She idly sipped away at her drink, one arm folded as she leant against the bar. Gilda had been here for a good two hours now and the usually joyful atmosphere was horrible tonight. It was still as colourful as ever, both literally and metaphorically since the rainbow banners were out tonight. It just sucked for her seeing those two dudes dancing together to no music and another couple of girls giggling over in their booth out of the corner of her eye.
There were a few singles here too but Gilda was in no mood to try and pick them up. After all, her last attempt at doing that had ended so well. The bartender offered her a refill on her still half full drink. It was just a way for him to charge her full price for only half a drink. She scoffed but accepted. The guy grabbed her glass and walked off to the other end of the bar before returning with a full glass. New drink in hand, she took a small sip and began the process all over.
Gilda hadn’t been expecting it, but was a little grateful when it happened, as someone pulled out the stool next to her. “I was kinda hoping I wouldn’t find you here.” Scootaloo said as she pulled up a seat beside the older woman. Gilda didn’t respond though, she just kept on looking forwards as she swirled her drink slightly before taking another, albeit bigger, sip.
“So what’ll it be? Cider?” the bartender asked a few seconds after she’d sat down. He was the same guy who’d been here three weeks ago and remembered the birthday girl. Or what he thought was one at least.
Scootaloo thought for a moment before she replied. However before she could get a single word out Gilda raised as a hand in front of her face “She’s not drinking.” as she turned towards Scootaloo and scowled, hoping to just get her out of here without having to out the girl’s age.
“R-right… just a, a rootbeer please.” Scootaloo added as Gilda lowered her hand from her face. The bartender nodded and walked off, leaving Gilda to just groan and shake her head along side it. Scootaloo obviously wasn’t getting the hint. “So… I guess I should say sorry, huh?”
“You think…” Gilda said as she swished her drink around. Well at least Gilda was talking to her. She then turned to Scootaloo and asked “Actually, how the hell, no, why the hell did you get an ID with your birthday the day you got it?” she demanded, trying to at least find some humor in this messed up situation.
“Well, uh… I actually got it a few months ago. I just kinda messed up the years. It was meant to say a year earlier but…” she stopped and Gilda laughed. It wasn’t a ‘that’s a good joke’ laugh, more of a ‘you’re an idiot’ kind of laugh. And Scootaloo couldn’t exactly argue with it either. “Tss, yeah laugh it up. It wasn’t even the worst part. No, that was finding out I wound up at a gay bar the night it turned.”
“Yeah… probably should’ve mentioned that.” the bartender said as he returned with her drink. “Not trying to generalise or nothing but I sort of assumed you knew.” he said, looking the girl up and down. Both of them turned just stared him down. “Uh… gingerale’s on the house.” he said trying to just get out of there. Even he could feel the tension in the air.
“I ordered a rootbeer.” Scootaloo replied as he placed the drink down in front of her.
“It’s the same thing.” he said as he walked away, completely blowing Scootaloo’s mind in the process. I mean, it makes sense, she’d just never thought about it… anyway.
Gilda took another sip of her drink, having now quickly emptied half of it already. It had taken her nearly an hour to drink the two half glasses she’d ordered before Scootaloo had shown up, now she’d gone through just as much in a matter of minutes. Maybe not even that long. “Listen Squirt. You got your free drink, now just get out of here alright? You're throwing off my game. Non one's gonna come over here with you sitting right beside me, looking like a couple.” she said and absent mindedly took another sip of gin and juice.
“Some game you’ve got… no one’s gonna come up to you whether I’m here or not.” Scootaloo said smugly.
“What the hell does that mean?” she growled.
“I… I’ve been here a while.” admitted Scootaloo. “I got here about forty minutes ago, and I’ve been watching you from outside for ages. Just trying to work up the guts to come over here I guess. You’re up here at the bar and yet I’m the only person who’s come up to you the whole night.” Scootaloo took a sip if her drink, much like had Gilda had been nursing her own. “Huh… it is the same.” she said before taking another quick nip.
“Really?” Gilda asked begrudgingly. “You pulled that shit from before, then come in here and that’s all you got ta say? Fucking insult me and then make some stupid joke about a drink!?” she only just managed to hold herself back from shouting this at the younger woman.
“Hey, I said sorry alright. That’s all I can do” Scootaloo tried to defend herself.
Gilda was torn. Half of her wanted to storm off out of the pub. The other half wanted to deck Scootaloo then and there. And the latter was almost about to win out as she reach over and grabbed Scootaloo by her jacket, for the first time not caring that it was a Wonderbolts one and tugging on it hard enough that if it wasn’t leather most dumb fabrics would’ve ripped. “You. Fucking. Didn’t.” she stated word by word right into Scootaloo’s face. “You said you GUESS you should say sorry.”
“I… I…” Scootaloo stutter with Gilda’s omnipresent presence feeling like she was completely surrounded by it. “I’m sorry.” she told her friend. Hopefully still friend. “Look, I know I messed things up a little. Okay, maybe a lot, but I’m really sorry alright? I am. I don’t know if it even really means anything to you but I am. I really am sorry.”
Gilda’s scowl held, as did her hold on Scootaloo’s jacket. “Yeah. Well… it does.” she said and released her grip. She turned back towards the bar, grabbed her drink and downed the rest in one big swig. Slamming the glass back down on the table, she clenched her eyes and shook her head. “Yucky-ya!”
“So… we cool?”
“Yeah… I guess. More than I got from the last friend I got in a fight with.” she told Scootaloo before raising her glass again and getting a piece of ice to chew on out of it. With an audible crunch Scootaloo shuddered just thinking about doing that herself. “I’m sorry too for losing it back there on Monday.”
“Hope so… half the school thinks I’m gay now. So does my dad…” Scootaloo sighed. “Not that there’s anything wro-”
“Pff-haha… geez you’re uptight about that stuff” Gilda chuckled. And even if it was a Scootaloo’s expense, it made her happy to hear it. This wasn’t a ‘you’re an idiot’ laugh… well it kinda was still. But it was a joyous laugh coming from Gilda this time instead. “What about the other half of the school then?”
“Yeah, half the school are like ‘Oh she’s totally gay’. the other half though are like ‘Who's Scootaloo?’. And the other half…”
“Other other half?”
“Shut up. But good point, ALLL of them are like ‘Oh yeah her, she’s cool, hooking up with an older girl, yeah, totally a milf-hunter.’ all of them said. Literally all of them. In those EXACT words.”
“...”
“I know right?”
“I really have no idea what the hell to say to that.” Gilda just gazed at her stunned which was returned with just a big goofy-dumb smile. “How the hell did I not figure it out… the signs were everywhere.” Gilda sighed. “So everyone thinks you're gay huh? What about Rumble, he still think you like dick?” Gilda both mocked and legitimately asked. Admittedly, Gilda may’ve gone a little overboard when she found out but the only thing she regretted were her words to Rumble that day.
“He suckerpunched me in the gut.” Scootaloo deadpanned.
“He hit you?!” Gilda blurted in a tone filled with accusation.
“Don’t say it like that. Yeah, he hit a girl.” Scootaloo retorted. Her own tone sarcastic and showing she didn’t hold it against him. That changed though as she continued with “I can’t blame him really. I… think I hurt him more.” this peaked Gilda’s interest. From the first half she’d thought Scootaloo had just been victim blaming herself. With the second half though, she got the feeling she’d been right about him.
“So he freaked out about it.” Gilda stated as she, without thinking, moved her glass towards her mouth to take a drink. Only to find it empty. She lowered it and without a bit of booze she’d wanted to ease the guilt she asked “That’s my fault isn’t it?”
Scootaloo held off answering at first but after a brief paused she told Gilda the truth, even if it wasn’t the answer her friend wanted. “Yeah. It was.” she said, which lead to another long pause in their conversation. “I knew he liked me and never said anything. I think he was the only person who didn’t think I wasn’t gay before this… even my dad.” she added, rolling her eyes. “‘Course could’ve been because I had no interest in boys either. But he… he still believed me.”
“Wait, so if he still believed you, why the hell’d he punch ya then?”
“I don’t know. I guess… I guess because he doesn’t anymore. I’m ‘outed’ in front of everyone thanks to you, and then suddenly... I ask him out. I asked how he felt about me first but… he must’ve just thought I was using him to cover it up. He just couldn’t take that. And I sure as hell can’t blame him for it. He liked me, maybe even loved me, and to him, All I wanted from him was something fake. So yeah… he slugged me in the stomach.”
“Geez… sorry.” Gilda said before adding. “Crap… I can’t say sorry… sounds too lame compared to your one. But yeah, sorry.” she told Scootaloo. It may not have sounded as heart-felt as the last apology but it most certainly had been. “So… things alright between you two?”
“Dunno. Haven’t spoken to ‘im since Monday…” Scootaloo said. It hadn’t happened yet, but Gilda could see as Scootaloo looked forwards that her eyes were watering. There wasn’t anything she could say to help here. So she didn’t. Instead she just put a hand out and rested it on Scootaloo’s shoulder. Scootaloo turned to Gilda and despite trying to hold it back, a tear managed to escape. “Thanks…” she said, trying to force her voice to not break and her lip to not quiver.
“Yeah… no problem.” she replied. They stayed like that for while. Looking at each other with Gilda’s hand on Scootaloo’s shoulder, trying to comfort her.
“What would you’ve done if I believed you?” Scootaloo asked out of nowhere.
“Believe what?”
“Your line about having the wrong number.”
“I’d have called back and laughed at you. Duh.” Gilda replied with a scoff.
“How, you don’t have my number.” Scootaloo countered.
“Uh, you just called me. I got your number in my history.”
“What if I had a private number?”
“Do you?”
“That’s not the point. The point’s what if.”
“I don’t know. We wouldn’t have met up and none of this would’ve happened. That the answer you’re looking for?” Gilda said with a frown. “Wouldn’t have run into Rumble on Saturday. Probably wouldn’t have recognised you out fronta the school. Wouldn’t have even been driving past there at that time.”
“That’s not what I want… I kinda do but, no.” Scootaloo moaned. “You think Rumble’ll forgive me?”
“If he doesn’t he’s an idiot… of course he’s an idiot already so hmm, who knows?” Gilda laughed slightly. Thankfully, it got a mild chuckle out of Scootaloo too. “Hey, give me your phone again.”
“Why?” she asked as she began to reach for her phone in her pocket.
“Do you trust me?” replied Gilda as she put her still-gloved hand out for it.
“No.” Scootaloo retorted, having been just about to hand her the phone before pulling back a little bit now.
“Good answer. But do it anyway.” she said, snatching the phone away from Scootaloo. In fairness though, Scootaloo didn’t exactly stop Gilda from taking it.
“I’ve called him already if that’s what you're trying to do. He hasn’t picked up and he just ignored or walked away whenever I tried in person.” Scootaloo told her friend. Right as she finished saying that however, the phone was shoved back in her face with a display showing a the sent message of ‘you think your the the only one who got hurt here? i fuckign hurt too u no. u wont even talk too me now? welll fukc you!!!’.
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