A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry it's been awhile, this past month at work has been insane. So, this story is a little different than my normal one-shot. It's not the sequel to "Welcome to the Jungle" (which is coming), but it's a story I started a little while ago. It was originally meant to be a one-shot, and then evolved into a two-shot, but now it's just kind of out of control, so I think it's going to be a three-parter. I really hope you enjoy it, and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: These are not my views or opinions on Katy Perry, she was just the first singer I could think of that could work with this plot.

Chapter 1: Piper Chapman

Springtime at Smith was Piper's favorite time of the year. Everyone was outside on the Quad, classes were winding down, and summer was right around the corner. But most importantly, it meant Spring Weekend. The last weekend before finals was involved a three day celebration of completing another year at Smith. This year, the campus activities committee was planning a fair complete with a bounce house, games, and, perhaps one of the more exciting events, Katy Perry would be performing on Saturday night.

Piper was heading to meet a friend at the student center to start preparing for their English final. She was running late, and was in the middle of texting her friend that she'd be there soon when she heard it.

"That's the biggest piece of bull shit I have ever heard!" a voice exclaimed. Piper's head shot up. In front of the student center was a group of ten girls, one holding a sign that read "Ban Katy Perry from Smith". Another girl, presumably the yeller, was standing in front of them, staring down at a shorter brunette defiantly.

"No it ain't!" the shorter girl retaliated, a drawl to her voice. "We do not want to have someone like Katy Perry performing here. She is not a good role model!"

"Why? Because she has one song about kissing a girl? Who cares?" The taller girl's raspy voice shot back, causing Piper to stop and watch.

"It's not right," one of the other girls, with straight, strawberry blonde hair, piped up.

Piper clenched her fists as she felt a rush of annoyance towards the group of girls, and had a feeling as to where this conversation was going.

"What's not right?" the taller brunette asked, adjusting her glasses as she stared down each of the girls.

"Two girls kissing," the brunette with the southern accent said. "It's not natural."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" the brunette explained, at the exact moment Piper yelled:

"What the hell?"

Eleven eyes cut to Piper, who suddenly felt self-conscious. Coughing, she began to speak. "You can't force your homophobic beliefs on the entire student body."

The taller brunette studied Piper, scrunching her eyes as the shorter girl began to speak. "We're bringing morals and Jesus to this school."

"This is not a religious school!" Piper walked over, standing next to the brunette with glasses, who was now smirking at her. "You can't enforce your religious beliefs on a non-denominational school."

"Piper?" A voice came from the left. Piper turned, noticing her roommate Polly standing with her boyfriend, Pete. "What are you doing?"

"Not now Polly," Piper said dismissively, turning back towards the group of religious zealots. "Does Katy Perry coming here for one concert, where she may play one song about kissing a girl, really affect your life?"

The girl with strawberry blonde scoffed at Piper. "Tell her Tucky."

The shorter brunette, apparently named Tucky, looked at Piper defiantly. "Because songs like that display bad morals. And songs like that will turn people gay."

"Turn people gay?" Piper said incredulously.

"Oh god," Piper could hear Polly mutter behind her. "Here she goes."

"People don't just turn gay," Piper began loudly, ignoring her friend behind her. "The fall somewhere on a spectrum. Like a Kinsey Scale."

"I don't think so,"Tucky said firmly. "I think you can turn gay."

"That's ridiculous," Piper scoffed. "I have never had any interest in girls. Ever. But, you're saying if I kiss her," Piper pointed at the taller brunette, who raised her eyebrows at Piper. "That I'll automatically become gay?"

"Yep," Tucky nodded.

"Well then," Piper laughed, turning towards the taller girl. She gave the taller girl a fleeting smile before cupping her cheeks and pulling her towards Piper, pressing their lips together.

And Piper could swear she saw stars.

The girl's lips were soft, softer than any boy she had kissed. The other girl immediately raised her hands to cup Piper's cheeks, holding her in place. What felt like a burst of electricity passed through them as Piper moved her lips against the other girl, before the brunette pulled away a moment later.

Piper opened her eyes, her mouth falling open slightly as she stared at the other girl. Piper had never been kissed like that. Had never felt anything so powerful from just a quick kiss. Ever.

And now, she wasn't sure what it meant.

"So," the brunette spoke softly, her voice husky as a smirk unfurled across her face. "What's the verdict?"

"What?" Piper stuttered, still staring at Alex with wide eyes.

Alex tilted head to the side, studying Piper. "So, are you gay now?"

Right, proving a point here, Piper thought. Shaking her head slightly and turning towards Tucky, Piper squared her shoulders. "See?" Piper asked, raising an eyebrow. "Still the same person. Unless I've suddenly sprouted horns or a rainbow unicorn horn." The girl Piper had just kissed snorted behind her, while Tucky rolled her eyes, throwing both girls a look of disgust.

"It still isn't right," Tucky huffed, turning to her group and gesturing for them to leave.

Piper turned back to the other girl, instantly blushing over the fact that the girl was still smirking at her.

"Sorry I just…kinda… jumped into your argument," Piper apologized, her eyes darting away from the other girl.

"Don't worry about it," the other girl laughed slightly. "There are worse ways to end a homophobic rant than with a kiss." Piper felt herself turn even redder, which the other must have noticed, as she chuckled again. "So, you seriously never kissed a girl before?"

Piper looked back to the brunette, eyes wide. "No," she replied.

"Well, you definitely knew what your were doing, um …"the girl trailed off, raising her eyebrows. Taylor just stared at her, taking her a moment to realize that the girl was subtly asking for her name.

"Piper," the blonde blurted out. "Piper Chapman. "

"Alex," the brunette - Alex – smiled, holding out her hand. Piper grabbed it, again feeling a spark pulse through them as they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you," Piper murmured.

"You too," Alex replied, turning around. "See you around kid."

Piper was left standing alone as Alex walked away, leaving her slightly in a daze. She couldn't even begin to understand what she was feeling right now.

"Uh…Piper," suddenly Polly's voice carried through, catching Piper off guard. Piper whipped around, see Polly and Pete still standing there, looking surprised at what Piper had just done.

"Yeah, hi, sorry about that. That smaller girl was being an asshole, so I just had to-"

"Get involved and make out with some girl?" Polly rolled her eyes.

"We didn't make out!" Piper insisted. "It was one kiss!"

"Whatever," Polly said flippantly. "I don't understand your need to champion all causes. Let's go, we have a study guide to make."

"Yeah," Piper agreed, following her friend into the student center.

"Just so you know," Pete turned to Piper, breaking the silence. "If you ever want to go make out with a girl again in my presence, you can go right ahead."

"Pete!" Polly exclaimed, smacking his arm as Piper began to laugh.

"Yeah, I'll remember that," Piper chuckled, rolling her eyes as if to end the discussion. Her mind, however, was on overdrive. She had enjoyed that kiss. And it got her thinking.

"Pipe, why would you ever want to spend the whole summer here?" Polly asked as she finished packing up her side of their room. It was the middle of May, and the semester was finally over.

Piper had adamantly insisted that she and Polly attend the Katy Petty Concert the weekend following the protest, even though Polly had muttered that Piper had made her point by kissing a random girl. To be honest, Piper wasn't a huge fan of Katy Perry, but she had felt obligated to attend after the stance she took. Throughout the concert, she found herself scanning the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl she had kissed. Though she had hoped the girl would be there to take a stand against those religious nut jobs, she hadn't noticed her in the crowd, and in reality, Piper wouldn't know what to do even if she had seen the brunette in the crowd.

After the concert, Piper didn't have much time to think about kissing girls. Finals had passed by in a stressful, exhausted blur, and now it was summer, and Polly was heading home. Piper, on the other hand, had elected to stay at school for the summer to take classes.

"I told you Polly," Piper sighed, exasperated. "Since I picked up the theater double major, I am a few credits short of graduating with both majors. I have to stay to take classes."

That wasn't exactly true. Piper had taken Advanced Placement classes in college that had helped her free up enough classes to double major, so she didn't have to stay at school for the summer. But when she had called home a month ago, her mother had seen distant and distracted, and Cal mentioned that their dad hadn't been around much, which was code that their dad had begun seeing another woman. Following that conversation, Piper had immediately signed up for summer courses to keep her away from her tense and uncomfortable home life.

"Fine," Polly huffed. "You're still going to have to come visit me this summer. And text me whenever you're bored and I'll come visit."

"You know I will," Piper smiled, standing to hug her roommate.

"See you soon," Polly said, squeezing Piper quickly. "Don't get too lonely."

"I'll try not to," Piper laughed, waving goodbye as Polly left the dorm.

Piper smiled at the silence, flopping down on her bed and opening her book. She may be stuck at school for the summer, but at least she'd be stress free. She couldn't wait for a quiet summer at school, with no distractions. She was beginning to chalk her preoccupation with the brunette up to stress and finals craziness, and hoped that this summer would help her get back to her old self.

Piper was grateful classes were starting back up. It was the Tuesday after Memorial Day, and she was heading to her first summer class, "Writing for the Theater". She had been forced to go home for Memorial Day Weekend, as her parents were throwing a neighborhood party.

It didn't go well.

Her father had come home forty five minutes into the party, tie crooked and smelling like perfume. Her mother must have noticed, as she was constantly refilling her wine glass for the rest of the afternoon. After the guests had left, she and Cal overheard their parents arguing in the kitchen, only to watch their father leave the house in a huff. Piper felt the urge to escape, so an hour later, she hugged Cal and her mother goodbye and began the two and a half hour drive back to Smith to get ready for class.

When she got to the small classroom, it was almost full. Unfortunately, the seats in the front were all taken, so she was first to sit towards the back. Soon after, the professor came in, a short, middle aged woman with dark hair streaked with grey. Professor Stanton had just begun taking attendance when there was a knock at the classroom door.

"Can I help you?" the professor asked as she moved to open the door.

"Yeah, is this Writing for the Theater?" a husky voice asked, and Piper's ears perked. She knew that voice from somewhere…

"Yes, and I don't tolerate lateness," Professor Stanton said sternly as she opened the door wider, allowing the student to step inside. "Now find a seat."

And then Piper was forced to face the girl she hadn't been able to get off of her mind for the past month.

As if she could sense her thoughts, the tall brunette, Alex, she said her name was (not that Piper had remembered her name, and hadn't been thinking about Alex off and on since the concert) scanned the room, and her eyes quickly landed on Piper. A smile spread across her face as she adjusted her classes and moved to the back of the class, taking the seat right next to Piper.

"Hey Katy Perry," Alex greeted her quietly as Professor resumed taking attendance. Piper turned towards her, eyes wide. "Fancy seeing you here."

Piper opened her mouth, unsure as to how to respond.

"Alex Vause?" Professor Stanton called out. Alex turned to Professor Stanton, lazily raising her hand as Piper stared at the brunette, still in shock.

Professor Stanton nodded in acknowledgement, then asking the class to open to their syllabus.

Luckily for Piper, since it was the first day of class, it wasn't very long. Piper hadn't been able to concentrate since Alex had walked into the classroom. She had thought about Alex off and on since their kiss before Spring Weekend. She had enjoyed it, a lot more than she had expected to, and it raised some questions. Piper had wanted to face them, but she was a coward, and had decided these feelings for as long as possible. But, with the girl, Alex, sitting next to her, she kept thinking about the way Alex's lips felt pressed against her, and the spark that had pulsed between them.

As soon as they were dismissed, Piper felt the urge to bolt. She jumped out of her seat, picking up her notebook and stuffing it into her backpack.

"Hey," Alex said, stepping in front of her.

Piper looked up at Alex briefly before looking back down. "Hi," she answered quietly.

"Do I get to know the name of the random stranger who kissed me last month, or are you trying to keep an air of mystery?" Piper again looked up at her, smiling sheepishly at the girl's waiting expression. "I must have missed it when Professor Stanton was calling attendance."

"Piper, Piper Chapman," Piper said embarrassed that she remembered Alex's name when Alex clearly didn't think it was important enough to remember hers. "You asked me my name last month," Piper said, her voice slightly cold as she held out her hand for Alex to shake. Alex took it, shaking briefly. Piper flinched again as she felt a current pulse between them, and Alex tilted her head at the sensation, brow furrowed.

"Right, Piper," Alex repeated slowly as she dropped Piper's hand, smiling again. "I'm sorry, I'm terrible with names. It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah, you too," Piper stuttered awkwardly as she grabbed her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder. "I have to get going."

Alex nodded, stepping aside. Piper darts towards the door, turning when Alex called after her.

"I'll see you on Thursday," Alex called.

Piper smiled, nodding slightly as she left the classroom, heading to a literature class.

On Thursday morning, Piper had a plan.

She didn't want to be distracted by Alex Vause for the entirety of the first summer semester, and she knew that would likely happen if she kept sitting next to Alex. Since it was only the second day of class, seats were not permanent yet, so Piper decided she would just pick a new seat. Far away from her old seat.

Alex Vause, apparently, had other plans.

Piper made sure to get to class early enough to find a new seat, but when she entered the class, Alex was already there, as if she were waiting for Piper. Piper scanned the room, trying to look for an obvious seat opening while pretending she didn't notice Alex. However, she failed, her eyes accidentally fell on Alex briefly, who just grinned at her and patted the desk next to her, urging Piper to sit next to her. Piper reluctantly moved towards the same seat she sat in on Tuesday, smiling tightly at Alex.

They didn't speak again until the end of class.

"So," Alex began casually as they packed up their bags an hour and a half later.

"Yeah?" Piper responded, glancing at Alex.

"I noticed on the syllabus that we have to partner write a script as an end of the semester project. I was wondering if you would want to work together?"

"Alex, we don't even need to start working on the script for a month," Piper said incredulously.

"I know," Alex shrugged. "But I want to make sure I have the best partner locked in early."

"You think I'll be the best partner?"

"You are a theater major, right? Hence this stuff should kind of be your wheelhouse."

"Right," Piper nodded, blushing a little.

"So," Alex said, her voice tinted with shyness. "Do you want to be my partner?"

Piper studied Alex for a moment; her eyes were wide behind her glasses, and she ran her hands through her hair nervously as she waited for Piper to reply.

"Sure," Piper responded after a moment, genuinely smiling. "I'd like that."

"Good," Alex returned the smile, looking at her desk to grab the last of her books. "I'll see you next Tuesday."

"See you, Alex."

"I have graded your first writing assignment," Professor Stanton stated at the end of class a few weeks later. "In general, the scenes you constructed were very well written, and the dialogue was exceptional, but some improvements are needed in some areas."

Professor Stanton slowly passed out their scripts. They were assigned to create a brief scene. They had been building up to the assignment for weeks, with homework geared towards creating dialogue, portraying subtleties and meanings, and for this project, they were expected to write a scene with a beginning, middle, and end. Piper had felt that she had done well, and was anxious to get her grade.

Students filtered out as they received her assignment, and Piper was bouncing slightly in her chair by the time Professor Stanton handed her paper back to her. She immediately flipped to the back page, where her grade was scralled.

C

A C. Professor Stanton gave her a C. Piper had never received a C in her life. Below her grade was a brief comment in Professor Stanton's thin scrawl.

Dialogue well written. Setting needs much improvement.

Piper dropped her head in her hands, fighting back tears. She had been so proud of that script, she had thought she would do well in a theater major. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she could beg the Dean, or Department Head, or anyone to let her drop the major, even though it was too late.

"Pipes?" A questioning voice floated across the classroom.

Piper raised her head slowly, trying to subtly wipe her tears. "Alex," Piper breathed, suddenly sitting up straighter and wiping vigorously under her eyes.

"Is everything all right?" Alex asked, moving towards her. Piper looked around the room, realizing that they were the only two left.

"I'm fine," Piper muttered, shuffling her papers around to organize them.

"You sure?" Alex quirked her eyebrow.

"It's stupid," Piper shook her head. "I just didn't do as well on the assignment as I wanted."

"Oh come on, I'm sure you did fine," Alex scoffed, grabbing for her paper.

"Alex don't!" Piper exclaimed, trying to grab her assignment back, but Alex was too quick. Piper again dropped her head onto her desk as Alex looked over her assignment.

"Piper, a C isn't terrible," Alex said quietly. "Professor Stanton said your dialogue was great. And this isn't the only assignment this semester. We're supposed to expand on one of our scenes to make it into a complete play. You have plenty of time for improvement."

"You wouldn't understand," Piper snapped as she grabbed her paper back, her voice sharp.

"Try me," Alex challenged, her tone just as sharp. After a moment, Alex's face softened, and she sighed. "Come on Pipes. You look like you need someone talk to. I won't laugh, I promise."

Piper sighed, glancing at Alex before looking around the room, for some reason unable to make eye contact with her classmate. "It's just, I decided to double major in theater last semester, and my parents were less than thrilled. I think my mom said that it was no way to find a husband, and my dad said I'll be unemployed forever. I was hoping to show the wrong. You know, I wanted to do really well right away so I could shove it in their face."

"You will," Alex soothed.

"I don't know, maybe I should just drop it," Piper sighed.

"Don't you dare," Alex replied, thinking for a minute. "Listen, Professor Stanton really liked the way I set the scene in my piece. Why don't you come over to my place tonight and I'll look it over?"

Piper's eyes widened, a red tint returning to her cheeks. "Yeah, sure," Piper agreed, smiling slightly.

Alex grinned back, grabbing a pen and writing her address on the top of Piper's script assignment. "See you tonight," Alex smiled, sliding out of her seat and walking away.

"Alex!" Piper called just as Alex reached the door. Alex turned, raising an eyebrow. "Thank you," Piper smiled softly. "You're like, really good at making people feel better about themselves."

"Anytime kid," Alex smiled, ducking out of the room.

Several hours later, Piper found herself staring at the door of Alex's apartment, knocking timidly. The door swung open to reveal a smiling Alex, glasses perched on top of her head.

"Come on in, kid," Alex greeted as she stepped aside. "I thought you were never going to get here."

"Sorry," Piper smiled. "I had a little trouble finding it."

"Eh, that's alright." Alex shrugged, moving into the living room area and gesturing for Piper to sit next to her. "You gave me a chance to catch up on some television."

Piper slowly sat down next to Alex, turning to face her. "So," Piper began. "Now what?"

"Give me your scene," Alex prompted, holding out her hand.

"What? Why?" Piper asked.

"So I can read it," Alex said slowly, as if she couldn't be more obvious.

"But, it's…personal," Piper said, blushing slightly.

"Come on Pipes, just let me read it."

"No," Piper replied, her voice sounding whiny.

Alex gave her a hard stare before rolling her eyes and getting off the couch, moving towards the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Piper called, but Alex didn't answer. She returned a moment later, a thin stack of papers in her hand.

"My scene was really personal too," Alex said softly, holding the papers out to Piper. "But I'll let you read it. And I promise to only skim yours. I'll just look at the setting."

Piper nodded slightly, reaching into her bag for her scene and handing it to Alex. In return, she grabbed Alex's papers and began to read.

Alex's scene blew hers out of the water. She wrote about a girl meeting her father for the first time, at a concert. Though the dialogue was interesting, Piper was focused on the setting and stage direction. With the way Alex had set the scene, Piper could practically hear the base pounding during the concert as the lead character watched her father on stage, she could picture the dingy light of the backstage area and the smell of weed and cigarette smoke as the girl confronted her absentee father. She could hear the heartbreak in the lead's voice as she as she told another character about a white pleather jacket she had always dreamed of wearing when she met her dad. Alex's stage notes and setting made her feel like she was there, standing right next to the lead.

When Piper finished reading, she found Alex staring at her.

"That was amazing," Piper breathed, staring wide eyed at Alex.

"It wasn't that great," Alex shrugged, but a smile cracked her otherwise cool expression. "You wrote about our kiss."

"Um, yeah," Piper stuttered. "Stanton told us to write about something important to us, and I had never kissed a girl before, and it felt important to be standing up to those Jesus freaks and it was impulsive and reckless and it meant something to me and-" Piper's eyes widened even more as she realized what she just admitted, and she tried to backtrack again, turning into a rambling mess. "I mean, it meant something to be able to stand up to those homophobic jerks, and I'd never kissed a girl before, and it was different, and the whole situation just kind of… left an impression on me."

Piper looked up at Alex, who was just smirking at her. "Uh huh," Alex nodded slowly before clearing her throat. "Well, I read your assignment, and it seems like your setting isn't fully developed. Like, I get nothing from the way you describe the setting, you know? All you say that it's a sunny spring day. You don't tell me whether it's warm, or how bright the sun is, or what the crowd looks like."

"But what does it matter?" Piper asked. "It's set outside, that's all the audience should need to know."

"No it isn't," Alex shot back. "It could be a sunny day in April, but only forty degrees outside, so you would have people walking around in coats and sweaters. Or it could be seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, like it was the day we met, and everyone is walking around in tee shirts and dresses. Details like that give your audience context."

"Oh," was all Piper could say, but Alex kept going. "And the descriptions aren't just for the audience, they're for the actors as well. For example, if someone was playing you, and you just grabbed my face and kissed me," Alex smirked at that. "You need to tell the actress how to react afterwards. Is she cool and collected? Is she in shock? Does her voice shake? Does she take a moment to breathe? These are important questions Pipes."

"Wow," Piper said, sighing deeply. "You're really amazing at this."

"Shut up," Alex rolled her eyes.

"No, seriously," Piper insisted. "You really know your stuff. You know how to get at the emotions of a scene. You should be a theater major instead of me."

Alex scoffed. "Yeah right. I want to be employed when I graduate," Alex teased with a smile, recalling their earlier discussion.

"Shut up," Piper shot back with a grin, playfully shoving Alex as she laughed. "Seriously though, why are you taking this class?"

"Oh," Alex said, her voice turning serious. She grabbed her glasses from the top of her head, adjusting them over her eyes before responding. "I – uh – had a hard time adjusting to school my first semester here. Partied too hard, made the wrong type of friends, that kind of stuff. Ended up failing my English requirement, along with a couple of others. I decided to stick around this summer to catch up before I started my senior year, and the Department Chair said this could count as an English class. So, here I am."

"Well, you definitely belong," Piper smiled softly, inching a little closer to Alex. "You're really talented."

"Thanks Pipes," Alex smiled, holding Piper's gaze. Eventually, Piper glanced away, shaking her head slightly.

"So, what should I do about this?" Piper asked, gesturing to her assignment.

"Why don't you work on adding more detail to the setting, as well as the stage directions, and I'll look it over and help you if you need it?" Alex replied uncertainly.

"Okay," Piper nodded, looking down at her work.

They worked silently for the next hour; Piper worked on her script while Alex read an assignment for a History Class she was taking. Eventually, Piper put her pen down and pushed her script toward Alex, feeling like she was finished.

Alex re-read her work closely before looking up. "This is really great Piper," Alex said sincerely. "There's so much more description than the first time around. You really went a lot more in depth."

"Thank you," Piper blushed as Alex handed back her assignment, stuffing it in her bag. They sat in an awkward silence for a moment before Piper spoke again.

"Well, I better get going," Piper stood. "I promised a friend I would meet them in Amherst for dinner, so I need to head out."

"Okay," Alex nodded, leading Piper towards the front door and opening it.

"You're work is really great Piper," Alex said as she leaned against the doorframe. "Don't listen to your parents. If you work at it, I'm sure you'll do amazing things with a Theater Degree."

"Thank you," Piper said, surprised. She wasn't used to someone praising her as much as Alex had today, and it was a little overwhelming. She didn't know what it meant.

So she did something a little reckless.

She leaned in, and kissed the corner of Alex's mouth.

"Thank you for your help," Piper repeated softly as Alex stared at her intently. "You're an amazing teacher."

"See you Thursday," Alex replied simply, standing in her doorway as Piper stepped into the hall.

"Bye Alex," Piper turned and walked away, her mind on overdrive. Alex made her nervous, like she was never on solid ground. But she excited her in a way that Piper hadn't felt in a long time, not since her first boyfriend Bobby Sands kissed her at her eighth grade formal. Piper didn't know how to act around Alex, but at the same time, Alex made her feel safe and comfortable in her own skin, and she didn't know how to reconcile those feelings.

Piper was straight. Piper had only ever dated boys. But hanging out with Alex seemed different. Alex made Piper feel different. Alex was different.

And Piper didn't know what to do.

A/N 2: I hope you all enjoyed this part! It felt a little weak in parts, and I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it's been so long since I posted, I wanted to give you guys something. I don't know why I love writing college Alex and Piper so much; part of it's probably because I just graduated from college recently, and I also think it gives Piper some freedom to explore who she is as a person, which is always fun to write. Anyway, let me know if you want to see more!