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Courtney was frustrated with her girlfriend. The situation was complex. At one point she had been dating a guy named Duncan. She liked how dangerous he was, how much of a bad boy he could be. He was sweet and sensitive too, though he didn't often show it. They hadn't been good for each other. She had kept trying to change him, and was a bad influence on her. In the end they had a nasty break up.
About a month afterwards she saw Duncan dating another girl. She'd seen the girl before, in fact she had known her as Duncan's friend. Courtney knew that technically Duncan had waited. She knew that technically she couldn't get mad. It had been her choice to break up with Duncan. Still seeing he had moved on from her so fast...hurt a lot.
She tried not to let it affect her school life. After all she was running for class president so she couldn't afford to get distracted. It did affect her though. Deeply. She treated Gwen coldly despite her not doing anything wrong. This cost her quite a few votes. Gwen wasn't super popular or anything, but she knew a lot of people. She had a lot of friends, some of which had influence on bigger presences at school. For instance, Duncan knew Geoff, and Geoff was on good terms with almost everyone at school.
So in the end she lost to Noah. Again. She'd be more upset, but he had his girlfriend Emma as his campaign manager. Emma was a really good motivational speaker. Between her emotional problems and Emma's expertise, she wasn't surprised to have lost.
About a week later she had been walking through the halls when she heard Gwen yelling at Duncan. She followed the shouting to the gym to see the goth had Duncan against the wall. In an angry way, not a sexual way. "It's always Courtney, Courtney, Courtney with you! I get she's your ex, but I'm starting to think you never got over her and I'm just your rebound girl!"
Duncan gave Gwen a guilty look. Courtney watched as Gwen's face went from anger, to shocked realization, to sadness. "That what I am. Isn't it?"
"Gwen I-" Duncan tried to explain.
"I need some time alone." The goth said. Courtney could hear the tears she was holding back. Gwen ran out of the gym and Courtney followed her. Eventually the goth went in the girls locker room. Courtney opened the door to hear sobbing from somewhere. She walked until she found the goth, huddled up against the gym lockers and crying.
Gwen noticed her and looked up with a glare. "What? Are you here to gloat? To rub the fact that he was just using me in my face?!"
Courtney wanted to be mad at the accusations, but she couldn't. She really had been treating Gwen horribly. For very little reason at that. She sighed and knelt down.
"What are you-" Gwen started to ask. On a whim Courtney wrapped her arms around the goth's huddled form. "Doing?"
"I'm sorry. You didn't do anything wrong in dating Duncan. Even though I'm the one who broke it off, I still wasn't over our break up. The thought that Duncan had already moved on and had another girlfriend upset me. That was no reason to treat you so coldly."
Gwen seemed surprised. "You don't hate me?"
Courtney shook her head. "I just couldn't handle my feelings, and I took them out on you."
"Well, you must be pretty happy he wasn't over you." Gwen frowned.
"A little, but I'm more concerned for you. Seeing your face when you realized you were just a rebound. It really put things into perspective for me. Before I was viewing you as , 'the girl Duncan replaced me with,' but you were just another girl who cared about him." She explained. "And well, I know what its like to realize Duncan isn't the best for you."
Gwen smiled a bit. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. You wanna start over?"
Courtney smiled back. "I'd like that. A lot."
Gwen's relationship with Duncan didn't last much longer after that. Gwen liked Duncan but she wasn't willing to be a rebound girl. Still Courtney could see how much breaking up with Duncan hurt her. She knew the feeling. She tracked Gwen down to her locker.
"Gwen?" She said. The goth turned, and Courtney could see she was upset. Not in the crying way. In the drained of emotion kind of way.
"Oh, hey Courtney." She sighed. "I suppose you've heard?"
"Yeah, I remember what it was like to break up with Duncan. You still like him, and you wish you could work things out, but in your heart you know its for the best." Courtney sighed.
"Yeah..." Gwen trailed. "i guess if anyone would understand how it feels, it'd be you."
"I didn't have anyone to turn to when we broke up. You know what that did to me. So I figure, I can't let you go through this alone. So I was thinking. You wanna go to that diner DJ works at and just talk?"
The goth nodded. "It would probably help."
They had driven to the diner and gotten ice cream. DJ was the one who served them, and she was sure he'd be telling Duncan about this. She put the thought out of her mind and they started talking.
They talked about Duncan. The things they liked about him, the things they disliked about him. The things that were frustrating about their relationships with him. It was nice to talk about all the emotions she'd been dealing with. Gwen seemed to be enjoying it too. It was a judgment free conversation that seemed to be beneficial for both of them.
"Hey, you wanna do this again sometime?" Gwen asked.
Courtney nodded. "Absolutely I still haven't told you about the time Duncan tried to scare me with a stupid ghost story and a hook prop."
Gwen chuckled. "I look forward to that story."
They exchanged numbers. It wasn't long before they hung out again. They talked about the things Duncan had done. Funny things, annoying things, romantic things. It was very cathartic for both of them. It turned out that some of the things Courtney found annoying Gwen found funny, and vice versa.
Eventually their hang outs became less about Duncan and more about enjoying each other's company. Courtney found that Gwen was actually quite a lot like Duncan. They were both into horror movies, pranks, and they both hated New Age Music. They were both snarky and more than a little cynical but secretly very sweet. There were some pretty big differences though.
Gwen was more empathic. She was more understanding, and slightly less trouble making. She actually listened when Courtney talked. If Courtney was upset about something, anything, Gwen would be there to give her what she needed. Whether that be comfort, a pep talk, or a figurative slap to the face. That last one Courtney was surprisingly grateful for. Sometimes she got too wrapped up in her own ambition, and started acting like someone she didn't want to be. Gwen called her out on her bullshit.
One day while they were studying in the library, it happened. Courtney wasn't quite sure how it happened but Gwen had kissed her. She apologized, but Courtney just responded by kissing her back. After that they started dating.
Which leads us back to the present day, about a month later, and Courtney's frustration with her girlfriend. See, Courtney had just found out that Gwen was hanging out with Duncan. She wasn't mad for the reasons you might think. She was okay with Gwen being friends with Duncan. They had been friends before the goth had started dating him after all. She wasn't worried about Gwen cheating on her. The two of them had enough conversations about Duncan for her to know she had no desire to get back with him.
No Courtney was mad because Gwen hadn't told her. She hadn't trusted Courtney to be understanding. She hadn't trusted Courtney to be okay with it. It frustrated her because she thought they'd moved past that kind of thing.
So here she was, sitting at the very top of a tall set of bleachers, looking down on the school's empty football field. Gwen was sitting on the grass sketching something. Courtney sighed.
"What did she do this time?" A cynical voice teased. Courtney tensed up. She recognized that voice. She glanced left to see Noah, her biggest political rival. He was the last person she wanted to see.
"She's been hanging around Duncan. She never even told me about it." Courtney explained. "And what do you mean this time?! This is our first fight!"
"Really? No wonder you're so moody about it." He smirked.
"She should have said something!" Courtney snapped. Ignoring his comment. "I can't believe she didn't trust me."
"Believe it honey. Maybe you're better off without her." Noah said.
Courtney was going to ask what he meant by that when he started to do something she never thought she'd see him do. He started singing.
"Forget about that girl, Forget about the way you fell into her world."
Courtney glared at him. She didn't need this right now.
"Forget about her charms, Forget about the way she held you in her arms."
She searched the bleachers for her backpack and smirked when she spotted it.
"Walking on air's obnoxious," She swung her backpack at him, he dodged, not even breaking song. "The thrill," She tried to hit him again, but she missed. "The chill, Will make you nauseous, And you'll never get enough," She swung once more and this time he dodged in such a way that she ended up facing the football field, where Gwen was sketching. "Just forget about love!"
Courtney found herself staring at the saddened Gwen. She turned with a huff. Noah chose that moment to start singing again. "Forget about romance, Forget about the way your heart begins to dance." She glanced over her shoulder at Gwen. "Then you feel the blush, When she's spouting out some sentimental mush."
She relented and turned around to watch Gwen again. Even though she wanted to be mad. She smiled as she remembered the first time Gwen had shown her one of her sketches. Apparently very few people got to see them. It was a sign of trust. She felt herself smile, too bad Noah was still singing.
"Love really is disgusting, it's probably best to be distrusting, Enough of this fluff! Just forget about love!"
She remembered one time when she had fallen and Gwen helped her up. This had been before they started dating, but she thought that might have been where her feelings started. "I had almost forgotten the way it felt, When she held out her hand for mine, My heart all a-flutter,"
"Oh, how I shudder," Noah chimed in.
Courtney remembered Gwen kissing her in the library. Her soft lips leaving a teal mark on her own. "The first time we kissed,"
"It won't be missed!" Noah sang. It would be though. Determination ran though her. She needed to talk to Gwen. Not talking thing out with Duncan had been one of her biggest mistakes. "Forget about her touch,"
She began singing alternating her singing with Noah's. "I can't forget about her touch,"
"In the scheme of things, It doesn't matter much" She turned to him and smirked. At this point she'd figured out what he was doing.
"It matters so mu-uch," She started heading down the bleachers. She could hear Noah following behind her.
"You're better on your own, A meal becomes a banquet, When you eat alone." The cynic sang. She paid him no mind, simply humming as she continued down the bleachers.
They sang the next line together. "Love's filled with compromises,"
She reached the football field and started heading for Gwen. Noah sang sarcastically at her. "And don't you hate those big surprises?"
She glanced at him knowingly. "A cozy rendezvous,"
"Oh, please!"
"Candlelight for two," She knew the saccharine sweetness of that line would get to him.
"Oh, geez!"
Noah stopped following her, as they neared Gwen. She sang back to him as she kept moving forward. "Look you're calling my bluff! I can't forget about love!"
She sat next to Gwen and gently placed her hand on the goth's shoulder. She started. "Oh, Courtney. Look I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Duncan. He apologized for using me a couple weeks ago, and we started to rekindle our friendship over slasher movies. I got worried if you found out I was hanging out with him, you wouldn't want to date me anymore. Still I should have told you."
Courtney didn't know if it was her love of singing, or her overly dramatic way to doing things, but she kept singing. "I can't forget about my heart,"
Gwen gave her an odd look but smirked and decided to join in for fun. "I can't forget about my heart,"
She stood up and offered her hand. "I just wish that, we'd had a better start."
Gwen grabbed her hand and she pulled her up. "things still worked out,"
The two of them started walking down the football field. "Whatever we may do," She sang.
"Whatever we may do," Gwen repeated.
"You are here for me, And I'll be there for you," She smiled.
"I'll be there," Gwen agreed.
They started to dance a moment. "To wish, to want, to wander, To find the sun, Through rain and thunder."
Gwen swung her around happily. "A cozy rendezvous,"
"Yes please!" She beamed.
"Candlelight for two," Gwen sang.
"Oh, geez!" She heard Noah cut in, apparently they'd gotten to where she left him. "Enough is enough!"
The two girls smirked at each other and sang. "We can't forget about love!" Then Gwen kissed her. She kind of wished they didn't have an audience, but then again this was probably uncomfortable for Noah.
They pulled apart and Gwen smiled. "Hey, why don't I take you to our favorite diner to make up for not telling you about Duncan?"
"That sounds nice." Courtney agreed.
"I'll meet you there then." Gwen said. They had both driven to school today, so they were going to have to drive to the diner separately. The goth left, and she turned to see Noah trying to sneak away.
"Okay, why did you help me? You're the least helpful person I've ever met. Which is one of the reasons I'd make a better student body president." She pointed out.
Noah rolled his eyes. "You looked pathetic, that's all."
"We both know that isn't true," Courtney heard a familiar voice say. Sure enough Noah's girlfriend Emma joined them. "He won't admit it, but he respects you as a political opponent. When he won the election because you weren't at the top of your game he felt bad. Mostly because he wanted to beat you at your best. He's been trying to figure out how to do something nice for you. It's something he's talked about on and off for the past three months. I guess he saw you struggling and figured now was the time."
"Emma, don't reveal my secrets to my political rival!" Noah frowned.
The bluenette chuckled. "Okay Mister no feelings. Sorry I ruined your air of not caring."
The cynic couldn't help but smile. "I can't stay mad at you." They were about to kiss when Courtney turned to leave. She had a diner to get to.