what if like Susie met the reader who is kind, forgives easily, and laughs easily? But the reader is like closed off about their feelings, but makes sure others are fine…
'Say what you mean, tell me I'm right'
in which... your people-pleasing tendencies become Susie’s last straw. [fem reader] (notes at the end! <3)
Susie couldn’t remember the first time it started bothering her.
It wasn’t anything big at first. Just little stuff. Forgettable, probably, at least to anyone else.
your guys’ class was assigned a partner project. You got paired with Berdly.
He spent half the class talking over you and the other half acting like he invented the slideshow format. He rewrote your notes, ignored your suggestions, and made a big deal about how you should stay after class to finish formatting the “visual components.”
You just smiled. Laughed, even.
Susie watched the whole thing from three rows back with her chin propped on one hand, dead-eyed, trying to explode Berdly with her mind.
You looked back at her once. Gave her that dumb little wave. The one you always did when you were trying to brush off how uncomfortable you were.
You walked past her in the hallway afterwards, rubbing your shoulder like it hurt. You didn’t look upset. Just tired.
Susie opened her mouth to say something.
Maybe even offer to switch partners, let you “borrow” Kris, have her deal with Berdlys bullshit, but all you did was look towards her and smile.
“He’s not that bad. I don’t mind.”
So she closed her mouth again.
one day after school. The group of you were hanging around outside the library, trying to figure out where to eat.
You’d been hovering near Susie’s side the whole time, glancing at her now and then like you wanted to say something but didn’t.
You didn’t. You never did.
Kris eventually suggested a sushi place a few blocks away.
You hesitated for maybe half a second, barely even that, then said, “That sounds good.”
Susie glanced sideways at you. Your smile was polite. Tight.
She’d heard you mention once, just once in passing, that you didn’t like sushi. Something about the texture, maybe an allergy, she couldn’t remember. But she remembered that. And she knew damn well Kris didn’t.
So she cut in before anyone could start walking.
Kris blinked at her, tilting their head a little.
Susie scoffed, voice flat. “Just do it.”
She didn’t explain. Didn’t even look at you either, a part of her was too lazy or maybe too annoyed to.
your locker got jammed between classes.
You didn’t call anyone over. Didn’t ask for help. Just stood there tugging at it, gentle, and polite, like you were trying not to disturb the people passing by.
Susie spotted you from down the hall, hunched a little like you were hoping no one would notice. She almost kept walking. She wanted to. It was your fault for not asking for help, she thought bitterly.
But then you looked back and caught her eye. Just for a second.
You didn’t wave her over. Didn’t even gesture really. Just gave her this tiny, uncertain look.
Like you were embarrassed.
Didn’t say anything. Just walked up, grabbed the locker handle, and yanked it open with one loud bang.
You were gonna need a new locker.
You blinked, surprised. And then, that smile. That soft, nervous, fluttery one you gave her sometimes, like you were so happy she was there in that moment.
But just before she could share that fluttery feeling and smile back at you with that proud cocky grin of hers, came the worst part. The part that sat in Susie’s chest for hours after.
You touched her arm, just barely, and apologized.
That was it. No “thanks” no “you’re amazing,” not even a dumb joke.
Like helping you had been a hassle. Like doing this one thing for you was a chore.
She went quiet for a bit. Just watched as you pulled your books out of the locker like nothing happened.
But then her body began to shake as it let out small awkward chuckles. She wasn’t 100% sure why she was laughing. Disbelief? Anger?
“Damn, do you ever stop saying sorry?” The question slipped out before she could really think about it.
You paused in your movements. Blinked slowly. Then turned your head towards her, confused.
Your voice was so soft. Like you really didn’t get it. Like you thought she deserved the apology.
Her eyes flicked to the floor, then back to your face, then away again.
She turned on her heel and walked off down the hallway, fists clenched in her hoodie pocket, pace just a little too fast.
And she didn’t look back.
They’d all planned it. Days in advance. They were gonna take the bus to the city and loiter and get cheap milkshakes and just be teenagers for once.
You’d been so excited. It was the most animated Susie had seen you in weeks.
And then, an hour before they were supposed to meet up, she got your text.
‘hey guys! rlly sry but i can’t come tonight! someone asked me to help with festival decorations... Again, sry !! hope you guys have fun, take lots of pictures for me !! (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈)’
Susie stared at it. Read it once. Then twice.
Replies from the rest of the group were sent in seconds. Noelle saying ‘aww next time then!!’, Kris replying with a thumbs-up.
But Susie didn’t respond.
She just sat there, on the steps of her apartment building with her phone in her hand and her jaw clenched.
You’d been talking about this all week. You’d literally texted her last night about how excited you were. She remembered because she’d taken a screenshot of it, read it until it burned into her memory.
You wanted to go. You wanted to.
And still, the second someone else asked you to do something, you just… gave it up. Sent her a message dressed up in cutesy symbols and exclamation points like it didn’t gut her to read.
Susie didn’t even realize she was standing up until she was halfway down the block.
She didn’t text the group. Didn’t tell anyone where she was going. Her hands stayed jammed in her pockets the whole walk there, thoughts racing and her mind going into overdrive.
You were in the clubroom, exactly where she figured you’d be.
Half the lights were off, and the place smelled like paint and streamers. You were crouched near the back, fiddling with some box of decorations. Laughing nervously at something someone said.
Your smile dropped the second your eyes met hers.
You stood up slowly, dusting glitter off your hands.
The whole room went a little quieter.
Susie was already walking straight towards you, fists clenched.
“This. This bullshit. You cancel plans you were excited about, because someone asked you to do their work?”
“Hey,” one of the kids near you said, confused, “she offered–”
“No, no she fucking didn’t.” Susie snarled. “She didn’t offer. She just said yes. Like she always does.”
You stared at her, wide-eyed. “Susie, stop–”
But she grabbed your wrist. Not rough, but firm. And without waiting for your permission, she yanked you a full step towards the door.
“She's busy.” Susie barked over her shoulder. “Find someone else.”
You stumbled a bit as she dragged you out into the hallway, eyes looking around the classroom like you were waiting for someone to stop her, but no one did.
The schools front door slammed behind you.
You stood there, stunned.
“…What the hell was that?” you asked, breathless.
Susie didn’t let go of your wrist right away.
“You were excited.” she repeated, voice tight. “You wanted to go out tonight. You told me.”
“No, you didn’t.” Her eyes narrowed. “You remembered. You just didn’t think it was important enough.”
“I didn’t want to make things complicated.”
“Yeah? Well guess what, life is complicated.” She snapped, “And it’d be a little less complicated if you learned to speak up for once.”
There was bitterness in her voice. The kind of anger that only came from caring way too much and having no idea how to express it.
You flinched. Just barely.
And Susie hated that. Hated the way you kept folding in on yourself. Hated the way you looked at the floor like you deserved to be yelled at.
She let go of your wrist, finally, and shoved her hands into her hoodie pockets.
“I’m not mad ‘cause you missed some stupid hangout…” she muttered. “I’m mad because you keep acting like what you want doesn’t matter.”
You looked down again, like you were about to fold, again.
And maybe that was what made something click for her.
She exhaled hard. Rubbed the back of her neck like it physically hurt to be vulnerable, to actually encourage someone without being negative.
“…Okay.” she muttered. “You know what? Fine. Let’s try this your way.”
You glanced up, confused.
She rolled her shoulders back. Tried to speak slower. Quieter.
“I’m not great at this shit.” she said, “But, like… I dunno. What do you want?”
“You said you didn’t wanna make things complicated, but you’re the one making it complicated by not saying anything ever. So, say something.”
You blinked. “Like what?”
“Like what you want!” she shouted suddenly. “Anything! I don’t care if it’s dumb or weird or pathetic or whatever, just say it!!”
You flinched, taking a step back.
“You do!” Susie barked, stepping closer. “You’re just too scared to say it!”
“I’m not scared, I’m–!” You threw your arms up.
Susie blinked, caught off guard by the way your voice cracked, not in fear, but frustration. You were cracking. Finally.
“Right now. What do you wish you were doing right this second…?”
Then, suddenly, your hands clenched at your sides, and you yelled.
“I-I …I wish I was spending ten dollars on a shitty milkshake downtown!”
There was a beat of silence.
“…Yeah!?” she shouted back, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And then what!?!”
“Then… then I wanna check my bank account and regret it!!”
“GOOD!!” Susie yelled. “That’s something!! What else? What else do you wanna do?”
“I wanna say no when people ask me for homework answers! Even if they’re really nice about it!”
“I wanna punch Berdly in the face!!”
“THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!”
You were both yelling now, flushed and breathless and weirdly energized.
“I want to turn my phone off and not answer texts for an entire day!!”
“I WANNA EAT FRIES OFF THE FLOOR AND NOT TELL ANYONE!”
“I wanna not lend my pens to people who never give them back!!!”
“I KINDA WANNA BE ADOPTED BY KRIS’S MOM!”
“I wanna– I WANNA KNOW WHAT YOUR HANDS FEEL LIKE!!!”
You froze. Mouth still open.
You covered your mouth halfway, eyes wide. “…I… I mean…”
Didn’t laugh. Didn’t tease.
She just stared at you for a long second.
“…Y’know what?” she muttered as a smirk spread across her face revealing her sharp teeth, voice suddenly scratchy. “Hell yeah.”
Your eyes shot up. “What?”
And then Susie grabbed your hand.
Rough, calloused, and… strangely cold.
“Let’s go get you a shitty milkshake!!”
“you weren’t serious about the homework thing right…?”
a/n!!!11! This was honestly supposed to be a small drabble but i was liking it too much i kinda just kept typing lolol and i think that’s obvious by how different the tone of the ending is but whatever TYYYYYY TY FOR THE SUSIE REQUEST MUHAHAHA THIS WAS SO SELF INDULGENT!!1! such a cute idea too!! honestly like... idk y but i had the most fun writing this... susie is rlly fun to write!!11!
1 susie request out of 9 done... but also im not complaining cuz again, shes rlly rlly fun to write! TGHANKS SMMMM!! <3333
ALSO! sry this was a fem reader rather than my usual gender neutral one! again, it was rlly self indulgent and i was kinda just typing non stop lol, didnt rlly pay attention to the type of gendered language i was using!
(title isnt a pierce the veil lyric this time 💔)
