"Okay, Pepper. It's just one day. It's the same as any other day."

It's a blank-faced lie, and Pepper knows it. It could be the most important day of her life, like any day could be... and, as usual, she knows it so well it hurts.

She takes a deep breath.

'Okay, so, like, an itinerary. Whatever Salty-Salt wants, I'm prepared for it. We could go to a concert, or go on a walk, or a picnic. It'd be all Salt's choice, of course. And then, at the right moment... Bam. I might confess.'

It's like any other day in that it's special. It's not like she ever looks in the mirror and tells herself she won't confess the way her heart races.

'Of course, maybe it's because, I figured she knew for such a long time. Then she went and picked him, and... ugh.'

Is it really a lie or not? ...Ugh.

She leaves the hotel bathroom and looks around the hotel lobby. Bomb is playing video games against Pickle and winning, the Cherries and Cheesy are huddled together in a corner, and Yin-Yang is shouting while cleaning snot.

It's certainly looking like a special day.

"Oh hey! Pepper! You should, like, join me in the tub, darling!" Water swirls around Salt and runs down her glass sides, catching off the light above them. Pepper stares for a second, then climbs in beside her. Salt leans back and sighs. "Mmmh, how was your day? My day was great, OJ looked at me~"

'Not HIM again.' Pepper bites down the insult that comes to mind and says, "Oh, you'd like to know. The day's young, but I think today's a day to leave the hotel and get a change of scenery.

"Oh... I'd rather stay here... I see OJ over there and I think this is a nice scenery..." Salt locks her hands together and smiles sweetly, staring. "He's so cute... What do you think, Peppy?"

"He's okay, but he's also boring and ugly."

Salt rolls her eyes. "Oh, you're just jealous. See, he's absolutely perfect... and I'm going to marry him one day."

"No you're not," OJ deadpans as he passes.

"Aw, he's in denial, isn't that cute?"

'How doesn't she see it? It's obvious he doesn't care! ...Sheesh, how'd she react if she knew? It'd either crush her or she wouldn't care; there's no, like, in between.'

'That's a coin toss from heck.' Pepper instead thinks of a different response: "Well, maybe you should try to pretend-date someone else to make him jealous, prove that you're girlfriend material." 'Or fall in love with your fake boyfriend, IE me.'

"...Pfft, that's so cliche, Pepper. I already know he likes me, why would I go and do a thing like that?"

'It was worth a shot.'

Salt waves at OJ, who completely ignores her. Salt blushes.

Pepper considers pushing the issue and hoping for the best, but opts not to.

"Fine. Good luck with your... 'boyfriend'." She enclosed it in air-quotes.

"Are we going to have a problem here?" Salt snarls.

"Uh, no! Not if you don't make a problem! I've never even been on a date, so, like, take what I say with a grain of salt." She flicks Salt between the eyes.

Salt backs off with a chuckle, much to Pepper's surprise. "I forgive you for being naive. Come with me, Darling; I'll show you what real chemistry looks like."

Salt doesn't even bother grabbing a towel before she walks off. Pepper pats herself down briefly with one, then runs to catch up with Salt.

Honestly, she'd follow her to the end of the world; following her going into a trainwreck is nothing by comparison.

OJ is reading when they came by. Salt grins radiantly, while Pepper scowls behind her like a shadow. "Ayyo, snookums! Can we, like, go on a date today? I know you feel something tooooo..."

"Ugh! You mean like the undeniable urge to vomit? Hey Pepper, do you guys need-"

"Don't talk to her. Hey OJ, come on, let's go on a little date. It'll be fun!"

'He's so boring, I have no clue what she sees in him... but anyone has to be pitied when Salt the determinator's wants something from them.'

(If only Salt liked someone who liked her back. Then she'd be take-over-the-world unstoppable.)

"No! You're way too forceful; haven't you caused me enough problems? I'm not interested! I'd rather you went somewhere else."

"Oh, come on, you don't mean that." Her smile drops. "...Do you?"

OJ looks conflicted, as if torn between consoling her and remaining firm. Finally, he says, "I'm sorry."

Call it BCFF's intuition, but Pepper can tell Salt's world is crumbling.

This isn't a typical disappointment. This is advanced disappointment.

This is rejection.

Salt laughs uneasily.

Pepper doesn't know how to feel, but it hurt to even watch her hold back her tears, so she interrupts, "Come on, Salt. Let's... find something else to do."

Salt just stares at OJ, shifting uneasily. "I... I think I get it now... Uhm, thanks for telling me. I think an 'I'm not interested' would have been fine too, though."

"...I'm... I'm sure there are other people out there interested in dating you, though?" OJ says, awkwardly gesturing around. Most of the eyes in the hotel are on them at this point. "J-just go and find them?"

"...I think I'm done with that at the moment..." Salt replies half-heartedly and finally heeds Pepper, tugging her arm. "Let's go, Pep."

Pepper lets herself be pulled along. There's dead silence between them as Salt leads her... well, somewhere.

'Is it normal to have mixed feelings like this? Like... Is feeling happy over this stuff what BCFFs do? ...Maybe?'

As soon as they step in the elevator, Salt looks down. "...Well, that went so well..."

Pepper feels a surge of pity. '...Yeah, maybe I should keep that under wraps. It's probably not the best day for a love confession, either.'

A day different from the rest.

"Take all the time you need. But, um, I'm here for you." Pepper hesitantly gives her a single pat on the shoulder.

"...mhm..." Salt folds her arms and looks away.

"Salty-Salt, it's okay. There are much better fish in the sea than him, because he's boring and ugly. You can get Vitamin C from, like, the sun or something."

'It's not as if I'm much better. If he's bland, agreeable, and boring, then I'm all that but spiteful. And not a millionaire.'

The elevator door opens, and they step out. "Mmph, I guess, but I really liked him. He was the one there for me when you weren't, way back in season..."

"It's not like you couldn't have visited me on the Island or whatever," Pepper says, sounding acerbic but not really intending to. She hastily adds, "But that's all behind us now. He just isn't worth your time."

They come to a stop in front of their shared room, the sixth door on the second floor. "Maybe. I'm gonna take a nap to clear my head a little..."

"Okay, I'll see you later, BCFF." Pepper makes to leave, but Salt clings to her arm again.

"...Hey this might like, uhm... sound weird or something, but I don't want you to take the wrong way... but... You wanna maybe take a nap with me? I kinda don't want to be left alone right-"

"Yep! Nappy BCFFs, NBCFFs, to the end, right?"

Despite Salt's warning, she's taking it entirely the wrong way. 'OMG. A nap with Salty-Salt? Awesome. She'll probably be crying the whole time, but it'll be okay because I am her loyal friend. And someday, we'll be married!'

Salt looks slightly confused, but chuckles as she fiddles with the room's key. She grabs Pepper's hand ('oh God, it's warm,' Pepper thinks) and leads her in.

"See, this can be like, a little sleepover, isn't that nice?"

"Just like before the show!"

As Pepper shuts the door behind them, Salt falls backwards onto her bed. Its red covers were balled up at one end (unlike Pepper's pristinely-made blue-covered bed). She pats down a spot beside her. "Come here, Pepper~"

Pepper sits beside her, forcing herself not to smile too widely as Salt lays back, closing her eyes. Pepper is left to look at her and try to get comfortable without a pillow or blanket.

'Still, we've done this before. Just one nap isn't going to change anything. Just try and relax... And eventually sleep will come.'

Several minutes pass before Pepper's pulse calms, and it's a bit of a challenge to get to sleep without a pillow and with her legs dangling off the side of the bed. Still, sleep overcomes her within ten minutes.

The only sound in the room is the sound of Salt's uneven breathing as she quietly contemplates the day's disappointments.