Across From Me

Eight

Beth relaxed on the couch later that day. The school day was as average as ever, and Beth noticed that people were staring at the pair less. She knew full well of the rumors that spread around for a little while after they had become friends, but there was always new drama and new rumors that people talked about. Clementine was old news.

There was a loud slamming of the front door, and a few loud voices bidding each other goodbye. Violet was home. Perhaps Beth could ask her about being a more social person or understanding people better. It's not like she was expecting to get a good answer, she just wanted to know how her sister did it sometimes.

Violet basically dragged her feet into the living room. She was drained, her lips turned down into a frown, and her eyes drooped. Violet fell onto the couch, put her arm over her face, and sighed. Beth looked at her, noticing her clothes were dirty, and that one of her tights was torn. It isn't like it was hard to do that, those things were basically paper, still, Beth worried. She knew Violet's friends, they were good people, yet sometimes, Beth couldn't push away the feeling they might have been getting into something they shouldn't have.

The friend Violet was saying goodbye to at the door. She had known him for years, and all Beth knew about him was that his name was Adrian and that he was a sarcastic son of a bitch with dark hair. He had been around all the time, he and Violet having known each other since they were in elementary school. Beth had been noticing a change about the both of them, though, they were going in different directions. Violet was more outgoing and ready to accept change, while Adrian was the opposite. And yet they were still as good of friends as ever.

Beth sighs, eventually scooting closer to her sister, picking her legs up and moving them out of the way. Violet sat up a little, giving her a look, and Beth took the opportunity to ask her, "You alright?"

Violet sighed heavily once more and let her head fall back, eventually, Beth heard the smallest of voices, "No I'm not," Beth waited for Violet to continue, and the silence between them passed until Violet finally explained, "My friends are being shitty right now."

"That's how friends are sometimes," Beth said in response, and Violet groaned, frustrated at the lack of response or sympathy on Beth's behalf. But in all honesty, with all that Beth had been going through the past few weeks and middle school, she did feel bad for her sister, but she had a hard time showing that.

Violet finally sat up straight, facing Beth, "I know that, but sometimes I wish people didn't make a big deal out of nothing."

Beth was curious, she knew that it would probably be invasive to ask exactly what had happened, but it was her sister, "Well what happened exactly?"

Violet seemed to revive with a new rage, moving a little closer and grabbing a blanket, "Okay so here's what happened," She began, "Okay so I went out with Adrian as usual y'know? And we were just out walking his dog and everything when this girl who he maybe has had two conversations with came up to him and got super angry and in his face about how he's an asshole," She takes a breath and steadies herself, "And then I realize holy shit! That's Nathan's girlfriend! Y'know, the Asian guy with beautiful skin? Anyways, I'm naturally confused and Adrian looks weirded out too. When he finally interrupts her and asks her what the hell she's on about, she goes on and explains that Adrian is an ass for coming onto her when she has a boyfriend. What you don't know about Adrian is that he's dating someone, and a boy at that, so when Adrian explains that to her, she gets even angrier! Yelling about how he's a bad boyfriend. What's funny about all that is that Nathan is friends with HIS boyfriend, and Nathan knows that Adrian is a good guy. So we eventually tell her to go and fuck off and I'm texting Nathan about this whole thing. And Nathan texts me back telling me HE BROKE UP WITH HER!" She's breathless by the time she finishes, her face red with anger.

"Wow..." Is the only thing Beth manages. She doesn't know many of those people, but damn was that something to deal with.

"Yeah. And I think it's so stupid this girl jumped to such conclusions cuz Adrian is just a friendly guy," Beth almost scoffed, because Adrian was nice, but he wasn't outgoing in any way. But she did agree with her sister, that the whole situation was a mess.

"So why'd he break up with her?" Beth asked, curious. She couldn't remember what her name was, maybe saw a picture of her once. But she only really remembers the hairstyle, cut almost to look like her boyfriend.

Violet gets a glint of joy in her eyes, "Well that's the next part. She cheated on him! I guess in her own guilt she started accusing people of dumb shit to make herself feel better," Violet scoffed.

Violet, like the flip of a switch, lays back down again, tired. She had been working hard at school, and it seemed like her social life was as tumultuous as ever. Beth admired her for her strength and pitied her for her luck.

Violet picked herself up from the couch, and dragged her feet to the stairs, ready to go to bed. Beth figured it wasn't a good time, but she really wanted to know. At the same time, she wanted her sister to get to bed. So for a split second of internal debate, she called her sister back.

Her sister turned, waiting for what Beth wanted to say, "Uh well," Beth started eloquently. She didn't really know how she was going to ask this since it was such an embarrassing subject. But she eventually swallowed her pride and asked, "Well, I know this has nothing to do with what we just talked about. But I just wanted to ask, how do you connect with people so easily?"

Violet looked surprised, "Well, I think it just depends on the person you are and who you're talking to," She answered, "But why do you need to know this?"

"Well. You know that new friend I made. I feel like I'm not really getting to know her as well as I would like. You seem to do it so easily," Beth explained, hands making many gestures. She was nervous because her sister was notorious for teasing her.

But she didn't, Violet looked at her with a sort of sympathy in her eyes, "Well I'm telling you this, it's not easy for me. I just go with what I think is right most of the time"

"But how is it that you are able to do it anyway?"

Violet laughed, more that she was unable to explain what she was thinking, "I guess it's about the person, you know? There are some people that you just connect with better. And from what I can tell, Clem seems like she really likes to be around you. So I don't see the problem there. So what is the problem anyway?"

"It's just, I sometimes feel like I can't talk past surface-level subjects. The things we like, what we did that day. I guess I don't feel like I'm connecting with her? If that makes sense?" Beth tried to explain. She felt frustrated.

"Well," Violet began after a moment of silence and thinking, "It takes time to make those connections. Sometimes it takes longer for people to open up truly to you. And sometimes people have things they wish not to share. But one thing you have to understand about people is that everyone has a boundary, and it's your job to respect it as it's their job to respect yours. So my advice to you is to respect her boundaries and have patience. There is no secret code for getting more friends."

Beth nods. She tried to understand. Her sister meant well with everything she said. But Beth still felt a little frustrated. She was always an impatient person. But she appreciated Violet taking time out of her day to even address this after going through the drama she just had to deal with and looking as tired as she did.

Violet patted her on the back, and yawned, "Well I'm off to bed, I could sleep for a whole day if I wanted to," She started towards the stairs again.

"Thank you, Vi," Beth called after her, hoping she sounded as genuine as she felt.

"You're welcome!" Came the response.

Beth sat there for a few minutes, pondering her sister's advice. She wondered if that would even work. Were she and Clem even as close as they seemed? Hell, they have known each other for a little over a month. It doesn't matter and Beth didn't know why it bothered her as much as it did.

Her phone pinged, and Beth picked it up without looking where it was. Her eyes ran over the text, which read, "Hey, wanna go for a walk? If your mom isn't okay with it that's fine" 

It was from Clementine. Beth's fingers hesitated over the keys

"Sure, meet you outside"