"Bette?" Alice tried again as she looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow. She had never seen Bette Porter so rattled and out of it.

"Leave her alone, Al." Shane held Alice’s arm to stop her from waving her hand in front of Bette’s face. "She’ll talk when she’s ready."

Alice sighed. "Okay, fine." She said as she leaned back on her chair and nursed her coffee cup in her hands. She still looked at Bette from time to time, she was genuinely worried about her. After a few more minutes, she looked around the cafeteria and frowned. "Where the hell is Sammy?" She looked at Shane.

Shane shrugged as she continued to read from her newspaper. "Knowing her, probably sleeping I guess." She reached out for her cup and took a sip from her coffee.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Where? There isn’t a single place in this school where she can sleep without getting disturbed." She blew at the hot liquid inside her cup.

"Who knows, Al." Shane put down the front page and started reading the entertainment section. "Maybe she found a secret spot." She said as she chewed on a piece of sliced apple from her bowl of mixed fruits.

"Yeah, right." Alice laughed sarcastically.

The two bantered back and forth good naturedly with one another for almost an hour. It was only after Alice mentioned something about yellow flowers that Bette began to show signs of life.

"Fuck." Bette said under her breath.

Alice and Shane quickly snapped their heads to look at Bette.

"And she speaks!" Alice tried to joke. In true Porter fashion, Alice thought, the first word out of her mouth after a long time of silence is a curse word. Ah Bette Porter, Alice smiled, what will we do without your colorful vocabulary?

Bette glared at Alice. "Shut the fuck up." She said in irritation.

"A little more grouchy then usual Porter?" Alice drank her coffee while still keeping an eye on Bette.

"Do you want anything to drink Bette?" Shane asked as she signaled for the attendant behind the counter.

"Yeah, coffee or something?" Alice asked without thinking.

Bette glared at Alice.

"Oh!" Alice smiled sheepishly. "Okay.. tea then." She said to the food attendant that had come to them.

Shane rolled her newspaper and gently placed it down on the table. "Are you okay Bette?" She asked slowly. "Do you want to talk about it?" She knew that the cautious approach would work better in trying to get Bette to open up.

Bette exhaled and frowned. Without warning, she launched into a verbal tirade against a certain blonde. "Who the fuck does she think she is?!" She suddenly shouted as she banged her fists on the table, causing it to shake and nearly spilling over its contents. Luckily Shane had excellent reflexes.

Ah here we go, Alice leaned forward in anticipation, the infamous Porter rant begins.

"She made a fool out of me!" Bette fumed. "And nobody – NOBODY – makes a fool out of a Porter!" She breathed heavily as her anger continued to intensify. "It wasn’t enough that she embarrass me in front of my friends, she also had the audacity to challenge me and throw coffee at my face!" Bette hit the table once more, causing Shane to discreetly transfer some of the glassware to the nearby table. "And I wasn’t even the one at fault! I mean, they were the ones who spilled coffee on me in the first place!" Bette raged, her face bright red and her nostrils flaring. "Mark my words," She looked at Shane and Alice. "This week will not end without whatsherface begging for my forgiveness and asking me for mercy!" She smiled evilly as she ended her rant.

After allowing Bette to calm down for a minute or two, Alice began questioning her friend. "So, you don’t remember her name?" She asked tentatively, noting that Bette didn’t call her new enemy by the name she was told to keep in mind.

Christina Kennard. Christina Kennard. Christina Kennard. Bette angrily slapped her head with both of her hands in frustration. "Fuck no!" She said through gritted teeth. "I don’t remember her name AT ALL."

tbc..