chapter two ━ spelling bee champions & sumo wrestlers
( season one, episode two )

❝ hey, i made you brownies! ❞

𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐒 out of her locker when she heard Milton's excited voice from down the hallway.

"Guys, guys!" She turned around and hugged the books to her chest. "Wanna know who just won the district-wide spelling bee?" he asked and Veronica smiled softly while Jerry shook his head. "Here's a clue; M—E."

"Meh?" Jerry guessed and both Veronica and Kim rolled their eyes.

"It's me, you toad," Milton said and the brunette stifled a chuckle.

Eddie pointed at the item in Milton's hand. "What's that?" he asked and the redhead smiled.

"The trophy I won," he replied, holding it up so they could see it better. "It's a bronze bee."

"I've got fillings bigger than that thing," Kim said and Veronica tilted her head.

"I don't think you want to brag about that," she told her before smiling brightly at the redhead. "Congratulations, Milton!"

He smiled. "Thank you, Ronnie. I rode a little filly named 'perspicacious' all the way to the finish line," he said while pretending to gallop on a horse.

"Milton, sweetie, don't do that," she told him, touching his shoulder. "It doesn't look good."

He nodded. "Okay. Now come on, who's the man?" he asked, looking around at his friends. "Who's the man?"

"Jack is the man!"

Veronica looked behind her to see the high school principal walking into the common area of the school with Jack. The rest of the school—except for Milton and Veronica—gathered around them.

"Jack! Jack! Jack!" they began chanting.

"Now thanks to Jack's routine, we've won our first gymnastics trophy in fifteen years!" their principal announced and Veronica clapped, though with much less enthusiasm than the rest of the school. She was proud of Jack and what he had done, but nobody else had that same enthusiasm for Milton.

Jack shrugged. "It wasn't really a routine," he said. "I was just trying to move fast enough so no one would notice I was wearing a unitard." Just then, two members of the gymnastics team walked by and Veronica pressed her lips together to keep herself from laughing; he wasn't wrong. "When you're wearing one of those things, even when you win, you lose."

"You know..." Milton stepped forward with his little trophy. "I just won the first spelling bee our school has ever—"

"Hey, show us what you did to win, Jack," Eddie said, interrupting Milton who sighed and pressed his lips together.

Veronica pulled him over to her. "I still think it's very impressive," she whispered into his ear and he smiled softly in response.

They both looked over just as Jack was finishing his flip and landed on his feet, their principal walking over to him with a wide smile.

"Jack, I hope this means that you're going to stay on the gymnastics team," he said to the boy who shook his head.

"I told you, it was a one-time deal," he replied. "I win you your trophy and you get a little visit from the wedgie wizard."

The principal looked behind him at Jerry aka the 'wedgie wizard'. "I guess a deal's a deal."

He smiled. "Just go with it." He pulled out a bottle of baby powder and began dumping it onto his hands making Veronica hurry away from him. "Hold that for me," he said, giving the bottle to Kim. He clapped his hands in anticipation and sent dust everywhere making Veronica sneeze at the powder that went up her nose. He walked over to their principal and pulled up his underwear.

"Is that all you've got, punk?" he asked in a high-pitched voice.

The bell rang and the students all dispersed. "Alright, let's go," Jack said to his friends before pausing, seeing that Veronica and Milton hadn't moved. "Ronnie, Milton, you coming?"

"I'll catch up with you," Milton replied and their friends nodded, walking away. He looked back down at the small trophy in his hand and Veronica tilted her head.

"You know, in my personal opinion, you winning the spelling bee is just as important as Jack winning the gymnastics meet," she said and he looked at her. "You should be proud of what you did, Milton."

He nodded. "Thanks, Ronnie. I'll catch up with you in a sec," he told her. "I just need to do something first."

"Alright."

She patted his shoulder and started making her way toward her math class, mindlessly playing with the necklaces around her neck.

"There you are."

Veronica jumped when she heard Jack's voice and looked over to find him standing next to the lockers. "Geez, you really shouldn't sneak up on people," she said, letting out a breath. "I thought you went to class..."

He shrugged. "I thought I'd wait for you," he shrugged and she nodded, once again playing with her necklaces. "I don't think I've ever seen you not wearing those," he said and she looked down at the thin jewels around her neck. "Are they special?"

She nodded. "Yeah—um—well, this one—" She held up the thin chain that had two charms—a 'C' and 'V'. "—this was my mom's," she replied. "She said that she got it to keep her family close. C is for my dad—Carlos. And V is for Veronica. I mean, my mom only ever called me Ronnie, but still."

"And the other one?"

Veronica paused and pulled out the silver, oval-shaped jewel. "My dad gave me this right before he was deployed," she said quietly. "He told me that whenever I missed him and my mom that I would always have a piece of them with me."

She unclasped the locket and turned it towards Jack who looked at the pictures over her shoulder. Veronica had her arms wrapped around her mother's upper body whose blonde hair was in a loose braid that fell over her shoulder. Veronica's father was holding them both close while her mother was looking at her daughter.

"Your mom really does look like Rudy," he commented and she nodded, closing the locket. "So, it's just you and your mom while your dad's deployed?"

Veronica pressed her lips together and shook her head. "No. No, it's not." He furrowed his brows. "We're gonna be late for class," she said, clearing her throat and glancing briefly at the boy beside her. "Come on."

___________________________

"𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐍, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 go out again."

Veronica looked down at her phone and groaned when she heard the continuous beeping tone. She clenched her jaw and kicked the closest dummy in frustration, knocking it over just as Rudy and her friends walked into the dojo.

He paused and looked at his niece. "Ronnie, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she mumbled. "Fine."

Rudy gave her a second glance but let it go regardless. "Anyway, like I was saying... since the magic store closed, a storage space opened up in the basement directly below us. I finally have a place for all my stuff."

"Finally," Veronica grumbled.

Eddie nodded in agreement. "This place is getting pretty cluttered."

"It is not," Rudy argued.

Kim frowned. "Rudy, this place looks like a crazy old cat lady lives here," she told him, gesturing around the room.

"Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration."

"Really?" she questioned, walking over to the filing cabinet nearest to them. The moment she opened it, she hurried over to Veronica to avoid getting hit by the many things inside and the brunette stared down at it.

"Wh—" She was interrupted by an orange cat appearing from the cabinet and she looked at her uncle with a frown. "Really?"

"Okay, that is not my cat," Rudy said and she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Are you coming, Tip-Tip?"

Veronica shook her head. "Again, I ask, how are my mother and him related?" she asked out loud.

___________________________

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐈𝐗 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 walking down the hallway at school with Milton leading the way, cake in hand to the janitor's closet—better known to the redhead as his guardian angel; the man who saved him when he fell off the ladder in the hallway.

"Bringing presents to custodians?" Jerry asked the redhead while Veronica was scrolling through her phone. "That's not cool. I mean, what's next? Asking the crossing guard to the prom?"

"I already tried that," Eddie said and Veronica glanced at him. "But she just wants to be friends."

She sighed. "Oh, sweetie..."

"I think it's sweet that Milton bought his new friend a cake," Kim said and the redhead smiled at her.

"Thanks, Kim," he replied. "See, when someone does something great—you know, save a life or... win a spelling bee—they should get some recognition."

Veronica frowned. "Hey, I made you brownies!"

He nodded. "At least Ronnie did something."

"You made him brownies?" Jack asked her and she looked at him. "You didn't make me brownies..."

She shook her head. "Well, you didn't win the spelling bee," she replied before feeling her phone buzzing and she looked down at it. "Oh, my gosh... Dad? Oh, you have service!"

Her friends watched as she walked away and Milton turned to knock on the janitor's door. "Hey—uh—Kim?" She looked at Jack. "Do you know why Ronnie doesn't talk about her mom that much?" he asked and she paused, glancing momentarily at the three boys. "What?"

Kim shook her head. "We can't tell you that," she replied. "It's her story to share if and when she's ready to."

"How did the two of you become friends, anyway?" he asked before shrugging. "I mean, it just doesn't seem like you have a whole lot in common."

She shrugged. "She moved here a few months before you did," she said. "She was in my math class and got lost so I showed her around. We started talking—sometimes about karate, sometimes about other things—and now I can't imagine life without her. She sometimes spends the night at my house whenever she needs to talk."

"When was the last time she talked to her dad?" Milton asked her. "Before that call, I mean."

"According to Ronnie, he's been having cell service issues," she told him. "I think she said it's been a few months."

Just then, Veronica came back to her friends and paused when she saw them all looking at her. "What?" she asked, her eyebrows raised. "Do I have something on my face?"

Kim shook her head. "No. How's your dad?"

"He's fine," she replied quietly. "Call was cut off again, but he's fine." She looked over at her friend. "Did the janitor not answer, Milton?"

The redhead looked behind him at the door. "Oh, right." He knocked once but no one answered. He tried once more but there was still no answer. Jerry impatiently pushed him out of the way and opened the door, revealing several newspaper clippings, trophies, and medals. "Do you know what this means?" Milton asked his friends.

"I know exactly what this means—" Jerry said with a nod. "—our custodian's king of the babies."

___________________________

𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐍𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐔𝐑𝐀, the janitor, fired and the man was now sitting in the dojo while Veronica watched him eat a pizza. Or, more specifically, trying not to look disgusted.

"Guys, group meeting," Rudy said, waving the teenagers over to his office. "Um—why is Weepy McHugie still here?"

"The guy's been through a lot, Rudy," Milton told him. "We found out why he gave up sumo and left Japan in shame."

Eddie nodded. "Sixty-five wins in a row," he added. "Then some Rookie struts in and throws him out of the ring like a moldy pear."

"You guys hiding pears over there?"

Veronica looked over at Nakamura. "We don't have any pears, sweetie," she told him, eyeing the pile of Chinese food containers and pizza boxes. "Now I'm starting to feel sick..."

"As if that wasn't bad enough—" She turned back to the group and looked at Jack. "—he lost his life's savings."

Rudy furrowed his brows. "Wow. How'd he do that?" he asked.

Veronica huffed and crossed her arms. "The idiot decided to go on a game show called 'Are You Willing to Lose Your Life's Savings?' And guess what? He did."

"Fix this," Rudy said, walking toward the front door. "Once the food runs out, we're gonna look tasty to that guy. Fix this." He started to leave before pausing. "Oh, and Ronnie, your dad called me when he got service. He said that he most likely wouldn't be able to call for a few weeks but that he loves and misses you."

She let out a breath and nodded. "Thanks." She looked over and saw her friends were looking at her sympathetically. "Um—I'm gonna..." She cleared her throat and hurried out of the dojo.

___________________________

𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 dojo and found Veronica sitting at a table while playing mindlessly with her phone. Her hair had been thrown into a messy bun and her brown eyes were red and puffy.

"Are you okay?" he asked and she glanced at him.

She pressed her lips together. "I miss my mom," she whispered and he sat down beside her. "And my dad. And—" She looked back at the dojo. "And I know I have Uncle Rudy, and I love him, but... I just want to hug them. That's all..."

"Well..." Jack furrowed his brows. "Where's your mom if your dad is deployed?"

Her eyes became glossy and she avoided Jack's gaze. "She died," she replied, her voice breaking. "About—About six months ago. Car crash."

Whatever Jack was expecting to hear, it certainly wasn't that. "Ronnie, I... I'm sorry."

"Dad was deployed about four months later and I came to Seaford," she continued, looking over at him. "That phone call today was the first time I talked to him in two months." She shook her head and rubbed at her eyes. "Some days are harder than others. Today's just... one of those days..."

He nodded. "Well, if you ever need a dad to talk to, I'm sure mine would love to listen," he said and she chuckled softly. "I think he's secretly always wanted a daughter."

"That's sweet of you," she replied with a small smile. "Did you find a way to fix the whole 'Nakamura is living in our dojo' situation?"

"Oh, yeah." He nodded. "Apparently we're going to be hosting a sumo match at the dojo on Saturday."

She stared back at him. "Of course we are... I guess that means I better get to cleaning the place then." She stood up and looked at him. "Thanks for listening, Jack."

___________________________

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐅 the sumo match and Veronica was collecting tickets at the front door with her uncle. "Enjoy the match," Rudy said as she smiled politely at their guests. "Enjoy the match. Enjoy the match."

She nudged Rudy in the ribs when another large man walked through the door. "I think your friend is here," she whispered in his ear and he smiled.

"Ah, there's my man, Yamazaki," he said. "My beach buddy!"

"Got my six hundred bucks?" he asked, leaving Rudy's high-five ignored and he immediately handed the sumo competitor the envelope, suddenly very scared of the man. "Let's do this."

Veronica raised her eyebrows, seeing Nakamura run into Rudy's office and he, Jack, and Milton followed him, leaving the two girls and Jerry to deal with the crowd.

"We have to do something," Kim said to them.

Veronica shrugged. "One of us could spar Jerry," she suggested and he frowned.

"Why me?"

"Because it's more entertaining for people," Kim told him and he nodded. She faced the crowd. "Well, while we wait for the match to start, who wants to see two girls take on a... well—him."

They received half-enthusiastic cheers from the crowd and Veronica sighed just as Milton walked out of the office and Kim went inside.

"Um..." Veronica furrowed her brows and saw her redheaded friend start to take off his clothes. "Milton, sweetie, what are you doing?" she asked him.

"Giving the crowd what they came here for."

She blinked at him, he was suddenly only wearing his underwear. She hurried into her uncle's office. "Guys, you might want to come out here..."

They followed her just as Milton ran at Yamazaki—he fell over while the sumo wrestler didn't move an inch. He ran at him once more and started pushing at him, but only slid from his socks on the mat.

"Nakamura, Milton's out there trying to help you," Veronica said, turning to the man. "He's willing to potentially get crushed because he feels bad."

Jack nodded. "This is your moment," he added. "Go out there and take it!"

Veronica turned back and saw Milton getting thrown off of Yamazaki's shoulders before sliding between his legs. "I don't know what I'm seeing..." she said, blinking slowly.

Nakamura stopped the redhead. "I got this one, Milton."

The match began and, to Veronica, it looked more like a slap fight that ended with Nakamura throwing Yamazaki out of the ring.

"Nakamura stomp!" the crowd cheered, shouting out his victory chant. "Nakamura stomp! Nakamura stomp! Nakamura stomp!"

The right stomp sent Veronica crashing into Kim who fell to the floor. The left stomp sent the boys into the lockers. And the final stomp... sent Nakamura right through the floor and into the basement.

"Well," Rudy said with a smile, looking through the hole. "Look who dropped in."

Veronica followed his gaze, seeing Nakamura on top of Lonnie. "Do I wanna know?" she asked her uncle.

"No, I don't think you do."

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━ author's note:

nothing will ever beat kim and ronnie's friendship—they're just two girls trying to survive with four teenage boys... i love girls being girls

( milton and ronnie are a close second though )

and jack is a sweetheart and... why couldn't he have been real when i was in high school?