say anything

The moment Sage was smiling in his general direction, Reggie’s night started looking a whole lot more enjoyable. Plus, it would be a lot easier to evade the glares from his long forgotten Candyland date if he was focused solely on Sage. “Yeah? Thought I would break out my fancy church clothes for someone other than God,” he joked before he was doing a twirl of his own, trying to show off his fit. He couldn’t have been happier about his decision to say sayonara to his old depressive habits of locking his friends out of his life. Ever since he had allowed himself the pleasures of friendship with the two of them? Reggie felt insane happiness. He was just lucky that they had left a spot open for him in their hearts after so much time. “Ohhhhh shit,” Reggie began as soon as he heard Sage’s playful tone breaking out, raising a finger to shake in her general direction. “Hermey came armed with jokes a plenty tonight, huh?” The laughter that exited his body felt like the most natural thing in the world. Once they neared the punch table, Reggie made quick work of pouring them both a cup - of course making quite the mess by dribbling all over the table cloth. It was a Candy Motta party, after all, why wouldn’t he purposely cause a mess? “Not sure, that’s why I thought it was my safest bet by stealin’ the attention of the only person worthy of talking to me,” he teased, handing over the punch cup before he was sipping from his own. As he drank, his eyes peered around the establishment for just where his date had ended up. After finding her angry eyes rather quickly, he focused back on Sage. “I’m having fun now. My date ended up being a dud, not to be rude. I’m sure she’s great. She’s just not uh-” a pause as Reggie tilted his head to the side and smiled at her. “Are you having fun, Sage? Your date treating you well?”

if sage had already been enjoying her night, reggie had managed to take it to another level within seconds. engaging in light-hearted discourse with him had been all she wanted for so long, so to suddenly have it back? she was on cloud nine, and it was evident by the toothy grin that hadn’t left her lips from the moment he twirled her. “i’m sure your mom loved that,” sage noted as she watched reggie do an obnoxious twirl of his own. “how many pictures did she take of you before you left the house?” in a lot of ways, terri del monico was the closest thing to a mother figure that sage had. working as one of carl’s office ladies meant that sage had unlimited access to terri, and she’d made sure she took advantage of that. sage was very well aware of the fact that terri was her own brand of crazy, but at the end of the day, she owned her truth. “stop calling me that,” she sighed at reggie’s insane nickname. sage watched as reggie poured the punch into the cups, wincing slightly at the mess he’d made. if there was one person not to cross tonight, it was absolutely candy motta... and sage was sure candy wouldn’t take too highly to reggie’s clumsiness. “i’m glad to know i’ve crossed the threshold of being worthy finally,” she lightly teased. if they couldn’t share a small laugh at reggie’s expense, what was the reunion for?  sage followed reggie’s line of sight to his date, and after releasing a quiet, quick laugh, she focused back on his face. “if looks could kill.” sage returned reggie’s smile as she gazed up at him. “actually? yeah. i’ve been having a lot of fun and jaz..” she glanced around for her date, but came up empty-handed. “is amazing, as per usual. how come i haven’t seen you out there on the dance floor?” 

Candy knew that she could come off as a bitch from time to time, she had a lot of people say it behind her back and in front of her face, but she didn’t care. She could be nice when she wanted to and she would only be mean if she really needed to, but with Sage, Candy felt like that she didn’t need to be like that, especially when the other had been nothing but nice to her. That’s why she had made her way to her and sat across from her, in attempts of trying to talk with the girl and hopefully learn some more things about her. As she looked at Sage, Candy shook her head when she heard the other talk about how she didn’t dance. “Oh please, it’s only for a night! Plus, I’m pretty sure that they’ll be too busy staring at me because of how good I look, so don’t worry about that.” She teased with a small smirk, smiling when the other took her hand – she was glad that she wasn’t left standing, so she quickly started making her way towards the dance floor as she started moving her body along with the music. She had to admit that the songs she had picked were pretty good. As Sage talked about Max, Candy couldn’t help but to think if they were more than just friends, but she wasn’t about to get into that discussion. She had been wrong about that before and she didn’t want to upset Sage. “Listen, I’m not going to lead him on… He’s just good company and we both didn’t have dates, so I decided to ask him. But don’t worry, I didn’t do it to hurt him.” Candy assured the other with a smile.

there was something so refreshingly honest about candy motta. maybe it was the way she spoke her mind, despite repercussions, or the way she clearly didn’t care what everyone thought about her - whatever it was, sage howell found herself enjoying each passing second she spent with candy more and more. while the two, on paper, didn’t seem like they’d get along or be the best of friends, sage couldn’t shake the feeling that she, maybe, she wanted to be. clearly she needed someone like candy in her life - someone who pushed her to open up and step outside of the small box she’d closed herself off in. “you’re probably right,” sage agreed with a soft smile. “you do look amazing.” there was no denying that. candy was someone whose presence always demanded attention, but she was practically glowing on her birthday. as the pair made their way onto the dance floor and started vibing to the music, sage felt all of her prior hesitations fall to the side. “good,” she replied to candy’s insistence she wasn’t out to hurt max. conversation about her best friend could wait. for now, all sage wanted to do was have fun with her new friend?

Candy knew Sage from some of her classes, they would usually chat whenever Candy had the time, but they weren’t exactly best friends. She knew that the girl had a fair share of problems with Rocky Remington, which wasn’t surprising since everyone’s problems since to either revolve around him or Austin Nelson. Either way, Candy knew that Sage was a good person and she just wanted her to have fun at her birthday party. “Thank you, that’s sweet of you.” Candy said with a small smile, once the other wished her a happy birthday and complimented her on the decoration – sure, it was mostly her mom that handled the decorations, like she had done many years before, but she could take the compliment for her. At the other’s comment about not dancing, Candy gasped dramatically but let out a small giggle so the other knew that she was only kidding. “What do you mean you don’t dance? That’s totally unacceptable! You have to dance, it’s a party, little Sage!” She said with a chuckle, before she was getting up from her seat and reaching out her hand so Sage could grab it and dance with her – it seemed like all she did with people that were sitting around was convincing them to dance, but she didn’t care about that. “Oh please, I’ve been giving my attention to everyone all night, they could use a break from the Candy Motta.” She said with a smirk, before nodding her head. “He’s a great guy, I have to admit that. You guys are like best friends, right? I’ve seen that the two are always together.” Candy said with a smile.

candy motta was an enigma to sage. she was popular, rich, and somehow managed to tip-toe the line between kind and mean on a daily basis? regardless, sage knew what people thought of her. dumb, pathetic, and desperate were all words she’d heard whispered about her in the halls, and while some would assume candy motta would carry that kind of energy towards sage, she never had. whatever the motive was behind candy’s kindness, sage didn’t care. she appreciated the kindness, and in the depths of her heart, sage hoped it would lead to more genuine friendships - something she’d realized she was severely lacking post-rocky. “no, no,” she protested at candy’s laughter. “i know how to dance. i just choose not to?” being up and in front of people was not sage’s cup of tea. the thought of everyone’s eyes on her was enough to make her skin crawl. “candy..” she shook her head as the blonde stood up and held out her hand. seeing as it was her birthday, sage sighed and relenting, placing her palm in the others’ as she slid out of the booth. “one song,” she warned. nothing more. “yeah,” sage replied, the grin on her face unavoidable. max fabray was a truly amazing person, and she’d never miss the opportunity to hype him up. “he’s been there for me in some pretty shitty times. just...” she trailed off, eyeing candy closely. “be gentle with him, okay? if you’re not into him into him, don’t lead him on.”

REGGIE: ahahahaha um yeah i think so?

REGGIE: i know u do lol but yea go ahead thats fine

REGGIE: actually dont even worry about it its no big deal!!! ill just go and sit w someone

REGGIE: u know what maybe ill listen in next time then

REGGIE: alright fair lmao

REGGIE: just so u know i meant like... i could tell her i was hanging w u bc we would be at the regionals thing like, together ya know? not just using u as some excuse

REGGIE: js lol

SAGE: are you asking me to go to julien's competition with you?

REGGIE: im going to be honest i have no idea. my eyes usually glaze over whenever he talks about it

REGGIE: oh thats cool. i was just gonna tell my mom i was hanging out w u bc she might kill me if she knows i went to a ND thing lmao but ill just say im hanging w tracy or something

SAGE: you should listen! it's really sweet how excited he gets about it :)

REGGIE: yo are u going to that glee thing this weekend

REGGIE: im only asking bc i was gonna ask off work to go for julien and stuff

SAGE: regionals, right? i feel like i remember julien saying this.

He nodded his head and looked at her when she talked. He didn’t feel too much passion from her about it, but he wasn’t that picky so he figured - what the hell - why not go and check it out. What was the worst that could happen. Plus he wasn’t sure what he would even give up to join the club. He wasn’t giving up Cheer or New Directions and then he loved having Student council on his resume - so he was fully sure he could dedicate time to the club. But he learned loving about every club they had to offer - so he would definitely go and check it out. He smiled brightly at her and nodded again.  “Okay, if it gets too religious then I will have to dip. But there’s no reason not to drop by and give it a shot, right?” He looked at the other and shifted his books into another arm. “So count me in. But I can’t stay too long, because I have some cheers to whip up into shape.” He didn’t really know who all was in the club, so he hoped that it was no one that he had issues with. “So what has been up with you, Ms. Sage.” He looked at her with a bright expression. “I haven’t had the chance to check up on you. Everything with you going okay?” He always wanted to be the friend that people could rely on - whether he was there as an listening ear or someone to go punch a douchebag in the face for them. 

📚

“i get that,” sage tried her best to reassure sam. “and so will everyone else. celibacy club is genuinely more relaxed than the other clubs around here. honestly, max will just be excited to have a new face. he might talk your ear off,” a smile grew on sage’s lips as she talked about her best friend. “but he’s harmless,” a pause before adding, “like a little puppy.”  a lab even. that was the thing about max fabray. sage had never met someone that didn’t absolutely love him, and she was reminded on a daily basis just how lucky she was to be able to call him her best friend. “how are the cheerios going?” sage didn’t really give a shit about the cheerios, or their success, but she cared about sam. “it’s fine.” knowing the edge to her tone didn’t support the answer, sage continued. “or it’s going to be fine.” a pause. “how are you? it’s been a while since we really caught up.”

At the sound of Sage mimicking him, Reggie couldn’t help the way he bit down on his lower lip in order to stop the ever growing smile on his lips. The smallest showing of any friendly banter between the two of them was enough to send Reggie strolling down the happy mental streets in his head, but he couldn’t get too into his head. There was still so much that needed to be spoken between the two of them… but did that really mean they couldn’t laugh and enjoy their time together? Serious times could come, but at a fucking party on a random Friday in January? It didn’t seem very fitting. 

“Rocky,” Reggie repeated the idiotic sounding name, putting a harder emphasis on the ‘R’ than he needed to. Truth be told, Reggie wasn’t a fan of Rocky. He had barely interacted with the kid before, but after seeing the way it was so easy to make the smile crash land off of Sage’s face? That was all the interacting that Reggie wanted from him - but still, Reggie kept his full attention glued to Sage. It didn’t matter how much Reggie disagreed or disapproved of her relationship (which was apparently still an issue?) with Rocky because he simply hadn’t been there through all of the hard times. It didn’t matter how much he knew because it hadn’t come from Sage. “My lips are shut,” Reggie said with a lazy bout of laughter as he threw his hands up in defense. He had a thousand things that he could say in this moment, but it wasn’t the right time - especially whenever Sage was joining him on the floor. “I know I don’t,” he started before he realized his eyes had been focused on her for a little bit too long than might have been acceptable. Reggie laughed awkwardly before he was reaching over and grabbing the bottle by the neck from Sage’s hands. He took a hearty swig from it before he was shrugging his shoulders. “I dunno, I was just hangin’ out. Nothing spectacular. And then I saw you looking like you were sad and really? A total party killer so I’m glad you’re at least… hopefully… on the way to a better mood?” Reggie delivered his words with a final chuckle before he was handing the bottle back over to her. “You look a whole lot better whenever you’re smiling so I just wanna… help. Rocky out of the picture and having the best night of your life smiling kind of help.”

😚

“with sterling,” sage clarified. anyone who read the muckraker last year knew the background behind those two names paired together. sterling was rocky’s best friend, and sage would be lying if she said she never had concerns when it came to their friendship. ultimately, rocky had always assured her nothing was happening (despite the fact that they had previously dated). in the end, sage realized she should have trusted her gut more. she’d never forget the nausea  and heartbreak that washed over her upon walking in on them in a compromising position... a feeling that had subsided over time until tonight when she saw rocky’s smile, one that had been previously reserved for her, aimed at sterling as her dragged her into the bedroom. maybe it was stupid to think that rocky was coming back to her after two weeks of hooking up, but sage’s track record of being smart when it came to boys wasn’t exactly stellar. 

regardless of how she felt about rocky, sterling, or the two of them together,  sage couldn’t deny that reggie’s lighthearted presence was making her feel better - or, at least, forget about the issue at hand. “did you just call me a party killer?” sage questioned, a lazy smile hanging on her lips as she glanced down at the ground. in some regard, reggie was right. no one like the brokenhearted, mopey girl at a party. and that was exactly what she was. “you are helping,” sage reassured him, and if words weren’t enough to convey that sentiment, she hoped the smile that hadn’t left her lips was. “i’ve missed you.” that was the truth. after growing up together, reggie (and julien and kenna) had become a staple in sage’s life. ultimately, good friends were exactly the thing she needed right now. as sage went to grab the bottle back from his hands, she felt the vibration of her phone in her pocket. she didn’t have to look to know who it was was. “my dad’s here,” a pause after peeling herself off the ground. “see you around, reg?”