Don't Leave Me Waiting
It’s in her second period, English, when Carol first catches a glimpse of her. All she can tell behind the mane of curly black hair is that this girl is an absolute goddess. She’s dressed in a yellow top and bell-bottom jeans, and Carol almost mistakes her for the sun.
She watches the new girl as she unpacks her books, a pencil smudge gracing the side of her left hand. There’s a small frown on her face when she tries to rub it off with her thumb in her sleeve.
“Okay, guys, quiet down,” Mrs. Kazinsky begins, and Carol’s head snaps away from the girl.
“We have a new student today, her name is Maria Rambeau- Maria, wave so the class can see you!”
Maria turns around towards the class from her front-row seat, and lifts her hand sheepishly, eyes trained on the floor. Carol almost swoons at the shy gesture. She puffs a short breath out of her nose, and the new girl- Maria’s eyes shoot up from the floor to lock on her. If Carol wasn’t falling before, she definitely is now, because Maria’s vulnerable eyes are burning into hers, and it takes almost all of Carol’s willpower to send her a small, open smile. Maria’s face flushes and she turns around in her desk quickly, picking up her pencil.
“Alright, get out your notebooks, we’re taking notes today…” Carol picks up her pencil, doodling hearts in the margin of her notebook.
It’s only in P.E when Maria shows up again, hugging her bookbag tight against her chest in the locker room. The coach goes through introductions again, a few girls from their class waving or smiling. Maria graciously smiles back, and it’s not a surprise when the dark haired girl ends up in a small group of semi-popular girls who chatter around her like a swarm of bees, telling Maria to meet them outside when she’s changed. Carol watches her for a while, but whips her head around to face her locker when the new girl pulls her arms from her shirt. She’s blushing furiously, hastily slipping into her red and blue gym uniform, when she hears a small, “Help, please?” from the girl across the lockers. Carol turns her head slowly only to see Maria, her arms above her her head, struggling to untangle her hair from the yellow shirt, her eyes still covered by the fabric.
Carol forces herself to keep her eyes at face-level, ignoring everything happening below the shoulders, as she tentatively walks towards Maria.
“Okay, here- let me-”
“Nope, nope, ouch-”
“Sorry! Sorry, hold on-” Carol’s hands gently pull curl after curl from the pesky black buttons lined down the front of her shirt. She finally pulls the last strand free and helps bunch the blouse over Maria’s head, and is met with a wide-eyed girl staring back at her.
“Thanks. This happens more than you’d think.” She finally says, lifting a hand to tug at a ringlet, and Carol’s eyes follow the movement, lingering on her collarbone.
“Oh, yeah, no problem. Have you ever thought of tying it up?” Carol asks, forcing herself to act nonchalant, sitting down on the wooden bench to pull her socks up a bit.
“Yeah, but the rubber bands always break when I try a ponytail, and I can’t braid my own hair, so…” Maria’s voice trails off as she forces her head through the hole in her gym tee.
“Oh come on, it’s easy, sit here.” Carol pats the space next to her, and Maria grins questioningly.
“Come on, just trust me. I promise I won’t ruin it.”
“Okay, okay, fine,” Maria giggles, plopping down on the bench in front of Carol. “But make it quick, I don’t want to miss anything out there.”
“Coach doesn’t care, it’s just gym class, you know.” Carol scoffs, taking a few strands in her hands.
“Coach? You mean Mrs. Bratton?” Maria asks.
“Yeah, her. All the girls on the track team call her Coach.”
“Track, huh. Didn’t take you for an organized sport girl, but I can kind of see it.” Maria feels a soft finger swipe her cheek.
“Wow, thank you. What did you take me as, in the four long hours you’ve known me?” Carol teases, separating strands and pulling them over each other.
“Hmm… you definitely have that mysterious, leather jacket vibe going for you.” Carol blushes, and Maria cranes her neck at the following silence.
“What, was I right? Tell me I’m right!”
“Stop wiggling, you’re going to mess up your braid!” Maria settles, leaning into the feeling of Carol’s hands in her hair.
Carol twists a hair tie around the bottom, securing the final ringlet in place. The braid is thick, but not nearly as unruly as it was before. Maria stands up to look in the mirror, and she lights up at the sight. Her hands immediately go to her hair, lightly running over Carol’s work.
“How’d you learn to braid so well?” Maria questions.
“My mom taught me. I don’t really get to do it that often though, I like my hair better down.”
“It looks good down. My mom says I look better with my hair down too, but sometimes I wish I could just chop it all off.” A few ringlets fall loose around her face as she speaks.
“I could see you with short hair.” Carol thinks she’d be stunning either way.
“Oh, yeah? And would it look?” Maria teases, turning to walk towards the locker room exit.
Carol follows, and walks through the door being held open for her. She grins at Maria, “Good. It’d look really good.”
Maria’s breath catches when Carol brushes fingertips with her, and goes to jog out into the gym.
“Come on, Rapunzel!” Carol calls over her shoulder, and Maria shakes her head, smiling.
“Hey, wait up!”