You watched Vriska jump up and spike the volleyball, scoring for her team. She smirked and you scowled. You hated her. You hated her so much. She was way too competitive, violent, condescending, and rude. Vriska didn't look like she had the potential to be what she was. She was short and thin and lanky, even blind in one eye and horribly scarred up on her left side, but once she put her mind to sports, she'd completely annihilate the competition.
You were sure that it wasn't limiting to just sports, either. She'd probably be good at hunting, but killing wasn't something she needed to be introduced to for sure. If it weren't for her brutal personality, you'd probably like her just a little bit more. In all honesty, she kind of scared you. The competitive aura about her was more than a bit intimidating.
Vriska and her best friend, Kanaya, you think it is, both leaped to reach the ball at the same time, sending Kanaya flying back a few feet. You heard her let out a small cry at the impact of the floor. You glanced back at Vriska, who was… laughing? Who laughed at their friends' pain? Especially the pain that they caused?
Wow, what a bitch.
Rose, one of your other classmates sitting on the bench with you, leaped up and helped pull Kanaya off the court. She dotted over her, checking for broken bones and bruises and strained muscles.
"Ampora," the teacher called, distracting you. You turned your head to face her, "Take Maryam's place."
Your face fell. You'd have to stand next to her. You let your displeasure show on your face, but stood and slowly moved over to where Kanaya was standing not long ago regardless. There wasn't a doubt in your mind that she'd try to hurt you. You made an effort to ignore you as Vriska told you not to fuck up and to do exactly what you were told. You rolled your eyes and got into position.
You realized that this was the first time you and Vriska were on the same team. Somehow, the two of you always ended up against each other. You worked… oddly well together. She let you spike the ball when it was closer to you, and you did the same for her. She looked impressed when it was your turn to serve. You gave her the same look when it was her's. You took a millisecond to appreciate how doing sports made her butt look really nice before you shook the thought away.
(The thoughts did not leave.)
Before long, the block was nearly over. The teacher told the class to hit the showers. It was the end of the day, and you had volleyball practice for the school team. And so did Vriska. You sighed, remembering this fact. Why couldn't there be a boys team and a girls team? That way, you'd only have to see her during class, not after school too. You put on all of the necessary gear and came out of the change room and sat back on the bench to wait for the rest of the team and the coach.
Vriska came out of the girls change room with new clothes on; a sports bra, booty shorts, and all of the gear. Your coach recommended that everyone should wear as little clothing as possible to make everyone more aerodynamic or something like that. She tied up her hair in a high ponytail as she walked over to the bench. You watched as her hips swayed back and forth with her movements with a frown on your lips. How come you were only now realizing that she was attractive? Her personality wasn't… that bad. Now that you thought about it. Sure, she was rude, but so were you. During the other classes you had with her (english, math, and social studies), she was actually pretty quiet. She did her work quickly and efficiently. Your friend Karkat told you that he thought that it was because her family was lower class. If she didn't get a scholarship, she wouldn't be able to go to any post-secondary school. Her sister (Aranea, you think her name is) graduated the year before as top of the class. She was a little less nonchalant with her 'must succeed' actions. Vriska probably had a lot to live up to.
Your family was the opposite of her family. Your father owned a succesful gas company. You didn't have to try to get a scholarship. Your family was rich enough to afford post-secondary for both you and your brother, Cronus, twenty times over.
Vriska plopped herself down beside you. You turned towards her, "Don't you w-wear glasses?" Awesome pickup line, Eridan. A+ way to get the ladies.
"I wear contacts during school," she told you, "I don't need them to break on me or anything."
You nodded in understanding. You wore your glasses during school. So what if they broke? You could buy yourself new ones. You faced forwards once again. You could see staring at you through your peripheral vision.
She let out a airy laugh. "W-what?" You asked, looking over at her when you heard the noise.
There was a deep blush on her cheeks as she shook her head. "I just realized something about you, is all."
"And w-what might that be?" You asked. You knew that is was none of your business, but you were curious nonetheless.
Vriska put her face in her palms and the backs of her hands on her knees. "Nothing that should concern you too much, Eridork." She sighed, "I've just… been thinking, I guess?" You raised your eyebrow in interest, but said nothing. You let her continue. "I, uh, I kind of realized that I hate you to the point where I actually like you. A lot."
"Uh," was all you could say. You've always known that she was brutally honest (despite her ability to lie and make it seem like the truth), but you weren't really expecting a crush confession from her! "I… uh… w-well…" you stuttered, not really knowing where to start, "Me too, I think?"
She turned her head just a little bit to face you, "Really?"
You nodded in response, and she gave a genuine smile. "So," Vriska started, "Uh, do you want to go out with me or something like that or is this just a crush sort of thing?" She asked with a raise of her eyebrows.
You thought about it for a second before saying, "Dating w-would be kind of nice, actually."
Vriska nodded, still grinning widely, "Yeah, it would be. Congratulations, you landed yourself a girlfriend." At this, she patted your shoulder twice before she stood up and began to walk away. You swear she was wiggling her hips all seductively like that on purpose.
God damn, you hate her.
Three weeks later, and the entire school knew about your relationship with her. People you didn't know the names of were saying things like "good luck" and "alright Ampora!". And frankly, it was pretty obnoxious. You weren't exactly the most popular kid in the school, but you were known by enough people, you supposed. Vriska was pretty much infamous just for being Vriska. She didn't keep it from anyone that you were dating her, and in just three weeks, you went from being 'that kid who wears too many rings and sits with the movie obsessed angry guy at lunch' to 'that kid who's banging Vriska.'
That wasn't true.
You weren't banging Vriska.
Maybe someday, but not yet. It'd only been three weeks! Plus, you've never had a real relationship before, and you weren't really sure how to bring that topic up. To your knowledge, Vriska had never been in a real relationship either. You've been in the same school as her since third grade when you moved here, and ever since, she's never dated anyone. If she had, everyone would know about it.
A week earlier, you kissed her for the first time. In all honesty, it was terrible. Neither of you had any idea what you were doing and it was an incredibly awkward experience. In the week since, both her kissing and your kissing had greatly improved.
She came up to you while you were closing your locker at the beginning of lunch that day, gave you a peck on the cheek, a big smile, and grabbed your hand. You weren't sure why she was in such a good mood, but her good moods almost always involved something bad for someone else, so you did not ask.
"Hey," you greeted her.
"Hey," she responded.
Vriska pulled you out of the main hallway and outside. "I don't want to be here anymore," she said.
You frowned, "W-where are w-we going?"
"I have a few bottles of vodka stashed under the bottom drawer of my dresser at home and I think that we should go get wasted. No one will be at home but Aranea and she'll leave us alone anyways."
"Oh," You thought about the concequences of skipping school and drinking instead for a moment before deciding that you didn't actually care, "Alright."
You slipped your phone out of your pocket and told Karkat that you wouldn't be sitting with him at lunch because Vriska was dragging you home.
Karkat obnoxiously responded with "USE PROTECTION ASSHOLE." You gave him a "shut up thats not happenin were just drinkin" back, and he said "WELL DON'T COME WHINING TO ME WHEN YOU KNOCK HER UP." You frowned at that and glanced at Vriska through the corner of your eye. You had no idea what she'd do if she ever did get pregnant. However, now didn't seem like the time to ask. "ill be careful now go away kar" you typed back to him.
Apparently, her house was only a ten minute walk from the school. Vriska turned down a driveway you don't think you've ever even spared a glance at. What she didn't tell you was that she lived in a camper; one of the kinds that you attach to the back of a truck, not on the top of the box. She dropped your hand and pulled open the front door before climbing up the two steps.
Aranea looked up as the two of you walked in. She was sitting on the couch with papers spread all around her. "Why aren't you at school?"
"Not important. Look, would you mind leaving for a few hours?"
She raised an eyebrow, "And why would I want to do that?"
Wow, their voices were nearly exactly the same. They both spoke in slightly condescending ways, but Vriska sounded a little more threatening.
"Because I don't want you sitting here, listening in on our conversations the whole time, that's why."
"Fine, fine. I'll be back around four," Aranea rolled her eyes and carefully piled her papers. She stood and placed them on a side table next to the couch. She picked up a older looking flip phone off of the table before making her way over to the door, slipping her shoes on, and leaving.
Vriska sighed, "Goddamn, finally." She used her hand to tell you to follow her as she walked to the far end of the trailer and into a room with a tiny bunk bed. "You can sit there," she told you, pointing at the bottom bunk as she dropped to her knees and pulled open the bottom drawer of her dresser. She set it aside as she pulled out two large, unopened bottles of vodka. "Would you rather have it lemonade favoured or just normal?"
You thought about it for a moment before saying, "Lemonade, for sure."
She nodded and gave the bottle to you while she placed the other back in it's place, then slide the drawer back in. Vriska sat on her bed with her legs in a criss-cross position beside you. She took the bottle back and opened it with ease. She took the first sip and grinned at the taste.
"Good choice," she complimented as she passed the bottle over to you.
You carefully tipped it back, taking just a bit of the liquid into your mouth. Jesus fucking Christ that was really strong. Apparently your distaste showed on your face because Vriska was now laughing hysterically at you.
Once she calmed down, she smiled at you and told you, "You can't just take a little bit at a time! You need to get used to it by taking big sips, Eridork," she instructed you. You did as she directed. In all honesty, it was a lot better the second time.
She took the bottle back from you and took another gulp for herself before passing it back. Vriska slid back to lean against her wall. You moved back to join her.
The next hour passed in the same fashion. The two of you passed the bottle back and forth as she told you stories about her childhood; everything from camping tales to when she lived on the east coast to her old friends to broken bones.
During a particularly long pause, you turned to her and asked her something you'd been wondering for a while.
"How did you go blind?"
She snorted at the question. "How have you not heard that story a thousand times over?" You shrugged. "I was partners with this annoying Asian girl, Aradia, in chemistry two years ago. She added the wrong chemical to our stuff and it exploded. A shard of glass went right into her forehead and killed her, and I just got sprayed with the liquid. It burned up my clothes and skin on this side," she pointed to the left of her body, "it scarred me up pretty bad. Some of it in went in my eye. So that's how I went blind."
"W-wow-w," was all you could say.
"Her parents tried to charge me with murder! But it wasn't my fault anyways. So that's that."
You took the bottle out of her hands and took a particularly large swig.
"How come you don't have any stories?" She asked.
You shrugged, "I… guess I don't really do much?"
"Stop being so lame and get out there and do stuff then!" She exclaimed before snatching the bottle back from you. "No more booze for you until you tell me something interesting."
"But I don't haaaaaaaav-ve anythin interestin'!" With a sigh, you flopped down onto your side, putting your head onto her pillows.
"Ugh, fine."
You felt Vriska get up and heard the bottle being set down on her dresser. You could see her open the top drawer and pull a few things out out. She fussed around with something on her face for a short while. When she shut it and turned around, it was revealed that she had an iPod in her hand and her glasses on her face. She laid down facing you and stuck one of the earbuds into our ear, the other in her's. You watched her eyes and she scrolled through her songs. Vriska gave the smallest of smiles before selecting a song you knew better than any other.
Sing me to sleep. Sing me to sleep. I'm tired and I, I want to go to bed.
You weren't sure if Vriska knew that you loved this song or if it was just a coincidence, but either way, you were glad that this was the song she chose. It wasn't exactly that romantic, but it was beautiful. She shut her eyes and inched herself a little bit closer to you.
Sing me to sleep. Sing me to sleep, and then leave me alone. Don't try to wake me in the morning, 'cause I will be gone. Don't feel bad for me; I want you to know: Deep in the cell of my heart, I will feel so glad to go.
For the rest of the song, you felt that it would be appropriate to sing along quietly.
Sing me to sleep. Sing me to sleep. I don't want to wake up on my own anymore. Sing to me, sing to me. I don't want to wake up on my own anymore. Don't feel bad for me; I want you to know: Deep in the cell of my heart, I really want to go. There is another world. There is a better world. Well, there must , there must be. Well, there must be. Well, there must be. Well…
Vriska curled her fingers around your's. She had a smile on her face wider than any you've ever seen on her before. But it wasn't the same as her regular smiles, it was a genuine one. Like she was truly content with her life at the moment.
Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye…
You knew that she wasn't asleep. That've been just a little bit too ironic for the moment, seeing as the title of the song was 'Asleep', but she didn't speak, and neither did you. You pulled the headphones out of both her ear and your's, and turned off the iPod.
You weren't sure how long you just laid there with her curled up next to you, but eventually, you really did fall asleep. Vriska probably did too. And you were alright with that.