Betty paced the floor of her bedroom, trying to silence the echo in her mind. 

She heard it over and over again on repeat. She could hear his voice when he introduced himself at school that day. She could see his face, and the way he had looked at her. She remembered the expression on his face, curious and somehow confident at the same time. His eyes were as blue as the ocean, and his hair fell in golden waves to just above his shoulders. There was no doubt about it; he was cute. He even had the most adorable freckles, and Betty mentally cursed those tiny details that had drawn her in so quickly and easily. 

She was quite sure that the moment of their introduction hadn’t meant as much to him as it had to her. Certainly he had the attention of many girls, and she was just another face in the crowd to him. But for her, it was as if she were hypnotized. His name was burned into her memory: James.

Was this what love at first sight felt like? It was kind of frightening.

She wanted to step back from the cliff that she felt she was standing on the edge of. That cliff, of course, was what she imagined as the concept of falling in love. She had never experienced it before; she was only fourteen after all. But she had read about it in books, and she was beginning to understand exactly why the term was “falling” in love. She felt that she was plummeting to the earth, unable to slow her descent, and yet it inexplicably made her feel giddy. The path of love was reckless, and these daydreams she was having about James were dangerous. She could sense that falling in love with this boy would be as treacherous as it was thrilling, but one thing was clear: she could not stop it from happening. For her, it had already begun. 

Unfortunately, the chances of James noticing Betty in the same way, let alone being interested in her romantically, were probably dashed to hell the moment she opened her mouth. Or, rather, they were dashed the moment she opened her mouth and found that nothing came out. She had been utterly tongue-tied. Luckily for her, Inez had swept in to the rescue and introduced her suddenly mute best friend. Betty was finally able to muster a tiny “hello” and a shy wave before Inez mercifully pulled her away to go talk to some of their other friends. 

A knock at her bedroom door brought her back to the present moment. The door had been open just a crack, and her mom pushed it open to pop her head in. 

“Hey, baby. Sorry I’m home so late– it was a slammed day at the store and I had to stay late to do inventory. Give me a few minutes to get comfy and then I’ll start on dinner, okay?”

Betty smiled warmly at her mom. She could see the evidence of a long day at work in the barely noticeable shading under her eyes and the loose tendrils of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. Even in her bedraggled state, her mother was beautiful, and it didn’t hurt that she was still incredibly young to have a teenage daughter. But Clara was the kind of woman who never truly understood just how beautiful she was. Betty knew that her mother was not unpopular in the dating world. She also knew that she was far too focused on taking care of Betty to take any notice. Which is why Betty often found herself turning the tables and encouraging her mom to let loose and have some fun in life. She deserved to have a life of her own, outside of being a mom.

“Hi mom. Sorry you had such a long day. I actually already started dinner. Lasagna is in the oven as we speak,” she said with a wink. 

Clara let out a sigh, walking over to her daughter and giving her a kiss on the forehead. “You, my baby, are an angel. Thank you.” Betty brushed off the praise, but returned the affection with a hug. 

“Let me know when it’s ready so we can eat together and talk about your first day of highschool.” She said the word “highschool” in a sing-songy voice and did an excited little bounce on her toes.

“You got it,” Betty replied. As her mother left the room, she couldn’t help but smile. She may not have a father, but Betty truly felt as if she had everything she needed in a parent. There was no better mom in the world, in her eyes. 

Later, the two sat down at the kitchen table and started digging into the delicious meal Betty had prepared. It was made from scratch, and that was evident from the first bite. Cooking was something Betty was good at, and truly enjoyed. It gave her time to think, and do something productive and relaxing at the same time. The appreciation her mom always showed when she cooked for them was a bonus. 

“Baby, this is amazing,” she said between bites. “Your lasagna has to be one of my top favorite dishes.” 

Betty smiled humbly. “Thanks mom,” she said.  

“But, onto more important topics! How was your first day of school? Tell me everything.” She looked at her daughter eagerly.

“It was great,” she began. “I really liked most of my teachers. I think that my classes will be challenging, which I’m excited for. Oh, and the library is incredible,” she gushed. “It’s so much bigger than the one at jr. high.” 

“That sounds wonderful, sweetheart. I’m glad you are looking forward to this school year. How about Inez, did you get to see her a lot? Do you have any classes together?” 

“We have three classes together, so not bad,” she answered. “And we did get to see each other between classes as well. Our lockers are really close to each other.” 

“That’s great! Off to a positive start. I want you to have the best freshman year ever, baby.” 

Betty couldn’t help but think of James then. Maybe it would be the best year ever, if she got to be his girlfriend. The thought made her heart race and she could feel herself blushing. 

“Oh!” her mom gasped. “I know what that look means,” she said knowingly. “Who’s the boy?”

It didn’t surprise Betty that her mom was able to read her so fast. They knew each other better than most mom-and-daughter pairs. It was them against the world, after all. 

Still, she rolled her eyes, trying to make light of her new crush. “His name is James,” she said, and found herself breaking into the biggest, stupidest grin at the feel of his name in her mouth. It was absurd, she knew. 

Her mom just smiled like it was the cutest thing ever. “Well, I hope that you get everything you want from this year, including a boyfriend if that’s what you’re after. As long as this James knows just how much you are worth,” she emphasized. 

“Mom, I don’t even really know him yet. I just met him and it was like…” she paused, searching for the right words to explain the uncanny sensation. “It was like I was hit by lightning or something. So stupid,” she sighed. “I keep replaying the sound of his laughter, talking with his friends in the hallway. But I’m a disaster when it comes to boys. I have no idea what I’m doing.” 

“Sweetheart, you don’t need to know what you’re doing. All you need is to be yourself,” she gave her arm a squeeze. “I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true. The right boy will love you for exactly who you are, nothing more and nothing less.” 

Those words were what Betty kept repeating to herself for the rest of the week at school. She saw James a few times, including in the only class that they shared, and she managed to calm down a bit about her initially intense crush. She knew that if he was for her, then it would all come to be without her having to force it. It was a belief that she had adopted early in life, with the help of her mom’s wisdom. 

For the first two months that school year, Betty held tight to that belief. She put her focus on her studies, and enjoyed spending time with her friends. Inez was by her side as much as she possibly could be, which was just how she liked it. The two had been inseparable since they met and became fast friends back in sixth grade. Inez was boisterous and outgoing and loved to talk– especially about other people and their drama. Even though she and Betty were complete opposites in many ways, they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. Betty was thankful for such a great friend to go through the ups and downs of teenagehood with. 

She also got to know James, little by little, as the weeks passed. She found her voice, and was able to talk to him almost like a normal human being most of the time. She was confident that he didn’t know about her feelings for him; feelings which she was not eager to share until the time was right, if it ever would be. 

The more she learned about James, the more intrigued she became. She learned that he was from an extremely well-off family; a far cry from the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle that she lived with her mom. While she lived in a tiny one-bedroom apartment, James lived in what was practically a mansion. But he didn’t have the cocky, entitled personality that she would have expected from someone growing up on the finer side of life. He was friendly, but quiet. He could have easily been the center of attention and worked his way up to the popular crowd with ease. But instead, he kept to a small group of friends, and stayed out of the spotlight. As it turned out, the golden boy was actually quite the introvert. That was probably the biggest reason she found that the two of them actually did click, to her surprise and delight.

He was sweet, but at times seemed clueless. That was probably why it took him so long to finally get the hint about asking Betty out. They weren’t her hints, of course. She was determined to be discreet. But Inez was another story. The ultimate wingwoman, Inez was a master of subtly bringing people together in ways that typically worked out quite well. She was a romantic at heart, and an excellent matchmaker. 

This made it even more surprising to know that Inez had never actually dated anybody, herself. She claimed that she preferred to be on the sidelines, observing and being the hidden puppetmaster, and of course gossiping about all of the things she observed. Often, her gossip wasn’t exactly the most accurate source of information; but it was never malicious. She was simply a storyteller, and her canvas was the social scene of her school and town. 

When James finally did ask Betty out, and she said yes, Inez wasted no time in spreading the news to the rest of the school. Did she embellish the details? Absolutely. Did Betty mind terribly? No, she did not. After all, Inez was only painting a picture that Betty hoped would come true, and James didn’t care about gossip, or what other people thought. He didn’t mind when people started assuming that he and Betty were madly in love and already planning to get married someday. Betty didn’t much like the attention she got from her peers, but being in love helped insulate her from all of it in a way. 

Before long, at least the first part of Inez’s embellishment was true. James and Betty were madly in love. They spent as much of their free time together as possible, at school or Betty’s place or driving around in one of James’ cars. James had more than one car, which Betty was flabbergasted about at first. For one thing, she didn’t think or expect for a hot second that she would have her own car when she was old enough to drive. Her mom’s car was a beater as it was, and they couldn’t afford anything more. And for another thing, James didn’t even have a driver’s license yet. In their small town, the police often would turn a blind eye to underage driving, as long as the driver in question followed the rules of the road; it didn’t hurt if they also came from one of the wealthiest families around. So James would often drive the two of them around in his old classic pickup truck, or his shiny new sports car.

One day they were doing just that, when Betty suddenly reached over to turn the radio down. They had been dating for over a month at that point, and were officially boyfriend and girlfriend. They hadn’t said “I love you” to each other, but that was mostly because James was fairly reserved as a person and Betty was pragmatic to a fault at times. Neither wanted to say it lightly, although in truth they both felt it. Betty had the inspiration that perhaps if they had a song that was “their song,” the way couples did sometimes, it could help them both express their feelings in a way that felt more comfortable. 

“Baby, is something wrong?” James asked. He had one hand on the steering wheel and the other on Betty’s lap, holding her hand; although truthfully, she felt as if he was holding her heart, rather than her hand. 

“Nothing…” Betty answered. “It’s just that, well, I was thinking that we don’t have a song,” she said somewhat shyly. 

“A song, huh?” James looked thoughtful. “Well, if you think about it, our ‘song’ is just the way we are together.” This was one of those times when Betty had to really dig to find the meaning in James’ words. She thought for a few moments before responding.

“Like what?” she asked. 

“Our song is…” he began, gathering his thoughts. “It’s the slamming screen door when you run out to my car for one of our dates. It’s the quiet rustle of me sneaking out at night and coming over, tapping on your window until you come out. It’s…” he paused, thinking more. “When we’re on the phone late at night, and you talk really slow and low because your mom doesn’t know that you’re still up, and you don’t want to disturb her sleep.” 

Betty smiled, the recent memories warming her heart. “It’s the way you laugh,” she added. “And our first date, when you didn’t kiss me even though you should have,” she teased. He grinned back at her. 

“Exactly,” he agreed. “That’s our song, and I bet you couldn’t find another song on any album that was as good as our song,” he said confidently. Betty couldn’t help but agree.

Thinking about their first date reminded her of their other firsts. They’d had a few already, even though they were still early on in their relationship. The first time they kissed was one of her particularly fond memories.

They’d been laying side by side on her bed, with their faces close together, looking into each other’s eyes. They were close enough to be blurry and out of focus, and their lips were so close to touching but not quite. It was the buildup to a moment that they both felt the gravity of, and it was almost too much to bear. Betty knew at that moment that if James kissed her, she would be his forever. She had the fleeting thought that it would be smart to walk away– but he was quicksand to her. She couldn’t escape him, and frankly she didn’t want to. 

He did kiss her that night, first once and then again and again. They kissed for what felt like hours before he finally pulled away and told her he had to go home. His parents would be expecting him, she knew. She heard the sound of her own voice, asking him to stay. It was an almost out-of-body experience; she’d felt so high on his kisses. Of course, she did eventually let him go home, knowing that he would be in trouble if he stayed. 

She didn’t want to cause friction with his parents, whom she already felt barely tolerated her on a good day. She supposed that it wasn’t her that was the problem, but her background so to speak. James had been trained to get along with upper class society, to go with the flow until he eventually chose and married a young lady within his own “league.” Betty was a choice that his parents disapproved of, because she didn’t come from a wealthy or well-known family. She was the daughter of a single mom, a girl who had been abandoned by her father when she was still a baby. James reassured her often that he didn’t care about those things, but it was something Betty always worried about in the back of her mind. And even though they had been dating for long enough that he had met her mom and been to her house plenty of times, she still hadn’t been to his house or met his parents. 

Missing him any time they weren’t together was just a part of young love that Betty accepted as inescapable. But it was always worse when James was far away, which happened semi-regularly since he traveled with his family a lot, often internationally. This was a concept which Betty could only barely comprehend considering that her mom and her could save up for a year and still wouldn’t be able to scrape together the money to go to a different state, let alone a different country. But James lived a very different life than her. 

One night, he was in London with his family and she couldn’t sleep because of the thoughts that plagued her. He felt so far away that he may as well have been in outer space. She felt like she was losing her mind with irrational fears, and even started questioning if she would ever see him again, which she knew was ridiculous. 

On top of missing her boyfriend, she’d had a rough day at school. Everything had gone all wrong and she’d felt trampled on by life. Her homework for Algebra had been either lost or thrown away by accident, and the teacher had not been understanding at all. She’d gotten detention, which was the first time that had ever happened, and she vowed it would be the last. After everything that day, she was ready to go straight to her loving bed. As she was walking up the front porch, she almost didn’t notice a dozen red roses sitting on the welcome mat, with a note beside it. It wasn’t just a note, though; it was a message in a bottle.

She couldn’t help but smile as she picked it up. James could be such a romantic when he wanted to be, and she mentally added this moment to her list of things that represented “their song.” She uncorked the bottle, pulled out the note, and read it. 

Betty,

I know that we are still kind of new as a couple, but I wanted you to know that I think we could become something amazing together. We haven’t said the words yet, but I suspect that before long, you could be the one that I love. You could be the one that I keep. 

I hope that  while I’m away, your care for me only grows rather than fades away as I’m irrationally fearing right now. Know that you are the one I dream of at night. 

Hoping that this message gets to you, and doesn’t get lost at sea.

With love,

James

Betty chuckled. James’ sense of humor was silly sometimes. She also found it ironic that he had said he was dreaming of her at night, considering he was the reason she couldn’t sleep at night since he’d left. She truly couldn’t wait until he came home. Until then, she would hold onto his note as reassurance that he hadn’t forgotten her.

Even his sweet note wasn’t helping her later on that sleepless night, though. She sat on her bed with her chin resting on her hands, marinating in her pining and sad thoughts. Suddenly, she saw headlights shining on the street outside her window. Who would be on her quiet street at this hour of the night? Unless… 

She pinched herself, thinking that it couldn’t possibly be the car she thought it was. But when she walked to the window and peered through the curtains, she found herself proven wrong. It was James’ car, and he was stepping out of the driver’s side door as she looked on in surprise.

He saw her looking and froze, before smiling sheepishly. She opened her window and he said, “Hey, Betty.” She laughed and said hello back. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be in London?” she asked, still in shock that he was standing there in front of her. 

“I was. I missed you too much, so I decided to fly home early. I drove straight from the airport to you,” he said proudly. 

“James! That’s crazy! You didn’t have to leave London early just to see me. And the drive from the airport is so long,” she said anxiously. 

“Well, I was hoping that it would be worth the drive.” He smiled mysteriously.

“What would be worth the drive?” Betty stared at him in confusion. 

“Nothing safe,” he said simply.

Betty paused, trying to solve his riddle. “Nothing safe is worth the drive?” she asked, and he nodded. “What does that mean?” she laughed in exasperation.

“It means that I came here to do something dangerous.” He wiggled his eyebrows. Betty couldn’t help but laugh, with him being such a goofball.  

“Oh yeah?” she said, “And what is that, exactly?”

James’ face suddenly turned serious. He looked at her with an earnest vulnerability on his face. “I’m not joking when I tell you that I’m terrified right now. But I came here to tell you… that I love you, Betty.” 

Betty felt tears spring to her eyes, out of her control. “James, I love you too,” she choked out through her tears of joy. Then she couldn’t stand it any longer and she pushed her window open far enough to climb through, landing with surprising grace on the lawn before running straight into his arms. “I love you, too,” she said again, her words muffled in his shoulder as he picked her up and spun her around. 

“I want you to come home with me tonight,” he said into her hair. She pulled back to look at him. 

“Really?” she asked, hope and excitement blooming in her chest.

“Yes,” he said firmly. “My parents are still in London of course, so meeting them will have to wait. But you can come and stay the night with me, if your mom won’t mind.” 

Betty knew that her mom would be fine with that. One of the many ways in which she was an ideal parent was in her choice to be supportive of Betty’s independence. Clara was always there for her daughter, but strove to never hold her back from making her own choices. Betty would leave a note so she would know where she was, and that would be all she needed.

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go,” she said, smiling like an idiot. She couldn’t help it. Spending the night with her boyfriend was something she had been looking forward to very much. Being able to go home with him for the first time was the cherry on top.

James helped his girlfriend into the car, like any good gentleman, and then they drove off into the night. 

Songs Used: 

Our Song

Treacherous

Message in a Bottle