A/N Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

CHAPTER 23: CLAIRE <3s JANE !

❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Love is in the air at Greendale Community College.

Well, and so is snow. It's a cold, bitter January in Colorado. But Claire feels like she's walking on sunshine.

She's kept a secret for months...she has a girlfriend. A beautiful, perfect, wonderful girlfriend named Jane.

Jane goes to City College. She's another ex-cheerleader from Claire's rival high school. Jane has reddish-orange hair and purple glasses, and she loves to paint. She has a birthmark shaped like Wisconsin on her left elbow and always smells like violets.

Claire thinks she's perfect. Well, as perfect as a human being (a physical one, not a Greendale one) can be.

However, Claire's friends don't know about Jane. In fact, Claire's not even out to them yet. She knows she needs to rip the bandage off and just tell them, but the way her high school friends had reacted to the news left a bad taste in her mouth. She isn't keen to relive the experience with her new Greendale friends, especially because she really, really liked hanging out with them. What if she showed her true self, and they shunned her for it?

Claire plans to tell them soon. Soon-ish. One day, eventually.

For now, Claire hides her relationship. She tells her study group she's hanging out with Rodrick, and then meets Jane at the movies. She wears headphones when they video chat. She hasn't even posted couple photos on social media, even though she's DYING to because how CUTE did they look in their matching Christmas sweaters?!

Jane knows Claire's not out to her friends and doesn't pressure her to come out. However, she can't help but be a little hurt when they're holding hands at the mall and, suddenly, Claire dives into a Hot Topic and hides in the clearance rack.

"Uh, babe?" Jane asks, parting the pleather jackets and band tees to see Claire cowering in the back corner. "What are you doing?"

"I saw Ezra!" Claire squeaks. "He can't keep a secret. If he sees us together, he'll tell everyone!"

"Didn't you say he's super sweet?"

"I said he's a SUPER DWEEB. And he's uber-religious! He could be close-minded."

Claire peeks out of the rack and points out Ezra, walking alone and carrying a Pacsun shopping bag.

"And he shops at Pacsun! Barf."

Jane frowns.

"Hey! I shop at Pacsun!"

Claire pales.

"Uh..."

Jane breaks into a grin.

"Kidding. But seriously, can you get out of the clearance rack? People are starting to stare."

Claire shyly steps out of the clothing rack and exits Hot Topic. Ezra's far enough ahead, and Claire visibly relaxes.

She reaches out for Jane's hand.

"Sorry about that," Claire says, apologizing profusely. "Let's just keep walking."

Jane hesitates before lacing her fingers with Claire's.

"All right," Jane says. "But, just so you know, I can't keep fishing you out of hiding spots."

"I know," Claire says with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I'm just...I can't tell them yet."

Jane reassuringly squeezes her hand.

"And that's totally fine," she says kindly. "C'mon, let's get to the movie."

💕💕💕

It's a new semester.

A new Valentine's Day approaches. It will be Claire's first Valentine's Day in a real relationship, and she wants to do something big and special for Jane.

After three more close calls-causing Claire to dive into bushes, behind trash cans, and into the trunk of the Dean's car-she decides maybe it's time to come out to her friends.

She consults her best friend Rodrick for advice. They meet at the yogurt shop in the mall.

"If you want to, then you should," Rodrick says, swirling his froyo with a plastic spoon. "But only do it if you're ready."

"I don't know if I am," she admits. "But I'm afraid Jane is self-conscious...I keep hiding when I see any of my friends in public. She probably thinks I'm embarrassed of her!"

"She seems pretty self-assured," Rodrick says. "I'm sure she's fine."

"I want to be as self-assured as she is," Claire says wistfully. "But people were so horrible to me in high school. To us!"

"Who cares about those plebeians?" Rodrick says with a scoff. "They're intolerant freaks. We're amazing. And we shouldn't be afraid to show our true selves."

Claire nods.

"Yeah, you're right," she says. "I should just do it. Just come right out, and tell them. Then, I can invite Jane to the Valentine's Dance as my official date."

"And if they don't respect you," Rodrick adds, "drop them."

Claire's palms sweat a bit at the thought, but she pushes aside insecurity.

"Exactly!" she says. "Maybe I'll just do it tomorrow. Before I change my mind!"

Unfortunately, Claire was unable to do so. She enters the study room, and everyone is whispering in hushed tones, looking morose.

"Um, hello?" Claire says. "Who died?"

Ezra's face crumples up, and he begins to wail.

"Way to go!" Dylan hisses.

Claire gasps.

"Oh no!" she says. "I'm so sorry, Ezra. What happened?"

"It's...it's Dale!" Ezra moans.

"Dale? Oh God, is that one of your brothers?"

Ezra shakes his head.

"My lizard!" he moans, throwing his head on the desk.

Claire, still confused, turns to Riwa.

"Um, what?" she whispers.

"His lizard died this morning," Riwa says quietly. "He's pretty upset...as you can tell."

"Oh no!" Claire says, rushing over to Ezra and patting his shoulder. "I'm so so sorry."

"He lived a good, long life," Abbi said kindly. "And now, Dale is in a better place."

"For sure," Dylan says.

"I hope so," Ezra says sadly. "Luna? You hunt ghosts. Do lizards have spirits? Do they live in heaven?"

Luna nods solemnly.

"Absolutely."

Ezra smiles sadly and looks back at his feet.

Luna makes eye contact with Claire and shakes her head, "No." When Ezra looks up again, Luna stills and beams at him.

I can't come out to them right now! Claire thinks. Ezra is in mourning. I'll do it tomorrow.

But the next day was Dale's funeral, and the day after that was his celebration of life party.

The day after that, Claire tries again.

"So," she says, interrupting the tense silence as the group flips through biology notecards. "Valentine's Day is coming up. A time to be with people we love..."

"EEEEK!" Abbi squeaks. At first Claire assumes it's of excitement because of the aforementioned holiday.

Until Dylan squeals just as loud.

"SOMETHING RAN ACROSS MY FOOT!" he screams in a falsetto.

Claire feels it too and yelps.

The six of them race out of their study room, and notice similar squeaky, fearful behavior from the rest of the students in the library.

"No need to panic!" the Dean shouts, racing into the room wearing a Victorian ballgown, for some reason. "Some mice escaped the biology lab..."

Tiny white mice squeak and shuffle through the library, barreling over people's feet and startling everyone.

The library goes on lockdown for a few days until all the mice can be rounded up-and the lockdown gets extended when one of the mice has a litter of babies behind the encyclopedias.

At this point, the dance is one week away. Claire wonders if she should come out over text.

I could send it in a voice memo, she thinks. Just get it over with.

But even she knows that's not how she wants it to go down. It's taken some time to feel this way, but she's proud of her identity. She's tired of hiding the truth from her friends and tired of worrying about what they might think. Enough is enough.

Claire makes the decision that she's inviting Jane to the dance, no matter what. That will be her official coming-out-her first Greendale College night out with her beautiful, amazing girlfriend.

Claire, knowing how much Jane appreciates art, goes to the Paint-A-Plate store with plans to write, "Will you go to the dance with me?" in beautiful calligraphy on a handcrafted plate.

Unfortunately, Claire overestimates her artistic ability and the usefulness of the cheap Paint-A-Plate brushes. She ends up with a baby-pink plate with the words "V-DAY DANCE?" sloppily written in harried brushstrokes across the front.

Claire nervously presents the plate to Jane at the corner booth of an Applebee's while on a date. She's worried Jane will laugh at her pitiful attempts to be crafty.

However, Jane loves the gesture.

"This is so cute!" she says. "And I'd love to go to the dance with you."

Claire grins.

"Oh, good!" she says. "I can't wait. We'll wear matching dresses, and you can meet my friends. I think you all will get along."

"So you told your study group about me?" Jane asks, batting her eyelashes. "Are they excited to meet me?"

Claire clears her throat and fidgets in the plastic, uncomfortable booth.

Jane suddenly frowns.

"Wait, you still haven't come out to them?" she asks.

It's not an accusatory question; she's just surprised.

Claire huffs and crosses her arms.

"I couldn't!" Claire says. "First, Ezra's lizard died, and we had to be sad about it for half a week. Then, we couldn't study together because of Mouse-Gate-"

"Mouse-WHAT?!"

"-and any other time I was about to bring it up, I chickened out!" Claire finishes. She sighs overdramatically, smacking her forehead with her palm. "That's all I am, a big coward."

"Not at all," Jane says. She gently holds Claire's hand in her own. "I know that this isn't an easy thing to do. And if you aren't ready to come out, I can just come to the dance with you as your 'friend' from City College...as long as 'friends' are allowed to gaze into each other's eyes and slow-dance."

Claire's heart swells. Jane's so understanding, and kind...and Claire doesn't want to hide her love for her from the world anymore.

"Jane, you're seriously the best," Claire says, squeezing her hand back. "And I want you to come to the dance as my girlfriend. Not my friend, my girlfriend. Who cares what anyone thinks? If my friends are really my friends, they'll accept me. And you."

Jane smiles.

"You're absolutely right," she says. "Now, what were you saying about matching dresses..."

👗👗👗

The Valentine's Day dance arrives.

Claire and Jane walk arm-in-arm across the quad toward the cafeteria. Their matching sundresses are complementary colors-Jane is wearing a brilliant shade of royal blue, and Claire's in a burnt orange that would put the Grand Canyon to shame.

Claire expected to feel nervous, but she doesn't anticipate feeling quite so many butterflies in her stomach. Her confidence grows when she remembers how hot they look.

Still, that doesn't stop her from nervously chittering like a baby bird.

"I'm so excited," Claire babbles. "Are you excited? Cause I am. Oh gee, should we have pregamed? I'm feeling like we should have pregamed."

"Claire..."

"Is it hot out here, or is it just me? Ha! I didn't mean it like that."

"Claire, babe, are you spiraling?"

"What? No!"

"Are you getting cold feet? Because we can totally blow off this dance and hit up In-N-Out instead. Doesn't your Dean throw, like, three dances a month? We can just come to the next one."

Claire considers the (tasty) alternative, but shakes her head.

"Nope," she says. "Today, we are going to the dance. And we're going to dance, and laugh, and hold hands, and have fun."

"Aye aye, Captain Claire!" Jane jokes. "Let's get in there."

They enter the cafeteria, and immediately spot the study groups.

Abbi and Ezra are dancing wildly to the upbeat song bouncing through the speakers. Dylan and Riwa chat and sip punch around the edge of the dance floor with Steven and his wife Sophie.

Randy is dancing by himself, looking happier than Claire's ever seen him. Jared and Eve are on the dance floor too, but instead of dancing, they're passionately making out.

Leila watches with a stormy look on her face as Abed and Troy relentlessly flirt with the sexy librarian.

Luna hovers nearby, holding a spirit box meant to communicate with the dead. She seems to be conversing with her ghost husband, Nikola Tesla. Troian tries to eavesdrop, unsuccessfully.

Claire tries to get her friends' attention by waving and clapping her hands.

"Hello, everyone!" she says, arm still linked with Jane's. "Can I have your attention, please?"

All of her friends, except Eve and Jared, stop what they're doing and greet Claire.

"Hey, Claire!" Abbi says. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Hey there!" Dylan says, nodding at Claire and smiling at Jane. "Who's your friend?"

Claire clears her throat loudly. Eve and Jared sheepishly separate.

"Thank you," she says. "Everyone, I have an announcement."

Randy gasps and points dramatically.

"You're dying!"

Everyone in the group gasps as well.

Claire huffs.

"Shut up, Randy! No, that's not it."

"She's dying!" Randy says, pointing at Jane now.

"Oh shit, I am?" Jane says, pretending to feel for a racing heartbeat. "I better go lay down."

Claire ignores Jane's quip (and Randy's stupidity, which is hard to do).

"No. We're both very much alive...and healthy...and happy."

Claire's friends stare, still not quite getting it.

"Happy...together."

Leila instinctively hums a few notes of the popular song of the same name, causing Troian to elbow her in the ribs.

"Because she's my girlfriend!" Claire blurts out. "And she has been, for a while. Surprise!"

She braces herself for the worst of the worst reactions: gasping, hollering, taunts, passive-aggressive quips, etc etc.

None of the above happens.

Actually, the response is almost underwhelming. Everyone pretty much just nods, and smiles.

"Cool!" Dylan says. "Can I get either of you some punch?"

"Wait, that's it?" Claire says.

"What's it?" Steven asks.

"You're not shocked, or angry?" Claire asks. "You're not going to tell me it's 'just a phase'? You're not going to shun me, or kick me out of the group?"

"Jesus! Do you think we're monsters or something?" Ezra says.

"No!" Claire says. "I just...when I came out at my old school, it was bad. Really bad. So I was worried...I don't know."

"Well, we aren't your old friends," Riwa says kindly. "It's lovely to meet you, Jane."

"Thanks," Jane says. "It's nice to meet you all, too. Claire's told me so much about you all."

"All bad things, I hope," Luna says with a slightly evil grin.

Jane squints, trying to meet a name to the face.

"Let me guess, you're Luna?"

"How'd you know?"

Jane and Claire un-link arms as Jane goes around to each of her friends, talking to them one-on-one and getting to know everyone. Claire watches as her girlfriend mingles with her friends, and it feels like it's meant to be.

Eve wanders over and taps Claire on the shoulder.

"Working in the front office has its perks," Eve says. "One of those perks is that I have a set of keys to all the rooms in the school, and I can get my club into the best ones."

Claire squints her eyes, confused.

"Um, what club?"

Eve hands Claire a tiny business card adorned with a rainbow smiley face. The card reads:

"THE LGBTQIA+ ASSOCIATION OF GREENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: BE GAY, DO CRIMES!"

"You don't actually have to do crimes to join," Eve adds. "It was just something funny for the posters."

Claire takes notice of a small purple, blue, and pink flag pin on the lapel of Eve's sparkly jacket: the bisexual pride flag.

"Don't feel pressure to come to the meetings," Eve adds. "But you're always welcome."

"Thanks, Eve," Claire says with a smile. "I'll keep this in mind."

She tucks the business card into the pocket of her dress as a slow song starts to play.

Claire feels like she's floating as Jane grabs her arm and pulls her to the dance floor. They hold each other close and spin around in circles under the colorful lights.

{Posted June 18th, 2021}

A/N HAPPY PRIDE!!!

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I missed my Human Beings. Writing for them again was fun! I also missed posting new chapters at 11:30 at night-it's my brand.

QOTD: Which Human Being would be your Valentine (platonic, romantic, or both)? I choose Troy! :)