AFTER GIVING KIM her half of the muffins (which Kat was sad about) the trio found themselves back at the subway station, with Kat carrying Riley's belongings box.

"I gave my whole life to that company. What happened? I can't even keep a fake job. Oh no, all of my fears are realized. I'm going to end up here!" Riley rambled, still reeling from the events earlier that day.

Kat shook her head, trying to reassure her friend. "Riles, don't go crazy, okay?"

But just as she tried to console her, another person slipped a dollar into Riley's box.

Kat's face twists slightly before she sighs in defeat. "Okay...now go crazy."

Riley wandered off, followed by the girls, muttering nonsensical words before joining the Crazy-Hat lady on the bench once again.

"Ah, the box of shame. What happened?" Crazy-Hat inquired, her curiosity piqued.

"Class project. Fake business," Maya summed it up.

"Got fired," Riley added.

"Even though I wasn't apart of the damn company!" Katherine complained, her face twisting at the thought. "How does that even happen, man?"

Crazy-Hat offered a reassuring perspective. "Not so terrible. I've been fired myself once or twice."

"Yeah, but probably not from fake businesses," Kat insisted.

The woman shot back with conviction. "I think you could call 'em that. Now I come down here and watch people coming and going, giving their lives to fake businesses." With a sudden burst of energy, she stood up. "Well, gotta run! Big meeting!"

As they watched her leave, Maya mocked, "With squirrels," mimicking a tiny squirrel.

But before the Crazy-Hat lady could fully depart, Riley retrieved the dollar from her box and handed it to her. The woman stares at it for a moment before accepting it. "Yeah. Thanks," she muttered, giving them a pointed glance before walking away.

A sigh later, Riley voiced her frustration as she sat back down. "It's just us. It's just us on the bench. No jobs, no future, no dollar, because I gave it to her. What am I gonna do about my mid-afternoon snack?"

"I got pizza crust and a shoe," Maya revealed, rummaging through the trash.

Riley's response was immediate. "What size?"

"10!"

She huffed out a breath. "What a terrible day."

⤵︎

AFTER ABOUT AN hour, the Crazy-Hat lady came back into the station, noticing that the girls were still there, their faces still all gloomy from their situation.

She chuckled as she approached them. "Well, look who's still here. My dollies. Been looking at the people, huh?" she teased from behind their bench.

"Hey, hat, always a pleasure to see you," Maya greeted warmly.

"How'd your meeting go?" Kat questioned.

"Oh, the usual. Yelled at everybody. Y'know, rahr rahr rah! Rahr rahr rah! Had 'em all running around scared of me," Crazy-Hat recounted with her usual sprinkle of aggressiveness.

"Sounds like a blast," Maya remarked, softly grinning.

"It's even more fun when I come down here from my big, tall building," she explained, taking a seat next to them.

Riley raised her brows. "Oh, your building?"

"It was named after me," she declared proudly.

Maya furrowed her brow. "The Crazy-Hat building?"

Ignoring the comment, Crazy-Hat continued. "I sit here, watching all the people, because it turns out, other people are the key to your own happiness. I watch 'em enough, and I start thinking about what I can do for them."

Kat's expression shifts at her words. "Huh...I've never thought about it like that, actually."

"What do you mean?" Crazy-Hat turned to face her.

The apple-haired girl pursed her lips. "Most of the time, when I'm people watching, I just—wonder about who they are...not about what I can do for them."

Crazy-Hat nudged her shoulder playfully. "Well, now that you've been observing all these people, what do you see? What can you do for them?"

Together, they observed a group of people rushing past, some struggling with umbrellas that weren't necessarily in the greatest condition for the weather.

"I see a bunch of wet people who could probably use some real umbrellas," Kat remarked, her gaze lingering on the bustling crowd.

"Yeah, not the no-good kind some Farkle sells on the street just to make some cash, cabbage, cheddah-cheese," Maya quipped.

Crazy-Hat turned to Maya with a curious expression. "Huh. You noticed all that just by looking a little... What's a Farkle?"

As they conversed, a man approached from the left, who had used his coat to shield a precious donut from the rain.

"Did you know that people won't protect themselves from the storm, but they'll make sure their morning doughnut stays dry?" Maya observed with a hint of disbelief.

"Interesting observation. Now what are you gonna tell your class about it?" Crazy-Hat inquired of her.

"Nothing. Not going back. Tired of being humiliated," Maya retorted.

Crazy-Hat coughed out a sigh at her tone. "Tough."

A sudden rush of determination floods all around Kat then. "No..." she roughly trailed off as she rose from the bench. "You know what? The three of us are going back to school to show them they can't just do this to us... I mean, Crazy-Hat goes into buildings, screams at people, and she's not humiliated, right?"

"Rahr!" Crazy-Hat bellowed in agreement.

"Rrow!" Kat and Riley joined in together, mimicking her energy.

Their eyes turned to Maya, who hesitated for a moment before reluctantly joining in. "Okay, rahr."

Crazy-Hat's disapproval was palpable. "That was terrible!"

With a confident stride, Kat led the way out of the subway, with Riley and Maya following close behind, their minds abuzz with ideas for their return to school tomorrow.

⤵︎

A GENIUS IDEA later, which was all thanks to the smart brain of Katherine Decker, the girls were now back in history class the next day, presenting their new company.

"It's been raining for six days. Here's what's real about now: People are wet and cold out there. They need something to keep them safe from the storm, and we know how to give it to them," Kat declared, kicking off their proposal with a sense of purpose.

"What if every single subway stop in New York City was stocked with donated umbrellas?" Maya proposed to their classmates.

"The RMK foundation. It's non-profit," Riley announced confidently, revealing their plan.

"What?!" Farkle exclaimed, clearly caught off guard at her last three words.

Minding past his reaction, Kat continued with their presentation, "When you come into the subway station, you leave an umbrella in the stand-"

"And when you leave the next station, there'll be one waiting for you," Riley concluded.

Maya grabs a design folder from Cory's desk. "The RMK foundation."

Riley grabbed another. "We got you covered."

"Because I'm an amazing genius," Kat chimed in, seizing the last folder with a smirk.

However, Farkle interjected with skepticism, "There's no money in umbrellas."

"No, Farkle. Only people."

"My company makes a profit," Farkle argued.

"Yeah, but at what cost? Look at your customers," Riley challenged, gesturing to the classmates around him.

A classmate spoke up with a hint of regret, "How could something that tastes so good make me feel so bad?"

Maya offered a wry smile at his circumstances. "What goes up must come down, Farkle." She tossed a muffin to a classmate, watching as they surprisingly enjoyed it.

Still unconvinced, Farkle persisted, "At least I was up. What do you have besides an idea?"

Suddenly, a voice boomed into the room, "They've got an investor!"

Everyone turns their attention there to see Crazy-Hat lady standing in the doorway.

"Oh no," Riley muttered in fear.

"She followed us," Maya whimpered.

"We're gonna get kidnapped at school?!" Kat exclaimed, her hand instinctively clutching her chest in panic.

However, Cory's delighted to see her, revealing her identity. "Evelyn Rand."

Kat arched an eyebrow in surprise. "You know Crazy-Hat?"

"I know she's the chairman of the board of Rand Industries. You guys walk by her building on the way to school," Cory revealed more about her.

Riley's expression morphed into a shock one. "She really has a building?"

"With her name on it."

Evelyn chuckled. "You'll usually find me on the top floor of my building going, 'rahr rahr rah!'" She strolled over to the girls. "You three dollies want to know how I got my name on the building?"

"I do!" Cory exclaimed eagerly instead.

"By knowing a good idea when I hear one." Evelyn reached into her purse and produced something to give to Kat. "So I've made out a check to the three dollies."

Kat's eyes widened at the sight of the check, especially at the amount written on it. "You can do that?"

"I can do whatever I want," Evelyn affirmed. "Now what I want you to do is go get some umbrellas, go get 'em in some subway stations. You start. The people will do the rest. I believe in them. I've watched them...Now which one is the Farkle?"

The genius himself suddenly slumped into his seat, realizing the implications of Evelyn's words.

Despite that, she slowly approaches him, humming softly to herself. When she was mere inches away, Evelyn exclaimed, "Stop it!" causing Farkle to flinch involuntarily. However, instead of reprimanding him further, she reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out a dollar bill, holding it out to him.

"Now, this is $1.00, Farkle. Somebody earned it through hard work. Not by inflating people with something you knew would disappoint them," she lectured. "Don't hold onto the dollar. It won't fix you if you do. Pass it on. That's what changes you, Farkle. Take it from me."

He takes it from her, nodding. "Dank je wel." (Thank you).

"Graag Gedaan," Crazy-Hat replied. (You're welcome).

She returned to her girls with a sweet smile. "And, you three, don't worry too much about your future."

"Really?" Riley asked, hopeful.

"Absolutely. You three dollies, you're going to be just fine. Now, here's your first umbrella," she handed her umbrella to Kat, then placed her hat on Maya, leaving the blonde beaming.

Making her way to the door, she paused and glanced back at the teacher. "Nice work, Dad. You really think you can make a difference in these kids' lives?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm their teacher," Cory affirmed.

"Good for you," she nodded before exiting, closing the door behind her.

As she left, Lucas stood up and approached the girls. "Kat, if it's at all possible, I'd like to help out with your company."

Kat pouted playfully. "Awwww..." she trails off before turning to her girls. "You two can wait for me outside. I have to talk to our potential worker here."

They nodded and exited the room, leaving Kat and Lucas standing in-front of each other, not even caring about the many pairs of eyes around them.

"Hmh, why aren't you such a sweetheart for wanting to help," she remarked, wrapping her arms around her back. "Well, here's the sad news, cowboy; I'm the boss, and this boss is saying," she took a step closer to Lucas, tip-toeing to bring herself eye level with him, "we don't allow cowboys or obnoxious boys, for that matter, to work for us..Whoops."

A defeated sigh escaped Lucas then as a grin spread across his face.

"Maya..." Kat called out, glancing over her shoulder. "How does your thing go again?"

"Ha-huuurrrr!" Maya echoed from the hallway.

Kat nodded with a smirk. "Oh yeah..." She turned back to Lucas and widened her smirk. "Ha-hurrrrr!" she yelled obnoxiously, going right up to his face, mimicking Maya's signature noise from the day before.

Lucas's grin only widened at her playful imitation, a reaction that almost made Kat want to wipe it off his face. But at that moment, she decided to let it slide.

As she took a step back, she gazed at Lucas all smugly. "Hmmm," she hummed, satisfied at her doings. "Well that was relieving," she added, before strutting out the door.

After watching her go, Lucas shook his head, his grin still hazily there on his lips. "Yeah, I had that coming."

lani's talking!

wow i can't believe we're twenty chapters in WOHOOOO everybody CLAP

still want to finish this book by the end of summer, or atleast until i go back to school I'm august so fingers-crossed that i can 🤞🏼

but anyways, thank you all for reading and continuing your support for this story, it means a lot to see new people start to read, vote and comment so if you're binging this story, hiii! but yeah, again thank you for the support and i will see you all later!

byeeee <3