"So, what did we think of the assigned reading?" Professor Gordon asked, wheeling herself out from behind her desk to address the class.
Pamela sighed at the silence that followed the question, eventually raising her hand to attempt to get her class participation over with.
"Go ahead, Pamela," the professor granted with a muted, 8am appropriate smile.
Tapping her pencil twice on the cover of the essay packet they'd been assigned, Pam straightened up, lightly clearing her throat before saying, "I could do without the stream of consciousness approach."
Professor Gordon raised an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?"
"I find it tedious," Pam continued, holding her professor's gaze. "And almost…narcissistic, in a sense. Or, at the very least, exceptionally self-serving."
"These are internal monologues, Ms. Isley, what about an honest stream of consciousness in ones own head is self-serving?"
Pamela really hated debating literature. "I just don't feel the need to read every little thing the character feels about every situation phrased a million different ways. I think she could get the point across just fine without resorting to flowery and disjointed explanations of character motivation."
Chuckling, Professor Gordon responded, "A scathing critique, Ms. Isley. I'm sure Virginia would be dismayed to hear you didn't enjoy her pioneering methods." She moved on. "Pamela talked about the voice, but what about the themes? Talia?"
Pamela let her posture relax, sinking deeper into her chair as the class' collective focus shifted. Harley was sitting at the desk beside her, and that was honestly the only aspect of this class she enjoyed. Pamela and literature had never had a terribly harmonious relationship. She liked having a right and wrong answer. Liked being able to check her work and be told how to improve. Liked knowing that, as long as she understood the concept and method, she could recreate the same experiment or equation every time without variance. So much in literature and, really, the arts in general was up to interpretation. Pamela wasn't fond of interpretation. She often wished that aspect of personal relationships could be eradicated, replaced with a more reliable scientific method, but then again, at their core, humans weren't—,
"—And how would you respond to that, Pamela?"
The redhead blinked. "Respond to—I'm sorry, respond to what?"
"Harley's assertion that Virginia Woolf's stream of conscious narrative device allows the reader to understand a character's point of view without the need for added exposition via dialogue?" Professor Gordon posed.
"Right, well, sure," Pam found herself flustered and instantly resented it, though Harley's expression beside her was at least apologetic. "I'm not sure I disagree, I just…I'm not sure the subject matter requires a piece this wordy."
"Hey, teach? This is a super boring conversation," Selina interrupted before Professor Gordon could continue picking on Pam. "Asking Pam to read between the lines is like asking a toddler to color inside of them, so how about we get on with the lesson?"
It took every bit of Pam's self-control not to turn around and flip Selina off. The statement had obviously been in jest, but Pam simply wasn't in the mood for that this morning.
But Gordon was doubling down, though her attention did shift from Pam to Selina. With a smile, she asked, "What makes you say that, Selina?"
The brunette shrugged. "Well, if I were using my big girl words I'd say 'interpretation requires introspection', and that doesn't come easily to all of us. If I were being a bitch, I'd say don't make 17 year olds access their emotions at 8am."
"I could do without the expletive, Ms. Kyle, but I take your point," Gordon smirked. "My question to you is why you chose to answer on Pamela's behalf rather than your own? What's your relationship to introspection?"
Selina mocked the question by cringing, skirting an actual answer with a joking, "Can I use a lifeline?"
/
"OK, OK, let's everybody settle the fuck down," Selina was having a difficult time containing her own grin. "You managed not to disappoint me for the first time in your sorry lives and for that you deserve a round of applause. But state wasn't our unfinished business. State was expected of us. We have to keep our heads down for these last two weeks before nationals. I categorically refuse to be embarrassed on that stage again."
"Ugh, you're bringing us down!" Harley complained with a laugh, taking a swig of her Gatorade. "We nailed it tonight, you guys."
"You did, you did," Coach Kane agreed. "But Selina is right. Our season isn't over yet. We'll take tomorrow off to recuperate, but I want you all on time for practice on Tuesday, alright?"
The girls all nodded, none able to quite tamp down their excitement. Even Talia, which Harley would have thought was kinda cute if she wasn't supposed to hate her.
But anyway, Gotham Prep was on a roll. Pam had taken state for girls tennis, Bruce and Dick had helped to basically already qualify the football team for a first round playoff bye, and Harley, Selina and the gymnastics team were on their way to Nationals.
Everything was working out exactly how Harley had hoped it would. She'd come to Gotham Prep for the gymnastics program and here she was, a state champ, about to be national champ, with a 3.5 GPA, a bunch of awesome friends and a girlfriend who looked like she should be playing the hot, popular girl in a poorly scripted and super melodramatic teen drama.
It was all going so well that Harley almost…didn't...trust it. Like, was it a dream? Some elaborate fantasy she'd constructed for herself and someday she was gonna wake up in a straitjacket or something?
She'd always just sorta let life happen to her. Kept her head down, worked hard, took care of her siblings…was this fairytale life she was now living her reward for all that? Her reward for a less than ideal childhood thanks to a deadbeat dad? If so, it was all worth it. Every less than stable living situation, every night she had to figure out what to feed her siblings because her mom wasn't home from her shift yet, every extra hour spent at the gym…
Harley was finally living her best damn life. Fuck yeah.
She skipped over to Selina once they'd disbanded their huddle, plopping down on the bench in front of her. "You hungry? I was gonna make Pam try Batburger, might be funny."
"That sounds disgusting," Selina responded, pulling a pair of joggers on over her leotard. "But yeah, OK, I'm in. And Bruce actually said—,"
"So, we're going to Batburger?" Talia interjected, suddenly right behind them. "I'll be there, which one?"
Selina prickled at that. "You certainly weren't—,"
"Hey, Coach!" Roxy shouted at Coach Kane before she disappeared into her office. "Selina says we're doing a team dinner thing, do you want to come? At the Batburger on 14th."
"If you guys want me there, I'm happy to tag along," she responded.
"Oh, ok!" Harley said, standing up to mentally adjust her evening plans just slightly. "Yeah, sure, let's do the one on 14th. Does everyone have a ride?"
Talia was the only one who faltered. "I'm not sure my sister—,"
"You can walk, then," Selina cut her off, obviously annoyed as she tossed her chalk into her bag and roughly zipped it up.
"She's, uh, she's joking," Harley covered for Coach Kane's benefit. "You can ride with me, Talia, if your sister doesn't want to hang around."
Talia's lips upturned into a slight smile. "Thank you, Harley, but I could probably just ask Bruce, he mentioned he was free tonight."
Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Selina mumbled, "This is my villain origin story," as she trudged out of the locker room, calling, "I'll see you losers there!" over her shoulder.
Harley just shrugged, yanking a sweatshirt over her head and jogging out after her friend, finding Selina just outside, arms crossed, talking to Pam.
"—I think the homicide would be justified, at this point. I've got a room full of witnesses."
Pam seemed very concerned, though not by Selina's threat of murder. "Why would Diana invite us over to Bruce's house tonight if Bruce had plans to be with Talia?"
"I don't know, fuck this, I'm so over it," Selina complained. "He's a mess and I can't afford the distraction."
Harley felt the need to apologize, "Sorry, Selina, I didn't know Talia was gonna crash."
She received an eyeroll in response, but not an angry one, if that makes sense…
Pam placed her hands on Selina's shoulders, looking her in the eye, and with all the sincerity she possessed said, "You're going to win a National Championship, Cat. Bruce isn't going anywhere in the meantime. We'll cancel on him tonight, give him the space he's clearly craving…and then we'll come up with a new strategy after you and Harley have your title, OK?" then she turned to Harley, a proud smile on her face. "You were incredible. Both of you. And Cass' bar routine looked especially strong tonight, she's turned into a real asset for you."
Harley grinned, leaning forward for a kiss, and Pam gave her a quick peck on the lips, nodding over her shoulder when Harley pouted in reaction. The blonde looked to find Coach Kane exiting the locker room, the rest of the team in tow.
"I think I'll try Batburger some other time," Pam said, squeezing Harley's hand. "You should celebrate your victory as a team."
Harley tried her best to hide her disappointment, but she wasn't a great actress. "You sure, Red?"
Pam smiled as the other girls waited. "Yes. I'll text you tonight."
Harley would have liked at least a kiss on the cheek as goodbye, but that wasn't the way it worked, unfortunately. Not yet, anyway.
The redhead spun on her heels, opening the door to the parking lot, the others waiting a beat while Coach Kane double checked no one had left anything inside the locker room.
Bruce was waiting outside for Selina…or Talia(?), Harley didn't know anymore. But he wasn't going to get a chance to talk to either of them as Pam was striding towards him, cornering him against his car.
Selina, Talia and Harley all slowed their pace, watching an exchange that they couldn't hear. Bruce's body language shifted from bored, to relaxed to defensive, his stance tightening and chest puffing as Pam spoke. Harley couldn't read lips and was generally less invested in whatever was going on than Selina and Talia were, so she let herself be distracted by the view of Pam's ass.
By the time the three girls reached them, Bruce was nodding his head. "I'll let them know," he said, turning his attention away from Pam only when Talia greeted him.
"Hey," she said, trying to maintain a confident approach, though Selina's presence was obviously making that difficult.
Pam took a step back so that he could respond.
"Hey, guys," he addressed the group rather than Talia specifically. "Congratulations. State Champs and you made it look easy."
"Yeah, we're celebrating at Batburger," Talia told him, offering him a smile she didn't give anyone else. "And honestly, I could use a ride."
"I wish I could come," Bruce started, glancing over at Pam. "But I think it should just be a team thing. I don't want to be a distraction; you guys should be celebrating together. Me and Pam are going to sit this one out."
Much like Harley earlier, Talia was trying (and failing) to hide her disappointment, though her expression lost its innocence when her eyes moved from Bruce to Pam.
Pam seemed to notice the same thing Harley did because she was quick to pivot. "But Harley can give you a ride."
"No, actually," Selina smiled placidly, first at Bruce and then Talia. "I can do that." Her car blinked beside them as she unlocked it with her key fob. "Get in, Assassin's Creed."
