VI

.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓂃.☘︎ ݁˖(episode 4  pt. 1 - nineteenthird week of October 2023).𖥔 ݁ ˖𓂃.☘︎ ݁˖

garcia(+1) (***) (***-****)Today. 10:30 PM

good evening. can you send the assignment through my school email so i can read it?

hey pretty ;)

just because we're fine doesn't mean you'll keep calling me that.

🥺

good lord.anyways, where is it?

what if i don't?i love your writing btwbeautifully written from someone as beautiful as you <3

garcia! i need to read it.just to double check everything.

ain't gonna do thatalso why asking me at this hour you literally had all day to ask me that xP

im doing other schoolworks, thank you very much.just send it please.

not a good excuse, prettyim still not finished lmaobut trust me, we'll get the highest gradegotta finish this rnnight night princess, cant wait to see you tomorrow <3

ISAAC!oh my god? you literally had all day to finish that?what if the plot's all over the place?hello?Delivered. 10:38 PM.

________________

"Good morning, class. I hope you had a great time answering my activity as much as you enjoyed Homecoming huddle.", Mr. Wellbein greeted as soon as he stepped inside the classroom. "You know what to do, pass your assignments everybody."

Everybody started to stand up and formed a line in the front. Bea's hands fiddled, glancing at the door every few seconds. Isaac hasn't arrived yet, and it's only a matter of time before Mr. Wellbein noticed the absence of their paper and grading them zero.

Looking at their chat for the nth time in her phone, Isaac hasn't seen her messages since last night. She hesitated if she'll message him or not.

The line was down now to 6 students. Each time they handed their paper, Mr. Wellbein just took a glance and complimented them. "Gosh, where are you?", Bea stared at the door, now biting her finger nails.

As if her wish had been granted, Isaac appeared at the door, panting as he jog towards his seat. Before Bea could say anything, he immediately put his bag on his seat and went straight to the line.

"Mr. Garcia, you're....", Mr. Wellbein suspiciously looked at their table, but as soon as he saw his backpack, he gave him a small smile. ".....not late.

"Just in time indeed, Mr. Wellbein.", Isaac joked and handed the paper to their professor. Mr. Wellbein muttered "not bad" as he took a glance of their paper before getting it.

"Good thing he didn't notice you with a backpack. You know how to sneak in without getting caught, huh?", Bea commented, as Isaac adjusted himself in the seat. He gave her a cocky grin. "Of course, I'm the same as Cole - "

"Same as Cole?"

Isaac's expression suddenly shifted, widening his eyes and almost look like he almost drop something that shouldn't be drop in the first place. He 'zipped' his mouth and shook his head. "Nothing.", he replied. Bea shrugged, dismissing what he meant by that.

"I hope we get an A at least.", Bea looked at their professor, who sat at the table and started reading at their papers.

"Relax, princess. I trust we'll get the highest score.", he playfully nudged at her.

She cringed at the new "nickname" that he called for her. Clearly, she doesn't have the time for jokes. If they'll get the lowest grade, she'll be doomed. She needed to have her college application to be at least good when applying to colleges in her hometown.

She's still a sophomore, but she needed to be at least prepared, right?

"It's okay, trust me. Mr. Wellbein will be blown away with our assignment!", he chuckled. "You look cute when you're nervous by the way."

Ignoring the heat in her cheeks, she went back biting her nails. "If you could've finished it in morning and send it to me last night for proofreading, I wouldn't be nervous."

"I told you you had a whole day asking me for that."

"But you literally had a whole day making your part! Don't take it on me, Garcia."

"I was joking about the part where I said I'm not finished -"

"Isaac, I swear to god I'm so done-"

"Mr. Garcia, and Ms. Taylor!"

Mr. Wellbein's voice boomed around the classroom, making Isaac and Bea stopped their bickering. Most of their classmates looked at their direction, including Phoebe, a mixed of concern and shock in her face.

"Care to share your talk in the class?", he adjusted his glasses as he directly looked at his two students.

Bea was quick to apologize their actions, and Mr. Wellbein continue reading their papers after reminding them that this'll be their last warning before sending them to the principal's office. She took a deep sigh, and fiddled her hands. She can't afford to be in the principal's office just because of this! What would the colleges that she'll apply in her hometown - well, whatever that might be - would say when they saw her application?

"My bad, princess.", Isaac cleared his throat.

"Whatever.", she coldly replied. Memories from the days she was pissed off about the lemonade event started to come back.

Is this what's going to be like every time she's with Isaac?

Realizing she'll be stuck with him in the whole morning period, she can't do anything about it. 

Whoever decided to merge Isaac and Bea's morning schedule and having their classes taken in the same room for the entirety of morning period needed to rethink their decision. Add that to the professors too, who decided this'll be the permanent seating arrangement in each of their classes.

Thankfully, the whole morning period finished in a flash. Bea quickly put her things in her messenger bag, and as she was about to zip her bag, a hand stopped her. Realizing it was Isaac's, she looked up.

"I shouldn't done that.", Isaac looked at her the same way he apologized to her at the homecoming. He looked straight at her eyes, and again, subtly touching his pearl necklace with his other hand.

"It's fine.", she said. "I'm just —", removing her hand from Isaac's grasp, she zipped her bag. "— I just wanted to have a good grade, you know. I wanted my application to be as clean and good as possible. And I thank god, or whoever's up there, that we didn't get sent to the principal's office."

Isaac gave her a small grin, looking like he was about to tell a joke about having a bad grade on only one assignment isn't a big deal in college application. But seeing Bea being serious, he bit the inside of his cheek instead.

"You're kind of like Jackie. You're going to Princeton or wherever that is?"

An Ivy League school? That's impossible to get in, she thought.

"No. I don't have plans on going there.", she shook her head. "Anyways, just don't do that again.", she stood up and wore the strap from her messenger bag. Isaac followed, gripping the strap from his bag pack. Still looking directly at her eyes, he gave her a small smile.

"Deal, princess."

"Isaac!"

Their stare that what seems to go on forever broke when a high pitched voice called his name from the doorway, and there stood three girls, twirling their hair and waving cutely at his direction. Bea recognized them; they were the same girls that Isaac hang out with in the 1st day of school.

As if someone switched him to another mode,  Isaac waved them back and gave them a flirty smile. "I got to go, pretty. See you around?", he winked at her before leaving her.

"Unbelievable."

________________

"Hey! No surprise quiz from Mr. Fisher?", Phoebe asked as soon as she spotted Bea and Nathan leaving the classroom and walking down the hallway, the keychains in her bag making noises as she approached them.

"Yep.", Nathan replied, earning a grin from Phoebe.

"And we were dismissed early! That means celebration time!", she squealed. "Believe me, the three of us deserved it. Ms. Moore rarely dismissed her class early, same as Mr. Fisher who rarely didn't gave surprise quiz."

Phoebe does have a point. Whatever type of celebration that is, they clearly deserved it. And Bea is definitely craving something sweet.

"I'm down!", she smiled, grabbing her phone to text her cousin about her hangout with her friends.

"Me too!", Nathan beamed. Shortly afterwards, he rubbed his temple, face scrunching from the pain. "Woah, you okay?", both the girls asked at the same time, concerned plastered in their faces.

"Just a headache.", he assured them. "I think I'm going to pass this one. I'm really sorry girls.", Nathan pouted, clearly hurting that he can't hang out with his friends. "Here you can have this.", Bea went through her bag and pulled out her unopened honey lemonade. 

It wasn't like she's sick of drinking his cousin's creation, rather she forgot to remind him that he should've slowed down in making this for her. She need to have a break from acidic beverages.

Nathan thanked her before grabbing the bottle and waving goodbye to the girls and headed out to the parking lot, where his brothers and cousins were waiting for him. Bea hoped he's okay, and he's not hiding anything.

Soon after, the girls arrived at Monty's. The aroma of foods made both of their tummies grumbled in hunger. Giggling, they walked towards the counter and ordered their desired foods.

"Have you ever tried here?", Phoebe asked once they settled down in their seats. Bea shook her head as a reply. 

"You're going to love here, especially with their pizza. Oh, you know what? After our midterm, you, me, and Nathan should eat pizza here to celebrate!"

"I'm down, Phoebs."

"So — ", she clasped her hand "— spill the details about what happened this morning."

"What happened what?"

"Oh god, don't act clueless!"

Just seeing Bea's puzzled look make Phoebe sighed in disbelief. "I can clearly hear you two! Your voices were too loud.", Bea narrated the whole story, starting from the formation of the assignments to the most recent one. Phoebe, too engrossed, couldn't helped but to smile as she saw how her friend tells a story - animated expressions, hand gestures, and changes of her tone.

As soon as Bea ended, a server put their orders on the table. "Here's your one slice of peppero - Phoebe?"

"Kylie! Hey! I didn't know you worked here!"

Glancing at the Kylie, who started putting their orders on their table, she couldn't pinpoint where she saw her.

"Yeah, I did worked here Phoebs.", she smiled before turning to Bea. "You must be... Bea? The girl from Washington D.C.?"

Up until now, she's still not used for strangers knowing her name and being the other "city girl" in the school.  "Yep, that's me. Hi, Kylie.", she waved at her.

"Oh if you're wondering, me and Phoebe were in the same Chemistry class by the way."

Oh, a working student!

A queasy feeling stir inside her. Memories started flashing in her mind —  the times where she saw her father struggling, asking for vacant positions in cafés, and asking her father if she could do part time, only to be refused and sometimes, lead to arguments.

Phoebe's and Kiley's voices started to blur out, as Bea sank deeper into her own thoughts.

Each time she asked him about his job, he always dismissed her, saying it's fine and that everything is going well.

"Uh, hey Kiley?"

Both Kiley and Phoebe stopped their conversation and turned towards her. "Yeah? Something's wrong with your lemon sundae?"

Her father will definitely scolded her if he knew this. But it's worth a try.

"Oh no, I haven't tasted it yet. Can I ask if you guys are hiri—"

A voice from the kitchen called Kiley, making the girl excuse herself, and quickly resumed her work. Both friends started munching down their own foods.

Going back to Kiley's question, there's nothing wrong with her food. It's a perfect balance between sweet and tangy.

But as Bea swallowed, there is definitely something wrong with the sundae. It didn't help distract her from thinking about her father – the life behind his smiles and his quiet "I'm fine"s. ___________________

"Hey sweetheart."

"Hi dad!"

When it comes to communication, the father and daughter's preferences were complete opposite. Benjamin loved to text, while Bea loved to call. But tonight's one of the rarest nights where her father called her first. Bea doesn't mind if it's a voice call. As long as she can hear her dad's voice, it's okay for her.

"I miss you. How are you? How's school? Did something happened today?", Bea felt he smiled when he asked the questions.

"Yeah! Phoebe and I went to Monty's! I get to try this sundae, and it reminds me of a sundae that me and my friends used to eat at a cafe after school. I miss you too."

"That's good to hear, Bea. I'm happy that you're happy."

"How about you, dad?"

"You don't have to worry about me, dear. Everything's fine here, and I'm fine."

There he goes again, she sighed.

"Dad? Can I ask you about something?"

Something about asking her dad about getting a part time job for the first time since setting foot in Silver Falls made her stomach churned.

"Anything.  What is it?"

Biting her nails from her free hand, she swallowed a lump in her throat. She adjusted herself in bed and clutched the freshly washed blanket.

"Can I get a part time job - "

"Beatrice, how many times have I told you not to worry about money? You should focus on your studies there. Your in-laws are taking good care of you, right?"

Just like that, cutting her sentence off and saying her full name meant he's very serious.

"Yeah, but I want to help you."

She can hear her dad groaning at the end.

"I'm not having another conversation about this, Beatrice. I'm fine, everything is fine here."

Silence fell between the two afterwards. Bea couldn't help but to continue biting her nails.

"Dad, are we okay?"

"Yes, sweetheart. I'm just tired. I need to get some sleep, and you should too."

"Okay, dad. Goodnight, I love you."

"I love you the most, Bea."

Her father ended the call, making Bea sighed. Her tongue tasted blood and looking down on her hand, her fingernails were already bleeding. She cursed at herself and started to look for her wipes.

Noticing the unopened wet wipes at her nightstand, she was about to get it when she glanced at a picture frame behind the wipes.

It was a picture of her and her father that was taken last year at her old school, both of them smiling and looking at the camera. It was Bea's most favorite memory, where her and her selected club-mates from the glee club won in a singing contest.

She adored her father so much. Her father — the kindest, gentlest, and selfless man she's ever known, always puts others before himself, and always the first person to know everything about her day.

Clearly, she understands that he's doing these because he knew what's best for her — letting her live temporarily with the Jordans while he's working, and of course, not letting her get a part time job because "everything is fine", and this hurt her too much. She wanted to help him.

Snatching the package, she opened it and quickly started wiping her bloody fingernails, afraid the blanket might get stained.

As she continue to wiping her nails, a light bulb appeared in her head. 

She's not in her hometown anymore. 

Her father isn't here either to scold her.

She needed to do something, even if it means not telling him what she's going to do.

_____________As of now this is the most written chapter that I've written lmao (2, 500+ words)

And also the  hardest one to write (for now) I wanted to show more of Bea's character, and I hope I did it good :))