"Who was that?" Alice asked as Betty shut the car door behind her. She tossed her cheer bag into the backseat and looked up, distracted by a few cheerleaders walking to their cars. "Nobody," she said quietly.
"Elizabeth, do not lie to me. That wasn't a nobody, that was a somebody. Who was it?" She put her seatbelt on and straightened herself in the seat. "Just a friend," she lied, hoping her mom hadn't seen too much of their interaction.
"A friend? I pray to God that wasn't a friend. I saw the Serpent logo on the back of his jacket."
Her heart sank at her mom's words. She needed to shift her story but panicked as her brain clouded with fog. "Okay," she exclaimed, still trying to think of another excuse. "He was just trying to scare me off... I accidentally got in his way, and it angered him. It wasn't a big deal."
"Did he hurt you?"
"No."
Alice sighed with relief. "Good." There was a moment of silence, and Betty froze as she recollected the moment when he had her white panties dangling from his finger, and the thought made her face flush once again. "What the hell was he even doing there? I never see those hoodlums on this side of town."
"I don't know," she said while looking down at her hands and noticed them shaking.
"I want you to stay far away from them. If you ever see one again, you call me, or you call the police. Do you understand?"
Betty nodded as she looked up at her mom and saw the genuine concern on her face. She wanted to ease her mom's worry, even if that meant lying to her face.
"I swear to god, those guys are always up to no good," Alice added as she put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking space. A part of her was curious about her mom's encounters with the Serpents, and by the distressed look on her face, it was apparent her mom knew about their dangerous manners.
"Betty? What are you doing here?" Archie was standing at the door, wearing a pair of blue athletic shorts and a plain white t-shirt. His hair was a mess, and he looked like he had just rolled out of bed. She couldn't go the rest of the night without talking to him, so after they returned home, Betty made her way over to his front door.
"Can I come in?" She asked.
Archie looked her up and down before glancing at the wall clock. "Uh, sure." He stepped to the side, letting her walk in.
"What's up?" He asked while shutting the door behind her.
Betty looked around, noting the missing presence of both his parents. "Can we talk in your room or something?"
They were both in his room, and Betty made her way over to Archie's bed as he shut the door behind them. She sat at the edge of the bed with her feet planted on his cold wooden floor. He made his way over and took a seat right next to her.
She rubbed her bare thighs, trying to calm her anxiety, but the silence in the room and the sound of him breathing seemed to enhance it. "I, um..." She swallowed the words down her throat and focused her attention on the Led Zeppelin poster hanging on his wall. "You don't have to worry about that gang leader messing with you anymore," she spat out.
"What do you mean?"
She finally managed to look at him -- his eyes puzzled, and his head cocked to the side. "I took care of it."
"What?" His eyebrows raised in surprise. "How...?"
"I paid him the money, Archie." She looked down at her hand stationed on the bed and noticed it was scarcely touching his. "I paid him every cent."
"I didn't ask you to do that," he retorted.
"I know, but I didn't want you to worry about it anymore." She placed her hand over his. "Betty..." She heard him swallow, and he turned his hand over on the bed to face hers and interlocked their fingers.
"It's fine. You can pay me back whenever you can. Okay? As long as you need," she said in a reassuring tone.
"Wow..." He looked down at their hands. "That's, um... I don't know what to say."
"A thank you would suffice." She smiled.
"Thank you... Thank you so much." He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her. She was a bit stunned at first, but slowly returned the hug and smiled into his shoulder. After a few seconds, they both pulled back at the same time.
She looked at his face longingly; then, her smile slowly started to fade. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Do you care about me... Archie?" Her voice quivered, and she felt a lump start to build in her throat.
"Of course I care about you. Why wouldn't I?" She couldn't withhold the tear that escaped and rolled down her cheek. "Hey..." He positioned himself on the bed to face her and brought his right hand up to cup her cheek, then gently swiped the tear away. "I care about you a lot."
She sniffled, then broke out into a smile. "I love you... Betty," he whispered softly, and her expression changed -- like those words at just smacked her right in the face.
She looked at him delicately, and fear conquered her eyes as she swallowed to relieve the lump still lodged in her throat. Not knowing what to say or how to react, she let the thoughts escape her mind and found herself leaning in. She brushed her lips against his, and he greeted her gesture by adding more pressure, pressing his lips against hers.
They kissed, and his cold saliva and lips made her feel a bit queasy inside. He let his body fall against the bed, and she followed beside. They were both lying side by side as he worked his lips over hers. The sickness in her stomach grew inside her chest as she felt his hand delicately trace the skin on her thigh. Her heart racing resulted in her opening her eyes and quickly pulled away from him. She gulped the extra saliva lingering in her mouth, and unwantedly found her hands grip the bottom hem of his shirt. He acknowledged her hands tugging at his shirt and pulled it off.
"Are you sure about this?" He asked, and she stayed silent longer than she meant to before reaching behind her back to unzip her top and nodded. "Uh-huh." Her breathing became more frequent, and her vision grew blurry. She unzipped her top, and he pulled it off of her, leaving her in her pink athletic bra and cheer skirt. His lustful eyes scanned over her body for a second before hungrily crashing his lips against hers again. The act trapped the air between their lips, causing her to feel suffocated. He ran his hand along the side of her thigh again, and as it inched closer and closer to her skirt, she tried to gasp for air that had been lost. She pulled back abruptly and gave him a daunting look.
"What is it? Are you okay?" He had a worrisome look on his face, which made her feel even more ill from guilt eating away at her.
"I'm sorry. I don't --" She tried to spit out her words, but they had become absent in her breath.
"Do you wanna stop?"
Her silence gave it away. "We can stop if you want, Betty. It's completely up to you."
She sat up on his bed and rested her back against the wall. "I just... I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Nothing is wrong with you. Hey..." He brought his hand up to her chin and tilted her face to look at him. "We can go slow. We don't have to do anything tonight." There was sincerity in his eyes, which caused her face to soften. She nodded and reached for her shirt. "I'm sorry."
"For what? There's nothing to be sorry for." He smiled, trying to calm her anxiety. She zipped up her shirt and scooted to the edge of the bed. "I should probably get home. I'm supposed to be grounded, and my mom doesn't know I left."
"Okay, I'll walk you out," he replied before grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head. She watched him in awe, thinking about his gentlemanly-like behavior and tried to admire the last second glimpse of his body before he covered it with his shirt.
"Let's go." He got up and walked over to his door to open it before they both headed downstairs.
"So... I'll see you tomorrow at school?" He asked as he clung to the door, holding it open while she stood under the door frame.
"Yeah." She smiled and nodded before turning to walk out. He reached for her arm, grabbing it gently, and she turned back to face him. "Hey," he said before leaning in and planting a kiss on her lips. The action took her by surprise, and he disconnected their lips before she had a chance to kiss him back. She smiled softly, soaking in his hazy stare as he slowly pulled back.
"Goodnight," she said and stepped out onto the porch before he shut the door behind her. She stood there for a few seconds, taking in the subtle breeze as her mind drifted to the two of them in bed. She wondered what their first time would've been like if she hadn't freaked out. She felt like a fool, but the way her body reacted to his touch, it weakened her core.
Maybe it was just nerves.
She sighed as she walked off his front porch and headed her way home.
The next day at school, Veronica walked into the girl's bathroom. There were two girls standing side by side in front of the mirror. She took the spot right next to them and pulled her lipstick out of her purse, then applied a fresh layer over her lips.
"There's a party there this weekend. I'm sure my boyfriend can get us in," the light brunette next to her spoke as she washed her hands in the sink.
"Where is it?" Her dark-haired friend asked.
"I don't know. Last time they held one of those parties at an abandoned house. It was pretty fun. People are allowed to do whatever they want there." She dried her hands off and threw the paper towel in the trash.
"Aren't those parties like... dangerous or something."
"I mean, they can be, but as long as you mind your own business and don't mess with any gang members, everyone will pretty much leave you alone."
Veronica couldn't help but overhear their conversation as she continued to apply her lipstick and fix any blotchy spots on her face.
"Hm."
"My boyfriend will protect us if anything goes wrong, though," the brunette continued as she pulled out some lip gloss and handed it to her friend.
"What should I wear?"
"Um... You probably should wear that black leather jacket I bought you a few weekends ago. That'll help you fit in."
The darker-haired girl smeared the pink gloss over her lips, then rubbed them together. "Okay, awesome." She handed it back to her and removed some excess gloss from the corner of her mouth. "What are those parties even for?"
"Not sure. My boyfriend said they throw them for a reason, but can't tell me specifics."
"That's kind of weird."
"Whatever. They're fun."
"Excuse me?" Veronica interrupted as she placed her lipstick back in her purse and turned to them.
The two girls looked over at her. "Hi..." she continued. "Sorry, I was sort of eavesdropping. I just wanted to ask... What party are you guys talking about?"
"A party on the Southside," the brunette replied.
"Oh, interesting. Could you tell me a little more about it?" She asked with a curious expression on her face. The girls exchanged a look before the brunette replied. "It's a closed party. No Northsiders allowed unless you're buying their supply or you're somebody's plus one."
"Buying their supply...?"
"Drugs."
"Oh..." Veronica nodded in acknowledgment. "So... If my friend and I wanted to go..."
The girl sighed, clearly bothered by all her questions. "They might let you in because you're girls, but..." She scanned her up and down. "You would need to make it look like you're not from the Northside."
"Okay... How would I do that?"
"Well, for starters, I'd get rid of the white pearls, and I wouldn't bring a purse. You might wanna look like you belong in the trailer park and not in some big fancy mansion." She smiled, and her dark-haired friend giggled.
"Okay..."
"I'm not exactly sure where the party is going to be, but if you wanna give me your number, I'll text you the address when I find out," she added as she pulled out her phone and handed it to Veronica.
"Oh, my god. That would be great." She took the phone from her and inserted her number before handing it back to her. "Thank you."
"No problem." She put her phone in her back pocket. "But... just out of curiosity, why would you even wanna go to a party like that?" Her eyes raked over her body once more. "You don't seem like the type to show up at one of those parties."
"Oh... well... It's kind of a long story. I just promised my friend we would do something wild together."
"Oh, this is definitely something wild." She snickered. "Just... don't have too much fun... If you know what I mean." She raised her left brow at her then started to walk off with her friend following behind.
Veronica smiled to herself as she waited for them to exit the bathroom.
"Oh, Betty's gonna love this," she said quietly to herself and walked out of the bathroom.
"A party?" Betty's eyes were widened in surprise as she put her English book away in her locker and pulled out her math book. "Nuh-uh... No way," she said firmly and shut her locker.
"B, you promised me!" Veronica had a pouty look on her face, which caused her to roll her eyes. "No. I'm not going to a party. I told you I wouldn't agree to anything until you figured it out and now that you have it figured out, I say hell fucking no." She walked away and Veronica chased after her.
"Listen to me."
"No."
They were headed in the direction of Betty's math class and she tried to move her feet faster, but suddenly, Veronica snatched her math book out of her hands. "Veronica!" They stopped in the middle of the hallway and she reached for her textbook, but Veronica pulled back.
"Hear me out."
Betty sighed in frustration and tried to reach for her book again, but failed to grab it.
"I'll give it back to you once you listen to me."
People were eager to get to class, having to walk around the two girls standing stubbornly in the middle of the hallway. "We're gonna be late."
"I don't care. I promised you a wild weekend and that's what you're going to get."
Betty rolled her eyes and waited a moment before trying to snatch her book out of her hands again, but Veronica was quick to react and grabbed her arm. "Stop. Listen to me. If the party sucks, then we'll leave right away. I just wanna check it out."
"Why? It's just a dumb party. What's so special about it? You go to them all the time."
"Yeah... but this one is on the Southside." Veronica smirked at her. Betty's body tensed up and her face grew pale. "The Southside?"
She nodded while giving her a mischievous smile.
"No. Absolutely not." Betty sucked in a breath and turned to walk away from her.
"Why not?" Veronica followed behind. "It's just a party. Not like I'm forcing you to take any drugs or drink alcoholic beverages."
Betty stopped abruptly and turned to face her. "No, but you're putting my life in danger." Veronica crinkled her eyebrows and gave her a baffled look. "What the hell are you talking about? Your life isn't in any danger. The girl who told me about it said they're fun. I think they're thrown every so often."
She breathed in deeply and started shaking her head in protest.
"B... If I thought your life was in any danger, I wouldn't have suggested it. What's the big deal? Why are you so afraid?"
Betty looked around, noticing the halls were starting to clear up as everyone headed to their next class. "I'm not afraid." She folded her arms at her chest and looked down at her navy blue converse.
"Then go with me." She held her math textbook out. "I know there's a part of you that wants to feel your adrenaline pumping once in a while, too."
She sighed, knowing Veronica would keep bugging her if she didn't give in. Besides, there was also an ounce of curiosity lingering inside her.
"Fine..." She took a deep breath as she took the book from her. "I'll go."
And just like that, her innocence was beginning to fade. Something about those words made her feel powerless and no longer in control over her own mind -- the same mind telling her to walk away. Every source of purity and morality floating inside her was being overshadowed by the rush she felt when she imagined herself being in the center of uncertainty.
"Really?" Veronica was surprised by her sudden change in mind.
They were interrupted by the alarming sound of the bell. "Come find me after school," Betty said before turning to head in the direction of her next period class.