Chapter 39
Betty
Part 1 of 4

High school is about education, but what one learns often goes far beyond academics.  With cliques and the desire to fit in, the social pressures can be stressful, sometimes overwhelming.  But for those gifted with extraordinary abilities, a little advantage goes a long way…

The new story arc begins “not long ago”, and deals with Betty.  Betty is an outsider at her high school.  She’s overweight, has an acne- and piercing-covered face, and dresses in all black.  We open in the girls bathroom at her school, where three popular girls are gossiping.  Eventually, the conversation turns to Betty, and the girls proceed to bash her, saying that she’s in serious need of a diet and exercise, and that she’s an extreme makeover reject.  There’s even a rumor that she was going to try out for the cheerleader squad, which amazes all the girls.

As is usually the case in these circumstances, Betty happens to be in one of the bathroom stalls and overhears this whole conversation, becoming more enraged by the minute.  As the conversation turns to more mundane things like the theme of the prom, one of the girls notices that a zit has popped up, and begins to work on popping it.  Suddenly another blemish appears, then another and another, until her face is covered in boils.  They all run screaming into the halls, but when they turn back to look, the girl’s face is spotless again.  Betty is thrilled to see the preppy girls taken down a few pegs…until she realizes that they’re hallucination was brought on simply by her thoughts. 

Later that day in the school cafeteria, Betty is talking to her friend, Ren, who is an outcast like her.  As they walk through the cafeteria, a football jock trips Ren, who falls, spilling food all over himself.  Humiliated, they move to their corner table.  Betty comments on how much she hates those guys, and Ren agrees, but says that thinking about their home life puts a smile on his face.  He knows that they are all so afraid of their parents because they know if they don’t play well in the game, it’s an automatic beating when they get home.  Betty gets a mischevious smile on her face.  To be continued…

I’m assuming that this will be Candace’s backstory, since she has the ability to change what people see around them, and I’m excited to see her story.  But this one ended a little too abruptly for me.  It could have used another page or so to really flesh out Betty and Ren’s relationship.  Hopefully, next week’s installment will smooth out the edges a bit.

This weeks easter egg:  a behind the scenes shot of Sendhil Ramamurthy and Greg Grunberg.