Poll Results - HCLU in high school

HCLU Couples in High School –

So for this imagination exercise to work, I think that the hypothetical realities for everyone would have to be 1. Everyone realizes that they are queer in high school, and 2. All couples would be the same age as one another.

These are the things I think about in my free time…

Alas –

Brooke and Taylor: They ranked the lowest on this, which is interesting to me. I both agree and disagree:

I think that if they’d been the same age in high school, they 100% would have dated or gotten a little… messy together, at the very least. Because Brooke, as we all know, was in love with Taylor, then, whether she liked it or not (not). And Taylor in canon-ages didn’t ever look at Brooke in a sexual/romantic light until years later, given that Brooke was barely 15 when Taylor left town. BUT, if they’d been the same age?

I think Taylor would have made a move on Brooke, especially younger Taylor who was a little more reckless. And Brooke… well, I don’t think she’d have the fortitude to turn Taylor down. Not when she’d want it so much, and they were always around each other. They’d have helped soothe parts of each other in their teenage years, and for a while they would be something really positive for one another.

However, they would have ended in disaster and heart ache, because even if Taylor was madly in love with Brooke (as she would have been), there is no way she would have been able to stay in Faircombe at that age, not for anyone or anything.

Sutton and Charlotte: I think this is the lowest they’ve come in on a poll potentially… ever? Coming in at second to last, I actually love to see it. Because the reality is that I think you are all – obviously – dead on.

High school Sutton and Charlotte likely would have had crushes on one another, as their attraction to each other is palpable in every universe. Sutton was preppy and sweet, a star track runner that was friendly with just about everyone. Charlotte was popular – because she truly couldn’t be bothered by her peers and what they were doing, and people loved that energy. Ambitious and studious, she was focused on being the debate team queen, as well as running Model UN.

I can imagine them in high school potentially making out. Maybe they were both at the same party, or worked on a project together? They’d always have been in each other’s social circles, just never super close.

Sutton would have absolutely wanted to date Charlotte, post make-out. But teenage Charlotte wasn’t all that different in terms of what she wanted in her life and who she wanted to be, than TWW Charlotte. She’d never put her focus and emotional attention into a relationship, even with Sutton. Because where would that leave her?

Ellie and Mia: They are my top choice for this poll, tbh.

Ellie – I think – is the hardest sell for me to understand her sexuality at a young age. As you can imagine, she was entirely focused on academics in high school, to the point that she graduated a year early for her full ride at MIT. But I think if she’d known Mia, there might have been some recognition at an earlier age. Sure as anything, she’d have noticed Mia (who, I imagine in some high school AU would have been a new girl in Green Ridge) walking into her chem lab, and would have been attracted to her, even without knowing what that attraction was.

Mia, knowing she was queer, would have clocked Ellie immediately. Even though Mia would have been outgoing and well-liked, she’d have been very taken by Ellie. They’d have been lab partners (because Mia would have sought Ellie right out – she’d also take it very seriously to want to weed out people who were trying to get in with Ellie to use her to better their grade).

It would have been a little bit of a slow-burn, much like them as adults. Because Ellie, even knowing/understanding her crush on Mia, wouldn’t make a move. Ever. Even more shy/in her shell than she is as an adult, and Mia is super popular?! And Mia wouldn’t have any clue that Ellie liked her.

But I think that Ellie would get her gumption up at a party that Riley would throw at their house. And she’d kiss Mia. And Mia – sweet, teenage Mia, who hasn’t had her heart broken so much and had the chance to become so scared of life – would go full-steam ahead.

Ellie would still graduate early and still move to Boston, and Mia would be proud of her. And they’d have stayed together. Ellie might have tried to tell Mia that they could break up, that Mia could date other people, but Mia wouldn’t want that. She’d join Ellie, eventually.

Riley and Gianna: Coming in second on this poll… I see it.

Because, honestly, Gianna’s evolution happened when she was eighteen. If they’d met a couple years sooner, Gianna would have been a Mean Girl, and Riley would have very much not been into it. They’d never hang out and be friends, voluntarily, but if forced to work on a project together – it would have gone down very similarly.

Riley would have called Gianna out. Gianna… would have been upset and angry and haughty. But the thing about Gianna Mäkinen is that she is – fundamentally, written somewhere in her DNA – taken with Riley Jane Beckett.

I think a lot of this would hinge on Riley, and whether or not she was ready to settle in to an actual relationship in high school. Bare minimum, they would have become friends… who would slip into something deeper, at some point (as they are always meant to do).

Caroline and Hannah: The winners of the poll! And I can’t say that I disagree.

I think Caroline and Hannah would have had a quiet start, in high school. Caroline already, canonically, knew she was a lesbian. Hannah… well, she wouldn’t have struggled with her sexuality at all.

Neither of them was incredibly popular, nor were they outcasts. In high school, they both performed well academically and had a small group of friends they were close to. Neither of them were big partiers, either.

Given that Caroline and Hannah went to neighboring high schools, I think that’s how it would be in this alternate world, too. They’d have met at a football game, I think. In which Hannah was going with a few friends to support her… sort-of  almost-boyfriend (we’ll name him… Anthony). She wasn’t committed to Anthony in a relationship because she was more focused on her academics, even though Anthony was very into her.

While at the game, Hannah would meet Caroline.

Who’d be sitting in the bleachers a few rows down from Hannah, making jokes and entertaining her friends (ignoring the game, because lesbian Caroline really couldn’t care less about these guys tbh. It’s just fun to hang out with her friends on a Friday night). Hannah would find herself far more interested in watching Caroline than the game.

She is always – always – captured by Caroline’s face.

And she thinks Caroline is really amusing. Funny. Endearing. She’s listening to her stories, wishing she had a notebook so she could draw the moment. And she and Caroline would lock eyes, making Caroline falter in entertaining everyone.

They wouldn’t really meet until they both went to the concession stand, and realized they were standing next to one another in line. They’d start talking, though, and wouldn’t stop until the game was over.

Caroline would escort Hannah home, after, as they continued to talk, and they’d have exchanged phone numbers.

They’d be friends for several months, bonding about the fact that their families were both from similar socio-economic backgrounds, and that they both have big dreams and goals for the future. Bonding about the fact that neither of them really wants to date a ton (and – for some reason – they are both relieved about this fact about the other).

I think this friendship would continue until the end of their senior year, when they’d both go as each other’s “dates” to prom, not intending for it to be anything more than friendly… only, it turns out to be a lot more meaningful.

Even though they’d both remain doggedly focused on their schoolwork throughout college, they’d stay together, supporting one another, as they are both going to colleges in Boston.

I agree with the poll – these two would make it work.

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I loved this little thought exercise!