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mothmans-left-buttcheek · 3 months ago

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The Bitch, the Witch, and the Star

Jay Mocking x Allie Perea x Nova James

Inspired by @eddiemunson-reader-shame and @floredaqueen FOLLOW THEM OH MY GOD!!

Word Count: 3.4k

Summary- Fresh out of school in the summer of 85. Allie Perea and Jay Mocking are enjoying the cold delights served at Scoops A’hoy until Nova James shakes up their evening.

Warnings: profanity, references to sex, a bisexual disaster, this is basically just fluff with cursing and friendly bullying

Playlist: Rio by Duran Duran, Walk This Way by Aerosmith, Cheri Cheri Lady by Modern Talking

A/N: So I’ve been engaging in fanfics for years but rarely writing my own since I’m mostly inspired by original characters, so this is a scene with two of my favorite Stranger Things oc’s including my own because I am simply self indulgent lol. Basically I thought “what if I threw three girls in love with Eddie Munson in a room” and this was the result. I’ve done my best to interpret the characters with the information I could find while also manipulating some information for the sake of timeframe, I apologize if anything is out of character!

The artwork above is just a sketch I made while letting the fic cook, it's not great, I'm more a writer than an artist, but I hope y'all like it. There’s also songs I’ve associated with certain moments in the fic, feel free to give them a listen.

(Listen to “Rio”, Duran Duran)

There wasn’t anything to do in Hawkins Indiana. Sure there were record stores and vintage diners along the main strip downtown, but those industries were carried on by traditional residents alone. There wasn’t anything charming about Hawkins, it was just your run of the mill middle of nowhere Midwestern town. Until the Starcourt mall.

The newest edition to the smallest town in the Midwest was a hit amongst locals. Normally your selections for an evening out were slim to none, you’d have to drive hours away for the best date nights. But the Starcourt Mall was a shining beacon to the people of Hawkins, a tower of neon lights that sang a song of genuine entertainment. Shaky escalators, iconic chain clothing stores, a food court fumigating with grease, and a cozy movie theater to boot Hawk theater out of business.

It had everything to appeal to anyone from a rambunctious teen to a generous grandparent, the glow of the sun coming in from the glass ceiling more than just a natural light source. It was the light of hope for social lives all across town. Not to mention the impact it had on the economy. Hundreds of new jobs opened up to the ambitious folks in Hawkins with the promise of decent salary. Many people left their jobs at their local mom-and-pop-shops, so the town lost some of its historic charm with the modern mall, but with all the beloved structure had to offer it was difficult to find real fault in Starcourt. There was a Jazzercise studio, a gaming arcade, Sears. With no competition for miles, Starcourt Mall ruled Hawkins Indiana the summer of ’85.

(Listen to “Walk This Way”, Aerosmith)

“Where’d you get that record?” Allie asked.

She lounged casually in the plush seats in Scoops A’hoy, the slightly sticky leather clinging to the dense fabric of her brown carhartt jacket. Select patches adorned the piece, their rough texture matching with the slightly worn out graphic of her Van Halen shirt. Allie’s stare was buffered by square glasses, her round brown eyes flickering across the table with growing judgment. Full cheeks which would look lovely in a smile only adding to her youthful appearance while her full lips pulled into an unamused frown. A hint of pink in her tawny skin accented by the dark birthmarks under her eye. Her brown hair tickled her shoulders with a volume brought on by messy waves.

Allie Perea was rarely seen without a displeased stare, could’ve been caused by her tumultuous family or could’ve been caused by her fresh seeded hatred for Hawkins. She’d moved in less than a year ago, yet within her first day she had marked herself as a basket case amongst her fellow classmates. The bucket of insults she had collected filtered out to one title she did her best to wear proudly, “The Bitch of Hawkins High.” She possessed an off-putting attitude ready for someone to have a problem with her and an unwillingness to be social, which made her seat in a social setting like Starcourt Mall unusual. In truth Allie stared at the girl across the sugar stained table, a shadow looming in the bright colored shop.

Brown hooded eyes stared back at her framed by thick black eye makeup, black hair teased to high heaven like a rain cloud around her head. Her upturned nose sported a septum ring and her tall cheekbones were painted with unnaturally sharp black contour, it washed out her pale skin to a sickly ivory. A Siouxsie and the Banshees shirt cut off her shoulders while fishnet gloves crawled up her arms to meet the short sleeves. She had thin lips painted in a deep red with an oval birthmark dotted just under the left of her lip.

Janice, Jay, Mocking had practically grown up in Hawkins. She memorized every store to street corner, remembered all the awkward stages of the preps and jocks that mocked her, and knew every hypocrite that attended Sunday service in the church her parents pastored. In middle school her odd tendencies were mostly glossed over thanks to the authority her parents had in the community, but she lost her safety when her childhood sketches of graveyards and growing taxidermy collections got out. Her outcast shift was welcomed by her peers with a series of rude and ironic insults, and despite all the bird puns made from her name “The Hawkins Witch” was the name that stuck the most.

So it was appropriate for the bitch and the witch to grow a relationship that benefited the both of them. Allie had someone to help her navigate and Jay could be weird without being alone. Getting to know Starcourt mall had become their pastime, so despite their antisocial tendencies the two enjoyed getting complimented by strangers or berated by their school nemesis in a building with more escape routes.

Jay had let Allie’s question hang in the air, the two giving matching deadpanned stares while Scoops A’hoy bustled around them. After a slow deliberate blink Jay eventually answered, “Sam Goody’s.”

A lick of shame twisted her tongue, and Allie caught it.

“Sam Goody’s? Isn’t that a chain store? Weren’t you bashing chain stores last week?.” Allie accused.

Jay rolled her eyes back and pulled the vinyl into her lap, “look, Tears for Fears came out with a new album and I’ve been dying to-“

“Tears for Fears?” Allie interrupted.

Jay stifled just for a moment, unsure if she misspoke, “yes? Tears for Fears, Songs from the Big Chair?”

The girl across from her adjusted her glasses and brushed her hair back.

“What happened to all the punk ideologies you were preaching last week? Not going to chain stores or feeding the industry and shit?”

“The album came out months ago and Music Mania downtown still doesn’t have any copies, one little Sam Goody’s run isn’t gonna hurt anyone,” Jay defended herself with a near perfect cadence. Like this was an argument she had rehearsed in her head.

“I’m just surprised you’re breaking your ‘goth principles’ over Tears For Fears.”

“Bitch, you listen to Phil Collins.”

“I do, oh I do, proudly in fact. But I’m not busting my balls adhering to rules of my subculture, and then breaking said rules for a pop group.”

“They’re pop-rock! You know what- forget it, I’m not taking shit from a ‘metalhead’ that listens to Prince.”

Allie slowly shook her head while maintaining eye contact, “... says the hypocrite.”

“Yeah?” Jay answered while raising her brows and cocking her head to the side.

“Well you’re a try hard.”

Allie crossed her arms, “you’re a poser-”

“You’re a virgin,” Jay interjected while slightly lunging over the table. The two were locked in a stare down for a long passage of silence.

“… do you wanna split a sundae?” Allie asked suddenly.

Jay’s eyes flickered to the table as she contemplated with a hum before she looked back up at Allie with a shrug, “butterscotch?”

She grimaced and groaned to disagree, “grody.”

Jay sighed in disappointment, turning her head to look back at the menu and consider their options. Just as she did so she was hit with a whiff of sweet perfume and a flash of baby blue in her vision. She felt her stomach drop just for a moment as she recognized the form walking up to the register.

(Listen to “Cheri Cheri Lady”, Modern Talking)

If mermaids were real she would be a siren. Warm skin shining rose gold in the light, plump round lips painted with delicate gloss, and deep doe eyes with lushes lashes fluttering with mischief. Her maple brown hair was long and rich in volume, curled to perfection while her bangs floated gently over her forehead. One birthmark kissed her left side just under her lip and another sat comfortably under her right eyebrow. She was dressed simply but with perfect measure, her blue dress hugging her slim waist and chest tightly while swaying around her wide hips and along her thick thighs.

Aknova James was borderline Hawkins royalty. Her parents were loaded so she was afforded every luxury the average resident of Hawkins would have to go out of their way for. While growing up under the influence of the Hippie movement from the prior decade, Nova grew into an incredibly classy young woman. At least she appeared classy. Just underneath her elegantly trimmed smile was a carefree attitude and an iron resolve, few people’s opinions could deter her predetermined perspective. And should someone cross her, she had a few choice words which would knock the wind out of anyone’s sails. Thankfully the shining star used her power wisely… more or less.

“Ohhh fuck,” Jay muttered as she watched the new customer pass by their table.

Allie’s brows furrowed and she twisted to try to match Jay’s gaze, “What?”

The second she spotted the cheerleader her own jaw became slack, “Ohhh mierda.”

Both the odd balls were familiar with Nova, mostly from the captivating atmosphere she carried through the halls, and long winded rumors of her privileged position. Being on the cheer team also granted her revered social status, and the outcasts clocked her high school social class from miles away. She was in a different league from the two entirely; when she entered a room, things shook. They could only hope things would shake away from them.

“That’s Nova James,” Allie commented with surprise.

“Yeah I know that’s Nova fucking James, her giant ass is ten feet away from my face,” Jay hissed. Curling her fingers together and resting her elbows on the table, her chin sat atop her intertwined gloved hands. Narrowing her eyes at the girl who had approached the desk, she grumbled under her breath just loud enough for her friend to hear.

“Shit, she looks hot. Really hot.”

“Good, she’ll take some of the attention off of you and your rats nest,” Allie teased while pulling at the wispy strands of Jay’s teased hair.

“It’s a bat's nest, god, and you know what, maybe I want a little attention! I’m hot! And when Madonna wannabe’s aren’t walking around like they’re god's greatest gift to the mall, I actually get compliments!”

Allie opened her mouth to reply to her friend’s banter but was left without any silence to fill.

“God she really pisses me off. Every time she comes in here she asks for a sample, dislikes the sample, and orders two scoops of strawberry in a waffle cone. But like three bites into the ice cream she sticks the whole thing into a bowl. You’d think she’d start cutting to the chase and getting strawberry in a bowl, but no, she goes through the whole process every time.”

The brunette stared at the rambling goth across from her with concern. “… are you stalking her?”

Jay looked back at her with a face still perplexed in frustration at the girl currently ordering, “I’m here a lot, and I like to people-watch, okay? Look- just look-“

As she insisted and subtly pointed to Nova, the girl already had a small spoon between her lips. Chewing slightly and nodding in response she tossed the spoon into a small trash bin. She pursed her lips while thinking for a moment, the dirty blonde currently working the desk sighing with an empty stare as Nova contemplated. She finally spoke up and pointed to a flavor sitting deep in the display. Allie and Jay watched intently while the employee leaned to grab a waffle cone, and after digging her scooper into the tub she lifted a perfect scoop of pink and red, followed by a second scoop to raise the height of the treat.

“Yeah, she got strawberry,” Allie nodded absentmindedly at the scene in front of her only to be immediately shushed by Jay who was still watching like a hawk.

Nova received the ice cream with a smile, licking a stripe while rummaging through her purse. She took a second bite while pulling out cash and dropped it casually by the register. Her motions stilled as she waited for her change to be rung up, and only once the receipt was handed to her did she take a third bite of the ice cream. After a brief conversation with the current employee the girl was handed a small bowl, and Nova dumped her ice cream down into the cup quickly while the waffle cone peaked out like a tall tower.

“Boom!” Jay slammed her hands against the table. “Just like I said. She literally has a pattern!”

Allie flinched, startled from the noise but nodded back.

“Yep, yeah, wow,” she began in a sarcastic voice. “She literally did exactly what you said she would do. That was crazy. I’m so- so enraged by her behavior. Good catch Jay.”

“… can you at least pretend to care?”

“I was pretending.”

“Well then do it better-“

“Hey Jay,” a new voice chimed into their conversation.

The two girls turned their gazes to the opposite side of their table to find a pretty brunette in a blue dress staring at them patiently while chewing on a spoonful of ice cream. A smirk tugged at her lips and she batted her lashes with feigned innocence. The once previously hunched over goth straightened in her seat and smiled politely.

“Hey- hi, Nova. Good to see you.” She slurred in slight panic.

“You know I thought Elvira was sitting here for a second, I was about to ask for an autograph! How are you?” Nova asked as she shifted her weight to one hip, eyes flickering between the two girls sitting side by side in the booth.

Jay let out a breathless laugh while her flattered face grew pink.

“I’m good, uhm, have you met Allie?” Jay asked as she motioned to her friend next to her, Nova’s eyes quickly followed like she had been waiting for the stranger to be brought up.

“No, not formally, I’m Nova James,” she said with an award winning grin. Her hair falling delicately to one shoulder as if it was commanded to.

Allie was struggling to respond, staring wide-eyed while her mouth hung open and a hum rang out, like she was a robot in the middle of saying hi before someone hijacked her programming. Jay gently kicked Allie under the table to silence her droning, their thick boots creating a dull ‘thwack’ against each other.

“Hi! Nice to meet you finally, formally, properly, uhm- I’m Allie Perea, I moved here a few months ago- New Mexico.” Allie came to life and spoke quickly.

“No way,” Nova’s voice peaked with intrigue, “that’s so cool! I went there for a music festival with my parents when I was younger.”

Allie was wide eyed behind her square glasses, “Oh wow, you’ve really traveled- uh, yeah we get really good groups out there. My dad took me to see Van Halen last year.” She said and after a beat tugged on her tour t-shirt.

“Those are the guys that did that one song-” Nova hummed the opening melody to Jump while squinting her eyes to place the group in her mind.

“Yeah! Yeah that’s them!” Allie answered with a grin

“Gnarly, they seem fun to hear live.” She complimented while watching the bundled up girl continue to gawk. Allie’s soft features slowly started to curl into an impressed smile, eyes shining with excitement at the mention of the band. Although the transfer student was a fresh face, the cheerleader couldn’t help but find Allie endearing and sweet.

Allie’s mind on the other hand was a whirlwind, this casual interaction defied everything she knew about the social hierarchy in Hawkins. Cheerleaders didn’t talk to basket cases and when they did they certainly weren’t nice about it. Yet the wealthy girl was currently on equal footing as the outcasts, enjoying the same atmosphere and the same sweet treat. The concept helped to soothe Allie’s rampant anxiety.

Jay looked between the two for a moment as the conversation halted, so she interrupted the awkward silence with as charming a smile as she could muster, “Well what brings you to the mall? Running some errands? Meeting up with a hot date?”

Nova laughed and waved her hand in the air, “not today, I’m just meeting up with a friend.”

Nova glanced between the two girls, her foxy eyes glimmering with cunning as her freehand pressed on the table. Leaning over the table to get closer to them she tilted her head.

“Actually, you guys are friends with Eddie Munson right?”

The question punctuated a pause in the banter, Jay and Allie flickering their eyes to meet as their faces twinned in confusion.

“Yeah? We are.” Jay answered uncertain.

“Does he have a job right now?”

It was then Allie barked a harsh laugh, a mocking smile stretching her lips.

“I think Eddie’s allergic to work! Guys been slacking off all summer, super bummed about being held back… I shouldn’t have said that last part.”

“It’s fine, I suspected as much.” Nova pulled out a small paper from her purse and slid it onto the table.

“My dad’s looking for someone to keep our pool clean for the summer, pay’s pretty good. If you guys could let him know I’d really appreciate it, have him give me a call if he wants the job.”

As the paper rested between the pair they both moved to inspect it, and sure enough it was Nova’s phone number. Written plainly but perfectly nonetheless. Jay ran the paper between her hands for a moment while she glanced back and forth between the paper, her friend, and the cheerleader.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, we will let him know of the opportunity.”

“Great, you guys are the best! I’ve gotta go but I’ll catch you later,” Nova gave them a playful wink and walked off, her hips swaying side to side as she waved to someone beyond Scoops A’hoy. “Isa! Over here!”

Jay scrambled to lean on the table and watch the swaying of her skirt, “hate to see her leave, love to watch her walk away-“

“Holy shit what was that?” Allie exclaimed as she grabbed Jay’s arm and shook her harshly. “How did she know your name?”

“I don’t know!”

“I thought I was gonna die! Pinche madre, she knows my name now!” Allie deflated in her seat and slapped her hand against her chest.

Jay was too busy examining the slip of paper in her hands, bouncing slightly in her seat while relishing over the dark ink, “and we have her phone number! She gave us her number!”

“… yeah, for Eddie…” Allie corrected with a studious cadence.

Jay turned to look at her, both staring deadpanned as they had earlier.

“… and? She handed it to me.”

“I don’t think she wants you as her poolboy.”

“Hey, I could make a great pool boy. I’m fit, I’m handy-“

“Jay, she wants to fuck Eddie.”

“Ew!” Jay’s face scrunched up like she had tasted a fresh lemon and she dropped the number on the table.

“Gag me with a spoon, don’t put that image in my head!”

“It’s obvious! If her family was really just looking for someone to clean their pool they’d get some average Joe off the street, but Nova’s looking for someone specific to take it. I mean she went out of her way to talk to us just to get to Eddie!”

Allie waved her hands in the air for emphasis and finally slapped them back down in her lap, her friend watching with her lips pressed thinly together and a stare that suggested denial. With a groan Jay dropped her head into her hands and rubbed her face harshly.

“Oh god, she’s gonna fuck Eddie…”

Allie nodded back, the thought that they were accidental accomplice’s in an aspiring hookup was awkward enough. But when factoring in that one of the most popular girls in Hawkins High was making a pass at their loser Dungeon Master, a guy so different from her, a whole new cloud of shame hung over their heads in response’.

Considering Eddie’s romantic track record, Nova’s chances with him were shaky; his last relationship ended in a felony and his crush turned out to be a lesbian. Whatever the result, Allie and Jay had to endure bearing witness. The two girls sat in quiet contemplation, imagining what kind of dumpster fire Eddie would make out of Nova’s advances while also reeling that they encountered a wild cheerleader and survived unscathed.

“… do you wanna split a sundae?” Allie asked with disdain still present in her attitude.

Jay raised her head, humming in contemplation, “butterscotch?”

“… fuck it, sure.”

#stranger things #stranger things oc #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fanart #stranger things 3 #stranger things 4 #scoops ahoy #jay mocking #allie perea #nova james #eddie munson #eddie munson x oc #oc #original character #i love women

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mothmans-left-buttcheek · 2 days ago

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Anything You Can Do

Jay Mocking x Nova James (x Eddie Munson, he’s here too I guess)

A fic featuring @floredaqueen and her oc Y'ALL BETTER FOLLOW HER

Dividers by @strangergraphics

Word Count- 9k+

Summary- Nova James and Jay Mocking have little in common, save for a mutual friendship with local Dungeon Master and renowned freak Eddie Munson. They two step on each other's toes one too many times and solidify a silent rivalry. Can they overcome their differences, or is this the start of a new long standing feud in Hawkins High? TLDR; Girl so confusing feat. Lorde, they literally work it out on the remix

Warnings- Underage drinking, excessive alcohol intake, emetophobia (vomiting), and a lot of hot sexy women

A/N: It's literally taken me months to get this fic ready, I don't even want to talk about the word count, but Flo has been an absolute pleasure to collaborate with on a piece as both silly and emotional as this. I promise it's not gonna take me ages to write in the future, I have more on the way!

Playlist- West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys, Venus by Bananarama, One Way or Another by Blondie

(Listen to “West End Girls” by The Pet Shop Boys)

“For Christ's sake stop telling me to put a tarrasque under the city,” Eddie murmured with a hoarse rattle to his voice. His messy waves formed a small curtain over his face while he whispered to the girl sitting close to him, the denim of his dark jeans scratching against her black leather skirt to create a hum of friction that hid their conversation.

Jay hunched close to Eddie with her arms crossed, her teased black hair making the perfect shield while the rest of their party conversed around them. It was the best privacy they could afford in the busy cafeteria surrounded by their fellow freaks in Hellfire Club. The symphony of high schoolers around them already helped to keep their party in the dark, but they couldn’t be too certain. So they kept close to one another and spoke low, huddling together while they overwhelmed the end of the table with the smell of cigarettes and hair spray.

“Don’t be a pussy,” Jay rolled her eyes and whispered back.

“It’d be hilarious! Drop them off in a city full of magic, and since Gareth has so many anti magic spells-”

“I got it, I got it,” Eddie ended her thought before it could continue. Eddie didn’t tell anyone his plans for his games, but he was never opposed to suggestions when he needed to stretch out a session. Jay was someone he turned to for brainstorming, but this specific idea she came back to frequently.

“Listen, sadist,” he scolded, “you might find the idea of a TPK intriguing, but I planned the end of this campaign before I even had players. And I would sell my soul to satan himself and be damned for all eternity before I would let this party die before that.” With a harsh bite into a pretzel he affirmed his certainty.

Jay blinked slowly at him, otherwise not emoting.

“… you know you shouldn’t say that shit, I know people who would believe you.”

Eddie didn’t exert the energy it would take to roll his eyes, but he leaned back and averted his gaze to mark the end of the conversation. Just as he glazed over the party, still distracted with their own mindless bickering, he spotted a hazy figure at the table across from them. Her familiar outline, a magnet that pulled his focus away from Planet Outcast to a whole new glowing galaxy where Nova was the shining star.

Leaned over the table, a vision in the signature green and white uniform for Hawkins cheerleaders, even without the sun beaming over her she still shined like an angel. Nova James was laughing along with her cheer team, entertaining her clique with a comment that seemed clever enough to sweep the group into a fit of laughter. Eddie was staring at her perfectly curled hair and well arranged appearance, subconsciously mesmerized by her stature. He didn’t realize how long he had been staring until her eyes suddenly locked with his from across the cafeteria. When the surprise left Nova’s eyes a pleasant joy glimmered in its place, she smiled at him and waved gracefully. Eddie was frozen for a moment, jolting up his hand in the air like an afterthought and waving back a bit too eagerly. Even after hanging out all summer he was still shocked whenever she would acknowledge him in school.

Jay wasn’t paying attention to anything other than a small sandwich with which she was meticulously peeling off the crust of a small sandwich with disgust. But when Eddie’s arm shot up in the air she turned her head frantically. Darting her head to where Eddie was beaming she finally noticed Nova’s attention had turned to the metalhead. She gave Eddie a sly smirk, nodding with approval as she folded up the mutilated meal in front of her.

“I still can’t believe you’re all buddy-buddy with Nova fucking James.” She shook her head.

Eddie slowly brought his hand back down to his side, “yeah I’m still pinching myself awake over here.”

Just when they thought the moment was over and Nova would go back to her group, Nova made a hasty comment to the other cheerleaders before bounding across the room. Even though the space was swallowed by teenagers' conversations, the two watching her strides swore the squeaking of her sneakers resounded through the crowded cafeteria. Jay grabbed Eddie’s arm harshly and began a rapid slapping motion against his leather jacket as Nova grew closer.

“Oh god- oh my god is she coming over here? Is she coming over here?” Her voice got progressively higher and quieter.

“Act cool, Jesus act cool- hey Nova.” Eddie gave Nova his best charming smile.

The group of young Hellfire boys had barely paid attention to the encroaching presence until it was too late, and the sweet smell of Nova’s perfume all snapped them out of their conversations to watch in paralyzed awe as the socialite made a casual descent into their atmosphere.

“Hi Eddie,” she said in a sweet voice, she took a long pause to slide her gaze over to the companion nearest to him. “Hi Jay.”

“Hi,” Jay replied with her mouth agape in a pathetic smile.

Eddie stood up from his seat slightly and gave a dramatic bow, “Gracing us peasants with your esteemed presence? It’s gotta be someone’s birthday, hopefully mine.”

There was a brief pause between them as Eddie’s toothed smile started to turn down in awkward realization, then Jay suddenly tugged at his denim vest and pulled him back down in his chair. He huffed in surprise before glancing at Jay with confusion for her abrupt command of his space. Her eyes grew wide, her brows lifted, and she pressed her lips together in a threatening expression. A warning to stop talking before he made anything worse, and her round of charade made his face fall in dejection.

Then Nova laughed, and the two snapped their heads up to her in surprise. Her hair had gently fallen over her face as she lowered her head to giggle, running a gentle hand through her hair when she smiled back at Eddie.

“I’d get you an actual present if it was,” Nova said with a flutter of her lashes.

Eddie’s embarrassment turned back into smug confidence which he flaunted to Jay with a smirk. She in kind responded with a tired head shake.

Nova twirled her hair in her fingers for a brief moment before she placed her hand on her hip.

“You know me and my team were just talking about music and stuff, your band performs downtown right?”

“Yes ma’am, Corroded Coffin has frequent sets at the Hideout, usually Saturdays.” Eddie struggled to keep his cool.

“Are you guys performing this Saturday? I’d love to officially see you guys play.”

Eddie stuttered for a moment before he smiled widely and nodded with a pace oozing with his desperation to please, “yeah, hell yeah! I’ll let Bev know we’ll have a full house.”

Eddie's grin remained unaltered and Nova admired the sight, but there was a troublesome aura radiating from the end of the cafeteria table.

See, Janice never had a poker face. If ever she had an emotion pleasant or otherwise, a matching expression would be stapled on her face as quickly as the emotions arose. And ever observant Nova caught the goths flickering wide eyes, curled frown, and furrowed brows at lightning speed. The cheerleader just simply turned her attention to Jay and tilted her head softly in silent recognition. Jay, realizing she’d worn her judgment like a statement red lip, shrunk her frown despite the harm already being done.

“That’s a pretty big commitment for a bunch of kids who listen to, what, Wham?” Jay commented in a slightly playful tone trying to keep herself from seeming mean.

Nova didn’t entertain the thought and replied with a voice even sweeter, “I’m trying to keep the group’s taste fresh, plus we want to support local groups.”

“Metal.” Eddie gawked at her. He glanced back at Jay and did a double take when he noticed her skeptical undertone didn’t melt. Nudging her arm he spoke low.

“Hey, don’t scare away our audience bird.”

She looked back and forth between the girl standing before them and her friend warning her in a voice not as quiet as he thought.

“I wouldn’t call a bunch of preps our audience. I mean are they even gonna be able to find the Hideout? Are they gonna be able to withstand the Hideout?”

Nova not so subtly cleared her throat while keeping her eyes on Jay. She looked back up at the brunette giving her an expectant look and decided honesty was a better policy to adhere to.

“Pardon my doubt,” she began apologetically, “we’re just gearing ourselves for a particular audience. And I don’t see you as being a part of that.”

The girl currently standing on the opposite side of the table slowly adjusted her weight with a pointed pop of her hip and dropped her head to graze against her shoulder.

“I didn’t realize Corroded Coffin was so exclusive. Didn’t realize you were a member either.”

“Well I am.” Jay replied slightly defensively, seeing the feigned unassuming tone Nova used.

“Oh yeah,” Eddie butt in with a mouthful of pretzels.

“Jay’s a great bass player. Whenever Grant is gone and Jeff can’t cover she takes the reins.”

Both the girls gave hard stares to Eddie for completely different reasons. He glanced up only to be caught between the excitement burning in Nova’s eyes and a sobering disdain in Jay’s, the hot and cold felt like whiplash.

“So you’re the sub… for the sub…” Nova commented while pressing her lips together to try and hide a satisfied smirk.

Eddie gawked for a moment, not sure what made Nova so cheerful but knowing he probably did something wrong since Jay stared into the side of his head like she wanted to cut open his skull and swirl his brains around with a chopstick. So he swallowed his mouthful and tried to pick up the pieces of whatever he broke.

“Uh- well we- she usually plays with us during band practice so she still gets to use those skills.”

“Right. Just not in front of an audience?” Nova directed her question to Jay.

Jay simply let out a deep sigh, keeping her attention to the table in front of her and not the girl currently calling her out. So Nova took the silence as a resounding ‘yes’ and hummed pretending to be surprised.

“Bummer. You might not be the right person to dictate their audience then.” She added with a terribly casual shrug, a movement made as if without an air of thought behind it, like she hadn’t just taken the handful of pride Jay had and twisted it into knots that tied embarrassment into the goths gut.

“Thanks for the details though, I’ll be seeing you guys this weekend.” Nova went back to her cheery demeanor. Dragging her hand along the table as she gave a lingering look to the boy currently staring up at her with hopeful eyes.

“Bye Eddie.”

“Bye- see ya, see you… later…” he trailed off in a haze as she walked away. He watched her as she made her way back to her table carrying herself with the instinct of a model walking down a runway, or a Queen traveling down a path lined with her subjects.

The second he turned his head back he locked eyes with Jay, who was currently seething in place. Hot breath fled her nose and he swore he could see puffs of cartoonish steam emit from behind her septum ring. Her ill temperament was obvious enough, the cause of which was less so to the metalhead.

“… what?” He asked with a languid mutter.

“You know sometimes you open your mouth and I hate what comes out of it.” Jay answered quickly. Her words likely came off as accusatory but in truth she was just frustrated.

Of all times for Eddie’s tendency to overshare this was the moment it came out? To be fair she deserved it, she could’ve tried bottling up her judgmental feelings until after Nova walked away, or just tear her own face off entirely. But alas, she allowed her emotions to take the reins yet again and Eddie could only dig her grave deeper. There was just something in the smiles shared between Nova and Eddie that soured her supportive tendency. She was yet to put her finger on why, but that would have to wait till after Saturday to uncover. Her spot was about to be flooded with normies so she had a lot of pride to swallow for their visit.

(Listen to “Venus” by Bananarama)

The next day came quickly, and Eddie warned all of Corroded Coffin of their upcoming “concert”. He wanted everyone prepared for a grueling set where they fed the audience tunes all night. He expected the owner to have an immense problem with it since she’d only ever let them play two songs, three if she was feeling generous, but he’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission. So the group was gathered just outside the football field, all huddling over sheets of loose notebook paper as they wrote down and scratched out set list after set list. There was a back-and-forth discussion on whether or not to perform original pieces or to stick with tried and true cover songs, and it quickly picked up into a rapid argument between the band members.

The quick quips rose to a level that alerted the cheer team as they flooded the field for practice. While most of the cheerleaders could ignore the general yapping a few feet away from them, Nova was all too tuned in to the one voice ringing louder than his cohorts. She followed the passionate shouting to the small corner where the outcasts all hid, startling them all as she leaned against an iron pillar and said “what’s all this?”

Eddie hardly bat an eye, continuing his tangent with a more pleasant demeanor while the rest of the band clutched their hands over their rapidly beating hearts. Nova listened intently, interjecting before the group around him could combat anymore. She confessed that she’d been writing songs for a long time, and asked for an editor on her most recent piece as she shyly pulled out a small notebook from her bag and handed it to Eddie. He read it over carefully, mouthing along with a guessed rhythm as he inspected her lyrics. He eventually gave a pleased nod and smiled up at Nova.

“You wrote this?” He asked with a hint of surprise.

Nova nodded and clutched onto her bag hanging on her shoulder, “yeah, I’ve been working on it for a while. Just trying to get it perfect.”

“This is good, I’m honestly hurt that you didn’t tell me about this sooner,” Eddie added as he handed the notebook to the group for the rest of their friends to appreciate, they all gave the same surprised but impressed glances and compliments to Nova.

When the notebook finally made it to Jay she snapped her head up from a piece of paper pressed in her lap that her eyes had been glued to. Finally realizing the cheerleader gave her an expectant look she slowly dropped the paper and took the notebook to read it with eyes glazed over. She took her time to look over each line despite how clouded her interest seemed to be, then gave a small nod and muttered “yeah, it’s good” in an underwhelmed tone.

Glancing up and handing the notebook back to Nova, she received it with a slowly falling smile and eyes darkening in offense. Only then did Jay realize just how melancholic she behaved. She apologized and tried to reason her lack of excitement to distraction, the lost look in her eyes a tell tale sign to Eddie that she had written something of her own. He snatched the paper from her lap and read it quickly. Eddie’s face furrowed at the writing. His eyes widened and his head slowly started to shake, the rest of the group adjusting in their seats waiting for him to finish his initial reading.

“… how the fuck do you do that?” He quickly tossed the paper to the rest of the group. They all read through it with an enthusiastic pace and gave the same bewildered expressions of approval.

Nova looked between all of them and grew confused, “do what?”

“Bird’s got this, like, creative superpower. She comes up with songs on the spot, just improvises the heaviest shit in like five seconds.” Eddie explained with obvious pride for his friend’s skill.

Nova nodded along, looking back at Jay as she seemed unaffected by the group’s compliments.

“That’s… crazy, actually.” She admitted, even though she felt the wind taken out of her sails with the goth's sudden contribution. She worked very hard on her own lyrics, working up the courage to share them with people she knew could appreciate them, only for her hard work to be side lined by something freshly whipped up in the same breath.

She felt the timing was weird, but couldn’t hold a grudge seeing as Jay truly did seem swept in a creative whirlwind. And it was a cool skill to have, it just seemed poor timing that the second Nova wanted to show something she was proud of, Jay was also crafting something. But it wasn’t her fault, you can’t control inspiration. It was just a coincidence, right? Yet she couldn’t stifle the troubled feeling in her chest watching as Jay hardly reacted to the symphony of compliments about her improvised lyrics. If Eddie gave Nova the same proud look he gave Jay then she’d be over the moon and joining in the banter. But Jay was quiet, and Nova stood as an outlier.

Jay drove up to school the following day, her second hand hearse creaking and clanking as it slowly slid into her favorite parking spot. “Elvira” wasn’t a trash heap like Eddie’s esteemed chariot but she certainly wasn’t as sexy as her namesake. A few rust spots, a number of deep dents and unfortunate scratches, and well loved leather seats with frayed edges from years of supporting stoic chauffeurs. She slid out of the car and waved across the parking lot to Eddie and Gareth as they leaned against his van. The parking lot was busy that morning as students were rolling in and instantly trying to find their own friends amongst the growing crowd. Then a distinct engine purr could be heard from the distance.

The shiniest coat of paint you’d ever seen, a square face and long body, and light brown hair waving in the wind with the top dropped down. This Cadillac meant serious business, such a prized possession belonged to none other than icon Nova James, and would only make specific appearances throughout each semester. That was decided when Tommy Hagan’s Christmas corvette was rear ended in the parking lot by some poor freshman. Nova wanted to limit any chance of that happening, so she’d only take her Cadillac for a spin when she was feeling particularly revved up. Some girls in cheer would refer to it as the “goddess landing” since she would walk with enough confidence to rival Venus. All in all, if you had any qualms with Nova, you should wait till the Cadillac was back in the garage.

So the stunning vehicle with its even more stunning driver pulled into the packed parking lot as Nova’s foxy eyes scanned for a spot. She noticed the hearse sitting in one of the upper rows and the goth gathering her things from the passenger's seat, there just so happened to be an open spot right next to her. For a fraction of a second and no more than that she thought to find another spot. She knew the hearse would pale in comparison to her own car, and with so many people in the area Jay might feel humiliated. But then she figured she was overthinking it, it was just a coincidence, much like Jay’s improvised lyrics were a coincidence. So she pulled up right next to the hearse.

Jay heard the rumble of a car and felt warmth radiate behind her, closing her door and turning to catch Nova’s gaze peeking at her from above her sunglasses.

“Hey Jay.” She greeted sweetly.

She in turn squinted her eyes as the sun shining off the car bounced right into her eyes, “oh, yeah, hi Nova.”

The cheerleader stepped out of her vehicle, exposing her immensely classy outfit to match her immensely classy car as she made her immensely classy entrance. Every ounce of admiration was contested with feelings of irritation as Jay could hear snickers and comments made from their peers at the duality of the two cars next to one another. She wasn’t mad at Nova, she was mad at how shallow the student body around them was. She knew she’d be hearing about this all day from people she couldn’t care less about, and let’s be honest, would it have killed Nova to park a little further away? Whether she was situationally unaware or not the brunette proceeded to put the top back down as Jay walked over to her friends with eyes still blinded.

Eddie chuckled as he watched her approach then motioned back to Nova, “no competing with that, am I right?”

“We’re not competing,” Jay snapped back, “who the fuck said we’re competing?”

“Woah,” Eddie raised his hands in mock surrender.

“I’m making a joke, chill out.”

Jay visibly bit her bottom lip to silently ridicule herself for her obviously defensive tone. Why was she feeling defensive anyways?

“Sorry bats... but just to set the record straight, there is no competition. If you have a Cadillac you automatically win everything.”

Eddie and Gareth laughed in agreement, when Nova’s sweet voice rang out across the parking lot. One hand hanging off her bag while the other stuck up in the air waving at Eddie for him to join her. He stifled for a moment, wide eyes darting between the girl waiting for him and his friends looking just as surprised as he did. Gareth patted him on the back a few times before basically pushing Eddie over to Nova and watching him stumble to her side.

Jay watched quietly, and had to bite her tongue to suppress her face from morphing into something disastrous again. That awful irritating sensation grew in her chest again and scratched at her ribcage like a feral animal longing to be released from an unfamiliar cage. She hated it, she hated watching them, and she hated as she grew to understand that feeling in her chest. Maybe, after all, whatever was happening between her and Nova could be a competition.

After school the next day everyone flooded the courtyard to either climb a buss, scurry off in their cars, or wait for someone to pick them up. Nova was in a unique situation where she was without a vehicle, her dad insisted on taking the Cadillac in for a check up and their spare car was being borrowed, so he agreed to pick Nova up from school. She stood next to Chrissy Cunningham and some of their fellow cheerleaders chatting away as she waited.

Then Hellfire Club unloaded in a chaotic flurry and dispersed just as quickly as they appeared. Eddie and Jay decided to stay with Jeff as he waited for his parents to pick him up. The nerds exchanged their hopes and expectations for their upcoming gig, all the while Nova delivered smiles and coy glances to Eddie who shot back sly smirks to distract from the nervous wave of his hand.

Jay noticed the quiet greetings and simply rolled her eyes, until she caught the sharp whispers and ear splitting giggles passed back and forth between the blonde bimbos standing around Nova behind flat hands. As if their palms suddenly dampened the twisted sounds they made. So she grabbed Eddie’s arm and spun him back around, giving him a look of warning that pushed him to continue their conversation.

Nova’s smile dropped immediately into an aggravated frown, and when the quartet of laughs grew louder she had half the mind to ridicule them right then and there. But of course, her dad finally drove up to the school with the window rolled down allowing a short snout to stick out of the passenger seat. The closer the car got the more expressive the cheerleaders became as the sweet face of a Rottweiler smiled to every passing person. Tongue hanging clumsily out of his jaws before he caught the glimpse of Nova and barked eagerly to his owner. She praised him and opened the car door, the adolescent pup jumping out of the passenger seat and eagerly clawing at her legs. She gave a stern command and the dog was quick to obey.

The cheerleaders all oohed and ahhed at how well behaved the Rottweiler was, even Eddie and Jeff slowly walked over to investigate what all the sudden fuss was. So now with an audience, Nova entertained their viewers and commanded little Arche to do the best tricks he had learned. Sitting, jumping, rolling over, even more complex tricks for such a young dog like weaving between her legs. Arche was impressively well trained and eager to please, and the onlookers rightfully complimented the young dog.

Nova caught a glimpse of Jay watching with bitter eyes from a safe distance, so the star decided to remove some of that safety. She seemed so comfortable commanding those around her with her eyes, surely she would be dying to voice her judgments.

“Not impressed Jay?” She asked.

“No, I'm plenty impressed,” Jay responded in a sarcastic voice. She took a few steps closer to Nova and brushed their shoulders together as she gave a dramatic smile, “just not a dog person.”

She walked right past the oncoming cars and onto a far plane of grass that framed the sidewalk. Cupping her hands over her mouth she called into the sky in a tender voice, giving a few greetings to seemingly no one. There was a long pause as she continued to stand comfortably in the grass, then there was movement in the tree above her. A small dark figure fluttered down from a flourishing branch and onto the grass in front of her, then a second followed, then two more after that. Jay reached into the pocket of her long black coat and pulled out a bag of peanuts, sprinkling them onto the grass before her. That was the moment a mass of black swarmed the grass from beyond the school, a flock of at least 20 crows all digging at the ground for a midday snack. Some even took tentative sidesteps to Jay outstretched hand as they plucked the peanut out of her fingers.

“… she has feral crows… as pets…” Nova said dazed before she suddenly turned to Eddie, “is that why you call her bird?”

“No!” Eddie answered quickly. “I didn’t even know this was happening! Every time she said she was going to go see her murder I thought she was making a homicide joke!”

Nova shook her head at Jay, catching the goth’s eyes as she gave a self righteous wink from her position on the grass. That was definitely an action made to irritate her, a challenge to contest the attention her dog gave her. As much as she wanted to be insulted, she simply couldn’t find it in herself. Not when at least five crows were dropping stolen dollar bills into Jay’s hands as thanks for the meal, and she knew Arche probably wouldn’t be able to do the same. So she let it slide, for now, there was plenty of time to take Jay’s ego down a peg. She certainly seemed to need it.

(Listen to “One Way Or Another” by Blondie)

Saturday night finally arrived and the strip was bustling, probably for the first time in decades. Teams of teenagers parked their cars down the damp road crowding the narrow path into The Hideout. The crowd was so dense that no one had any time to question the quality of the dive bar before they were locked into a conversation with a newly arriving friend. If they could catch the questionable stains on the ceiling or the layer of sticky bacteria they might have decided to turn tail and avoid the building like the plague. Instead they brought their own kind of hormonal plague into the bar instead.

At first the owner Bev had done everything in her power in the days leading up to the weekend to keep Corroded Coffin off the rickety stage that Saturday. But by the time the young people started piling in and ordering up she could care less about what the rambunctious teens were doing as long as they dropped crisp dollar bills on the bar.

So Corroded Coffin played, and man did they play. Eddie wailed into the microphone and shredded on his guitar, Jeff was right behind him with a complementary harmony, Gareth was zoned into the bass, and Gareth was hammering on the drums right in the pocket for every song. Not every tune was a crowd pleaser, but more often than not there were at least a few young people singing along or popping their heads to the tune.

Right in the center of every fleeting speck of gossip or piss poor attempt at a mosh pit was Nova James, chugging beers faster than boys twice her size like a fully fledged frat boy. She was relentless, dressed down and ready to sweat her ass off dancing the second she no longer had a line of challengers, which was yet to happen. After slamming the empty can of one boy's pitiful drink of choice on the rickety bar table the enthusiastic crowd around her all hooped and hollered in celebration. Her toothed smile showed off her sharp canines as she accepted her third victory out of countless more she would make that night.

“Who’s next huh?” she shouted out into the crowd, eyes darting around for her next victim while Corroded Coffin continued to blast their music through the dingy bar.

While the nearest group of insecure guys all clamored to be next in line and prove something to themselves, Nova spotted a dark figure leering just beyond the mass surrounding her table. To be fair Jay looked more approachable than she usually did at school, she was dressed a bit more revealing like Nova was. But she couldn’t fully appreciate the look, not while her heavy lined eyes were scanning the crowd in discomfort. It seemed the goth didn’t have a populace preference for the foul looks she always pulled out of her back pocket.

“Hey Jay!” Nova called, eventually getting the girl's reluctant attention.

“What’d you have?”

Jay stepped closer and shouted back confused, “what?”

“What’d you drink?”

“Nothing, I don’t drink at this bar.”

“Oh, you just had this awful look on your face. I thought you couldn’t hold your alcohol.” Nova gestured with a wide hand to Jay’s resting bitch face. Just before she could answer, Nova continued.

“But it’s worse than that, you just don’t drink at all, my bad.”

Nova turned back around to go back to whichever jock was desperate for validation, only to catch Jay make a Beeline to the bar and swipe up a whole bottle of Tequila while Bev wasn’t looking. The crowd around them ignited when she slammed the full bottle on the table, looking at Nova with clear intent. Then between the murmurs of the group around them they started to toss money on the table and exchange it between themselves, the amused crowd instantly placing bets between the two girls.

Nova looked down at the bottle, feeling unnerved at the choice. Not for her sake of course, she knew she could handle it, but she had no idea what Jay’s relationship with drinking was. For all she knew this might be her first shot. So she carefully looked back up at Jay after a brief pause.

“I was just teasing, okay? You don’t have to hurt yourself to prove a point.”

Jay in response looked at the steadily growing pile of cash on the table before shrugging at Nova.

“If I get a hangover, I’m getting it for free.”

There wasn’t much room for further argument before Jay stationed herself on the high top chair opposite of the cheerleader, both locked in a cold stare as if the table between them was an open plane in the wild west and the band’s music were the chimes of high noon. Shot glasses settled in front of them as members of their captivated audience poured shots to the two women. The first three shots were taken with grace, the next two tugged their faces into questionable frowns, the sixth shot was when Jay’s head tilted to the side and a long exasperated sigh escaped her lips.

Nova pressed on, maybe slightly squinting her eyes but recovering quickly. The seventh made Jay whine in discontent, frowning while an eighth shot was poured and Nova downed it without a second thought.

Slamming the shot glass down Nova laughed at Jay as she slowly hunched over more and more on the table, “are you done already?”

“Nonononono wait, hang on,” Jay slurred with a pointed finger waving, not specifically, but implied at Nova’s general direction. She took a few rapid sips of the shot instead of shooting it and let the glass clatter back down on the wooden table.

Nova matched her number and took the eight shot with no more than a rapid shake of her head and a smile following soon after. They both watched as another bystander poured the ninth shot, and the already sluggish momentum between them slowed to a snail's pace. Nova kept her eyes glued to Jay and waited with perfect patience for her competitor to pick up the shot and progress their formal competition. For all the bullshit the girl had put her through the entire week, she was owed one true and honest victory. So she watched like a predator stalking its prey in a foolish moment of comfort, subconsciously begging the goth to take the shot with full vigor.

Jay stared down at the shot in front of her, what were they drinking again? That’s right, tequila, god she loved tequila. It fucks you up right quick but it’s a fun ride to have. She took hold of her shot glass and couldn’t register it's cool surface connecting with her skin, only then did she realize that Corroded Coffin wasn’t playing anymore, someone was just talking into the microphone. What the fuck were they saying? Why the fuck couldn’t she understand that bitch? And where was Eddie? That bastard, good hair but a fucking asshole, cute but in like a pitiful puppy sort of way.

Her train of thought made about five left turns before it finally turned back to the task at hand, she was trying to outdrink Nova James. Well, at this point was that really her main motivator?

With a head full of air and a smile of satisfaction growing on her delirious face Jay looked back up at Nova to mutter “now would be a good time to tell you that I’m a lightweight.”

She slid the glass away from her and her head dipped back as she laughed at her own lax persona. The figures surrounding her all cheered for their still standing drinking Queen, all the while Nova laughed with Jay and shook her head at the poor girls fading psyche. Jay was still laughing in her spot, slowly slipping off the chair without realizing. Just before her clumsy feet could slip on the floor beneath her Eddie was right behind her to hold her up by her shoulders.

“Careful bird, Jesus,” he shook his head and looked her form up and down, growing both amused and concerned when he realized just how far gone she was.

Jay casually slipped out of his hold and muttered something he didn’t understand before sticking up a hand randomly in the air and walking off. As confused as he was, he only had a brief moment to collect water for his band before they had to be back on the stage, so he wanted to make the checkup brief.

“Nova, is she okay?” he asked, promptly noticing how much liquid the tequila bottle lost as well as several discarded beer cans on the table.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, but it’s really sweet of you to care,” Nova complimented and smiled back up at him.

“And I’m sure she’ll be fine,” she dismissed his concern for Jay quickly, “don’t worry, you just keep playing. The crowd is killer tonight, right?”

Eddie nodded back, he couldn’t deny that the amount of eyes watching Corroded Coffin so intently fed a constant stream of adrenaline rushing through him, and he couldn’t get enough of it.

“Totally… look can you just keep an eye on her? And, if you can help it, please don’t go too crazy tonight.”

“I make no promises but I will keep all that in mind,” Nova smiled up at him and ruffled up his hair before pushing him away to go back onto the stage.

“Who’s next?” she called out and was met with a chorus of eager challengers.

Nova felt her insides churn suddenly, she wasn’t sure if she had a bad combination or just too much, but she knew that everything in her stomach needed to get out and fast. Holding onto her stomach she dashed around the hallway and looked left to right for anything that looked like a bathroom. She was starting to accept that The Hideout was just as hellish as Jay had warned as the nearest door she found was just a storage closet. The contracting in her abdomen was demanding and her whole body lurched forward as her throat filled with bile. She thought quickly, what was the nearest container? Her eyes landed on a mop bucket, that’ll have to do. Her feet slid clumsily against the ground as she slammed the closet door closed and knelt down over the bucket as quickly as possible, just barely catching her hair and scooping it out of her face as her body emptied every threatening substance in it. She could taste the terrible concoction of every drink she had consumed that night, and that only made her nausea worse.

Cast in a deep shadow arose a sleeping figure the cheerleader wasn’t previously aware of. Slowly sitting up off the floor and slipping out from under her long coat, Jay’s head spun and her reality seemed distorted. For a second she thought the pitiful groaning was a figment of her tired imagination, until the terrible smell of acids and alcohol hit her nose and flooded her nostrils. Looking over at Nova with squinted eyes she hummed in pity.

“Ooo, yeah that’s no fun. Kinda surprised you can’t hold your liquor, James.” She remarked.

“Fuck you,” Nova grunted in the minimal time she had to catch her breath before another wave of nausea hit her and she dipped her head back into the bucket.

“A flattering concept, but I’m not into cheerleaders.” Jay answered with too much sarcasm for the amount of time she had spent knocked out in this back room.

Between hoarse coughs and spitting out mouthfuls of collected saliva, Nova let out a dry “ha” before wiping her mouth clean and resting her back on the door to catch her breath.

Jay’s eyes widened slightly, looking at the rickety door that was shut.

“… oh… oh you bitch…”

Nova’s deep breaths paused and she gave a look colder than the arctic, “the fuck did you just say?”

“Ohhh you dumb bitch,” Jay added with a desperate tone in her pouting as she practically ignored Nova’s obvious offense.

“Okay now that’s-“

“You closed the door! Fuck you closed the door!” Jay interrupted as she held her heavy head in her tingling hands.

Nova simply scoffed, her confusion not strong enough to still her rising anger.

“Yeah, I did, you have eyes, congratulations.”

“That door is busted Nova,” Jay explained in a stern voice. “It’s been busted for years and Bev’s been too cheap to fix it! Once it closes it’s near fucking impossible to get it open again!”

Nova rolled her eyes, not wanting to give in to Jay’s fear mongering after all the time the goth egged her on. Standing up with shaky legs she jolted the handle. It turned, it jiggled, but the door didn’t budge. She stopped for a moment before she continued trying to pry the door open with more force. That was when panic kicked out her nausea and settled into her body instead.

“... fuck.”

“Nice going James.”

Nova whipped around with fresh venom sitting on her tongue, “oh I’m so sorry I didn’t know this one specific closet had a broken door, but you were dumb enough to take a nap in the first place!”

“I put a giant fucking two by four in the crack as a door stopper!” Jay shouted back as she pointed to a hunk of wood that slid into the center of the room

“But I guess you just didn’t notice it ohhh this is great, this is just great! I was supposed to sing on the worship team tomorrow but I guess I’ll just spend my Sabbath day rotting in a dingy dive bar like some harlot, my parents are gonna be so proud of me!”

“Don’t be a pussy, we just need someone to let us out,” Nova scolded her, wanting to hold on to hope rather than succumb to Jay’s negative perspective.

“Yeah except no one’s going to know where we are!”

“Then we’ll just scream until someone does!”

“Be realistic, Corroded Coffin’s got the sound blasting! They never get an audience like this and Bev won’t stop them as long as money comes in so for all we know they’re gonna be playing till the damn sun comes up!”

Nova willingly ignored her and banged against the door, shouting and pleading with anyone that might be listening. She committed to the action for a few solid minutes, Jay progressively curling up into a ball and shielding her ears from the increasingly desperate shouts that failed to reach the inhabitants beyond the broken door. Her determination should’ve been admirable but with the slowly increasing headache pounding in Jay’s skull she grew all the more bitter.

“Okay I know shouting is like a cheerleader thing but maybe you could cut it out? I think my ears are bleeding.”

“Oh my god-” Nova dropped her head on the door with a resounding ‘thunk’ before she turned back around to ridicule Jay.

“I don’t know what kind of stick has been up your ass this past week but maybe you could pull it out so you can actually be useful!”

“I’m just being honest.”

“No, you’re being a coward.”

“Oof, harsh dig Martha Stewart, got any more sick burns for me?”

“Yeah, you’re a jealous bitch with a raging ego, it’s no wonder no one likes you since your resting bitch face scares everyone away, and I’d almost feel sorry for you except I can’t imagine anyone actually liking being around you.”

Jay gave a hearty laugh and a dramatic slow clap, “now that’s the level of creativity I was hoping for! Hitting me right where it hurts, that was good! Is it my turn now?”

“Fuck off.”

“Okay let's see, you’re a par-asocial parasite painting your disease in candy colored lip gloss so instead of questioning the cracks in your crystal cut smile people stop to admire the shine, but if they looked past your short skirts and curled hair they’d see why you leech onto them and pull you right off. Cause mommy and daddy can buy all the cool cars in the world but they’ll never give you their attention right?”

Nova swiped up the loose plank disregarded on the floor and chucked it right at Jay, she barely had any time to duck before the wood made harsh contact with the wall above her head with a “whoosh” that breezed through her black hair. It came crashing down on her forearms covering her head before the wood clattered onto the ground. Even the force of the wood falling on her arms was strong enough to bruise, she didn’t want to imagine how it would feel if she didn't shield herself.

Stillness passed between them. Only the muffled sound of the band’s performance in the main venue echoing through the supply closet. The silence between them was almost more terrifying than the narrowly avoided violence. Why wasn’t Nova screaming at her? Berating her? Jay’s hands trembled as she slowly uncovered her face, looking up at Nova with wide eyes while the girl standing above her looked back with a stare so cold she felt like a sinner facing judgment. But there was a stutter in Nova’s breath as her chest rose and fell, a sadness clawing its way out of her angered stare. Just beneath her righteous anger was a weakness she seemed terrified to reveal.

“… I didn’t know there was a line, but I see that I crossed it,” Jay confessed with a shaking voice.

Another beat passed between them as Jay slowly sat up to look at Nova more clearly, she caught the moment the cheerleaders slipping mask was secured once more. Nova scoffed, then let out a hoarse laugh, and slid down the door with her back pressed against the wood vibrating with the beat of the drums outside.

“You’re one to talk about attention,” Nova finally muttered, barely putting in the energy to sound snarky or crass. The jab was oddly enough the needle that popped the balloon of tension pressing down on the both of them, Jay even smiled and nodded in agreement.

“… Did I do something to you?” Nova finally asked.

“I mean it seems like everywhere I go you’re there to tear me down.”

“Tear you down? You’ve been trampling on me all week!” Jay protested with an air of amused disbelief rather than defensiveness.

“No, I’ve been reacting to your jealousy,” Nova began to look confused.

“… what am I jealous of?” Jay asked, equally confused.

“Me and Eddie?”

“Woah I am not-“ Just as Jay was about to outwardly refute Nova’s claim she felt her words get caught in her throat. She looked down at her hands, the sight of the girl across the room from her became far too painful. She let out a reluctant sigh as she accepted this was the moment she’d finally name the beast she kept chained in her chest.

“... I’m not jealous of you and Eddie… I’m jealous of you and Chrissy.”

Nova simply stared back for a moment, her lips twitching to comment but she had no words to say and her brows furrowed to express her lack of understanding. What did Chrissy Cunningham have to do with Jay’s seemingly territorial nature?

Jay noticed the lost look Nova was giving her and internally relented at the necessity for elaboration. She sat up slightly, shoulders still slouching despite her aligned back, as if her arms would shield her vulnerability.

“We were friends growing up, best friends actually. But freshman year came around and she got a little… distant. Sophomore year was kinda the nail in the coffin. I was really getting into goth clothes and all that so some basketball douchebags started criticizing me. I told them off, but Chrissy… just watched.”

Nova nodded slightly, she could recall the rampant rumors that spread about Jay that day. With her behavior through the last week she was almost starting to believe the old news, but was glad she didn’t.

“… I remember hearing about that, everyone called you crazy.”

“I felt crazy. My best friend just stared all wide eyed like I was in the wrong for sticking up for myself. We didn’t talk again after that. Then I noticed you two getting closer, which I wasn’t mad about but it kinda hurt. Like why were you good enough to be Chrissy’s friend and not me? How could she so easily replace me with a girl she barely knew? So when you started getting closer to Eddie it just… I got scared that he’d do the same thing, I got worried I was still too weird to have friends. But I didn’t want to be scared, so I got mad… I’m really sorry I got mad. I should’ve reacted better but it was the only thing I knew how to do. I just didn’t like the thought that this one girl, who already has so many friends, kept getting the few people I love.”

Nova’s heart sank, she could see the box that Jay was putting her in, and it couldn’t be further from the truth.

“… you know… I actually don’t have friends.”

Jay immediately laughed and shook her head, “Oh shut up.”

“I’m serious. Half the people around me just like my status, they want to use me to get a leg up. But no one actually gives a shit about me. A lot of people are put off by my attitude so I don’t make a lot of connections, but that’s how I have to be since the only people interested in me are fake as fuck. Even in cheer I hear little whispers, insulting me from the same girls who compliment my hair or my clothes. They’re always making subtle judgments with a pageant girl smile. I can handle it, obviously, but it always puts me at odds with others. So I either scare people away and end up alone or surround myself with flaky people and still end up alone. Chrissy’s one of the only girls who actually cares, and it was just her for a long time until I met Eddie. And he was real. I felt like I could be a little more of myself around him… but he hasn’t talked to me very much since summer, so I wanted to come here. I wanted to show that I support him, get closer to him.”

Jay, clasped her head in her hands, elbows propped up on her knees as a groan of frustration left her, “But I alienated you when you tried, like everyone else has… I’m a bitch.”

“… just a little,” Nova agreed with a soft laugh.

“… but I get it… you know, Eddie always said he thought we would get along. I was kind of sad when that didn’t happen.”

“Yeah, my bad….” Jay responded under her breath. It was hard to confront the miscommunications that kept the two apart, to acknowledge that the great divide between them was just the cracks in their own perceptions rather than faults in the other person. But now that the two were finally talking, she was starting to see why her metalhead friend was so eager about Nova’s company.

“You know he likes you. Really likes you. He talks about you like you’re the coolest thing since John Sykes got his hands on a guitar. He won’t admit it but he’s scared to talk to you in school, I think he’s worried his reputation will rub off on you.”

Her words did soothe a sore spot in Nova’s heart that she had been ignoring, so she leveled with her.

“… well, he likes you too. Even when it was just the two of us he’d come up with reasons to talk about you… I’d like to have that with someone.”

Jay caught the brief descending tone in her voice, the disappointment from years of lost connections that calloused the cheerleader's heart without healing the wound. Against her better judgment, she felt a magnetic pull that lifted her onto her heavy feet. With her head still spinning she clumsily sat down next to Nova, banging the back of her head harshly against the door without reaction.

She kept quiet until murmuring, “… I’m willing to give a shit if you are.”

Nova looked back at her, attempting a cheeky grin in the dark space.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m offering a boon, a peace treaty, or- a parle.”

“Friendship?”

Jay raised her hands in the air in surrender, “hey I’ll take whatever you can give me. If friendship is on the table, I’ll sit there.”

“As if you’d ever want to sit at my table,” Nova shook her head and laughed quietly, imagining the cloud of doom sitting with the lot of cheerleaders.

“Well not if you’re gonna give me all that attitude,” Jay added sarcastically.

“Just when I was thinking of inviting you to a d&d one-shot too.”

Nova let out some disgruntled hum of unwilling fear which sent Jay into a fit of laughter, pointing to the girl's wide eyes as she couldn’t hold back her amusement.

“What the hell was that?”

“I’m not there yet,” Nova was breaking out into her own fit of giggles as her nervous groan played back in her head.

“Not where yet? Where are you going?” Jay sent the two into a fervent fit of laughter as logic slipped away and coherent conversation was lost in the air of camaraderie between them. The tension and grudges between them dissolved faster than they formed, and just for a moment they forgot about the hurt they had dealt one another. They forgot about their social standings, the circles they belonged to, they were just two girls.

A ‘thump’ interrupted their laughter, their shoulders shaking as a heavy vibration rocked against the door. The girls were quick to quiet, looking at one another with confusion before another heavier ’thump’ forced them to crawl away from the door. With a few more violent rushes on the door and a rapid jiggling of the doors handle the closet door finally burst open.

Eddie came crashing in shoulder first, sweeping the door open with his other arm. He looked around frantically, relief flooding him when he found the two girls looking up at him from the floor.

“Oh thank fuck,” he sighed and leaned against the door, his hair a mess and clinging to his sweat covered face.

Jay threw her arms in the air and cheered like a toddler, “Eddie!”

“Shit, I’m so glad it was you guys in here- fuck that door was stuck,” he groaned as he rotated his arm and held his shoulder.

“Oh my god, Eddie, how did you find us?” Nova asked as she pushed herself up off her feet, subtly inspecting their savior for any major injuries and fortunately found him lacking.

“This was the only place I hadn’t checked, and Bev tries to keep this door closed on account of the broken-“

Nova waved him off, “yeah the broken door, we know.”

Just as Eddie was about to respond he closed his mouth, nodding back to agree before changing the topic.

“Well I’m glad you guys are okay… you guys are okay, right?”

“Why?” Jay asked as she moved off the floor to hang off of Eddie’s arm. “You miss me or something?”

“Uh, pretty much, you guys missed a huge chunk of the show.” Eddie said, trying to hide his disappointment.

Nova groaned and grabbed the sides of her head, reeling at how she spent this whole night in a supply closet when this was her idea in the first place.

“Shit, Eddie I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to miss it. God, I was looking forward to this all week too.”

“… I mean I’ll give you a show whenever you want-“ Eddie’s bashful attempt at flirting was abruptly stopped by Jay pushing him away and grabbing Nova by her hands.

“You should totally come to band practice! Half the time I host and the other half Gareth hosts and when I host we have good snacks and AC but when Gareth hosts we have beer- it’s a good time no matter what house we’re at.” Jay rambled, smiling at Nova with tired eyes.

“Uh- if the boss says I can join,” Nova looks at Eddie expectantly.

The sudden nickname already sent a flustered warmth to his cheeks that made him want to oblige, but when Jay turned around with the biggest pout and shining puppy dog eyes he had ever seen then he was doomed to say yes.

“Yeah, yeah that’d be cool,” he said as he cleared his throat, trying to appear more casual than he felt about the idea. After brushing his ringed hand through his damp waves he nodded to Jay.

“Welp, van’s all packed, let’s head out.”

He turned to leave, intending on driving his friend back home since he was the designated chauffeur within their group, but the distinct lack of her thick boots scuttling behind him was odd. Eddie looked back, confirming that Jay was indeed not following him, then made a brisk turn to poke his head back into the supply closet.

“Hey, are you coming?”

Jay looked back between Eddie and Nova for a moment, feeling her feet frozen in place as she tested the waters of familiar comfort and opportune friendship. Looking back at the cheerleader and her slightly tilted head, her jewelry catching in the dim light as she smirks back. Jay threw her arm over Nova’s shoulders and pulled her close to her side.

“Nah, don’t need to. I’m thinking of driving a Cadillac tonight.”

“Oh, no, you will not be test driving my baby. But you’ll look really pretty in the passenger seat.” Nova denies her sweetly as they walk past Eddie.

“Damn right I will,” Jay agreed with a boisterous voice full of confidence.

Eddie is left to watch the two girls walk off. He was largely unaware of their rivalry, but he could see as plainly as anyone that they weren’t friends. But now they were laughing and joking as they walked out of the Hideout, arm in arm, hips swaying in time with one another completely in sync. In a way it was perfectly appropriate, the girls who always believed they existed in two totally different worlds somehow discovered they were far more alike than they thought.

Jeff had just swung his bass over his shoulder as the pair passed by him, and he watched in equal bewilderment as Eddie as he took a step closer to his bandmate.

“… were they in the closet?”

“Yep.” Eddie replied bluntly.

“… what the hell happened in there?”

“… no fucking clue… hopefully nothing I missed out on.”

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