𝐌𝐘 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐈𝐒 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐀 | 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀 𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄

one.

scarlett mckay had fallen head over heels for heather campbell from day one of freshman year, she probably wasn't the only one that felt that way. to scarlett, heather was completely unforgettable. the type of person that spun around your thoughts almost all of the time. everything about her consumed scarlett whole - her blonde hair that scarlett ended up staring at in american literature when she'd wound up sitting behind her, the way she smiled at her when their eyes interlocked in the corridors, the way her nose scrunched ever so slightly when she laughed.

scarlett was convinced that her and heather were going to end up together, one of them just had to make the first move. and scarlett was waiting for it to be heather who was braver and ten times more confident than she would ever be.

her friends didn't agree with her and they especially didn't agree with what they called an unrequited crush on heather for the last couple of years. "no, no!" maria snapped her fingers in front of scarlett's face, exchanging unamused looks with louisa. the girl tore her eyes away from heather who was deep in conversation with her own friends, throwing her head back and laughing at something one of them had said. "did you even hear one thing i said?" scarlett nodded. "yeah, of course i did," she lied.

miss norbury cleared her throat from the front of the classroom, trying to get the attention of the students around her. it wasn't working at all and scarlett almost felt sorry for her. it was her first year to have miss norbury for homeroom and it was also her first year to not have the plastics in her homeroom which was a breath of fresh air. "can you not spend another year pining over her?" maria rolled her eyes. "you know i'm 99% sure that she's straight." while maria might've been right, scarlett was also 99% sure that heather had flirted with her once and she had never let that go.

"why don't you just ask her out?" louisa shrugged. "the worst thing she could do is say no." the worst thing that heather campbell could actually do would be to turn scarlett into the laughing stock of northshore high if she wanted. but heather was mainly liked because she was nice, not because she took a page from regina's book and became a next level bitch. "can you not encourage this?" maria groaned. maria and scarlett had been friends since middle school, when they both had no one else they ended up sticking with each other and they ended up figuring out they actually really liked each other. louisa had become part of their group freshman year and she became the positivity and optimism both of them so desperately needed.

"listen it's not like i have options," scarlett shrugged. "anyone i like around here is going to be unrequited." maria raised a brow at her. "what about janis?" she asked. "you had a crush on her in middle school." scarlett laughed a little. "no i was just jealous that she was out of the closet and i wasn't," she corrected her. "plus she's not my type." both of her friends exchanged looks of irritation that irked scarlett just a bit. "your type is blondes that have zero interest in you?" maria asked. "yeah!" scarlett grinned. "i'm bad with social contact, unrequited crushes are what keeps me going."

maria didn't look all too happy with her friends answer, scarlett knew that maria would always be the one to reality check her but that didn't mean she had to listen to her. "and you had a crush on aaron samuels last year so you cannot talk to me about unrequited love!" maria blushed a furious shade of red, shutting her mouth almost instantly. "you also had a thing for karen after that," louisa pointed out. "you two are just as bad as each other, at least i have a stable relationship!" louisa had been the only one of the three girls to have a girlfriend and manage to hold down an actual relationship, she'd been dating a girl - amber - that she'd met at theatre camp for almost three years and scarlett envied her on a daily basis.

"ok can we stop talking about this?" maria ran her hand through her hair. "i was talking about whether we're going to jason's party this weekend before someone's lovestruck behaviour got in the way." scarlett rolled her eyes, the three girls were not popular enough that party invites were rushing their way but louisa's girlfriend was and that was enough to get them an invite. which was a little awkward considering the girl didn't even go to the same school as they did. "do we have to?" scarlett sighed. she wasn't against parties but every year without fail she's run directly into regina who would ruin her night almost instantly. "yes," maria replied. "i would like to have a social life so that one day i can look back at this and not regret it."

"i might have to work," scarlett said and silently hoped it was true. she'd started picking up shifts at a small donut store the second they'd let her work, she liked having the freedom that came with having money and she also knew how expensive college would be. especially when she wanted to get as far away from where she was as possible. "no you don't," maria held out her phone to her. "i know your schedule, no excuses."

"going to any of those parties is always something i regret," scarlett commented but both maria and louisa knew that she was going to go. they probably wouldn't go without her but the threat of it was enough to have scarlett ready within five seconds. she didn't like the feeling of being excluded, even if she didn't want to go in the first place. so she decided it was best to just suck it up and try her best to avoid regina george. "so that's a yes?" maria grinned at her. "i can pick you up on friday and you'll be ready to go with no complaints?" scarlett grimaced. "i'm not promising no complaints," she said. "and if i see regina, i'm pushing you into the firing line." maria smiled widely at her. "deal."