Gina stripped off the red and black cheerleader's uniform, changing quickly back into her denim jeans, and sleeveless black Nekromantix shirt. She pulled her hair back into a high ponytail, and fixed it in place with a black hair scrunchy. The others in the locker room ignored, or avoided her. Gina slipped her feet into a heavy pair of black leather boots, tightening the red shoe-laces tight as she could before tying them off.
"Hey Gina!"
Fucking great. Gina turned on her boot heel. "What is it, Brenna?"
Brenna's smile faded from her face. "Gina, are you coming to to Rick's party Friday?"
Gina rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'll bite. No, Brenna. I wasn't invited."
"...no, really. Aren't you coming?"
"No, really. I wasn't invited. I'm not going. This is getting tired, Brenna."
Brenna folded her arms across her chest, and made a face. "What is getting tired? I'm trying to invite you to Rick's party."
"Fine. I'll go."
"Pfffpt! You? Please. Dykes aren't welcome."
Gina smirked. "That take you all day to set that up?"
"You're less cooperative than you used to be."
"So are you."
Brenna's eyes went wide, and the rest of the cheer squad stopped mid changing to stare at the two. Brenna laughed. "You fucking wish, lesbo."
"What's the matter, Brenna? Still not feeling so fresh? They have products for that now."
"You'd know."
"Only because you were too embarrassed to buy it yourself."
"Bitch." Brenna faked a lunge.
"Please. I'd put you down before you took your first step, stupid."
Brenna huffed, glancing toward the rest of the cheer squad. "Maybe... but could you take us all?"
"Oh hell yes - wait - we're talking about fighting, right?" Gina feigned disappointment.
"You really get off on this, don't you?"
"Not yet, but keep it up. You're getting me there. Back down, before you fall down, Brenna. I don't wanna hurt you if I don't have to. None of you."
"Leave her alone. She's not worth it, Brenna."
"You're right, Cordelia. Let's get out of here, and leave the lesbian alone."
Brenna flipped her hair at Gina, and turned to leave. The rest of the squad, now dressed, followed Brenna out.
"I get it." There was a solitary voice left in the locker room, an unassuming girl with platinum hair, and pale skin.
"Get what, Amnesia?"
"I get it."
Gina sulked. "I doubt it."
"You'd be wrong. I understand completely. It hurts. It's the same for me."
"For you?"
"Yeah. Cordelia, and me. She's uh... well. She's not comfortable being a square peg in a room full of tight circles."
"Phrasing."
Amnesia laughed. "You're lucky. At least you're out."
"You think this is lucky? I lost my best friend. I lost all my friends."
"Yeah, but you know what? Hard part's done, Gina. We have this year, and next year, and then high school is over. College is a lot more forgiving for people like us."
"People like us? We're just people, Amnesia."
"Most don't see it that way, Gina. They may never. I'll see you in class tonight."
"Yeah. Get that heavy bag ready. I'm gonna need it."
"You know it." Amnesia pulled her backpack from her locker, shut the door, and hefting it over her shoulder, she gave Gina a halfhearted smile, and then left.
Gina clenched her fists, heat rushing into her cheeks. She screamed and punched her locker, leaving a fist deep dent in the steel door. Gina sighed, and rolled her eyes. She pulled at the locker, but it only opened halfway. She pushed it closed, but the new dent in the door creased it that she could not close it. "Figures."
Gina cracked her neck, and stretched. Brenna made her so angry, and for only the most obvious reasons. Brenna would have been outed with her, had she not lied for the stupid girl. Mrs. Phelps caught them kissing when the locker room was supposed to be empty, and that was freshman year. Brenna denied her part in it, and Gina accepted responsibility. It all went down hill from there. Brenna had to keep face, and the lie compounded. Suddenly Gina was suspended two weeks for sexual harassment.
...because she was an idiot for Brenna; because love made you do stupid things... like letting Brenna over to study, or sleep over; because love, if that's what you call it, made her a moron; because even now, she'd drop everything, and run to her if she needed help. Brenna was weak, and Gina was strong, and the weak would always follow the flock... even if the flock was a mask, a lie, a fucking goddamn facade that Brenna would eventually drop one day. One day, when that one day was too late, and Gina was no longer there to love her.
She sighed, and put her forearm up to her locker, squeezed her eyes shut, and wept into it. Gina felt her cheeks flush again, a second wave of anger rushing through her. At least tonight in class, she could focus that anger in a positive way. Some sparring, some forms, an hour or two with the heavy bag, and she would feel just fine.
Just fine.
✟ ☧ ✟
Cameron sat at his usual lunch table by the quad. The Quad. A budget saving span of grassy field - well kept, yes - in place of a budget consuming auditorium, where the school held assemblies, award ceremonies, and where the wannabe hippies ate lunch on tattered sheets, blankets, or homemade hand knitted throws.
"Move over." Gina sat down, pushing Cameron in a space on the bench.
"Easy." Cameron moved himself further in. Gina's eyes were red rimmed, and bloodshot. "Hey babe, you okay?"
"Don't call me babe Cameron. That ship sailed a long time ago."
"You're sixteen. I'm fifteen. There's no such thing as 'a long time ago', G. What's wrong?"
"Brenna Pfeiffer." Gina wiped a cheek.
"What about Brenna Pfeiffer?"
"She's such a douche bag."
"Want some spaghetti? I've got school spaghetti."
Gina fought a smile, failed, and took Cameron's plate, and then his fork. She took a bite. "I don't know why I let her get to me."
"Maybe if you let me watch you two interact, I mean really get in there, maybe for a sleepover..."
Gina put the fork down, and punched Cameron in the shoulder. "You're such a dog!"
"You're such a hottie."
"Cam..."
"See? Now you're mad at me, and upset at my stereotypical male objectification of women."
"Idiot." Gina fought to keep her dour expression, but started laughing. "I'm not a man-hater."
Gina pushed his plate back in front of him, and lay her head on his shoulder. Cameron put an arm around her, stroking the end of her ponytail. "Don't let her get to you. You're better than her. You're braver than her."
"I don't want to be better, or braver. Why won't she love me?"
"Baby, Brenna's a moron. She does love you. That makes her gayer than a three-dollar-bill. People aren't easy to accept three dollar bills, like yourself, and she's a shallow bitch that chose popularity."
"Why? Why aren't I good enough?"
"G, you're more than good enough. You're great. You're smart, beautiful, funny, strong, and you're a good person. Good kisser, too."
"Ew, shuttup."
"Well, it's true. Among other things, your skill is unsurpassed."
Gina blushed. "We'd have been good, Cam."
"I know. Word on the street is I don't get a choice."
Gina put a hand Cameron's chest, and smirked. "Word on the street?"
"It's a very select street, in a particularly exclusive part of town, to a very exclusive people. Plus you."
"Plus me."
"Especially you."
"It hurts." Gina frowned. "Couldn't have you. Can't have Brenna."
"I couldn't have you, G. At least you know the ones you can't have. I've never met the one I have to have."
"Maybe not, Cam." Karen came up to the table with a tall, olive skinned girl.
"Karen!" Cameron patted the seat next to him. Karen took a seat, and the girl with her sat across from Cameron.
"Cam, this is Suheila Sharif."
"Su."
Cameron removed his arm from around Gina, and extended his hand toward Suheila. "Sue, I'm Cameron Dean."
Suheila nodded. "Your smile is much better in person."
"You've seen him before?"
Cameron nudged Gina with his elbow. "Where have you seen me?"
"Oh, pictures." Suheila giggled. "I'm sorry! I grew up with some familiarity to you. Your father attended to us."
Cameron felt warmth growing in his cheeks. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage."
"You're not glad to meet me?"
"Of course I am! You're very pretty, and I knew eventually I would meet you... I just didn't know who I was meeting."
Karen cleared her throat. "He's never seen you before, Su. He hasn't seen pictures. He's never met your aunt... Cam's never even been to Irvine."
"Oh, I see. I thought I did something wrong."
Karen shook her head. "Not at all."
Gina, sitting beside Cameron, mulled over the choice whether she would scowl, or glare. She chose to frown. Not one of her original choices, but Suheila was barking up the wrong tree.
So what if Cameron was betrothed to this girl? She didn't know Suheila, but Cameron was her best friend since almost diapers. No random bitch, betrothed or otherwise was going to dip in on her man - her best friend - without some vetting.
✟ ☧ ✟
"I don't think he enjoyed meeting me."
"Suheila, you two just met." Karen walked alongside Suheila. The Baywoods were only a block from the school.
"It isn't the right way."
"What do you mean?"
"As far back as I remember, Gerald Dean comes to my home with men, and they talk to my aunt, and they attend to us. I see pictures of him, a little boy, then a larger boy. My aunt tells me how good he is, how nice he is... and I feel like I know him."
"You just met him."
"I know his birthday. I know the name of his dog, Sliver... and I know the dog is called sliver because when he was small he could not pronounce Silver. I know he will wear blue jeans, but prefers black. He likes bison over beef, and prefers satin bedsheets to cotton. For his birthday the only thing he wants is to be forgotten for one day, that day, for the first time in his life."
"Oookay, a little creepy, Su. We don't really research the people we're going to marry."
"...and the marriage. He wants to marry for love. He was with that Gina girl. The one who hates me. The one who thinks I'm a bitch, and that I'm invading her space. He believes he should be allowed to choose his mate. She believes anyone would be better than me, but especially her... and then... she is confused."
"Gina's gay, Su."
"It's not nice to talk that way of people behind their back."
Karen laughed abruptly. "No, I mean she's gay. She is attracted to other women. Lesbian. Sooo lesbian. There's no way."
"You don't see him through her eyes. He has scars on his back from deep wounds, intentionally inflicted wounds, from a girl who loved him - loves him - and wanted to mark him. Had she an iron, she would have branded him - burned him - scarred him to the bone if need be... but the layers of skin that curled beneath her nails was enough, and the twin set of scars on either side his back tell a story of love... because love is love no matter who you are."
Karen swallowed. "Su... do you love Cameron?"
"I only just met him." She smiled a moment, and nodded. "I am not so sheltered as you may imagine. I loved the idea of Cameron. I loved the stories, his wins, and losses. I love that he loves so strongly, and sure, even wanted to know what it is to be loved like that."
"...but do you?"
Suheila frowned. "We only just met, he and I. He knows nothing of me. I am a stranger to Cameron. My entire life, I am just a stranger."
"He doesn't get to decide anything."
"That's now how it is supposed to go. I want him to want to befriend me. I want him to get to know me. I want him to understand me, and ask questions. He shouldn't have to be with me because he has to."
"My other half is in a hospital. He sleeps because he can't wake up. Nobody knows if he will."
Suheila smiled broadly, enough so that it startled Karen. "You should have better faith in him than that. He dreams perpetually, wanders but is not lost... he has help. I see red, and white, and an angel. I see bravery, and sacrifice... and I see your David coming home to you." Suheila's smile faded from her face, her eyes suddenly wide, and brimming. She shook her head.
"What is it?"
"Nothing." Suheila wiped her eyes along her forearm. "Nothing, Karen. I think you two will make for a beautiful pair. You love each other so much."
"Cameron will love you, too."
Suheila shook her head slowly. "No. That's now how this works. It's not how it goes."
"How does it go?"
"I can't see. I'm too close."
"I don't understand, Su." Karen's concern showed on her face.
"You have such pretty hair. Could I braid it for you? My aunt and I have a beautiful apartment, and such a big mirror."
"...sure."
"Good!" Suheila clapped her hands a short moment. "We're going to have such a good time!"