Say My Name

Chapter Five

They were chilling in the parking lot, laughing, and didn't notice Betty standing there. She crossed her arms at her chest after feeling a subtle breeze brush against them, and she proceeded to make her way around them.

"Hey, look, Northside cheerleader. How cute," one of them said, calling out to her and Betty kept her eyes on her feet, trying not to look back at them.

"Come on. Do one of your little cheers for us," another one teased, and Betty heard a few of them laugh behind her, but she still didn't pay them any attention and kept walking.

When she finally walked far enough to lose sight of them, Betty found herself walking on the sidewalk of an empty road. She was alone, freezing and her phone was almost dead. Her house was a 30-minute walk from Pop's if Betty walked at a steady pace. She knew it was dumb to leave Veronica, but couldn't bear the thought of staying any longer. She didn't want to wait and watch the man that practically insulted her walk out of that bathroom, and strut to the door as if he owns the place.

Don't flatter yourself; it's a public diner.

His stupid words replayed in Betty's mind as if the record was broken, and she had forgotten how to change the song. She slapped her palm against her forehead a few times, trying to get the image of him out of her head. His blue-green eyes played on repeat for a few seconds before Betty switched the image, and then it was his lips glistening from his tongue after he had just licked them. Betty suddenly felt her heart pounding and her stomach churning, and she didn't understand what was happening.

Stop.

Stop.

Stop.

Betty winced, and she looked down at her hands. She hadn't realized her hands were fisted, and her nails were digging into her palms. She stopped walking and opened her hands up to a few red crescent-shaped moons placed neatly across her skin. Betty was fascinated by a drop of blood sliding from one of the moons and stopping at the line of her wrist. As many times as Betty has caught herself digging her nails into her palms, she has never made herself bleed before. This was new.

Betty's attention to her hands was disrupted when she heard the sound of a few motorcycles off in the distance. She curiously watched them get closer and closer to her before one sped passed her, and the rest followed behind him. There was one lingering behind the group, and as Betty continued to walk, he slowed down and turned around. He was coming towards her, and Betty's face grew cold when he hit the breaks and stopped right next to her. She didn't know if she should continue walking or stop to see what he had to say to her. Before she made the decision, he removed his helmet, and Betty immediately recognized him. He was the one who was telling Sweet Pea to cut it out in the parking lot.

"You were the girl from earlier, the one my friend was messing with in the parking lot, right?" He gave her a warm smile, and Betty took a deep breath before nodding.

"Yeah, I thought I recognized that ponytail and uniform," he laughed and looked down at her outfit. "Do you, uh... Do you need a ride somewhere?" He asked, and Betty cringed at the thought of getting on the back of a stranger's motorcycle.

He saw her cringe and let out a chuckle. "I'll go slow, I promise I won't hurt you, and you shouldn't be walking out on the street alone, in the dark... dressed in that." He pointed to her skirt, and she realized he had a point.

"Can you tell me your name first?" She asked, hoping that if she knew his name, maybe it would be easier to get on the back of his bike.

"The name's Fangs," he said, smiling at her, and Betty raised her eyebrows at the strange name, then she remembered Sweet Pea, who also had a strange name and figured they were just nicknames.