It had been a day since I'd spoken to the boys, and I felt kinda bad for how I'd acted, driving off like that.

I found Bill and Ted alone, sitting outside the Circle K and playing a game of chubby bunny.

At first, I considered walking right past them and pretending I didn't notice, just to avoid a confrontation if they were mad, but I figured, these guys were some of the only friends I had, and losing them would be.... heinous.

Awkwardly, I wandered over to them and sat down on the curb.

"Hey guys," I mumbled. Bill looked at me, cheeks full of marshmallows. I didn't know it was physically possible to look that pissed off with your cheeks stretched so much.

I hung my head.

"I'm really sorry about after the concert. I didn't mean to act like a total dickweed...,"

Ted swallowed hard and cleared his throat from all the marshmallow fluff.

"That dude was the total dickweed. Don't you remember what he said to us?"

"Well technically, it was his band. He didn't actually say anything. He's pretty nice," I defended.

"Oh I bet you got to know him," Ted said dejectedly. I knew what he was referring to.

"Oh, like you got to know those girls?" I quipped back.

Ted opened his mouth to shout something back at me, but I put my hand on his leg and he suddenly stopped.

Bill picked up where Ted left off.

"Okay, maybe we were all dickweeds after Conglomerate, but that dude seems fishy either way." Bill scowled in thought.

I was getting a little frustrated, and regretted talking to them.

"Are you guys gonna lecture me about Alonso and how bad he is, or can I go get my drink?" I huffed. Ted grabbed my hand to try and make me stay.

"You're the one lecturing us, dude!" Bill cried, squinting at me. "Ted, let her go."

I scowled and stood up, turning away. With my back to them, I thought up the perfect plan.

"Fine, I'll go," I snapped, "but one last thing... Losersayswhat?"

"....what?" They said at the same time.

"Exactly," I smirked, walking into the Circle K.

It took them a full minute before they barged in after me to tackle me.

Ted had me pinned against the back cooler, and Bill had me in a headlock and was ruffling my hair. The tension had dropped and it turned into teasing.

"You dickweed!" Bill shouted, giving me a noogie. "You're awful!"

"You're losers, you're losers!" I shouted, kicking and squealing as Ted tried to tickle me.

"Say we're the best!" Ted demanded, tickling me as Bill held my arms against the back wall.

"You're --- the --- ahhh!!! ---- Best!" I shrieked between breaths. "STOOOPPPPP!!!"

"Say you love us!" Ted grinned, fingers working into my armpits. I kicked and wriggled around, half laughing, half screaming. I thrashed as his long fingers dug in to the soft parts of my sides.

"Stop stop stop stop I love you I LOVE YOU!!!" I yelled all in one breath.

One rogue foot later, and Bill was on the ground.

"Oh crap..... Bill... I'm sorry..."

Ted let me go and I dropped beside Bill. He gasped in pain.

I pulled him into my lap when I knelt down and patted his curls sheepishly.

"That's... twice... you got me in the jewels..." he panted painfully. His face was all red in embarrassment and he held on where it hurt. I cringed and rubbed his shoulders absently to distract him from the pain.

"I was gonna make a joke, but it's better if I don't...," Ted snickered a minute later.

"What?" Bill and I said. Ted reddened and shook his head with a giggle.

"Nahh, I'll get a kick myself," he covered himself defensively.

I batted my eyelashes at him, still patting Bill in my lap.

Ted squirmed, then finally cracked.

"I was gonna say.... are you gonna kiss him better?"

Bill and I colored violently, laughing in half-disgust, half-amusement at him.

When the laughing calmed down, Ted leaned his head on my shoulder and I put an arm around him. We were all still sitting on the floor of the Circle K.

"You guys are losers," I sighed happily. "We should get up now."

Ted rose first and offered me his hand, which easily engulfed mine. The two of us helped Bill to his feet, who was feeling better now. I kissed Bill on his temple, just where the curls stopped.

"Let this be a lesson never to tickle me again," I scolded, wagging my finger in their faces. Bill licked my finger. I screamed.

"C'mon dudes," Ted giggled, "Let's go play chubby bunny."

***

The three of us sat perched on top of the Stallyns' band van in the parking lot, stuffing marshmallows into our mouths. Bill had his head in my lap, which probably wasn't very good for breathing, but he liked when I patted his hair. My glasses were askew in a casual sort of way, because I didn't care enough to fix them.

Ted and I were back to back, using the solid pressure to keep us upright. Ted stole another marshmallow and worked it into his mouth.

"Chbby bnnmm--" Ted choked out.

Bill reached around for the bag, coughing a little as he got the marshmallow into his left cheek. He almost lost right then, and Ted and I were attentive.

"Cmmmm-y bmmmm-mm," he mumbled. That hardly counted as words, and I had to fight not to laugh.

I took a deep breath and tried not to gag as I worked another fluffy treat into my mouth.

"Chubbhhh bunnmmmy," I tried enunciating. The boys clapped. Ted coughed and threw his hand to his mouth.

Bill's throat looked like he was working to swallow as he quickly sat up. He leaned over the side of the band van and coughed, obviously not able to survive another round. Ted patted him on the back while he chewed.

"That's game," Bill said, rubbing his cheeks after they'd been stretched.

Ted choked and the two of us thumped him on the back.

When Ted stopped dying, he leaned against Bill and closed his eyes while I swallowed my marshmallows. For a minute, I actually thought Ted had gone to sleep. Bill had his arm around his best friend coolly and I kicked back to lay on the top of the van for a while, feet hanging off the edge.

"I love you guys, you know that?" I said to no one in particular. "You're the best."

"Thanks for backing us babe --dude," Ted was back to his mix-ups. Really, I didn't mind if he called me babe, whether he was interested in that girl from Arrowroot or not.

"We never had a real manager before," Bill covered, "so when River said you'd be interested, it was a most bodacious day."

"I'm just glad you guys were there in gym class. Just think how different life would be if you weren't."

I let the boys ponder for a minute before Ted piped up.

"We'd probably be riding the circuits of time right now. But we wouldn't have played two gigs."

"Circuits of time?" I repeated. Ted nodded without opening his eyes, still leaning on Bill, who was a headrest whether he liked it or not. Bill didn't really seem to mind either way.

"Yeah dude, this dude Rufus gave us a time machine last year for our history report. That's how we got those bodacious dudes and babes for our report!"

"Wait.... so you expect me to believe that you actually had Abe Lincoln and Socrates on stage with you?" I laughed.

"And Joan of Arc and Billy the Kid... they were most excellent personages from history!" Bill finished.

"Joanna and Elizabeth," Ted reminded Bill in an oddly dejected voice. Bill kinda shrugged.

"Oh yeah,"

"Who's Joanna and Elizabeth?" I asked.

Bill kinda looked down. "Two princesses from medieval England. We rescued them from having to marry two royal ugly dudes."

"We were gonna marry 'em, but...," Ted commented, but then he stopped. Whatever happened must have really hurt them.

"But something bogus happened," Bill finished. "So now we're sitting on a band van, and do you guys wanna play chubby bunny?"

He breathed out his last sentence as an obvious way to change the subject. I looked out at the horizon as the sky was turning pink.

"No chubby bunny," I said mischievously. "I wanna play Never Have I Ever."

The boys perked up up at this.

"Okay, five fingers up. You say something you've never done, and if one of us has done it, we put a finger down." I instructed. Ted sat up fully, alert now.

"I never saw a concert live that wasn't the one I managed," I began. Bill and Ted cursed and lowered a finger.

"I never walked in on my parents doing it," Ted stated. Bill grimaced and put a finger down, giving Ted a look.

"I never did it in a friend's bed," Bill stated. I always forgot this game got dirty, fast. No one put a finger down, and I breathed a little sigh of relief.

"I never traveled out of the country," I said, trying to turn the conversation clean again. Both boys gave me a look of disbelief and put a finger down.

"Not even Canada?" Ted exclaimed.

"Not even Canada,"

"We should go sometime," Bill said thoughtfully. We nodded.

"I never... smashed a window before," Ted looked smug, like he just knew something I didn't, an inside joke, judging by Bill's reaction. I cringed and put a finger down as the boys laughed. After Bill snickered and glared at Ted, he, too, lowered a finger.

"I never had anyone write a song for me," Bill commented. No one budged. That almost seemed sad.

Bill was at 2, Ted 3, and I had 4. This game was easy for me because I never did anything.

"I never did it with anyone," I said casually.

"Define did it," Ted mumbled.

"Third base or more," I blushed. Ted, very, very sheepishly, lowered a finger.

Bill's eyebrows went up in shock.

"That one time with Sammy Collins...third base...," I didn't know a human being could get so red.

"OH, oh yeah...," Bill remembered.

"Never have I ever... thought... I was the best looking person in the room..., like, of all the players," Ted said, barely audible.

No one put a finger down, and it surprised me a little, but then again, it really didn't. Self confidence was hard, especially for me, but sometimes I forgot that guys could be self conscious too. I snuggled up between them as a confidence boost. And also for warmth.

They nuzzled up to me, keeping me nice and warm, as Bill took his turn.

"Never have I ever gone skinny dipping," he snickered. No one moved. I tried my hardest not to picture Wyld Stallyns skinny dipping.

"Never have I ever seen someone in this group naked," I finalized, since we were on the topic. Bill swore.

"I'm out!"

I burst out laughing, knowing that he'd never seen me---I hope--- so he must have seen Ted. I knew it was probably just changing for swimming or something, but I didn't actually think one of them would respond.

"Shut up, dickweed!" Bill snapped, covering his very red face.

***

We stayed out on the band van together until it was well past dark. Ted had relinquished his jacket to me, and his other jacket to Bill to cover his chilly midriff. Now tangled up in clothes that smelled oh-so-much like Ted, I climbed into the van so they could take me home.

I curled up against Bill, hand on his chest, using the jacket as a blanket as Ted drove the car, left to ponder all this new information...

Never have I ever was always such an eye-opening game.