Chapter 9: Facing Her Fears
Another week passed and Beth continued to refuse to return to the museum. She had finally moved into her new apartment, and had returned to work as well.
"So what have you been up to the last while?" looking around as Jeff walked up to her with a grin, Beth shrugged.
"Not much, been busy dealing with this apartment stuff. I forgot how hard it is to unpack. I have a lot of stuff," she smiled back at him.
"That's not what I meant," Jeff rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Beth glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "I mean before you moved. You were pretty distracted, and Marie-"
"You've been gossiping with Marie?" Beth interrupted him. She tried not to get annoyed, especially since her power over fire had been more difficult to control as of late. "Is that what you two do in the staff room when I'm cleaning your mess in here?" she challenged him.
"Hey," Jeff raised his hands in defence, laughing. "Chill Wildfire, all I was gonna say was that she's worried about you," he told her, using the nickname he had started a few days ago when Beth had snapped at him. Beth then sighed, putting a hand to her face and bumping her sunglasses slightly.
"Sorry Jeff, I've just had a lot on my mind lately," she sighed heavily, looking apologetic.
"It's alright," the teacher patted her shoulder. "Though if you need to talk, I'm here," he told her gently. Beth looked up at him and smirked.
"Are you offering to have girl talk?" she asked with a laugh.
"God no," Jeff looked insulted. "I'm offering to have guy talk," he told her, making Beth laugh even more.
"Dad! That's her!" they looked around as one of the boys in class pulled his father in by the hand. "Her eyes changed colour!" the boy insisted, and Beth froze as Jeff frowned in confusion. The man who had been pulled in looked to Beth, his frown deepening for a moment before he shook his head.
"Jamie, I've told you not to tell lies like that," he scolded his son. "Sorry for this, he has a wild imagination, as I'm sure you've noticed," he apologised to the pair with a weak smile.
"Yes, we have," Jeff smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, it's perfectly fine to have a big imagination," Jeff looked to Jamie, who scowled, frustrated that they wouldn't believe him. He was pulled from the room by his father, and Jeff gave a small laugh. "I gotta admit, that's a good theory as to why you wear sunglasses all the time," Jeff grinned to Beth.
"You do realise I wear these because I'm sensitive to the sun, right?" Beth raised an eyebrow with a smile of her own.
"Course I do Twilight," Beth rolled her eyes at the name. "But it's a good theory for a kid," Jeff smirked.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Beth muttered in irritation, wondering just how Jamie had figured it out. She adjusted her glasses self-consciously, grateful that his father had dismissed it so easily. "Well, I'm done for the day, I'll see you Monday for my last week," Beth decided, forcing a smile.
"I can't believe you're leaving," Jeff sighed.
"That was the agreement. This is just a temporary thing until I find what I'm supposed to do," Beth replied, patting his arm. "See you Monday," she called as she left, and he watched her walk out the door.
Beth sighed as she walked down the corridor and out the door, pulling her sunglasses off and revealing her amber irises. She stepped out into the cold January air, the snow crunching loudly beneath her feet. "How am I supposed to figure out what I want to do, when I don't even know who I am?" she complained to herself, walking along the street as she made her way home.
Carrying a box with her pizza in it as she walked home, Beth's stomach growled loudly. Steam rose from it as she opened it to take a whiff of her dinner, and her stomach growled again. Smiling to herself, Beth couldn't wait to get home and eat.
"Beth!" she froze as she recognised the excited voice, and turned around to see Larry and Nick walking towards her, with Nick smiling widely. "I haven't seen you in forever, where have you been?" Nick asked as he reached her.
"Sorry Nicky, I've had a lot to do lately. Moving and stuff," Beth shrugged.
"Aww, that's lame! You should come back to the museum, everyone's missing you," Nick told her, not noticing her tension.
"It's true," Larry spoke up, and Beth looked to him with a frown. "Ahk feels really bad," he told her gently.
"He should," Beth replied shortly, and Nick's smile faded as he looked between the two, not understanding. "He kept something huge from me Larry, I had a right to know," she told him as she tried to stop her voice from shaking.
"What are you guys talking about?" Nick frowned at them. "Is this what you and Ahkmenrah were talking about?" he asked his father.
"You knew as well?" Beth demanded before Larry could answer. "I'm so done with this," she turned on her heel and stalked away.
"Beth wait!" Larry grabbed her arm and it took everything Beth had to control her powers.
"Word of advice, never do that when my eyes are this colour," she warned as she yanked her wrist free. "Did everyone know except me? Was I just a joke to you guys?" Beth demanded, tears in her eyes.
"What? No!" Larry exclaimed as Nick watched with wide eyes. "You were never a joke to any of us! You're our friend Beth, and when Nicky said everyone's missing you, he's right. Even Jed's been asking where you've been," Beth was silent as she wiped away her tears on her sleeve. "Granted he still calls you a witch," Beth couldn't stop the bubble of laughter escaping at his comment. "But everyone really misses you, you should come back and visit," Larry told her with a faint smile on his face.
"Yeah Beth, you're awesome, you need to come back," Nick spoke up again, his smile back as Beth turned to the boy. "Who else is gonna torment Jed and Octavious?" he asked, and the young woman laughed again.
"Alright, I'll think about it," she decided, and Nick's smile widened. Beth found herself unable to say no to the boy, who looked hopeful that she would return. "You ok with that, Gigantor?" she questioned as she turned her attention to Larry, who rolled his eyes at the name.
"Only if you never call me that again," he said.
"I'll consider that as well," she told him. "But for now, I'm gonna go home and eat my pizza before it gets cold," Beth decided, and with a small wave, she turned and walked off to continue her way home.
"Just use your powers to heat it back up," Larry called after her.
"No thank you, I don't like my pizza charred," she called back over her shoulder, making the pair laugh at her.
Tossing the crust back into the now empty box, Beth leaned back in her chair, making a note to get her oven set up as soon as possible. Pushing the box away, she then pulled her laptop over and continued searching for a new job. Taking note of the time, Beth glanced to the window and bit her lip. The sun was beginning to set, and she still hadn't decided on if she was going to go to the museum or not.
Her stubborn side that was still mad told her not to bother, to get on with searching for a job so she could actually afford rent. Going to the museum wouldn't help her with that. She had a suspicion that it would also just lead to her having more questions about who she really was. Yes, she was Safiya reborn, she'd accepted that, but did that mean she wasn't really herself? Beth groaned as she was tormented by these questions, and pushed her laptop backwards.
When something tumbled to the ground, she frowned, thinking it to be her pizza box initially, but when she looked, Beth found that it was her sketchpad.
"Great," she muttered, reaching out and grabbing it. Flipping it open to see if any damage had been done, she took in the pictures she had drawn. Stopping on the picture she had started of the Western diorama, she stared at it. "Dammit," she sighed, flipping it closed. She then closed her laptop over and stood, setting the sketchpad down on top of her computer. Tossing the pizza box onto the counter as she passed, Beth went into her room to change and leave.
Walking towards the museum, Beth's stomach squirmed uncomfortably. She was nervous, and played with the ends of her sleeves as a way to distract herself from the thought of facing them. Especially with her temper. Sighing, Beth considered turning around, but pushed on, determined to find out more about what was going on. Plus, she did miss everyone there. She couldn't wallow in self pity forever.
A strong wind blew against her, taking the young woman by surprise as it knocked her hat off. Chasing after it, Beth found herself laughing as she caught the black and green woolen item and jammed it back on her head. Shaking her head and pushing her hair from her face, Beth continued on her way.
A couple walked past, giggling to each other before giving her a strange look as they saw her sunglasses. Barely even noticing them as she remained deep in thought, Beth's stomach flipped as she reached the museum. She stood in front of it, looking up at the impressive building, and swallowed as she heard faint noise coming from inside.
"Well...better go inside...it's freezing," she mumbled. As she took the first step up the flight of stairs to the entrance, a hand clapped over her mouth and muffled the scream that escaped. Panicking as she was lifted from her feet, knocking her sunglasses from her face, Beth struggled uselessly as another set of hands grabbed her and helped lift her into the air. Beth managed to focus enough to shoot fire at one of the men, making him yell, and she felt herself falling suddenly. She hit the hard but smooth surface of the inside of a van, before a blow to the back of her head caused everything to go dark.
Uh oh...things just can't go smoothly for Beth.
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