Chapter Text
All good things had to come to an end.
And right now, that was exactly what Cathy was going through as the door opened, she turned her head, and saw none other than Catherine Aragon and Anne Boleyn walking through.
Cathy immediately sighed as she turned back to her desk. Great. That’s just what she needed today. Some wild-ass relationship drama from a year ago that somehow still hadn’t cooled down.
Catherine and Anne clearly didn’t want to walk together but they had no choice. Anne gave the occasional cool look at Catherine, and if looks could kill, Catherine would be charged with first-degree murder right now. They both chose seats on the opposite sides of the room, as far apart as could be.
Which…made sense. After all, Anne finally had a black eye from earlier that day, and Catherine had a few marks on her as well.
Catherine was dark-skinned with black hair that reached to her shoulders. It was straight on top and curly on the bottom where it hung, and where it was curly, it had also been dyed a sort of golden blonde that she actually managed to pull off, surprisingly enough. Sometimes it seemed like she could pull anything off. She was rather tall, a little above average for her class. She wore a white V-neck blouse with loose sleeves and brown pants on bottom, with her final attribute being a golden cross necklace.
Anne, in contrast, could not have been more different. She was Caucasian with pale skin and dark brown hair that was long. It would have reached to her waist if she didn’t always have it tied up in two small space-buns (yes, that’s actually what they were called) on her head. Even so, her hair reached halfway down her back. She was short, shorter than her entire year, even shorter than Cathy despite being two years older. She wore a flannel skirt that was a brighter green mixed with black, and a shirt that was also green, but a darker shade. Her shirt rode up a little bit, revealing some stomach, and she had on a black choker necklace.
Cathy was just around the average for height in her class, which put her right between those two. Like Catherine she had dark skin and curly black hair, but instead of dyeing it, she had an undercut along one side of her head and combed it over so it fell to the left side of her head. She wore something a bit more modest than the other two (not that she cared about modesty all that much, it was just comfortable to her). Her outfit was a comfortable blue shirt with sleeves that reached to her elbows and left most of her forearms bare, with a much darker pair of pants and two hoop earrings.
Cathy just rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her book. Cathy sat in the front corner of the room, in the front row, close to the teacher’s desk without being seen by said teacher very much. The ‘teacher’ in the front of the room was just sitting at his desk. He probably wasn’t even a teacher-the school wouldn’t waste a real teacher on watching detention, not when they just needed an adult to make sure everyone stayed there for the dedicated hour.
He currently wasn’t paying attention, instead blowing some bubblegum and reading a book with his feet up on the teacher’s desk. He had glanced up when Catherine and Anne had arrived, before nodding and getting back to it.
“That should be everyone,” he muttered, barely loud enough to be heard by the three other people spread across the classroom. “Just stay here for an hour, then we can all leave.”
“Aren’t there…assignments?” Catherine asked, as if it should be obvious, and as if the teacher was stupid.
“Shut up, don’t ruin a good thing!” Anne quickly hissed, having to somewhat stage-whisper in order to be heard from the back of the room.
“Oh, you want to talk about ruining good things?!” Catherine said, not bothering to whisper as she turned in her seat, looking back at Anne with fury in her eyes-
“Hey, shut up! Both of you!” the teacher called out. “Or I will give you an assignment!”
Catherine and Anne, to their credit, both obeyed.
The teacher sighed, then went back to his reading.
The four of them sat like that for a long time. Cathy was in the front row on the left side, Catherine was in the front row on the right side, and Anne sat in the back corner on the left. None of them were in the mood to talk-Catherine and Anne hated each other’s guts, and Cathy never really liked talking unless she had to.
Cathy just kept typing at her laptop. The teacher obviously didn’t care what they did, so long as they were here, serving the right time of detention. So she just kept working on her writing project.
Cathy wasn’t exactly ‘writing’ her novel per se, it was more so that she was in the process of notetaking. Making sure she had all the worldbuilding, the characters arcs, and the plot planned out. She wanted to be ready, right? Before she made the leap and actually put the figurative pen to page?
Cathy sighed a bit to herself, deleting the last sentence she’d written. Who was she kidding? She’d had the notes finished weeks ago. The problem was that the opening scene was dialogue and for the life of her, she could not figure out what the character voices should be. She had no idea how to write her characters-she knew what they would do, she could plan out exactly how each of them worked in the plot, she could write down all their personality traits in a list. But that was all hypothetical-her characters had no texture. So actually trying to write them, how they would speak, it was…daunting.
Eventually Cathy just shook her head and closed her laptop. She wasn’t getting anything done just staring at a blinking cursor, she may as well try to do something more productive. Like finally finishing up that goddamn Geometry that’d been collecting dust in her folder for the last week.
Cathy sniffed out of her nose as she pulled out her folders which had different flower designs on them (her mom’s choice) and she pulled out the page with all those goddamn numbers and equations.
There’s the bastard.
Cathy placed it down before closing her folders and sliding them back into her backpack, which rested beside the desk she’d chosen. Then she reached in and pulled out her pencil case, which also had a flower design on it. Once again, her mom’s choice.
Cathy glanced at the page as she pulled out the main mechanical pencil she used. It was half-done, which should make it seem less intimidating, but it just made Cathy worry she wouldn’t have the same flow now as she did when she completed the first half.
Well, no time like the present.
Cathy shot one more glance around the classroom-the teacher seemed to be closing up his book and sighing, seeming bored. Catherine was reading what looked like a Bible (of course she carried one around with her) and as she turned over her shoulder, Anne had a pair of beaten-up earbuds in and was bumping her head to some music.
The room was…actually quiet. Which was better than Cathy had been expecting when she saw Catherine and Anne walk through the door. And it’s what she’d been afraid to lose.
Because Catherine Aragon and Anne Boleyn were probably their school’s most famous enemies. Which was funny, since up until about a year ago, the two had no idea the other existed. And things had gotten so bad, because of one man.
Henry motherfucking Tudor.
Henry Tudor was old money. Some ancestor of his probably helped pay to build this very school. He was also, by the time he started Sixth Form, the heartthrob of…everyone. He was handsome, charming, teachers seemed to love him and he seemed able to win anybody over when he put his mind to it. With a skillset like that, he was soon the most popular kid in school, a status that only grew when he started dating Catherine Aragon midway through secondary school.
Catherine Aragon, the beauty queen herself. Stunning, kind, loyal, all that good shit. She was the good girl-the one who read her Bible every morning, church every Sunday, praying every night. So of course she and Henry had hit it off.
For two and a half years, they were the school’s power couple. The school faculty would clasp their hands and murmur to each other about young love when they walked by. The perfect, ideal romance that everyone was so sure would last forever.
Cathy snorted a bit as she stared at the Geometry sheet in front of her, without really seeing it, her mind still drifting.
It hadn’t lasted. Mainly because of one key factor-Henry actually sucked.
Cathy still didn’t know why so many in the school bent over backwards for him, or fell for his game. He was terrible. Sure, he was charismatic. And yes, he could play up the charms when he wanted something. But Cathy paid attention, and she noticed things that nobody else seemed to.
Even when they were dating, Henry was dismissive of Catherine. He’d make eyes at other girls when he thought Catherine couldn’t see him. Whenever they seemed to be fighting he’d use the same exact playbook, the same stupid puppy-dog eyes, to get her to forgive him. As if he was just playing some game. Worst of all, he knew how much sway he had with his peers and he knew how to use it-subtly but clearly, he’d get people to alienate whoever he didn’t like. Push them aside, keeping them out of the loop, out of the social circles.
Cathy winced a bit as she realized how she’d sound if she ever tried to vocalize any of her thoughts aloud. At best, people would write her off as crazy. Some might compare her to a conspiracy theorist. At worst, someone might try to suggest she had a crush on the guy. In fact, she could already hear her mom using that annoying teasing voice. Oh, you’re just giving so much thought to him, I think there might be a little something there-
Well there certainly wasn’t. Even if Cathy wasn’t a lesbian (which she was), she found Henry repulsive. That was one thing from pop culture that Cathy hated had made it into real life-she couldn’t just despise someone without some smirking dumbass off to the side knowingly talking about how he’d grow on her. Blegh.
Cathy shook her head a bit as she realized even more time had passed. They had maybe fifteen minutes left in the hour of detention, after which the teacher would leave, and Cathy would have to leave too.
She glanced down at the paper, then groaned. No. She may not be in the right headspace for writing, but she also was definitely not in the right headspace for Geometry either.
So instead, Cathy reached down into her bag and pulled out her folders again. She slid the assignment away in the correct one before closing everything else up. Pencil away, laptop closed on the desk, backpack zipped up.
More procrastination. Perfect. Gold star for Cathy Parr.
So Cathy clasped her hands and glanced around. Catherine was still reading her Bible though she was mostly just glaring at the page, the teacher was checking his watch as if bored, and Anne was still bumping along to the music from her headphones. For a moment Cathy wondered if she should pull out some headphones too, but decided against it. Her thoughts were too loud right now, she wouldn’t even hear the music.
Instead she just looked around at the two girls beside her. Both Catherine and Anne were in Year 13, the final year of Sixth Form, and the final year before graduation. Meanwhile Cathy was in Year 11, the last year of secondary school, right before Sixth Form. She had GCSEs coming up, which she wasn’t…super concerned about. She was doing alright in her classes, at least.
Which was why she didn’t really panic at not getting that stupid Geometry sheet done right this instant. Instead, Cathy took another look about the room and, humoring herself, kept pondering her silent companions.
Cathy had been so sure that Catherine would dump Henry eventually. That she would finally get tired of his bullshit and move on. After all, if Cathy could see it, surely Catherine could too.
But when their relationship finally imploded, it wasn’t because of that. It was because Henry actually fucking cheated.
Not just making eyes. Not even just flirting. Henry was caught by Catherine straight up making out with another girl in an empty classroom.
That girl? Of course, Anne Boleyn.
Anne Boleyn was somewhat well known. She was a bit of a class clown, a wildcard. She liked to have a bit of fun and play a few jokes. But while it may have been a joke to her, it definitely wasn’t to Catherine.
Poor Catherine dumped Henry on the spot, slapping Anne, and storming out, ranting to anyone who would listen about that cheating bastard and his skank.
And then, only then, did the most frustrating thing of all happen. Because the social group closed ranks around Henry, and iced Catherine and Anne out.
Both of them. Henry managed to spin the story (at least, Cathy was 90% sure he was spinning it). He acted tortured and hurt, with some implications about who had really started it, and some unsaid allegations at Anne almost being a predator (despite the fact that they were in the same goddamn year).
So Anne took the fall, hard, receiving all the blame for the cheating while Henry got off scot-free, playing the victim. Everyone agreed that sure, Catherine was hurt, but she was also ‘acting like some crazy ex-girlfriend’ who refused to hear Henry out.
Both girls got iced out of the main group, pushed to the social fringes, the same place Cathy hung out by choice. And Henry soon picked up a new girl-Jane Seymour, another ‘good girl’ just like Catherine who was known for being empathetic and supportive to anyone and everyone who needed it.
Even a year after it all went down, Catherine and Anne still hated each other’s guts. Which…was why they were here right now. Cathy may not be in the loop, but she’d have to be deaf to not have heard about the massive fight they had gotten into earlier that day. Not just a verbal fight, but straight up rolling around on the concrete, trying to beat the shit out of each other. Cathy had heard differing accounts as to what had started it, so she saved her judgement for now.
So that was probably why they were both here now, serving detention. Cathy wasn’t sure how long they had it-how many days they’d have to waste an hour of here-but she guessed it would be a long while before she had the room to herself again, like she preferred.
A ringing sound suddenly came from the back of the room. Cathy and Catherine glanced back at Anne, whose phone was ringing. She pulled her earbuds out of the jack, accepted the call, and put it to her ear.
“Hey, Kat,” Anne nodded a bit, tilting back in her chair.
Cathy shot a glance at Catherine. Catherine had closed her Bible with a cool expression and was breathing, calm. She…couldn’t really be trusted to be stable around Anne. Especially since she’d given Anne a black eye earlier that day.
“Nah, I can’t pick ya up. I’ve got detention, didn’t’ya hear?” Anne replied, raising an eyebrow.
Catherine took a breath. Even the teacher picked up on her palpable hatred, lifting his head in curiosity.
“Just ask your mum, isn’t she free-” Anne paused, then sighed. “Yeah yeah, I know she’s trouble, but I can’t do it. Sorry, Kat. Maybe I can start up again in two months when these goddamn detentions are finished up.”
Two months, huh?
It was the end of November right now, so two months would carry them into February. Sure, Cathy could last until then. It’s not like she had anywhere else to go.
But that was assuming Cathy made it out of this room alive. Which based on the look on Catherine’s face, wasn’t a sure thing.
Cathy checked her watch. Ten more minutes until detention was up.
“Alright. Alright, love. See ya,” Anne nodded a bit, before pulling her phone off her ear and ending the call.
For a moment, Cathy almost breathed easier. Even with the protective silence breached, maybe they could just fade back into quiet now and-
“‘Love?’” Catherine asked. Snark was in her voice, snark that very poorly masked anger as she turned to look at Anne. “Is that your newest stolen boytoy, then?”
Cathy groaned a bit. This…was what she’d been afraid of when these two had walked through the door.
“Relax, it’s my cousin,” Anne replied, rolling her eyes. “You know she’s also named Katherine? I usually drive her home and can’t today, thanks for that by the way. And I call everyone love,” Anne paused for a moment, as if wondering whether or not she should poke the bear any further, before her lips twisted up into a smile. “...love.”
“Don’t you call me that!” Catherine snapped, twisting around. “And don’t blame me for your detention!”
“My detention?! You punched me in the face!” Anne snapped back.
“You provoked me!”
“You started the conversation by insulting me!”
“‘Oh, I do that to everyone,’” Catherine said in a mocking tone, pausing for a moment before adding, “...skank.”
Anne closed her mouth and flushed red, looking genuinely angry. “You’ve always had a stick up your ass,” she muttered. “For the last fucking time, he came onto me! Not the other way around! But of course, you’d rather believe your cheating ex rather than-”
Catherine cut her off with another shouted reply, and Cathy winced, ducking down as she tuned out the fight. As Catherine got up out of her seat and stalked closer to Anne, Cathy turned her attention to the teacher in front of her.
He wasn’t stopping it like he had before. Instead, he looked mildly entertained, one hand under his chin.
“Seriously?” Cathy hissed, getting his attention over the fight. “This is just a show to you?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” the teacher shrugged, sitting back again.
“You are not a good teacher.”
“Yeah, I know,” the teacher nodded, taking a drink of his water bottle. “But I’ve got tenure, so…”
He relaxed, continuing to enjoy the show as Anne also stood up and kept up the fight. The two girls were barely even saying anything anymore, just shouting loud enough and in each other’s faces, their words lost to volume.
Cathy groaned. She could try and just plug her ears, but that probably wouldn’t work. She also didn’t want to wait it out and have to spend even (she checked her watch again) eight more minutes in this mess.
Besides, them fighting was stupid. They obviously had problems to work out, but they were both victims of the same guy. There should be some level of solidarity between them for that, but there wasn’t. Just shouted insults, and attempted murder.
“Hey, hey!” Cathy tried to say, to shout over them as she walked over. She was shorter than Catherine but actually taller than Anne, since Anne was probably the shortest in her year.
They kept on arguing, not even noticing her.
Cathy growled, before lifting her hands to her mouth.
“STOP!”
That actually managed to overpower the argument and the room fell silent again, both Catherine and Anne turning to look at her, blinking.
Cathy panted a bit as she walked closer. “That’s enough!” she determined, before grabbing Catherine’s arm and pulling her away.
“Aw, come on!” the teacher complained. “That was the most interesting thing to happen all day!”
All three girls gave him an unimpressed stare.
The teacher sighed, before glancing at Cathy. “Why are you here? You don’t even have detention.”
“I normally come in here for the quiet,” Cathy muttered.
And cause I don’t really like being home more than I have to-
“-which is also why I’m doing this.”
Cathy finished pulling Catherine further away from Anne and sighed. “Catherine, please. We’ve got eight more minutes, let's not spend them like this.”
Catherine scoffed and folded her arms. “I shouldn’t have to spend an hour of my day next to the bitch who ruined my life.”
“How many times do I have to say it?! Henry ruined your life, not me!” Anne snapped back. “It wasn’t my fault!”
“Calm down, let’s-” Cathy tried to say, putting her hands up and stepping between them again.
“Even if that’s true, you still accepted it!” Catherine snapped, pushing Cathy out of the way easily. “The only way this wouldn’t be your fault is if he forced himself on you! So did he? If he did, say it now, and I’ll take back every bad thing I’ve ever said or done to you!”
Anne opened her mouth, but paused. A few sounds came out, but she didn’t say a single word.
After a few seconds, Catherine scoffed. “That’s what I thought.”
“It doesn’t matter!” Cathy quickly snapped, once again stepping between them and taking control of the room again. “It doesn’t matter because Henry’s been with that Jane girl for the last year!” Cathy breathed a bit. “Maybe after a whole year of…this…maybe you both should move on? Or at least…just…stop constantly hating each other to the point you can’t be in the same room together?”
This was frustrating. Objectively Catherine was right, Anne was guilty of cheating and Catherine was the victim in that situation. But Catherine definitely hadn’t been the victim for the past year with all the barbs, curses, and as of earlier today, actual violence.
The worst part was that they shouldn’t still be angry with each other, they should be angry with Henry. He’d screwed both of them over. Every moment Catherine and Anne spent at each other’s throats was a moment in which Henry kept living his life, getting away without a care in the world.
But at least, Catherine and Anne seemed to somewhat, begrudgingly, listen. At least, Anne did. Anne took a breath and stepped back, fixing her clothes a bit.
Catherine kept glaring, until Cathy sighed.
“Really, Catherine? Please?”
Catherine glanced over at Cathy before sighing and stepping away. She only shot one more glare at Anne before turning and walking back to her desk.
Cathy lowered her hands in relief, as Anne nodded at her and took her desk again, which they were next to.
Cathy didn’t know Anne very well aside from…well, aside from all this drama and shit. She did actually know Catherine, though-despite the girl being two years older than her, their fathers were friends, so Cathy and Catherine had met at a few house parties before. They’d even been kinda close a long time ago, or maybe Catherine had just been assigned to babysit Cathy during those parties. Either way.
Cathy stretched a bit, checked her watch a final time, and walked back to her desk. About four minutes left.
Well, if they could last four minutes, so could she.
And then, Cathy blinked a bit as a paper was suddenly dropped on top of her laptop. She looked up to see the teacher, walking around with a few other sheets in his hand. Catherine and Anne looked just as confused as she felt.
“Uh, sir?”
“Fight kept happenin’,” the teacher shrugged. “I said I’d give an assignment if it did.”
Catherine just opened her mouth and made a sound of disbelief, while Anne scoffed.
* * *
Despite all the bad blood, despite all the fighting…the assignment passed out in detention required a second person to complete it with. Catherine and Anne obviously didn’t want to do it with each other, so they both ended up going to Cathy. The only problem was that they didn’t have time to do it in the few minutes they had left, and the only time Cathy had free the next day was lunch.
Which…meant that they had to do it together again.
That was why, come lunch hour the next day, the three of them found themselves sitting together at the same empty table, while Cathy filled out her part in both of their assignments (already having finished hers, using Catherine). Catherine and Anne sat next to each other so they’d both be opposite Cathy, but shot glares at each other while Cathy worked. Still, they stayed quiet, as per Cathy’s request.
“And…done,” Cathy sighed, finishing off the last bit of Anne’s and passing it back over.
Anne took it and nodded appreciatively. “Thanks, love.”
Catherine snorted a bit, making Anne roll her eyes as she slid the paper away. Cathy just heaved a sigh, putting her pencils away.
They’d all already finished lunch first thing. As Cathy tapped her hands a bit and looked at the other two, she almost felt a…longing? No, that wasn’t the right word.
Because sure, Cathy had isolated herself on purpose. She didn’t like the idea of being in this social circle, at least not one like Henry’s. Having to constantly be charming, witty, maintaining so many relationships…it sounded exhausting.
So Cathy had never bemoaned her role as a social outcast. It wasn’t that she was unpopular, it was just that nobody really knew who she was or anything about her. Everyday she arrived at school, did her work, sat quietly, didn’t raise her hand, and left.
And Cathy was content with that. She avoided the sort of stifling, exhausting life that she worried she’d fall into. But…well…it could get kind of lonely. Sitting alone was relaxing, until you realized it was because nobody wanted to sit with you.
So maybe it felt…kind of nice to see two people waiting for her, who wanted to meet with her. Even if it was just for some stupid assignment handed out by the worst teacher ever.
It was a stupid fantasy, thinking that these two were somehow her friends. Cathy hadn’t spoken to Catherine in actual years, and she barely even knew Anne, and they both fucking hated each other. There was no way she could be friends with one and also the other, much less have them in the same circle.
So it was stupid. Really.
“Well, would you look at that?”
Cathy glanced up a bit at Catherine’s voice. She sounded faintly amused, entertained, even.
Cathy and Anne both followed Catherine’s eyes, looking over at…
Jane Seymour.
Jane was walking into the massive lunchroom. She had blonde hair that was tied half-up and half-down, with a larger frame than any of them. She wore a sleeveless white top with a V-neck and a wrapping around her neck, along with a gray tie at her waist and a black skirt below.
But most notably, her eyes were puffy and red, like she’d been crying, and she clearly was still having some trouble composing herself. She didn’t have her usual earnest smile, she didn’t have her usual quiet conversations with the kitchen staff, she just walked up to the counter and grabbed a tray, filling it with food as fast as she could before she hurried to an empty table and sat alone.
Cathy blinked a bit. She hadn’t ever really had a conversation with Jane before-the girl was in the year above her, and there were no shared classes between them. But Cathy had heard of Jane before, through her family, because…well…
Because Jane’s cousin Thomas was Cathy’s ex-boyfriend. And quite frankly, the indirect reason Cathy had realized she was a lesbian. The breakup had…not been fun, for either of them. Cathy didn’t know how close Jane was with her cousin, but…things could be awkward.
But then again, had Cathy felt a little of what Jane seemed to right now?
“Three o’clock,” Anne quickly muttered, and the three of them glanced over at the door before quickly looking down, pretending they weren’t watching. Because none other than the bastard himself, Henry Tudor, was walking through the doors into the lunchroom right now.
Cathy glanced at him, reading him. Most of his posse was already gathered at their usual table and they laughed and cheered a bit as he finally arrived-seems he had been late. As Henry laughed along with them and walked up, his eyes shifted around the room until they fell on Jane. The moment they did, Henry immediately turned his attention fully back to the table in front of him and sat down.
Cathy blinked in realization. As Henry’s girlfriend, Jane always sat with his group in their spot. If she was alone now…and if Henry was very pointedly not walking over to bring her to them…
Oh. So it wasn’t just loneliness Jane was suffering from right now.
“Looks like someone finally got tired of little Miss Seymour,” Catherine murmured through a drink of water. “Bound to happen eventually.”
Anne snorted a bit, nodding. Then both Catherine and Anne seemed to remember they hated each other and turned away.
Cathy just stared at them both, disappointed. “Seriously?” she asked, folding her arms on the table. “She’s in pain like that and you’re making fun of her?”
“Hey, she chose to date the bull, not our fault she got the horns,” Anne shrugged a bit. Catherine still avoided looking at Anne, but her faint nod seemed to imply she agreed.
“So did both of you,” Cathy replied.
“And nobody helped us, did they?” Catherine scoffed, clasping her hands together. “Nope. Everyone in this school was pretty damn quick to leave when we were hurt.”
“And…besides,” Anne seemed to pause for a moment, as if Catherine’s words struck something, before she continued. “What exactly do you want us to do?”
Cathy looked at the both of them for a moment, actually thinking about that question. She glanced up, over at Jane, who still was sitting alone. Eyes red, looking utterly miserable.
So Cathy swallowed, before gripping the table and standing up.
“Wait-Cathy? Cathy, what are you doing?” Catherine quickly asked as Cathy stepped around the table, walking by their seats.
“Leading by example,” Cathy cut back as she walked past, with both the other girls quickly hissing at her to stop, but soon she was out of reach. Cathy kept walking, not really having a plan in mind, until she made it to Jane’s table and stood beside it.
Jane was picking at her food, only to blink as she realized Cathy was standing there. “Uh…hi,” Jane said, sounding a bit unsure, her voice still unsteady from her obvious recent tears. “Can I…help you?”
Cathy closed her mouth, pausing for a moment as her mind went totally blank for a second. Shit. She…she had had a plan before, right? Well…this was the first time she’d ever actually approached someone, so-
“I wanted to say sorry,” Cathy finally got out, gesturing to Jane. “For…what happened.”
“Shit, I-could you tell?” Jane asked, looking worried for a second as she quickly lifted her hands and wiped up her face. “I thought I fixed it-”
“I…yeah I could tell, but I’m observant,” Cathy said, wincing at the awkward cover. “Anyway, just…sorry.”
“I mean…it’s not your fault,” Jane sighed, looking down at her food again.
“I…yeah,” Cathy said, still feeling a bit awkward. “I know breakups with him can be tough, but honestly? Screw that guy. He…” Cathy shifted, sitting down opposite Jane on the table. “He doesn’t deserve you, scumbag that he is-”
“No, no no-” Jane sighed a bit, folding her arms. “It…it was my fault. I shouldn’t have…no, just…” she tilted her head back. “It’s not him, it’s me.”
“I…” Cathy shot a glance back at Henry’s table, where the man himself was laughing along with his friends, seeming utterly unaffected. Then she looked back at Jane, who had barely steadied herself a little. “...okay then.”
“I just…I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Jane replied, face scrunching up a bit more as she bent over her food. “I thought he…I thought we were…” her voice dropped to a whisper. “I thought things were going well.”
“What…happened? Can I ask, or…” Cathy said, curious despite herself.
“I…” Jane closed her eyes and breathed. “I told him I loved him…in our last class…he got quiet and walked away. Then when I saw him next, he took me into an empty room and said we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”
“I…” Cathy opened her mouth, instantly wanting to curse his name even more, but stopped herself, considering how Jane had reacted last time. “You know that…that’s definitely not your fault, right?”
“No it’s-” Jane almost broke down again. “I shouldn’t have ambushed him with it! It…it sounded like I was expecting him to say it back, and I wasn’t, I should have made that clear, and-”
Jane paused as Cathy reached out and touched her hand, offering silent support.
Jane opened her mouth, glancing at that, before looking up at Cathy. “Why are you…being so nice to me?”
There was another layer to her voice, another implication. Why was Cathy being so nice, considering her breakup with Jane’s cousin just last year?
“Because…you need it,” Cathy eventually said. “And…to be honest, I really don’t like Henry.”
Jane actually snorted, laughing a bit. “Is that the actual reason?” she giggled.
“Eh,” Cathy shrugged a little, smiling a bit now that Jane wasn’t actively in despair.
As Jane kept giggling, obviously trying to stop herself, Cathy cast another glance around the room. From the biggest table, Henry was glancing over at the two of them seeming confused, before looking away when he noticed Cathy. Then, Cathy turned around and saw both Catherine and Anne at her original table. Anne made some inaudible comment, and Catherine actually snickered a bit.
Cathy just narrowed her eyes at the two of them. A full year of hatred, and the first time they were ever on the same page was tearing down another woman? Another woman who’d been hurt by the same goddamn guy? It was fucking ridiculous, and honestly, it made Cathy genuinely upset.
So, perhaps out of spite, Cathy turned back to Jane. “You want to come sit with us?”
“I…us?” Jane asked, blinking.
“Yeah,” Cathy nodded, gesturing to her original table. Catherine and Anne had both urgently been signalling Cathy to stop, but quickly gave up when Jane looked over. “I mean…” Cathy looked back at Jane. “I know it sucks. And…you probably don’t have people to sit with anymore. So…” Cathy shrugged a bit.
“I…” Jane’s eyes shifted over to the table and she swallowed. “Catherine Aragon and…and Anne Boleyn?”
“Yeah I know they’re iced out, but so are you now. We may as well stick together,” Cathy shrugged.
“I thought they hated each other,” Jane said, confused.
“Oh, they do,” Cathy nodded. “It’s both frustrating and entertaining. They’re stuck together though, at least for the next few months during detention…” Cathy paused for a moment, looking down, then back up at Jane. “Actually, if you want, you can meet us there too. It’s how we met-I mean, I knew Catherine already, but all three of us only really started doing this when they both got detention. I was hanging out there anyway-I don’t have detention, but the teachers are chill and you can pretty much use it as a hangout spot since nobody else goes there unless they have to.” Cathy finally took a breath, realized she’d been rambling, and continued a little slower. “I mean, it’s quiet. And it’s somewhere to be, at least. Somewhere not in public without…eyes.”
Jane glanced around, and seemed to notice for the first time the many eyes glancing at the two of them. People knew Henry, so the things that went on around him were…curious.
“I…” Jane looked back at Cathy. “I mean, will they even…like me? They both dated Henry and…and I was dating him…”
“I’m sure they’ll get over it. They’re both…just great at letting things go,” Cathy sighed. “But they won’t raise a stink or try to kick you out or anything like that. They can’t really afford to.”
“And…what about you?” Jane winced a bit as she looked at Cathy.
“Me?” Cathy blinked.
“Yeah. I don’t know what exactly happened with Thomas, but…” Jane made an unsure sound, waving her hand. “I know it wasn’t good. Are you…really sure? That you’d be okay with…me?”
“Hey, it’s not your fault your cousin sucks,” Cathy replied, shifting to face Jane more fully on the bench.
“He doesn’t-” the words seemed to instinctively come from Jane’s mouth, but she quickly closed her lips, not wanting to ruin something. “I…thank you, Cathy. I…I’d like that.”
“Great,” Cathy nodded, smiling a bit before pushing herself up and turning to look back. As Jane picked up her tray, both Catherine and Anne shot her looks, and Cathy shot looks at them right back.
Soon Cathy and Jane walked back over to the first table, where Catherine and Anne had already turned back around.
“Hey guys, this is Jane,” Cathy said in a bit of an overdone tone, making it clear they wouldn’t be saying anything about their…prior connections. “She’s gonna be joining us!”
Catherine and Anne both gave some form of hum or affirmative as Jane sat down beside Cathy, awkwardly. Both of them glared daggers at Cathy, while Cathy just folded her arms, giving them both a cool look back.
Good. Let them stew in it. Let them face the woman they’d just tried to turn into a joke behind her back.
And well, both Anne and Catherine were stuck in detention for the next two months anyway. So if Jane took Cathy up on her offer, it seemed Cathy might have stumbled her way into an unsteady friend group after all.