Crazy In Love | Buggy

t w e n t y t w o

I stared at Buggy, waiting for him to begin to laugh and say that it was all some big joke. It, of course, never happened. He stared at me expectantly.

"I said to bring him back, Betty."

"He's had enough. He can barely stand -"

Buggy advanced towards me. The sight of that never got any less terrifying. He only stopped when he was right in my face, his deep green eyes staring into my soul.

"I've had enough of you disobeying me."

"I-I'm not..." I stammered. I desperately needed a way to fix this, to help this kid. But without upsetting Buggy. It was impossible. "A new volunteer would just be more entertaining, is all."

"Well, let's see if anyone else wants to volunteer, shall we?" He asked, mockingly. We both knew that anybody else would volunteer.

"Bug -"

"Everyone!" Buggy screamed, anger laced in his voice. The audience pulled back. "We need a new volunteer!"

Absolutely silence.

"Don't all shout out at once," Buggy mumbled sarcastically. He then tilted his head to look at me. "See?"

I looked towards the audience, desperately praying that someone else would speak up. Nobody did. Not even Davi's family, who had heard this whole exchange. Everyone was just too scared of Buggy.

"Can't we just skip the last act?" I pleaded, desperately. I felt tears well in my eyes.

"But, Betty, it's just too good to skip."

Dread bubbled up inside of me. "What is it?"

"It's called the glass walk. Oh, and yes, it's exactly what you think it is."

I looked down at Davi, into his big brown eyes that were pouring tears. He was terrified. I couldn't let this happen to him.

"I volunteer," I whispered meekly. "I'll do the glass walk."

Walking on glass was the last thing in this world I wanted to do, but I'd rather it was me than the kid.

Buggy's eyes widened at that. He leaned in closer to me, his head right in front of mine.

From this distance, I could see him so clearly. His makeup was smudging, his eyes were glistening and his mouth was stretched out in a big smile.

"Repeat that," He told me, putting his hand over his ear as if to magnify sound. He was so dramatic. "I don't think I heard you right."

I gulped. Part of me wanted to change my mind, back out and let this poor kid do the walk instead. But I knew that I couldn't do that.

"I want to volunteer."

Buggy suddenly grabbed my face, gently, and held it between his two gloved hands. "That's my girl."

He then dramatically spun around, spreading his arms out wide. He began to announce to the audience that we had a new volunteer.

As he did, I brought Davi back to his family. They grabbed him off me, yanking him into their arms. It broke my heart to see them all hug and cry. I felt like a monster for ever being a part of this.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Buggy grabbing my hand. "Hey!"

"Come on, Bets, it's time for the climax!"

I saw his clowns lay out the final act, the glas walk. It was literally thousands of broken shards of glass, laid out across about five feet.

My heart began to pound like crazy in my chest at Buggy led me towards it. I tried to pull from his grasp, "Buggy."

He spun, facing me. "Now, don't chicken out on me. If you do, little Davi will have to take your place."

Tears finally spilt out of my eyes. I had managed to keep them in this far but now I just couldn't stop them. "I can't -"

Softly, Buggy wiped the tears from my eyes. "You'll ruin your makeup," He told me. "Don't be scared. You can do it."

"How the hell can I do this? It's glass, I'm going to tear my feet apart. I-I-"

"Shhhh. Just listen to me, okay? There's a trick to it. I'm not going to let you get hurt."

I looked up into those emerald eyes. They weren't dark right now, they were bright and kind. It was the old Buggy, the one who had actually been nice to me for a short time.

"Really?"

"Really. Now, the main trick is to move slowly. As slow as you can. Most people try to do it quickly, to get it over with. You'll just cut yourself if you do that."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Feel the glass under your feet before you apply pressure. If you feel a super sharp piece, reposition your feet into a new spot. The glass is thick, it's unlikely to cut you if you just do what I've told you."

"Unlikely to," I repeated. "Meaning there's still a chance it could."

"Well, technically, yes. But it won't. I promise. I keep my promises, remember?" He asked softly and, for a second, he stroked my cheek.

The touch caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. But it was over just as it started. He seemed to not realise he was even doing it and, when he did, he pulled his hand away quickly.

He awkwardly cleared his throat. "It's time."

He walked me over to the bed of glass, talking to the audience as I slipped my shoes and my socks off. Now that my bare feet were out, the reality of what I was going to do hit me.

To calm myself, I reminded myself of what Buggy had told me to do. Go slow. As slow as possible. Don't put any pressure down if you feel a super sharp point - reposition your feet until you feel safe.

I sucked in a breath as he finished his little speech. The crowd looked at me, eyes wide, seemingly wondering if I would actually go through with this or not.

Even I wasn't sure if I would do it. Until I did.

My feet lifted off the ground and softly, I pressed it against the glass. It didn't feel sharp. It took me a couple of seconds to work up the confidence to put pressure down. When I did, I was fine. Nothing cut me.

The next step went easier. I stayed slow, as he had told me to, and again I didn't feel anything cut me. I took about three more steps before I heard Buggy call after me, quietly so only I could hear.

"Slower."

Had I been moving fast? Maybe a part of me had just wanted it to be over. He said people went fast to get it done with quicker.

Slow, I reminded myself.

It was lucky that he had spoken up because, when I put my next foot against the glass, I felt an incredibly sharp shard. So, I did as he told me and moved that foot to another spot.

I kept moving until I felt the ground beneath my feet again. I hadn't realised it but I had been holding my breath for most of it. So I was basically panting.

Suddenly, I felt Buggy's hands grab mine from behind and he lifted them into the air.

"Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Betty!"

The crowd actually clapped on command and, surprisingly, they're support seemed genuine. I couldn't help but smile like an idiot. Both at the applause I was getting and at the fact I had made it out of that uninjured.

I turned, looking up at Buggy. "Please tell me that's it all over."

He smiled sympathetically. "It's over. You did good. Really good."

Somehow, receiving that praise from Buggy made me feel amazing.

🤡

I had to do research on glass walking (for when Buggy was giving Betty tips for how to do it) and it was making me nauseous to think about 😭 betty braver than me cause I would have just let the kid do it lol!

published: 4th of October 2023