[002] the first rule about fight club

                    Ginger thought that she had it pretty bad. But it seemed like all the heat was off of her now that everyone seemed to think she helped Josie and PJ beat up Jeff who was walking around school with crutches (she was ninety percent sure she saw him walking around just fine without them before) and having the entire school feeling sorry for him.

                    It completely overshadowed the fact that another girl reported being attacked by a Huntington player and now her face was ruined from it. Ginger had no doubt about it: the football players at their school were obnoxious but the rival school was absolutely evil. Everyone was worried about them but Ginger knew if they tried her, she'd be ready for them.

                    With that being said, Ginger didn't think that she'd have to worry about anyone bothering her. It was pretty much a known fact that you didn't bother Ginger unless you wanted your nose dislocated in three places. Ginger wasn't actually that volatile but if people believed that, she wouldn't stop them. Ginger preferred to be left alone anyways.

                    So as Ginger was wandering around the library on her own, she didn't realize that she wouldn't be on her own today. Usually, she had the librarian to keep her company. She was one of the few sane faculty members at the school. And in a way, she looked out for Ginger way better than her own mom did.

                    But when Ginger turned the corner of one of the shelves, she was taken by surprise when Hazel stepped in front of her from out of nowhere and blocked her path with a smile. Almost like she was waiting for her. Ginger isn't sure whether she should find it cute or creepy. She found it to be mostly cute. And it didn't help that Hazel looked attractive. A fact Ginger was totally doing her best to ignore at the moment.

                    "Hi," Hazel smiles at her.

                    "Hi," Ginger responds, walking past Hazel so she didn't look like a weirdo for staring at her for too long.

                    "Hey," Hazel follows after her anyway. Did she not take that as a hint to leave Ginger alone?

                    "You're saying hi twice now," Ginger corrected.

                    "Uh, right. I swear I had something better to say but now my brain's not working," Hazel admitted.

                    "Is that a common thing?" Ginger teases.

                    "PJ says so," Hazel shrugs. "So, uh, what're you doing at the library?"

                    "Finding a book to read. Like most people do at libraries," Ginger deadpanned.

                    Hazel nods. "That's awesome. Reading books is, like, super important."

                    "Listen, I was lying about us being friends. So you don't have to be nice to me because you think we're friends," Ginger sighed. She assumed that was the only reason why Hazel was still bothering to try and be friends with her.

                    Because who the fuck would willingly want to be friends with Psycho Pruitt?

                    "It's not that," Hazel quickly denies. "I want to be nice to you for real. I know we're not friends for real but I was just hoping we could be."

                    "Seriously?" Ginger pauses.

                    "Seriously," Hazel assures.

                    Ginger's heart does a weird thing inside her chest and she does her best to ignore it. The only appropriate thing to do is change the subject before things get all weird and... emotional. "Is it true that your friends beat up Jeff? Because if they did, that'd be awesome."

                    There were lots of rumors going around about Josie and PJ now. Before, Ginger barely heard about them. Now all of a sudden, everyone was talking about how they went to juvie and apparently ate shit. Ginger didn't really know what to believe.

                    "Yeah. They're pretty badass. They even went to juvie over the summer so they're legit," Hazel responded.

                    "Juvie? They didn't strike me as the type. Did you go to juvie for the summer?" Ginger questioned.

                    "No, sorry," Hazel apologized.

                    Ginger's shoulders slump on disappointment. "What a shame. That would've been so cool."

                    "But, uh, I can do other cool and dangerous stuff," Hazel quickly added, leaning up against a nearby bookshelf.

                    "Really?" Ginger smiles.

                    "I know how to make bombs," Hazel answers, her tone quieter than before. Obviously, that was some explosive (no pun intended) information that others didn't need to hear. While most would find that weird and shocking, Ginger thought it was pretty awesome.

                    Ginger laughs. "You're joking."

                    "Nope," Hazel shakes her head.

                    "Like an actual bomb?"

                    "An actual bomb."

                    "You are so cool, Holly."

                    "Hazel."

                    "Shit, sorry. I totally meant that."

                    Hazel chuckles, scratching the back of her neck. "It's fine. People call me Holly all the time. Hazel and Holly sound the same, it's easy to mix them up."

                    Ginger snorts. "No, they don't. They don't sound alike at all."

                    "Okay, so, uh, no, they don't. But you can call me whatever you want. Hazel, Holly, whatever. I'm fine with any name."

                    Ginger smirks. "Call you whatever I want, huh? Are you flirting with me?"

                    "N - no, I was just -," Hazel stammered.

                    "That sucks. I kinda wish you were," Ginger teased her.

                    She left Hazel by herself, the girl feeling her mind short circuit from what Ginger just told her. Hazel knew that she needed to follow Ginger and keep talking to her. But she just... couldn't. How could she even respond to that anyway?

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                    Hazel would see Ginger again underneath the bleachers. 

                     She had just finished what would be one of the tense cheer practices and with no one bothering to talk to her outside of giving her directions, Ginger didn't plan on sticking around any longer than necessary. So, while the other cheerleads led by Isabel and Brittany left, Ginger would hide underneath the bleachers where she'd be left alone. It had been her hiding place back when she had first completely tarnished her reputation.

                    But this time, Ginger would be burning things. It was really just paper, but Ginger found that it was kind of therapeutic. Definitely way better than punching someone. 

                    As Ginger lit the next piece of paper, she could hear footsteps approaching her. But as she looked up, she saw that it was Hazel and not a teacher. Ginger was seriously relieved about that.

                    "Are you stalking me?" Ginger asks, glancing back down at the paper quickly catching fire. She drops it, watching as the flames quickly consumed the paper before it began to wither away. "Because, if you are, I'm only mildly creeped out."

                    "No, it's totally a coincidence that I found you here... committing petty arson underneath the bleachers," Hazel insists, sitting down next to Ginger.

                    "Is petty arson even a thing?" Ginger frowned.

                    "It has to be since that's what you're doing," Hazel nodded towards the lighter and all of the paper Ginger kept stashed to the side.

                    "Are you gonna run along and tell someone?" Ginger taunted.

                    "No. Well, as long as you let me stay with you," Hazel offered.

                    "Fine, stalker," Ginger rolled her eyes. "Make yourself right at home."

                    "Do you even smoke?" Hazel asked.

                    "Nah, I just like burning stuff with it," Ginger waves the lighter around, tossing it over to Hazel who catches it. Right after nearly dropping it.

                    "Cool," Hazel nods, twirling it around and seeing a hot girl wearing a bikini printed on the front.

                    "Do you have any actual reason for being here? Or do you just like watching girls burn things?" Ginger looked over at Hazel with a teasing grin.

                    "I was actually looking for you," Hazel admits.

                    Ginger didn't know how Hazel did it. But every time Ginger tried to mess with her, Hazel would get all sincere and say the right thing to make Ginger feel all weird again. It was getting to be really annoying.

                    "For what?" Ginger asks.

                    "Do you remember my friends, PJ and Josie?" Hazel responded.

                    "The shit eating criminals? Yeah, I think I do," Ginger nodded.

                    "They're starting a new club. It's like a fight club. Basically they're gonna teach us girls how to fight back," Hazel explained.

                    It sounded like a good idea. And it was something the school needed. With all of the football players dominating the school and basically trying to oppress the girls, Ginger knew that it'd be a good idea if it was actually legit.

                    "How to fight back, huh?" Ginger questioned.

                    "Yeah, when they came up with the idea, I instantly thought of you," Hazel admitted.

                    "So romantic," Ginger teased.

                    Hazel turns red, turning sheepish at Ginger's words. "I mean, you'd be the best person for our fight club actually."

                    "Let me guess the first rule of fight club: don't talk about fight club?" Ginger joked.

                    Hazel shook her head. "No, you're more than welcome to talk about it. Actually I was hoping you'd tell some other girls so we could -."

                    "It's a joke. Have you never seen the movie Fight Club?" Ginger snorts.

                    "No...?" Hazel trails off.

                    Ginger rolls her eyes but it's much more playful than before. "Whatever. I'll join your little club. If it's lame, I'm leaving."

                    She figured that the least she could do was go to the club and see what it was all about. If it was bullshit, she'd leave in an instant. But if there was really something there, Ginger knew she couldn't miss out on the opportunity. Maybe then everyone in this stupid school would finally see that she wasn't so psycho for wanting to protect herself.

                    "Great. I promise it's not lame though. It's gonna be awesome. And we can really use you there since you know a lot about fighting. You did knock Brian's tooth out and that's pretty cool. You could teach the rest of us how to do that," Hazel comtinued.

                    "There are other girls?" Ginger raised a brow.

                    "It's not a lot but it's something," Hazel shrugs.

                    "Wow. Who knew knocking a guy's tooth out would actually be useful?" Ginger chuckled. "Almost makes being called a psycho suddenly worth it."

                    "I don't know why everyone calls you Psycho Pruitt. You don't seem like a psycho to me," Hazel remarked.

                    "I'm super crazy," Ginger teased, motioning towards all the burnt pieces of paper left in her wake.

                    "You just seem angry, that's all," Hazel shook her head.

                    "Haven't you heard? Angry girls are deemed psychotic just for speaking their mind. And knocking a guy's tooth out with just one punch," Ginger remarked. "The moment you do that, it's enough to convince an entire school that you're crazy."

                    Ginger could still remember that day like it was yesterday. Ryan's mom had been furious, but her aunt would intervene and make Ryan's parents drop the charges against her. Ginger was suspended for two weeks and while her aunt tried to make her feel a little better about the situation, everyone else treated her like she might as well have been certifiable.

                    "You're not crazy," Hazel replied. "If anything, you did the right thing."

                    "Says the girl who allegedly knows how to make a bomb. Anyone looking in from the outside would think your judgement is a little questionable," Ginger shook her head but there was a faint smile on her lips anyways.

                    "Maybe. But that doesn't make me change my mind about you," Hazel persisted, earning a weak chuckle from Ginger.

                    "You barely know me," she argued.

                    "No. I don't. But maybe this fight club could... help us get to know each other better," Hazel reasoned.

                    "Why are you so excited about this fight club?" Ginger inquired.

                    "I can get to know some more people, make new friends. Actually do something meaningful with my life," Hazel answered.

                    "Lame. I just wanna punch people. Fuck meaningful human connections and everlasting friendship," Ginger scoffed.

                    Hazel looked over at Ginger who started to chuckle, letting Hazel know that she was only kidding. The two of them laughed for a while before Ginger reached over, grabbing the lighter from Hazel. Their fingers brushed in the process, causing a spark that made both girls look at each other. Hazel finally looks away first, awkwardly clearing her throat.

                    Ginger also looked away, grabbing another piece of paper to burn. "Do you wanna stick around and burn some shit with me?"

                    "No, but I could just watch," Hazel offered.

                    "You are such a stalker," Ginger teased as she nudged Hazel's arm.

                    "Am not," Hazel nudges her back.

                    A small but genuine smile crosses Ginger's lips for the first time in... Ginger couldn't even remember when.

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word count: 2177
notes: the next chapter will be when ginger joins the fight club and she and hazel get even closer. i'm having so much fun writing this fic, you have no idea! also... any ship name suggestions for ginger and hazel?