Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
after a little pep talk with all the girls of west ham, they were ready to exert their power.
and with just some convincing, the boys started thinking like this: "i've been thinking. what if we like, didn't...take stuff?" jason, grizz, clarke and luke all lay in a row with brandi in the middle. "like food, or whatever. wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, right? sharing?"
"ooh, jason. love to see you using the brain of yours." jason says nothing in return to brandi's sarcasm, too lazy to argue.
"it could be like, socialism." jason sits up on his elbow. "there's no "i" in team, right?"
clarke lifts his head to look at his friend. "erika give you that talk?" jason's face falls and he lays back down. "no."
"oh, really? cause gwen said that exact shit to me last night. have you girls been plotting against us?" clarke nudges brandi in the arm.
"someone's got to talk some sense into you dumbasses." brandi closes her eyes. "i'm surprised gwen even went along with it."
"lukey?"
"well, it's not like it worked in china. socialism." luke throws his two cents in.
"it kinda worked. everything's made in china."
"china's a poor example." grizz says, speaking for the first time. "the party took complete priority over the workers. in reality, we've never seen a true socialist state."
"maybe all the chinese woman said they wouldn't put out unless all the men got on board."
"gwen say that, too?"
brandi rolls her eyes and places her arm on her forehead. "i'm convinced all four of you share one brain cell but grizz is the only one who uses it."
"well, socialism it is."
•
brandi's finger follows each name trying to find her own on the job lists. a unanimous vote was set at the meeting to have jobs, a going home committee and to eat communally.
"i'm on the fucking guard." for the weekly schedule, most of her days consisted in being a guard, and if she wasn't doing that then it was meal prep or trash duty.
brandi was satisfied with this. she would have to thank cassandra for believing in her to be one of the guards.
backing away from the lists, brandi notices luna staring at the west ham prom posters. "i think it's a good idea." she says, walking up to the girl.
"yeah, same." luna nods her head and smiles, "kelly wants me to perform. she said "everyone will be mesmerized by your voice, you're like a siren." she's the one who came up with the idea, so i couldn't refuse her request." luna rolls her eyes playfully.
"your voice is mesmerizing. why do you think i get you to sing me to sleep any chance i can?"
"well, i've been going around asking for any song requests, but only those cliche slow ones for couples because we have no background music. so, what would you like to hear, miss ariana brandi?" the athlete cringes at the use of her full name, but thinks about her question.
her eyes brighten, "aretha franklin." luna's eyes soften at the name, already knowing the song choice. "natural woman."
"you always pick that song." luna sighs, recalling all the nights brandi would practically force her to sing the old classic from the 60's. before the failed field trip, the girls had only been broken up for two weeks, but they were so inseparable that being without the other had caused them to miss each other deeply. and although brandi had hurt her, luna knew she wasn't going to be able to let go of their relationship.
"and i don't plan on picking a different one." luna nods, not having to write that one down because she knew she could never forget that song. "anyway, i have guard duty to get to."
"i have trash duty. also, did you see i'm on the committee? i can't believe it. oh! and i have to dust off my old guitar for prom." brandi smiles at her excited expression, allowing her to ramble her ass off.
•
brandi sat on one of the stools in cassandra's kitchen as the blonde handed her a cup of coffee.
"thanks for this coffee and thanks for putting me on the guard. i really appreciate it. "
"of course. don't tell this to the guys, but you're the leader." cassandra smirks, "can't have the boys thinking all the power belongs to them."
"oh, i'm definitely telling them. fuck their feelings, woman are running this town." cassandra laughs at her statement. "but seriously, you've single-handedly wrangled everyone up and got them to get shit done. i fucking applaud you, you're one bad ass bitch."
"oh please, everyone here only tolerates me. if it wasn't for the girls working together, we never would've gotten here." brandi rolls her eyes at this.
"just take the compliment! you deserve it." brandi waves her arms around in exaggeration. "you weren't obligated to take command, you did it because you knew what was right. to be frank, without you we would all be fucking doomed."
brandi puts on a worried face, "and don't think i've forgotten about your heart condition. you're taking on a lot of stress, so make sure you're taking care of yourself."
"thank you brandi, for saying that." cassandra nods appreciatively at the curly haired girl. wanting to change the subject, she goes on, "so, are you taking anyone to prom? how about a certain someone?"
"i'm definitely going, but we're not going together." brandi smiles sadly, "not like that."
"oh c'mon on! you two were the cutest couple. one of west ham's it couples."
"yeah, well, i fucked that up. i don't think we'll ever go back to how we were. i'm lucky she's even allowing me to speak to her." cassandra presses her lips together, remembering the night they broke up. luna had stayed the night at the pressman's house after clearing everyone out from her home. allie, cassandra, becca and sam had stayed behind to help the heart broken girl clean everything up. not wanting to stay in her house for the night, allie offered to share her home.
"listen, our situation is so shitty right now. and your couples angst is only shitting on you two even more."
"i know, cass. i've been trying-"
"excuse my french, but brandi i need you to get your shit together, because you two were my otp and i'm only rooting for your happiness."
"did you just say otp? and holy shit, i've never heard you say shit so many times in under 30 seconds."
