"Vocabulary" (Kristy/Mary Anne, PG13)
Hey all! This was a fic for someone on my flist, in response to this fundraiser type thing I'm doing. I rather like the results, and thought I'd share.
Title: Vocabulary
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Kristy/Mary Anne
Category: Humor, established relationship
Summary: Seduction via SAT prep.
Disclaimer: Kristy, Mary Anne, and the rest of the BSC characters/situations are not mine. They belong to Ann M. Martin, who I hope never finds out what I’ve done to them. I promise to return them (relatively) unharmed.
Warning: Severe thesaurus abuse.
Note: This is a story for comeoneileen.
“Please, Mary Anne?” Kristy begged. I considered hanging up.
“I can’t,” I told her, for what felt like the hundredth time. “Dad would kill me.”
“It’s just a couple jobs.”
“Yeah, well it’s just the SATs!” I exclaimed. Finals and SAT prep were consuming most of the BSC members. Except for Kristy, who can apparently baby-sit 27 hours a day and still get As. “I know you’re worried about the club, but turning down jobs for a week isn’t a big deal. I’m not blowing my chances to get into Mills to baby-sit.” I tried to sound stern, but I couldn’t help adding, “I’m sorry.”
“But Mary Anne, I have an idea,” she said. I could hear the excitement behind her words. Kristy hadn’t changed much.
I wasn’t going to ask. I was going to be firm. I bit my lip. “What?” I asked.
“Come over to my house this weekend,” she said. “Mom and Watson are out of town, and Karen’s having a small sleepover.”
“Kristy!”
“They can watch themselves, mostly. Mom just wants someone responsible in case something happens. We can study all night, and Saturday and Sunday. You know I’m the vocabulary queen. 1520, baby.”
That’s the problem with friends who take the test before you: there’s a lot to live up to. On the other hand, she would be able to help… “Okay,” I agreed.
“Awesome! Oh, can you take the Perkins on Thursday at 5:00?”
“Have you listened to a word I’ve said?” Of course she hadn’t. I sighed.
“Trust me,” she said.
I wanted to say no. I had so much studying to do. But I could never say no to Kristy. “Fine,” I said.
“Great!” she exclaimed, but I could tell she expected me to agree. “See you then.”
“Sure,” I said, but she’d already hung up.”
*~*~*
My bag started to slip down my shoulder and I shrugged it back up. Kristy’s house loomed before me. The door opened and Kristy skipped down the drive. I could hear girlish shrieks from the house. I sighed, but waved to Dad and he drove off.
“Come on,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside the house. There were seven girls in the large hall, chasing each other with pillows. “Everything okay?” Kristy asked.
“Sure!” Karen squealed, the brief pause allowing three girls to begin pummeling her.
“I’m upstairs if you need me,” Kristy said. “We’re studying, though.”
“Gotcha,” Karen said, then flipped around with her pillow and began to exact revenge.
We started to walk up the stairs, and Kristy paused. “Keep an eye on Emily Michelle, too.”
“Yes, Mom,” Karen said, clearly starting to get annoyed. “We’ve gone over this before. Don’t worry about it. Go study.”
Kristy hesitated, but continued the journey upstairs. “We’re right up here,” I told her softly. “Don’t worry.”
“I know,” she said back, not bothering to keep her voice down. “Karen’s watched Emily Michelle by herself before, I'm sure they'll be fine. I guess I’m just used to being more…”
“Needed?” I supplied.
“Yeah,” she gave me a sweet smile. We reached her room and she dropped my hand to open the door. I hadn’t noticed we’d been holding hands since I arrived. My hand tingled. I wanted to touch her again.
She gestured to the bed. “Spread out,” she said. “Kick off your shoes. I’ll grab the vocab list.” I toed off my sandals and set cross-legged on the bed. She rummaged around in her desk and came up with a book, the flopped into her beanbag chair.
“You ready?” She asked. I nodded. “Well, I’ll just go through the list and mark the ones you have trouble with. That okay?” I nodded again.
She frowned down at the page, then said, “Pulchritudinous.”
I stared at her. “You made that up.”
“I did not.”
“Oh my God,” I put my head in my hands. “I’m so going to fail,” I said.
“You can’t fail the SATs,” she said reasonably. “And you’ll do fine on the math part. Janine’s a good tutor. Hey, I have an idea.”
I groaned.
“This is a good one, promise. I’ll just put the word in a sentence so you can figure it out from context. Then, when you start getting good, I’ll give them to you individually again. Sound okay?”
I nodded, but didn’t bring my head up. I envisioned my future as McDonald’s janitor. Or a baby-sitter.
“Ummm…got it. You look very pulchritudinous today.”
“Uh…dull? Stupid? Plain?”
Kristy frowned. “No,” she said, obviously irritated. “I think you look pulchritudinous. But you always do.” Then she blushed.
I was too bemused by a blushing Kristy to pay attention to the studying. She coughed. “Pulchritudinous.”
“Uh…pretty?”
Kristy nodded. “I’ll accept that.”
“Thanks,” I said, still a little taken aback.
“Hmmm,” she buried herself in the book again. “Oh, here’s a good one. Complaisant. As in, you’re a good friend and very complaisant, but sometimes I worry that I take advantage of you.”
“Complaisant means…um…generous?” Kristy nodded. “You don’t take advantage of me,” I added softly.
“Yeah, I do,” she said. She smiled. “Don’t prevaricate.”
“Lie?” I guessed.
“More like ‘bend the truth’, but that works. Very perspicacious,” she said.
“You didn’t even look at the list. I bet it’s not even in there.”
“It could be. What’s it mean?”
“Uh…smart,” I said.
“You’re so adroit,” she said.
“That’s not even English,” I accused.
Kristy got up and rooted through her desk. She came up with a book and brought it over to me. A pocket thesaurus. “Look it up,” she said softly, almost in my ear. I shivered. She sat next to me.
“Under what?” I asked, exasperated.
“Uh…synonym for proficient,” she said.
Sure enough, it was there. I flipped through the book looking for revenge. I found the perfect word. “I don’t know why you think I’m so pulchritudinous. You’re the mesmeric one.”
Kristy blushed again. “Stop it,” she said. “Or, rather, desist.”
“I know what that word means,” I said. I turned the pages quickly. “Don’t doubt my rectitude, Kristy. You’re very mesmeric.”
“You’re the prepossessing one,” she responded.
I had to look it up, and by the time I got to “prepossessing,” she had moved on. “You’re exquisite. Every day, I wake up knowing how auspicious it is that you’re with me. I want our life together to be amaranthine, but I’m terrified that one day you’ll wake up and realize how your life would be more meritorious without me. I have to check the urge to possess you, to keep from being envious when you’re with other people, when you touch them.” It seemed as though she was abandoning the vocabulary lesson altogether. “Kiss me,” she murmured. “Kiss me, Mary Anne.”
She had already captured my lips before I could muster up the courage to move. It had been months now, since that first kiss, but I couldn’t get over being hesitant. I couldn’t believe that Kristy wanted me to kiss her. I couldn’t believe I wanted to kiss her.
“I adore you,” she mumbled against my lips. “I cherish you. I’m enchanted by you.”
“Kristy,” I said. I pulled back, looked her in the eyes. “I love you,” I told her.
She smiled. “You’d know my response if you spoke SAT.”
“I don’t want you to tell me like that,” I said. “Tell me in English, please.”
“That is English,” she started, but stopped when she saw my look. “I love you too,” she said instead. “I love you so much, Mary Anne.”
“So much it hurts,” I said.
“Osculate with me,” she said.
I guessed that meant she wanted another kiss, and this time I was able to brush a light kiss across the corner of her mouth. She moved her hand to my hair and pulled me down again. The next few kisses were deeper, longer. She started to run her other hand under my shirt when there was a loud gasp from the doorway. We sprung apart.
Karen was standing in the doorway. “You--” she gasped. “And--her? You were--”
“Put your hand over your mouth and sit down,” Kristy ordered. Karen obeyed meekly, covering her mouth with two hands and sliding to the floor. Kristy moved off the bed and adjusted her shirt. I put two of my buttons back in place. I considered running for the door, but Karen was sitting there. I considered hiding under the bed or in the closet, but that would probably just make the situation worse.
“I guess you’re a little surprised,” Kristy started. Karen rolled her eyes.
“Mary Anne and I are…together.”
Karen mumbled something behind her hand that sounded suspiciously like “no shit.” Kristy let it pass.
“We would appreciate it if you wouldn’t spread this around, okay?” Karen nodded vigorously. “Do you have any questions?”
Karen dropped her hands and looked at me. “I thought you liked boys,” she said, almost accusingly.
“I like Kristy more,” I answered simply. If my face got any hotter, I was sure I’d burst into flame.
“Hey, what about me?” Kristy asked.
“Oh, everyone knows you’re a big dyke,” Karen said with a smile. She pushed herself up, and Kristy walked over to her and gave her a hug.
“Thanks for being so cool about this,” Kristy said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Karen said, and pushed away. “I’ve got to get back to the girls before they follow me up.”
Karen was almost to the stairs before Kristy asked, “Why’d you come up here, anyway?”
Karen flipped around. “OH! I can’t believe I forgot. Um. How do you know if someone has a broken rib?”
Kristy’s eyes got comically wide. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed, and took off down the stairs.
I looked at Karen. “I think you’ve made Kristy splenetic,” I said.
She rolled her eyes again. “You’re using that word wrong.” She looked at the Thesaurus on the bed. “Don’t you know you can’t trust those things? You’ll end up sounding like an idiot.” She followed her sister downstairs.
I looked at the bed. “Worked well enough for me,” I thought, and went to see how I could help.
***END***
C&C is very much appriciated!
xposted to my LJ
Title: Vocabulary
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Kristy/Mary Anne
Category: Humor, established relationship
Summary: Seduction via SAT prep.
Disclaimer: Kristy, Mary Anne, and the rest of the BSC characters/situations are not mine. They belong to Ann M. Martin, who I hope never finds out what I’ve done to them. I promise to return them (relatively) unharmed.
Warning: Severe thesaurus abuse.
Note: This is a story for comeoneileen.
“Please, Mary Anne?” Kristy begged. I considered hanging up.
“I can’t,” I told her, for what felt like the hundredth time. “Dad would kill me.”
“It’s just a couple jobs.”
“Yeah, well it’s just the SATs!” I exclaimed. Finals and SAT prep were consuming most of the BSC members. Except for Kristy, who can apparently baby-sit 27 hours a day and still get As. “I know you’re worried about the club, but turning down jobs for a week isn’t a big deal. I’m not blowing my chances to get into Mills to baby-sit.” I tried to sound stern, but I couldn’t help adding, “I’m sorry.”
“But Mary Anne, I have an idea,” she said. I could hear the excitement behind her words. Kristy hadn’t changed much.
I wasn’t going to ask. I was going to be firm. I bit my lip. “What?” I asked.
“Come over to my house this weekend,” she said. “Mom and Watson are out of town, and Karen’s having a small sleepover.”
“Kristy!”
“They can watch themselves, mostly. Mom just wants someone responsible in case something happens. We can study all night, and Saturday and Sunday. You know I’m the vocabulary queen. 1520, baby.”
That’s the problem with friends who take the test before you: there’s a lot to live up to. On the other hand, she would be able to help… “Okay,” I agreed.
“Awesome! Oh, can you take the Perkins on Thursday at 5:00?”
“Have you listened to a word I’ve said?” Of course she hadn’t. I sighed.
“Trust me,” she said.
I wanted to say no. I had so much studying to do. But I could never say no to Kristy. “Fine,” I said.
“Great!” she exclaimed, but I could tell she expected me to agree. “See you then.”
“Sure,” I said, but she’d already hung up.”
*~*~*
My bag started to slip down my shoulder and I shrugged it back up. Kristy’s house loomed before me. The door opened and Kristy skipped down the drive. I could hear girlish shrieks from the house. I sighed, but waved to Dad and he drove off.
“Come on,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside the house. There were seven girls in the large hall, chasing each other with pillows. “Everything okay?” Kristy asked.
“Sure!” Karen squealed, the brief pause allowing three girls to begin pummeling her.
“I’m upstairs if you need me,” Kristy said. “We’re studying, though.”
“Gotcha,” Karen said, then flipped around with her pillow and began to exact revenge.
We started to walk up the stairs, and Kristy paused. “Keep an eye on Emily Michelle, too.”
“Yes, Mom,” Karen said, clearly starting to get annoyed. “We’ve gone over this before. Don’t worry about it. Go study.”
Kristy hesitated, but continued the journey upstairs. “We’re right up here,” I told her softly. “Don’t worry.”
“I know,” she said back, not bothering to keep her voice down. “Karen’s watched Emily Michelle by herself before, I'm sure they'll be fine. I guess I’m just used to being more…”
“Needed?” I supplied.
“Yeah,” she gave me a sweet smile. We reached her room and she dropped my hand to open the door. I hadn’t noticed we’d been holding hands since I arrived. My hand tingled. I wanted to touch her again.
She gestured to the bed. “Spread out,” she said. “Kick off your shoes. I’ll grab the vocab list.” I toed off my sandals and set cross-legged on the bed. She rummaged around in her desk and came up with a book, the flopped into her beanbag chair.
“You ready?” She asked. I nodded. “Well, I’ll just go through the list and mark the ones you have trouble with. That okay?” I nodded again.
She frowned down at the page, then said, “Pulchritudinous.”
I stared at her. “You made that up.”
“I did not.”
“Oh my God,” I put my head in my hands. “I’m so going to fail,” I said.
“You can’t fail the SATs,” she said reasonably. “And you’ll do fine on the math part. Janine’s a good tutor. Hey, I have an idea.”
I groaned.
“This is a good one, promise. I’ll just put the word in a sentence so you can figure it out from context. Then, when you start getting good, I’ll give them to you individually again. Sound okay?”
I nodded, but didn’t bring my head up. I envisioned my future as McDonald’s janitor. Or a baby-sitter.
“Ummm…got it. You look very pulchritudinous today.”
“Uh…dull? Stupid? Plain?”
Kristy frowned. “No,” she said, obviously irritated. “I think you look pulchritudinous. But you always do.” Then she blushed.
I was too bemused by a blushing Kristy to pay attention to the studying. She coughed. “Pulchritudinous.”
“Uh…pretty?”
Kristy nodded. “I’ll accept that.”
“Thanks,” I said, still a little taken aback.
“Hmmm,” she buried herself in the book again. “Oh, here’s a good one. Complaisant. As in, you’re a good friend and very complaisant, but sometimes I worry that I take advantage of you.”
“Complaisant means…um…generous?” Kristy nodded. “You don’t take advantage of me,” I added softly.
“Yeah, I do,” she said. She smiled. “Don’t prevaricate.”
“Lie?” I guessed.
“More like ‘bend the truth’, but that works. Very perspicacious,” she said.
“You didn’t even look at the list. I bet it’s not even in there.”
“It could be. What’s it mean?”
“Uh…smart,” I said.
“You’re so adroit,” she said.
“That’s not even English,” I accused.
Kristy got up and rooted through her desk. She came up with a book and brought it over to me. A pocket thesaurus. “Look it up,” she said softly, almost in my ear. I shivered. She sat next to me.
“Under what?” I asked, exasperated.
“Uh…synonym for proficient,” she said.
Sure enough, it was there. I flipped through the book looking for revenge. I found the perfect word. “I don’t know why you think I’m so pulchritudinous. You’re the mesmeric one.”
Kristy blushed again. “Stop it,” she said. “Or, rather, desist.”
“I know what that word means,” I said. I turned the pages quickly. “Don’t doubt my rectitude, Kristy. You’re very mesmeric.”
“You’re the prepossessing one,” she responded.
I had to look it up, and by the time I got to “prepossessing,” she had moved on. “You’re exquisite. Every day, I wake up knowing how auspicious it is that you’re with me. I want our life together to be amaranthine, but I’m terrified that one day you’ll wake up and realize how your life would be more meritorious without me. I have to check the urge to possess you, to keep from being envious when you’re with other people, when you touch them.” It seemed as though she was abandoning the vocabulary lesson altogether. “Kiss me,” she murmured. “Kiss me, Mary Anne.”
She had already captured my lips before I could muster up the courage to move. It had been months now, since that first kiss, but I couldn’t get over being hesitant. I couldn’t believe that Kristy wanted me to kiss her. I couldn’t believe I wanted to kiss her.
“I adore you,” she mumbled against my lips. “I cherish you. I’m enchanted by you.”
“Kristy,” I said. I pulled back, looked her in the eyes. “I love you,” I told her.
She smiled. “You’d know my response if you spoke SAT.”
“I don’t want you to tell me like that,” I said. “Tell me in English, please.”
“That is English,” she started, but stopped when she saw my look. “I love you too,” she said instead. “I love you so much, Mary Anne.”
“So much it hurts,” I said.
“Osculate with me,” she said.
I guessed that meant she wanted another kiss, and this time I was able to brush a light kiss across the corner of her mouth. She moved her hand to my hair and pulled me down again. The next few kisses were deeper, longer. She started to run her other hand under my shirt when there was a loud gasp from the doorway. We sprung apart.
Karen was standing in the doorway. “You--” she gasped. “And--her? You were--”
“Put your hand over your mouth and sit down,” Kristy ordered. Karen obeyed meekly, covering her mouth with two hands and sliding to the floor. Kristy moved off the bed and adjusted her shirt. I put two of my buttons back in place. I considered running for the door, but Karen was sitting there. I considered hiding under the bed or in the closet, but that would probably just make the situation worse.
“I guess you’re a little surprised,” Kristy started. Karen rolled her eyes.
“Mary Anne and I are…together.”
Karen mumbled something behind her hand that sounded suspiciously like “no shit.” Kristy let it pass.
“We would appreciate it if you wouldn’t spread this around, okay?” Karen nodded vigorously. “Do you have any questions?”
Karen dropped her hands and looked at me. “I thought you liked boys,” she said, almost accusingly.
“I like Kristy more,” I answered simply. If my face got any hotter, I was sure I’d burst into flame.
“Hey, what about me?” Kristy asked.
“Oh, everyone knows you’re a big dyke,” Karen said with a smile. She pushed herself up, and Kristy walked over to her and gave her a hug.
“Thanks for being so cool about this,” Kristy said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Karen said, and pushed away. “I’ve got to get back to the girls before they follow me up.”
Karen was almost to the stairs before Kristy asked, “Why’d you come up here, anyway?”
Karen flipped around. “OH! I can’t believe I forgot. Um. How do you know if someone has a broken rib?”
Kristy’s eyes got comically wide. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed, and took off down the stairs.
I looked at Karen. “I think you’ve made Kristy splenetic,” I said.
She rolled her eyes again. “You’re using that word wrong.” She looked at the Thesaurus on the bed. “Don’t you know you can’t trust those things? You’ll end up sounding like an idiot.” She followed her sister downstairs.
I looked at the bed. “Worked well enough for me,” I thought, and went to see how I could help.
***END***
C&C is very much appriciated!
xposted to my LJ