This was written for the fifth round of the Newsies Pape Selling Competition. Let me just tell you, Newsies and Chicago are the only musicals I've actually seen. I only knew Legally Blonde because we did it at school. This was hard. Word count: 837. Really short.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Four years.
Seven hundred and twenty days.
Seventeen thousand, two hundred and eighty hours. Give or take.
That was all of the time that David had spent in college alone. He had overloaded himself with classes, and he had gone nights without sleeping. He'd learned how to hold a conversation on one subject and take notes on another. He'd learned how to read and walk.
He'd learned to drink coffee, for cripes' sake.
And yet, despite all of that work, every single second of it, he still had finished second in his class. Right behind Brent stinking Stippleman.
David stares at the list in shock, unable to fully comprehend how Brent had managed to finish ahead of him. Sure, he did well, and he knew his stuff, but he...he was David Jacobs!
He's vaguely aware of someone patting his shoulder in congratulations and speaking to him, but he pays no heed, instead choosing to stare at the list. There, right above his name, is Brent's, blaring at him angrily.
He had worked so hard.
Trance-like, he makes his way through the halls and onto the green, wondering what could have gone wrong. He'd spent four weeks working on his final, and it had been flawless—or so he'd thought.
With a sigh, he sits down on a low stone wall outside the math building, hoping the cool fall air will calm him. He still has one more semester, but at this point it feels useless. If all that work had only put him in second place, he didn't think he had it in him to get first.
David sighs again and leans back on his hands. He should feel accomplished, but instead he just feels...tired.
He hears the clicking of heels on pavement and looks up to find a misplaced girl coming towards him, clad in a pink tights and a leotard and her blond hair curled loosely about her shoulders. Her face is streaked red with tears, and she throws herself down on a nearby bench.
Well, at least someone is having a worse night than me, David thinks before his chivalry gets the best of him and he makes his way to her.
She has her head buried in her hands, but she looks up when he speaks to her. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm...no," she stutters, and launches into a fresh round of sobs. "Not that you'd want to hear about it anyways."
"Sure I do," David says, and sits down next to her. "Everyone's feelings are valid."
She only crunches her face in confusion. Her pink bunny ears droop sadly. "Well, it all started when my boyfriend Warner broke up with me and left for law school. Then he turns around and starts dating some stuffy, mousy brunette. Can he possibly think that she's better than me?"
Not knowing what to say, he's glad when she continues. "I mean, I made it into Harvard. I studied, and I took the tests, and I studied again. I was willing to dye my hair brown for him! What more could he want? I'm prettier than Vivienne, and so much more fun." She swipes her cheek with the back of her hand, spreading mascara across it.
"Listen," David says after a moment, taking a deep breath, "you can't force someone to love you. If you've done all that you could, and he still won't accept you, he's not worth your time. And why put that much energy into changing for what he wants? You should change because you think it will make you a better person, not to get others to like you."
"Maybe because I want him," she offers meekly, sniffing once more.
"There has to be other things you want. Work for them. Work for you, not for someone else. And somewhere along the way, it'll catch the right person's attention."
"You know, I think you're right." She nods, smiling slightly, then laughs. "Maybe you should be the lawyer instead."
David only groans and rubs his face. "No way. After this semester, I'm through with school."
"Why? What happened?"
When he doesn't answer, she presses. "Come on. You just listened to me."
Why not? "My family isn't very well-off. But I worked for so many scholarships, and the past few years, all I've done is study. Or work, so I could pay for school. I haven't gone out for fun once. Now I'm about to graduate, and do you know where I'm ranked? Second."
"That's still an accomplishment," she says earnestly. Even though her face is red and her eyes puffy, and she's dressed quite immodestly, he thinks she's probably very pretty.
"Yeah. I just...I just wanted to do something for once."
"You still have another semester."
Her face perks up. "Ok. Let's make a deal. I'm going to make it into Callahan's internship, and you're going to graduate first."
She holds out her pinkie, and David can't help but to laugh at the absurdity of it. He accepts anyways. "I'm David Jacobs."
"Elle Woods."