Internet Friends
Today was the day.
After months of talking, months of laughing, months of connecting, they were finally going to meet.
Blythe knew that maybe they should have tried harder to exchange photos, or maybe had a few Skype calls before meeting in person, but things just kept coming up! And they had so much in common, and yet they were still so different, and they talked all the time! Day or night! What was there to worry about, you know? Blythe knew it was probably bad that she was developing a crush on them too, but she couldn't help it! They were sweet and even though they could be overbearing sometimes they always listened, and even though their methods of comfort weren't totally there they tried so hard and it was so cute!
We should both wear a sweater with a cat on it, that way we know it's us!
Great idea! I totally have the most perfect sweater for that!
Me too! 3pm at the Juniper Cafe?
I'm so there!
Blythe giggled gently as she attached some cute hairpins to her bun. She had been dumbfounded when she found out her online friend also lived in Downtown City. They were both, of course, a little cautious and wary of giving out their home locations to each other, but finally decided to meet in a very public setting. Just in case.
"You look happy! Is something special going on today?"
Blythe turned her head towards the dumbwaiter in her wall, grinning excitedly at the pets now spilling out onto her carpet. Penny Ling, still curious for an answer, immediately padded her way over to where her friend was seated.
"Yep! Only one of the greatest most awesome things ever!" She wriggled in her anticipation, digging through her vanity for her most favorite lipstick, "You guys know my friend Kit-"
"The one who runs that fashion blog that you've been talking to FOREVER?" Vinnie interrupted, splaying himself out upon Blythe's comfy sheets as quickly as possible.
"The one who you're ALWAYS chatting with on that app on your phone?" Russell droned as he hopped up onto the vanity, showing his usual less-than-excited attitude towards Blythe always being glued to her devices.
"The one who you kinda sorta maybe but TOTALLY-" Sunil started, joining with Penny Ling to finish with an excited, "-have a crush on!?"
"That's the one!" Blythe giggled, blotting her puckered lips on a kleenex. "Well as it turns out, she lives right here in Downtown City!"
"Really? Oh darling that's wonderful!" Zoey chimed, setting herself down at Blythe's feet.
"Yep! And we've arranged to meet today at the Juniper Cafe for lunch! We're finally going to meet in person!"
"Oh Blythe that's going to be so romantic!" Penny Ling sighed dreamily, leaning on the legs of the chair.
"Well don't get too excited about that," Blythe laughed, scooping the little panda into her arms, "I don't think she likes me like that."
Penny Ling immediately puffed out her cheeks. "But why not!?"
"Well, I don't think she really likes girls like that," Blythe shrugged, "But I mean, it's totally okay. I'm find with just being friends."
"When you liked Josh Sharp you weren't okay with being 'just friends'," Russell pointed out, still looking unimpressed with the situation.
Blythe furrowed her brows at the little hedgehog, "I thought we agreed to never speak of Josh Sharp ever again? Not after what he did."
"Right. My bad."
"Look, Kit is different! Not just because she's a girl, but because she's, well, Kit! We're already best friends and honestly if being just friends with her is what makes her the happiest then I'm totally down. As long as I can keep her friendship, that's all that matters. Besides, it's not like I have to tell her I like her or anything."
"Well, as long as that's what makes you happy, Blythe, we're totally here to support you every step of the way," Zoey encouraged gently, swishing her tail happily. "But remember that the trail of unrequited love is harsh and exhausting too. I know from experience how bad it can be."
"It's going to be okay, really," Blythe smiled, adjusting her skirt and checking over her make up, "No matter what happens today, I'm going to be just fine."
It was spring time, so the sun was bright and warm but the breeze was slight and cooling. It made the drive to the cafe on Blythe's moped very pleasant. It almost felt weird to ride it alone; Blythe was usually driving around the pets or her other friends in the sidecar. She knew she probably should have taken someone with her, just in case this person she was meeting wasn't actually Kit, but she was so confident in their friendship she wasn't worried at all. There was no way it couldn't be the same person she'd been talking to for so long. Besides, it WAS a very public place if anything went sour.
Blythe parked her moped, quickly fixing her hair from the helmet. She couldn't keep the grin off her face as she adjusted the little pin on her sweater: her screen name, beesugarinitiative. It was a little weird on the surface, she knew, but it made sense to her. Kit was supposed to wear hers, too, just in case there were other people wearing cat sweaters.
Practically skipping, she headed into the little cafe.
She paused by the hostess' counter, giving the waiting area a quick glance for any cat sweaters.
"Just one?" an older woman at the counter asked.
Blythe blinked at her. "Oh! Oh, no no, I'm still looking for someone. Do you mind if I search the dining room?"
The woman smiled and nodded, "Be my guest sweetheart."
Blythe slipped past the podium and onto the floor of the little cafe, trying to contain her eagerness so as to not disturb the other patrons as they dined. She bit her lip as she paced past each table, non-cat sweater after non-cat sweater passing her eyes as she walked. Soon, she'd walked the whole dining room.
Kit was, presumably, no where to be seen.
Blythe worried her lip a little more.
Well, maybe she's just.. late! Yeah! I should go check my makeup one more time, just in case.
Nervous now more than ever, Blythe headed for the women's room. It was hard enough just agreeing to meet someone she'd never seen before, much less get there and not even be able to recognize who they might be.
Lost in thought, she didn't notice the door opening as she approached.
Wham!
"Augh!" she yelped, stumbling backwards from the door that'd just hit her square in the face. "What in the-"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- Blythe!?"
Blythe narrowed her eyes, the immediate recognition of the slightly shorter girl before her making her wish she'd blend in like the rest of the strangers here, "Whittany."
The Biskit let the door shut behind her, her previously soft face now hard and menacing. She crossed her arms and tapped one pristine shoe on the carpet, "Why don't you watch where you're going?! You're such a dweeb."
"Sorry, I was kind of-" Blythe's words caught in her throat.
Wait.
Whittany scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. "What are you staring at?" she snapped, waving a hand, "Stop being so, like, weird."
"No, no no no no way," Blythe babbled, her bright blue eyes scanning every inch of the girl, "Whittany, you're-?"
"I'm perfect and wonderful? Yeah, I know. Can you like, move please? You're in my way."
Whittany wrinkled her nose and moved to step around Blythe, only to be grabbed by the shoulders and blocked.
"Whittany."
Blythe suddenly looked very serious, and she stared at the twin with this horrified, yet confused, look in her eye that made suddenly made Whittany very nervous.
"Like, what?!"
Blythe took a deep breath, then motioned to her button.
Whittany groaned, but still turned her eyes to the cute pin attached to Blythe's-
Cat sweater.
Her eyes widened. She stared up into Blythe's face, horrified, mouth agape like a fish.
"But-but-but I'm-"
"oxoxcutiekit."
"Y-y-you can't be-"
"beesugarinitiative."
Whittany could feel what little color was in her face drain out of it. Shaking slightly, her small hands fisted up the bottom of the cutest cat sweater she owned. Blythe was- But they- And she-
Blythe knew that look on her face. Whittany Biskit 'never freaked out', except, of course, for the small handful of times she had freaked out. Blythe had been there for ever single one and she knew that face meant she was about to freak. Hell, she was about to freak.
"Look, okay, calm down, it's okay," Blythe cooed, trying to stop her own hands and voice from shaking.
"This is not okay."
"Let's just get out of here," she motioned quickly for the door, "My moped is parked outside and then you won't freak out in public-"
"I'm not freaking out."
"Yes you are- look let's just go before anyone sees us okay?"
Whittany allowed herself to be walked through the dining room and out the door, ghostly white and definitely probably sweating. And Blythe looked so damn calm, how was she so calm!? She clenched and unclenched her hands as they went, giving the confused hostess a cracked smile as they exited.
Loading the twin into the sidecar was probably one of the most unsettlingly easy things Blythe has ever gotten Whittany to do since they'd met so many years ago.
But the next 20 minutes were a total blur; Blythe had no idea where to go or even what to say. Whittany was deathly silent the whole time Blythe putzed around town and when they finally stopped it was because they were low on gas. But they just sat in their places, staring into nothing as so many different things passed through their minds. It was so uncomfortable. There was this huge elephant in the room and they both knew they were going to have to speak of it at some point.
Blythe sighed softly, looking up into the park they finally stopped at. She glanced at Whittany, and bit her lip.
"Do you," she started gently, "...Wanna go for a walk?"
Whittany looked up at her, her eyes wet and her skin now pink as a rose. They locked eyes for but a moment before she turned her head back to the cement.
"... Yeah."
Blythe climbed off the bike and walked around to the sidecar. She extended her hand to assist Whittany, who immediately, but gently, pushed the hand away. Whittany kept her eyes on the ground as she removed herself from the sidecar, and began walking into the park without waiting for Blythe.
Blythe sighed.
How could things turn out like this?
She followed Whittany into the park.
If there was one person she knew Kit wasn't, it was one of the Biskit twins. But here she was, in a park, walking with a Biskit twin who was just as, if not more, dumbfounded by the truth as she was. It just didn't make any sense. Yeah, Kit had her moments, but she was nothing like Whittany. Whittany was rude, and self-absorbed, and she was the one who used to always instigate everything against Blythe. Sure, as they got older Whittany and Brittany backed off a little bit, but they still never really liked her much. But Brittany wasn't really the brightest bulb in the box; it was always Whittany's ideas that Brittany played along to. Blythe could remember a time, when she was still new to Downtown City, that Whittany had once opened up a little and tried to be her friend. They were stuck in a bathroom - Blythe couldn't remember why - but once Whittany was reunited with Brittany that spark of friendship just... Vanished. Still, she was treated poorly by the twins constantly. Not to mention she'd never seen either of them be particularly... thoughtful, or even interested in lives other than their own.
How could Kit and Whittany be the same person?
Kit was... Blythe liked her. But Kit is Whittany.
"Blythe."
Blythe stopped, looking up from the path.
"Yes?"
Whittany bit her perfectly glossed lips and shifted on her feet. She glanced up at Blythe, almost as if she was scared to see her.
"Are you... Are you really Bee?
Blythe didn't even realize she had been holding her breath. "Y-yeah. And you're really...?"
"Kit? Yeah," Whittany sighed, slumping over a little in her stance, "And there's no way you're, like, punking me? Or something?"
Blythe cracked a small smile, "Unfortunately not."
Whittany sighed again, flopping down on a nearby bench. "Figures."
"I think we have a lot to talk about," Blythe spoke gently, carefully taking a seat next to the twin, "And I think I know where to start.
"Whittany, what Bee and Kit have, that's real. I know this is weird and, believe me, I'm sort of freaking out too, but, if we didn't really have this potential friendship in the first place we wouldn't be such good online friends now."
"You don't understand," Whittany sighed again, slouching over a little farther.
Blythe clicked her tongue, "Of course I don't understand. You and Brittany treat me like garbage, but here we are."
"No, I mean," Whittany looked up at the other girl from under her perfectly plucked brow, this pain on her face that Blythe had never seen before, "We can't be friends. Bee was... She was my only friend. And now that she's, well... You, I'm..."
"Wait, what about all those kids you always have at your parties? They're not your friends?"
"They're, well, Brittany's friends," Whittany ran her fingers through the ends of her dark bob, the pained look in her eye also coming out in her words, "If that. Most of them just come because we're, like, cute and rich and throw great parties."
Blythe worried her lip again, "Whit, you don't... have any friends?"
Whittany shrugged this throw-away shrug that Blythe didn't like one bit. "Brittany isn't super smart but, she's like, super important to me. If Brittany doesn't like someone then I keep them away, or humiliate them, because when she doesn't like people she gets..." She rolled her eyes, making some weird motions with her hands, "Like, all weird and crazy. I don't know why but she gets jealous and envious and if I don't make us look better than them she can get totally inconsolable." She leaned back against the metal bars of the bench and poked at some pebbles near her feet with her pristine Mary Janes. "She gets the same way whenever I try to make friends. But I love her. She's my twin, and she doesn't know how to stop feeling that way without my help."
"So..." Blythe started, furrowing her brows. Her stomach squirmed, "You mean, Brittany doesn't know about Bee?"
"Brittany CAN'T find out!" Whittany blurted hastily, grabbing up Blythe's hands with her own, "Please, Blythe-"
"Whittany."
The soft tone of her voice nearly brought the twin back to tears. She felt her face flush and her chin quiver gently. She squeezed Blythe's hands, but couldn't keep eye contact.
Blythe had no idea.
She had no idea.
"Is this why we've never been friends before? Is this why you treat me like shit all the time? Why you treat everyone like shit?" She asked, squeezing the other girl's pale hands.
Whittany shrugged again, that same throw-away shrug, "Brittany is important to me."
Blythe groaned softly, releasing her hands before flopping back against the bench. She buried her face in her hands.
...What the hell was she supposed to do?
"I'm like, really sorry we can't be friends, Blythe."
Blythe blinked. Huh? She removed her hands from her eyes to find Whittany standing in front of her, her phone out and dialing.
"What?"
"Brittany might have gone for Bee but, Bee is you and Brittany hates you."
Blythe stared blankly, speechless, as the twin held the phone up to her ear.
Her chest hurt.
She gently wrapped her fingers around the button on her sweater. Her eyes went hot and there was this sting in her throat. All those late nights? All those conversations? All those laughs? Connections? For nothing?
As long as I can keep her friendship, that's all that matters.
"No."
Whittany looked over. "Huh?"
Blythe puffed out her cheeks. This wasn't over.
"No, Whittany!" she snapped, getting to her feet and snatching the phone away. She slammed down on the end button, feeling this anger bubbling up where the pain was just a moment ago. "I'm not going to lose my best friend because of some bullshit sister complex!"
Whittany's eyes went wide, taken aback by the suddenness of it all. She tried to stammer out a response, an insult, something, but-
"Look me in the face and tell me you don't want me to be your friend anymore."
The twin looked everywhere except Blythe's face. "I-I-"
Blythe grabbed Whittany's chin and tugged her face back towards her own, brows furrowed in determination and fingers trembling gently with adrenaline and fear. "Tell me that all those nights we spent up together were meaningless. Tell me that you're willing to throw away that connection we made. Tell me to my face that the friendship we've been nursing for nine months matters so little to you that you'd be willing to throw it out just because your sister wouldn't approve."
By the middle of her spiel, Whittany's bright red eyes had filled to the brim with tears. And by the end, they'd started leaving wet trails of black eyeliner down her powdery pink cheeks.
Blythe stood her ground, despite the prickle behind her own eyes.
"Tell me we're not worth it."
"I CAN'T!"
Whittany buried her face in her hands, sniffing loudly as she tried to dab her smearing make up. "I can't."
Blythe exhaled gently, reaching out to wipe some of the tears off the girl's soft cheeks. Whittany flinched, and Blythe quickly recoiled her hands.
"I've never had a friend like Bee," the twin continued, reaching into her pocket for a handkerchief, "For once, I felt like someone liked me for something other than my, like, cute face and my money."
"Had?" Blythe chuckled, guiding Whittany back down onto the bench, "Whit, I'm right here. Just because I actually know about your 'cute face' and that your daddy is mega-rich doesn't make this any less real."
Whittany blotted at her now puffy eyes, reaching into her purse for a compact. "But the real me treats you like shit," she mumbled, looking over her face in the mirror, "You said it yourself."
"After all that, I don't think that's the real you," Blythe smiled, holding the other girl's hair out of her face. "I mean, I talked to you for nine months and never once realized you were a Biskit."
Whittany narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, glancing down into her bag. "Also, do you have any like, blush?"
"What I mean is," Blythe started, releasing Whittany's hair to rustle through her own purse, "The Whittany who goes to school with me, and the Kit I talk to online act like almost totally different people." She passed off a blush palette, "And considering that Kit isn't under the watchful eye of her sister and her 'reputation,' I think I know which one of you is the real you."
Whittany took a moment to stare down at the- gross is this e.l.f.?- make up in her hand.
It's true that she wore a mask around her sister. But it was also true that that mask wasn't always there. When she was younger, when she and Blythe had first met, she was so disillusioned. She was young and rich and immature, and she honestly believed most of the things she preached. But then she got older. She saw the people around her moving up. She saw Blythe's relationship with her dad and realized what having rich parents made her miss. She noticed her dad was trying his best to raise them while their mom flounced about ignorantly, but she also noticed that most of the time they were being raised by Francois. And Francois did everything they asked him too. Dad was too busy and Mom cared more about pampering her pets. They were raising themselves.
She watched Brittany make the fakest friends; people who only cared about her for her money and status. But her sister was... Different. Her parents had never noticed but Whittany saw Brittany struggle all the time. She had problems in school; problems learning, problems connecting the dots. Problems making friends. She didn't know when to start OR when to stop. But she also had problems seeing what Whittany was seeing.
Whittany knew that by indulging her sister she was continuing to blind her. But Whittany hated seeing her sister struggle. There were times in their lives, most of their lives even, when they only really had each other to lean on. Brittany got more and more envious, more and more insecure and the only way Whittany knew how to keep her sister calm and collected was to talk shit about everyone else. If someone looked better than Brittany, she'd freak, and the only way to calm her down was to tell whoever it was that they were poor and ugly and that Brittany's status and physique made her better. Whittany had learned when her sister began to notice these things and she'd immediately talk shit to keep her sister from boiling in the first place. She was constantly talking down everyone they met, and she knew that her perceived attitude made everyone turn away from her.
But only Brittany was allowed to have friends, as fake as they were. And Whittany knew it wasn't because Brittany couldn't handle her having friends, it was because Whittany was maturing faster than Brittany. The people Whittany wanted to be her friend turned out to be people like, well, Blythe. And people like Blythe didn't take shit from Brittany. Which meant that Brittany hated them. Which meant that Whittany had to talk them down to keep her sister collected.
She hated herself for it.
But she loved her sister.
Whittany couldn't bear to tell Brittany her friends were fake, because her sister tried really hard to keep her friends. And now that Brittany trusted them, Whittany wasn't the only one helping her understand school. Sure, copying papers wasn't really the best way to learn, but if it meant Whittany could take a breather then why not? She felt a little guilty about it; they were twins after all. It was her duty as the older sister to help her seven-minute younger sister be whatever she wanted.
And then she'd gone on that fashion blog by accident and there was beesugarinitiave and she seemed so cool and wow she wanted to talk to her about fashion and all kinds of things! They'd sit up all night geeking about the latest episodes of Downtown City's Next Top Model and Tres Blasé magazine articles. They'd talk about their days and their nights and Whittany found herself finally liking who she was. This girl brought out everything in her she'd always wanted to be - while still allowing her to be everything she already was. Every time they talked she felt warm and loved, and...
Whittany thought, maybe, just maybe, Brittany would like her and she'd be able to keep this wonderful relationship going.
But then Bee was...
Whittany finished with her blush, trying not to think about what cheap make up she'd just put on her face, and handed it back to Blythe.
"Are you okay Whit?" Blythe asked gently, leaning over slightly to look around Whittany's dark curtain of hair.
"Blythe..." The twin started, glancing up at the other girl, finally allowing herself to lock eyes with her, "Bee's- ..Your friendship with me makes feel like I'm finally being who I want to be. I like the way it feels when I don't, like, push someone away because they stand up to my sister. I like, actually really like you Blythe, and Brittany hates you, and I love my sister." She slouched a little, sighing. "Why is everything so hard?"
Blythe felt her heart skip a little.
"I know Brittany means a lot to you, but it sounds like she's holding you back from being, well, you," Blythe said, digging through her purse for some black liquid eyeliner, " Brittany listens to you, you know? Maybe if you just talk to her, she'd understand. She might start off mad, but you guys are super tight. I think she'd come around eventually."
Whittany accepted the small bottle of eyeliner and, after trying not to gag at the cheap brand again, went about fixing her smeared eye makeup. She shrugged a little, more genuinely than before.
"I don't know. Brittany is kind of..."
"A handful?"
Whittany giggled gently, batting her eyelashes at her reflection. "Yeah." Satisfied, she closed her compact and capped the liquid liner. "I just... Don't want her to like, hate me."
"Well... We don't have to tell her right now," Blythe suggested, an excited smile creeping onto her face as she took back her eyeliner, "Bbbuuuuuuttttt I DO know a couple of people who have been dying to meet you~"
Whittany's eyes lit up for a hot second, fear and excitement burning behind them before disappearing entirely to be replaced with guilt and regret.
"Your friends?" she asked glumly, resting her chin on her hands, "What are they going to say when I show up? They hate me too." She pushed at the pebbles again. "Everyone hates me."
"Oh psshh they don't hate you!" Blythe laughed nervously, placing her hand on Whittany's back, "I mean, I know they aren't super excited about you but-"
"Don't try to sugar coat it Blythe, I know what they say about me," Whittany sighed, "They've always thought Brittany and I were nightmares. Even before you, like, came along."
"But you know what the best part about this is?" Blythe asked, reaching her arm around Whittany's shoulder and squeezing her in against her. "As luck would have it, my online BFF just happened to be YOU. And I've basically talked about you non-stop since we met, which means that while they might have a moment of sticker shock- I mean, even we had that- there's no way they won't like you after they get to know who you are without Brittany holding you down!"
Whittany cracked a smile, her bright eyes flickering with hope as she looked at Blythe. "Do you really think so?"
"Of course! Once they see what I see..." Blythe trailed off, catching Whittany's eye. She realized she'd never seen the Biskit so... vulnerable before. She'd always imagined the twins as these hard rocks who take what they wanted and never worried about a thing, but here was Whittany. Sitting in the middle of a park in a cute cat sweater, confiding in her and shedding her mask to show her who she truly was and wanted to be. Whittany looked like she wanted so much to be cared about by other people, to be someone's friend and to care about them back. And she looked scared that her reputation for being a bitch would proceed her and she'd never be able to redeem herself.
And her eyes...
Blythe smiled.
"Once they see what I see, there's no way they wont like you too."
Whittany's face lit up, reaching up to squeeze Blythe's hand. She broke their eye contact, a dusting of pink covering her cheeks. "...Thanks."
Blythe felt her own face warm and her heart flutter, but tried to push it down as she squeezed back supportively. She'd only known Kit was Whittany for like, an hour and a half, but she was still feeling those new-crush feelings. It was really bittersweet- Whittany was probably definitely not into girls. These feelings she was having would never get reproduced. Probably. Definitely. It kinda... Sucked.
"Hey, what are friends for?"
Friends. Just friends.
What was Zoey saying about the path to unrequited love?