Chapter 3
It was a normal day in school with the trio having lunch outdoors when Beth said something that changed it.
"So, I saw my new neighbour last night."
They were very simple words but the reaction her best friends gave her said otherwise. She stared in shock as Adam spat out his juice while Ed choked on his sandwich the moment those words left her lips. She quickly handed a couple of tissues to Adam who wiped at his mouth while smacking Ed's back.
"W-What did you say?" Adam stuttered, still coughing.
"What the hell happened to you two?"
Ed, having recovered from his near-death experience, immediately grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. "Not important! You said you saw your new neighbour?"
"Well, not fully. But yeah, I saw him. Can't tell you what he looks like though."
"That's it?"
"Well, he was tall from what I could see. Dark. Due to the lighting. Handsome? I don't know. It was dark."
She giggled at her own joke but Ed shook her again.
"Not the time for jokes."
Adam, easing Ed's grip off of her, asked, "Did he say anything to you?"
"Obviously, not. I'd have led with that if he did. I said I saw him, not that I spoke to him. At least, I'm assuming it's a guy. Hell, that could've been a woman for all I know. I mean, you never know these days."
"It's male," Ed spat and she stared.
"Well, okay. I won't ask how you know that or why you called my neighbour 'it' like he's fucking Pennywise when you seem so sure of his gender but sure, I'll take your word for it." Taking a sip of her soda, she recalled her encounter with her neighbour and the chill she got before she had shut the door behind her. "I will admit that my new neighbour is kinda creepy."
Adam and Ed visibly tensed.
"Creepy how?"
"I don't know. It's just a feeling, I guess. Kinda hair-raising."
Ed, grabbing her again, shook her, which annoyed her since she let it go the first couple of times. "Don't let go of that feeling, Beth. Trust your instincts."
Adam, sensing her brewing irritation, quickly smacked Ed's hands away before she inflicted some damage on the bespectacled boy.
"You two are acting really weird." She paused. "Well, weirder than normal. Should I be worried?"
"You should-!"
Ed had barely managed to get two words out when Adam elbowed him hard in the gut. So hard that Ed let out an audible grunt followed by a pained groan. Beth watched, wide-eyed, as Ed hunched over, arms wrapping around his mid-section.
"Adam!" she hissed, jumping out of her seat and hurrying over to Ed's side, rubbing his back as he groaned in pain. "Ed, are you okay?"
"He's fine," Adam replied at the same time that Ed had groaned the opposite.
She glared at the normally gentle boy. "I wasn't asking you. And what the hell did you do that for?!"
"Ed was just about to say something stupid," Adam defended but she didn't believe him for a second when he couldn't even look at her.
"I think I broke a rib," Ed moaned.
"Ed says something stupid at least ninety percent of the time. There are even days where he never says anything logical or he overdramatizes the situation that it just doesn't make sense," she pointed out.
"I might have punctured a lung…"
"Yeah, but he's just…" Adam trailed off, shifting in his seat as he fumbled for an answer.
"He's just what, Adam?"
"I'm dying…"
Adam sighed. "Dude, you're fine. You flew and rolled over like seven feet before folding over like a lawn chair the last time we decided to run into each other with yoga balls. If you survived that, you can survive this."
Ed shot up, glaring accusingly at his friend. "So says you. I could be bleeding internally! I could be dying in front of you." Pulling up his shirt, he pointed at the red spot that was smaller than the palm of her hand. "Look, see, it's red! I could be bleeding inside!"
Beth snorted in disbelief.
"Technically, it's pink. Also, that's your stomach. Not your ribs," Adam pointed out.
Ed paused, looking down and winced as he prodded the pink spot with a finger. "Whaddya know. Guess I was off the mark."
"Yeah, way off the mark."
She stood up, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, you're fine. Still an idiot but fine." She smacked the boy on the back of the head as she stormed back to her seat to grab her bag, grumbling, "Should have known it would take something supernatural to kill you."
"Look, Beth," Adam began and she held up her hand.
"Don't even start with that. I know where that leads to, Adam Johnson." Taking a deep breath, she stared her two closest friends down. "Now, tell me what is going on with you two because clearly, you're in some deep shit. It was all fun and games the past couple of days but if someone is going to get hurt, you'd better fess up now and stop whatever it is you're doing."
"Your n-"
"Ed!" Adam hissed. "We promised, remember?"
"Yes, but maybe..."
"No."
Were they seriously having that conversation in front of her?
She snapped her fingers and their heads snapped back to her direction. "I'm still here. Now, spill."
Adam's gaze wavered and he immediately looked away. "We can't…"
"Can't fess up or can't stop?"
"Both."
She looked at Ed who averted his gaze as well. She nodded. That was that then. She would like to say that it didn't sting but it hurt like a bitch.
"I don't know what is up with you two but you can go ahead and keep your secret. Just don't call me for help if you find yourself in shit this time."
"Or blood," Ed muttered only to be elbowed again. "Ow!"
"What did you just say?"
"Nothing."
"You two are seriously- Forget it. Fuck this. I'm out."
"Beth…" Adam called out weakly as she slid her bag strap over her shoulder.
She walked off, leaving them there, grateful for the first time that she didn't have the next class with them. And as the day went by, her anger continued to simmer but she was also hurt. It wasn't the fact that they were keeping secrets from her. She was used to that and was more than okay with it since she usually ended up regretting knowing about it. No, it was the fact that they were keeping this particular secret from her and this was clearly the mother of all secrets.
Most of the time, their secrets would be harmless and mostly just plain embarrassing. But this secret that had Adam of all people reacting in such a manner just to keep it hidden? The very Adam who was the timidest out of the trio of boys and who would always end up being the follower rather than an instigator? Adam was always the one who would spill the beans to her about any secret or whenever he believed something was too dangerous and needed her to step in to smack reason into the other two. And he had stopped Ed who wanted to tell her the truth. What was so important that they couldn't tell her when they told her private things that she didn't even want to know?
She was fine with it in the beginning but it grated on her nerves the more they questioned her and the more they warned her. It was like being a part of the secret without knowing the secret. It was aggravating and pissed her off especially when they were being so shifty. It was on par with someone having said something only for her to not have heard it and when she had asked for them to repeat it, they had refused. How the hell was she supposed to take their warnings seriously when she didn't even know the reason why?
And what the hell was up with their interest in her neighbour whom she, herself, had not even come face to face with? Not to mention they had only recently brought up the fact that people were disappearing. Were they implying that her new neighbour had something to do with it? The man -or woman- had literally just moved in and she had only caught a glimpse of them. Were they letting their imagination run wild again? The possibilities when it came to Adam and Ed were endless and she was worried that they were going to get into really big trouble this time. Only this time, she wouldn't be able to bail them out at all and the thought of that terrified the hell out of her. The more she thought about it, the more irritated she grew and the angrier she got. Let them get into trouble then.
She ignored their attempts to talk to her throughout the day and glared at Charley who opened his mouth as she passed by on the way to her last class. Seeing Charley only made her feel a surge of irritation as she knew that had he still been a part of their group, Adam and Ed would have told him all about what they were doing. Hell, Charley would have been a part of it. In a sense, it did hurt her when they couldn't at least tell her about what it was that sounded so serious. That thought only made her feel crappier as she walked to her car at the end of the school day.
"Beth! Wait up!"
She ignored it, speeding up her pace to get to her car faster and by the time she had thrown her bag in the back, Adam was there, grabbing her hand.
"Let go."
"Beth, listen to me. It's not like that."
"What's it not like?"
"Beth… B…"
Her heart clenched and she whipped around, glaring at him, poking him in the chest. "No, you don't get to call me that."
He grabbed her hand gently, lowering it and laced their fingers together. "B, I'm sorry…"
"What exactly are you sorry for?"
"We hurt you."
"No, you didn't. I know better. I…"
He pressed his forehead to hers, stroking the back of her hands with his thumbs. "B…"
"You're jerks. We're friends but at the same time, I can never replace Charley. I can't be one of your three musketeers or Powerpuff Girls or whatever. God, why are they all in threes?" She huffed. "You two keep your secret and continue to whisper to each other in front of me like I'm not even there. You give me these warnings that allude to something dangerous but you won't tell me what it is. Yet, I mention my neighbour and you two become so talkative."
"B, it's not like that."
"But it is!" She pulled her hands away. "If Charley was still with us, the two of you would be wrangling him along in your shenanigans."
"We do tell you about them."
"Yes, but most of the time, I only find out after. When I have to help you boys clean up the mess. I already have enough to deal with so if this is how things are going to be and the two of you are involving yourselves in something that you can't even give me an idea about but is clearly dangerous then I think I'm better off removing myself completely from the two of you."
"N-Not permanently, right? You'll come back after we finish this?"
She couldn't believe him. Was he actually considering it? She took a deep breath before she decided to commit any form of violence against him in the school parking lot. The numbers had dwindled but there were still enough eyes around.
"No, I don't think I will because you've just made it very clear that your secret is more important than our friendship or your life for that matter."
"That's not true!"
"Isn't it though? It wouldn't be the first time that something has been more important than our friendship. Actually, it was more than friendship, wasn't it?"
Adam turned skittish, looking around. "Ssh, Ed's nearby."
She scoffed in complete disbelief. "Are you freaking serious? I'm done." She shoved Adam back a step and moved to get into her car but Adam was grabbing her again.
"Beth, I'm sorry!"
Already pissed, she snapped.
"What! What are you sorry for now? You're always apologizing for one thing or another. Are you sorry for keeping things from me? Are you sorry that this secret of yours is apparently so big that you're willing to risk our friendship and apparently, your life? If you want to keep your secret, you should have stopped whispering about it in front of me with Ed! Or are you sorry that you dumped me because you didn't want to make Ed feel like he's been abandoned? Newsflash! I'm the one feeling abandoned." She could feel her eyes burning with tears that she bitterly struggled to hold back and let out a deep breath. "It seems like everything else will always be more important to you than me and that's fine because I'm used to it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere else to be. Far away from you. I'm sure you and Ed have somewhere else to be."
Adam stood aside as she got into her car and she truly wondered if this was how things were going to end. She steeled her heart. It wasn't something new to her but as Adam had said, she had let them in. She was sick of always being a secret. She was going to shut her door, buckle up and drive the fuck out of there. She could last ignoring them. She lasted ignoring Charley and anyone else who annoyed her. It wasn't like she ever intended to make friends anyway when she first came into town. In fact, she had intended to just go through the motions of life and make a lot of money. It's just something that happened when three boys approached her one afternoon, inviting her to play.
Just as she was pulling her door shut, a hand shot out and stopped it. She lifted her gaze to meet Adam's determined one.
"I'll tell you everything."
"What?"
"Everything. I'll tell you everything that we're doing." She opened her mouth but Adam interrupted her immediately, looking around. "But not here."
"Adam…"
"Give me a chance. Just one more. I'll… I'll even tell Ed about us too. When we're walking home. I'll tell him then." He grabbed her hands again and they were cold, clammy and he was trembling. He looked like he was about to hyperventilate. "No more secrets."
"Look, Adam, I…"
"You don't have to work tonight, right? I-I'll come over tonight."
She took a moment to consider. She looked from Adam's nervous face to his trembling hands that were gripping hers in what was almost desperation. Would it be worth it giving him another chance? What if a couple of months down the road, something else came up that the boys would keep hidden from her? They had done so for years after all and she usually only found out in the aftermath or from the little hints they dropped by accident or she simply stumbled upon the whole situation. It didn't take them long to squeal after that especially once they knew she had caught on. However, this was the first time that they were keeping such a dangerous secret. Would it honestly be the last? Maybe the older they grew, the darker and more dangerous their secrets would become? Wasn't that the case with her parents?
Still…
"Okay."
They were Adam and Ed. There were not anything like the kind of people her parents were or the adults from her childhood.
Adam's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Just this once. And you had better tell me everything from the beginning."
"I promise!"
"You leave out anything and so help me…"
"Promise!" Adam chirped, grinning widely.
"If, after listening, I decide that whatever you both have gotten yourself into is too dangerous, depending on what kind of danger, I will step in or tell your parents or the cops. You hear me?"
"I don't actually think they can do anything about it," he mumbled and she glared. "Yup, I hear you!"
"Good. I'll see you at 7. Sharp. I'll make dinner."
"Or we could order pizza? Give you a night off?"
"Pizza's only for lazy nights and it's cheaper to cook. Plus, how else can I get Eric to eat vegetables?"
Adam brushed her hand lightly with his fingers. "I could order the pizza? As a treat?"
"I think you could do with eating vegetables too."
Adam laughed. "I'll see you at 7 then."
"Don't be late."
"I won't," he promised. "And B…"
"Yeah?"
He shook his head and leaned down to peck her cheek, grinning cheekily when he pulled back. "I'll tell you tonight."
"Someone's being brave."
"I've got a lot of confessing to do. Starting with Ed."
"Go get 'em, Tiger."
"B? Is Adam not coming?" Eric asked as he stared at the food on the table.
Beth sighed, glancing at the clock. It was half past seven.
"You know what? Let's reheat the food and have dinner in front of the TV. How's that sound?"
"I'll pick the movie!"
As Eric rushed off to the living room, Beth grabbed Adam's plate and considered tossing it but ended up packing it in a Tupperware to eat another day. As she was bringing the reheated food out to the coffee table, her phone rang and she raced to pick it up, only to grow disappointed as it was a call from work. She sighed, answering the call.
"Yeah, it's okay. I don't have any plans so I can cover for her," she replied and a couple of minutes later, with her boss having vented about the lack of reliability of the staff she was covering for, she hung up.
She stared at her phone, sighing once again in disappointment.
"B, the movie's starting!"
"Yep, I'm coming," she replied, powering off her phone.
Author's Note: This chapter took a while to finish up due to the number of changes that it's undergone. The plan for this chapter has been changed like 5 times. I had an idea for this chapter that would follow the original chapter 3, only fleshed out more, but at the same time, it has been years since the original version and I wanted the characters to have a bit more depth and emotion as well as to develop as characters. As some of you might recall, Beth's original incarnation, Anya, was a bit more one dimensional (I was pretty much writing whatever came to mind back then and then immediately posting it up). However, this time round, I wanted Beth to also display some insecurities rather than being cool about everything, which will come into play in the future chapters.
Initially, I intended for there to be a couple of scenes that would drag out the plan for the next chapter by at least another chapter but after considering it, I changed my mind and decided to speed things up. The tone of this chapter was also changed. So technically, this is Chapter 3 Version 5.0.
That being said, I've been insanely busy these past number of months with work, studying and more work. I am on course from 9 to 6. Even on weekends. And on days I don't have courses, I'm working from home. After that, I have an evening job every night except Sundays. It's only recently that I've been able to cut down on my night shifts and I do plan to leave it next month since things are quite stable for me now.
Till next time! Stay safe!