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One day, Betty woke up on the cold hard street. Her body was wracked with pain, and she pushed herself off the street, her mouth bloodied. She was alone on the street, and when she checked, it was 3:00 A.M. She grabbed her purse off the floor, and ran back to her house.
Her mother grounded her for a week. Alice kept on going on about how she didn't want Betty to become like Polly, and Betty had been trying really hard to be perfect. After all, Polly hadn't been perfect, and now she was hidden away in the shadows, where no one could see her. Staying out till the late hours of the night didn't help. But Betty couldn't explain why she had been out that night. She couldn't remember what she had been doing.
It took a while before she noticed the black wig. Betty didn't remember buying it. She didn't even remember ever looking for it. Yet, when she tried to throw it away, she always ended up keeping it. She would get distracted, or decide to put it off. And the wig was rather nice. One time, she tried it out, and it fit perfectly. It was like some part of her liked it.
One day, her mother casually mentioned that a black wig had been stolen one night from a store, along with some brassiere and lipsticks.
"Thank God you're nothing like that," said her mother. Betty smiled at her mother, the memory of the black wig in her room filling her with dreads.
(And yet, some glee in the shadows of her mind.)
Betty couldn't think about the implications of this. She was too busy dealing with preparing for school. The pills helped keep the condition away, and it kept Polly at bay. Polly couldn't enter Betty's thoughts, couldn't fuck with Betty's head, and Betty kept on being--
The pills helped keep the condition down. She didn't tell Kevin about the situation, because he already worried too much about her. And it was probably a coincidence.
Betty knew better than to think about the shadows too long. She didn't think about the thoughts that weren't hers inside her head, or the blackouts where she would wear a black wig. They were just distant fantasies. One day, she even threw out the wig. She was a student now. It was time to stop worrying about those type of things.
And then she met Veronica. When she had first met Veronica, she had thought the brunette would be a jerks. Veronica could come off as pretentious sometimes, but Betty had tried to not make any assumptions. And Veronica had rewarded Betty with the best friendship Betty had ever had. Veronica stuck up for Betty more than Betty would ever had expected. Veronica made Betty laugh, would hang out with Betty if no one else was around to, and basically was Betty's best friend. Betty had gotten pissed at Veronica had kissed Archie in the closet, and Polly had suggested strangling Veronica once, but Betty had forgiven Veronica for that. More than forgiven, if anything, their relationship had gotten stronger.
So when Polly saw Veronica get shamed in front of the entire school, she had to do something. Veronica didn't show it, but Betty could tell that Veronica felt violated. Betty's blood began to boil. She grabbed the black wig from under her bed, which she didn't remember putting their, but somehow wasn't surprised to see. And then she set up a plan.
Betty woke up. She found herself on the floor of her room. Beside her was Veronica, resting on the floor. Veronica's eyes were staring at Betty with what looked like fear.
"What happened?" said Betty.
"We punished Chuck. Where'd you find that sexy bra, by the way? I might have to raid your closet," said Veronica. Water glistened off Veronica's skin, off Veronica's lips, and Betty wondered if Veronica had been swimming recently.
"What do you mean?" said Betty. Her mind felt hazy, and her memoried felt off. She felt a weight on her head, and reached up to feel a familiar black wig. She looked down, to see a towel wrapped around her body that was nearly naked, except for a black bra.
"Nothing. Look, I snuck you home, but now I need to go. Um, Betty, don't take what I said earlier to you too harsh, okay? I think you're pretty, and I might even have gone for it, but you didn't seem to be in your right mind. Enthusiastic consent and all, you know?" said Veronica.
"What?" said Betty. Memories were starting to come through now. She remembered taunting Chuck in the pool, remembered punishing him, remembered Veronica helping her home, remembered pushing Veronica against the room of her home and tasting Veronica's lips--
"You really don't remember, do you?" said Veronica.
"Veronica...I think I need some time alone. Thank you for helping me home," said Betty.
Veronica smiled, and hugged Betty. Veronica kissed Betty on the cheek, and then paused. For a split second Betty thought Veronica would kiss her mouth, but Veronica just kissed Betty's cheek again and walked off.
Betty just put the black wig back in a hiding place. Betty figured that Polly wouldn't ever let Betty get rid of the wig, and why would she, since Polly was so much better at getting what Betty really lusted--
Betty just put the black wig back in the hiring place. That was where the shadows belonged, tucked away.
And that's why Polly doesn't mind hiding in the shadows of Betty's mind. It's where she belongs. And she can always come out if needed.