While their shared past not being the nicest one was one of the biggest understatements, they had been on surprisingly civil terms since attending this school. Which was why the thought of Abigail breaking down crying in the middle of the hallway and ruining her own reputation actually made Rhonda feel bad for once. And so for the first time in her life, Rhonda Martinez made it her task to actually protect Abigail's dignity.
Unfortunately the best place to do so was their shared dorm room. After yesterday she definitely didn't want to try empty classrooms again. Using her wings as a cover for Abigail just in case, Rhonda slowly and carefully waddled the two of them to their room. Luckily nobody came across them on their way back to the dorms and Rhonda’s extra arms proved quite useful in opening the door without releasing Abigail from the embrace.
They sat down on Abigail’s bed, where the rubber dracomorph continued bawling into Rhonda’s uniform. The latina wondered what happened while her and May were out that so much water had built up in Abigail. She felt a bit out of her element. Comforting sad people had never been her strong suit. Well, she was better at it than Sofia, but that wasn't a high bar.
As the frequency of sobs decreased, Rhonda finally got her chance to talk. “How about you tell me what happened?”
Abigail took a few more moments to compose herself enough to talk… as well as blow her nose on Rhonda’s sleeve. (If it wasn't for the current situation, she would have been amazed by the snot just pearling off their skins.)
“Yesterday was… absolutely awful,” Abigail finally managed to speak, still broken up by stray sniffs and sobs. “I’m surprised you haven't heard about it already. After I left, I tried my best to convince the principal to turn me back… but she wouldn't do it. Said the same stuff as just now. So when I went to lunch break… and had to face most of the student body… I went from high class to laughing stock in one fell swoop. It-It-It was one of the worst moments of my life. All because I helped you.”
Unfortunately Rhonda could relate quite a lot. Embarrassing yourself in front of everyone was something she was way too used to. Still, she wouldn't even wish this feeling on her worst enemy. Proof of that was still holding onto her like a lifeline.
“Somehow news of that reached my family… probably one of these snobs I tried to butter up to. And when she called…”
Abigail never finished this sentence. Her sobbing increasing in intensity again was all Rhonda needed to understand.
As she contemplated how to react, Rhonda came to an important realization. She knew almost nothing about her long-time rival. She did remember that Abigail was the shoot of a connection between two powerful magic bloodlines, the Stanhopes and the Rochesters. The way it was worded already made her doubt the amount of love involved. And that was already it. Sofia probably mentioned more at several points, but even more likely the latina didn't even process them due to having her own issues to deal with, usually unwanted body parts.
It was a weird thing to notice. Technically Rhonda knew Abigail even longer than Sofia, the latter having been transferred partway through primary school. They never really interacted much till that point, but once Sofia joined, their rivalry soon developed and with it lots and lots of magical incidents and adventures.
Abigail herself had also always been rather tight-lipped about her family life, aside from using either of her names for any advantage she could get. In fact, this was the first time Rhonda had ever seen any member of Abigail's family. Even when a magical mishap had left them unable to let go of each other's hands, Abigail rather joined the Martinez family on their camping weekend without objections than have Rhonda get a glimpse of their estate’s interior (exasperated by the fact Rhonda herself didn't want to join either and was ready to abuse that excuse). Abigail’s parents also never appeared to any of the parent conferences in their previous schools according to her own mother, which in retrospect might say something about their opinion on mortals.
“How?” Abigail's voice broke Rhonda out of her thoughts. Shit, she was supposed to comfort her. “How do you do this?”
“What do you mean?”
“You're so… nice and friendly… and honest to everyone,” Abigail said between sobs. “And ever since we came to this school, fate seems to reward you for it. How can you be so… goddamn… perfect…”
“Oh… uh…” Understandably blindsided Rhonda just followed up with the first thing that came to her mind. “I’m not perfect. I constantly make mistakes.”
While the majority of the sobbing had stopped at this point, Abigail’s voice was still very shaky. “And modest too… You have no qualms about putting your own wellbeing on the line for others. Secretly, I admired you for that. Always did… Meanwhile I am just despicable. The prissy bitch that always tried to ruin your life. At the start of this week I electroshocked you, just to prove a point. Go back to doll– May… even mole people can see how much you’re crushing on each other. I don't deserve your sympathy.”
Rhonda carefully considered her words for a moment. “It's my decision where I put my sympathy. And right now I think you need it the most.”
Abigail laughed. It wasn't the spiteful ojou-sama laugh Rhonda was used to from her, but a dry and hollow chuckle. ”Did you know that I've wanted to be friends with you since our eyes first met? I can't really explain why, I just felt you were something special. But my parents didn't want me to socialize with mortals and when you then ended up friends with another witch, I grew jealous and you know perfectly well how that ended up going. When I was old enough to realize what I was doing, it was already too late for me to break this cycle. I like to imagine there's an alternative timeline out there where we actually became friends and I didn't turn into this bitch.”
“If you really want to, I don't think it's too late.” The words were flowing out of Rhonda’s mouth without thinking. “You can still become a decent person, if you really want to.”
“It's not that easy. I chose to put on this damn mask and now it’s fused to my face. Enjoy this glimpse of my real face… I forgot what it looked like long ago. I did so much awful stuff to you. I’m probably unsalvageable. Unless…”
Slowly one of Abigail's arms holding her wand was rising behind Rhonda’s back. Just as slowly and more carefully one of Rhonda's extra arms pushed it back down.
“Sorry, I need at least three dates before I consider merging,” Rhonda said softly.
Abigail responded with another dry chuckle. “Then let me at least enjoy this a little bit longer.” With some squeaking between their bodies she then nuzzled deeper into the crook of Rhonda’s neck. “I’m glad the red hair stuck, it really does fit you,” Rhonda could hear her mumble before they descended into comfortable silence.
Rhonda herself had a lot on her mind. Abigail had deceived her… more times than she'd like to admit. But this time felt different, more genuine. They knew each other for so long and despite that she'd never seen anything even close to what she just experienced. Could Rhonda get herself to forgive Abigail and potentially put a rest to this stupid rivalry? Or was she just caught up in the moment, as she tended to be? Only time could tell.