It's Always Better Together
The prompt for this chapter is holding hands.
Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House/The Casagrandes', directed and produced by Miguel Puga and Michael Rubiner, produced by Nickelodeon Animation/Jam Filled Entertainment, and distributed by ViacomCBS. Accordingly, this author makes no claim to any copyrights herein and makes no monetary gain from its production. Please do not flame.
(Chapter 1- Introducing Dodg-ky!)
On a clear, and bright Monday morning just outside Chavez Academy, a young girl sits at the bottom of a flight of stairs leading up to the school. She's in her traditional attire of a blue dress with multiple hues and a pair of white wrestling boots. Her blonde hair is tied in a rather unkempt ponytail and she's sporting a bushy unibrow, though no one dares to make light of it at their own peril.
She never comes to school alone and never has. Her twin brother, Ricky, took the bus with her and is now speaking with some of his friends before the day begins. Meanwhile, this girl, named Becky, is checking every square foot of the outer grounds for one of her fellow students. The academy has more than 800 students, so picking one from a group lends itself to apt comparisons to needles and haystacks. Nevertheless, her eyes scan and scan.
She finds herself becoming somewhat anxious until she hears a voice say, "Hey, Becky!" She turns to her left and sees the most beautiful sight. The dark chocolate skin, lavender shirt and shorts, pink headband, and those dreadlocks. As she lives and breathes, Becky could absolutely get lost in those dreadlocks and not have any complaints.
Becky gets up to greet her. A call of "Dodge!" and the two come together in an embrace. Keeping her voice down a bit, Becky whispers into the other girl's ear, "How was your weekend, sweetie?"
"Good," Dodge replies, "especially since I spent almost all of it with you, silly!" The two let go of the embrace and Dodge mellowed for a bit when adding, "But, seriously, for many reasons it was a weekend I certainly won't forget. There's just nothing in the world like having feelings for someone and knowing that they feel the same way."
"Oh, my little Dodge viper. Are you getting soft on me now?" Becky teases flashing the smile she knows her girlfriend loves.
Dodge gives one right back. "Not a chance, Becky-badger. If anything, I'd say I'm stronger than ever. With you by my side, I can accomplish anything."
"Speaking of which, they're about to open the doors. So...do you really want to do this? I don't mind if you want to keep it between the two of us for now. Whatever you want to do is fine with me."
Dodge shakes her head and says, "A beautiful thing just happened in my life. I don't care who knows. I'm not afraid, I'm not ashamed, and I'm not hiding."
Becky's smile could be considered a mile wide as she hears that her girlfriend wants to be out and damn whatever else happens after that point. "That's my girl," says the blonde bruiser with the utmost of docility. Dodge thought she saw a bit of emotion in her girlfriend through a very pronounced sniffle, but she didn't press the matter any further.
Nodding, Becky adds, "Well, there's no better time than the present. Let's do this, Dodgy!" She extends her right hand out for Dodge to take it, which she accepts. From here, the new love birds walk up the stairs and enter the school hand in hand.
As they walk inside, they are met with exactly what they expected. Stares from their fellow students and even some teachers happened with near immediacy. There's whispering amongst the students and some catcalls that get shot down by a few of their allies. Despite the frankly unwanted attention, the pair keep their heads up. They convince themselves that the stares are only from their jealous peers within Chavez Academy. There had been rumors about the two for a few months amongst the kids and, at first, many thought they were seeing a mirage. Ricky already knew as Becky let her feelings be known to him just after the new year. As the new pair walk toward their lockers, he gives his sister and her girlfriend a thumbs up as he makes his way to the history class he shares with Dodge.
Unfortunately, Becky has to wait until her third class, English, before the two can reconnect. Also, unfortunately, their lockers are in separate hallways, with Becky's being the closest. As they arrive at the wrestler's locker room, she pouts for a bit and makes the remark, "Well, this is my stop."
"Trust me, I don't like it any more than you do," replies Dodge, "but education still comes first for us. We'll see each other later, though." The pair embrace with Dodge whispering in her girlfriend's ear that she loves her.
"I love you, too, Dodgy-wodgy," says Becky as the two depart. Becky sighs as Dodge turns the corner and then puts in the combination for her locker.
As she opens it, she hears another voice say, "Hey, Becky?"
"What is it?" Becky asks with clear annoyance. She turns around to see a rather nervous looking Sid Chang and Becky's mood softens just a little. "Oh! Sorry about that, Sid. What do you want?"
"I heard that you and Dodge are...official," Sid responds. "Is it true?"
"Yeah," Becky answers. "I'm off the market! We let our feelings be known on Saturday. We spent the afternoon at the arcade sharing the new StormCloud Nine cabinet. We took a break to eat and…that's when I took her by the hand and just told her. No need to dance around the issue, and…I'm just so happy she accepted. Dodge told me she'd been struggling with her feelings and thanked me for telling her as she didn't think I felt the same way." Becky smiles as she explains to Sid, "She loves my smile. Most people run from it, but she ran to it. If that isn't a clue, I have no idea what is. After that, we went back to the game room. I nearly blew all my quarters to win her a bear with a heart as a gift to her, but it was all worth it to share that moment."
"That's great!" Sid says jumpily as she sees Ronnie Anne enter the academy with Carl. "I'm uhh...I'm very happy for you, Becky. Just between us, I'd like to be where you are."
As Becky notices Sid's demeanor change as Ronnie Anne walks closer to the pair, she can't help but ask, "Sid, are you saying…"
"I'm not saying anything else!" Sid quickly interjects. She leaves Becky, saying "I have to go to class. I'll catch you later!" Sid leaves for math class and, for a moment, Becky wonders what other new couples might bloom in these spring months.
That and the possibility of a double date no longer seems like a pipe dream for the 12-year-old. Should all go well, this summer is bound to be a lot of fun!
A/N: Again, we're just getting started here. The next prompt is cuddling. Be sure to read and review. Until next time…