Turn me Upside Down

Chapter 4: Gossip Bonding

Hiding behind a tree as you stared at Nancy and who you thought to be Barbara made you truly realize how creepy you looked. You had arrived earlier than both of them but hid the moment you heard Nancy's voice in the distance and now you were stuck behind the tree watching them grow restless. This was a common occurrence when making new friends; your nervousness would take control of you and basically drive anybody else away.

"(Y/N)! We're over here," Nancy shouted at you from across the park, waving her hands in the air to bring more attention to them in case you possibly missed them.

Oh fuck. The dumb tree wasn't big enough to hide your peeping face and she somehow got a peek of you. Not only did it now look like you were purposely late but also a lowkey creep. Barbara had also caught a look at you and started waving you over with Nancy. Reluctantly, you moved from your hiding stop, putting your hands up in defeat trying to play it off as a joke.

"Oh my god! I thought you had blown us off. That would have been embarrassing, especially since you are the new girl after all," Barbara said as you slowly reached them, reaching out her hand to shake yours in greeting. Her hair was short and colored ginger, complementing the freckle on her face that lifted with her smile. Her glasses shifted as well with her smile, slightly tipping over at some point in her greeting.

"It's nice to meet you! Umm... I don't know many people here other than kids so it's nice to meet someone else before I get registered into school."

"Oh! You're not registered yet? I heard it's pretty easy, basically same-day registration here since it's not much that we're dealing with in terms of population."

"No yeah, it's easy but my mom offered me some time to get used to everything over here. I also have to get supplies soon."

"That is definitely something that we can do today!" Barbara said, holding both of your hands, and dragging you to the bench she and Nancy were waiting for before. "But first- let's just have what they call girl talk."

"Barb! Let's calm down a little, she doesn't know anything at all yet," Nancy said, laughing on the other side as you sat down between the two.

"And that's why we have to prepare her for Nance. After all, it's not any day that we can make a new friend that doesn't already have their head filled with the random rumors around here. Or are you just scared that I'm going to spill the beans about Steve?"

The air suddenly got tense between the two. Nancy looked like she was ready to pounce on Barbara if any words left her mouth. "Who's Steve?"

"Don't you dare Barbara. Keep your mouth shut," Nancy menacingly whispered at her, her hand making a zipping motion over her mouth.

Barbara looked between the two of you, one person ready to murder her and the other full of confusion and maybe a hint of curiosity. She weighed her options in her head and decided that spilling the beans on Steve would be much better than just doing nothing, after all, they were going to give you all of the details about school; all of the social ins and outs to survive and make good friends.

"Steve... is a very good friend of Nancy here. Basically her boyfriend. But they don't want to put a label on it. She liked the chase I'm guessing, personally, I would never like a guy like Steve," she said, using her hands to emphasize her apparent discomfort with this Steve guy.

"We are not dating!" Nancy whispers a scream at Barbara, reaching over to punch her on the arm. Barbara grabbed it and pulled her towards the end of the bench, pulling Nancy on top of you at the same time.

"If it's not dating then what is it, Nancy! Huh? I really want to hear your explanation."

"It's... it's...," Nancy stuttered out her words, pausing to get off of you and fix her clothes, "it's complicated okay."