She's My Girl Now
It's been four months since the start of the school year. She couldn't handle the stares she received since he left her. Broken, shattered, in pieces, whatever you wanted to call it. Of course there were a couple people that liked to remind her of it. Not to mention the pity stares she had gotten since the separation. Nonetheless, she paid no mind to them. But lately, meaning this morning, she was finally out of the spotlight, if only by much. There had been whispers around the halls about new students in the school. She was curious to know as to who they were and that was a really bad thing. She did not want to become curious of any thing again. Curiosity killed the cat and she almost lost her life because of her own curiosity. Her stupidity. She had no sense of self preservation. She was swayed too easily. She shouldn't have found herself in that situation. She shouldn't have stuck her nose into where it did not belong. Scared? Was she afraid when she was not afraid before? Yes. That was a definite. There were some that tried to warn her to stay away. And she wished she had listened. She should have known better. Guess she wasn't as wise and mature as she thought she was in a young body. That she wasn't born 35 years into her age. Now she was left with a broken heart, because she was not strong enough to control herself. So that being said and what was happening now, she wanted nothing to do with. It was too bad...it did not seem that life agreed with her. Again.
She jumped when the sound of a tray landed on the table she sat at by herself. Her eyes snapped towards the offending sound and object before moving her gave to the perpetrator. She had to keep from swallowing her tongue at the massive build across the table. He wore a baggy black long sleeved shirt. One hand was in the pocket of dark washed large jeans. His white belt was long enough that even when it was around his waist, it dangled freely. Her eyes swerved upwards to his light brown skin. Around the neckline of his shirt, she can see the hint of a scar poking out. His jaw was strong and seemed to be sculpted out of marble. His full lips was pulled into a wide smirk, sharp white teeth flashed at her. His nose was small but it brought out his eyes. To see two green like brown eyes stare back at her anchored her in place. They were large. They gave off a hard like appearance but she can see the playful mischievous glint shining in those pools. His hair was long. They were braided into medium sized cornrows. It sat comfortably on his collarbone. He gave off this dangerous vibe that sent shivers down her spine but it wasn't frightening shivers, it felt more hotter than that. He was ruggedly handsome. She felt her whole world flip when he spoke.
"Aye, shawty, mind if me and my brother could sit wit' you?"
She just didn't know if from here on out, her world would be good or bad. And this time, she wasn't willing to find out.
It seemed like years were flying by. The way she just sat there staring at the man with wide eyes. She was surprised that someone came up to her again. She did not recognize him at all. Her mind flying a mile away, knowing that this must be one of the new students at Forks High School. And he was asking to sit with her. Her, of all people, why her? And he had a brother. She was confused. They should've heard stories about her by now. The two gossip queens haven't sunk their nails in them yet it seemed. If they had, this guy and his brother probably wouldn't want anything to with a depressed sheep like her. Picked up, taken care of only to be thrown to the back of the abandoned corner of the farm. All alone in the world. She felt like she had no one. She knew she had no one. Well...not entirely. Her father and mother. Her parents, tried time and time again to get her to speak. To try to break the shackles that seem to keep her at the bottom of the ocean. But they seem to think that sending her away will help her. It might. It could be a possibility. The thing is, she didn't want to leave Forks. She wasn't ready to let go. They shouldn't push on what they thought was good for her on her being. She hated it. She loathed on having her own decisions taken from her. But she allowed it. She's had her own words, advice, and courage twisted to make her complaint to what he wanted. It was something she began to question since that day. She began to question herself. Where was her sense of dignity? Her shame. She had failed herself. She had not noticed that the male was closer to her now, his face inches from hers as he waved his hand in front of her eyes. She jumped in her own skin as her head snapped to look at him.
"You come back to living, baby girl?" He asked as his head cocked to the side slightly. The heat of his breath brushed her face and she inhaled the scent of fresh peppermint. Blinking rapidly, she felt the rush of heat form on her cheeks. Her mouth opened and closed before she cleared her throat.
"Uh, yes, sorry." She fidgeted in her seat. "It's fine to sit here."
He nodded. What she did not expect was for him to sit directly right next to her. He stood slightly from his seat to pull his tray towards him. He had a whole tray filled with food. Two cheeseburgers, fries, a chicken patty, about three or four chicken wings, two pizza slices with two lemonade drinks at the side. Was he really going to eat all of that?
"You not eatin' anything?" She had to keep herself from jumping. The last thing she needed to do was to embarrass herself in front of the new guy. He was watching her intently, leaning back on the chair, with one arm over the seat, his other hand picking up french fries. He was eating slowly. She swallowed nervously, biting her lip. His eyes moved to her lips and she hurriedly let it go. Her whole face felt like it was on fire. His eyes had a passing glint before he went back to having eye contact with her.
"No, I" She hid behind her hair as it fell over her shoulder. "I'm not hungry." To her it was a fact. She wasn't hungry. She lost her appetite to eat months ago. Everything tasted the same. At dinner, she would end up pushing her food around her plate and ate at little portions before going her way. She couldn't count on how much disappointing stares she received from her father. A snort from him made her look at him through the veil of her hair.
"Shawty, that is the biggest lie I've heard all day."
"What's the biggest lie you've heard?" A deep voice rang out of nowhere. Her eyes swiveled upwards behind the man sitting next to her to see identical eyes staring back at her. But these eyes were cold and calculating. She looked between the two back and forth. The had the same face, the same eyes, but slightly different features. While the boy next to her had cornrows, the one standing behind him had an afro. He also had a scar on his cheek. His voice was also slightly different than the one sitting down. He was dressed in a brown hoodie with black sweatpants. One hand in his pocket as he was balancing a full lunch tray in his other.
"What took so long? You was right behind me man." Cornrows asked him.
"Lunch lady took forever in giving me change." Afro sat down, placing his tray on the table. Her nerves shot through the roof and she discretely looked around her to see people staring and whispering. A shaky breath escaped her and she shut her eyes. She counted backwards from ten and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, both boys were looking at her expectantly. She looked at them back and forth questionably.
"What?" She asked softly.
"What's your name beautiful?" Cornrows asked her, leaning on his elbow. She wrapped her arms around her waist, her mind and stomach churning.
"Bella." She whispered. His hand came into her view and grasped her small bony hand in his large strong one. He pulled her arm closer to him and held it, his thumb rubbing around her skin in circles.
"Name's Riley," He cocked his head towards Afro next to him. "This Huey, my brother."
Her head lowered as she scrunched into herself. His hand was so warm. She can't remember the last time she ever touched anyone, let alone a male. Her eyes moved to Huey when he moved to nudge Riley.
"C'mon, leave her alone."
She let out a breath when his hand slid from hers; shaking as she pushed her hair behind her ear.
"Man, I'm just being friendly." Riley smiled widely at her. Her face seemed to get impossibly redder. "Anyway ma, you gonna eat or naw?"
She looked him with confusion. "But...I'm not hungry."
"Your mouth is sayin' it, but lunch started like ten minutes ago. An' you ain't got a tray in front of you."
"Really, I'm not hungry." She tried to persuade him. He moved his tray closer to her and she lightly pushed it back. Now Huey was giving her a look as he didn't believe her either. His eyes ran over her and she flushed, knowing she looked skinnier than she was supposed to be. Riley suddenly stood and towered over her.
"Look ma, I'm not stupid. You should eat somethin' at least or I'm not gonna let this go. C'mere." She had no choice but to follow him. He didn't drag her. But he wasn't letting her go either. He was walking slow and his grip was gentle. What she couldn't help but notice was that he absolutely towered over her. He seemed to be seven or eight inches taller than her. She stumbled slightly and his head turned over his shoulder. She ducked her face. Especially when she can feel the entire cafeteria staring at them. Her arm automatically hugged her waist. She hated the attention she was getting. He went into the lunch line and nudged her in front of him. His hand finally released her. Her eyes flashed everywhere, hoping everyone would turn away. She knew that was impossible. The new student was taking interest in her. She had no noticed that the people in front of her were finished and came back to earth when two large hands landed on her hips and moved her forward. She was in front of the food line and she felt Riley lightly pressing behind her. It wasn't inappropriate the way he angled his body but it made her feel hot anyway. "Pick somethin', anythin' ma. Long as you get somethin' to eat."
She shivered when his breath caressed her neck. Trying to keep her nerve, she looked at everything that was being served today but found nothing appealing. She did not want to be rude to him. He was being nice. Finally, she made up her mind to take a plate of macaroni and cheese. They went up to the lunch lady and he paid for it, much to her dismay. She opened her mouth to argue but he boldly covered it. His now annoying smirk planted firmly on his face when she lightly glare at him. They turned and walked back towards her table. The stares from others never ceased. Well, that was until Riley noticed it.
"The f**k y'all lookin' at?!" His deep voice ran loudly as he scowled around dangerously. Even she flinched at the intensity of it. She was amazed how everyone was suddenly immersed into their own conversations and no longer staring at them. Riley's arm wrapped around her shoulder and he started speed walking them both to their destination. Huey was reading a book as they sat down.
"Surprised it took you this long to snap." He commented.
Riley grunted and slouched in the seat. "Man, they've been starin' at us and all the whole damn day. Like they never saw a couple of n****s before. Damn." He started eating his food.
"What do expect from people like them? They got nothing better to do."
"They lucky I ain't say nothin' earlier when they was starin' at shawty." Bella looked up from her plate to look at Riley in surprise. He did notice? He looked at her sideways and nodded towards her plate as he took a few bites from his pizza. She felt scolded but silently picked up the fork and ate small portions of the creamy meal. He seemed satisfied that she was eating before he started really eating his food. She looked between the brothers as she ate some more. She couldn't understand why. She couldn't understand Riley mostly. Why was he doing this? Why was he being so friendly to her and such? He didn't know her. What if he finally saw what others saw her and leave her alone too? She wasn't special. Something was pushed into her view and she looked at the lemonade bottle before moving her eyes to Riley, who pulled his hand away and went back to finishing his food. She went to pull another portion of food in her mouth and blinked when nothing was on the utensil. That was when she realized that she actually finished the whole plate of food during her questionnaire in her mind. She took the bottle with both hands and held it on her lap. It was too good to be true.
"Hi!" A nasally voice cried from close by. She froze up, her spine straightened. This was what she was expecting. And she was afraid. Her hands tightened on the bottle.
"What's up?" She heard Riley answer.
"I'm Lauren Mallory. Why don't you and your cute friend come sit with us?" She peeked through her hair and bristled when Lauren was bent down, shoving her breasts in their faces. She didn't want to see the boys reactions so she shut her eyes and turned the other way.
"I'll pass." She heard Huey grunt. She tried to not let a sigh of relief escape her lips. She sat there rigidly. Waiting for Riley to say something. She knew if he left her, he'd probably treat her a lot differently once Lauren got her him under her spell one hundred percent.
"Nah, I'm good Laurie."
She held in a snort of laughter at Riley's dismissal. She ducked her head and scratched behind her ear to make her look occupied.
"It's Lauren! It'll be better than sitting with Pity Me Swan." Lauren hissed. And the next words were directly aimed at her, as she could feel Lauren's burning stare burn holes in her skull. "I have no idea why you always get the attention for everything. Boo-hoo, Edward Cullen dumped the little bird. You act like it's the end of the world, get over yourself, Swan. You obviously aren't that special."
She felt her broken heart tug into different directions, pieces already broken were being trampled on with high heels. Hearing that name made her stomach churn. She felt like dying. This was also why she sat alone. People always felt the need to bring his name up. She needed to get out. She had to go. She stood suddenly, she was happy her hair and bangs covered her eyes as she silently but gently pushed the lemonade in Riley's hands before gathering her things. She jogged around the table towards the closest door, running out towards school grounds. Her eyes still hidden behind her hair as tears visibly fell down her cheeks.
Her legs carried her farther and farther away from the cafeteria. Away from the hate. Away from everyone. Away from humiliation. Why was she cursed this way? Is this what she gets falling in love? Yes. She can never get over the broken promises. She can never get over the love she had. One day, she may overcome it but she always knew, that she would continue to love him in some way. She was running towards the parking lot. Her books threatening to fall from her grip as it started to rain steadily. Her hair started to cling to her face and neck. Her eyes remained blurry as she cried. She also had no idea there was a pair of footsteps chasing after her. She almost tripped when someone starting shouting.
"Baby girl! Bella! Stop running ma!"
Her legs stopped on their own when she wanted to keep running forward. She kept her head bowed, her body still facing forward. She recognized Riley's voice. A pair of Timberland were in her line of vision. She didn't want to face him. It was frightening. She had no idea what he wanted or wanted to say.
"Aye' look. I don't know the situation and I can tell you don't want to talk 'bout it, but don't let what that hoe said to you get through your feels. She must've not looked in the mirror when she said you ain't special." She kept her eyes low as her tears slowed and tried to keep her sniffles quiet. Strong fingers found her chin and she was staring into Riley's brown eyes. He was close to her face again. She wanted to look down. She knew she looked like a hot mess. Puffy red eyes, red nose, flushed face. She was just glad she didn't wear make-up. "You're strong ma. And I'll make sure you know what you're worth. These hoes got nothing on you. They just hating." His other hand lifted up and combed her hair back. Her heart skipped a beat. Especially when he uttered the last few words. "We'll give them a more reason to hate cause I'm gonna make you flourish girl."
She was in a daze as she drove home from school. Her whole body heating up from not only the truck's warmth but the huge hoodie she obtained from Riley. Riley Freeman. The new kid in Forks, Washington. Taking an interest in being in her life. No matter how much she protested, he took care of her. A strange depressed girl pinning over her break-up. She thought about him ore than she should. He was...different. She just didn't know how. Her mind was in so much in thought, she hadn't realized she was in her room already until she plopped back on the bed, phone in hand as she read Riley's contact information. He had given her his number and wanted to exchange for hers. He was so suave. She sat up and felt the hoodie on her fall heavily on her shoulders. It completely swallowed her. And she had trouble keeping her hands out. The sleeve was about 5 inches longer than her arm and the hoodie itself fell to her thighs as if it was a dress. She felt so small. So...feminine. Riley Freeman...that man was something else.