It turned out that the old ladies had had it all wrong in their gossip. Delphine was technically in the next district over, by about two houses. The rivalling high schools walked the same turf constantly, their boundary lines were so close. Delphine was far more disappointed than she realistically should have been and Cosima was pissed at her source of information. That limited their interactions to church on Sundays alone.
Their Sundays went roughly like this; Greetings, stolen glances, exchanged pleasantries, and then Delphine was whisked home by her parents. This went on for about a month. Delphine had made friends at her school quick enough. She'd even attracted several boys. Hot boys even. But she shrugged them all off for her little church crush that she wasn't even entirely sure would be interested in girls.
The attraction kept getting worse for Delphine. At this point it was undeniable. When Cosima handed out the body at mass, Delphine shuddered at her accidental touch. Delphine would find herself daydreaming about the girl during the week and even when the girl was sitting a few feet away. Cosima had winked and Delphine damn near kissed her for it. Since when did she want to kiss girls? Since now, apparently.
"I'm telling you guys, she totally won't nark on us!" Cosima argued. She had her arms crossed as if that would make her look any tougher with her tiny stature.
She was arguing with her small circle of friends over the admission of Delphine into their little group. Code name; Youth Group. They'd started the whole operation years ago and so far they had gone without a hitch. Every Sunday, after school, they would meet up in the church basement. It was super sketchy down there, dimly lit and housed a few storage bins that nobody ever went looking for. When they added a beat up couch, an armchair and a few bean bags to the mix, it was perfect. The Father assumed that they were praising the lord, and sometimes they did discuss religion, but really, they just met up down there to drink or smoke and have a safe place to hang out. Their leader was goody two shoes, Allison Hendrix. She was the reason no adults questioned their intentions when they met so often. Nobody would ever think her up to no good, but she had a weak spot for a glass of wine and planning things (Not to mention Donnie would hang out sometimes). Youth Group offered her both. There was Tony and Felix, both of whom supplied the weed and the alcohol. Sarah Manning brought good music, good stories, and very occasionally good behavior. Her sister Helena would tag along now and then to hang out. Scott just hung around because Cosima was there and he had nothing better to do. They really weren't that bad and Allison would never let them fully exploit the church so they'd managed to keep under the radar, meeting once or twice a week, some party deprived weekends, and after mass on Sundays. Cosima wanted to invite Delphine to the mix.
"I don't know, Cos," Sarah replied from her spot draped over the arm of Felix's chair. "Seems like you've got a schoolgirl crush."
"I haven't seen this french girl yet," Felix pushed his sister's feet off of him with disgust.
"That's totally not the point," Cosima ignored Tony's raised brows and winks. "Seriously guys, she just moved to the United States. I'm sure she could use some friends!"
"Alright, we'll take a vote," Allison rolled her eyes. "All for adding Delphine to the group?"
Scott immediately raised his hand for Cosima. Allison raised her hand under the tag line 'Whatever makes Cosima shut up' and Donnie followed suit in loyalty. Felix raised his hand after Cosima promised him her hot friend's number. Tony took a ten dollar bill as bribery and Sarah jumped on the bandwagon.
Delphine was accepted warily. Cosima would invite her to that next Sunday's meeting.
That sunday had finally rolled around and Cosima was bouncing in her seat, waiting for the french girl to appear. She'd rolled out of bed that morning and put a little bit extra into her appearance. She wore a black crop top and her favorite dark red scarf, her makeup was nothing shy of on point, and she'd even worn her retainer the night before. Cosima wasn't sure why it was so important to impress, but she knew it was.
Her face lit up when she spotted blonde curls bouncing towards her. The girl offered a smile before falling into the seat behind her, as she did last week, with her parents. Delphine leaned forward, "Bonjour, Cosima!"
"It's like totally rad seeing you as always," Cosima grinned at the blonde, twisting her body to see her. She was glad she hadn't promised her mom to keep it pure because that certainly wasn't happening. Not with that grey blouse that hugged her perfectly.
As soon as mass ended, Cosima nearly jumped out of her seat to talk to Delphine. She called out and the blonde turned.
"Yes Cosima?" Her heart was racing. This was certainly out of their normal routine. Delphine waited for the brunette's words.
"I wanted to know if you, uh- if you wanted to join our Youth Group. We meet here at the church," Cosima was suddenly stuttering. "I mean, it's totally cool if you don't. I just thought it might be cool to like meet new people and I wanted to spend some time with you- I mean! My friends want to get to know you."
Delphine caught Youth Group and then that Cosima wanted to see her. The adorable brunette wanted to spend time with her! She asked her parents and Cosima watched as the family discussed in rapid fire french. Cosima knew very little, level one, french but she caught the phrase "Qui va vous conduire à la maison?"
"I have a car, I could totally bring you home when we're done!" Cosima inserted into the conversation. Delphine's father paused and looked at the girl. Cosima had never felt so tiny in her life as she did under his scrutinizing gaze. It was as if he knew she'd been fantasizing about his daughter.
"Fine. You may go," He finally spoke, as the church cleared out, in his heavy accent. Cosima grinned from ear to ear.
"Come on!" She grabbed a very red Delphine and all but pulled her to the basement.
By the time they reached the others in the room, Delphine was giggling and her curls were a mess. Cosima made introductions as she straightened out her hair. She was suddenly very self conscious under their gazes.
"Well, now I get it," The lanky boy she believed to be called Felix was the first to speak.
"Welcome to the club, Frenchy."
