Chapter Text
It was another jam packed morning in high school. The hallway echoing with the footsteps, gossip and people who swear themselves out for forgetting their homework this morning.
“I just can’t believe how much I but into this relationship, Brit.” Britney was reapplying her lipgloss at the bathroom mirror with Beyoncé rambling next to her, listening to Beyoncé attentively while making her lips nice and shiny. “I had to buy myself flowers, like why couldn’t he have done a little more? Even a bottle of coke would’ve been the bare minimum.”
“Well, you were already doing most of the things. He was dead weight.” She finished applying the lipgloss and put it away in her pocket. She then turned to Beyoncé. “You’re amazing Bey, he was too stupid to realise.” She hugged Beyoncé, giving a reassuring squeeze before they headed out of the bathroom.
The morning rush was in full session, everyone was rushing to their classes. Beyoncé and Britney barely beat the clock to their class and found their seats as soon as the clock hit 9 am.
Calculus felt like the least relevant thing to anyone in the room besides the grade-chasers and the teacher. The clock felt like it ticked on forever, mocking the students struggling with formulations and getting answers that could go on the internet for how laughably bad they were.
All Beyoncé could think of was the disaster of how things ended between her and the last guy she just ended things. It seemed Britney could mind read as a crumbled piece of landed in front of her which opened to:
“Don’t be too sad for too long, we have important matters like fro-yo today”
Beyoncé looked at Britney, who was smiling, and give her with a small smile. The sound of fro-yo made her feel a bit better and something she could be excited about after school.
———
Jeff was changing back after PE, really feeling the burn of today’s class. He must’ve taken a decade to finish hitting the shower and changing as everyone else had left for lunch already, he didn’t mind it but the locker room was quieter than usual. Once he was changed, he picked up his phone and saw a message from Britney.
Britney: Fro-yo this afternoon?
Jeff: Sure, any occasion?
Britney: Beyoncé’s breakup fro-yo
Jeff: Oh, how’s she doing?
Britney: Fro-yo has gotten her a bit excited but still pretty rough
He knew that the best thing to do for Beyoncé is to be there for her plus fro-yo didn’t seem like such a bad idea considering how unexpectedly rough things were with life in general. He grabbed all his things and headed out to the hallway.
“Jeff!” It was Nick greeting him, no sign of Drew but the Lachey brothers didn’t have to be together for every single moment. “So today I was thinking we could maybe hit the gym today after school?”
“Not today Nick, there’s a post-breakup fro-yo emergency I gotta go to.” Nick looked quire disappointed at Jeff’s rejection but understood.
“How’s she doing?” Nick wasn’t as close with Beyoncé but seeing her this devastated made everyone worried about her.
“Brit said she was excited for the fro-yo but still pretty rough.” The conversation slid into an awkward silence, neither knowing how to pick up the conversation from there. It was down the hallway in silence before they got to the cafeteria.
“I’ll catch you later, Nick.” Jeff said before heading off to the lunch line. Nick headed off to where Drew was sitting, looking defeated.
“You blew it again?” Drew knew from that defeated body language his brother was rocking, asking Nick as he sat down.
“Well, fro-yo is important when one of your friends is going through heartbreak.” Nick sighed before face planting.
———
Beyoncé and Britney sat at the fro-yo place, Jeff had a few loose ends to deal with after school so it was only them for a bit. Beyoncé was playing around with the fro-yo in her cup, not really interested in eating it which made her feel even worse as it was something she had been looking forward to.
“Bey, the fro-yo isn’t going to judge you for the toppings you put on it.” Britney tried cheering her up a bit.
“I know but the feeling’s still lingering. I can’t think of a lot of things without him creeping back in.” And she finally took a spoonful in, it gave her a sense of joy for a fleeting moment but it her mind couldn’t keep off it. “Is it weird to feel so…flat?”
“No!” Britney exclaimed with so much passion. “You’re allowed to feel this, it sucks but it will heal with time and I’ll be here with you.”
That little comment finally made Beyoncé smile genuinely, she knew that Britney would make sure that the most unbearable times of her life had a girl who would pour her heart just to make her best friend smile
Jeff finally got there, looking sweaty and puffed. They turned to each other and back to Jeff, waiting for the fun explanation.
“Sorry guys, I blew Nick off from going to the gym but I felt bad from how disappointed he looked.” He was panting between the words. “So I promised him at least half an hour.”
That made Beyoncé burst out laughing. She thought it was sweet that Jeff couldn’t stand the thought of Nick being that disappointed and couldn’t help but laugh with how cute it was.
“Hopeless.” Britney muttered to her while smiling. Jeff took a seat, needing a moment to cool off before getting fro-yo for himself. He looked confused at the reaction both of them were giving.
“Well, he was hitting those chest pumps quite a bit today.” He could vividly recall how Nick was flexing the muscles on his upper body. This made Beyoncé whisper something to Britney that made them crack. “What?”
If only they could tell him that it sounds akin to an animal mating display.