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Veronica tapped her on her shoulder, “It’s your turn, Heather.”
Heather looked up from her book, Moby Dick, as always, “Right.” She grabbed the green mallet and positioned herself in front of the green ball. The thwock of the hit echoed slightly across the backyard. “It’s kind of boring without Heather and Heather.”
Chandler and McNamara had a double date with Kurt and Ram this evening, which Veronica thought was pointless since their ‘dates’ always ended up with cow tipping and/or Kurt and Ram trying to get a fuck. The red and yellow members of their clique were the extroverts, so the blue and green always relied on them to keep banter and croquet games interesting, and now that they weren’t here, it was awfully quiet. And like Heather said, kind of boring.
Heather Chandler may be a bitch , Veronica thought, but she sure knows how to add spice to conversations. …the spice being mostly arguing and sparking conflict.
Veronica sighed, “Okay, yeah, I agree. D’you wanna go inside?”
The two of them wandered inside Veronica’s house as the sun dipped below the horizon, the last rays of orange and pink darting across the sky before fading into blue, then black. They arrived in Veronica’s bedroom a few moments later, Heather sitting on the chair at Veronica’s desk, and Veronica jumping onto her own bed.
“Can we listen to Hot Probz? It’s on now, right?” Heather looked up at the ceiling, her tone bored.
Veronica sat up and switched on the radio, “One Hot Probz coming right up, Miss Duke.”
Heather clenched her jaw to stop herself from smiling.
‘ Alright, Buck, that’s time ,’ the host said, ‘ time for the next Hot Prob! ”
“Buck? Ew,” Heather mouthed at Veronica, who chuckled.
‘ Um, hello, name’s Aiden ,’ the new caller said.
‘ Welcome, Aiden, what’s your hot prob? ’
‘ Uh, well. You see, I’m just feelin’ like my friends don’t appreciate me ,’ Aiden said mournfully, ‘ I do so much for ‘em, y’know? Like last week, I snuck some bud from my dad’s drawer and my guys didn’t even say thanks. I just want to feel like they appreciate me .’
‘ Well, Aiden, have you talked to them about it? ”
‘ Nah, man, they think feelings are gay. I’m not gonna be called a fag by my own friends .’
“Dude, drop your friends, they sound awful!” Veronica exclaimed into the silent room.
“Shh!” Heather hissed at her, “I’m listening.”
‘ I just don’t understand why they can’t stop being dicks ,’ Aiden said.
‘ Alrighty, Aids- oh no, not that, Aiden- I have a question for you. Why don’t you make new friends? ’
There was a stutter, then, ‘ Because- because they’re my dudes. I can’t drop ‘em like that. And I guess- I guess I used to know ‘em when they weren’t assholes. And I’m just hoping that they’ll realise they’re being shitty and be my bros again .’
“Sounds familiar,” Heather mumbled.
Veronica switched the radio off and stood up.
“Veronica, what are you doing?” Heather eyed her suspiciously.
Veronica said nothing, but sat on the desk next to Heather’s chair.
“Veronica-” Heather began, but she was shushed by the girl in question.
“Heather,” Veronica crossed her legs, “talk about Mac to me.”
“I- what?” Heather blinked.
“Talk about Mac to me. I wanna hear you say nice things about our nicest current mutual friend,” Veronica repeated, a lock of brown hair threatening to fall in front of her face as she looked down, “I know Heather -” the slightest cold tone came across as she said the girl’s name, “- is being shitty and has been shitty for a while. So, I want you to talk about Heather -” her tone brightened at the repeat, “- so you can think happy stuff for once.”
“Uh, okay,” Heather bit her lip, “I like how she’s not as much of an asshole as Heather.”
“Ah, see that’s the first problem, you’re still talking about Chandler, comparing her to Mac. I want you to talk only about Mac .”
Heather rolled her eyes, then a concentrated look came over her face, “I like how she’s always nice. She- she always comes after me and helps me when I- you know. Usually she’ll rub my back, or if my hair isn’t tied back, she’ll hold it back.”
Veronica smiled, warmth filling her chest. She liked how Heather’s face had eased its tension, how a smile had spread across as the words had left her lips, how her eyes creased from doing so.
Heather continued, “I like how she’s really smart. Like she knows a lot of things. Especially about space and astrology, it’s really interesting; you know she has all our placements and stuff memorised? I-” a faint blush came across her face, “I pretend not to remember all my things so she can tell me about them over and over again. I know exactly what my placements are, but I just- I like listening to her speak about it. When she’s excited it’s like she’s a lighthouse beacon that lights up all the darkest bits.”
Veronica’s heart skipped a beat.
Dear Diary, why is Heather Duke so sweet when she’s not being a bitch?
“I, um, I like her muscles. They make her hugs super comfy and nice,” the next words were no more than a whisper, “she’s so nice.”
“Yeah,” Veronica followed on, “I agree.”
A silence followed, then Veronica cleared her throat, “So, uh, you wanna watch a movie or something?”
“Sure,” Heather replied nonchalantly, “which?”
“How about Ghostbusters? Then we can watch the second one when it comes out,” Veronica smiled.
“Sounds good,” Heather smiled back.
***
The movie was almost over, and the blue tinted light from the television cast a glow over the two girls huddled on the sofa. Heather was asleep, but Veronica wasn’t. Heather’s head rested on Veronica’s shoulder, her breaths slow and even. Her shiny black hair was free from its usual ponytail and her curtain bangs fell in front of her face, so that every time she exhaled, the strands fluttered in the air then floated back down. Veronica wasn’t really focussed on Heather though, at least, not that Heather.
Chandler, despite all Veronica’s efforts to focus on the movie, had kept intruding on her thoughts all night. What was it about her that she couldn’t get the girl out of her head? Sure, Chandler was charming, she was pretty, she was smart and authoritative, but she was also being an ass to Veronica. If she could only figure out what had happened to make Chandler hate her, she could solve this, right?
A loud noise from the movie jolted her out of her thoughts, which also jolted Heather out of her slumber.
“Whuh- Veronica? What’s the time?” Heather said tiredly.
“I dunno, like ten?”
“Aw, shit, I should’ve been home like an hour ago,” Heather groaned as she sat up, “I’m probably gonna have to sleep here for tonight, is that good with you?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” Veronica shrugged.
Heather slid off the sofa and stalked to Veronica’s room (not commenting on the fact she hit her shoulder on the doorway), with Veronica hurriedly jogging behind her. Heather shrugged off her cardigan, took a dressing gown off the back of Veronica’s bedroom door and put it on, then jumped into Veronica’s bed, pulling the sheets up swiftly. The girl whose bed she was currently in stood stupefied in the doorway.
“Um, you’re sleeping in my bed?” Veronica said cautiously.
“Duh, I’m not sleeping on the floor. I assume that’s not a problem for you to share?”
“Uh, no, of course not,” Veronica blushed slightly, “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve shared a bed with a Heather.”
“Pfft, everyone’s shared a bed with Mac, she’s a great hugger.”
Veronica stifled a chuckle, hoping Heather wouldn’t notice, however-
“Sawyer?!” Heather was incredulous, “You did not share a bed with Heather Chandler!”
“I, um-”
“You’re shitting me! No, Heather would never share a bed with anyone except Mac.”
“Please don’t tell her I told you, she’d kill me,” Veronica pleaded.
Heather snorted, “Oh, I know. Ugh, I’d love to tease her about it, but she’d kill us both if I did that. I won’t tell her, Veronica. For both our sakes.”
Veronica nodded curtly, her cheeks ablaze with blush. They didn’t talk much as Veronica got ready for bed, and then became completely silent as Veronica lay next to Heather. Veronica, as she had been with Chandler, was lying on her back to avoid touching Heather, as though Duke was less of a bitch, she thought it’d still be weird. She could hear Heather’s faint snores, like a cat purring, and she felt the blanket raise slightly with every breath she took. For some reason, Veronica just couldn’t sleep. Was it Chandler’s fair face, her defined jaw and striking cold eyes, imprinted in her mind, or was it the increasingly nervous feeling in her chest as she thought about the stern syrup-coloured eyes of the girl laying next to her, the feeling of her soft black hair through her fingers... Veronica, do not think about Heather Duke that way. You already considered Chandler like that. You concluded it was because you were drunk. Veronica blinked harshly, trying to get rid of her weird thoughts. I mean, yeah it was nice to have her leaning on my shoulder. And she’s oddly intriguing, like there’s something left unsaid between us, but nothing bad. And her voice is soft and raspy at the same time. I bet she can sing well. God, shut up. Go to sleep, Veronica.
As her thoughts continued, her hand accidentally made contact with a smaller, softer one. She tried to yank it back, but the other held onto it, palm in palm, pulling it over the smaller girl’s middle.
“Heath- Heather? Are you awake?” Veronica whispered.
No reply except Heather’s quiet snuffles. So, she’s asleep .
Dear Diary, how the hell did I end up in bed with a second Heather?! Comparing Chandler to Martha’s cat did not mean I wanted the personification of a
bitchy
sassy cat in my bed too.
Veronica squeaked as Heather moved closer to her, her back pressed against her side. What was she meant to do now? I mean, sleep obviously, but how was she supposed to do that when her heart was beating impossibly fast. Why was she so scared of Heather? Nervous? She’d felt like this before. When she’d had a crush on J.D.
Oh.
Oh .
“Oh, fuck,” Veronica whispered.