┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
──── ❝ chapter ii ❞ ────
❝ sweet molasses bread ❞
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
SUNDAYS, IF YOU CAN BELIEVE it, are actually worse than Saturdays, because Sundays are when the Olivers attend church. Church in itself wasn't bad; Tommy actually loved the feeling of believing there was a beautiful, divine power out there who loved her regardless of her flaws. However, the people who attended it were... less than beautiful.
In school, Tommy had to put on a front, but in church, she may as well had been performing in a CW show with how fake she had to act.
The act began whenever Brianne Finch spotted her walking in. "Oh, Tommy!"
Brianne Finch was the daughter of Delia Finch, the head of Angel Grove's PTA. It wouldn't seem like such a significant detail, but when you consider the fact that Delia Finch wrote recommendation letters for Ivy League-bound students for the past fifteen years, it's so much more important. Tommy was already set for life to leave this town, but having her help would make her dream of an acceptance letter from University of Pennsylvania.
Tommy wasn't friends with Brianne just for this reason... but it sure as hell did feel good knowing that the years she spent listening to Brianne prattle on about her boyfriend and the newest season of The Bachelorette wasn't for nothing.
"Brianne!" Tommy plastered a smile on her bright and cheery face.
The two had seen each other not even two full days ago and yet the two embraced like it had been months since their last interaction. It was always a sweet gesture between the two, gave Tommy something to smile about before the service.
When the two pulled away, Brianne gripped Tommy's hand and pulled her over towards the back of the church where no one would be listening in on them. They did this often when there was new gossip on the horizon, and in no way did they need eavesdropping adults to know their high school secrets.
"Okay, so I know you're not big on parties-"
"Bri-"
"Just hear me out!" She begged. "Donnie is having one tonight and I really think that you could use a good time. I mean, you know, after..."
"After Jason?" Tommy filled in the blank.
Brianne meant well, Tommy knew, but there were several flaws with her suggestion. For starters, Tommy really wasn't a party person. While many of the kids at school were wasted within the first fifteen minutes, Tommy never let herself blackout which made people find her a bit of a downer where that was concerned. Secondly, Brianne wasn't exactly aware of the fact that Tommy wasn't as upset about the breakup as she thought her to be.
Tommy sighed, "Look, I would love to go to a party. Lord knows I could use some vodka-"
"So you'll go?" Brianne asked, jumping the gun before she could hear the words that would inevitably tumble out of Tommy's mouth.
"But I can't,"
Brianne visibly deflated at hearing those words. "Tommy," She drawled.
"I have to go up to the woods!" Tommy explained in a hushed shout. "I have to collect rock samples for Mr. Burke's class."
"You're missing out on the most hyped party for rocks?"
"It takes a week for the tumbler to polish all the rocks, and this project is due next Monday! If I don't go up there tonight, I'll be behind and my grade for his class will drop. You know he already doesn't like me." Tommy huffed.
To be fair, Tommy wasn't lying when she said all this. She did have a project and Mr. Burke did hate her guts. (He called her a kiss-ass in the teacher's lounge one day, a piece of information that Tommy learned from one of her favorite teachers. It probably wasn't professional at all, but if it helped her discern whose class she needed to work extra hard in, it was worth it.) So, missing the so-called "most hyped party" to collect rock samples wasn't something she imagined she'd beat herself up over in the long run.
"Fine," Brianne groaned. "But you owe me. I told Donnie you'd be there. You know, he has a thing for you."
"Of course he does," Tommy rolled her eyes at hearing this. "He's always wanted everything Jason has. I'm not surprised he's crawled as low to wanting his ex-girlfriend too."
Tommy's eyes wandered around the church as she sensed the conversation topic was coming to an end thus they were in need of something else to talk about. She expected it to be about one of the older women's poor choice in clothing, but what her eyes stumbled upon was so much different.
"Who's that?"
Towards the front of the church, standing beside Mrs. Sou, was a girl whom Tommy had never seen before. This was particularly odd because in the Redeemed Church of God in Angel Grove, everyone who attended knew everyone. Seeing someone different was like an alien visiting from a foreign planet.
This girl, however, was anything but alien-like. She had tanned skin, as if she spent most of the day's hours out in the sun. Her hair was a dark chocolate shade that grew out past her shoulder blades, the color matching her eyes which were rich and deep with life. Her lips were full, but when she smiled at the person she was talking to, her lips thinned out and revealed bright, white teeth.
She was wearing something truly preposterous for a Sunday church service; a white and black fennel over a pink sweater, and probably the most egregious of fashion choices for the location, ripped jeans. All this seemed to be much to the chagrin of Mrs. Sou who was side-eyeing the girl every moment someone was speaking to the younger of the two.
Tommy couldn't rip her eyes from the girl. She felt as she did when she saw Kimberly Hart walking down the stairs not even 24 hours ago. This time, though, she wasn't as quick to mask her grotesque emotions. In fact, with every passing moment, she seemed to divulge in them.
"That's Mrs. Sou's granddaughter, Katherine. She just moved in with her. She's coming to brunch at my house after the service. You're still coming right?"
Tommy heard Brianne's words but couldn't process them well enough to form a coherent sentence. "Huh?"
"I asked if you were still coming to my house after church," Brianne repeated, an edge to her tone this time.
"Oh!" Tommy shook herself of her thoughts. She put the bubbly facade back on, a smile brightening her features. "Y-Yeah! The, um, sweet molasses bread is in the car. I know how much your dad likes it so I made extra."
"Right, good." Brianne half-grinned.
Tommy knew Brianne well enough to know her mannerisms. Whenever she was pretending to like someone, she'd flit her eyes about as a way to not look directly at them while keeping the fake smile spread across her face. Whenever she heard a new piece of gossip, she'd have a mischievous curl to her lips, a gleam in her eyes. If she was so overcome with happiness, she'd let out of a little squeal and shake her hands.
But right now? Tommy couldn't even tell what was lying behind those eyes.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The service went on as it did every Sunday, but for the first time, Tommy couldn't focus on Pastor John's words. Her mind was running freely between thoughts, mostly changing between the Katherine girl, going over to the Finch's house, and Brianne herself.
She had done everything to shake herself of the look Brianne had given her, but Tommy, riddled with worry, just couldn't. What was going through her head? Was she suspect of something? Was she suspect of Tommy? Would she tell anyone about this? God, what if she told the kids on the rest of the student council? Or worse, the debate club? They were such gossips, there'd be rumors spread about her in no time... What if she told her mom...?
When the time finally came, Tommy was just as she usually was. Prim, proper, pristine. Perfect. Everything mothers wanted. So much that they'd turn and murmur to their own daughters and ask, "Why can't you be more like her?" It was the question that Tommy was guilty of living every time she heard it. It only meant that she was doing things right.
"Oh, Tamara," Delia Finch exclaimed joyously, throwing her hands in the air. "This pie is just wonderful, as always! You'll have to tell your mother I send my love for it! A shame she had work last minute."
Tommy and several other church members congregated in Delia's living room. Most of them were women, as all the husbands of the wives who forced them to accompany them were in Brianne's dad's "man-cave." They were less invested in the Angel Grove gossip and more entwined with whether or not Los Angeles Chargers were going to win the Sunday football game. It was underlying sexism at its finest.
Tamara smiled, a stray giggle coming out with her next words, "I know she'll appreciate it! Would you like me to grab you another slice?"
"Oh, I couldn't possibly-"
"Well, I sure could!" Mrs. Sou exclaimed, causing everyone in the living room to break out into joyous laughter.
Tommy stood to grab another slice for her. "I'll be right back."
Once Tommy was safely in the kitchen, a wooden door being the only thing divine her from the stage out there, she let out a sigh of relief. It was the one moment in her day where she could let down her facade and just breathe. Even though it was a retrieval of a single slice of pie, Tommy would take as long as she desired .
The kitchen door squeaked open, and in a flash she was back on guard. "I'll be right-"
Katherine Hillard was standing in front of her. She seemed perturbed, but not necessarily at Tommy. "Sorry, my GG wanted me to come on here and, I don't know, make a friend I guess."
"O-Oh," Tommy stammered. "Well, I'm Tamara. But, um, I prefer to be called Tommy."
"Right, Tommy Oliver," Katherine nodded as if finally putting puzzle pieces together. "My GG told me all about you. I'm Katherine, but I hate that, so call me Kat."
"It's really nice to meet you, Kat. I hope Angel Grove is treating you well."
"Well, it's definitely treating me..."
Tommy was no stranger to flirting. Guys from school flirted with her like it was some kind of competition. Their charm, though, was usually ineffective on the girl for obvious reasons. But right here? Right now? It was like Tommy's face was on fire, even when she knew that it was both wrong and stupid to think that this girl was trying to make any kind of move on her. Yet the gleam Tommy caught in Kat's eye seem to tell a bit of a different story.
"Oh, is that sweet molasses bread?" Kat asked while pointing at the dark brown bread on the table behind Tommy.
"Yeah!" Tommy blinked out of her blush-y stupor. "Do you want some?"
"Sure, all the old women here love it, so might as well see what the whole fuss is about."
Cutting a slice off for her, Tommy handed the piece to her after putting it onto a small plate. She watched as the girl took a bite of the bread. Well, she was watching her lips, really. It felt wrong, but God, there was something about the darkened crumbs sticking to her glimmering lipgloss that made her cheeks flare up. Tommy touched one with her cold hands and turned away slightly so Kat wouldn't notice.
"This is so good, oh my God," Kat sighed blissfully. "Who made it?"
Tommy turned back to find Kat's eyes wide as she took another bite. "Oh, uh, I d-did."
"It's amazing! In L.A., we don't have stuff like this," Tommy divulged. "It's all fake sugar and dye and shit."
"Well, I, uh, I guess that's small-town authenticity for you! And I mean, you know, nothing really goes on here, so we just... bake?"
"Is that all you do?" Kat asked with a raised brow, a smile playing at her lips.
"Wha- no! I do lots of stuff!"
"Like?"
"W-Well! I do soccer and I'm a gymnast and I do a lot of community work and-"
"Yeah, yeah, my grandma already told me all about your community and academic achievements but what do you do for fun?" Kat questioned with more emphasis.
Fun? Tommy didn't exactly have time for anything that normal teenagers her age would consider fun. Everything she did was focused on what would look best on her resume. It's why she seldom showed up at house parties, was working the homecoming dances instead of attending them, and was teaching others instead of focusing solely on herself. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than letting opportunities slip away.
"I..." Tommy shrugged indignantly. "I do fun things!"
"Fun things like making bread?" Kat giggled as she held up the near-finished piece.
"I'll have you know that making bread is actually very fun," Tommy laughed back.
And here's where Tommy felt like she'd been hit by a truck. "Well why don't you show me how fun it really is sometime?"
Tommy was usually a very calm, collected person. She could stand in front of the entire school and talk about the year's prom. She could lead an entire gymnasium in song in a pep rally! She could do literally anything she wanted! And yet... here was this girl. This beautiful, lipgloss-ed girl standing in front of her made her strong, toned legs weak and her head feel light, and it seemed that Kat knew she was.
"Well?"
It took Tommy a second to real herself back in from her own bewilderment, but when she did, she knew that she was done for.
"Y-Yeah," She nodded. She should've said no. She should've shut up. "I would love to do that with you sometime."
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
───── ❝ a/n ❞ ─────
fun fact: katherine hillard
is actually tommy oliver's
love interest in the actual
series. just wanted to add
that llnfnkjdfn
- erin
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛