'hey i miss u' Betty typed, the pressed delete. 'hi' Nope too dry. 'miss u already.' Cheesy. Betty rubbed her eyes, and flung the phone across the room. Perks of carpets. She fell back on her neon bed and groaned.
Her phone beeped, just about then and she sat up. A picture of coffee with a miss you on it. She grinned. James knew exactly what she wanted- he knew exactly who she was.
She sent him a picture of a kitten which she'd hastily gotten from pinterest. James adored them. On their walks to school, he'd stop to watch every single kitten. He'd never had any luck getting close to them, but he had persistent hope that one day the neighbourhood cats were going to love him.
"AWW MY HEART" he texted back. Betty laughed, they spoke for a bit, and just hearing him made her all glowly and warm inside. She was careful not to bring up his dad- that was something he'd only talk about when he was ready.
"BETTY!" Kate yelled from somewhere.
"WHAT" she screamed back, before pressing James back to her ear.
"Some basketball guy is here for you," Kate said, popping her head into the room. When she saw the phone she mouthed an O and strutted away.
"Hey Betty," James said, sounding nervous. Betty frowned, halfway to the front door. "Hey James can I call you back," She heard him sigh and felt more than guilty. But Malcolm was at the door, and that usually meant it was something important.
"Promise." she told him, and he chuckled dryly.
"Go do your thing," he told her.
"Lo- Bye James," she said, clicking the phone shut, mentally smacking herself. Malcolm stood like a pillar of awkwardness in the middle of the living room. He scratched the back of his neck.
"Was I interrupting something?" he asked grinning. She stuck his tongue out at him and he dragged her to practice outside
They did this often, challenging themselves, getting ready for matches, but they'd been working even harder to win the state matches. It was kinda a big deal. Small town basketball team and stuff. And Betty and Malcolm had poured their soul into it.
And well, a couple days went by, and Betty was getting used to not seeing James everyday, not running to the creek only to find no one there, she stopped driving herself crazy about how he was- she knew if he wasn't okay he could talk to her. And the less she worried, the more time she spent practicing, which was honestly great for the team.
And the more time she spent with Malcolm. They'd known each other for years, they had so much in common- and well they had fun. James was her best friend, and well as their relationship grew, he still remained one of her sole friends. Malcolm was different. He was fun, and it was light.
About a week into it, they were on they're warm up sprint and Malcolm caught up to her. "On your left," he laughed breathily as he took a sharp turn to the left. She laughed and ran after him.
"So," Malcolm said, and Betty nodded. "How's James?" he asked, and Betty was genuinely stunned. Malcolm wasn't one for small talk, and she was pretty sure James wasn't his favourite person. She frowned as she sped up. "I don't know," she yelled back.
"What do you mean you don't know?" he asked, somewhere from behind.
"Why do you care?" she said, jokingly. He was silent after that, Betty never turned back to see that red flush, never turned to see that jealous stare.
Two am and her eyes flew open. She'd been so busy the past couple days she'd completely forgotten to call James. They'd texted a bit, but he'd clearly wanted to tell her something important- and he wasn't going to do that over text.
Two am and she was barely functioning after a whole day of practice- barely even thinking when she called him. He picked up almost immediately, which said a lot about his sleep schedule. He sounded tired though.
"Hey," she said hoarsely.
"Betty, it's uh, 2am," he said.
"I know, I know and I'm sorry I didn't call you back but we have a state match and-" she'd started, but he cut her off, no anger in his voice. "No, it's okay, I uh- I get it. I just need to talk to you, maybe when you're more awake? You sound exhausted, Betty."
"Yeah," she murmured into the phone. "I just- felt bad, you know?"
He laughed dryly, "I- you're the best, Betty." She sighed, clinging onto his words. An hour into their midnight whispers she heard another voice. High pitched. Maybe even familiar, but too soft for Betty to recognise. She stiffened immediately. She knew it was wrong, but she also felt like she protected James, somewhat and it got her defenses up.
"Who's that?" she asked.
"Oh uh, it's my dad's girlfriend," he said lightly.
"She's up right now?" Betty asked, curious. If James was opening up, that was a good thing.
"Yeah she heard us," James said again, using the same voice. He cleared his throat. "Uhm, anyway, I gotta sleep and so do you Betty," he whispered calmly. Betty's eyelids fluttered as they murmured a hasty goodnight.
Whatever was happening, it wasn't like something in a movie- the doomed rainy day with the sad part coming next. No, this was, this was real- real and unexpected. And the storm, well it could only be metaphorical for it was sunny and perfect the next day.
Those days hurt more, perfect days that don't prepare you.
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well hello you midnight blue frosted cupcakes, here's chapter iv
how you liking it so far uwu
ilysm, x rajita
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YOU ARE READING
dropped your hand while dancing
Fanfiction- a folklorian love triangle - She'd hugged him then as she hugged him now, only this time she leaned on the willow instead of climbing it, this time they weren't just holding hands in silence, her hand was under his sweatshirt, and she lifted her...
