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The taste of victory was so sweet Linda could almost feel it in her mouth. After months of planning and scheming, and weeks of careful and flawless execution, everything have worked perfectly. Head Cheerleader Carol Madison was leaving Hatchetfield High and moving to Sycamore the next week. And the best thing was, there was no way anyone would know this was Linda's and Becky's doing. Soon, they would be taking the trials again for the position, and one of them would have their deserved place.
Linda knew, deep down, that Becky would probably get it. The ginger actually cared about cheerleading and loved the dancing and chanting, while the blonde basically wanted it for the power and popularity that came with it. But the thought of being under Becky didn't bother her that much anymore. She still preferred to win, and would train as crazy to get it, but maybe this time accepting a fair defeat wouldn't be so hard.
One of the other cheerleaders had called to give her the news, so as soon as she hung up the phone, she started dialing another number. It took a couple of tries, because it kept giving the sign that it was on another call, but when someone finally picked up, it was Backy's voice in the other side.
"Hey, have you heard the news?" Linda asked right away, not even letting the other girl finish saying hello.
"Yeah, Jane just called me to tell it! We did it!!!" it was impossible to not hear the happiness on her voice.
"We did! This calls for a celebration" Linda was smiling wider than ever.
"What do you have in this evil mind?"
"My mom is out of town for the weekend, and I know where she keeps the alcohol. Wanna crash here?"
"Like a sleepover?" there was a mocking tone in her voice, but Linda shrugged.
"Whatever. You're coming or not?"
"Yeah, be right there." the line died, and Linda put the phone back on the hook.
Letting her body fall in her bed, she started at the ceiling and tried to make sense of what she was feeling. The exhilaration and happiness of victory was getting mixed with something else, something almost melancholic.
This would be the last time she would hang out with Becky Barnes. Thinking about this should make her happy, but the truth was, she would miss the strategy meetings, the endless fighting, the sometimes lighthearted teasing. They were not just enemies anymore, they were like… special enemies. How could they go back to being simple rivals?
Linda didn't know the answer to that, and it upsetted her. But she didn't have to think about it for much longer, soon Becky was knocking on her door, and she got herself back into the celebrating mood.
Some time later, both girls were in the kitchen, Becky standing on top of a chair to reach a higher spot on the cupboard.
"Are you seeing it? It's on the far back…" Linda coached from the floor, holding the chair to make sure Backy wouldn't fall.
"Found it!" the redhead stretched her arm and grabbed the bottle of vodka, handing it to Linda before climbing down the chair. "So that's why you called me here, 'cause you couldn't reach it by yourself?" she teased, knowing how Linda hated to be mocked over how short she was.
"Yeah, you can leave now, Barnes, your services are no longer required" Linda sounded pretentious, but the other girl just smiled and rolled her eyes. Instead of leaving, she turned around and opened the fridge, looking inside. “The fuck are you doing?”
"Looking for stuff to mix with it." Becky answered simply, taking out a can of condensed milk and putting it on the counter.
"Do you have any idea how to make it, or are you just planning to make a mess in my kitchen?" Linda sat on the counter, just watching the girl with wary eyes.
"I would only I make a mess if you were the one who has to clean it." she teased, and Linda scoffed at the idea of her doing cleaning work, proving Becky's point. The taller girl moved from the fridge to the freezer on top of it, taking some frozen fruit from it too.
"Have you ever done this before? It'd be a waste of vodka if you make it into some some weird disgusting goo."
"Don't you trust me?" Becky shut the freezer and started to put the ingredients she has procured into the blender.
"Of course not! No reasonable person should trust you, Becky."
"You're either a person nor reasonable, so it's fine." the redhead said this in a light, cheery voice, and Linda didn't even had time to answer, because she immediately turned the blender on, filling the kitchen with its loud noise.
Slightly pouting, Linda jumped off the counter, and when the drink was ready she took two big milkshake cups to be filled with it. The mix was pink and a little less thick than a smoothie, and the blonde girl made a point to do a face of disgust at it before proving. But, she had to admit, it was actually good, very sweet and barely tasted like alcohol, even though Becky had put a considerable amount of it.
"So you got the recipe for it somewhere, right?"
"No, I just made it up." that grin in the ginger's face should be illegal, in Linda's opinion.
"No way, you don't have the brains for that!"
"Don't I? Didn't my ideas just got Carol to change school?" she put a hand on her hip, her little sticking-up nose making her look even more smug.
"Don't you dare trying to steal the credits, Barnes!" Linda jokingly elbowed her ribs as they got out of the kitchen.
"So, what we're gonna do?"
They sat on the couch, and it downed on them the fact that, up until that point, all they did together was plotting, and now that was over they didn't know how to proceed. After a second in silence, Linda shrugged.
"We could watch a movie, maybe? Since we're already stealing my mom's vodka, we might as well pry on her tapes."
They looked at each other with mischievous grins on their faces.
"You think she might have any kinky movie?" Becky said, trying to suppress a laugh.
"You're disgusting, Barnes!"
Two hours later, they were in Linda's room, sitting on the bed, a bucket of popcorn between them, their cups of vodka smoothie already half consumed. They didn't find any porn, but found a movie with more sex and violence they were technically allowed to watch, which was good enough. Either way, halfway through it they have lost interest and just engaged in sharing gossip, turning off the TV and putting Linda's NSYNC album to play.
"And who was she cheating him with?"
"That Ted boy from our class." the blonde told, matter-of-factly.
"Eew! She's a senior, why is she messing with a freshman?!" Becky was shocked, her bright eyes wide.
"I know, right? Totally gross."
"Oooh, this song is so good!" Becky's attention span apparently got shorter when she drank, and Linda found that very funny.
She also liked that song, though, so she stayed in silence for a few seconds to enjoy it, taking the time to savour more of her drink. Becky leaned lazily against the pillows, her head slightly tilted up and her eyes closed, hands and feet tapping on the rhythm of the song. She looked pretty enough to make any other girl die from jealousy. Not Linda, she was too self confident for it. She just… looked at her for a moment.
"Did you notice there's like, more than half an hour that we don't fight?" the blonde broke the silence, and Becky opened her eyes to look at her.
"Yeah, I guess you're less annoying when you're drunk." she teased.
"Too bad there's not enough alcohol to make you less annoying."
"Fuck you!" maybe the alcohol didn't make Becky less annoying, but it made her a little less eloquent.
"Is that all you have?" Linda gave her a cocky smile, as if she had won that little argument.
In response, the ginger took a handful of popcorn from the bucket and smashed it on the top of the other girl's hair. Linda let out a little high pitched scream, raising her hands to touch her hair, trying to discern the dimension of the mess.
"I can't believe you did this, you bitch!" her voice was at least an octave higher than usual, and her hands tried to take the popcorn crumbles from her hair.
Becky even put a hand in front of her mouth, but wasn't able to hold back her giggles, that in a second became a loud and unibidden laughter. This made Linda give up on the hair and look up at her with a fiery rage in her eyes.
"You're gonna pay for this, Barnes!" she threatened, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bucket.
The redhead immediately stood up, walking a few steps away from the bed.
"You can't even reach the top of my head, gremlin." she teased, making Linda even angrier.
"Can't I? You'll be getting popcorn out of this carrot you call a hair until next year!" Linda hopped out of the bed and went after the girl.
Becky let out a little scream and started to run, but the blonde was faster and jumped in her direction, tackling her down on the carpet. Becky fell on her stomach, Linda on top of her. The next second, she was smashing the popcorn in the girl's head, but, instead of raging, Becky just started laughing so hard that it was almost contagious.
"Why are you laughing, you dumbass? There's popcorn in your hair!" she protested, holding herself not to laugh as well. Becky turned herself to lay on her back, and instead of moving away from her, Linda just rubbed her hand on the girl's face, making it all salty and buttery "And salt in your face!"
This only made Becky laugh even harder, and it was impossible for her not to laugh along. Linda started to move herself to get up, but she was caught by surprise by the girl's hand grabbing her arm, keeping her in place.
"Linda… can we still be friends after today?"
"What?" she did not see that coming. "You think we're friends?" the last word came out like a whisper, like she didn't want to admit it.
"Oh c'mon, you're stupid but you're not dumb!"
"It doesn't make any sens--" Becky pressed her finger on her lips, making her shut.
"You know we're friends!"
Linda was dumbstruck for a second. They were super close, and she could see every little detail of that face that made her skin crawl and her blood boil with loathing. She could even see the very discreet freckles on that ridiculously cute little nose. Becky did annoy her to no end… but she had to admit that she loved fighting with her, or just spending time together. And, admittedly, they knew each other better than anyone. That was kinda like being friends, right? With the girl's finger still in her lips, Linda just nodded in agreement, and the redhead smiled.
"So, we don't have the excuse of taking Carol down anymore, but can we just hang out?" she asked, taking her finger away and letting go of Linda's arm. The blonde immediately crawled away, and they both just sat on the floor.
"Like, at school and all?" she sounded hesitant, even though this was exactly what she wanted, and just didn't want to admit it. Becky nodded. "Ok, I guess. But we're still gonna compete for Head Cheerleader, right?"
"Of course! I'm gonna beat the hell out of you in that trial!"
"Only in your dreams, bitch!" she flipped her blonde popcorn-filled hair, and Becky let out a loud laugh. Linda waited a second, and then realised she wouldn't say anything more. "Hey! Fight back, you moron!"
"What the fuck?" Linda had slapped her arm, and she rubbed it looking at the blonde like she had lost her mind.
"We can't stop arguing just because we're friends now or whatever! There's no fun hanging with you if I can't make you mad by belittling your stupid face."
"You're sick, you know that?" the teasing and feisty tone in her voice was enough to reassure the blonde that things wouldn't have to change between them.
"There you are! Ok, so we need to celebrate this being friends thing." she got up and took the two cups of vodka shake from her nightstand, handing Becky hers. "Not with a toast, with a challenge: we gotta drink it all at once."
Both cups were a little more than one third full, and Becky's eyes widened. "No way!"
"You don't have the guts for it, Barnes?" Linda knew what nerves to hit, she knew Becky hated to have her courage contested.
"Ok, on the count of three…"
Half an your later, they were sitting a few feet from each other, still on the floor. Becky was holding the popcorn bucket and throwing one by one at Linda, trying to get it into the girl's open mouth. She failed again , and the blonde cracked a laugh.
"Oh my God, you're the worst! How can you be so terrible at it?!" she mocked, making Becky's face blush with frustration. Linda has hit the popcorn in Becky's mouth in less than ten tries, and the ginger has been trying for much longer than that, with no results.
"You're moving! I swear, you're moving around so I don't hit!" she accused, furious.
"I don't even have to, you're such a bad shot!" Linda was having a great time not even having to make any effort to mock her, and each time she laughed in her face the ginger became more angry, which just made her happier.
"Stay still, this time I'll get it!" she demanded, and the blonde even made an effort to be still.
Becky spent a whole minute lining up her shot, but the popcorn hit Linda in the middle of her forehead, and she cracked up in laughter again.
"That's not my mouth, Becky!"
"Fuck you! You moved!" she was so angry that Linda just couldn't stop laughing.
"Let's take a proof." the blonde stood up and took one of the empty cups, placing it on top of her writing desk. "There, the cup doesn't fucking move, let's see if you can hit it." she made a large dramatic gesture to point it.
Becky got up as well, one popcorn in hand, and lined herself to the shot. She aimed like she knew what she was doing, while Linda stood beside her whispering that she was going to miss. And, surely enough, she did miss.
"HA! You couldn't throw it right to save your life, Barnes!" she was having too much fun out of this, and Becky's patience was getting to an end.
"Shut up!"
"You can't make me" she challenged, with an arrogant tone in her voice.
"Shut up or…"
"Or what, you'll throw a popcorn at me?"
"I'll go shut it myself!" she was red with anger, and she lunged forward in Linda's direction. Unsure of what she would do, the shorter girl just started running, giggling as Becky chased her through the corridors.
"Becky can't throw, Becky can't throw, Becky cannot throw!" she started chanting, running backwards to see the ginger's reaction.
"I'll throw you out the window, let's see if you like it!" mad as she was, the threat was idle, and Linda knew it.
"You couldn't even if you tried!" she teased, still running backwards, and Becky fastened her pace to get to her.
Linda was caught by surprise when her back hit a wall, and the next second Becky was in front of her. She covered the blonde's mouth with her hand, muffling her protests. The girl struggled to get free, and now Becky was the one laughing at her. Refusing to lose like that, Linda bit her hand, making the girl yank it back, yelping in a mix of pain and surprise. As soon as her mouth was free, she stuck out her tongue, just out of spite. They were close and, in a reflex, Becky very quickly reached even closer and bit the tip of her friend's tongue.
"Ouch! You bit my tongue, you psycho!" from all the crazy weird things in the world, Linda was not prepared for that.
"You bit my hand!"
" Not the same!"
"Now you know not to stick it out to me!"
That sounded like a challenge, and Linda couldn't let it pass, so she stuck out her tongue and took it back too fast to Becky be able to bite again. Laughing at the indignation on the redhead's face, she did it again, but this time Becky was faster, she held her face in place with both hands and captured her tongue between her teeth, holding it there.
"Ow! Le' go!" Linda tried to say, with her tongue pinned out. Becky shook her head slightly, trying not to laugh too hard. "Yo' sick!" her protests only made the redhead laugh more.
Linda tried to free herself, wiggling her tongue to try and take it from the other girl's teeth. But, every time she made some progress, Becky would lean closer and bite further down to prevent her escape, until their lips were completely pressed together. By that point, Linda was having a hard time to remember she was trying to free herself, not to get even more entangled with the girl.
Her eyes closed, and her hands, that were in Becky's ribs trying to push her away, began to pull her closer instead. And, for a split second, Becky's teeth let go of her tongue and their mouths kept on struggling against each other. Just for a tiny, almost imperceptible moment, they got lost in it. And then they pulled away, almost at the same time, and look at each other, both scared to realise what just happened.
"That was the lamest excuse to kiss someone I ever saw." the blonde was the first to break the silence, resorting to sarcasm almost as second nature.
"I wasn't trying to kiss you!" she immediately got in the defensive. Linda didn't realise she was expecting a different answer until she heard it, and she felt something weird in the pit of her stomach.
"You're disgusting, Barnes." she felt… disappointed? But what the hell was she expecting? She shook her head, burying away the feelings she didn't even know how to process. "You can't go around biting people's tongues!"
"That was to teach you a lesson." the redhead tried to sound confident, as they started walking back to Linda's room.
"Yeah, I learned that you're crazy!"
They started bickering again, the common place of it making them go back to their normal and forget about the incident.
The next day, the girls woke up with massive headaches.
"What the hell am I doing in the floor?" Becky was, in fact, on the floor, and her neck hurt as hell, for sleeping in such a bad position. Looking around, she saw popcorn scattered everywhere.
"Don't talk to me, my head is trying to kill me." she heard Linda's muffled voice coming from the bed, and got up to see the blonde comfortably buried in her pillows and blankets.
"You're such a bitch, you got a king size bed and made me sleep on the floor!"
"Would you please shut up? Besides, you're a dumbass, you slept in the floor 'cause you wanted to." Linda didn't even raise her head to look at her guest, instead she just buried herself even further in the pillows.
"I can't handle you hungover, I'm gonna find me some aspirin."
"I want some too!"
"Go fetch it yourself!" Becky walked out the room, and Linda groaned in frustration.
A minute later, she mustered the will to get up, feeling like her limbs weighed a tonne. Becky was on the bathroom, looking for the medicine, and Linda just pushed her aside and went straight to where she knew the aspirin was. She took the whole pack and headed to the kitchen, and Becky just gave her a murderous glare before following. Once both have swallowed a pill with a good cup of water, Linda let herself fall into the living room's couch.
"This is horrible! I'm never gonna drink again!" she whined, almost crying, and Becky sat by her side, looking as bad as her.
"At least you didn't sleep on the floor." the complaint made Linda laugh a little.
"You're such a moron… you really don't remember why you slept on the floor?"
"No… actually, I don't think I remember anything after we did that toast challenge thing and drank half our cups at once."
"Are you serious?" Linda remembered everything, she remembered too well for her liking, even the things she'd rather forget.
Becky nodded, and Linda half laughed half scoffed at that. It was too good to be true, the perfect opportunity to make fun of Becky, like coming up with the most stupid things and making her believe she did it.
Even better, the redhead didn't remember that weird kiss or whatever that was, so Linda could just pretend that never happened and life would go on as normal. Because, she thought, nothing had really happened, it was just drunk silliness, right? They wouldn't kiss on purpose, not for real, after all there was no reason to, they hated each other.
But… why couldn't she forget how soft and warm her lips felt, and how they seemed to fit perfectly with her own? Why did she, even now, sober, kinda wanted to do it again? Why her eyes sometimes fell on Becky's lips, and she felt her breath getting quicker? No. That was stupid. Linda already knew the answer to those questions: she was a fucking teenager full of goddamn hormones. She needed to get a sex life and get over it, that's what she needed. Not Becky. She did not need or want that stupid, irritating, hyped up, beautiful terrible redhead cheerleader. Definitely not. She knew precisely well what was the feeling she felt for Becky Barnes: loathing, and nothing else.