#tag preview

[heathersgameoftag]

the heathers have a heated debate about marriage, their future, and who gets to become ‘Heather Sawyer’

[puckwritesstuff]

Tomorrow

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some soft heather chandler content

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veronica really just said

[heathersgameoftag]

preview of the next chapter

CONTENT WARNINGS: emotional abuse/child abuse, gaslighting

When footsteps could be heard moving down the hallway, Heather did her best to muffle her cries. Smushing her face into her pillow, she continued to let out uncontrollable hiccups, but swallowed down her sobs. The footsteps grew closer and Heather pulled her blanket over herself, praying that whoever was on the other side couldn’t hear her. She knew she’d be interrogated if they could, and that she would have to answer questions she didn’t want to face, or they would just get increasingly annoyed with her. When she could tell the person was right outside her door, she held her breath for as long as she could, that is, until she heard three knocks. Panicking, she wiped her face as much as she could, her tears and other grossness that came from crying smeared on her sheets as she turned her head to stare at the door. She debated not answering, pretending she was asleep, but she had always been a terrible liar.

“Heather?” The sound of her mother’s voice came from the other side. It wasn’t harsh like it usually was. It was actually softer than usual, which calmed her down.

“Mmm?” She tried to answer with her usual tone, but the voice crack gave her away. The door began to open, and she winced.

“Heather, why are you crying?” Her mother stared at her from across the room, hip rested on the doorframe. Her tone was dry, almost disinterested, but it wasn’t angry at least, so Heather felt comfortable enough coming clean.

“I… um…” She swallowed and her throat ached as she did so. Her mother rolled her eyes, closing the door behind her to make her way over to the bed. She sat at the far end, right on the edge.

“Come on, might as well spit it out. I have to make you dinner soon, you know,” she told her. She sounded impatient, but again, it wasn’t angry. Heather took a deep breath.

“I can’t do my homework,” she confessed. “It’s too hard.”

Her mother let out an amused huff. “Oh, is that all? Just leave it and come back to it later. The answers will come to you.”

“No, it’s…” She stared at her fidgeting hands. “I tried asking daddy for help. He… he yelled at me.”

She glimpsed at her mother to search her reaction, and saw her staring at her blankly.

“Why did he yell at you?”

“He… thaid- said that I was too old to be asking for help.” She hid her face with her ginger locks in shame. “And that if I didn’t start learning how to do things by myself, I’d be stupid forever.” She whimpered. “Am I stupid, mommy?”

Her mother didn’t reply at first, and she wondered if she was going to give up on the conversation and leave her. Not looking forward to her response, she kept her head down. A few silent moments went by, until Heather felt the unexpectant sinking of the mattress next to her as her mother shuffled up to sit beside her. She looked up at her in confusion, and while she wasn’t looking at her, she had a calm, almost soothing expression adorning her face.

“What were you struggling with exactly, Heather?”

“Um…” She hesitantly reached for her nightstand and took her sheet of homework to show her. “I don’t understand these questionth. It wants me to find the angles of these triangleth, but I don’t get how.”

Her mother took it from her and quickly read over it.

“What do all three angles add up to, Heather?”

“Um… I don’t… I don’t know.”

“It’s 180. It’s always 180. Didn’t they tell you that?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Her mother sighed, handing her the sheet back.

“Heather, you need to start listening in class if you want to learn these things,” she told her. “Then your father wouldn’t yell at you.”

Heather’s lip began to quiver as she stared back at her homework. “I’m sorry,” she cried, tears beginning to well up again.

“No, no, none of that,” her mother quickly said, taking the homework away from her. “I’ll tell your father to apologise to you, especially since you know how to do it now. Will that make it better?”

Heather shakily nodded, even though she knew her father apologising genuinely was an alien concept, the thought of him at least saying the words was a nice thought.

“Alright.” Her mother placed the sheet somewhere out of her view, and Heather expected her to get up and leave her again, but she didn’t. The silence they shared was awkward, and Heather thought that maybe her mother was waiting for her to break it.

“Am I stupid, mommy?”

Her mother blinked upon hearing the question, looking at her.

“Sometimes you are, yes.”

“Oh…” She felt the urge to cry again, until a hand gently placed itself on the back of her head.

“But you’re a child. All children are stupid. It’s not your fault. It’s just a matter of growing out of it.”

She longfully looked at her. “Will I grow out of it?”

“I think so, yeah.” The hand then fell to her shoulder, and a slight nudge could be felt. Heather was pressed against her mother’s side, her arm wrapped around her back. “It happens to everyone. You go through school to get educated - that’s when you stop being stupid, it’s why school exists. You’ll meet a few boys, probably dump all of them because high school relationships never last, or they’re never meant to. You’ll meet the right man once you’re out of that pigsty, and the day you come home with your soulmate is a day I’m looking forward to.”

“It is?”

“Of course. It’ll mean you succeeded at life. Finding a husband to settle down with is your reward, after going through all the crap - excuse my foul mouth - in school and in work. You can come home to a family - one that you love, that is, and everything will be perfect.” She picked the sheet of homework back up again. “Don’t worry about being stupid now, Heather. Worry about growing out of it, because if you don’t, you’re going to fail.”

Heather slowly nodded, taking in each word.

“But… how can I be sure I found my soulmate?” she asked. “What if I pick the wrong person?”

Her mother’s smile faltered, just for a second.

“You’ll know if they’re not the one, because you won’t love them. So it’s best you don’t be stupid and learn to realise when you picked the wrong man, before it’s too late.”

Heather nodded again, taking her homework back and looking over it again. It still looked daunting, but she was determined for it to not be, so she wouldn’t fail at her entire life.

“I can do that, mommy,” she said. “I promise.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s my girl.” The arm left her again, and Heather knew she’d miss it. It was rare her mother held her like that. “I came to say that it’s stew for dinner. Do you want bread rolls?”

“Yes pleathe!” she chipped. “No butter though.”

“Right… no butter.” She briefly shot her a weird look before standing back up. Heather watched her make her way back to the door wistfully, wishing she could have a few more moments alone with her. As she opened the door, Heather couldn’t help but call out to her again, to make her pause from taking the first step out of her room.

“Mommy?”

“Mmm?” She looked back at her.

“Where did you and daddy meet?” she asked. Her mother wordlessly stared at her for a while, before softly replying in a dry tone,

“In junior year, on the football field.” Her nails drummed against the door. “We were skipping class.”

“That’s naughty, mom!”

“I know it is.” She turned away from her. “I was pretty stupid back then.”

Then she left, closing the door on her way out.

[heathersgameoftag]

preview of da next scene

oops forgot to post this publicly

"Surprise."

Heather watched Duke stumble back from her in surprise after she stepped out from behind the car. She laughed while Duke regained her footing.

"Jesus," Duke grunted, loosening her grip on the dog lead that had Bear attached to the other end. "There was no need."

"Morning, Heather!" Mac chirped, also stepping out from behind the car.

"Yeah, morning- AH!" Veronica screeched at the sight of Bear, stumbling back behind the car. "Oh, God."

"You’re still scared of Bear?" Heather asked them.

"But he’s so cute! Look at his wittle face," Mac cooed, walking up to him so she could rub his fluffy cheeks. Bear"s tail wagged excitedly. "See? He’s such a good boy."

"He is very cute when he’s not near me," Veronica said, keeping their distance.

"Then you can walk far behind us. Sorry, but I have to keep going, I don"t have very long to walk him," Duke said, beginning to walk forward. The others followed, with Heather staying by her side. Mac decided to keep Veronica from being lonely by travelling at the back of the pack.

"See, that"s what I"m here for," Heather said. "Now’s my chance to grab my stuff and get out of your hair, since you’re all going shopping."

"Mhmm. You"ll have three hours tops," Duke told her, before being slightly tugged forward by Bear, whose ears were raised up slightly at the sight of a bird. She clicked her tongue at him. "Hey. Heel."

Bear obeyed, slowing down until he was walking by her side. Heather giggled. "I"ve never understood how you walk such a massive dog."

"He’s well behaved. It"s not that hard. Now, how did last night go?”

"Oh, about as well as you"d expect." She shrugged. "I got kicked out of the family - no surprise there.”

"Did you get the money?”

"Of course I did.”

"Well, you’re all set.”

“I am.”

“How are you feeling about the whole thing?” she asked. "I know you were hesitant to leave at all.”

“I"m… mostly relieved,” she said. “Some complicated feelings here and there, and it was really difficult saying goodbye to Cindy, since she didn’t really understand what was happening.”

Duke offered a sympathetic look. “I didn’t even consider your cousins. Were they okay?”

Heather grew wistful. “I don’t really know. I didn’t get to say goodbye to them all, only Cindy,” she confessed. “I told her to tell them I loved them though. I hope they know that.” She bit the inside of her cheek anxiously. “But I don’t know what’s to become of them. I hate to be pessimistic, but they’re probably going to grow up just like the rest of my family.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to find out.” She shook her head. “But nevermind that. When are your family leaving?”

“In less than an hour, I’d say. After that you’ll have enough time to move everything out. If you forget anything, I’ll just keep it safe until I next see you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll clear your room as best as I can,” she said, holding out her hand. “House key, please?”

“Can’t do that yet, I need to get back into my house first,” she said. “But when I leave, I’ll drop my key in the plant pot next to the door. Do not lose it,” she warned dangerously. Heather held up her hands.

“Oh, Heather, when have I ever lost something?”

Duke deadpanned at her. “You misplace literally everything.”

“That may be true.”

A short pause.

“...But?” Duke prompted.

“That’s all. I’ll give the key to Veronica, he’s more reliable.”

Duke just rolled her eyes, but a smile was threatening her lips. Heather felt her chest lighten at the sight; often she would forget that they were dating now. It never felt possible for them to reach such a stage. She walked a little closer, her arm brushing against Duke’s lightly.

“Thank you. For letting me stay, I mean,” she murmured. “I know I complained about it a lot, but I really appreciate what you did.”

Duke’s brows knitted, and she smiled warmly. “Well, I wasn’t just going to leave you there, was I?”

“No, and I’m thankful you didn’t.” She ruffled her hair - something she found easier to do now that it was shoulder-length. “But that being said, I’m excited to get the fuck out of there. Finally I can shower in peace.”

“Finally I have more leg room in my bed,” Duke retorted. They both snickered, even though in Heather’s mind, she was going to miss that part. Every night she would be excited to sleep next to her, even before they started dating. It was just so pleasant having the company, and now that they were together, Duke would always find ways to snuggle up against her in her sleep, purring like the most peaceful cat against her chest. It almost made the stress of living there worth it, if it meant feeling the warmth of her body next to her every night, and it was sad to have to let that go. But she kept telling herself that it was worth the sacrifice, because in Mac’s house she would be free to live how she usually would, be able to walk around without fear of being caught. Besides, she’d have Mac to sleep next to at night, so it’s not like she’d be returning to being alone.

She wondered, though, if Duke felt the same way. Maybe she’d miss sleeping next to her too.

[heathersgameoftag]

preview of next fic under the cut

not me forgetting that i put these on my blog now

“I wanted to do a nice happy greeting, but instead I have to warn you that you have a problem up ahead.’

Betty, Martha and JD had all met them by a window that Duke had happily perched herself on. Well, happy was a stretch. Content might be a better word. She hadn’t exactly been joyful at any point throughout the entire morning, it was starting to get excessive, even for her. It made Heather so sure that she was still keeping a lot from her, even though she had confessed she was upset because of her parents, because there had been plenty of times she had been upset with her parents and she had recovered the next day. It was down to the sad fact of ‘growing numb from it’, but still. She wouldn’t even turn away from the scenery outside, though it was grey and dim, to greet any of the newcomers.

Heather followed Betty’s gaze as she nodded up the few steps next to them. She had been speaking to Veronica, but it concerned her too.

“Oooh, look who decided to show her face,” Veronica commented, having also turned to see the figure furiously marching towards them.

“Oh, she looks mad,” JD said, coming to stand next to her. “And she’s looking at you directly. Good look, babe!” He shoved her forward playfully, to which she grunted at him indignantly.

“I love having support from my boyfriend,” she snarked, before turning back to the huffing girl stopping just a few feet away, glowering at her dangerously. Not that it was scary, Courtney wasn’t all that tall.

“What the hell did you do?” she hissed. Heather just smiled innocently at her.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“You - or somebody here, knows exactly what I mean.” She shot an accusatory glare to all of them. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed. People have been whispering about me all goddamn week, and I want answers.” She reached out and grabbed her collar, sneering, “What did you tell them?”

Heather slapped her hand off in disgust. “You’re delusional,” she said, feeling a twinge of guilt for pretty much gaslighting her, but she reminded herself that it was different from when her parents did it to her. Courtney actually deserved it. “I haven’t spread anything about you.”

“It has to be you!” Courtney barked. “I know you’re upset that I insulted your little loser posse.” She eyed Betty, Martha, JD, Veronica and Duke in disdain. “It’s not my fault you let a bunch of nobodies infiltrate your friendship group, I was just pointing out the obvious!”

“Now, if you keep talking like that, maybe I will spread a rumour about you,” Heather said. “How’s, ‘the amount of times I’ve seen Courtney not wash her hands after using the restroom is gag-inducing, to say the least.’”

The group (except Duke) chuckled quietly while Courtney looked disgusted.

“That’s not even true!”

“Doesn’t have to be true. They’ll believe me.” She examined her nails, looking aloof. That only enraged Courtney more.

“You spread something! Tell me what it is, Chandler!” she demanded furiously. “Nobody will tell me. Whatever it is, you’re going to tell me right n-”

“Oh, fuck off, Courtney,” Duke suddenly spoke up, turning her head away from the window at last to shoot her an irritated glare. “Take your damage elsewhere, would you? Literally none of us care about some random preppy bitch scared of what some randos in the school are saying about her. You’ll be forgotten as soon as we all leave for college, hell, you’d be forgotten now if you didn’t constantly whine like a stuck up, spoiled little brat.”

Courtney, as well as everyone else, was understandably taken aback by the sudden outburst. Perhaps it wouldn’t have seemed so harsh, had Duke not looked so disinterested. She didn’t even hold her gaze, she just turned back around and gestured for her to leave with a flick of her wrist. Courtney let out a frustrated grunt, but exited the scene and made sure to glare at Heather snidely on the way out. Once she was out of sight, she laughed out loud.

“Oh, she is mad,” she chortled. “Coming up with a non-existent rumour was perfect, Heather.” She glanced at Duke, hoping to catch her eye to give her some praise, but she didn’t turn around. She gave a shrug, to Heather’s disappointment.

The group frowned at her, and while Mac decided to sit next to her on the window sill, she heard Martha lean to Veronica and whisper,

“Is she okay?”

“Um… she’s…” Veronica stammered, wondering what to say that wouldn’t get his head bitten off by Duke.

“Her parents are… getting on her nerves,” Heather quickly said, saving Veronica the stress. That shouldn’t reveal more than Duke would have liked; everyone gets irritated by their parents.

“That’s one way to put it,” Duke muttered, mostly to herself. Mac scratched the back of her neck nervously.

“So, should we go grab lunch? Since we’re all here,” she asked, looking around the group. The mood lifted and everyone agreed.

“I’ll catch up,” Heather told them. “I just need to get today’s question for lunchtime poll.” She left with them down the hallway, but stopped when they reached a turn.

“I also need the bathroom, so, I’ll catch up too,” JD added, hurrying off ahead of the group. Heather went in the opposite direction, and just before she reached the door to the student room, an arm slammed in front of her. She stepped backwards, immediately growing irritated upon seeing Courtney again. Didn’t she ever quit?

“I know you did something,’ she growled. ‘I’m not giving up until you tell me what.”

“Fuck off and stop bothering me, you goddamn leech.” She pushed her arm aside and tried walking towards the door again, only for her to step in her way.

“And here I thought you were wise in picking friends and enemies, Heather,” she hummed patronisingly. “As of late, it appears that isn’t true.”

“I know what I’m doing, so quit acting like I’m falling from grace or whatever you want to call it. Those people sit at my table because I let them. They’re Veronica’s friends, so I’d rather they not be harassed by bitches like you. And, you know, I’m dating one of them, of course,” she quickly amended. Courtney’s eyes narrowed.

“So you’re picking loserdome over people actually worthy of recognition now?” She not-so-subtly gestured to herself. “You’re a disappointment.”

“If it pisses you off, that’s fine by me.” She went to step around her, but Courtney wasn’t finished.

“Fine. If that’s how you want to play this, then maybe I’ll just find something to spread about you. You know, to make it even.”

Heather laughed out loud at that. “Good luck getting people believing you. Why do you think no one ever bothers us, hm? I make sure they don’t.” She turned to sneer at her. “Spreading lies about me won’t get you anywhere.”

Courtney took a step back, but brushed her threat off. “You’re not exactly as respected as you once were, Heather. Hence my whole warning about the friends you’re picking.” She cocked her head to the side and smirked. “Besides, I wasn’t going to spread a lie. I’m sure behind that perfect little image you’ve made for yourself, there’s something dreadfully embarrassing that you’d hate for anyone to get their claws on.”

Heather did her best to keep her expression from changing.

“Then I wish you luck finding whatever secrets you expect to find somehow. You’ll need it.” She straightened herself up, brushing non-existent dust off of her collar as if the mere presence of Courtney was making her filthy. “Meanwhile, I’ll find a lot of entertainment in your weird obsession with me.”

“It’s not an obsession-”

“Yeah, yeah. Have fun stalking me to figure out what’s happening in my personal life!” she sang over her shoulder as she walked away. “Totally not weird of you at all!”

She was soon out of her view, having stepped into the student room to grab her clipboard from Peter. She read over the question several times on her way back to the cafeteria, but it was hard to focus. As amusing as her argument with Courtney had been, the thought of her actually figuring something out did alarm her, whether she wanted to admit it or not. It’s not that she felt insecure about her choice in friends - even times when she thought she regretted expanding her bubble the way she did, she immediately shook the thought away when remembering what had happened last time she had disregarded Veronica’s friends as little more than the scum of the school that she could take advantage of whenever she wanted.

She wasn’t going to go back to that state of mind all because Courtney didn’t approve of her decisions. As daunting as the status quo change had been, she knew it was for the best to rid of that toxic mindset. But since she was making that choice, it seemed now she was an easy target for sabotage. And there was a lot of material one could use, if they found out somehow. Small things, like how her relationship with JD wasn’t real, or that she hasn’t seen a Remington party invite in ages, and didn’t want to see one ever again. Or there were the bigger things, like her actual choice in partners, or her reasonings for being so much more wary at parties. If any of those things got out, she knew it would be the end. Sure, Duke had managed to stay in power, but she wasn’t sure if she could be quite as strong as her if it came out that she was pansexual. Last time people had assumed she was attracted to women, hell had broken loose, and… she never wanted to go through that again.

The exception being her family, of course. That hadn’t bothered her at all. Coming out was little more than a tool to cut them out of her life for good.

She unfortunately found herself wondering if it would be better to separate the lunch tables again; perhaps she’d be safer that way. Not even just her - all four of them would be safe. Then that thought was dismissed upon seeing Veronica so happy to have Betty and Martha with him, laughing as he attempted to toss popcorn into Betty’s mouth from one corner of the table to another. No, she absolutely could not return to the old status quo, even if it benefited her a lot more. She had to stop being so selfish.

Then she found herself wondering, what of her reputation? She wasn’t about to deny that it was definitely crumbling. People still looked up to her, sure, but how long would that last? Would her newfound generosity slowly erode it away until she was just a face in the crowd?

But that thought got chased away while she was travelling around table to table, when she saw JD in the line for lunch, later than the rest of the group due to his trip to the bathroom, probably. A couple of guys were pushing and shoving him, all to cut in front of him in the queue. Well that just wouldn’t do. She marched over and grabbed his arm, pinning all three boys with a piercing glare.

“Is there a problem here?” she spat. Their brave, cocky expressions all collapsed, frightened ones being left behind in their place. They slowly shook their heads, awkwardly and fearfully. One of them stepped backwards in line, as if offering JD his place back, but she just scoffed scornfully and walked forward, until the two of them were right at the front. She felt bad for the girl who was about to grab a tray and walk through to grab her food, but it was worth it to gain the satisfaction of having JD grin at not having to wait in line any longer. When the girl behind them shot them a disgruntled look, she glowered at her threateningly, which got her to lower her head.

“Nice, I love boyfriend privileges,” JD said, grabbing a tray. He stepped aside and gestured to the space next to him. “You coming?”

“I’ll be there in a bit, I still have to bother some people with today’s question.” She stepped away. “See you later.”

So, no, she wasn’t going to change anything about her relationships to get Courtney off her back. If Courtney wanted to try and have her revenge with her, then so be it. If she suffered because of her, then surely, surely it would be worth it.