"Okay Slurpy, now's your chance! Tell her how you feel!"

Slurpy huffed. "Shelly, I.." she trailed off, and shut her eyes tightly, gritting her teeth. "No. You know what, Party Hat? No."

"What?" Shelly jerked upwards, eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" Party Hat exclaimed, his rise in voice crackling through the earpiece. "I thought you said you wanted this?"

Shelly moved closer to Slurpy, worried. "What's wrong, Slurpy?"

"Sorry Shelly, I'll explain later," Slurpy waved her hand. Her attention turned back to Party Hat. "I said I might have feelings for her, you were the one that jumped to conclusions!"

"B-But, the way you talked about it, I thought-"

"Yeah, you thought," she hissed, "but not everyone is denying their feelings or whatever!"

"Okay, okay, I can make it up to you!" Party Hat pleaded. "Who do you actually like, then?"

Slurpy sighed. She was tired of this. "You don't get it. I don't-"

"Um-" Shelly had backed away from the argument, but something didn't sit right with her. "Didn't you tell me you thought you liked Party Hat?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Party Hat burst out. "I would've happily-"

"I didn't, because one, you like Shieldy, and two-" she put a hand to her forehead. "Stay in your room. I'll talk to you there."

Party Hat went silent, and the connection cut. Slurpy flopped onto the ground, taking deep breaths to slow her racing heartbeat. She hated this. Shelly's shadow blocked out the sun.

"Are- Are you okay?" she squeaked.

Slurpy took a moment to respond. "Been better. I should've known this was going to happen, anyway."

Shelly flushed, but couldn't bring herself to mention the elephant in the room. They'd talk about it later, when Slurpy wasn't already drained. "You should...probably go. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah." Slurpy pushed herself upwards. "Talk to you later."

She hopped into the shared cabin and up to Party Hat's room. Her hand trembled, hesitating on the door handle. Might as well get it over with. She pushed down and entered. Party Hat jumped, and sat upright on the bed.

"...hey."

"Hey. So, about what ha-"

"I'm really sorry!" he cried out, "I didn't mean to miscommunicate! I-I just thought you were having trouble with your feelings, so I wanted to help you, and-"

"Party Hat, stop." Slurpy raised her voice. Party Hat fell silent. "You were just trying to help, I get it..and I should've told you from the beginning." She hopped closer. "I think I was just confused with how I felt. I was trying to convince myself I was normal, so...I kind of lied to myself."

"So, you don't have feelings for me, either?"

"No. And I've never felt that way about anyone, really."

Party Hat nodded, then looked up at Slurpy and cracked a smile. "Well," he hopped off the bed and bumped Slurpy friendlily, "that's okay if you don't like anyone romantically. It doesn't make you any less normal. And, hey, I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me. We're still friends, I hope?"

Slurpy nodded, smiling as well. "Of course."