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.

"My dads working like always, everyone else went to go visit my Aunt T. I didn't want to go...I didn't feel like it." Betty pushed her bedroom door open, dropping down onto the edge of her bed and have Jeremiah sit down beside her. He nodded, his eyebrows furrowing as he sat as close to her as possible, the tone staying the same as he decided now was the time to tell her what he had come here for.  "What did you want to talk about?"

He sucked in a nervous breath, but he knew he was doing the right thing, his chest constricting as he knew he needed someone to talk to about this. Steven was too busy stressing about Shayla,  there were obvious reasons he couldn't talk to Conrad about it...and if his observations had been correct, he knew that Betty would probably feel the same way about it as he did.

"We're gonna have to drink a little bit first." Jeremiah said, lifting the bottle from his side and handing it to her. Betty was obviously no stranger to drinking, the girl  feeling as if alcohol would help her numb some of the discomfort she was feeling. She pulled the lip off of the bottle and room to just drinking straight from it, Jeremiah watching her intently as she pretty much chugged about 10 shots worth of vodka. She pulled the bottle back and let out a disgusted noise, the girl reaching for a drink from her nightstand and quickly  drinking at it. Her was slightly amazed at her ability to drink, the girl handing him the can of soda and the bottle, the boy deciding there was no way he was going to let her show him up. She watched as he challenged her drinking, the boy pulling the bottle back and taking about five sips of the soda, his eyes squeezed tightly shut as he tried to recover from the burning liquors bite.

They followed this like a ritual for the next half hour  until they both were feeling something, Betty shaking her head when Jeremiah attempted to the hand the bottle back. The can was gone and it had gotten way easier to drink the straight liquor, so Betty knew she was probably better off stopping. The alcohol would fully hit her soon enough, and her inebriation would at least happen in the confines of her  own room.

"Something happened the other night and I...I figured I should tell you." Betty was not sure what other night he was talking about, her own face scrunching as he sucked in a deep breath and then looked over at her. His eyes traced over her face and he felt bad, but he knew she deserved to know. "I saw Conrad and Belly almost kiss the other night."

Betty's face somehow fell even more as she  was reminded of what she had also seen, the girl realizing Jeremiah had no idea that she had been standing there too. Her lips turned down into a frown and he searched her face for a reaction, the girl not quite reacting much.

"I know...I saw it." He instantly was confused, wondering how she had seen it. But Betty looked down at her hands, deciding to elaborate further. "I was too drunk so he let me sleep it off in his bed. I got up to get something to drink and when  I did I walked to the door and saw them about to kiss...I saw you shoot the firework."

Jeremiah's cheeks burned a little red but he kept his eyes on her, wanting to hear her view of the story. Her hand lifted to her face and she pressed her palm against her forehead, Jeremiah watching as she looked almost pained as she continued.

"I went upstairs and grabbed my stuff and when I came back down he was there. And he asked me why I was leaving and I pretty much told him he was an asshole and that I saw him. And he chased me out of the house and we got in a huge argument...and then he—" 

"He what?" Jeremiah asked, unsure of what she would say. There was a pit in his stomach as she spoke of him, the girl pulling her hand back from her forehead and looking at him.

"He kissed me." Jeremiah actually wasn't expecting that, his lips parting in surprise and a jealous feeling biting at him very deep down. He wasn't quite sure what he was jealous of, he didn't feel for Betty in that way—at least not enough to really care—but he still felt the pit in his stomach when he thought of Conrad kissing her. Maybe it  was the fact that he had every girl wrapped around his finger, maybe it was that he was playing Belly and Betty at the same time. Maybe it was the alcohol. He wasn't sure. His eyes dropped over her mouth and he imagined kissing her, his throat drying up as he imagined kissing Belly too. "I'm so mad at him. I stopped it...I stopped it because I knew he only did it to try and make me forget about the fact he was trying to kiss Belly."

"It's not fair." Jeremiah said, leaning forwards and running a hand over his face. Betty was confused at what Jeremiah was upset about, her eyes glazing over as she asked him a question she had been pondering since.

"Why did you shoot that firework at them?" Betty asked, wondering if he would tell her the truth of what she was already coming up with. He sighed, looking back up at her and shaking his head.

"It's...it's Belly. I—"

"Of course you do." Betty said in a harsher tone than she had expected.  She knew her anger stemmed from the fact that Belly had hurt her, and she had been a liar.  "You know  she accused me of sleeping with Conrad...tried to make me feel like I did something wrong. Said it was wrong to do to Nicole but it turns out she was just worried about having him all to herself."

"She yelled at him too. Basically told him he was a piece of shit for going behind Nicole's back. Conrad put her in her  place. I just feel so—"

"Stupid? Blind? Yeah...me too. I don't know how I didn't see it with her but—it makes sense now. A lot of stuff makes sense now." Jeremiah nodded at that, his frustrations aimed at Conrad while hers were aimed at Belly. She thought of Belly asking what happened between them,  of how obvious it should've been and how she couldn't believe she was so stupid as to not see it. Jeremiah was so blinded with jealousy that a thought crossed his mind, his stomach turning as he looked over at Betty, his lips parting as she continued to speak. "She said all of those things to me and said it was for Nicole... but it's okay if she goes behind Nicole's back. We weren't even doing—"

Betty was cut off by Jeremiah's hands lifting to her  cheeks, pulling her closer to him and his lips pressing against hers. She was shocked by the move, her body jolting in fear as he kissed her so unexpectedly. She moved back, Jeremiah looking at her with glazed over eyes and a bit of guilt.

"Jere..." She said in a low voice, unsure of what he was doing. She could feel her heartbeat accelerating crazily and she couldn't help but appreciate the familiarity of him, the way he seemed to penetrate her loneliness...the way he seemed to understand just how horrible she felt to be the other woman.

"Please...please can one thing just go right for me." Betty wasn't sure how she felt about being that one thing...she knew she didn't feel the way about him  that would warrant a kiss but she knew the alcohol pushed her closer to him, and the hurt from Conrad made her kiss him. In some fucked up way  it was like justice, Betty pressing her lips against his. Jeremiah slid his hand to the back of her head, the boy being the first to move his lips against hers. Betty accepted the kiss this time, unsure of the feeling in her body as she tilted her head to get closer to him.  Jeremiah took the initiative of taking things deeper, his tongue pushing through her lips. She allowed it, the boy realizing just how good it felt to do this. Things picked up, Jeremiah leaning forwards and pushing her gently back onto the bed, their lips never parting. The alcohol was definitely a big contributor, Betty pulling him closer to her as her hovered over her. His hand dropped to her side and her gripped her hip with a strong hand, her lips becoming something addictive as he kissed them. It felt right, having the thing that Conrad wanted most in his grasp. It felt right kissing her because it was Betty, and  he was Jeremiah, and it made sense for this to happen. At least it made sense in this moment.

"Jere I—" She pulled back, sliding out from under him and shaking her head as she realized what they were doing. It was wrong. It was more than wrong...but she had done it anyways.

"I know...I know." He pulled away, Betty soon sitting up to look at him. It took them both a moment to gather themselves, the girl already feeling the guilt tear into her as she looked at him.

"Jere you know I don't—we...I've never thought of you that way before."

"Me neither. I just...I thought it would make me feel better. And —it did." Jeremiah said, Betty feeling his words stung a little bit also agreeing with them. Soon she realized she didn't want to get equal with Conrad though, the guilt overwhelming the feeling of equality as she realized he wouldn't forgive her if he found it. "I won't tell anybody. I promise."

"I won't either. " Betty said, and Jeremiah was more than on board with that idea. Betty nodded, the girl standing with Jeremiah who was taking this as his sign to leave. They went down the stairs in silence, the awkwardness evident as they reached the front door. Finally she pulled it open, both of them sharing a small smile before they looked out, both of their faces dropping when they saw who was approaching the door step.

Belly Conklin was walking up the front step of the porch, her eyes flickering between the two of them in their clearly disheveled state. It was normal for them to hang out obviously, but there was something so different about this time, Belly thought it felt so off. Jeremiah slipped past Betty, pressing a kiss to back of her cheek before making his way out of the house and leaving the two girls to themselves. Betty's pale face seemed to verify some things that Belly felt like she was drawing conclusions to, the older girl looking back at her with a surprised expression as she stood on the step.

"Hey Belly." She finally said, containing her emotions and giving the younger girl a frown. Belly seemed to snap out of her thoughts of what Betty and Jeremiah had been doing, her eyes filling with nervousness as she prepared to apologize for what she had accused Betty of earlier that week.

"Listen Betty... I'm uh—I'm sorry for how I treated you earlier this week. I'm smart enough to know that you were drunk at the party and that's why we had a good time together. I still owe you an apology." Betty looked at the girl with glazed over eyes, her lips parting before she gave her a half smile, really just happy that she had apologized. Betty felt wrong for what she had just done with Jeremiah, so she was in no position to play the victim any longer. She had fucked things up expeditiously , and the entire reason was standing right in front of her.

"It's okay Belly." Betty said, the next words falling out of her mouth without fail as she held the door in her hand. She blamed the alcohol. But really it was just herself. "If you wanted Conrad for yourself you should've just said that."

Bellys face contorted once she processed what Betty had said, her eyes slightly widening as she looked at the older girl. She had called her out on her disproportionate love for Conrad, and if anyone was going to call her out on it, she didn't want it to be Betty Graham, his ex, and the girl he was in love with.

"What? I'm not—I don't." Belly tried to play it off, but Betty was already shaking her head at her.

"It's okay if you do...the list seems to be getting pretty long at this point." Betty knew she needed to quit while she was ahead, her head nodding as she started to swing the door closed. Belly spoke one more time, her eyes on the wood as it closed towards her.

"So we're good?" Belly asked, her face holding an urgency now. Betty left only a small crack in the door, quickly answering through it.

"We're good." The door closed in Bellys face and she couldn't help but feel like things were not good.

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Sorry guys ignore the way the chapter used to be 😀