CHAPTER FIVE: OPERATION B.R.E.A.K.U.P.

Sue Ellen and Francine stood with their mouths open as Prunella and Arthur sat side by side on the bleachers. Their fed up friends moved them away from the area, trying to keep them preoccupied with real world issues like homework, celebrity gossip, projects, etc.

But Sue Ellen and Francine were too shocked to register anything their friends said. Arthur, the boy who claimed he wasn't ready for girls less than six months ago, was now the boyfriend of not just any girl, but an older girl! The girls were furious. Their fighting with each other kept them from seeing them growing closer, hadn't it?

The girls tried to think. Where did Arthur go after school? Who did he hang out with? Francine grabbed Muffy's phone, saying she was looking up celebrity news, when she was really looking at Arthur's social media pages. They were still as desolate as they were before. Wherever he met Prunella, it was in person and required no public announcements.

Sue Ellen checked for the same information on her own phone. She kept her head down for a long time, causing Fern to glare at her. Maria didn't look particularly thrilled as the first bell rang.

"Great, another morning wasted because of lover girl," Maria scoffed. "Don't forget my ultimatum. I can make plenty of friends here that won't load me down with their personal crap."

"Pfft, friends!" Fern huffed, moving with Maria to join the herd. They were out of sight within mere seconds, but Sue Ellen walked slowly. She was devastated. Someone else had won the man she wanted. She almost burst into tears as she moved slowly with the herd of high schoolers trying to get to class.

But as she moved through the swarm of people, she managed to get closer to Arthur, Buster, and Prunella. When she looked at hand-level, she noticed something:

Prunella's hand was on Buster's!

Sue Ellen smiled. She was so happy now that she realized Arthur wasn't her target. She must've sat close to him because of all of the other people filling the gym. How could someone as logical as Sue Ellen make such an illogical assumption?

A few people over in the crowd, a depressed Francine was too withdrawn to notice this update. Sue Ellen, feeling her urges of war come again, made her way over to Buster. When Arthur saw her, he darted away. Prunella noticed and gave Sue Ellen a hateful look.

"I'm not here for Arthur," Sue Ellen sighed. "I wanted to tell you that we thought you were with him," Sue Ellen said to Prunella. Buster gave her a perplexed look. "I know, I see you're together now. But she doesn't know that. I'll leave him be, but maybe you should keep the image up for Francine. You know she's more competitive than I am."

"Well that's debatable, but if you were both so silly to think I'd date a boy like Arthur, we'll keep it up, if Buster agrees," Prunella smiled. Buster shrugged, "Hey, if it keeps her away from Arthur for two seconds, I'm in. Wait, are you just doing this to be mean?" Buster asked, eying Sue Ellen carefully.

She sighed, "Yes, but...we need to stop this. My friends are mad at me, and I know Muffy has to be fed up with Francine by now. We need to move on, and-"

But the crowd shifted, pulling them too far apart. They were going to the same classroom still, but Elwood City High was very crowded, making journeys to one's classes difficult even on the best days. By the time they crossed paths again, they were in English class. Sue Ellen took her seat, trying her hardest to look as sad and angry as possible.

It worked. Francine stared out the window, her pen barely moving despite the teacher's furious lecturing. Sue Ellen felt more and more smug as the class went on. She couldn't help but feel smug after what she did.

But as the day went on, she felt guilty. Prunella had taken to heart Sue Ellen's advise and spent her day posting selfies of the two of them all over her account. Muffy kept Francine updated, killing her mood but proving Muffy's points fully. As Sue Ellen saw this, she realized she'd likely made a mistake, and she had to right it.

That afternoon, Sue Ellen was buying sub sandwiches for her family when Francine entered the shop. Sue Ellen waved to her, but Francine stayed back...at first. As the two waited for the sandwich makers to fill their order, they sat together.

"So, how do you feel about his choice?" Francine asked with a melancholy tone. Sue Ellen sighed and Francine eyed her carefully. She rose up, a fire in her eyes, "You know something. Did you put them up to this?!"

"You and I both know we can't pick who he ends up with," Sue Ellen scoffed, exhaling softly, "but we were both tricked this morning. Prunella was holding hands with Buster—he's with her, not Arthur. But I told them to keep it up so you and I could move on. I didn't know she was going to post all of those pictures."

"I can't believe you put them up to that! Why didn't you just-?" Francine stopped. Sue Ellen didn't have to tell Francine anything. In fact, she was lucky they were even talking to each other at all long enough to learn this much. Francine eyed her coldly, "You need to tell her to stop, then we need to stay away from each other for a long, long time."

"And Arthur too. We've got to stop this. He can make his own choices, and the way it looks, he'll never pick. He might not start liking girls until college for all we know. We've got to move on and date other people. There's a boy in one of your classes who likes you," Sue Ellen smiled as her number was called.

Francine shrugged, "You've got a few suitors yourself."

They left the sandwich shop as allies, at least it felt that way. After dinner, Francine texted Muffy about the situation, but Muffy wanted to talk about celebrity gossip. Francine decided to go along with it to be a good friend, but she wanted Muffy's input on this new alliance.

Across town, Sue Ellen had the same problem. Fern was unavailable, her status reading "Muse attack!" Jenna was at a family function with her parents, so she was unavailable. And Maria was gaming again, her love for the console starting while she was at her grandparents' house over the summer.

Sue Ellen was alone, her thoughts filled with Arthur. How could she let that little awkward boy go? What if no one ever fell for him again after Sue Ellen and Francine? She stared at his old yearbook picture, trying to daydream about a day when they could be together, when her phone buzzed.

'Hey, is this Sue Ellen?'

Maria had given her number to the boy Francine mentioned the day before. Sue Ellen replied and talked to him. He seemed nice enough, and even though she didn't want to let go of Arthur, she knew she needed to.

After an hour of texting, she agreed to a movie date with him the following night. They'd spend time together at school the next day and "go out." He'd be Sue Ellen's first boyfriend but her heart wasn't for them. Truly, she barely even knew his name.