Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just these words.
Artless
Author's Note: 1)Timeline is jumpy. 2) Takes place before Tori comes to HA. 3) Poor quality, but it's something that has been sitting in my documents for a while that I decided to tweak and post for fun. 4) Definite one-shot. 5) And if there's any pairing requests for a one-shot, let me know.
The way you meet her is spontaneous. Not in the love at first sight, instant attraction, storybook sort of way, but in the unprompted, random, sporadic, unsought nature that the movies didn't really tell you about. You didn't love her when you met her- that much is for sure. You didn't love her when you ran into her the second time, or the third time, or even the hundredth time.
She's not a beautiful disaster or mysterious conundrum that needs solving.
She's just her. Jaded. And you're unimpressed with her bitchy façade.
You spot her by way of cliché, across the hall with a fleeting glance but a halfhearted double take. You weren't taken aback. You were rather unimpressed. All the guileless glory of seeing a stranger, and yet you remember every detail because it is permanently etched into the back of your mind.
You spotted her again in the parking lot, walking with self-proclaimed purpose. But still, you didn't go out of your way to talk to her.
It took an introduction through a mutual animated friend at a party for her to look at you, and for you to exchange false pleasantries. Well, actually you were the one introducing yourself and saying the obligatory, "Nice to meet you, I've seen you around a couple times, glad to finally meet you," type of nonsense and she just nodded once with a bored expression and left to go find a stronger drink.
She was so utterly passive about everything, and that is what initially caught your interest, ironically enough. She didn't swoon and obnoxiously flirt with you like a lot of the other girls at school did those days.
You weren't even sure that she liked you until your third date when she kissed you. She said, "Don't read into this" and placed her surprisingly warm lips on yours, unmoving and swiftly before backing away and carrying on as if nothing had happened.
It wasn't much, but it was the first indication she gave you that what you two were doing was for a reason.
You didn't even talk to her for a while when you were in the "dating" phase – it was sort of like, after the third or fourth time you hung out, she stopped answering your texts and you stopped sending them. It baffled you for about five seconds, but then you carried on like she was just another name in your book, which she was.
You met another girl (actually, many other girls) and things went back to normal. You were going out with another pretty face every weekend, and you more or less forgot about her, as did she.
And you didn't care.
You were running late to school when you passed her in the empty hall. She didn't even look at you, and you took a mild notice to this but continued on anyways. It wasn't until you were at the opposite end of the hall from her again that you heard her say something.
"She's ugly."
You turn around slowly to see that she hadn't moved from the middle of the hall.
You crinkle your brow. "Who?"
"Your latest piece of ass." She takes a step in your direction. "What's her name? Lizzy?"
"Lauren." You correct absentmindedly. You think back to the blonde she was referring to – your 'date' last night. "If you mean ugly on the inside, I'd have to agree. But otherwise, that girl is the farthest thing from ugly…" You recalled just how she looked in the backseat of your car, illuminated by the dim streetlights and the glow from the dashboard. Nope, not ugly at all.
"She sucks at acting." The brunette in front of you says, calling you back to attention.
You raise your eyebrows, unimpressed. "Why are you talking to me?"
"I'm bored. Wanna ditch?" She asks nonchalantly. "We can 'hang out and get to know each other'." She quips in a dull voice, heavy on the sarcasm.
The word 'no' is hot on the tip of your tongue. But then your caution is otherwise thrown to the wind, and you follow her out towards the parking lot.
You end up getting to know the inside of her mouth more than you get to know her. Which suits you just fine.
You find out you're actually dating her by her changed relationship status on The Slap.
She goes from not giving you the time of day to never leaving you alone.
You ignore the gossip that you know everyone is whispering.
It's not clingy, it's just her. She doesn't play by the rules and she never has.
She doesn't let you hold her when she sleeps over. Sometimes when you wake up in the middle of the night with your arm tight around her middle, you remember yourself, remove your arm and turn the other way to fall back asleep.
She lets you be selfish, because she herself is selfish. Your 'relationship' is just you two feeding off of the worst in each other.
And that's the way it works.
The way she breaks up with you is spontaneous. She does it because she's bored.
You're not heartbroken, you're not devastated.
Because you know she'll be back the next week, acting like it never happened.
It isn't the first time she disappoints you. You figure that for all the talk she does, she could at least be a little unpredictable sometimes.
But she isn't.
Because she's artless.