Marceline was in Bonnie's Women's studies class. That surprised her- she wasn't an expert, but she figured that a computer science major wouldn't allow much wiggle room for electives. What also surprised her, though it really verged more on annoyance, was that Marceline was sitting as far away from her as physically possible. Bonnie glanced at the two empty seats next to her, then shot a glare back at Marceline, who only raised an eyebrow in response.
Bonnie opened her mouth to say something, but she, admittedly, wasn't sure what that was, so it was probably best that the professor walk in then. Well, it was more like stumbled, carrying her laptop and notes in one hand, a coffee in the other, curly black hair covering most of her face. She shot a quick smile at her class before promptly tripping over thin air. The sound of expensive electronics hitting the ground caused Bonnie to grind her teeth. Oh, and her professor might be hurt- that was probably bad too.
Marceline, sitting at the front of the room- another odd thing- hesitantly stood and helped the professor to her feet, then mumbled something before sitting back down.
The professor laughed nervously and set her laptop up, straightening her long skirt. The coffee, though not much, remained spilled on the floor. Was she not going to clean that up? Was she just going to leave it there for someone to slip on? Why was Marceline avoiding her? Would the coffee leave a stain if it was there too long? She couldn't pay attention with all this coffee business going on.
A finger jabbed into her shoulder. Bonnie blinked in confusion, hey eyes landing on Marceline, who was staring back with an eyebrow raised. She blinked and turned to the professor, then finally the person who had prodded her, who was also staring at her, smiling awkwardly. "Uhhh," she said, tapping her fingers.
Her professor looked almost as uncomfortable as she felt, "We were just saying out names and one thing you like."
"Oh, uh, I'm Bonnibel, or, most people call me Bonnie, and I like.. uh," her gaze drifted back to the floor, "c-clean, cleaning. I like cleaning," she paused, "and politics."
Most students didn't seem to think much of that disaster, or just didn't say anything. However, she did hear Marceline's distinct laugh, and found herself blushing, and perhaps a bit more angry than was reasonable as the person next to her introduced herself.
Bonnie barely managed to pay attention for the rest of the class as papers were handed around and the professor rambled on about something she'd forget moments later.
When class let out, she forced herself not to appear flustered, and headed straight to her dorm. Marceline walked in the other direction, not sparing her a glance. Not that she cared. Why would she care about that?
It certainly didn't occupy her thoughts for the entire walk home, no sir. It wasn't like she cared what Marceline thought.
Upon arriving in her dorm room, she flopped onto her bed and looked at her phone. Of course, as she did every day, Lady had texted her.
Lady: Hey, wanna hang out this weekend? ;0
Bonnie clicked her tongue and opened up her work schedule. Eight hours both days. Not happening.
Bonnie: Sorry, can't. Work.
Lady: :(
Lady: All weekend?
Bonnie: Pretty much, lol
Bonnie: My boss is evil. I should be boss
Lady: LOL, of course you should. Do you need me to seduce her for you ;)
Bonnie: Lady what the fuck
Lady: ;) ;) ;)
Bonnie: No. I think I'll manage.
Lady: You're no fun :(
Bonnie sighed and let her phone fall to her side. She chewed the inside of her cheek as she stared at the ceiling, pondering what to do next. She couldn't really study for anything- she'd already prepared all the projects she could prepare at the moment. Her mind kept wandering back to Marceline. Had she done something to upset her? She didn't remember anything. Then again, her friends always told her that she was a bit oblivious to that sort of thing.
In the end, she decided to watch some videos online for a while, allowing her mind to drift into space, until she was interrupted by Marceline opening the door. The other girl spared her a quick glance before shuffling over to her desk and pulling out her laptop. Ignoring her, again.
Bonnie glanced at her phone, dismissing another message from Lady. 5:02. She'd have to leave for work soon. Perfect time to confront Marceline and escape consequences if there were any. She stood up and cleared her throat.
No response. Bonnie rolled her eyes and tapped Marceline on the shoulder. The dark haired girl removed her headset and smiled pleasantly up at her. Bonnie narrowed her eyes, "What's up with you?"
Marceline's eyes darted away, "Uh, I'm alright. Just playin' some games-"
"No, what's up with you?"
Bonnie could almost see question marks physically manifesting above Marceline's head as she tried to figure out what her roommate could mean. Bonnie sighed, "Why do you have a problem with me?"
"I uh, don't?"
Bonnie paused, "You were avoiding me."
Marceline tilted back in her chair, "You snapped at me? I was giving you space, dude."
Bonnie bit her lip, "Oh."
"Yeah."
This was more awkward than she had planned. She muttered an apology and began to get ready for work. She hadn't had a chance to wash her work pants yet, gross. She sighed and shoved it in her bag anyway. It wasn't like anyone was going to notice.
"Shit," Marceline hissed, "Aye, Bonnie, mind if Ash comes over? He's being a wad."
Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "I guess. I'm going to work. Just don't get, I dunno, too wild or whatever."
Marceline nodded, seeming absent, and maybe a bit worried. The thought crossed her mind to ask if she was alright, but they were already on shaky enough ground as it was. Bonnie glanced down at her phone and hurriedly shoved the rest of her uniform into her bad before walking briskly out the door, waving a quick goodbye to a still-distracted Marceline as she went.
Bonnie could very well have heard the clock ticking away on the wall if it weren't for the same tired music looping all-too loudly, echoing off the walls of the empty store. She stood next to her register, trying to find something to occupy her before the store closed, a half hour from now. She mapped out her duties in her head- she'd cleaned, put returned items back on the shelf, swept, helped put out stock for tomorrow. There was literally nothing she could do. There were only so many times she could adjust her pony tail, or straighten out the white dress shirt that made her look far too pale.
Having nothing to do caused her mind to wander back to her dorm room. She'd gotten over embarrassing herself with her outburst, but something was definitely still bugging her- Ash. Marceline did not seem content whenever she was talking about him, and it concerned her. It was possible she was reading too much into it- she didn't know her very well. Still, she found she was usually right in her assumptions, and she assumed Ash needed a good punch in the jaw.
She sighed and began to wander from her checkout, glancing around to make sure her manager wasn't around. Most management was pretty lax, but the one closing today got a bit snippy when people weren't meekly doing their assigned task.
She could feel the bottoms of her shoes sticking to the floor as she walked- it was almost like they were never properly washed. They probably weren't, come to think of it.
Her target was down the snack aisle, mumbling to herself as she glanced over the under-stocked shelves. Her blonde hair had been cut down into a pixie cut since the last time they'd had a shift together. Bonnie tapped her on the shoulder, earning a small jump in response.
"Hey Bonnie!" Fionna said, almost too enthusiastically, her voice cracking as it often did.
"Hey Fi, you as bored as I am?" Bonnie said, forcing a smile. She really wanted to cut to the chase and ask Fionna her opinion, but she knew the girl liked to ramble, and it wasn't like she didn't like talking to Fionna. She just had something specific on her mind.
"Yeah, I've just been staring at these chips for an hour pretending I'm trying to figure out how to fix them."
Bonnie laughed genuinely at that, "And how's your roommate situation going- Phoebe is it?"
Fionna blushed, "Uh, yeah, s'going good," that was odd- she was a lot quieter than usual. Bonnie decided it wasn't time to pry, however. There would be opportunities for that some other time.
"That's good- my roommate and I are alright too. We don't get along as well as I'd like though and, I don't know, I guess I'm a bit worried about her. That's reasonable, right?"
"Might wanna clarify why you're worried before I decide that. I know you got a big brain, Bon, but you aren't always right."
Bonnie furrowed her brow, "She gets all mopey and weird when she talks about her boyfriend," she clarified.
Fionna whistled, leaning against the chip shelves, carelessly crushing a bag of kettle chips in the process. She chewed lightly on her lip for a moment before responding, "Yeah, I guess you're right this time. That doesn't sound very good," then after another pause, "But we shouldn't make assuptions, she could just-"
"Mhm yeah sure, now, here's the thing- folks don't like when I get all up in their biz when we're not close. I know I have a point but I don't know how to get through to her."
Fionna frowned, "Thought about gettin' close to her?"
Bonnie sighed, "I have enough friends to juggle, Fi, I dunno."
Fionna's frown deepened, "We aren't chores, Bonnibel."
Bonnie flinched, "That is not what I meant. I mean I have a lot of stuff to do. I love you guys but it just gets difficult to manage things, you know?"
Fionna didn't look pleased with that answer, but she just sighed, "That doesn't sound much better, Bonnie. Whatever, I gave you my advice, 'kay?"
Bonnie nodded and began to wander back to her register, annoyed for having upset Fionna. The other girl interrupted her before she could leave, though.
"Hey, a bunch of us are going out for dinner Thursday night- figure I might as well do something before we get flooded with assignments. You in?"
Bonnie answered without thinking, "No thanks, I'm busy," and earned another sigh from Fionna. She forced herself not to care. She had lots of stuff to worry about- she didn't want to add upsetting Fionna to that if she could help it.
Besides, she'd get over it.
When Bonnie staggered into her room after work, knees aching, Marceline was already asleep. Ash was cuddled close to her on the single bed, snoring loudly. Bonnie rolled her eyes and retreated back out to the washroom to change. She didn't trust the creep.
What she needed to do was find a way to break the ice with Marceline. She lay awake for a while in bed, staring at the ceiling which was lost in darkness. Ash's snores echoed through the small room, and she was honestly surprised no one had knocked on the walls yet. She didn't know how Marceline was sleeping through this. It was loud enough that for a moment she'd almost convinced herself that he was fake sleeping, and snoring loudly to annoy her.
Not that that was reasonable.
Probably.
Maybe.
She decided, eventually, that it was best to let it go for the night. She'd find a way to get closer to her roommate. She always figured out people- it was her thing. Her friends might argue that, but she wasn't dense. She could totally do this.
Probably.
Maybe.
