Chapter Text
Deena knew the place like the back of her hand at this point. In the far corner, the old school jukebox, the black leather stools that sat at the edge of the bar, and all of the tables and standing space in front of the stage. She and her band had been playing gigs at Shadyside Shack ever since Kate was able to convince the owner, Martin, to let them play. The gigs had almost always been small, only a handful of people were ever there on Sunday afternoons, but it was still nice to earn a couple of extra dollars. Today was an exception though.
First off, today wasn’t the normal Sunday afternoon; it was a Friday night, and it was pretty late at that. There were a lot more people than expected and things were pretty rowdy. Second, Shadyside High had just beat Sunnyvale in their rivalry football game. Deena scanned the crowd, a little apprehensive at the fact that she would be performing in front of so many people she knew.
Still looking through the crowd, she saw Simon and Kate fight their way through towards her, both being loud as ever. She gave a quick smile as they made their way through.
“You ready?” Kate asked with her signature smile.
“Sure, let’s go with that,” Deena replied, fiddling with her drumsticks.
“Oh, come on!” Simon said. “We’ve been practicing for weeks and we’ve done shows before. The only thing that’s different is that there are a few more people and some of them we know.”
“Oh right, because having the place packed with kids from school instead of ten partially drunk guys aren’t that different from each other?”
“Look, it’s not that bad. Just go with the flow. You’re good at that type of stuff, you just do whatever comes naturally, that’s why you’re so good.”
Deena offered a weak smile in response. Kate said something about needing to meet with Martin before they started playing, and left, but Deena didn’t seem to catch most of it. Simon started tuning his guitar and was chatting with the two other band members, Alice, the bass player, and Ruby, the vocalist. She waited around, still scanning the crowd. It was weird, she rarely got nervous. Maybe it was just the fact that she knew the people or maybe the fact that there were more people or maybe the fact that everyone was expecting a good show or maybe it was the fact that some Sunnyvale students just walked into the place.
“Shit, are those Sunnyvale kids?” Alice asked.
“Looks like it. I hope they don’t try to ruin the show,” Ruby added. There was a lull in energy as they walked in and everyone could sense it.
“Maybe they won’t ruin the show, but it looks like they’re going to ruin the vibe,” Simon said, turning, almost hitting someone in the head with his guitar.
“Guys!” Kate shouted from the crowd. “You’re on in three! Start getting ready to go!”
“Shit,” Deena thought. “Just as I was calming down, these Sunnyvale kids have to go and ruin everything.” She walked on stage, following the three other kids. She had nothing to worry about, she knew the setlist front and back, she knew what order the songs were in, and what changes they had made to the pacing and structure of each song. She kept reminding herself that she knew all the songs and that she was going to have fun playing them.
And she was right, everything was going well. They had opened with “Cult of Personality” by Living Colors and went straight into “Creep” by Radiohead. They played a couple less notable songs and were in the middle of “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways before all hell broke loose near the bar.
Deena had noticed that a couple more Sunnyvale kids had walked in through the show, but honestly ignored it because she was having a shit load of fun. The band stopped playing and people turned their attention towards the full-on fistfight that had erupted. Deena looked around at Simon, Alice, and Ruby, but got no answer to what had happened. People started chanting and laughing at a couple of guys that were fighting. Her attention turned to Kate and Martin who were now making their way over there, shouting things that were drowned out by all of the chaos happening.
She finally got a good look at two of the guys that were fighting. She recognized one of them from the Shadyside football team, his name could have been Andy or Andrew, she couldn’t remember. Then there was Peter. Fucking Peter. He was the guy that had fucked over every kid ever in Shadyside. Needing a favor, but never making up for it, “borrowing” money and never paying it back. That was the kind of guy Peter was. Not to mention, he was just a dick in general. Sometimes Deena would have to run to the Sunnyvale music store and she saw him there. Every time, without fail, he would see how many times he could slip the word ‘dyke’ into whatever conversation he was having before she called him out on it.
Deena came back to her senses as she watched some girl near the stage almost get trampled. She rushed out from behind the drum kit and helped her on stage. She didn’t recognize her, so she assumed that she was from Sunnyvale. As she got a good look, she realized her nose was bleeding.
“Shit!” Deena nearly screamed. “You’re nose is fucking bleeding.” She got up and fought through the crowd and grabbed some napkins off of the nearest table. She rushed back and gave them to the girl.
“Dude, are you okay?”
“Yeah, just, a little dizzy I guess,” the girl responded, holding one of the napkins up to her nose and turning her attention away from the fight.
“Do you need water or something? I-I have one nearby if you want it.”
“No, I just want to get away from the noise.”
“Here, I got you,” Deena said, helping the girl get to her feet. She escorted her past the increasingly noisy crowd to the door. As they got outside, the noise from the inside was muffled and the adrenaline started to wear off. Deena helped the girl to a nearby bench and sat down with her for a couple of minutes.
It was nearing the end of September, the crisp autumn air was becoming more and more apparent each day that went by. The flickering street lamp was giving off in a little bit of light and you could see the trees changing colors. It was completely silent apart from the muffled chants and shouts from the inside of Shadyside Shack. There was no one wandering Fier Street this time of night, even people in Shadyside weren’t stupid enough to try to get away with anything seeing as cops patrol the area heavier than any other place in town.
Deena had been lost in her train of thought for a while before remembering that a Sunnyvale girl was sitting beside her with a nosebleed and possibly a slight concussion. She was finally able to get a good look at her. She was blonde, had blue eyes, and a dimple on one side of her face. She looked like any other Sunnyvale girl.
“Sorry to drag you out here and sorry that your set got cut short,” she said, turning towards Deena.
“Oh, um,” Deena hesitated. “It’s fine. It wasn’t your fault. You weren’t the one to start the fight and I doubt that you caused yourself to fall.” Sam gave a weak laugh and Deena caught sight of her one dimple for just a second.
“I wish whatever happened didn’t happen because you guys were good. Like, really good.”
“Um, thanks. We’ve been working on the set for a little while, but haven’t played the full thing yet, so I guess tonight would have been like a test run.”
“What other songs did you have on the list,” she asked with what seemed to be genuine curiosity.
“Well we would have played some old school rock songs because that’s what most of us like, but at some point, we would have played “Sweet Jane” by Cowboy Junkies and “Hey” by Pixies.”
“Now I really wish you guys hadn’t been cut off, I love “Sweet Jane.” It’s one of my favorites.” Deena chuckled. She found herself intrigued by the girl in front of her. Maybe it was the fact that she didn’t know who Deena was, or maybe just because she didn’t seem like a Sunnyvale type of person.
“What’s your name?” Deena found herself blurting out.
“Sam, yours?”
“Wait, you really don’t know me?”
“No? Should I?” Sam asked, confusion spread across her face.
“Yes, well, no, not really. People say things, especially people in Sunnyvale. I’m just happy that no one has tried to ingrain into your mind that I’m not a great person.”
“Well, first off, I don’t actually live in Sunnyvale, I live in Shadyside, I used to live there which is why I know people, and second, why exactly would you be a not-great person?”
Now Deena was the one who was confused. She’d never seen Sam at school before. Granted, she didn’t really try to look for anyone other than her friends and her little brother, but it was still weird to her. Although she remembered Kate saying something at the beginning of the school year about a new girl, she wasn’t paying attention though, she was slightly preoccupied with the fact that her then-girlfriend was breaking up with her over text.
“You still there, Deena?” Sam asked, snapping a finger near Deena’s face.
“Yeah, yeah, of course. Anyways, people just talk. Everyone has different opinions, so.”
“You seem fine to me. I mean, you basically dragged me on stage before another person could kick me in the face, so I would say that counts as being a good person.”
They both laughed a bit when the door swung open. Peter and a couple of other Sunnyvale kids walked out, looking pretty jacked up. They walked towards the bench while Deena watched Shadyside kids file out after them. She had assumed that all of them had been kicked out, but was about to start looking for someone she knew to confirm.
“Why are you out here with this dyke?” Peter asked, the question directed towards Sam.
“She helped me not get trampled. I said I needed to go outside because I was dizzy and she led me out here.” After Sam said that, Peter thought about it, then glared at Deena. He grabbed Sam’s arm and tugged her up from the bench. He started walking, only stopping to look back and spit at Deena’s boots. Sam looked back and gave Deena a weak smile before being yanked a little bit more by Peter.
Deena got up and found Josh, Alice, and Cindy in the midst of the chaos. She got confirmation that everyone got kicked out because of what happened. They all waited across the street and one by one, Kate, Ziggy, Ruby, and Simon made their way out and joined them.
All of them walked home together knowing that it would be safer like that at this time of night. They dropped Alice and Cindy off at Alice’s place, Ziggy at hers, Kate and Simon at Kate’s, Ruby at hers, and then it was just Deena and Josh.
They walked in silence for a little bit before Josh broke it. “Who was the Sunnyvale girl you were talking to?”
“Her name’s Sam, and apparently she’s not actually from Sunnyvale”
“Woah, woah, wait,” Josh said, stopping Deena in front of their house. “You’re telling me that Peter has his hands all over a girl who isn’t even from Sunnyvale?”
“The fuck do you mean Peter has his hands all over her?”
“Before the fight broke out, I saw them making out and stuff. He was handsy with her too. Also, she looks kind of familiar. I think she goes to school with us.”
And here Deena thought that Sam was a little different. Even if she was from Shadyside, she still was friends with the Sunnyvale kids. Deena already had this fantasy in her head of Sam being nice to her, not being a dick like everyone else. But no, of course, she was with Peter. She honestly should have seen it coming.
“Looks like dad isn’t here again,” Josh said gesturing towards the empty driveway.
“Good observation.” Deena retorted. “He’s never fucking here, nitwit,” and with that, she walked into the house without another word. She slammed her door shut, knowing that she may have been a little angrier with Josh than she should have been, but she wouldn’t admit that out loud and definitely not to his face.
She paced around her room for a little bit. She really had tricked herself into thinking she could be friends with Sam. A new girl that could possibly be nice to her? It sounded too good to be true, and apparently, she was right. Josh mentioned that she went to their school, she had to have at least been told one or two stories about Deena, about how she went and spray painted the stalls with Ziggy last year and it still hasn’t come off, or how she, Alice, and Simon got busted for pulling three different fire alarms at the same time. Each thought made her pace faster and faster until she walked up to her desk and hit it with one of her drumsticks which proceeded to break.
She pulled out her phone to text Josh that she was sorry for getting upset at him for no reason. She was sidetracked by a text from an unknown number though.
[Unknown] 11:29 pm
hey :)
[Deena] 11:37
hey?
[Unknown] 11:39
it’s sam. i got your number from nick, hope that that was okay.
[Deena] 11:40
ew, him?
kidding thats fine
did you need something?
[Sam] 11:41
just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out sometime.
Deena really thought she was making this up. Sam, the fake Sunnyvale girl, was asking if she wanted to hang out? The girl who just let Peter grab her and yank her away? She had to have been dreaming.
[Sam] 11:43
it’s okay if you don’t want to, just thought i’d ask since you seemed cool earlier.
[Deena] 11:43
sorry my brother needed something
but yeah sure. give me a time and place and ill be there
[Sam] 11:44
yay :)
shadyside mall, sunday, 2 pm?
[Deena] 11:44
any other time and ill be there
[Sam] 11:44
3?
[Deena] 11:45
4?
[Sam] 11:45
works for me. it won’t be as long though.
[Deena] 11:46
did you have something special planned thats on a specific schedule?
[Sam] 11:46
lol, no
what makes you think that the new girl has something planned at a place she’s never been to?
[Deena] 11:47
shit youve never been to the mall????
how long have you been living here??
[Sam] 11:47
okay, i moved here with my dad in july. i just always end up going to the sunnyvale mall because
my mom lives there and i know people from sunnyvale.
It hit Deena who she was talking to again. She went from pissed as fuck at Sam, to planning to hang out with her and smiling at her phone.
[Deena] 11:50
youre gonna hate the mall then since youre so used to sunnyvale
[Sam] 11:51
oh my god, it can’t be that bad.
[Deena] 11:51
sunday at 4 and youll find out ;)
[Sam] 11:52
can’t wait :)
Read 11:52
Deena spent the next morning doing her normal four-hour shift at the B. Dalton Bookstore at the mall. Kate and Simon came and visited for an hour before heading off to roam around the rest of the mall. She was stuck selling shitty books to even shitter people, but it paid pretty well, at least as well as a job for a teenager can pay. As she got done selling some books to a little kid, she saw Heather walk in. They exchanged smiles and Deena clocked out. She walked over to the arcade and had to practically drag Josh away so they could go home.
“I was about to beat my high score, Deena!” Josh complained as they walked out of the mall.
“Does it look like a give a shit?” she sighed. “I need to get to the diner.”
“You could have left me here. Simon said he would take me home if I needed a ride.”
“You failed to mention that, dumbass. If you said something, I wouldn’t have dragged you out of there.”
“So can I go back?”
Deena sighed as she unlocked her car. “Yeah, sure, whatever. Just text me to let me know when you’re headed home.” Josh just smiled, turned around, and headed back inside. Deena got in her car and started driving to the small diner close to the border of Shadyside and Sunnyvale that she worked at. She parked and dropped her head to her steering wheel.
She’d never been this stressed before. Between having to practically take care of Josh on her own, working two different jobs, trying to get some sort of scholarship for college, and her friends, she was losing her mind. She didn’t have time to do things she actually enjoyed like having dinner with Josh and listening to him rant about whatever nerd thing he was into or being a part of Alice and Ziggy’s mischief while Cindy tried to stop them. She just wanted everything to slow down. Everything was going too fast and was just getting faster.
She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even notice someone knocking on her window. Once she realized it, she didn’t even move and just rolled down her window. She assumed it was either Ziggy or Cindy because they lived nearby.
“Doing alright?” the person said. Deena whipped her head up and saw Sam standing there. She stared at her for a minute before Sam spoke up again. “Deena? Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah. I didn’t sleep super well last night and I had to get up early.” She looked over at her phone and noticed she had four minutes until she had to clock in for work. “I need to go. I have to clock in, in like, four minutes.” She rolled up her window and waited for Sam to move before pushing the car door open.
“You work here?” Sam asked, following Deena into the diner.
“Yup. Weekends from eleven-thirty to three-thirty and weekdays from five to ten.” Deena was about to go into the back to get changed but stopped. “Take a seat if you want. I’ll get you whatever,” she said before disappearing into the back room.
Sam took a seat at an open booth and waited. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt while waiting for Deena to come back out. She looked out the window and watched as a group of kids walked by, laughing between themselves. She took notice of the park across the street. There were people walking under the trees, sitting on benches talking, or laying out in the grass.
She didn’t do any of that stuff, but she wanted to. She wanted to have a small group of friends that did stuff like that instead of just hanging out and playing pranks on people at the mall. She didn’t know anyone in Shadyside either. Sure, she went to school here, but it’s not like people actually wanted to be friends with her. The only person she sort of knew was Kate because they were both cheerleaders, but calling them friends was a stretch.
In fact, she didn’t actually have many friends at all. She talked with the Sunnyvale kids for appearance’s sake. After her parents split, she decided to go with her dad instead of her mom. Her mom stayed in Sunnyvale, so she would go over on the weekends and stay there, but she hated it. The people, the place, and everything about the town really. Peter and his friends were all assholes who just wanted to claim Sam and say that at least one Shadysider was going to change their life.
After one or two more minutes of thought, she watched Deena come from the back room. She was dressed in black jeans and a red t-shirt with the diner’s name on it. She had a notepad and pen in one hand and a menu in the other. Sam smiled when she got to her table and took the menu from her.
“You ever been here before?” Deena asked as she slipped Sam the menu.
“As close as it is to my house, nope,” Sam responded, skimming through the menu. “I’ve seen the Berman’s come over here from time to time though.”
“Yeah, this is kind of their place. I’m honestly surprised that they’re not here right now, they love to pester me when I’m working.”
“Working, Deena. Not chitchatting!” called Mrs. Lane from the other side of the counter.
Deena turned around and smiled. “Me talking with customers? Never.” They both chuckled and she turned back around to Sam, the smile still plastered on her face.
“So, want something to drink?”
“I’m thinking a milkshake, but there are genuinely so many flavors.”
“You can thank my brother for that. I don’t know how, but he always comes up with these crazy flavors that work and they’re always actually really good. My personal favorite is banana and cream though. It’s a classic.”
“I’ll take that then,” Sam responded with a smile, handing the menu back to Deena.
“That it?”
“Yeah. I have brunch or something with Peter and his family later, so I have to wait for that.”
Deena scoffed at the mention of Peter. “Have fun with that prick. He's just amazing,” she said, her voice dripping with annoyance.
“He’s really not that bad when you get to know him. He’s actually got a lot of good qualities.”
“Sure, super believable.”
“No, really,” Sam defended. “He takes time out of his schedule to go on cute dates and he cares a surprising amount about literally everyone.”
“Done lying yet?”
“I’m not lying, he does have good qualities!”
“Okay, so the guy that called me a dyke is so amazing?”
“Deena,” Sam almost pleaded. “I genuinely think that’s his parents talking and not him.”
“I’ll get you that milkshake,” Deena responded, knowing that if she listened to Sam anymore, she would get so much angrier. She stormed her way into the back and told Tommy to make the shake. She went to the sink and splashed some water on her face and started getting some drinks for other tables ready.
She heard Alice, Cindy, and Ziggy all chatting with Mrs. Lane out front and thought that their timing couldn’t be any better. Before she was done filling the drinks, she heard Tommy pipe up and say, “Deena, you’re doing that drumming thing again.”
Deena stopped filling the drink and looked back at him, “What?”
“You do this thing when you’re stressed and you like, start tapping some sort of rhythm with your free hand on whatever surface is closest to you.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah. But you only do it when you're stressed, so are you okay?”
“Yeah, stressful day I guess.”
“Well, I hope that you,” he paused for a minute, thinking of the best way to phrase what he wanted to say, “deal with your stress soon?”
Deena chuckled and gave Tommy a small smile. She walked out with people’s drinks and made her round getting people’s orders. She didn’t have time to talk to her friends yet, but she offered a wave and a smile towards them. She got to making some sandwiches and more drinks for tables. Before she was done, Tommy informed her that Sam’s drink was ready. She took it with a sigh.
Sam was still waiting for her shake when she saw Deena come out with it. She was genuinely excited to try it, it sounded really good, plus, she trusted Deena’s judgment. Then she saw Deena just stop at the counter and talk to Cindy, Alice, and Ziggy and pretended like she wasn’t even there. She never thought that Deena would be this stubborn. So she walked over to her, sat down next to her in fact, and started drinking from the straw while it was still in Deena’s hand. Deena looked at her in complete shock.
Once she was done sipping it, she just looked up at Deena and smiled. “Well, if you weren’t going to bring it over to me, might as well come to you.”
“I-I would have gotten back to you eventually you know.”
Sam caught a look at the three girls behind Deena, all their faces looking like Deena’s. She looked back at Deena and said, at a low enough volume so that only Deena could hear, “We both know that’s not true.”
“I really would have eventually.”
“Why didn’t you just bring it out to me in the first place.”
Deena gestured towards the three girls behind her. “I couldn’t just keep them waiting, could I? What kind of friend would I be if I did?”
Sam just rolled her eyes and took her shake from Deena and walked back to the booth she was sitting at. She pulled out her phone and started scrolling through Instagram knowing that Deena was looking at her in shock.
Deena’s eyes didn’t leave Sam until Ziggy slapped her arm. She whipped her head towards the girls and just stared at them.
“Earth to Deena! Did your brain just stop working or are you really that gay,” Ziggy asked waving her hand in front of Deena’s face.
“Since when did you talk to Sam,” Cindy asked right after Ziggy finished her question.
“Wait, yeah. Isn’t she the girl from Sunnyvale or some shit,” Alice asked, continuing to bombard Deena with different questions.
“First off, no, I’m not that gay, Ziggy. Second, we met last night at the gig after the game. She was about to get trampled so I pulled her onstage then we talked outside. Third, yeah she’s new, but she doesn’t live in Sunnyvale. She used to but moved here with her dad. She sees her mom on weekends,” Deena rambled on, and that’s when she realized that she got a lot of information from Sam after only a few conversations with her. She could see it on her friends’ faces too, the confusion about why she knew that about Sam and then the realization that they must have talked for a while when they were alone together.
Ziggy was the first to chime in after he little ramble. “Wait, did you set your sights on her?”
“Ziggy,” Cindy said, slapping her sister’s shoulder. “That was an invasive question.”
“Of course I don’t fucking like her. I’ve talked to her like, twice, plus she’s dating someone.”
“You two totally have a thing,” Alice said with a smirk.
“Oh my fucking god, no!”
“But you’re like me and Cindy when we said we weren’t a thing.”
“No, you two were literally so obvious,” Ziggy said.
“We were not,” Cindy tried to protest, but it was no use. Cindy and Alice were really obvious. They were friends back in middle school, but then Cindy snitched and they drifted but ended up making amends at some summer camp their freshman year. Both of them had reputations and they both decided it would be best to just try to hide their friendship, which failed. They were just more mean to each other for no apparent reason, which had people placing bets that they got together. But Deena, and almost everyone else, had to admit that even though they were so different, they really were cute together and somehow made it work.
Cindy and Ziggy went to arguing like they normally do and Alice trying to save Cindy, but Ziggy was too smart and too brutal to let them. Deena managed to slip out of the conversation at some point and run into the back again. Tommy had more orders ready so she served them and went around from table to table asking for orders from customers that had just come in.
Saturday afternoons were usually one of two rush hours that day. Later in the day, more kids would come in, but Deena was fortunately off the hook by then, but she was stuck with taking a lot of orders and running the food out to people. When she ran the three girls’ food out to them, she mentioned how they should keep Sam company, which Cindy did with no problem. Alice and Ziggy were a little hesitant but since Cindy persuaded Alice to join, Ziggy didn’t want to be alone.
Sam was quietly looking out the window, getting lost in more thought when she saw two girls slip into the seat across from her and one in the seat beside her. She knew Cindy, basically, everyone knew Cindy and so by association, everyone knew Alice and Ziggy. Other than that, Sam didn’t know much about the girls.
“So, when did you and Deena start talking?” Alice got straight to the point, no questions asked.
“Alice, really? At least introduce yourself.” Cindy rolled her eyes and continued. “I’m Cindy, she/her, and I’m guessing you already know that we go to school together, even though I’m a grade ahead of you.” Sam cautiously smiled at her, still not knowing why they came over here.
“Ziggy, she/her. I go to Shadyside too, but I’m a sophomore, so you don’t really see me around much.”
“Alice, they/them, and I’m in the same grade as Cindy, so, a year older than you.”
Sam felt beyond self-conscious at this point. Deena’s friends came over to her, out of the blue, and just started talking to her for no reason. When she came to the diner, she was just expecting a milkshake, not Deena and her friends.
“Oh, I’m Sam, but you all clearly know that, she/her.” She gave a weak smile to all of them.
“Now that introductions are out of the way, when did you start talking to Deena,” Alice asked again, this time with less aggressiveness, noticing how on edge Sam was.
“Well, she saved me from getting trampled when the fight broke out, and since I was dizzy, she took me outside and we started talking.”
“You’re right, I totally saved your ass last night,” Deena said with a slight smirk as she walked by. “You have to repay me somehow. My heroics cost a hefty amount, you know.”
Sam rolled her eyes and smiled softly at Deena and turned her attention back to Alice who asked her something, but didn’t quite catch it. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“You’re totally into Deena aren’t you?”
“What? No way!” Sam said with surprise sprawled across her face.
“Alice,” Cindy scolded for what was probably the tenth time today.
“I’m with Peter.”
There it was, the name drop. The three of them didn’t know that she was dating him. All Deena mentioned was that she was with someone, but now it felt different. They all knew Peter in some way. Alice was constantly bullied by him, Ziggy knew him because she used to be friends with Nick, and Cindy was a cheerleader, so she saw Peter at the football games. All of them got kind of silent, the knowledge of Sam’s relationship sinking in.
Deena passed by the table, and Alice played off leaving by going to talk to her. Deena had a confused look on her face but didn’t say anything, the slight look in Alice’s eyes said that they needed some space, so the two of them walked in the back together.
“Something happen,” Deena asked.
“No customers in the back, Deena,” he replied.
“All the customers have their orders and no one else has come in yet, you can take a break and we’ll be done before you know it.”
Tommy thought about it for a minute before agreeing. He went out and told Mrs. Lane he was taking a break, and Alice and Deena had the back to themselves.
“Did you know that she’s dating Peter?”
“Yeah,” she said, staring at the ground and kicking her feet a little bit. “I knew I would hear a mouthful from all of you which is why I didn’t name drop him.”
“And you expected not to hear one from us when we were without Sam?”
“I didn’t really think that far in advance,” Deena admitted. Alice was upset, anyone could tell. They had a good reason to be. Peter was never even civil toward them. Both of them knew the extent of Peter’s cruelty and how it takes a toll on people. That’s how they knew each other and that’s why they were close. At one point, they were the only thing each other had.
“Look, if I had known that before I talked to her for the first time, I wouldn’t have talked to her at all, but she’s a good person. And I honestly don’t think she actually likes him.”
Alice scoffed. “Yeah? What makes you think that she doesn’t like him?” They paused for a second. Deena was about to respond but was interrupted. “Have you even seen her? Blonde hair, blue eyes, she’s totally his type, Deena. She’s like every other Sunnyvale cheerleader!”
“Alice, I know what Sunnyvale cheerleaders are like, trust me,” Deena snapped back. “Hate to say that cliche bullshit, but she’s really not like them. Plus, as I said already, she doesn’t even live in fucking Sunnyvale.”
“Are you seriously defending the person who’s dating the manchild who’s harassed us every time we go near him or his friends since like, sixth grade?”
“Out,” Deena said coldly.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Get out.”
Alice stood there for a minute. Deena knew that both of them were overreacting, but she wasn’t going to let Alice win. She knew that she’s never kicked Alice out when they were having an argument, but this was a stupid one to be had. Deena knew that both of them were somewhat right. Sam was sweet and seemed to actually care about people, but she did just stand around and watch Peter say that to Deena.
Alice walked out, but Deena was still thinking. Sam said she’d only been living in Shadyside for a couple of months, so maybe it was different over in Sunnyvale when there weren’t any “freaks” to deal with. Maybe Peter was different with his friends and people he knew. Maybe he was hiding that part of himself from Sam to try to have a better chance with her. There were so many “maybes” going through her mind, so she decided to just keep busy with work.