A/N: I pulled Ginger Lopez's (one of Cheryl's minions from season 1) characterization out of my ass, so deal with it.
This was inspired from 1.10 when Veronica and Cheryl had their now infamous dance off, and Cheryl lost after the Vixens voted. Ginger and Tina didn't vote at all, which made Cheryl "fire" them. This explores the aftermath of how this may have affected Ginger.
She was walking out of school after a late afternoon session, when she saw Ginger sitting alone on the steps with her face in her hands. Which was weird to say the least, since she hadn't seen the girl not glued to Cheryl's hip along with Tina in a while. She quickly debated whether or not she should approach her to see what was wrong. Cheryl's minions had never really liked her. They were always a little miffed by the real friendship she and Cheryl shared, though the redhead made it perfectly clear that they were to respect her or else. That however, didn't stop the little snide comments they'd throw her way every now and then. Ginger being the worst offender.
She had decided that it was best to leave the girl in peace, that is until she heard a choked cry.
She frowned as she walked up to her. She reached out to touch her shoulder. "Hey, are you crying?" The girl's head whipped up to her and sure enough- Her brown eyes were puffy with stained tear streaks running down her face. Her glare was ineffective as Josie sat down beside her.
'What do you want? Come to laugh at me?" Ginger said brokenly.
The Pussycat's brows drew together in confusion. "What are you talking about? Laugh at you about what?"
The Latina glanced at her. "You don't know?" Josie shook her head mutely. "Cheryl fired me and Tina."
Her eyebrows raised. "What do you mean she 'fired' you?"
"We didn't vote for her during the dance-off between her and Veronica so she kicked us out of the Rivervixens, out of her life. We're not her friends anymore."
"No offense, but were you ever?"
Ginger shook her head angrily, while wiping her tears. "I knew you came to make fun of me." She moved to get up but Josie quickly grabbed her arm before she could get too far.
"Hey just hear me out, okay?" The girl stared down at the hand clutching her arm for a moment, and then sighed. Plopping back down next to her, she folded her arms tightly. "Look, all I was saying was..Cheryl wasn't exactly nice to you guys. She called you names, made you do her dirty work. That's not what friends do."
"I know that."
"Then why did you put up with it? Why are you out here crying on the steps?"
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"You're Cheryl's best friend." she stated bitterly. "Why do you put up with all of her bitchiness?"
"Cheryl's not like that with me. And trust me, I'd never put up with that."
"Why?"
Josie looked confused. "Because I have self respect..."
"No, why is she like that with you? How are you guys friends without everything else?" At this point, Ginger had lost most of the fire raging inside her and her tone had lost its bite. Now she just sounded genuinely curious and bit sad.
The curly haired girl shrugged. "We've just always understood each other. She knows that kind of stuff isn't my scene and she respects that. Just like I know that even though I don't always agree with the way she acts, deep down somewhere inside I think she needs to. It's an alternative to bottling up all that aggression that could turn into Lord knows what."
Ginger blinked slowly. "You're saying Cheryl could be...worst?"
"I'm saying, I don't judge her. I'm there for her when she really needs me and she's there when I really need her. It works for us." They sat in silence for a while after that. Josie tried to ignore the fact that she should have been home ten minutes ago and her mother will no doubt be blowing up her phone any second from now. She was just about to tell the girl she had to leave when Ginger spoke again, with a shy voice that surprised her.
"You know, I've always been kind of, I don't know, jealous?" Josie tilted her head, waiting for her to continue. "Cheryl just seems to have this unspoken bond with you and I always wished that I could have that."
"Look if you wanted to actually be Cheryl's friend, then maybe you should have-
"I wasn't talking about Cheryl." She said quickly. Josie's mouth opened and shut a couple of times.
"Wait, me?" This really was surprising. She had been under the impression that Ginger hated her. She showed her the most animosity out of the twosome minions. Though she had never really paid it much mind, seeing as she had better things to do with her time.
Ginger blushed looking down at the cemented steps, fingering a black ant crawling by.
"Why?"
"I guess..I thought, even before Cheryl, that you were really cool and confident and nice even when I wasn't nice to you." She glanced up at her. "Plus you have an amazing voice. I've always enjoyed hearing you sing."
"Wow." She blushed again. "So why haven't you ever told me this?"
"Told you what?"
Josie rolled her eyes playfully before bumping their shoulders together. "That you wanted to be friends, girl."
"Oh. Well...one, you're kind of intimidating. I didn't think you liked me and two, Cheryl would kill me."
The Pussycat frowned. "She's not that bad."
"Are you kidding? The day she made me and Tina Rivervixens, she made it very clear to us that Jason was off limits. And then later, when we were alone in the locker rooms, she told me you were off limits."
"Wait, why would she..."
"I-i think, she um, knows that I.."
"That you what?"
"I...had a crush on you." She whispered, turning her head away, seconds away from bolting. Josie froze, feeling extremely awkward. Ginger has or had a crush on her? What the hell was she supposed to do with that?
"Oh.." She cringed on how that came out.
"God, I am such an idiot."
"Wait."
"Look Josie, I really appreciate you being nice to me, especially when I don't deserve it but I've had the worst day of my life. I've lost Cheryl, my spot on the Vixens..."
"I know she's my girl, but there's more to life than Cheryl Blossom and the Rivervixens."
Ginger shook her head sadly. "Not for me there isn't. I don't have anything else or anyone."
"What about Tina? You guys seem pretty close."
Ginger laughed humorlessly. "Me and Tina weren't friends. All we talked about was how much of a bitch Cheryl was and ways to get more popular."
"Maybe that's your problem. Maybe you should spend more time being yourself than just trying to become popular."
"I don't even know who I am anymore."
"Then let's find out. You need a hobby or something. I can give you piano lessons to see how you like those."
"Everyone doesn't have the musical gift, Josie."
Josie let out a laugh, putting her hand on Ginger's shoulder. "Oh honey, trust me, I know. But that's kind of my forte, so we'll start there." The other girl still didn't look convinced. "You won't know unless you try."
"Fine, but aren't you busy with the Pussycats like all the time?"
"I think I can squeeze time in to make a new friend."
She looked taken back. "You want to be friends after...you know, what I told you?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah."
"Why?" She asked confused.
"Because girl, you need a friend. A real friend."
A small smile grazed her lips. "Thanks, Josie." She hesitantly leaned forward for a hug but stopped short. Josie sighed drastically, before pulling the girl into a warm embrace.
"You're welcome." She said sweetly into her hair.
