Established October 2015   ​All Rights Reserved 

Established October 2015   ​All Rights Reserved 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Chapter Ten: The WHS Begins

A Stage Too Far
With all of the chaos that the Pinedale kerfuffles caused, one issue that had slipped under the rug was what to do about Saturday's show. You see, the Crumpets were scheduled to do a show at the Zeitgeist Arboretum and Music Garden, and Yulia, despite her intense desire to do so, simply could not be allowed to perform. So not only did the Crumpets need to make sure they were ready to cover her spot, they also needed to figure out how to keep Yulia's head from caving in while she sat it out. 

On the evening of the “toilet paper” interview, after Yulia woke up but before she learned about her snoring bit, and after their visitors had said goodnight, the Crumpets gathered in the TV room for a Dogpile meeting. Washed in the flickering light of their virtual fireplace, they started their discussion. 

Tabitha began,“So, Lia, are you awake enough for a quick meeting?” 

“Sure am. I had a nice nap after the interview. How did I do, by the way?” she asked. 

Everyone responded together with things like, “You did great,” “Daebak,” and “Super good.” Her unnies response, while sincere, felt a little scripted, causing her to look at them with suspicion. 

Sarah jumped in, “No, really, you did great. I mean, admittedly, we did think that you were over the rainbow when you brought up toilet paper, but you managed to spin it into something quite nice.” 

Yulia still felt like there was still something fishy about things, but she chalked it up to the struggle that the other members must be experiencing in needing to talk about her requisite absence from their upcoming performance. 

Tabitha cleared her throat and broached the subject, saying, “So, I guess we need to talk about Saturday.” 

Yulia was ready for the discussion, and in a calm voice said,“I know that everyone is worried that I will be all sad and pouty about having to sit this one out, but I am totally cool with it. It is what it is, you know.” 

“Really? You aren't freaking out?” Tinsley asked, adding, “Cuz I think that I would be.” 

Yulia pondered this for a moment and then said, “Heol, I am so totally freaking out, you have no idea. The thought of not being on stage with you guys is just… stupid wrist!” She sat back, poking at her cast and muttering that if it didn’t have Sally on it, she would absolutely hate it. 

“You could hang out with us, and your folks will still be here, right?” Bess said to her. 

“Oh Bess,” Yulia cooed, “That is very sweet, but, well, frankly that sounds perfectly awful. I’m supposed to be performing, not sitting in the audience.” 

“Maybe you could help with the soundboard,” Kari suggested. 

“Sure, if the operator has a broken left hand,” Yulia lamented, adding, “I know that you guys just want to keep me busy and for me not to feel left out, but the truth is that I will just have to be the first of us to watch from the sidelines.”

Sitting there in the now silent room, Tinsley, who occasionally has savant moments, had one: “Yep, sooner or later, assuming that we are in business long enough, we will all have a turn or two on the sidelines, just sitting there like a toad on the side of the road, watch’n the world go by. It’s sad, so very, very sad,” she said as she hung her head and shook it from side to side. 

Everyone was shocked by her insensitive comment, but none more so than Yulia, and Tinsley wasn’t done. “All I know is that I will be on that stage, wearing one of those sparkly snow fairy costumes, singing and dancing my way into everyone's hearts,” she said with overacted enthusiasm. 

Sarah was the first to grasp what Tinsley was up to (largely because Tinsley was using the same technique that Sarah had used on her at the Halloween parade), so she decided to join in. “Oh yes, it is going to be magical! Did you know that it will be a full moon?” Sarah said with a cheesy sparkle. 

Enid and Bess were completely shocked at TinSa’s seemingly cruel remarks, and to make matters worse, TabAnKa joined in. At first it looked like Yulia was getting mad (and she was), but her unnies kept at it, closing in on her with increasingly mischievous grins. Clearly they were giving her the business. 

Suddenly Yulia stood up and said, “Okay, okay, I get it!” and stormed out of the room. 

As she headed to the kitchen, TabTinAnSaKa all shouted, “Yulia saranghae!” and shot her heart signs. 

Yulia grumbled, “Yea, yea, saranghae,” and, though she didn’t see her unnies’ heart signs, she just knew that they had made them, so she fired a heart sign, over her head, back at them. 

EinBe were at a loss for words, especially because TabTinAnSaKa actually seemed happy about the results of their efforts. While EinBe struggled to comprehend what had just happened, Yulia returned from the kitchen with a big jar of cheese puffs and a tablet that she had tucked into her sling. She sat down, and seemingly in a perfectly good mood, started going over who would cover what in the choreography. 

“Whoa, what…how…what just happened?!” Bess stammered. 

Enid further expressed their confusion, saying, “First Yulia was sad, then Tinsley rubbed it in, then you all ganged up on her, and now she is happy?!” 

“Yes!” the Crumpets all chimed out in unison, and then went back to their planning. 

“Oh no, no, no, no,” Bess said and covered the tablet with her hand. “I need more than that, what just took place here?” she demanded. 

Tabitha tried to explain things, saying, “We have been together for a long time and we have had to encourage each other and sometimes drag each other through some pretty tough times. When all else fails, teasing is a sure-fire way to get someone to snap out of it.” 

“Yep, but you can only do that with people you are really close to, otherwise it is just mean,” Sarah said while she patted Yulia’s head. 

“Yea, I was like Rocky, getting mad so I would get my fighting spirit back,” Yulia said with bubbly confidence. 

Bess looked at Enid and said, “Please don’t use this technique on me when I am sad.” 

“That won't be a problem as I still have no idea what is going on here,” Eind replied.

Introduction Motto Gesture Thing
Before their Saturday show at the Zeitgeist Arboretum and Music Garden arrived, Yulia was constantly drilling her unnies on their modified dance and singing routines to such a point that they started avoiding her. Yulia knew this but pursued them relentlessly anyway. Frankly, she was just bored and wanted to make sure that they were confident in her acceptance of her fate of sitting one out. (Unless she was in a coma, there was absolutely no way that she would be sitting out more than one.) At any rate, by Friday her teammates were so gun shy that she decided she needed to change gears or they might never come near her again. Early that morning she got up and went to the kitchen before anyone else was up. Despite only being able to use one hand, she somehow managed to make her special bungeoppang. Because she intentionally left the stairway doors open, the sweet aroma started drifting through the house. One by one, the Crumpets began waking up, and as soon as they opened their bedroom doors, they could smell Yulia’s handy work. As the scent spread, so too did a growing suspicion. 

Gathered nervously on the second floor, TinTabAnSaKa huddled together at the breach of the stairs, whispering back and forth about what might be waiting for them on the first floor. 

“Okay, we know that EinBe are still sleeping and that Yulia is the only Crumpet not here. So we can say with confidence that she is behind this,” Tabitha said, adding, “And given how things have been for the past couple of days, it is quite reasonable to assume that she is trying to butter us up for another exhaustive practice session.” 

“I don’t think I can do another one. You can’t make me!” Kari exclaimed with overstated drama. 

“I know, I am pretty tired too, but that bungeoppang smells so good,” Sarah said. “If it weren’t for her secret ingredient, I would just slip down through tunnels and get some at the cafeteria.” 

Thinking herself to be clever, Tinsley said, “That’s it! All we need to do is to figure out what the secret ingredient is and we could make our own.” 

The final nail in their coffin came when Yulia started brewing a pot of coffee and turned on a small fan to push the smell toward the stairs. Suddenly a noise came from behind the girls. Bess had opened her door and was rather surprised to find a gathering right there, in front of her room. “What’s so interesting?” she asked. 

“Yulia is buttering us up,” Analey replied. 

At that moment the smell of coffee wafted by and grabbed a hold of Bess. Analey elbowed her companions, who turned to see that they were now trapped between Yulia’s ploy and caffeine-monster Bess. Accepting their fate, they quietly slipped down the stairs. 

Hesitating at the final doorway, the Crumpets peered skittishly around the corner. However Yulia was nowhere in sight. Walking on pins and needles, they made their way toward the kitchen area. Just as they got to the counter, Yulia popped up and yelled, “BOO!” 

Screaming and giggling, the girls started running around, tripping over each other. Yulia stood behind the counter grinning like the Cheshire Cat, while Bess obliviously waded her way through the chaos on a single-minded quest for java. Yulia handed her a cup of joe and they watched the spectacle. 

“Oh, we knew you were lurking somewhere down here!” Tabitha exclaimed. 

“No more practices. Bungeoppang, sure, but no more practices,” Kari pleaded (by the way, this was when Enid arrived on the scene). 

“You guys, calm down, I am not some maniacal psychopath trying to lure you in,” Yulia told them. 

“Yes you are!” her unnies shouted in reply. 

“Okay, that is true, but I only want to lure you in enough to teach you our new introduction motto gesture thing, or IMGT. Other than that, the bungeoppang is just to thank you for putting up with my tormenting you,” Yulia said while shooting them an exaggerated heart sign.

Tinsley was the first to be drawn into Yulia’s web. Slinking her way into the kitchen she said, “Well, I do like bungeoppang, and the introduction motto gesture thing does sound interesting.” 

“Yes, that's it Buttercup, come get the nice bungeoppang,” Yulia said as she held one out. 

With absolutely no sense of pride, Tinsley trotted over and took the bait. Looking like a squirrel with an acorn, Tinsley munched away happily and the others quickly followed suit. 

Yulia looked at them and giggled, “You guys are like trained circus seals.” 

Kari looked up and, because her mouth was full, all she could do was shrug and give Yulia a thumbs-up.

“Okay, now that you are under my control, here is our IMGT,” she said, beginning her lesson. “Firstly, I wanted to do a hand gesture based on Korean and English sign language, but the trouble was I wanted to do a “G” and a “C” at the same time, which made one letter backwards. However, I realized that since half of us are right-handed and half are left-handed, it kinda works out,” she explained. Because of her cast, she asked Sarah to help her demonstrate. 

Yulia instructed her, “Okay, with your dominant hand, give me a Korean sign for “Giyeok,” and with your other hand, give me the sign for “Chieut.” I know they aren’t exactly “G” and “C,” but bear with me.” 

Sarah struggled a bit at first to not only remember Korean sign language, but also to do (in her case) “Giyeok” backwards. After a bit of fumbling she managed to do it. 

“Great, now transition from Korean to English, like you’re doing ‘Itsy-bitsy-spider’,” Yulia told her, doing her best to get the point across with her cast-free hand. Sarah was starting to get the idea and things moved along nicely. Yulia continued the lesson, saying, “Super. Now one last bit to the gesture: walk the spider up one more rung, transitioning your hands into a heart sign.” 

The Crumpets, who were all watching intently, started practicing and had little difficulty getting it down. On the other hand (pun intended), Enid and Bess, who were also trying it out, were hopelessly lost. 

Happy that her mates understood what she was intending, Yulia started wrapping things up by giving them the verbiage that went with the gesture. “Awesome. Now, with a ‘Good, Good, Berry Good’-like cadence, say ‘Bibity-Bobity-Boo, the Gothy Crumpets are here for you, saranghae’ as you do the gesture.” 

The girls ran through it, smooth as silk, meanwhile EinBe struggled and finally gave up. (Really, they just didn’t want to practice in front of the girls.) 

“Sweet. Now we really feel official. Daebak, Yulia!” Tabitha exclaimed. 

“Way to go, Idaho,” Analey added. 

Analey’s comment prompted Kari to ask, “Isn’t Idaho a state?” 

“Well, yes…it’s also a saying…never mind. Good job, Lia,” Analey responded. 

“Isn’t Lia a princess in Star Wars?” Kari returned with a smirk. 

“No, that is Princess Leia,” Analey fired back. 

Naturally, Kari’s only option at this point was to stick her tongue out and give Analey a raspberry.

Yulia was quite pleased with the reception that her work received, so she said, “Since you all seem to like the IMGT and you learned it so quickly, maybe we could take another look at the choreography for the Snowflake Ball?” 

Grabbing an extra bungeoppang (you can afford to have two when you are as active as the Crumpets are), each of her unnies bailed for the door, saying things like, “Oh, look at the time, gotta go to that thing,” or simply “No.” 

Suddenly Yulia was almost alone in the kitchen. Shrugging off her abandonment, she turned around to see that EinBe were still there and that they were back at trying to master the IMGT. 

Clearly excited she said, “EinBe let me help you with that,” causing EinBe to sputter, “Oh dear.”

Eugene Spotting
Eugene’s disappearance had created quite a stir around Zeitgeist, but despite being potentially among the most affected by it, most Lookzens were cautious but not overly concerned. Outside the Glass, on the other hand, the story had become embellished and something of an urban legend. It became a trend to go out “Eugene Spotting,” and false alarms were giving the police a lot of headaches. At any rate, the trouble grew to the point that Dean Eobseo, along with the Z-TV Board of Directors, made a public service announcement encouraging Eugene to come in, and for Zeitzens to lighten up by pointing out that Eugene had not broken the law and that the police were just as worried about his safety as they were about any threat that he might pose to others.

On top of the Eugene issue, there was still the Pinedale 3PH business that was making it very hard for Tabitha to set up the free concert, as the outlet mall was the only venue in town that could host such a thing. (There wasn't another parking lot, playground or field anywhere near Pinedale big enough to do the job.) Now Tabitha wasn’t expecting to be able to do the show right away, as they would be much too busy to do anything for awhile, but she did want to at least have a plan so she could feel like it was on the proverbial radar. Dean Eobseo was also feeling spread a bit too thin, given how many irons he had in the fire, so he made the decision to use his wealth to force a partial resolution. This was an unfair advantage on his end and something he hated to do, but as a last resort he decided the time had come. Dean Eobseo made offers to buy 3PH’s management company, as well as to buy the Pinedale Outlet Mall — offers that should have been too good for the owners to pass on. While he waited to see if he would be successful in acquiring the sources of his Pinedale woes, he also hired private investigators to try to find Eugene.

Disappearing Bow
With the search for Eugene underway and the Pinedale buyouts in process, the Crumpets had their show at the Arboretum, which turned out to be the longest hour and fifty-three minutes of Yulia's life. At the beginning of the show, she was introduced with the other members, except that she was standing in front of, rather than on, the stage. After the Crumpets did their new IMGT, Yulia addressed the audience: “My doctor has given me specific instructions not to get on stage, so I won’t. I will instead join you in the audience. That is, if you will have me?” 

The crowd welcomed her warmly and she sat dutifully with her parents, cheering on her mates, and being the best Tempus Familiar she could. While it was an interesting perspective, and she was surrounded by Familiars, Lookzens, and her parents, it was still all she could do to keep herself from running up on stage and joining in. 

Making matters all the worse for Yulia, at one point when Tinsley was covering one of her parts, she made a bit of a mistake. Only Yulia would have noticed Tinsley’s error (which was both a singing and dancing issue), except that it caused a timing issue and resulted in Tinsley colliding with Analey. When TinAn made contact, Analey accidentally hooked the bow on the back of Tinsley’s costume, causing it to pop off and fall to the stage. As the song progressed, Tinsley tried to situate herself to discreetly pick it up. However, before she could get to it, Tabitha, who was doing an epic high note, started backing up toward it. Tinsley realized that Tabitha was in danger of slipping on the bow, so she made the call to just quickly sweep it away with her foot. While her move probably saved Tabitha from stumbling or even falling down, her kick was a bit stronger than she intended and it sent the bow flying into the audience, where it landed right in a little girl's lap. The little girl was beside herself with excitement, so Tinsley just let it go and went on with her performance. Admittedly, she had backup bows on her shoes and one in her hair (a lesson learned from the great bow crisis of her Junior year), so it wasn’t as horrifying a loss to her as you might have suspected.

When the show, which included an especially taxing encore, was over, Yulia breathed a sigh of relief. As the audience dispersed, she stayed with her group and started making her way out with them. They hadn’t gone far when Ava slipped over to Yulia’s mom and said something to her. After talking to Ava, Yulia’s mom stopped Yulia, took her by the shoulders, and spun her around. 

Yulia was a bit shocked and said, “What mean this thing you do?” 

I have no idea why she used cave speak, but her mom pointed over her shoulder toward the stage. There, peering out from behind the curtain, were her unnies, who were feeling more than a little weird about leaving the show without having Lia on the bus with them. Yulia’s mom smacked her on the butt, while gently pushing her forward, and said, “Go ride with your friends. We will see you back at the campus.” 

Yulia looked back over her shoulder as she trotted away and said, “Gamsahamnida, saranghae!” 

Her mom freaked out a little and exclaimed, “For goodness sake, watch where you are going!”

Getting Back on Track
On the Monday following the Arboretum show, Yulia went over to the hospital to see Dr. Golja. The examination went well and she was cleared for singing and very light dancing, provided that she wore a special sling that kept her arm more securely restrained. Also, Dr. Golja told her that the stitches could come out in a week, and that she could start physical therapy with the therapist at the school's infirmary at that time. With their daughter on the mend, Yulia’s parents returned home and she started working on getting back to life as normal (whatever that really means for a Crumpet).

As far as the other troubles were concerned, ultimately Dean Eobseo successfully bought out both the P-DOM's management company and the P-DOM itself. Having the P-DOM under Dean Eobseo’s control made it very easy for Tabitha to secure the venue for their free show, so she was quite happy about that. Incidentally, the Dean didn’t fire 3PH. Instead, after canceling their lawsuit and rehiring the P-DOM maintenance supervisor, he assigned them to the maintenance department under the manager that they had fired only weeks earlier — something that they weren’t initially happy about, but ultimately two of the three actually ended up doing well and liking it. Another point of interest is that about six months later, Dean Eobseo donated the mall to the town, and sold the management company to, of all people, Gracie Anne, who ended up becoming one of Zeitgeist’s most prominent business owners. So, assuming that Yulia’s wrist healed properly, the only issue that wasn’t yet improving was that Eugene’s whereabouts were still unknown. 

A Small Package
Nearly at the peak of the WHS, excitement was building for the biggest of the Winter events: the Snowflake Ball, or as the girls call it, the Flake. Held annually on the Winter Solstice, the Flake had, since its inception in the late eighteen-hundreds, grown well beyond the capacity of any single venue, so that it was now held at several locations, with the main stage being at the Iron Lady. All of the performances were broadcast to the satellite locations and, at some of these locations were smaller stages where other performances took place and were broadcast back to the Iron Lady. At any rate, even though the Crumpets weren’t the headline act, they were one of the main acts, so this was going to be a pretty big deal for them, especially because the Flake had some national exposure. As such the girls were understandably getting rather wound-up for the big day. 

One afternoon, while the girls reworked their performance to accommodate Yulia’s dancing restrictions, Campus Services delivered their mail. Enid received the tote from the delivery driver and began distributing the contents to the girls. In Tinsley’s bundle was a small package that she initially thought might be the Mamamoo mini light stick that she had ordered. Excitedly, she pulled it out of the bundle, but before she ripped it open, she stopped and looked at the return address, whereupon she said with a puzzled tone, “Zeitgeist Children's Hospital?” 

Then she noticed that it was addressed to: “Miss Tinsley Ann Choi,” which seemed unusually formal. Because she read this out loud, and because everyone noticed that she was being uncharacteristically slow in opening a package, all eyes were on her. Tinsley carefully opened the package and peered inside. Rather than taking out the contents right away, she instead only slid out the included letter, which she read silently to herself. While she was reading it, her expression became strangely different. When she was done reading the letter, she gently set it on the coffee table, and then pulled out the tissue paper-wrapped contents of the box. Carefully she unwrapped it, revealing that it was the bow that she had kicked out into the audience less than a week ago. Tinsley held it in her hands as if it were an injured bird, tears filling her eyes.

Kari, who was sitting closest to Tinsley, moved closer and asked what was upsetting her. It took Tinsley a moment to react and when she did, she simply pointed to the letter. Tabitha, who had made her way over to TinKa, asked if she could read it and Tinsley nodded yes. 

“Should I read it out loud?” Tabitha asked her softly. 

Again, Tinsley nodded yes.

Tabitha cleared her throat and began:


Dear Miss Tinsley,

My daughter Yena asked me to write you this letter and return your bow from the Arboretum show to you. Yena is a huge fan of the Crumpets and even before your bow astonishingly landed in her lap, she had decided that she wants to grow up to be just like “Buttercup." Knowing how important your bows are, she wanted to get it back to you at the show so that you can “keep your sparkle,” but that wasn’t possible, so we have mailed it to you.

Yena is a very sick little girl and her attendance at the Arboretum was a gift from the hospital’s wish fulfillment program for critically ill children. Every day is touch-and-go, but the excitement of getting to see her beloved “Gothies” has given her a renewed fighting spirit and we are very grateful for that.

Yena sends her love and has tucked five foil hearts, one color for each member, into the bow so that “Tinsley Ssi” (Korean for Miss Tinsley) will “always have her members’ hearts with her”. 

With sincere thanks and warm wishes,
Kang Jihyun

Monkey Pants
While her unnies wrestled with the gravity of the heart-wrenching letter, Tinsley felt a sudden rush of purpose. Without looking to see if anyone was there, she put her hand up in the air and said, “Tissue.” 

Bess was the first to react and sprinted to the kitchen counter, grabbed a box of tissues, sprinted back, pulled out half of the box, and stuffed the wad into Tinsley’s hand (all the while Kari was holding a box right in front of her). After blowing her nose in a most undignified manner, Tinsley handed the blob of soggy tissue back to Bess, who reluctantly accepted it, and announced, “I’m going to the hospital.” 

With that, she clipped the bow to the back of her monkey-face PJ pants and marched upstairs to get ready. Bess, still holding the blob of tissue, followed her saying, “Uh, Tinsley, I think we need to call first and what about tonight’s appearance on Z-Idol?” 

Enid and the rest of the Crumpets had just started crying, so they decided to simply go on with their weep. Through her tears and while she took the last tissue out of the last box Analey said, “I swear Tinsley is more than a tick off, how can she shift gears like that?!” 

Now, we all know that Tinsley marches to the beat of her own drummer, and while she can be a bit off, the truth is that she is not only very intelligent, she also, as you will see, has a big heart. 

By the time the girls on the first floor had dried their tears, Tinsley had explained her plan to Bess, so that while she was getting ready, Bess was on the phone to the hospital. Back downstairs the girls began to wonder what was going on, so Tabitha called up to Tinsley's room. 

The screen in the hall outside of her bathroom lit up and read, “Incoming Video Call” while Mimzy announced, “Lady Choi, Tab Monster is requesting a video audience. What say you?” (If you think that Tinsley’s announcement settings are weird you should hear the ones that the Screaming Beets do.) 

At any rate, Tinsley answered, “Permission granted.” 

Tabitha appeared on the screen, saying, “Yeoboseyo, are you still crying?” 

“No, I was over that a long time ago. Are you still crying?” Tinsley replied. 

“No, and I couldn’t help but notice that I am still Tab Monster on your announcement,” Tabitha said with a bit of derision, adding, “We are nearly halfway through the WHS, what gives?” 

Tinsley came over, looked into the camera, and while batting her eyes, said, “Well, since your room is next to mine, we almost never VidCon. Nonetheless, I will change your name to, uh —  ‘Snowdrop Trufflesleigh’ when we are done.” 

Tabitha giggle-snorted a bit and said, “Hmm, ‘Snowdrop Trufflesleigh,’ you say? Okay, I am good with that. Now, what about the hospital?” 

Tinsley wrapped things up by saying, “I will be down directly to fill you in. Monkey Pants out.”

Arriving back on the first floor with Bess in tow, Tinsley explained her plan to the group. It turned out that, according to her mother, Yena would be up for a visit and that they would have just enough time to swing by the hospital for a quick social call on their way to the Z-Idol show. 

“Maybe we should wait until we have more time and we can actually stay with her for a bit,” Sarah said with concern. 

Sitting down next to her, Tinsley ruffled her hair and said, “Ah, our tender-hearted Maknee, I believe that you will find my plan to be quite satisfactory. Grasshopper, you must learn to trust in Princess Monkey Pants.” 

“Whoa, Tinsley must have a good idea brewing; I haven’t seen her act this dorky in months,” Kari exclaimed. 

With great pride, Tinsley went on with her explanation, “So, we are going to pop in and visit our little Yena and present to her a bow that we will all autograph. Also, I am going to take Harey to her as well.” 

“Great idea!” Enid exclaimed. “I’ll go get a Harey out of the basement.” 

“No, no,” Tinsley replied, “I am taking full-size Harey to her.” 

Everyone, except Bess, who knew what the deal was, gasped, “Full-size Harey?!” 

“Yes, I am going to ask Yena to take care of full-size Harey for us until the Flake, which is our next stage show, and then I am going to ask her to bring him to our show at the Iron Lady (this is of course if she is up to it).” 

“Wow, Buttercup, I mean Princess Monkey Pants, that is epic!” Analey exclaimed. 

“Yep, and I’m gonna give her all of the promotional Hareys to give to the other children at the hospital,” Tinsley concluded as she sat back and looked at the group with a huge grin on her face. 

With a terribly concerned expression, and in a very tender voice, Tabitha said, “Tinsley, those Hareys are for the Spring promotion, and technically, they belong to the school.” 

“Way ahead of you, Snowdrop. Remember that coloring book I illustrated for the Natural History Museum? Well, my paycheck from that should, according to Bess, cover ordering another round of Hareys,” Tinsley responded. 

The truth was that her paycheck would only cover about half of the cost, but Bess didn’t have the heart to tell her that, so she decided that she would just pay the other half out of her own pocket. 

At this moment, Dean Eobseo showed up and Tinsley turned her aegyo to full power, blurting out, “If I buy replacements can I have the promotional Hareys to give to the sick children at the hospital? Pleeeeease?!” 

“That is a lovely idea, Tinsley, your holiday spirit is inspiring,” the Dean told her and gave her a deep bow. 

Equally inspired, TabSaKaYuBeEinAn all shouted, “Hooray for Princess Monkey Pants!” 

The funny thing was that Dean Eobseo immediately understood and had no need to ask why they cheered for Princess Monkey Pants. It seems that all Lookzens are a bit of a tick off. 

Harey and the Hareys
With Tinsley’s plan fully endorsed, there was a sudden flurry of activity with the girls rushing upstairs to get ready, Enid heading to the basement to get the boxes of Hareys, and Bess calling Campus Services to see about switching to a bigger bus that could handle Harey and the Hareys. Standing alone in the TV area, Dean Eobseo smoothed his shirt and said to himself, “Well, I guess I will just, uh, hmm….” 

Still struggling with what to do with himself, he was rather startled when the elevator binged and the doors opened to reveal that the car was completely full of boxes, and that Enid was stuck, having wedged herself in with them. 

“A little help?” she said as best she could considering that her face was squished between the boxes and the wall of the elevator car. 

“Oh my goodness!” the Dean exclaimed as he rushed to her aid. “It didn’t occur to me that there are this many Hareys. How many children are there at the hospital?” 

Released from her trap, Enid gasped and said, “We don’t know, but I would hate to come up short.” 

“I can see that,” the Dean replied with a chuckle.

Once the bus was loaded and everyone was onboard, they headed out. While the girls weren’t wearing stage costumes, they were dressed in holiday themes — Tinsley was wearing a Santa hat. 

Kari looked at her and said, “This reminds me of the moment when the Grinch found his heart and returned all the presents to the Whos.” 

“Are you saying that I am a Grinch?!” Tinsley exclaimed. 

“Mmm, not really a Grinch in personality. It’s more of an appearance thing, I think,” Kari replied.

Tinsley reached for her water bottle and Kari flinched, but before Tinsley squirted her she stopped and said, “Wait a minute. The Grinch, the cartoon one anyway, is kinda cute, yes?”

“Sure, yes, definitely cute,” Kari said, still bracing for a soaking. 

Tinsley calmly responded, “That’s cool,” and started to take a drink. 

Kari shrugged and looked over her shoulder, winking at the other members who were starting to crack up. 

“I saw that!” Tinsley exclaimed and proceeded to douse her. 

Bess held her hands together and gushed, “Oh, our girls are so cute when they are full of holiday spirit!” 

Enid looked at her with a puzzled expression and said, “You are being sarcastic, aren’t you?”