Archive of Our Own

Red McArthur walked to her locker with a scowl. She looked from her left to right, which only worsened her mood. Around her were couples, each one putting their gross affection on display. It was possibly the worst day of the year to attend school, yet here she was. It was Valentine’s Day and Red could only take so much. Somehow, most of the people she knew got paired up for dates. All except for Red. Wendy and Bebe had each other and all the other girls found someone to at least be with for the day. 

The girl had been in many relationships before but they never lasted. She would either find something wrong with the guy or he would claim she was just “too cold or mean” for their liking. It was true, she was one of the meaner girls in schools but to dump her over that? That pissed Red off. She had decided, now in her sophomore year, she wouldn’t waste her time on short-lasting relationships. She had convinced herself that it wasn’t worth it. How many high school romances even last? There was no point in getting with stupid guys who would just waste away her teen years. She figured she’d settle in her late twenties and marry some wealthy guy.

Red found her locker and began to open it, putting in one of her textbooks. The locker was decorated with some small stickers she had found randomly and Polaroids. She rolled her eyes as she saw some of her and her friends. She was a third wheel to them since her two best friends, Wendy and Bebe, were a couple. She gagged as she heard the gross sounds of a couple flirting with each other. The sounds of sweet pet names ruined her mood somehow more than she thought possible. She tried to block it out but couldn’t and she let out a hefty sigh. That’s when she felt it, a soft tap on her shoulder.

Red turned around to face a taller blonde girl. She wore a light turquoise shirt which was unfashionable, to say the least. She had a long skirt that went to her knees. Red knew it was her classmate Marjorine standing in front of her. The blonde nervously handed her a red plastic-like paper. It was one of those small Valentine’s cards that you get in packs at the local store. The crimson-haired girl took it and tilted it, somewhat amused by the changed image as she held it. It was a small image of a cat and changed from the perspective used to see it. It was something she would expect to be given in the fourth grade when it was mandatory to get everyone a card. The shorter girl looked up at the taller and smiled slightly.

“Thanks, Marj.” Red nodded and put the note in her pants pocket.

“Of course! Happy Valentine’s Day, Red!” Marjorine smiled before walking away. She watched as Marjorine handed other students cards as well. Red’s smile faltered but she brushed it off. It made sense, why would Marjorine only hand her a card? It was stupid of her to think she’d get soloed out. Red closed her locker and looked over to the overly affectionate couple next to her. She saw her friends, Wendy and Bebe, flirting and playing with each other's hair. They were even wearing matching clothes, it was enough to make Red want to vomit.

“Can you guys take that somewhere else? I can only witness so much PDA.” Red sighed and looked at her friends, disappointment displayed on her face. Bebe and Wendy stopped to turn at Red and both looked semi-annoyed. 

“Oh, come on Red. We all know you’re just jealous.” Bebe remarks before looking back at the black-haired girl.

“Jealous of what? Some stupid romance that’ll last a month max? I’ll pass.” Red rolled her eyes before leaning on her locker. The couple both sighed simultaneously. 

“Red, you’re just mad you haven’t had a relationship last longer than a week,” Bebe said while bringing one of her hands up to play with her girlfriend’s hair. This only made Red more annoyed with the couple. Could they go one minute without touching each other? Did personal space not even exist in this couple?

“Why would I waste my time on that? It’s pointless. You and your stupid romances are pointless.” 

“See, she’s just jelly, babe,” Bebe whispered to Wendy who tried to hold in a soft laugh.

“I heard that,” Red rolled her eyes and stood up straight. She stretched and cracked her back before looking away.  “I’m heading to class, hopefully, I won’t have to see gross shit like this there.” Red shrugged her backpack over her shoulder before heading to her class. 

“Jealous bitch…” Bebe murmured before laughing softly, “I didn’t mean that, don’t tell her I said that.” Wendy didn’t respond for a minute, only watching as Red walked to class. They both heard her mutter words of annoyance as she passed other couples in the hallway.

“Do you think she’ll ever get into a serious relationship?” Wendy suddenly asked, looking at her girlfriend as she adjusted her barret. Bebe’s eyes widened and were silent. The blonde had to think about it. Red always seemed opposed to the idea of long-lasting love but she had her fair share of relationships in the past. She’s had a boyfriend or two but all of the girls never saw that going anywhere, Red just always seemed uninterested. She liked the guys but she just couldn’t see it lasting. Whenever they would have sleepovers, the redhead would always just complain about the guys. She just was never satisfied when in a relationship.

“She kind of reminds me of you,” Wendy comments as she rests her head on Bebe’s shoulder. 

“What?” Bebe narrowed her eyes. Was that meant to be a bad thing? “What’s that meant to mean, Wends?”

“I mean like, before we went out. Back when you thought you were straight.” Wendy explains with a soft shrug. “You went out with a bunch of guys but just didn’t like them. Then you realized you liked me and now here we are.”

“So… you’re saying Red is gay?” Bebe cocked her head.

“I dunno? Maybe?” Wendy sighed and looked at her girlfriend. “We’ll see.” The bell rang, signaling they had a few minutes to get to class. Wendy pressed a quick peck to Bebe’s lips before heading to her next class.

Red sat in her class with a bored expression on her face. She just wanted to go home. Even in this class, she couldn’t escape the annoyingly present PDA. She was in her tech-theater class and since the teacher wasn’t strict, the couples could do whatever. Red sat and sketched drafts of sets as the teacher played some video. She tuned the video out like always. She swore she could see two kids making out in the corner of her eye. She tried to retain her focus on her work. 

She leaned over to her backpack and pulled out her pencil case. She tried to figure out what to use on it. They were assigned to help design ideas for the next school play which happened to be some stupid Shakespeare play. This assignment was due a long time ago since half of the class had already begun to build the set. The show was in about two weeks so they were almost already done. She had already turned in her original idea but liked working on concepts when they were bored. She colored in some of the set ideas with a light blue or turquoise. She used some yellow on some of the finer details and decided it was good. She finished up in a quick few minutes and looked at the concept she had drawn up. It reminded her of something but she couldn’t place her finger on it. She put away the colored pencils and leaned to put them back in her bag when something fell out of her pocket. The small plastic Valentine's Day card fell and lightly hit the floor. Red reached to pick it up and placed it into her bag. For some reason, it made her smile.

Her thought was broken when the teacher made an announcement. Her teacher, Mr. Johnson spoke and she surprisingly paid attention.

“As you all are aware, the school play is in two weeks. I’m sure all of you are aware that next week will be tech week for it. That means we need people to help work as stagehands and work backstage.” He announced. Red stopped paying attention at this point. She wouldn’t sign up, why would she? She didn’t give a single shit about whatever stupid play they were doing. She rested her head on her desk as the teacher droned on. She closed her eyes and practically fell asleep. 

Suddenly, she was awoken by a loud noise. Mr. Johnson stood right in front of her and cleared his voice super loudly. Red didn’t even know someone could clear his voice that loudly but he did. It had to be some theater trick or something. She huffed and looked up from her arms at him. She blinked slowly before asking “What?”

“McArthur, the bell rings in a minute but I’m going to ask you to stay after the period ends. You and I need to talk.” He says. God fucking damn it. How the hell did Red get the least strict teacher on her ass? She just wants to punch something but just sighs and nods. She goes back to resting her eyes until the bell rings. She looks up to see the students shuffle out of the classroom. At least she wouldn’t have to hear those stupid lovey-dovey words. She sighed before getting up. She put on her backpack and walked over to the desk.

Mr. Johnson was typing on his computer and entering some student’s grades. Red saw him enter some and she sighed. Good to know she wasn’t the worst student in this class. She waited patiently, god knows she wouldn’t talk first. She looks down at the things decorating his desk. There were some figurines, a tissue box, a bunch of papers, and other random things. She saw a small pride flag on her teacher's desk and rolled her eyes. She wasn’t homophobic but she sure as hell knew this teacher wasn’t gay. It was probably gifted to him by one of his other students. Who gifted it to him was a mystery. He was a theater teacher, after all, the options were endless. She stared blankly at the flag until his voice finally spoke up.

“You have a problem with the flag?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Red scoffed, was he insinuating she was homophobic? Hah, funny. 

“No.” She crossed her arms and looked at him. Red was not homophobic. As she said once, she is ‘surrounded by gay people’. 

“You were staring at it.”
“I was just wondering where you got it. Which one of your students gave it to ya?” Red says and it comes off a little smugly. She shakes her head and tries to press past that. “Why did you need to talk to me?”

Mr. Johnson sighs and looks at his student. He always thought he was a smart girl but she was just too proud for her good. She never took anything seriously and always seemed so above it all. “Miss. McArthur, I’ve noticed that you’ve been slacking off a lot lately. You’ve been falling asleep in class lately and not paying attention.”
Red tries to interrupt him “I’m just tired. You can’t blame me for that.” 

“I’m not. But you’ve also not been turning in most of your work. How am I meant to see that you care when you don’t do anything the class requires you to?” Red crosses her arms. He’s right and she knows it. She doesn’t turn in the majority of her work and if she does it’s late a lot of the time. 

“Yeah. I know.” Her shoulders slump for a moment before shaking it off and standing up straight again. “I’m sorry, sir.”

“I know you are.”

“Is there like… something I can do to get those points back?”

“Well, you heard how I was talking about tech week?” He asks.

“Uhm. I heard… some of it.” Red says and looks away as she listens to him sigh.

“Well. As I said earlier, we need students to work as stagehands. We are looking for students who are in our tech theater class. This was optional and doesn’t offer any extra credit but… I’m willing to make an exception in your case.” Red’s eyebrows raise and she tilts her head. “I’m willing to give you some points if you do this. It’s after school and we’ll tell you what to do. You can make up points with this.” Red nods and looks down. Does she want to fail and have to repeat tech-theater one? Fuck no. That sounds embarrassing as hell. Red nods and writes down her name on the sign-up sheet. She looks to see Mr. Johnson smiles and he says “I’ll see you there Miss. McArthur.”

“So, are you girls free Monday?” Bebe asks. The group of girls sit at a lunch table and eat. Most of the usual girls aren’t there since they’re busy with their boyfriends. The only girls left are Red, Bebe, Wendy, and Heidi. Bebe is sitting next to Wendy and has her arm wrapped around her shoulder. Red and Heidi sit next to each other and both definitely have different views of the couple in front of them. The brunette thinks that the two are a cute couple when the redhead can’t take their sickly affection towards one another.

“No.” Both Heidi and Red at the same time. They look at each other before looking back at the couple.

“Aw, why not?” Bebe asks, holding Wendy closer.

“I have tech week,” Heidi says and shrugs. Red looks at her and tilts her head.

“You're in the play?” Red asks her. Heidi nods and looks at Red confused. Heidi figured Red would know since Heidi was one of the theater kids in the group. “Oh well, I’ll see you then. I’m working as a stagehand there.”

“Lameee.” Bebe groans. She runs her free hand through her curly blond hair.

“Hey, that means it’s just you and me.” Wendy smirks and Bebe’s face turns a cute pink.

“Can you guys not?” Red glares at them and puts down the sandwich she was eating. “You’re making me lose my appetite.” Heidi elbows her and smirks. 

“Don’t be rude.” Heidi giggles. Red rolls her eyes and sighs.

“I don’t get how you can stand them like this. It’s so gross.” Red pinches her nose and closes her eyes. “Like just take it in private. We all don’t need to see it.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever Reddy.” Bebe sticks out her tongue. They all laugh and Red rolls her eyes. “So, why are you working backstage? I thought you hated that stuff?”

“Johnson is willing to give me extra credit if I do it. And trust me, I need it.”

“That’s what happens when you slack off.” Wendy chimes in.

“Shut it.” Red rolls her eyes. “But yeah, I’m just gonna do it for the extra credit. I ain’t failing that dumbass class.” 

“Do you even know what show it is?” Heidi asks.

“Uhm. Totally. It’s a Shakespeare show.”
“It’s called Twelfth Night.” Heidi sighs.

“Eh, don’t care. I’m just gonna move sets around.”

The other girls begin to talk about other things while Red focuses on eating her sandwich. It’s not good but might as well eat it. She zones out and looks out at the other lunch tables. She sees her other friends with their boyfriends. She doesn’t feel jealous. She doesn’t even feel jealous when she sees her ex-boyfriends with other people. By the way she looks over at them, people who didn’t know her would assume she’d wish to be with them. However, Red couldn’t even care less. She sees her ex, Kevin, hanging out with his friends. They lasted around two months during the summer between eighth grade and freshman year. She liked him, he was a sweet boy. He probably was the only guy that lasted more than a month and she enjoyed his company. But, they just didn’t work. As freshman year rolled around, Kevin got more into his studies and some clubs. He barely had time for her and she didn’t want to spend time around his group of nerdy friends every day. They didn’t end on bad terms but they haven't spoken since. It was probably the only breakup that she had that she cried over. Not that anyone knew that, she didn’t tell anyone how actually hurt she was. 

She looks over to a different table and sees Clyde. They went out for around a month. If she’s honest, she doesn’t even remember if it was a freshman or this year. She wasn’t into the relationship. In retrospect, she would’ve felt bad but he definitely wasn’t invested either. It didn’t help when she realized he was making googly eyes at some nerd named Scott. She didn’t even know who that little dork was. She ended things easily and even though Clyde wasn’t even into her, he made quite the scene. He was sobbing and everything, but then again, when was he not? The next week, they both moved on quickly though. 

She looked over at that table until she locked eyes with a specific blonde. The girl waved softly at Red before talking with the guys. Red couldn’t help but wave back. Marjorine. She was a naive girl that Red knew. The two never were close. The blonde always hung out with the guys, and the girls never really welcomed her into their group. This wasn’t because she was transgender though, they all just thought she was some dickhead. And they weren’t wrong. Marjorine was a bit of an asshole considering who she considered her closest friend. Most of the girls just despised her, especially her closest friends Wendy and Bebe. Bebe had even beaten up Marj once back in middle school after Marjorine called her a bitch. Red would never admit it to Bebe but it was funny. By association, the other girls figured that Red also disliked Marjorine. However, it wasn’t true. Sure, Red agreed that the blonde girl could be an asshole but if she was honest, so were most of her friends. When the girls talked shit, Red couldn’t help but find it hypocritical when they called Marj a bitch or pick-me. Not that she would ever admit that. Why would she defend Marjorine? Red was supposed to be the most brutally honest and meanest of the group next to Nelly, she couldn’t just defend some dork. She didn’t even know why she felt so passionately about this, she was just as eager to talk trash on other girls. Why did she want to defend that girl?

As the girl zoned out, her face slowly turned a faint pink. She was so caught up in thinking of this chick she would talk to at most once a week. Her attention was brought back to her group when Bebe snapped in front of her face. Red blinked and shook her head before glaring at Bebe.

“The hell was that for?” She growled and scowled. Bebe laughed before leaning back.

“You weren’t listening to us.” Bebe shrugged. “You were off in your own world. Plus, you’re blushing.” She grinned widely. “So tell us, who’s the lucky guy?”

“What.”

“I mean, it’s kind of obvious now. You’ve been so jealous of all the couples and now you stare off at the table of guys and are blushing. It’s clear you have a crush.” She says the last part in a sing-songy voice.

“Don’t be stupid.” Red glares at her.

“I mean, Bebe’s got a point,” Heidi says.

“Don’t agree with them, Heids!” Red kicks her under the table. “You’re meant to be on my side.” Red looks at Heidi with fake betrayal. The two of them agreed to always be on each other’s side when Wendy and Bebe would always take each other's side.

Heidi giggles and smiles “Sorry, sorry. I mean, she is right. It would make sense if you have a crush. Plus, you were literally looking at the table of boys.”

“We won’t judge you. So who is it?” Wendy smirks and leans in.

“Babe, don’t lie. We will totally judge you, Red.” Bebe snorts and laughs. Red goes silent and doesn’t respond. She looks pissed off and ready to just leave. Bebe looks over to the table Red was looking at then looks back at the girl. “How about I guess?” Bebe thinks of her options. The guys sitting at the table were Stan, Kyle, Clyde, and Jimmy. There was also Craig and Cartman but she knew Red would never go after them. There was also Marjorine but Bebe wouldn’t acknowledge her as an option. Bebe thinks before asking “Is it Jimmy?”

Red rolls her eyes “No. It’s none of them. Now drop it.” She crosses her arms and blows a strand of hair out of her face.

“Oooh is it Clyde? Do you regret breaking up with him or something?”

“No. God. I’d break up with him a hundred times over.”

“Stan?” Bebe asks and looks at Wendy. Wendy and Stan used to date from elementary school to freshman year. Wendy glances over at Red and says “If you like Stan, it’s fine. I don’t care.”

“Jesus Christ! I do not like him.” Red face palms and just wants to leave.

“Well, that means by order of elimination, you like Kyle.” Bebe finally says. “I can’t blame you. He has a nice ass.” Red glares at Bebe before taking a moment to think about it.

If she wanted to, Red could lie right there and claim to like Kyle. Out of everyone at that table, he was probably the safest answer to go with. Sure, he was hot-headed but overall, he was a nice guy. He was smart and he was technically attractive. Plus, all the girls were fine with him. She wouldn’t get criticized if she claimed she liked him like she would if she entertained the thought of liking Marjorine. Which she doesn’t like. She could look over at their table without her friends questioning her. She could figure out what this stupid and annoying growing feeling in her stomach was when she looked at the blonde with the excuse of looking at the other redhead.

In the time Red thought about this, she was silent. Bebe smirked and took this as her answer. “Ahah! You do like him!” She says loudly but not loud enough for the other tables to hear. Red sighs and decides to go along with this answer. 

“Yeah, I totally like him.” She lies. 

“Oh, that's awesome!” Heidi chimes in. “I heard he’s also working backstage for the play so you can bond with him then!”

Great. Now she would not only pretend to like him during school but now she would after. Heidi would be watching them after all. She couldn’t wait for this day to be over.

Days passed and it was finally Monday. The previous school week, Red was bombarded with questions about her “crush” on Kyle. She made shit up, trying to figure out a lie that sounds believable. She eventually convinced her friends she had liked him for a few weeks. She explained it wasn’t that big of a deal and that she just found him cute. She assured her friends she didn’t want anything serious with him which Wendy believed but Bebe wouldn’t give up on it. Red got through the day and it was after school now. She made her way to the school theater building where she saw some students forming. They were meant to be there in around ten minutes after school ended so they would have to wait a few minutes longer. Red walks up where she sees Heidi. She waves at her and stands next to her. She looks over the group of people in the play. She notices kids like a freshman, Bridon, and other people. A bunch of them are juniors and seniors but there are still people around her age. She waits and two blondes approaching catch her eye. Tweek and Marjorine. 

She first noted the shakier blonde. Tweek had definitely mellowed out in the last few years, most likely since he dropped the amount of coffee he consumed daily. He was still Tweek though if that said anything. Red didn’t expect him to be in the play. Her cousin Craig did mention Tweek was in a theater class. However, she never expected him to actually be in the play. She thought he’d probably freak out but who knows? She just has to see.

Her brown eyes drifted to the taller blonde. It was fucking Marjorine. Red was fucked. Why did Marj have to be in the play? Did god hate Red that much?! Marjorine was wearing a cardigan she probably got at Old Navy. If Red was with her friend group, no doubt they would be calling it ugly or like something a grandma would wear. But for some reason, it looked… cute? No, not cute. That would make her sound gay. She just pulled it off to Red’s surprise. Nothing more than that. The blonde girl was laughing and talking with Tweek about something. Red didn’t care, not at all. So… why couldn’t she stop staring at them?
Mr. Johnson finally opened the door to the theater and the students began to file in. Red had been in the theater one or two times for her class but never really cared to look around. She walked in with Heidi who was more familiar with the building. They all walked backstage which Red had been to before. She looked around at some of the sets she remembered seeing painted in her class. She assisted in painting in one and that was about it. Mr. Johnson went around backstage and pointed out things just in case people forgot what was what. After finishing the miniature tour, he claimed that they would run through the show and that's when they’ll decide where things will go. But first, people would have to try on their outfits. The stagehands were tasked to go into the costume room and pull out the labeled costumes. The group of them nodded and walked over to the costume room. There was a group of hangers labeled for the show and Red picked up around three. She noticed Kyle next to her and he was picking up hangers.

“Didn’t think you’d be one for tech theater.” She says, looking at the lanky dude next to her. “Figured you’d do some college prep course or something.” He laughed softly as he grabbed another hanger.

“Eh, not really. I mean, I took AVID last year but I just… wanted something easier. You know?”

“You know, I would not know. I’m not a mega nerd like you.” Red snorts and the two leave the room.

“Hey! I’m not a mega nerd. I’m just a smart guy.” Kyle laughs and they walk over to where the cast of the show is. She notices Heidi looking at her with some smug smirk on her face. Red doesn’t know whether this would be good or not. Yeah, it makes her less suspicious but does she really want her friends to one-hundred percent believe she likes Kyle? She shakes it off and hands off the costumes. She isn’t familiar with the show since she didn’t even bother to read up on it. She hands off the outfits till she’s left with a soft and somewhat silky black dress. She checks the tag and it’s a character named Olivia. She looks to the other side and notices it’s Marjorine. She walks over to the blonde and hands her the ebony garment. 

“Here,” Red says, wanting to keep their interaction to a minimum. 

“Oh, thanks Red.” The blonde smiled. Red is ready to turn and go back to either Kyle or Heidi when Marjorine speaks again. “So you’re working on the set?”

“Oh, uhm. Yeah.” Red says, a small faint pink decorates her face. “For extra credit.” She adds and Marj hums in acknowledgement. The silence is palpable and awkward. Red stares at Marjorine almost blankly. She feels her face getting hotter and she doesn’t know why. Is she sick? Maybe. Red tries to break the silence. “I didn’t know you take theater.” Red cringes at what she says and her voice lightly cracks.

“Oh, I don’t,” Marjorine says and scratches the back of her neck. “I just auditioned for fun and as a way to get out of the house. Wasn’t expecting to get a role but I did.” She chuckles softly. “Have you ever seen the show?”

“Oh, no. Shakespeare isn’t really my thing.” Red awkwardly admits.

“Is it anyone's thing?” The taller girl says with a laugh which causes the other to laugh. Fuck. She’s enjoying this. Red was meant to dislike this girl, meant to talk trash and shit talk her to her friends. But, it felt so right. The two laughed as Marjorine looked at the dress.

“So, who’s your character?” Red asks.

“I play a countess. She falls for the main character who is a girl pretending to be a boy. Ironic, huh?” She snorts. “I know what it’s like to be a gal pretending to be a boy.” Red stifles a laugh, not knowing if she’s allowed to laugh at the joke or not. Marj continues, “but then she ends up with the girl's twin brother.” Marjorine shrugs. “But Olivias the opposite of me.”
“Well, that must mean you’re a great actress.” Red comments. Her stomach flips as she sees a bright rosy color paint her cheeks. Marj chuckles nervously.

“Well shucks, Red, I don’t know about that.” She scratches the back of her head and twirls a strand of her hair.

Their moment is cut short as Mr. Johnson shouts out “Places in ten.” Marjorine’s eyes shoot open and nods.
“I have to go backstage to change. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Marj says before holding the dress to her chest and scurrying off to the backstage door. Red just watches her leave, a small look of desire etched on her face. Why did she feel so at home with her? Red shakes it off and waits next to the set pieces. Kyle approaches her and looks over at the painted set. He smiles and says “The set is nice, huh?
“Yeah, it is. It’s detailed too, huh? I’m glad I didn’t have to do it. Perks of slacking off, you should try it.” The two laugh. They both stand around in silence as they wait for the cast to come out. After a while, the show begins. Mr. Johnson orders the sethands around at certain parts. Red sighs as she gets some neon pink tape and places it on the floor where the set pieces are designated to be. She doesn’t pay much attention to the show and only listens to the cues of when to move things around and to tape down the explicit place they are. She places down the tape and looks up as new characters enter

Red’s mouth is agape as she looks in front of her. She doesn’t hear what’s being said, her entire focus is on the beautiful blonde in front of her. The dress is a bit tight but it looks like it’s meant to be. Her medium-length blond hair is drawn up in a low bun. Red noticed that her shoes had changed from comfortable Converse to nice heels that added two inches to Marj’s already tall height. Her face had basic but noticeable makeup, a faint reddish-pink lipstick, and a soft blush. The funny feeling from earlier is back and worse than Red had ever felt. She thinks she's going to throw up and her face grows redder than her hair. She stares at the gorgeous girl as her face shows pure awe. Marjorine drones on with words that Red isn’t paying attention to. Even if she was, she wouldn’t be able to decipher anything from a Shakespeare play.

“Red!” Kyle’s voice says, whisper-yelling. Her head shoots over towards him, not hearing what he said before. “Hand me the tape.” He repeats what he said when she was in her trance. She nods and hands him the neon pink tape and he places it on the black floor. When he finishes, he hands it back to the fellow redhead. “So, why were you looking at Marj like that?” 

“Huh? I, ugh, just like her dress.” Red lies. “It looks nice, can’t a girl appreciate fashion?” Red gets defensive and scowls. 

“Yeah, sorry. I was just asking.” Kyle looks a bit embarrassed and laughs softly. “You know, you should tell her that.”

“Why.”

“Cause it would be nice being complimented by another girl. I dunno, I thought it could be affirming for her.” Kyle says. “I’d compliment her but I’m her friend so it’s biased, I guess. It’d be nice if someone who didn’t like her complimented her.”
“What? I mean, I don’t hate her.”

“I thought all you girls did.” Kyle shrugs.

“I mean, yeah, Bebe and Wends hate her. Doesn’t mean I do.”

“You should tell her that,” Kyle suggests softly. The idea causes Red to blush softly. She shakes her head and thinks of changing the subject.

“Do you need more tape?” Red asks and Kyle sighs. He shakes his head and the two of them return to the wings. They taped down where all the things or at least major set pieces would go. They ran through the shows a few times and made changes throughout. Red had to completely focus on the set, she couldn’t get distracted. She moved around pieces from backgrounds, to chairs, tables, and benches. After running through it, Mr. Johnson tells the cast to change out of their garbs. Red sighs and wipes a small amount of sweat from her forehead. Her arms were tired from constantly picking up and moving things around. She goes out to the lobby of the building and sighs. Her arms will definitely be sore in the morning. She waits for Heidi to come out since they’d be riding home together. Her foot taps on the floor and looks around, her eyes finding the clock. It had been around three hours since school ended. This was going to be a long week. Red hears footsteps and expects to see Heidi but she finds a tall, pale girl instead. She had her cardigan on and was sweating a bit. Her hair is now down and a bit curled at the bottom. Still pretty.

“Hey, Marj.” Red greets softly. Marjorine looks at her and smiles. 

“Heya, Red. Have fun moving sets?”

“Totally. I’m going to be ripped by the end of the week.” Red jokes and flexes her muscles. She does in fact have muscles as she is toned but not ripped or buff in any way. She looks at Marjorine to see a small blush on her face. She notices that her eyes are locked on the shorter girl's muscles. Red can’t help but feel flattered to see how enthralled Marjorine was. Red smiles softly and crosses your arms. “I wasn’t paying attention to the actual show but I’m sure you did good.”
“Oh, I dunno. I mean, I messed up my lines a lot.” Marjorine says, a bit embarrassed.

“Still better than whatever I could do.” She chuckles. Heidi comes out the door and interrupts them.

“Hey, Red, ready to go?” She asks. 

“Oh uhm, yeah.” Red nods and Heidi grabs her arm. “Uh. Bye Marj.” Red murmurs as she gets pulled away. She can hear a faint “bye” as she leaves the theater. Heidi pulls her along and they walk to the parking lot where they see Heidi’s dad’s car. Since it was winter, it was dark out earlier and Heidi’s dad was insistent on driving them home.

“So, why were you talking to Marjorine?” Heidi asks. “Oooh is it ‘cause she’s Kyle’s friend? She’s probably easy to get information out of.”

“Yeah, totally.” Red mutters under her breath. Heidi gets in the passenger seat and Red climbs in the backseat. She looks over to the driver’s seat where Heidi’s overly buff and built father is. “Thanks for driving me home, Mr. Turner.” She says, sounding as polite as possible for her. He grunts in response and starts up the car. Heidi turns up the radio and it’s playing some pop songs and Heidi sings along. Besides Heidi’s soft singing, the car ride was silent. 

They eventually arrive at Red’s house and they pull into the driveway. Red hops out and thanks them both before heading to her front door. She fumbles with the keys in her bag before unlocking the door. She enters the house and her mom is on the couch. She’s on the computer while the television plays, providing background noise. 

“Hey, Mom,” Red says and kicks off her beat-up Converse. Her mom looks up and smiles at her softly.

“Hi hun, how was your tech thingy?” 

“It was fine. It was a lot of lifting.” Red shrugs and walks up the stairs. She walks over to her room and pushes the door open. She throws her bag next to her desk and shuffles through her drawer. She pulls out a sleep shirt before changing into it. She flops on her bed and decides to close her eyes. All the homework she has will just be work for tomorrow as she drifts into a deep sleep.

But, that sleep never arrives. Red tosses and turns, she covers herself in blankets before stripping it off, but there is nothing. She couldn’t find that sleep she desperately craved. Her brain just drifts into thoughts of her previous day. However, her focus catches on one particular girl. She thinks about Marjorine and how goddamn gorgeous she was in that dress. How she delivered lines with a beauty that it didn’t even matter that Red didn’t know she was saying. Her brain thinks about every moment with the blonde, how she was sweet, sweeter than Red had ever known. She thinks about how cute it was that she went out of her way to get a bunch of people Valentine’s Day cards. She thinks about those soft pink lips that had a faint lipstick on them. How nice it would be to kiss them and smear that makeup right off.

Red sat up and her eyes widened. What the hell was she thinking? She didn’t like Marjorine. She was a dork! She was a pick-me and a jerk! She was… perfect. Red stared at her wall, realizing what was going through her mind. She liked Marjorine and she couldn’t tell anyone. If she called Bebe or Wendy, they either wouldn’t believe her or criticize her. Plus, they didn’t know she liked girls, not even Red knew till right now. She was left alone in her thoughts. Well, maybe not all alone…

“Craig!” She yelled into the phone’s speaker when he finally responded. She had been spam calling him for the last five minutes and he finally responded.

“What the fuck, Red.” He huffed into the phone. “What is so important that you called me like twenty times?” He says, his voice nasally as always.

“How did you know you were gay?” Red asked, she knew how it sounded but it didn’t matter. She wanted a direct answer and she wanted it now.

“Are you serious.” He sounded unimpressed and so done with her.

“Yes! Now answer me!” She hisses.

“I- fuck. I don’t know? It just clicked, like I realized I’ve never liked a girl the way I like Tweek.”

“That sounds gay.”

“Of course it sounds fucking gay!” Craig rolled his eyes. He was a button away from hanging up and blocking his cousin. “Why are you even asking?” 

“I think… I like girls.” Red sighs. It’s a big revelation for her as she never really thought about it before. Craig is tempted to just say ‘I knew it’ but wants to be supportive of her. He doesn’t really want to invalidate her even if it sounds appealing.

“Really?” He doesn’t bother to fake surprise because even if he was, his voice wouldn’t show it.

“Yeah…” She closes her eyes and lays on her bed. She looks out the window where it is softly snowing outside.

“So. What made you realize it… or who?” Craig asked.

“Promise not to laugh?” She asks and he hums in response. Red groans and murmurs “Marjorine.” She is met with a snort on the other end of the line and she huffs. “Craig!”

“I just wasn’t expecting that. Marjorine? Marjorine Stotch?”

“Yes…” Red places her hand on her face. At least Craig isn’t the judgemental, well, not more judgemental than normal. “I don’t know what to do…”
“You should tell her.” 

“Oh god no! That would just ruin me! She’d say no and if Bebe and Wends found out… I’d be done for.” Red groans. She doesn’t even want to think what would happen if she asked the blonde girl out.

“Well, you’ll never know. Plus, it’s not like you to care about what your friends think.”

“I know. I know.” Red sighs. “I’m just conflicted. I mean, I shouldn’t care but I just feel weird.”

“Don’t be a pussy.”

“Oh fuck you.” Red huffs. She knows Craig’s never been one for relationship advice. He’s only been in one his whole life and that started in elementary and somehow still going strong. Red closes her eyes and thinks. “I don’t know if I even want to date her.”

“Well, do you want to kiss her? Or like hold her and shit?” Craig groans and asks. “Do you want to go on dates with her and stuff?”

“...” Red goes silent before muttering loudly. “Fuck.”

“Well, that's my answer.” Craig shrugs. “Red, I’d say go for it. What do you even have to lose? You get rejected, you move on. She accepts, you get a girlfriend.”

“I hate to say it but you’re right.” Red sighs and looks at her phone which is almost dead. “I have to go. Thanks, Craig.”
“Whatever.” He says and Red hangs up the phone. Red now just has to figure out when, she’s not one to wait things out but… she’s confused. Does she want to do this? When would be the perfect time? She’ll just have to wait and see.

The week flew by, Red had been busy with school and the tech rehearsals. She keeps wanting to talk to Marjorine but never finds the time. She can’t just walk up to her during school cause then Bebe would be on her ass. She tried during the tech-rehearsals but they were packed with work so she never could get more than a conversation in with Marjorine. They shared a few words and smiles here and there, but it just wasn’t enough for the redhead. It was now opening night for the show and Red stood in the lobby. She’s dressed in a black tee-shirt and pants. The show would take place in one hour and the cast is backstage getting ready. She looks around and sees some roses for sale. It’s one rose for a few dollars and you can address it to a cast member with a personal note. Red sees Kyle next to the roses, getting one for free. He writes a note and addresses it to some person in the cast. Red can’t see who it’s to but doesn’t pry. She walks over to him and grabs a rose.

“We get these for free, right?”
“Since we’re working, we get one for free.” He answers, looking up from his note. He ties it to the rose and puts it in the vase. Red nods and watches him walk backstage. Red sighs and looks at the roses, the thorns carefully removed from each and every one of them. Red picks up a rose, a paper already tied to it. She begins writing a note addressed to the blonde that had frequently crossed her mind. It wasn’t an outright love letter but it might as well be since Red had signed her name as ‘With love, Red.’ It was the closest she’ll get at this moment so might as well go for it. Red puts it next to Kyle’s rose before walking backstage. The cast is all getting ready and Marjorine is glammed out in that elegant ebony dress. She is applying last minute make-up and it makes Red melt. She looks so gorgeous like this, her lips are so kissable. How could some dorky and cute girl look so fancy and beautiful. Red shakes the thought off and picks up some of the things dropped on the floor as to clean up. One of the scripts is on the floor and all of Olivia’s lines are highlighted. She picks it up and places it in front of Marjorine.

“Here, you dropped it.” Marjorine looks over and smiles nervously. She looks sickly pale.

“Oh… thank you Red.” Her voice is shaky and looks at the script.

“You nervous?” She asks and the dressed up girl nods. “Don’t worry, you’ve got this. Trust me, you were great during tech-rehearsal and you’ll be great now.” Red places her hand on Marjorine’s shoulder. Marjorine looks at her and nods. Both of them blush slightly from the touch but refuse to mention it. Red reluctantly removes her hand and goes back to cleaning up. She has to make sure everything is in place. Time passes quickly and they hear the sounds of the house filling up. Red gives Marjorine one more thumbs up before getting into the wings where some of the cast. The show begins and it all goes as planned. A few lines here and there are missed but the audience doesn’t notice. When staying in the wings, Red watches Marjorine with desire. She never knew how she didn’t realize it before. Marj just makes her feel happy in a way she never felt before. Seeing her like this, all proper and fancy, makes her beautiful. But… When is she not?

The show ends and the cast all goes for bows. The stagehands move all the sets back and relax as their work for the night is done. Red sighs and goes out the back door of the theater. It’s late at night, around nine-thirty and she looks up at the snow. It’s cold but not too bad even though she’s in a plain tee-shirt. She takes a deep breath in and stands there for a few moments, taking in the moment around her. After a few minutes, she hears the backdoor open and someone approaches her. She doesn’t look to see who it is.

“What are you doing out here?” A soft voice asks, a voice that makes Red’s entire body freeze up.

“Just… needed a fresh breath of air.” Red replies, still gazing at the snow. “Why aren’t you with your family?”

“I didn’t really want to be with them right now.” She murmurs and goes silent. The two stand there in the snow, the only sounds are the faint talking in the theater next to them. “I got your rose. It was really nice of you.” Red looks over to Marjorine as she says this. She notices that Marj is holding the rose and smiling faintly at Red.

“Well, yeah. Uhm.” Red gulps and looks out to the moon. “You did great so you deserved something.”

“Well, thank you.” Marjorine smiles and steps a bit closer to Red. “You did great moving the sets around, it takes a lot of muscle to do that.”

“Oh, uhm, it was nothing.” Red chuckles nervously. 

“I’m sure you had a good time with it too. Considering who you got to spend a bunch of time with.” Marjorine says, almost sadly. Red’s eyes shoot open as she glances at Marjorine. How the hell does she know that Red likes her? Was she that obvious? And why was she sounding sad about it? Oh god. It’s over. Red stares at the blonde with pure shock and doesn’t speak. Somehow, Marjorine knows about Red’s crush on her and now probably hates her for it. Oh god, oh fuck, oh-

“I’m talking about your crush on Kyle.” Marjorine continues and looks away. She’s trying to hide looking disappointed but for an actress, she isn’t very good at it. Red’s mouth is agape and she doesn’t know what to say.

“My what ?” She finally spits out Marjorine scratches her neck nervously.

“Heidi accidentally let it slip to me when she saw you guys talking… I mean, he’s a real nice guy but-”
“Wait, so Heidi told you I had a crush on Kyle?” Red asks, remembering the lie she told her friends.

“Well, yeah…”

“Marjorine… Can I tell you something?” Red asks and she nods in response. Red takes a long breath, the fog visible from the cold. “I never liked Kyle. I just said that to get my friends off my back. He isn’t my type.” Red explains and she can see Marjorine visibly relax from that.

“Oh, okay.” Marjorine looks at her and tilts her head like some sort of puppy. “But why? Why would you need your friends off your back?”

“Cause, I like someone else. Someone they wouldn’t want me to like.”

Silence.

“Who?” Marjorine finally asks as they stand there. Red doesn’t reply and just looks at her with a soft expression. She doesn’t get the hint though and tries to ask “Is it-”
“It’s you, Marj.” Red blurts out, interrupting her. She pauses and sighs, her gaze finding the ground. “It’s you, Marj. I like you. And I probably shouldn’t but I do.” Red doesn’t want to look at Marjorine, it’s too humiliating. She sighs and keeps her eyes fixed on the floor.

“I…” Marjorine tries to form a sentence but can’t. She stammers before taking a long breath in. “I like you too, Red.”

“What.” Red looks up, her eyes meeting Marjorine’s blue ones. The blonde nervously bit her lip and nodded. 

“I-” She sighs. “Can I kiss you, Red?”

No fucking way. Marjorine, Marjorine Stotch , had just asked permission to kiss her. Red stared at her with a blank expression, her brain barely processing what was happening.

“God, yes.” She finally breathed out. She nervously stepped towards the blonde girl who looked down at her. Both of them were as nervous as can be. Red felt soft hands cup her face as she looked up. Marjorine was around two-three inches taller and craned her neck down. Their lips finally met and Red swore she saw fireworks. Her eyes fluttered shut and her hands found the blonde’s shoulders. She hummed slightly as they kissed. It was clumsy, their noses bumping into each other but neither of them cared. They were kissing and that’s all that mattered to Red. After a few seconds, they broke apart and Marjorine rested her forehead against Red’s. She giggled softly, a sound Red would kill to hear.

“I really liked that.” She murmurs and keeps Red’s face in her hands. Red sighs contently and whispers “me too.”

After a long, comfortable silence between the two, Red finally says “My friends are gonna kill me.”

“Who gives a fuck what they think?” Marjorine responds, her voice still soft. This causes Red to laugh at Marjorine’s honesty.

“You’re right.” She smiles softly. “So, what does this make us?”

“I dunno… but I like it.” Marjorine sighs.

“I do too.”