Archive of Our Own

Poppy scoffed, not even bothering to avert her eyes from her phone. "I don't care." Poppy exhaled, voice dripping with disinterest. She swatted Veronica’s arm away from her path. She continued walking, she paused, noting the unusual silence from her friend. She saw Veronica’s eyes still locked on the newbie.

“Seriously?” She sauntered back to Veronica and resorted to dragging her by the arm. “You should watch where you’re going!” Poppy chides her, annoyed at her friend’s diverted attention. Veronica narrowly dodges the column, Poppy chuckles darkly. She barely dodges the trashcan herself, as she’s laughing. She pretends not to notice Veronica’s expression.

As they turned, Veronica cleared her throat. “New girl is totally your type. Hot, blonde, and fierce.” She knew that those magic words would surely pique Poppy’s interest. Poppy abruptly stopped walking and looked for the newbie. Veronica laughed.

She scrutinized the girl in front of her. Her eyes were narrowed looking for any flaws but all she can find are her off-brand clothing. She thought that she looked gorgeous. Poppy quickly stood straighter, and schooled her face back into the uninterested expression she wore before. It was too late, Veronica quickly noticed her reaction.

“I knew it,” Veronica smirked, thrilled at her discovery. “You have the hots for the new girl! I can’t wait to tell Chloe.”

Poppy quickly clapped her hand on Veronica’s mouth. She looked around, relieved that no one noticed. “Why don’t you scream it louder.” Poppy remarked sarcastically. “Anyway, I’m not interested.”

Veronica gave her a knowing look but bit back a remark. She laughed suddenly, and Poppy looked at her like she was insane. She pointed to her right; Poppy looked at where she pointed. She saw the new girl in a heated argument with Chloe. She saw that Chloe was fuming, her voice near shouts and the new girl bites back.

“Are you gonna rescue Chloe? Please say yes. My followers have been starving for drama lately.”

Veronica whips her phone out as they both walk over to Chloe.

A few choice words from Poppy and she gets the newbie’s attention. She gave her a sadistic smile and gave her a nickname. She is pleasantly surprised that the other girl did have a fire in her. Who else was stupid enough to take her head on? She liked it, it’s been a while since she’d been challenged. Veronica was right, Farmsville is her type. She was also secretly happy that she gave her name out in the process, which suits her. Morgan does have a nice ring to it.

Their squabble quickly became heated, Morgan going as far as threatening to usurp her. In the middle of their fight, Morgan was suddenly pulled away and disappeared into the dorms.

“Huh?” Poppy was dumbfounded, looking at the spot where Morgan was standing seconds ago.

“The look on your face!” Veronica bent over laughing at Poppy’s dumbfounded expression. She wipes the tears from laughter, she jogs to catch up to Poppy, already walking away.

“Guess, the newbie already has a knight in shining armor.” Veronica teased Poppy on their way to lunch.

Poppy hated to admit it but she did get a bit jealous at that, but knowing Veronica, she’s just trying to rile her up and get a reaction out of her. Maybe for her Veronicats or just to annoy the life out of her. She doesn’t humor her with a response and instead sits on one of the tables. She glared at the crowd on the way. They dispersed rather quickly, terrified of her infamous temper. She admonished Chloe for being too carried away with her anger and dragging her into it.

They were peacefully eating lunch when Veronica suddenly jumped, startling Chloe. She snapped her hands in front of Poppy’s face, getting her attention.

“I’ve got a brilliant idea!” Veronica said.

Poppy eyed her mischievous expression warily. “No.” She immediately turns down whatever disastrous idea Veronica has in her head. There was no need to feed the bad ideas she had.

“Oh, come on! This one’s really interesting.” Veronica pouted and tried to convince Poppy to listen to her well-thought-out, awesome idea.

“The past few times you said that you got us all in trouble.” Chloe reminded her, shuddering at the memory.

Veronica looked at Poppy with sad pleading eyes.

“Well? Spit it out, so I can have lunch in peace.” Poppy looked at her, clearly irritated. Veronica just beams in response. She’s gotten used to her temper, knowing that she has a soft spot for her friends, it’s all for show.

“Why don’t we have a bet?” Veronica said excitedly, knowing Poppy never backs down from any challenge. The indignant look that crosses her face alone is worth it.

“What bet?” She asks her suspiciously.

Veronica held back a smirk, she was certain that she’ll accept it eventually. “Make Morgan Hughes fall in love with you.” The corner of her lips twitched, as she watched Poppy’s expression change from annoyance to confusion. “Your time limit is a month, you can choose to do whatever you want after.”

Veronica’s smile widens, even more, becoming a full-on grin. “To make this more interesting, if you succeed, I’ll hand over my Lamborghini to you, but you’ll give me your Bugatti if you fail.”

Poppy sneered. She thought it was completely absurd, why would she even waste her time on something like that? She thought Farmsville was attractive, yes, but to stoop so low as to make the first move was completely out of the question. She’s used to being chased, not the one doing the chasing.  

“Are you insane? I’m not going to be part of your little games!” Poppy seethed. “Besides, I can buy myself a Lamborghini if I want to. Poppy said, then forcefully prodded what remained of her salad.

“Just say so if you’re scared, but yeah, to be honest, I thought it was an easy win for me. Should have known you’d realize that.” Veronica goes back to sipping her green shake and drops the conversation. She makes a disgusted face. Who even drinks this? In her mind, she counted back from five. Just on cue, the clang of the fork dropped against a plate.

“What are you saying? You think I can’t do it?” Poppy scoffed, offended at the insinuation that she’d fail.

“Yeah, pretty much. Listen, let’s drop it. It’s a stupid idea anyway.” Veronica waved her off. “I was even thinking that I’ll be your chauffeur for a month and all my videos will be Poppy-centric. Insane right?”

“No, no. I think it’s a great idea. You’re right, I can win this one easily. I’m Poppy Min-Sinclair after all.” Poppy said in a haughty voice. Against her superior judgment, she agreed to Veronica’s stupid idea. “Though if this blows up in our faces, I’m blaming you.”

“Well, if you insist. Little advice, you’d better start now. From your performance this morning, I would say you’re at a disadvantage.” Veronica smirked.