INTERLUDE K: Tina & Natalie

Tina made her way through the parking lot, feeling refreshed from her morning shower and the new fragrance she had bought for herself at the mall. She had been spending quite a bit of time at the mall these days, if only to avoid her mother nagging at her about scholarship applications and studies – she timed it perfectly so that when she got home, her mother was buried too deeply in documents and balance sheets to notice that she had come home.

Somebody in the distance caught her eye. Somebody with acid-wash jeans and long cardigan wrapped around her. People dodged to the side or dispersed upon seeing her.

Tina narrowed her eyes and made to follow the girl, who was now walking towards the bleachers. Then the girl disappeared under it.

Tina knew what kind of people hung out under the bleachers and frowned immediately. Surely...

She walked over, and before she could even note if there was anybody else under the bleachers, Natalie had emerged from there and was now staring at her.

"Were you following me?" Natalie arched an eyebrow.

"Umm. N-no," said Tina, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. "I was just trying to catch a breath of fresh air. Thought of err, heading to the field."

Natalie looked at her intensely, then turned to go under the bleachers again.

Tina caught sight of a bunch of skankily-dressed girls who were smoking at the other end and made a face. "You hanging out with them?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Does it matter? Go get your fresh air and stop bothering me."

Tina huffed. "Look, it's not like I really care about your business, but if you haven't noticed, some people in school actually care and are getting downright depressed because of it. Some people like Artie."

Natalie froze.

Then she leant back casually against a pole, not looking at Tina.

"This is like the most I've ever said anything to you," Tina muttered under her breath.

"Hey, Asians!" called out one skanky, pink-haired girl. "You gals macking on here? We want a show!"

Tina opened her mouth to protest, but Natalie moved first with a middle-finger gesture. The pink-haired girl suddenly turned serious and started shoving everybody out of there.

"Watch out, girl! She might just bite you and turn you into a vampire!" yelled an African-American girl with an atrocious afro hairdo.

Is she talking about me? Tina wondered with a tinge of amusement.

"Well," said Natalie, leaning back against the pole. "Since you care so much about Artie, you should go talk to him then."

"What?" Tina spluttered. "No! I mean, yes, he's my friend, but no, I mean... look! I don't know what happened between the both of you, but it's making him look like a zombie all day long! He's only recently got a bit together and started singing again in glee club, but his expression is just – miserable! How can you stand that – you were his friend!"

Natalie looked at her shoes and smirked bitterly. "You see, I was his friend."

Tina put her messenger bag down on a small bench. "What's going on?"

Natalie eyed Tina coldly. "Funny, Cohen-Chang, aren't you scared I'm going to toss you into the Dumpster with these guns of mine?"

Tina snorted. "Puh-leese. This school is full of rubbish rumours. Besides, before they even started, you were getting tossed into those things and you didn't give a hoot."

Natalie's eyes flashed, and for a moment, Tina was startled.

"What if..." Natalie's bottom lip curled. "I told you those rumours were true?"

Tina met Natalie's intense gaze, and for a moment, so many thoughts flitted through her mind. But eventually, she merely flopped down on the bench. "Then I assume that's what Artie's so upset about."

For a long while, neither of them said anything.

Tina finally spoke up again. "I know nothing about you, Natalie. Sometimes, I make up stories about why you're so angsty, because maybe we're the same – our parents are so busy that they never really take time out to listen to us, or that we just want to be recognised for something we're good at. But then I think again, and then I find that we're absolutely different – you can't care less about anything, while I'm desperately holding onto what I can care about..."

"Why do you even bother thinking about all these then?" Natalie glared at her.

"Because... I haven't seen Artie so happy in a long while," said Tina, quietly. "Yeah, he was happy with Brittany, but this was just, different. I find that you and him seem – seem to have a very special connection. Something..." She lowered her head and mumbled, "Something that I used to have with him, at least."

Natalie leant her head back against the pole.

"I don't know, maybe it's time to reassess what you want," said Tina. "If Artie is worth getting back."

"So what?" Natalie asked, icily. "That if I don't get him back, you'll swoop in?"

Tina stood up instantly, her eyes blazing. "Hey, look here! I'm not trying to be a third party, I'm just trying to set things right!"

"Well, I don't need you to!" Natalie backed off the pole. "I think you have more on your plate as it is, to do something about the life that you want to have but aren't having!"

"What do you mean by that?" Tina's voice died down into a whisper.

"Do you know..." Natalie took a step closer. "Whenever I ask Artie to tell me about some of the best moments he has had in McKinley, it always somehow involves you?"

Tina's eyes widened.

"Joining glee club for the first time, tap dancing, staging a chaste riot in the library, go figure." Natalie smirked.

"Tap dancing?" Tina could only cringe remembering what had happened.

A slightly more genuine smile crept up on Natalie's face. "Yeah. Tap dancing."

"Look, Natalie... this – this doesn't mean anything. He still cares about you, okay? I'm – I'm just part of his memory now. You're supposed to be his present!"

"Okay, listen, I don't really get you," said Natalie, back to scowling. "Because you're asking a certified sociopath to be his present, and you say you're washing your hands clean off his life, but you still want to interfere in some way or another? Get this, Tina Cohen-Chang, you're the one who's really screwed up here, not me!"

"Why Artie?" Tina had to sit down again to stop lightheadedness from attacking her. "Why were you so connected to Artie?"

Natalie was slightly taken aback by the question that she literally took a few steps back.

She took a deep breath and folded her arms. She opened and closed her mouth, not really sure what to say.

Tina sat there trying to look patient, but as it was, this enigmatic girl was really driving her up the wall.

"He..." Natalie cleared her throat. "He was the only one who accepted me for who I was. He never asked questions about my life unless he got some kind of implicit permission to do so. He was just – he was just there. Present. It was he who was in my present. "

Tina watched as Natalie's eyes misted a little, and felt a dull ache in her. She should be happy for Artie, that he had found a girl who obviously loved him very much. Maybe if she met Mike for lunch later, she would forget about all of this in an instance because he would remind her that there was a boy she loved very much too.

Maybe.

"So why would it be different this time?" Tina asked, trying to steady her voice. "He will still accept you for who you are, if only you would."

Natalie laughed hollowly. "Don't try to act like you know me, or that you even know him that well, Cohen-Chang."

Tina laughed too, equally humourlessly. "Guess I don't know anything then."

"Sometimes..." Natalie took a deep breath. "It's better not to know."

With that, she left, leaving Tina still seated on the little bench under the bleachers as the school bell rang.