Chapter Text
She heads towards the back door that leads into the kitchen so she can dispose of her now empty cup. There are plastic cups all over the ground, but Leah’s never been able to litter in good conscience, no matter how many other people are doing it. She had retreated to the back yard to escape the chaos of inside, but it’s getting kind of cold, and truthfully she just wants to go home anyway. College frat parties are so not Leah’s scene. She’s not even sure why she bothered to come, but it had been on her route home from the city and she thought she might as well stop by at some party she’d heard about from a girl in her biology class.
She stays in the kitchen just long enough to dump her cup on a countertop – her anti-litter stance doesn’t stretch far enough that she can be bothered to find a trash can – and she heads back outside so she can make her way home. She’s just rounding the corner of the alley that leads out onto the street, when familiar alarm bells start ringing in her head.
Leah rushes back into the kitchen and sees two people standing the entrance, one towering over the other. It takes a second, but she recognises the smaller of the two, the girl, as Fatin Jadmani. She’s not really surprised to see Fatin here, there’s rarely a party the most popular senior at East Bay High School hasn’t been seen at. But what does grab her notice is the guy standing over her, holding Fatin’s wrist in a vice grip, and attempting to lure her upstairs while Fatin cringes away from his advances.
“Come on, babe, loosen up. I promise it’ll be fun,” the guy says in Fatin’s ear.
“Yeah, really not interested, babe. Let me go.” To Fatin’s credit, her voice doesn’t waver once. Leah would be fucking terrified in the same situation- if it weren’t for her… special circumstances, that is. Fatin tries to shove the guy aside but his free hand shoots out against the doorframe, trapping her. Fear flits across her face, but she quickly schools her expression into one of annoyance, like this is no more than a small inconvenience to her.
“What’s your problem, huh?” he asks. “What, you’re gonna flirt with me all night and then act like you don’t want it? No, I know-”
“Hey, asshole,” Leah cuts in. Both Fatin and the creep turn to look at her, apparently unaware she had been standing there. “Pretty sure she said no.”
“Look, honey, you’ll get your turn,” the guy leers. “Unless you wanted to join in? Cause I won’t say no to that.” His laughter stops when Leah strides over and shoves him in the chest, making him drop Fatin’s wrist. Fatin immediately, perhaps unconsciously, steps behind Leah. He looks sort of shocked at such strength coming from a girl who’s at least a head shorter than him.
Leah looks the creep right in the eyes and smiles. “I’d rather fucking die.”
She’s not really sure exactly where this rage is coming from. She’ll chalk it up to feminist righteousness, but she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t a little bit because the idea of this guy hurting Fatin is particularly painful. And she’d definitely be lying if she denied the crush she’d been fostering on the other girl since sophomore year.
The guy’s expression darkens and he grabs Leah’s arm, his veins popping from the effort of how hard he’s squeezing. It actually kind of hurts. A little.
“Hey, come on-” Fatin starts, but Leah waves her off with her free arm. She barely even reacts to what must look like quite a painfully strong grip. She looks down, calm, at the hand clenched around her bicep, brows furrowed. Suddenly, she takes hold of his middle and index fingers, wrenching his hand away from her arm, and bends them backwards.
Just a bit. Just enough to scare.
The guy is apparently not as tough as he seems, because he’s on his knees in about half a second, crying out in pain. Maybe she ought to ease up a little. She loosens her hold slightly and leans closer to his face.
“Okay, so, here’s the thing. You’re gonna leave her the hell alone. And if you touch her, or me, or any other girl like that again, I’ll do a lot more than bruise a couple of fingers. That clear?”
“You bitch-” he starts, but Leah bends his fingers back even further. “Aah! Fuck, Jesus, okay! I’m sorry!” Leah lets go and the guy scrambles to his feet and cradles his fingers. He shoots Leah a contemptuous look and storms off, muttering something that sounds like fucking crazy cunt.
Leah watches him march through the hallway and head upstairs. With him gone, the silence of the kitchen is all too noticeable and she turns to see Fatin, wide-eyed, staring at Leah. She’s suddenly self-conscious, like maybe she took it a bit too far.
“Uh. Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to go all psycho on him.” She laughs nervously. Fatin doesn’t respond. “Are you… are you okay?”
After a beat, Fatin nods. “Yeah, uh- thanks. For…” She points next to Leah, where the guy had been standing.
Leah nods once and chews her lip. Neither of them quite knows what to say, apparently.
“Listen, I’m gonna head home. Are you gonna be okay, or should I, like… stay?” Leah asks, kind of-almost-secretly hoping Fatin will ask Leah to stay with her.
“Uh, yeah, no, I’ll- I’ll be fine. Thanks,” Fatin says.
Leah smiles and waves awkwardly before stepping outside.
She’s halfway out the door, when-
“Hey! Actually… mind if I join you?”
***
The party had basically sucked all night anyway, but her brush with the frat bro cliché from hell had only confirmed her desire to bail on the whole thing.
She follows the girl (Leah, she recalls) out through the back yard and round to the front of the house. It’s way colder outside than it is in, and she’s deeply regretting her decision to forego a jacket, despite only wearing a crop top.
“Where’s your car?” she asks Leah, looking down the street, where most people seem to have parked.
“Oh. Uh, I actually didn’t drive. Sorry,” Leah says, grimacing. She pulls out her phone as she says, “I can call an Uber? Or- fuck, I cant. My phone’s dead.” She sends Fatin another apologetic look, but Fatin waves it off.
“It’s cool. Actually, I could use some air. Wanna walk me?”
Leah’s mouth hangs open for a second. “Uh. Y-yeah. Sure.”
“Great. C’mon,” Fatin says, and heads in the direction of her house. A second later Leah jogs to catch up with her. They walk in silence for a minute before Fatin speaks up again. “Thanks for all this, by the way. I don’t think I, like, thanked you properly earlier, so…”
“It’s cool.” Leah shrugs, like it’s no big deal that Leah saved her from potentially- well, she doesn’t want to think about the potentially of it all, so she really wants to make sure Leah knows how grateful she is.
“No, seriously, what you did back there was really great. Like, amazing. Where did you learn that?”
“Oh, um. I took uh… a self defense class once. So…” Leah trails off, looking very awkward. “But, uh… yeah, no problem. Just glad I was there before- um. I mean, I’m glad I could help.”
Fatin figures she’ll let it go for now- Leah doesn’t seem the type who knows how to take compliments or gratitude well, and Fatin doesn’t want to embarrass her. She’s trying to think of something to fill the silence when Leah speaks up.
“I’m Leah, by the way.”
“Yeah, I know,” says Fatin. “We have English together.”
“Right. And trig.”
Fatin grimaces in apology. “Sorry. I pretty much zone out the second I walk into that class, it’s a wonder I recognize the teacher.”
Leah laughs. It’s a nice sound. Fatin suddenly wants to make it her mission to make it happen again.
“I’m Fatin,” she says, though she knows it’s probably an unnecessary introduction.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure everyone in a ten-mile radius knows who you are, Fatin,” Leah says with a smile.
Fatin’s stomach does a weird little somersault. Something about the way Leah says her name sounds… good. Right. Like it belongs on her tongue. Huh. “Is that so?” she says, in a voice usually reserved for people whose beds she’s already lying in. It’s dark, but the streetlights offer just enough visibility for Fatin to see Leah’s cheeks turn pink.
Leah doesn’t say much, Fatin notes. She’s seen Leah around school, but she’ll admit, she’s never given the girl much thought before. Still, she’s good at reading people, and one look at Leah has her surprised that she’s even out tonight.
“So. What were you even doing at that party? Not that I’m not glad, obvi, but. It doesn’t exactly seem like your scene,” Fatin says.
“Um. Yeah, it’s not, really. I was just in the neighborhood, I guess. I heard about it from someone at school, and thought I’d… swing by,” Leah says with a small smile, like there’s a joke Fatin’s missing. The smile fades quickly, though, as she adds, “good thing I did, I guess.”
She doesn’t say it in some self-aggrandizing way, like she’s proud of herself for being the hero. She’s sort of quiet about it. Humble. And like she’s genuinely upset at the thought of what could have happened had she not shown up when she did. It’s weird. If it had been a guy who had saved her – at least, the kind of guy Fatin hangs with – he’d be milking the shit out of this right now. Chest puffed out, wrapping an arm around Fatin’s shoulder protectively (possessively), and trying his hardest to get rewarded for his acts of bravery.
Maybe it’s not that weird. Maybe most girls act like this. Fatin’s never made much time for female friendships, not real ones anyway. So she supposes she’s probably not the expert on women’s behavior in these situations. Still, it’s charming, and Fatin feels safer with Leah than she does with pretty much anyone in her social circles, and she’s only had one conversation with the girl. “Mm. My hero.”
Leah rolls her eyes, but there’s a smirk pulling at her lips. Once again, Fatin somehow feels like she’s not quite in on the joke, even though she’s the one who made it.
A sudden breeze blows through the still night and Fatin wraps her arms around her exposed stomach. Leah seems to notice, because, before Fatin can protest, she’s shrugging out of her denim jacket and handing it wordlessly to Fatin. Leah’s only got a thin hoodie on, but she doesn’t look too bothered by the cold, so Fatin puts the jacket on without feeling too guilty. The sleeves are a little long, so she rolls them up a few times.
The walk to Fatin’s house is long (she’s glad she opted for sneakers tonight, instead of the usual heels), but the time passes quickly as she and Leah talk and joke the whole way home.
“Okay, my turn. Uh…” Fatin hums as she thinks. A small smile settles on her face as she decides what question to ask. “Would you rather eat plain yogurt for the rest of your life – not vanilla, like, plain yogurt – or… suck off your dad?”
Leah splutters out a laugh and her eyes widen in surprise. “Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you?” Fatin raises her eyebrows, waiting for an answer. Leah takes a moment to consider. “Well, um. My dad’s dead, so I’m probably gonna have to go with the yogurt on this-”
Fatin’s jaw drops. “Shit, Leah, I am so sorry, I can’t believe I forgot!” She remembers now, ten years earlier, hearing about a classmate who’s dad had died in a freak plane crash. She’s panicking slightly, expecting Leah to start raging at her, or worse, start crying, so it takes a second for her to register the fact that Leah’s laughing her head off.
“It’s cool, Fatin,” she says, catching her breath and wiping her eyes. “That was a good one, too. Shame you wasted it on me.”
Fatin laughs uncertainly, still feeling kind of shitty, but finding it much funnier, knowing that Leah’s not mad at her.
“God, I am sorry, though. I’ll come up with a better one, I promise.”
“You’ll have to ask me tomorrow,” Leah says, coming to a stop and nodding her head towards the house they’re standing outside.
It’s Fatin’s. When did they get here?
She can’t help but feel a little disappointed that her night with Leah has come to an end.
“Oh. Right.” She’s not sure what to say. Leah pulls up her hood over her head, apparently getting ready to walk the rest of the way to her house. “Do you want me to call you an Uber?”
Leah shakes her head. “Nah, it’s cool, I’m not far.”
Fatin doesn’t love the idea of Leah walking home alone at this time, no matter how many self-defense classes she’s taken. “Okay, um. DM me when you get home?”
Leah smiles and waves her hand in farewell as she sets off down the road. Fatin watches til she turns the corner, then heads to her front door and sneaks inside and up the stairs to her bedroom. It’s not until she’s getting ready for bed that she realizes she’s still wearing Leah’s jacket.
***
The journey to her house is much quicker now that Leah’s able to travel her preferred way.
She keeps mostly to the tree line by the side of the road and swings from branches and lampposts, doing the occasional backflip to keep herself entertained. When she makes it home, she clambers in through her bedroom window and flops onto her bed, out of breath.
Remembering Fatin’s request, Leah plugs her phone into the charger on her bedside table. While she waits for it to turn on, she pulls herself out of bed in order to get changed.
She peels off the red and blue suit she keeps under her clothes and shoves it out of sight under her bed, just in case her mom comes snooping. After getting into pajamas and brushing her teeth, she climbs back into bed and grabs her now just-barely charged phone.
There’s a slew of notifications from Rachel, which she glances at just long enough to determine that she hasn’t missed some sort of crisis, and a couple of texts from her mom. Most recently, though, is an Instagram notification.
Fatin Jadmani (@therealjadmani) has requested to follow you.
Leah taps on the notification and hits ‘accept’. She opens up Fatin’s DMs and types out a quick ‘home safe!’ It’s not long before she gets a reply.
@therealjadmani
good
i still have ur jacket whoops
@leaaahrilke
oh you can keep it
it looks better on you lol
Leah turns off her bedside light and closes her eyes, but her phone lights up and buzzes with more notifications.
@therealjadmani
oh
thanks babe
hey
would u rather fuck an actual spider or be forced into mortal combat with the actual spiderman
Leah laughs and bites her lip, looking fondly at her phone screen.
@leaaahrilke
go to bed fatin
She locks her phone and turns it on silent, before rolling over and grinning into her pillow, suddenly kind of excited to go school in a few hours, on the off-chance Leah will run into Fatin Jadmani.