Chapter Text
Tam <3: i can’t wait to see you x
Robin looked down at the message on her phone as she walked to homeroom. A warm fluttering feeling found itself growing within her chest when she saw Tammy’s name pop up with the message notification.
The two had been kinda sorta going out (Robin still isn’t sure what the label and nature of their relationship is) and often met up in secret to talk, but mostly just to kiss. Or, at least whenever Tammy was in the mood to do so. Robin’s least favorite thing about this relationship was the secrecy involved. Granted, she knew that the crowd Tammy lingered with were amongst the same ones that had outed and bullied her the year previous so it made sense when Tammy asked her to keep their meetups to themselves.
Robin felt another buzz in her hand and lifted her phone up to read the notification, the screen light illuminating part of her face.
T
am <3: actually can we meet during passing?
Robin let out a sigh. It wasn’t uncommon for Tammy to change their meetup plans at the last minute.
Robin: Sure! See you then! x
She shut off her phone as she approached her homeroom class. Every year, they change the rooms for every student so it was no surprise that Robin’s anxiety was skyrocketing as she walked into the room and didn’t recognize any faces upon first glance around the room. In that same glance around, she recognized the signs that this room also belonged to a history teacher. Globe in the corner, pictures of presidents lining the walls, and a list of the amendments at the front next to the board.
“Name?” The teacher asked as Robin walked in.
“Robin Buckly, ma’am.”
The teacher flipped through what looked to be the seating chart for this class period.
“You’ll be sitting next to Nancy Wheeler,” she pointed towards a pair of seats by the room’s back window, one seat already occupied, “right back there.”
Robin nodded a silent ‘thank you’ before turning back to make her way to her seat. She had heard the name of Nancy Wheeler thrown around the school. Then again, who hasn’t? Another junior girl who was one of the stars of the soccer team, president of the school’s writing club, and managed to bag the “King of Hawkins High,” Steve Harrington. Though that relationship only lasted about a year before they broke things off for reasons that were only rumors. For a while after, she had also dated Jonathan Byers, though their relationship currently is also unknown. Many of the students think that she had cheated on Steve with Jonathan and that’s why they broke up but Robin never paid much attention. Nancy was definitely leagues above her so she isn’t surprised that they’ve never interacted once before.
Robin had expected the other girl to be like the other popular kids in that crowd but a single glance at her told Robin otherwise.
Last time rumors were flying left and right about Nancy Wheeler, her hair had been rather straight and reached down to her shoulders. At that time, she had also looked a bit sickly; fairly pale and rather skinny. But back then, Robin couldn’t help but feel pity as the girl was going through a breakup that was seriously affecting her while the whole school was throwing her name around like it meant nothing to her.
The present image of Nancy however was the complete opposite. Her skin looked warm (a look not helped by the sun coming in through the window behind her), something definitely helped by her time on the soccer team. Her hair was shorter now too, a short bob that reached her chin, and was curlier than Robin remembered. To put it simply, she looked good.
There was something about this look that made a warm feeling fester in Robin’s chest.
Robin sat down in the open seat next to Nancy as the morning bell rang, signaling the start of the school day. She turned to Nancy with a warm, albeit, shy smile.
“Hi,” she greeted.
Nancy mirrored her smile.
“Hi.
_________________________________________________
Homeroom passed rather quickly and Robin was up and out of her seat the second the bell rang, not wanting to be late to her meetup with Tammy. The hallway was a blur of motion and she quickly arrived at their usual spot. The door opened with restrained excitement and there the angel stood between bookshelves.
Blonde remnants of a perm and light blue eyeshadow.
“Hey,” the girl’s angelic voice sang out, setting Robin’s chest alight with flutters.
Robin walked towards Tammy rather quickly as though she were tempted by a siren song.
“Sorry about earlier.”
“It’s fine,” Robin replied almost out of habit, “Don’t worry about it.”
Tammy stepped closer, a content smile on her face. Noting the closed distance between the two caused the butterflies in Robin’s stomach to morph into pigeons, skin tingling where Tammy’s hand brushed against Robin’s.
“I really missed your face, you know that?”
Not knowing how to respond, Robin let out a nervous chuckle. No matter how many times they’ve met up like this, it always feels like it’s the first time.
“Have a good summer?
“Yeah, you?”
“Yeah. My parents and I went t-”
Robin was suddenly cut off when Tammy closed the distance between them, a faint taste of cherry from the latter’s lip gloss washing over Robin’s tongue. It was a quick kiss, the most common type that they shared. Robin had tried to initiate longer kisses before but Tammy always pulled away before they could go further. As quickly as this kiss had been initiated, Tammy pulled away from the kiss.
“You’re cute.”
Both girls chuckled. Robin opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the bell ringing once more. Tammy immediately dropped Robin’s hand as did the smile on her face.
“See you later?” Robin asked awkwardly, knowing that Tammy tended to not hang out with her during school or even out of school. She always claimed that if they did, people would start talking.
Tammy slung her bag over her shoulder with a huff.
“Still don’t speak a word of this to anyone,” the girl warned before leaving the room and disappearing into the wave of students that washed down the hall.
A defeated sigh left Robin as she watched the girl go.
“Bye…”
Robin looked around the room, the doubts she always had after these meetups sinking in. She hated always feeling like this after, as if all the excitement she had before was sucked out of her with that kiss. Feeling like she was nothing more than a plaything or experiment to Tammy. She’d considered breaking things off before, even bringing the idea up to Tammy, but every time she did, Tammy would start saying that no one else would love Robin the way she did, that she was weak and pathetic without her.
Guilt was the main reason why Robin continued these meetups.
The girl sighed again before mentally gathering herself and walking into the hallway with the other students. Robin looked up and for a second, saw Nancy walking next to Jonathan Byers. Her gaze quickly fell to the floor, blushing heat rising in her cheeks as a single thought intruded on her mind.
The thought of kissing Nancy in that empty room instead of Tammy.
___________________________________________
Over the course of the next few weeks, Robin began to look forward to homeroom. Definitely not because it gave her an excuse to look at and talk to Nancy every morning. They always greeted each other the same way as the first day: a simple “hi” and matching warm smiles.
It was moments like those that made Robin question if she really wanted to continue what she had with Tammy. Both her and Nancy made butterflies run rampant throughout Robin’s entire system but the times Nancy was the cause of those feelings, they felt warmer and softer when compared to how Tammy made her feel.
But every time those doubts sunk in about Tammy, her voice would echo in Robin’s mind, guilt continuing to eat away at her for even considering breaking things off.
No one will ever love someone as pathetic as you.
You’re just lucky that I felt bad for you.
Robin knew that what she said wasn’t true, but the more she heard them repeated, the more she began to believe them.
_____________________________________________
The bell rang loud, signaling the end of English for Robin. She got up quick enough to beat the large crowd of students she could see rushing towards her, but she felt a blush rise on her face when she finally noticed that Nancy was walking next to her, a piece of paper held against a notebook with a pen in hand.
Since when do nerds use pen for their assignments?
“Hi,” Robin managed to get out. Nancy turned to look at her, initially surprised before that warm smile Robin came to know formed on her face.
“Hi.”
Robin pointed down the hallway the two were currently in. “Is your class down that way?”
Nancy nodded. “Uh, yeah. I have math next.”
Robin snuck a quick peek at the worksheet Nancy had in her hands and smirked when she noticed what looked to be equations and numbers written across the page.
“Are you actually doing your homework while on the way to class?”
Robin genuinely couldn’t believe that someone like Nancy didn’t have her work done on the first day when the work was assigned. Then again, being the star of the soccer team and president of the writing club didn’t sound like it gave you much free time.
Nancy looked down at the paper again, a bashful smile on her face. “I might be.”
Robin couldn’t hold back a quiet laugh. “That’s exactly something a nerd would do.”
“Hey! I have a reputation to uphold, you know.”
Both girls laughed before Robin extended a hand towards Nancy’s paper.
“Want me to do it for you?”
Nancy moved her hands away from Robin, praying that she wouldn’t drop anything.
“No, I’m good.”
At this point, the duo stopped walking down the hall, their focus on one another.
“But I can give you the answers!”
“Then I won’t learn anything.”
Robin ground dramatically before making a lunge at Nancy’s paper, ignoring any of the weird looks any passing students shot their way.
“Come on, just let me…” Nancy spun around so Robin missed but that didn’t thwart her attempts to grab the paper, practically climbing all over Nancy.
“Get off, you little gremlin!” Nancy shouted playfully.
Robin managed to grab Nancy’s pen in her other hand but accidentally moved the tip of it against her hand, blue ink drawing a little squiggle on the shorter girl’s wrist. The two stopped their scuffle, Robin nervous about how Nancy might react.
The brunette looked down at the blue line on her wrist, an amused expression on her face.
“How dare you?” Nancy asked with faux offense.
Robin giggled, more out of relief than anything else.
“Here, look…” The pen dragged over Nancy’s wrist again, but this time with purpose as the dirty blonde added two dots above the squiggle, making a smiley face on the brunette’s wrist.
“Better?”
Nancy hummed. “Perhaps.”
The two started to walk again. Suddenly, Robin saw Tammy walking in their direction towards the English hallway. She couldn’t fight the fluttery feeling in her chest at seeing her, though it also could’ve been because of her interaction with Nancy that made her feel this way. Regardless, she couldn’t help but wave at the blonde.
“Hi,” she greeted excitedly.
Tammy stopped and gave Robin a strange look.
“What?”
“Oh, uh…” Robin felt her excitement drain and her smile fall. “Just, hi.
Tammy scoffed. “Why are you talking to me? I don’t even know you.”
Robin’s gaze fell to the floor. Even though she knew this was most definitely an act, it still didn’t make the twisting feeling in her chest any less painful.
Tammy turned to Nancy. “Hey there, Nance.”
Nancy nodded awkwardly in response. “Hey.”
Tammy then walked past the duo who once again continued on their way to their respective classes.
“You’re…friends with Tammy?” Robin was surprised. Tammy never mentioned Nancy, but then again, the two of them rarely ever talked when they met up.
“Yeah. She’s in my gym class. We’ve hung out a few times.”
Robin felt something like dread form in her chest. Did Tammy ever talk about Robin to her friends? Did she call her the same demeaning things while talking to others? Did Tammy even care about her?
Did she ever tell Nancy about how pathetic of a person she was?
These thoughts swirled in Robin’s mind like a hurricane, struggling to come up with a response.
“Oh.”
__________________________________________
Vickie sat down with a huff at the table where Robin and Barb also sat. Barb was entranced by her current read while Robin waited for Vickie to talk.
“You ever have that struggle of trying to talk to someone pretty but don’t know what to say?”
Robin snickered before she threw a grape into her mouth. “Didn’t seem to stop you when we were together.”
“Yeah, but that’s because you weren’t pretty.”
Vickie ducked as Robin chucked a grape at her.
“Rude!”
During spring break last year, Vickie and Robin had started going out. But over time, it felt more like they were both forcing things that weren’t there and went back to being friends by the next month. Since then, they both had a habit of falling for pretty straight girls. At least in Robin’s case.
“Do you know Chrissy Cunningham?”
Well, nevermind.
Chrissy Cunningham was one of the girls on the cheer team. She had been a new student the year previous and blended in pretty well with the popular crowd, landing a boyfriend, now ex, with Jason Carver. But that didn’t quite last.
No one really knows what happened since nobody has really confirmed why due to the entire student body seemingly addicted to rumors. Those rumors in question were that Jason claimed Chrissy was trans and had led him on. He never backed up his claims with any clear evidence other than his initial claim but the whole school just ate it all up, not caring at all that an innocent girl was caught in the crossfire.
Since all that drama, the people that claimed to have been Chrissy’s friends left her in the dust, leaving her to constantly be seen on her own. Except for the times when Eddie Munson didn’t have lunch detention.
Vickie looked at the empty table the blonde girl sat at, headphones over her ears as she sketched in her sketchbook. The redhead had longed to introduce herself to the blonde but never found the right time to introduce herself. Either she was sketching in her sketchbook, Eddie was sitting and talking with her, or some other excuse she could come up with.
Barb looked up from her book, a surprised expression on her face.
“Really?” Vickie nodded. “Huh…never pegged blondes as your type.”
Vickie huffed again and scowled.
Robin chuckled as her gaze wandered around at the other students, eventually landing on a group of students playing a game of pickup soccer. She hadn’t intended to stare, but she couldn’t help it when her eyes landed on Nancy, her light sweater tied around her waist as she ran.
Vickie looked at her friend and followed Robin’s line of sight, her eyes also landing on Nancy Wheeler.
“Oh please tell me you’re joking.” Vickie remarked, half-joking.
Robin turned to face the redhead rather quickly, the faintest of blushes on her face.
“What?”
“Seriously. Nancy Wheeler?” Barb briefly looked up from her book, almost as though she was in shock at hearing the name, before focusing back on the pages again. “You know she was part of the crowd that bullied you and Chrissy.”
Robin’s stomach dropped. “She’s not like the others.”
Vickie scoffed. “How do you know? The two of you inseparable friends now?”
This wasn’t the first time that Vickie had seemed jealous or envious at Robin’s interest in other people.
“She and I talk sometimes. We have homeroom together. She’s not like the rest of them, I promise that she’s nice.”
Vickie’s eyes were on Robin’s. Eventually, the redhead sighed.
“Fine. But the second I catch wind that she’s being mean, I’m charging her.”
_____________________________________
“Hey, Robin? Do you have any tissues or anything?”
Robin looked up, completely unprepared to see Nancy’s hands and wrists covered in blue, the girl they belonged to red with embarrassment.
“My pen sort of…exploded.”
Thankfully, their homeroom teacher didn’t care so much what her students did so the duo ran for the bathroom together. Miraculously, it was empty. The second they stepped foot into the bathroom, Nancy dashed for the sink, throwing her hands under the water and scrubbing her skin at lightning speed, panic settling in as the water wasn’t turning blue.
“It’s not coming off!” Nancy exclaimed while Robin tried and failed to keep her giggles down.
“Looks almost like a tattoo.”
“It makes me look like a goddamn smurf!”
Any composure the two girls were holding onto broke as laughter bounced off the bathroom walls, Robin clutching her stomach as she hiccuped with laughter.
“Who knows? Maybe it could be the next fashion trend.” Robin managed to get out between hiccups of laughter.
Nancy rolled her eyes playfully as Robin slowly recovered from her laughing fit, wiping tears away from her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. You gonna help me or not?”
Robin went over to the paper towel dispenser, trying her hardest not to tease Nancy for not going for those to help with getting the ink off. She tore a few away, crumpled them up in her hands and held them under the water before putting some soap on Nancy’s skin.
“Oh, right.” Nancy said as she realized that soap most definitely would’ve helped get the ink off.
Robin held Nancy’s arm steady before she began to gently glide the paper towels against Nancy’s skin. She knew that the paper towels in public and school bathrooms tended to be really rough on skin. Even she couldn’t deny that she hated the feeling of it. Robin kept her gaze focused on Nancy’s hands, trying to ignore the fluttering in her chest at just how intimate this interaction had become. She was worried to look up and see Nancy look into her eyes as if she could read her very thoughts in this moment, completely unaware that the brunette couldn’t tear her eyes away from how laser focused Robin looked right now, a fluttering feeling residing in her stomach.
The two remained in silence, the only sounds in the bathroom being the sink running. Eventually, the blue ink was fully washed off, a breath of relief emanating from Nancy’s lips.
“Uh, thanks.” The brunette said with a voice so soft it made Robin’s heart ache.
Robin nodded, turning the sink off and throwing the blue stained paper towels into the trash can by the door. Before she could get a word out, the dirty blonde felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She reached into her jean pocket and pulled her phone out, worried that it had been her sister and something was wrong.
Instead, her heart sank and any good feeling was sucked out once again.
Tam <3: meet in the library??
Robin hovered her fingers over the keyboard, contemplating responding before she remembered how Tammy acted towards her in the hallway the previous day. With a sigh, Robin shoved her phone back into her pocket.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Nancy didn’t look convinced so Robin decided to lie, “It was just my sister.”
Nancy smiled, some semblance of good feeling returning to Robin.
“You have siblings too?”
“Yup. I got a little sister.”
“Same. I have a little sister and a little brother. Though, he’s not so little. He practically towers over me.”
Robin huffed out a laugh. The bell for the passing period rang out, ending whatever fun the two were having.
“Hey, thanks again for helping. Really saved me there.”
Robin nodded again as the girls said their goodbyes to one another, neither girl unable to wipe their smiles from their faces as they departed. Robin’s smile was short-lived as she noticed Tammy by her locker, some random guy standing in front of her. It was like your typical high school romance scene: a girl against her locker with a leg pressed against the door as a guy trapped her against it.
Robin felt herself grow uneasy as she watched the guy tilt Tammy’s chin up before kissing her.
_______________________________________
Tam <3: meet in the library?
Robin laid in bed, the covers off and her pajamas consisting of a loose tank top and sport shorts. A soft orange light illuminated from a sign that hung next to her bed which read “Let’s Go Lesbians!” A gift from Vickie for her last birthday.
Robin: Do you have a boyfriend?
Delete.
Robin: I HATE YOU!!!!!!!
Delete.
Robin: I don’t want to meet up anymore.
Satisfied, Robin sent the message. Almost instantly, Tammy replied faster than Robin was anticipating.
Tam <3: ??????
Robin: Sorry.
Tam <3: i don’t understand???
Tam <3: jesus christ, we’re not gonna get caught!
Robin stared at her phone as Tammy continued to send reply after reply.
Tam <3: don’t ignore me robin
Tam <3: hello????
Not having the mental power to deal with this any longer, Robin shut off her phone before plugging it into the charger and setting it down on her windowsill. She moved over to turn the sign off, her room enveloped in darkness save for the nightlight that glowed faintly by her dresser on the other side of the room.
Robin sighed as she pulled the covers over her, trying her best to not dwell on the what ifs of what tomorrow could bring. Instead, she moved to lay on her side, mind shuffling through memories since the school year had started up. The second any memories of Tammy appeared, hse evicted them. But it wasn’t long before soft smiles and soft laughter began to fill her head, a smile of her own crossing her face.
It was no surprise that Robin was able to relax her mind enough to sleep just by thinking of gorgeous blue eyes and short brunette hair.