[003] girl power

                    Ginger was honestly... disappointed with the turnout of this supposed fight club.

                    She was expecting a lot more girls to be here, but there were only a couple. It was definitely not looking good. But even though PJ and Josie were talking amongst themselves, Hazel was the only one to actually notice her.

                    "You actually showed up," Hazel smiled.

                    "A promise is a promise, Heather," Ginger winks at her.

                    "Heather?" Hazel furrowed her brows.

                    "I'm fucking with you, Hazel. You should've seen your face," Ginger lightly punches Hazel's arm, causing the other girl to smile. "So, uh, is this everyone?"

                    "For now. Stella-Rebecca was supposed to be here, but I think she's not gonna show," Hazel shook her head.

                    "You know Stella-Rebecca?" Ginger raised a brow.

                    "Family friend," Hazel shrugged, as if that's supposed to make sense.

                    "Wow. Anyone else coming?" Ginger blinked.

                    "I don't know," Hazel shook her head.

                    "Well, uh, I'm just gonna sit down over there. I promised to stick around so...," Ginger trailed off, beginning to walk towards the group.

                    "You won't regret it, I promise," Hazel assured.

                    Ginger only nods, making her way over to where the other girls were sitting. Ginger wasn't shocked when they all just looked at her like she was going to terrorize them or something. Only one of them actually approached her, scooting closer to her.

                    "Is it true that you murdered that Ryan guy and then devoured his living soul as a part of a satanic ritual?" the girl questioned.

                    "What? No!" Ginger scoffed. Out of all the rumors, that one was too crazy. Even for her.

                    "Aw," the girl frowns, looking absolutely crushed that Ginger wasn't a murderer. "I'm Sylvie, by the way."

                    "I'd say who I am but you obviously know," Ginger responded.

                    "Between you and me, I think you're a legend," Sylvie added.

                    "Thank you," Ginger smiles.

                    "Alright! Listen up, you cunt-sucking pieces of shit," PJ shouts, slamming her backpack to the floor. "Welcome to our fucking fight club."

                    "Um, it's a self defense club. It's not really 'fight'," Josie quickly clarifies as she and Hazel walk over to join them. Hazel sat next to Ginger and Ginger hugged her knees to her chest as she continued to listen to PJ.

                    "So, as we know, Huntington is on the prowl, and they're picking on the weak and defenseless, meaning all of you. So, we're gonna teach you how to not take shit. We're gonna start with dropkicks, tackling, little bit of knife play," PJ continued. "Then, punch-bucket, which is when we throw you in a bucket and we punch you until you bleed."

                     "Sounds fun," Ginger grins.

                     "Before that, perhaps stretches, icebreakers, and trust falls," Josie adds.

                     "Is that what happened to you in juvie?" Sylvie questioned.

                     "Mm. No. No," PJ shook her head.

                     "No," Josie answered at the same time.

                     "Juvie was way crazier. One time, this girl's punching me in the rain. Fall to my knees. It's muddy. I get up, I'm blind. Punch her right in the middle of her face. Broke her fuckin' nose," PJ replied.

                     "Wow, that's awesome," Ginger drawls.

                     "I know," PJ grins.

                      Ginger rolled her eyes. The more they tried to brag about juvie, the less Ginger believed them.

                      "Josie. Care to share?" PJ motioned for Josie to speak.

                      "Yeah, all right. Juvie was insane. Once a girl tried to kill me with rat poison, so I took her outside and I punched her till she died," Josie declared.

                      "So, you killed a girl?" Annie questioned.

                      "Uh, no," Josie backtracked. "Because the ambulance came and revived her and we actually had a really productive conversation when she came back to life, so..."

                       Ginger snorts. There was no way that had to be real. But if everyone else bought it, Ginger wasn't going to say shit. She wasn't even sure if she'd stick around for this bullshit.

                       "Um, since Josie literally killed a girl -," PJ began.

                       "She came back to life," Josie correcred her.

                       "Mmm. But I remember her being dead for at least a couple minutes," PJ continued. "Josie is gonna start by showing you all how to effectively throw a solid punch."

                       "Psycho Pruitt doesn't need help with that," Sylvie remarked.

                       "I won't deny that," Ginger nods.

                       "Josie, if you'll step forward," PJ suggested.

                       "No, I don't wanna do that," Josie immediately turned her down.

                       "What's the problem?" PJ questions.

                       "There's no problem. I just... No, I'm just not gonna do it," Josie answers.

                       "Boo," Ginger pouts.

                       "Come on, they wanna see the punch," PJ pleaded.

                       "They don't wanna see it," Josie awkwardly chuckles.

                       "They wanna see. Look at them, they wanna see the punch," PJ motioned towards the group who stared silently, waiting for Josie's infamous punch.

                       "Who am I gonna punch?" Josie asked.

                       "Punch me. Just punch me," PJ answered, causing Ginger to raise a brow.

                       "Punch you?"

                       "Yeah, come on."

                       "I can punch you."

                       "Yeah. I know how to take a punch. Something people would always say, 'PJ knows how to take a punch'. Come on up!"

                       Josie takes PJ by surprise when she punches her right in the face, causing PJ to groan in pain before falling back to the floor. "Oh, fuck!"

                       Everyone instantly rushed over to where PJ lied, crowding around her to see if she was alright. PJ sat back up, grinning with blood on her face.

                       "Will there be an advisor for this club? Because we'll be suspended if there isn't," Annie questioned. It was a fairly reasonable question.

                       "Who is gonna be dumb enough to endorse a club where we punch each other in the face?" PJ scoffs.

                      Ginger certainly wanted an answer to that.

( 💥🥊👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 )

                    Much to Ginger's shock, there'd be another meeting for their fight club. And even more shocking, Ginger had decided to go. Aunt Imogen had been happy to hear that Ginger was getting involved in another club. And although Ginger had neglected to tell Aunt Imogen what the club truly was, she was a little happier knowing that Aunt Imogen wouldn't be so worried about her.

                    Of course, Hazel had to convince her to show up again and Ginger couldn't take all of Hazel's (adorable) pouting any longer. So here she was, setting up equipment with Hazel and the other girls.

                    "See? I told you that this wouldn't be so terrible. It's actually kind of fun, you have to admit it," Hazel remarked.

                    It was a little fun but Ginger was stubborn. "You wouldn't shut up. Of course I had no other choice but to be here or else you'd die without me."

                    "You can't say no to me. It's fine to admit that," Hazel teased.

                    "I am perfectly capable of saying no to you," Ginger argued.

                    "Bullshit," Hazel smugly grinned.

                    "Ugh, you're so annoying," Ginger rolls her eyes.

                     Hazel laughs before getting down on the floor, setting up the mats. Just then, PJ and Josie walked into the gym and Ginger turned to look at them.

                     "Hey, guys," Hazel greeted.

                     "Hey, badasses," Ginger added. "How's your whole face doing?"

                     "It's alright. It's nothing compared to juvie," PJ shrugs.

                     "So you keep telling us," Ginger replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

                     "Mm. Well, at least Stella-Rebecca is here."

                     Stella-Rebecca walked into the gym, causing Ginger to look at Hazel. "Holy shit, you weren't kidding."

                      "Told you," Hazel replied and all Ginger could do was stick her tongue out at her. Not her most mature moment but... whatever.

                      "Are you stressed? Because I'm stressed," Josie replied.

                      "Hey, ladies!" Mr. G exclaimed, causing Ginger to chuckle. They got Mr. G to be their advisor? This should be fun. "Let's get it popping in this motherfucker."

                      "All right. Um... Hello, everybody. Okay, excuse me," Josie replied, only to get no answer. "Sorry, I feel... Sorry."

                      PJ grabbed a mop, beginning to bang it loudly against the floor to get everyone's attention. And it works like a charm. "Everybody, shut the fuck up!"

                      She got in Hazel and Ginger's face before moving on to the next girl, wanting to look as intimidating as possible. "This isn't a little hangout, okay? Oh, it's not a sleepover, playtime. There's serious rules that we need to establish, 'kay? First... listen! Second, be on time. Yeah."

                      Hazel was writing in her journal and Ginger peered over her shoulder, wondering what the fuck she could possibly be writing.

                      "Except for you. You come whenever you want," PJ adds, directing the words to Mr. G.

                      He just nods in response.

                      "What time is it?" PJ exclaimed.

                      "Summertime?" Ginger joked, causing Hazel to nudge her.

                      "Wrong! What time is it?" PJ asks again.

                      "3:30," Annie responded.

                      "3:30! Club starts at 3:15. Not 3:16, not 3:17, but the doors close at 3:15," PJ remarks, banging the mop against the floor again. "No exceptions. I don't care if you're like... 'Oh, but I had to go to extra help for math because I... I need to get a full ride because my mom lives in a trailer and she loves her boyfriend more than me'. La, la, la. Blah, blah, blah. Shut up, okay? My dad left me, and I'm incredibly punctual."

                      While PJ was rambling, Isabel and Brittany walked into the gym. Truth be told, Ginger was shocked. Isabel briefly met Ginger's gaze before looking away, causing Ginger to scoff. Josie looked at PJ, subtly motioning for her to look behind her. PJ eventually did and that's when her attitude did a complete 180.

                      "Um, hey, guys. Come on in. Uh, we're just getting started here. So, um... today, I think we're gonna start with some body contact," PJ replied, causing Ginger to roll her eyes.

                      "What are you writing?" Ginger asked, looking over at Hazel who was writing in her little notepad.

                      "Shh," Hazel immediately shushes her.

                      "Don't shh me," Ginger hissed back.

                      "We're gonna do wrestling," PJ continued. "I think I need a volunteer. Brittany, you're close to me. You wanna..."

                       "I'm sorry. I thought we weren't allowed to be late," Annie remarked.

                       "She has a point, PJ," Ginger nods.

                      "That's not true. It's about...," Josie nodded. "So, the rules for next week. Don't be late. But this week is good... Take it easy."

                      "Oh, that's about next week. Yeah, next week," PJ chimed in at the same time. "Yeah. No worries if you're late."

                       Ginger rolled her eyes again.

                       "Okay, I'm sorry. I just want to make sure. This is a self-defense class, right? Where we can learn to protect ourselves against, like, football players?" Annie inquired.

                       "And Huntington? 'Cause, um, they're gonna pork us," Sylvie laughs nervously. "They're gonna pork us."

                       "You guys might be porked. But if any of them comes near me, I'm fucking them up," Ginger declared.

                       "I thought we were fighting each for money," Stella-Rebecca added. "There's a cash prize, right?"

                       "I thought this was to be part of, like, a local underprivileged female community," Isabel furrowed her brows in confusion.

                       "My identity is completely attached to hers, so I just kind of go wherever she goes," Brittany admitted.

                       "I thought we were just going to punch and fight each other. You know, girl power," Ginger shrugged.

                       "Everyone's here for a good reason," Josie shrugs. "So, uh, you know, like... why are we nitpicking reasons?"

                        "Yeah. How about this? Let's jump in. Right?" PJ declared.

                        "Yeah. For sure."

                        "Love that."

                        "I'll go," Annie raised her hand with a smile.

                        "Great. Yeah," PJ looked incredibly disappointed that it wasn't going to be Brittany.

                        "I wanna try," Ginger raised her hand too.

                        "Maybe not yet," PJ quickly shook her head.

                        "Why?" Ginger frowned.

                        "I like my teeth. They're nice teeth, my dentist tells me all the time. If you ruin any of my teeth, my dentist will be super mad at me so...," PJ reasoned.

                        "I'm not going to knock out your teeth... I think. You know what, never mind," Ginger sighs in defeat.

                        "I'm going with Annie," PJ declared.

                        Annie walks over to a very disappointed looking PJ who pushes her right onto the mat, causing Annie to shout in surprise. That caused Mr. G to get up, the man obviously concerned.

                       "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. I don't know about this shit," Mr. G replied.

                       "What the hell? You didn't even warn me," Annie scoffed.

                       "Okay, we didn't get warnings at juvie," PJ shrugged.

                       "We can take it slower," Josie offered.

                        "Okay," PJ relented.

                        Mr. G nods. "Maybe, yeah, try that. Take that route. Little slower."

                        "Look. You just use your natural instincts, just come at me. Whatever you want, 'kay?" PJ instructed.

                        Annie pushed PJ down this time, causing the other girls to gasp in shock. But PJ quickly got up, bouncing back from the harsh fall.

                        "Okay, that's great. I say that we go again," PJ replied before she shoved Annie to the ground, the girl landing pretty hard and complaining of her back hurting.

                        "Oh, shit. Man, we gotta shut this down," Mr. G warned.

                        "We don't have to shut it down. She's fine. Are you fine? Are you okay?" Josie asked Annie.

                        "Yeah, she's okay. She's totally fine," PJ nods.

                       Annie obviously didn't look fine though.

                        "Shut this shit down. Shut this shit down," Mr. G shook his head.

                        "No, wait, Mr. G! No, don't blow the whistle. Don't blow the whistle. I know that, you know, this is a little messy right now but, like, the only way that we can learn how to defend ourselves is by teaching each other. Huntington is coming. We need this. I know that things might seem scary, but that's okay, because... because...," Josie trailed off when she couldn't think of anything else to say.

                        "Because you're gonna be fucking pros," PJ finished for her.

                        "- is what I was gonna say. Yes," Josie nods.

                        "Yeah. Right?" PJ asked.

                        "Yes," Josie nods.

                        "Crystal, I'm thinking of you. You are never gonna get assaulted on your birthday again."

                        "Lucky number seven, okay?'

                        "Mmm-hmm."

                        "And I... I'm gonna finally reverse-stalk my stalker," Stella-Rebecca smiled.

                        "Yeah, absolutely!" PJ agreed.

                        "And I'll finally be able to get to take out my anger in a semi-healthy way without being seen as insane," Ginger smiles.

                        "Totally," Josie nods.

                        "And for me, I'll be able to kill my stepdad," Sylvie exclaimed.

                        "Awesome," PJ nodded.

                        "Okay," Josie said at the same time.

                        "And if you believe in yourselves and you believe in us and then you trust us, I'm like, 'Let's fucking do this!'" PJ declared.

                        Everyone ended up cheering, seemingly on board with the whole club. Hazel sent Ginger a 'See? I told you' look to which Ginger smiled at her. So maybe Hazel was right about this whole thing. That was before Sylvie completely ruined the moment by shouting.

                        "Yes! Yes, queen, slay! Yes! Yes! Slay! Yeah!" Sylvie exclaimed, looking absolutely nuts.

                         Even despite all of that, Ginger was looking forward to seeing how this fight club turned out.

( 💥🥊👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 )

                         Ginger hugs her books close to her chest, glancing over at Hazel who was walking next to her. She had insisted on walking her home, wanting to keep her safe in case of any Huntington players roaming around. But Ginger felt like Hazel just needed an excuse to hang out with her. She didn't need one, but Ginger didn't have to let her know that just yet.

                         "I think we have a really good shot with this club. It's a chance for us to fight back and also... make friends, Hazel reasoned.

                         "Right. Because we'll stop those Huntington players with the power of friendship. This isn't My Little Pony, Haze," Ginger rolls her eyes.

                         "Did you just give me a nickname?" Hazel looked at her.

                         "Yeah. Is that a problem?" Ginger shrugged.

                         "No. But I want to give you a nickname too. How about... Ginny?" Hazel suggested.

                         "Ugh. I'd rather Ginger. I'll even let you call me Psycho Pruitt. Ginny just sounds dumb," Ginger shook her head.

                         "I think it's cute," Hazel argued.

                         "Haze is cute. But then again, you're just cute altogether," Ginger replied. She doesn't even realize what she's just said until it was too late.

                         Hazel smiles. "You think I'm cute?"

                         Ginger actually blushes, suddenly at a loss for words. "I... uh... I didn't mean it like that. I was just saying -."

                         "That I'm cute," Hazel finished her sentence.

                         "Whatever," Ginger huffs.

                         "You're cute too," Hazel responds, causing Ginger to actually blush. What the fuck?

                         "I am not cute. I am incredibly terrifying and intimidating. Did you forget the fact that I broke a guy's nose for fun?" Ginger argued.

                         "I'm taller than you by an inch," Hazel scoffs.

                         "And? I can still kick your ass."

                         "We'll see about that."

                         "You join one fight club and you suddenly think you're hot shit. Are you challenging me, Haze?"

                         "Yeah, I am."

                         It's only when they reach the front of Ginger's house that they finally stop in their tracks. Their fun now had to be cut short, even if they both wanted to keep hanging out with each other. "So this is me."

                         "Yep," Hazel nods.

                         "Did you wanna come in?" Ginger offered, surprising the both of them. Her aunt was out on another one of her blind dates so she wouldn't have to worry about being embarrassed for at least another hour and a half.

                         "I have to go home but, uh, maybe this weekend?" Hazel suggested.

                         "Yeah, of course! My aunt's going out on a lot of dates and whatever so we'd have the whole house to ourselves," Ginger smiles.

                         The thought of the two of them alone in Ginger's house actually makes her cheeks feel warm all over again. Get yourself together, Ginger.

                         "Cool," Hazel nods, becoming equally as sheepish as Ginger now.

                         Ginger held out her hand in front of Hazel who glanced down at it in confusion. "Give me your phone."

                         "Why? Hazel asked.

                         "I wanna hack your phone and steal all of your valuable information so I can sell it to weirdos on the internet," Ginger deadpanned.

                         "What?!" Hazel's eyes widened.

                         "I'm giving you my phone number, you dork. That way I can send you dumb memes and shit," Ginger snorts.

                         "Oh. Right, yeah, that makes way more sense," Hazel sighs in relief, handing her phone over to Ginger without hesitation.

                         Ginger quickly puts her number in, handing the phone back to Hazel when she was done. "Are you sure you can walk on your own?"

                         "I do it all the time. I'll be fine. My house isn't that far actually," Hazel assured her.

                         "Okay, text me when you get home," Ginger instructed.

                         "Aw, are you worried about me?" Hazel pouts.

                         "Shut up."

                         "You didn't deny it."

                         "Fine, maybe a little. Are you happy now?"

                         "Yes. Yes I am."

                         They briefly chuckle before sobering up, standing inches apart from each other. But neither of them make a move to leave which, as you can imagine, made things kind of awkward.

                         "Bye," Ginger blurted, realizing she had to be the one to make the first move.

                         "Bye," Hazel responds.

                         "Don't stare at my ass as I walk away," Ginger adds, walking towards her house.

                         Hazel's grateful. At least Ginger wouldn't see how red her face became. "I wouldn't do that!"

                         "You sure? I have a nice ass. I wouldn't blame you if you snuck a peek," Ginger teased.

                         "Goodbye," Hazel waves, beginning to walk towards her own house.

                         "You didn't deny it!" Ginger retorted, using Hazel's own words against her.

                         Hazel just walks away, making Ginger chuckle as she walked back to her house. She wouldn't say that she was all sunshine and rainbows now. But Ginger was a little less upset, now that she had something to look forward to in life.

                         The fight club, and Hazel.

( 💥🥊👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 )

word count: 3370
notes: i'm actually pretty satisfied with this chapter! and the progression of ginzel's relationship. they are ridiculously cute and they're about to get even cuter!!