That One Time We Kissed // Bishova College AU

Succession

Election season was atypically idle for Yelena. In years past she would have been frantic, putting her best foot forward to win another consecutive election. She never had to try as hard as she did— in all her years only one formidable challenger had emerged— but the effort only added to the electorate's certainty.

Just three and a half years ago, she was a wide-eyed but determined freshman, bursting onto the sorority scene with no Tri Delta legacy mom (or, well, any mom) and no idea what a Rush Week even was. Six months later, she became the first (and perhaps last) freshman elected president of the prestigious sorority.

The cherry hardwood and cream painted walls of the Tri Delta mansion had never been graced by a more capable, more gracious ruler. Parties were more hedonistic than ever; record amounts of charity money collected. It was a shame they would only have her for four short years.

So, as the next generation prepared to elect a successor, Yelena was unusually nostalgic. She typically strayed away from such emotions, as they were like honey— sweet, but they stuck, clinging to you and dragging you down. Besides, she didn't have much to feel nostalgic about, anyway. Yelena smiled to herself as she sat down in the kitchen, knowing she would miss these days when they were gone, grateful to have found a place to care so deeply for.

"Lena?" Wanda asked, leaning over the counter next to her and briefly breaking up her thoughts. "Faerie garden or enchanted forest?"

"Hm?" Yelena replied, not meeting her eyes as she watched her younger sisters milling about the front lawn.

"The Spring Fling theme," Wanda promoted, poking Yelena on the cheek. "Enchanted garden or faerie forest? Wait..."

  "Any of them."

Dreamily, Yelena stood with a wistful sigh, waving for Wanda to follow. She did, of course.

"Are you okay?" Wanda asked, looping her arm through Yelena's as they embarked on a leisurely, aimless stroll through the great halls of the house. "You're usually all over Spring Fling. Don't tell me you've got senioritis. Or that you're just a sitting duck president."

"No, no..." soothed the blonde, steps soft and voice low as if she were in a museum. "Just taking it all in."

"Going down memory lane?"

"Who better to walk with? You've been with me every step of the way."

Surprisingly already emotional, Wanda, her steady and faithful second in command, squeezed her elbow. Grinning, she nodded to the corner of the living room. "You remember when we met?"

"God, at that awful mixer two weeks into freshman year?"

"That's the one."

Yelena shook her head mirthfully, remembering how stiff she felt standing in the corner with her little mocktail, unsure of how to speak with people who seemed so out of her league. "That party the most awkward two hours of my life. At least until this girl asked me if I had chapstick."

"My lips weren't actually dry, you know."

"I know. Why me, though?" Yelena asked, leading them to the foyer lined with paintings done by Tri Delta fine arts majors. "Nervous freshmen were a dime a dozen at that thing, and you picked me."

"You just looked as lonely as I felt."

"So I was a charity case, huh?"

Wanda laughed. "You finally figured it out."

Yelena grew quiet for a moment, stopping in front of an oil painting of a cliff overlooking the sea. "I really had nothing back then. I didn't just feel lonely, I was. I lived it."