Reality Check

Three Years Later

A/N - hey! For anyone who's a story thieves fan who's reading this first chapter, if you're confused about the story just make sure to go to the authors note at the beginning of my fanfic!!

New Person, Same Old Mistakes (by Tame Impala)

"Feel like a brand new person, but you make the same old mistakes . . ."

___

"Bethany . . . earth to Bethany . . ."

A voice echoed in fifteen-year-old Bethany Sanderson's head, repeating the same words over and over. It was tempting to snap out of her daze, but she didn't give in until another sharp noise jolted her awake. Her eyes flew open and she sat up abruptly in her desk, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

"Bethany!" her tenth grade English teacher, Mr. Tompkins scolded. Although he seemed annoyed, there was the hint of an undeniably amused look on his face. "Taking a snooze?"

The class giggled. Bethany lifted her hand to wipe her mouth where some droll had formed. A sick feeling grew in the pit of her stomach, causing her palms to sweat and body to overheat. Flushing, she met the eyes of her teacher with an apologetic look.

"S-Sorry," Bethany said. She straightened herself up, exchanging looks with her laughing classmates. It wasn't the first time she'd fallen asleep in class. In fact, she had done it numerous times throughout her life, but not as much as she used to. It wasn't her fault she liked reading late at night, was it?

"You didn't strike me as a droller," a popular and very obnoxious boy, Ross Clarke, said. Bethany despised him, and she had a good reason for it. Once, she caught him ripping pages out of books in the school library to get on the librarian's nerves. According to her, something was deeply wrong with him. She gave him a smoldering glare. It did little but make her classmates laugh more. Ugh.

"Turn to chapter five," Mr. Tompkins said, drawing the attention of the students back to him. "We'll now discuss the patterns between man and monster as the creature is introduced to the story."

Trying very hard to ignore the glances her classmates stole, she opened her book, Frankenstein, to the correct page and followed along with the class.

___

"You have to admit, it was hilarious," Bethany's friend, Liz, said.

Liz had been held back a year in kindergarten, making her one of the eldest kids in the tenth grade, as she would be turning seventeen in April. Bethany and she had become friends in freshman year, and they both shared an equal love for books. Despite that one similarity, however, their personalities were completely different. Bethany found herself often surprised that her only friend in the world was a bubbly, hopeless romantic girl. She was the exact opposite of that.

Bethany lightly punched her in the arm, trying not to smile. "It wasn't hilarious. It was embarrassing!"

Her friend snorted. "You should be used to it by now. You always fall asleep when we read Frankenstein. And you're like, way more obsessed with books than me. You shouldn't be falling asleep at all!"

She rolled her eyes, a grin forming on her face as she hitched her backpack up higher on her shoulders. "What's not to be bored about it?"

Walking to the library was a common hobby they'd both gotten used to. Bethany had always had an intense, undying love for books, so when she and Liz met, it was destiny. Liz loved reading (not as much compared to Bethany, however), and was at the library as often as Bethany. They normally walked there after school to do homework. Needless to say, it was Bethany's favorite part of the day.