Meet the plastics (Regina x fem reader)

10 - The park

"What about this?" Janis points out a hideous light green sweater with a neckline far too deep to be considered socially acceptable. Immediately, I raise an eyebrow at her naivety when I realise she's being genuine.

"Definitely not," I tell her quietly, flicking through a rail of jeans opposite.

Janis sighs, steps back, and stands next to me, watching what I'm occupied with doing, "how am I supposed to help you if you say no to everything I suggest? We should've just waited for Damian to finish shoe shopping with Cady."

"Sorry," I apologise with a small smile, finding my size and tugging the jeans from the rail to get a better look at. Holding them up to me, I gaze down before nervously looking back up at Janis, waiting for her to offer her opinion.

"If you don't buy them, I'll buy them for you." Is all she says and so I fold the clothing and place it into the basket.

A few weeks have now passed since the first soccer game of the season. We're still trudging through uni life but the load has definitely eased up more.

When we move onto the next section, hoodies and jackets, Janis picks out a perfect deep red hoodie, and smiles in satisfaction when I nod my head at her suggestion. She flings it into my basket and starts going through different jackets. I turn away from her for a brief moment, trying to scan the signs to find where I can look for some t-shirts next, but I'm frozen to the spot instead.

Blonde hair is like a slightly wavy sheet down her back, head almost resting against a head of dark hair as they're examining something together. Pale skin turns my way, pink lips, blue eyes... Then she's looking at me and hopelessly, I can't do anything but look back. Fuck.

Both Gretchen and Karen are now looking my way, too, confusion and then a quick sense of awareness in the form of a smile from Gretchen but squinted eyes from Karen. I'm about to turn back to Janis, as a distraction, and just hope the three of them leave the shop before we do (and hope Janis hasn't spotted them) when I realise Janis is now by my side. A large pile of hoodies and jackets are folded over her arm, face scrunched up in a grossed-out way as her body stills. "What the fuck." I'm thankful for how quiet her voice is.

"Yeah," I sigh, gulping down the worries that Regina's friends are starting to tie the strings together.

"This is so fucked up, why are they here?" Janis's whisper is laced with dread, eyes darting immediately away from the trio. I let my eyes linger for a split second more, watching Regina's eyebrows rise, probably having recognised Janis being with me, and then her mouth forming a slight smirk, just as I look away. It's enough to set my face on fire, anyway.

I remain stationary for a few seconds more, sighing in relief as the ex-plastics leave the shop, finding my apparently abnormal breathing had gone back to normal.

When I turn back to Janis to inspect the pile of clothes she had so kindly picked out, she has a shit-eating grin on her face. Her brown eyes are ridden with a slight confusion and shock as she stares at me with an open mouth "No. Fucking. Way." She punctuates each word with a subtle push to my arm, unbalancing my already unstable and off-guard form. "Regina George just smirked at you, and now you're blushing?

"That's like the most humane thing she has ever done. It was like a nice smirk."

"I don't-" I go to offer my hand at trying to tone down the situation to be less than what Janis is making it out to be, but she cuts me off with her forefinger instead.

"Hold on, I'm still processing it." She glances off into the distance in deep thought, as if mocking me. "Yeah, Regina definitely has a soft spot for you."

"Does this mean you'll stop hating her now? Didn't I tell you she seemed nice from the start?"

Janis rolls her eyes, "I guess I could try. For you, though, not for her. Not yet." The matter seems to be left there for the moment as she begins showing me through each item of clothing.

Afterwards, with a bag full of more clothes than I had anticipated, we make our way to the checkout, Regina and her friends no where to be found. I double check Janis doesn't want to buy anything, her dismissing it as being 'too mainstream' for her.

It's sunny and slightly warm when we step outside, going through the park to get to the row of shops on the other side of the mall where we are supposed to be meeting Damian and Cady. When Janis informs the other two of our encounter with Regina, Damian lets out, what I can only describe as, being a mixture of a gasp and a low scream. Cady seems to have a more sensible reaction, as expected, offering a quiet agape mouth as she lets Damian fuss over the matter in his usual way.

Somehow, they manage to pull more information out of me, myself spilling about our interactions in class, hallways, her office, the road.

Although, despite their positive reactions to it, a mixture of what I presume to be excitement for me and revelation that Regina has actually changed for the better, I can't help it when a wave of guilt splashes over me and burns a permeant sensation into my skin like a tattoo.

"We're sorry for having influenced your opinion on her, we just didn't want you getting hurt." Janis says softly, as if she had just read my mind.

"I'm sorry for liking her despite her having been a bitch to you in the past. I know it makes me a shitty friend and I should've come clean sooner." I confess.

"We can't help who we fall for." Damian says. I go to claim I definitely don't like her like that, but am cut off when he declares. "Come on, let's go get some ice cream."

The trek across the park is soothing, finding the ice cream stand at the middle of the path. While in the queue, I keep my eyes trained on the menu stuck around the small parlour, trying to figure out what I want to order. A very unsubtle coughing fit draws my attention away from the ice cream flavours and over to the wide pavement where different groups of people are walking along. I frown, unaware of the point Damian was trying to make until my eyes land on her.

By now, Janis and Cady had turned away, Damian still facing the trio but with his face poorly covered with his hood and hand. Our eyes meet for the second time today, and I'm not sure how much of this I can take, before I'm completely weak at the knees at the mercy of her alluring gaze. Sunglasses are pushing silky blonde hair back, lips quirking up. Her friends aren't looking my way, immersed in their own conversation.

Before I can stop myself, my hand raises up into a wave, and for some reason I'm surprised when she returns the gesture, for littler time than expected, as by now Gretchen has clicked onto my appearance and is nudging Regina's side with her elbow and whispering something into her ear.

Blushing, I turn away and keep my gaze back on the menu board.

"So?" Janis asks, glee evident in her tone.

"She waved at me," I murmur, accepting defeat.

"She did, I saw it. She's hopelessly in love with you girl there's no faking that." Damian declares.

"I'm so sorry I didn't even-"

Janis cuts me off with a hand gesture.

"Don't apologise, this is far too interesting. Regina George, a hopeless lesbian?" She giggles, "who would've fucking guessed."

"What- what do you mean?" I stutter, extremely confused.

"Did you not hear what Damian said? She's totally into you!" Janis exclaims.

"No, no no no no. Definitely not." I dismiss.

"Definitely yes." Damian says. "That girl doesn't even walk straight anymore. And have you seen her hair? That shit is wavy as fuck."

"So you don't think she's messing with me?"

"Oh, no way. Barely anyone from our school does history here, she literally has no motive, plus no one to be scared of watching her every move. Besides, I was close to her once. I can tell when she's being a bitch or when she's being genuine." Janis clarifies. It's then our turn to order and I'm nudged forward to ask first, the others still indecisive.