Work Text:
Competition one-shot fanfic
Deep in the hatchetfield school, past the bustling cafeteria, filled with giggling cheerleaders and arguing nerds eating soggy broccoli and canned Alfredo pasta. Past the solid brick hallways, all too similar to a teenage prison, with cringy posters and exposed air conditioning vents that blew lukewarm air on the passersbys. There stood, out of the way, a door leading to a ladder riddled with scuffs.
The auditorium was alive with pings and YouTube audio playing skit after skit with well-timed comedy accuracy that flooded the seats with sound. A common instance that occurred every Friday during the chess club's lunchtime meetings.
The source scuffled around on a padded chair, lugged up from a favor from a blackmailed football player who was played early on in the year with secrecy. The secret that the two contributors had been friends at one time was acknowledged and never talked about. The wheels squeaked back and forth as Ruth Fleming sat fidgeting and pushing off the light booth's walls over and over.
A well-hacked school computer sits on the knobs on the lightboard feet away. Carefully placed so as not slip down onto one of the more delicate lights. Upon its screen a Danny Gonzales video plays, set at a low audio, made for the occasional pause from the phone for a well-deserved snicker. Ruth’s braced teeth scrape into her tongue, biting into it in concentration as she tilts the screen closer to her face. She blinked as hard as she could, as if it would magically make her contacts work better, even though she knew that it wouldn't work, considering her prescription didn't work well in contacts. But she did not need another point for Max to make fun of her for, so she suffered with the plastic as well as she could. Down below her feet, her lunch sits abandoned on the floor, set far away enough to not get rolled over as she had learned months ago to do.
“I'm not the fucking imposter!” Ruth exclaimed at the screen, stamping her foot against the wall. She types furiously into her phone, muttering under her breath about the 8-year-olds that flock to the chat. “If I were sus, I would have killed the snitch who keeps accusing me… stupid…. FUCKING WHAT!” The clicking of the thrown-out scene plays across her screen, indicating that she was telling the truth. The short girl groaned and sat back, shutting off the tech with a huff of annoyance.
“Stupid 7th graders and their lack of cognitive ability. They can’t even tell that someone named ‘hellokittymissy’ can be a lying dick...” she mocks the name to herself.
She threw her hands down into a pouty, folded arms over her bright red jeans, sinking into the cushion with a deep sigh. She reached out near the computer and, with a flick of her well-chewed fingernail, the spotlight frizzled to life onto the scuffed concrete stage. Ruth stretched out and scrambled her curls into a messy frizz around her headgear before she again leaned back to get a solid grip on the plastered floor. Slowly, she walked forward, still sitting, and wheeling her chair over to the edge of the booth. Carefully, she sat up to put her arms over the wall and to stare out at the stage with a longing that, she wouldn't admit, got to her more than she let out.
If it wasn't for her stupid anxiety or her leaky pits, she could be the star of the show. She could be just as great as Katilyn thinks her own acting is, better even! If only she got that shot… and wasn't such a geek, a well-reminded fact by the jocks who told her every day. Her confidence was shot down by now from her prison walls. Soon, she would be free to live life outside of high school. After everything she had endured, she would be an adult who could go out and go to any college and live a swirly free life.
Speaking of college, she supposed she should be doing homework during the days that Richie and Pete were busy, but where was the fun in that? She wondered if anyone did homework outside of class that wasn't essays. She certainly didn't. That might be a nerd thing, though, the procrastination. Maybe Grace did, it seemed like something she would do to suck up to teachers. Grabbing a sandwich from her nearby lunch bag, she carefully removed her headgear to eat, setting it in her backpack slowly and sat back staring at the video that she had no idea what was going on in. Her mind started to wander, and her eyes fuzzed over, until a familiar voice poked up through the noise.
“Hello? Is there anyone here?” Ruth stood up suddenly. Making her vision go black and her head spin till she felt nauseous. She gripped the edge to steady herself, and when she had earned her consciousness back, she sneakily leaned over the wall to take in the auditorium.
A hand-drawn sign poked from behind the open curtains connected to a body that stood in the wings just out of view. Damn it, it was Chastity. She was so screwed, Grace had given her detention for less than eating in the locked area before. Quickly, she ducked down on the floor, grabbing the computer as she went down, slamming it closed, and holding it tight to her white hot topic star wars t-shirt. Praying that the supposed saint didn't see her. If she had any luck, she had locked the door leading to the ladder, but she couldn't remember for the life of her.
“I can hear someone, it's sinful to hide from an authority figure like a school hall monitor!” Ruth could hear Grace's echo, meaning that the teenager was on the stage, the same one she had been reminiscing about not a second ago. God, Grace was sexy, but there was no way she was getting detention; her mom would kill her. And if she were dead, she couldn’t hang out at the movie theater tomorrow!
“Leave, leave, leave, leaveeeeee please leave,” she whispered to herself, waiting a few moments listening to the shuffling of well-dressed feet. Slowly, she reached towards her lunch in case this took longer than she wanted it to. Being allergic to so many things, she had to pack her own lunch, even if she didn't have to; the school lunch was so terrible it wasn't worth it. She slowly ate her sandwich as she heard Grace snoop around the seats, begging she didn't hear the chewing in the eerily quiet auditorium, and have it lead her to nerd.
She felt like she was in a terribly conceived horror game. All it was missing was the cheesy visuals and jump scares, and overall, playing I Scream last night did not help in the slightest. She had stayed up till 2 am playing it together with Richie; her streak at being terrible at the games had held up the entire time, as usual. She regretted the choice wholeheartedly at the moment cause all he could hear was her heart pounding as cold dread weighed her down into the cold floor. Making her feel like the unlikely victim of a horror villain instead of a slightly annoying 18-year-old.
Grace was nice on occasion, but the power got to her head very quickly when she was named the monitor this year. Even though it gave her little to no power over the actual problems from the school monarchy. There was no way the trio could eat lunch in the space again if she knew this was the nerds' usual hiding spot from getting food dumped on them in the cafeteria. And if Ruth got caught, she would lose the key that Miss Mulberry had given her for weekends when she wanted to work on the lighting boards' wires. Her knack for making sure that the spotlights gave just the right amount of light had given her the opportunity, but Miss Mulberry would absolutely listen to the resident tattletale over her.
How did Grace even know she was in here? She hadn't seen her since the two had fought a couple of days ago in the parking lot. All because Grace had somehow jimmied her own way into her minivan and placed a bible on the seat and set out to completely cover her dashboard with Bible quotes so that she could read up on “the lord's teachings.” The resulting screaming match between the two had leaked into the fifth period after lunch, making Ruth get lunch detention and Grace missing one of her teacher aides. The other nerds had gossiped about it for days behind Ruth’s back, and to be honest…
Grace was really hot when she yelled, in Ruth's opinion. At this point, she loved to play with her nerves to get her mad. Pete called it sadistic, but it was so satisfying to see her chestnut hair flying back and forth out of her hairclips as she berated someone. Who could really resist a hot lady who yells at her and wants the “best” for Ruth in her own twisted, Christian way? Wait. wait, wait, wait. That gave her an idea!
She carefully stood up, peeking over the barrier. Below her gaze in the middle of the rows walked Grace, carefully picking her way through the seats and thoroughly inspecting them. She hadn't looked at the hidden light booth yet; the room was in the dark high above her, so Ruth was willing to take the risk.
Slowly, Ruth gathered her things and crept down to the square of the floor and fell to the main area near the lobby. Step by step, avoiding the creaks, Ruth stepped down the stairs and reached the soundtrack area. As she raised her head, she found herself locking eyes with Grace, who was staring directly at her through the tinted windows.
Ruth's heart raced, and she jumped up into the wall and banged her head against one of the ladder rings. She covered her mouth to not let out a squeal, but somehow Grace didn't see her through the dark screen dividing them. She could tell by the way she fixed her hair in the reflection while glossy-eyed. A sigh escaped her lips. The lack of hair whistling through metal brought to her attention that she had forgotten to put her headgear back on in all the confusion. Her mind debated putting it off now or completing her task. She ultimately decided it needed to be done now, or Grace was going to notice a figure in the windows if she stared hard enough.
Ruth carefully creeped towards the sound board, lowering beneath Grace's line of sight slowly. When she was fully behind the buttoned table she raised her hands above the level. Typing in the password to the connected computer full of old and new soundtracks bought by the school. She peeked up to the screen searching for her desired song. And soon she found it.
The auditorium crackled to life as the roaring audio of a wallows song caught the attention of Grace who snapped her head to the ceiling a scroll playing on her lips but if Ruth had looked a little closer she would have seen the smile playing on the corners of her mouth.
“I know you’re here now! Come out now!” Grace sped walked to the stage, giving Ruth her opportunity. She smiled deviously and adjusted the straps of her backpack as she started to crawl out of the room. She pushed through the squeaky door, its rusty hinges covered with one of her favourite songs. She crawled on her hands and knees through a string of seats right outside of the booths door, all while humming along to the lyrics:
Cut my heart in half!
Give it back, when you talk like that
Maybe all and all when you call
Get a heart attack
An alto softly joined in on the song harmonizing with Ruth's quiet soprano underneath her breath.The voice was low beneath the music and catching Ruth's attention as it came from where Grace had disappeared in the wings. The voice grew louder and Ruth sat listening to what could be Grace's voice echoing along with the poppy music. Almost forgetting her mission her heart slowed and a shiver was sent through her body. Blossoming into a warmth that enveloped her. Ruth’s voice grew to accompany the others. And as Grace stepped back out to the area her feet kept with the music.
Ruth changed directions, moving towards Grace instead of away from her. She didn't know what came over her but she felt a need to be closer no matter the cost. The voices were equal with the song now, Ruth's soprano and Grace's alto twirling together in a duet Ruth had always dreamed about performing.
Grace was almost full on dancing now, lost in the lyrics and she was almost unsurprisingly really bad at dancing. Even Ruth that had flunked out of tap could giggle at it. But for the first time that Ruth had ever seen in person, Grace was having… fun!
“You need the right man” Grace sang out doing a little point to the nonexistent audience and Ruth's heart almost melted. She sang back “I am the right man” behind her lyrics, half believing her words. She had never seen this side of Grace and it was dare she said, even hotter then when she was yelling at her. Her happy face left a feeling in Ruth’s heart that she couldn't place.
You need the right man(i am the right man)
You need the right man
Ruth stood as Grace turned away from her, and she moved before she could think how bad of an idea it was to sneak up on someone who came to give her detention. She pulled herself up on the stage, grunting from the extra gumption needed to due to her relatively small stature not made for the platform. Grace continued singing accompanied by a small swaggery dance based in swinging arms and twirls. Her mind was stuck in the song as if she had also forgotten her purpose there just like Ruth had.
Just wait till we’re together love
I'll tell you everything I’m thinking offfff-
Grace turned and Ruth found herself staring into the girl's eyes as the music stalled. She felt stuck to the floor in her gaze as if honey covered her feet. There she drowned in her autumn eyes, vibrant with life as she breathed hard in and out, holding her back to keep her stature.
Ruth fidgeted in her confused stare, but didn't let herself look away from pure pride. Her face grew hot as she studied Grace's red, sweaty face sporting the remains of a soft grin of pure happiness from underneath her usual mask. She pondered it before her face once again hardened into a pissed scowl.
“It’s you?!” She gasped, her breath still gone from dancing so hard on the stage in her awkward way. “I thought you were at chess club?” How Grace knew that Pete and Richie had chess and didn't know that she had quit a couple months ago even though she had never told anyone that was something that Ruth could not place. She had sworn the boys to secrecy so there was no way they could have told her if they ever did talk to her in the first place. “I thought someone had broken into the auditorium but of course it's just you” She dismissed folding her arms over her chest disappointed.
Music blared above the two's head and Grace’s eyes flickered in embarrassment to the source in the ceiling quickly and back to the nervous nerd.
“Whats that supposed to mean, Chasity?” Ruth accused. Mimicking the arms folding but succeeded in only having to awkwardly back up from their close proximity, before throwing her arms together. Missing twice before landing a comfortable position. “And how the hell do you know this song? I thought you were only into like primary songs and hymns.”
“ I can like a pop song, Ruth” Grace deadpanned, looking at Ruth through narrowed eyes. Ruth had studied in her face multiple times they were yelling at each other. She would say not in a weird way but it was a very weird way. And she could tell that there was that unreadable gleam in her eyes that Ruth always saw right before she would stutter and stop an argument. “And I mean that it makes sense that YOU would be willing to eat in a barred off area.”
“I have a KEY, Grace. I'm allowed in here,” she emphasised. Pleading that Grace wouldn't confirm that fact, because she had no idea if she actually was allowed to be in here during school hours. But her sources pointed towards no. Especially since Miss Mulberry had always tutted disapprovingly at her drama students who asked to stay in the auditorium before school. And she doubted she didn't feel the same about Ruth being in here for lunch. She looked down to avoid Grace's eyes and caught Grace's foot still tapping to the beat of the song ending, unintentionally. “If anything why are you allowed in here, you here to dance?” she proudly teased with a smirk.
Grace's face grew more red and fumbled over her words. “ I mean there's, um, why I was just luring you out. Yes, I knew that you would get distracted”
“I thought you didn't know I was in here?” Ruth pointed out triumphantly. She was finally winning against someone she had seen once argue for an hour about weed birds to some random chic on the side of the road when she was sitting in beanies looking out the window. That was more than she'd ever think she'd be able to get from her.
“I- I! Stephy said someone was in here so really I should have guessed you were here since you are here every other day, so i was close in my guess and it worked so there." Grace gathered together, shoving out her best answer.
‘Fucking snitch’ Ruth thought. Of course Stephanie would mess with her like this, the temptress. One date with Pete after he got the shit punched out of him was not enough for her to forgive her for the whole, Pete getting the shit beat out of him. And now she was smoking out her hiding spots? Wait if Grace knew she was here, why hadn't she reported it? That was like her favorite thing to get Ruth in trouble! besides like the Bible or attempting to convert everyone to being holy or something. But seriously that did not track, what kind of low budget porn script was this??
Another song had started above them some abba song or whatever, but Ruth could barely pay attention to it. “Stephanie was messing with you Grace. And if anything her ass is sexy but why are you of all people sucking up to it?”
Grace cringed and blushed furiously “ RUTH! What in the heck are you even talking about!”
“Oh read some porn Grace , that's not that bad.” Ruth rolled her eyes. She sighed.
“See this is why I was surprised you were the one in here. No perverted insane person could have a good music taste! It's an oxymoron in its own sense!” Grace retorted. Her face fell. “I mean -uh-um.”
Ruth stood still staring at amazement at Grace. “You- you like my music? Damn Chasity… you want my tongue down your throat so baddd” She smirked wide switching from touched to smug and Grace's disappointed eyes said it all. But if Ruth looked hard enough she could almost see a snicker from the way she pulled at the ends of her mouth to bring down a smile.
“Ruth, good criminy. You kno-” Grace stopped at the sight of the hand coming into focus in front of her. Ruth smiled wide, she swayed back to the stupid sounding song. “No, what are you doing?! Thats- what? You- you this isn’t how you win anything! This is so typical”
Ruth shrugged, still grinning, “and yet who's the better dancer though.” she flounced away to the middle of the stage. Anxiety poured through her but this was the coolest thing she could ever do and if she didn't shoot her shot she would be thinking about it for the rest of the week. She brought forth her tap dance lessons that barely existed as more than wisps. She carefully flounced around attempting to do a dance that Riuchie had attempted to teach her once.
Grace covered her mouth to hide her smile. And failed miserably as she swayed to the music.
“Come on Grace I thought you liked Abba” Ruth giggled through fast feet, her moves as over empathized as possible. “Is there a man out there” she sang along, “Someone to hear my prayerrrrssss!!!!!!” Grace joined as she held the note and carefully joined in. Slowly growing in confidence as she witnessed Ruth's own cringy dance.
“GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE A MAN AFTER MIDNIGHT!!” the two screamed joyfully. Sending outstretched arms towards each other as dramatically as possible. Ruth awkwardly tried to do a floss failing horribly and bringing up a deep laugh from the two. They dance for what felt like hours but Ruth guessed it was only mere minutes.
As the fast song faded into some theater song and Ruth flopped onto the ground content and gasping for air. Grace giggled like Ruth had never heard before today and sat next to her in a criss cross. Smiling widely she turned her red face, flashing in the stage lights.
“You are so getting detention,” she said through a smile.
Ruth fake gasped “wooooww, after all that” Grace giggled as Ruth lightly hit her with a limp wrist too tired to get up. “ You’d think you'd let it go one time huh?” she teased. And Grace looked down at her carefully.
“Maybe, once. And only once! You got that?!” Grace warned her face was too red to much to take her seriously and Ruth burst into laughter and attempted a mock salute but just ended up in a fit of giggles on the floor.
“I got that.”