Chapter 1: OCS High School
Chapter Text
The bell rang right on time. Students ran through the hall, bumping into each other. A Hall Monitor screamed at some of them for running – even though screaming was also against the rules. Ah, another day just like every other one at The Order of Cruciform Sword High School, commonly called OCS by its students and staff.
Three boys stood in a corner, attentively looking at the double door at the end of the hall. “Showtime.” One of them whispered.
A curly-haired girl walked down the hall in a summer dress and with an easy smile on her face. She waved around kindly like she knew everyone by heart.
“Camila Delcán…” sighed one of the other guys, dreamily. “Kind. Hacker. Aspiring fashion designer.”
The last boy smirked, suggestively. “I would bang her so hard that we’d both need helmets.” Everyone who heard him would say he didn’t stand a chance of that happening and he knew that.
Behind Camila appeared another teenager of a taller height. Her black hair was braided tightly, and her serious face contrasted with her friend’s.
“Mary Turner.” The smaller teenager said, the same look on his eyes. “Aka Shotgun Mary. Captain of the wresting team. Could kill ya without problems.”
“I’d play Call of Duty with her all night long. ” exclaimed another boy. The other two teens looked at him quizzically. “What? At least, I admit I don’t have a chance and that’s all I could possibly get from her.”
His statement received nods in response. Another girl walked behind the first two. “Show’s over. It’s just Beatrice.”
Beatrice Young was slightly smaller than her friend Mary, her hair was tied in a bun near her nape, and she sported a stoic expression and an oversize t-shirt. She didn’t receive the same compliments and description as her friend. If she did, they would probably talk about how she was a huge fan of horror movies. Or how she was the top student in most of her classes. or how she was incredible at archery. But none of those things were interesting to those dumbass guys. They only thought about one thing.
“Camila has the hottest ass.” sighed Dumbass #1.
“Mary has the hottest rack.” added Dumbass #2.
“Beatrice… has the hottest friends.” Shrugged Dumbass #3.
The trio of girl kept walking through the halls, away from the predatory looks of the group of hormonal teenagers. They stopped in front of some lockers as a tall student passed by them, shouting.
“Homecoming tickets! Buy your Homecoming tickets now for half the price!” the teenager high-fived Mary and asked. “Mary! Camila! Homecoming tickets?”
Camila gave her a bright smile and shook her head. “Nah, dude. We bought ours online. But thanks, Todd.”
“Alright, see you there.” The seller continued his path, yelling. He didn’t even spare a look at Beatrice. It was like she was invisible.
Beatrice just rolled her eyes. “And I won’t be attending so…”
Mary glared at her smaller friend, a judgmental look in her eyes. “God, you do this before every single dance.”
“Yeah, because I don’t feel like going.” grumbled Beatrice and started walking away from the lockers, followed by the other two teenagers. “And don’t look at me like that, Mary. You only want to go, ‘cause Shannon likes this stuff.”
“Fair point.” Turner nodded in admission. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for that girl.”
“Besides, there’s a Vincent Price marathon, so I gotta watch that.” Young kept justifying her decision.
“Who’s that?” Camila asked, curiously. Beatrice looked at her, scandalized. How could she not know the genius Vicent Price? What a shame… “Shoot, there’s Signore Duretti. I’m failing Italian.”
“You know you’ll not die if you say «shit», right?” Mary asked, sarcastically. “And why didn’t you take Spanish? You’re like beyond fluent.”
Camilla just rolled her eyes and told her to shut up. A couple of meters in front of the trio a middle-aged man waved them. “Buongiorno, Camila e Mary!”
“Buongiorno, Signore Duretti,” both girls greeted, Camila with a fake smile and Mary emotionless.
“Ci vediamo nel terzo periodo, il periodo migliore!” exclaimed the teacher.
Beatrice smiled brightly. “Possa il terzo periodo sconfiggere e bere il sangue di tutte le altre classi!” the man looked at her like she had two heads and didn’t say anything. “Alright...”
Delcán put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her, affectionately. “You’re so cute when you’re weird.”
Mary cut the sweet moment short with a groan. “Asshole alert, dead ahead.”
The two other teenagers glared at the place Mary indicated and imitated the annoyed sound. Walking towards them like he owned the place was Jacob Caleb Sakraya, also known as JC. He was a playboy, the hottest guy in school, as he loved to point out.
He stopped in front of them, his friend beside him, pointing his phone at their faces. Right, Beatrice sometimes forgot how JC thought he was a celebrity, some sort of youtuber or influencer. At the end of the day, all his viewers were his classmates, and they were only interested in the gossip he leaked in his channel.
“Girls, party at my place. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.” He handed a piece of paper to Mary and Camila, who smiled falsely. Beatrice peeked at Camila’s invitation. “Randall, can you make sure you get an insert shot of them opening it. I’m doing a video about the party to my YouTube channel.”
“Wait! You’re having a party on Wednesday?” Young pointed out that detail on Camila’s invitation. “On a school night?”
JC gave her a look as if it was the first time he noticed her presence and shrugged like it wasn’t even something that crossed his mind. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Damn, dude. Alright, we’re in.” the smaller girl gave him a nod and an awkward dumbs up.
JC’s face contorted itself into a bad-contained expression of pity and he said, with an overly soft voice. “Beatrice, you have to have an actual invite to get in and I only have a certain amount, so… yeah. But if anything changes, I’ll let you know.”
Mary glared at him. If looks could kill, the dude would drop dead on the school’s dirty floor in seconds. She tore the paper in half and handed part of it to Beatrice. “Ta-da, problem solved.”
The girl waved her «special invitation», provocatively. The boy didn’t even try to hide his disappointed face, but didn’t say anything, still under Turner’s deadly glare. “Wonderful. Can’t wait.”
***
The three friends were sitting on some tables, arranged to look like a meeting room, but resembled more the room of the Geek Club – what, to be honest, wasn’t far from the truth. At the end of makeshift long table was a middle-aged man with dark-grey hair and beard and goofy aura around him. “Dora, Mel, where are we on the school lunch article?”
Dora looked at her colleague and started explaining. “We thought we could make it about how the prices of ice cream have gone up 15 cents in the cafeteria and…”
Mr. Vicent, the Lit teacher and responsible for the school journal, hold his hand up, stopping the student from keep exposing her idea. “That’s a bit vanilla. Pardon the pun. But you’re missing the meat of the story.” Some students laughed. “Our school serves pizza five days a week, paid for by taxpayer money that is used to cover us from pizza-induced diabetes. Now that’s a school lunch story.” The man said quickly and then clapped his hands. “Copy that, circle it, write it! God, nailed it! I’m so proud of me. We came up with that idea together, but mostly me.”
Camila and Beatrice shared a look and giggled at their teacher’s attics. The man was a comedy show, and they didn’t even have to pay for it.
“Alright! Next one. It’s our last assignment, but it’s real feather in the cap for any reporter worth their salt that want to comment on the social life of this institution.” Mr. Vicent kept talking. “Anyone?” No one raised their hands, some students, including Beatrice, even avoided direct eye contact with the teacher. “Oh, please, not all at once, guys.” his eyes looked at the faces of everyone present and stopped on Beatrice’s. “Beatrice! Just the gal I was hoping for!” Young groaned internally and almost smacked her head on the table in front of her. “Okay. I want you to step out of your comfort zone and bring your special brand of journalistic gravitas to an article about what homecoming means to me. I mean, not to me, but to you. I never went to a dance when I was your age. I was kind of a nerd.” Wow, what a surprise, Mr. Vincent…
Beatrice looked at him, dumbfounded. An article about homecoming? Her? Surprise, Mr. Vicent, but she was kind of a nerd to. She didn’t do dances. And certainly, they didn’t mean anything to her. She tried to explain that to him, she really tried, but her teacher interrupted her – very rudely, if you ask Beatrice – with some weird theatrical speech and some even weirder noises that she would rather not remember.
When Mr. Vicent dismissed them and all her attempts to change his mind failed miserably, Young dropped her head onto Camila’s shoulder and mumbled. “«What Homecoming means to me»? Really? What are we, 5?”
Her friends caressed her hair, fondly. “I’m sorry, Bea. I know it sucks, but maybe is the universe telling you, you need to be there.”
Beatrice grumbled loudly and pushed herself out of Delcán embrace. “Please, don’t start with the universe with me. I love you, but it’s too early in the morning. Right now, I hate everyone and everything. Except chocolate, I still love chocolate.”
Camila pouted and if Beatrice didn’t know her like the palm of her hand, she would have fallen for it. Mary, who until know was too focused on her phone talking with her girlfriend, gave them her attention and spoke. “It’s not the end of the world.”
“Well, that’s easy for you to say. I don’t have a cute girlfriend as a date.” complained Beatrice. She did want a girlfriend. Not necessarily to go to the dance, just a girlfriend. And she knew exactly who she wanted.
Her crush was so big that, when she left the room, her attention was immediately caught by said girl. Her name was – Beatrice felt butterflies in her stomach just from thinking about it – Lilith Villaumbrosia. She was leaning against a locker, long black hair and hypnotizing black eyes making Young feel weak and speechless.
That was the problem… Beatrice would lose all her vocabulary – that was extensive – every time she looked at Lilith. She couldn’t even say three coherent words to save her life if Lilith was in the perimeter. It was pathetic…
She was pathetic…
Chapter 2: Hey, Neighbor!
Notes:
Here comes a little bit of Ava! She's a little player. but I swear she's still our baby.
Hope you enjoy it!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Beatrice opened her locker with more force than necessary. Her mind was still stuck on the mess Mr. Vicent put her into. An article about Homecoming. Home-freaking-coming. If that was hell, she didn’t know what was.
She was absorbed into her thoughts when a high pitch laugh, and some voices pulled her from her moment of reflection. “We’re going to kick some asses tomorrow.”
Beatrice didn’t even need to look to know who was coming. The name was Ava Silva, accompanied by her friends – or loyal minions, depending on who you asked. Beatrice’s relationship with Ava was… complicated, to say the least. They grew up together. They even took baths together when they were babies, for crying out loud. But now? Now, Silva only annoyed the hell out of Young.
Ava was the captain of the soccer team, therefore the queen of the school, which make her pretty self-centered. And she was Beatrice’s neighbor. Ava’s bedroom was literally in front of hers and she had seen her fair share of traumatizing things. Like that time, she saw the Portuguese girl making out with Michael Salvius. Or that other time when she witnessed Ava and Alexa Crimson arguing and almost ripping each other’s throats out – obviously, the altercation ended up with them ripping each other’s clothes out instead. Or the time she decided to google the translation of some songs Ava sang – or better screamed – and discovered Quim Barreiros wasn’t a just a farmer grandpa like he seemed. God, how many innuendos could that man come up with?
So, yeah, Ava Silva wasn’t Beatrice’s favorite person.
“Hey, vizinha!” greeted the player, approaching the taller girl’s locker.
“Ava.” Was all Beatrice said.
“Saw you watching some weird-ass Japanese horror movie last night.” Silva commented with a funny expression.
Beatrice rolled her eyes and closed her locker, a sign that she wanted to end the conversation and leave. “Were you spying on me?”
“A: don’t leave your curtains open and B: it’s kinda hard to miss a bunch of Japanese people running and screaming for their lives” Ava looked around, searching for something. “Looked horrible, by the way. Lots of blood and other grotesque body parts. And don’t even get me started on all that text.”
“They’re called subtitles.” another eye roll from the British girl.
“Nice. Where are your girls at?” the shorter girl asked when she didn’t find what she was looking for.
“Who wants to know?” she returned with a question.
Ava looked at her with a faux loving expression. “The most important person in your life.”
“Oh, Ava…” Beatrice said with an overly sweet voice. “You wouldn’t be in my life if you were the only other person left on the planet.”
The other girl raised a hand to her chest, faking offense. “Ouch. Sticks and stones, Bea.”
Their bickering was interrupted by JC approaching them and pulling Ava into a kiss. That was another thing that annoyed Beatrice. Ava and JC were known around the school as «The Relationship Strobe Light». On and off a thousand times, which sometimes culminated in screams and weird arguments at Ava’s house that could be heard through the whole street. Bea could, inclusive, hear other things she would rather not think about sometimes. She should ask Ava to pay for her therapy.
The kiss went on and on and Young thought about leaving. However, she remembered that was her locker, she was there first, so she didn’t have to go anywhere. Nevertheless, she cleaned her throat in an attempt to stop the unnecessary PDA in front of her.
Sakraya looked at her, pretending to be embarrassed. Like he knew what that meant. “Beatrice! Well, this is awkward. Sorry, were you just hitting on my ex-girlfriend?”
Beatrice felt a fit of laughs building in her chest. Her? Hitting on Ava? Hell would freeze the day she did that. She was able to control herself. “No, no. just having some me time at my locker. She was the one who approach me.”
JC laughed like he just realized what he said was the dumbest thing ever, but clearly not for the same reasons as Beatrice. “Totally. I agree. That could never happen.” Then he looked over to the smaller girl. “I know you miss me.”
The boy walked away, and the two other teenagers follow him with their eyes.
“That’s a healthy thing you’ve got going.” The British girl commented, ironically. “You two should invest on creating a relationship coaching account on IG. You would have thousands of followers.”
Silva just shook her head and started leaving. “See ya, Bea.”
What a wonderful interaction.
***
The rest of the day went smoothly. Luckly, there were no more weird encounters with JC or Ava, so Beatrice would consider the rest of the school day a huge win.
Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about the pre-party preparation she was having on her home with Mary and Camila. Camila, sweet kind Camila, was very close to being murdered by her best friend. The reason? She was trying to convince Beatrice to use a small white translucid piece of cloth she called a camisole.
“I’m not going to wear that! It looks like underwear.” Young was vehement about her feelings towards whatever that was.
“Bea, it’s a party. You should use something cute. What about this one? It’s a little darker, kinda sexy.” Camila counterargued, reaching for another item in her bag. It was a black top. Not as revealing as the camisole but still not the kind of thing Beatrice was used to wearing. She couldn’t help but grimace at the clothes. “Alright, fine, got it. Although, I heard Lilith is going to be at the party tonight, so…”
That sentence caught Young’s attention. Mary noticed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, like that’d matter. I mean, it’s not like she’s gonna say anything to her.”
The British teenager looked at her friend, seeming offended by her comments. “Excuse me! I might. Maybe, you know…” She grabbed the black top and analyzed it. Nah, that wouldn’t cut it. “On the other hand, I think I’m just gonna sick with my old lucky party shirt.” The girl moved around her room, towards her wardrobe and pulled from there a shirt with those exact same words printed on it. “See? Says it on there!”
Mary looked at her unimpressed while Camila looked like she was about to puck just from looking her shirt. “Bea, please, don’t. I’m begging you.”
“And you know, maybe, I’ll round it out with my old trusty flannel.” Young grabbed a red and black button-up from the closet, showing it proudly. “Nice, muted tones, plain and simple!”
A voice coming from her bedroom door quickly dismissed her idea. “That is not a good look. This is a good look.” Beatrice’s mother said, passing her hands on her dark green pant suit. “If you, girls, really want to knock someone out you need to project boldness with a power pantsuit combo.”
Beatrice loved her mom. She really did. Suzanne was a great mother. She overcame a divorce from Beatrice’s douchebag dad, turning herself into a local celebrity to the 40-and-over self-help crowd and all-around rock star. And the pantsuit really suited her. But she knew even less about youth fashion than her daughter.
“I can’t go to a party looking like Kamala Harris, Mom.” The teenager explained to her, putting the clothes she chose on the bed.
“But Kamala is so cool.” Suzanne tried again but kept receiving heads shaking as a response.
“Not the point, Mom! She’s the best, but not the kind of inspiration I need right now.”
“Alright, kids, enjoy your party. I love you. I have another seminar to prep to.” She blew them a kiss.
The three girls gave the older woman a synchronized «bye!» and Camila went back to convince Beatrice to ditch what she called an «fashion abomination» and use one of her options.
Her begging was in vain.
Notes:
Let me know what do you think!
Bye and be happy!!!
Chapter 3: (Pity) Party
Chapter Text
When Beatrice arrived at JC’s house, her ears were consumed by loud music, her body was surrounded by sweaty teenagers dancing and her eyes were drawn to the snack table. She wasn’t lucky enough to be able to approach that masterpiece, because Camila was quick to grab her arm and pull her to the impromptu dance floor in the middle of the living room.
The British teenager was far from a good dancer. She was too shy to show moves as bold as her friend’s, but she couldn’t deny she was having fun. However, she couldn’t get her mind away from one person, the person she was expecting to see at the party.
“Guys, I don’t see Lilith anywhere.” She shouted to be heard above the music.
“I don’t know where she is.” Camila said without stopping dancing.
Mary spun her, laughing. “And we don’t care. Keep dancing with us.”
“Do you think she didn’t come?” Young asked while moving her body at the rhythm of the music.
“C’mon, Bea, Stop that and just dance.” Complained Delcán.
Beatrice understood that she wouldn’t go anywhere if she depended of her friends, so she decided to change her tactics. “Oh God! All these moves made me so thirsty. I’m gonna get a drink.”
“Really, dude? Don’t you have a better excuse?” questioned Mary, judgmentally, but let her go.
Young approached the snack table, eager to eat something. She looked around, trying to find the familiar face she was looking for. She found the object of her affection – really, Beatrice? How old are you, 70? Lilith was at a quiet corner, a guitar on her lap and she was singing to a group of people around her. Beatrice admired her from afar for a moment, until another familiar voice reached her ears. She groaned, that certainly wasn’t a person she wanted to deal with.
“Hey, Beatrice!” Ava greeted, stopping next to her, quickly reaching towards a bottle with some sort of questionable liquid inside. “Looking very handsome tonight.”
“Why, thank you.” Beatrice smiled a little. “Having fun tonight?”
“Oh, yeah! Your friends over there have some serious moves going on.” Ava answered, sipping on her drink. “Have any of them asked about me?”
Young rolled her eyes and mocked her ironically. “When I told her you’d be here, their eyes filled with this sparkle, and they started singing and dancing. They looked like children at Christmas Eve. Or a non-blue version of the Smurfs. It was beautiful.”
“I’m sure it was.” Silva was unfazed by Beatrice’s sarcasm. “I’ve been wanting to ask you something. Is Mary still with Shannon? If not, do you think I have any chance of… you know, hanging out with her?”
Beatrice grimaced. She was pretty sure that Ava was in quest to make out with at least half the school. Maybe some type of alphabetic list or something similar. And she suspected that, if that was true, she was probably really close to achieving her goal. Not that she really cared about it, but sometimes curiosity was stronger than hers. “Yeah, it’s not really my job to tell you private intel about my best friends, you perv, but thanks.”
“Well, I mean, it kinda is, thought.” Ava shrugged and Bea looked at her, quizzically. She proceeded to explain. “People ask you questions about them, right? That’s ‘cause it’s your job as their DUFF.”
Beatrice looked even more confused. Was Ava speaking another language or what? It sure as hell didn’t sound as Portuguese. “As their what?”
“DUFF, Bea. D-U-F-F.” Silva kept explaining like the other girl was five. “Designated Ugly Fat Friend.”
The British accent peeked even more from Young’s voice when she yelped. “What did you just call me?”
Ava gestured dismissively. “It’s just a slang, Bea. Every friend group has one. You know, the friend that isn’t as hot as the others or that isn’t as interesting. It can also be the person who is the more approachable or easy to talk to, ‘cause there’s less people wanting to get into their pants. And if you don’t know who it is, chances are that it’s you.” Beatrice kept looking at her, dumbfounded and speechless. Ava could see the engines of her brain working at full steam and she tried to appease her neighbor. “Look I didn’t mean it like that. It just an expression, really. A very unfortunate one, but it stuck. Being a DUFF is not about being a heinous beast. Take a look at Zori.”
The Portuguese teenager pointed to one of her friends, a blond-haired with a hat and sunglasses even if it was night and they were inside a house. Beatrice had to do a double take because the conversation was making less and less sense. “Zori is like super-hot.”
Ava nodded. “Yeah, but people are more interested in her friends. Just like Todd over there.” She pointed to another student who was talking to a girl. “He’s probably doing one of the most important jobs a DUFF can do. He’s the guy with info people go to before they do their moves on his friends.” The girl Todd was talking to kissed his cheek and walked towards Michael. “See? She gets her info, and he gets a kiss he wouldn’t get otherwise. I’m sure you also dealt with something similar before.”
“What?” Bea grumbled. “I did not!”
“C’mon, Bea. On an average day, how many people ask you questions about Camila and Mary?”
The other teen hesitated before answering. “A fair amount.”
“On an average day, how many people ask you questions about you?” Ava kept following her line of thought. Beatrice didn’t answer. “See? I’m right.” Young kept looking at her, expressionless. “You know what? Get back out there. Have some…” Her sentence was interrupted by a glass of beer being spilled all over her. “Que merda, Beatrice?”
Beatrice quickly ran out of the party. Her mind was going on and on about the conversation. Stupid Ava… Who did she think she was? She didn’t know anything about anything. She was not a DUFF. She wasn’t!
Despite her thoughts and apparent certainty, the first thing she did when she arrived at home was look at herself in her full-body mirror. She was not a DUFF.
***
Even the next day, Beatrice’s mind kept being haunted by that word. That stupid word. DUFF… Why couldn’t she stop thinking about that goddamn word?
During Science class, she had to use all her strength to control herself and not mix two components that would cause an explosion. Luckly, she was working alone which meant she didn’t have to justify her groans to anyone. Ava was on the back of the room and Beatrice could feel her eyes on her occasionally.
At a certain moment, the surge to destroy everything around her was almost incontrollable and Silva’s approach was the one to blame. “Hey, Bea. Shouldn’t you be working with a partner?”
Young clenched her teeth annoyed, feeling her patience leaving her body quicker than the usual. “Shouldn’t you be working at all?”
Ava dismissed her provocation with a gesture and pointed to a girl, her partner, who was looking very interested in an unknown liquid. “Lab partner got this.”
Beatrice grimaced. “Yeah, Bill Nye over there looks like she’s pondering if she can drink that acid or not. Which is more interest in chemistry than you ever showed, I guess.” After a moment of silence without Ava moving an inch, she continued. “I work alone. Take a hint, Silva.”
The shorter girl frowned, confused. She honestly looked like a lost puppy, what would be cute if she wasn’t so annoying in Bea’s opinion. “Why are you so grumpy? Y’know, I’m the one that should be mad at you. You ruined my favorite shirt.”
Bea clenched her fists. Oh, how much she wanted to squeeze her windpipe until she had no capacity to talk. “You called me fat and ugly, Ava!”
Ava shook her head, vehemently. “No, I would never! That would be body shaming and that’s messed up. I called you the DUFF.”
Beatrice massaged her forehead and sigh. She knew Ava had a fair amount of brain cells, why couldn’t she use them? “That literally stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend, you prick.”
“You can’t take it literally, okay? Being the DUFF is not about being fat or ugly. It’s just a term and it stuck. It’s a catchall, just that.” The Portuguese teenager tried to explain.
Bea felt like she would kill her if she said another word, so she decided their conversation hit its end. “Oh, get out of here before I murder you.”
“Are you kidding?” Ava liked to play with fire apparently. Beatrice shot her a deadly glare and fortunately she took the hint and left. “Okay…”
Good choice, Silva, good choice…
Notes:
Let me know your opinion!
Bye and be happy!!!
Chapter Text
The annoying feeling on her chest never left her during the morning and only got worse when she met Camila and Mary at lunch. Beatrice kept telling herself she was not the DUFF, but every time she looked at her friends, she couldn’t help but remember her conversations with Ava.
“Bea, where the hell did you go last night?” Camila asked as soon as she saw her.
Beatrice couldn’t tell her the truth, so she just mumbled. “Home. Wasn’t feeling good.”
“Oh, well, you didn’t miss much.” Camila tried to comfort her, but honestly Bea couldn’t care less.
Mary, on the other hand, was very keen of honesty. “Just Cam making out with a guy she can’t even remember the name but was like three times taller than her. Then the cops busting up the party and everyone, like, TP’ing Crimson’s house.”
“She’s right. It was pretty awesome.” The other one finally agreed. They looked at Beatrice, expecting to see some sort of disappointed expression. But what they found was a Bea lost in her own thoughts. “Hey? Are you good?”
Young shook her head, leaving her trance. “Yeah, just… get the food.”
They reached the front of the queue and handed their tray to the lunch ladies. She put their food in it and smiled kindly. “Hey there, Mary and Camila.”
Her friends returned the greeting and Beatrice waved to the woman. “Hey, Eileen.”
The cook looked at her like it was the first time she saw her, which was far from the truth as she worked there since Beatrice’s freshman year, and she ate lunch there every single day. “Hey… you.”
That interaction was the last drop on her cup. Denying the truth was becoming harder and harder. All these moments when she was just invisible, just another one, insignificant and unimportant, came to her mind like a tsunami. Every time people ignored her. Every time she felt left out. All the pictures she was cut from or where no one cared to tag her. Without Mary and Camila, she wasn’t anyone, she disappeared, ceased to be.
Something inside Beatrice started boiling like acid. She was feeling so lost. Her friends – her best friends! – made her the DUFF. She was so mad, so angry.
After a night of poor sleep, that thing inside her, that monster, only grew bigger and angrier. She didn’t feel like putting any effort into anything. Luckly, the world gave her the gift of invisibility and she was going to use it. She had a license to not give a crap.
So, when she went down the stairs, wearing her pajamas that consisted of horror movie t-shirt and some sweats, and her mother looked at her like she was crazy – in fact she did call her that – she just shrugged and left for school in her car. God, even her broke ass car was a DUFF.
She entered the school with an expressionless face, and it felt like she was seeing the world for the first time. Everywhere she looked she could she DUFFs and more DUFFs. Every friend good had one. Even the teachers had one. For crying out loud, even those without friends were their own DUFF.
She was so disgusted by all of this. Did all those people know who they were? Where they stood on the social hierarchy? Or they were like she was just a week ago? Naive and innocent to the cruel reality of high school politics?
Beatrice couldn’t even look at Mary and Camila. Their whole friendship was a sham, and everyone knew but her. She was the only one kept in the dark. She was the only one stupid enough to think nothing was weird or wrong.
“Hey, Bea, will you take a look at my fashion piece, please?” Camila’s voice took her out of her self-depreciating thought. “I need a layman’s opinion.”
Beatrice looked at her with empty eyes. Every word that left Delcán’s mouth seemed fake and cruel in her mind. “You’re aware I’m a woman, right?”
“What?” The other teenager looked at her confused. “Oh, no, no. «Layman» is just a phrase. It means you’re not a fashion expert.”
Bea gritted her teeth, rage fueling inside her. “Oh? So, I have bad style?”
This caught Mary’s attention, who turn her head towards them. “Woah, someone is in a mood today. What’s going one with you?”
Beatrice’s gaze went from Camila to Mary and then back to Camila. It was time for the truth, she couldn’t hold back anymore. “Outside.”
The other two teenagers follow her out of the study room and to another library spot. There weren’t a lot of people there, just some random students and the librarian.
“How could you guys not tell me I’m your DUFF this whole time?” Beatrice half whispered half shouted, letting the dam of emotion break and flood every inch of her being.
Her – apparently fake – friends looked at her like she had grown a second head. “Our what?” There’s no indication that they know what she’s talking about, what made Beatrice even more mad.
“Your Designated Ugly Fat Friend.” She yelped as low as she can. Mary mumbled a «what the fuck?» and Camila looked like a lost puppy. But Beatrice doesn’t let herself fall for their games. She remembered herself of the situation ahead. Of the betrayal. “Yeah, Ava told me everything. There’s no need for hiding anymore.”
Mary let out a laugh. She looked amused by the situation. “That’s pretty creative coming from Aves. Idiotic, but creative.”
“Since when do you care about what Ava Silva says?” Camila had the decency to act and look more serious. “She says crazy stuff all the time.”
The British teenager start gesturing with her hands. “Because it makes sense! I mean, why else would two super-hot, interesting and popular girls like you want to be friends with someone like me? It’s because you’re using me to make yourself look better.”
Now, Mary seemed annoyed by what she was saying, a little wrinkle between her eyes. “Look, Beatrice, just because you think one of us is better-looking than you…”
Bea interrupted her exasperatedly. “Oh my God! There it is! There it is!” she was so hurt, so mad. Her whole life was a lie created by those two. “You know what? It’s okay, I’m glad you said that. It makes what I’m about to do much easier.” She grabbed her phone from the front pocket of her pants and typed something in it. The other two girls’ phones rang almost at the same time. “C’mon, go ahead and check them.”
And so, they did. Camila’s mouth hung open; her eyes darted to Bea. There was hurt in them. “Did you just unfriend me?”
Beatrice nodded, proud of herself. It was a childish move, she was aware, and she normally wouldn’t resort to it. But this was a new war, and she needed new tactics. “Sure, I did.”
Camila’s lower lip quivered, and she squeezed her phone harder. “Fine, if that’s how you wanna play. Then I’m taking you off of Instagram.”
“Hallelujah! I’m glad I don’t have to look at picture of your artisanal cappuccinos every morning anymore.” Bea said and received another shocked in return.
“How dare you? You love those foam-faces, they’re foam-tastics!” Delcán’s voice cane off higher than expected and the librarian hissed at the group, shushing them.
“Look, we’re dealing with something over here.” Young almost spit back and then typed again on the screen. “Unfollowed y’all on Threads.”
Mary’s hard eyes never left Beatrice. “Perfect! No more of Beatrice’s almost-ironic threads.”
She let out a humorless laugh. “Oh, that’s rich, coming from someone, who spends all day long RT’ing them.”
“They’re pity RT’s.” the taller teenager grumbled. “You know what? I’m taking you off of my BeReal.”
“I don’t want to know about your life, anyway.” The British bickered back and then pointed to them. First to Camila and then to Mary. “I’m blocking you from my Tumbler. And you? You’re off my Snapchat.”
They all shared angry looks for a moment. From her peripheric vision Bea could see some students looking at them, but she was not in her right mind to care about it.
“I’m free woman!” she cut the angry stare contest and started walking towards the door. “And don’t even dare be creeping on my Pinterest, whores!” she was so full of adrenaline that the curse word let her lips without her brain consent. What a surprise because Beatrice Young didn’t swear. However, she still had enough clarity to turn on her heels and look apologetic at the librarian. “Sorry, Susan. See you tomorrow.”
She exited the room quickly, leaving behind two people that, just a week ago, were some of her favorites. She felt her head spinning and she was rapidly coming off of the high of the argument. She was trying to control her breathing when a familiar voice entered her ears.
“Nice socks!”
Beatrice looked up from the ground and her eyes locked with Lilith. Oh God… She tried to say something. Maybe, just a «thanks». Or she could be bolder and complement her back. It wasn’t like she would have difficulty finding something to compliment her. However, all that came off of her mouth were weird incomprehensible noises. Therefore, to avoid more humiliation, she ran. Just ran out of there.
God, she really was a DUFF.
Notes:
What do you think? Let me know!
Bye and be happy!!!
Chapter 5: The Offer
Chapter Text
Beatrice finally knew why she couldn’t speak to Lilith. It was surprisingly simple; she just didn’t have the necessary information before. She couldn’t talk to Lilith because subconsciously Bea knew who she was. Villaumbrosia knew it too, just like everyone at school.
It was in those moments that she was jealous of Ava. She could see her talking to her lab partner in their table at Science class, laughing and smiling. She saw how everyone greeted her when she entered the room. How she smiled and walked like nothing could stop her. It didn’t matter if she wanted to be friends with someone or bang them, she never lost her air of confidence. It was annoying, but Beatrice was jealous of it, nonetheless.
She was still submerged in those thoughts when the class was dismissed. She was packing her things slowly, dreading her next class – PE, ugh – when she heard Mr. Schaefer’s voice. “Ms. Silva, a moment, please.”
Their teacher approached Ava’s table, where she was still sitting. He pointed to a piece of paper in front of the student. “It’s your third F, Ava. I don’t know what’s going on with you. But the principal and I talked, and we agreed that you’re suspended from the soccer team until you get your grades up.”
Ava looked at him, dumbfounded. She clenched the test, almost ripping it. There was an edge in her voice that reflected her actions. “Well, can’t we call with Coach Salvius about it?”
Kristian shook his head, no signs of an apologetic expression in her face. “Coach Salvius agrees with my decision.”
After hearing this, Ava looked even more desperate. She stood up, almost pushing her chair to the floor. “Look, I need to compete. I can’t lose my scholarship. It’s the only way I can get into college.”
The man shrugged like he couldn’t care less and then turned around. “You should’ve thought about that earlier, Ms. Silva.”
Beatrice’s eyes followed Ava out of the room. She was pretty sure that if she could kill their teacher with just look the Portuguese girl wouldn’t think twice before doing it.
Bea followed the other teenager’s footsteps. The conversation she just witnessed gave her an idea and, to pit it in process, she needed to catch Ava during PE.
***
Ava was fast. Who would know someone with such small legs could run so fast? Certainly, not Beatrice as she was not panting and all sweaty trying to catch Silva during the track practice in PE.
“Ava, wait!” Bea called out between heavy breaths. Ava turned her head towards her, confused, and slowed down a little. “God, you’re fast. What did your parents feed you when you were a kid?” the other teenager kept looking at her without saying a word. Looked like someone was not in the mood to small talk… “I need your help.”
That caught Ava’s attention and even put a small and almost imperceptible smile in her face. “You need my help? That something I thought I’d never hear.”
Beatrice rolled her eyes but grinned. “Don’t let it get to your head, Silva. There’s a first time for everything.” Then she put on a more serious expression. “I don’t want to be anyone’s DUFF anymore, okay? I want to be my own person. I’m tired of being the approachable one, I want to be the dateable one.”
With every word she said, Ava’s face became more and more perplexed. “Are you asking me for dating advice? Today of all days? Sério, Beatrice?”
The taller girl sighed, aware that Ava had the right to not be willing to deal with it. “Look, I really like this girl. Her name is Lilith Villaumbrosia. You may have heard of her.” The grimace in Ava’s face told she had indeed heard of Lilith and didn’t like what she heard. Beatrice ignored it, not trusting a lot in Silva’s taste. “And I don’t seem to be capable of talking to her without making a fool of myself and looking like the poster child of the Disaster Lesbians Club. And you never seem to have that kind of problem.”
“Don’t you hate me?” Ava asked, looking like she wasn’t offended by that possibility.
Beatrice smiled genuinely, “I’m glad you ask. I do indeed. But only because you are an annoying prick.” Ava rolled her eyes, but grinned. “However, you were the only one in this entire school who told me what was actually going on. Which means you’re an honest prick and that’s what matters.”
Silva looked in conflict between feeling offended or laughing. “Thanks, I guess…”
“Can we just stop, please?” Bea had enough of running and stopped, panting a little. Ava did the same, not even looking tired. “Here’s my offer. I’ll make sure you pass Science if you help me with this.”
The shorter girl didn’t seem convinced. “I mean you have the easy part, Bea. You could pass Science sleeping. I have to help you with…” Ava gestured to the other’s outfit. “For fuck’s sake, you’re literally wearing pajamas, girl.”
Beatrice felt the anger consuming her again and her ears reddened. “I get it, Ava, okay? I’m disgusting. I’m a swamp think. I’m a regular Bela Lugosi.”
“Who?” Ava frowned.
“I don’t know where my head was when I thought this would be a good idea. Forget it.” She shook her head and started walking away. Maybe, she could fake a headache and leave. She never ditched school, but if she was being honest, she actually could feel a headache developing, so it could not be a lie. “Have fun playing intramural Wii golf for the next five years, prick.” Cruel? Probably, but she couldn’t care less now.
“Okay, okay, okay! Come here.” Ava quickly prevented her from leaving, gently grabbing her wrist. “Look, I’m an idiot, okay? And idiots don’t exactly give good advice.”
Young’s expression softened a little. At least, she admitted. That was more than most people did. “Well, look at it this way: you can’t really make more awkward than I already am.”
“That’s true.” The Portuguese teenager smiled, and the other one rolled her eyes. Was that fondness she was feeling? Impossible. “See? Idiot.”
“So… are you gonna help me?” Bea questioned, hopeful.
“Yeah. Under one condition.” Ava nodded but interrupted Beatrice when she saw her opening her mouth to celebrate. “You have to ask me in monster voice.”
“Ava. Monster voice? From when we were little?” Bea’s cheeks blushed, the dark red expressing her embarrassment. She didn’t even want to think about it. It made her cringe. But Ava looked irreducible and determined to hear it. “I don’t even remember how to do it.”
“Are you sure?” Ava didn’t buy her excuse. “Okay.”
The girl started to walk – or better run - away from her. Beatrice knew what she was doing. It was an ultimatum, manipulation. And she felt for it within a few seconds. “Alright!” Ava turned to her, her eyes sparkling like they used to when they were kids and were playing in Bea’s backyard. she let out a little growl, deepened her voice slightly and made a weird face. “Bea need Ava help. Please, Ava, help Bea.”
“You still got it!” Ava let out a childish laugh and the other teen couldn’t help but smile a little.
“You’re so easily amused.” Bea said, some sweetness at edge of her tone. “We got a deal?” Silva nodded and raised her hand above her head. Beatrice, on the other hand, extended her hand, ready to a polite handshake. “I was going…”
Ava didn’t even move her arm, so Young met it in a high five. Really out of character for her, if you asked her.
“You have to pass chemistry midterm. So, we’re going to start with that.” She went back to work mode. This was her new project, it had to go as perfectly as possible, therefore she needed to plan. “And where do we start with me?”
Ava looked her up and down for a moment, her tongue between her teeth. She seemed to ponder her option before saying. “The mall, noon, Saturday.”
Beatrice signed with her head, effusively. “Alright, cool! I’ll be there. And I’ll wear my Shape-ups.”
Bea started to walk away but was stopped when Ava called her.
“Bea!” Beatrice looked over, finding Ava rubbing her nape a little embarrassed. “You’re not disgusting or whatever you called yourself before.”
Young’s cheeks reddened, not expecting the compliment. So disoriented by this, Beatrice almost fell when she went back to the route she was taking before Silva’s statement. Ava walked away, shaking her head, amused.
Beatrice didn’t know what she was getting into, but she was ready to whatever Ava was planning.
At least, she thought so.
Notes:
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments!
Bye and be happy!!!
Chapter 6: Professor Silva
Chapter Text
She wasn’t ready for what Ava had planned for her. Not even close. She should have known though. Ava Silva was a little box full of surprises, after all.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Beatrice exclaimed; her voice a few octaves higher than the usual. Her eyes were trying to avoid the shop in front of them at all costs. She could feel her cheeks and ears burning with embarrassment.
Ava seemed totally unfazed by Bea’s – almost – scream and grabbed the other teenager’s wrist, pulling to the interior of the shop. “Nope, I’m not.”
Beatrice felt a huge urge to hide herself in a hole on the floor. Or kill Ava, that was also a good option. That idiot brought her to nothing other than a lingerie shop. A lingerie shop!
“If I wanted to go shopping underwear, I could have done it alone, Ava!” the taller girl hissed, annoyed and shy. “I need you to give me real talk.”
“Real talk?” Silva had a determined light in her eyes. She looked like she took Bea’s request as a challenge. “You have an uniboob, your posture sucks and your clothes fit weird, all that ‘cause you wear the wrong size bra. It’s actually pretty bad for your back and probably the reason I hear you complain about back pain so often. Boom, real talk!”
Beatrice glared at her, perplexed. She was not sure if her shock came from all the information she had to assimilate, from the fact that Ava knew and said it like someone knew and said her name or – the most probable one – because she just said she had an «uniboob». Was that even a real word?
“What? I watch a lot of Project Runway.” She shrugged, dismissively. “First lesson from Professor Silva: first impressions matter, so take some pride in your appearance.” Ava waved to a pair of sellers, who quickly approached them. “Ladies, this is Beatrice. Take good care of her, please.”
The two women analyzed Bea’s body, judgmentally, and she shot a pleading look at her classmate, begging her to not leave her alone with those people. Ava just smiled and did nothing when the ladies pulled Beatrice further into the shop.
Turns out, «uniboob» was a real term, because both sellers pointed that out about her. Dear Lord, what had she done to deserve this?
***
Beatrice would never admit it out loud, but Ava was right; a right size bra did make magic. She felt more comfortable and, she even dared to say, beautiful. She always had a theory that those two things where incompatible, but apparently, she was just doing things wrong.
“What do you think?” Beatrice spun around, showing herself.
“Hey! Look at those.” Ava looked her up and down, her eyes lingering a little more on her chest. Beatrice felt her cheeks burning for what felt like the hundredth time that day. “You… you look great.”
“Thanks…” Bea smacked Silva’s arm when her eyes kept looking at her like she was hypnotized. “Okay, that’s enough. Can we leave now?”
Ava shook her head. “Definitely not! We’re just getting started.” she grabbed Beatrice’s hand and pulled her to another shop. “Lição número dois: time to show the world who you are. The truth is that I don’t know who you are from your clothes.” She waved around Beatrice’s frame and grimaced. “You have to put yourself, your essence into it. And please let’s stop dressing like a nun, or worst a small version of Wreck-It Ralph.”
“What does your clothes say about you?” Bea asked, analyzing Ava’s outfit.
“Easy! It says I’m a Triple B that could conquer the fucking world if I wanted to.” Ava proudly stated but rolled her eyes as soon as she saw Beatrice’s confused look. “Badass Bisexual Babe, Bea. Incredible, right? I’m the one who came up with it.”
Beatrice huffed at Ava’s attics but kept looking at her clothes. “You’re literally wearing a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. I saw at least fifty people wearing the same type of attire today and I’m doubt they all are all of those things.”
The shorter teenager pointed at her like she had just said exactly what she wanted to hear. “That’s the thing, little padawan. My clothes tell that about me ‘cause I put my essence into them. They’re not just a hoodie and a pair pants, they’re my hoodie and my pair of pants. They’re an extension of my personality, of myself. And that’s what we’re looking for.” She grabbed some clothes from a hanger close by and tossed then into Beatrice. She huffed again. “Dressing rooms are back there. Ah, and maybe try a new attitude while you’re at it.”
Not really willingly, Beatrice went to the indicated place. At first, she wanted to kill Ava every time she showed her a new look. Then, her grumpy attitude started to fade and she loosened up a little. She struck some poses, and she even let Silva record some of them – not before threatening her of maiming if they leaked. At some moment, Bea was having so much fun that she even rehearsed a comical attempt to flirt with a mannequin as if it was Lilith. She laughed and smiled like she didn’t do since she was a kid.
“Did you have fun in there?” Ava asked, provocatively. “I know you did, Bea.”
Despite the smile she didn’t even try to hide, Beatrice said. “No, I did not.”
“No?” Ava nudged her and grabbed her phone, showing Bea the photos and videos she took. “Are you sure about it?”
Beatrice groaned and pressed her hands onto her face. “Please, stop! Make it stop! It’s really bad.”
Ava chuckled but shook her head, with a fond expression in her face. “It isn’t. Lesson number three: smile more. You’re really cute when you’re having fun.” Bea shot her a shy smile. “We’re off to a great start, smart-ass.”
They started leaving the store when Beatrice stopped in front of a mannequin with a beautiful dress. It was black, simple but magnificent at the same time. She touched it. She wished she could use one of those, but certainly she couldn’t pull it off. She wasn’t beautiful enough for it, she thought.
“Try it on.” Obviously, Ava noticed the way she was looking at the piece of clothing.
Bea tried to hide the sad feeling that was surging inside her. “I’m a little tired. Maybe, we should just take a break.”
If Silva noticed the change in her demeanor, she didn’t say anything and she was really grateful for it. They walked hand by hand to the mall’s food court and sat at a table.
“Alright, Bea… What are you really looking to achieve with your girl Liliane.” Ava asked.
Beatrice rolled her eyes at the brown-haired teen’s purposeful mistake. “It’s Lilith.”
“Tanto dá. Look, Talking to her scares you right?” she nodded, embarrassed. “The only way to get over it is to face it right here, right now. Are you seeing that girl over there?” Ava pointed to a girl eating alone at a table near them. “I want you to walk over there and get her number.”
Bea looked at her like she was crazy. “No.”
“C’mon! Just go there, look into her eyes and just say: «I could tell from across the room we might be into each other. Now that I’m here, I know it. Your move.»”
Young let out an incredulous laugh. “Have you met me? I couldn’t get through three words of that.”
Ava huffed. “Okay, fine. You can just say «Hey there».” Beatrice still looked skeptical. “Hop up! Get it, tigress! You can do it.”
And she really tried to do it. She really, really tried. But, if Beatrice was being honest, the conversation she had with the unknown girl was one of the most awkward she ever had and that coming from her meant a lot. She wished she could just erase every single word they said from her mind.
After the embarrassing interaction, Bea approached Ava again, a deadly glare in her eyes. “Thanks for the advice, Professor Silva.”
The Portuguese girl raised her hands in surrender. “Chill out, babe. We’re just sizzing up your strengths and weaknesses.”
“And?”
“And you were horrible. I hope you like cats.” She mocked then smiled kindly. “Kidding. Next mission is to talk with 15 girls.” Bea looked at her in shock. “You heard me! 15 girls and I don’t want to see you completely falling apart.”
“Are we living in a cheesy teen rom com and no one warned me?” the British teenager said. “Is Noah Centineo hiding somewhere?”
“Oh… I wish! I do think that man is hot as hell.” Ava admitted with a dreamy smile.
Beatrice took this opportunity to avoid the conversation they’re having. “I’m more of a Julia Stiles kind of girl. Maybe even a Lindsay Lohan.”
“I would be happy with either of them too.” She daydreamed, but quickly shook her head, leaving the trace she was in. ”Don’t you dare deflect, Beatrice Young! That ain’t the point!”
Bea huffed like a petulant child and if she was with someone else, she would probably feel embarrassed by it, but Ava was the last person who could judge her childish attics. Despite her reluctance, she got up and walked around the mall looking for people she could approach. She felt stupid but she couldn’t deny that Ava’s line of thought made a little sense. However, didn’t matter how many times she tried, she felt like she was getting worse and worse at it. Around the 17th girl, she started losing all hope. With a dejected expression, Beatrice sat on a couch in the middle of the hall.
“Long day, huh?” she heard a sweet voice with a cute accent.
Beatrice looked up from her misery and saw a girl smiling at her. She hadn’t even noticed her sitting next to her. She gave her a tired but genuine smile. “Too long.”
“Just get off work?” the stranger asked, seemingly interested.
“Kind of.” Bea analyzed the other teenager in front of her. She was using what looked like a uniform and an apron. “Do you work here too?”
“Oh, I’m at the yogurt place.” The girl pointed to a small badge on her chest. “I’m a topic consultant.”
“God, I didn’t know they had those.” Beatrice exclaimed, surprised. “I’ve actually been doing a lot of poor choices with my toppings.”
“Oh, have you?” the stranger shot her a charming smile and extended hand. “I actually have a card I can give you. I’m Yasmine, by the way.”
Young shook her hand. “Beatrice. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, Beatrice.”
“So, tell me, what is the most common mistake people do when it comes to toppings?” she asked.
“Good question…” Yasmine scratched her chin in faux doubt. “Hum, granola. Do you want to know why?”
“Yeah!”
***
When Beatrice finally went back to where she had left Ava at least an hour ago, she couldn’t believe the great conversation she just has with Yasmine. The paper in her pocket felt like it weighted more than what was expected, but it was a good weight.
“Ava, I did it!” Bea almost squealed like a little kid. “I got someone’s number.”
From her spot on a massage chair, Silva looked up at her. “Atta girl! But don’t get cocky, today’s only day one.” Although, if Ava was being honest, she didn’t think the other teenager could really get cocky, she was too humble for that.
“I know. However, still felt really good, so…” Bea gave her a big genuine smile and Ava couldn’t help but see how beautiful her freckles became when she smiled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Well, you held up your end of the bargain, it’s only fair if I do the same.” The British girl went through the contents of her backpack, handing her a stack of papers. “These are my chemistry notes. Live by this and you shall pass the midterm. If you need any help, just tell me.”
Ava leafed through the notes. “Enthalpy… Entropy…” she looked like she had never heard any of those terms. “Pauli exclusion principal?”
“Yeah, it’s…” Bea began to explain but was quickly interrupted by a known voice coming from behind Ava.
“Ava!”
The said person grimaced looking at her neighbor in front of her. “Please, tell me we can just run.”
She shook her head, disappointed. “He’s coming over.”
The Portuguese teen sighed and spined on her heels, facing who was calling her. JC was approaching them, with one of his fake – almost mischievous – smiles. “Oh, man, what a coincidence it is seeing you both here! So… you two?”
“We’re not here together.” Ava rapidly lied and Beatrice shoot her an unpleased glare. “We just bumped into each other.”
Although she felt a little tug in her chest – she wouldn’t ever admit it though – Beatrice tried to corroborate the story. “Yeah. I would never… I don’t want to… ”
The boy gestured dismissively and rolled his eyes, quite theatrically. “I couldn’t care less.” Despite trying to pretend he was indifferent; he couldn’t help but say. “Randall, can you make sure you get a shot of them together?”
The JC’s (un)official cameraman – who would probably never have his services paid with anything other than passive aggressive remarks – directed his phone to their faces, probably trying to do an artistic close up or something like that.
“That what sucking at life looks like.” Was all Ava’s ex said before leaving like he owned the place.
Silva and Young looked at each other for a moment, not sure what to do after the interaction they just had to endure. Finally, Ava decided to cut the uncomfortable silence, pointing to the sheets in her hands. “I should get started.”
Beatrice nodded. “Yeah, sure. I’m late to a… an event, so…”
While she followed her neighbor leaving, Beatrice couldn’t help but feel a weird feeling at the pit of her stomach that couldn’t explain, so she just ignored.
Sometimes avoiding things was the right thing to do.
Notes:
Thank you for reading! Thoughts?
Bye and be happy!!!
Chapter 7: DUFF Love
Notes:
Uni doesn't give me a break, but I finally found a moment to come here with not one, not two but three chapters!
Hope you enjoy it!
(1/3)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When Beatrice entered her house, she found a scene that made her stop on her heels. Her mother was in the middle of their living room making pose after pose. I was a little disturbed.
“What are you doing?” Beatrice asked, approaching her mum.
The older woman spun around, seeming a little embarrassed. “Oh, you caught me.” Suzanne pointed to the laptop that sat on the small table in the middle of the room. “I’m uploading pictures to my profile. Just hang on a sec; I think they’re still loading.”
Bea made her way to the device. “Your profile for what? Something professional like LinkedIn? Please, tell me you’re not using X again. I deleted your account for a reason, Mom. Everyone there is crazy.”
“No, silly, a dating site. I signed up for all of them.” The older woman gestured to the screen in front of her. “Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, JDate.”
Beatrice frowned. “JDate? Mom, you’re not even Jewish. You’re Catholic.”
“That makes me even more exotic on the site, hon.” Suzanne explained, and Beatrice couldn’t deny it might work with some people. “Look, this is my profile. What do you think about the picture? Tell me what you think. Be brutal.”
The daughter analyzed it. “You’re using the book picture. Mom, that’s too formal.”
“You think? It’s that or all the duck-head poses I saw online.”
“Duck what now?” In response her mother struck a pose that was a mix of a kissy face, and a pout and Beatrice felt like she was being traumatized. “Oh, no, no, no. Please, don’t. First, is duck face. Second, no one does that since like 2014. So, please, never do that ever again. It’s, like, beyond embarrassing.”
“Okay, okay.” Suzanne laughed, amused by her daughter’s discomfort. “I’m just trying to get more of this thingies, this flirties.”
“Oh, God… This will be a tough conversation for me.” Bea mumbled under her breath, thinking she could have avoided this conversation altogether if she had just stopped by the ice cream shop like she had thought. “Let’s see what I can do for you. Picture first.” She went through some of the pictures in her mother’s laptop. “Here! What about this one?”
On the screen, an image of Suzanne smiling appeared, sunlight around her and a beautiful landscape behind her. “That was Andalucía. It seems like it was a long time ago.” A somewhat bitter expression crossed her face when she remembered that trip involved her ex-husband.
“You look happy and relaxed.” Beatrice commented.
“I guess I was…” sometimes it was difficult to remember that there were good moments in her marriage.
Beatrice set up the profile using that one picture as its main one. “Here you go.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
“This girl’s gonna have all the flirties rolling in.” Bea mocked fondly.
“We’ll see.” For a second, the always-so-confident Suzanne Young seemed insecure. “This is so new to me.”
The teenager sneaked an arm around her mother’s shoulders and squeezed her in a hug. “It seems like we are both trying new things.”
“Hum?”
“I… I have a good, not so old-fashioned crush on a girl.” Beatrice stuttered the confession out. “Her name’s Lilith.”
“Lilith, you say?”
“Yeah, I was having some trouble getting her to notice me, so I brought on a sensei.” Explained the younger Young. “Ava Silva.”
Her mother fell into a fit of laugher. “Ava Silva? From next door?” when Beatrice nodded in response, her expression morphed into a more serious one, sensing something was wrong. “What about Mary and Camila? You always trust their advice.”
Bea avoided her eyes, unable to lie to her mother while looking at her. “I thought I’d branch out. New things and all that.”
Suzanne looked right through her excuse but pretended as if she was unaware of it. She could feel that her daughter was not ready to talk about it. “Was this whole sensei thing your idea?”
“Hum, yeah.”
“That’s great!” the older woman said effusively. “That means you're being mentally tough and making decisions. That's what half of my last book was about. When you become proactive, your problems become subtractive, and then good things are bound to happen.”
The teenager, eager to leave this conversation, afraid her mother would ask more questions about her «best friends», quickly stood up and headed to the stairs. “Yeah, okay. Little of the old proactive, subtractive. Got it. I'll remember that if you remember no more duck face.”
“No more duck head.” Her mother muttered already distracted by her computer.
“Duck face, Mom, duck face.”
Already near her bedroom, Beatrice heard a ring coming from downstairs and a happy exclamation from her mom.
“I got a flirty, Beatrice!”
God, she loved her mother so much.
***
When Beatrice entered school the next day, she felt like the world was spinning in her favour. Her mother was right, fighting for what she wanted could only attract good things. If not, what was the point of trying?
Despite this apparently hopeful feeling, she still missed her ex-best friends like hell. Beatrice couldn’t remember the last time she did something as big as what she was plotting to do without Mary and Camila by her side. They were best friends since kindergarten and that realization made her feel even more betrayed than before. When she saw them near their lockers, she couldn’t help but feel her heart clench inside her chest.
Through the halls, teenagers excitedly chatted, some already planning outfits to the Homecoming dance and Bea felt that good and hopeful feeling growing inside her. At least until her phone and everyone’s around her rang almost simultaneously.
Suddenly, everyone around her stopped what they were doing, all random and uninteresting conversations ceased, and a deafening mumbling filled the environment. Beatrice’s confusion lasted exactly the seconds it took her to grab her phone and spot the video she was tagged in multiple times.
Right in front of her eyes, in that little box in her hand, Beatrice Young saw a considerably long video of the most mortifying moment of her life. It was worse than the photos her mother insisted on keeping of the time she decided to run naked at her cousin’s wedding when she was a kid. So much worse.
Everyone at her school was seeing her dance in front of the changing rooms at the store she had visited with Ava. Her performance with the mannequin she used to represent Lilith was without doubts the highlight of the video. She could hear people laughing and she didn’t need to look around to knew everyone was looking at her. She was the new talk of the school and, if all those people who were sharing the video online had their way, maybe of the whole city.
The brunette clenched her jaws and fought the tears that made their way into her eyes. She knew who was to blame for it. Ava Fucking Silva. That prick had posted the videos she had sworn not to share. Had their agreement just been an extremely complex plot to put Beatrice in a vulnerable spot and use whatever she gave as a way to humiliate her? If Beatrice hadn’t let herself goof around and do those shameful things on camera, what would she use? Would she had posted her feelings and insecurities about Lilith to be mocked by everyone? Beatrice knew Ava was an annoying idiot, but she never thought she was this cruel.
As she ran through the halls, tears now freely craving wet paths on her cheeks, more and more videos popped up. Edits of the original one featuring her as pig were now trending. Someone even made a song out of it. Overwhelmed by it all, she found her way into a stall in an empty bathroom. The silence was a blessing.
However, the universe clearly was not on her side, because a group of girls entered the room and started commenting on the video. Apparently, someone had called her a five and compared her ass to a terrorist attack – not in a good way, obviously. But that was the least of her problems. In fact, when they mentioned Lilith and how mortifying this must be for her, it was when it actually sank in. Lilith would also suffer with it. Her senior year would be hell, and it would be all Beatrice’s fault.
God, she just wanted to disappear…
Notes:
Let me know your thoughts!
Bye and be happy!!
Chapter 8: Contingency Plan
Notes:
(2/3)
Chapter Text
Somewhere in the school, unknown to Beatrice, two people stared at the YouTube video that had the whole student body in an uproar. Unlike the other students, these two had an expression of disgust mixed with pity and anger plastered on their faces.
“This is awful…” Camila mumbled at the sight of Beatrice rubbing her face on a mirror on repeat. “They don’t clean these mirrors, like, ever. My cousin worked at Levi’s for like three years and she said they only cleaned most things when the higher managers visited, which was like once every five years.”
“Whatever.” replied Mary with what looked like an uninterested expression, but stopped the video, nonetheless.
“Mary…”
“Look, Cam, she was the one who ended things with us.” Mary complained, masking her hurt with anger. “She… She accused us of…”
“I know, Mary, I know!” Delcán interrupted her, her voice a higher pitch than usual. “Do you think that didn’t hurt me too? But just because she’s being an idiot, doesn’t mean we should be too.”
“She wasn’t an idiot, Camila. She was a bitch!”
“C’mon, Mary. It’s Beatrice – Beatrice Young, our Bea. There’s something going on with her and you know it.” The smaller teenager pointed out. “That whole DUFF conversation was way out of character. I don’t know what Ava told her, but it really messed with her.” Seeing her friend tough facet tumbling down, she continued. “Stop being stubborn, Mary Elizabeth Turner. Don’t you think for a minute I didn’t see you kicking that dude’s balls because he was laughing at the video.”
Mary finally gave in, exclaiming. “He was calling her –”
“I know, I was there.”
“Can you take the video down?”
Camila smirked mischievously. “Of course, I can. It offends me you had to ask.”
With some lines of code, the video was taken down, but its effects were far from over.
***
The fact that the video was now unavailable, did little to nothing to calm the principal’s nerves about the situation. Teenagers were smart and cruel and had already propagated the shameful media enough that it was now on the internet forever. It seemed like every time a version of the video popped up somewhere, it was quickly taken down, as if someone was actively hunting and fighting them.
“You know Beatrice well, Vicent. Do you think she’d put this up to get attention?” the principal asked the Literature teacher, as another edit of the original video was made unavailable.
“Please, did you see the same videos I just did, sir? Not likely,” he shook his head disapprovingly. “At least someone seems extremely focussed on deleting this monstrosities from the internet.”
“That doesn’t solve anything.” The taller man exclaimed as general going to war. “This school, this entire school, is filled with cyber bullies. Do you know what that means? That means retaliation videos. Comments, likes, tweets, memes, and whatever the hell else they do to each other nowadays. It's like a prison yard out there.”
“Look, don’t you think were overreacting a little bit?” Vincent tried to de-escalate the situation.
“Haven’t you seen DateLine? Catfish? Pretty Little Liars?” The principal seemed paranoid, and the teacher was actively questioning his sanity.
“What?” he shook his head, not wanting to feed this craziness. “Look, I have experience in this area, and I think the best course of action is dealing with this situation in a way that’s sensitive and private. At least, in respect to Beatrice.”
“Yes, yes! We do not negotiate with terrorists!” the principal, once again, stroked a general-like pose.
That was the opposite of what Vincent just said…
***
The annoying and deafening sound of the school’s speaker was heard, and the principal’s voice filled the environment.
“Attention, students. The halls of our prestigious institution have been compromised by the stench of cyberbullying.” It was the introduction of what looked like a long speech. “It is the stench of ones and zeros, and electronic hardware probably manufactured somewhere in China.”
Multiple yawns were heard around various rooms.
“But these «YOLO terrorists» will not be tolerated. OCS High will now be put under internet martial law.” Now the rooms were filled with protests. “That's right. Each student will be required to turn in their phones to teachers and retrieve at the end of the day until we have gotten to the bottom of this. No more phones.”
Inside one specific classroom, Mr. Duretti had an ear-to-ear smile plastered on his face. He’d been waiting for this moment for years. “Oh, can you hear me now, jerks?”
“There will be no Vine, no Flickr, no Tumblr, no Tinder, no Facebook, no Hulu, no Grindr, no WhatsApp, no Instagram, no Pinterest, no wiki anything.”
“We get! No more internet.” Someone yelled in the middle of the speech. “No one uses some of those shit anymore.”
“That is all.” The microphone made a horrible noise that showed it was being turned off before being turned on again, “Fight on, Red Tarasks! Oh, and remember, it gets better.”
“You heard him.” With his smile still in his face, Duretti walked around his room with a basket in hands. “Drop them in the box. You can pick them up after school… maybe.”
Every student, disgruntled, drop their phone inside the box. Todd had to be prompted multiple time, in fact, having a device inside his boxers that vibrated the moment the teacher passed him.
When it was his time, JC looked up with his best superior expression. “I don’t think he meant me too.”
“Everyone, Jacob.” The Italian teacher gestured towards the basket. “Hit «send», drop.” Walking towards the front of the class, Mr. Duretti started his own speech. “When I went to high school in the '80s, we didn't have emoticons. We had actual facial expressions. Look into it.”
Little did he know, it would be more likely that the student body would look into murder techniques.
Chapter 9: Punching Spree
Notes:
(3/3)
Chapter Text
Beatrice had eventually run out of tears and her sadness was replaced by anger, although the sense of humiliation never left her. Now, not only was she the most famous DUFF at school – a title she sure as hell was not proud of – she was also the most hated person in it. There was little to nothing teenagers loved more than their phones and all the gossip that ran through social media, and she was the reason they were forced into a detox period. If Beatrice was being honest, she was kind of relieved that she didn’t have to listen to that video in every corner of the building.
After a couple of pushes and rude words directed to her, Young was certain that things could not get worse, and she couldn’t wait to go home and hide under the covers of her bed. However, as it was already established, the universe had a vendetta against her for an unknown reason and her certainty was proven wrong the moment her eyes landed on the last person she wanted to see, Lilith.
The other girl was right in front of her locker, a serious expression plastered on her face and as soon as her eyes found Beatrice’s, the latter felt her heart clenched. Lilith gave her a tight lipped smile, with little sincerity behind and quickly spun around and left as if being in the same environment as Beatrice was the last thing she wanted.
This encounter made something emerge inside Beatrice’s chest, The anger she already felt was amplified by a thousand and she needed to do something about it. With assertive steps, Bea headed to the place she knew the object of her ire was, the cafeteria.
As soon as she entered the room, her eyes landed on the louder table that was filled with cheerleaders and jocks. How hadn’t she noticed how stereotypical her school was before?
She approached the table and had to control her murderous instincts when she saw Ava Silva laughing with her friend Channel. How could she be so unfazed after what she did to her?
“Are you happy, Ava?” she asked, rhetorically, when she stopped in front of the smaller brunette. “Is this one of your stupid lessons? What are you trying to teach me? Some shit like perseverance.”
Ava looked at her like a deer caught in headlights. “I…”
Whatever dumbass thing Ava was about to say was interrupted when a boy appeared in their vision field carrying a mannequin torso. Beatrice didn’t know his name and she was sure that after what she was about to witness she wouldn’t really want to.
“Hey, dummy humper, I found you a new girlfriend in health class. Or a boyfriend if you finally want to come to the right side of the force.” Beatrice’s ears reddened with a mix of embarrassment and anger when she heard it. One thing was being a jackass, another was being a homophobic jackass. “What do you think?”
The boy started doing a weird performance with the dummy, moaning and gesturing, what made everyone around him laugh. When he tried to approach Beatrice and rub the mannequin on her, he was quickly pushed aside but that didn’t stop his show.
Beatrice glared at Ava, beyond annoyed. “Are you gonna do anything?”
Silva looked around, her expression a mix of discomfort and anger, but only stuttered. “Bea, uh… you look good today.”
Once again, Beatrice felt her eyes filled with tears. That was all Ava had to say?
With a fluid movement, Beatrice smacked the tray of food that sat in front of the shorter girl, sending its contents directly toAva’s chest and lap.
Another Ava’s shirt she ruined, and it made her feel at least a little bit better.
***
“Beatrice… C’mon!” came the voice that has been calling for her for the last five minutes, accompanied by another knock at the door. “It’s Ava. Open up, please.”
Beatrice sighed and rubbed her temple. She thought that Ava would have given up by now, but apparently the shorter brunette was extremely persistent. In fact, when Silva started to knock at her door and sing at the rhythm of «Baby Shark», she was the one who decided to give up and just open the door.
As the door swung open, Silva quickly started to talk. “Look, Bea, I just wanted to say…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence since Beatrice, in an act of pure impulsiveness, throw her fist back and tried to hit her in the face. Unfortunately for her, Ava had great reflexes and stepped out of the way. Even more unfortunately for her, Beatrice’s hand landed on the wooden frame of the door.
“Fuck!”
“Bea, are you okay?” Ava tried to approached her but was stopped by a deadly glare. “Okay… Can I come in?”
Reticently, Beatrice stepped aside and let her in. Ava headed directly to the kitchen, opening the freezer and retrieving a frozen peas bag, handing it to the other girl. “Not gonna lie, I didn’t want you to hit me, but if you did it would be deserved.”
“Thanks.” Bea mumbled and put the cold bag in her hurt hand. The cold feeling made her sigh.
“Look, Bea… I swear I didn’t send the video, okay? I would never.” Ava started explaining, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt – that Beatrice could see it wasn’t the one she had ruined. “I overheard JC bragging about it to his stupid friends. I mean, the angles were not even from where I was sitting. And let’s be honest, when he found us at the mall, he was too chill to be a coincidence.”
The taller teenager eyed the girl in front of her and frowned when she spotted something. “Why is your hand messed up?”
Ava looked at it as if she had forgotten about it and rubbed her nape a little embarrassed. “You weren’t the only one running around punching people today. I mean, I punched people, you tried and failed.”
“You did what?”
“I may or may not have… uh, talked with Ben and some other people.” She mumbled.
“Who the hell is Ben?”
“It doesn’t matter! What matters is that he and his friends will make sure no one else see or talk about that stupid video ever again or they’ll see what I’m capable of.” Ava shrugged and rubbed her sore knuckles.
Beatrice cooed a little at the weirdly sweet gesture and handed the pea bag to Ava. “Thank you, Ava. I’ve never had anybody go on a punching spree for me before. It’s very «knight in shining armour» of you. An extremely petite knight but still a knight.”
Silva rolled her eyes at this. “Don’t get used to it. People are now saying I’m crazy and under the influence.”
“I mean, the crazy part isn’t that far from the truth, is it?” Beatrice teased, earning a playful glare in return.
“Well, irregardless…”
“Not a word, Ava.”
“Like I was saying, irregardless of that, I have a little piece offering for you.” Ava searched through her bag pack that she had haphazardly thrown on a chair, showing a piece of clothing Beatrice recognized very well.
“Ava… The dress?” Bea gaped at the silky garment.
“You seemed to really like it, and I thought it would be a shame for you to not have it.” Ava explained and her expression became more serious. “Look, Bea, I shouldn’t have called you the DUFF, okay? That was idiot and I should have known better than to be that kind of prick.” Beatrice smiled, noticing Ava used the insult she often did. “We good?”
“We’re good, Aves.” The taller brunette nodded with the smile, but this was quickly replaced by a somewhat sad demeanour. “You know what it’s not good? I saw Lilith today. She could barely look at me.” She groaned and rubbed her face, annoyed at herself. “I think I'm just gonna, like, send her a really long letter just apologizing profusely.”
Ava raised her hand to stop her ramble. “Hey, hey! Slow down, Bea. A letter, really? How old are you, 70?” Bea rolled her eyes. “Look, you don’t have to apologise for anything. You didn’t do anything wrong, okay? You were having fun, and someone didn’t like that and was an asshole.” She adopted a posture that Beatrice was sure it meant to be professional but was in fact extremely adorable. “Step six… or was it step five?”
“I stopped counting at second one.” Beatrice admitted. “Why don’t you let the steps go.”
“Step six!” Ava grabbed Young’s shoulders. “Just own it. Woman up. Tell her you know the video sucks, but you're into her, and to deal with it, ‘cause that’s part of your story now. And if she's still weird, she's a jackass. You’re a freaking catch and she should feel lucky you like her. Sometimes it's that simple.”
“That’s oddly sweet of you.” Beatrice smiled. “Thank you, Ava.”
“Now, I'm off to study Hess's law and how it relates to enthalpic chemical change.” Ava grabbed her backpack and winked at the surprised expression in Beatrice’s face. “Yeah, baby. I’m a fucking Chemistry genius.”
“Okay, it’s official.” The taller girl teased. “Who are you and what have you done with Ava?”
The goofy smile Beatrice was so used to reappeared in Ava’s face. “Or maybe I'll just Google celeb nip slips. With the curtains open, obviously.”
“Here she is!” Beatrice felt her heart filled with fondness towards that girl.
Ava was a prick, but Beatrice was starting to see her as her adorable prick.
Chapter 10: Game On
Notes:
Here come some more chapters!
(1/3)
Chapter Text
Beatrice could barely sleep that night. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Ava had said the previous day. Jokingly, she used to say the shorter brunette was as emotionally mature as a zombie, but the truth was that she seemed to know what she was talking about. Considering her weird relationship with JC, it was somewhat surprising, but at the same time not… That girl was a little box of surprise to Young and Bea was actually enjoying their newfound friendship.
Therefore, encouraged by Ava’s words, Beatrice entered the school with all the confidence she could gather – that she suspected was not a lot but it was better than nothing – and headed to a place she knew well, although she was never really near it before, Lilith’s locker.
As soon as she turned the corner, she saw the object of her admiration and froze for a moment. For a second, that felt like an hour, she actively pondered giving up, but then she took a deep breath and thought about what Ava would do. What would she say? How would she act? She sure as hell wouldn’t run with her tail between her legs like she was pondering to do.
Calling her inner Ava as loud as she could, the brunette shook the fear out of her system and finally walked towards Lilith. “Hey there!”
Villaumbrosia spun around, surprised. There was no disgust in her expression. Maybe a little bit of discomfort, but no active disgust. Beatrice took it as a good sign, or else she would lose her courage. “Hi, Beatrice.”
“Got a second to talk to a fan?” she tried to joke, not sure if it would work.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I’m assuming you’ve seen the video.” When she received a nod in return, Ava’s voice sounded in her head. Just own it. “It’s true. I’m into you and I thought I should just be straightforward about it. I should just tell you to your face, you deserve that.”
“Wow…” Lilith mumbled, blinking her eyes as if she was not expecting so much sincerity. “I’m flattered. And impressed actually. Not a lot of people would have the balls to say all that.”
“Well, that’s my whole thing. Big old balls.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Beatrice wanted to put them back in. Not only was an expression she despised, but she also used it incorrectly. This was going too well and apparently the universe had to attack her again.
Luckily, Lilith laughed at it. “You know what? I think this is the first time we really talk. You know, an actual conversation. It’s nice.”
“Yeah… yeah, it is.”
An uncomfortable silence fell around them, and it was only broken by some even more awkward goodbyes and see you laters. Beatrice was about to leave when – she was not sure from where – a wave of courage filled her being.
“We should hang out some time.”
“Yeah, I think I would like that.” Lilith smiled. “How’s this Friday?”
“This Friday?” the smaller girl pretended to think. “It’s fine for me.”
“Great. Meet me at my house? 7 o’clock?” proposed Villaumbrosia.
“Perfect! See you there.”
As Lilith headed the opposite way, Beatrice had to control the childish urge to commemorate through a victory dance.
She had a date! A date with Lilith!
***
Radiating pure happiness, Beatrice entered the girls’ locker-room where she was aware Ava was. The soccer team ended their practice a few minutes ago and, although Ava was theoretically suspended and couldn’t play at the games, she still trained with them every single day.
She swung the door open, receiving outraged yelps from some of the players. A few covered themselves, startled by the sudden appearance, but most relaxed upon realizing it was another girl barging in.
“Oh, some of you feel embarrassed that someone is invading your privacy?” Beatrice barked out with an eyeroll. “Welcome to the club, ladies.”
She entered further into the room and, too enthusiastic to care about it, started calling for Ava. Finally, she found who she was looking for at the back of the locker-room, half naked. As soon as she spotted the girl, Beatrice stopped on her tracks, forgetting all her words.
“Bea, what’s going on?” Ava asked, unbothered by her own naked state. When Beatrice didn’t respond, Ava chuckled. “Like what you see, Bea?”
Young shook her head to focus on what she was there to do. “I need to talk to you about something.”
Ava, never one to let an opportunity go, started to make a dance that was a mix of sensual and funny. “What? Do you have a question?”
Beatrice laughed at the absurdity of the scene in front of her. Ava putting on her bra with a goofy dance wasn’t on her bingo card and she was not sure what she was feeling at that moment. “Stop that.”
“C’mon, do you have a question, babe?” the dance continued.
Now with Ava a little more clothed, Beatrice was able to say seriously, although the smile was still there. “Stop, Ava! It’s important.”
Ava nodded, still laughing, and put on her shirt. While she followed Ava towards a room at the back of the locker room – Coach Salvius’ office –, Beatrice filled her in on what had happened.
“So, you asked her out?”
“Yeah!”
“That’s my girl!” exclaimed Ava, although her heart clenched hearing that. She didn’t know what was going on, but she was not about to explore it. Sometimes ignorance was a blessing. She saw Bea fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. “What’s wrong? Did she do something else? Something stupid? I’ll beat her up…”
“No, no! She didn’t do anything wrong.” Beatrice quickly said, seeing Ava became redder and redder at the prospect of what Lilith could have done. “I just… I’ve never been on an actual date before.”
Ava’s eyes landed on her, analysing her. “Alright, Bea. Sit down, please.” She gestured to a chair and moved to the front of the office where a chalkboard was, writing on it. “Step Seven: The date! We need a plan.” She directed her gaze to Beatrice again, “Do you think the football team goes to a game without a strategy? And before you ask, I’m talking about real football, not that thing Americans call football. Soccer, my ass! News flash, America! If you’re the only one calling the sport something different, chances are you’re the wrong one.”
Beatrice laughed. “You were holding that one up for a long time, weren’t you?”
Ava let out a exasperated sigh. “Yeah… Moving on! If you want this date to end up with you making out, you need to think ahead. So, give me the vibe of the restaurant you’re going for.”
“Uh…” the taller brunette thought for a couple of seconds. “I was thinking something trendy, y’know, kind of hipster, but like unique?”
“Cool, I have the perfect spot. Dave & Buster’s!” Ava recommended witout a second thought.
“The place with the claw machine?” Beatrice was not expecting that to be an option.
“You bet your cute ass.” Ava moved to the board again. “Let’s get started! The worst case scenario is if you get seated at a table right across from each other.” She draws the schematics at the board. “No one’s making out if they’re three feet apart. Simple geology.”
“You mean geometry?”
“Whatever! You need a booth, okay? It's better for flirting, not-so-accidental touching, making out. Game on.” Ava explained as if she was an expert on the field.
“Wow…” Beatrice breathed out, trying to assimilate all she heard. “I had no idea people like you even thought about this kind of stuff. It always seemed so easy to you.”
“That’s because you have prejudice against popular people.” Silva pointed out. “You’re a popular-phobe.”
“That’s not a thing, Ava.”
“It clearly is. But that’s not the point! Okay, so how do you set the tone at dinner? Lighting matters, okay? The darker the booth, the better.” Ava looked at Beatrice. “Are you taking notes, Bea?” Ava noticed with fondness and Beatrice, not even looking up from the paper she had retrieved from somewhere, nodded. “So cute… What's next? Ah, yes! Body language. Is she leaning in? Is she sitting close?” More things were drawn on the board, the sound of chalk colliding with the board being heard around the small space. “And then it's all about interaction. Is she trying to impress you? Does she say complimentary things to you? If yes, chances are she's gonna make her move. And, then, golo!”
Beatrice finally looked up from her notes, understand the lesson had ended, and her eyes landed on the drawing on the board. “Seriously, Ava? A pair of boobs?”
“I always wanted to do that to the coach's board.” Ava said, proudly, and Beatrice felt endearment filling her heart.
Such a dork. A freaking cute dork.
Chapter 11: Think Rock
Notes:
The moment we all have been waiting for!! The kiss!!
(2/3)
Chapter Text
Beatrice was so happy about the whole date thing and the fact that she had a solid plan thanks to Ava that she decided to do something she would not have done a week ago: ask Ava to hang out with no dating or Chemistry lesson involved. Just like when they were kids.
With a bag full of snacks and sodas, Beatrice exited her house and walked the few meters that separated it from Ava’s. She’s barely reached the porch when she heard screams. She knew those voices belonged to Ava’s parents. As soon as her hand landed on the door to knock, the screams got even louder and, honestly, she didn’t even flinch when Ava rushed out of the door with a tired expression.
They barely exchanged any greetings before Ava made a beeline directly to Beatrice’s car. The taller teen’s heart clenched at the sight of the bubbly girl so sad. “Want to talk about it?”
“I’d rather not talk at all.” was the demotivated response.
“We can do that. And I know just the place.” Agreed Beatrice.
True to her promise, the trip to the unknown place was silent, giving Ava the space and time to put her thoughts in order. When Beatrice stopped the car near the edge of the woods, she gestured to Ava to exit and follow her.
The walk followed the same pattern as the car trip, silent but not uncomfortable. Finally, Ava, a little more but not completely back to her normal self, cut the silence. “Hey, Bea, where the fuck are we going?”
“My special place. You’ll see.”
Silva smiled and finally cracked one of her usual jokes. “This is the place where you’ll kill me, am I right?”
Happy to see a smile on the smaller brunette’s face, Young matched the humour. “Yes, no one can hear you here. Scream all you want.”
“I knew all those weird movies you were not for entertainment.” Ava poked the other girl. “They were research for this moment, weren’t they?”
“You caught me.” Beatrice stopped in front of a rock and gestured towards it as if it was a masterpiece. “I give you Think Rock.”
“The what now?”
“Well, it's gonna blow your mind, but you sit on the rock.” She plopped down on the rock and Ava followed her lead. “Good, good. And then, you think. Try it.”
Once again, the silence filled the environment. After a couple of minutes, Ava said. “How'd you find this place?”
Beatrice sighed with a nostalgic smile. “I used to run around here with Aurelia. She used to come directly to this rock. I never really got why.”
“Oh, my god, Aurelia.” Ava remembered the fluffy Golden Retriever that used to accompany them on their adventures when they were kids. Beatrice used to compare her to the dog at least once a day. “How is she?”
“I guess she's okay. When my parents got divorced, my mom wanted custody of me, and my dad wanted custody of the dog.” The nostalgic smile was now replaced by a sad look. “Yeah, so I think that pretty much sums it up right there.”
“That sucks.” Ava mumbled. Feeling an urge to share what was weighting her heart, she thought that wasn’t any moment better than this one. “My house looks like a war zone on our better days. My parents… they fight every single moment. Not even therapy helped.”
“Ava… I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah… I don’t even care anymore, but Diego…” Ava rubbed her face, thinking about her eight years old brother. “He doesn’t deserve to live in that fucking hell. That’s why I need the soccer scholarship, Bea. I need to leave that hellhole and work to give him the life he deserves as soon as possible. I can’t… I… I’m so tired, Beatrice.”
Ava’s head dropped on the other girl’s shoulder as an exhausted sighed exited her mouth. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.”
“No, it isn’t. But it will be.” Bea promised and raised Ava’s face with her hands.
Their eyes connected and they felt like the world had stopped spinning. It could have passed a second or an hour, they would not know. The only thing they knew was their lips made each other in a passionate kiss. It was brief but – they would not admit it, not even under torture – world-changing.
When they distanced themselves from each other, they didn’t know what to say. What the hell are you supposed to say when you kiss your childhood friend turned into annoying neighbour turned into good friend once again who is helping you prepare to your date?
“Hum… That… That was just practice.” Ava was able to stuttered out.
“Sorry… practice for what?” Beatrice was still trying to put her own thoughts in order. She never felt so lost and confused in her entire life.
“For step eight.” Ava said, freighting confidence. “Yes, the next step of the plan. That was practice in case you hadn't made out with anyone in a while.”
Beatrice felt like she was kicked in the gut and all the air on her lungs was expelled from her body. She felt like her heart had stopped beating and she refused to analyse why. “It… It was all practice? Just a guerrilla-style practice session?”
“Sneak attack, Bea. You have to be always ready.”
Beatrice avoided Ava’s gaze, embarrassed for a thousand different reasons. “Is that what it felt like? That I hadn't made out with anyone in a while or whatever?
Sensing that Beatrice was on the brink of tears, Ava opted for one of her comical responses. “Well, I mean, I'm more of a tongue gal myself, but...”
It seemed to help at least a little, giving the opportunity for Beatrice to fell into their dynamic of banter they were so used to. “You don't say? I think I felt it poking out my butthole. So far down my throat.”
Silva laughed, incredulously. “Are you giving me kissing advice, Beatrice Young?”
“You know what? I guess I am.” Beatrice said with a confidence she was not used to. “You need it.”
“That’s how people kiss!” Ava faked outrage.
“Maybe in porn.”
“What’s wrong with porn?!”
Bea was not expecting this to be the direction the conversation would take. “First of all, if this were a porn movie, we wouldn't be sitting on a rock having a conversation. You know, you'd be bringing me a pizza or, you know, cleaning my pool. Or you’d be my teacher or something like that.”
“How old is the porn you’re watching? From the ’50?” now, they were both dying of a fit of laugher. “That’s not a thing anymore, Beatrice. Except the teacher one. That one is still pretty popular.”
“How would I know, Ava? I don’t spend half my free time watching porn like you.” Beatrice couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so hard. “And before you ask, your curtains are always open, and my desk is right in front of my window.”
“It doesn’t make your stalky behaviour any less creepy.” Teased Ava,
“All right, you know what? I'm gonna give you a lesson. It's gonna be free. The first one's always free.” Bea moved to fully face Ava, mischief in her eyes. “Every time I saw you kiss someone, it always lacked romance. And, before you say anything that is not creepy, you just kiss a lot of people in my field of vision.” Beatrice raised a hand, touching Ava’s cheek. “That’s how you kiss someone who actually wants to be wooed and not just get into your pants. Close your eyes and lean in. Slowly, Ava, there’s no rush.”
Ava did as she was told, their faces getting closer and closer. When they were just inches apart, if they listened closely, they would be able to hear each other’s hearts picking up, but neither would admit it. For a moment, Beatrice thought about not doing what she was planning and just follow her heart, but that would mess everything up. So, the moment her lips were about to touch Ava’s, she moved her head and licked Silva’s cheek instead.
“Fogo, Beatrice, que nojo!” said the girl in between laughs, while cleaning her face with her sleeve. “You sure are a phenomenal kisser, Bea. With who did you learn? Aurelia?”
“Yup, she knew how to woo a person, didn’t she?” Beatrice could barely breath with laughter. When she got herself together, she analysed Ava’s expression. It finally seemed more at ease. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” She smiled softly at her. “Thank you.”
And hearing that Beatrice felt her own heart more at ease. The happiness of that girl before her was becoming more and more important to her every single day they spend together.
And that was freaking scary.
***
Beatrice had barely slept the night before. Her dreams were haunted by images of possible – mostly negative – outcomes to her date with Lilith and, weirdly, flashbacks of her kiss with Ava. If she was being honest, it was mostly her kiss with Ava that filled her dreams. She even dreamed she was in a weird porn setting where Ava was cleaning her pool, wearing only an extremely revealing version of her soccer uniform, while she was eating pizza, and then… Well, she would rather not think about what had happened next, fearing the affect it could have on her.
She was now daydreaming about a strong cup of coffee – a much safer dream to have at school –, while she grabbed her books from her locker, when she heard someone calling her. “Hey, Bea!”
Walking toward her, with his air of superiority, was JC. Beatrice knew something bad was coming her way when she saw the smile on his face. “JC, how are you?”
“Do you wanna see something hysterical? Hold on. Watch this.” Definitely, nothing good was about to unfold. The boy showed her his phone, and, on the screen, Beatrice was able to see another video of that fatidic day at the mall. This time, she was talking with some girls, nasty comments and even nastier symbols and drawing floating around the scene. “Did you see the way that girl looked at you? This part's the best. Wait, just look at your face.” Seeing how red Beatrice was becoming from anger, JC’s smirked widened. “Oh, don't worry, it's a working title. You know, I was thinking maybe «retail slut» or just «slut whore».” His expression changed to threatening. “You thought the first video was bad. Boy, this one's gonna destroy you.”
“What do you want from me, JC?” Beatrice’s voice sounded tired.
“Oh, I think it's adorable that Ava indulged you in a pity make-out.” JC revealed his game plan.
“How did you…?” Beatrice’s eyes widened. “Is Randall following Ava? That’s not even what it looked like!”
“Yeah, no shit, it's not. Because Ava and I are getting back together.” The wannabe influencer said matter-of-factly.
“Is Ava aware of that?” Young was not able to contain herself,
“She will be made aware.” He spoke. “Look, Beatrice, I've tried to be nice.”
“Do you even know how to do that?”
“So let me put this a little differently. I don't like people thinking of my ex-boyfriend hitting it with someone like you. The thing you have to understand is what happens in high school is gonna stay with us forever. Most people don't think that, but then again, most people are losers.”
For a moment, Beatrice almost felt bad for JC. He truly believed what he was saying. He truly believed high school was the peak in everyone’s lives and maybe for him it was, but most people were just now getting started. “Oh, really?”
“Yes. People like me matter here. People like you will never matter. So, stop messing it up for those of us who do.” He smiled as if he hadn’t just tried to torn her apart with his speech. “See you in math.”
Following him walk down the hall as if he owned it, Beatrice understood that whatever he was trying to make her feel it wouldn’t work. Maybe, a couple of weeks ago, that conversation would make her want to hid under her bed, terrified. However, now it made her want to laugh. JC’s self-centred attitude only made her feel pity of him.
She had already established that she could, in fact, imagine herself hooking up with Ava, but the boy’s fear of staining his image with the fact that his extremely popular ex could be dating a low-life nerd was just comical. That would never happen. Besides, she had a mission to focused one.
Mission Codename: Date with Lilith…
Chapter 12: Date Night
Notes:
Warning: you're about to want to kill Lilith
(3/3)
Chapter Text
That was the night Beatrice had been waiting for since her sophomore year. Her date with Lilith Villaumbrosia. Wow… If Bea was being honest, if someone had told her a couple of months ago that she would be dressed to the nines, getting ready to meet the girl she had a crush on, she would laugh and recommend a shrink to them.
However, there she was, looking at herself in the mirror, the dress Ava had gifted her hugging her body, as she tried to collect every single drop of courage she could. She wouldn’t lie, she was expecting some sort of big reality-show reveal, like those Camila forced her to watch. But the truth was that all she could see was… well, herself. Her in a dress.
“Alright… it’s now or never.”
Beatrice made her way down the stairs. “Ma, I’m off to my big night!” when she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she was not expecting to see her mother all dressed up too. “Wow, look at you not in a pantsuit!”
Making a show of spinning around herself, Suzanne grinned. “I know, I have my first internet date. We both like Thai food, are athletically toned and lying about it.” Beatrice laughed at it and her mother finally noticed her attire. “Beatrice… that dress is beautiful on you.”
The younger Young blushed. “Thanks, mom. Ava gave it to me.”
“Oh, and where are you two going tonight?”
Bea quickly shook her head. “No, no! I’m not going out with Ava.” She refused to analyse the sting she felt in her heart. “I’m going out with Lilith, the girl I told you about.”
“Then, that should be fun.”
The teenager let herself show her doubts. Her mother was the best person to do so, she would never judge her. “Yeah. I actually kind of feel nervous about it just because I feel like I might say something stupid, and I don't really know when…”
“Sweetheart!” the mother interrupted her ramble. “Believe, retrieve, achieve. It is a mantra that I teach all of my clients who suffer from performance anxiety.” Suzanne enumerated with her fingers. “Believe it happened yesterday. Retrieve your confidence. Achieve your goals.” And then with a cheeky smile. “At least, I don’t have to worry about you conceiving.”
Beatrice rolled her eyes. “Okay. Well, I'm off to do some believing and hopefully achieving. Love you, ma, have fun with you fake athletic date.”
“Hey, Beatrice, wait!” her mother called her when she was about to exit the door. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, mom, everything’s fine.”
Finally, out of the door, Beatrice walked towards her car, spotting Ava sitting in her porch, piece of paper in hands. “Hey, look at you! Studying almost like you’re a real student.”
Ava quickly jumped to her feet, waving the paper around. “Actually, I'm just waiting for strangers to walk by so I can show them this bad boy.” Marked on the paper with bright red ink was a big B+. “Suck my dick, science!”
Beatrice felt her heart filling with pride and… something else. She could help but swung her arms around Ava’s shoulders and hugged her. “Oh my god, Ava! That’s incredible! Congratulations!”
The hug lasted more than she was expecting, neither of the girls wanted to let go. However, when finally, they broke apart, Ava eyed Beatrice and what she was wearing. “My dress…”
Beatrice spun around. “Not bad for a DUFF, am I right?”
“Tonight is your date with Lilith.” Ava pointed out as if she had just remembered.
“Exactly!” Beatrice forced a smile. “Off to a nice evening of talking about the finer things in life with a fellow intellectual? Yes, please.” Noticing Ava hadn’t said anything about her outfit, she pried again. “So, I mean, how do I look? Is this good, coach? Come on.”
Silva thought for a moment, unsure about what to say. Beatrice was… beautiful. She had always been no matter what she was wearing, and that dress was not different. But there was something wrong about it and she was not sure how to express it. “You look… good.”
“Good?” Bea frowned. “Wow, that's really a rave review.”
Ava tried to find the right words. “I just mean that you look good, but you don't look like you.”
“What? What are you trying to say?” Beatrice was even more confused but all she received was a shake of head. “No, Ava, tell me!”
Ava just kept shaking her head. “Nothing, nothing. You look fantastic. I got my grades up, you got your date. We're good.”
Beatrice was not convinced. “Are you sure? You’re being weird.”
“You’re weird.” Ava teased “Yeah, we’re good.”
“Okay.” Relented Bea, finally making her way towards her car. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck.”
If the words lacked sincerity, neither of them commented on it
***
Beatrice breathed in and knocked at the door. The door was opened, and she was able to see Lilith Villaumbrosia in her sweatpants and hoddie. “Hi!”
“Hey, come on in.” Lilith gestured to Beatrice to enter. “Wow, you really dressed up.”
“Oh, this old thing?” Bea feigned modesty, although she was feeling extremely out of place comparing with Lilith’s attire. “So hey, where do you wanna go? Because I was actually thinking about Dave & Buster's.”
Villaumbrosia frowned. “The place with the metal claw machine?”
“It sure is.”
“I actually took the liberty of making a reservation already.” Beatrice was surprised that Lilith didn’t guide her towards the door and rather gestured towards the dinner room. “Hope this is okay. Thought we could eat here tonight. I've been teaching myself how to make sushi online.” Beatrice was not sure what she was supposed to be feeling about this change of plans. “I just thought it would be, you know, more personal.”
Young actually liked that idea until she saw the layout of the table. The plates on the table were placed opposite to each other clearly more than 3 feet apart. That was a nightmare! That was not what she trained to. She only knew how to act on a date at Dave & Buster’s. Her little inner panic attack was cut by a ding coming from the kitchen.
“Oh, those are the baked crab rolls.” Lilith headed towards the kitchen. “Make yourself at home. That's Japanese tea, by the way.”
As soon as the other girl was out of her sight, Beatrice started working on a contingency plan. First order of business: the table’s arrangement. As Ava had said, no one’s making out if their 3 feet apart and she needed to make out with Lilith – that need was becoming less and less about the other girl and more about ignoring her own feelings about someone else. So, she decided to move one of the chairs in a way that she could be nearer Lilith. The chair was unexpectedly heavy, and it caught the attention of the taller brunette. Thankfully, she was able to pass it off as way to avoid the draft of cold air.
Next step: lightning. Darker the better. She searched for a way to reduce the lights. She tickled with a lamp unable to turn it off and then tried the switches on the wall. She tried different settings and the moment the owner of the house entered the room, the lights were all turned off. Once again, Beatrice found an excuse: a blown fuse. Unfortunately, this time around, Lilith just messed with the switches turning all the lights one. No darker atmosphere to anymore.
Finally, the moment of the truth came, the dinner. The food was surprisingly good. She would not say it out loud but, since it was Lilith’s first time cooking sushi, she was actually expecting a disaster.
“I can't believe you made all this sushi. This is like restaurant-quality sushi.” Young complemented after a mouthful of food. “Like, look at this. Do you have a special tool for these?”
“It took a few hours.” Lilith admitted. “If it has to do with my hands, I usually pick it up really quickly.” That almost made Beatrice choke on her food. You shouldn’t say something like that to a lesbian and then expect her to act like nothing happened. Weirdly enough, the image that came into Bea’s mind didn’t involve Lilith, but another brunette. “That's actually how I got into guitar.”
“Oh, tell me more about it.” She said, trying to distract herself from her impure fantasies.
With that, Lilith started talking about the bad student she had been and how poetry and music help her deal with it. All through Villaumbrisia’s speech, Beatrice seriously questioned her own sanity because she kept seeing Ava in the background, making some of her jokes or just smiling at her, She barely even acknowledged the fact that Lilith asked her if she wanted to listen to a song she had been working on.
Suddenly, Beatrice stood up. “I think I need to use the bathroom. Where is it?”
Lilith pointed it out and Beatrice headed there as quickly as she could. Breathing heavily in front of the mirror, Beatrices rubbed her cheeks with cold water. “What’s going on with me?”
Her subconscious’ Ava appeared out of thin air. “C’mon, Bea! You’re smart. You know what’s going on.”
“I’m not into you, Ava.” Beatrice mumbled to the empty bathroom.
“Oh, yes! Yes, you are!” exclaimed fake Ava. “I’m the number one in your heart.”
“Get out! Get out my head!” Young waved her arms around trying to shake something that wasn’t there. “Okay, you've gotta pull it together, okay? Lilith Villaumbrosia is gonna play you a song, and you're gonna love it.”
She left the bathroom with a serious expression. She found Lilith on her porch, tuning her guitar. She sat down and was overtaken by a cold sensation, shivering.
“Are you chilly?” asked Lilith and when Beatrice nodded, she took out her jacket and dropped it over her shoulders. “There you go.”
Beatrice smiled and discreetly rubbed her nose on the cloth, breathing in Lilith’s scent. She had dreamed about it for years and now there were no butterfly or fireworks in her stomach. Lilith started singing and Beatrice didn’t feel the air leaving her lungs as she was expecting. She… she barely felt anything except the feeling that filled her heart the moment she talked with imaginary Ava in the bathroom.
Lilith ended her performance and looked expectantly to Beatrice. “What do you think?”
“It’s… it’s pretty good.” Beatrice let out.
“Thank you. I mean, I've been working on it for a little bit, so...” the singer smiled. “But enough about me. I mean, how have you been, after that video came out?”
That was a topic of conversation she didn’t want to get into. “It's been a little tough. A lot of people saw it. I don't know.” Her mind went to everything, and everyone affected by the whole situation. “To be honest, the saddest part about it is that... I kind of got into a fight with my best friends, and...”
“Mary and Camilia?” asked Lilith, eagerly.
“Yeah, Mary and Camila.” Confirmed Beatrice, with a frown, a weird feeling rising in her chest. “And I don't know, it's, like, my fault pretty much. I kind of wanna reach out, but I'm not really sure what I should do about it, and...”
“You should reach out to them.” Once again, Lilith interrupted, sounding too eager for Beatrice’s liking. “I mean, they seem like really caring, understanding people, so...”
Beatrice had a bad feeling that only grew about it. “Sorry, are you friends with them?”
“Yeah, Camila is in my drama class, and I have trig with Mary.” Lilith explained and tried to remember if her friends had ever talked about it. Camila and Mary always supported her crush on Lilith the best way they could, but never really seemed keen of the taller girl. “I mean, Camila is, like, an amazing actress. And dancer. And dresser. And Mary, she's, like, this, you know, fiery unstoppable girl.”
Oh, no… Beatrice knew where this was heading, and she was not liking it a bit. “But, you know, I'm not really friends with them right now, so...”
Once again, Lilith interrupt her, and Bea was starting to get tired of her. “A friend of mine was wondering, does Camila have a date to the homecoming dance next weekend?”
Beatrice bit her lip in an attempt to control all the emotion that invaded her being. She wanted to scream, cry and maybe even punch Lilith in her hopeful face. “Are you DUFFing me?”
“Excuse me?”
“You are…” mumbled Beatrice, her voice filled with hurt and anger. “You're using me to try to get closer to Camila, because you think that I'm approachable, aren't you?”
With that, Lilith dropped her act. “Okay, look, when you said that we should hang out Friday, I thought you were hinting that she was gonna be here. Y’know, Mary would be with Shannon, and she would come with you. Like, I thought that you were saying that she was into me.”
Without another word, Beatrice rubbed her eyes and stood up. Ignoring Lilith calls, she opened the garbage bin placed in front of the house, ready to drop her jacket in it, when she saw a bag inside.
“Mr. Sushi, really?”
“The song was mine.”
“Clearly. It was a piece of shit.” Barked out Young.
How could she have liked this girl?
Chapter 13: Stage 11
Notes:
Happy Carnaval to those who celebrate it. I'm taking advantage of the small break my college gave us to finish this work.
Hope you enjoy it.
(1/3)
Chapter Text
When Beatrice left Lilith’s house, she tried to call Ava. She needed to hear her voice. Although she couldn’t deny her feelings for Ava anymore, she still felt the sting of what happened with the taller girl. She needed to speak to Ava, tell her about her feelings, her insecurities, everything.
Unfortunately, the call was sent directly to voicemail and the only thing Beatrice could do was drive to the place where she could feel some sort of comfort. However, when she arrived at her Think Rock, whatever was left of her heart was violently shaterred. Sitting there, close with her lips connected, were Ava and JC. They didn’t see her, but she saw them perfectly. More tears ran down her face as Beatrice flew from there as quickly as possible.
Her house was empty and silence since her mother was still on her date. At least one of them should be lucky in love. She collapsed onto the couch physically and emotionally exhausted. She didn’t know for how long she was there, apathetically looking at the ceiling, when she heard a knock on the door.
When she opened it, she faced the last person she wanted to see in that moment, Ava Silva. “Hey, I got your message.”
“Yeah, forget about it. Go home, Ava.” Beatrice tried to close the door, but it was stopped by Ava’s foot.
“Look, I'm sorry about Lilith. Okay? He's an idiot.” Silva tried to grabbed her hand, but the other girl quickly pulled it back.
“I saw you and JC.” Beatrice couldn’t contain herself anymore. “You were at my special place. You know, that's my Think Rock.”
“You said I could use it.”
“Not as a freaking Motel 6, Ava!” Bea exclaimed, new tears finding her way into her eyes.
“You were on a date with Lilith.” the words left her mouth full of hurt as if they meant much more than what it appeared. “Are you seriously mad at me right now? I thought we were friends.”
Beatrice let out a humourless laugh, shaking her head. “Come on, we're not friends.” When she received an incredulous look from Ava, she went on. “You know, people like you don't hang out with people like me, you know?”
“That’s not true!”
“Stop pretending, Ava!” the taller brunette rubbed the salty liquid from her cheeks. “That's just the way it is. Popular people like you… they date hot people. And people like me don't date anybody.”
“Bea…”
“I don't know why I thought it could be different.” It was filled with so much pain and hurt that Ava just wanted to hug the girl in front of her.
She had to do something. “What are you talking about? Beatrice, this isn't you. This isn’t us!”
“Please, Ava, you're embarrassed to be seen with me at school.” Pointed out Young.
“No…”
“It's just...” she looked so tired. “This was an experiment, and it worked for you, and it didn't work for me, so let's just forget it, okay?”
“Stop, Bea… Don’t do this…”
“Please, just go home.” The door was closed without giving Ava a chance to reply and more tears ran down Beatrice.
Ava’s eyes were not so much different
***
New Message
From: [email protected]
Subject: Homecoming Article
So, what does homecoming mean to me?
The word «homecoming» itself conjures up feelings of warmth and comfort. High school offers me none of that.
I know some people will tell you that homecoming is about celebrating, but for the majority of kids in school, it's just another night where you feel pressure to find the perfect date, the perfect outfit, and have the perfect evening.
Come Monday morning, it's back to reality.
I don't know about you, but I'm happy to sit this one out.
Beatrice Young
***
It was way after three in the morning – an unholy hour – when Beatrice hit the «send» button and emailed her article to Mr. Vicent, but she didn’t regret it. However, she sure as hell regretted the way she has left things with Mary and Camila.
Therefore, the first thing she did that Saturday morning, with reddened eyes and a tiredness she was not used to, was text them. They had every right to not reply to her, let alone show up. But they did. They did and they didn’t even think twice.
The moment Beatrice saw them on her porch, she was sure she was about to cry again, but apparently, she didn’t have any water left in her body. She told them everything. Every conversation she had with Ava, everything that happened with Lilith, every insecurity, doubt and feeling. Simply everything.
“So… All this over some fucking word?” Mary asked, incredulously.
“It didn’t feel like just some word to me.” Beatrice admitted. “I guess, deep down, I always known you two were more interesting than me. And I thought you wouldn’t understand what it was like to be your schlumpy friend. So, I just kept it all to myself ‘till it was too much and I just… I don’t know, exploded.”
“But, you know, you're wrong, because we all have our insecurities.” Camila told her, an arm around her shoulders. “The point is, we're a team.”
“Yeah, Bea.” Turner agreed. “If anything, we're kind of chumps in comparison to you.”
Beatrice laughed sincerely, something she didn’t do for a long time. “Okay, now you went too far. You had me and then you lost me.”
Cam shook her head, vehemently. “She’s right, Bea! You are by far the smartest one of the three of us. You're loyal, you're funny.”
Beatrice felt her ears reddened with embarrassment. Her friends were always complementing her, don’t get her wrong, but for the last few weeks she had made herself believe they were all fake. Now, she could see how wrong she was.
“And we can’t be Beatrice, Camila and Mary without Beatrice.” Mary pointed out, grabbing a hand of each friend, with a smile,
“Thanks, guys. I guess I needed this conversation.” Beatrice’s head dropped to Camila’s shoulder.
“Just promised us you’ll talk with us about things like these.” Prompted Delcán. “If you ever feel like this again, just know we’re here.”
“Okay, you know what? Tonight, how about we ditch our dates and have a girls' night?” suggested Mary with a grin.
“Done!”
“No way!”
Said Camila and Beatrice, simultaneously.
“Guys, c’mon, it’s homecoming! You have to go.” Bea tried to agree, being met with shrugs. “Mary, what about Shannon? You said she was so excited to go.”
“She’ll understand.” Assured her. “And I can totally make it up for her.”
“We could all just go to the party together.” Cam proposed.
“No!” Beatrice was quick to say. “I just-- I can't see Ava. Or Lilith. Or anyone, for that matter. Just let me stay here and lie amongst my pizza a little longer.” She gestured to her bed where a couple of pizza boxes – her comfort food – were laying.
“Absolutely not!” came a voice no one was expecting.
“Mom…” mumbled Beatrice. “Were you eavesdropping again?”
“Obviously, Beatrice.” She didn’t even try to deny, “This is juicy stuff. Besides, I couldn’t watch my soap opera yesterday and I need my daily portion of drama.”
“Mom, there’s no drama anymore.” Beatrice rolled her eyes. “Mom, I've been through all of your stages, okay? I am already at the fifth and final stage: acceptance.”
Suzanne waved her off. “Honey, forget about the five stages. I have got some real advice for you.” She sat in front of the three girls. “We're gonna call it stage 11. Yeah, it's sort of acceptance plus, where you realize who you are, you accept it, and then you...turn it up to 11.”
The last words were said with a weird accent and, if the teenagers raised eyebrows were an indicator of something, it missed the point the older woman was trying to achieve completely.
“I don’t know what that was but I’m kinda scared.” Mumbled Mary.
“No? Spinal Tap?” Suzanne tried to explain in vain. “The movie, Spinal Tap. «This one goes to 11.»?” Nothing. “God, I’m old. Anyways, honey, you're a weirdo. Fine, own it. Be the best weirdo you can be. You have spent the last month worrying so much about what other people think about you. How about tonight you just worry about what you think about you?” Beatrice was looking at her mother with wide eyes. Those were actually pretty good advice. “Now I want you to get cleaned up, I want you to go to that dance, and rock that homecoming like my Beatrice Young would.”
All three girls stared at the older woman with bright smiles.
“Bea, I love your mom.” Mary let out.
“Yeah, me too.” Agreed Camila. “Can I steal her from you?”
Suzanne had the elegance of looking embarrassed under all the praise.
“You know what, mom?” Beatrice stood up, determinate. “I have an idea. Cam. can you made me an outfit in the next six hours?”
“Bea, I’m offended you even asked.” Camila didn’t waste any time and grabbed her laptop from her bag. “Let’s make you the best outfit ever.”
“I’ll call Shannon.” Said Mary. “She can bring you the supplies.”
And with that another plan was in motion.
Chapter 14: Homecoming
Notes:
Cliche? Yes, but we love it!
(2/3)
Chapter Text
Beatrice had never seen OCS’s gym so full of light and laughter. Normally, its occupants were sweaty, grumbling kids, so different from the ones dressed in their best garments, chatting with huge smiles.
For a moment, Beatrice thought she was in an alternative universe, thanks to all the compliments she was receiving. People who usually wouldn’t look at her twice were know smiling at her and saying how beautiful she was.
“Nice suit, Bianca!” a girl she recognized as Channel, Ava’s best friend smiled at her. “It really suits you, no pun intended. I can think of some people who’ll lose their mind when they see you.”
The brunette felt her cheeks warming up. Camila, true to her word, had designed the perfect outfit for her. It was a dark green suit that hugged her in all the right places, paired with a black shirt barely visible underneath the jacket. Some silver accessories elevated the outfit even more. But what really made the suit perfect for her was the lapel pins she had added. Everything that made her, well, herself were represented there. A book, a skull, a bow and arrow, the two intertwined venus symbols, a pen… A representation of everything she was – and was proud of being – in her outfit.
“Thanks, Channel.” She answered. “You look great, too.”
“How are you feeling?” Mary asked her, an arm aroumd Shannon.
“I’m… good. Real good,” Beatrice admitted. “The compliments are nice, but I guess even if there were none, I wouldn’t care. I’m feeling so beautiful, so… me.”
Camila looped her arm around Bea’s. “Well, that’s all we want.”
Beatrice looked around in an attempt to avoid the happy tears she was feeling coming to her eyes. That was the moment her gaze landed on the person she just a few hour ago was dreading to see. Now, she actually was happy to see Ava. The smaller brunette was staring at her, standing with her mouth open in the middle of the room, seemingly unbothered by the crowd around her. She was wearing a navy dress that made Beatrice’s knees feel weak. It wasn’t too long or too short, and fitted her like a glove.
“I’ll be right back, guys.” Bea said to her friends and headed towards Silva. In the middle of the short walk, she had the displeasure of crossing paths with Lilith, who tried to talk to her, but she was quick to shut her down. When she stopped in front of the other teenager, the latter seemed to exit her trance state. “Hey. I could tell from across the room that we might be into each other. Now that I'm here, I'm sure. Your move.” Ava let out a bark of laughter, not expecting to hear that. “How was that?”
“That was… That was not bad at all.” She was able to formulate the words despite her clouded mind. “You look… fuck, you look amazing.”
“Thanks. You don’t look bad yourself.” They kept staring into each other eyes and a small silence fell around them. Beatrice broke it. “Look, about what I said the other day, of course we're friends, and that's cool.” She took a deep breath and gathered all the courage and confidence she was feeling. “But someone I know once told me that if you like somebody, you should just be straight-up with them and tell them that you're into them. So I guess that's kind of what I'm doing.”
Ava blinked a couple of times, surprised by it. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Wait, you’re into me? Really?”
Beatrice chuckled at Ava’s dumbfounded expression. “C’mon. That can’t possible be the first time someone said that to you, Ava.”
“No, but you… you aren’t just someone, Beatrice.” Ava shook her head, finding her composure. “Bea…”
Whatever Ava was about to tell her, it was interrupted by JC’s arrival. He was sporting a traditional tuxedo and, as always, his air of arrogance. “Wow, that is an interesting outfit. Who makes that, Build-A-Bear?”
“JC…” Ava tried to warn him.
“Hi, Jacob.” Beatrice seemed unfazed by his attempt to humiliate her. She was happy and confident in her own skin. “It was actually Camila.”
“Whatever. Since you can't seem to leave my girlfriend alone…” he started.
“You’re back together…” Beatrice couldn’t control the hurt in her voice, but she looked at Ava and smile. “If that’s what makes you happy.”
“Bea…” tried Ava again,
“Yes, we’re back together as it always should have been. Like I was saying, since you can't seem to leave my girlfriend alone, I cannot wait to release your video tomorrow.”
A couple of weeks ago, that would make Beatrice tumble. She could almost hear the jokes and laughs around her again. But this time, she couldn’t care less. “Good. I'm glad you're excited about it. Go right ahead.”
The boy seemed taken back by her response. “Well, I will.” His aura of confidence and mean demeanour came back. “Besides, Ava would never leave me for some DUFF like you.”
“JC!” Ava yelped, red with anger.
“It's okay.” Beatrice stopped Ava from intervening. “JC, you used to make me so upset, but now I just feel bad for you.” The boy looked at her like she was crazy, “Yeah, I'm somebody's DUFF. Guess what, so are you. So is everybody. There's always gonna be somebody prettier or more talented or richer than you, but it shouldn't affect how you see yourself.”
“I’m no one’s DUFF.” JC seemed outraged by this prospect, but Beatrice just ignored him.
“You label everybody to try to keep them down, but you end up missing out on all this great stuff around you. You have Ava, and you treat her like she's some stupid pawn in your stupid popularity game, a trophy, but she isn't. And people don't like her because she's with you.” Beatrice smiled at the shorter brunette, “They like her because she's, like, an amazing person. She’s smart and funny and she can make a whole room light up with a single smile. And she makes football, the real football, look fun even to people that don’t like it.”
JC was redder and redder while Ava was looking at Beatrice as if she had hung the moon and stars in the sky. That gave the taller girl fuel to continue her speech.
“Look, I like myself. I wouldn't wanna be anybody else. And I realize now that none of this matters to me. But it does to you. It's your dream. And I totally support that.” She gave JC a kind smile, something she would never receive in return from the boy. “Just don't tear me down for not giving a shit about your labels, because in the end, they're meaningless.”
The three teenagers fell silent for a couple of seconds. Beatrice was still a little breathless from all she had said, while Ava was speechless with wonder in her eyes and JC looked like he was about to explode with how red he was.
“Whatever you said was meaningless, okay?” he mumbled out. “You don't even get it. This is not my dream. I don't need to…”
“Alright, Red Tarasks!” the principal’s voice cut JC’s sentence.
“Oh, my God!” JC exclaimed. “It’s happening! They’re gonna reveal the King and Queen. C’mon, Ava!”
As she witnessed Ava, who hadn’t stopped looking at her, being pulled towards the front of the stage by her boyfriend, Beatrice rolled her eyes at how easy it was to prove her point about JC. She smiled at Ava. She wasn’t lying when she said she just wanted the Portuguese girl to be happy and that they could be friends, but she couldn’t deny she didn’t understand what on earth made Ava happy in that relationship.
“Okay, Red Tarasks, it's time to crown our king and queen.” Said the principal.
“How did it go?” asked Camila, appearing with Mary and Shannon besides her.
“Actually, pretty good.”
“This year’s Homecoming King is… drumroll, please… Mr. Jacob Caleb Sakraya.” Clapping erupted all around the room. JC climbed the stairs to the stage as if he was actually being crowned King of Brittain. Not his dream, my arse… “And this year's Homecoming Queen is… Ava Silva!” This time no one appeared on stage. “Ava? Ava Silva? Where are you?”
Beatrice looked at the girl who was being called on the microphone and found her still staring at her. She could heard the principal and JC calling her name, but she couldn’t care less.
“Aren't you gonna go get your crown?” Beatrice yelled over the music.
As if she had just exited a trance, Ava shook her head. “No… I’m gonna get the girl.”
Beatrice didn’t have time to process what she had just heard, because – with weirdly large steps for her height – Ava reached her and, suddenly, her lips were connected to Bea’s. This time the kiss was tender and sweet, but didn’t lack the passion they shared the first time at Think Rock. Ava’s hands grabbed Beatrice’s face as if she was the most precious and fragile thing.
They knew everyone around them was now looking at the moment they were sharing and they didn’t care. Beatrice was sure she heard JC’s profanities over all the clapping, whistles and exclamations of surprise, but she didn’t even processed that thought correctly because Ava’s tongue asked permission to entered her mouth. She could die then and there, and she would die happy.
When the need for oxygen was stronger than the need for kissing each other, Ava barely distanced herself from Young, saying. “Let's get the hell out of here.”
In midst of congratulations and well-natured comments, they made their way out of the gym and Beatrice guided them to a room she knew so well. As soon as they closed the door behind them, their lips met again.
“Are we breaking into the newsroom to make out, Beatrice?” Ava asked in between kisses. Beatrice too absorbed in those soft lips only nodded. “What a rebel, babe.”
The make-out session got even more heated and Ava pushed Beatrice to the closest table, sliding in between her legs.
Suddenly, Beatrice pulled slightly from the kiss, but Ava was quick to follow her. “Ava… I need to… ”
“What?”
Bea spun in her arms and turned the nearest computer on. “I just need to do something.”
“Bea, they blocked all the good sites.”
“Shut up, you dorky perv.” Beatrice laughed and gave Ava another kiss to show she was just kidding.
“If you’re doing homework, Beatrice, I’m gonna feel really offended.” Silva grumbled but tightened her hold on Bea’s waist.
“It’s for my article.” She explained and looked at the shorter teenager with eyes full of light. “I’m feeling inspired.”
Ava just hummed and started to rub Beatrice shoulder. The British girl was able to write a total of two sentences when Ava decided she had enough and started kissing her neck. Beatrice lost all ability to think
The article could wait ‘til tomorrow.
Chapter 15: Epilogue
Notes:
The last one, my friends! Thank you for all those who read this crazy idea of mine. I hope you enjoyed it.
And for all my DUFFs out there, you're not alone and you are amazing!
(3/3)
Chapter Text
Tales of a High School DUFF
By: Beatrice Young
What does homecoming mean to me?
If you asked me at the beginning of senior year, I would've told you, «Absolutely nothing». But tonight, possibly the greatest night of my life, I have changed my tune.
You know that one moment in high school that changes everything? It all started senior year. about a month before homecoming. I was cruising the hall with my two best friends...
***
Beatrice’s article affected the school just as much as her video, but this time the change was positive. People around the school were reading «The Crucified Sword» with smiles on their faces and murmurs of awe. Students that normally occupied very different places in the high school’s social hierarchy were admitting to themselves and other that they were indeed DUFFs and there was nothing wrong with being one.
The school’s website had never seen so many people accessing it in all its existence. The likes and comments grew more and more every single day, positive this time. Kids started to share their own DUFF stories and insecurities, and Beatrice decided to turn them into a weekly column. She was giving voice to people like her and it became a huge thing in OCS.
Her relationship with Ava only grew stronger after Homecoming too. Ava was surprisingly romantic when she wanted to be and neither of them had ever felt so happy. And all thanks to a weird plan that fortunately didn’t go as they expected. Well, except when it came to Ava’s grades.
Beatrice never missed an opportunity to proudly state that Ava had passed Science with a great grade and had been offered a full scholarship and a place at the Ohio State girls’ soccer team – football, Beatrice! And since, Young got into Northwestern University to pursue her journalistic career, they would be able to see each other. A lot.
Beatrice’s musings about the past and the future were cut short, and she was brought into the present by a ring from her phone. She read the message.
“Babe <3: I’m seeing you”
Bea looked out the window, spotting her goofy girlfriend with an even goofier smile, waving at her from her front porch. She couldn’t contain her own smile.
“Me: Stalker much?”
The pout she received from the other girl when she read the text made her day.
“C’mon, Bea!” called Ava, getting impatient.
Rolling her eyes, the taller brunette quickly exited the house and headed towards her girlfriend. Girlfriend… she loved the ring of it.
“Hey, girlfriend-slash-neighbour!” greeted Ava with a kiss.
“Hi, girlfriend-slash-neighbour!” another greeting, another kiss. When they decided they had kissed enough to tide them up for the next two minutes, they headed to Ava’s car. “You hungry? I’m hungry.”
“You already know the answer to that question, baby.” And it was true, Ava’s stomach was a bottomless pit.
“Good, ‘cause I was hoping to take you to dinner. How about a little Dave & Buster's?” suggested Beatrice. “A dark booth?”
Ava let out an exaggerating gasp. “Beatrice, are you trying to woo me while also dirty talking? ‘Cause if yes, it’s totally working!”
Beatrice rolled her eyes fondly and let Ava wrap an arm around her. “Maybe if you’re goodm we’ll accidently touch knees.”
“Oh, Bea, don’t say that, my heart is weak.”
Ava’s goofiness was contagious because Beatrice found herself saying with a deep voice. “Beatrice kiss Ava now?”
“Oh, monster voice! Sexy!” and the monster got was she wanted without problems.
In the end, it was not about popularity or even getting the girl. It's about understanding that, no matter what label is thrown your way, only you can define yourself.
Take it from a DUFF.