Chapter Text
The rooftop was a grand place to work on diabolical schemes and plan devious pranks to annoy peers and teachers alike. It was a place for students to mingle and gossip about the latest news. It was also Julie's hangout, where she scribbled furiously on paper and erased so many words that she could take them and create a whole new story. No, an entire novel. She was sure that her mistakes amounted up to at least that.
Julie isn't necessarily on "famous author" level with her writing, but she often practices so she can improve in her English classes, and because she wants to impress her best friend with something lovely one day. Susie, the girl who she aimed to please, still had to teach her a lot of stuff, so she planned to pick up on it immediately and save her bestie time and energy.
There's a problem, though.
Susie knows that Julie is going to write something for her, or at least suspects it. She always has a little flicker in her expression, a little motion she would subconsciously do with her arms that meant she knew somebody was up to something. Her smile changes from unassuming and adorable to secretive and saccharine. Sue was intuitive and probably predicted the entire piece in no time.
So Julie kept her journal to herself and tried to brainstorm little ways of praising Susie without the pink-haired girl knowing what was going to be said. At least she could have that...maybe. Hours could pass without Julie finding any inspiration from whatever is out there, or she could be writing and scrapping over and over again until an entire section of her notebook was just little words and phrases that she thought were cute but didn't work without the correct context.
Most of the winter Julie had spent skipping her morning classes and only munching on pretzels that she had brought with her for lunch. When this attracted Susie's attention she started going back to class again. (But unfortunately the only person she could ask for notes was the girl she was trying super hard to blow the mind of. She found it hard to get over for the next week.) A while had passed and nothing really clicked in Julie's mind until Cody invited her to a "sick party."
It was not a sick party. The house reeked of booze and Julie was already regretting her decision to come when somebody tugged on her sleeve and had to yell over ear-piercing music. "Hey, do you think we can go outside? I couldn't find you at your house!" Who else could it be but Susie, who looked mildly uncomfortable about all the horny teenagers making out and the other things that made her have a general feeling of being unsafe. Julie somehow understood her over the speakers and helped her navigate amongst the sea of students getting wasted and raunchy with schoolmates. (A drunk dude grabbed at Susie's skirt and the two immediately bolted out of there into the backyard. Thanks for speeding up the process, drunk dude!)
"So, why are you at a house party in the middle of the night? Hasn't your mom noticed by now that you snuck out?" Julie asked as she lead them both to a safe corner of the lawn, furthest away from the splashing kids and even more couples making out. Susie seemed to be annoyed at the questions. "I can ask the same with you, Jules." She answered in a disappointed tone, and the taller felt intimidated from that response. However, the frown quickly melted into something friendlier and more suitable on Sue's moonlit features. She laughed a little when Julie shrugged bashfully, mainly from cluelessness as to how she should reply. "It should be obvious I came here to take you home. I just wasn't sure if you were drunk or not." Susie added, shuffling from a sudden noise that came from inside the house. "Well, shit, Sue. I'm as sober as all get out." Julie replied and held her hands up innocently. "I mean, I was gonna drink a bunch so I didn't at least come here for nothin', but I think that's off the table now."
"Mmm, you're not drinking tonight. You'll get a hangover on the weekends, and those are wickedly painful to nurse on a Saturday." Susie said and scanned the backyard. "Quick question, though- how are we getting out of here?" Julie blinked and aided her friend in their survey of the location. "A better question than what I can think of. I don't want you getting snatched up by any thotties, though. We're not going back in that cursed house." She answered and glanced over at the fencing of the backyard. There didn't seem to be any gates anywhere, so they might have to climb over the fence.
"Yo, you got a Climbing PHD, Sue?" Julie asked her short friend, who was also looking at the fencing like it was their way out. "I don't think that's real, Jules." Susie told her and nodded despite those words. "But I know that you know that we know what to do. Let's hop to it." She said and walked up to their confinements as if she were looking for footholds in the smooth stone. Soon Julie joined her and abruptly though of something.
"Wait, how about I hoist you up and you help pull me up once you're on the top of the walls?" She offered, getting more agitated to leave this stench of sweat and booze behind and feel the wind whip her hair around on the back of Susie's motorcycle. The thought was very pleasant to imagine.
"Oh, you sure I won't hurt you by doing that?" Susie asked worriedly, her concern for her friend evident on her expression. Julie smiled and patted her shoulder. "I'm sure you'd be able to climb on me and not hurt me, Sue. You're small. I'm not." She replied, trying to be as reassuring as possible. With that, she picked up the pink-haired teen and practically threw her up onto the top of the stone fence. It wasn't that hard of a task, almost unsurprisingly. When Sue was sure she had a good hold on the fence she reached down and extended her hands to Julie, who was also somehow able to climb the fence without the assistance of footholds. (Three cheers for plot convenience!)
After that literal hurdle the pair was free to go home. Susie drove her best friend back to her house and bid her goodnight fairly quickly before trying to hop back on her vehicle. However, Julie had forgotten to give her something before and now she figured it was the perfect time to give it.
"Yo, I got something for you. I just wanted your advice on something I'm gonna try and work on over the weekend. Any suggestions you could give me?" Julie asked casually as she slips a folded up paper out of her pocket and hands it to Susie, who unfolded it with the upmost care. With a curious look to her face she read the few vague phrases and concepts that Julie had managed to jot down before Cody practically dragged her to his party. Susie smiled after a few moments. "She seems like a decent person. Do I know her?" She asked as she handed back the paper. Julie gives a little noise of pride and slips the paper back into her pocket, feeling bashful and helpful. "I would hope you knew her. She's actually really chill and all." The brown-haired girl replied without looking at Susie, who in turn nodded. "As long as you like her, I'm not worried about it." She says, and starts up her motorcycle again. "I'll see you sometime on Saturday?" Susie asks, and Julie nods eagerly. "Yeah. You can help me write to her." She answers, then noticed a curious glint in Susie's eye before she drove away, leaving her friend a confusing mess of emotions she didn't know how to sort out on her own.
Julie had a hard time sleeping, mainly because her head buzzed with little things that she could've said to not seem like a cottonhead to Susie. However, Saturday was inevitable, and the teenage girl would be lying if she said she didn't have dreams of when she was back in kindergarten, with Susie teaching her how to spell cat all over again.
Yep, that happened.