AmberZ10: Oh, Pammy. You big lez. How I've missed you.
areyoukiddingmedude: And Harley, you big jumble of adorkableness, it feels like home!
AmberZ10: OK, we're getting weird, let's just let them read the chapter. This was just an elaborate way to tell people I'm back to my usual Pammery and you're once again writing everyone's favorite jester.
areyoukiddingmedude: You know what would have probably worked better?
AmberZ10: Just to tell them? Yeah. Sorry. I blame the residual Harley in me.
On Tuesday, Pamela's French class suggested supplemental reading for students wishing to "get ahead." Oh course Pamela fell into that category. So immediately after the last bell of the day, she crossed campus in search of the Martha Wayne Memorial Library.
"Pammy!" A voice stopped her as she ascended the stairs. Pamela turned around to find Diana Prince smiling a few feet behind her. "Just getting a head start on French." The taller girl informed her as she came to join Pamela on the 4th step. "And you?"
"Same." Pam smiled. She liked Diana, she really did, but it wasn't exactly common for them to hang out one on one. Diana was Bruce's friend, Bruce was Selina's boyfriend, and Selina was Pamela's friend. But there was truly nothing Pamela actively disliked about the girl, which was more than she could say for most people.
"We never got to catch up." Diana leaned against the railing behind her. "And not one phone call this summer? Not even a text message? I thought we were friends." She joked.
This was news to Pamela. Previously she'd regarded them as more associates than actual friends, but she wasn't opposed to the idea. Diana was kind and goal oriented, maybe even more so than Selina. Maybe they could get along as friends.
"I'm sorry." The redhead's tone was good-natured. "I guess I was too busy looking like 'Scooby-Goddamn-Doo'."
Diana laughed hearing Selina's phrase recycled. "Scooby Doo is the dog. Velma is the nerd."
"Oh." Pamela was suddenly a bit down on herself for not knowing everything. "Well anyway, how was your summer?"
The taller girl's eyes lit up. "Amazing."
"You were vacationing in Greece, correct?"
"Correct." Diana grinned. "Well…an island off Greece."
"Did Steve accompany you?" Pamela asked, referencing the boyfriend Diana had maintained for the last two years.
"No." Diana sighed. "Steve joined the Navy, you didn't hear?"
Pamela knew that he'd graduated last year, but she'd just assumed he was headed to a university. "Oh. I'm sorry."
"No, no. It's alright. We just decided it was best we take a step back." Diana waved it off. "I met someone new."
"So soon?" Pamela tried not to sound judgmental.
Diana shrugged. "It was just sort of perfect. She's a marine biology major on exchange in Greece, and—"
"I'm sorry," Pamela stopped her. "She?"
"Yeah." Diana confirmed like it was a silly question. "You'd like her, I think. Her name's Mera and she's a scientist like you. Actually…" She gave the girl in front of her another look over. "You guys sort of look alike. Her hair's a little curlier, but it's just as red, and her eyes are definitely that same green." Diana chuckled at the inside joke she was sharing with someone other than Pam. "Like sea glass."
"O-oh?" was all the redhead could manage.
"Yeah, I guess I'm essentially dating you." Diana laughed. "The difference is, she remembered to call me this summer." She winked a blue eye.
"Ha-ha!" That was a sound that had never come out of Pamela's mouth before. "Well good for—she sounds—yes. Mm."
Diana either didn't notice or didn't care about Pamela's awkwardness because she continued on like that was a totally normal response. "I can't wait for you guys to meet her. I think she'll really hit it off with you especially."
"Oh, yeah…I'm sure." Pamela recovered slightly. "Marine biology, huh? I'll have to brush up."
"Can you do it by Friday?" There was a twinkle in Diana's eye.
"She—she's coming to the party?" Pamela thought she might choke on the air she was forcing into her lugs.
Diana grinned. "She'll be here for a week starting Thursday. Isn't that just perfect timing?"
"So so perfect." Pamela agreed in a voice that was hardly her own. "Fantastic. Well…French?"
"Huh?" Diana was confused for a moment at the redhead's less-than-smooth transition before glancing up at the library ahead of them. "Oh, duh. Yeah, let's go." She led the way up the stairs. "Mera can't speak French, but she says she can speak dolphin."
"No she can't." Pamela answered abruptly prompting a laugh from the taller girl.
"Oh my god, she'll love you."
/
Harley checked the address for the fortieth time on the business card she was clutching tightly, then looked at the "house" that loomed in front of her and sighed. She wiggled her fingers and bravely poked the doorbell.
The faint strains of a classical tune pealed behind the door – of course Pamela Lillian Isley's doorbell wouldn't settle for merely saying ding-dong, Harley giggled to herself.
While she waited – for a butler? That would be sorta awesome – Harley checked the time on her phone. 7:02, not bad! She mentally high-fived herself for making it there pretty much on time. This neighborhood was too far for her to bike to, so she'd spent some time on the internet last night looking for the bus route that would get her the closest. This one meant she had to change buses twice, but at least she wasn't super late. Plus, the bus wasn't so bad – it meant she could put in her headphones, something she didn't like to do on her bike, and she'd blasted her Melt Your Face Off Metal Mix (Judas Priest, Pantera, all the greats) while skimming the last few chapters of her bio textbook again.
Harley hoped she'd studied enough that Pam wouldn't get annoyed and kick her out. This was her first interaction with another Gotham Prep student outside of school, and she really wanted it to go well for lots of reasons. Pam's bestie Selina was sort of grudgingly tolerating Harley, and she didn't want to piss Pam off and get uninvited from Selina's party this Friday.
Plus, she really needed the help, because for whatever reason science was the only class she struggled with.
Also, Pamela Isley was basically perfect in every measurable sense and her red hair was always shiny and every time Harley looked at her, she felt a little nervous and her skin got all tingly. She figured it was because of the huge difference in their social standing, at school and in the world at large.
And then the door was suddenly flung open and Harley was staring into green eyes and was that mascara? for a tutoring session? and yep, her hair was just as shiny and bouncy as always. Harley almost reached out to gently pull on one of those red waves, to see if it would sproing back into place or just silkily settle itself into a new and equally glorious position. But she didn't, luckily. Score one for impulse control!
"Hello," said Pamela (Harley couldn't call her "Pam" when she looked this perfect). "You're a bit late. We should get started. Come in." She turned and went deeper into the house without looking back, and Harley only watched her walk away for a second before shaking her head and following. A bit late? It was only two minutes.
"Door!" called Pam, and Harley ran back to shut it.
The house was even more ridiculously beautiful inside than out. All tastefully furnished, spotless, spacious and well lit. Harley's mouth hung open in awe at the art on the walls and the coordinated look of the furniture. They passed several tables that looked plenty big to study at – one table was about the size of Harley's living room at the apartment – but the redhead didn't slow down. It took Harley a minute to realize that Pam was wearing high heels, in her own home, for a tutoring session. Could a person be both a dork and a badass? Because Pamela Isley definitely was. She finally paused at the bottom of a sweeping staircase, and Harley almost knocked right into her.
"Would you care for anything to drink?" Pam asked, turning to her. "I'm afraid our only kitchen is downstairs, and we'll be conducting our tutoring session on the second floor."
Harley recognized some nervousness in the girl's seemingly confident tone, and decided to take advantage with a joke, hoping to help them both feel comfortable. So she tsked at Pam and said, "I'm afraid these conditions simply won't do. I made it clear to Principal Waller that I would tolerate no fewer than three kitchens in the home of my biology tutor."
Pam only looked shocked for a second before she looked at Harley curiously, a slightly amused smirk playing on her lips- friendlier than Selina's- and said, "You're joking."
"Yep," Harley said, grinning now. "And no thanks, I'm good."
They climbed the stairs in silence – well, Harley climbed, Pam more ascended – and made their way down a wide hall until Pam turned to the right and opened a door. "Here we are," she said, and Harley followed her in.
Oh, this was…this was Pamela's bedroom. "This is nicer than Regina George's room!" Harley blurted out.
Pam wrinkled her nose in confusion and for the first time, Harley wanted to describe her as 'cute' rather than her usual 'beautiful'. "Was she one of your classmates at Central? I don't think I know a Regina at Gotham Prep . . ."
"Oh – no, she – never mind," Harley said apologetically, making a mental note that Pamela hadn't seen Mean Girls. Harley turned around, taking everything in – the canopy bed, the seating area, the vanity with its large mirror…it all seemed a bit surreal, like Pamela was a fairytale princess living in a tower and somehow Harley had been given the key.
"I thought we could sit at the desk," said Pam, crossing to a large desk near the window with two chairs side by side.
"Yeah, yeah sure." Harley agreed, following her over, only slightly distracted by the elaborate basket of flowers that hung outside the girl's window.
They sat down a little awkwardly, and Harley fumbled to get her class things out of her bag. No, Harley sat down a little awkwardly, Pamela was elegance personified in her peach sundress. So this is the casual Pam, huh? Harley smiled to herself when she saw color-coded Post-It flags that reached the halfway point in Pam's textbook – what a nerd! Maybe there is no casual Pam.
"Let's begin," The redhead instructed after gently clearing her throat. She handed Harley a sheet of paper.
The blonde girl burst out laughing at the sight of it. "Nice one," she said. Pam was clearly a bit surprised at the outburst, but her expression didn't change. "Wait, are you serious? You're actually giving me a pop quiz?"
"Of course," said Pam as if it were self-evident. "How else am I supposed to assess your current level of proficiency?"
Thank god she smells so good and her house is so nice, or I'd be out of here. Harley told herself, rolling her eyes and getting to work.
Harley watched the other girl as she read over the completed test. "Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. Not 'Oxyribose.' Where do you think the 'D' in 'DNA' comes from?" The redhead asked, not looking up from the paper.
"Oh…that's sorta basic, huh?" Harley flushed.
"It is, yes." Pamela said distractedly as she made another red mark on the paper. "Well it appears it would behoove us to start at the beginning. When are you expected home?"
"My mom knows where I am." Harley answered plainly as she scooted a little closer to the redhead, looking over her shoulder at the paper. She thought she felt the other girl bristle slightly, but she didn't move away, so neither did Harley.
After about an hour and a half, they'd actually made some progress – the concepts made more sense coming from Pam's flawlessly stained lips than they ever did from Woodrue's oily smile. Pam had even made little sounds two or three times that Harley thought were meant to be encouraging.
"I think that's enough for tonight," Pam decided once Harley felt confident in her knowledge of osmosis. The redhead stood abruptly. Harley assumed she was being kicked out and started thinking about bus times as she packed her backpack, so she almost missed it when the other girl said- a bit more quietly- "Would you like to see something?"
"I never say no to that," Harley grinned, happy that the girl had been kind about Harley's clearly inferior acumen. She thought she saw a blush color Pam's cheeks at the comment and the blonde's smile broadened.
/
Pamela stood in front of the full length mirror in her walk-in closet. It was 6:00 on the dot which meant she had an hour to prepare herself for Harley's arrival. A tutor must make a good impression on their pupil, after all. Pamela wanted to wear something casual, but not so casual that it communicated this engagement didn't matter to her…of course it did. This Harley girl needed tutoring and Pamela was the most qualified to do it to her. Do it for her. Do it with her? Pamela closed her eyes as that familiar heat crept beneath her skin. Stop it, Pamela. Just stop.
Pamela wasn't an idiot, quite the opposite in fact. Pamela was a genius. She knew what it meant to be attracted to someone, she'd studied the effects of pheromones in nature, she knew the current theories on sexuality and that attraction in human beings goes deeper than simply a physiological need to reproduce…she could be attracted to a girl. And she…was, likely. Yes, she was attracted to this Harley girl. That was it. She found her sexually stimulating for one reason or another, and that- the 'why' of it- was more difficult to nail down. So, 'why'. Well…Harley was objectively attractive, that was irrefutable. But there was something more, something…deeper. Pamela hadn't known her long enough to figure out what that was just yet, their conversations so far had been brief, but in a one-on-one context, Pamela was sure she'd understand soon enough the reason for her bizarre hormonal reaction to this girl every time she looked in her direction.
Pamela hadn't ever felt this way about a boy…just other girls. And now Pamela was 17 and she was growing concerned. What if this was simply the way she was? What if it wasn't just residual excitement from she and Selina's 'experiments'? What if, unlike Selina, she was solely attracted to girls? What would her mother say? And her father…what would Selina say? Perhaps Diana would be a better confidant…but why did Diana have to travel 6,000 miles to find a redheaded, green eyed science major? She'd had one right here all along. Diana had known Pam since they were in the 7th grade, so what was wrong with her? What was so much better or different about this Mera girl? And most importantly- why had Diana acted like it was all perfectly fine and OK?
Pamela refocused on the task at hand. A dress. She would wear a dress. She thumbed through her selection a bit distractedly until she decided on the peach sundress Selina had purchased her for her birthday last year. It was flattering and the perfect semi-casual look for a pleasant evening in late August.
It was 45 minutes past the hour by the time Pamela was dressed and her makeup retouched. She pulled on a pair of cream and cork platforms to complete the look and headed downstairs to wait in the foyer.
At 7pm, she began to panic slightly. When one says '7pm sharp' they mean either right then or roughly 10-15 minutes before. Pamela's insides turned when the clock surpassed the hour, making it 7:01. Harley was already a minute late. She's not coming. And then…7:02, the doorbell rang. Pam's heart leapt into her throat as her stomach turned with a flurry of tingling flutters. You are perfect, Pamela. She reminded herself as she mustered the courage to reach for the door handle. You are the most beautiful and most intelligent young woman this girl has ever met. She is lucky you've agreed to pass on your expertise.
Riding her sudden swell of courage, Pamela swung the door open and… those eyes, so blue…"Hello." Was the best greeting she could manage. And then Pamela's eyes fell to Harley's t-shirt which read "I don't sweat, I sparkle" and she was down the rabbit hole of "I wonder if that's true" so fast that she had to shut it down the best way she knew how- abrupt semi-dis-contentedness. "You're a bit late. We should get started. Come in."
Bonus question: What do you guys think? Is Pam gay or is she gay? Also, what are some other t-shirts Harley might wear in the future?
