Betty

Do We Have Chemistry?

"Yo! Jamie, catch," A voice said.

James turned to see her best friend Cole kick a soccer ball over to her. She swiftly stopped it and waited for Cole to catch up with her. When he did, she kicked it up in the air for him to catch.

"Your game is later today right?" James asked.

"Mmhmm, you've got work?"

"Nah, took the day off so I could watch."

"Great, cause I don't know what I'll do without my good luck charm. Plus, there's gonna be scouts today," Cole said as the two walked into school.

"Nervous?"

"A bit."

"Don't be, you're going to do great."

Since elementary, Cole and James were the best of friends. They were quite different from each other but bonded over the fact that they could never relate to the other kids in school with their new tech and high end clothes. The two were probably the only ones who worked in their grade and needed scholarships for college. It was why James had taken the day off, it was really important that she be there for Cole because if these scouts saw potential in Cole they'd come back next year which could mean a chance at a scholarship for Cole. And well, Cole had never lost a game that James was at.

Most of the school day passed as usual, that was until James' last class of the day. It was science class and James always sat in the far corner to the back. James was only half paying attention when the class seemed to groan in unison. She looked up from her notebook where she was doing the assigned homework to see what was happening.

"Yes, I will be choosing the partners, no complaining. All you kids do is stay in the same groupings and that won't do you any good," Miss. C said.

So then Miss. C began to list off people in pairs and everyone shifted around the classroom to their designated partners. James' attention was caught again when she heard her name.

"Betty and James. Inez and..."

James froze. Betty turned around from the front of the class to look at her. Immediately her friends started whispering words to her. James just sat there. It had been about two weeks since that night she had talked to Betty half sober. Since, she just played it off as an oddity that wouldn't happen again. Clearly the world had other plans.

Finally, Betty seemed to say something to her friends and walked over to James.

"Hey," Betty said as she sat on the seat next to her.

"Hi," James said. "So, what's the project?"

"I- were you not paying attention?" Betty asked, exasperated.

James just shook her head.

The blonde sighed and gave the instruction sheet to James who skimmed it over.

"Do you want to work on this after school?" Betty asked.

James shook her head. "I've got work after school, except today. It's Cole's game."

Betty looked at her confused. "You're putting your friend's soccer game over school and work?"

"There's scouts this time." When there was no response from Betty, James looked at her to see that she was still confused. "He always feels less nervous when I'm there. Good luck charm," James explained.

"Mmm, so then when can you work on it?"

"Weekends."

"Okay, your place or mine?"