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Elliot flinched when Zhi mentioned Sprite. She was right, she was mad! All of a sudden she almost felt nervous. Her heart was beginning to race and everything! She glanced from Zhi to the refrigerator. Yes... she should make sure that she stayed on Zhi's good side! Zhi didn't seem to be angry, but Elliot was sure that she was just keeping a sweet face in front of River. She wasn't eager to see truly, physically angry Zhi, so she stood up quickly and got Zhi her soda, handing it to her quickly.

River got her own food and dropped it onto onto her own plate. "Hm?" she glanced over her shoulder at Zhi's question. "Yeah, I work at the bakery. I'm a waitress," she replied with a smile, making her way to the table and sitting across from Zhi. She was sure that Elliot would want to sit next to her friend~ "But it's only temporary. When Alex gets his own restaurant, I'll work there instead," she said with a smile. She took a bite of her pizza before realizing that Elliot was still standing awkwardly off to the side. "...Elliot, what are you doing?" she asked her with a confused question. Elliot realized what she was doing (what if Zhi needed anything else?!) and shook her head, before sitting down at the end of the table. River laughed softly before continuing. "Zhi, you should come to the restaurant when it opens. It'll be fun. Oh, Zhi! You're the same grade as Elliot, right? Do you know what you'll do after graduation?" she asked eagerly. Yes, she did have some ulterior motives in asking that.

River listened to Zhi carefully, nodding her head with every occupation that the girl listed. She certainly was... ambitious, wasn't she? Listing a bunch of jobs like probably just meant that she had no idea what she really wanted to do, but River wouldn't consider that a bad thing. Afterall, she was twenty-two years old, completely happy to do part-time jobs for the rest of her life. She wasn't exactly the kind of person who could lecture Zhi on her future. In fact, it never even occurred to her! She was just impressed that Zhi was so flexible~ She had plenty of careers she could do!

"Wow," River replied with a nod. "You know, I could see you as those," she said with a smile. Well, that was kind of a lie. Businesswomen and doctors and lawyers and teachers struck River as stuffy and boring. Zhi was too fashionable for those jobs. And it would be a waste to change her entire look just so she could have a boring office job! But the last three! Yeah, that sounded right to her~ "I think you would be a good model or actress or singer," she grinned. "You're really cute and fun to watch, so I think it would suit you really well~" Zhi was like a little animal. She was eager and cute, and River was sure that other people would think the same thing~ Besides, how cool would it be to know a model?

River flashed Zhi a bright smile in return for her thanks. She was so cute, all flattered like that~ She was used to people like her friends in high school, who either accepted the compliments as fact ("What the hell? Of course I am!") or as a threat. ("What the hell? You messing with me?!") They were surprisingly alike. She let out a tiny sigh. How refreshing~

Elliot flinched when Zhi addressed her. She was completely blank for a long moment as she tried to figure out how to answer. What did she want to do? After graduation? Oh, that's right. She was graduating. And then she would have to start working! Was there anything she was particularly interested in? "...Maybe office work," she decided after a long thought. She liked office work! Stapling papers, making copies, getting coffee, it was easy and mindless and generally didn't require much social interaction!

River chuckled softly to herself. Elliot was so cute~ She was enjoying the conversation, when all of a sudden, she realized that Zhi's last question had been directed at her! Her smile vanished instantly. For the first time in a while, she was at a complete loss for words. What did she want to be? She was River Park! Wasn't that good enough? Besides, wasn't she too old to have a "What I want to be when I grow up" job in mind? She stared down at the table seriously. How should she answer? The truth? But the truth was... "Heheh, honestly... I don't know," she offered, tucking her hair behind her ear with an apologetic smile. How embarrassing.

In all honesty, River had expected Zhi to mock her. Not that she found the girl to be harsh or mean-spirited in any way. It was just that... Zhi seemed to have lots of things she wanted to do and be! She was young and pretty and must have been smart, considering she spoke English so well~ Of course she had plenty of options! What did River have? She had just barely graduated high school, she didn't have many friends at all, and she spent all of her time with her little sister! It was depressing. There was a reason she never spoke about her goals for the future. It made her feel inferior. So she was absolutely certain that Zhi would chastise her, vocalize all of her own insecurities, and decide that she deserved a better friend and role model! (At some point, she had decided that she was Zhi' role model, as she was an older female, and all older females became role models to younger females.)

But lo and behold, Zhi didn't mock her. In fact, she said something nice! Sweet, even! River gave Zhi a startled look. Did she really just hear her correctly? Did she really just propose that? She opened and closed her mouth a few times as she strained to find words. After searching for a proper response, she decided to just give up, and she laughed softly. "Thank you, Zhi," she chuckled, so flattered that she turned pink. She smiled at the girl widely before standing up. "Elliot, I'll take your plate. Yours too, Zhi, if you're done," she offered, taking Elliot's plate and spinning around to wash them in the sink. She turned on the water, but didn't do anything. She smiled to herself as she stood at the sink. How silly of her, to think that Zhi would ever be cruel to her. And how silly of her to get depressed over something so trivial! It didn't matter that she didn't have some great career plans like Zhi, as long as she had her friends and family, right? Even if it did sound so cheesy that her ears turned bright red just thinking about it. Quickly, she wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist and began to wash the plates in the sink. "You know, Zhi, you should come by more often. It's really nice having you over, you know?" she said to them, though she still refused to turn around.

Elliot was startled when Zhi picked her up from her chair. Uh... sure... okay," she said with a slight nod. She looked over at her sister for a moment before walking out of the kitchen.

"Ah, uhm, have fun!" River called after them before looking back to the sink. 'Have fun'? How stupid. It was studying! How could it be fun? She scratched her cheek bashfully before she set about cleaning the kitchen. Zhi had made her feel better, and she was in a good mood again. Might as well direct that positive energy into cleaning!


Elliot was confused. What had happened back there? She had done a lot of research on human behavior throughout the years, and... that sounded like a proposal! Usually there was a ring or a declaration of love involved in a marriage proposal, but Zhi had just suggested financially supporting River, which was usually an assumed aspect to marriage. And River hadn't gotten angry, she had thanked her! How strange! It was Zhi! And River! Zhi and River and! Ahhh, she just didn't understand!

She waited until they were upstairs in her room. All of a sudden, she closed the door behind them and looked at Zhi intently. "Zhi, do you like River?" she asked. That was the only conclusion she could come up with, but she still couldn't really understand.

And Zhi managed to surprise a Park sister yet again. She... well, the only word Elliot could come up with was 'gushing'. She watched the girl bounce around her room. Really? She was this excited just because of something River had done? She smiled and thanked her, and now Zhi was overflowing with... well, whatever this was. Elliot was confused. Zhi was a confusing girl, but... this was an all new level of confusing.

Next thing she knew, she was pulled into a hug. She froze. Was Zhi sick? What was wrong with her? Usually their friendship consisted of them merely existing next to each other, not anything that would make them close enough to hug. So she let the girl hug her until Zhi let go, leaving her to stand there awkwardly. River was happy? River was always happy! Was it really any more than usual? She hadn't noticed. And to top it all off, Zhi just didn't say she liked River, she loved River. Elliot was startled by the intensity of her statement. "You love River?" she asked with a confused look. "But it's different than how I love River... right?" Of course it was. Zhi wasn't her sister. It wasn't a familial love, she could at least tell that much. She was struggling to understand, and she wouldn't be able to get that far just in her head. "Like... in a romantic way?" She knew Zhi always liked River, since the Tomato Festival. But when had it switched from 'personal idol' to something more? "And you meant what you said before?"

So that's how it was. Even though Elliot had practically figured it out on her own (all Zhi had to was confirm!), hearing it out loud made it sound a little more real. She didn't know what to say, so she stared at her friend for a moment until she spun around as instructed. What was she doing? Oh, changing. It was a sleepover! She had almost forgotten, what with River's involvement and using studying as an excuse. And at sleepovers you slept! That's what the 'sleep' meant! She glanced off towards the side at her own sleepwear, neatly folded at the foot of her bed.

She furrowed her brow at the question, but Zhi couldn't see the change in expression. Or expression, period. Modeling, acting, singing? That's what she was going to do? Oh, well, being an idol wasn't just being cute, it required skills! "Well..." she began, placing her hand against her chin thoughtfully. "Acting is one of the harder industries to break into, I hear. And modeling can create eating disorders and unhealthy lifestyles... Can you sing?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at Zhi before remembering that she was supposed to be looking away.


Meanwhile, River had finished cleaning up their dishes and wrapping up the leftovers -- clumsily, of course. Alex would probably redo it all when he got home, but for the time being, it was the thought that counts. She had even started to pick up the living room when she noticed how late it was getting. So, she gathered up the pillows and blankets and rolled them all up into a big mess (she was terrible at folding~) for Zhi to use~