Chapter Text
Heather sat on the closed toilet lid, slightly out of breath. Mac and Duke had left to get lunch, leaving Veronica and herself alone, and that, Heather thought, was not happening. Heather wasn’t exactly sure what she was afraid of, only that Veronica’s presence made her heartbeat quicken and her palms sweaty, her stomach undulating and not in a fun way. Curse Veronica for turning her into such a mess.
“Heather, I know you’re in there,” Veronica’s voice called.
“Oh, fuck off Veronica,” Heather spat, “I’m pissing, you perv, can’t you leave me alone to piss in peace?”
“You are not pissing, you goddamn liar!” Veronica’s footsteps came right outside Heather's stall, “I bet the toilet seat isn’t even up and you’re just sitting on it!”
How the entire fuck did she know that?!
“Go away, Veronica!” Heather hissed.
“You can’t avoid me for- oh, hey Courtney,” Veronica’s volume dropped as another pair of heels clacked into the bathroom.
“Veronica, waiting for someone?” Courtney asked.
Heather bristled. If she fucking says-
“No, just needed a break is all. I’m leaving now.”
Oh.
Heather shook herself as she felt a twinge of disappointment. You don’t want to see Veronica, or be alone with her. At least, not here or like this. No, Heather. You don’t want to be alone with her at all.
***
After Heather had made sure both Courtney and Veronica had left the bathroom, Heather sped out the door and to the lunch table. Veronica sat next to Duke, while Mac had her head resting on the table, her back rising and falling to the rhythm of her breaths. Heather stalked over, avoiding looking at Veronica, and plonked herself down next to Mac.
“Oh, hey Heather!” Mac lifted her head at the noise, “How are you?”
“I’m wonderful,” she crossed her arms, frowning.
Mac looked blank, “Was that sarcasm?”
“Yes, Mac.”
“Oh.”
Veronica coughed, “Um, anyways, are there any parties coming up?”
“Stop talking, Veronica,” Heather glared at her.
No one talked after that, until Ram and Kurt sidled up to the table, cheeky grins on their faces.
“Hey girls, how are we on this fine Thursday?” Ram jeered.
Heather dead-panned, “What do you want, Ram?”
“Straight to the point, I like it,” he winked, causing Veronica and Mac to make false-gagging motions, “We were wondering if you’d like to do another double date; we really enjoyed the last one, didn’t we, Kurt?”
The boy nodded, causing a small smile to appear on Mac’s face. Heather wondered why. To her knowledge, they didn’t fuck, didn’t even make out. She’d found them still on the sofa after the movie, Kurt’s arm around Mac. They were both peacefully sleeping. Logically, Heather knew Mac wouldn’t have enjoyed the date either way, she hated Ram and Kurt. Anyway, no time to think about that now.
As much as Heather wanted to say no, she didn’t.
“And who’ll be Kurt’s lucky lady?” Ram glanced at the other three.
“I came last time,” Mac said, “No, thank you.”
“Dibs not,” Duke said quickly.
Fuck , Heather thought. “Veronica?” she said through gritted teeth.
“Of course, Heather, I’d love to,” Veronica gave a sweetly sick smile, so condescending and so goddamn irritating. Definitely not cute. Veronica could never be cute to Heather, no. Shut up.
***
“Heather, are you fucking kidding me?!” Veronica ran, wobbling on her heels as she followed Heather through the grassy, muddy field. Ram and Kurt were far ahead, as they, obviously, were not wearing heels.
“It’s not my fault you’ve had seventeen years of your life to learn to walk in heels and you still haven’t!” Heather said, not turning her head to face Veronica, stalking forward with expertise.
The night was mostly clear, only a few clouds here and there, so the half-moon lit up the field. It casted a silvery glow that reflected on every few blades of grass, so that it was like a sea of silver shards, slightly swaying to the gentle breeze. Veronica’s shoes were incredibly muddy, which usually wouldn’t matter to her, but tonight really just put together the shittiness.
Dear Diary, if I had’ve known this double date would’ve taken me cow-tipping in my goddamn heels, I wouldn’t have bothered even if it meant trying to get Heather alone. I legitimately cannot believe she’s been able to avoid me this whole week. Heather Chandler being a metaphorical snake did not lead me to believe she’d be able to escape me like a physical one. Slithering bitch.
“Hurry up, slowpokes!” Ram called back.
“We are trying, Ram!” Heather barked, “You try running in heels!”
The boy rolled his eyes and stopped a few feet away from a sleeping cow, Kurt by his side.
“Here we go,” Veronica grumbled as she finally caught up to Heather, who stood a bit far back from the boys and the cow. Just in case she got splashed by mud. The two boys crept closer and closer to the sleeping cow, their arms outstretched. Veronica frowned. The cow was just trying to sleep. She took a step sideways, closer to Heather, and the girl seemed to tense up.
“Are you okay, Heather?” Veronica looked at her.
Heather determinedly looked forward, forcing herself to watch the cow-tipping instead of looking at the gorgeous girl next to her, “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure, because-”
“I said I’m fine, Veronica, leave me alone,” Heather hissed.
Veronica began to speak again, but her voice was drowned out by the loud moo of the startled cow.
“And there it is,” Heather said under her breath, which Veronica heard and caused her to snicker. Heather had a habit of being unintentionally funny. “Oh, that’s something new,” she said off-handedly.
Veronica looked towards the boys and the cow, and saw that the cow was chasing them. Veronica began to laugh, which caused a hint of a smile to appear on Heather’s face. They ran further and further away until the girls could see them no longer, and the paddock was silent again. Veronica peered up at Heather. She was looking out over the field, not really looking but just so her gaze would fall elsewhere than Veronica. Veronica’s eyes trailed down and she saw that Heather’s hands were fiddling with each other, the red acrylics clacking quietly every so often. She was… nervous?
“Would you quit staring?” Heather suddenly said sharply.
Veronica whipped her head away from Heather, alarmed at being caught, and muttered, “Sorry.”
Heather grunted, but didn’t say anything.
After standing there for a few moments, the boys began to come back into view, the cow behind them. It would’ve been a comical sight, had they not been charging right towards Veronica and Heather.
“Heather…” Veronica slowly turned her head.
“What, Veronica?” Heather faced her, her expression annoyed.
“They’re coming right for us.”
Heather jerked her head to look in front of her, and Veronica watched as an expression of panic grew on Heather’s face.
“Well, move!” Veronica grabbed her hand, earning an indignant squawk from the girl. They began to run back along where they’d come from, Veronica dragging Heather along.
Dear Diary, it turns out that when a temperamental cow is running towards you, your inability to run in heels disappears.
Heather couldn’t keep up, as unlike Veronica, she did not run often. Walking, sure, but running? Heather would never run. And so with Heather slowing her down, the cow (and the boys) were catching up.
“How. Big. Is. This. Fucking. Field?!” Heather wheezed.
Veronica was about to reply, when Kurt’s voice came from behind them, “Move!”
Veronica turned her head and yelled in alarm. She dived out of the way, pulling Heather with her, so that they landed in the muddy grass out of the path of the irritated cow. Well, Veronica landed on the ground. Heather, on the other hand, had landed on Veronica. They stayed in that position for a few moments, Veronica’s elbows keeping her torso just off the ground, sinking into the mud, and Heather hovering just above her, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. They were both panting from the running, their faces warm and chests heaving. The moonlight reflected in Heather’s stone-blue eyes, making them seem luminous in the dark between them.
“So, um, are you gonna get off me?” Veronica whispered, feeling Heather’s heavy breathing on her face.
“Fuck- yeah, sorry,” Heather gulped and stuttered, her face matching the red of her dress, and quickly stood up, “Sorry.”
Heather Chandler apologising? Have I died and gone to Heaven?
“Are you gonna get up, too?” Heather’s shaky voice brought Veronica out of her stupor.
“Oh, yeah,” Veronica tried to move her arms, then groaned, “Aw, shit, I’m gonna be so muddy. I’m gonna have to clean this dress multiple times! Can you help me up?”
“What, you can’t get up yourself?” Heather said snarkily.
“There she is,” Veronica rolled her eyes, “I could, but considering you landed on me and put me deeper in the mud than I would’ve been, and I saved you from getting muddy, I would’ve thought you could at least help me up.”
“Fine, you pillowcase,” Heather reluctantly held out her hand and Veronica pulled herself up, her hand gripping Heather’s firmly so that the acrylics dug into her skin.
They stood opposite each other. “So, um,” Veronica began, “I think the date’s over.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Veronica tried to catch Heather’s eyes, “You wanna go home?”
Heather nodded. Then she said, “You should come with me. I need someone to get drunk with.”
Veronica frowned, “Is that a good idea?”
“We don’t have school tomorrow.”
Veronica was still suspicious, “Okay, fair. But you’ve been avoiding me this whole week-”
“-I haven’t-”
“-yes you have. So, why d’you suddenly wanna spend time with me?” Veronica finished, an eyebrow raised.
Heather shrugged, “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Come on, my car’s on the side of the road.”