Chapter Text
Mitch misses the spellers.
The 26th bee was a couple months ago, and he couldn't explain his shock when all the same six faces walked in like they had some sort of plan. Like this was their plan. And that made him realize it--Mitch misses those goddamn spellers.
He wasn't used to saying things like that. Mitch is tough, and doesn't make many friends like that, because who's friends with an ex-convict, but it was true. He really did miss them.
...So he pulled out an old phonebook and started finding parents. Soon enough, it was a plan.
---
Big day. Mitch had it circled on his calendar. June 23rd. Finally.
Now, he was just waiting in a parking lot for these kids to show up. Which, is good for him apparently, because in just a matter of minutes, A tall-for-his-age boy with bright ginger hair, a helmet and the most weird mix of colors across his clothes comes darting towards him. His mother and father were already left behind by their car, not bothering to chase after Leaf. Marigold chucks a bottle on sunscreen at his head--which is stopped by his helmet--through the window before they all take off.
"HI MITCH!!!" Leaf jumps, his hands in fists so tight his knuckles went white for a moment. Mitch giggles at how energetic and happy this makes Leaf, smiling as he rambles about after the bee. "It was so exciting and everybody was there and- and- and- Marcy looked so cool and- Chip was really confident again and-" Leaf was losing his breath, a girl in the background turning at the mention of herself. None other than Marcy.
She looked awesome now. There was a cross necklace dangling from her neck and mauve streaks in her (now a bit choppy) black hair. Marcy was wearing black Doc Martens, a few bracelets she got from Leaf at the 26th bee, silver earrings she'd secretly taken from her mother, blue biking shorts that her mother insisted she wear, and a black sweater thats a half-size too big for her over a plain white t-shirt. Leaf hugged her with the same exclaimed greeting he gave Mitch.
"Hey," Marcy smiles, Leaf saying it back profusely. Mitch giggles.
"You look wicked, Marce," He adds to the (very little) conversation.
"Thank you, my mom doesn't like it, though."
"Your mom is a loser, then."
They sat and waited for a moment, Leaf and Marcy talking about their accessories together--considering they were a bit overdecorated--before an exasperated voice comes from the other end of the parking lot.
"Now, Willy--"
"William," William rolls his eyes, his arms crossed.
"Will, be nice," His father orders. "She's your stepmother."
"Ugh," scoffs William.
"You sunburn easily," Sheila practically announces as if they couldn't hear her enough already. "Keep it with you, mmkay?"
"Whatever."
William's dad ruffles his hair before they take off.
"So annoying..."
"Hey, Will," Marcy looks away from Leaf for a moment.
"Hey," William's still a bit agitated from Sheila's annoying attempts to act like his real mother.
"Hi, William!!!" Leaf smiles. "Wanna sit with us?"
"Pretty sure he's got nothin' else to do," Mitch mutters.
After another few-minute wait, Mitch hears the voices of two overbearing fathers. His head turns.
"Keep track of your blood sugar, sweetie," Dan advises, handing her what seems like a small basket-like thing with stuff to help regulate her blood sugar.
"I will!" Logainne's hands move to her hips as she straightens her posture.
"Get something for Peggy," Carl's careful to not say 'BM' this time around. Dan pulls out his camera, getting a photo of Logainne all dressed in one of those surfer dude button ups that she likely got from Carl. Logainne smiles, getting her picture and a kiss on the forehead from Dan before her two dads leave as they wave her goodbye.
"Hi Logainne!!" Leaf signals her over. He points to one of her pins, telling her its cool, as Marcy and William talk about the 26th bee finals.
"Hi!!!" Logainne seems very excited. Marcy turns and smiles.
"Hey, Lo."
"Hi, Logainne!" William's voice is slightly less monotonous than usual.
As those spellers converse, Mitch was the only one to notice the appearance that seemed to take the place of Logainne's fathers after their departure.
"Mama, i'm not a little kid anymore!" The now-freshman tells his mom as he gathers his stuff, which just seemed to be his headphones. "I'm not going to get anxious, i'm not gonna die, i'll be just fine!"
"I'm just looking out for you, sweetheart," his mother begins with that. Chip--who is still in that scout uniform he wears all the time--crosses his arms. "A bunch of people aren't exactly best for y--"
"Mama," Chip almost scoffs, but remembers exactly who his mother is. "I'm going to live. I'll be fine. Plus, I can deal with it! I'm 14, I can do things on my own. I've handled it since I was 12, i'll be just fine."
His mother smiles at how he seems to have grown. His mother smiles, Chip lightheartedly rolls his eyes, before walking over to the other spellers.
"...You still call your mom 'Mama'?" William's already starting with this.
"Would you shut up?!" Chip lashes out, his short temper evident (if it already wasn't). "...Sorry," Chip apologizes, yet he doesn't mean it much. Mostly because its William. He just yells like that, I guess.
"How Chip-like of you to completely avoid the question and just yell instead," William continues to taunt, holding back a laugh. "Mature, especially for a high-schooler..."
"Oh my god," The scout rolls his eyes. Chip did that so much Mitch was convinced they'd get stuck there. "Whatever."
"Whatcha been up to, champ?" Mitch asks, trying to turn the conversation away from William's teasing.
"Mostly...getting ready for high school. Mama's getting all worried cuz she think's its 'too many people'," Chip mocks his mother in a way that makes Mitch remember what he'd get for doing that. "Oh, and scouts starts again next week," Chip seems very elated because of that, having to take a breath to calm himself from the thrill.
"Woah, is scouts cool!?" Leaf looks down at Chip, suddenly rushing over to bombard his questions about it. "Will always says its a loser thing that only losers like loser Chip does. But I think you're pretty cool, because being a scout means you're like, really strong and smart and stuff, right?"
"Um," Chip's face heats up a bit. "Y-Yeah. I'm pretty cool," His voice is less confident, more just trying to hide that he's actually a bit swayed by the compliment.
”Hah, i’m sure you’d agree that Leaf is pretty…” William starts. “…thats it.”
”Shut up!”
”Chip’s my bro!”
"Wheres--" Before Mitch can ask where she is, William's excited tone cuts through.
"Oli!" He cheers, Olive walking over in a similar outfit to the bee, wearing overalls over a white button up, her overalls now a sweet, light shade of blue.
“Sorry,” mumbles the little girl. “Am I late?”
“Not at all,” Mitch reassures. “You’re right on time.”
”There was traffic on the bus,” Olive tries to explain.
”You’re okay, Olive.”
Olive beams at the reassurance.
”So…” Mitch starts. “Do we set off on our speller journey?”
Leaf jumps with excitement. Olive nods. William just complies with whatever Olive wants. Logainne fixes her posture again and nods once, as does Marcy. Chip salutes like he does in scouts, but not without William calling him a nerd. That resulted in more bickering.
And yet, soon, they were off.