Pretty Little Monster

Pretty Little Monster

last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-25
By:  Bella MoondragonCompleted
Language: English
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It’s all fun and games until a body washes up…. Beth Monroe just wants to make it through the summer baseball season without being the constant target of her brother Shane’s jokes, but he is relentless, and she’s ready to lock herself in her room and hide. Until the new girl shows up. Halley appears in small town Barryville like a ghost. No one knows where she came from or anything about her past, not even her last name. When she gives Beth a piece of unsolicited advice that, “It’s what’s on the outside that counts,” Beth changes everything about herself. By the time Beth realizes she’s becoming a monster, it might be too late, and Halley has already sunk her claws into Beth’s best friend Ryan—who might’ve been something more if Beth had opened her eyes a little earlier. As Halley’s past catches up to her, Beth realizes there’s more to this mysterious girl than she realized. Can she stop Halley from revealing her true, monstrous nature to Ryan before it’s too late?

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Chapter 1

Chapter One

The first baseball game of the season was always memorable, though this summer it would be mundane compared to what the rest of the hottest months of the year had to hold. Later, as they pulled the body out of the lagoon on the east side of the ball park, Beth Monroe would remember back to that first game, when everyone was innocent and her worst worry was whether or not her shorts made her thighs look big. By then, Beth would long for the simplicity of life in small town Barryville 1993, before everything came unraveled.

Before the new girl appeared, out of thin air, out of the shadows near the parking lot, out of a nightmare, Beth Monroe had thought her biggest problem was the fact that her older brother Shane, a senior, captain of the football team, and the shortstop on the Babe Ruth baseball team their dad coached, was an asshole who did everything he could to humiliate Beth to the point that not a single guy in their entire high school would ever dare ask her out because she was such a loser. But once this apparition appeared out of the shadows, the menial problems of high school life burned off like fog under a midday sun, and Beth longed for the days when avoiding ridicule was her priority instead of simply staying alive and accounting for all of her friends.

“Was that a ball or a strike?” Lexy Ellis adjusted her glasses and stared at the machine in front of her as if she’d never kept score before. Beth Monroe tried not to let out the harsh words crowding her tongue. It had been nearly a year since Lexy had operated the scoreboard for her while she kept score in the official scorebook, and it was bound to take a little time for the rust to shake off. Still, it wasn’t that complicated. If she’d just stop talking to Andi Jones and pay attention.

“It was a ball,” Andi chimed in, reaching over and setting the scoreboard to match Beth’s book. “Pay attention or old man Cooper’s going to yell at us again.”

“Old man Cooper’s going to yell at us anyway,” Beth reminded them, keeping her voice down so that the ump didn’t hear her. The set up was different this year; they were perched in a scorekeeper’s room above the concession stand, which in theory sounded like a good idea, but it actually made it more difficult to see. Sure, she had a good view of the entire infield, but it wasn’t so easy to see through the window if the ball was hit into the outfield, and forget about trying to catch it if anything important was happening in the dugouts.

“Beth!”

She hopped to her feet, sticking her head out of the window, straining to reach over the table in front of her and look almost straight down. Her dad’s face was only about five feet below her, but at this angle, he wouldn’t be able to tell she’d heard him otherwise, and she wasn’t about to yell out the window at him. “Yeah?”

“We’re putting Michael in at left field next inning. Moving Robby to right, and Tom’s going to pitch.”

“Got it.” She smiled at her dad as he nodded and then resumed her seat as Richard Monroe headed off to give the scorekeeper for the other team the changes. Beth made note of them in the scorebook immediately and checked she hadn’t missed a pitch. “Strike, right?”

“Of course it was a strike,” Andi groaned, as if she had any stake whatsoever in the game. “Joe just stands there and watches them fly by.”

It was true—Joe was one of the worst players on the team, and Beth was surprised her dad hadn’t taken him out. But it was only the fourth inning, and they were up by six. She knew her dad tried to be as fair as possible with playing time without purposely putting the team in a situation where they might lose. And they were playing Silverton, which was good practice for some of the larger towns in the area, ones that might actually give her hometown of Barryville a run for it. Summer league had different rules for who could play, and her dad had recruited players from several other small towns that weren’t big enough to have their own summer league Babe Ruth teams. A lot of these kids would be back on the farm in the morning, and to her dad, that meant work ethic. And muscle. Beth was well aware that muscle was what had her friends volunteering to help her out with the score, even as Kyle watched strike three fly by and old man Cooper called him out, and Lexy reluctantly reached for the microphone to announce the next batter, a job all three of them hated.

Before she said anything to the crowd of thirty or so, she asked, “It’s Sammy, right?”

Beth nodded, trying not to make a big deal out of the fact that the most beautiful specimen known to humanity was about to take his turn at the plate. Lexy snickered, though. She was well aware of Beth’s three-year-long crush. As her friend flipped on the mic, Beth held her breath. Surely, Lexy wouldn’t say anything embarrassing.

“Now batting, number five, Sammy Burk.” She flipped the mic back off before she started giggling. Despite having no amplification, the space between themselves and home plate was relatively small, and Beth didn’t miss the inquisitive look Sammy flashed in their direction before her dad shouted at him to keep his eye on the ball. The batter adjusted his uniform and placed one foot in the batter’s box and turned to check with the third base coach, which ordinarily would’ve been her dad if they weren’t so far ahead, and he wasn’t making roster changes, and then Sammy turned to face the Silverton pitcher.

“Way to go, Lexy,” Beth muttered, recording the first pitch as a ball.

“What? I didn’t say what I wanted to say.” She had an evil grin on her face as she tossed her curly reddish-brown hair over her shoulder and pushed the switch for the first ball down on the machine before her.

“Don’t ask what that was,” Andi warned her, and Beth straightened her ponytail before returning her stare to the batter. Sammy caught the outside of the ball with the tip of his bat and sent it over the fence behind and to his left, and Fred Cooper stated the obvious, that it was a foul ball.

“He is cute.” Lexy’s voice was quiet—for once. “It’s just… come on, Beth. Aren’t you wasting your time?”

Beth pulled her eyes off of the blond with the bat, her mind lost in his hazel eyes. Not that she could see them right now as he was looking the other direction, staring down the pitcher, no doubt. But the memory of how they’d sparkled the last time she spoke to him was fresh in her mind. She could stare into them all day if only she could get him to look at her that long….

“How do you figure she’s wasting her time?” Andi asked, jumping to Beth’s defense. She had long brown hair, a few shades darker than Beth’s, and her bangs were still perfectly fanned into a flower shape, like Lexy’s, which Beth thought was crazy since it had to be over a hundred degrees even after the sun had set. Beth’s hairspray had given out long ago, leaving her hair a mess. While there was a small fan in the back of the booth, they couldn’t move it any closer without it drowning out the game. It was a typical Missouri summer—sweltering and full of mosquitos, and Beth felt like a sweaty blob with her hair a mess and her makeup practically melted off.

Lexy continued with her argument, and Beth tried not to get sucked into her negativity. “I mean, he’s one of the best looking boys in school. He’s a year older than you, Beth, and everyone knows he has asked Amber James out more times than one person can count. She’s… different than you.”

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Kathy
I enjoyed this short story.
2023-06-23 10:33:52
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51 Chapters
Chapter One
The first baseball game of the season was always memorable, though this summer it would be mundane compared to what the rest of the hottest months of the year had to hold. Later, as they pulled the body out of the lagoon on the east side of the ball park, Beth Monroe would remember back to that first game, when everyone was innocent and her worst worry was whether or not her shorts made her thighs look big. By then, Beth would long for the simplicity of life in small town Barryville 1993, before everything came unraveled.Before the new girl appeared, out of thin air, out of the shadows near the parking lot, out of a nightmare, Beth Monroe had thought her biggest problem was the fact that her older brother Shane, a senior, captain of the football team, and the shortstop on the Babe Ruth baseball team their dad coached, was an asshole who did everything he could to humiliate Beth to the point that not a single guy in their entire high school would ever da
last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-19
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Chapter Two
Beth turned and glared at her friend, but the crack of the bat had her eyes readjusting as Sammy connected, sending the perfect pitch flying toward the fence in center field. Clearly, the opposing team hadn’t been sprinting in practice because it seemed to take forever for the Silverton field man to get himself to where the ball had landed. By then, Shane, who’d doubled before Kyle came to bat, was jogging into home, and Sammy was rounding second.Holding her breath, Beth set her pencil aside and watched the third base coach, one of the other dads, wave Sammy to third. Finally having retrieved the ball, the center fielder, whose arms were as big around as barrels, rocketed the ball to his cutoff man. It was going to be close.Sammy slid into third, a plume of dust clouding Beth’s view as the third baseman, a lanky guy whose curly hair stuck out around his cap in every direction, reached in for the tag. The ump was righ
last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-19
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Chapter Three
Andi had schooled Lexy in the correct lyrics of the new hit by Tag Team while Beth appeased the plumber by day, umpire by night who still didn’t seem happy with their performance. Luckily, it was the final inning, and they’d all be out of there soon enough. She was ready to get in the minivan and crank up the air conditioning, not that she wouldn’t have to stand around and wait for her dad to load everything up and go over the game with his assistant coaches for a half an hour before he finally headed home. She desperately wished her dad would just let her take the car. She’d had her permit for a few months. But her parents would never let her drive the car by herself until she was fully licensed. Next year, her dad had told her. But then, next year her brother would be in college. This was likely their last summer for Babe Ruth League ball. A pang of sadness hit the pit of her stomach, and her eyes automatically searched for Sammy. This was the su
last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-19
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Chapter Four
The stairs creaked beneath her feet as Beth felt her way along the bannister, a can of Dr. Pepper in her free hand. Whoever decided it was a good idea to put the light switch at the top of the stairs had been an idiot, and while Beth realized said idiot probably died over a hundred years ago, she really wished the people who’d renovated their house right before they bought it five years ago would’ve considered fixing this problem with the light.And put a bathroom on the second floor.She reached the top step and fumbled for the cord that hung from the ceiling in the narrow hallway that ran past Shane’s closet of a bedroom to hers. Finding it, she gave it a tug and then breathed a sigh of relief at having reached the top without tripping and tumbling to her demise. Of course, the way the stairway curved, she would’ve probably hit a wall before she broke her neck, but reaching the top of the stairs always felt lik
last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-19
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Chapter Five
Something about Ryan’s tone sounded different, like he wasn’t really all that happy for her, and she wondered if he had something against Sammy. He wouldn’t be the only guy who felt that Sammy’s opinion of himself was a little unwarranted, but Beth couldn’t remember ever hearing Ryan say anything bad about him before. Her eyebrows knit together as she tried to determine how to respond. Should she thank him for the compliment, even if it might’ve been laced with sarcasm, correct him for essentially calling Sammy an ass hat, or explain why his reasoning was wrong? In the end, she did what she always did in similar situations and obliterate any twinkle of hope from her miserable existence.“Actually, once he said that, he walked over to a group of popular girls.” Beth could hear the misery in her own voice. “God, you should’ve seen the way Carly Lyles draped herself on him.” She shook her hea
last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-19
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Chapter Six
Away games always had her phone ringing, and Beth had decided long ago that she would always take whoever asked first, but she’d taken her friend Brittany who normally hung out with Lexy and Andi as much as she did Beth. Since she’d started a job this summer at the local grocery store, working as a cashier, Brittany was a lot busier than the other girls. Despite the calling of dibs by Andi earlier in the week, they both understood. For Brittany, sometimes being a little bit older could be a drag because she had to work so much, but at least she had her driver’s license and could drive them around the square—when she wasn’t working or grounded.The next Tuesday the game was away again, and she’d taken Lexy after a rock paper scissors battle to the death between her bespectacled friend and Andi. There hadn’t been any tears at the resolution, but there had been some narrowed eyes and veiled threats. Beth assured And
last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-19
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Chapter Seven
The booth was relatively quiet for most of the game, and Beth was able to concentrate on the game for once. While she didn’t like to think her friends were upset at her or each other, at least Mr. Cooper didn’t have to turn and shout at them about the score being wrong. He did have to ask the people in the bleachers to keep it down a couple of times, however, and by the second time, Beth began to realize there was a lot of chatter going on down there. She had no idea who it was, however, because of the way the scorekeeper’s booth was situated. The fan was drowning out all but giggles now and again and the high pitched din of muffled conversation.It wasn’t until Brittany made her way up the stairs halfway through the seventh inning that any of them got a clue. “Hey chicas!” she announced, her blonde, curly hair a little saggy since she’d come from work but otherwise looking pretty and put together. “How&rsq
last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-19
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Chapter Eight
The silent reverie was broken by the sound of three sets of feet on the ladder. “Oh, my God!” was about all Beth could understand, but she knew she’d be filled in soon enough.“She did look like a ghost, just standing there all still,” Lexy agreed. Beth reached over and flipped the ball button on the scoring machine and then recorded the pitch in the scorebook. The girls resumed their seats, and Beth shushed them, afraid Mr. Cooper would get on to them as well.“She was beautiful, though.” The revelation came from Andi, but Beth kept her eyes forward, locked on the game. Just what she needed—another gorgeous girl to swoop in and make her feel like a loser.“Her lips are so red and pouty…. Her eyes are gold,” Lexy added.“Do you have a crush on her?” Andi laughed, elbowing the other girl.“Maybe&helli
last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-19
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Chapter Nine
The sound of his voice caught her off guard, and goose flesh sprung up all over her arms. If it wasn’t for the sound of her friends “oh, my God-ing” to her left, Beth would’ve thought she was asleep, that the question had only taken place in a dream.She turned her head to see Sammy standing in the dimly lit parking spot, the moon illuminating his perfect face as he waited for a response. Behind him, Robby and Michael lingered, their arms crossed as they watched, a goofy grin on Robby’s face while Michael looked much more serious.“What was that?” Beth asked, still unable to process what was happening. How in the world was it possible that Sammy was actually asking her out? If this was true, it was a miracle form heaven….“I said, would you go out with me? I mean… I want to go ask Carly out, but these two assholes keep telling me there’s not a girl in
last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-19
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Chapter Ten
Evelyn was up when they snuck in the back door; even her dad tried to avoid making any noise for fear it would wake Beth’s younger sisters, Dani and Lavender, and Evelyn would come undone. But Lavender, who was three and named after her mother’s favorite color, was standing in the kitchen in her Rugrats nightgown while Evelyn filled a sippy cup with tap water.“We won!” Richard announced, patting Lavender’s head. She smiled up at him but didn’t say anything, and Evelyn shushed all of them.“Don’t wake Dani up,” she insisted. Her sisters’ room was far away from where they were standing, across from the living room, in the front part of the house, away from the kitchen, nestled between the parlor and her parents’ bedroom. It was as if whoever designed this house had no blueprints and just started walling spaces off.“Sorry,” Richard replied, op
last updateLast Updated : 2021-02-19
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