Chapter Text
Grace walked through the halls of Hatchetfield High on a friday afternoon. Most students had left long ago,rushing out the doors to make the most of their summer weekend.
Not Grace Chasity.
She’d stayed late for the school’s bible club,which she was really the only member of,to craft and paint signs for a protest she was arranging — Perky’s Buds was going down,she’d make sure of that. Grace would not let the devil’s lettuce infect her town. Though she fears it had been infected long ago,not just by filthy drugs.. The walls of her beloved school were littered in stains and graffiti,profanities wherever her eyes could reach. She’d tried to scrub them off,staying late after school almost every day to just try and do anything. It was to no use,every time she made something disappear,it came back stronger and uglier. It made her uncomfortable,really.. how was she supposed to study in a place so ridden with sin?
She tried so hard to make this place better,yet people ridiculed her for it. Diminished her efforts. She wasn’t dumb,she knew they hated her. But they’d get what was coming for them.
She shook her head,covering her paint covered hands with the sleeve of her sweater before reaching for the restroom door. She stopped. There were sobs coming from inside the room.
Oh criminy,someone was crying. Grace took a deep breath,she wasn’t exactly the best at comforting people. She’d do what usually helps her,speaking from the heart and in the words of Jesus. But that didn’t help others,as much as she wanted it to.
It usually just made things worse.
Grace pushed down on the door handle as quietly as possibly,trying especially hard not to startle the person inside. The door opened with a loud creak,making the girl cringe and grit her teeth. She opened one of her eyes to look at the young woman inside. When did she close her eyes in the first place? Brown eyes stared back at her.
She recognised the girl. The name was right on the tip of her tongue.. curly,brown hair,the comically large headgear,bright red jeans. Ruth. Ruth Fleming.
They looked at each other. The girl was sitting on the floor beneath the sinks,legs hugged tightly to her body like she was trying to disappear. Grace noted her eyes,red and puffy from crying.
‘’What do you want,Grace?’’
The words stung Grace,they were spoken softly yet they hurt. She frowned and shifted uncomfortably,still trying to find words.
‘’Well,I came here to wash my hands..’’ she said,playing with her fingers and picking at the mostly dried paint. The other girl’s eyes softened as she shakingly got up and stood to the side. They looked at each other again,then Grace swiftly took a spot at a sink and washed her hands. Should she say something? She should say something.
‘’God gives pain to his strongest soldiers.’’
Silence. Grace’s heart sped up. Don’t stop,a soul needs you.
‘’He won’t leave you this way,and neither will we.. Nighthawks fly together,right?’’
She watched the girl carefully,like she always had. She’s always had her eye on Ruth,watching as she waddled after her friends,ran from bullies or hid in lockers. They’ve never talked,but they knew each other. They understood each other in a way. Surrounded by people yet always so lonely. Ruth got picked on even in her own friend group,though Grace doubts they actually mean any harm by it. And Grace felt out of place even in spaces she was supposed to fit in at. People thought she was weird,always and everywhere.
Nobody truly liked Ruth Fleming. Nobody truly liked Grace Chasity.
Ruth looked at Grace,solemn sadness in her eyes. She smiled softly.
She smiled? She smiled at Grace. Nobody has ever smiled at Grace like that.
‘’Thank you,Grace.. I’m not really christian but I still appreciate it..’’
She appreciated it. She appreciated it! She smiled back and spoke up again,’’I’m really glad! Do you uhm,want to tell me what’s wrong?’’ She dried off her hands and stood next to the slightly shorter girl,leaning against the stall door. More silence.
Then Ruth dropped her head onto Grace’s shoulder. She blushed. She blushed? No,Grace quit that. You can’t think like that,she needs you! And she’s a girl,a really impure one at that,what would Father say?
If she meant God or her actual father was lost on Grace.
Besides,Ruth was going to hell. She couldn’t be this close to her. She couldn’t risk being infected by the devil. She didn’t enjoy telling people they were going to burn for eternity,she didn’t want people to go to hell.. But they do,and Ruth will. It was simply a fact,gay people go to hell. That’s what God decided,who was she to question Him?
But Ruth was upset,he’ll understand.. Jesus said to help people,to be there for people. She will do just that. As long as she didn’t participate in any of Ruth’s sinful activities,there should not be a problem! Right?
Ruth played with the sleeves of her knitted sweater and sighed,snapping Grace out of her anxious thoughts,then quietly spoke,’’It’s silly really,I organised a D&D campaign for me and the others.. I had everything ready,I was waiting in the classroom but they both had to suddenly cancel. It wasn’t their fault.. Ted,Pete’s brother,took them on a surprise trip with Paul they couldn’t say no to. I’m not upset with them,things like that happen it’s just- I guess it just felt bad,lonely..’’
Grace frowned and wrapped one of her arms around the other girl’s back,softly patting her shoulder. That was fine,that was normal. It won’t be for long. She thought about what to say,should she offer her company? She can’t play D&D,that game is full of demons and satanism. She could invite Ruth to come join her at the bible club? No,Ruth wouldn’t have fun there.. as much as Grace wishes she did.
‘’I mean,Dungeons and Demons-’’
‘’Dragons.’’
‘’... yeah that! It’s not the only thing you do there,right?’’
Ruth chuckled at Grace’s enthusiasm and nodded. ‘’It’s not,we also play other games or watch movies.. really it’s just an excuse for us to hang out away from home.’’
Grace smiled again,an idea popping into her head. ‘’We could watch a movie!’’
Ruth raised an eyebrow,looking at Grace with doubt. The christian girl looked back at her,still smiling and shaking her head a bit. ‘’Is there an issue?’’
Ruth laughed and snorted,then spoke,’’You? Watch one of my movies? Grace Chasity,I think you’d faint!’’ Grace looked perplexed but amused,not quite understanding the problem.
Ruth continued,’’You know,some of my favourite movies are either horror movies,fantasy or have the raunchiest sex humor known to men.~’’ Grace flushed at that,stuttering and stumbling over her words. The shorter girl laughed again,playfully shoving Grace a bit.
She chuckled,enjoying the nerd’s antics. Maybe she wasn’t so bad — but she was a sinner.
Grace decided to join in on the banter,quipping back,’’Well movies don’t need to have any of those to be good,if you think they do I regret to inform you that your taste in movies is quite terrible!’’ Ruth gasped dramatically at that,holding a hand over her heart.
‘’Wow,you dare insult my favourite movie genres in front of me?’
‘’I’m braver than you think,Fleming!’’
They just stood there for a while,giggling while Grace silently rubbing Ruth’s shoulder. That was long enough,let go. But she didn’t want to let go. It confused Grace,Ruth by no means smelled good. Everyone at school knew she didn’t use deodorant. That didn’t really bother Grace though,she kind of liked it. In fact,she moved. She pulled Ruth into a full-blown hug,startling the shorter girl who almost immediately hugged back and buried her face into Grace’s shoulder. The sounds of sobbing once again rang in Grace’s ears,Ruth shaking in her arms.
That’s long enough,pull away. You can’t hug for this long.
But Ruth held onto her tightly and Grace felt like the girl was going to fall apart into pieces if she ever let go. She silently apologised in her head when she sniffed Ruth’s hair. Lemon. She silently apologised when she pressed her hand against the girl’s back,enjoying the texture of her sweater. She silently apologised when she pulled Ruth closer,tears threatening to spill from her own eyes. Why did it feel like she’s known Ruth Fleming forever.
They parted and Ruth looked at her,Grace knew that look. She’s seen the girl shoot those at lots of different students,teachers.. the janitor. Grace’s breath caught in her throat. Her heart sped up. They were so close. Her cheeks flushed,her thoughts ran wild. She wanted to hold Ruth for longer.
She can’t be feeling these things,not at 18 and especially not towards Ruth flipping Fleming. Eager to escape the situation,she nervously chuckled and spoke up,’’Well,show me a good movie then and prove me wrong!’’
Ruth laughed quietly and before Grace could even try to protest,she was already dragged into the nerd’s club room. The image in front of her made Grace’s jaw drop.
The usually bright,dirty classroom was dimly lit with electronic candles,the game (?) was set up in the middle of the room on top of multiple small desks pushed together. It looked.. certainly interesting. She flinched when Ruth suddenly turned on the lights and turned the candles off one by one. Grace looked around once more,frowning when all the written profanities were once again visible on the dirty,yellow walls.
But it suddenly also looked a lot less creepy. She noticed a purple cloak,lazily thrown over the back of the chair at the very back of the table. She assumed it was Ruth’s,the person who Grace guessed led the game.
It didn’t look demonic,certainly not as much as she always thought it would. There were a couple figures and pictures of devils or demons but considering the context they seemed to be the enemies. Grace could get behind that.
Ruth moved the tables further towards the door,making space and setting up some blankets and pillows on the floor in front of the whiteboard. It all happened very quickly. The shorter girl jumped around to grab everything they needed and before Grace could even grasp what she was doing,the projector was running as Ruth held up different DVD cases.
Ruth practically yelled with excitement,’’Which one?’’
Oh,Cheez-its. Grace didn’t recognise any of these movies.
She let out a string of Errr’s and Uhm’s before finally pointing at a random one. It didn’t have any blood on it,no weapons and the title seemed harmless. That should work,right?
Ruth smiled and ran it through the projector,then turned the lights off and got comfortable in the little nest of blankets and pillows she had arranged just moments earlier. Grace joined her,making sure to leave at least 25 centimeters between them.Maybe 10 would be enough..
No,Grace. 25 centimeters. You cannot duck around and find out. With the light turned off and the movie rolling,Ruth was giddy with excitement.
Grace simply prayed she made the right decision.