Twelve Years Earlier: 1993
"Smile at me again and I'll knock your teeth out." I threatened as I pulled my books out of my locker as Aaron did his best to torment me. And by torment, I meant to be his usual gorgeous, charismatic self.
"Geez, Betty. Someone sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Dreaming about me again, were you?" Aaron asked, leaning against the locker as I looked up at him in disbelief.
He wore the infamous yellow and blue letterman jacket with his name embroidered on his bicep. His number patched on his chest along with our school name. Aaron's long disheveled dark blonde hair sat messily covering his forehead. It was ridiculous how effortlessly attractive he always looked.
"Sure, because I just fantasize about you constantly." I began as I looked away trying not to get sucked into his mesmerizing features. "My mind is consumed by the thought of you. How on earth do I manage to get anything done?" I replied sarcastically, slamming my locker.
But there was a hint of reality in my words that I struggled to suppress. "I knew it." Aaron joked through a grin making me roll my eyes adjusting my glasses. God, that smile.
Seemed like every time I saw him he had that doofus grin spread across his face. He was the happiest person I knew and it was exhausting seeing him so carefree about life.
"It must be exhausting being so angry all the time." Aaron said, making me look up at him with furrowed eyebrows. "On the contrary it's awfully liberating."
"What about you? It must be so exhausting being the coolest guy in school. When do you ever find the time to throw balls around a field like idiots with Alex and Dave?" I retorted with an innocent fake smile.
"Just one ball, Betty. I thought you were the smart one in this conversation?" He replied, making me tense my jaw. "I am. And that will never change." I huffed looking everywhere but him.
"And thats exactly the reason why you will never find a boyfriend." Aaron continued making my chest ache at his words. Because deep down I knew he was right. "Why because I have a brain?" I laughed off the hurt.
"Sorry I'm not like all the other girls who dote over you, twirling the ends of their bleach blonde hair giggling." I smiled bitterly as I copied my words, fidgeting with the ends of my dark brown hair. Aaron watched my every move with a smile.
He never seemed to be affected of the cruel, angry things I constantly said nor did he ever seem to make them seriously.
"Sorry I have opinions of my own about topics other than sports. Other than the fact that they're completely rudimentary." I scoffed, shoving my books in my bag hanging over my shoulder.
"Careful people are going to start thinking you don't like sports. In a town like this that's social suicide." Aaron replied sarcastically. "Too late." I smiled before a tall blonde rushed up to him, almost knocking me back.
"Hey, baby." The girl purred, making me stumble backwards as she hung all over him as they made out.
"Gross." I muttered walking away as the bell rang. Shuffling into my science class as everyone sat down chatting with their friends as I kept to myself. "You know they invented this thing called a hair brush? Maybe you should invest in one, Bethany." Gillian's southern accent purred innocently as she turned around in her chair to face me.
Her strawberry blonde hair was held high in a ponytail as she wore the schools tight, revealing cheerleading uniform. All the girls who wore one were automatically considered popular and dated their pick of the litter. Which of course was Aaron if he happened to be single or any other attractive athlete.
"Oh yeah? Well there's also this thing called having a personality that doesn't involve being a complete and total bi-" I began until someone walked up to me. "Cut it out, Gill." Aaron came to my defense as he sat beside me.
She glared at me before doing as she was told. "No, don't I'd like to see where this goes. I've always wanted to see a cat fight. Maybe we can find some jello." Alex said beside Gillian as she smacked his shoulder.
"Yeah, you're right, maybe with someone else who doesn't look like Mr. Rogers." He continued as everyone in the class laughed and murmured about me amongst themselves.
Looking down at my brown baggy cardigan over my band tee shirt and fitted distressed jeans. The classroom quieted down as the teacher began class discussing our new project.
"One of you will be taking notes on the reaction types during the experiment and the other will be conducting the experiment." She said as I looked anxiously around the room. "Everyone is to be paired up with the person across from you." She finished making me turn to Aaron seeing a huge smug smile across his face.
"Mrs. Staggers-" I raised my hand, making her interrupt. "No, Bethany, you may not switch partners. I'm sure Aaron will be a very capable partner." She said not turning her around as she wrote on the chalkboard.
Everyone stood to begin working as we all put on our safety goggles and lab coats. "If we're going to work together, you're going to have to shut up and let me do it." I said to him as I took one of the beakers of chemicals from his hand.
"Awe, I didn't realize I had that much of an effect on you." He replied as I rolled my eyes, beginning to mix the required chemicals together. "I didn't know you were... dating someone. What's the lovely girl's name?" I asked hesitantly after a few minutes of silence as we worked.
"Are you jealous? Has all your hatred been a cover for your undying love for me all this time?" Aaron asked with fake revelation. I looked up at him with wide eyes, my mouth hung open completely taken off guard.
"What? No. Gross. Can't I just be curious?" I lied as my stomach clenched wishing my cruel secret love for him would vanish. But it's been years without any luck.
"Molly. She's nice, huh?" Aaron asked. "Sure, for the five whole minutes I saw her slobbering all over you." I replied, making him laugh. "Don't worry some guy someday will eventually think you're pretty and you'll 'slobber' all over him." He replied, making me let out a dry laugh.
"If I ever act like that, kill me because I've clearly been possessed." I scoffed. I turned my attention back onto the green bubbling thick substance oozing out of the beaker. "Oh, no." I muttered.
"You think you're God's perfect gift but you can't even do this correctly." Aaron said as I placed the beaker carefully in the sink. "Science isn't my strong suit." I confessed as I began the process again.
"Right if this was writing an English essay from your bedroom, alone, you would be excelling." He retorted. "And if this was trying to be the most interesting, stuck up, arrogant, talented football player we would be acing it!" I replied, burning my eyes into his. "Careful, Betty. That was almost a compliment." He grinned mercilessly. He knew how easy it was for him to get under my skin and clearly relished in it.
"Will I see you at my place tonight?" Connie asked as we left the school building. "I don't know maybe." I muttered, unable to look her in the eye.
"I have some extra credit work to do since Aaron messed up our science experiment." I lied. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was I the one who couldn't keep their mouth shut and stop arguing for two seconds to see that you started a fire?" Aaron replied, coming up behind me with his arm draped around Molly's shoulders.
"How was I supposed to know it was flammable?" I defended, frustrated. "Maybe because the teacher warned us like ten times. I know I'm distracting but, goodness Betty, be more aware of your surroundings." Aaron smiled before he walked away toward the rest of his friends in those ridiculous matching jackets.
"God!" I huffed making a few strands of my dark brown hair fly away from my eyes. "I can't stand him! He never stops talking! He always has to have the last word. It... I-It's like he thrives on seeing me miserable!" I began venting to my best friends Connie and Susanna.
"Yeah, we have no idea what that's like." Connie replied sarcastically, making Susanna giggle as I ignored her remark.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he was an undiagnosed sociopath. No one is that nice and happy with everyone all the time. And my, God that obnoxious laugh! And his constant need to be liked by everyone- awful, all of it." I continued as I watched him laugh with some of his teammates and cheerleaders.
"Maybe you hate him because you like him." Susanna replied hesitantly. My head snapped to her as I noticed she quickly regretted what she had said. "What?!" My stomach sank. Was it really beginning to be that obvious?
I let out a forced laugh. "Ah yes. Just like how I hate capitalism because I love rich people getting all the money." I replied unable to look either one of them.
No matter how it may seem, Aaron and I have been friends since childhood. If you would even call us that.
He is smart and obnoxiously attractive looking- which doesn't help the matter at all. His calm, cool and down-to-earth demeanor made him endearing to the opposite sex. Aaron had light brown hair and deep dimples when he smiled which was clearly often. He was always very protective and caring towards his twin sister growing up.
He is an obscenely frustrating, arrogant guy, who I have come to completely adore. And I was determined to not let anyone know just how much I truly cared for him. So, I hid behind our constant bickering and seemingly inability to get along with him. Which drove everyone around us crazy, especially his sister and my best friend, Connie.
He's the kind of person that I could never tell a lie to. Even if I tried to lie he knew me too well to see right through it. Thankfully he's never asked me point blank if I was in love with him. Or else I would be screwed.
"Alright, well we're gonna head to my place. You're welcome to join if you want to step out of your comfort zone for once." Connie teased as they walked off towards their cars.
"What's the point? It's called comfort for a reason." I replied, making them laugh as we walked our separate ways.
"Well, if it isn't Bitchy Bethany." Gillian grinned as her and her posse came towards me as I unlocked my car. "Gillian." I sighed. "What do I owe the honor?" I looked up at her smug face plastered with bright makeup matching the rest of her friends.
"You should really be a lot nicer towards me. I could make your life a living hell." She said inching closer to me. "You mean that's not what you have already been doing since we were in middle school? Now I'm really scared." I replied unamused.
"We all see right through you, Beth. You're just a scared ugly duckling that doesn't have any place in the world. You may hide behind your quick wit and good grades but that's all there is to you." Gillian's cruel words had taken me aback.
"Do my eyes deceive me? You're actually speechless?" She laughed, making the rest of them copy her. "Unlike you, Gillian, I have substance. There's more to me than the clothes I wear and an unoriginal personality." I began to bite back.
"Unlike you I care more than how people think of me in this shithole town." I turned my back to her to get into my car. "Except for Aaron, of course." She said instantly, making me stop, petrified.
"We all know that deep down you're just like the rest of us who are completely in love with Aaron." She walked closer in front of me. "I can't blame you, of course. Anyone with eyes falls head over heels for him. You're not any better than us no matter how hard you try to hide it." Gillian hovered over me before ripping my glasses from my face.
Squinting trying to take them back from her as she dropped them to the ground, stepping on them. "And he's not always going to be around to protect you." She finished as I looked down as the shattered pieces of glass on the ground before they all strutted away.