* SANTOS !

RENZO: i'm from the century where people say what they fucking mean 😬

RENZO: i've been wanting to study with you for a long time though, highkey.

RENZO: oh you mean you're finally gonna pay me back for chaperonin' your ass for GOTY?

NESSA: be a smart ass, see how far that gets u

NESSA: yeah wbk

RENZO: you're fucking crazy hahaha

RENZO: all of your friends are smarter than me.

RENZO: but i'm also not gonna say no so it's too late to take it back 😘

NESSA: okay what fucking century are u living in?

NESSA: "studying" doesn't mean studying

NESSA: but good, looking fwd to it

NESSA: hey

NESSA: wyd tomorrow after school?

While Frankie was starting to settle her nerves with their current predicament, nothing could have prepared her for the sense of ease that came with catching the shift in V’s body language. It was nice and honestly just made Frankie feel like she wasn’t a complete loss whenever it came to girls. The ego boost she needed. Plus, no matter how much Vanessa tried shoving her straightness down every jock’s throat, there was definitely something else happening here. Frankie wasn’t one to pressure, especially with the… weird past that they shared, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to bite back.

“Tournament,” Frankie whispered before she was near dramatically scribbling that ‘note’ in her notebook. She wasn’t even sure she was going to get enough information out of this interview to write an article, but she could guess enough shit about speech and debate to make it somewhat readable. “I could only wish to have the riveting journalistic skills as Joey,” Frankie said with a smirk as she tilted her head to the side. This had stopped being about the yearbook the second Nessa started playing back with their little game. It was a good back and forth. Speech and debate, who? Frankie’s eyes nearly glazed over as she watched Vanessa literally just… exist in front of her that she nearly missed her question. “Why you tryin’ to hijack my interview?” Frankie asked with a tilt of her head before she was placing the pen behind her ear and folding her hands together on top of the table. “Sage is great. We love Sage,” a pause. “But I don’t think Sage would be able to deliver such a fun interview like you are right now, V. Next question,” another pause occurred as Frankie glanced back down at her mostly blank page of notes. “What’s your uh-,” Frankie grabbed the pen from behind her ear before she was drumming it against the table before looking back up at V. “What’s it like wearing that uniform every single day? Don’t get me wrong, hot, but isn’t it a bit much sometimes?” She mostly just wanted to toss out a very non-subtle compliment, but who cared. Frankie could just claim she was helping Zoe with her articles and couldn’t pass up the chance for this exclusive Vanessa Santos interview. Besides, Cheerios skirt were a whole lot better than speech and debate talk. Especially on her.

🦋

WITH AN UNANTICIPATED heat blossoming onto her cheeks, v cleared her throat. perhaps she’d gotten a little too careless and a little too bold. a dangerous combination. because when frankie called her hot she wanted to run as much as she did want to compliment the other in turn. “ah....huh.” she laughed, shifting in her seat. the vibe had suddenly gone from hot to very, very frigid. “it’s kinda tradition you know, like, we all do it and shit.” she answered with a shake of the head. unable to look at frankie any longer, she stared past the girl and at the clock on the wall. her confidence dissipated with each tick of the minute hand. 

she needed to get out of there.

nessa felt minorly apologetic she hadn’t really given frankie anything other than mixed signals throughout this interview. “look i actually have to run, i forgot i’m supposed to be hosting this speech and debate meeting thing in the library right now.” a lie. “but my final statement will have to be thanks for thinking of me, and you can write something about how speech and debate...fucking....like....i don’t know it empowers me to be more outspoken and it looks great on applications.” hastily rising from her seat, she grabbed her bag and offered a shaky, “let’s not do this again.” before speeding out of the room.

Rora: good idea, i'll just do that

Rora: omg no, i don't want to get slushied, i heard it's horrible!

Nessa: omfg yeah im sure it sucks

Nessa: couldn't be me!

Rora: I mean, you're not wrong :/ but I miss my cute summer and spring clothes!!! my dresses are my life

Nessa: wear them out and on the weekends!

Nessa: ur newer, ppl like, might not recognize it without it on

Rora: SOS!! THIS IS URGENT

Rora: Which one should I wear tomorrow? It's a Monday so I'm trying to dress to IMPRESS

Rora: Option 1 https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f0/bb/94/f0bb943a55a6947025b86046f5cba230.jpg

Rora: Option 2

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/95/25/3e/95253ebc39a82520a1d1b7215576fb51.jpg

Rora: I need opinions plssss

Nessa: girl just wear ur cheerios uniform like the rest of us!!

Frankie felt like an absolute idiot. It had been one of her worse plans to interview Vanessa, but she had misinterpreted what her body was telling her that she needed. Things between her and Vanessa might have been fleeting and a little while ago, but it still didn’t erase the way that Frankie was feeling weirdly out of her element. Finn had been her girlfriend for a brief amount of time, but Frankie’s utter lack of game? It was all the proof necessary that she had actually had some true feelings for the girl. Now, she was left looking like a bumbling idiot. She needed to step up her game. She needed to do something so Ness didn’t start thinking she had become a fucking loser. “Dangerous statement,” Frankie said with a laugh, her nerves hopefully not being too apparent in the way the noise sounding leaving her body. Come on Francesca.

“I mean I see nothing wrong with those things, so you won the debate in my mind,” Frankie said with a smile before she was jotting some notes down in her notebook. It wasn’t a lot, but she could spin it well enough. However, any positivity that Frankie might have been feeling quickly left her body whenever Ness was speaking her next batch of words. With a laugh, Frankie rolled her eyes before she tried defending herself as much as possible, “do I want to write for the schools yearbook? No, but I like writing enough to do that,” she paused for a moment, allowing her eyes to glance over all of Vanessa’s features. She was still definitely hot. “And there’s no leash, by the way.” It was an unnecessary add-on, but maybe the best way to start feeling like herself again was to act like she was nothing more than Frankie Puckerman. Not someone’s girlfriend. As Nessa leaned back into her seat, Frankie leaned more against the table in between them. “No, I have plenty of good questions. Next question, do you know you’re in an interview right now and not a speech and debate meet…? Are they called meets? Tournaments?” Frankie smiled as soon as she met Vanessa’s eyes, tilting her head to the side. The interview was shit, but at least Frankie was having fun.

🦋

VANESSA WAS SKEPTICAL of just who frankie puckerman had become based off this interview. she wasn’t convinced that this was the badass, clowning, drug dealer everyone seemed to speak highly of. that doubt was playing clearly across her unimpressed expression. it wasn’t until frankie uttered a simple statement that the tense discomfort broke. ‘there’s no leash, by the way.’ she informed. v could no longer suppress the smile that had wormed it’s way on to her face. “noted.” she said flatly, but locked eyes with frankie as she did. in an instant the vibe had gone from stiff to charged. well aware of her current situation she knew it wasn’t wise to meet the other with a flirtatiously challenging stare, or cross her legs, or flip her hair at just the right moment in an attempt of driving frankie wild, but she did it anyway. though she was crouched deeply within the closet, and could easily dismiss the curiosity of a freshman aged nessa as just that, there was part of her that was confident in the fact that she was so ahead in her little game of chess, she could “slip up” and have fun...just to see how the other would react. 

now crossing her left leg over her right, v folded her hands over her knee and answered, “it’s a tournament.” leaning forward again, she playfully whispered, “by the way, when you said you had better questions i didn’t think you meant like...fucking fondue for two level questions. isn’t this supposed to go in the yearbook?” she laughed. while she kept her gaze level with frankie’s, it became painfully apparent that she wasn’t the only one putting out vibes. part of nessa wanted to stand up out of her chair and demand frankie leave her alone and never speak to her again, but the other was thriving in this sort of energy, and didn’t want to cut their time short. removing her hands from her knee, she reached up and tightened her ponytail as she continued to “interview” frankie in turn by asking a tough question, “why’d you pick me? you could’ve asked sage...”

Ever since Frankie and Finn had broken up, the entire idea of Frankie being in yearbook had kind of soured. Sure, she had never been a stellar member of the extracurricular, but at least whenever they were together, she had tried a little bit. Now, Frankie was stuck with the task of interviewing people from clubs that she couldn’t give a single shit about - that is until she noticed Speech and Debate being on the list. It was a no brainer: Vanessa Santos.

Frankie had no qualms with the girl, especially after all of the fun times they had shared together. At one point, Ness was her go to gal for certain activities, but especially whenever it came to experiencing the world of parties. Things might have gotten… messy and a little blurry around the edges, but Frankie never expected to be dropped because of those moments. Regardless, it had been a lot of mindless stares in the girls direction, which was exactly what she was doing now. Only, it was a lifeless stare anywhere but at the girl seated across from her. This was a bad idea. This was probably one of her worst ideas, but as soon as she was giving her lip and saying something sassy? Frankie sprung into action. Lifting her pen, Frankie made the motion like she was ready to take notes. “Would you like to do this interview or is staring something you’re more interested in? I’m equipped for whatever,” she taunted with a smirk, a sparkle appearing in her eyes. Right, now Frankie remembered why she always had so much fun with Ness. There was just a natural chemistry between the two of them. “So how’s speech and debate? Do you like arguing with losers or?” Frankie drummed her pen against the table top as she stared her down.

🦋

ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED between frankie and nessa was long behind them. at least in vanessa’s eyes it was. but that didn’t stop things from being tense. if she were to bet twenty dollars, she’d be willing to put it up that things would be rigid with herself and eli like they were with frankie right now. while v would like to have faith and trust in people, the reality of life was that people weren’t to be trusted. they were subject to slip ups and messes and error, and as much as it pained her to admit, even she was susceptible to all of those things. with a little glimmer of her liking of girls in the hands of people like frankie and eli, there was absolutely no way she trusted them to keep that secret. humans were opportunistic, just like they were fallible, and she didn’t doubt that her image could suffer if either one of them decided to get testy. 

so if frankie wanted to play speech and debate checkers, nessa would play the chess of life. at frankie’s taunting remark, v scoffed and raised a brow in turn, “it’s your interview, ball’s in your court.” she said as if she couldn’t care less. leaning back in her chair, she crossed her legs and answered the first question, “it’s fine, i like proving people wrong and twisting the more conservative arguments i’m given. like once i argued we should ban all abortion and give men mandatory vasectomies instead.” placing her elbows on her knees, she leaned forward and challengingly tilted her head as she asked frankie, “do you like, actually like doing this shit or is that stuffy ex-girlfriend of yours still got you on a leash?” it was petty, and a low blow, and definitely a clear indicate she’d forgotten the reason she was here. nessa couldn’t seem more unbothered as she leaned back in her seat before asking another question, “is that the best question you’ve got?”

WHO: @frankiepucker​ and vanessa santos. WHEN: weekday, during school. WHERE: yearbook classroom.

WHEN FRANKIE had asked to interview v for the yearbook, she almost said no. frankie and v had undoubtedly come a long way since the beginning of high school, where they had dared to kiss out of curiosity and vanessa had a fascination with frankie’s coming out. those secrets stayed between them, but to any onlooker, they were the classic tale of childhood friends who had entered high school as strong as ever, but drifted further and further due to the demands of social circles and a new environment. obviously, that wasn’t the case. after their age appropriate experimentation, nessa had completely iced out frankie and they hadn’t really spoken ever since.

given their history, v didn’t want to do this interview, yet she sat across from frankie in red plastic chairs ready to give her a piece. playing the levelheaded one, she gave frankie perfectly cool and tamed energy. as she stared at the other with a fabricated relaxed gaze, her chest heaved up and down slightly faster than usual as she tried to calculate what was about to happen within this interview. in attempt to dissolve this tense silence, vanessa cleared her throat, adjusted how her cheerios skirt was splayed around the chair, then looked back up at her interviewer. flatly, she asked, “so are we gonna like, fucking do this interview or stare at each other all class period?”

“Um, alright,” she nods her head, slowly feeling herself giving into the peer pressure. She wasn’t going to get wasted off one little shooter, right? Aurora was a light weight but she felt like she could handle her liquor decently. “Isn’t that the cinnamon kind?” Clearly she wasn’t much of a partier in the way she was questioning the type of booze it was. “I’ll have it, why not?” she finally just said yes. The blonde was pretty popular and needed to prove it.

“YEAH.” v answered casually, then extended the miniature bottle to her. silently, vanessa eyed her as she unscrewed the bottle. getting the vibe she didn’t do this sort of thing very often, nessa tried to offer aurora some support. clapping her hands together, then cupping one around her mouth, she encouraged with a “woo!” once rora had down the drink, she continued whooping and bounced her way excitedly over to the blonde, like this were a regular house party, “look at you!” she exclaimed with a grin, “did you like fucking love it or what?” 

“Umm,” Aurora hums outloud as she was now being offered one of the small shooters. The southern girl hardly drank, if at all. She could probably count the number of times on one hand where she actually had more than a sip of something. Biting down on her lip, she shakes her head. “I really shouldn’t, it is a school night after all,” she tries to make up some stupid excuse to not look super lame. “I mean, what kind is it? Maybe I’ll have a tiny bit of it.”

“YOU’LL BE FINE.” v assured. rora was a mckinley cheerio now,  which meant, more or less, that she was a friend. because of this, nessa was going to be damn sure she felt welcome and was ready to have a fun valentine’s day. flipping the bottle over in her hand to check, she answered, “fireball.” backtracking a moment, she added, “you don’t have to, just figured i’d like let you in on the fun.” that much was true, but truth be told, knowing how innocent she was just based on this conversation alone, vanessa wasn’t exactly sure this was the time and place for a little inevitable corruption.

Lemon’s eyes widened as Nessa just nonchalantly dispensed literal alcohol from the tampon dispensary and threw it her way. Catching the bottle, it took her no time as she popped it open, clinking their tiny bottles together. “You’re actually insane, Santos. I hope you know that,” she said, before downing the liquid, a grimace coming onto Lemon’s face at the bitter taste. “Ugh,” she shuddered, passing the bottle back to Nessa so she could throw it away. “In the bathroom, though? You couldn’t think of a better way to hide your alcohol?” With a laugh, Lemon shook her head. There were a few other ways Lemon would have hid her alcohol in Breadstix, but none would have been as creative as V’s tampon shots. “Oh! Right,” Lemon exclaimed, “Finn and I tried to bribe our way in with Candy, which didn’t work, but we came in together so I guess technically Finn’s my date,” she quickly explained, waving her hands around for emphasis. “You have more of those little things?” She inquired, pointing to the tampon dispensary.

“BUT I’M FUN!” nessa held up a finger, and protested to lemon’s claims that she was insane. leaning against the counter where the sinks were, her argument continued. “someone around here has got to keep things interesting.” she added, crossing her arms and looking to the dispenser, “like, for fucking example...” v slurred her words slightly as she began the explanation of her master plan, “we’ve all seen how they just like...don’t keep up the bathrooms here, right? well if we’re lucky we could have free alcohol in the breadstix bathroom for the rest of the year.” she waited for her plan to be applauded and praised as she held out her arms expectantly. when lemon explained her date situation though, she received a tipsy thumbs down from vanessa santos, “boo! lemon you’re hot, you like seriously could’ve brought anyone but you chose the class president with the weirdest list of exes in lima history? booo!” she teased some more, laughing as she walked over to the dispenser, and got another shooter for lemon. extending it to the blonde, she smiled, “happy valentine’s day!”

Aurora had decided to go to Breadstix with her fellow cheerios for a little Valentine’s day fun. She couldn’t say no, a night out with her girls with some delicious food? A perfect combination. The blonde had made her way into the bathroom, needing to reapply her pink lipstick after her meal. Walking inside, she spotted the other girl and offered her a friendly smile. She was just about to grab her makeup out of her little heart purse when she was offered an interesting proposition. 

“Um, like of…the alcoholic variety?” she raised a brow.

“DUH, WHAT OTHER KIND?” v inquired casually as she dispensed a shooter and set it by one of the bathroom sinks. “it’s yours if you want it.” she said, crossing back to the dispenser and getting one for herself. uncapping and downing the small bottle, she looked to rora. she was new, kind, cute, but nessa was definitely interested to see what the girl was like kinda tipsy. vanessa figured nobody was that wholesome and maybe that would show her true nature. regardless, she tossed the now empty bottle into the trash and encouraged her fellow cheerio, “cmon bitch! it’s a holiday!”