*time skip: October 13*

Aricka woke up to Virgil shaking her on her 17 birthday. "Happy birthday," he whispers, and she smiles.

"Thanks, Verge. This is already a lot better than my 16 birthday." they both laugh, and she gets up, grabbing her outfit so she can get changed.

When she walks downstairs, Roman hugs her, spinning her around. "Our dancing queen is here"! he proclaims. Aricka laughs, and then someone knocks at the door. She opens it-and Dan's there! She hugs him, and they laugh.

"Happy birthday, Aricka," he says. The box he was holding barked. "Um-can I come in so you can open my gift?"

She nods, and they walk in-and if they linked pinkies, no one dared point it out. He hands her the box, and she lifts the lid:

"Awwww MY GOSH YOU GOT ME A PUPPY!" she exclaims. "I'm going to name him...Patton Remy Jr!" she stands up and hugs Dan, who's blushing bright red. "Thanks, Danny boi."

Logan was hiding a squeal, Aricka could tell. She walks over, puppy in her arms, and says, "Lolo, look at Patton Jr!"

"He's-too precious to process," he answers. Aricka giggles as the puppy licks Logan's cheek.

"Patton Jr. likes you just like real Patton likes you!" Patton says, coming up and hugging his-slightly-taller boyfriend.