Bella turned when she noticed Caleb catch the eye of someone behind her. She spun to see three faces she'd recognize no matter how old they were. A dazzling smile erupted on her face as she sprang out of her chair and into the arms of the closest of the three, which happened to be Pogue. She literally jumped into his arms with a girlish squeal that had everyone in the bar staring at her. Pogue just laughed and spun Bella around, hugging her tightly.
"Pogue!" she screamed, wrapping her arms tighter around him. She pulled back slightly to look at his face with a huge smile. "I missed you." She said, a little less loudly.
"I missed you too Bells." He smiled and set her down where she was immediately swept up into the arms of Reid.
"Bella! Since when are you hot?!" she giggled and smacked the back of his head before enveloping him in a huge hug, just as she'd done with Pogue.
"Good to see you too Reid. I see you're still an ass." She said with a smirk.
"Why thank you, mine is quite lovely isn't it?" Reid quickly retorted, patting his butt for effect. Bella giggled again, and then turned to face Tyler.
"Baby Boy! You grew up!" she yelled, jumping into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist.
"Baby Bells! You did too!" he yelled uncharacteristically loud compared to his usually shy and quiet disposition. She smiled hugely and took his face in her hands, placing a dramatic kiss on his cheek as if she were a little kid. She was released from Tyler's grasp and all three guys stared at her in awe. She was so different from the Bella they'd last seen. Gone was the little girl with braces and poofy hair. Before them stood a young woman. She was taller, though shorter than all of them, with a petite body equipped with curves in all the right places, a flat stomach, and legs that went for days. Her hair was sleek and shiny and her smile revealed perfectly white, straight teeth. Her skin was very slightly tanned with light freckles sprinkled over her nose. Her eyes were as green as they'd always been, though still just as dazzling. Reid had been right…she was hot. None of them could deny it.
"Are you boys gonna stare at me all night or are you gonna sit and eat?" Bella asked with a smirk. They blushed from getting caught staring, even Reid, and avoided the glare Caleb was sending their way. They went to bar to order food as Bella sat back down, this time next to Caleb who hung his arm loosely around her shoulders. Bella recognized the seemingly harmless gesture as a protective move and rolled her eyes. The guys made their way back over with their food and began shoveling it into their mouths.
"So Bella, tell us about your life for the past five years. How was Paris?" Tyler asked after calming down.
"Oh it was amazing. I had so much fun at school, but I'm so glad to be back home. I really missed you guys." She said with a smile.
"Well Paris definitely seemed to help your coordination. You haven't tripped once since you got here." Caleb commented, making Bella blush.
"Ah, but the blush remains. So this is the real Bella." Reid joked, breathing a fake sigh of relief. Bella blushed some more, but laughed with the guys. They continued to joke around, but Bella noticed Tyler being particularly quiet, even for him.
"Hey baby boy, what's wrong?" she said, getting his attention. He smiled and shook his head.
"Nothing, just spaced out for a second." He said with a chuckle. In truth, he'd been watching Bella. He couldn't get over how she'd grown up into the graceful beauty in front of him. He could tell his best friend was still in there, she was just in the body of a gorgeous girl. He was surprised by the little things he noticed, like the way the light hit her face whenever she smiled or laughed. Or the way she bit her lip whenever she was a little uncomfortable. Or how she'd routinely run her hair through her dark curls.
"So boys, what's on the agenda for this week?" Bella asked, knowing there'd be some kind of shindig before school started.
"Well, seeing as how we begin our senior year in three days, there's a party at the Dells tomorrow night." Pogue said, resulting in Bella bouncing in her seat excitedly. The guys laughed at her hyperness and she gave them the mature reply of sticking her tongue out at them.
Caleb stood at the foot of the stairs, waiting for Bella to come down so they could head to the party. She finally came bouncing down the stairs in dark wash skinny jeans tucked into black converse knee high boots with a white halter top and her black bomber jacket.
"Hell no." Caleb said once he saw what she was wearing.
"What?" she asked innocently, looking down at her clothing.
"All of that." He said pointing to the make-up on her face that simply brought out her eyes and lips. "And that." He gestured towards the four inches of bare stomach that her shirt revealed.
"What's wrong with how I look?" she asked with a pout.
"No, no pouting. You wear that and you're asking for Aaron Abbott to be all over you." Caleb said with a sneer.
"Ew, that ass is still alive?" Caleb nodded. "Oh well, I'm not changing. Now come on, we're gonna be late." She said, brushing past him and out the door. Caleb sighed, running his hand over his face and followed Bella out to his car. They waited in the car until Pogue showed up on his bike, parking it off to the side and climbing into the backseat. Caleb parked where the guys had planned on meeting: a cliff overlooking the party, though out of sight of the party-goers themselves. Tyler walked up to join them shortly after.
"Hey, you guys seen Reid? He wasn't home when I went to pick him up." The others shook their heads and all four of them looked down at the little figures of the people below. Bella suddenly squealed as someone grabbed her from behind, tossing her over their shoulder.
"Sup peeps?" came Reid's voice.
"Hey where were you? I stopped by to give you a lift." Tyler asked as Reid shifted Bella so he was carrying her piggyback.
"Had things to do." He said, looking over the edge of the cliff. "How's the party?"
"Don't know. Just got here." Pogue answered.
"Well hell boys," he said, his eyes turning pitch black, "Let's drop in." with that he stepped off the cliff with Bella still on his back, her holding on to him tightly and letting out a joy filled scream as the air rushed passed her ears. They landed on the ground with a soft thud.
"Shit yeah." Tyler said from atop the cliff, falling backwards gracefully over the edge, landing lightly beside Bella and Reid.
"Tyler!" Caleb yelled down at them.
"Come on Caleb. It's not like it's gonna kill us. Yet." Pogue said with a smirk before his own eyes went black and he stepped off the edge. Caleb sighed before following after his friends, landing gracefully on the ground. Reid threw his arm casually around Bella's shoulders as they headed towards the party.
Sarah and Kate stood near the bonfire, looking around at the different people.
"Alright give me the scoop. Who's who?" Sarah said, not knowing anyone.
"Okay well the first thing you need to know is Aaron Abbott is a prick. Treats girls like crap." Kate said, pointing to a guy with curly brown hair standing with a tall red head.
"Okay." Sarah said nodding. "What about him?" she asked, noticing a guy with short dark brown hair looking at them.
"New guy. Don't know much about him, but I intend to find out." Kate said, smiling as he noticed them looking back at him. Out of the corner of her eye, Kate noticed four unmistakable figures approaching the party, joined by a smaller, more feminine frame.
"They're here." She said with a smirk.
"Who are they?" Sarah asked, looking in the direction Kate was.
"The Sons of Ipswich."
"Who's the girl?" Sarah asked, noticing the gorgeous brunette under the arm of the blonde.
"I don't know. Probably Reid's latest victim." Kate said with a roll of her eyes. She met Pogue, giving him a kiss.
"Hey, you're late." She said as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Yeah, had a family thing. Who's this?" he asked, looking at Sarah.
"Guys, this is Sarah she's my new roommate. Sarah this is Pogue Parry an-"
"Reid Garwin." Reid said, holding out his hand. "Hello." He said in a deep voice and Bella rolled her eyes.
"Hello." Sarah said, imitating his voice.
"You know my grandmother's name was Sarah. You-"
"Caleb Danvers. And you don't remind me of my grandmother in anyway." Caleb cut in, saving Reid some embarrassment, but just making him jealous.
"Good to know." Sarah said with a laugh.
"This is my sister, Bella." He said, pointing to the pretty girl with them, and Kate immediately felt bad for assuming she'd be low enough to fall for Reid.
"Hi." Bella greeted them with a bubbly personality that the girls immediately liked.
"And Tyler Simms." Tyler gave Sarah a small, shy smile and Bella wrapped her arms around his waist in a sideways hug with he returned by putting his arm around her shoulders. Caleb was about to say something to Sarah when Kira Snider cut him off by standing directly in front of Sarah.
"Hey Caleb, how was your summer?" She asked in what she thought was a seductive tone and Bella fought to hold in a giggle. Caleb glanced over Kira's shoulder at Sarah and she turned, pretending to just notice her there.
"I'm Kira." She said with her usual air of bitchyness. Sarah decided to be the bigger person and shook her hand.
"I'm Sarah."
"Oh, right. From the Boston Public." Kira said loud enough for everyone to hear, trying to make Sarah look bad. "Tell me, how does one go about getting into Spencer from the Public?" Bella made a face at Kira behind her back.
"Why don't you give it a rest Kira?" Caleb said, trying to stop things from escalating.
"Why don't you give it a rest?" Aaron said, stepping forward to Kira's 'rescue'.
"I don't want any trouble Aaron." Caleb said with a hint of smugness. Bella felt Tyler stiffen in preparation for a fight and she tightened her grip on him, holding him in place.
"I'm sure you don't." Aaron said, with just as much confidence.
"These posers make me wanna puke." Aaron's friend said from behind him.
"Is that right?" Reid asked stepping forward, only to be stopped my Caleb's arm in front of him.
"Hey, let it go." He said calmly.
"I think you owe Kira an apology." Aaron said to Caleb.
"Actually I think Kira owes Sarah and apology." Caleb said, pointing between the girls. Aaron smirked before shoving Caleb backwards. Bella tensed as a reflex and this time Tyler was the one her back. Aaron went for Caleb again but was intercepted by the new kid stepping between them.
"You were being kind of bitchy." He said to Aaron, gaining an intense glare from him. Unseen by anyone else, Reid's eye's flashed black momentarily in the direction of Aaron's friend who immediately threw up on Aaron's back.
"You idiot!" Kira screeched, though she remained untouched by the vomit. Reid laughed until both Caleb and Bella sent him a glare.
"Guys, uh guys?" the DJ's voice came through a microphone. "Paul just called; he said he just saw three cop cars headed this way on Old Dell Road." Everyone immediately dispersed.