Work Text:
‚PUNK ROCK BAND CLUB‘
The hand-scribbled flier had caught Erica’s eye as she walked past the community corkboard for what felt like the millionth time since her semester started. Not that she had ever cared for punk music, and god knows her present self didn’t either. (She personally took a liking to pop music, alongside the occasional RnB or Jazz.) No, what caught her eye was the name signed in large block letters at the end of said clubs descriptive paragraph.
‚If interested sign up in the grid below. - SCARY MARLOWE‘
Scary Marlowe, A girl she hadn’t seen since their shared high school graduation. The name circulating in her mind, Erica couldn’t help but invision the way she had looked that day. Her black and purple hair tied messily into a ponytail, her makeup far from what any teacher would deem appropriate. Scary had even managed to make her gown look stunning. Was Erica’s heart beating faster? She shook her head as if to get rid of her… distracting… thoughts and reminded herself of what she had been thinking about previously. Right. The grid on the sheet of paper (which was otherwise filled to the brim) was entirely and utterly empty. A frown quickly found its way onto Erica’s face. Not a single person had signed up. Without giving it a second thought she noted her name down, turned, and made her way to her animal science lecture.
She did not use her mind to make the decision. It was stuck on that beautiful girl, wether Erica was imagining Scary in her daily goth-punk get up, or her black prom dress with the bell sleeves and deep cut neckline, it looked the same to everyone else - tips of her ears as pink as her cheeks, looking like she was overheating. And before she could slap herself her thought started lingering on Scary‘s lips specifically. Weird.
It was only the moment she stepped into the music room for the first meeting that Erica realized being alone with Scary was gonna be, well, scary. But here she was. On time as always, while Scary - of course - wasn’t. She sat down at the instrument and tapped her fingers on her thighs in a rhythm as she waited. Erica didn’t not have musical experience. She had been playing the Harp ever since she was a child. Not an instrument with a place in punk rock, but there was nothing she could do about that now. After a while she started making little ‚pop‘ sounds with her lips. Anything to distract her until the other girl would arrive.
After a few minutes the door flung open. Scary leaned against the frame, crossed arms and a scowl on her face. He frown quickly turned into a sort of smirk as her eyes met Erica’s. Scary mumbled a quick ‚cute‘ just loud enough for Erica to hear.
„So since when have you been interested in punk music?“ Erica really needed to get her shit together because why was she distracted by how cute Scary looked with her eyebrow raised?
„Uh- I‘m really not.“ She lets out a deep sigh.
„I just saw that nobody else signed up so I thought - since I know you and all -„
Another sigh. „Alright beautiful, show me what you’ve got on that harp.“ The nickname made Erica’s face burn a bright red. And if she stumbled over her ‚performance‘ because of that, that’s between her and Scary. After that, Erica got a whole speech about how ‚punks about not conforming to the standard. it doesn’t have rules‘ and how she, as such, perfectly fit in with her harp.
After an hour or so of awkward tension, too many petnames from Scary to write it off as sarcasm, and a weird mix of harp and punk singing, Erica waltzed all the way back to her dorm, and flopped face-first onto her bed. „What happened to you?“ Her roommates nasally voice rang out with just a hint of annoyance. „That was so embarrassing…“ she muttered, her face still muffled by her mattress. „Heh-?“ And in that moment, Erica got the best idea of her life. She sat up so fast it was barely humanly possible. „Hero. You HAVE to join Scarys punk rock club please I’m begging you.“
Now rolling her eyes, Hero’s annoyance was obvious. „Absolutely not.“
„Please.“ The word came out as a full on whine, hands folded in a plea, and her roommate groaned in response. „As much as I tolerate Scary, I don’t want much to do with my brothers friends.“ Erica looked down in defeat. And another sigh escaped Hero’s lips. „Fine. I will join under one condition. You need to watch ‚Jojos Bizarre Adventure‘ with me.“ She pointed a finger and a glare at Erica. Who responded in just a millisecond.
„Yes. Yes. Fine. Whatever you want. I just cannot be alone with her.“ That awarded her with her second raised eyebrow of the day.
The first time all three of them practiced together was an absolute mess. A combination of drums, harp, and vocals, mixed with laughter, petnames, and sarcasm seemed more like a weird hangout than a band practice or an extracurricular activity. But just as Erica had hoped, with Hero there everything felt much less awkward. One could even say the three of them had chemisty. Both as a band and as… friends. Erica would wrap her arms around the other girls necks and pout whenever she was frustrated with their progress, Hero would mention how „the two of them really weren’t that annoying“, and Scary would let her harsh demeanor slip from time to time. It all made Erica’s heart flutter. Around their fifth session together it got to a point where she could finally allow the realization that had been dawning on her from the very start. She was hopelessly in love, not only with ‚goth-punk seeker of darkness‘ Scary Marlowe, but also with ‚best nerd in the world‘ Hero Swallows-Oak-Garcia. Try getting hit with two girl crushes at once without even having accepted that you’re a lesbian. Definitely not for the weak, Erica thought.
And as if that wasn’t enough, the three of them started spending time together outside of practice. In Erica and Hero’s dorm of all places. One fateful sleepover-night, because that had become a thing now, much to Erica’s satisfaction, Hero was spinning from left to right in her chair, as she tried (and failed) to not let the other two girls distract her from her astrophysics work. Lying on her bed, Erica had her head in Scarys lap and could barely think. „Guys, we need a band name.“ Scary announced out of the blue. „What was that band name you had in Highschool?“, Hero threw in absentmindedly, „Butthole Riccochet. Can’t we just go with that?“ Scary made some sort of joke about trademarks and how, as a law student, she couldn’t in good faith agree to that. And with her mind on Scary‘s and Erica’s lips, thinking just as clearly as she did when signing up for the club in the first place, Erica blurted out: „How about The Girlkissers?“
The responses she got were two looks balanced perfectly between amusement and bewilderment. Erica was dying of shame and embarrassment. „Sorry. Just realized I’m a lesbian and I can’t think about anything else.“ She said into a pillow she had just grabbed and smushed against her face. „You just realized?“ Hero asked, her stupid smile showing of her stupid braces that made her look stupidly gorgeous. „I’ve known you like girls for weeks.“ Her confusion must have been apparent, since Hero quickly followed up on what she had just said. „When you came in begging me to join you and Scary because you - quote - ‚couldnt be alone with her‘. Your crush was obvious.“ If Erica’s face could’ve gotten any more red it would’ve, but she was already looking like a tomato. She threw the pillow at Heros face and scowled at her to shut up.
„Can I kiss you?“ Scary emotionally stabbed Erica with that one. And oh my goodness she just wanted Scary to twist the knife again. Just so she could know this was real. „Yes.“ The reply came out more like a squeal, something between nerves and excitement. And as Scary pulled her up from her lap to give her one soft kiss, the idea of Scary’s purple lipstick transferring to her own lips made her feel like she was having a heart attack. „Geez guys. Way to make someone feel like the third wheel.“ The nasally, teasing sentence was Erica’s final straw. As soon as Scary pulled away, she spoke before she thought it through. „I like both of you.“ She slapped her hands over her mouth, the one she had just kissed Scary with, and Hero got up from her spinny chair and joined the other two girls on the bed. „I’d definitely go on a date with both of you. If you want.“ She threw in, shrugging. The tension that had been brewing between them was finally broken, and the girls quickly became a tangled mess of limbs on Erica’s bed, discussing what would be the best way to spend a first date. God Erica loved being a lesbian.
And when Taylor finally got wind of Scary starting a new band, it was already to late for the guitarist. Practice doubled as dating, and The Girlkissers (soon debating about changing their name to The Girlfriends), decided to keep this club to themselves. And for whether or not the harp-lead punk rock band got anywhere? That’s a story for another day.