Chapter Text
“Tell me you guys saw her?” Fatin practically squeals as she places her tray of food on the table across from Toni.
“Who?” Rachel asks, swiping up her drink to make sure Fatin doesn’t knock it over as she clambers into the seat between her and Leah.
“Shelby Goodkind!” Fatin states glancing around the table “seriously, you guys haven’t heard?”
“What? Is she pregnant? That would be hilarious.”
“Rachel!” Martha chastises her from next to Toni but Rachel just smirks and raises her hands.
“She’s right though Marty” Toni pipes up, “that would be hilarious, don’t her and Andrew have promise rings?”
Fatin flicks her wrist at them over the table returning the attention to herself “nope, not pregnant but it is super noticeable!” She says this with another flick through her hair.
“It’s Shelby, who actually cares.” Toni adds shoving mediocre cafeteria lasagne into her mouth. It was the first day back for their senior year and personally she’d rather get through it without all the typical high school drama bs.
Especially if it concerns her . And it’s not like Toni’s has anything specifically against Shelby, she’s not the worst person in school but she does date him.
Andrew is simply the biggest asshole ever, he bullies everyone and anyone he can get away with, which of course includes Toni. She’s been openly gay for three years and Andrew knows most of the teachers are as bigoted as he is so his assholery goes unchecked! The only time she has ever seen him in a fair fight was last year when he suddenly turned on one of his own boys, Tony Ankerson, bad move, he kicked the living shit out of Andrew within five minutes.
It was fucking glorious! No one ever found out why either. High school drama for you.
“Oh Toni, trust me, even you will have comments.” Fatin retorts pointing her fork at Toni”s chest.
“I saw her.” Nora adds from the other end of the table without looking away from her book. “I think we can assume her home life has changed somewhat over summer.” That catches her attention. Like, how would that be obvious in her appearance?
“Yeah it’s not the only thing that’s changed!” Fatin adds and just as Toni’s about to ask what either of them mean the whole canteen goes eerily quiet, Toni turns to seek out what has everyone’s attention.
“Oh.” Toni lets out. Yeah, Fatin was right, Shelby HAD changed!
For starters gone was her usual preppy outfits in bright colors, replaced with what looks like second hand jeans that don’t fit and a baggy grey jumper with a large hood that practically covered her entire face. The cafeteria slowly gets back to its normal volume as Shelby makes her way to the queue for food.
But it isn’t Shelby’s new style that has Toni feeling kinda… Sick. It's how she’s curled in on herself, her head hung low, shoulders slumped and she just kind of skitters across the floor like she was afraid of bumping into someone, anyone.
“The fuck happen to her?” Toni asks, turning back to the rest of them, maybe Fatin knows.
“No idea but I for one am happy to see the queen of virtues has been knocked down a peg or two, she was so up herself before!” Fatin declares, still staring.
Toni, still curious, looks back over her shoulder to catch Shelby paying for her food and promptly walking towards the exit when the king of assholes himself Andrew enters.
His arm wrapped around Cindy the head cheerleader.
“Are they, like, together now? When did that happen.” Rachel asks what they're all thinking, glancing around the group.
“Ouch, okay, yeah that sucks.” Fatin comments watching carefully “but I think she might be overreacting a little. I mean he’s a giant ass, and she's awful but she can do better than him.”
Shelby hesitates for a second before passing them, which is when Andrew decides he’s going to live up to his title and tips Shelby tray right out of her hands across the floor. Cindy laughs like it’s the funniest fucking thing in the world as they keep walking and Toni gets the urge to smash her face it.
Correction. Both their faces!
Kicking someone when they're clearly down is just the most pathetic thing ever.
“What an asshole.” Toni wholeheartedly agrees with Leah’s statement as they watch Shelby just stare down at the food for a moment before pulling her hood down further and quickly shuffling out of the canteen.
Toni doesn’t see Shelby again until the last period, in English lit with Ms Klein Toni is already sitting with Leah to her right when Shelby appears in the doorway at the back of the room ten minutes late, a muttered “sorry” as she shuffles in to take a seat. Another new behaviour. Shelby’s usually at the front.
And it's not like Toni has a vested interest in Shelby Goodkind but it’s honestly kinda concerning, it has her looking over her shoulder, watching the girl crumple into her seat. What could possibly make a person go from the most annoyingly positive personality in school to well THIS.
“No hats or hoods in my class Goodkind” Ms Klein commands from the front of the class as she steps up to the board.
“Yeah, take it off shebald!” Rick, one of Andrew's cronies, shouts from the other side of the room to a few sniggers from other classmates and Leah looks at her confused before they both turn back to the girl in question.
Shelby reluctantly pulls down her hood, her head low to reveal a very recently shaved head!
Toni doesn’t mean to stare but she definitely does. Cause what the fuck? Straight blond hair was like Shelby’s signature. She fucking prided herself on it since fucking kindergarten.
This was more than weird.
“Alright, alright, enough!” Ms Klein announces over the giggles and snarky comments calling attention back to the front but Toni can’t help but let her eyes linger for a second too long as green ones suddenly meet her own.
Shelby looks down instantly, her hand coming up clearly from habit to brush hair that isn’t there behind her ear. She catches her mistake, twists away further into herself and covers her mouth with her hand instead.
The next few days are more of the same. Shelby doesn't speak to anyone. Her old friends group act like she never existed and no one sees her during breaks. Other than classes she only appears in the cafeteria a few minutes at a time, to buy lunch.
Which makes sense cause Andrew and his little bitch friends have been relentless, they’ve made a point to take up the table right by the entrance to the cafeteria seemingly just to fuck with Shelby on her way on and out. In class it’s no better, insults, throwing shit and the stupidest pranks just trying to get Shelby into trouble or simply putting her in the centre of attention where she clearly doesn't want to be.
It’s genuinely sickening. So when Toni walks into English lit with Leah on Thursday afternoon and there is a large shitty drawing of tits on the board at the front of the class, Toni knows something is going to happen, which is confirmed further as she notices Rick and other dickheads in class are already here. An unusual sight to start with but they’re also taking up all the back seats. Between them and everyone else that only leaves the first two rows.
Leah gives her a concerned look over the shoulder as they pass the back rows and she takes the chair furthest to the right on the second row. Toni takes the seat next to her and finds her anger already simmering. Whatever this was, she wasn’t gonna let it happen.
She’s gonna do something, what? She has no idea, the coach gave her a 'no tolerance' warning about violence first day back, so, as much as she’d like to flip her table and throw her chair at a few choice faces, that aint going to bode well for her later.
When Shelby enters Toni’s spine stiffens, she sees the confusion in green eyes as she takes one of the only chairs left on the front row. And Toni feels more and more uncomfortable when she realises Shelby hasn't seen the picture yet. Probably due to how she's hanging her head low and the hood that's drawn over most of her face. She’s pulling a book out of her bag when she freezes, finally seeing the crappy scribble of boobs on the board directly in front of her.
Toni hears the poorly stifled laughter behind her and it sets her blood boiling! It didn’t even make sense. Why draw tits? It was so fucking stupid, pathetic really! Her fists clench, knuckles turning white as she holds herself back. That familiar feeling itching under her skin, the need to break someone’s nose.
Her eyes land on Shelby again as she pulls her hood off, the assholes behind Toni start whispering and it’s only broken by snide little laughs. And Toni is ready to start throwing punches when Ms Klein walks in.
She doesn’t notice the picture of boobs at first but the moment she does the class burst into laughs while Ms Klein sighs and turns to the class.
“Alright. Which idiot did this?”
And Toni knows what is going to happen, is pre-emptively feeling the cringe already, Rick is gonna throw Shelby under the bus, putting all focus on the poor girl who will either just sit there silently or say she didn’t do it. But that’ll just drag the whole thing on longer until one of Rick's buddies jumps in to be a second fake witness.
Toni knows these guys tactics way to fucking well. Mostly from experience.
Well fuck ‘em!
“I did.” Toni blurts out at the top of her voice, she feels all eyes on her now. Ms Klein eyebrows raise in surprise and Toni decides to own it. “Yeah, I just… really like boobs. Sue me!” throwing her hands up a leaning back in her seat.
Leah snorts a laugh next to her, nodding along adding “she really does.” And Toni smiles wide with zero shame, folding her hands behind her head completely relaxed as the rest of the class laugh too. Not everyone though, Toni can feel Rick staring into the back of her head in fury as she ruins his little plan.
Ms Klein shakes her head reaching for the eraser “I think you know this is highly inappropriate -“ she pauses after the first swipe. Then swipes a few more times but to Toni’s growing unease the drawing doesn’t disappear.
The fucking ass used permanent marker! She hears a few gasps and awe’s at this little revelation from other classmates and even Shelby turns back to look at her now.
This is when Toni catches sight of glistening green eyes and she just thinks, again, fuck it. Time to commit.
Ms Klein sets the eraser down and turns on her again, arms folded. Toni sits up and confidently announces “My fondness for tits is pretty permanent, though the message should be too. My bad.”
Laughter erupts from most of the class and one guy even snorts out ‘respect!’
“Principal's office now!”
“Yep.” Toni nods still smiling and grabs her bag, even high fives a blond dude on the front row on her way out. And she's fairly sure she even sees Shelby Goodkind crack a little smile too. And yes, she is probably in deep shit but she feels damn proud of herself for that.
She gets detention which, yeah sucks ass but it’s not too bad, it’s only for half an hour because the janitor Martin is able to clean off the drawing. She also convinced him to leave the locker room and gym doors open while he attends a night class at the other end of the school so she can get in a bit of basketball practice afterwards. So it turned out pretty perfect.
She strolls into the locker room opting for playing in a jersey and shorts instead of the jeans and long sleeve top she’s currently sporting when she hears the showers running.
There shouldn’t be anybody here at this time. Toni glances around the room as she walks past the different rows of locker’s towering a good six feet tall. When she reaches the end and the entrance to the showers just to her left she sees the sleeping bag lay down along the far wall to her right. There’s a few empty candy wrappers, an apple core and a book lying on the floor by a small torch.
She almost jumps out of her fucking skin when she hears an audible gasp from her left followed by “Toni! It’s, I, what are you doing here?”