from Jessica:

(TW: mentions of sexual violence, gun violence, and bullying)

Betty sat, criss-cross applesauce, underneath the bleachers in the gym. She set down her lunch tray in front of her, taking occasional bites of today’s meal: biscuits and gravy. She thought that this was more of a breakfast food; then again, she also thought that Jared would be here by now. Disappointments happen all the time, she figured.

Surely he didn’t forget.

If he did, this wouldn’t be her first time spending the lunch period alone like this. Jared often forgot about these lunch appointments with Betty. 

“Think of them as, like, business meetings,” she would tell him.

“No need to be so formal about it, dude. It’s just for gossip anyway, right?” Jared would remark, giggling through his words.

He was right, in a way. It was just for gossip. But, for better or for worse, Betty had fallen victim to the mindset that “guys are less drama,” and Jared had become her favorite person to gossip with. 

Her favorite person, period.

No, no. That’s silly.

Betty brushed away those thoughts with a more-than-appropriate swig of some less-than-appealing chocolate milk. She cringed, both at the flavor of the milk and the thought of Jared being more than a friend. 

“Shots! Shots! Shots!”

She turned to see Jared’s lanky arm pumping the air, cheering on her milk-drinking from the other side of the gym.

“Took you long enough!” she shouted to him.

“Sorry, sorry.” He leisurely strode towards her. “My chem lab went overtime.”

Betty wished that she didn’t know that the fingers he ran through his hair meant that he was fibbing.

“No, it didn’t. You forgot, didn’t you?”

He got red. Caught in the act. “Yeah, I did. I’m sorry, Betty.” She shrugged.

“It’s whatever. It’s not like this will be one of our last times having lunch at school together, or anything.”

“Aw, Bet, don’t remind me.” 

They both went quiet for a moment. Betty’s gaze was fixed on the gym floor, tracing the free throw line that she had watched Jared score at so many times. 

“So, anyway, what’s this gossip?”

At this, her gaze wandered to him. The thoughts that she tried to drown earlier crept back up, as she studied his dark hair– specifically, the way they contrasted with his bright eyes. He waved at her, breaking her trance.

“Betty? Hellooo?” 

“Sorry– spaced out.”

“It’s fine,” he chuckled. “So, what’s up? What’s the goss?”

The goss… Betty’s face exploded with memory. “Oh, yeah!” She covered her mouth, re-remembering what she wanted to share. 

This–

This moment is what she loved with Jared. Little moments of rebellion, and excited chatter about people they kind of knew.

“It’s about Keith.”

“God, not that guy.”

That guy. Everyone called Keith “that guy.” Betty wasn’t quite sure why. Perhaps calling him “that guy” made him an “other.” Perhaps people called him “that guy” to conceal the way they truly felt about Keith. After all, no one ever said anything outright cruel about Keith. 

Until Marissa did, that is.

“Yeah, him. You remember the other day when Marissa, like, basically ruined his life in front of everyone?”

“I mean, that’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”

Betty paused, considering. She recalled the pep rally two days prior, where head-cheerleader-spoiled-brat Marissa took “random volunteers” from the crowd. 

Because, surely, it happened to be a random choice that she picked her boyfriend and Keith as the volunteers.

“Allllllright Bears! Now that we have our volunteers, here is the task. My baby– Derek–” Betty recalled Marissa’s drawn out way of saying Derek, as though she was mouthing through honey when she said it. “--will be representing our senior class. And Keith will be representing the junior class.”

She stood in the center of the gym, one boy on either side, and gestured to them as she spoke. “Now, these two will be having an arm wrestle challenge. First person to reach three points wins not only the challenge, but the entire Junior-Senior Showdown! Aaaaand, on top of that, Juniors: if your player wins, you all get senior parking for the last two weeks of the school year!”

“What?” Betty turned to Jared. “Can she even do that?”

“Who cares? Not like Keith is gonna win anyway.”

The crowd seemed to agree. The junior section let out a mix of groans and half-hearted whoops. Betty resumed her focus on the action.

“Ready players?” The two men were now in position. Derek winked at Marissa; Keith just stared ahead. No emotion. “And– go!”

The round was done almost as quickly as it began, with Derek being the victor. No surprise there. The seniors roared.

“Round two! Ready, and… Go!”

The second round provided the same outcome. However, one thing was different this time. Keith looked like he was smiling. It was only the faintest of smiles, one that no one would notice if they were cheering in the crowd. But Betty noticed. It sent a shiver down her spine.

“Match point, Bears! Alright, ready, set, go!”

At Marissa’s “go,” the cheering had already begun. But to the shock of the entire student body, Keith’s hand didn’t even waver. The gym became hushed as people took in the sight they were beholding.

That guy is gonna beat Derek.

And he did. Another round hailed the same results. The boys were 2-2.

But it wasn’t until the last round when things went south. 

Every student in the gym was out of their seats, yelling at the scene below. Even Betty– though she, admittedly, was cheering for the oppsite side. After enough rowdiness, Marissa did her routine countdown, and at “go,” the boys began their struggle. It was an even match, and the boys wrestled for what felt like an eternity. That’s when something happened. Keith’s mouth moved, entirely inaudible to the crowd. In the same moment, Derek’s hand collapsed. Everyone watched in silenced awe. We waited for Marissa to give the typical congratulations, but she was in shock too. Then, a shriek arose. From Derek.

“Oh my god! Get him away from me!” 

A wave of confusion wafted through the bleachers. We watched as Derek rose from his seat and backed away, as though Keith was not a person anymore but a creature.

“I can’t believe he would say that to you, Marissa!”

What happened next is what Betty called “the look.” Jared called it bullshit, but Betty knew what she saw: Derek nodding to Marissa, like a director queuing an actor to begin a line. Then the waterworks began.

“Yes!” Marissa cried, “Oh my god! He’s a monster.”

From that point on, chaos ensued. Teachers swarmed to the action, people in the stands were whispering and ogling, and Keith was being escorted by a teacher. He was totally silent, except for one statement: “All I said was ‘You’re going down.’”

Marissa tweeted later on that Keith threatened to rape her if he didn’t win the arm wrestle. Keith claimed he never said a word to her.

Even the teachers didn’t believe him. They sent him home for the rest of the school year. Suspended indefinitely. The story even made local news. “Pep Rally Gone Wrong Breeds Evil Rapist?”

“I mean, he threatened her. She’s rightfully scared.” 

Jared’s voice brought Betty back to reality. 

“He didn’t, though.” Betty looked at Jared. “Marissa said that she didn’t even talk to Keith. She said Derek is the one who told her that.”

“Well, Derek, Marissa, does it make a difference?” Jared shrugged. “Keith still seems like a bad guy to me.”

“I don’t know. I guess… I just feel like there’s a possibility that Derek couldn’t risk losing a stupid competition to the weird kid, so he came up with this drastic lie.”

“I mean, it’s possible. But a little far-fetched, don’t you think? Besides, Marissa wouldn’t lie about something like that. She’s nice.”

At this, Betty’s eyes flickered away. “Nice? Do you even know her?”

“Yeah, a little bit. We’ve had study dates.”

Betty’s stomach churned. Dates. She pushed away her tray. Suddenly she had lost her appetite.

“Study dates? Pretty sure a nice girl wouldn’t go on study dates when she has a boyfriend.”

“Well, date was just a figure of speech, I guess.” A silence. She relaxes. “I wouldn’t mind to tap that though, am I right?” 

The relaxation passes.

“You want to fuck Marissa?”

“I mean, she’s hot.” Jared waits for Betty to respond. She doesn’t. “So, yeah.”

Betty’s phone dings. A text. She is more grateful for a distraction from Jared than she ever has been. She glances at her screen to see a text from her friend.

from Jessica:

did u hear what Keith said hes gonna do?

“I thought we had a no phones rule?”

Betty looks up. Jared is smiling his classic smile at her. She forgets what she was even upset about.

“Sorry. Got a weird text.” She tosses her phone aside as a sign of loyalty to Jared’s attention. “What were we talking about?”

“Marissa.”

“Oh.” Bitch. “Right. Anyway, did you have any gossip to share?”

Jared bites his lip in thought. “Um… Well, I did make oobleck today.”

Betty giggles.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, just… That’s your gossip?”

He smiles. “Yeah, something wrong with that?”

“No, no, it’s just… We have less than two weeks until graduation, and the craziest thing you have to share is that you made oobleck.”

They sit and laugh. Jared has a moment of realization. “Oh, yeah, I guess that’s not the craziest thing that happened.”

“Okay…”

“But you have to promise not to get mad.”

Betty’s stomach churns again. “Okay?”

Jared clears his throat. “So, it’s like, not a big deal or anything, but, um… Well, you know how we were at Jessica’s the other night?”

“Uh huh.”

“Yeah, and we all got a little tipsy, and, well, I guess I got drunker than everyone else, and I didn’t wanna drive home so… I stayed the night.”

“Right.”

“Yeah, and, well, I didn’t wanna sleep on the couch, ‘cause I didn’t wanna deal with Jessica’s family in the morning so I… slept in her room.”

“Oh yeah, I love her room. She’s had the same theme since we were in middle school and it’s so nostalgic.”

“Yeah, yeah, her room is dope.”

“Yeah.” They pause. Betty cocks her head to the side. “So what’s the gossip?”

“Well… I slept in her bed.”

A moment. “Okay.”

“And we might have done more than sleep.”

Betty’s heart stops.

“What?”

“Please, don’t freak out, Bet.”

Betty stands up. “Oh, yeah, I won’t freak out. Why would someone freak out when they hear that their two best friends hooked up with each other?”

She could feel the tears stinging in her eyes. She began to walk away– partially so that Jared wouldn’t see her face, partially because she didn’t know what else to do.

Mostly because her tears, and her jealousy, confirmed what she had been fearing all along. 

Jared was quick to follow her. “Betty, please– I was drunk, and nothing is weird, and it’s over now–”

“Well it’s weird for me!” She spun around to face him. She wasn’t prepared for how sorry his eyes would look. Still, the envy inside of her wouldn’t back down so easily.

“I’m sorry, Betty. I wish I could take it back.”

“Me too. But it’s too late now. There’s only two weeks left of school anyway.” She resumed her exit, and all she could focus on was the echo of her feet slamming on the dirty gym floor. She was so focused that she almost tripped when Jared grabbed her arm.

“Isn’t that more reason to stay so we can finish our lunch?”

Begrudgingly, she turned around once more. “Whatever, Jare. I know you don’t even care about these lunches anyway.”

“What? Yes, I do.”

“No, you don’t! And it’s fine!” The tears swelled up again. “I don’t even care that you forgot! And I don’t even care that you fucked Jessica because, you know what? We’re just friends! Friends don’t care about that kind of thing!”

Ding!

Another text. Betty looks past Jared to see her phone where she left it, on the ground. She brushes past him to crouch underneath the bleachers, reaching for her phone. Jared follows behind her, again.

“Yeah, maybe, but we’re more than friends, Bet.”

Shock ripples throughout Betty’s body.

“Then wha– ow!”

Betty yanks her head up, only to hit it on a bleacher.

“Oh, man, are you okay?”

Jared reaches for Betty’s head and brings her closer to him. She looks down; whether it’s the head pain or the heart pain, something is beckoning the tears out of her eyes. Jared rubs Betty’s head.

“There’s a bump for sure. We ought to go to the nurse.” 

Betty sniffles. “Okay.”

“Hey,” he says, moving his hand from Betty’s head to her cheek. He lifts up her face to his, and it’s in this moment that Betty realizes how much taller he has become. When they first became friends, he was inches shorter than her. But now? Well, she would have to look up to kiss him, that’s for sure. “You okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” she coos, quietly. “Except one thing.” Betty is taken aback by her own voice. Is she about to ask it, out loud?

“What is it?”

Another ding alerts on Betty’s phone. But she can’t look at it– not now. Not with Jared’s eyes looking into hers with such care.

“You said we were more than friends. What are we, then?”

Jared falters. Another ding. They ignore it. “B- Best friends, right?”

Betty laughs at his hesitation. “You sound unsure.”

“Yeah, a little bit.” His hands move from Betty’s face to the back of her neck. “Just because I’m not sure that best friends want to do this.”

And then, it happened. The thing that Betty didn’t even know she was waiting for. A kiss. The best news she could have asked for– Jared’s nonverbal signature stating, I love you. Or, at least, I like you a lot.

It felt like a movie. The churning of her stomach gave birth to butterflies, and the orchestra decided to switch the score up from echoing footsteps to the dinging of Betty’s phone and

gunshots?

The two broke away from each other. They were so intertwined in each other’s world that they didn’t even register what they had heard until they heard it again.

Betty’s head began to pound.

“Jared? What is that?”

“I– I don’t know.”

They stand, frozen.

Another shot, followed by the frantic ding of Betty’s phone.

Shakily, while wrapped in Jared’s arms, Betty pulls out her phone to receive the worst news she could have asked for.

from Jessica: 

he has a gun. run away