"Not long to go now, the new year's almost here. Here's to a better one than last year, mm?"

"Yeah, totally. This year fucking blows, I say good riddance and bring it on already."

"Sam, you say the same thing every year. What's your new year's resolution this time?"

"Ugh, I forgot to think one up."

"You two need to get real, when do we ever keep to our resolutions past the first week?"

"First day, more like!"

"You think my lazy ass can last 24 hours of bettering myself? Remind me how long we've been friends, Ty."

The three girls giggle, listening to the heavy rain and droplets of water rolling down Tyra's bedroom window.

"What a lousy new year's eve, I was looking forward to the skater punks wolf whistling me on the way down." Sam says sarcastically. "I could probably show 'em up, if they even know how to do... a half pipe, thingy."

Rachel grins, blowing on Tyra's nails as she looks up at her other best friend. "Right. Such a shame your board got snapped in half, so you can't prove it."

"Exactly! Such a shame, I'd ruin them... if I could."

"Isn't yours a longboard?" Tyra asks, tapping her feet on the carpet, looking down at her freshly painted nails.

"A wh- a, well, it is quite long. I thought bigger meant better."

"That thing's huge you idiot, how'd you even break it?"

"I used it to beat the crap out of Helena and her cronies, gave them all stitches!"

"Oh ha ha, I know you'd piss yourself if they even so much as walked in your direction."

"N-nuh-uh, I've got balls of steel. Figuretically speaking, I mean."

Tyra and Rachel burst out laughing, almost crying as her sides start to hurt, Sam just crossing her arms in a huff.

"F-fi-fffff... figuretically?" Tyra wheezes, rolling on her bed.

"I said what I said, you grammar Nazi!" The flustered tomboy throws a pillow at Tyra, before an amused Rachel chimes in after recomposing herself.

"Grammar? That's -pffffft- not even a word!"

"That's it, you're both in for it, never piss off a gamer!" Sam starts arming herself with as much ammunition she can, pillows, stuffed toys, individually packaged Twinkies.

"Oh no, Rach! Save yourself, she's going ultra instinct!"

"You nerds deserve each other, I'm gonna see if Lucy wants to come count in the new year with us, your dad's already in bed isn't he?"

"H-hey, don't call my mom Lucy, that's weird!"

"Surprise attack!" Sam throws herself onto the bed, launching a plush bunny into Tyra's face before she can react.

None of the three girls had noticed it was already three minutes past midnight, but none of them particularly cared. They had each other, year in, year out. Forever and always. They planned to move to the same city after school finished, attend the same college, visit the same places and hang out in Tyra's dorm... she was the designated eternal host, that was just the way it was.

...

Oh well, change is not always a bad thing. The girl's mother, Lucinda Dayone, had always told her to be happy for the times she's had rather than sad that they're gone. Apparently she had said the same thing when her best friend Maxine had gone missing, Sam's mother, but that was a long time ago and she was found! Maybe there's a lesson there, that lost times can return if you dig deep enough? Emboldened by a positive outlook, the peppy stage assistant continues to watch the fields fly past through the window, fingers tightening around her handbag.

"Ah, fuck! Fuck you, bitch!" Helena wakes up distressed and half dressed, so not an unusual morning for her second week dating her girlfriend Samantha. That's what she calls her when she really wants to get under her skin, at least.

"You wish, I can't fuck my thot until I've had at least two bowls of cereal and brushed my teeth, apparently milk isn't as good for your teeth as they tell you, twist of the fucking century right?"

"Just because I don't do breakfast doesn't mean you get two, you greedy freak."

"Th-they're small bowls, Aubrey broke the last normal sized bowl in one of her moments. Honestly, her no longer breaking things is the best thing I can say about the new her." Sam rolls sideways to face Helena, feeling no particular urge to get out of bed.

"New her? So she used to be different? I've only known Aubrey two, it seems."

Sam shudders. "Ugh... don't call her that, for the love of..."

"Hm? Why not?" Helena grins, enjoying anything she can find to annoy Sam with at a later date.

"Just... I don't know? Something about a plant, I can't remember honestly. It was Aubrey looking after something, so it didn't go well I know that much."

"Sounds hilarious, but she's been looking after us just fine hasn't she?"

"We're not her kids, Hel, don't get weird on me."

"Can I get weird under you?"

"This can be arranged, after my sugar and brushies."

Helena rolls her eyes, pushing Sam out of bed. "Remind me who the kid is, here..."

Sam gets up and starts her morning routine sluggish as usual. She looks at a picture on her desktop, of her and Helena that they took a week ago, both giving peace signs and sticking their tongues out with a statue of some known historical racist in the background. They have the same sense of humour, same sexual proclivities... honestly, if Helena wasn't such a mean shit throughout high school this might have happened much sooner. How it happened to be Aubrey to set them up, she has no idea. She said it was an early birthday present and that she'd pick on girls her own size... yeah, Aubrey's still a weirdo even if she is different in many ways.

Helena rolls over and pulls the sheet back over herself, definitely not a morning person. Unfortunately for her, Sam keeps poking her until she has to get up. Another ancient technique passed down to those disciplined enough to learn it, the poke is most effective on the buttock, it's effects enhanced by repeating the word 'Boink' with each use.

"Alright so this one is a marshmallow, so that's like... basically just candy, it's cheating. Parents buy a box of cereal unwittingly serving their children a bowl of thinly disguised sugar."

"It's fucking gross."

"No, it's magical, you're just unenlightened. Say 'ahh', Helena!"

"Sam, how the hell does your body work? You skip gym half the time for 'real gamer hours' and eat like an internet troll. How are you so goddamn fuckable? Did you sell your soul to NEET Jesus?"

"Umm, there's so much wrong with that sentence I don't know where to start. I'm in college, first off, also I have a blossoming modelling career... and nobody sells their soul to Jesus that's Satan. For the record, the one guy I'd probably let fuck me."

"Satan, or Jesus?"

"Hmmm, well I need a balance of morals right?"

"Christ..."

"Yep!"

Aubrey's heels clack against the kitchen floor as she walks back inside from the cramped partial balcony she was leaning against. Sam looks her up and down, her roommate even taller than usually with that footwear, it's almost too much. She's glad they don't have a ceiling fan, for Aubrey's sake.

"Morning, you two! Lovebirds eating the most important meal of the day together? How wholesome."

"Hardly." Helena remarks, rolling a marshmallow between her fingers. "This is more of a spectator sport, or an educational moment where I learn what a pig my girlfriend is."

"Oink!" Sam elbows Helena in the ribs, which earns her a swift kick in the shin.

"Here's to healthy relationships, then." Aubrey grins, moving between them and sitting on the counter, the other two girls looking up at her with confused expressions. A moment later, they feel a warmth spreading through their cores, leaving them zoned and spacey, happy and blissful. Sam's spoon slowly slips out of her mouth and crashes into the bowl in front of her, while Helena simply reminds herself internally of her conditioning as quickly as possible, as competitive in trance as she is everything else. Before long, both girls are looking up at Aubrey with patient, eager smiles. "Remember, girls, sharing is caring. Helena, go ahead and put that marshmallow in your mouth, hold it out on your tongue."

Helena obeys, dropping the sugary cereal onto her tongue and sticking it out, feeling the sugary taste slightly as it starts to melt.

"Now, Sam, it's your turn. Eat the marshmallow~"

Sam nods and leans forwards, planting her hands on Helena's knees and wrapping her lips around her tranced out girlfriend's tongue.

It really is a regular, boring morning. Nobody would suspect that it's new year's eve!

As the train pulls into the city station, Tyra notices her friend Sam on a poster and raises an eyebrow. She's much more recognisable than her Blissgirl debut, the toned down marketing made to appeal to Sam's own demographic, in fact it's a total G-Fuel rip off with a hot girl thrown on.

Not... that she's calling her friend Sam hot. Tyra smiles to herself, looks like she's not the only one putting herself out there at least, now all she needs to set her mind at ease is to see how Rachel is doing. She was always the overachiever of the trio, it really seemed like her career path as a professional athlete was set in stone, girl can run like a horse.

"She's good, ain't she?" One of the interns asks Rachel, who sits cross legged with the other junior office staff. She's distracted, a finger hooked in the metal O-ring of her collar, which is half hidden by her smart blouse and blazer. It still feels strange being so dressed up, she never pictured herself in office attire, impractical for running track. This may be a far cry from the Olympics but Mrs. Hollystone got her this job so she should behave herself and be grateful.

"Yeah, I didn't expect her to be so young, barely older than us." Rachel comments passively, not really wanting to engage in the conversation with the other girl. They recognised each other as old classmates on Rachel's first day, but she's never found much to talk about with her and every conversation has seemed awkward and forced.

"Right? Sophia's a prodigy, or is it protégé?"

"I think you were right the first time, Cynthia."

Cynthia nods, before trying to find more small talk to make for whatever reason, Rachel thought she was praising Sophia and now she isn't even listening to her.

"Soooo, got any plans for new years? You can come for a drink at mine if not, we're having a little get together."

Rachel realises that Cynthia might be hitting on her, it would explain the constant forced conversation that usually ends in an invitation she has to politely decline, this time is no different.

"Actually, I'm busy, yeah. You'll have to tell me how it goes, hope you have fun."

"You bet." Cynthia smiles wryly, nodding, before perking back up. "No work on new year's day, right? So I'm getting smashed with the girls, we're gonna hit the gym if we're not too hungover though.

"Oh? Which one do you go to? I've been meaning to find one closer to my new place."

"Pilate Cove, it uh... changed recently, has this weird pirate cover. New management or something. I know the owner actually, kind of, she said she was going to get a liquor license and serve rum... strange one."

Rachel stifles a laugh, she can't tell if the other intern is serious.

"Yeah, that's everyone's reaction. Oh, whoops, we missed Sophia's presentation."

"No biggie, we can just get one of the other interns to parrot it back to us if it's even important for us grunts to know... I swear this company has more interns than employees."

"True, it's not like anybody even needs coffees making or anything, with the free Blissfuel."

Moving her hand down and flattening her blouse, Rachel nods with a smirk, the room emptying out now. "Right, how long before they replace the water cooler with the stuff too?"

Okay, this is the first conversation that wasn't totally awkward. Rachel walks back to the elevator with Cynthia and presses the button, leaving the two of them huddled together in the roomy metal box as it descends.

"Sheesh, we got the creepy elevator, no wonder it's just us in here."

"Hm?" Rachel runs her fingers through her long hair, then adjusts her reading glasses, she hates wearing them but does like how smart they make her look. "Creepy? More office rumours I need catching up on?"

"Just look, there's a 16th floor button, doesn't work but I'm not brave enough to try it."

"Probably just a mistake when the building was made, I bet it's more common than you think. Anyway, we've seen the 15th floor, you know it leads to the roof."

"Yeah but, it's on the bottom, so maybe it's lower? Like."

"Oh shut it already, I'm not interested in your pathetic little conspiracy theories. I swear, all you chatty brats are the same, dropping out of college to intern at some company with low entry requirements, filled to the brim with inane gossip and unbridled sex drives."

"Uh, Rachel? Wh-what was that about sex?"

"See, that's exactly what I mean? You won't quit obsessing over it until you've gotten it out of your system, huh?" She hits the emergency stop and backs Cynthia into the corner of the elevator. "You're attracted to me, aren't you?"

"Errrr, I mean-"

"Spit it out already, it's why you've been bothering me all the time, isn't it?"

The cornered intern tilts her head to the side and nods, this is so embarassing and unreal to her.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Rachel presses closer, her chest brushing against the other's.

Cynthia shakes her head, surprised at her own meekness, she'd just never seen somebody actually stop an elevator to do something like this.

"That's a good intern, finally some honesty, let's keep that up can we? What I said before... you're thinking about it right now, aren't you?"

"...I... what? I'm thinking about-"

"Sex, fucking me, or me fucking you. Right here, right now, in the corner of this elevator. My fingers deep inside of you, or maybe I'm tweaking your clit while you play with the tits you're staring at."

"Hhh..."

"Cat got your tongue? You couldn't shut up a second ago."

"..."

"That's much better. I like you this way just fine. Better to be seen and not heard, Cynthia. Keep it up." Rachel pats the other interns head before suddenly pulling away, undoing the emergency stop and pressing the button for their floor again. The rest of the elevator ride is in silence, no more small talk. Rachel walks out first, Cynthia follows.

"Faster."

"Slower."

"...hmm, faster."

"Sloppier."

"Ew, never mind!"

Aubrey hums, sitting on the counter as her blissed out roommates worship her legs happily. Their activity is interrupted by a knock on the door, which causes Aubrey to pull her legs away and snap her fingers a few times. "Wake up, girls, go see who that is."

Sam and Helena both snap out of their dazed obedience, pushing their seats away from the counter and heading to the dorm room door. Aubrey casually runs a piece of kitchen roll down her leg, hopping off the counter onto her heels and slowly making her way over to the others.

"Mary? What are you doing here?" Sam holds the door ajar, shooting a confused look at her colleague and fellow commuter. She's not unhappy to see the office intern, necessarily... but the last time they saw each other was strange, with Mary disappearing on the subway after they both fell asleep and missed work. Not to mention, how does Mary know where she lives?

"S...S-Sam?" Mary looks just as surprised as Sam is, which only further adds to the confusion. "Do I have the wrong address? I didn't know you lived in a dorm, it was kind of hard to get in here honestly."

"Erm, yeah... why are you here anyway? Come to visit someone, wish them a happy new years and such?"

"Yeah, pretty much, I have the day off and I'm meeting my sister. This is the first time I've come to her place, I thought I got the number right but I ended up knocking on your door... oh, sorry..." Mary turns to Helena, not recognising her as the Blisscorp employee her idol Sophia is replacing. "I'm Mary, I work in the same building as your roommate."

"Oh, I'm hot her roommate, but you're a Blisscorp intern huh?"

"You're... oh, then... you're?"

"Boning?" Sam asks childishly, looking pleased with herself.

Helena rolls her eyes again. "Sooo romantic, Samantha."

"Hey... I told you not to-"

"What's the commotion, ladies, who is it?" Aubrey pushes between the two and peers out into the doorway, smiling at the sight of poor Mary. "Oh, there you are, did you get lost or something Mary?"

"Sis?" Mary looks shocked, Aubrey really glammed up, huh?

"It's nice to see you, sorry I've been so busy since you moved to the city, we should've done this sooner! How long has it been since we had a drink together?"

Mary shifts in place, not sure what to say. "I, I don't think we ever have? You were underage when I left for school, plus you hated the taste of alcohol."

"Well then, let's see who can hold their liquor in the present day." Aubrey pulls Mary inside and escorts the girl through the dormitory flat, while Sam and Helena stare blankly at the sister's backs.

"Did you know Aubrey had a sister?" Helena asks.

"I knew about her cousin, but sister... no. I also didn't know Mary had a sister, two birds one stone huh?"

"That's hilarious, the Bower twins hitting the town."

Sam shoots her girlfriend a concerned look, if she thinks they look anything like twins she has something wrong with her vision, she knows not all twins are identical but those two look like different species altogether.

"Holy shit, Tyra! I haven't seen you in ages! Sam told me all about you leaving with some travelling show, I could hardly believe it, I... I wish I was there to see you off."

Tyra lifts her sunglasses and beams, having never expected to randomly run into one of the two girls she was about to seek out. The blonde drops her luggage and embraces Rachel in what can only be reasonably described as a tacklehug. Rachel accepts the embrace warmly, hugging her friend back twice as hard.

Pulling back, Tyra rubs her nose and nods. "Yeah, same, but you were away I get it. Anyway, what happened to you?"

"Hm? Oh, the business suit shock you? I even ironed it, I think that's what stopped Sam ever taking up office work." The two giggle, but then Tyra shakes her head.

"No that's not it, I meant the slave collar."

...

...

...

Awkward silences are always too long and uncomfortable, that's what makes them awkward silences. Rachel never expected her innocent friend, brought up in a Christian household and as vanilla as they came, to come out with something like that! She decides to just play dumb, not wanting to explain the last two weeks to her best friend, she would probably die inside from the embarassment attempting such a thing.

"A... what? This is just a choker I started wearing, it's fashionable, apparently. A girl in my office was wearing one and had a spare, they're just from hot topic or something, don't freak me out haha..."

"Oh boy... Rachel, I think your friend is having you on. That's used for BDSM stuff, you know, like bondage? Whips and paddles? Ballgags and cuffs? That sorta thing, one of mistress Star's assistants is really into this stuff, she always does the tricks that involve being tied up or put in boxes... or anything with blindfolds. She did some uh, ropeplay? With me one time, I can see the appeal..."

Rachel blinks, wondering if she has something in her ear. "Who are you and what have you done with Tyra?"

"Ehehehe..." Tyra scratches her head, embarrassed that she might have said too much there, she just thought her friend deserved to know what she was walking around with, completely clueless.

"Well then, swiftly changing the topic, what the hell are you doing popping up out of nowhere? You should have told us you were coming!"

"Yeah, but... I didn't know if you'd already made plans and I didn't want either of you to cancel them to hang out with me."

"You're such a dumbass, you know that? We've spent every new years together since we were kids, it wouldn't feel the same without the three of us together again... it's not just about you, either, I feel like I haven't hung out with Sam since we moved to this city, I miss her a shit ton."

"Well in that case, let's go pay her a visit! Ten bucks says she's in her dorm room playing video games or reading comics."

"Well, what else would she be doing?" Rachel grins, following Tyra.

"We're alone in the flat at last and this is how you want to use that time?"

"This is a next gen experience, Helena, you should be kissing my fucking feet in gratitude right now that I'm choosing to take you on this journey."

"We could literally be having sex right now."

"Is your headset plugged in properly, there should be a blue light that comes on at the back?"

"We could have gone out for a drink with Aubrey and her sister. You know, enjoy the reality outside of this stuffy dorm."

"Why enjoy reality? When you can experience... virtual reality!"

"You're such an idiot."

The two girls put on their VR headsets, which Sam got for free from work, entering the digital world constructed around them.

...