Summary: High schools run on rumors and stories. But, like all things, rumors are never quite what they seem. High school AU. Oneshot. Kamy.
Warnings: Kamy. Background polyamory. High school. Gossip and rumors. This is fluffy okay. I like fluffy things.
Disclaimer: I neither own nor am affiliated with Common Law in any way.
Just a cute little ficlet for Femslash February.
OOOO
Loose Lips And Wagging Tongues
"You can hear rumors. But you can't know them."
—Jay Asher
XXXX
"So get this." Kendall sets her tray down and leans in close, conspiratorial. "Wes and Alex broke up."
Three voices ring out in simultaneous denial. "What?" "No way!" "Seriously?" Three heads swivel to the table at the front of the cafeteria. The pair in question is sitting together, as per usual. But for almost every day for the past three years, they've been sitting side by side, close enough to touch.
Today they're sitting across from each other.
It's like seeing one of the immutable laws of the universe change. The sky is blue. Objects fall down. Wes and Alex are together. But now they're not and Kate is a lot more shaken than she probably ought to be.
"What happened?" she wonders.
Kendall shrugs. "No one really knows. Apparently it was a quiet breakup."
"Amicable, too," Randi comments. They all look at the front table again and make small noises of agreement.
"It's a shame," Jonelle muses, poking her fruit salad. "If they're no longer together, whose love life are we going to vicariously experience?"
"Speaking of love lives," Kendall nudges Kate under the table. "Guess who got together with her crush today?"
Kate is suddenly the focus of her friends' attentions, and she flushes. "Kendall, you suck."
Randi leans in, eyes aglow. "So, tell us everything."
"After all, now that we've lost Wes and Alex to gossip about, we need a new couple to follow," Jonelle adds teasingly.
Kate's flush deepens, and she throws a fry at her friend. "It's not like that. We're not together. We just got partnered in Chem."
Kendall points with her fork. "Hey, don't knock it. That's more than we've got."
Kate just rolls her eyes. "Whatever. If you're hoping for something juicy, you're just going to be disappointed."
That sets the other three girls laughing, and Kate rolls her eyes again. She can't help glancing at the front table, though—next to Alex is Amy, pointing her fork at Wes as she talks, and Kate feels a little thrill run through her.
"It's kind of a shame, though," Jonelle says, following her gaze to the front table, only she's looking at Wes and Alex again, peacefully chatting but separated by an entire table. "I mean, if they couldn't make it, what chance do any of us have?"
XXXX
The thing that's probably most shocking about Wes and Alex's breakup is that it came out of nowhere. Those two were perfect for each other, the golden couple of the school. They knew each other in junior high, then started dating once they reached high school, and had been together ever since. They were the ones voted most likely to still be together at the ten year reunion.
Jonelle is right. If those two can't make it, then the rest of them are doomed.
It's kind of strange, though, she thinks after school. They certainly don't act like they've broken up.
Kate's baseball team lets out about the same time as Alex's debate club and Wes's track team, so more often than not they're all leaving at the same time. She's seen the two of them meet up in the parking lot and leave together more often than she can count. And she's gotta say; Wes and Alex meeting up the day after they broke up looks an awful lot like Wes and Alex meeting up the day before they broke up.
Kate leans against the fence, watching Alex greet Wes with a peck on the cheek, just like she's always done. And Wes holds open the passenger door of his car for Alex, just like he's always done.
Kate's starting to wonder if this is one of those rumors that is nothing but hot air.
XXXX
She could always ask Amy, she supposes. Her Chem partner is friends with the couple and sits with them at lunch, so she'd probably know what's going on better than anyone.
But aside from the weirdness and rudeness of probing about someone else's love life, someone she's not even friends with, Kate also has her crush to deal with, which makes her shy and tongue-tied when she's around the other girl.
It's a moot point, anyway. They're barely seated when Amy turns to her and says, "Have you seen the new guy yet?"
XXXX
It's all they can talk about at lunch. New kids are rare enough after freshman year. New kids two months into the school year? Unheard of.
"His name is Travis Marks," Jonelle reports, as she's the only one who's had a class with him yet, so she got to hear him introduce himself. "He's a foster kid, wasn't shy about that. He's very charming." She says the last like it's a curse. Clearly she's not impressed by the new guy.
"Ellen says he rode a motorcycle to school," Kendall says.
"No way." Kate shakes her head. "There's no way he got a parking pass for a motorcycle."
"I heard he got in a spat with John Crowl." Randi frowns. "Not a great enemy to make on your first day."
All four of them murmur in agreement. John Crowl is one of those people better avoided at all costs.
Kate glances over at the front table, where Travis Marks has wedged himself between Wes Mitchell and David Paek. From here, she can see how expressive Travis seems, with an animated face and gesticulating hands.
She can also see the way Amy, sitting across from Travis, bursts into a huge grin at whatever he says, and Kate has to bite down an irrational surge of jealousy.
(Okay, so the entire group laughs at whatever Travis says, but Kate only really notices Amy.)
"He sure seems friendly," she tells her friends, and that's the last word she has on the matter.
XXXX
The boys' and girls' baseball teams practice on adjacent fields, so Kate has a front row seat when Travis tries out. The girls all line the fence, watching the coach put the new guy through his paces.
Travis isn't bad, Kate reluctantly admits. He knows what he's doing, and he's got a strong arm. He's not perfect, but he's really no worse than any of the other guys on the team.
"He overthrows the bases and hits too close to the foul line," she snaps at lunch the next day, probably a bit more viciously than it really warrants.
It's just that halfway through Travis's tryouts, Kate happened to glance over at the bleachers, and she saw Amy sitting there with David Paek, cheering Travis on, and Kate felt a hot surge of jealousy thrum through her.
It's not fair, but Kate all of a sudden really doesn't like the new guy.
XXXX
Amy's at practice the next day, this time without David, sitting on the bleachers in the perfect spot to see both the boys' and girls' fields. She has a book open on her lap, and every so often she'll glance up and watch the fields.
She catches Kate's eye at one point and smiles, gives a little wave. Kate feels a flush race through her, warm tingles from head to toe.
She fumbles the next three balls she tries to catch.
XXXX
"And ever since, she's showed up to practice almost every day," Kate rants, waving her fork. "Where did this sudden interest in baseball come from?"
Jonelle makes a fake-shocked face. "What's this? Kate Cafferty is actually complaining about her crush being at practice?"
"I absolutely am. She's making me nervous. I'm playing terribly. I'm not making a fantastic impression here."
"Yeah, but—" Kendall makes a little noise and claps her mouth shut. Kate is like ninety-eight percent certain Randi stomped on the redhead's foot to shut her up.
Kate narrows her eyes. "What? What is it?"
Randi and Jonelle both glare at Kendall, who wilts. "It's nothing," she says in the most unconvincing voice ever.
"Kendall…"
The redhead fidgets. "It's not…" Under Kate's glare, she wilts a little more. "Why worry about impressing her? It doesn't matter that much. Is what I was going to say."
Kate blinks. "What's that supposed to mean?" All of a sudden her friends have other things to look at, their food or nails or bags. Kate scowls, crosses her arms. "Guys?"
Randi sighs and bites the bullet. "There's a rumor," she says slowly, "that Amy likes someone on the baseball team."
It's like being punched in the chest. "What?"
Kendall bites her lip. "Ellen overheard Amy talking with Alex and she told Phil who—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know the chain." Swallowing hard, Kate glares at the front table. Amy is facing away, so all Kate can see if the back of her head. "Really?"
Jonelle leans over, puts her hand on her arm. "I'm sorry."
Kate nods, throat tight. Sure, she should have expected it would happen eventually. Amy would eventually like someone else—the odds of Kate being the one are astronomical.
Before she turns away, she sees Travis, sitting next to Amy, throw his arm around Amy's shoulder and laugh. Amy doesn't shake him off.
It had to happen eventually but it still hurts.
XXXX
"Are you a baseball fan?" Kate asks nonchalantly during lab.
Amy looks up through her lashes, a look in her eyes that implies Kate wasn't as subtle as she thought. "I didn't used to be," the brunette says, "but I'm finding some appeal in the sport."
"Right." Kate can read between the lines—she knows what appeal means. "Travis is a pretty good player."
"Travis," Amy repeats flatly.
"He's a decent hitter," Kate says. She may kind of hate the guy a little, but that doesn't mean she's going to trash talk him in front of his friend. Or in front of…
Well. It's none of Kate's business who Amy likes. She doesn't have to be happy about it, but that doesn't mean she has to be a jerk either.
"He's pretty good," she says again, and Amy just nods sharply and changes the subject. Makes sense—they're not really friends. They're just lab partners.
XXXX
She doesn't have class with him, so the first time she ever talks to Travis is during practice. A bad ball goes careening into the boys' field, and Kate is the lucky one sent to retrieve it.
Travis is the one who trots up, ball in hand. "Here ya go," he calls, tossing it to her. She catches it, of course, and takes the time to study him.
He's attractive enough, with flawless brown skin and bright blue eyes. His smile is sweet and charming, and he fills out the baseball uniform nicely.
Kate isn't particularly attracted to boys and even she can see why someone would fall for him.
"You're Kate, right?" he says slowly, snapping his fingers. "Amy's friend?"
The way he says her name, casual and friendly, makes Kate clench the baseball so hard her knuckles turn white. "We're just Chem partners," she informs him, and she's surprised how calm she sounds.
"Really?" He frowns, and even that looks attractive, the jerk. "I must have misunderstood."
Kate doesn't bother asking for clarification. "I gotta get back to practice." She trots off before he can say anything else.
That night she studies herself in the mirror. She sees a tall, gawky girl with skin too tan from being out in the sun too long, frizzy blonde hair that's rarely styled fancier than a ponytail, and acne that hasn't quite cleared up. Overall, she's just average. In a beauty contest, Travis would win hands down, and Kate wouldn't even place.
Travis has done absolutely nothing to her, but Kate hates him a little bit more.
XXXX
She stumbles on them completely by accident. She heads back to the bleachers to get her water bottle, and they're underneath, tucked out of sight behind a support beam. She wouldn't have even seen them at all if her water bottle hadn't fallen between the seats back here.
She can't figure out what they're doing, at first. Wes, in street clothes, and Travis still in his baseball uniform, are pressed close together, hands fisted in each others' shirts, and she thinks they're fighting until she realizes they're doing the opposite.
For a minute or two, Kate can't move, afraid to even twitch in case they spot her. Which is unlikely, she realizes after another minute has passed, considering how focused they are on each other.
She's never seen anyone kissing like this outside of TV. They're practically eating each other's faces, lips and tongues and harsh breaths Kate can hear from all the way over here.
Slowly, she backs out from under the bleachers. She waits until she turns a corner before she stops, biting her lip to keep from grinning crazily.
Travis and Wes. Travis and Wes.
She leaves her water bottle behind, but she goes with a spring in her step.
XXXX
Kate bounces up to the table, smiling widely. "You'll never guess what I saw," she says before she's fully seated. She quickly launches into the tale, unable to keep the cheer from her voice. Because Travis and Wes, which means…
"That doesn't make sense," Randi says, cutting through the reverie. The other girl is frowning, sounding confused. "All the buzz I heard says Wes and Alex are back together."
"Really?" Kate hadn't heard anything about it, but then, she hadn't really been listening.
"Besides," Jonelle adds, "didn't you hear about the fight? Wes and Travis got into a shouting match in English this morning. They had to be separated and sent to the principal's office. That doesn't sound like two guys who'd been macking on each other the day before."
Kate slumps a little. "Really? Are you sure?"
"Lotta witnesses to the fight," Jonelle says sympathetically. "Are you sure about what you saw?"
"But…" Kate looks over at the front table. Alex and Wes are sitting next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, just like they always did when they were dating.
Travis is on the other side of the table, squashed between David and Amy. As she watches, Travis says something and tosses a fry at Wes; Wes retaliates by wadding up his napkin and chucking it at Travis's head.
No, definitely not like two guys who'd been making out yesterday.
Kate's spirits plummet.
XXXX
Alex is waiting in the parking lot after practice. Waiting for Wes, Kate assumes, and sits on a bench to wait for her mom to arrive.
A few minutes later, Wes comes out, bickering heatedly with Travis. Kate watches them from the corner of her eye, observing.
They don't look like they hate each other, she decides, but they don't look particularly friendly.
Alex and Travis are friendly, to the point Alex leans up and kisses Travis on the cheek when the guys stop on front of heir. Then she leans up and does the same thing with Wes, and she links her arms with both guys as they walk to Wes's car. Over her head, Travis and Wes keep bickering without pause, barely breathing as they banter.
Kate watches them go, utterly perplexed. What is happening with those three?
And what does that mean about Amy?
XXXX
"Even if Travis is with Alex or Wes or whatever, that doesn't mean Amy doesn't like him," Kendall points out during lunch.
"Yeah," Kate acknowledges, "but if the person she likes is with someone else, then my chances go up by like one percent."
"Which makes your chances about…oh, one percent," Jonelle snarks, and Kate kicks her under the table.
"Come on, guys, I know it's pretty much hopeless." She looks down, poking her food morosely. "I know that, okay. This isn't a movie. The odds of her liking me back…" She sighs, shrugs. "But I really like pretending. And that's a heck of a lot easier if Travis isn't in the picture."
Her friends exchange looks, a dozen things passing between them without a word. They all reach some silent consensus at once and turn back to her.
"Okay." Jonelle takes the lead, leaning forward. "So what do you guys think is actually going on between those three? Is Alex cheating, or what?
"Is Wes cheating?" Randi gasps mockingly.
They're totally placating her, but Kate is completely okay with that.
XXXX
Still, every time she sees Amy parked in the bleachers at practice, she can't help the twist in her stomach.
It'd be easier if she just stopped liking Amy, but of course, it's never that simple.
XXXX
"You're awfully quiet," Amy murmurs halfway through the lab they're working on. "Is everything okay?"
On the one hand, Kate's crush has been paying enough attention to be worried about Kate's silence. On the other hand, god, how embarrassing!
Kate waves the concern away and hunkers down to their lab. A few minutes later, as they're writing up their hypotheses, Kate asks, "You're friends with Travis, right? What's he like?"
The slight stutter of Amy's pen over paper is probably just her imagination. "He's alright." The brunette clears her throat, shakes her head a little. "He's a good guy. And he's on the baseball team."
Kate already knew that. The fact that Amy pointed that out specifically makes her chest hurt.
She looks down at her paper and grips her pencil. "So what do you think will happen when we expose it to fire?"
XXXX
That afternoon at practice, Kate can no longer deny it. She watches Amy, watches how she cheers for Travis when he makes a hit, and it's so obvious. Kate missed it, ignored it, because she was in denial, because she wasn't looking, because she didn't want it to be true. But she can't ignore what's right in front of her face anymore.
Amy obviously likes Travis.
Jonelle had said it, hadn't she? "She likes someone on the baseball team." And Amy hadn't bothered coming to practice until Travis joined the team. Even that slight hesitation in Chem lab this morning—Amy was startled, or maybe even a little upset that Kate was asking after the guy she liked.
Kate always knew her crush was hopeless, but this just sends it into a nosedive.
As if to mock her, Amy picks that moment to glance over and catch Kate's eye. She smiles, gives a little wave. Kate drops her eyes and turns away without returning the gesture.
How much does this suck? She's nursed this crush for over a year, hoping even though she knew how slim her chances were. Now she's been shot down before she even got the chance to confess and be rejected.
Oh man, chemistry tomorrow is gonna be torture—
"Kate!"
The frantic shout brings her out of her moping, just in time for the baseball to collide with her skull.
Everything goes grey.
XXXX
Amy is waiting in front of the parking lot when Kate emerges from the nurse's office. Kate pauses; Amy brightens upon seeing her, rushing up and slowing when she gets close enough.
"Hey," Kate says.
"Hey. Are you alright?" Amy's eyes are wide, worried as she studies the goose egg on Kate's forehead.
Kate resists the urge to reach up and touch it. As she learned in the nurse's office, that really hurts. "I'm okay," she reassures the other girl. "I've got a headache, but the nurse is pretty sure I don't have a concussion or anything."
"Good. That's good." The relief on Amy's face is enough to send tiny little flutters through Kate's belly. "Do you need a ride home?"
As much as she loves the thought of sitting in a car with Amy for ten minutes, Kate shakes her head. Which, as it turns out, is a mistake, because that sends a lance of pain through her brain and her vision wavers. When the spots in her eyes clear, she's on the bench, Amy's hand on her arm, holding her up.
"Kate? What's wrong? Do you need me to get the nurse?"
Kate waves her off. "I'm okay. Just got a little dizzy." She blinks hard, vanquishing the last of the spots. "Think I'm just gonna sit till my mom gets here, though."
"Well, okay." Amy shifts, casually dropping her hand next to Kate's. Their pinkies are touching. "I'll wait here with you until then."
Kate can't help but stare at the place where their hands meet. She's perplexed. Pleased, yes, so very pleased, but also so very confused. Because she thought…
"What about Travis?" she asks, all tact and caution thrown out the window with the head wound.
Amy's hand pulls away, almost reluctantly. "Right." Her voice is tight, and she stares at the sidewalk in front of the bench, avoiding Kate's gaze. "Sorry. I forgot that you…sorry."
Now, it may just be the baseball to the head, but Kate has no clue what Amy is trying to say here, and her head hurts too much to try and figure it out. She decides to just blurt it out; if it goes poorly, she can always blame blunt force trauma by baseball.
"Don't you like Travis? Why are you apologizing?"
Amy's head snaps up, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "What? I don't like Travis. You like Travis."
"I do?" Furrowing her brow hurts; Kate doesn't do that again. "No I don't. I've barely even talked to him." She points at the brunette and accuses, "You said he was a good guy!"
"Because he is!" Amy throws her hands up. "Sure, he's loud and rambunctious and he rarely chews with his mouth closed, but he is a good guy! That doesn't mean I like him." She flips a hand dismissively. "Besides, he likes—someone else. It's complicated."
Kate is doubly confused now. She thinks that maybe if she hadn't been hit in the head, she could figure out what Amy is saying, but right now…
"You like someone on the baseball team," she protests. "That's what they said."
Amy huffs a little laugh, rolling her eyes. "Yeah. I do like someone on the baseball team." She gently drops her hand over Kate's, full contact. "It's not Travis."
Kate stares at Amy's hand, and now she thinks she gets it. "Me? You like me? Since when?"
"Since not long after we became partners for Chem. Although I will admit, Travis joining the team gave me an excuse to come watch you without being a creepy stalker."
"You like me." The thought is too big, too awesome. Kate can't help the goofy smile that spreads across her face. "You like me."
"Yeah." Amy fidgets, but her hand stays where it is. "Yeah, I do."
Kate frowns a little. Amy sounds kind of nervous, but why would she need to be nervous? Amy likes Kate and Kate likes Amy and everything is wonderful now.
"Sorry." Still fidgeting, Amy starts to pull her hand away. "This must be weird, a girl confessing to you. I shouldn't have said anything."
Wait, what? No, no, the confessing was good! They like each other and they both—
Oh, wait.
"I have a head wound!" Kate blurts, grabbing for Amy's hand. It's clumsy and slow, but she gets there, lacing her fingers with Amy's. "And my head hurts, so I'm not exactly on top of things. But I—I like you too."
"Really?" A shy smile curls the corners of Amy's lips.
Kate squeezes her hand. "Really. I've liked you for a long time," she confides, leaning in and resting her head on Amy's shoulder.
The brunette's free hand comes up, petting Kate's hair, careful not to hit the bump on Kate's forehead. "If you didn't have a head wound, I'd kiss you right now."
Kissing sounds wonderful. "Give it a few days," she murmurs, butterflies dancing through her stomach in the most delicious way. She can't wait.
XXXX
"You look awfully chipper," Jonelle says at lunch on Monday. She squints suspiciously. "Did getting hit in the face addle your brains?"
"Nope," Kate says cheerfully. "I'm just in a good mood."
"Did something happen with Amy?" Kendall asks, because they all know Amy is the only one who can get Kate so giddy without explanation.
That's when Amy arrives, sliding into the seat beside Kate and pressing a light kiss to the fading bruise on her temple. Kate is grinning so hard her cheeks hurt. "You could say that."
The table explodes. Kate and Amy both tell what happened Friday, then answer quite a few questions before the girls' curiosities are satisfied.
"This is what you get when you sit with us," Kate informs Amy.
"Worth it," Amy murmurs back, nudging her shoulder.
"Speaking of," Jonelle interjects, and all three of her friends lean in, the same scary-intent expressions on their faces. "You're friends with them. What is going on with Wes and Alex and Travis?"
Amy blinks at the sudden assault. "Going on?"
"Is Alex back with Wes?" Jonelle demands.
"Or is she dating Travis?" Kendall asks.
"Or are Travis and Wes going out?" Randi questions.
"Um." Amy blinks again, looking a bit trapped by the sudden interrogation. "Yes."
There's a pause. "Which one is it?" the girls ask in unison.
Kate gets it first, and her eyebrows go up. "Wait, all three of them? Really? How does that work?"
Amy gives her a sheepish smile. "I did say it was complicated."
As the table erupts into speculation and gossip, Kate bumps her leg against Amy's, feeling a rush of warmth from the contact. She barely pays attention as the rest of the table chatters, because Amy smiles and bumps back.
Other peoples' love stories are much less interesting when she's in the middle of her own.
OOOO
I know Kamy isn't Wesvis, which I love and adore with all my heart, but I still like writing them, so here we are. It's a nice change of pace every now and then.
I hope you liked it even if it's not the boys. Any comments or reviews are always welcome.
Until next time~!