The Lady Gaga Principle

"You know its fate."

"Um Hailey, hate to break it to you, but fate isn't real."

"Then how do you explain the tall drink of water, who is the only guy you've noticed since the breakup, being your neighbor?"

"Coincidence."

"Fate."

"Ray, help me out here."

Magenta, Hailey and Rayette were in the produce section of the local supermarket. While her friends argued, Rayette took subtle sips from her pink flask and glared at the lettuce. It had been an hour since the re-meeting. Magenta now knew his name, and that he was a physicist, as was his roommate. They had spent a while talking, forced by Hailey. Magenta had mentioned her need to get to the store, and Hailey, along with Penny, who had randomly popped up, decided that a welcome party would be nice. It would be held at Penny's. Neither Magenta nor Sheldon was too happy about that. But peer pressure was a powerful thing.

"You have to re-vamp your whole way of thinking," Rayette said. "If you had done that a long time ago, you wouldn't be a virgin at 25."

"Rayette! What the hell is wrong with you?" Magenta hissed. "You can't just yell that."

"Sorry. But its true," Rayette pouted.

"So? I just haven't met the right guy yet," Magenta said.

"And this Shelfish-" Rayette began.

"Sheldon," Hailey corrected

"Sheldon could be that guy. Hey, he could have read some of your stuff."

Magenta was a graphic novelist. She had done a few superhero one-shots for D.C and was a co-artist on the Grim Fairy Tales 2.0 series, which took a dark, modern twist on fairy tales. She was also working on a three issue Halloween story. It was the response to all the fanfiction where Michael Myers found love. She doubted that Sheldon read horror, which was what most of her work was filed under.

"Probably not," Magenta said.

"You are such a downer Mags," Hailey said. "And enough for you." She took away Rayette's flask.

Xxx

It took a lot of convincing to get Sheldon to come to the party. Most of it had been Penny. He really didn't want to go and had done all he could to stay home. It wasn't personal. It was Halo night and he wanted to play. But everyone else had decided that a party would be much more fun. And since Sheldon did not feel like playing alone, he gave in and decided to go just because it was polite. And so Penny would stop badgering him. Magenta seemed like a worthy neighbor. Their initial conversation had gone well. Unlike her friends, she did not seem vapid. They could get along.

At 8:00 he went across the hall. Raj was talking to the brunette, who was drinking a beer. The blond was at the kitchen counter, making what appeared to be trail mix.

"Hey, look, its tall guy!" Rayette crowed, raising her beer bottle. "Where's Mags?"

Sheldon found her in the corner, watching the festivities with an amused look on her face. She wore jeans and a faded Catwoman t-shirt. By coincidence, Sheldon wore a Batman t-shirt from the same line. Leonard soon abandoned him to talk to Penny. So Sheldon went up to her.

"Oh hi," she said brightly.

"Hello," he said.

"So…enjoying the party?"

"I have not been here long enough to draw a conclusion."

"Fair enough."

There was an awkward silence. Magenta drank her soda while Sheldon mentally ran through all the social advice Penny had given him. Ask her a question rang in his head.

"Why are you named for a color?"

"My birth mother was a fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Magenta is a character. She's a rather deranged domestic." Another pause. "If you want, we could watch it sometime."

Before he could answer, the stereo seemed to explode. Sheldon's hands flew to his ears and Magenta jumped back, hitting the wall.

"Sorry!" Penny said. A moment later, music began to play.

Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin
Singing songs about the Southland

That got a loud 'whoo' from Rayette, who nearly ran Raj over in her attempt to get to the middle of the room so she could dance.

"Dance with me Mags!" she screamed.

"I'll be right back," she said. "Promise."