As soon as James left the house, Meg asked her mom why she couldn't be nicer to people different from her? Why did she hate Betas so much. James was only there only to help her with a project, and her mom started her usual behavior towards Betas. Why? Why? Meg wanted to know.

Her mom looked at her with venom in her eyes. She said that they deserved to be treated like dirt. When she took the formula and was growing bigger, she always had to take a backseat to Betas. Everything had to be done to protect their feelings because they were smaller than Alphas. Any awards that were rightfully Alphas and Alphas alone had to be shared with a Beta because it might hurt their feelings. 

Alphas couldn’t play games or do things normally because they might hurt a Beta. And when a Beta did get hurt, it was always the Alpha’s fault. They should have been more careful. They shouldn’t play so rough. Alphas were blamed for everything bad that happened to Betas. 

And Betas tried to pass laws restricting what jobs Alphas could work, where they could live, and so on. They tried to ostracize the Alpha community. And they would have succeeded, except for the fact that Alphas were quickly becoming the majority. And once they gained control of the government, those laws were repealed, and new laws passed to benefit the Alpha communities. 

And there wasn’t anything that the Betas could do, except turn to hurling verbal insults at them. And some of the things said really hurt. So from that point on, Betas became her enemy. She would treat them the same way they tried to treat the Alphas.

Meg grew quiet. Her mom had a lot of bitterness in her, and to her, it seemed justified. Meg went over to her and gave her a hug, and told her she loved her. But the anger was still present in Michelle. Meg gently asked why did all those Beta boys that liked her, suddenly run away from her.

Michelle looked at her daughter, and without hesitation, told her that she considered any Beta boy worthless. And that only an Alpha would be acceptable to her. And she went to talk to the Beta’s father, to convince him to talk his son out of any romantic feelings. But when the father objected, she let the father know what would happen to him if his son didn’t stay away. And when she saw that the fathers would usually pee their pants, she knew that her job was done.

Meg told her that those boys were nice and very sweet. And it upset her that one day the boys would talk to her, and the next would run away in terror. It made her think that she was the problem. So she stopped talking to any boy. 

Meg saw her mom pour herself a drink, and heard her father’s car pulling into the driveway. She waited for him to come in, said hi and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then went to Amanda’s room to talk. She wanted to make sure that Amanda would understand the importance of treating all people with respect.

With it being too late to make dinner, and her mood soured, Debbie ordered pizza. The mood was markedly subdued, which was very unusual. They were all trying to process different parts of the same thing, James’s visit to Meg’s house. Debbie wanted to talk to her husband, but would wait until James went to bed. She didn’t even feel like passing out the new cellphones she bought. 

Once dinner was over, James hugged his parents, and went to his room to do his homework. Debbie looked at Tom, and was about to say something, when he held up his hand and told her that everything would be fine, as if anticipating what she was going to say. She asked him how he could be so calm? He told her that unless Meg’s mom did something, he wasn’t going to live in fear, or waste time worrying about something he couldn’t control. Besides, James was in love, even if he didn’t know it. And he would not do anything to discourage his son from following his heart. Debbie knew her husband was right. And then Tom asked about his new phone as he winked at her.

James was awoken by his alarm. He groggily got out of bed and headed for the shower. The water felt good. However, he lost track of time, and realized that he didn’t have enough time to eat breakfast. He hastily got dressed, grabbed some toast, got his backpack, and headed out the door. His parents came out of their room, and feigned mock horror at having to make themselves breakfast.

James got on the bus and made his way to Meg. She looked like he felt, and he knew that she had a terrible night of sleeping. He gave her a kiss and took his seat. She took his hand inside hers, and bent down and apologized to him for her mother’s behavior.

He looked up at her and said she had nothing to apologize for. He said that he appreciated that her mom was looking out for her. He knew it was bullshit, but he wanted to reassure her that everything was going to be ok. He could see that the look in her eyes was one of uncertainty, and trying his best to make her feel better, said it. He realized what he had just told her. He loved her! It was out in the open.

Meg looked like she was going to faint. It took her a few seconds to realize what he said. He told her that he loved her. She was in shock. No boy had ever said those words to her. Her heart started skipping beats. She had a tear running down her cheek, but she didn’t care. She wanted to pick him up and put him on her lap, but remembered the last time she did that. She settled for hugging him. She then said the very words that he said to her. She was happy.

Tom pulled into the parking lot and saw Becky standing by her car, waiting for him. It was quickly becoming a sort of security blanket for him. He would park, say hi to Becky, and she would make sure that he and his family were doing well. Then they would walk in together. It made her feel better knowing that everything was good with Tom.

Once they were situated in the office, Tom went to his computer. But instead of working on Becky’s proposals by himself, he decided to discuss them with her. He wanted to get a better sense of what she wanted to accomplish, because the words in her binder were making her vision unclear. So he gently started a back and forth, and by the time lunch arrived, he had a great idea of what she wanted.

After they ate, Tom asked Becky if she could call Susan and have her come to the office. Becky wasn’t quite sure what for, but did as asked. A few minutes later, Susan showed up. Tom explained everything that he and Debbie were doing to their back deck. He wanted to invite the both of them to his house for Sunday dinner. He told them that Debbie made an awesome pot roast. The girls were excited and happily accepted his invitation. Tom would just confirm the time later on.

And once Susan left, Tom started preparing Becky for that Friday’s presentation. He told her that she was a beautiful girl, with a winning smile, intelligence and enthusiasm. It was important that everything about her shine through. Let them see the Becky that he saw every day, and if that happened, she would nail it. 

He also told her that she should calmly explain what her proposals were, how they would be implemented, and the total cost savings for the company. But she just needed to relax and believe in herself.  

Becky blushed. At no point in her life did any male ever describe her the way Tom did. The guys always treated her as a nerd, and as a result, she couldn’t get a boy to ask her out. But there was this Beta who spoke honestly and without any hint of romance, telling her what he thought was the truth. She appreciated his presence in the office more than ever.

When the bus pulled up at school, Meg felt like she could fly to the moon. James had said “the three words”. She was on cloud nine. James was feeling pretty good himself. He knew that once he said those words, there was no taking them back. And he was ok with that. He found himself missing her when he would get to his house. He wanted to call her at night, but because of her parents, he didn’t want to get her in trouble.

Somehow they made it through morning classes. They were both very distracted, and several times the teacher had to repeat her question for them to answer. But they made it to lunch. James remembered what his parents were having done to their back porch, and an idea popped into his head. He asked Meg if she wanted to come to his house on Sunday.

Meg told him that his house couldn’t accommodate her size, but James explained what his parents were having done as the spoke. Meg was excited, but she would have to run it by her parents. And after the day before, she wasn’t sure that her mom would let her. But they made tentative plans, subject to approval. The afternoon flew by. The bus ride home went way too quick. James kissed Meg goodbye, and ran into his house like a kid without a worry in the world. 

His father arrived home a few minutes after he did, and saw his wife and kissed her, then said he had something to tell her. James had gone to his room to do homework. Tom explained to Debbie about his invitation to Becky and Susan. She got really excited about the possibility of seeing her new friends. Two large pot roasts for the five of them, plus dishes, silverware and cups to make it easier for Becky and Susan.

She had their numbers, and a new phone, and couldn’t wait to call them later. After he was done with his homework, James came out of his room, and seeing his parents, told them about his asking Meg to come over Sunday to study.

Debbie looked like she was going to faint. James asked her if he did something wrong, but his mom said it was fine. She told him that his father had asked Becky and Susan over for Sunday, so it wouldn’t be an issue for Meg to come. Three large pot roasts it would be. James felt like it was Christmas morning. 

He was about to head to his room when his mom gave him his new cellphone. She explained how to use it, and James couldn’t wait to give Meg his new number. And he also couldn’t wait for Sunday.

Meg got home still bouncing on air. She saw her mom in her usual spot, magazine and drink nearby, and gave her a kiss. She asked her if she could talk to her, and her mom told her sure. Meg said that James, her project partner, asked her to come to his house on Sunday to work on the report. And she wanted to know if it was ok to go?

Her mom looked at her with extreme annoyance in her eyes, and told her to ask her father when he got home. She then went back to her magazine. Meg then went to Amanda’s room to talk, and she told her little sister all about her day.