𝕓/𝕗𝕠𝕣/𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕪

𝓃𝑜 𝓌𝒶𝓎

It was one especially bland winter day in New York City for Elizabeth Cooper. Cocooned in her fluffy robe and pastel pink cloud of a bed, her phone awoke her at 5:25 AM. Betty never actually woke up as hellishly early as her alarm would suggest, as she took about 10 minutes after the obnoxiously loud ringing of "Lollipop" to mentally prepare herself for the shit show that was high school. 

After fighting off her negative thoughts, she opened her eyes as wide as she could and splashed her face with water that felt far too icy. It was after this that she began her skincare routine, one of the many regiments that fit into her too long morning routine that her best friend, Veronica, helped her create. 

"Waking up early to do all this may seem counter-intuative, but you will find yourself more energized in class, B." 

Most days she thought it was bullshit.

Actually, all days.

But Veronica was her other half, (next to Kevin) and Betty found herself spoiled with cleansers and serums of all sorts the moment she played along with Veronica's attempts to give Betty a better life style. 

Her honey blonde waves that just brushed her shoulders came next. She always preferred to keep them somewhat short, unlike Veronica who grew her silky black tresses down her back. It wasn't long ago she used pull everything into a slicked ponytail that sat straight back from her ears (and left her scalp screaming by the end of the day), but Kevin told her in his nicest way possible that it was time for a change.

"You remember those little pigtails you wore, like, every fucking day in elementary school? I'm starting to think this ponytail has become more overused than that. Give me you brush."

And how right he was. She still pulled it back most days, but she left out a few shorter strands to frame her face and collected the rest back lower on her head. It wasn't an unwelcome change, either. She had really only adopted the previous headache inducing updo out of habit from her Mom.

"Your flyaways look unprofessional, Elizabeth. Slick back those pieces with some hairspray, sweetie."

It's not like she hated her Mom. She saw her as a strong woman who worked her ass off for her two children. She could tend to be controlling, and at times it pushed Betty into overdrive and self loathing. It was something she had been working on in her own time, which touched Betty and almost made up for the occasions when Alice would push her to tears, push her to scarring her own palms with her painted nails, push her to panic.

Almost.

As of recently, she had been cutting her Mom some slack due to her dickhead of a father. When one of Betty's classmates, Cheryl Blossom, had approached her at school with a look of sympathy and urgency on her face, she was beyond confused and alarmed as to what could be so awful that Cheryl felt remorse. She had pulled Betty aside, explaining to her how she had caught her Mother, Penelope Blossom and Hal Cooper post hookup at Thornhill, the expensive complex she owned.

Betty had requested that Cheryl walk home with her to explain to her Mom together what had happened. Cheryl was amendable and went surprisingly willingly, a solemn line made of her plump red lips and her thick lashes cast down.

It was eye opening to her to see her Mother's heartbreak. The sheer disbelief in Alice's face was enough to glaze Betty's hazel green eyes over with a fine sheen of tears. Watching the woman she saw as fearless and powerful cave limp and inconsolable broke her resentful heart. Her and Cheryl had wrapped her Mother up in a tight embrace, Betty kissing the top of Alice's dirty blonde pin curls. The cathartic sobs let out were heard straight to Betty's ears, though all sound seemed to ring in those moments regardless of the volume.