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Velma was sitting on the couch with her notes spread out around her. She had been trying to finish some of her studying before class the next day but had given up an hour ago. It wasn’t that Marcie had been late an hour ago but the anxiety of the thought of her driving through the rain had made it impossible to concentrate. It had been raining hard all week and the roads were slick. The influx of car crashes highlighted this fact. Velma thought it was a very dumb idea to drive to town today. She had stated this to Marcie this morning but Marcie had snorted and said she could handle herself.
“Honestly,” Velma thought, “why do I care so much? It’s not like I even like her.” Velma had known Marcie her entire life. It came with living in a small town. They had been rivals and had competed at every academic thing they could find. Velma had hoped she wouldn’t have to see Marcie again when she moved out to go to college but Velma seemed to have terrible luck. Not only did they end up going to the same college but also they were assigned as each other's roommates.
As Velma sat peering through the rain, she refused to think about why she had suddenly become so worried about her roommate. She wouldn’t admit that Marcie had begun to grow on her. She would not think about how last month she’d been late to class because Marcie had forgotten her lunch and Velma had noticed and brought it to her. Or last week when Velma had tripped and lost her glasses how Marcie had come running to check on her. Velma certainly would not think about how after Marcie found Velma’s glasses she’d gently brushed Velma’s hair away from her face and placed them back where they belonged. No, Velma was not thinking about those things and she certainly was not thinking about the warmth that fizzled to life in her chest whenever Marcie was in the same room or how it felt the first time Marcie called her “V” or how it felt every time after for that matter. She would not even think about the fact that Marcie had a nickname for her, and not once had Velma objected to it being used.
Velma quickly glanced at her phone to see what time it was. The screen read 5:04. It was pretty dark outside by now. Being November it got darker sooner. Marcie of course would have known this. Trying to console herself with this knowledge Velma got up to make herself some tea. As she waited for her tea to steep she opened her text chain with Marcie. The last message was from earlier that day.
Velma: Hey do you know what time you’ll be back? I need to know so I can make dinner.
Marcie: Don’t worry about dinner, I’ll eat in town. I won’t leave town later than 4:00 so I should be home around 4:30.
~ NOW~
Velma: Are you almost home?
Velma knew she should wait for a reply. Marcie had probably gotten distracted or maybe
she had calculated the time to get home wrong. Marcie may have been a genius but she still miscalculated stuff sometimes. Velma bit her lip while she stared at her phone screen considering, she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to send one more message.
Velma: I just want to make sure you are okay.
Before she could send another message she set her phone down on the counter. Her therapist always told her the best way to deal with her anxiety was to focus on the stuff she could control instead of what she couldn’t. Velma didn’t like Marcie but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t be nice. Velma was sure that even if Marcie had eaten (which wasn’t likely considering that Marcie was known for forgetting to eat when she was in the zone), she would probably be cold. Some nice soup would help remedy this. Velma pulled out some blankets and towels after she started the soup. To convince herself that she didn’t care she sat down to watch some TV. Marcie always teased Velma for watching ghost-hunting shows pointing out that they had no basis in science but by the end of the night Marcie always ended up curled up on a corner of the couch watching. Velma shook her trying to dislodge the thought and the smile that had begun to spread across her face.
A few minutes later Velma sighed it was impossible not to think of Marcie. When she wasn’t anxiously glancing at her phone she was picturing what Marcie would have been doing or saying if she was here. Velma hated to admit that this had been happening for a while now. She would go to the library to study and ended up with a stack of books that she thought might interest Marcie. She had never felt so excited to get home after a day in the lab to tell Marcie some new interesting thing she’d learned. The fact that Marcie actually listened and asked questions well that was a whole other story.
It was so weird for Velma. No one had ever gotten Velma the way Marcie did and that was terrifying. Velma knew how to act around people who weren’t as interested in the things she was but this was different territory. She found herself info-dumping on Marcie more and more frequently and oddly enough Marcie didn’t seem to mind. To be honest she actually seemed to enjoy it. This turn-in event was very confusing to Velma. She hated to admit that she didn’t know how she felt or what to do. It felt terrifying that Velma could let her guard down around Marcie but also kind of nice? The more Velma thought about it the more she felt like she wasn’t being as honest as she thought she was. Maybe she did in fact like Marcie? Maybe it was more than that. This thought made her startle into realization. Did she have a crush on Marcie?
The beep of the fire alarm made Velma jump. Her soup! She had completely forgotten about it. She ran to the stove and pulled the pot from the stove but in her haste, she had forgotten an oven mitt. The pot went crashing to the floor sending burnt goop everywhere. It was all Velma could do to not burst into tears. Her soup was ruined, her hand was red and throbbing, she was so confused, and Marcie could have been dead or seriously injured for all she knew. She slid to the floor not even minding the mess and buried her head in her arms. What if she never got to tell Marcie that she really liked her? Sobbing into her arms it took her a minute to realize someone was calling her name. Looking up, Velma found Marcie kneeling next to her. In all the ruckus she must not have heard the door opening. The relief that Marcie was alright and then the horror of the mess and lack of soup sent Velma sobbing harder. “I’m s-s-sorry! I messed up your soup!”
Marcie looked startled and confused before she softened and pulled Velma into her. “Hey, shhh it’s okay,” Marcie rubbed Velma’s back as Velma sobbed into her. Velma began to calm and her sobs turned into sniffles. Her cheeks reddened as she realized that Marcie had found her balling in a giant mess and that she had probably rubbed tears and snot into Marcie’s shirt. As if reading her mind Marcie brushed Velma’s hair back “Do you want to go take a shower while I clean this up? Then we can maybe talk about this,” after a pause, she added, “If you want.” Velma nodded her head before stumbling up and off to the bathroom.
When Velma came back she found Marcie sitting on the couch with two bowls of soup and some gauze. Embarrassed, Velma muttered, “How much of that did you see?”
“I came through the door to a fire alarm going off and I thought you had burned the whole place down. Only to find you grabbing a pot from the stove bare-handed. I thought you might have been trying out one of those dumb frat boy things where you see how much pain you can handle.” Marcie smiled up at Velma. Velma laughed weakly and sat down next to Marcie. “Here let me see your hand,” Marcie lightly took Velma’s hand after a nod from Velma.
“I’m sorry that I came back so late. I had a harder time finding what I was looking for in town and I lost track of time. I would have texted you but my phone was dead. I hope you weren’t too worried,” Marcie glanced up from bandaging Velma’s hand to look at her face. Warmth spread through Velma’s face and her eyes darted away from Marcie. “What were you looking for?” was the only thing she could think of to say.
Now it was Marcie’s turn to blush and look away. “Oh, you know how you said you wanted to see that insect exhibit that comes into town in a week? I was trying to find tickets.” Velma’s heart felt like it skipped a beat. It had just been a passing comment she’d made the other day. She didn’t even know that Marcie had heard but here she was going out in a rainstorm to find tickets for it. Marcie must have taken Velma’s silence as disapproval because she added “Today was the last day to buy them and well, I, um,” she paused and scratched her head sheepishly before quietly mumbling “I couldn’t think of another way to ask you on a date.”
Velma couldn’t quite process what Marcie had just said and how she should react if she had actually heard correctly. Marcie was getting redder and redder “I don’t mean to pressure you and I don’t mind if you don’t want to date or anything. I just thought I should try,” at any other time Marcie stuttering and overthinking would have made Velma laugh because it was very unMarcie like but at this moment? Velma’s brain was disconnected from anything and everything that wasn’t this girl. For maybe the first time in her life Velma acted without thinking. Acted without carefully considering, without evaluating the risks, without wondering if it would fit how others saw her. She leaned forward and kissed Marcie. Marcie sat stunned but when Velma began to pull back Marcie finally realized what was happening and pulled Velma forward to kiss her.
They end up curled together. Marcie’s chin on top of Velma’s head, arms wrapped around each other. “So, I assume this means you want to go with me to the insect exhibit?” Velma pretended to consider for a minute, “Well, I don’t know. Will you kiss me again if I do?” To this, Marcie snorted, “God to think that I spent my day running around trying to find these damn things and you won’t even grace me with an answer.” Velma could almost see Marcie dramatically rolling her eyes and she tried to stifle a giggle, “Well you still haven’t answered my question.” After a pause from Marcie, “Ugh, fine I suppose I’ll kiss you if you come with me.” Marcie considered for a moment and then placed a kiss on top of Velma’s head. Velma shifted closer to Marcie and they relaxed into silence. “Thanks, V,” Marcie mumbled sleepily into Velma’s hair. Velma almost laughed. To think that this morning she convinced herself that she disliked her roommate. That she ignored all the signs and little things and avoided this happiness in the process.