"Hey, Cleosmacktra, you gonna head out any time soon?"

Cozette heard Bone of Arc ask Melanie the question from the sound booth. The ballerina-turned-derby-girl had been skating aimlessly for ten minutes after everyone else had hit the showers.

"Probably not," came the reply. "Is it cool if I stay here til they close up?"

"Fine by me." The stocky woman shrugged. "Just don't get locked in. Hey!" she called up to Cozette. "Make sure she gets out all right, huh?"

"Aye aye!"

Bone of Arc slung her skates over her shoulder and left Melanie to her skating and Cozette to her music. After a few minutes the new girl called down,

"Is it cool if I come down? I have a new mix and I want to hear how it sounds on the floor."

"Go for it."

Cozette climbed down from the booth and walked to the rink. The other girl barely glanced at her as she crossed into the middle area. She noticed that Mel's eyebrows were furrowed, obviously thinking about something less than pleasant. She had been watching Melanie during the entire practice (not in a creepy way, just observing) and hadn't seen her joke around or grin like she normally did.

A pair of skates were lying underneath one of the benches. They were a bit big, but Cozette put them on anyway and fell into sync with Mel. She didn't say anything, just let the music wash over them. It was Melanie who broke the silence.

"This is a cool song. Who sings it?"

"Art Brut."

"Never heard of him. Them?"

"Them. And not many people have."

"Oh no. You're a hipster."

"I prefer 'indie' or 'alternative,' thank you."

Mel broke into a smile for the first time that afternoon.

"Whatever. Hipsters never admit that they're hipsters."

"When was the last time you saw me wearing grandma sweaters or unnecessary glasses?"

"You were wearing some pretty hideous specs last week."

"Those were my actual glasses! I normally wear contacts."

"Sounds like something a hipster would say."

"Don't make me smash you into the railing." Cozette nudged her playfully. "Can I ask what's up? Even if you're having a bad day derby usually cheers you right up."

"Just stuff." Mel's frown came back.

"Ah. Got it."

"Yeah."

"You don't have to tell me. We can just skate and enjoy my awesome taste in music."

"I would totally tell you but..."

"But mini-Megan Hilty likes being your sole confidante and best friend. I get it."

"Pretty much." Melanie sighed. "Mini-Megan Hilty?"

"What? I know my Broadway. I've seen Smash."

"Do you know if Meg's neurotic?" The taller girl winced after saying it. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just...hard. She's got all this drama that she unloads on me...I mean, she talks to other people about it, but I get a majority of the crazy. But I can't dump on other people because she gets crazy jealous and I can't word vomit onto her because it's about her. And it's just..." She made a frustrated noise. "It's like exhausting! I love her to death and I hate when we're fighting, but if we don't get things resolved soon I'm gonna explode. Would it be so hard for her to support me in derby? I wasn't Team Charlie when she decided to date my brother, but at least I acknowledged it and didn't actively oppose her. Just because this is the first thing I've done without her since kindergarten doesn't mean she has to get all Charles Manson on me!"

Mel shrugged sheepishly after realizing that she'd been shouting. She took a second to calm down.

"But whatever. It's our thing. It's what we do. We fight."

"Is that a Notebook reference?"

"Oh yeah, that's where I heard it. But I mean, we aren't Noah and Allie..." She cleared her throat and changed the subject as the music switched tracks. "I think I've heard this song."

"Yeah? Dressy Bessy. It's a good one."

"Yeah, I think it was on a movie."

"It was on 'But I'm a Cheerleader,'" helped Cozette. "Have you seen it?"

"No," said Mel quickly. "Maybe I haven't heard it."

"Too bad, it's a hilarious movie. Good song, too."

They did a couple laps without saying anything, Melanie practicing her backwards skating and Cozette watching.

"What are you doing after the game on Friday?" the new girl asked. "Do you and Ginny and Boo and Sasha have plans?"

"Ginny's not coming, Boo's babysitting so her parents can go on a date, and Sasha's probably going out with Roman if she's not being weird. So...nothing. I'm doing nothing on Friday."

"Do you want to hang out? Go to my place and listen to music or watch a movie or something? Unless Ginny would have a stroke. She could come too."

"I think that'd be worse." Melanie rolled her eyes. "Let's do it. You and me. And Frankie? Ginny might want to come if Frankie's there. But only as much as she'd want to get a shot just to get the sticker afterward."

"He's going on some trip with my dad for the weekend."

"Cool, just you and me then?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Hey, girlies, building's closing," the janitor said over the P.A.

"I'm gonna go get my stuff," said Cozette. "See you later?"

"Later."

A/N: I'm addicted to this ship. But I'm still going to work on my Sashanie fic too, no fear. Please feel free to leave any comments, questions, critiques, and/or suggestions!
(On a semi-related note, do you guys like Cozanie or Melazette better as a ship name? I like them both.)