Chapter Text
Shelby was having a day. An okay day, even. Sure, she had got to school a bit late, but it was earlier than usual. It was plenty easy to slip into her seat, next to one Joey Graceffa. The class was assigned some worksheet or another, the teacher working at his desk.
"Where's Katherine?" She whispered to Joey, noting the empty seat in front of them both. Her friend took out his earbuds, which had been blasting Wellerman and shrugged.
"Not here." He answered. "Her parents are probably being jerks again." Joey stretched, propping his feet up on Katherine's empty seat. Gem, who sat next to Katherine, smacked his shoes without looking, humming as she did her work. Joey took his feet back and looked back at Shelby. "Is school unbearable now that the love of your life isn't here?"
Shelby rolled her eyes, elbowing Joey to distract him from the blush on her face. "Oh shush up. It's just a crush. Katherine's my friend, I'll get over it."
Joey raised his eyebrows, reaching over to ruffle her hat. Shelby ducked out of the way and smacked his hand. He spoke as if none of this happened. "Says the person who I haven't ever seen take off the hat Katherine gave you."
"It's a good hat!" Shelby protested, patting one of the pink flowers gently as she smoothed the green fabric. She glared at Joey's smug expression. "At least I don't have a crush on someone who runs around the city with a tail."
Joey shook his head in faux offense. "Excuse me? Katstar is amazing and you can't say otherwise. She's perfect."
"Just because she sang a sea shanty under her breath once does not make her perfect for you." Shelby replied dryly. "Nor does it make her a pirate, Joey 'Pirate-sexual' Graceffa."
"Pirates are hot!" Joey protested. "I'm living proof of that. In fact-" He was cut off as Shelby slapped a hand over his mouth, their teacher turning to face the two of them. Shelby gave him a sheepish smile. He narrowed his eyes and turned back to his computer.
Shelby removed her hand from Joey's mouth, sending him a warning look as she turned to her worksheet. Joey muttered something under his breath, before putting his skull patterned earbuds. The muffled sound of Drunken Sailor started playing from them.
It was after class ended that Shelby's phone let out a familiar sound, the sweet croak of a Mantella pulchra. She fumbled to pull out her pale green phone, answering Katherine's call.
"Katherine!" Shelby answered, trying not to be too excited to hear the other's voice. "What is it?"
Katherine sounded a little nervous on the other end as she responded. "Hey Shelby. Sorry I wasn't in class today. My mom caught me sneaking out last night and my dad isn't letting me leave for school today."
"No worries." Shelby assured. "That sucks though. You left me with Joey, after all."
That got a laugh out of Katherine, a sound Shelby couldn't ever hear enough of. "I don't know how you'll survive long enough for this afternoon."
Shelby immediately perked up. "Oh! Our study picnic is still on, even if you can't go to school?" She had been looking forward to their picnic for a while. Since it had been interrupted a month ago and rescheduled.
She could imagine Katherine nodding in response to her question on the other side of the call. "Yup! I wouldn't miss this for anything. Besides, my parents won't be expecting me to try sneaking out again so soon."
"Be safe!" Shelby told her. "I'll be sure to get all the work you're missing today."
"Thank you! I appreciate it." Katherine said. There was a weird sound coming from her line and Katherine muttered something underneath her breath before speaking up again. "I gotta go. See you then!"
"See you!" Shelby answered. Her phone lit up as Katherine hung up, showing the selfie of the two of them that Shelby had set as her lock-screen. She smiled fondly at the picture, and the memory of taking it. Then she nearly dropped her phone as the bell rang, and Shelby broke into a run to avoid being late to her next class.
It was only the thought of her study picnic in the afternoon that got Shelby through the rest of the day. It was not a good day, and her teacher was not helping. She had managed to leave her science textbook at home, and somehow only half of her homework was still intact. The other half, well...
"Miss Bubble, please explain to me why your homework is in this condition?" The teacher asked, holding up a sodden and thoroughly ruined sheet of paper. "And for Academia's sake, tell the truth this time. None of your usual nonsense."
Shelby sighed, hunching herself smaller in her chair. "I did tell the truth though! Tortoise got into my bag and tried to make a nest with my papers."
She was leveled with an unimpressed stare. "Are you seriously trying to tell me that your turtle ate your homework?" There was a giggle from a boy who sat nearby. He soon received the full force of their teacher's glare, before she turned back to Shelby. "Is that it?"
"No!" Shelby protested in answer. "My pet frog, Tortoise. He didn't eat anything, just tried to take a nap. Of course, he had to make in comfy to take a nap because he's a distinguished gentleman who won't settle for anything less, and he had just spent some time enjoying his water so he was a just a little drippy and-"
"Miss Bubble!" She was cut off. "You are rambling again. I've already spoken to you several times about your distracting habits. That's enough of your ridiculous excuses. You're getting a zero on this assignment. After all, you clearly spend more effort on lying than your schoolwork in any way." The teacher stalked off, muttering underneath her breath.
Shelby resisted the urge to bury her head in her hands. "But I'm not lying..." She whispered, blinking back tears.
"It's okay, Shubble. I believe you." The same kid who had laughed earlier slid into the seat beside her, having moved across the room. "She wouldn't know effort if it smacked her in the cabeza. Se hace lo que se puede."
"Thanks Sausage." Shelby responded with a small smile. "But my name still isn't Shubble."
Sausage smiled his bright grin. "You're welcome. And of course it is! Shubble Bubble."
Shelby couldn't help but laugh. "Shelby Bubble. Not everyone's last names need to rhyme, Mythical Jausage Sausage."
"No, no I think that's just how it should be. Besides, the J is silent." Sausage heaved over his tropical colored bag, pulling his science textbook out. "Hey, what magic science stuff are we supposed to read over again? I forgot."
Shelby reached over to flip to the correct page, barely avoiding sending all of the pencils Sausage had placed on the desk rolling off. Sausage himself didn't notice, too busy pulling out his water bottle, which looked like a sword. He always said having a good sword made things better. Maybe he was right, because that class seemed to finish a lot smoother than it started.
Finally, the school day finished. It was all Shelby could do to not run down the stairs, because she knew she'd trip if she did. Instead, she waved goodbye to Joey and started the walk back to her apartment. Maybe she was going faster than was advisable, but hey! She was excited! She would never turn down a chance to hang out with Katherine. Especially because her friend was so often kept from gatherings with her friends and even school when her parents felt like it. Shelby didn't care if they were the owners of some business empire. That didn't give them an excuse to be so strict and distant with their daughter. Especially when said daughter was the kindest, cleverest, strongest, and prettiest girl that Shelby had ever met.
She was so busy thinking about her crush (and it was just a crush, she insisted, not in denial, no matter what Joey and the rest of her friends might say about love) Shelby managed to trip over a mix of her own feet and uneven sidewalk. Throwing her hands out, she braced herself for an meeting with the concrete that never came.
Instead, Shelby heard the sound of something hitting the ground in front of her, and instead of an impact with the harsh sidewalk, she crashed into something. Somebody. Gentle hands with pinprick claws helped steady her as Shelby found her footing again.
"Thank you." Shelby muttered under her breath, embarrassed about the whole situation. She didn't look up, despite being fully aware of who had caught her. With those charcoal colored boots with a black suit, actual inorganic cat tail dipped in stardust, and unmistakable claw tipped fingerless gloves, there was no one else it could be. "I appreciate it." She repeated louder, thanking the city's beloved hero, Katstar.
"No worries!" Katstar answered cheerfully. "I was just passing by when I saw a perfectly capable damsel to cat-ch."
Upon hearing that, Shelby looked up, her shame overcome with incredulity. "That was like, the most low hanging fruit of a pun I've ever heard." She admitted flatly. "And if you'll take a look at my stature, I know about low hanging fruit."
Katstar laughed, her eyes brightening. Shelby couldn't help but stare at them for a second. They were really pretty; narrowed cat pupils in dark eyes twinkling with stars. They matched the galaxy patterned barrette in her hair, and the stardust tips of her swiveling cat ears. Shelby tore her eyes away from the other's, from the way her black hair had a midnight purple tint at the end of her high ponytail, in time to hear the end of whatever Katstar was saying. "-in anyway." She stopped, looking at Shelby. "Are you alright though? You didn't get hurt from the fall, did you?"
Shelby shrugged. "It wasn't really much of a fall. I'm just fine." She brushed off her olive overalls. "What were you doing in the area anyways? Is something going on?"
The heroine shook her head. "Nothing to worry about. It's just such a nice day out. It'd be silly to stay indoors. Perfect for a picnic."
That was all it took for Shelby to recall what exactly she was supposed to be doing. "A picnic! That reminds me! I gotta go!" She nodded to Katstar and started hurrying her way once again.
"Be careful!" Katstar called after her, before the heroine herself extended her baton and sprang away. At least, it looked as if she did. No one was there to see her sitting on a rooftop, gazing happily after the other girl before heading off herself.
Shelby barely noticed, once again caught up in the excitement of her afternoon plans. She continued making her way to the apartment she stayed in, managing to avoid tripping again. The door was quickly unlocked with the key she kept, Shelby dropping her muddy green backpack on the counter top. Her cousin was still at work, meaning the only sound she could hear was Tortoise's quiet croaking.
Tortoise's tall terrarium was Shelby's pride and joy, taking up a large portion of one of the apartment's wall. The pale gray frog himself was sitting contentedly in a hidey hole made under his mangrove log. He croaked steadily, eyeing Shelby as she approached.
"Hi Tortoise!" Shelby greeted, waving at the frog. He stared back at her. "Okay, okay. I'll get you your meal worms." She headed to the cabinet where all the frog care materials were kept, withdrawing a small carton of bugs. Tortoise croaked again, which Shelby took as her cue to start talking as she struggled with the stubborn opening on the terrarium. "It's such a nice day outside Tortoise, you wouldn't believe it. Sunny, with a light breeze so it doesn't get too hot. The rainstorm I told you about isn't here yet, so the air isn't all humid." The frog shifted, before settling back down again with another croak. Shelby shrugged in response to this action, finally sliding the glass open and reaching for the carton again. "Yeah, I know you like the humidity. I agree, the rain's nice, but I hate it when it gets all muggy." She paused to listen to Tortoise. "Well. You don't have hair to deal with."
Tortoise seemed uninterested in the conversation once Shelby had managed to drop a few mealworms in front of him. His tongue flicked out, and Tortoise hopped forward after his wriggling food. Shelby smiled at the sight, closing his terrarium back up. She was leaving for her picnic soon and she and her cousin had agreed that Tortoise was not allowed to wander the house while she wasn't there.
Finally turning away from her froggy friend, Shelby skipped around the kitchen to gather foodstuffs. Homemade bread, sandwich things, the freshest veggies. Ever enamored, the girl carefully picked only the best of the available selections when assembling Katherine's sandwich, with very little thought put into her own. Both sandwiches were wrapped and placed into Shelby's woven basket. A baggie of watermelon slices was set next to them, and a piece of cloth tied the basket closed.
Shelby checked the time, set down the basket in favor of brushing her hair. She didn't have enough time to really change clothes, but she certainly wanted to look nice. She toyed with the idea of putting on jewelry but decided against it. Instead, Shelby dug through her bag for Katherine's missed assignments, as well as her notes for the upcoming test. These were tucked into her bag along with a few pencils. Having grabbed the basket again, Shelby nearly skipped out the door, locking it behind her. She couldn't wait.
By the time Shelby got to the park they had agreed to meet at, Katherine was already there. Shelby wasn't entirely sure how she had managed to sneak out for this, but she certainly wasn't complaining. Katherine herself was busy rolling out a mauve colored blanket for them to sit on. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't seen her all day, but Shelby suddenly had a hard time looking away from the other girl. She looked pretty as ever, in a pastel pink dress Shelby knew she had made herself. The sleeves were set off the shoulder, giving Shelby a glimpse of her crush's unfairly well muscled arms as the girl moved. As if Shelby needed another reason to find her ridiculously attractive.
She was snapped out her pining by the sound of Katherine's voice. "Shelby! I'm glad you made it!" Katherine smoothed out the blanket one more time before she sat down on it, patting the spot next to her. Shelby laughed, collapsing onto the blanket herself.
"Of course!" She answered Katherine's earlier greeting. "I brought watermelon!" The announcement was eager, as they both moved to open up Shelby's basket. Their hands barely avoided touching, Shelby grabbing the sandwiches instead.
Katherine unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite. She smiled, clearly enjoying it. "So, what did I miss today?"
Shelby shrugged. "Pix got into another 'heated debate' during history. He insisted that the lesson was factually incorrect. He kind of took over the class again." She chewed a bite of her own sandwich.
"That sounds about right." Katherine laughed. "I remember the time he replaced the map in the classroom with one of the Soviet Union. He was protesting the amount of propaganda was being treated as historical fact." She hummed thoughtfully as she reached for a watermelon slice.
Shelby finished her own bite, grabbing a watermelon slice for herself. In the same action, she grabbed the stack of papers from her bag. "That was about it for school though. Here's all the assignments we did. We're only supposed to do numbers 4 through 22 on page 80 for the math homework."
Katherine gratefully accepted the paper. "Thanks, I really appreciate it." She shuffled through the pages, looking for the math. "Do you have a pencil? I want to write that down." The lavender silver ring that she wore glinted in the afternoon sun as she pulled out the math homework.
Shelby nodded, then let her treasured hat fall off her head. She caught it perfectly, and withdrew a leaf designed pencil from the depths of it. Katherine reached for the offered pencil, and their hands did touch this time as Shelby passed it over. They both missed the other's blush as the turned to hide their own. Shelby stared determinedly at her watermelon while Katherine busied herself with writing down the math problems.
They sat for some time, in companionable silence of eating mixed with enjoyable conversation. It was nice, and Shelby could feel herself falling for Katherine just a little bit more as the time passed. How could she not, watching her eyes sparkle as she talked about making a minstrel cap for Oli, or hearing her musical sounding laugh? Then Katherine brought out cookies that she had baked herself for a picnic dessert, and Shelby didn't think things could be more perfect.
Of course, perfection is fleeting, and their lovely afternoon was shattered by the sounds of screams. A much too common occurrence with a frustratingly evident cause. There was a supervillain attack. A new sentimonster.
Katherine jolted up at the first sound of attack. In just a few seconds, she had packed up the majority of their picnic, closing the basket again securely and passing it to Shelby. The girl accepted it uncertainly, and stepped off of the blanket as Katherine started picking that up as well.
"You need to get out of here." Katherine told her as she faced her, placing the blanket it her arms as well. "It's not safe."
Shelby quickly shook her head, shuffling the things in her arms and grabbing the other's hand without thinking. "What about you? I'm not leaving you here alone. Safety in numbers, you know?" Katherine had a bad habit of running off alone in a panic during these times. It stressed Shelby out to no end, but she seemed to always find some good hiding place, because there was never any trace of her otherwise.
She was so busy thinking about this that Shelby entirely missed Katherine's small gasp at their hands, and her fond determination. She did hear the girl when she answered though.
"I'll be fine, don't worry about it. My main concern is making sure you're alright." Shelby was of the opinion that this was an entirely unfair thing for Katherine to say. Seriously, her heart couldn't handle this. Katherine squeezed the hand that was holding her own, and then gently guided it, placing it on Shelby's heart before letting go.
While Shelby's brain was short circuiting, Katherine gave her another confident smile and a soft push. Shelby started moving in the opposite direction of the screams, clutching their picnic things as her mind tried to restart and her cheeks burned. When she finally thought to pause and look back, Katherine was gone. Shelby tried to hope for the best as she kept moving.