"So I hear you've decided to take up backpacking?" said a voice from behind Bethany as she rummaged in her locker.
"Hi Noah," she replied, turning towards her ex with a happy smile. This was the first time he had spoken to her since their breakup. He looked as tall and muscular and handsome as ever. Instinct kicked in, and she twirled one lock of hair around her finger. "Um, yeah. I have."
"Backpacking. You. I have trouble picturing it."
The hair-twirling wasn't working. It had always melted Noah in the past. Bethany felt a twist in her gut. Maybe he really did mean it when he'd broken up with her this time. Maybe there would be no winning him back. But she kept a sweet smile plastered on her face despite the sinking in her midsection. "Why? I like sunshine and flowers and…things like that. Why wouldn't I decide to try backpacking?"
"For one, because backpacking would mean being without your phone. For like, days. There's no cell service in the Himalayas, sweetie." He made the former endearment sound like an insult. "For another, backpacking requires wearing more than a bikini, and you're very likely to get dirt under your nails. Which we both know you hate. And finally, you have to be smart enough not to get lost without a GPS."
Bethany felt tears start to burn her eyes. She willed them not to grow any bigger, lest he notice. "One, I know that, duh. I can survive without my phone." She held up her fingers to tick off the points he'd made. Of course, he didn't know she'd gone cold turkey on the phone thing for what felt like several days recently, even if no time had passed in the real world. Only Martha, Spencer, Fridge and Alex knew about the adventure they'd had trying to get out of the jungle-themed video game Jumanji. There had definitely been no cell towers there, even if she had been transported into the game with her phone. In hindsight, it hadn't been as bad as she thought once she got used to it.
"Two, I've definitely worn more than a bikini and I can survive a little dirt. Three, I one hundred percent know I'm smart enough to read a map." Cartography had been her character's total thing in the game. She even knew what cartography was now. She held up a fourth finger. "Four, why are you being so mean? You broke up with me. If anyone gets to be mad right now, it's me. You're lucky I'm a nice person and haven't been, like, bad-mouthing you like some other girls would if their guy dumped them with no warning."
Noah full-on sneered at her. An actual honest-to-god sneer. It seemed incongruous on his perfect face. But then, she thought unhappily, she had seen this expression on his face in the past. It just had never been directed at her. Only at the people he considered beneath him. Was that where she stood now? As a less-than-person?
She felt her lower lip start to quiver. So much of what she'd done since they began dating two years ago had been to please him, to be attractive to him, to feel the warm glow when he graced her with that smile that reminded her so much of the guy from that superhero movie he'd made her watch but she'd secretly enjoyed. She'd poured so much of her identity into earning that smile. What would she be if they were really over?
"Oh, don't cry, Bethany, really. We both know that's just a ploy to get me to feel sorry for you and take you back. It's not going to work this time."
"No, it isn't—Noah, please—" she started.
A locker slammed behind Noah, making them both jump. Suddenly Fridge was there, looming over Noah's shoulder. Noah might be tall, but Fridge was taller, and he was also broader—he took the football workouts seriously, unlike Noah who always did the minimum needed to stay on the team and no more.
"Is he bothering you, Bethany?" asked Fridge in a mild voice that held just the barest edge of steel. Bethany thought irrationally that she'd never been so happy to see him, especially in his normal football-star body. His puny game body hadn't had a prayer of being intimidating (the name 'Mouse' suited him better than Bethany would ever let on), but as it was, she saw Noah was instantly wary.
"I—um…" Bethany stumbled. She sniffled a little, then winced at the display of weakness. She didn't want Noah thinking what he said had hurt. "No. Um, I don't think so."
"You sure? You look upset." Spencer appeared from behind Fridge and stood next to him. He was shorter than Noah and Fridge, but for the first time Bethany noticed that he wasn't exactly a shrimp. The nerdy, nervous hunch he'd worn before going into Jumanji was gone. While he looked nothing at all like the musclebound Dr. Smolder Bravestone, his character in the game, something subtle about the way he stood with his shoulders back, chin up, and head slightly tilted to the side in a watchful attitude evoked him, at least to Bethany's eyes.
Martha stepped out on Fridge's other side. While she was much shorter than any of the boys, her insecure hunch was also gone. Bethany could have sworn she saw the sparkle of Ruby Roundhouse in the cool, almost calculating look Martha was giving Noah. She looked ready to take him one-on-one should he even look at Bethany wrong.
Bethany's heart swelled at this. Martha's newfound confidence was, after all, at least in part due to Bethany's training. Though in this case she wasn't about to flirt with Noah. Just kick his ass, Jumanji-style.
"No, guys, I'm fine. Really."
Noah, for his part, seemed very confused by this sudden unlikely team-up. Spencer and Fridge had been friends a millennia ago; everyone had noticed how well they were suddenly getting along again despite getting on the wrong side of the school's Academic Integrity guidelines, and Spencer and Martha were now an item, but that didn't really explain any of them coming to back up Bethany against her ex. To all appearances, it was none of their business.
Except it was. Braving the jungle together had made them a team, and teams didn't leave anyone hanging off a cliff.
"Step off, Noah," said Spencer. "And don't speak to her again unless it's with respect."
"And what are you going to do about it, Gilpin?" asked Noah. "Beat me with one of your game controllers?"
Spencer just folded his arms and squared his chin. Again, a very Bravestone thing to do. It didn't work as well in this body, but the confidence evoked, along with Fridge and Martha next to him imitating his motions, it made for its own kind of intimidation. Bethany slithered around to join them, folded her own arms, and popped her hip. It never hurt to give things your own stylistic flair. And to remind Noah what was missing by breaking up with her.
Noah's eyes darted between all four of them. Confusion warred with anger, but Bethany could see when he chose to back down. "Whatever, bunch of losers," he said. Spinning on his heel, he stalked away.
"Yeah, keep walking," Martha called after his retreating back. He started to turn around, thought better of it, and followed her directive.
Bethany waited until he was out of earshot before turning to the others. "You guys," she said, half-pleased, half-exasperated. "You didn't have to do that. Now we're never getting back together."
"Why would you want to?" asked Martha with her usual sardonic bite tinging her voice. She hadn't moved from her crossed-arm position.
"Um, because he's the most gorgeous guy in school and I'm the most gorgeous girl? What about that doesn't scream 'meant for each other'?"
"Because you deserve better." It was Fridge who said this, to Bethany's surprise. "It was none of my business before, but I didn't know you then other than as Noah's hot girlfriend. Like, I know we saw each other at parties and stuff, but it's not like we talked much. If you'd asked me…before…I would have said you were fine together. But I know him from football, and I know you from…you know." His half-shrug somehow managed to encompass running for their lives through the jungle and dodging a motorcycle gang armed with bazookas, among other things. "You're too good for him."
"You're the kind of girl who would give up her life for someone she cared about," said Spencer. "He's totally not. Fridge is right. You deserve better."
"But…" Bethany started. Then she paused. Spencer's words had, of course, reminded her of Alex. She'd given one of her lives to keep him from Game-Overing and dying for real. The others had second-guessed her, but she hadn't even hesitated. And it wasn't just because he—well, his character—was seriously smoking and reminded her of a boy-band singer she'd had a crush on in middle school. He was charming and nice and surprisingly vulnerable and he'd treated her well, even though she wasn't in her own super-hot body and he could have brushed her off as a weird old fat guy who acted like a chick. He deserved the chance to go home as much as any of them.
Of course he was totally off limits now, having returned to 1995 to grow up, marry and have kids of his own. He'd named his daughter for her, which was deeply touching to her if not a complete consolation at his loss. They'd shared a real, honest connection. But she thought she knew what the others were getting at: they were hinting she deserved someone like Alex, someone who didn't only like her for her looks. Which, if she was being honest, was the only reason she and Noah had lasted as long as they had.
She focused on Martha, Fridge and Spencer again. They all wore variations of the same expression: they'd seen on her face what conclusion she'd come to and were smiling reassuringly.
"Awww, you guys," said Bethany, truly touched. Maybe that warm feeling couldn't only be found in a guy's smile: she was getting it again when her three new friends smiled at her now. "You're totally right. Thanks for being my backup singers. Group hug?"
"Hell no," said Fridge, backing away immediately. "I ain't hugging any of you."
"Not in public," said Martha, glancing around.
"Um, I'll pass," said Spencer.
"Fine. Be that way." Bethany shrugged, tossing her hair. She started down the hall, then turned to look back. "Well, come on! Don't we have, like, classes and stuff to get to?"
They started after her, and Bethany fell in line. "So," she said. "What do you do on weekends when you're single?"
"Read Wollstonecraft and do my homework," said Martha.
"Play Halo until three in the morning," said Spencer. "And homework." As an afterthought.
"Spend half the day at the gym and the other half sleeping," said Fridge.
"Wow. That sounds…awful. Don't any of you know how to have fun?" At the blank looks she got, she rolled her eyes. "That's it. We're going to the mall on Saturday. We'll see a movie, hang out at the food court, browse the stores. Take a couple tasteful selfies. You know. Fun."
"Doesn't sound fun to me," muttered Martha, but even Bethany could tell the grumble was halfhearted.
"Compared to almost crashing in a helicopter and getting eaten by rhinos, going to the mall for an afternoon should be a piece of cake," insisted Bethany.
"Oh god, don't say cake. Anything but cake," said Fridge.
A beat. Then they all laughed, and scattered to go to their respective classes.
Author's Note: I spend most of my time in the Beauty and the Beast fandom but I really enjoyed Welcome to the Jungle and wanted to write a small piece with these characters. Jack Black did a fantastic job playing Bethany without turning her into a caricature and I found it so impressive. So I started to wonder what it might be like for her once back home, having realized there are people who like her for more than just being pretty. But old habits are hard to break sometimes...we all occasionally need a reminder that we deserve to be around people who like us for who we are on the inside.
Hope you enjoyed.
SamoaPhoenix9