#peatlet

[artificialqueens]

Cupid’s Blind Arrow (Group fic) Chapter 1 - Ginger Nut

AN: I hope yous enjoy first official chapter, and I’d like to welcome Mistress as the beta for this fic. Already she’s helped so much to improve the writing, thank you!

As the class started to file in for English they noticed all of their chairs were assembled differently. On either side of the room the chairs were set up facing each other. “Are we in a fucking courtroom or something?” asked Adore. “That’s not what a courtroom looks like dumbass, I’m surprised you haven’t seen one before,” Bianca came up behind the girl and settled a hand on her shoulder. “This looks more like…” she searched for the name. “The house of commons in London, where they debate about laws and stuff.” “Party” signed off Adore Bianca watched her eyes; she was sure they had a twinkle she’d never ever seen before. Bianca shook her head. What the hell am I thinking? Since when do I care about a twinkle in some slacker’s eye? “B, you ok?” Adore noticed Bianca almost having a conversation with herself. She worried for a minute that Bianca had actually been talking to her, and that Adore had been ignoring her. Bianca blinked a couple times and forced a half smile to her face, nodding.

“Take your seats, quit acting like you’ve never seen a debate room before. Actually, no don’t take your seats I need to tell you what seat to take” Miss Raja appeared from the corridor, shooing all remaining students into the classroom. “Ok uh, actually just take any seat right now I can’t think with you all standing there.” The students obeyed and slumped in the closest empty seat. “So today we are going to be doing something a little different. Everyone who has read Romeo and Juliet believe that the plot was one of the two following-” A knock on the door came, interrupting Miss Raja, who stomped to the locked door to let in an almost lifeless Pearl.She had a bag slumped over one shoulder and their eyes were more closed than open, so nothing was new. “Sorry I’m late” came out of her with minimal effort and volume. Raja sighed as she went to change the register to inform the office of Pearl’s now late attendance. “It’s fine just take any seat Pearl.” Pearl scanned the room for a second, surveying her options. There was a spare seat next to Laganja, yeah no. Nothing against the girl but Pearl had no energy to keep up with her; there was also one next to Max, could she really be bothered being told to sit with her legs crossed so she doesn’t “sit like a man”? fuck that. Ultimately, she left one option and took a spare seat between Violet and Vivienne. Vivienne hardly ever spoke, and Pearl had never really spoken to Violet, whatever she thought. “Stoner pit stop before class?” mumbled Violet, loud enough for only Pearl to hear. Pearl scoffed and looked up to find Violets eyes on her. The girl’s gaze had a weird effect on Pearl; It was like she could see into her soul. “No” Pearl replied, dragging out the syllable longer than she probably should have been. “I missed the bus and had to get my mom to drive me.” Violet returned a smirk, accepting Pearl’s answer, then refocused her attention to Miss Raja, about to start over. “Back to the play; people either think it is about the stupidity of youth and their lust, or they think it’s a beautiful tragedy about how love can conquer hate. One of the requirements for the honours course is that students must participate in a discussion, ensuring that they become informed of both opinions and can make their own decision. So, without any talking, if you believe that Romeo and Juliet is a play that demonstrates how children can be naïve and mistake love for obsession, sit on the left side and if you think it’s a tragic tale of two star crossed lovers sit on the right.” A second passed before Raja had to exclaim “Move!” accompanied by a hand gesture to get the teenagers to reluctantly get up. “Where are you going then?” Pearl asked Violet, who was still a bit offended by the previous stoner nickname she’d been given. Violet remained silent but stood up to cross over sides. “Love is love, you don’t have to be thirty to realise that.” With that she flipped her jet-black hair to one side and took the seat directly across from Pearl.

Katya moved up from her seat, shimmying past Ivy and Jinkx, and made her way over to the left side of the room. she liked Romeo and Juliet but she couldn’t get past the time span of the play – seriously you don’t marry a guy you met less than 4 days ago. She sat in an empty seat next to Pearl. Katya never had the chance to get to know Pearl, but she felt bad for her. The poor girl had moved from New York, and that’s like forever away, as far as Katya was concerned. Katya had known everyone else in the class since at least middle school. Pearl was cute though - not Katya’s type - but cute. She spied the others that had come to the dark side. Del Rio; that was no surprise, Phi Phi; Katya was starting to think Phi Phi had maybe given up on love considering she caught her ex cheating on her a couple of weeks back. There was also Gia, Max, Alyssa and- what? Alaska? Alaska Thunderfuck? The girl was all cheerleader and sing-songy, why was she on this side, did she get confused? She sure as hell didn’t look confused; she sat with her arms crossed, bottom eyeliner smudged and an emotionless bitch face as Alyssa talked nonsense to her. Wow. Shocker of the week. On the other side sat Alaska’s friend Trixie, a blonde bombshell by Katya’s standards. This was Katya’s first class with the girl but the minute she’d walked in on the first day, Katya hadn’t been able to tear her eyes away. She’d seen Trixie before in the corridors and at football games, but for some reason when Trixie stood in the doorway Katya’s whole world stopped, my god she’s beautiful. Suddenly her attention was averted to the girl behind Trixie; Sharon Needles. “Well I never” breathed Katya without thinking. “Hm?” Pearl looked up. Katya mouthed Sharon and motioned over to the other side. Pearl made a face giving herself an extra two chins, “Sharon? Young Love? Nah I don’t see it.” Katya narrowed her eyes to focus, her mind drew a blank. “Looks like she might not just be Sharon Needles but Sharon the love” Katya toppled over in wheezing laughter at the mediocre pun she’d just made. Pearl face palmed and settled back into her seat.

“Okay class- wait Willam you need to choose a side.” Willam folded her arms across her chest. “What if I think the play is both?” Miss Raja put a hand to her head. “Willam I don’t have time-“ Willam spread her hands and shrugged. “Listen, the play is stupid. No one would ever marry someone they just met, but teenagers also aren’t as dumb as you baby boomers think.” Raja was offended at the age comment but didn’t hold Willam to it. Instead she ushered a challenge. “Willam, you’ve just proven your strength in ability for discussions. How about you choose one side right now, but you can change your mind later. This is something you can really excel in, do lots of research …” Willam rolled her eyes and strolled over to the side with the rest of the anti-love crowd, tuning the teacher out as soon as she’d said the word ‘research’. “Willam?” prodded Miss Raja. Willam raised her head, realizing she’d been asked a question. “What? I stopped listening.” Raja sighed. “I said when was the last time you found something you could really sink your teeth into?” “Courtney Act” Willam responded. Adore sniggered from her seat – she was the only other person who really knew about Willam and Courtney. Beyond the rumor mill, Adore had caught them together on a break day last term. After promising not to tell, Adore had given Willam a high five and picked another place to smoke. around ten minutes later Willam came over and sat down next to Adore at one of the back walls of the school. Adore could only remember Willam gushing over the blonde, how she made Willam look forward to learning just to see Courtney. Willam’s lovesick smile was so infectious it could’ve made the blind man smile thought Adore. When the Aussie returned home, Adore had offered her company to Willam. Willam had tried to blow it off, “not like it was a break up or anything, a fling. That’s all it was.” The bohemian rocker saw straight through her, Willam missed her. Hearing Willam talk about Courtney – even in a comedic way – sparked a warmth in Adore, knowing Willam still thought about her. Miss Raja clapped her hands, a sound so loud the class fell immediately silent. “Okay, we’re gonna start. The way we’re going to do this is I’ll pull someone’s name from this jar and they’re gonna share their views on the play, why they think that and anyone from the opposing side can challenge that view, OK?” everyone nodded in agreement and raja went to pull out the first name. “Phi Phi” The whole class sighed in anticipation as Phi Phi prepared herself, now that Alaska looked at her, she didn’t feel that bad. Not compared to Phi Phi’s stained races of mascara, raccoon nest hair and glassy eyes. The girl used to be so sharp, everyone thought she was perfect. Alaska actually felt bad for Phi Phi, that’s saying something. Anything to distract attention from Alaska right now. “Well… I don’t really believe in love. Like it’s silly.” The teacher nodded for her to go on, “People can’t fully love someone, like that’s just not how life happens. I feel like the play represented an infatuation, which is completely different from love. When you love someone, it’s what’s on the inside. Infatuation is mainly on the outside. But like I said, love is silly. It just… never works out” The last part subsided to a mumble as Phi Phi hung her head. Everyone had heard about her breakup and she hadn’t come to school for 4 days after it happened. It didn’t matter how annoying Phi Phi was, no one wanted to catch their partner cheating. Discussions started to break out to fill the awkward silence Phi Phi had left. No one really listened to each other until Needles broke out: “Love is real.” At that everyone turned their head and found an emotional Sharon, not crying but emotional. Sharon was being stared at like a statue. What the fuck is she doing? Alaska screamed in her mind. Sharon went on, “The first time you look at someone you can tell if there’s something there, I don’t believe in love at first sight, but I believe in that connection. I can’t explain it, but I can feel it. You look at someone and you mind starts to run laps of a track but you don’t get tired, you feel… rejuvenated.” “Wow Sharon,” commented Willam. “Rejuvenated. That’s a big word for you.” Max gave Willam a discreet but firm kick in the shin to get her to shut up. Willam let out a screech “Get your sasquatch feet away from my Loub’s.” “Love is a precious feeling, anyone who’s lucky enough to feel it knows that, and they can clearly see that Romeo and Juliet loved each other. So much so that they went to extremes for one another.” The class was silent, no one could really comprehend what just happened. Sharon Needles, a person who never showed any emotion, a person who never talked about emotion, for the first time opened up her heart to reveal a warm affectionate soul. Who knew? Silence filled the room for a minute, each person taking in Sharon’s heart-felt speech. Until Alaska, who had been sitting quietly spoke up through a groggy voice and a guarded façade. “Love? You really believe that Romeo loved Juliet? He didn’t care enough to wait with her! She wasn’t dead, she was asleep, but he didn’t wait around long enough to realise that, did he?” The girls on her side of the class all tried not to notice Alaska’s hands balled into fists. “Romeo was stupid, Juliet was left with no choice, she loved him so much, I’ll say that. She was willing to leave everything for Romeo, her name, her family, but the minute Romeo saw that Juliet wasn’t awake he went down to the Apothecary to get drugs. Those drugs didn’t help with anything and Romeo died, their love along with it.” Sharon and Alaska’s eyes were locked on each other. It was like no one else was in the room. Sharon took a shallow breath through her teeth, her eyes squeezing shut. “Did you ever consider that Romeo didn’t get the drugs because of Juliet? God, not everything is about effin Juliet, Juliet likes to play the victim. Like none of this is her fault and she’s some precious gift to the world. Fuck Juliet- sorry miss- fuck her. Romeo had a life, y’know, at the start of the play he was very obviously depressed, Juliet wasn’t there for him, was she?” Violet and Pearl caught each other’s eye and Violet mouthed burn to Pearl mimicking dubbing a fire on her finger. Pearl gave a shy laugh, she kinda liked Violet. Sharon was panting. “Maybe, just maybe Alaska, Romeo wanted to die. And Juliet set him over the edge. Juliet doesn’t rule his life, and she shouldn’t dictate what he can do and when. Romeo did love Juliet but he really shouldn’t’ve. It messed up his life more than you can imagine.” Everyone flipped their eyes back to a boiling Alaska from Sharon who was sitting on the edge of her seat, face red with passion. “What the literal fuck is going on?” muttered Violet, Adore met her comment with a wide-eyed glance implying she was just as lost as Violet. “Their relationship was toxic and you know it,” Alaska stumbled, not losing eye contact with Sharon as tears began to clog her vision. Alaska don’t break she told herself, not here not now. “It was destined for failure the minute Romeo snuck into the ball. He still wasn’t over Rosaline and he threw himself at the first girl he saw. That, to me. Is. Not. Love.” “I agree with Alaska.”. Sharon rolled her eyes. “Oh, you would Phi Phi” Suddenly, the ball was back in Sharon’s court and she was frozen for a second, her usual laid-back slouch in a chair had been replaced by a vulnerable huddle at the edge. Her lip quivered for a millisecond, something no one but Alaska would be able to notice. “Did Juliet even want a relationship?” asked Sharon, a hint of hurt in her voice. “Seriously what the fuck is this? Jerry Springer?” Trixie elbowed the girl. “Violet shut up. I want all the details,” Sharon swallowed before continuing. “Like, her mother had even asked her about marrying Paris, and she told her she hadn’t thought of being in a relationship. Was her plan to just lead Romeo on, drive him crazy?!” the word “crazy” had been delivered through gritted teeth. Throughout all of this Miss Raja had bought a ticket to attend the tennis match and she let out the occasional gasp and she was given disapproving glare by Willam. “Face it Sharon, Romeo was stupid. If he really loved Juliet he wouldn’t have ran away. Who really was the one afraid of commitment.” “Bull- “ At that the bell rang for the next class but no one moved. Even Raja stood still for a moment, before realising the situation and opening the door to allow students out. Sharon darted out of the door. “Go ahead, run away from the problem like you always do!” Alaska yelled out after her. The blonde composed herself, attempting to fix the smudged eyeliner and hair that had been messed with for the whole period. Willam came up behind her and showed what little compassion Courtney had taught her “Hey, let’s not break down at school and be known as the girl who cried and had to be taken out of class - stop, let me do it, we can make it smoked instead of smudged.” Pearl sensed someone standing in front of her as she packed up her things, God I wish Miss Raja would’ve told us we didn’t need our folders and- “Hey Pearl” It was Violet, closer than she probably should’ve been. “You busy on Friday night?” Pearl, somewhat perplexed, managed to give a shake of her head. “Uh, no.” “Why don’t you come to my party? Everyone’s gonna be there, it’ll give you a chance to get to know people better.” Just when pearl didn’t think she could get any more confused, did Violet Chachki just wink at me? “uh yeah, sure sounds great?” “Cool, just ask Adore for the details and stuff but there’s one rule.” Violet paused for dramatic effect. “It’s a costume party, be creative like I know you are.” an awkward silence filled the gap between them as Violet realized what she just said. “Sorry that sounded weird I know. Uh, I meant that you’re like artsy, y’know with your sketch pad and hipster clothes.” Pearl quirked an eyebrow. “Hipster?! Seriously?” Both girls broke out into laughter at Violet’s word choice. “See ya, pearl” Pearl watched Violet go, she glided in her heel, her hair not moving an inch. Pearl smiled to herself, feeling happy for once.