A/N: Dang, I didn't think you guys would start trying to fire off guesses as to who called on Daryl. This is fun. And I have to admit, Jesse Pinkman has been playing a much bigger role than I ever anticipated. Hope you guys don't mind.
When Beth stormed away from Daryl and left Teller-Morrow, she was able to bottle up her anger and repress all other emotions. At least it worked long enough for her to drive home and head straight for her room. She was hoping to make it home with no questions asked and no one around to see her come inside. Maggie was in the kitchen at the time and she had seen Beth march straight for the stairs and straight for her room, out of sight. Beth knew Maggie wasn't one to necessarily pry so she hoped she wouldn't follow.
Beth made it to her room and shut her door, reminding herself not to slam it, and threw her purse on the floor carelessly. Tears were stinging at her eyes but she wasn't sure if it was because of Daryl's words or because she had worked herself so angry that she needed to let something out. It was probably a little bit of both. How could Daryl say that there was nothing? He didn't care? But hadn't he contradicted himself by saying he was trying to protect her—even before he knew her?
Beth felt like kicking something, throwing something against a wall, breaking something. When had her life turned into a soap opera? She was beginning to feel like a completely different person. Since when did she find men almost twice her age attractive and try pursuing them, making out with them? Not only that but she was talking to a guy she would never talk to in a million years because he was involved with drugs. And she had even contemplated on going that far with Daryl just to try and break through to him? And for what? For him to like her back? Maybe Maggie had a point with the Lifetime movie idea. It was beginning to feel that way.
Maybe the little old sweet Beth Greene was turning into someone else.
"Beth?" Maggie's voice sounded from the other side of the bedroom door out in the hall. There was a light knock that followed.
Beth wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, clearing her throat. "Yeah?" All she had to do was keep calm and not show any emotion. She just had to be herself and assure Maggie that she was okay.
Maggie cautiously opened the door and stuck her head in with a small smile before fully entering and closing the door behind her. "Everything okay?"
"Fine," Beth forced a smile. Why was it that Maggie could always seem to sense something was off? "Just a stressful day at school. Where's mom and dad?"
Maggie crossed her arms. "Dad's outside with Otis. Mom went into town with Patricia to get a few things."
"Otis and Patricia came by?" Maybe Beth shouldn't have asked that aloud.
"Yeah, Otis' truck is out front. Figured you would have seen it coming in." Maggie narrowed her eyes at Beth and walked over to her bed, taking a seat. "What kind of stress are we talking about because I haven't seen you like this in a long time."
"It's nothing. It's all sorted out. Just finals and stuff. You know how I get with the last couple weeks of school." Beth's smile faltered the more Maggie planted her feet within her room. But Maggie held her stare and Beth could slowly feel herself slipping. She trusted Maggie. Maggie could keep things confidential. And Beth missed confiding in her when she was with Jimmy, before Maggie went off to college.
So Beth finally broke. Her lip quivered as she tried to hold back from crying but the tears didn't stop. She quickly covered her face and stifled a sob before she felt Maggie's hands on her shoulders. Maggie pulled Beth's hands down and led her over to her bed as they sat side by side without a word while Beth cried helplessly to get it all out of her system. Maggie wrapped an arm around her as Beth rested her head against her shoulder. Beth waited until she settled down enough before trying to speak.
"It's just a stupid guy and I'm done trying." Beth wiped her face.
"All of this is over a guy? What happened? Did he hurt you? I mean…"
Beth shook her head, "Not physically… He's just an asshole."
Maggie smiled faintly. "Never thought I'd live to see the day you'd be cussing in front of me."
Beth forced a laugh and smiled in return. She might be turning out to be someone different that who she was a couple months ago but that didn't mean it was a bad thing. She was growing up and she was learning. She was becoming stronger.
"Don't let this get to you, okay? There are plenty of fish in the sea. You don't need to waste your time on a guy who can't appreciate you for who you are. You need a guy that deserves you. So don't beat yourself up over this." Maggie rubbed Beth's back in a comforting manner.
"No guy I date is going to be good enough for you." Beth recalled Maggie's words when she was dating Jimmy. It brought a smile to her face. Maggie had told her that no guy was ever going to be good enough for her for Beth because she was the little sister.
"Yup. I stand by what I said." Maggie stood up and pulled Beth to her feet and into a hug. "Keep your chin up because a guy is never worth your tears."
Beth felt a little better after her talk with Maggie. She couldn't help but think of how differently it would have gone had Beth told her the entire truth. Maggie would have flipped out on her and then she would have recruited Shawn and found Daryl and… things would not have ended well to say the least.
But today marked a new day. She had to listen to Maggie and keep her chin up. She was done messing around with Daryl and trying to chase after him. If he wanted to be that way, then fine. Beth Greene had bigger and better things ahead of her. Even if she wasn't quite sure what that was yet. She just figured she'd keep what happened with Daryl to herself and she'd tell Haley and Jesse that it was off, simple as that. She had to move on.
Beth found Jesse sitting in his usual spot when she arrived to chemistry. She smiled just at the sight of him and the fact that he had his hood up partially covering his face. She made her way over and set everything down on the desk before taking a seat. "Are you trying to hide from someone?" Beth teased, pulling his hood down from the back. Jesse made a frantic grab for the hoodie material but quickly gave up as Beth had already pulled it down. She almost gasped once she realized why he had it up in the first place. "Jesse—"
Jesse shushed her. "Don't make a big deal out of it, alright?"
"But you have a black eye," Beth whispered harshly. "What happened?"
"It was just a misunderstanding," Jesse started. "This… guy mistook me for someone else and he punched me. That's all it was."
"Some guy mistook you for someone else? How is that even a reasonable excuse?"
"I don't know, the dude had a bit to drink and he was confused. It's not a big deal, really. Don't worry about it."
"You should call the cops or something. So-called 'accident' or not, that guy gave you a black eye. He obviously could have done worse."
"No, no cops," Jesse waved his hands. "The guy could have done worse, yeah, but he didn't and let's leave it at that. Please."
Beth stared back at him before slowly nodding. He looked worse for wear and she felt bad for him. She didn't think he was lying because why would he lie about getting punched? Unless it had something to do with drugs. Maybe that was it. No, Jesse wasn't a liar…
Mr. White entered the classroom and got things started shortly after that. The class drug on as they were now reviewing over everything from the beginning of the semester until the present time. Mr. White wanted to make sure everyone understood everything and he didn't want to cover too much more before finals would rear their ugly heads. Probably one of the reasons Beth found him to be one of her favorite teachers too.
The bell rang to dismiss class and Beth immediately jumped to her feet and grabbed her things. She stopped when she heard Jesse say her name, glancing over at him.
"Just want to say thanks… for helping me with chemistry and shit. It's been nice. And uh, if you ever want to talk or anything. Ya know…" Jesse extended his hand with a folded up scratch piece of paper between his fingers.
Beth took it and unfolded it to reveal a ten digit number: Jesse's phone number. She smiled back at him before she slid the piece of paper into her pocket. "You're talking like we're never going to see each other again."
Jesse shrugged, "Just wanted to get it out of my system. I appreciate you helping me. Makes me feel smarter." He forced a smile and threw his hood back up before ducking his head down and walking out of the room.
Beth's smile slowly faded as she followed him out of the classroom with a few other classmates in between. There was more to Jesse than just "drugs". He was actually a pretty decent guy. It kind of made Beth realize that she couldn't just judge people based off of their appearance.
Maybe the change was good after all.
School went remotely well but Beth was thankful when the final bell rang and they were dismissed. She caught up with Haley and they walked out to the parking lot together. After Beth told Haley that she was done chasing after Daryl, she had never seen Haley look so relieved.
"I'm glad it's over, no offense. I was afraid things would get crazy out of hand and you'd get hurt." Haley glanced over at Beth. "You are okay, right?"
Beth forced a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine. I thought about what you said and I agreed that things would be better to stop now before I got too far ahead of myself." She glanced down at her feet for the next few steps she took, giving her mind something to focus on. She wasn't lying to Haley, she just wasn't telling her everything that happened. She was fine, she didn't need Daryl. She certainly didn't need to think about him anymore. He won his little game and she was keeping her distance.
Beth refocused her attention back towards the parking lot and sighed. She was going to have to find a way to get Daryl off of her mind. But then she spotted Jesse among the sea of classmates eagerly flooding the student parking lot to leave. She gave it a little thought before she turned to Haley, "How about we go out and get some ice cream or something? I just want to do something."
"Sure, I'm always up for ice cream. Or… whatever 'something' can substitute for," Haley smiled.
"And what about asking someone else if he wanted to come with?"
"Someone else? 'He' who?" Haley furrowed her brow staring back at Beth, confused. "I thought you said—"
"Not him," Beth refused to say his name. "Jesse."
"Jesse Pinkman? You want us to hang out with Jesse Pinkman?"
"Yeah. He's cool. And he looks lonely." Beth chewed on her lip as she watched Jesse walking in front of them quite a ways down the sidewalk out of hearing range.
"Because he cooks and sells meth? Or because he came to school with a shiner today? Believe me, he can't be too lonely in the drug world."
Beth frowned, "You know, I would have agreed with you a couple or so months ago but that was before I got to kind of know him. He's a nice guy, Haley. And I disagree with your statement now."
Haley looked as though she were in deep thought before shrugging, "Whatever. As long as he can't get us in trouble with the law, sure."
"You mean it or are you going to harass him?" Beth raised an eyebrow.
"I mean it. Look…" Haley cleared her throat, "Pinkman! Hold up!"
Beth smiled at Haley's willingness to hang out with him. Jesse heard her yell his name and stopped and turned around, almost immediately locking eyes with Haley. He started walking back towards them as the three met somewhere in the middle of the gap between them.
"What's up?" Jesse glanced nervously between the two.
"You have any plans?" Haley asked him, taking over for Beth to prove she meant it. Jesse looked confused and slowly shook his head before Haley continued, "Good because you're coming with us."
"What? Why? Where are we going?" Jesse questioned, looking to Beth for an explanation.
"Ice cream?" Beth smiled at him. She wanted to hang out with him and become actual friends. It didn't hurt to sway Haley's opinion of him either. Beth never did get the chance to really apologize to Jesse yet and this was one way she could. After having Jesse help her find Daryl and her helping him with chemistry, it only made sense to start talking outside of school about anything other than the two things they apparently had in common: Daryl and chemistry. Besides, it never hurt to have too many friends.
No worries, things will pick up the next chapter. Bear with me. ;)