Falsettos College AU

Marvin's Confusing Life

Cordelia

"My back is killing me," Charlotte groans as we trudge up the stairs with our shopping bags. We just got back from getting groceries, since Whizzer refused to do it.

"It's not my fault the elevator is broken," I tell her. "And I really feel for you, honey, but you're the doctor here. I don't know what to do."

She laughs a little. "Well, I'm not a doctor just yet. Ask me in another ten years."

"Will do."

We finally make it to my floor, and the walk down the hallway feels hours long. Not to mention how hot it's getting around this time of year. Our freshman year is so close to ending I can taste it, and the extra-warm weather makes everything a million times more unbearable.

I unlock the door and we step into the apartment. There's no air conditioning, so the temperature isn't any better, but it's nice to be able to stop moving. Charlotte closes her eyes and leans against the door frame with a groan. I drop my bags and take a deep breath for the first time in what felt like days.

Whizzer's sitting on the couch reading a magazine, staring at us curiously. "What is your problem?"

"The elevator's broken," Charlotte sighs, walking in and steadying herself on the coat hooks. "We had to walk up so many flights of stairs."

"Three?" Whizzer raises an eyebrow.

"Three feels like a lot," I snap. "Especially in this weather." I pull my hair up behind my head and remove the elastic from my wrist so I can tie it up. "Come on, Charlotte, there's a fan in my room."

So we go in my room and cool off a bit. Charlotte's lying on my bed and I'm in front of my mirror styling my practically sweat-soaked hair when her phone buzzes. I hear her make a noise of combined surprise and excitement and I turn around.

"What's going on?"

"Caroline just texted me!" she exclaims. I wrack my brain trying to remember who Caroline is. That girl she was friends with in high school who told her a couple months back she didn't want to hang out anymore, right?

I climb onto the bed and look over her shoulder. "What did she say?" I want to know.

"Something about whether I want to get together after classes are over," she mutters. "This is great! I thought she was done with me. Maybe our friendship isn't ending after all."

"Well, that's great," I remark.

"I'm happy about this. I mean, the last time I saw her in person was that same day you first asked me out."

I stop and give her a look. "Back in October?"

She nods slowly.

"Charlotte... Jesus Christ."

"I'll do better this time," she says, turning back to her phone. "Of course I want to hang out. Thank God."

I smile and go out into the living room. Whizzer's still on the couch, reading his magazine but looking very uninterested in it. I sit down next to him with a sigh.

"How's it going?" he asks me, not looking up.

"It's going okay." I shrug. "Charlotte's texting her friend. Man, it's getting really warm out, isn't it?"

He nods. "The year's almost done now. And then it's gonna be a whole new batch of chaos."

I turn to him and tuck my feet up onto the cushion. "I don't think so," I admit. "At least, not as bad as this year. We're all friends now, right? It's not like anything's going to undo that." He doesn't say anything, so I add, "Right?"