Soundtrack for this chapter:

Never Be The Same - Camila Cabello

You're in my blood

You're in my veins

You're in my head...

Chapter 11:

"Happy two weeks-aversary, Becky!"

Becky rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep from smiling at Kelsi's light hearted behavior. Sydi giggled while she was leaning on Kelsi's arm.

"Okay, funny, Kelsi, but I don't exactly think that's something to be proud of," Becky noted, pulling the brownie towards her regardless.

"Oh but we love anniversaries. Isn't that right, Syd?" Kelsi teased. She elbowed Sydni softly.

Sydni chuckled, "Yes, but that's all you, babe. I don't need to celebrate our 17 month anniversary or whatever your mind concocts."

"You find it endearing."

Becky couldn't help but smile and feel warm when she was around Kelsi and Sydni. Their optimism and love was almost contagious. It cheered Becky up when she was feeling down or upset these past two weeks.

But no matter how close she got to the two girls, she still felt an emptiness. There was something missing.

"You guys are so corny," Becky informed them as she began to eat her brownie, "The fact your love blossomed in here like it did in here is probably a miracle."

"Miracles are for catholics and athletes. We just did the work. Put in the time and made the best of our circumstances," Kelsi told her, sitting back in her seat, becoming relaxed in the conversation.

"So you don't believe fate brought you two together?"

"Fate meant I had to be sent here. In which case, I don't subscribe to the concept of fate."

Becky nodded, considering Kelsi's perspective. Becky had always been a girl of belief. Not in religion, but in the universe. That she had been sent to Earth for a reason. That she found the Botsfords because she was meant to. That everything in her life happened for a reason.

But it was hard not to feel doubt when the bad things happened. Why did the universe insist her dad become sick? Or that she had needed to take his spot here? What did the universe want from her? Where did it want her to be? What was her path? Who was she supposed to be?

She used to know. Back when things were simple. When she simply led a double life as Wordgirl and Becky Botsford. Stopping crimes and saving people. Spending time with her friends and her normal family.

All of those things made sense to her. But lately…

She didn't love the person she had been forced to become. She didn't know her future. She felt lost and she didn't know where to find answers.

"Oh no way," Sydni muttered, her gaze far off behind Becky as she was entranced by something else, "He's out, Kels, he's out."

"His mysterious self makes one of his rare appearances to mingle with us? Something MUST be going on indeed."

Becky frowned and turned around to see what the girls were talking about, but she had a suspicious feeling in her stomach she knew who was capturing their attention. Just like she suspected, Tobey McAlllister in all of his subdued glory had entered the cafeteria, hands behind his back as he looked around the room.

He seemed quite bored, but also that the cafeteria made him nervous. Or maybe anxious. She knew the feeling well. Crowds didn't make her that way, but plenty of other things did and she could recognize the signs on others, especially Tobey. Despite the fact he had been trying to keep his emotions in check, she could point out the little anxious ticks in his expression. The stiffness in his legs and posture. The way his eyes seemed trained to the walls, ground, or ceiling.

And as much as she wanted to ignore the pang of familiarity she felt when seeing him, she simply could not help extinguish the feeling that had emerged.

Nothing like a little repression couldn't fix.

Tobey suddenly made eye contact with her, causing Becky's heart to drop into her stomach. Becky turned back around to ignore him. Plus, she did not want Kelsi and Sydni to linger over him much longer. The less she paid attention to Tobey, the better.

"Ooooh, he's looking right over here, Syd!" Kelsi exclaimed, shaking Syd's arm. The two of them looked absolutely buzzed with curiosity and excitement.

"Honestly, Kels, he seems to be looking right at Becky…" Sydni noted, slowly shifting her gaze to Becky, who was trying to keep her head down. So much for them not dwelling on this Tobey thing.

"He's staring right at her." Kelsi leaned her head down to look at Becky closer, who was staring at the table so intensely, it was a wonder holes didn't suddenly appear. "Okay, Becks, what's up."

Becky shook her head, but refused to make eye contact with either of the women. "Nothing."

"Liar. Do you know him or something?"

Silence. Becky's heart was beating a million miles a minute. Not to mention, she almost could feel Tobey's gaze in her back. It was a nightmare.

"Oh my GOD, she does! Becky, how do you know him?" Sydni pushed, her intrigue getting the best of her.

There was no way they were going to let this go. Especially not Kelsi. They were too stubborn once they put their mind to something, so there was no way she was going to get out of the conversation.

Unfortunately, Becky didn't know exactly how to respond to their line of questioning. First, knowing the owner of the factory in which they were being kept wasn't a very good look. Second, truthfully, Becky didn't know how to quantify her relationship with Tobey. They had been enemies at one time, then almost friends...then nothing. And now he was essentially her boss. They had gone through many different dynamics. And she wasn't sure she wanted to know what they were now.

But what were they now?

"We used to go to school together in our childhood," Becky finally answered, continuing to refuse to meet their gaze, "We were...acquaintances."

Sydni's mouth opened wide with a surprised smile as she looked at Kelsi. Kelsi, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes with a small smirk. "Just acquaintances? Liar."

"Yes, just acquaintances. He was a bit of a troublemaker back then. I wouldn't have qualified us as friends."

Kelsi leaned forward and put her chin on her hands and raised her eyebrows. "Ooooh, a troublemaker, huh? I was always the one for the bad girls."

Sydni playfully pushed Kelsi's arm with mock jealousy. Becky, however, had to keep her shock down as much as she could.

"Oh my goodness, no, it was never anything like that. Tobey and me? Not in a million years," Becky blurted out, keeping how mortified she was to a minimum.

The girlfriends smirked at one another mischievously. Kelsi put her arm up on Sydni's shoulder. "Sounds a bit like denial for me."

"No way, ewww!" Becky shot back, "I have a boyfriend at home! And he's caring and sweet and definitely not a troublemaker!"

Kelsi raised an eyebrow. "Was your boyfriend. He's out there, remember? And Tobey is in here."

Becky squirmed a bit in her chair out of discomfort. Sydni took notice and elbowed Kelsi. "Babe, quit pushing her."

"Fine, fine. I'm sorry, Becky."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it," Becky replied, giving Kelsi a tiny smile in an effort to drop the conversation.

Truth be told, Kelsi's words had affected her. She wasn't really dating Scoops anymore was she...she was going to be there for years. And he was going to move on with his life. Find another girl, get married, have a family. There was no reason to think otherwise. And she had to come to terms with that. Their relationship was really over.

The weirdest thing...was that it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. Losing Scoops didn't feel like the devastational event it should have. They hadn't been dating that long, sure, but she had liked him for a long time? Shouldn't it feel worse?

As Kelsi and Sydni sat across from her, completely unaware of the emotions Becky was going through, Becky turned around to sneak one last look at Tobey from across the room.

Only to find he was gone.

Routine was good for her.

Becky found herself becoming a bit more comfortable with her day to day tasks as she began falling into a similar pattern everyday.

She woke up in the morning and took a few minutes to remember everything she loved about her family and friends and pretended what they would talk to her about if they were there with her. She had read once that using her imagination could be therapeutic in dealing with loss.

Her position had gotten upgraded actually. Someone had decided to promote her out of the label station to the engineers, which she had found strange at first, but then came to realize she remembered more of science and robotics from high school than she had thought. It actually was a great way to stimulate her brain and thinking everyday, since the label station didn't really challenge her mentally. So she was thankful to have gotten moved up.

She joined Syndi and Kelsi for lunch everyday. The girls always made her laugh and had interesting stories to tell. Plus, their love for one another made Becky's heart warm. It was almost infectious. They took her mind off of missing Scoops and mourning her own relationship.

They would return to work in the afternoon, but Becky usually got off at 3 instead of 5 like everyone else, because she usually had an interview or photo-op. She still wasn't a fan of the entire marketing process, but she knew it was a necessary evil.

She would often have dinner with Charles, who would accompany her after the interviews, and he would check in and make sure everything was alright. She had begun asking about his life, which turned out to be very interesting. He would walk her back to her room and for the rest of the night, she would sit and write. Becky missed reading books so much, she figured she would spend time and write her own material. It also was a way to keep her mind occupied and creative juices flowing. If she was going to be stuck in the factory for a long time, she needed coping methods.

There was one thing she hadn't accounted for when it came to her routine. Tobey had begun making more and more appearances. She would spot him walking down the hallways away from her, or towards her during work. He would catch her eye in the back corner of the interviews as he was overseeing the progress. Becky would find herself peering around the cafeteria once in a while in case he was there. On occasion, he was.

Tobey had become this sort of unexpected presence in her routine. Which she wasn't exactly complaining about.

As much as she loved Kelsi and Sydni and was grateful to them for taking her in as their friend, a small part of her couldn't help but yearn for the familiarity that came with Tobey's presence. The callbacks to when they were kids, the connection to the outside world. The back and forth they had when they were kids had slid so quickly back into their current dynamic, and it would have been a lie to say she didn't like having something like that in her life.

But she and Tobey were not friends, nor did they really ever speak. She was still hurt over having to be in the factory and him basically being her boss, but a lot of the initial anger she had had when she first arrived had passed. Especially when her longing for some semblance of her past kept fighting her.

She almost wished she had anything to say to him so they could at least talk.

She got her wish about another week later.

There was a small and gentle knock on the door two hours after dinner had commenced. Becky was in the middle of writing out the backstory for her main character, Amelia. She had gone so far into detail and lost in her thoughts, the knocking had frightened her.

"Ms. Botsford, it's Charles. May I come in?"

Becky shoved her notepad and pencil on her side table and stood up to attend to the door. "Yes, of course," she responded from inside the room.

Charles opened the door and smiled at her. "Good evening, Becky, how are you doing?"

"I'm well, thank you for asking, Charles. Is there something I can do for you?"

Charles shifted uncomfortably for a second prior to responding to her, "I would like for you to accompany me upstairs. Tobey has requested your attention."

Becky froze. Tobey had never asked for her himself. A million thoughts went through her head; most of them questions with a thousand answers. None of which she could answer.

Just go upstairs and find out.

Without a word, Becky nodded to Charles and followed him up the two flights of stairs to the fourth floor. Becky couldn't help but take a look around the floor, since she had never been there before, noticing only a few doors and a much smaller hallway than the floors below. There was a slightly open door to a bedroom on her left, which she immediately pulled her attention away from.

There were two large, wooden doors that were closed on her right which intrigued Becky for an unknown reason. They gave off a very "Beauty and the Beast" like feeling, and since Belle was one of her favorite Disney princesses, she couldn't help but feel a pull towards whatever room that was.

Finally, up ahead, there was an open door to a large office space. As Becky arrived at the door frame, she peered inside and noticed Tobey staring outside the window towards the city. He seemed to be deep in thought, unaware of Becky's arrival.

Charles cleared his throat, "Ms. Botsford is here to see you sir."

Tobey turned on his heels to meet eyes with Becky. He kept his face still and emotionless as he proceeded towards his desk. "That will be all, butler."

Charles gave Becky a nod before taking his leave down the hallway. Without his presence there as an intermediary, Becky felt the tension fill the room. The silence was unnerving. She didn't know whether to be angry with him or concerned for whatever reason he had called her up there. The two of them hadn't been alone with one another since the first day she had arrived 3 weeks prior.

Tobey stood at his desk, almost like he was waiting for her to say something. She couldn't tell if he felt comfortable or not in the silence of the room.

She wasn't going to give Tobey the satisfaction of leaving her unnerved. She had a backbone and wasn't afraid to use it.

"What do you want, Tobey?" Becky asked irritably, "Was my cooperation with your ridiculous marketing strategy not enough?"

"I need to discuss with you the upcoming photo-op this weekend. There are some details we need to sort out prior to the event," He responded, his stoic demeanor unwavering. Becky still hated it and it only vexed her further.

Becky crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "What could we possibly need to discuss?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I interrupting something important?" Tobey questioned, a hint of sarcasm in his tone, a choice that surprised Becky momentarily.

"Yes, in fact, you are. I was enjoying my alone time of self reflection and serenity," Becky shot back, unable to hold herself back from giving the same energy back at him. It was futile.

"Oh, what a shame. What divine wisdom was Socrates bestowing upon you during your meditation? The secrets of the universe perhaps?"

"Oh yeah. Meaning of life. Secret to Chuck's oreo cheesecake recipe. All that good stuff."

"He claims the secret ingredient is 'love'. A cliche answer if any," Tobey rolled his eyes, but Becky noticed the small smile that appeared on his face.

She couldn't help but smirk. "What do you have against love? Seems like a genuine ingredient to me.

"An abstract concept does not one use to make a physical food," Tobey responded to her, moving out from behind his desk towards her.

Becky chuckled, "I imagine you're fun at parties."

"I've never been to one so I wouldn't know."

The tension that had seemingly vanished during their conversation creeped back in again in the silence that followed. Becky honestly felt rather awkward. Someone could drop a pin and you could hear it with how quiet it had gotten.

She wondered if he had felt it too.

"You brought me here to discuss the photo-op?"

Tobey cleared this throat, "Yes, yes. The following photo-op will be done by Katelyn Donelly, the photographer and editor of the largest…"

"I know who she is," Becky interrupted, crossing her arms, "Why is this time any different?"

"I figured perhaps you'd enjoy the opportunity to talk…"

"You know I don't like this. Any of it." Becky noticed Tobey blink a few times in almost surprise, but she crossed her arms and continued with her train of thought. "Pretending this place is like...a fancy resort that has treated me well is hard for me. I don't like to lie. I don't want to have to. You should know that."

Becky took in a few deep breaths and stared Tobey down. She wasn't going to show any sign of backing down no matter how he reacted. She mentally prepared herself for him to either yell at her, give her a sarcastic response, or show no emotion and tell her to be on her way. Regardless, she was ready to take it.

"I know."

That was unexpected. Tobey met her eyes and he almost looked...apologetic. Something Becky had rarely ever seen from him, even when they were kids. It was enough to catch her completely off guard.

Memories and old feelings came flooding back into her mind. There had been a time or two she had shared a softer moment with him and it almost felt like she was experiencing that all over again. A pressure on her chest but also a sense of peace and quiet. It was almost as if everything around her had turned to clouds and she could feel the gentle atmosphere surrounding her.

Becky swallowed the feeling down in an effort to snap her back to reality. So what Tobey had shown sympathy? Should she reward him for doing the bare minimum?

"But I also have a business to run and employees to manage. This comes with the territory," Tobey continued turning back away from her and facing the window.

"Comes with the territory huh? Do you parade the rest of the staff around like celebrities? Or just ones you knew in high school?" Becky knew she was poking the bear, but she honestly felt brave in that moment. Nothing to fear.

Tobey turned his head enough so she could see the side of his face and the smallest grin appeared on the corner of his mouth. "No. Just the ones that already act like big shots."

Becky gasped, but not out of surprise but out of humor, "You're one to talk, Mr. Having a Heated Debate about The Laws of Robotics and Physics with our Nobel Prize winning Physics teacher."

"The other candidates that year were not that accomplished."

Becky chuckled and met eyes with Tobey once more. His eyes almost seemed to have a tad bit of life in them again. It was refreshing to see.

"Better get back to your room, Miss. Botsford. Big days ahead of us," Tobey informed her before turning back to the window, ending the conversation. Becky made no move to say anything else as she walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.

It was strange. That whole interaction had been strange. Her mind was a jumbled mess. But one thing was clear to her. Only one thing shined through the rest of the chaotic emotions she was encountering.

Breaking through Tobey's emotional barrier was possible. And it felt...nice.