There were several things about Monday morning that made Beth's day start out not great. She was at school, she woke up late this morning, she was in her second period, everyone was being loud and, like mentioned before, she was at school.
Beth tried her hardest to ignore all of the commotion, but it was starting to get very annoying. On top of all of that, Beth could feel her head start to ache, and she really didn't want to deal with a headache the entire day. Beth sat up a little and rubbed her temples and eyes, hoping to ease the pain with no results.
There was a new student, Beth assumed that's why it was so loud in the room. The new student must have been introducing themself. New students weren't exactly a rarity where she lived, but they weren't common. Regardless, Beth didn't bother to pay attention because she really didn't care. It didn't matter if she said hi because she had no intentions of making friends. Then again, Clementine was her friend so those words didn't hold much weight.
The bell rang a little while later, and Beth threw on her backpack and left the room without so much as a second glance at the rest of the room. She gets a few feet from the door when she suddenly is stopped by a firm tap on her shoulder. Thinking she left something, Elizabeth turned around.
She wasn't really prepared to see the face of Minnie Pierce staring back at her.
Beth choked on her own spit, she was so caught off guard. She wasn't angry in any way, she just did not expect to see Minnie after so long. She both looked completely different and the same. Her hair was styled the same way, bangs with a low ponytail, a few stray hairs hanging around her face. It might have been dyed to be lighter, but Beth couldn't be sure. Her eyes were still the same, almond-shaped, but they still had the same warmth and grace in them.
Minnie had a presence, wherever she walked, she held her head high. At one point, people were especially cruel to Minnie, simply because she saw the best in people. She made friends with unlikelies, people others found disgusting or weird. But Minnie never cared. Beth was one of those people. Beth was once thankful for her.
"So it really is you," Minnie said, almost sounding like she couldn't believe it herself. She ran her hand through her hair, making it a bit messier than it already was. That was the thing about Minnie, she was pretty, and she knew it, but she never really put much effort into looking pretty.
Beth didn't know what to say. She stood there, shoulders tensed, a guilty expression upon her face. Finally, she found her voice, "Minnie. I didn't know that you were coming here..."
"Yeah well, you would know that if you bothered to answer any of my calls or texts. I was trying to tell you, you know," Minnie explained, sounding annoyed, as she had the right to be.
Beth knew she should have explained herself, or told Minnie why she was never answering. It was Minnie, she was the kindest of them all. Deep down, Beth knew that Minnie would have understood had she had told her. But, even with a sharp tongue such as hers, Beth's voice caught in her throat, and she found she couldn't explain herself to Minnie
But Beth couldn't quite swallow her pride for this one.
"I was busy..." She mumbled, making up a random excuse to cover up why she never bothered to contact her back. She couldn't look at Minnie's face, there were a lot of leftover memories and feelings Beth had yet to deal with.
Beth knew, though, that what happened wasn't Minnie's fault.
She could hear Minnie scoff, and a stab of shame went through Beth like poison, "You're still as arrogant as I remember," Minnie said, "I was hoping maybe you would have changed."
Minnie was right, Beth knew that, but it didn't stop Beth from feeling ashamed.
Minnie stuffed her hands in her pockets, sighing. Finally, Beth raised her head to Minnie, staring at her with what she hoped was nonchalance, "Let's talk. Clear some things up?" Minnie said. She took a step towards Beth, and almost involuntarily, Beth took a step back.
"Yeah, I think we should," Beth responded, still keeping her eyes locked on Minnie's.
"Okay."
The two pushed through groups of people. Navigating the halls was almost the worst part of the entire situation, as the two would be constantly pushed into each other, or separated and have to find each other again. Once they finally found a place to sit, the two had nothing to say anymore. Beth was nervous, sure, but Minnie seemed to be panicking. She had a habit of picking and chewing her nails when she was anxious, which she was doing as they sat down.
"Were you ever going to call me?" Minnie finally asked.
"If I'm honest? No, not really. I have my own reasons for not answering."
"Like what?"
Beth didn't know what to say. What could she say? Hey, I know what happened in middle school largely affected me and the way I viewed relationships, but I totally was going to take time out of my day to respond to one of the people who contributed to that. HA, NOT. Beth had not dealt with those feelings yet, she wanted more time or at least a way to say it. But the thing about Minnie was that she was stubborn as hell, and Beth knew Minnie wanted some sort of answer that Beth wasn't sure she could even give.
She hadn't even deleted Minnie's number though, much less blocked her, which Beth knew she full well had the ability to do so whenever she wanted. But maybe it was the childish belief that they could be friends once more, or perhaps, the promise of that.
"Do I really have to tell you?" Beth asked her. Minnie raised her eyebrows, giving enough of an answer. Beth rubbed her eyes, resting her head on her knees, which she had curled up to her chest.
Minnie understood Beth had needed time and space from everything that happened in middle school. But she only hoped that she could be forgiven, however, that was a far-fetched hope, now she could see. Beth was never arrogant, Minnie never thought that. But when she had said so, there was a part of her that was mad she wasn't forgiven, an illogical part of her. She wanted so badly to believe she did right at the end of middle school, and she did, but not enough to be forgiven, as she had seen.
As for Beth, she did appreciate all of Minnie's attempts, even before the two parted ways for high school, to be her friend. A true friend, as opposed to Amy, who ended up not being truthful.
Beth finally met Minnie's eyes, for the first time in a long time, and she could see the parts of Minnie that she once admired in her eyes. The way she would talk when she was excited. The way her nose scrunched up when she was annoyed. Or the way she snorted when she laughed.
But Beth had accepted a long time ago that there was little hope for the two being friends again. With the history the two had, and the history they had with others. But now, she could see in Minnie's eyes there was hope for it, hope for them that Beth had let go of a long time ago. She could almost admire it.
Beth figured now that they were here, with just each other, it wouldn't hurt to at least be honest, "I was afraid if I'm honest," Beth sighed, and Minnie waited for Beth to continue, "I didn't want to bring up old history, stuff I was trying to forget, y'know?"
Minnie nodded. The two of them exchanged glances, and maybe there was something in both of their eyes that hoped they could understand each other.
Minnie put her knees against her chest, and rested her head on her knees like Beth was doing, "I get it. But I knew, and you probably did too, that one day we were going to have to talk about it," She explained, Beth groaned.
"But talking is so hard. Isn't it just better to not talk about it? Try to ignore what happened?"
"That never works, Lizzie."
Beth remembered that was the nickname Minnie chose for her, and only her. She only allowed Minnie to call her that. She wondered why she didn't like anyone else calling her that. Maybe there was history about it, or that Minnie was 'special' or something.
"Sorry, habit," Minne apologized, but before Beth could assure her, Minnie continued, "I can call you Beth if you want."
Beth shook her head, allowing herself a small smile, "It's fine, you can call me whatever you would like. I don't care really," And while Minnie smiled, Beth's own smile dropped, because she remembered that smile so clearly as being one of the only reasons she liked waking up. It was weird to remember that part of her life, how different it was compared to now.
"We should talk about it," Minnie said, arms crossed in her lap. There was a twinge of nervousness in her voice that had returned. Beth knew the two of them had to acknowledge it at one point, but Beth didn't want to.
Beth let her eyes close, cool air chilling her already pink cheeks, "I don't want to, at least, not right now."
Minnie, despite hearing what Beth had said, felt she needed to apologize, so she did, "I'm sorry about middle school, about all the shit that happened during it. I should have stood up for you when I had the chance. Stopped Amy when she said things about you or when she took your bag but I didn't think anything of it. I was stupid, and I am so sorry," Minnie rambled on and on.
When she was done, Beth was staring, her face expressionless and unreadable. It unsettled Minnie, and Beth could clearly see so, as she started to chew on her nails.
When Beth finally spoke, it was a sentence Minnie didn't think she would be able to hear, but she did, "I hope one day, we can be friends again," Beth stood up as the bell was about to ring, "And I appreciate what you did for me near the end. You were brave, not dumb. Don't beat yourself up too much."
Minnie also stood up, looking at Beth with a smile on her face, "I hope we can be friends one day too," The bell rang, and Beth could see that Clementine was standing by, watching them, looking confused, "And it was the least I could do."
The two nodded at each other, coming towards an understanding of each other. Beth walked away to join Clementine. Her eyes looked at Beth, and then Minnie, then went back to Beth again, before she asked, "Who was that?"
Beth shrugged, and answered very simply, "Oh, an old friend."