betty ↳ conrad fisher

twenty-five.

Betty Graham stood at the edge of her yard, the hose held firmly between her fingers as she watered the plants. Her lips were pulled down into a frown and she had been standing still for about 10 minutes, her eyes trained in a post of the picket fence that lined the yard. She had been lost in thought, her mind having been under constant torture for the past day and a half since the Fourth of July party at the Fishers. She was home alone again, her mother deciding she wanted to go on a weekend trip to see her Aunt T, mostly because her aunt had been angered that the family had visited her aunt Kate and not her. Betty told her mom it was only fair she didn't go to that visit either, since she hadn't gone to the first. The list of chores left for her was hardly anything which came as a surprise, and he mom had left her food instead of making her go out to buy it. Betty thought her mom could sense something was wrong, and that was why she was being so nice.

The girls brain had been replaying the same scene over and over again, she wished it would stop but it hadn't and it wouldn't. She remembered most of the party, remembered being around Belly like nothing at all had happened, like Belly hadn't accused her of doing things she hadn't done and spoken to her like she was in the wrong. She had forgotten under the guise of alcohol that she was mad at her. And then to turn around and find out that Belly was only mad because she had wanted Conrad to herself all along? It was almost too predictable that she was surprised she hadn't seen it coming. And the worst part was the fact that Conrad had been on board to kiss her, he had been leaning in. And then he had had the hall to turn around and blame Betty, to tell her he hated her and then kiss her.  How he told her he loved Belly. The whole situation made her want to be sick.

She had been contemplating for a day now where to go from here, she had had no idea, just the terrible replay of his desperate eyes captivating her, his  lips insistently pressing against hers. The worst part was that she had given in, the worst part was that after everything she had thought was happening...she had been right. The worst part was that they still wanted each other. So she knew she had to do what she did best...avoid him.

Betty finally snapped out of her trance, pulling the hose from the flowers and hoping she hadn't drowned them. She made her way back towards the house and turned the water off, her frown deepening as her mind kept replaying. She dropped the hose and made her way into the house, closing the sliding door and locking it. The sun was starting to go down, her body in a constant state of  discomfort now that she had been so taken aback for days. Something felt wrong, and she wasn't entirely sure if the isolation was helping. 

Just as she considered the effects of isolation on her psyche at the moment, there was a knock on the door, bile rising in her throat as she realized she would have to answer it. She had no idea who it could possibly be, the girl letting out a short breath as she felt the fear fill her.  Her stomach turned as she made her way to the door, her lips parting as he fingers gripped the door handle. She prayed it wasn't Conrad or Belly, the door opening to reveal someone she hadn't quite expected, relief flooding her when she looked at him.

"Hey Betty...can I come in?" Jeremiah stood on her doorstep, his voice calm and almost upset sounding. His arms were behind his back and he looked about as downtrodden as she had seen him in a long time. He wasn't even really looking at her, his eyes darting around her figure as she stood in the doorway. She hesitated, her eyes giving away her mood and making him pull  his arms from behind him, the girl spotting a bottle of liquor between his fingers.Betty was unsure what he was there for, her lips parting as she got a strange feeling in her chest. Regardless she stepped to the side, Jeremiah entering the house and Betty closing the door behind him.

"Where is everybody?" Jeremiah asked, Betty leading the way up the stairs and into her bedroom for them to sit comfortably. She shrugged as they went up the stairs, quick to  answer his question.