Chapter Eight - The Plan
The mood was tense in
Blossom's room the next afternoon.
Blossom had brought
Buttercup and Bubbles into her room for a meeting to plan how to get Miss
Bellum and Ms. Keane back together. Buttercup and Bubbles were sitting
on Blossom's bed while Blossom stood by her desk. The three Girls were
dressed in camouflage outfits, in their respective colors. But the serious
subject wasn't what made them tense. That was because of the fourth person
in the room. Andra.
Buttercup hadn't wanted
Andra to come. The Powerpuff Girls could handle this easily. But Blossom
insisted on having Andra attend. "She's friends with Ms. Keane and Miss
Bellum too. She's helped us from the start, so she's going to help finish
it." Buttercup had reluctantly agreed to let Andra help, but was making
it very clear she wasn't entirely comfortable with her ex-girlfriend's
presence.
Andra wasn't much more
comfortable. She'd been excited when Blossom had called and invited her
to help get MIss Bellum and Ms. Keane back together, but now actually being
in Blossom's bedroom, sitting in the desk chair not five feet away from
Buttercup. . . . Andra could think of half a dozen other places she'd rather
be.
"Okay, everybody,"
Blossom said in her 'leader' voice. "Welcome to Operation I Love You. OUr
mission: to reunite Miss Bellum and Ms. Keane by any means necessary."
Buttercup leaned over
to Bubbles and whispered, "This message will self destruct in five seconds."
Blossom glared at Buttercup,
but a smile was tugging at the corner of her mouth, so it wasn't very menacing.
"Bubbles tells me she has already devised a plan for the first stage of
our operation. Bubbles?" Blossom perched on the edge of her desk while
Bubbles stood up.
"Um, yeah. So I thought
that maybe we could take Miss Bellum and Ms. Keane out on a date. Like,
what if I took Ms. Keane to a movie, then Buttercup came in with Miss Bellum
after the theatre was dark so they ended up sitting next to eachother without
even knowing it."
"What if they kill
eachother as soon as the lights come up?" Buttercup asked.
"They aren't like that,"
Andra said. She glanced at Buttercup, but quickly focused her attention
on Blossom. "They might be shocked and surprised, and they won't decide
right then to have a big heart to heart, but they'll have to say something
and be civil. Especially if two of you are there."
"I think it's worth
a try," Blossom said. "Bubbles, will you take Miss Bellum? Buttercup, you
take Ms. Keane, all right?"
"Yeah," Buttercup said.
She glanced at Andra, then back to Blossom. "What about you?"
Blossom shrugged. "You
two can handle this by yourselves. When do you want to go?"
"Friday night the new
Spider-Man movie opens," Andra offered. "I don't know how much Miss Bellum
or Ms. Keane want to see it, but it'll be so crowded you can easily arrange
to sit next to eachother." She didn't mention that she knew Buttercup already
had two tickets. They'd been planning on going together ever since they
knew when it was coming out. Buttercup had bought the tickets the day before
the picnic.
"Can we still get tickets
for that?" Bubbles asked.
"Go online. Buy two
for the nine o'clock show. I've already got two for that show." Buttercup
defiantly met Andra's gaze now. She wasn't sullen anymore. Now she was
challenging Andra to say anything. Andra didn't rise to the challenge.
She looked down and studied the carpet intently.
"I'll ask the Professor
tonight if we can use his credit card to buy the tickets," Blossom said.
"Buttercup and Bubbles? Go ask Miss Bellum and Ms. Keane to join you for
a movie Friday."
"Now?" Bubbles asked.
Blossom shrugged. "Might
as well. Besides, you need to make sure Miss Bellum doesn't make plans
with Kandy on Friday night."
Bubbles nodded and
flew out through Blossom's window. Buttercup followed.
Andra rested her chin
on the back of the chair. "I don't know if having me here was a good idea."
"Andra, I know you're
worried about Miss Bellum and Ms. Keane, too. Buttercup's going to have
to learn to live with you."
"Aren't you a little
uncomfortable around me?"
Blossom shrugged. "I
was at first. I have a responsibility to Buttercup, you know. But I'm friends
with you, too."
Andra smiled. "Thanks,
Blossom."
"You were supposed
to go to Spider-Man on Friday with Buttercup, weren't you?"
"Yeah," Andra whispered.
She'd gone back to studying the carpet.
"How about I get tickets
for us on Friday, too. I want to see the movie anyways. It's more fun to
go with someone else."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive." Blossom
put an arm around Andra's shoulder and began leading her to the door. "I'll
pick you up around 8:30."
Andra winced. "Are
we flying?"
"Do you want the Professor
to drive us?"
"I suppose not. And
flying will be quicker."
"It'll be a nice, gentle
flight. I promise."
Miss Bellum took off her reading glasses. "Hello, Bubbles." She glanced out the window. "Are Buttercup or Blossom with you?"
"Nope, it's just me."
"All right. What brings you here?"
"Well. . . I have tickets to go see Spider-Man on Friday, but my date had to. . . um. . . go out of town on a family thing. Neither Buttercup or Blossom wants to go with me, so I was wondering if you would."
"I'd love to, Bubbles."
"Yea!"
"But you already have plans to go with me!" Kandy whined. She'd entered the office just in time to hear Bubbles' invitation.
Miss Bellum glanced at her desk calendar quickly. "No, I don't."
"Well, I mean, I was just going to ask you," Kandy stumbled.
Miss Bellum looked back and forth between the two young women in her office. Going with Kandy would be more fun. Kandy was an adult that MIss Bellum could make jokes and comment on the lead woman's body with. Bubbles was pretty much a teeny bopper. Most likely she was going just to swoon over Spider-Man. But the Girl looked so hopeful, and she had asked first. "But Bubbles did ask me first. I'll go with her tonight and we can do something later this weekend."
Kandy frowned slightly. "All right." She put on a bright smile. "I'll find another way to amuse myself this weekend. Have fun, you two." She turned around and immediately a glower replaced her smile. But her body language betrayed nothing as she left Miss Bellum and Bubbles behind to make their plans.
Buttercup rolled her eyes. "Ms. Keane, you don't have any other plans. C'mon, you haven't left this room since Saturday, have you?"
"Well, no."
"So it'll be fun to go out! Just us women, going out to see the action film event of the summer!" She pantomimed throwing a web like Spider-Man.
Ms. Keane laughed at Buttercup's enthusiasm. "I've never been a fan of action movies, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get out for a few hours."
"All right! I'll come over here around 7:30 so you can drive us to the theater."
"It doesn't take an hour and a half to drive to the movies."
Buttercup rolled her eyes. "But we have to get there early so we can get good seats. The showing's probably sold out by now."
"All right, then. 7:30, Friday night. I'll be here." Buttercup nodded, then flew back out the window, towards her house.