The Low Road for the Fast Track

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It started with one, simple message. The one Lucy left as soon as she was able to actively take hold of her phone without being judged significantly for it. Because there were certain things a person could say, right. And there was just a total breach in common sense. Right now, Lucy was pretty sure she was dealing with the latter. She didn't want to launch a pre-emptive strike, here, but she wanted to make her current mood perfectly clear.

There was only one way to do it.

[Hot Blonde: >:\]

Was it enough? To leave a message without so much as a definite word? Would she even understand where the ink manipulator's lopsided frown and angry eyebrows were coming from?

[Hot Blonde: >:\]
[Hot Blonde: >:\]
[Hot Blonde: >:\]
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[Hot Blonde: >:\]
[Hot Blonde: >:\]
[Hot Blonde: >:\]

[Carleigh Davidson]

Laying on her bed back in the dorm room, Carleigh hadn't bothered changing out of the school's cheerleading uniform after the rather... eventful morning. She wasn't feeling so peppy and full of spirit anymore, and so had decided to call it quits. Besides, the recruitment process hadn't been going to well. Then, it somehow got worse.

Her phone went off. The blonde lazily reached over, a singular message appearing on the screen. Then another. And another. A whole sequence. Her eyes glazed as the unimpressed face came up from her one and only. For a second, Carleigh wondered what could be the problem. And she probably knew what it was.

[Wifey: Why the long face?]

Was it stupid to play dumb? Probably.

[Wifey: You gonna explain?]

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Furious thumbs typed out the series of unhappy smileys with deft precision. A definite spam session was the only way to articulate the stress of the bomb she was pretty sure she hadn't quite diffused. Yet.

But the psychometrist was still very much in her room, having taken over the cleared surface of the ink manipulator's desk in order to study and hand write notes like the technologically useless person she was.

So Lucy landed where she could, back against her bed with her phone held high above her head. There, in silence, she stared at the screen for any kind of response.

[Hot Blonde: Heard you were hanging around in your hot uniform trying to recruit broads to your spirit squad]

[Hot Blonde: Gaaaaaay]

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh gripped her phone in one hand as her heart began to steadily increase the beats. The timing was just too perfect for it to be about anything else.

The next series of texts confirmed it. With her free hand, she grabbed a bottle of water and took a long sip. She stared at the screen, the corner of her lip pulling up into an amused smile, which was so wrong considering the situation. Maybe. Maybe Carleigh was just overthinking this.

[Wifey: Yeaahh, only managed to get a few people You wanna join bae?]

[Wifey: You'd look bangin' in the uniform. And I know you're just full of school spirit.]

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

As much as Lucy wanted to contemplate being a bit of a relentless jerk to Carleigh, it was difficult not to get distracted. She even laughed at the jokes she received, belated as they were by the way she probably stalled for time.

[Hot Blonde: omg really? You'd let me join? Can I be blonde too so we can match?]

[Carleigh Davidson]

[Wifey: Duh. Why wouldn't I let you join?]

She didn't bother mentioning that anyone could sign up to be part of the squad, no matter what skill level. Carleigh let out a relieved sigh, content that things seemed to have taken a positive turn.

The thought of Lucy as a blonde was mildly amusing. Carleigh didn't doubt that she would look good with the change of hair colour. The Australian seemed to be the type to pull off anything.

[Wifey: Oh totally! We can dye each other's hair and practice routines together. It'd be totally fun.]

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy could list of a lot of reasons as to why she should never and would never join the cheerleading squad. A lot of it had to do with not giving a right fuck about the school or its extra curricular activities; her name was under a few club lists, but that didn't mean she ever went to them.

Furthermore, she was failing to keep her irritated composure already. Carleigh was too busy expertly directing her attention elsewhere.

After everything that Carleigh had said - which only had Lucy's immediate smile growing in amusement - one thing in particular caught her attention. The kind of thing that had her jaw drop a little, eyebrows raising as her eyes went wide. A small reaction of shock.

[Hot Blonde: Holy fuck you're a bottle-blonde? I knew your glorious hair was too bloody perfect to be true]

[Hot Blonde: Secretly dark haired cheerleader uniform wearing Carleigh. Get out of my dreams and into my bed already]

[Carleigh Davidson]

And that's exactly what Carleigh hoped to do; divert Lucy's attention elsewhere onto a different subject. Even if it hadn't been mentioned explicitly before. If it worked, great, and if not, well... not so great. She chuckled to herself, glancing down at the school uniform before trying to picture her wife in the miniskirt and shirt combo. All her visible tattoos. Definitely unconventional, but still hot.

Right. She'd gotten a text back. Carleigh could feel her cheeks go pink as Lucy realized what she had said. A lot of people assumed that she was a natural blonde, given she had been a blonde for the longest time.

[Wifey: Secret's out. Blondie ain't a natural. I think you're the first to know. Maybe. Weird right?]

Carleigh grinned at Lucy's next text, running a hand over her hair absentmindedly. She never failed to make the blonde laugh. God, they were so perfect.

[Wifey: I'll be there in five, bae. Let me just grab some brown hair dye.]

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Momentarily, Lucy lowered her phone. She closed her eyes and pressed the edge of the device against her forehead. The ink manipulator breathed a small sigh; an exhale for the last of the air she held trapped in her lungs. Opening her eyes, she dragged the edge to her lower lip instead. The corner of her gaze caught the waterfall blonde curls drawn to paper and pinned on the wall above her bed. Fake? Mildly devastating. Because now she had to wonder what she looked like without them.

She raised her arms again, as high as she could above her head.

[Hot Blonde: Do you mind company? Cause there's a brooding British broad at my desk right now]

[Hot Blonde: Too busy to distract me from schoolwork like she usually does. So rude]

[Carleigh Davidson]

Naturally, the well known blonde's hair colour was a medium brown. Ever since Carleigh had been at Hammel, she'd been colouring it to the bright shade she and everyone else was accustomed to. Would it fall out someday? Maybe. But at least it looked damn good. Her hand reached the ends, smoothing down the flyaways as she glanced at her phone again.

[Wifey: I would love some company.]

Her eyebrows narrowed together as Lucy mentioned her girlfriend. Brooding. For good reason. Carleigh hesitated before typing the rest of her message.

[Wifey: Well, that's not fun. But schoolwork is kind of important. Just saying.]

The blonde grinned to herself.

[Wifey: But yeah that's rude of her. I'd be happy to meet up, though. You wanna come to my dorm?]

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy glanced away from the device she held so high. This time, her attention was drawn to the psychometrist at her desk. And it was impossible to ignore the way she was staring back at her. Her expression felt somewhat difficult to read, and so the ink manipulator slowly turned her attention away.

After that, it was all about ignoring the set of dark eyes that might've still been on her.

[Hot Blonde: You wanna explain yourself in person instead? Here I was trying to make it easy for you. Cause I'm generous like that]

Without a second glance towards her counterpart, Lucy finally spoke; "How long're you gonna be studying?"

[Hot Blonde: I'm up for however you wanna give it to me]

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh grimaced at the next text message. Here she was, thinking she was in the clear. Unfortunately for her, that had been naive and hopefully thinking that Lucy would have forgotten. Or not found out. She exhaled, low and sharp, debating on whether this was better in person or over text.

[Wifey: You are very generous. I'll try over this and if anything needs cleared up we can meet. I'm sure your girlfriend probably doesn't want me to be anywhere nearby.]

There was a long pause as the blonde's thumbs began to furiously type.

[Wifey: So, I'm out in the courtyard recruiting for cheerleaders. And I saw Penny. As a joke, I stopped her and we talked for a bit and... you know, I just get these vibes from her. Like, 'i-don't-like-you' vibes. I've always been a little curious because you know, I'm a pretty nice person. Get along with the majority. And then she comes along and just always... looks so irritated with my presence.]

She hit send, biting her lip as she chose how to word what had happened.

[Wifey: So, she doesn't like me yeah? And I kind of just blurted out and asked if it was cause you and I.. you know, kissed or whatever back in March. And... yeah that was pretty fucking stupid. I wasn't thinking. Like, really. I don't even know how to explain myself because it was just... really really dumb. I'm sorry. Like, super sorry. ]

[Wifey: Did she yell at you a lot?]

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Because Penny was already there, she chose not to leave Lucy’s room. The Brit would normally have seen her counterpart within a couple of hours as it was, and she didn’t seem to mind her staying. Even so, she had to study. It hadn’t mattered where she stayed, it had to get done.

Except it wasn’t that simple.

First it was the laugh. It ripped through the silence of Lucy’s room almost painfully. Penny’s ears perked up, glancing towards the bed and the Australian in it. Tapping her pen to her notebook once, she forced her gaze back to her work. But it wasn’t long before she glanced again, catching sight of a smile that she very much shouldn’t have been wearing.

Wasn’t she supposed to be mad?

It only grew worse as more time passed, making it impossible to focus on the neatly written notes in front of her. It became to the point where she didn’t even try to hide she was watching, raising her eyebrows at her counterpart upon a moment of eye contact.

“I’m done.” She stated firmly, although really she shouldn’t have been. Normally Penny would have given it at least another half hour, but Lucy Serrano never asked a question without purpose, and Penny was sure she knew what it was. Closing her notebook, she pushed herself up off the chair, dark eyes still on the ink manipulator.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Launching square into the conversation at hand, Lucy unknowingly raised her eyebrows at the screen above her as she read along. She was pretty sure that Carleigh was wrong on some level; from what she knew, Penny didn't hate her. She nothing'd her. Which was, arguably, a lot worse anyway. And so she opted not to point that out.

Getting caught up in the explanation meant that she didn't notice the way Penny moved. Not straight away. She caught what she said and there were a spare set of moments before she even thought to acknowledge it. Despite the fact that there was a pair of dark eyes on her, she didn't look up at all.

[Hot Blonde: Nah, not yelling. She just kinda wanted to know why. Maybe she was a little upset about it, but I don't think that's on you]

"That's cool." Lucy finished the thought finally. After all, it wasn't like she had to go anywhere. She was reading - saving face time for later. Maybe. Because as much as she wanted to explain a little more, she wasn't sure how to word it properly in that exact moment.

[Hot Blonde: And it's not that she doesn't like you. She kinda doesn't like anyone]

[Hot Blonde: For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure she doesn't always like me]

[Hot Blonde: I just don't think she understands how we're friends]

And really, who did? Wasn't that the greatest mystery of all?

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh waited what felt like an eternity for a response. It wasn't that long, actually, It just felt like it was. She couldn't properly explain why Penny didn't like her. Right now, it was guesses at best. Rolling over onto her stomach, she propped herself upright and looked at her phone for the next message.

[Wifey: Considering I told her it is kind of on me, don't you think?]

At least, that's what made sense. Who went around blabbering about kissing someone in March? Especially to said person's girlfriend?

[Wifey: So... it's pretty much normal for her to not like anyone? Cause it's... weird.]

She rolled her eyes before punching in another reply.

[Wifey: She totally likes you.]

[Wifey: And nobody does. Do we even know or understand?]

Carleigh didn't have an answer. But they worked so damn well.