2. Bumblebee Westcott: Battle of the BeeFFs (Unedited)

When Bumblebee Westcott's two best friends Rae and Kurt get into a fight that threatens their friendship she turns to her boyfriend Jesse to help them make up.

There is nothing worse than being caught in the middle of a fight between your two best friends. That's the situation that I found myself in. It was nearing the end of our eighth grade year at Stockman Middle School. Next year we are going to be freshman in high school. I was excited but now I am only worried. Rae and Kurt are tearing me apart. They are both my friends and I will do anything to fix this rough patch in our friendship.

It all started one night while we were hanging out at Rae's place. “I have a new song I wrote and I wanted to play it for you guys.” She said. Rae always preformed her songs for us. She was a musical prodigy. It was how she expressed herself. She still got nervous when she performed though. She wanted to be perfect every time.

“Mr. Waters wants me to write the score for the school play.” Rae told us. I knew this was a huge opportunity for her. She knew it too. I could see how excited she was. She grabbed one of her acoustic guitars and started to play a soft, slow melody that gradually grew louder and more powerful. Then she began to sing.

“I know that sometimes it can be hard, and I know that sometimes it can seem impossible. But you've just got to try and try again. Spread your wings and soar away, and fly high into the sky, like a butterfly, like a butterfly/like a butterfly, like a butter-fly-y-y-y-y, like a butterfly/, like a butterfly, like a bu-u-u-ter-fly”

The music grew soft again and then trailed off. She set her guitar down and looked at us, expectant. “I liked it.” I said. “It's...inspirational and you have such a beautiful voice. I think you should present it to Mr. Waters. If he doesn't like it then he's tone deaf.” Rae beamed at me. “You really think it was that good?” she asked. I nodded. “It's beautiful Rae.” I told her. She turned to Kurt. “Kurt, what did you think?”

“I think it has potential.” Kurt said slowly. “The lyrics are okay but I didn't feel like the music fit them. Your voice hit some bad notes too. Maybe you could work with a professional, someone who's in the business? They could help you make improvements.” He suggested. Rae's face fell. Her expression became one of devastation. Then that devastation turned into anger. Her voice rose in the way it did when she was upset about something. “I can't believe you said that! I worked so hard on that song. It took me over a week to write. I was so proud of it and you just tore it apart!”

“I didn't tear it apart!” Kurt objected. “I just said it could be improved. That doesn't mean it's bad. You're overreacting and putting words in my mouth and I don't appreciate that.” He shook his head. “If you want a career in music then you need to learn to not be so sensitive.” He added. Rae's anger transformed back into hurt as tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes. “You are the most insensitive person I've ever met.” She cried and she ran out of the room with her face in her hands. The bathroom door slammed.

The next day at school Rae and Kurt refused to sit at the same table at lunch. “If you're my friend then you'll sit with me today.” Rae said. “We're best friends Bumblebee. I know you'll sit with me today at lunch.” Kurt said. I gritted my teeth, hating them for making me choose between them. After I got my lunch I sat across from Rae. She seemed pleased but I wasn't choosing her friendship over Kurt's. I was trying to play peacemaker.

“So, Rae, you're never going to speak to Kurt again?” I asked. She grimaced at me. “No, I'll speak to him again...after he apologizes.” she said. I sighed. “Rae, you know Kurt didn't mean to hurt your feelings. You always tell us you want to be honest with you. Every time you play one of your songs for us you say 'be honest; give me your honest opinion'. You can't blame him for expressing his opinion when you're the one who asked him for it.”

“I can't believe you're taking his side!” Rae cried. “Why are you even here? Why don't you go sit with him? I don't want to be near either of you. Don't talk to me unless it's to say you're sorry.” With that she pushed her pushed out her chair, stood up, picked up her tray of food, and stalked off to the other side of the cafeteria.

I went to sit by Kurt, hoping my conversation with him would go better than my one with Rae. I had to make one of them apologize to the other and Rae made it clear that she expected an apology from him. Now she was angry with me too. This whole situation was becoming out of control. I had to put a stop to this. Kurt was my last hope.

I sat down across from Kurt. “Hey Bumblebee, what's going on?” Kurt asked. “Not too much. I was just thinking about Rae...” I trailed off and looked at him. He started down at his salad. “What about Rae?”

“Well, she's still really upset about you not liking the song.” I said. Kurt rolled his eyes. “I didn't say I didn't like it, I said it could use some improvements.” He said defensively. “I know that, but I think it would make her feel better if you apologized and told her that you liked the song.” I said hopefully. Kurt laughed. That wasn't a good sign. “You want me to lie?” he asked. I shook my head. “I didn't say that.”

“You want me to tell her that I like the song. That would be a lie. I don't like the song and I'm not going to tell her that I do. I want her to apologize to me. She screamed at me for no good reason. It's not my fault that she's a drama queen.” Kurt said. He stabbed his salad with his fork. “She needs to grow a thicker skin.”

“So there's no way I could convince you to apologize to her?” I asked, hopeless now. He shook his head. “If she apologizes to me, then I'll apologize to her.” He said. “Otherwise I don't want anything to do with her.”

I groaned. I couldn't believe they were going to let something as foolish as a song ruin our friendship. I got up and left, throwing my lunch away. I found my boyfriend Jesse Crabbs under the stairwell. He was supposed to be in his science class but he was ditching again. I'd been dating Jesse for almost two months now. It was my first relationship. My mom hadn't been pleased when I started dating him because he had a reputation as a troublemaker. She'd accepted him though because I liked him. I couldn't say the same for my father.

Our relationship was beginning to slowly crumble. Jesse was sweet and had a soft side that I never imagined, but he was too clingy. Whenever we weren't together he was constantly texting me and calling me. I felt suffocated. I was only fourteen. I wasn't ready for a serious relationship and Jesse was. We were on completely different pages. I felt like he was trying to push me into doing something I wasn't ready for and that scared me. He truly was my last hope though. I had no one else to turn to. Perhaps he could figure out a way to force Rae and Kurt to make up.

“My uncle is a warden at a local prison.” Jesse said after I'd finished telling him about my dilemma. I didn't see how a prison solved my problems. “You lock Rae and Kurt inside a cell together and don't let them out until they make up.” He told me when I asked. “It's like a proven method or something. All I know is it works. When my parents were fighting I had my uncle lock them up. They stayed in there for three days before he let them out. Trust me, if it can work for my parents, then it can work for your friends.”

“I don't know, it seems a little drastic. Don't you think?” I said. “I thought you were desperate.” He reminded me. I pursed my lips and considered this. Maybe it would work. Either that or it would make them hate me for the rest of their lives. Still, they would be united in their hate towards me. It was worth a shot. I nodded. “I'm willing to try it. How do I convince them to go to prison?”

“Tell them I got arrested for trespassing or something and you need money to bail me out. Ask them separately and make sure they don't know you went to the other as well. If you do then they'll never come.”

The next day I called them. I talked to Rae first and then Kurt. Neither of them were happy, especially Rae, but they both agreed to come with money. They both arrived at the same time. When they saw each other they were furious. “What's she doing here?” Kurt demanded at the same time Rae cried “What's he doing here?”

“I need both of you.” I told them. I led them into the prison. We were all aware of the eyes that followed us as we headed towards the cell that held Jesse. “I can't believe your boyfriend got arrested.” Kurt said. “I knew he was mischievous, but prison? What did he do exactly?”

“Who uses a word like mischievous?” Rae demanded. I was thankful they didn't have time to argue; we were already in front of Jesse's cell. He stood up when he saw us. “Thank you so much for coming. You guys are lifesavers.” He cried. Rae rolled her eyes at him. “You'd better pay us back.” she muttered. She looked back at the warden. “Can you let him out now? We paid the bail money.” she said. He nodded and opened the door. As soon as it was open Jesse darted out and I pushed Rae and Kurt into the cell which the warden then shut and locked.

“Hey!” Rae cried. She and Kurt grabbed the bars. “Let us out of here!” Kurt said angrily. “Not until you two make up.” I said. “Is this some kind of sick joke?” Rae demanded. “You can't keep us in here when we've done nothing wrong.”

“What's going on?” Kurt demanded. “The warden's my uncle.” Jesse said with a smirk. “I wasn't really arrested; this was all just a plan to get you two into the cell. Now you have choice. You can either stay in there indefinitely or this can all be over quickly. All you have to do is say you're sorry to each other and forgive each other. I want you both to apologize.”

Rae and Kurt looked at each other. Kurt cleared his throat. “I'm sorry.” He said. “You know you're an amazing musician; one of the best. You have what it takes to make it big. Just because I didn't like one song you wrote...that doesn't mean anything. There are gonna be songs that you write that certain people aren't going to like. That doesn't mean that they're bad or that you don't have any talent. You can't let one person's opinion of one song break all of your confidence in yourself.”

“I guess you're right.” Rae said after a minute. “I did overreact. I'm just so used to people loving my music. If I can't take criticism then...I'll never get any better. I'm sorry Kurt. Next time you tell me you don't like a song I'll listen to you instead of freaking out and storming out of the room.” She promised. They hugged.

“Can we get out now?” Kurt asked. Jesse's uncle laughed but let them out. “Stay in school kids. You don't want to end up behind bars for real.”

“Best friends forever?” I asked. Kurt and Rae nodded and then hugged me. “Best friends for always.” Rae said. “Best friends for always.” Kurt agreed. “Best friends for always.” I said and we all burst out laughing.

I was happy that Rae and Kurt had made up and we were all friends again. I was thankful to Jesse for his help, but I knew that I had to break up with him. It wasn't right for me to stay with him. I loved the way he made me feel; special, like I was the only other person in the world. I loved being with him, but I wasn't in love with him. Yesterday, after we'd left the prison, he'd said 'I love you' for the first time. I'd managed to stutter 'OK' and then had bolted, leaving him hanging. I knew he wanted our relationship to be more serious but when he'd said I love you I freaked. I couldn’t continue our relationship. It was becoming too uncomfortable and it would only get harder. I didn't know how I was going to do it. I asked my mom and she told me to just be honest. That seemed easier said than done, but what other option did I have?

The next morning I found Jesse waiting for me by my locker. In his hand was a small brown box. He handed it to me when I approached. “What this?” I asked. Jesse smiled. “It's just a little present I got for you.” He said. I faked a smile and lifted the lid off the box. I felt my heart sink to my feet when I saw the silver charm bracelet with the bee charm. “I remembered you told me you wanted a charm bracelet so I thought I'd get you one. The charm is because well...you're Bumblebee after all.” He explained. “Do you want me to put it on?”

“No, Jesse, I can't accept this.” I said. I handed it back to him. He frowned. “You don't like it?” He asked. His face was hurt. “No, Jesse, it's not that. I can't accept it because I'm...I'm breaking up with you.” I told him. His hands and legs started to shake and I feared that he might fall. “Why? What did I say? What did I do that upset you? I'm so sorry. Just give me a chance to fix it. I promise it will never happen again. Whatever you want just tell me.” He begged. I shook my head. “Jesse it's nothing you did. You're great. You're the most thoughtful person I know. I just don't feel the same way about you that you feel about me. I don't love you Jesse.”

“So there's nothing I can do?” Jesse asked brokenly. I looked at him sadly. “I'm sorry Jesse. Maybe we could be friends.” I said hopefully. He shook his head. “I don't think so Bumble.” He mumbled. “If you ever change your mind then you know where to find me. I still want you to keep the bracelet though.” He handed it back to me. “I can't return it.” He told me. “I guess I'll see you around then.” I said. He nodded. “I'll see you around Bumblebee. I hope you and Kurt are happy.”

“Kurt? There's nothing going on between me and Kurt.” I cried. “I mean, yes, I had a crush on him, but that's not why I'm breaking up with you. I don't want to be with anybody.”

“Okay, either way I guess it doesn't really matter.” He said. The bell rang. “I better get to class. If I miss English one more time then I'm going to fail.” I just nodded lamely. I waited until he was gone to put the bracelet on. I was suddenly doubting if I made the right decision. That feeling didn't last long. I knew I just felt guilty for breaking his heart.

When I returned to school the next morning Kurt and Rae told me they had something to tell me. We sat at our usual table at lunch although they were sitting closer than usual. I braced myself for what I knew was coming. “Bumblebee, we're dating.” Kurt said. “When did this happen?” I asked. Kurt shrugged. “Last night we went to the park and we talked and after discussing our feelings....I asked her to her to be my girlfriend.”

“I guess you like the artistic type Kurt. That's good to know.” I said. I couldn't hide the hurt in my voice. I felt betrayed. Kurt knew dating Rae would upset me and Rae knew I liked him. I had to pretend to be happy for them though. Even if I was angry. “Really, though, I'm happy for you both. I just don't want this to affect our friendship.”I said. They both nodded. “Best friends for always, remember?” Rae said. I smiled and took one of their hands in each of mine. “Best friends for always.” I agreed.