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Nancy didn’t consider herself a jealous person. She also didn’t consider it unreasonable to be slightly disgruntled at her girlfriend remaining friends with her ex. Ok, a bit more than slightly disgruntled, but still.
“What’s your problem?”
She was spending the afternoon as they did so many, keeping Steve and Robin company during another dead shift at the video store. Steve, who had asked the question, was busy rewinding tapes. Eddie was sitting on the counter, something they only let him do when the store was empty, an apple in one hand and a surprisingly thick fantasy book in the other.
“Nothing,” Nancy responded easily, but she gave herself away by immediately glancing toward the other side of the store where Robin was laughing at some joke Vickie had just made. She can’t be that funny. Steve followed her gaze.
“Oh, I see. Jealous much?”
Nancy glared at Steve. Eddie, intrigued by the drama, dog eared the corner of his book and put it down, tuning into the conversation.
“No. I just don’t see what she could have possibly said that was so funny,” Nancy replied.
Eddie laughed delightedly, “Ohh, ho, ho, you are so jealous, Wheeler.”
Nancy glared at him this time. She knew for a fact that her glare could kill, but Eddie knew her well enough to know that she was more bark than bite. Around her friends, anyway. Eddie gave her a grin that was all teeth.
Steve popped a new tape in to rewind it, “They’re just friends, you know. Robin is totally head over heels for you.”
“I know, but Vickie’s her ex. It’s weird.”
“But you’re friends with me,” Steve pointed out, “and Jonathan.”
“Yeah, but neither of you are single.”
“Ah,” Eddie hopped off the video store counter, “well if it’s Vickie being single that bothers you, just set her up with someone.”
It was Steve’s turn to glare at Eddie, “What have I told you about meddling?”
“You didn’t seem to have a problem when it was Nancy and Robin we were setting up.”
Nancy tuned out of their lovers’ quarrel to gaze again at Robin and Vickie, who were still talking. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Robin, she did. Entirely. But Robin was blissfully oblivious, after all they had gone on three dates before Robin had realized they were meant to be dates, and Vickie was a little too flirty with her for Nancy’s comfort. They say you never forget your first love. Nancy knew she was being quite hypocritical, what with her own first love currently bickering with his boyfriend less than two feet from her, but she did feel different about Steve than she felt about Jonathan. He had been her first love and part of her would always love him.
Did Robin feel the same about Vickie?
Nancy knew the moment Vickie left because Robin immediately appeared at her side. Also because she had been watching the girl like a hawk, only relaxing when she had left the shop. Robin wrapped her arms around Nancy from behind and Nancy leaned into the taller girl’s warmth. Eddie fake gagged. Nancy couldn’t see, but she knew Robin stuck her tongue out at him childishly. When Eddie turned away, Robin pressed a sweet kiss to Nancy’s cheek.
“Whatcha workin’ on?”
Nancy had relocated to the counter, spreading out her materials over the somewhat sticky surface.
“A new article.”
“Hmmm,” Robin hummed, tucking her chin against Nancy’s shoulder, her temple pressing on Nancy’s cheek, “What about?”
Nancy covered as much of her work as possible, spreading her hands over the paper, “You’ll know when it’s done.”
Robin groaned, “Are you ever gonna let me read something before it’s perfect?”
“Absolutely not.”
Robin rolled her eyes, but soon busied herself with applying kisses to Nancy’s neck. It felt like heaven, but they were still in the Family Video.
“Robin.”
“Yes, darling?” Robin played nonchalant.
“Babe. You’re at work.”
“Yes, I am.”
Nancy couldn’t help her laugh at that, “We’re in public.”
“I know,” Robin sounded as disappointed as Nancy felt, and she reluctantly stepped back with one last kiss.
The next day, Nancy stepped out of Steve’s car to see Robin, who had hitched a ride with Eddie earlier for a before-school band practice, talking to Vickie. Again. Laughing with Vickie. Again. Eddie’s plan circled in Nancy’s mind.
Steve slung an arm over her shoulders as they walked over, already laughing at her.
“Shut up,” Nancy mumbled.
Robin, beautiful, perfect, amazing Robin, brightened instantly when she spotted Nancy. Nancy didn’t think she’d ever get tired of that. She had expected it to stop a few dates in, but two months later Robin still looked at her like that very first day. The weight of Steve’s arm disappeared as he spotted Eddie and made a beeline towards him, but Nancy barely noticed because Robin’s arm replaced it almost instantly. They were a bit freer in that way, Nancy and Robin. They could put their arms around each other, kiss cheeks, even hold hands if they didn’t over do it. Steve and Eddie couldn’t.
Robin pressed a kiss to Nancy’s cheek, “Mornin’, love.”
“It is now.”
“You flirt,” Robin fired back, but her cheeks were pink with a pleased blush. Nancy snaked an arm around Robin’s waist.
“Hey, Nancy,” the redhead greeted.
“Vickie,” Nancy thought she had sold a polite civility, but Robin looked at her questioningly. Nancy just smiled back, “How was practice, babe?”
Robin launched into a story which was, regrettably, about something hilarious Vickie had done. Nancy smiled and nodded and even managed to laugh in the right places, but inside she was slowly fuming. Vickie had even managed to take over Robin’s rambling. And then Vickie was laughing, and Robin was laughing and Nancy was seeing red.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Nancy interrupted without remorse, “I have to talk to Eddie about something. I’ll be right back.”
She left without another word, feeling Robin’s worried gaze following her. She marched over to Eddie and Steve, who were lounging on a bench waiting for the first bell. Steve had gotten up at 7 am to see Eddie before school. It was sickeningly adorable how in love they were.
“I’m in.”
Eddie didn’t ask what she was talking about. He only grinned, a wickedly mischievous glint in his eye, “This is gonna be fun.”
“Oh lord.” Was Steve’s only comment.
“There’s that guy she dated… what’s his name?”
“Her ex? It’s some generic guy name,” Nancy responded.
“Like Steve?”
Steve glared at them from where he was on the phone with a customer. Eddie laughed that laugh that only Steve could bring out of him. Steve was alone on shift today, Robin had been forced to bail to study for a test and Nancy had been banned from her study session since they always inevitably turned to make out sessions. So now Nancy and Eddie were scheming. Eddie had a paper with a list of possible victims to set Vickie up with.
“Dan, I think,” Nancy said, naming Vickie’s ex, “but it was a bad breakup Robin said.”
Eddie nodded, but wrote Dan’s name down anyway. This brought their grand total to three people. One being Tammy Thompson who Steve named because of some inside joke between him and Robin.
“Well, Wheeler, I’m not gonna lie, it’s not looking great. Luckily, we happen to be experts at succeeding with sub par odds. So pick your poison: Dan, Tammy, or Emma?”
“Dan’s out, Tammy lives in Nashville, and I’m not sold on Emma being into girls,” Nancy replied, spinning the list to face her.
“I’m telling you, Nance. Fast Times, paused at 53 minutes. Certified sign of someone into boobies,” Steve leaned against the counter. Next to him, Eddie nodded sagely.
“First of all, don’t say boobies. Second, what do you know about girls who are into girls?”
“She makes a point,” Eddie admitted.
“How about this: I’ll set her up with the first guy I see at school tomorrow.”
Eddie’s eyebrows climbed impossibly high, “The first guy?”
Nancy mentally reviewed her words, “The first single guy. 20 bucks says I can get them to go on two dates.”
“You’re on, Wheeler.”
“This is a really bad idea,” Steve said.
Unfortunately for Nancy, the first guy she happened to see at school the next day was Tommy H, one of Steve’s old friends. While Steve had just scraped out a diploma, Tommy H had been forced to repeat his senior year. Eddie saw who she was looking at and immediately broke out in laughter.
“Oh man, Wheeler!” He gasped, “Might as well just pay up now.”
Robin raised an eyebrow, “What’s he talking about?”
“Nothing,” Nancy replied, “just a stupid bet we made. And not so fast, Munson. I’m not giving up that easy.”
Robin, who had absolutely zero idea what they were talking about, said, “That’s my girl.”
The words “my girl” made Nancy’s stomach swoop. Robin’s absolute faith in her made Nancy’s heart swell with affection for her girlfriend.
For Robin, she thought as she approached Tommy. It would all be worth it to get Vickie away from her girl.
Tommy seemed pleasantly surprised to see her. He even remembered Nancy’s name, which was nice. After suggesting she had heard a cute girl had a crush on him, Tommy had agreed to ask Vickie out without much persuasion on her part.
The warning bell rang and Nancy politely excused herself making her way back to Eddie and Robin.
“Wheeler 1, Munson 0,” she said.
“It’s not over yet,” Eddie reminded her, walking backward down the hallway to his class.
“That was weird,” Robin held out her hand, “I’ll carry your bag, Nance.”
Nancy smiled at the gesture and handed Robin her bag. Robin liked to do “typical boyfriend stuff”, as she called it, for Nancy. Nancy had protested at first, but it had done no good, so she decided to give in and just enjoy Robin’s sweetness. So Robin escorted her to class, carried her books, and bought her food. This, like her excitement to see Nancy each and every time, had not faded over the weeks they had been together.
“You guys are never gonna believe what just happened!”
Nancy and Steve looked up from the very competitive game of hangman they had been playing at the Family Video counter to see Robin and Eddie who had just arrived after band practice. The marching band practiced way more than Nancy thought was necessary. Steve agreed.
Robin went to the back to get her vest and clock in.
“Touché, Wheeler. But you said two dates, so don’t expect me to give up my $20 just yet.” Eddie pointed a finger at her.
“I know.”
“I want to state, for the record, how much I am against this entire plan.”
“Noted, Harrington,” Eddie said with a grin that made Steve blush. Nancy could not recall ever making him blush like that.
“So,” Robin emerged from the back room, “Guess who asked Vickie out?”
“Who?” Nancy asked. She sort of hated herself for playing dumb, but she wasn’t lying exactly. Just omitting. And she did not want to get into all the reasons she had done this with Robin. Didn’t want Robin to think she didn’t trust her. It was just easier this way.
“Tommy H!”
None of them had the reaction she was looking for.
“Tommy H!” Robin said again, “Okay, what gives?”
“What’s so surprising about that?” Steve asked.
“Tommy H? Popular jock? Best friend of King Steve? Asking out Vickie?”
“You dated Vickie,” Eddie pointed out. Nancy couldn’t help her wince.
“I’m a nerd, Eddie. Same rung on the social ladder as Vickie. Tommy H is like, three rungs up at least,” Robin says all of this in the space of one breath.
Eddie shrugs. “I thought you didn’t care about all that.”
As Eddie and Robin continued their conversation, Steve caught Nancy’s eye and jerked his chin toward the back of the store. Nancy followed.
“Listen, you know I don’t like getting involved in these things,” Steve started.
“Then don’t.”
“But Robin’s my best friend and she’s totally devoted to you. You gotta tell her the truth, Nance.”
Steve, Nancy had learned, was a master at the guilt trip. “I will. Once Vickie is happily dating someone who isn’t Robin.”
“If you two just talked about this, Robin would stop talking to Vickie altogether if you asked her to.”
“No she wouldn’t.”
“Nancy. She jumped into Lover’s Lake after you before you were even really friends,” Steve pointed out.
“Okay, maybe she would but still. I don’t want to be the jealous bitch that won’t let her girlfriend have friends.”
“You are the most stubborn person I know.”
“Thanks,” Nancy replied.
When she finally finished the hangman they had been playing, Steve’s word was jealousy. She crumpled the paper and threw it out.
“So, I heard something interesting,” Robin said. They were hanging out in Nancy’s bedroom, Nancy pretending to flip through magazines while really being absorbed by the way the pink tip of Robin’s tongue peaked out of her lips as she folded a piece of paper into a fortune teller. Kate Bush sang about Catherine and Heathcliff’s star-crossed love from Nancy’s record player.
“Oh?”
“Vickie told me that Tommy told her someone told him that Vickie had a crush on him.”
“That seems… complicated,” Nancy answered carefully.
“Don’t you want to know who told him?”
Nancy shrugged, “If you want to tell me.”
Robin sat up without breaking eye contact. Nancy was in so much trouble. She had never seen Robin mad. She would rather her be mad than hurt, though. Nancy would never forgive herself if she caused Robin pain.
“Apparently, someone named Nancy Wheeler told Tommy Vickie had a crush on him,” Nancy hummed noncommittally, “which is interesting, considering some would think Nancy and Vickie are friends. And even more interesting considering Vickie doesn’t have a crush on Tommy after all.”
“Oh? I thought she did,” Nancy did not offer more details.
“Did you?” Robin crawled closer to Nancy where Nancy was leaning against her headboard, “Or did you perhaps think if Vickie had a boyfriend, she would spend less time with me?”
“Would it be a crime if I did?” Nancy asked, flipping a page in her magazine.
Robin leaned in, close enough to kiss her. Close enough for her nose to brush Nancy’s cheek. Close enough for her honey smell to wash over Nancy.
When she spoke, Nancy felt the words against her skin, “Jealous, Wheeler?”
“N-no,” Nancy cursed the tremble in her voice, but she couldn’t help the way Robin affected her.
“Because if you were,” the ghost of a kiss against Nancy’s jaw, making her shiver, “I hope you would talk to me about it, instead of just,” a kiss against her neck, “devising some crazy plan without me.”
Nancy turned, attempting to catch Robin’s lips with her own but Robin leaned back. She raised her eyebrows expectantly.
“Because you wouldn’t do that, right, love?”
Nancy swallowed, “It was Eddie’s idea.”
This time Robin’s eyebrows went up with surprise, “And since when have you followed Eddie Munson anywhere?”
“Since my girlfriend started getting close with her ex,” Nancy whispered it, like that would soften the blow.
“Ah, you are jealous,” Robin clicked her tongue disapprovingly, “Wheeler. Don’t you know I have eyes only for you?”
Nancy glanced down, “I know.”
Robin dropped a kiss on her nose tenderly, “And thoughts only for you. Lips,” Robin hovered her mouth over Nancy’s, “only for you.”
And finally, finally, Robin kissed her. Slow and sweet and deep. And Nancy wondered how she could be so lucky. To be in love and to be loved by someone who knew her so well. How she could ever be jealous of someone like Vickie when Robin’s devotion to her was so evident in everything she did.
Nancy Wheeler never lost. And this bet was no different. Tommy H took Vickie on a second date and Eddie gave her the twenty dollars in fives and singles. Nancy used it to take Robin out and buy her whatever she wanted. Robin made her promise to talk to her the next time she felt that way and Nancy agreed with ease.