Chapter Text
Francesca was a very quiet girl growing up being surrounded by 7 siblings; she didn’t really need to be loud. She stuck to her piano like a second hand, and she kept to herself. Her parents worried about her because she never said much growing up, but that never really changed.
School was one place she thrived, not the social part, but the academics, being autistic she was never really good at holding a conversation; she always thought she might say the wrong thing or not say anything at all, really.
Francesca was what you would typically call a girl who excels at school and wears glasses with no fashion sense, a nerd. No one called her that, but that doesn't mean some people didn’t get jealous during her younger days. Somebody once called her the teacher's pet in high school. It didn’t hurt her feelings too much, but it also didn’t feel great. Her siblings reassured her that liking school and having answers didn’t make her a teacher's pet; it just meant that she was smart.
She was in her second year of college, which was going well for the most part. She had one friend, Emily. They were both sort of nerds, but Emily seemed to have more friends and a better social range than she did. She never really minded well, sometimes she did, like now.
She and Emily were currently in the library. You know the place where you're supposed to be quiet and read or study or do anything but talk, according to everyone, but Emily, who couldn’t stop talking about who knows what for an ongoing 30 minutes.
“And you know Zack, my friend, the one who plays basketball well, he invited us to one of his games,” Emily whispered (not quietly), but that did catch her attention.
“What do you mean he invited us?” Francesca said, eyes widening.
“Seriously, Francesca, were you really not listening this whole time?” Emily seemed to catch on, which wasn't really a shock because Francesca seemed to do that a lot (not listen when Emily rambles about nothing).
“I-I was listening, I just didn’t hear that last part,” she stated while avoiding eye contact heavily.
“Okay, if you were listening, what did I say during the first part?”
Francesca stilled for a second and tried to come up with something, “ummmmm something about Zack….”
Emily gave her a deadpanned look, “Ughhh, you know I'm gonna start talking in gibberish just to see if you're listening.” Francesca just rolled her eyes.
“Okay, just tell me what you said again.”
Francesca had already heard what she said, she just had to be sure.
“Well, you know my friend Zack-”
“No, I don’t know your friend Zack”
Emily gave her a look that said, ‘Shut up and listen.’
“Anyways, my friend Zack, as you don’t know, apparently, invited us to one of his basketball games,” Emily finished, and Francesca’s eyes narrowed.
“Emily, I know Zack did not invite 'us' because I don’t know Zack, which means he invited you, and now you're trying to invite me to tag along with you.” Francesca whispered
monotonously.
“Ughh, fine, okay, he didn’t invite you, but he did say bring a friend, and I'm choosing you.”
Before Francesca could protest, Emily started again.
“Look, you promised me that you would try to do some things with me this year,” Emily stated with a small frown.
“I didn’t mean to go to a freaking basketball game, it is overcrowded, people shout for no reason-”
Emily interrupted, "It's called cheering.” Francesca returned the look that Emily gave her a few minutes ago.
“You know I get overwhelmed at places like that, and I don’t want to ruin your experience, so I think you should go by yourself and have fun.” Francesca paused, “Or, you know, you could take one of your friends who would actually enjoy going”
The corner of Emily's lips pulled up, and she gave her a look.
“The cheer team will be there.”
Francesca paused and looked at her friend.
Her cheeks grew a little rosy. “What's that supposed to mean to me?” Her voice was barely audible.
“I know you have a little crush on a certain cheerleader; you can't play coy with me”
“I do not have a crush.”
Francesca did, in fact, have a crush, but she would never admit that in a million years it would sound silly for a girl like her to have a crush on one of the most well-known cheerleaders at their college.
Also, it was only a small crush. Francesca didn’t know the cheerleader personally; she didn’t even know her first name. All she knew was that she was the opposite of Francesca. She was loud, confident, energetic, and very pretty.
Francesca had seen her across campus on her first day. She didn’t talk to her, obviously, because Francesca didn’t trust herself not to make a fool of herself, but she did watch her for about 2 minutes, not in a creepy way, or at least she doesn’t think it was.
After she saw her once, she looked for her around campus, and most of the time it was unsuccessful because she had only seen her 4-5 more times since being on campus, mostly because Francesca only went to 4 places.
Classes, her dorm, the music room, and the library.
Which is why her friend was now trying to convince her to go to a basketball game.
“Fine, whatever, you don’t have a crush,” Emily looked unconvinced. “But you did promise me that you would do stuff with me this year, or at least try, so can you at least try, and if you don’t like it, I'll never ask you again”
Francesca looked at her friend knowingly, and Emily rolled her eyes and giggled.
“I promise I won't, pleaseee just this once.” She pouted and started fluttering her lashes.
“Fine,” Francesca groaned, “Just stop making that face.”
Emily clapped, and it was a little too loudly for a library, causing another student to shush them. Emily apologized, looking sheepish. Francesca was even more embarrassed. She dropped her face in her hands, already regretting her decision.
-
Francesca was now, in fact, regretting her decision. The game started in about 25 minutes, and Francesca couldn’t decide what to wear. Francesca wore the same thing almost every day, but she couldn't decide which color shirt to wear.
“She didn’t have many options, but she still couldn’t pick. Eventually, she just went for her usual. She wore jeans, a blue button-up shirt, and her favorite shoes. She put her hair into a bun and threw on her glasses.
Before she could text Emily to let her know she was ready, Emily had texted her first, saying she was already in front of the building.
“We have to get you some new clothes,” Was the first thing Emily said when she saw her, then she turned around and started walking.
Francesca glared, “Hey, I like these clothes, and I will not be taking fashion advice from someone who dresses like that.” Francesca rushed to her friend.
“Dress like what? I look amazing, do you see these pants, and this beautiful blouse, and most importantly, my shoes?” Emily was twirling around as they walked.
Francesca laughed at her friend's antics. “ Yes, I see it, I see it every day, you always look like you're about to go to a museum,” Francesca was still laughing at her friend's antics.
“Oh, whatever, you just don’t have any fashion sense”
-
They were now in line for the basketball game, and Francesca was already getting nervous. She could see the inside of the auditorium, and there were already hundreds of people in there, and more in line. She started to look around nervously, fiddling with her hands.
Emily noticed, “Hey, it's okay, remember if you feel too uncomfortable we can leave at any time.” Emily reassured her.
Francesca nodded and glanced down. “I know, but I'm going to do my best. I said I would try to get out of my comfort zone, and this is a start,” she nodded again, trying to amp herself up.
“Okay, as long as you're sure”
-
Francesca was having fun, well, trying to have fun with all the extra “cheering” in her ear. Emily was currently trying to tell her how the game works
“So there are 2 teams-”
Francesca interrupted, “I know how a basketball game works. I don't care for it, but I know how it works.”
“Well, damn, I thought you only knew things that came from books," Emily laughed.
Francesca rolled her eyes and looked at the court. Her eyes scanned the room, trying to find the cheer team.
Emily noticed, of course, “You looking for a certain someone?" She smirked at Francesca.
Francesca blushed and pushed her glasses up, “w-what, I'm not looking for anyone”.
“Oh, sure you aren’t,” Emily gave her a knowing look. “The cheer team comes out during halftime, so you've got about 15 minutes.” Francesca continued to avoid eye contact.
“Who said I was looking for the cheer team?”
Emily looked at her for a moment. “I know you weren’t looking for the cheer team, you were looking for a stirling,” bumping her shoulder.
Francesca turned away, “Ughhh, whatever, it doesn’t matter anyway, I'm gonna go to the restroom.” She stood up quickly.
“Do you want m-” Emily started.
“No, no, it’s fine, I'll be fine, I'm just gonna go and come back quickly.” Francesca was already squeezing her way through seats before Emily could say anything else.
-
Francesca finished drying her hands and was now looking in the mirror, trying to prepare herself to go back into the auditorium.
“You got this, you're having fun, just go enjoy the rest of the game, and then you can go back to your door-” Someone barged in, and she quickly cut herself off.
Heat slowly crept up her neck from embarrassment.
She rushed out of the bathroom, head down, not paying attention to her surroundings, and by the time she looked up to turn the corner, it was too late.
She saw nothing but red and white as she bumped into someone, and her glasses flew off. She immediately dropped down to the floor to retrieve her glasses.
“I-im so sorry f-forgive my-”. She couldn't see, so she couldn't really find her glasses. A hand touched Francesca's shoulder, and quickly she stood up.
“Hey, I think these are yours.”
Her vision was blurry, but she felt her glasses being handed to her.
She put her glasses on, and she thought she was hallucinating; it was the cheerleader.
The cheerleader was also talking, Francesca stared at her lips moving, but Francesca didn't hear a word.
“I-im sorry, what did you say?” she blushed from embarrassment.
“I said I'm sorry bumping into you, I was rushing past because the team was getting ready to go out there, and I was behind,” the cheerleader looked up at her, cocking her head to the right, looking apologetic.
Francesca just stared.
“Are you ok?” The cheerleader looked concerned.
“o-ooh u-umm yeah im okay i-i was just going back to the game” she started to fiddle with her glasses.
The cheerleader smiled slightly. “Oooh, did you come to support someone?”
“Umm, kinda well, no, I don’t know. My friend dragged me here. I told her I would start going places with her this year because I never went out much last year, so she asked me to come because her friend invited-” she stopped, realizing she was rambling and embarrassing herself even more.
“S-sorry, I don't know why I was giving you my life story,” she looked down at the cheerleader. The cheerleader was smirking at her. She's sure she looks like a cherry by now.
“It's okay, it's kinda cute,”
The cheerleader's eyes widened when she realized what she had said.
“I-I mean- not cute- well, I'm not saying you're not cute- never mind,” she stopped, and her cheeks became a little cherry-like also.
Francesca just stared at her cheeks, and a smile came to her face unconsciously. They both just stared at each other for a moment.
“MICKI,” they both got startled by someone yelling down the hall.
“Ooh, shit, umm, I have to go, my name is Michaela.” Michaela jogged away before Francesca could respond. Before she disappeared around the corner, she looked back. “I hope you enjoy the rest of the game,” Then she left, and Francesca stared at the spot where the cheerleader, well, Michaela, once was.
Francesca convinced herself she was hallucinating.
-
“Ooh, shit, are you serious?” Emily exclaimed. They were sitting in Francesca's dorm after the game, and Francesca had just finished telling Emily the ridiculous encounter she had had an hour ago.
“Yes, I'm serious. I don’t even know what to say. I feel like I've embarrassed myself,” Francesca mumbled. Her voice was muffled by her pillow.
“Yeah, from what I'm hearing, you definitely embarrassed yourself.” Emily was laughing.
Francesca sat up and glared at Emily, “You're not helping.” Francesca got up, started pacing, and talking to herself.
“I can’t believe I embarrassed myself. Now I really have to hide. I can never show my face again.”
“Oh no you don't, you are not about to make this and excuse as to why you can’t go out. If anything, this should be motivation.”
Emily got up and stopped in front of Francesca. She put her hand on her shoulder and looked Francesca in the eye.
“Listen, this is not the end of the world, this is a good thing you finally got to talk to your crush, maybe you can get something out of this”
Francesca shrugged her off and slumped on the bed.
“Listen, I didn’t talk to her. I stuttered and stared at her like a freaking idiot, and she probably has a boyfriend anyway, half of the campus knows her, and even if I don't know her, I hear stuff about her sometimes. I know you do too”.
“That doesn’t mean it's true.” Emily sat down on the bed next to her. “I don’t think you should make an opinion on what you hear”.
Francesca just looked at her without saying anything, but deep down she knew Emily was right.
“I know people were saying she slept around the first year, but so what, we are all young and having fun.” She paused.
“Well, except you”.
Francesca sat up and hit her with the pillow.
“And me OKAY and me,” Emily raised her hand to defend herself.
Francesca rolled her eyes. “You're not having fun because you have been with Sue forever”
“Still, it counts, anyway, those rumors stopped last year. No one has been saying anything this year”.
“Yeah, probably because she has a boyfriend”. Francesca deadpanned.
She got up and started getting ready to shower. “You know what, I don’t care, I'm just going to focus on my studies and forget about it.” Emily rolled her eyes at her.
“You are so dramatic. Either way, I'm not letting you stop us from going out this year.”
Francesca continued, not listening.
“Please, Francesca, you probably won’t even see her again. That was just a coincidence. You rarely see her now, so that doesn’t mean you'll start seeing her every day,” Emily continued, packing her things to go back to her dorm.
Francesca thought about it for a second. “You know what, fine, but I only have about… 2 more outings in me this semester.” Emily looked at her for a second, then she laughed.
“Only 2? Really, Francesca?” she asked, laughing without fail. “You know what, at least it’s something. I'll get more out of you next semester.”
“No, you won't,” Francesca replied seriously, going into the bathroom.
“Whatever, bye fruit cake, don't overthink about your interaction with Michaela too much, it’s going to be fine”.
“I told you to stop calling me that!” Francesca yelled as the door closed shut. She rolled her eyes, a habit she'd developed since being around Emily.
-
As she lay down, Francesca was still thinking about her interaction with Michaela, but she had a routine like clockwork; it hit 10:30, and she fell asleep thinking about Michaela's red cheeks.