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labellementeuseTitle: Hoard the Horizon
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
labellementeuse
Pairing: unrequited Joanne/Nita
Rating: PG
Summary: So I watched the way you take your fear and hoard the horizon,
You point, you have a word for every woman you can lay your eyes on,
Like you own them just because you bought the time,
And you turn to me, you say you hope I’m not threatened
--Dar Williams, “As Cool As I Am”
Author’s Note:senri wondered whatever happened to Joanne. This... totally does not address that in any way. Five drabbles set during and before SYWTBAW.
The thing about Nita Callahan was that she just couldn’t keep her mouth shut. That was her problem; it wasn’t Joanne’s fault that the kid had a smart mouth and a stupid sense of timing and it definitely wasn’t Joanne’s fault that she was chasing Nita down Rose Avenue towards the town library, because she’d asked for it.
Joanne grinned. So maybe she’d encouraged it a little; but Nita really should have learned what not to say about Joanne and her new bike by now. If it ended in a bruising, well, maybe she’d stop opening her mouth this time.
*
The first time Joanne met Nita, they were both four years old and starting at kindergarten. Nita was short, quiet, with thick-lensed glasses that Joanne instantly admired; she headed straight for the bookshelves, and Joanne, taller, dark-haired, followed her.
When she got there, Nita had already picked out a book and flopped down to read it. Joanne stood over her uncertainly.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Um, I’m Joanne.”
“I’m Nita.”
“What are you doing?”
Nita glanced up. “I’m reading.”
Joanne reached for the book, tugging it out of Nita’s hands. She wasn’t expecting Nita to hold it so tight that it ripped.
*
She still doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut but it looks like she’s learned to take a punch, Joanne thought tearing home. How did she do ... whatever she did? They’d finally spotted Nita again up Rose Avenue; Joanne’s stomach still churned in a hot mix of anger and humiliation after that trick Nita had somehow pulled, grabbing that pen back in front of everyone. But apparently Nita had more than one new trick: after Joanne had gotten through with her for the pen business, she’d jumped up unbruised and unworried. Like Joanne didn’t look stupid enough already.
*
The second time Joanne met Nita they were both thirteen and had spent the past eight years at separate elementary schools. The last thing Joanne expected was to see Nita again, seated next to her by a teacher who didn’t believe in alphabetised seating; the last thing Joanne needed was to figure out that shy Nita Callahan, who pulled a book out as she sat down, was going to be one of the girls that made her stomach clench and her knees feel shaky.
When she realised Nita didn’t remember her, she didn’t know whether to be relieved or furious.
*
“Come on over to my place after supper sometime and look through my telescope,” Nita said. “I’ll show you Jupiter’s moons. Or Mars –“
Joanne went hot and cold in a flash, felt her stomach go icy and her hands start to sweat. Why couldn’t Nita ever learn to keep her mouth shut? How dare she pretend that it was so easy, just to say that, didn’t she know it was impossible for Joanne to ever just come on over. She bit her tongue over wanting to say yes, needing to, knowing how much she couldn’t, did not dare go near Nita without her gang, without eyewitnesses, terrified she might start opening her mouth just like Nita did.
She fought for a cold expression.
“Why would I ever want to go to your house? You don’t even have a wide-screen TV.”
X-posted here,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
myriadwords and fanfic100.
My Big Damn Table.
Author:
labellementeusePairing: unrequited Joanne/Nita
Rating: PG
Summary: So I watched the way you take your fear and hoard the horizon,
You point, you have a word for every woman you can lay your eyes on,
Like you own them just because you bought the time,
And you turn to me, you say you hope I’m not threatened
--Dar Williams, “As Cool As I Am”
Author’s Note:
senri wondered whatever happened to Joanne. This... totally does not address that in any way. Five drabbles set during and before SYWTBAW.The thing about Nita Callahan was that she just couldn’t keep her mouth shut. That was her problem; it wasn’t Joanne’s fault that the kid had a smart mouth and a stupid sense of timing and it definitely wasn’t Joanne’s fault that she was chasing Nita down Rose Avenue towards the town library, because she’d asked for it.
Joanne grinned. So maybe she’d encouraged it a little; but Nita really should have learned what not to say about Joanne and her new bike by now. If it ended in a bruising, well, maybe she’d stop opening her mouth this time.
*
The first time Joanne met Nita, they were both four years old and starting at kindergarten. Nita was short, quiet, with thick-lensed glasses that Joanne instantly admired; she headed straight for the bookshelves, and Joanne, taller, dark-haired, followed her.
When she got there, Nita had already picked out a book and flopped down to read it. Joanne stood over her uncertainly.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Um, I’m Joanne.”
“I’m Nita.”
“What are you doing?”
Nita glanced up. “I’m reading.”
Joanne reached for the book, tugging it out of Nita’s hands. She wasn’t expecting Nita to hold it so tight that it ripped.
*
She still doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut but it looks like she’s learned to take a punch, Joanne thought tearing home. How did she do ... whatever she did? They’d finally spotted Nita again up Rose Avenue; Joanne’s stomach still churned in a hot mix of anger and humiliation after that trick Nita had somehow pulled, grabbing that pen back in front of everyone. But apparently Nita had more than one new trick: after Joanne had gotten through with her for the pen business, she’d jumped up unbruised and unworried. Like Joanne didn’t look stupid enough already.
*
The second time Joanne met Nita they were both thirteen and had spent the past eight years at separate elementary schools. The last thing Joanne expected was to see Nita again, seated next to her by a teacher who didn’t believe in alphabetised seating; the last thing Joanne needed was to figure out that shy Nita Callahan, who pulled a book out as she sat down, was going to be one of the girls that made her stomach clench and her knees feel shaky.
When she realised Nita didn’t remember her, she didn’t know whether to be relieved or furious.
*
“Come on over to my place after supper sometime and look through my telescope,” Nita said. “I’ll show you Jupiter’s moons. Or Mars –“
Joanne went hot and cold in a flash, felt her stomach go icy and her hands start to sweat. Why couldn’t Nita ever learn to keep her mouth shut? How dare she pretend that it was so easy, just to say that, didn’t she know it was impossible for Joanne to ever just come on over. She bit her tongue over wanting to say yes, needing to, knowing how much she couldn’t, did not dare go near Nita without her gang, without eyewitnesses, terrified she might start opening her mouth just like Nita did.
She fought for a cold expression.
“Why would I ever want to go to your house? You don’t even have a wide-screen TV.”
X-posted here,
myriadwords and fanfic100.My Big Damn Table.
