Folklore Fan-Fic

Taylor has already told the story of Betty, Other, and James from all three points of view. What if we turned it into a story? Feel free to contribute to this by writing below!

## Betty's PoV

"Yes, I would like to switch my homeroom," Betty handed the office lady her forms. "I filled them all out already." She looked away. *I don't want to be rude,* she thought, *but what if questions come up about why I am doing this? About...* she shivered at the thought of the name. It pushed tears up her eyes.

## James' POV

I sat waiting for Betty to come to homeroom, I thought maybe we could talk and I could say sorry. I sat watching the clock tick,tick, tick. "James" I heard the teacher call my name "Here" I said sighing and looking over to the door. She didn't show up so I pulled out my phone. I saw 1 message from my friend Stephen I read it and it said 'JAMES!! Betty is in my homeroom now!!' I clenched my eyes tightly I can't believe it. I wasn't going to make assumptions as to why she had gone to Stephens home room but I'm pretty sure it's what happened between us over summer break.

## Betty's PoV (flashback)

I don't know why he did it. I'm sure it was true, though, because what Inez told me was more than likely true. I knew him well enough to see that. He was gone all summer long, I knew where, but not why. Inez is Ezylmavery's best friend, a typical sparkly gossip. She makes up most of what she says, but not all of it. Unfortunately, this time it was true. Even though it was likely she said it just for her friend, I KNEW it was true.

I remember skipping on the outside and looking for James. James had always been busy that summer, doing one thing or the other. He even missed out on the end-of-the-year festival. I asked Stephen why, he was James's best friend, he would have known. Instead, he distracted me with dancing. Poor thing, James must have made him do it. I didn't know that at the time, so I went out looking for James. Would it have been worse or better if I found out a different way?

I called out his name and saw *her*. Black lipstick decorating her smile, sequins winking with each flick of the light. Shiny high heels tapped on the cobblestone surface as she sashayed side to side. A vintage tee hung on, emitting strikes of awe, and a brand new phone sat in her hand, near James's hand. It made me look at my own old, tattered cardigan. I winced. But next to her, there was James. I hid behind the wall, thinking maybe it was some other random. But it wasn't, and I knew.

I heard someone calling my name and I ran back, trying to put what I had seen behind me. Only, Inez was with Stephen, and chatting busily about something. I asked them what it was. Inez's face fell. She tried to nervously switch up the subject, but I knew. I shook my head and asked her. She showed me a photo on her phone. It was James. And the other girl, the one I had seen. I froze, my head shaking at the lost of trust. I thanked Inez for helping me find the truth.

I kicked the rocks on the street all the way home and tried to focus on my homework. Only then did I realize the bits of red and the wetness was actually tears. I must have been crying.

## Ezylmavery's POV

He stood there right before me, meeting the sun with a glow of his own. His arm was around me and his other hand on my heartbeat, loud as a drum, fast as a race-car driver with a sugar rush. I smiled and leaned in. He grinned back as a shaft of daylight, golden daylight, met his eyes. His face inched forth, towards mine. A breeze surrounded us with a tone of hush over me. Then I closed mine, and everything else was just a flash of bliss.

## James' PoV

I felt like fireworks. After watching Betty go off doing her own thing, I had finally done the same. Ezylmavery was bombarding me with messages on my phone, but I didn't care. It was something. Something to return what Betty had done. I shuddered.

Betty. Stephen. The floor. The end-of-the-year festival at school. Her favorite song blasted out, on the far side of the gym where I watched from, everyone was there. Everyone who made up the crowd I hated. Everyone but me, watching in the corner. Betty and Stephen, at the center, in a bubble lined with euphoria. I noticed. I saw. And I hated.

## Betty's POV

My phone buzzed. I went to look at it and saw that I had over 30 texts. The names of the senders flashed in front of my tear-blurred vision. *James. Inez. Ezylmavery. James. Inez. James. James. James. James.*
"Argh!" I cried out loud, grabbing the phone and throwing it as hard as I could across the room and crashed onto my bed, tears streaming down my face. *I can't even look him in the eyes anymore. I don't think I could walk down that sidewalk ever again, the one we walked on together when he first asked me out, last fall, red and gold leaves swirling around us.* I can't walk that way to school anymore, when it makes my chest get all tight and it's like I can't breathe.

## Ezylmavery's POv

My phone shook inside my pocket. I reached inside to discover an AMAZING offer. My aunt said that she had to last-minute cancel a trip to a salt box house on the beach for the summer.

"Would you like to go in my place?" she asked.
I squealed with delight and the laughter spun me around until I was dizzied by sole blithe. Hopping like a bunny, up, down, and around, I answered the text immediately. Then I saw James's name. He still hadn't answered my message. Whatever. It didn't matter whether or not I really had him, all I needed was the idea that I did.
Then I began to worry. A summer like that would mean a summer without him. It had occurred to me that if we were apart, he would probably talk to his ex-girlfriend. Betty. She wears t-shirts, she's on the bleachers, she wears sneakers. BEH. So plain. Would it seriously have hurt to wear short skirts just for a while? Or come out on cheer? Maybe high heels? I sighed in annoyance. What did he even find in her? If he had stayed with her by an entire summer, imagined how much more he would value her. Her and not me. I sigh.
Then, as though my aunt had read my mind, a new message beeped up on my phone. "There is a place for two, so you can bring a friend. I already checked with your mom, she confirmed permission."
I squealed again like a mouse. I could bring JAMES! It would take her mind off St. Louis. I called James immediately, it would be SO fun.

## Betty's PoV

I thought I saw him at the bus stop, I didn't though. It didn't matter. I poured out my coins and entered the bus. Then I sighed, scouring every empty corner. I used to know my place was a spot next to him. But he's not going to be here anymore. Why did I even care? I guess he was just so big a part of my life that the worst part wasn't losing him-it was losing me in the process.
That's when I saw him. A bright streak of the golden-brown jacket he always wore, flapping toughly in the wind. He turned and I spotted his face, his beautiful-
I quivered with chagrin. It wasn't him.
I doubted I would ever see him for real again. The illusion was always there; the shadow in the grocery line, the hide and seeker in the shadows, the hologram figure in the light. Even when he was gone, to me, he was always there. But he had been mine to keep, mine to lose, and I'd lost him. Why oh why did I dance with Stephen?
But James, my James. I'm ashamed to call him that.
I recalled the memory, vivid as a dream. It was the perfect night. My favorite song blasting out from the loud speakers from the further side of the gym, the ones that James never saw.
James was ashamed of ME. Why? I was clever, I got the best grades. I was never confident enough to brave the larger crowds and just talk to others, others who had a certain spark in them that only those like them could see. Who was the judge of who was worthy and not, anyway?
So when prom was set up, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to let the rest of the world know that we were with each other. Right? Apparently not! I had every detail planned out. Whenever we're out in public, with friends or whatever, he detaches himself from me and acts like I'm some kind of gross gum he found stuck to his shoe.
He obviously could NEVER be spotted being with ME, especially not as a boyfriend! Like, wow, I am such a boring person just because I don't like the same pointless, petty things that others deal with. Maybe he'd like Ezylmavery for that. I blinked. He should have been proud he was dating me. So why wasn't he?
He keeps getting mad at me. Oh welp. Typical 17-year-old. Kind of makes me wish I, too, were like a 17-year old. HAHA! NOT! I am proud of being in the so-called lower crowds. And if he wasn't going to accept that, he wasn't worthy of me.
So what was it about him that I still clung onto? Absolutely nothing. Well if he's down chasing the newest shiniest thing on the road, I'm not leaving behind all the friends I have made.
I had no reason to stay with someone who wasn't willing to stay with me and be proud of it.
All the lights, spinning in every direction, the mirrorball's appearance constantly changing. The colors and everyone else with someone. Except me, and people like me. The entire system was as crazy as politics. But we all deserved better than that! I inhaled, and walked past Ezylmavery and Inez's stupid smug grin.
I spotted a familiar figure and waved. Stephen approached me and extended his hand. I flushed the color of cherry-blossoms, nearly spilling my drink. I was hedged by giggles. Rather than let them stab me towards the painfully slow death by a thousand cuts, they ricocheted right off of me. But I turned to face Stephen's bright and accepting smile. He brushed a stroke of hair past my ear, his hand resting gently on my shoulder. He pointed to the dance floor. "Come, the music is starting. Your favorite."
He remembered? James wouldn't have. James-why should I think about James? I'm not going to wait for someone I know will never come. Besides, this is just for fun. No pressure.
Stephen moved to the beat of my heart over each tile of the floor, and everything had felt perfectly in motion.
Until James arrived.

## James' PoV

Betty. My Betty was gone.
This was not what I wanted at all. Well, not what I thought I wanted. I mean. I picked up my skateboard by its sharp, reliable tip and swung it forth. Towards Betty's home. Scorpions don't sting when fighting back. They never have to because the strike first, posing a threat for anyone in its way, anyone not willing to help it.
I need to fix this. I let the sheer jealousy possess my love for Betty. But no more! What I did was wrong, and I was ready to accept that, ready to swing the pressure of guilt off my shoulders. If she accepted me back, that was.
The light flickered like an animal's tail. I took one step up the porch. I looked up at the doorbell like it was a symbol of doom.
Before I pressed the door bell, my phone began to ring. "James, darling?" a voice at the other end called out, smitten as a little cat.
I purred in response. "Yes, Mave, I'm here." I used my nickname to lure her so she wouldn't suspect where I was.
"Well, how about we spend summer break on a little house next to the beach? My aunt Rebekah used to live there, they call it Holiday House. Just think about it-the entire summer with me. In this luxurious house my aunt bought-oh and don't worry about service, there's plenty of staff. She's crazy rich you know, had this big group of friends from the city and the fortune of my uncle Bill's standard oil name. She even used to gamble with Salvador Dali. And she once owned a set in Rhode Island!" I listened to her drift off about fantasies. So annoying. Betty never did that kind of thing. But Ezylmavery was wonderful.
"Yes, yes." I watched up at the door and shifted subtly away from it.
I take one last peek before I strode away on my skateboard, my phone in my hand.
by the time the call was over, I figured I should continue what I started. I began contemplating to stay with Mave on break. She kept gushing with her saccharine little tone. "Wouldn't it be amazing, just the two of us, the entire summer together?"
I looked down. "Yes. Amazing."