Vriska was trying not to be discouraged by the fact that Tavros still didn't ask her out the next day, and she would be forced to endure the weekend wondering if she'd be that sad sack who went alone. She knew it shouldn't matter that much; she knew it was dumb to let a guy define her, but she wanted a relationship just as much as any other high school girl. So of course when she hung out with Terezi over the weekend, the dance was pretty much what they talked about. Terezi had just told Vriska about the nonsense between Dave and Karkat, and it all sounded like a load of nonsense.
"So you just ended up asking Karkat to the dance?" Vriska asked. Terezi just shrugged at her and Vriska took a long drink through her straw.
"Yeah, I mean the more I think about it, the more I don't really want to get sucked into drama with Dave. And me asking Karkat was a preemptive strike. I made it perfectly clear that this was not a romantic gesture, okay?"
"Alright, geez. You don't have to get so defensive."
"Sorry." Honestly, Vriska had her doubts, but whatever, Terezi was entitled to make her own decisions.
"Well, whatever. Watch us all end up going as a group anyway. Hey, we should go dress shopping together, Ter. I gotta find something to match with Tavros, and it's either I go with you or I go with Aranea."
"Uh, not to be a buzzkill, Vris, but… did Tavros even ask you to the dance?" Vriska scowled.
"Well, not exactly, but you saw how embarrassed he was when Feferi asked! Come on, you know 'some girl in my English class' is code for 'Vriska'."
"I guess you two do have a history," Terezi said, but Vriska could tell she didn't really believe it.
"What're you two talking about?" Terezi's mother asked as she came into the house with Latula. Vriska looked over her shoulder. The Pyropes were always so nice to her.
"Homecoming. Thanks for the drive-thru, by the way," she said.
"Oh, no problem. Are you sleeping over tonight, Vriska?" Well, if they were offering, it would sure be better than going home.
"Yeah, I think I'm staying tonight."
"Do you guys want to go dress shopping for Homecoming tomorrow?" Latula asked, seeming excited about the idea. "My dress from last year doesn't fit anymore."
"Yeah!" Vriska grinned at Latula. "I was just suggesting the same thing to Terezi." Vriska could tell Terezi was the slightest bit put off by it. Even before she lost her eyesight, she wasn't one to shop, and Vriska had always found this slightly annoying only because she liked to loiter at the mall and maybe buy things on occasion. At any rate, the three girls found themselves at the mall the next day and Terezi was clearly not interested, paying more attention to what her phone was telling her. Whatever. Vriska busied herself by looking at the dresses, drawn mostly towards the blue ones. It wasn't long before she saw one she absolutely loved. It was a rich cerulean color, made with sanded satin, and had a v-neck cut with a skirt that flared out at the waist and went down to about her knees. At the bottom was some black lace in a design that almost looked like spider webs, and if that wasn't the dress for Vriska, she didn't know what would be. She picked it up, a wide smile on her face, and darted back towards Terezi, grabbing her shoulders.
"Ter, what do you think of this one?" Terezi grabbed at the skirt and ran her thumb over the fabric, then made an approving face.
"What's the neckline?" Terezi asked after a moment.
"V-neck. Not too plunging," Vriska answered, holding the dress up to herself and examining it in a nearby mirror.
"I'm sure it looks great."
"Aw, thanks! So what about you?"
"What?"
"Aren't you going to pick out a dress?" Vriska asked. There was silence for a moment. Vriska turned, looking at where Terezi had just been, but she wasn't there, lost in the sea of dresses.
"Vriska, Vriska come here!" Terezi called, and Vriska followed her voice to the rack where she was looking. It was a teal and red dress with a sweetheart neckline, and it was heavily adorned with bad rhinestones and jewels. "I'm gonna get this one," Terezi said.
"Terezi, that thing is tacky as fuck."
"I know, that's why it's so great." Vriska shook her head at Terezi. She'd never understand why Terezi was like that. She always wore these gaudy dragon t-shirts and obnoxious tie-dye nonsense. It was none of Vriska's business, but Kanaya made comments about being unfashionable and such. It was kind of funny, actually.
The rest of the weekend was not as fun, as Vriska went back to her house and tried to just make it through to Monday morning through her mother's incessant complaints about how she didn't pull her weight and how Vriska owed her for 14 years of food and housing. And Vriska just bit her tongue. The last time she'd tried to point out that that was the bare minimum of responsibilities she had to her as a parent, she got locked in her room for the whole day. It honestly wasn't worth fighting. Someday, she'd get out of her mother's house and prove she was so much more than what her mom thought of her. The only significant thing that happened was Feferi messaging her to ask about getting everyone together before the dance.
And then, on Monday, 4th period rolled around, and of course Vriska was sure that Tavros was going to ask her to the dance. He wheeled into English class clutching one sad flower in his hand, and set it down on Jade's desk. Vriska quirked an eyebrow upward, watching him.
"What the hell is that for?" she asked.
"Oh, um, I was asking-"
"Asking what?" Vriska looked up at Jade as she entered the room. "Oh, a flower! How cute! What were you saying, Tavros?"
"Oh, uh, nothing… the flower was from me."
"Thanks, Tavros!" Vriska was frowning throughout this entire exchange. She huffed and crossed her arms, sinking in her seat a bit. She couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. For the last year- since she and Eridan broke up, and even before then- Vriska and Tavros had been in a flirtationship, a back-and-forth, on-again-off-again thing, and the only reason they hadn't been an official couple was because Tavros never got the courage to ask her out. But now he could ask Jade on a date less than two months after meeting her?
"Yeah, I… uh… I was wondering…" Tavros stammered. Typical Tavros; couldn't even get a sentence out without tripping over his words. "Well, if you wanted to go to, um… Feferi's having a get-together before Homecoming… would you want to go, um. With m… um. Yeah."
"That sounds fun! I'd love to join you guys. Pictures, right?"
"Um… yeah!" It was a little funny how pathetically unsure of himself Tavros was.
"Oh, but I was supposed to be going with Dave and John and Rose. COuld they come too?" And there it was. Tav clearly hadn't realized Jade didn't take this as an opportunity for a date, and when she asked about her friends, Jade completely shattered him. His face dropped.
"Pr-probably, I would ask Feferi."
"Okay, cool! It'll be one cool group thing!" Tavros didn't say a word through the rest of class. Vriska paid more attention to her work until they got out of class, her and Tavros heading towards the cafeteria together.
"Were you trying to ask her out back there?" she asked, grinning at him. Tavros nodded, looking morose. "Hahahahahahahaha, oh my god, that was pathetic. Even by your standards. Absolutely priceless."
"It was… kind of supposed to be a private conversation."
"Tavros, your stupidity surprises me sometimes. You asked her out right in front of me, 5 minutes before class!"
"Uh, oops."
"It was embarrassing just to watch, honestly." Vriska smiled to herself. It was definitely satisfying seeing Tav flounder like that. Being around John during lunch and Biology, though, made Vriska forget about it, at least for a little while, until Gamzee reminded her as they walked towards the parking lot together.
"Hey, sis, Tav make his motherfuckin' move today?"
Vriska snorted a laugh. "Ha. Yeah. He totally struggled through the whole thing. But it's all good, he and I are going."
"That's motherfuckin' sweet."
When she got home, Vriska messaged Terezi about the whole thing.
arachnidsGrip [AG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]
AG: Holy shit, Ter,
AG: You're never gonna believe what Tavros pulled.
GC: God can't you leave that poor boy alone.
GC: What now
AG: LOL, he totally embarrassed himself trying to ask Jade to the dance.
GC: I thought you said he was going to ask you.
Vriska pursed her lips. Yeah, she'd been a tad upset that Tavros didn't ask her, but he knew how great they were together. Of course they'd end up going together.
AG: Yeah well
AG: It's cool with me if he wanted to go with Jade
AG: Not like she'd give him a chance anyway
AG: And like I said, it sounds like Fef is hosting some big group thing
AG: So everyone's gonna pair off and of course Tavros is going to gravitate back towards me
GC: Wait so what did Jade say?
AG: Oh it was this huge dorky misunderstanding
GC: Okay so what are even these "pairings"?
GC: Do you know?
AG: Tav and me, you and Kar, Fef and Eridan…
GC: Sollux and Aradia
AG: Oh Jesus Christ are those two going to get their shit together?
GC: I don't know, hopefully.
AG: Anyway
AG: Nepeta and Equius
GC: Which leaves Kanaya and Gamzee
GC: Which is NOT a thing that is going to happen
AG: Yeah, I mean it's gonna be like anything else; it's going to be weird and awkward and someone's feelings are going to get hurt because this is HIGH SCHOOL and there can't be one night where we all have a good time without some kind of disaster
GC: Ya know
GC: I hate that you're right.
GC: But we can make the best of it.
AG: Ha, sure
AG: Sounds like something Fef would say
GC: Ugh so cynical :P
AG: As if you're not just as cynical as I am!
GC: I am not cynical, I am realistic
AG: Pfffffffft, whatever
AG: See ya later, Scourge Sis
arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC]
Vriska let out a long sigh. She knew it was going to be a long week. It was only Monday, and she just had to get through to Saturday for the dance. But she was resilient, and once it hit the weekend again, Vriska was excited. It was rare that they actually got the whole group to hang out together outside of school, so she got ready on Saturday fairly quickly, and wound up waiting around for Aranea for a while before they left to go to the Peixes's. Feferi greeted her excitedly, which Vriska thought was a little bit weird since they weren't particularly close, but Vriska wasn't going to bat an eye. This was going to be a fun night. She was with her friends, she didn't have to worry about her mom or her sister or any drama- hopefully. And then she saw Tavros come in, smiling a bit sheepishly at the crowd. Vriska frowned deeply at him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked him, approaching before he could join the others.
"What?" he glanced at her, clearly befuddled.
"You're wearing brown! You were supposed to match my dress, you dolt."
"Um.."
"Honestly, you can't even buy the right shirt."
"Sorry, but, uh, I'm not entirely sure where you got the idea that, um, we were going together," Tavros said. Vriska faltered. Hadn't he…
"I...uh…" Vriska, for once, didn't have anything to say to him. Her mind was drawing a complete blank and the whole thing was mildly embarrassing, even if nobody else was privy to the conversation. She felt her face warm up.
"But. Um… I can still be your date, if you want." No. Too little, too late. She didn't need his pity.
"No… that's okay, Tavros," Vriska said, as she prepared to join the rest of the group. Why was everything so messed up between them? And then she heard the door open again behind her, and John, Dave, Rose, and Jade came into the backyard. Vriska lit up again seeing John. "Hi, John," she smiled at him.
"Hey Vriska!"
They all headed over to the rest of the group on the lawn and took some pictures, and then went to dinner and then to the dance, and despite the awkward start the night had gotten of to, Vriska had a good time. She danced with Tavros, and she danced with Terezi, and with Eridan and Equius, and with everyone else as a group, but there was one person who hadn't joined her yet, and she was beginning to wonder if she'd simply misread some signals. Just as Vriska was beginning to doubt herself, she saw John walking towards her on the dance floor, looking a little nervous.
"Hey, Vris...wanna dance?" he asked. She looked at him blankly, more than a little caught off guard, and then she slowly smiled.
"Christ, John, I thought you'd never ask." She grabbed his hand and they started dancing, both laughing together. That pretty much solidified it. Vriska had a crush on the huge dork, John Egbert.
