CHAPTER THREE: THE LGBTQIA SOCIETY
Nicole entered the unfamiliar university building, eyes scanning over the walls in the hallway, trying to figure out in which direction she was supposed to go. She had room number 337 written on the back of her hand, quickly scribbled down there earlier when she'd made her last minute decision to actually go to this meeting.
She'd been debating back and forth with herself all yesterday, trying to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to show up unannounced. Wouldn't Waverly find it weird and intrusive? But it was open for everybody, and if there was any place where people would welcome you in with open arms it was the LGBTQIA Society on campus. Nicole remembered this from when she used to be a part of it, actively holding meetings and arranging demonstrations. But that was a few years ago, before Shae and everything. Before life had happened and she hadn't needed to use the place to meet cute girls.
Now though, as far as Nicole could read on the society's facebook group that she had yet to ask to be added to, Waverly was the president of the society, while Rosita seemed to be the vice-president (and all eventing) and Jeremy was in charge of their limited budget. Nicole wasn't sure why she was so nervous to just show up, all meetings were open, as Waverly had stressed multiple time on the facebook page, but it was very reluctantly that she leaned herself against the wall in the hallway, the open doorway welcoming with sounds of chatter and the smell of coffee streaming through. She took a calming breath, telling herself that it was going to be okay, that she would just go in there, say hi to Waverly and Jeremy and Rosita and take a seat and then just greet everyone else like it was no big deal and she hadn't gone over the moment inside her head at least twenty times on her way over.
'You've got this Haught,' she pushed a piece of red hair behind her ear, 'it's just another pretty girl, no big deal.' She entered the room then, carefully stepping inside, trying not to make a spectacle of herself. People were scattered all over the room, talking in clusters and drinking hot beverages, and Nicole could tell by the big clock on the wall that their meeting was right about to start.
She saw Jeremy, dressed in a black t-shirt with what looked like a Hufflepuff-scarf wrapped around his neck, handing out cups of coffee with a giant smile. She walked directly towards him, ignoring the few looks she received from the other students.
"Jeremy, hi?" She greeted him, when their eyes met and his face lit up in a giant smile. She shuffled nervously in her sneakers, tucking her hands into her back pockets and falling to the balls of her feet. Had she dressed okay for this? Suddenly she wasn't too sure about her suede cap.
"Nicole!" Jeremy cheered, awkwardly placing his cup on the table and wrapping her in a hug. Nicole was taken aback for a second; she really didn't know this guy, and Jeremy seemed to come to the same realisation as he pulled back with pink cheeks. "What are you doing here?" He wanted to know then.
Nicole reached over and poured herself some hot water, dumping a bag of tea into it. "I uh, I decided that now was probably the time to get involved in these activities again, you know?" She drew on the string of the tea bag, watching it carefully.
Nudging her with his elbow, Jeremy said, "Sure, sure, sure," as he grabbed his cup from the table and stared around the room.
Just then Waverly entered the room, not that Nicole had been scanning it to find her or anything. She had a flustered Rosita in tow; the other girl carrying several small plastic containers, while Waverly breezed towards the desk, setting her bag down and scattering her several jackets and scarfs all around her.
People greeted both she and Rosita with great familiarity; "Hi Rosie!", "Waverly, there you are!", "Rosita, hey," and "It's so great to see you, Waves," and Nicole felt her heart pummel into her stomach when she took in Waverly's appearance. She was wearing a velour skirt with pumps and pantyhose, but what really caught Nicole's breath was the bottle green coloured shirt clinging to Waverly's upper body. Damn, green looked good on her.
Waverly had the attention of everybody inside the room, and they all huddled together, finding chairs and gathering them close around the table that Jeremy must have sat up earlier. "Sorry, we're late," she blew a piece of runaway hair out of her face, "but we've got an excuse, right Rosie?" She offered Rosita a giant smile, "We spent all afternoon baking cookies!"
Rosita held out the containers for them to see, and Nicole realised that they were all filled with cookies. She pulled the lid off. "They're all vegan of course, and you better fucking like them," she cheered, passing the containers around.
"Rosita's in a mood, 'cuz I had her chopping up the nuts," Waverly explained, and a few people chuckled. "Next step before the meeting starts is names and pronouns!" Waverly said then, nodding her head and clapping her hands together. Her eyes landed on Nicole then, and the redhead swore that her eyes seemed to light up slightly, "There's some new faces, I suppose."
They went around in a circle and everybody presented their name and their pronoun, limiting possibilities of getting misgendered. Nicole sat next to Jeremy throughout the first part of the meeting; they talked about politics, something about a happening on campus and a girl inviting everybody to a queer poetry slam, but Nicole didn't say anything. She munched on her stack of cookies and drank her tea, listening to everything. An hour into the meeting, Waverly called for a break before socialising, and Jeremy moved to talk to a person across the room; a tiny human with a shaven head, round glasses and a Slytherin bowtie around their neck.
Nicole stood up when she saw Waverly making her way through the room, and she quickly brushed the crumbs off her shirt and her chin, before awkwardly adjusting her cap.
"Nicole," Waverly smiled, greeting her with a peck on the cheek, "what a nice surprise. What are you doing here?"
The redhead sheepishly shrugged her shoulders. "I thought it would be nice to hang out with some new people and stuff," she mumbled, eyes scanning over Waverly's face, trying to see if the other woman was finding it off or too forward. She saw no signs of that.
Waverly shyly tugged a piece of her hair behind her ear. It had come loose from her braid, and she looked wind-blown and cute. "Nice! As you can probably tell, I'm in charge of this uuh, club, so yeah," she shifted on her feet and let her hands fall to her sides.
"I take it you're a huge activist," Nicole replied, downing the last of her tea.
Perching her lips, Waverly nodded, "Yeah, I," she paused, "back home things weren't as easy, y'know, being bisexual. I tried getting a club started, but I ended up dating this guy all through high school, so no one really took my sexuality seriously," she paused, green eyes shimmering as they met Nicole's, "I'm uh, I'm from a very small town. Wynonna too, I guess, but she moved here a long time ago," she added, licking her upper lip.
Nicole nodded her head, listening intensely to Waverly as she spoke; it was so cute how she went on a ramble, talking to Nicole quickly, letting the words tumble over her pink lips in a rush, as if she couldn't believe that anyone was listening to her. Nicole thought it was very cute.
Waverly continued then, ranting on. "So yeah, when I started university I really wanted to get a bit more into it, do some activism and maybe try dating girls a bit more," she paused, humming, "After all, Champ and I broke up when I left, we weren't really prepared for long distance, so being single and being bi, that's me, yep!"
Eyes twinkling, Nicole couldn't hide her smile. "That sounds awesome."
Blushing Waverly diverted her eyes. "Oh sorry, I tend to ramble, just tell me to shut my mouth," she whispered, tongue peeking out to wet her lips once more.
Nicole thought that this woman was perhaps the cutest thing she had ever seen. She smiled, and she knew her dimples were on full display. "Oh, no! Don't apologise," she quickly said, scrambling to let Waverly know that she didn't mind one bit listening to her stories, "you're cute when you ramble, you know."
A tiny blush rose up Waverly's cheeks, and she reached pass Nicole to pour herself a cup of tea. Nicole caught a faint whiff of peach, and wondered if Waverly's shampoo or perfume was the cause. It smelled nice nonetheless, and Nicole closed her eyes briefly.
Rosita was standing next to them when she opened her eyes again, and she shook it off. "Nicole, hi," she said with a dismissive shake of her head. "Waves, can I make my announcement after? We want people to join us, don't we?"
Waverly's hand came to rest on Rosita's shoulder, lingering there for just a second. "Yeah! Definitely Rosie, you go on ahead."
Nodding, Rosita grabbed a cookie and stuffed it into her mouth, giving Nicole a pointed look, before she turned on her heel and and marched to the front of the room. Nicole watched her back as she went; strutting in her high-heeled pumps, pink and brown hair dangling behind her in that high ponytail she usually wore.
"Is she always so cranky?" Nicole asked Waverly then, once Rosita was out of earshot and their eyes met.
Confused, Waverly's mouth fell open. "What who? Rosita?" She questioned, green eyes turning wide. "She's not cranky, she's the sweetest!"
Nicole eyed the other woman in front of the room, nervously chewing on the inside of her cheek. She didn't know why, something about Rosita just seemed off to her – or maybe it was just the way Rosita acted around her? After all, she seemed to be very close with Waverly, and somehow Nicole doubted Waverly would hang around anybody she didn't really care for. Especially because they seemed to hang out a lot. The redhead watched as Rosita climbed onto the desk, kicking it in her high heels and looking absolutely gorgeous.
"Hey fucktards," she called, clapping her hands together and demanding their attention.
Waverly huffed and scurried to the front of the room. "Rosita!" She argued, reaching a hand up and tugging at the other woman's skirt, "Be nice, there's new people here."
Rosita shook her off with a dismissive chuckle. "Waves and I thought it would be nice to arrange a little beer-drinking and soda-drinking for ya' guys," she informed them with a giant smile. She was met with a chorus of pleased murmurs. "Sounds good, right?" She kidded, wriggling her eyebrows, "And we decided on this Friday at that queer bar down on Main, sound good? The bathrooms are gender-neutral, and they serve a variety of virgin drinks, so everybody should feel at least welcome in those… aspects," she finished.
Jeremy threw his fist into the air and whooped.
The girl on the table couldn't hide her grin when she looked at him, "So anybody interested just meet us there at eight, yeah?" She told them, before moving to jump off the table again. Before she was able to though, Waverly cleared her throat from the floor and shot her a pointed look. "Oh shit, yeah," she caught herself, grinning awkwardly at them all, "Waves wants me to tell you that it's now free play for ya' guys, which means do whatever the fuck you want and don't expect us to say shit."
Nicole swore she heard Waverly huff out another "Rosita!" As the darker skinned girl hopped off the table again. The redhead couldn't hide her smile, because she was finding Waverly cuter and cuter by each minute. She grabbed a cookie for each of her hands and slipped her way to the front of the room, where Waverly and Rosita seemed to be having a minor argument, although Nicole could clearly see that it was laced with love; Waverly's eyes were shining as they looked at Rosita, and the other woman just looked completely amused, as if this was something that happened between them often. Which Nicole was beginning to suspect that it did.
She carefully tapped Waverly on the shoulder, and the brunette turned around to look at her. Nicole liked to tell herself that Waverly's face lit up a little when she realised that it was her. "I, uh, I just wanted to say that I really wanna join you on Friday? Is that cool?" Nicole heard herself question, eyes meeting Waverly's and holding her gaze.
"Sure!" Waverly eagerly replied, nodding her head, "Definitely. It's nice that you wanna come, right Rosie, isn't it nice?"
Humming in response, Rosita seemed preoccupied with staring at Waverly's butt (which Nicole really couldn't blame her, she had quickly come to realise that it was an exceptional butt).
Waverly smacked her friend on the arm. "Stop staring at me, you weirdo," she whispered, voice laced with love.
Rosita didn't at all look like she regretted being caught staring. She sheepishly grinned. "Well, I'm sorry, but you have a good butt, Earp," she argued, raising an eyebrow challengingly.
The small brunette stuck her tongue out at her, "It's not like you haven't seen it up close or anything," she sighed, gently knocking her hip into Rosita's, a small smile playing across her lips.
"Quite a few times," Rosita replied, wriggling her eyebrows, which caused Waverly to dramatically roll her eyes.
"Go mingle," she huffed, sending Rosita off and into the room, before turning to Nicole again, "Sorry 'bout that," she breathed, awkwardly rubbing her hand against the back of her neck. "She's incorrigible."
Nicole wasn't quite sure what to make of the small banter she'd just witnessed between the two friends. Her mind told her that she shouldn't read too much into it, but then again, Waverly had just heavily implied, with no shyness whatsoever, that Rosita had seen her naked – and more than once. Otherwise Nicole really couldn't figure out why the other woman would have such familiarity with Waverly's bottom. But they weren't dating, were they? No one had implied that the two women were together, and it didn't seem like it either, not with the way they interacted.
Nicole tried not to hide her slight worry (was it even worry?) when she replied to Waverly, nervously shuffling on her feet. "'S okay," she whispered, fidgeting with her cap and trying not to seem like a total moron. "I just wanted to say hi, I guess? And uhm, I'll see you Friday then, for uh… for beer," she finished, shooting off her most self-secure smile, flashing her dimples and putting on the charm.
Waverly's eyes flickered quickly from side to side. "Yes, yes, we will, I suppose," she whispered, her voice bare audible in the small space between them.
"Cool," Nicole whispered, rubbing her arm, unsure whether or not she should attempt to hug Waverly. Would it seem weird if she did? Not everybody liked being hugged by people they barely knew. But then again, Waverly did seem like a loving, touchy-feely person. The redhead made the decision and stepped forward, wrapping her arms loosely, briefly, around Waverly's shoulders. "See you?" She breathed as she pulled back, breath ghosting over Waverly's ears, neck, chin, definitely on purpose.
Nodding her head, Waverly had a small flush of red across her cheeks. "See you, Nicole," she whispered.
Nicole turned on her heel then, wanting to get out of there before her confusion became too evident. She wasn't sure why she was this caught up in Waverly Earp, she couldn't really explain it. Sure the other girl was attractive, but Nicole had never been one to act like a complete doofus in front of women, actually quite the contrary. She'd always been kind of good with women, ever since high school when she first came out and the entire cheerleading squad had been giggling every time she walked by, flashing her dimples and running her fingers through her hair.
But Waverly Earp? Waverly Earp made her act like someone who was not herself, someone entirely different. And she didn't want that – she wanted to turn on the charm and wiggle her way into Waverly's pants, and quite probably her heart. It wasn't just that it would be amazing to get her into bed (again, Nicole could definitely tell how incredible attractive she was), but there was something else going on as well; there was as spark whenever their skin touched, and Nicole had never thought so much about someone she just wanted to sleep with – Waverly Earp was different, and Nicole was intrigued.
She was just turning down the hallway, when she heard her name being called behind her. She turned to find Jeremy running towards her then, with that person from before following his steps. If Nicole remembered correctly, the name was Taylor and the pronoun was them and they. Taylor was on a skateboard, rolling down the hallway with Jeremy by their side.
Nicole stopped and greeted the two with a smile. "Jeremy, what's up?"
He breathed out heavily, trying to catch his breath even from jogging that short distance. Nicole really started to think that running in the park with Waverly was a good idea for him and for his health. "We just wanted," he paused, huffing out air and unwrapping his Hufflepuff scarf from around his neck.
"We just wanted to ask if you wanted to walk together," Taylor exclaimed, sticking out their hand, "My name's Taylor by the way."
Nicole wrapped her hand into Taylor's, shaking it, "Nice to meet you, I'm Nicole," she replied.
"Jeremy said," Taylor nodded their head towards Jeremy, hopping off their skateboard and flipping it into their hands. "You on foot?"
"Sure thing," the redhead replied, nodding her head and looking towards Jeremy as they walked down the hallway. "So are you two… together?" She questioned, eyeing them. They'd been chummy all night, so maybe they were. From Jeremy's awkward nervousness she definitely got a feeling they were.
Wrapping an arm around Jeremy's shoulders, Taylor nodded, "Sure! We're partners, I guess. Boyfriends and girlfriends aren't really terms I care for," they added, squeezing Jeremy tight, "being non-binary and all."
Nicole nodded her head; it had been awhile since she'd done anything remotely activistic, but she did know about gender non-conformity, and it was nice to see how Waverly and Rosita had accommodated everybody and seemed so aware of everybody's needs and wants. They'd really managed to create a safe space at the meeting as far as Nicole could tell. "I'm gay," Nicole replied, not sure what else to say.
Jeremy offered Taylor a high-five, "Called it," he cheered, wiping at his forehead. Taylor left him hanging though, staring at him with amusement behind their glasses. "Sorry," he whispered, then turned his head to smile at Nicole, "Anyway, Nicole, so I think there's something you should know, seeing as you're crushing on Waverly and all."
Spluttering, Nicole came to a halt as she looked at him with wide eyes. How the fuck did he know that!? She wasn't that transparent, was she? She didn't think she was. Sure, she often wore her feelings right on her sleeve, which was probably why she'd been hurt more that just once, but she had never been good at protecting herself, because when she wanted something, she just wanted it so badly. It was amazing she hadn't come on stronger regarding Waverly – but that was probably because she still couldn't read whatever it was she had with Rosita.
Friends? Ex-girlfriends? Lovers? Friends with benefits? Dating? Nicole really couldn't tell, all she knew was that it was confusing when all she wanted was to either A. Ask Waverly out on a date, or B. Have her head between Waverly's thighs.
"Calm down," Taylor chuckled, running a hand against their bare head. "No one else can tell, just Jeremy and I, we're cool like that."
Nicole sighed in relief. Somehow she doubted that Taylor and Jeremy were really considered cool anywhere, them being huge nerds with their Harry Potter merchandise and all. But they did seem like nice people, and Nicole had never cared much for the cool kids anyway. "Sure, I uh… I think she's very pretty," Nicole replied, running her tongue over her upper lip, wetting it, even though it was cold outside and it'd probably chap.
Jeremy couldn't hide his giant grin. "Waverly is more than just pretty," he replied, tugging his hands into his pockets and shuddering in the cold night. "She's the sweetest."
Butting in, Taylor added, "Everybody loves her, if you couldn't tell."
"But," Jeremy paused, looking up at her from beneath his beautiful and incredibly long eyelashes, "I'd probably watch out a little…" he trailed off, looking briefly at Taylor, as if he was unsure whether or not he should continue. But Taylor offered a curt nod, which splurged Jeremy on. "She's uh, she's not really looking for anything serious," he mumbled, "at all in fact."
Nicole squeezed her eyebrows together in confusion. Really? But Waverly seemed like such a relationship kind of person? That was definitely how Nicole had read her, but who knew? "Really?" She squeaked out. She tried not to hide that rush of disappointment that washed over her. It wasn't like she'd dreamt passionately about ending in a relationship with Waverly or anything; in fact, she'd mostly thought about getting her into bed, but Nicole also knew herself, and if there was a sweet girl… she'd most likely fall.
Jeremy bit his lip. "Yeah, I," he sighed, "it's kinda weird that I'm telling you this, but it's only because I think you're super cool and I'd like to be friends."
"You're super cool too, Jeremy," Nicole replied, even though she didn't really know him at all. But she liked the small smile that erupted on his face when she told him.
"Rosita and Waverly used to have sex," Taylor continued on, as they dropped their skateboard onto the ground, stepping onto it and rolling slowly next to the other two. "When they were first years, they met each other pretty quickly-"
"Through me!" Jeremy interjected.
"-and Waverly was not interested in anything, because she'd just gotten out of a relationship with that jerk-ass Champ," Taylor explained, flashing their teeth and huffing out air, "and she wanted to be single, y'know? Explore her sexuality and all that jazz."
Jeremy tucked himself even further into his jacket. "Which I was all for if it wasn't for the fact that she and Rosita hit it off immediately, and Waverly wasn't really that vocal about her wishes, and they ended up having looooots of sex," he dragged the word out, and Nicole had to tell herself to calm down. He was talking in past tense, which meant that they weren't still having sex. Which was a good thing. Especially if she wanted to have sex with Waverly.
Sighing, Taylor added, "But Rosita might've gotten her feelings hurt a little bit," they explained, circling around Nicole and Jeremy on their skateboard, "They ended up calling it off, now they're friends, and it's all good, I think."
"It's all good," Jeremy added in agreement, trying to catch up to Taylor on their skateboard, even if they were so out of reach. "But yeah, it burned a lot, and I don't think Waverly's changed her view on dating quite yet. She seems… contend – being a single virgo with hair for days."
"She does have good hair," Taylor agreed.
Nicole chewed on her lower lip, falling into deep thought as they walked. They had passed the street where she was supposed to turn right a long time ago, but she didn't mind. Walking had always cleared her head, and it seemed like she might need some clearing tonight after this conversation. She wasn't sure what Jeremy and Taylor were up to though – were they simply just looking out for her (even though they didn't know her?), or did they have ulterior motives? Like maybe hoping for Rosita and Waverly to actually end up together? Nicole was confused, but one thing she did know for sure.
It wasn't like she was in love with Waverly or anything, she hardly even knew her. And she could deal with her attraction if it meant being friends with the other woman, because if there was one thing Nicole had come to realise it was that she needed queer friends, and not just Dolls and Eliza. She needed new friends, and she was intrigued by Waverly, even in a non-sexual kind of way – she just wanted to get to know her; she found her interesting, and urged to learn more about her, talk more with her.
So this wasn't scaring her off. She was going to go to that queer bar on Main on Friday, and she was going to talk to Waverly and drink beer. She was even adamant about talking more with Rosita and finding out what her deal was. She could handle her attraction, she wasn't an animal or anything.
She could be friends with Waverly if that meant she wasn't going to get hurt. Because she was just staring to mend herself after Shae, so more hurt was definitely off the table. Friends. Yeah, Nicole could do that.