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“There right there!” Bridget snapped. Watching Chloe wrap an arm around Red’s shoulders, both Ella and her were hiding behind a bush. Definitely not spying on the two new transfer students. Red and Chloe were sitting on a bench in front of the girls.
“Bridget, what are you talking about? They could just be close friends. Just an arm around the shoulder doesn’t prove anything.” Ella retorted.
“The way Chloe looks at Red, Red never leaves Chloe’s side; they are always whispering. There has to be something going on there.” Bridget responded.
Chloe lays her head on Red’s shoulder, fully sweetening the moment. Bridget scoffs and looks at Ella with wide eyes. Looking back and forth between the unconfirmed ‘couple’ and her friend.
“Hey, ladies, what’s going on-” Charming starts, but is suddenly jerked behind the bush with Ella and Bridget. He winces as he hits the ground, only to find the girls staring at something intently. “What are we looking at?” He asks.
“Charming hush! We are doing very important research here.” Bridget snapped.
“You mean spying?” Charming snarkily replied.
“Wha- what do you mean? No! This is in the name of love.” Bridget clarified. She turns back to find that Chloe and Red are nowhere to be found. “Charming, look what you did!”
“Love? You mean Red and Chloe? Oh yeah, totally. They are definitely together. Have you seen the way Chloe looks at Red?” Charming agrees with Bridget.
Ella rolls her eyes. “Well, I’m going to need more proof than an arm around the shoulder. Let's go, Bridget.” She stands up to walk away. Bridget and Charming give each other a knowing nod and quickly shake hands.
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The next time Bridget had seen the two girls, they were in Alchemy class. When the new girls came to Merlin Academy, Principal Merlin separated Ella and her to be partners with each new student. Usually, Bridget was with Red and Ella was with Chloe, but Red wasn’t the one to talk about herself. Bridget needed to be with Chloe.
She didn’t want to make it weird, but she needed those details. “Hey, Ella! Why don’t we switch partners for today?” Bridget asked, hoping Red and Chloe wouldn’t notice her scheming.
Ella questions, “What do you mean? Why would we-” Bridget elbows Ella in the side.
Giving her a wide-eyed intense smile, Bridget said, “I thought it would be fun, Ella. Don’t you think so?”
“Oh! Yes! I think that’s a great idea.” Ella responds, wincing from getting elbowed.
Chloe and Red just look at each other. Both equally confused as to what is going on. Red just shrugs and moves to Ella’s table in the front of the classroom. Chloe follows Bridget to her table.
Bridget opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, she's interrupted. “Okay, class. Today, we will be working in your groups as usual. Let’s make some magic. Please try not to get blown up.” Principal Merlin sighs at that last part. Bridget rolls her eyes and faces Chloe.
Chloe asks, “So, how come you wanted to be partners with me today? You and Red are usually together for this kinda stuff.” She quickly adds, “Not that I don’t want to be your partner! I love being able to hang out with you!”
“Well, I noticed we haven’t been able to really chat since you have come to school, so I thought what better way to get to know you than through Alchemy?” Bridget gives a slight chuckle.
“Oh!” Chloe beamed. “Yeah, I guess that’s one way to get to know someone.” She gives a light giggle. They both fall into a comfortable silence, quietly working on the assignment.
Then Bridget gets an idea. “So, do you have any plans for Castlecoming? It’s coming very soon!” She asks.
“No, I don’t think so. Even if I did, I wouldn’t have anyone to go with.” Chloe’s cheeks pinkened as she pushed her hair behind her ears. Eyes shifting towards Red, and back down to her work.
Bridget noticed the quick glance. She made a mental note to tell Ella later. “Oh, I’m sure there will be many princes wanting to ask you to the dance!”
“Oh, no definitely not.” Chloe replies almost instantly. “Uh, It’s probably too late now. I don’t really know any princes here,” she says trying to cover up her outburst.
“What about Charming? He seemed pretty nice!”
Chloe silently gags. “NO! I mean, no, he’s not really my type.” Chloe and her dad? Going together? She shivers at the idea.
Bridget chuckles at the reaction. She wondered how things were going with Ella and Red.
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“That was weird.” Red says. Looking back at Bridget and Chloe.
“Yeah, that’s Bridget for you. She loves to shake things up.” Ella responds. Looking at the workload for today she groans. “Guess we better get started.” Red hummed in agreement. Both girls started the planned assignment.
“So, Red…” Ella asked. “What are your plans for Castlecoming?”
“I don’t have any.” Red responded simply. Red wasn’t the one to keep the conversation going. Okay, this might be a little harder than Ella thought.
“Oh, come on. You should go! You could ask someone to be your date.” Ella eyed Red, she hoped she wasn’t coming off too strong.
Reds eyes widened at the last statement. Quickly shaking the surprise off her face, “No, I think I am okay.”
Bingo . Ella thought. Okay, maybe Bridget was right, but she doesn’t have to know that. “I’m not one for dances, but I have heard this year's theme is really great.”
“Oh, well, that’s good to know. Thank you, Ella.” Ella could tell Red wanted to end this conversation fast. She had a feeling she knew why. Ella knew what boundaries were, and she didn’t want to push them with Red.
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Charming and Ella sat in Bridget’s dorm room, eyes fixated on Bridget who was pacing the floor. “So, you’re telling me… that you basically got confirmation they are dating? How do you know?” Charming asked.
“Well, short answer, Chloe basically made heart eyes for Red. And from what Ella told me, Red definitely has someone in mind for Castlecoming. There is no way she wasn't thinking about her.” Bridget replies, her confidence in her voice unwavering.
“Now, the evidence is there, but we still need a vocal confirmation. How do we do that?” Ella thought out loud. Yes, they were close to the new girls, but they needed a reason to hang out.
“That’s it!” Bridget snapped her fingers and turned to face Ella and Charming. “The big test is coming up! In Alchemy class! I don’t know why Principal Merlin scheduled a test for the week of Castlecoming, but it makes for the perfect set up. We get them to come over to be in our ‘study group,’ and we’ll get them to confess! It’s the perfect plan. What could go wrong?” Bridget gave herself a pat on the shoulder.
“I mean, I don’t see anything wrong with it.” Charming adds.
Ella nods with him and says “Yeah, let's do it. We can ask them to come over tomorrow.” Bridget squeals. Her ‘foolproof’ plan was already set in motion.
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“Red! Chloe! I’m so glad you could make it! Charming and Ella are already here” Bridget opens the door wider for the girls to come in.
“Thank you for inviting us, we are so glad to have some help with this,” Chloe responds joyfully, entering the room.
Red follows close beside her, not saying much. Chloe gives her a light jab in the side. “Oh- Yes! Thank you, we are so glad to be here.” Red says through gritted teeth, side-eying the bluenette next to her.
Bridget feels the tension between them. She looks over to Charming and Ella. They both give a shrug back. Bridget claps her hands together and says “Okay then! Let’s get started! I have snacks on the table, and pillows on the bed for you two.”
After a couple of hours of studying, it was mostly Chloe and Charming testing each other. The other girls have tapped out. Bridget, Ella, and Red lying on the floor, and Chloe and Charming are on the bed.
“Okay Chloe, final round. Speed test. I’m gonna test how quickly you can answer these.” Charming said with a mischievous smile. Chloe yawned, then nodded signaling she was ready.
“How many electrons are in the element Magnesium?”
“Twelve, definitely Twelve.”
“What is the name of the element with the atomic symbol Pb?”
“Lead.”
This caught the attention of the girls on the floor. They have never seen someone answer Alchemy questions so quickly and with such confidence. Bridget and Ella look over to Red, who was fully enamored by Chloe. Eyes never faltered from where she was on the bed.
“How many protons does Carbon have?”
“Six.”
“And, your girlfriend's name is?”
“Red.”
A collective gasp heard around the room. Chloe covered her mouth, not believing she said that out loud. “No, no! I was confused! You said girlfriend, I thought you said best friend. Red is just my best friend!”
“You bitch!”
Everyone turned their head to see a fuming Red standing up. Grabbing her things, she flings the door open, leaving Chloe and the others in the room.
Chloe stands, leaving everything behind. “Red, wait!” she says, running after her. Bridget, Ella, and Charming all freeze looking at each other, then collectively take off after Chloe and Red.
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“Red, please stop! Come on, let’s talk about this!” Chloe exasperatedly says. Having kept her pace slower than Red so she could have her space. The rest of the group slowly peered around the corner.
Red flips around to face Chloe. “What’s there to talk about? That we are just best friends? Chloe, I can’t take this anymore. I can’t keep hiding us.” Red hands signal between the two. “This is just too much for me, Chloe.” Her hands wrap around herself, trying to appear smaller.
“Red, please, let me explain.” Chloe says desperately. Taking a step closer, she gently takes her hands into hers. “I am so sorry, Red. I thought you wanted to hide our relationship, but that is no excuse for how distant I have been. I haven’t been treating you like you deserve to be treated. I sincerely apologize for making you feel this way.” Looking deeply into Red’s eyes, she takes a deep breath. Quickly reverting her gaze to her feet. “I understand if you need some time from this.”
Red takes a deep breath. She takes her hand and cups Chloe’s cheek. Chloe’s eyes widen at the notion, a silent gasp escaping her lips. “Oh, Chloe.” Her eyes soften at the girl in front of her. “Thank you for saying that. I appreciate you thinking about my feelings, and I don’t want to hide us anymore. I should have told you that. I will try to get better at communicating my feelings.”
Chloe smiles, “And, I will be better at not being so distant.” A sigh of relief comes from both of them. “Well, since we are going public…” Chloe drops down to one knee. “Red Hearts, will you please do me the honor of attending Castlecoming with me?”
A giggle escapes Red's lips. “Chloe Charming, yes, I absolutely will.” Chloe jumps up from the ground, engulfing Red in a hug; spinning them around. Red squeals at the notion, as laughter erupts from the bluenette. Chloe slows and puts the other down. Both girls were filled with joy and relief.
Light cheering is heard from around the corner. Both girls turn to see three individuals slowly rounding the corner. Red crosses her arms and Chloe lets out a light chuckle.
“Charming, Bridget, Ella,” Chloe says with a slightly annoyed tone.
“Hey,” Bridget says, her voice going up an octave when she reaches the ‘y’. She clears her throat, takes a deep breath and says, “Charming has something to say to you.” Pushing Charming forwards.
“Uh- wait, um- hi.” Charming stumbles on his words. A nervous laugh escapes, “Look, I’m sorry for calling you out like that. Bridget, Ella, and I- you see- were trying to find out if you were dating or not. We have been kinda spying and gathering evidence. And we had this plan for you to come over and we could study and then one of us would ask if you are dating, please don't hurt me.” Charming rushes that last part out. Stepping back to the group, signaling he was done talking.
“We did not mean for it to become a fight, but look on the bright side… you worked it out, and now everything is perfect!” Bridget speaks up. “I told you nothing could go wrong!” She looked at Charming and Ella.
Chloe and Red look at each other, before bursting out into laughter. Chloe doubles over, hands on her knees, and Red covers her mouth trying to hide her smile.
“Soo, you’re not mad?” Ella asks the two girls.
“No, no. I am a little mad, but that is so funny. You were spying on us? Who does that?” Red says, still giggling from the confession.
“My thoughts exactly.” Chloe says. “But I guess, thank you? I mean, I don’t really know what to say.” Confusion riddles her face.
“Well, isn’t this just a happy ending? We can all go to the dance together! We don’t have much time though, we have to get ready for Castlecoming!” Bridget exclaims, her excitement clear in her voice.
Red looks at Chloe, interlacing their fingers. She gives her a big smile, and says “It’s gonna be perfect.” Chloe doesn’t respond, but her face says it all. I love you so much .