Chapter Text
Gigi Goode has had it. Officially.
It was one thing for her father to get a promotion that whisked him away from sunny Los Angeles to the Literal Middle of Nowhere, Missouri, but it was an entirely different thing to except her to follow along happily.
“Come on Gigi,” her mother had said to her the night before. “I know you’re nervous to start a new school, but aren’t you at least a little bit excited? Senior year starts tomorrow.” Gigi was feeling something alright, but it definitely was not excitement.
“Listen Mom, Nicky’s offer still stands.” Gigi had sat up from where she had been sulking on her new queen sized bed. “I can totally fly back to LA and live with her and her mom, just for the school year. And then I can go to college and come visit you guys here, and—“
“Gigi.” Her mom had cut her off, sharp eyebrow raised. “We’re not having this discussion again. I know that Missouri isn’t ideal, but your father couldn’t turn down this promotion.” Gigi understood her mother and father’s decision to pack up and move across the country, she really did, but that did little to add to her already dismal amount of enthusiasm. Her mom had left her room so she could wallow in peace and she had called up Nicky from the purple corded phone her parents had gifted her. A guilt gift, but a gift nonetheless. Gigi could practically picture her best friend lounging on the patio of her mom’s downtown Los Angeles apartment, phone cord stretching through the open windows as the late afternoon sun beat down.
“Calm down bitch,” Nicky had drawled, french accent cutting through as Gigi had expressed her concerns. “I wish you were here too, but Missouri won’t know what hit ‘em tomorrow. You’ll be the queen bee of all the townies before lunch.” Even Nicky’s slightly off-beat but nonetheless good-natured pep talk did little to reassure Gigi, and she had laid wake for most of the night plagued with New Kid Nerves.
The morning of the first day of senior year comes much too quickly and finds Gigi awake even earlier than needed. Her bedroom has hardly been unpacked, despite her family moving in to the large house nearly two full weeks prior. Gigi had put off emptying her belongings into the room, thinking that it would make this— her new reality— seem even more permanent.
“God, what an idiot.” She mumbles to herself a half hour later, after tearing the fourth box open in search of her high top sneakers. Missouri was permanent the second her father had received that phone call, so procrastinating had done literally nothing except make her feel even more frazzled and anxious.
“Gigi, sweetie.” A knock at the door startles Gigi out of her digging and she glances up to see her mom sticking her head through the door. “You getting ready? That’s what you decided to wear?”
“Yes.” Gigi tries to keep the animosity out of her voice, she really does, but there is a reason she despises each and every drama class she had ever been forced to take. An actress, she was not.
“No, honey, you look great.” Her mom backtracks, offering her a thumbs up. Like that’s reassuring. “I didn’t mean it like that.” Gigi turns back to the mirror, inspecting her outfit that she had scrounged out of the many boxes scattering the room. The burnt orange button up dress goes well with the patterned blouse underneath and the outfit had been chosen by Nicky the last time they had gone shopping in LA.
“Great.” Gigi deadpans, returning the thumbs up. Her mom sighs but closes the door, and Gigi can hear the clicking of her shoes go down the stairs. Gigi feels a small, hot ball of shame in her stomach— she knows that it’s not fair to take her frustrations out on her mom, it wasn’t her fault that Gigi was being forced to restart at a new high school in her senior year. It’s just too bad that her father leaves for work so early in the mornings, leaving her poor mother with an angsty, anxiety ridden 17 year old. Gigi looks at herself in the mirror again. She looks the same, blonde hair curling just past her shoulders, blue eyes blinking back at her. She looks just like that popular girl who had somehow found herself ruling the school back in LA.
The shiny new digital clock on her bedside table beeps and Gigi swears under her breath. Time has slipped by much faster than she had realized and she needs to leave, like, now if she hopes to make it to school on time. She gives up on finding her sneakers and instead pulls on the Doc Marten’s that are halfway shoved under her bed before clattering down the stairs.
“Mom, I have to go!” She grabs the keys to her Volkswagen that had been a gift from her parents for her sixteenth birthday. “Bye!” She barely registers her mother’s echoing farewell behind her. The drive to Springfield High can’t be longer than ten minutes, but it seems like the longest drive of her life. It seems even longer than the time she and Nicky decided to drive to Huntington Beach for some party of a friend of Pearl’s, when they had gotten so lost that they ended up in Santa Ana. It seems longer than the drive home from Anaheim with Clark, her first and only kind-of-boyfriend she had ever had, after they had run into the boy that he had been secretly hooking up with at the beach. But still, not quite long enough.
The school itself doesn’t look so bad. Brick walls, with a big lawn and a half-empty parking lot in front. Gigi squints at the banner that is hung over the front entrance, reading “Get Your Kicks, Class of ’86!” Someone has painted over the “K” in “Kicks” so it looks like a capital D and Gigi appreciates that at least dumb high school humour seems to be nation wide. She pulls in to the parking lot and tries not to feel out of place but she is well aware that she sticks out like a sore thumb. Her baby blue Volkswagen clashes against the muddy, rusty trucks and cars, and a group of boys wearing football jerseys are eyeing her already. One with a particularly massive head smirks at her through the windshield and Gigi tries to ignore him, pretends she can’t see his beady eyes staring at her. Unfortunately for her, she is so busy ignoring him that she doesn’t even notice the small group of girls that are crossing the parking lot in front of her as she pulls into a spot. A thud and a yelp catch her attention and Gigi feels her stomach drop right out from where it belongs, through the car floorboards, right to the centre of the earth. She had just hit someone with her car.
“Holy fuck.” She yanks the door open, voice shrill in her own ears as she dashes to the front of her vehicle. “Oh my god!” Gigi gapes at the sight in front of her. A girl is being helped up by her two friends, who both look remarkably more concerned than she does.
“I’m fine, I totally wasn't looking where I was going.” The girl brushes her teal pants off, grinning at her friends. “Really!”
“Crystal, are you sure you’re okay?” The blonde friend is saying. The girl— Crystal— turns to Gigi.
“Hey! I don’t think I scratched the paint at all, but you can check for yourself if you want.” She turns to leave and Gigi forces herself to move.
“Hey, wait!” She lunges forward and grabs Crystal’s elbow. “Listen, I am so sorry, I’m such an idiot.” Crystal’s wild red curls fly around her face as she spins around again. Gigi drops her hand lamely, trying to hide the obvious tremble. Crystal’s friends stand on either side of her, both eyeing Gigi with a mix of unease and curiosity.
“Trust me, this is not the first time I’ve wandered across a parking lot without looking and it probably won’t be the last.” Crystal laughs loudly. She fixes her Beatle’s T-shirt where it’s come untucked from her pants. The stack of colourful bracelets on her wrist clack together. “You look pretty shaken up, you need to sit down? Need some water?”
“Uh—“ Gigi can’t seem to close her mouth. Was this girl seriously asking if she was okay after Gigi had just mowed her down outside of their school? “I’m fine? Uh, sorry. I’ve never run someone over before. I don’t know how to react right now.” Crystal laughs again.
“This seems like a fine reaction.” She grins. “Sorry, we’re running late for a club meeting. Hope you feel better!” She spins on her heel and her friends follow, Blonde Friend glancing over her shoulder one last time. Gigi stands there dumbly for a second before looking around for a witness to confirm what had just happened. A few of the football boys are still looking in her direction, but the rest of the students milling around before schools starts pay her no mind. Gigi opens her car door and sinks back in to the leather seat. What does someone do after hitting their new peer with their car? Go to class? Go home? She wishes she could call Nicky and ask her what to do, but she knows that not only is Nicky miles and miles away, she would also just laugh her ass off at Gigi’s bad luck.
“Well.” She whispers to herself, trying to shake the remaining shock from her system. “That happened.” She grabs her backpack and steps out of the car again, adjusting her short dress and locking the door behind her. The only reasonable thing- other than screaming- that she can think to do now is try to find the school office. She’s sure as hell not going to mention her little accident, but she does need to figure out where her classes are.
“Hey, Blondie!” A football guy, the one with the giant head, calls as she walks by. “Trying to take the art kids down already, eh? Nice!” Gigi schools her expression as blank as possible as she passes, deciding that she simply can not handle that at the moment. Crystal is, she can assume, an “art kid”. She could have guessed as much, based just on the other girl’s colourful outfit and paint stained backpack that she had been carrying. Gigi wonders if Art Kids are Football Boys natural enemies. She kind of hopes so.
The school’s interior looks just like every other school’s interior and the office is easy to locate— Gigi feels the first bit of relief of the day when she sees the large sign and the woman sitting behind the counter.
“Hello.” She says, hoping that she sounds normal and not like someone who had just run someone else over. “It’s my first day and I was wondering, could you tell me where the North Wing is?” Gigi’s schedule is printed on a piece of paper that is tucked in her backpack but she had spent so long the day before staring at it that it’s burned in to her memory. “And then, possibly how to get to the Art Block from there?” The secretary raises an eyebrow over her glasses at Gigi. Her name tag says Michelle.
“First day you said?” Michelle taps her long, manicured nails on the keyboard in front of her. “You’re not a freshman, right?” Gigi shakes her head. She wishes she could say yes, then she would be one new face of hundreds. “Lucky you, you get a special buddy for your first day.”
“A special buddy?” Gigi frowns. Michelle shoots her a smile.
“Sure, I think that’s what we’re calling them.” She types something on her keyboard. “New transfers are assigned a buddy to show them around.” Michelle’s eyes flick from her computer screen back to Gigi. “To get settled in, you know?” Gigi doesn’t know. She had gone to school with the same kids since Pre-K in LA, somehow finding herself running with the popular kids, and she had never had to worry about getting settled in. “Hang tight, your buddy should be here soon. What did you say your name was?”
“Gigi— Georgina Goode.” Gigi says miserably. The only person who calls her Georgina is her father, and she can’t help but think it sounds like the name of an old woman. An old woman who has, like, a ton of cats and only wears elastic waist pants or something.
“Got it.” Michelle pushes up her glasses and leans back in her chair. “Good luck honey, it’s not so bad around here.” Gigi tries to smile in response but thinks that it probably looks more like a grimace. She stands at the counter awkwardly until another student shows up, shaking her hand with way too much energy.
“You must be Georgina!” She is saying. “I’m Jackie!” Gigi smiles weakly at her and follows her down the hall.
“Gigi, actually.” She says and Jackie parrots it back, grinning at her. She takes Gigi on a tour of the school and talks, a lot. Gigi learns that Jackie is Iranian and the only kid at school to wear a hijab, she’s on the Student Government and she’s desperate to be the Class of ’86’s valedictorian later that year. She’s kind of a lot, and definitely not the type that Gigi would typically hang out with, but she’s nice and has English class with Gigi first block so they find seats together.
“So, Gigi.” Jackie taps her pencil on her desk, bounces her leg under it. She’s got a lot of pent up energy. “Are you interested in joining any clubs or sports teams this year? Springfield High has quite a few.”
“I haven’t really thought about it.” Gigi frowns. She had been part of the cheerleading squad at her old school because her friend Aquaria had convinced her to join, but had never gotten further involved. “Got any suggestions?” Jackie pauses her tapping for a moment, thinking.
“Well, there’s a bunch of sports teams, if you’re into that. Or Student Government.” She glances sideways at Gigi. “Or you could join the Art Kids revolution that they’re always working on. My friends run the club.”
“Revolution?” Gigi raises an eyebrow. These Art Kids seem to have a reputation, but she can’t figure out if it’s good or bad.
“Funding for basically all of the arts got cut during our freshman year.” Jackie explains. “Music, visual arts, theatre, all of it. The school decided to funnel more money in to the football team.”
“Really?” Gigi thinks back to the comment that the big-headed football guy had made earlier. “Trying to take the art kids down already, eh? Nice!”
“Really.” Jackie nods. “But they’ve been trying to fight it since, been putting on art shows and student rallies to fundraise. This year Crystal and a couple other seniors are really trying to establish something for future students.”
“Wow, that sounds pretty impressive.” Gigi tries to imagine the girl she had ran over that morning leading a rally. She can kind of see it, if she ignores the bright teal parachute pants and dorky laugh.
“Well, wait to say you’re impressed until you see what they do.” Jackie laughs. “I love them and the passion they have, but a three person protest led by a tiny ginger is… Not super impactful. What they lack in numbers they make up for in enthusiasm though!” She adds quickly.
“My old school had a pretty cool arts program.” Gigi rests her elbows on her desk. “I never really got involved but it was something that always seemed interesting.”
“Well,” Jackie shoots her a sideways grin. “they’re always looking for new recruits here.”
“Yeah.” Gigi shrugs. “Maybe.” After English, Jackie walks Gigi to her next class. For all the talk of art that morning, Gigi had nearly forgotten that she was enrolled in General Arts. It wasn’t something that she would typically choose, usually leaning more towards a skills class, like Typing or Home-Ec, but her late registration had left her with very few choices. Jackie had left with a promise to return after class so that they could eat lunch together, and Gigi settles herself in to the back corner of the room, closest to the windows. Students file in, most of them chatting with friends or looking bored out of their minds. Blonde Friend walks in, deep in conversation with another girl and Gigi sinks down in her seat, glad that they had sat down on the opposite side of the room.
“Hi, hello everyone!” A voice calls from the front of the class. “For those of you who don’t know me, I am Miss Velour, the art teacher here at Springfield High.” Gigi studies the woman who is standing at the front of the room. She is short, but her buzzcut and loud-patterned shirt command attention. “Today we will be doing a get-to-know-you assignment, to ease in to the year and to help me get to know all of you a bit better.” Miss Velour begins passing out worksheets and materials, rattling off more expectations as she goes, but Gigi has already checked out. She is zoning-out hardcore, staring out the window when the classroom door bangs open, startling her back in to reality.
“Did you know that over half of you sitting in this room right now will not have access to the supplies that you need to complete the semester?” A loud voice rings out, echoing through the small room. Crystal is standing in the doorway, both hands on her hips and a serious expression on her face. “Budget cuts to the arts program means less supplies and opportunities for all of us!” She pauses, gives Miss Velour a little wave. The teacher waves back, falling to hide her chuckle.
“For the past few years, the school has been cutting the budget for the arts more and more!” Blonde Friend has now leapt from her seat, the sudden movement causing the wooden chair to clatter to the ground. She ignores it and Gigi has to stifle her snort. “By next year, students will either have to supply their own materials, or not be able to take any art classes!” She nudges the girl beside her as she finishes.
“But Jan, Crystal,” the third girl stands. “What can we do to help?” The exaggerated tone almost gets Gigi but she catches herself, pressing her fingers to her lips.
“Well Rock, thanks for asking!” Crystal beams, tucking an unruly curl behind her ear. “You can come to the first Art Club meeting of the year, happening right after school tomorrow in Room 182A!” There is a moment of silence following her announcement, broken by a student coughing quietly.
“Thank you, girls. Is that all?” Miss velour glances between the three students, clearly trying to compose herself. The blonde— Jan— nods.
“That’s all!” Crystal gives a little wave to her friends, who sit back down. “Thanks Miss Velour. I hope to see some of you at the meeting!” She closes the door behind her and Gigi wants to ask the bored looking guy beside her what that was all about, but doesn’t.
“Well, thank you to the Art Club for that, uh, announcement.” Miss Velour claps her hands together. “Now, back to the assignment…”
The rest of the period passes by in a blur of creating self portraits using words to describe oneself, a project that Gigi admittedly does not try very hard on. Her mind is too full— full of running people over and rivalries between football jocks and art girls, and Jackie’s rambling on about how to make the most of her senior year. Needless to say, lunch comes at a breakneck speed just when she needs it the most.
“We can eat in the cafeteria if you want, I can introduce you to some of my other friends.” Jackie had been waiting outside her classroom for her and Gigi feels a rush of warmth for the other girl. She also feels the guilt that if she were still in LA, she would never even give Jackie a second look, but the way the other girl treats her like they’re already friends makes Gigi feel all fuzzy inside.
“Yeah, that sounds good.” She gently bumps Jackie’s hip with her own. “Thanks Jackie.” Jackie leads her down a set of stairs and through the crowds of students, in to the cafeteria. It’s massive, with windows lining one wall and crammed with as many tables as could fit. They head right for the table furthest from the door and Gigi almost trips over her own feet as she sees who Jackie’s friends are.
“Gigi, these are my friends. Jan, Rock, Heidi, this is Gigi. She’s new.” Jackie sits down across from the girl with dark curly hair, one of Crystal’s friends from that morning.
“Uh, hi.” Gigi sets her backpack down and sits down at the table, trying to fold her long legs under the bench while still maintaining a little dignity. “I just moved—“
“You’re the one who hit our friend with your car!” Heidi smacks her open palms on the table, leaning forward. Gigi jumps, smacking her knee under the table.
“Oh god,” she begins formulating a million more apologies in her head.
“Huh?” Jackie nearly drops the apple that she had pulled out of her backpack. “You did what? You hit who?”
“Crystal!” Heidi bursts into laughter. “Gigi, you look like you just seen a ghost!”
“She’s fine.” Jan elbows Heidi in the side. “Totally fine! If anything, this taught her a good lesson to look where she’s walking!”
“I feel so bad.” Gigi presses both hands to her cheeks, eyes flicking across the girls sitting across from her. “Hitting someone with my car was, like, not the first thing I wanted to do at a new school.”
“Relax!” Rock leans over and pats her on the arm. “I saw her earlier today, she’s not bothered. She seemed kind of happy to have a funny story to tell, honestly.”
“Is she coming here?” Gigi chews her lip nervously. “Like, I can totally leave if she doesn’t want me sitting with her friends.”
“Girl, we’re your friends now too!” Jan beams at her. “And anyways, I don’t think she’s coming, she was pretty determined to camp out in the Art Club room to work on some poster design or something.”
“Right, first meeting is tomorrow, right girls?” Jackie gets a nod back from Rock. “Sorry I won’t be able to make it. Student Government meets most days after school and I’ve also been thinking about trying to squeeze in Yearbook Committee if I can, and—“
“Jackie!” Jan cuts her off, reaches over to grab her hand. “You’re literally an insane person. I love you but you’re going to run yourself in to the ground.” Jackie flushes pink.
“Jan’s right, we totally aren’t expecting you to fit another thing in to your schedule.” Rock tucks a strand of lilac hair behind her ear. “You’ve gotta govern the school and all."
“What about you Gigi?” Heidi draws Gigi’s attention away from Jackie and Jan’s prolonged eye-contact. “You interested in the arts at all?”
“Oh, kind of.” Gigi wipes her clammy palms on her dress under the table. “I’m not, like, an artist or anything. I’ve done a bit of photography before but that’s basically it. Your presentation in class earlier was cool though.” She shoots a smile at Jan and Rock.
“Gigi was thinking about trying out for the cheerleading squad.” Jackie bumps Gigi’s elbow with her own. “Weren’t you? Try-out’s are today.”
“I was thinking about it.” Gigi notices the sideways glance that Jan shoots at Heidi. “I was on the squad at my old school and I was pretty good at it.”
“You should try out!” Heidi’s already large eyes widen. “Just, uh, watch out for some of the girls on the squad, if you do.”
“Watch out?” Gigi frowns. “Watch out for what?”
“Dahlia, the team captain, can be a little bit…” Jan trails off, seemingly searching for the right word to describe whoever this Dahlia is.
“She’s a bitch.” Heidi cuts in helpfully.
“I was going to say she can be a bit of a closed minded bully, but bitch works.” Jan sighs. “Really though, most of the other girls are fine, and you should totally go for it if you want to!”
“Yeah, maybe.” Gigi sinks a little lower in her seat. “I’ll think about it.” The rest of lunch passes filled with conversation, and Gigi gets to know her new friends a bit more. Jackie, though not as involved in the arts program, had gone to school with the others since Elementary school, and her and Jan had been attached at the hip since Pre-K. Jan is a theatre kid through and through and is part of the community musical production, which she claims will look great on her applications to theatre school. Heidi and Rock seem to be the most involved in Art Club, helping Crystal run it, but Rock is also trying to figure out how to form a Gay-Straight Alliance club without their principal finding out. Heidi says that so far it’s just been Rock talking about it but not really doing anything, which earns her an elbow in the side. Gigi is surprised when she brings it up, and smiles and nods, but her mind is already wandering. Sure, there were some gay people at her old school in California, but not enough of a community that Gigi had ever felt comfortable talking about it. It’s 1985 and being gay has certain... connotations that her father never hesitates to go on about every time he gets the chance. Gigi briefly thinks back to the first time she had ever kissed a girl, an older girl named Violet at a house party that Nicky and Pearl had dragged her to, and how she had been so scared of someone finding out that she had left early. She had only told Nicky weeks later, laying in Nicky’s bed in the dark, tears running down her cheeks as the other girl hugged her. She also had gone to school and started dating the first boy who had shown any interest in her, hid behind the facade for an entire summer before dumping him because she “was too busy for a relationship.”
“Gigi, you got a phone number?” Heidi asks as lunch is coming to an end and the girls are getting ready to go to their next classes. “I know it’s a Monday but we sometimes hang out at the soda shop down on Main Street. We can celebrate the first day of school!” Gigi only has a vague idea of where Main Street is but she nods eagerly, scrawls her phone number on the piece of paper Heidi offers her. The rest of the day passes smoothly and Gigi survives her introductory Biology and Spanish classes, and suddenly— she’s free. Jackie had mentioned earlier that she had to rush to her student government meeting so Gigi makes her way through the packed hallway alone, heading to where she thinks the gymnasium might be. She had thought about it long and hard during Bio, and decided that she would try out for the cheer squad after all, and if it— or Dahlia— seems really terrible, she could just quit.
“Hey, Gigi!” A cheery voice calls from behind her and Gigi turns around, confused as to who would be talking to her. Jan is weaving through students, clutching her backpack and waving. “Hey girl!”
“Hi Jan.” Gigi smiles at the blonde who is now gripping her elbow, trying not to get separated in the crowd. “You heading home?”
“No! I was thinking…” She smiles and Gigi notices she has dimples in her round cheeks. “I was thinking that I kind of want to try out for cheerleading.”
“What?” Gigi double takes. “Really? I thought you didn't like the team?”
“Well,” Jan shrugs. “I don’t like some of the people on the team but I do like you. So I thought we could go together?” Gigi can’t stop the grin that spreads across her face.
“Jan! Bitch!” She follows Jan down a less crowded hallway towards the gym. “Yes, I love this idea.” Gigi also kind of loves Jan already, with her goofy grin and long blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes.
“Cool.” Jan opens the door to the girl’s locker room and they both pull out their gym clothes. “I always thought it would be fun, because I love dancing, but I never worked up the nerves to do it alone.”
“Well,” Gigi leans down to unlace her boots. “I was fully prepared to go through this entire year alone, so it looks like we’re stuck with each other now.”
When the two girls are changes in to the school mandated gym shorts and T-Shirts emblazoned with “Springfield Strong!”, they make their way in to the gym. There are about a dozen girls milling around, some in cheer uniforms but more not. Jan waves at one, a stunning girl with dark skin and curly hair, who says hi to her.
“Listen up ladies!” A loud voice commands the attention of the room, coming from a girl in uniform with her hands on her hips. “Try outs are starting in a moment, warm up and I’ll call you up one by one!” She flips her long ponytail over her shoulder, and her lip gloss is so shiny it practically reflects the harsh gym lights.
“Dahlia.” Jan whispers to her as they stretch in the corner. “And her posse.” There are two girls sitting on either side of Dahlia at the table set up in the centre of the gym. One glances at the girls stretching around them and whispers something to Dahlia, snickering. “The one with the big mouth, that’s Brita.” Jan supplies helpfully. “And that little one is Jaida. She’s not so bad.” Gigi looks at the other girl, the one who had said hi to Jan earlier. Slowly, girls are called up to demonstrate their skills in front of the table, and Gigi immediately understands why Heidi had called Dahlia a bitch earlier.
“Well, that was something.” Dahlia drawls after one girl finishes her routine. “We’ll get back to you, but don’t get your hopes up.” She dismisses the girl, who walks away with her head hung. Gigi wracks her brain, trying to remember if Aquaria had been this harsh during try-outs back in California. She wants to say no, but she isn’t stupid, she knows that Dahlia is probably more similar to the girls she had hung around with in LA than she would care to admit. Jan is called up next and she shoots Gigi a thumbs up before jogging to the centre of the gym.
“Okay, Janice.” Dahlia leans back in her chair and crosses her arms. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“Just Jan, Dahlia.” Jan grins but it looks slightly more forced than before. “Like it’s been for the past, I don’t know, twelve years that we’ve gone to school together.” Jaida muffles a snort behind her hand and gets a look from the other two.
“Right, whatever. Just Jan.” Dahlia rolls her eyes and Jan picks up a set of pompoms from the ground. Her routine is very broadway but she can do a split and a cartwheel, which is more than most of the others so far. When she finishes Dahlia just blinks at her.
“Nice job.” Jaida smiles at the blonde.
“Yeah, not bad.” Dahlia says, writing something on the clipboard in front of her. “You can move now.” Jan sends another little wave to Jaida and trots off, settling on the bleachers to wait for Gigi.
“Georgina.” Dahlia calls out. Gigi gives herself one last second of feeling nervous before plastering on a smile.
“Actually, it’s Gigi.” She corrects, making her way in front of the table.
“Kay. Gigi.” Dahlia hardly even looks up at her but Gigi launches in to her routine that she had been going over in her head for the past half hour. It was the final routine that her old squad had put together the following year, when her then-boyfriend’s football team had won the last game of the season. Gigi knows that she’s good as she dances, and the back handspring that she whips out gets a whistle from one of the other girls. Jaida claps for her when she’s finished and Brita is just sitting there with her mouth open. Dahlia gives her a once-over before writing something down on her clipboard.
“Okay, new girl.” She says. “Not bad.” Gigi can’t help but feel a rush of pride as she makes her way back over to Jan, who squeezes her hand and grins at her.
“Girl! You’re, like, really good.” She whispers as they leave the gym and the rest of the hopeful candidates still waiting around. “You definitely made it, no doubt.”
“You think?” Gigi beams. “Thanks! You were really great yourself.” The two girls part ways at the front door, Jan saying something about waiting for Jackie to finish up her meeting, but she promises to have Heidi call her later that night. Gigi returns to her car feeling lighter than she had all day.
“Mom!” She calls when she’s back home, pulling open the front door and toeing off her shoes. “I’m home!”
“Hi, sweetie!” Her mom’s voice drifts out of the kitchen. “In here!” Gigi pads into the kitchen in her sock feet and sits down at the kitchen table opposite of her mom. “How was your first day? Make any friends?”
“Actually, yeah. It was good.” Gigi smiles. “Don’t tell dad, but this place might not be so bad.” Her mom laughs and questions her about her new friends, and Gigi gladly tells her. “I’m going to go call Nicky, okay?” She says eventually, once she’s finished telling her mom about cheerleading try outs. Gigi leaves her mom in the kitchen and makes her way to her bedroom, dropping her backpack on the bed before picking up her phone. Even with the two hour time difference, she’s pretty sure that Nicky should be home from school by now.
“Hello?” Nicky’s voice fills Gigi with warmth and she lays on her bed, hanging off the edge.
“Nicolette!” She grins at the indignant huff.
“Two can play at that game, Georgina.”
“I survived my first day of school.” Gigi rolls over, settling on her stomach instead.
“Yeah? You ruling the school already?” Nicky asks. Gigi thinks about her new friends, all kind of nerdy and weird. Not at all the typical kind of girls she would hang out with back in LA.
“Sure, something like that.” She shrugs, knowing full well that Nicky can’t see her. “I hit a girl with my car today.”
“You what?” Nicky screeches through the phone, just about breaking Gigi’s eardrum. “Did you kill someone?”
“No! She actually apologized to me, it was crazy.” Gigi wants to laugh at the absurdity of it all. “I think she’s okay though, I hung out with her friends and they’re all really sweet.”
“Hm, you get her number to check up on her? She’s cute?” Nicky laughs but the question stops Gigi in her tracks. Was Crystal cute? Objectively, yes. Very cute. She was kind of short, with her dark red curls and tanned skin standing out amongst her peers. Gigi could definitely see how cute she was, from a purely aesthetic point of view.
“Uh—“ She coughs awkwardly. “No, I didn’t get her number. I don’t even know her.”
“So she is cute!” Nicky crows gleefully. “I know you too well, you hesitated way too long!”
“Even if I thought she was cute—“ Gigi starts but Nicky sighs loudly.
“Chill girl, I’m not asking if you proposed to her.” She says. “Sorry, I’ll let it go.”
“I don’t even know her.” Gigi protests weakly. “And besides, I’m not trying to date anyone right now. And she's probably straight.”
“I know, I know.” Nicky is true to her word and lets it go, for now. “Well, other than running over a stranger, what else happened?” Gigi recounts the rest of her day to Nicky and it almost feels like they’re not separated by four states. When she hangs up, her cheek is warm from the phone pressing against it. She looks around her room and decides right then and there that it is high time to unpack. Clothes come out of boxes and are hung up in the walk-in closet, drawers and shelves fill up, and with each empty box that gets stacked up, California feels more and more like someone else life. She’s a Missouri girl now. Well, maybe not quite, but she’s trying.
By the time her phone rings again, she’s already unpacked most of her belongings and eaten dinner with her mom. She dashes up the stairs to her room, yelling that she’ll get it to her mom.
“Hello?” Gigi catches the phone at the tail end of the ring.
“Hi, is this Gigi?” A voice asks politely. Gigi scrunches her nose.
“Yes?”
“Oh, good!” Relief fills the voice and a laugh comes through the line. “I thought you were your momma or something for a second! It’s Heidi, by the way.” Heidi tells her that the gang is meeting at the soda shop, apparently called Nina’s, in twenty minutes and rattles off an address for Gigi to scribble down. Gigi changes in to loose jeans and a light jacket, pulling her hair in to a ponytail with the orange scrunchie that she had found in the bottom of a box.
“Mom, is it okay if I go meet some friends?” Gigi peers around the doorway of the living room, where her mom is sitting and reading a novel. “I won’t stay out late.”
“Out?” Her mom raises her eyebrows. Gigi feels the need to reassure her— after hanging out with some of Aquaria’s rowdier friends on a few occasions, she and Nicky had gotten in to some trouble from both of their moms, leaving them slightly more distrusting of their daughters.
“Just to a soda shop. It’s close by.” Gigi rocks back on her heels, hands clasped behind her back. “Just with some girls from school.”
“I guess that’s fine.” Her mom returns to her book. “But don’t be late, you have school tomorrow.”
“I won’t! Thank you Mom!” Gigi beams and bounces over to the door to collect her car keys from the hook on the wall. “See you!”
The town really is small, Gigi notes once again, as she’s pulling up to the address that Heidi had given her. Nina’s is decorated to look like a 50’s diner, the huge neon sign glowing above head, and Gigi loves it already. There’s a parking spot right in front, and she sees Heidi wave at her through the window as she climbs out of her Volkswagen and locks the door. She’s sitting at the corner booth with Jan, Jackie, Rock, and… Crystal. Gigi doesn’t know why she feels so shocked, she had known that Crystal was part of the group. She also knows that it’s too late to turn around and drive away, so she decides to stop acting like an idiot and calm her nerves before they get too bad. The bell rings cheerfully as she pulls the door open, and Heidi calls her over, like Gigi hadn’t seen them from outside.
“Hey! We’re over here!”
“Hey girls!” Gigi smiles and wipes her inexplicably sweaty palms on her jeans as she approaches. “Thanks for inviting me out.”
“Of course!”Jan grins, patting the seat beside her. “The more the merrier, right?” Gigi sits beside her, leaning over to greet Jackie who is squished on the other side of Jan.
“Gigi, I don’t know if you actually officially met Crystal?” Rock reaches over from her place across the booth, tucked in between Heidi and Crystal, pats Gigi’s hand.
“Oh, no! Not officially.” Gigi shoots a nervous glance at the redhead who is sitting directly across from her. “Hey, it’s nice to actually meet you.”
“Back at you!” Crystal grins at her, resting her chin on her palm. “When you’re not all, you know, freaked out.” Gigi tries to hide the fact that she’s still kind of freaked out by the girl but she smiles back anyways.
“Well, at least your first impression of me was memorable.” She jokes, and is pleased by the laugh she gets in return.
“Crystal was just telling us about her art show that she’s planning.” Jan supplies from beside Gigi. Crystal straightens in her seat, nodding her head and making her curls bounce. “I was! The Art Club is trying to raise money so I’m putting together a fundraiser show at the Springfield Gallery. Or trying to, at least.”
“A gallery? That sounds pretty impressive.” Gigi raises her eyebrows.
“Well, it really helps that Miss Velour has connections there.” Crystal grins sheepishly. “She’s helping us out a lot, which is so nice considering we only have, like, five members.”
“Hey, five is better than last year!” Rock squeals. “We finally convinced Aiden to join.” Gigi has no idea who Aiden is but she nods anyways.
“Speaking of joining things, Jan told us that cheer tryouts went well?” Jackie leans around Jan again so she can look at Gigi.
“Oh, yeah!” Gigi nods, stealing another glance at Crystal. “But I totally see what you mean about Dahlia though, Heidi. Bit of a queen bee, hey?”
“Something like that.” Crystal’s expression hardens for a fraction of a second— Gigi would have missed it if she hadn't been looking at her already. “But now I guess we have a reason to go to football games, right?” She perks back up.
“Can y’all believe we’re hanging out with cheerleaders?” Heidi guffaws.
“Well, technically we don’t even know if we made it—“ Gigi tries to point out but Jan cuts her off.
“We totally did, bitch!” She laughs loudly. “Don’t be all humble!”
The conversation flows easily between the girls and Gigi is content to sit and listen, chiming in with funny anecdotes and stories when she can. An older woman, who Gigi finds out is Nina herself, brings over a tray of milkshakes that were ordered before she had arrived, and Crystal insists on splitting hers with Gigi. Nina brings them an extra cup with a smile and an affectionate ruffle to Crystal’s hair.
“She knows you all, then?” Gigi watches her disappear back through the swinging doors in to the kitchen.
“Everybody knows everybody here in Springfield.” Jackie says, met with a chorus of agreements. “Or if they don’t know you, they know your mom or cousin or pet dog.”
“Wow.” Gigi’s not sure if she could ever get used to the idea—the anonymity of growing up in a bustling city is too ingrained in her mind. “Is that good or bad?”
“That depends.” Crystal has a tiny crease in between her eyebrows that hadn’t been there before. “Depends on what kind of secrets you have, I guess.” Gigi meets her eyes. What kind of secrets does Crystal have, if any? She doesn’t offer any more information so Gigi doesn’t ask.
“Hey, senior year though.” Jan reaches across the table and squeezes Crystal’s hand. “We’re almost out of this place.”
“Yeah.” Crystal holds eye contact with Gigi for a split second longer before looking at Jan. “Who knows where we’ll end up.”
The rest of the evening passes by quickly, filled with laughter and Crystal’s strawberry milkshake cool on Gigi’s tongue. The sun starts to really set around 9 PM and Heidi announces that she should get home before it gets too dark. The girls file out of the diner and Nina calls out a goodbye.
“Come back soon girls, there’s always a booth for you!” She disappears back in to the kitchen again. Gigi fishes her car keys out of her pocket and looks around at the little group.
“Anyone need a ride home? I’ve got enough space if we squish.” Jan and Jackie turn down her offer with matching smiles, telling her no, they like walking and they live in the same direction, but thank you. Rock and Heidi also live close together and are content to walk but Crystal grins as she sidles over to the shiny vehicle.
“Nice ride.” She runs a hand appreciatively across the door. “I can admire it now that I’m not stuck under it.” Gigi lets out a startled laugh that sounds more like a gasp and Crystal grins even wider. “I live just on Elm, is that out of your way?” Gigi shakes her head and unlocks the drivers side door.
“I’m on Maple. We’re practically neighbours.” Crystal slides in to the passenger seat beside her, buckling her seat belt. She leans back in her seat and closes her eyes for a moment.
“So, Miss Goode.” She says, and Gigi can hear the smile in her voice but doesn’t turn her head to look at the other girl as the car engine rumbles to life.
“Yes, Miss…” Gigi pauses. “What’s your last name?”
“Methyd.” Crystal deadpans. “Don’t laugh, english is my parent’s second language and they chose the name Crystal without realizing.”
“Crystal Methyd.” Gigi parrots back, resisting the huff of laughter that threatens to escape her. “I’m not laughing! It’s a great name!”
“Yeah, whatever.” Crystal slumps in her seat but doesn’t actually sound mad. “Anyways, California, hey? How did you end up all the way over here?”
“My dad got a promotion.” Gigi pulls out of the parking spot and begins heading in the direction of home. “He works for a company that develops new cameras. I guess a factory opened out here and they needed a new manager.”
“Are you in to photography then?” Crystal asks.
“Kind of.” She pauses for a moment. “I’m not really— I’m not very close with my dad. So. It’s not, like, something that we ever bonded over.” Crystal hums softly. “What do your parents do?”
“My family owns a Mexican restaurant in town. I help out sometimes.” Crystal takes the shift in conversation in stride, tells Gigi about the restaurant and says that she should come by sometime. “I can get you free horchata and tortilla chips, if you’re not convinced already.”
“I’ll have to take you up on that sometime.” Gigi stops at a red light and puts her turn signal on. “Is your family from Mexico?”
“Sí.” Crystal giggles. “I was born here though, Missouri girl born and raised. My mom’s family was deported when she was a kid and they haven’t been back since, but she married my dad right out of high school and they moved here.”
“Oh, wow.” Gigi makes the turn on to Elm Street, passing by a row of identical houses. “I think basically all of my family is spread out over California. The Goodes didn't get very far, until now.” She steals a glance at her passenger.
“You ever go to San Francisco?” Crystal is leaning one elbow on her crossed leg and slouching so far in her seat that it makes Gigi’s back hurt just looking at her.
“San Francisco?” Gigi tries to hide her surprise at the question. “Uh, yeah. A few times. Family vacations, and once on a school trip.”
“I wanna go one day.” Crystal’s wide grin is back. “I hear there are a ton of lesbians out there. This is me, by the way. The house on the corner.” Gigi pulls up outside of the only house that sticks out on the block. Unlike the rest of the white siding, grey trimmed two stories, Crystal's home is red and has a bright yellow front door. Gigi's still staring at the house, debating whether Crystal is excepting a reply to the San Fransisco Lesbian comment, when the door opens and the ginger slides out.
"Thanks for the ride, Gigi." Crystal sticks her head part way through the still open door. "I'd invite you in but I'm sure you've got to get home."
"Right, yeah." Gigi gives a lame wave, inwardly cringing at herself. "Next time." Crystal grins back, eyes crinkling.
"Next time." And with that she's trotting across the lawn, up the stairs to the yellow door. She gives Gigi one last wave before disappearing inside. The lights in the front room flick on and Gigi can see Crystal move through the space before vanishing up a set of stairs. Gigi flexes her hands against the steering wheel, breathing in a deep breathe before pulling back into the street and heading home.
Her parents are both home when she enters the house, hushed voices in the living room.
"Georgina? Is that you?" Her father calls. "How was your day?"
"Fine, Dad." She leans the upper half of her body around the doorway that leads to the living room. Her parents are on the couch, a half-completed jigsaw puzzle on the coffee table in front of them. Seeing her father in such a domestic scene makes her stomach flip. It seems unnatural, not something she's used to. "I'm pretty tired, I'm going to get ready for bed." Her parents bid her goodnight and she climbs up the stairs in sock feet, nearly slipping on the hardwood floors that her father had insisted on having installed before they moved in. It wasn't a lie, exhaustion has suddenly settled over her like a heavy blanket. She changes into her pyjamas and brushes her teeth as quickly as she can.
Sleep comes easily that night for the first time in what feels like weeks.