Chapter Text
Needy took no time to flee the graduation ceremony.
She was valedictorian. Her mom was proud of her for the first time in her life. She got what she wanted. Yet, she’s never felt so unsatisfied. A whole room of people had applauded her success, yet all she could focus on was the betrayal on Money’s face. Needy didn’t even want to know what that entailed.
She trudged through the halls of the building, desperate for an escape. But it was difficult to navigate through when everything looked the same; gray, empty halls that seemed to only reflect the nothingness she felt.
“Needy!” A sharp voice echoed through the corridor. Needy froze on the spot. “What was that?? Why are you..?”
“You’ll understand.” She said simply. Money would understand. She always did.
“Understand what?”
The silence hung over them like a heavy blanket. It didn’t take long for Money to realize what she did. Money always knew how to read her.
“You took all the credit for the final project.” She muttered, her voice cracking from either disbelief or hurt. Needy couldn’t quite tell. “You took all the credit for the final project, even though you knew how much being valedictorian meant to me.”
The tassel that hung from her cap brushed against her cheek like a taunt.
“You never gave a shit about school, or grades! Yet you…” the shakiness in her voice became impossible to hide. “Needy, why would you do that?”
—
Needy believed college would be the peak of her life. But her first week there had been anything but promising.
Instead of the exciting college life she was promised on television, she’s spent all her time in the commons room with her grumpy friend Sidewalky, reading over notes about medicine that she could really care less about. When she wasn’t with him, she was living off of cup noodles inside a dorm with a… bearable roommate. The girl was familiar, having graduated with one another— but she’d be lying to herself if hearing Fern’s one hundredth apology for simply breathing wrong didn’t tempt her to drop out all together.
She found herself thinking back to Money’s weirdly well-thought out college plans— how they would have shared a dorm, painted the walls green and pink, and spent nights curled up by the laptop watching shitty movies. Perhaps she’d be enjoying herself a lot more, if those plans came to fruition.
Speaking of Money; she hasn’t seen her at all. Not during the summer break or in the awfully cold hallways. Did she even go here? Was she being ignored?
She pushed the thought aside. Money probably just needed space, or something. Then she would come back and everything would be good again.
Needy walked down the hall, her attention fixed on ensuring the messy bunch of papers in her arms didn’t fly off. She has yet to memorize any of the notes, but reading even one sentence regarding the healthcare system gave her a headache. She never thought she would hate anything more than her mom, but she supposed her short time in college was adamant on proving her wrong.
Suddenly, she collided with somebody, causing her to fall to the cold floor. Needy cursed under her breath, ignoring the growing pain in her knees as she scrambled to gather everything. However, for the aforementioned somebody, shoving her wasn’t enough— they kicked her papers, disorganized notes flying throughout the hall. She blinked in utter disbelief.
“Wow,” she commented sarcastically, “Appreciate the manners, uh—“
She looked up, and standing before her was Money. She would’ve been relieved to see her, if Money wasn’t looking down at her with unfamiliar hate in her expression. Needy didn’t know whether to be afraid, or confused.
“It’s good to know you aren’t dead, Money,” Needy remarked. “Didn’t have to kick my papers to tell me that, though.”
“Still a smartass, huh?” She let out a harsh scoff, “Good to know nothing's changed.”
Needy watched her stomp down the hall until her figure disappeared around the corner.
—
“Money shoved me to the ground, Sidewalky!” She paced back and forth in his awfully cramped dorm, still appalled by what had occurred two hours ago. “Money shoved me, and then instead of helping me, she just kicked my notes everywhere.”
“Okay?” He replied simply, hunched over a tablet as he continued to write kinesiology notes. “Y’know you’re only allowed to stay here till seven, right? It’s six thirty, and I haven’t seen you read a damn paragraph. And we both know you aren’t studying a thing with Fern bitching around.”
“Ugh, criticism is not needed right now, Sidewalky. My notes can wait.” She retorted. “There’s seriously something wrong with her. Money is sweet and kind and crochets bunnies on my sweaters… but she’s not a jerk,” She stopped in the middle of the room, running a hand across her face. “I thought— I thought she just needed space. But I might have actually lost her.”
“That’s kinda what happens when you fuck someone over, Needy.”
She rolled her eyes, “I never thought she’d get so… upset about it. She still graduated with honours. She still got into college.”
“Wasn’t she working towards being valedictorian since like, freshman year?”
“Sure. But no one even remembers valedictorians anyway. Like, ask your roommate who the valedictorian in his school was, he probably won’t be able to give you a name.”
“Sounds like coping to me.” he said, refusing to even look in her direction. She let out an exasperated grunt, Sidewalky’s bluntness was doing anything but easing her mood. “Also, if you’re trying to prove a point, at least be good at it. We both know Snowball’s a dumbass— can barely even name each principle of movement.”
“Don’t act like you two aren’t just clones of each other.” she replied dryly. She could care less about the academic failures of her friend's dormmate. “Look, she knows me. I just figured she would—“
“Pfft. ‘I figured’, ‘I thought’— Just full of assumptions with you, huh?” Sidewalky commented roughly, a rush of irritation suddenly swirling in her chest. “Alright. Let’s say she does want to cut you off. What does it matter? She was too naive, anyway. People like that only bring you down.”
A defeated sigh escaped her lips, sitting on the edge of her friend’s bed. It’d be easy to agree with Sidewalky, but she’s known Money too long to simply celebrate the possibility of losing her.
Needy despised her mom, but becoming valedictorian had made her proud, made her embrace her with open arms and with genuine love in her eyes… And if that meant having to possibly strain her relationship with Money? It was a worthy sacrifice.
But she didn’t know that decision could ruin their relationship entirely— and for a moment, she considered that maybe it wasn’t worth it. That she threw away one of the few good things in her life for…
She felt a faint buzz in her left pocket. She took out the phone, a small groan slipping past her lips almost like an instinct when she saw the messenger— but any irritation faded as she read what was sent.
Mom: Hey Anita, hope your first week of college is going alright. Love you lots, xx
Was everybody in her life deciding to act weird today? Surely that was the only rational explanation for any of this.
But the message was real, the care was real, and the regret she once had faded as quickly as it came.