𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 — 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙧

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     BETTY LOOKED UTTERLY exhausted, practically collapsing on Cindy's bed without another thought as Bren looked at her with concern. Brendon, who had seen this happen more than once, just continued to scroll through Instagram without even sparing the girl a glance. The Brant girl whined, throwing a pillow over her face.

       Bren's face immediately turned to one of concern with a mixture of alarm, hesitantly going to sit on the bed when she was lying and asked, "Um, are you okay?"

       "Just peachy," Betty replied, though her words were muffled with the pillow just above her mouth.

       "Right..." Bren trailed off, looking at Brendon for help but the boy just shrugged.

       It was a common occurrence so he wasn't freaked out by her state at all, but usually Bren wasn't around when she came into his room – because his dorm was closer than hers – and collapsed on Cindy's empty bed because the girl was always gone. Betty thought it was suspicious but never questioned it, probably just chalking it up to Cindy having a secret lover she had yet to introduce to the group.

       Brendon was glad that she never asked because, honestly, he really wasn't the best liar. He could keep secrets, yeah, but whenever he was questioned about them they somehow ended up in a bigger mess because the lie he tried to pass was terrible. But whatever, that hadn't happened yet so there was no need to worry...much.

       "Uh, so what exactly happened today, Betty?" Bren asked again carefully, not really sure what would set the girl off. Really, he had the right to be worried, Betty burst through the door then proceeded to slam it with a deadly look on her face before collapsing on the empty bed. So, the concern was valid.

       Betty gave a heavy sigh before releasing the pillow, throwing it somewhere else on the bed before sitting up with a terrifying look on her face that also illuminated the bags gathering under her eyes.

       "Work," she said as though it explained everything. And, with how often she complained about her internship, it did. "I fucking hate the Bugle."

       Bren frowned at her, "Then why are you still interning there? Shouldn't you, I don't know, try and get an internship somewhere else instead of torturing yourself?"

       Betty gave him an incredulous look as if he was talking nonsense. Brendon rubbed his temples, preparing for the rant that he had gotten when he had asked the very same question just two weeks earlier.

       "Do you know how hard it is to get an internship somewhere? Especially at a newspaper?" she didn't wait for a response before answering, "Really fucking hard. I mean, I guess I could get one at Buzzfeed, but their articles are a fucking joke and if I was going to try and work there it wouldn't be writing it would be as a video personality. I think it'd work, don't you?"

       "Yeah, sure."

       "Most definitely."

       "Well fuck you guys, too. I'd be incredible and everyone would love me, but whatever. The Bugle was easy enough because half of New York hates them and not a lot of teens are fans of them, which leaves me a great opportunity. Not everywhere else is going to be so easy. Believe me, I sent in my resume other places before realizing that the Bugle was it for me," Betty then paused.

       "And it's terrible. Really, it's the worst. Everything is so negative there, which alright – I understand that it's notorious for hating Spider-Man, but does that have to be the topic of conversation there? Like, all the time? And now they're adding Silk to the hate list which means I get to hear way too much about the vigilantes."

       Brendon tensed at the mention of Silk. Spider-Man being hated by The Bugle was old news, but Silk? He felt bad for his friend even if she couldn't care less about being hated by the newspaper.

       "But where else can I get an internship? Nowhere. So I'm stuck with the Bugle and hating my life twenty-four seven so yay me," Betty finished off sarcastically, falling back onto the bed.

       There was tense silence for a moment before Bren cleared his throat and said, "Well, um, wow. I, uh, sorry dude."

       "It's fine. I'm fine. I mean, I hate my life and really wish I didn't have the dream of becoming a journalist but whatever. It's cool. I'm fine," Betty reiterated, leading to Bren and Brendon exchanging a look.

       "So," Brendon looked back at her, "How about you go to sleep. Cindy won't be back until late and we can just share a bed?"

       Bren frowned, "Hey, where is Cindy?"

       Shit. Brendon was completely and utterly fucked. "Um, uh, I don't know?"

       That was bad. Who stutters and then adds a question to 'I don't know'? Someone who's lying, obviously. And that means they know and that probably means they figured out that Cindy is Silk and it will all be Brendon's inability to lie at fault.

       Betty raised an eyebrow, "You sure about that?"

       Brendon nodded quickly, too quickly probably. Actually, it was and he knew it. "Yep! Probably just at the library or something."

       That caused the Brant girl to snort. "Cindy? At the library? Please, if she was going to get some work done she'd go and sit at your coffee shop because you bring her free refills."

       Bren looked at him. "You do? That is so wrong. You know we can't give free drinks – or refills – to anyone."

       "Oh, come on. You're one to talk. I see you giving Harry free drinks all the time," Brendon pointed out the hypocrisy of his statement.

       Of course, the Cooper boy blushed in embarrassment for being caught and at the mention of Harry. God, they were so lovesick it made him want to vomit. Even he was better at hiding his crush on Peter...right?

       "Shut up, that's not what we're talking about," Bren muttered, and Betty laughed at him.

       "But seriously," Betty said when she finished laughing, "Where could she be?"

       Then, she had a sharp intake of breath before blurting out, "She has a girlfriend, doesn't she?"

       Brendon froze. Two pairs of eyes were on him, Betty grinning like a mad man as she believed she solved the mystery. And fuck, that was not the truth at all but what else could he say? If he tried to disagree and say something else it would come out wrong and there would be an even bigger mess which he totally did not want.

       So, he nodded. "Yeah, yeah. She just uh, it's very new so she didn't want to say anything, you know?" Brendon rambled, already planning the guest list for his funeral since he knew that Cindy was going to fucking murder him for this.

       Betty squealed. "Oh my God that is so fucking great! I am so happy for her!"

       "Wow, I never thought that Cindy would get someone before me," Bren breathed out with wide eyes.

       To that, Betty rolled her eyes. "If you just said fuck it and kissed Harry then you would have someone, so stop moping like that," she told him before turning to Brendon, "Does her girlfriend have any cute friends? I am so lonely and really need something."

       "First off, I totally didn't need to know that. And second, I actually haven't met her yet. Like I said, Cindy has been keeping it a secret since, you know, things are just starting out," Brendon lied.

       Bren pouted, still hooked on what Betty said before. "If I kissed Harry he'd hate me. Friendship over. I don't want to ruin my friendship with Harry just because I like him," he said.

       Betty rolled her eyes. "Shut up. Yes, it would end your friendship because in its place you would get a boyfriend and that is much better than having him as a friend, yeah?"

       "But he doesn't like me like that! He's just a naturally flirty person and I play into that because I like being noticed and believing that maybe he likes me too, but it isn't true," Bren said.

       The Brant girl could only give him a slow blink. "Literally he has never flirted with any of us besides you."

       Bren frowned, "That's not true."

       "It really is. You should just kiss him already and spare us all the pining on both ends. It's just sad," Betty told him before turning back to Brendon, "So you're saying that we totally shouldn't mention that she has a girlfriend until she comes out?"

       Brendon nodded. "Yep!"

       "And when do you think that'll be?" Bren asked.

       "Hopefully later after you confess your feelings to Harry, but since you're stubborn as fuck and probably still don't believe me – like in every romance novel over – it'll probably be sooner than that," Betty answered.

       Bren scoffed. "Don't compare my life to a romance novel. I am way more interesting than any of this protagonists and those straight ass books."

       "The book Love, Simon is based off isn't straight, and I'm pretty sure it counts as a romance novel," Brendon pitched in.

       Bren narrowed his eyes, "There are a lot more of straight novels and all of the main characters are boring. It's like the Hallmark channel."

       "Hey! I'll have you know that my mom loves the Hallmark channel and their shitty Christmas movies, so don't be talking shit about then," Brendon defended the channel.

       "God, I am so glad that I'm not from Georgia if that's what people like that," Bren muttered.

       "My mom's from New York," Brendon deadpanned.

       "Well, fuck."

       "You guys are ridiculous," Betty rolled her eyes at them, "And yes, your life is way more interesting than the main girl in romance novels, happy? And no, we won't mention to Cindy that we know about her girlfriend, okay? Happy? Good because I am so fucking tired and wanna sleep, so goodnight."

       And with that, Betty got under the covers and rested her head on the pillow. After a moment, she called out, "Will one of you turn off the lights?"

       Bren huffed but stood up, going to turn off the lights but he didn't sit back down. Instead, he sent a smile to Brendon. "I think I'm gonna head out now. It's getting pretty late."

       "Alright, bye. See you at work tomorrow!" Brendon said to him, giving him a wave as he walked out the door. He got up from his bed and went to his desk, working more since he still had that project going on.

       Soon, he could hear Betty snoring and he smiled softly. Putting on headphones, he listened to the music and got to work.

＆

       Cindy came in the window three hours later, earlier than Brendon was expecting her to return. He took off his headphones and set them on the table, seeing Cindy recognize another figure in her bed as she then proceeded to drag Brendon into their bathroom.

       "What the hell is Betty doing here again?" she hissed, "And why didn't you text me?"

       "Fuck," Brendon let out, "I forgot, sorry, but she's deep asleep."

       "When did she get here?" Cindy asked him, working herself out of her uniform.

       Brendon thought about it for a moment. "Uh, about three hours ago, I think. It could've been a little earlier honestly because we were talking before she fell asleep. Oh – and that reminds me, I have to tell you something."

       Cindy raised an eyebrow, taking the spandex off her legs. "Okay? What is it?"

       "You have to promise not to freak out and murder me because of this, okay?" Brendon stalled, really hating himself for getting into this mess in the first place. And it's not like he could blame anyone else, it was all his fault.

       "Okay, I promise not to murder you," Cindy said cautiously, "Now what?"

       "Well, I might have told Betty and Bren that you have a girlfriend," Brendon told her in a high pitched voice, playing with his hands and avoiding Cindy's death glare that she was definitely giving him.

       "You did what?" Cindy exclaimed before Brendon shushed her, not wanting to wake up Betty. She sighed, closing her eyes and calming herself. "Why the hell did you tell them that I'm dating someone."

       "Betty asked where you were and I said the library, which is an obvious lie and she knew that, which led to her guessing that you had a girlfriend that you were with and me just going along with it because I couldn't think of anything better and if I did try and tell her no I could've ended up coming out with saying you're a murderer. So, you know, putting everything into perspective having a secret girlfriend isn't that bad," Brendon rambled.

       Cindy stared at him. "You told them I had a girlfriend because you couldn't make up a plausible lie? God, why did I have to tell you about Silk? I should've just kept lying to you, at least I can."

       "Hey! I was really trying," Brendon whined, "And I didn't give her a name or anything. You can just say that I made it all up because that's what I thought you were doing and I didn't really know. It'll be fine...hopefully."

       "I hate you so much, Brendon," she told him and he frowned.

       He knew she was lying, of course she knew. She was just pissed that Brendon put that on her and it was just a heat of the moment thing. It was just a joke. A lie. But still, it hurt because he was sensitive and hearing that didn't have any joking quality to it.

       It sounded real, as though she actually did hate me, and it ate away. God, he felt so guilty for doing this. He never meant for it to happen, it just did, and now she hated him because of it.

       "God, you're literally the worst guy in the chair. I should've picked Bren or Betty or Harry or hell – even Peter would be better. At least they could lie. Seriously, God," Cindy continued to rant.

       Brendon felt his eyes lower. She was just angry and he hated that he put her through this. "I didn't mean to," he weakly told her, but of course it didn't matter.

       "Whatever. I'm going to stay in Betty's dorm tonight," she said, going up to change into some of pajamas and taking the key card that allowed her into the building from Betty's bag, leaving the room.

       Brendon stayed there for a moment, just staring at the door. He groaned, banging his head against the wall before crawling into bed. He tried to fall asleep but he felt too bad. And then the tears began to fall and he felt utterly pathetic. It was all his fault and now he was crying over it all because his actions had consequences that he didn't like.

       Cindy had every right to hate him. Now the rest of the year would be awkward as they never spoke and Cindy would take all their friends. He would still have Bren, since they worked together, but it was clear that she would have everyone else. They all liked her more. They all knew her more.

       Brendon was the boy from Georgia, they were all from New York. Cindy went to high school with Betty and Peter, so she would get them. And Harry would follow after his roommate, meaning that Bren would go with Cindy but still be nice to Brendon during work. And poor Brendon Winchester would be all alone because of the mess he created.

       So, he cried. Silently, of course, as to not wake Betty. And he fell asleep with tear stained cheeks and a wet pillow under him.

yeehaw
ngl, im totally inspired to write a cindy moon fake dating fic now