Say My Name

Chapter Thirteen

"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."