𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 ☾ 𝒑𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒆

[02]

After another few weeks at school, it was starting to get colder, and as if by law of nature, Lizzie was becoming happier. Bella was warming up to the idea of school, her mood reflecting on the entire group. However, she seemed upset about something, leading Lizzie to become more suspicious with each passing day.

"Bella! Spit it out. What's happening." She asked one morning, pulling the girl out of her book.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked innocently.

"Come on! You've been upset all week. You keep watching the Cullens like a stalker, and you look super bummed!" Lizzie cried.

"Are you really that hooked on Edward already?" Jessica asked. Bella's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"N-no! It's just... I wanted to talk to him about something." She said quietly. The two girls narrowed their eyes at their friend but took the answer. For now. Eric ran up to them, his jacket in his arm and pulled Bella and Lizzie away to walk to class.

"Ok! So the prom committee met yesterday, and we're doing a thing, and Josie asked me to help out with the music..." He droned on, and Elizabeth and Bella listened absentmindedly as they made their way to Bella's biology class. "Prom committee is a chick thing, but I got to cover it for the paper anyway, and they need a guy to help choose the music. So, I need your playlists." 

"I'll text you mine after school." Lizzie said, nodding. Eric smiled and turned to Bella, opening and closing his mouth awkwardly like he couldn't think of what to say. Lizzie took that as her cue and waved, making her way to English.

She sat down at a random table, staring up at the whiteboard to see what they were doing today. Lizzie had always liked English. She loved to read, and found it easy to communicate her thoughts on paper. She zoned out again and barely noticed the two dark-haired students sitting in front of her. The smaller girl whispered to the boy next to her before spinning around in her chair.

"Hi! I'm Alice. I don't think we've met." She said, sticking out her hand. Elizabeth looked down at her hand, shaking it with a surprised expression on her face.

"Uh, Elizabeth." She replied, giving them a small smile. The larger one, who Lizzie recognized as Emmet, grinned.

"Hey, tic-tac. You do the homework?" He asked. Lizzie made a face at the nickname. She wasn't that short.

"Emmet-" Alice protested, looking between Lizzie and her brother knowingly.

"Yeah." Lizzie replied, pulling out the sheet of reading comprehension the teacher handed out the previous day.

"Sweeeeet." Emmet said, grinning as he took the paper and quickly filled in the bubbles for the questions he didn't answer. Alice shook her head disapprovingly and Emmet quickly slid the paper back to Lizzie just as the teacher stepped through the door.

The class droned on for what seemed like forever, and Lizzie began to wonder if Emmet was sleeping with his eyes open with the amount of attention he was giving the teacher. Alice was present and actively listening the whole time, taking notes and being extremely attentive. It looked exhausting.

The bell rang for the end of the day, and Emmet jumped up like it was the fourth of July. Alice just stood calmly, shaking her head at her brother. She turned around as Lizzie was grabbing her books.

"Hey, do you wanna walk out with us?" She asked politely. Lizzie paused begrudgingly. She rethought about the Cullens, and her unreasonable bias against them. Maybe she judged them a little prematurely.

"Sure." She agreed with a small smile. Emmet grinned and pulled her along with them as they walked through the hallway. They passed the biology classroom and Lizzie noticed Bella and Edward chatting up ahead. "So, why'd you guys move?"