Chapter Text
Piggy scribbled in the margins of her notebook. Doodles, mostly. Stars, hearts, a simple cat. Doodling reminded her of her days as a piglet, in Kindergarten, drawing square houses and rectangular cars. She was sunken low into her seat, her feet placed on the back of the chair in front of her, using her knees, clad in pink gingham capri pants, as a desk. The theatre classroom seemed good for a lot of things, but writing was not one of them. A lock of mousy brown hair fell into her peripheral vision. In an attempt to not drop what she was doing, she sighed and tossed her head slightly so the lock would bounce back behind her shoulder. Her attempt failed miserably and only caused more hair to fall into her face. A groan escaped her snout as she slid her notebook and pencil into the nook between her stomach and her lap, holding them in place as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, pulling the scrunchie off her wrist and around her locks. In doing so, she glanced up to see someone else walk into the class. She had shown up especially early for her first day, mostly to get an ideal seat, class didn’t start for another half hour. She really didn’t expect anyone else to be here. Instead a strangely familiar frog, in a somewhat outdated leather jacket, white t-shirt, and jeans combo, was strutting towards the very centre of the front row, unbothered. A bold move. Although Piggy had been sitting for Grease in theatres when it came out only three years prior, she hadn’t left the showing with any desire to dress like the characters. To each their own, she supposed. She wondered if she should introduce herself, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew this frog from somewhere, and given how most of the people who had met her felt about her, she wasn’t so sure that was a good thing. Hair now managed, the girl returned to her notebook doodles, but her hands worked faster than her brain, and all of a sudden a semi-decent sketch of a frog was taking up the centre of her page.
“Excuse me?” a croaky voice asked from next to her. Her eyes shot up, and as she registered who was speaking to her, she slapped her hands over the notebook.
“Oh! Aha! Hello…” She cleared her throat and pulled the notebook up to her chest.
“I’m so sorry to bother you, but… do I know you?” The frog gave a soft smile that made Piggy’s heart flutter slightly. Her mother always said she was a hopeless romantic, falling in love with every boy she met. Yeah… every boy… she thought, almost reassuring herself. “Hello?”
“Oh! Oh yes, I’m sorry, I’m being such a ditz, ah…” Always daydreaming her way into trouble. “You know. I thought the same thing when I was watching you walk in, but I couldn’t quite place you.”
The frog’s smile shifted slightly, amused. “You were watching me walk in?”
Piggy’s face flushed. “Oh! Oh, no, I- well I didn’t mean like that! I just, I noticed you is all. You are the only other person here. No need to get all presumptuous…” She turned her face down to her knees, clenching her jaw. Defensiveness. Another flaw of hers. She was three for three on this interaction.
“Woah, hey, sorry. I get it. You’re not like that.” the frog turned their head to the side, thinking. Not like what? Piggy thought to herself. “Well. My name’s Kermit, if that helps jog your memory.”
Piggy racked her brain. Kermit… Kermit. She couldn’t think of anyone she’d ever known by that name. “I’m sorry. It’s not jogging anything. I’m not much of a jogger, I guess.” She let out a nervous laugh.
The little green person tilted their head to the side. “Alright. Then what’s your name? Maybe I can figure this out for the both of us.” Both their hands were in their pockets, and they were rocking back and forth slightly on their heels.
“Ah well! My name is Miss Piggy!” She tried to sound as confident as possible, but cleared her throat and shrunk a little almost immediately. “Piggy Lee…”
Kermit caught the shift in demeanour. “Hey. If you don’t want to be called Piggy Lee. Miss Piggy it is.”
Piggy looked up again, she held eye contact for a moment longer than she meant to. “Really?”
Kermit nodded. “Of course.” they tried not to stare for too long, but the sparkle in Piggy’s eyes was mesmerizing.
Piggy’s cheeks flushed once more. “Oh… well. Thank you…” she tightened her grip on the notebook, holding it close to her heart for a different reason.
“But I do know you. Or. I think I remember now.” They said, pulling a hand out of their pocket to lean on the back of the chair next to where Piggy’s feet were situated. “Did you go to a… a sort of pre-school? With a Miss Nanny?”
Piggy’s eyes widened. She hadn’t thought about that class in ages. She had moved to California not long after attending with her parents, she tended to neglect her small town roots. But here was the evidence it happened, staring right at her, with those kind eyes.
“Miss Nanny.” she exhaled in shock. “My God I can’t believe it. Oh my goodness I remember you now! And the other kids too! Oh my gosh I can’t believe I ever forgot you. I had the silliest little toddler cr-“
Suddenly the door to the classroom slammed open, and Piggy felt as though she were in a fever dream. She stood up quickly.
“No way.” She said as she stared at the two people who had walked in. “They went there too! To Miss Nanny’s!” She quickly turned her notebook at an angle and shut it, tucking it under her arm. “Come on let’s go say hi!” She excitedly took Kermit by the wrist and pulled them along behind her as she ran clumsily down the stairs. The bear looked over at the two of them and smiled.
“Oh, hey Kermit!” He said in a somewhat nasally voice. Piggy whipped her head to look at her rekindled frog friend. They shrugged sheepishly.
“Hey, Fozzie.” They said, stepping forward and allowing themself to be pulled into a bear hug.
“Who’s your friend?” Said the long-nosed fellow next to Fozzie. Piggy felt embarrassed. How come they all knew each other? Why were they friends? Why wasn’t she?
“Fozzie, Gonzo, this is Miss Piggy, or Piggy for short.”
Fozzie squinted his eyes. “Hey do I-“
“Miss Nanny’s!” Piggy interjected excitedly. The other two seemed to fill with shock.
“Oh my! Oh yes, I do remember you! You left to move here, huh? Got a jumpstart on the rest of us I guess?” Gonzo said, shaking Piggy’s hand. She nodded eagerly.
“Sure did!” She turned to shake Fozzie’s hand as well. “So how did you guys all find each other again?”
Fozzie glanced at Kermit.
“We’ve only been talking for like five minutes.”
Piggy’s heart sank.
“Well, ah,” Fozzie cleared his throat. “We. Kind of all went to school together. The whole time. And a bunch of the other kids too. Animal, Rizzo, Scooter, Skeeter, the whole lot.” He wrung his hands, avoiding eye contact as he spoke. “We actually uh. All applied here together. And we. Kind of all got in. Which is crazy unlikely, I know, but isn’t it convenient?”
Piggy swallowed hard. So they all already… knew each other. Well. She was an outsider. Like always. She thought college would be the place she finally made lifelong friends, since she had yet to succeed. But they were already lifelong friends, not looking for applicants, she figured.
“Well isn’t that just peachy! I won’t take up any more of your time. I'm sure five minutes was more than enough for you. Hope you guys have a swell semester with all your pals!” She turned quickly, hiding the red in her cheeks and marched back up the stairs to her seat. She plopped herself down, readjusted back into her former position, and opened her notebook. Only to be met face to face with that… that stupid frog. She had to get over this. She’d done it before and she’d do it again. Her feelings for boys always went away in due time. Her eyes were burning with tears, she wiped quickly with the pink sleeve of her sweater. The collar on the shirt underneath felt like it was tightening around her neck. She avoided looking back at the group she had left behind. She knew for a fact that they were watching her. Her hand crunched the notebook paper into the centre of her fist, and using her other hand, she crumpled it into a proper ball, chucking it to the opposite side of the room to where the small group was standing. Her jaw was set, she didn’t move an inch, even as more classmates entered the auditorium-like room. Several of them stopped to greet Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo. Piggy pretended it didn’t bother her, not that they would even notice if it did.
The class itself was fairly mundane, mostly just going over the syllabus, they had a few plays they were gonna work on throughout the year. Piggy was more of a musical girl herself, but she loved a good melodramatic play as well. If there’s one thing she could do it was drama. Her classmates started filing out, she stood up and gathered her things. If she could avoid talking to Kermit and his gaggle of close personal friends it would really be ideal. Of course, she was cursed to never get what she wanted, for when she lifted her head there stood Kermit. A piece of paper, wrinkled in places but as smoothed out as possible, in one small green hand. Piggy’s heart caught in her throat as she looked at the paper, with all her various doodles, and the frog right in the center. She felt like she was going to throw up. Had they really gone to the other end of the auditorium to retrieve it? She was so stupid. She should’ve kept it on her, but she had to go full theatrical rage. She reached out and tried to snatch it back, but the frog stepped back. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“So you weren’t watching me ‘like that’, huh?” Kermit asked.
“It’s just a stupid sketch, it doesn’t matter. Don’t give yourself so much credit,” She huffed in response. “Now can you move? I have to get to my next class.” Her eyes were fixated angrily on theirs. The frog let out a small sigh and folded the paper carefully, placing it in the pocket of their jacket, Piggy masked the slight pang of joy she felt at the fact that they wanted to keep it.
“I could walk you to your next class. If you want.” They said as they zipped their pocket up, sure not to lose the paper.
Piggy scoffed. “Don’t you want to walk with your friends?” she meant to say the last part with disdain, but it came across as hurt instead.
Kermit’s expression softened. “Piggy, I’ll see my friends everyday for the next four years. And so will you. They’re good guys, you know? I bet you’d like them if you got to know them…” they sighed. “Anyways. What I mean to say is I’d like to spend time with you. Someone I haven’t seen every day of my life for the last decade and a half. Give or take.”
Piggy let out a huff. “Fine. You can walk me to class. But don’t go getting any ideas that we’re friends. Or… whatever. It’s just a walk.”
Kermit nodded. “Just a walk.”
The two were the last to leave the class, even the professor was out by the time they finished their tense conversation. As they passed through the halls Kermit attempted conversation.
“So. How has California been? You moved when we were so young you must be used to everything here already. I’ll tell you I’m lost eighty percent of the time.” They let out a small chuckle. Piggy sighed.
“It’s been good. Better than Mississippi. No offence… just couldn’t get anywhere out there as a pig. I was either gonna end up like my mom. More kids than she knew what to do with, married to some workaholic, or I was gonna become the cartoon face on packs of subpar bacon at the supermarket. I’m glad I moved out here to live with my aunt and uncle. They showed me a lot of show business ropes. And now I get to really study what I love, which is fun,” She kept a slow pace so Kermit’s small legs wouldn’t keep them from falling behind. She didn’t mean to actually open up, but unfortunately the frog’s demeanour made her feel so… comfortable. “If ever you need help navigating around the area… well.” She glanced at her short acquaintance. “I don’t live too far from campus. I know most anywhere that matters.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Piggy could see Kermit smiling slightly.
“That’s a kind offer, thank you Piggy.” They cleared their throat. “I live in an Apartment not too far from here either. With uh… well, Fozzie and Gonzo.”
Piggy took in a sharp breath. “Oh. That’s nice. Roommates… must be fun!”
“You don’t have roommates?” Kermit asked.
The taller of the two shook her head. “No. I mean. My aunt helps me pay rent a bit, but the place is mine. You kind of need people who want to be your roommates to… have them.” She let out a forced laugh, realizing how sad that sounded.
“I can’t believe no one would want to be your roommate. Don’t you have friends here?”
Piggy stopped in front of her class, Kermit had taken a few steps extra, not realizing they had arrived. They turned to look at her, there was a profound sadness in her eyes, and they feared they made a mistake. The pig shook her head.
“Nope,” She took a shaky breath. “Thank you for the walk, Kermit. I’ll see you around.” She ducked into her class before they had the chance to answer. Before they could see the tears welling in her eyes. Why was she so emotional? She was a certified crybaby. It was a simple question. No malicious intent behind it. Still, she hung her head as she moved to a seat as far back as possible, sniffling and wiping her eyes quickly with her sleeves.
Kermit stood outside the door, unmoving. Suddenly a lot of her behaviour that morning made a lot more sense. They checked their schedule, there was no way they’d make it to class on time, and they knew that when they offered to walk Piggy. They turned on their heels and headed towards their class. They never wanted to see Piggy look that sad ever again. They would make sure they wouldn’t.