Work Text:
“So you see, I’m missing out on the experience if I don’t date, but it would be rather awkward for me to date children,” Rowena explained to Charlie. “I won’t get found out of course, I’m too good for the spell to wear off unexpectedly and at high school I’m just any other girl, but I can’t. They’re children.”
“All right, then, what’s your plan? Because I know you’ve got one, or you wouldn’t be talking to me,” Charlie said. “And just throwing this out there up-front: if your plan involves me going back to high school too, forget it, I’ve been through that hell once. Not doing it again.”
“Oh, but dearie, there’s so much to learn from it! Things you didn’t get to do the first time around because you weren’t who you are now. I know I’ve heard you and Sam talking about things you feel you missed out on, him because of moving and you because you were still Celeste and had no idea who you really were,” Rowena cajoled. There was a backup plan if Charlie wouldn’t go along with coming back to high school with her, but really, this way was so much better. “High school may have been hell for Celeste, the nerd who couldn’t stand up to bullies and didn’t have the confidence to be herself. Imagine how much different school would be now!”
“Ehhhh… maybe, but…” Charlie winced. “I don’t think you understand just how annoying high school can get. It’s not like the movies. There’s homework, there’s bullies, there’s the tedium of sitting through the bad teacher’s class for forty-five minutes.”
That seemed like a problem that was easily solved. “So don’t! You don’t need a diploma. Be the bad girl this time around. Skip classes. Punch bullies in the face. What are they going to do to you, expel you? Why should you care?”
“They’ll make me sit through moralizing sermons from the guidance counselor and the principal,” Charlie grumbled. “They’ll try to make me see a shrink. Although they can’t force me, and I know Dean will play the grumpy dad who doesn’t believe in that bullshit and won’t let me go.” A mischievous grin started to sneak onto her face. “You know, this could be fun. You’ve got a good point. So then what, you and I fake date? Are we coming in as girlfriends or ‘meeting’ in whatever class we end up in together?”
“I was thinking we ‘met’ at a summer camp but didn’t realize we were going to go to the same school, so we know each other but we’re not girlfriends yet,” Rowena said. “As long as we’re dating by homecoming, we can just let that play out as it happens.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” Charlie tapped her tablet a few times, and Rowena watched as she pulled up a website for a high school far enough away not to have seen Rowena around but close enough that they could get their family to come out when needed. “One thing… you know what’s going to happen, don’t you?”
“Well, life’s not a fanfic or a romance novel, dearie, but if it does happen…” Rowena shrugged. “Would that be a bad thing? I can certainly think of worse. It’s not the intent, but I’ve no objection. That’s why I’m asking you, instead of Samuel, I suspect his partner would object.”
“Fair enough, then.” Charlie turned her attention back to her tablet, but not before Rowena could see the pleased smile or the slight pink in her cheeks. This was likely going to be more fun than she’d expected.