A P of S G (3)
Title: A Plant of Slow Growth (Chapter Three)
Author: carbondalien
Pairing/Character: Kelly, Pam
Rating: PG13 for language
Summary: Pam is going through a change while Kelly is getting over her break-up and the two worlds collide. Takes place in the months post "The Job."
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: Me no get an agenda, me no own The Office.
A/N: I've just finished writing up the Kelly side of things. Honestly, I'm a bit sad to let go of her point of view, but I'm starting on Pam and really liking that as well, so... yeah. That's where I am right now.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
"The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chapter Three - Virtue Is Virtue
Kelly sat at her desk, shopping online and listening to Toby's breathing. She hated it when she could hear other people breathing, especially if it was that nasally squeaky sort of breathing - and that's what kind of breather Toby was. Audible breathing and coughing were high on her list of annoyances and she was just thankful that Toby wasn't sick because she was pretty sure she would have literally killed him if he was. She added a pair of adorable pumps to her shopping cart and decided to take an annex break, because the last thing she needed right now was to go to jail for murdering Toby.
She walked into the main office and walked over to Pam's desk.
Kelly wrinkled her nose as she looked down at the jelly beans on the desk. Jelly beans were gross - she'd thought so ever since she was fourteen and her cousin had bought her jelly bean flavored lip gloss. Chocolate was the only candy that mattered, because it made you feel good. And that was science.
She traced the letters on the reception plaque and sighed. "I don't want to spend another night on my couch watching Sandra Bullock movies. Yeah, Sandy is amazing but I don't want to eat popcorn and get fat while she pulls a Christmas tree through her window."
"That's my favorite one," Pam said.
"I know, it's amazing, right?" Kelly perked up. "And she ends up with the guy with the better eyebrows, so it's twice as good. I wish I could save someone from getting run over by a train."
Kelly sighed again. "Hey, you want to go out tonight? I'm in a funk and I totally need to go out."
"Oh, I... can't," Pam replied. "I have art class."
"Oh." Kelly nodded. "Well, um... I could... go with you."
Pam's eyebrows raised so high so fast Kelly thought they might shoot off her face. "Uh, you want to? It's an art class, it's not -"
"I just need to get out of the house," Kelly told her. "I don't care if I have to look at really weird paintings or try to sketch some really old naked guy. Well, okay. I would care about having to look at an old naked guy, cause, ew, gross, but whatever. I just don't want to be home tonight."
"Okay," Pam said. "It's at the Forest City high school at seven."
As Kelly walked away, Pam was pretty sure that was the last conversation she ever expected have with Kelly Kapoor.
* * * * *
Kelly wasn't sure what somebody wore to an art class, so she put on something that was casual yet adorable. If somebody spilled paint on her, she was going to have to kill them, but murder in the name of fashion was totally justifiable and, besides, who put totally cute girls like her in jail?
She met Pam in the parking lot of the high school and before saying hello, she pointed at Pam's shoes and exclaimed, "OhmyGod are those Baby Phat!?"
"Uh, I think," Pam said and looked down at her sneakers. "I got them at a flea market for five dollars."
"Well, they are pretty much awesome," Kelly said.
Kelly talked for five minutes about the sneakers and Kimora Lee Simmons. Since she didn't seem to be anywhere near shutting up, Pam had to lead her into the high school and the art room, where Kelly continued to talk about fashion. When more people started showing up, Kelly became quiet and Pam was extremely grateful. And Pam was pretty sure she'd never wear this sneakers around Kelly again.
Kelly examined every person as they walked into the room and took in the set-up of the room. The class mainly consisted of two groups - sweet looking older ladies and a bunch of fashionable hipsters. They sat on opposite sides of the room while Kelly, Pam and two guys sat in the middle.
Oh, duh, it's high school, Kelly thought. The cool kids and the in-betweens and the... teachers?
Kelly was a little distraught when she realized she wasn't with the "cool kids" but decided that, for once, she didn't care, because she was here to hang out with Pam. But also because she was fairly certain that she was completely more awesome than any of the people in the "cool" group. She felt sort of like Megan Donahue, the captain of the cheerleading team. Except that she had secretly hated Megan in high school.
She hardly paid attention during the first half of the lesson, choosing to do sketches of dresses instead of whatever artsy sort of thing the rest of the class was doing. Once in a while she would look over at what Pam was doing and had to admit that it was pretty good. It was a landscape in... oil pastel, Kelly thought it was called. She probably would have known for sure if she had listened to the instructor when he was talking about some famous artist who did blah blah blah , but she spent that time looking at everyone's shoes and deciding that she was going to leave customer service to become a fashion designer. It just made sense, really.
She was in the middle of sketching a pair of heels when Pam tapped her on the shoulder.
"We're on our fifteen minute break," Pam said. "You wanna get some coffee or something?"
Pam pointed to one of Kelly's sketches. "I like that dress."
"Thanks," Kelly said. She put her pencil down and followed Pam out of the room. "I like that thing you're doing. With the mountains. It's pretty cool. We should totally team up and start a fashion line. KP Clothing. I think that sounds pretty rad. But we're not spelling 'clothing' with a K because that's tacky. It sounds cute on paper, but it's not. Like a lot of things, right? Good on paper, but sucks in and at life."
Pam got a soda from the vending machine and drummed her fingers on the tab. She knew Kelly was trying to steer the conversation toward Ryan casually and was looking for a bit of encouragement and empathy, but sometimes she didn't know what to say to her. Sometimes it seemed like Kelly wanted to hear a long beautiful speech about lost love and sometimes it seemed like she wanted to hear "Ryan sucked, I hated him."
She opened her mouth to speak, but one of the girls from class, Jennifer, cleared her throat loudly.
"Other people want a soda too, Beesly," she said.
Pam frowned and moved away from the soda machine. She noticed the look Kelly was giving her and muttered, "It's fine. I don't care. Not important."
Kelly wondered where the Pam from the beach was now. She supposed a person didn't just shift into the Total Badass category overnight, but damn. She wanted to tell Pam that it was important. Girls like Jennifer would only get worse if you didn't stand up to them when they did stupid shit like that. Kelly should know, because she was one of those girls in high school and throughout most of college. It had taken a particularly mouthy Biology major to make her see what an asshole she was being.
She opened her mouth to say something to Pam, but stopped when she heard the group of hipsters talking together.
She could hear them laughing and joking, making fun of Pam's art and, worse, her shoes. Kelly looked down at the shoes Pam was wearing and, for flea market sneakers, they were adorable and functional. She could see that Pam was looking down at her shoes as well, but she knew it wasn't to assess their cute index.
"Shut up," Kelly said loudly. She wheeled around to face them. If Pam wasn't going to do it, then she would. "Seriously, what is your problem? Why are you such d-bags?"
They all stared at her with wide eyes. When none of them spoke up, Kelly continued, "For one thing, Pam's shoes are awesome. If I were you, Jennifer, and thank God I'm not by the way, I wouldn't be commenting on anyone's fashion sense if I was wearing brown shoes with a black belt. And as for Pam's art, yeah she's not like Michelangelo or one of those other Ninja Turtle artists, but she's got talent and she's going to go somewhere, while all of you will probably just be miserable hipsters for the rest of your lives, trying to bring people down because you don't have the balls to do anything yourself."
Jennifer tried to reply, but she merely sputtered. She looked down at her belt and shoes then back up to Kelly, her mouth hanging open. She recovered long enough to glare and walk back into the classroom in a huff.
Kelly smiled at the rest of them and turned back to Pam, whose expression was strikingly similar to Jennifer's. "So, anyway, yeah, I got so many compliments when I was wearing your shirt. Most of them were from -"
"Kelly," Pam interrupted, "thank you. That was... wow."
Kelly shrugged. "That was something I should have done in high school. Girls like that... girls like... me... need someone to stand up to them... us... Anyway, honesty is the best policy and those people are honestly douchebags. I mean, that bitch can't even draw a straight line without a ruler."
Pam smiled. At first she had been wary of being friends with Kelly, but it was actually turning out to be (to quote Kelly) totally awesome.
Chapter Four
Author: carbondalien
Pairing/Character: Kelly, Pam
Rating: PG13 for language
Summary: Pam is going through a change while Kelly is getting over her break-up and the two worlds collide. Takes place in the months post "The Job."
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: Me no get an agenda, me no own The Office.
A/N: I've just finished writing up the Kelly side of things. Honestly, I'm a bit sad to let go of her point of view, but I'm starting on Pam and really liking that as well, so... yeah. That's where I am right now.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
"The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chapter Three - Virtue Is Virtue
Kelly sat at her desk, shopping online and listening to Toby's breathing. She hated it when she could hear other people breathing, especially if it was that nasally squeaky sort of breathing - and that's what kind of breather Toby was. Audible breathing and coughing were high on her list of annoyances and she was just thankful that Toby wasn't sick because she was pretty sure she would have literally killed him if he was. She added a pair of adorable pumps to her shopping cart and decided to take an annex break, because the last thing she needed right now was to go to jail for murdering Toby.
She walked into the main office and walked over to Pam's desk.
Kelly wrinkled her nose as she looked down at the jelly beans on the desk. Jelly beans were gross - she'd thought so ever since she was fourteen and her cousin had bought her jelly bean flavored lip gloss. Chocolate was the only candy that mattered, because it made you feel good. And that was science.
She traced the letters on the reception plaque and sighed. "I don't want to spend another night on my couch watching Sandra Bullock movies. Yeah, Sandy is amazing but I don't want to eat popcorn and get fat while she pulls a Christmas tree through her window."
"That's my favorite one," Pam said.
"I know, it's amazing, right?" Kelly perked up. "And she ends up with the guy with the better eyebrows, so it's twice as good. I wish I could save someone from getting run over by a train."
Kelly sighed again. "Hey, you want to go out tonight? I'm in a funk and I totally need to go out."
"Oh, I... can't," Pam replied. "I have art class."
"Oh." Kelly nodded. "Well, um... I could... go with you."
Pam's eyebrows raised so high so fast Kelly thought they might shoot off her face. "Uh, you want to? It's an art class, it's not -"
"I just need to get out of the house," Kelly told her. "I don't care if I have to look at really weird paintings or try to sketch some really old naked guy. Well, okay. I would care about having to look at an old naked guy, cause, ew, gross, but whatever. I just don't want to be home tonight."
"Okay," Pam said. "It's at the Forest City high school at seven."
As Kelly walked away, Pam was pretty sure that was the last conversation she ever expected have with Kelly Kapoor.
* * * * *
Kelly wasn't sure what somebody wore to an art class, so she put on something that was casual yet adorable. If somebody spilled paint on her, she was going to have to kill them, but murder in the name of fashion was totally justifiable and, besides, who put totally cute girls like her in jail?
She met Pam in the parking lot of the high school and before saying hello, she pointed at Pam's shoes and exclaimed, "OhmyGod are those Baby Phat!?"
"Uh, I think," Pam said and looked down at her sneakers. "I got them at a flea market for five dollars."
"Well, they are pretty much awesome," Kelly said.
Kelly talked for five minutes about the sneakers and Kimora Lee Simmons. Since she didn't seem to be anywhere near shutting up, Pam had to lead her into the high school and the art room, where Kelly continued to talk about fashion. When more people started showing up, Kelly became quiet and Pam was extremely grateful. And Pam was pretty sure she'd never wear this sneakers around Kelly again.
Kelly examined every person as they walked into the room and took in the set-up of the room. The class mainly consisted of two groups - sweet looking older ladies and a bunch of fashionable hipsters. They sat on opposite sides of the room while Kelly, Pam and two guys sat in the middle.
Oh, duh, it's high school, Kelly thought. The cool kids and the in-betweens and the... teachers?
Kelly was a little distraught when she realized she wasn't with the "cool kids" but decided that, for once, she didn't care, because she was here to hang out with Pam. But also because she was fairly certain that she was completely more awesome than any of the people in the "cool" group. She felt sort of like Megan Donahue, the captain of the cheerleading team. Except that she had secretly hated Megan in high school.
She hardly paid attention during the first half of the lesson, choosing to do sketches of dresses instead of whatever artsy sort of thing the rest of the class was doing. Once in a while she would look over at what Pam was doing and had to admit that it was pretty good. It was a landscape in... oil pastel, Kelly thought it was called. She probably would have known for sure if she had listened to the instructor when he was talking about some famous artist who did blah blah blah , but she spent that time looking at everyone's shoes and deciding that she was going to leave customer service to become a fashion designer. It just made sense, really.
She was in the middle of sketching a pair of heels when Pam tapped her on the shoulder.
"We're on our fifteen minute break," Pam said. "You wanna get some coffee or something?"
Pam pointed to one of Kelly's sketches. "I like that dress."
"Thanks," Kelly said. She put her pencil down and followed Pam out of the room. "I like that thing you're doing. With the mountains. It's pretty cool. We should totally team up and start a fashion line. KP Clothing. I think that sounds pretty rad. But we're not spelling 'clothing' with a K because that's tacky. It sounds cute on paper, but it's not. Like a lot of things, right? Good on paper, but sucks in and at life."
Pam got a soda from the vending machine and drummed her fingers on the tab. She knew Kelly was trying to steer the conversation toward Ryan casually and was looking for a bit of encouragement and empathy, but sometimes she didn't know what to say to her. Sometimes it seemed like Kelly wanted to hear a long beautiful speech about lost love and sometimes it seemed like she wanted to hear "Ryan sucked, I hated him."
She opened her mouth to speak, but one of the girls from class, Jennifer, cleared her throat loudly.
"Other people want a soda too, Beesly," she said.
Pam frowned and moved away from the soda machine. She noticed the look Kelly was giving her and muttered, "It's fine. I don't care. Not important."
Kelly wondered where the Pam from the beach was now. She supposed a person didn't just shift into the Total Badass category overnight, but damn. She wanted to tell Pam that it was important. Girls like Jennifer would only get worse if you didn't stand up to them when they did stupid shit like that. Kelly should know, because she was one of those girls in high school and throughout most of college. It had taken a particularly mouthy Biology major to make her see what an asshole she was being.
She opened her mouth to say something to Pam, but stopped when she heard the group of hipsters talking together.
She could hear them laughing and joking, making fun of Pam's art and, worse, her shoes. Kelly looked down at the shoes Pam was wearing and, for flea market sneakers, they were adorable and functional. She could see that Pam was looking down at her shoes as well, but she knew it wasn't to assess their cute index.
"Shut up," Kelly said loudly. She wheeled around to face them. If Pam wasn't going to do it, then she would. "Seriously, what is your problem? Why are you such d-bags?"
They all stared at her with wide eyes. When none of them spoke up, Kelly continued, "For one thing, Pam's shoes are awesome. If I were you, Jennifer, and thank God I'm not by the way, I wouldn't be commenting on anyone's fashion sense if I was wearing brown shoes with a black belt. And as for Pam's art, yeah she's not like Michelangelo or one of those other Ninja Turtle artists, but she's got talent and she's going to go somewhere, while all of you will probably just be miserable hipsters for the rest of your lives, trying to bring people down because you don't have the balls to do anything yourself."
Jennifer tried to reply, but she merely sputtered. She looked down at her belt and shoes then back up to Kelly, her mouth hanging open. She recovered long enough to glare and walk back into the classroom in a huff.
Kelly smiled at the rest of them and turned back to Pam, whose expression was strikingly similar to Jennifer's. "So, anyway, yeah, I got so many compliments when I was wearing your shirt. Most of them were from -"
"Kelly," Pam interrupted, "thank you. That was... wow."
Kelly shrugged. "That was something I should have done in high school. Girls like that... girls like... me... need someone to stand up to them... us... Anyway, honesty is the best policy and those people are honestly douchebags. I mean, that bitch can't even draw a straight line without a ruler."
Pam smiled. At first she had been wary of being friends with Kelly, but it was actually turning out to be (to quote Kelly) totally awesome.
Chapter Four