddenly snapped out of her trance and came to her rescue saying, "Right here is pretty good, don't you think?" 

Jisook cocked an eyebrow and replied, "Sure, yes, here is good. Uh, Tinsley, can you take a look at this...over here?" 

Naturally Jisook was rather confused, and once she pulled her aside, asked Tinsley where the bridge was. 

"You're standing on it. This is Old Southbridge," Tinsley explained. "There used to be a big tunnel under our feet that let small boats pick-up and drop-off cargo at the train depot." Even though it seemed like they were just standing on a very large, brick forecourt forming the north bank of the river, if they looked over the edge, they would see a wide archway underneath. While the channel was filled in years ago, it was finished with black bricks set about a meter back in the archway, creating the illusion that the old tunnel was still there. 

Jisook now understood the dealio and instructed the camera operator to go over to the railing and start filming. She then led Tabitha over and told her to stand there and face the camera. After placing Tabby on her mark, she joined the group, which was now gathered behind the videographer. Alone and being filmed, Tabitha looked at her mates and shrugged, but Tinsley, the ringleader of this little oddity, just stood there, staring blankly. 

Finally Kari stepped up to the plate and said, "Sorry, Tabby, Tinbot is tired and a bit spacey. This may not be the Dongho Bridge, but this is our first reality show, so we felt that you should do the honors." 

Hearing “Dongho Bridge,” Tabitha immediately understood what was going on and was a bit overwhelmed. 

"Go for it, Tabby!” Kari exclaimed, followed by a chorus of "Crumpets Hwaiting!" from her unnies.

Tabitha smiled, nodded, and took a deep breath. Turning to face the river, she closed her eyes, remembering that iconic moment when SNSD's kid leader Taeyeon, a.k.a. Tengoo shouted "NaNeun Hal Su Issda" (I can do it!) from the Dongho Bridge — a moment that inspired the would-be Crumpets to follow their dreams and become idols themselves. Tabitha knew that this was her unnies’ way of giving her a moment of redemption, a chance to leave the burp incident behind. 

Holding back a torrent of emotion, she shouted "NaNeun Hal Su Issda!" three times into the still, night air. When she had finished, she stood for a moment like an elegant statue before breaking down and releasing the floodgates that were holding back the fears and sorrows, the hopes and joys, all the emotions that had gathered inside her throughout the Gothy Crumpets’ formation and debut. The Crumpets raced around the camera and laid siege to their sobbing leader. While the girls cried, laughed and roughed each other up, Jisook and her crew stood with EinBe, Dean Eobseo, Skeeter, and Gracie Ann, watching what they knew would become one of the most beloved highlights of "Crumpets Go to School".

P-Bees
Because it was getting late and everyone was completely drained, Skeeter kept the Barge in civilized mode for the entirety of the return trip. He first dropped off Dean Eobseo at Ravenhurst, along with Jisook and her crew, who were all staying there for the month. He then dropped off the girls and their managers before he returned to his apartment over the maintenance building. Because there were fixed cameras everywhere on the main floor of Crumpet Hall, KySi could not join the dogpile, as it was not a good idea to advertise the presence of Dangi Leopards, so the girls had their TV area to themselves, just like in their pre-debut days. 

Flopped about like rag dolls, they all stared at the balloon wall, pondering what it had been like for the Sochi on their first night when the cameras stopped rolling. 

"I'll bet they were a little scared," Sarah said, recalling her own fears. 

"It is strange how much this reality show makes everything seem so fresh. I keep remembering what it was like auditioning to become an LG student and moving away from home. I don't think I realised at the time just how scared I was," Yulia said as she hugged her pillow tightly. 

Tinsley's eyes widened and in a small voice she said, "We have all braved a lot, but it is our littlest member who has braved the most." 

Kari patted Tinsley's foot and said, "Don't worry, Tinbot, we will talk to her tomorrow. In the meantime, could you scoot over a bit? Your toes are poking me in the ribs."

Long before Yena was even awake at the hospital, Tinsley was up and making breakfast. 

Sleepy and a bit grumpy, Analey sat up, rubbing her eyes and exclaimed, "What is that smell?!" 

"Sorry, everyone, I was making P-Bees (peanut butter, banana, and honey on a bagel), and a banana peel fell into the toaster. Anywho, it's breakfast time!" Tinsley replied with grating enthusiasm. 

Analey whined, "Tabby, Tinsley's trying to kill us!" 

Exhausted, Tabitha raised her head, and with one eye still stuck shut, she replied, "Yes, thank you, we are thrilled to be here." 

Yulia giggled, "Oh great, Tabitha is broken and Tinsley is trying to kill us; we are so doomed." 

Doomed or not, the girls stumbled into the kitchen to find that Tinsley had made them each a smiley face P-Bee, which she served with a wine glass full of Z-Edge, a napkin with each girl’s name neatly written on it, and a mint. Freshly fueled with sugar and caffeine, the Crumpets all livened up, and after they took showers, were ReWiAb for another day of filming.

Reality Vidcon
Naturally Tinsley was eagerly awaiting a call from Yena, so she sat in the kitchen, staring at her phone. Meanwhile the other members gathered in the TV area waiting for the ZBC crew to arrive after their breakfast at Ravenhurst. With some time to kill, TabSaKaYuAnEinBe decided to play a drawing game. With Tinsley indisposed, one of them actually now had a chance to win. They didn't get very far into the game when the ZBC crew arrived, with Jisook amped up about the staggering coolness of Ravenhurst. 


No sooner had they walked through the door when she started rambling, "Heol! The Dean has leopards, and they are so friendly, and Finkelstein's is the most epic thing ever, and breakfast was like at a five-star hotel, and the room's…, oh, I must sound like such a dork!" Slightly embarrassed, Jisook sat down and calmly said, "Good morning, everyone." 

The girls laughed and chimed out, "Good morning, Sookiemonster!"

Suddenly Tinsley's phone rang, startling her so badly that she fumbled with it like a bar of wet soap. As her phone flew through the air, she heroically dove for it, but the counter got in her way. Her hip ricocheted off the granite and sent her spinning to the floor where her knee slammed into the hardwood. Wounded but still tenacious, she dragged herself over to where her still-ringing phone lay, and answered it without looking. 

A voice on the other end responded, "Hi this is Mike, and I am calling to make you a special offer.…" 

I won't disclose what she said to him, but let's just say it wasn't used in "Crumpets Go to School." In fact, the only thing that saved him was that Yena's call came in, so she let him go. Struggling to her feet, she took a deep breath and, very sweetly, answered, "Yeoboseyo, Yena Ssi." 

Yena was bright and bubbly, but she immediately sensed that something was wrong with her Buttercup and said, "Tinsey Ssi, are you okay?" 

"Oh, yes, we were just playing a game and I am a bit winded," she replied. 

It took a bit for her to convince Yena that she was, in fact, okay, but eventually she did...sort of. While she was limping her way into the TV area, she talked to Yena about being on the show to make sure that she felt up to it. It was evident that Yena was excited about being on TV, so Tinsley patched their vidcon through to the big screen. When Yena's face appeared on the tele, the Crumpets greeted her with enthusiasm and after things calmed down a bit, Tinsley introduced Yena to Jisook and her crew. 

"Sookiemonster, is that your real name?" Yena asked her. 

Jisook replied that it wasn't and that it was given to her just the day before by Tinsley. 

"I thought it sounded like a Buttercup name!" Yena squeaked with delight. 

Unfortunately, while Yena and Jisook were talking, Tinsley took the opportunity to pull up the leg of her pajama pants to take a look at her knee. When Yena saw her in the background with the vivid bloom of a bruise on her knee, she became distraught and exclaimed, "Tinsey Ssi, you are injured!" 

Tinsley looked up, rather surprised, and replied, "Oh, this is just a bruise. I bruise super easy." Poking at it rather roughly, she continued, "See, it doesn't even hurt," when in fact it really did.

"Tinsey, come here, peas," Yena said with a firm tone. 

Tinsley approached the camera and batted her eyes at Yena. 

Yena shook her head and scolded her, saying, "Eggo won't work with me. You need to be more carepul and don't try to hide your inguries. Your managers can't take care of you if you hide them." 

It took everything Tinsley had not to laugh, so she just looked at her feet and said, "Can you forgive me?" 

"Of course, so long as you promise to let EinBe check you out," Yena said as she looked for eye contact with her now sheepish Buttercup. 

"I promise," Tinsley said with a shy-but-honest smile.

Yena's Dragon
Tinsley returned to her seat and yes, she did, after the vidcon, show her bruises to EinBe, who both agreed that Z-Edge (which had probably exacerbated Tinsely's nervous energy) should not be a part of the Crumpets’ diet. 

At any rate, while Tinsley was getting settled in, Sarah said, "So, Yena Ssi, have you heard anything back from your friends at the hospital about what they might like to see?" 

"Yes, I have a list!" Yena replied as she pulled a piece of paper out from under her covers and proudly held it up to the camera. Her paper was covered in hand-drawn hearts and bats, and there were a number of items written in crayon on her list. The girls squinted, trying to make out what it said. 

"That is very pretty. You draw lovely hearts and wonderful bats. Unfortunately there is a bit of a glare on the words. Could you read what it says to us?" Tabitha asked her. 

Yena looked at the paper and had to ask her mom for help. "Oh, yes, the children would like pan lights, to hear “Perpectives,” “Biby-Boby-Boo,” “Eek,” and “Goty Crumpets.” Oh, and to have Cho Lu there." 

After reading her list, Yena sat there, smiling and waiting for a response. Now, singing the requested songs was not a problem at all, but providing fan lights (of which they had none), and arranging to have LuLu Belle at the show were entirely different matters. 

The Crumpets sat in silence, staring at Yena as they struggled with how they could respond to her seemingly impossible requests. As the seconds ticked by, Yena's smile began to fade, breaking Tinsley's heart. Soon the pressure was too much.

Tinsley snapped and said, "Woah, I think the video froze. Anywho, those all seem like reasonable requests, we will get started working on them straight away." 

Sarah grabbed Tinsley's arm and squeezed it. The bubble that Analey was blowing popped, and Bess choked on her coffee. Doing her best to ignore the wave of panic she had set in motion, Tinsley very calmly continued her conversation with Yena, who was clearly thrilled that the children were going to have their wishes fulfilled. With Yena's smiling face on the screen, no one had the heart to say anything other than that they would work hard and deliver the best show possible. 

After a little small talk, it was time to wrap things up, so they began to say goodbye to Yena, who at the last second, turned on her best aegyo and said (in perfect Korean nonetheless), "Jeongmal gamsahamnida, saranghae, Crumpets hwaiting! (Thank you very much, I love you, Crumpets doing well!) 

Yena waved goodbye and the screen went dark. 

Clutching her chest, Yulia exclaimed, "Aigo, that was so cute! She said everything almost perfectly! What a trooper!" 

Tinsley knew it was time for her to make an epic speech, so despite the pain in her hip and knee, she hopped to her feet and began:

"I know this is a tall order, but you saw her face. We cannot let her or the other children down. We have creativity on our side and a whole bunch of resources. We have the Glass, Consortium, ZBC, the Familiars, the seniors at the senior center, that guy at the convenience store who has a crush on Sarah, and even Eugene, who is, I believe, on the Children's Hospital board." 

Tinsley looked questioningly at Dean Eobseo, who replied, "Yes, he is." 

Tinsley said, "How's he doing by the way?" 

The Dean nodded and said, "Very good. He is quite well." 

Tinsley responded with a nod saying, I'm glad to hear that," and went on with her speech:

"I can design a fan light that will be cheap and easy to make. I am sure that Tabitha and Jimmy can figure out how to make Cho Lu work at the hospital. We all have special talents and we already know how to sing and dance, so we can do this. Those kids need us. We are Lookzens, and it is our mission and our duty to use our creativity to make the world a better place." 

Concluding, she threw her arms up and exclaimed, "We are Gothy Crumpets and We Don't. Stop!"

Tinsley's speech received a standing ovation from the group and a thorough roughing-up by her unnies.

"Wow, Buttercup, that didn't suck!" Kari exclaimed, followed by Yulia saying, "No kidding, Tinbot that actually made sense and I didn't cringe even once!" 

Tabitha, whose burdens were now doubled said, "Tinsley, I have finally come to terms with your trying to kill me. All I ask is that at my memorial service, you are not the one to deliver the eulogy." 

With a slight pout, Tinsley said, "But, Tabby, I have so many nice things to say about you." 

Tabitha replied, "That's what worries me," while she ruffled Tinsley's hair.