Chapter Two: Real Friends - Angela
"Hello again, friend of a friend, I knew you when. Our common goal was waiting for the world to end. Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend."
- 'Black Sheep' - Metric
August 24, 2004
"She's not very smart." Lauren said as we took our seats at lunch.
"Or pretty." Jessica added, forcing me to stare down at my food instead of react. "Oh god, look at her. Why is she standing there?"
"Gawking at the Cullens I imagine." Lauren snarked, but managed to force the sneer from her face as I caught Bella's attention and waved her over. Jessica joined me, although I couldn't be sure why.
Bella turned and smiled at us brightly and innocently. I could see a lifelong friend in her, and all I had to do was stand up for her… but before I could do anything, her smile turned dark and I realized something was behind me. I looked up and found Edward standing over me, his eyes completely black. I looked back towards Bella and she had moved to within a few feet of me, reaching out to grip my throat with one hand. I felt strong hands clamp onto my shoulders behind me as she leaned in.
"Coward." She whispered as I felt her nails dig into my flesh. The pain was searing, but made worse as the strong hands holding me down at the shoulders wrapped around me and began to crush my chest. I tried to scream, but the sound that came out was strangled and twisted. Darkness started to envelope my vision as I woke up clutching my chest, a scream on my lips. I held it in as I took in my surroundings, realizing I was safe in my bedroom.
I thought back to earlier in the day and the horrible lunch hour. Jessica and Lauren were in rare form, acting spoiled and xenophobic, saying things that were both backhanded and cruel. I tried to say something to defend Bella and the Cullens, but all I ended up doing was pissing off Jess. Not that we were in a good place, my relationship with them had been strained for quite a while, as Lauren grew mean and Jess barely bothered to stand up for me.
My nightmares had been getting worse for weeks during the lead up towards school. I knew it was wrapped up in how they had treated me at the end of Sophomore year, and the fact they never bothered to call to hang out once during the summer. I was trying not to feel sorry for myself, but I needed a friend. Then Bella arrived. We knew she was coming, and it was kind of amazing to see her again. Our short interactions felt like a good start, except how could I begin a friendship with her when I was still friends with Jess and Lauren?
"Coward." I whispered to myself as I got up to use the bathroom. The dim light coming from my old Snoopy nitelite gave me a haunted appearance in the mirror. I washed my face and slumped back to bed, hoping that my nightmares wouldn't continue.
Of course there was another horror waiting for me when my eyes closed.
Edward Cullen and his family weren't quite normal. I knew this, probably the entire school knew this. I'm pretty sure we just assumed there was a reason for their extreme beauty and chalky complexion. Why their eyes shifted color, and some reasonable explanation for how they managed to move so gracefully when walking down a hallway. Yet I couldn't explain yesterday, when his actions were so bizarre.
Bella was clearly nervous to sit next to him, but the way he reeled back at her approach was odd. His body language was stating very strongly something was wrong with her. Something he wanted to hurt, kill. He seemed to be almost obsessed with her, yet repulsed at the same time. The entire hour I kept checking to make sure he hadn't moved, but nothing happened. The minutes ticked by and instead of movement I caught absolute stillness. After a while I stopped paying attention to the lecture and counted the seconds between breaths…I lost count after five minutes. He didn't breathe for five minutes.
All of it must've translated in my head to something unnatural. Because as soon as I drifted off to sleep again, I found myself in the middle of the school parking lot, surrounded by all five of the Cullen siblings slowly circling me. They had those creepy black eyes, but now even the whites were gone. They were drooling with mouths agape and full of long monstrous fangs gnashing and biting at me. Their hands were extended down at their sides with their fingers parted like a rake, and long black talons extended from their fingertips.
I was huddled into myself, my arms wrapped around my knees. Violent sobs were racking my chest, and I felt a deep well of pain. Yet, they didn't attack me. They just kept spinning around me, like some kind of predator determined to scare it's prey rather than just attack and get it over with. Except, the longer they were at it, the more it seemed as though they were engaged in some other action. Like some kind of ritual, and I was the focus.
In the distance I heard a voice, indistinct at first. Then as it repeated itself I realized it was calling my name…
"Angela. Angela. Angela!" My mother's voice cut through my dream, forcing my eyes open. My clock was blinking 12:00 again and again.
"Shit." I said sitting up frantically, I was probably going to be late for school. I quickly rolled out of bed and rushed into the bathroom to get myself ready. I threw on my most basic clothes and ran downstairs, mom handing me a cup of coffee and a wheat bagel sandwich with scrambled egg whites, turkey bacon and low fat cream cheese. Another small win for mom in her never-ending healthy food crusade. I felt bad for my baby brothers, they bore the brunt of her efforts, at least I could indulge when I couldn't take it anymore.
"Thanks mom!" I said heading out the door to my little car. The turquoise turkey, my little Toyota that my dad gave me for my 16th birthday was made in 1999 and had over 70,000 miles on it. But it ran reliably and served my needs getting to and from school and the occasional outing to Port Angeles.
The entire drive I tried to piece together my nightmare, but could only remember fragments. Really just vague images of something menacing centered on Bella, Jess, Lauren and the Cullens as I munched on the relatively tasteless breakfast sandwich. When I turned down Elderberry Avenue, the last road before the turn off to the school, I merged in behind Bella's massive red truck. I followed her into the parking lot and pulled in next to her, hoping to catch her before she headed in for school.
"Bella!" I called as she was surveying the lot, her gaze lingering on the Red BMW that Rosalie always drove.
"Hey Angela." She said somewhat absently.
"He drives a silver Volvo, which means he's late or not coming in today." I explained, although curious why she was still interested in the Cullens after Edward's bizarre behavior.
"Good, what a creep." She said turning away to look at me fully.
"He usually isn't like that. He's never even raised his voice in any class I've had with him." I furrowed my brow, shaking my head slightly as I spoke. Nightmares aside, I had never heard a hint of malice or cruelty from any of the Cullens.
"So it's just me?" Bella frowned.
"Maybe, but I couldn't imagine why." I shrugged, but continued before she could respond. "So, I was wondering, did you wanna hang out or something after school? Maybe study, grab some dinner?"
"Sounds like a plan, will your other friends be joining us?" She actually smiled, and I felt myself release a bit of tension. Maybe we could actually be real friends. Something I had only really seen in movies and television. Someone who I could talk to and share my thoughts with, someone I could trust in bad situations. Or maybe I was hoping for too much, she might be just as bad as Jess and Lauren.
"No, I don't think so." I said partially to reject the thought, and to answer her question. I wanted to begin to distance myself from Jess and Lauren, and maybe Bella could help. But was I being selfish? Maybe she wanted a large friend group.
"Hmmm, meet me here after classes. I live out on the northern stretch of town, so it'll probably be easier to just drop me back here after we're done."
"I know where the Chief lives. He's friends with Dad, enough that they've gone fishing together."
"Fishing. That's a pastime I never understood. Even after listening to Dad's endless stories about his epic fishing trips. What's the point of doing it, especially when they usually just throw them back in?" Bella was smiling so I knew most of her rant was sarcasm, but she had a point.
"I have no idea. But it might have something to do with Harry Clearwater, he makes some amazing fish fry."
"I remember. Angela…" She started, and looked like she wanted to ask me something. But she quickly shook her head and sighed. "Let's get to class."
We made it to the courtyard and split off, she headed towards her English Lit homeroom, and I went to Pre-Calculus. I had no idea who in the office designed this year's schedule, but they must've been a bit of a sadist to schedule advanced math first thing in the morning. Government was only three days of the week, so we didn't see each other until Spanish where we had to sit next to Jess and Lauren. Thankfully Bella never once mentioned our evening outing, which was good because Jess barely spoke two words to me, and one of them was in Spanish.
I knew History would be a chore, but noticed a seat next to Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper was open and I felt an odd need to face my fears. I kept my head down as I sat while trying to be subtle watching them. Only Rosalie glanced at me, and she gave me a slight smile, which was unexpected but nice. I knew people avoided them most days, and the seats around them were almost always filled last. They were all Seniors, but I was advanced placement so this wasn't the first time I had been in a class with one of the elder Cullens. They were usually very quiet, and always answered every question perfectly.
"Alright everyone, we're starting at the beginning today. Greece, the Archaic period! Can anyone guess what dates this era encompasses?" Mister Long was clearly excited to start this new lesson, which according to the syllabus was going to cover pretty much everything up to about a hundred years ago. I tentatively raised my hand. He scanned the room and there were two others with their hands up.
"Angela." He said picking on me.
"It starts around eight-hundred BC and lasts until a couple decades into the fourth century BC." I answered.
"That's right. And what was one the first great traditions established early in this period?" I blanched, I had only skimmed over the reading the night before. Then I caught a small motion from my left and noticed Emmett drawing circles on his desk, the pattern somehow familiar. Then it hit me what he was doing.
"The Olympics?" I said blurting out the answer with a small giggle of exclamation.
"Right again. Nice to know at least one of you read the homework last night." He took a deep breath and clapped his hands. "Right so let's start with the fun stuff. Fact versus myth versus outright fiction." He turned to the board and started to write out some city names and launched into his lecture.
I looked over at Emmett who was chuckling to himself. He wasn't looking at me, but after a second his head tilted and he glanced over at me. I mouthed, "thank you." and he nodded with another small chuckle. I went back to listening to the teacher and found that the two small questions I answered keep the teacher from calling on me the rest of the period. The actual substance of his lecture was kind of interesting, and sort of fun although in a very history geek way. Something my grandma Rebekah would've made sound grand and fascinating.
When the class ended I felt a little bold and turned towards the three of them and made my posture state unequivocally that I had a question for them. Rosalie noticed first and responded to my wordless request.
"Is there something you need Angela?" Rosalie's voice was soft and kind, which wasn't really something I associated with her. She came across as standoffish and a little aloof most of the time. I was honestly a little surprised she even knew my name.
"I was just worried about Edward, he acted really strangely yesterday in Bio. I hope nothing's wrong." I wasn't sure it was my place, but someone had to stand up for Bella's sake. I was positive she wouldn't pursue the question herself.
"Ah, I was wondering if anyone would ask. He had just found out some bad news and wasn't handling it well. In fact, he'll be away from town for a while." That made me even more curious, but instead I just nodded.
"I'm sorry, send him my best wishes." I offered.
"I will, I know he would appreciate that." Rosalie smiled graciously, and I got a small smile and nod from Jasper and Emmett as well. Then they left, leaving me alone. I headed for lunch hoping I wasn't about to have another toxic experience. Bella was waiting at the entrance, and looked a little nervous.
"There are like three boys sitting at our table." She said with a bit of a frown.
"Tyler Crowley, he's in the middle, looks like he plays varsity. He and Lauren date on and off, recently it's been off although I'm pretty sure they… sorry I actually don't like to gossip." I felt bad talking about them behind their backs, but Bella shook her head.
"Go on, I'm curious." Her encouragement was enough, so I continued.
"Well, Lauren doesn't care about waiting so I know they've done it, which is probably a bit too much information." She cocked her head slightly, she seemed to not find that information scandalous at all. Which made me happy that we agreed, because Lauren's choices were hers, we had no business judging her.
"All power to her, not sure I'm ready until I'm in love though." I looked at her directly as she spoke, and nodded in agreement.
"Same, my dad would want me to wait for marriage, but I'm not sure I want to wait that long." It wasn't something I had ever really admitted out loud, but I knew it was true.
"If only those boys could hear us now." Bella smirked. "Alright, Tyler is the big one. Ben is the one sitting off to one side away from the rest of them, who is that last guy?"
I nodded and started towards the order line, we were early enough for the hot tray and doing a quick count of students in line I was sure I could actually get a burger today. "Mike Newton. He's kind of the most popular guy in school and he is kind of dating, well maybe sort of dating Jessica."
"Three guys, three girls, three maybe relationships. So where do I fit in?" Bella shrugged as she took a grilled cheese and we both ran through the tiny salad bar at the end. I was half tempted to lead us to a different table, but there was no point in causing conflict. Plus Ben was there, and I hoped that meant this time I would have back up.
As we made our way towards the table I realized I hadn't mentioned Edward to her yet. "I spoke to one of the Cullens, Edward got some bad news yesterday and wasn't handling it well. He'll be out for a while."
"Oh, so it wasn't me?" Bella looked almost relieved.
"I don't think so. It never made sense that it was."
"I guess, well at least that's nice to know." She shrugged, and turned towards the table as we got within earshot. Jessica motioned towards the boys.
"Bella, this is Mike and Tyler. And Ben." Mike stood and awkwardly moved around the table.
"Yeah I saw you in Gym yesterday." Mike said with a slightly too friendly smile.
"I'm surprised you noticed. I mean everyone hits the volleyball at just the right angle to bounce off the net into that blond girl's butt and right into the teacher's face." Bella's voice was dripping with sarcasm, and I stifled a laugh. Mike just nodded like he heard her detail a perfect bank shot to win a playoff game.
"You didn't do that on purpose?" He said in a way that made it seem almost like he thought she had. Bella laughed in a way that strongly hinted she thought he was being serious too. "Well, maybe you have a hidden talent."
"I can trip on a perfectly flat surface." She countered, nodding softly at her own truth.
"Right. Um, let me help you with your tray?" He half offered as he grabbed ahold of the edge of her tray that was close to him.
"I'm good. Thanks though." She wrapped her hand around the far edge of the tray and pulled it from his grip and took an open seat at the table. I sat catty corner to her as Mike sat on the table next to her food because Ben was in the seat next to hers. She clenched her jaw slightly and looked up at him. "Mike, you do know people actually eat during lunch?"
"Right, ah Ben move over." Mike demanded, and Ben immediately complied as he took the far seat away from me. Jessica laughed nervously, drawing everyone's attention.
"Bella, you're like a shiny new toy. All the boys want to get to know you." Jessica said with a note of jealousy.
"Ben doesn't." Lauren said with a slightly cruel chuckle.
"Sorry Bella, nice to meet you." Ben said with a nod.
"It's okay. I got everyone's names now. How is everyone liking clases so far?" Bella's attempt to change the subject was met with groans.
"Bleh, let's talk about the trip to La Push." Jessica said, taking over the conversation.
"Do you think the temps are gonna hold up? I really want to hang ten again." Tyler said with a big grin.
"Hardly, you barely hung five, or maybe just a three." Lauren jabbed at him, but he didn't seem to mind.
"I stood at least. Better than Mikey." Tyler chided, and Mike turned beet red. I glanced at Bella and could tell she was deeply uninterested, her attention drawn back towards the Cullens again.
"There will be whale watching too." I added, which drew Bella back to the conversation.
"Alright, but I'm not getting in the water." Bella warned, but chuckled in spite of herself.
"Great, two weeks from now. Tyler's driving right?" Jessica said, and Tyler opened his mouth about to object but quickly recovered snapping his mouth closed and nodded while frowning slightly.
"I do have a van." Tyler explained, and Bella nodded.
"Unless we all want to pile into my truck, I know we'd all fit." Bella suggested off hand.
"Your dad would have a cow if we drove down to La Push with four or five of us in the back without seatbelts." Mike said, sounding a bit terrified. "I can't get in trouble with your dad again."
"Is there that many seat belts in your van Tyler?" Bella asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Um, there aren't even enough seats for all of us." Tyler admitted sheepishly.
"Since Bella and I aren't going swimming we could go down together, that would leave more room for the boards." I suggested, which everyone seemed to agree to. Things quickly quieted down as people paired off, leaving me and Ben sitting quietly. Mike continued at Bella who was almost non-verbal in her responses, and Jessica compensated by talking up Tyler which made Lauren even more snippy than usual.
Bella, Ben and I all got up at roughly the same time and started towards class together, when Mike caught up to us and pushed his way next to Bella who held in her breath in an obvious attempt to hold in her irritation with him. Mike was completely oblivious.
"So I heard Edwad is out of town, wanna join my table today Bella? I'm sure Eric won't mind." Mike said as he attempted to close the distance between them, Bella shifted away in equal measure. After a few of these attempts he gently forced her into the lockers. Bella stopped and turned on him, her eyes narrowing. She cocked her head about to blow up on him, but took a deep breath and managed to modulate her tone so it came off almost calm.
"Mike, I already finished this level of Biology last year and I'm in advanced placement. I'm only taking this course because I needed the Science credit and it was all that was open in this time slot. I don't need a lab partner in the first place."
"That's a shame, because I was just about to offer." The voice came from behind us and we all stopped and looked back in shock as we came face to face with Alice Cullen. She was standing almost on her tiptoes, her arms behind her back and a bright smile on her face.
"Alice right?" Bella said as she pushed past Mike.
"Yup, I had to skip yesterday, but I usually partner with my brother. But I can fill in while he's away." Alice's voice was almost too bright, and her smile was infectious.
"Um, sure." Bella said with a half shrug and a question on her face. She was clearly not sure what to say.
"Great, let's get going before we're late. That way Mike you can keep your lab partner and won't leave him in the cold." Alice said with a chipper voice, as she pushed forward and locked an arm around Bella's and almost pulled her to follow.
"So what happens when Edward comes back?" Bella asked after we were halfway down the hallway, everyone a little too much in shock to really speak or react.
"We share you." Alice said with a wink. Bella gave me a slightly terrified look but I couldn't think of anything to say either so I just shrugged. We got to class and the teacher called Alice to speak to him. Bella broke off with me as Mike and Ben moved onto their assigned spots.
"I think that's the first time Alice has made contact like that with anyone." I said in a whisper to Bella and in return she gave me a mildly nervous look. She split off at her table, and I moved one back to sit next to Ben. Less than a minute later Alice bounded down the aisle and sat in Edward's spot near the window and moved her stool to easy earshot of Bella. I kept looking up at them as the class went on, and they seemed to be getting along, Bella laughing a few times and even Alice chuckling at something Bella said to her.
It was about ten minutes until the Bell before Ben actually looked at me for more than a passing moment. We had finished the exercise and were both working on homework independently. He finally looked and cleared his throat quietly enough not to draw anyone's attention but mine.
"Sorry about lunch." Ben's apology came out of no where, and I wasn't sure why he was making it to me.
"Don't worry about it, Mike was being Mike." I said with a shy smile.
"Yeah, but I could've stood up to him. He gets to me sometimes, and I know you've had some problems with Jess and Lauren." I looked down, a little afraid to meet his eyes.
"As we grew up we are growing apart, I don't think we have a single thing in common anymore."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Ben trailed off and went back to working, I wasn't sure I could force the conversation to continue so I went back to my homework as well. Just as the bell rang Ben got up and kind of waved to me awkwardly before heading off. Mike gave Bella a look but left class quickly too. I realized as I was done packing up the Bella and Alice had lingered. Alice spun on her chair and gave me a big smile.
"Friday we are doing girls night, just the four of us." Alice seemed excited, and a little bouncy as she spoke.
"Four?" I asked, furrowing my brow.
"You, me, Bella and my sister Rose."
"Rose wants to come?" I said out loud in shock, before realizing what I had said. I had never heard of Rosalie Cullen spending time with anyone outside her family before.
"Ha, right. Yeah Rose needs to get out too, she's a bit of a shut in."
"I can sympathize." I muttered.
"Hmm?" Alice cocked her head and widened her eyes.
"Oh, I would love to." I said, trying to cover.
"Great, see you guys tomorrow." Alice got up without another word and left class before I could really track her movement. Bella looked at me with the same confused expression I felt.
"That was surreal." Bella still had a look of disbelief on her face. "I have never had a more confusing conversation in my life. It was like she could tell what I was gonna say before I said it, and answered me like I'd spoken."
"That's Alice. I've only spoken to her a few times but she's always like five steps ahead of anything I might say, and she's always direct, but just as stand-offish as the rest of her family." I knew my explanation wasn't perfect, but Alice was hard to describe.
"I'm starting to think it actually is me." Bella said, while scrunching her nose and frowning slightly.
"You might be right. We still on for tonight?"
"Yup, see you at Gym."
My next class was boring and slow, and in Gym the teacher benched Bella for most of class while we played volleyball again. Bella was gone when I was done showering and changing, and was a little worried she had ditched me. My hair was wet from the shower, and the air had a chill that made me shiver as I made my way outside. I let go of a breath I hadn't realized I was holding when I found her waiting by our cars. As I approached she waved, and I got in my car as fast I could to stave off the cold. Then we were pulling out of the school parking lot and heading for downtown, and as we hit the first stoplight she turned to me with a small frown.
"Can I be totally honest?" I glanced over and she had a super serious look on her face.
"Absolutely." I said meeting her eyes and nodding once before looking back at the road.
"I don't want to go to La Push with them." I almost laughed, she said exactly what I'd been hoping she would say.
"I don't either, it is about an hour of walking on uneven stones and maybe catching a whale slapping its tail against the water, which has happened like twice in the dozen or so times we've gone. Mostly it is the guys showing off, Lauren trying to sunbathe, while Jessica shows us that she can do anything by catching a huge wave and hanging on for like a full minute."
"Sounds like you've done it before." She gave me a meaningful look and I shrugged.
"Just a few times. Maybe we could go to Port Angeles or even Seattle. There's so many great things to see there." I suggested, hoping she would go for it.
"That sounds like fun actually. We can make something up to get out of going with them." Her response was about as positive as it could've been.
"I've used a few excuses before, but you have a clean slate. We'll probably have to go at some point down the road, but for now we can avoid it." I looked over and she was nodding. "So there are a bunch of options for dinner in town, and none of them are all that great. I think the Chinese place is probably the best, they have really good Lo Mein."
"Sure, what's it called?"
"The Chinese Place." I said trying to hold in a laugh, but her expression broke me and we both started laughing. A couple of minutes later we had just calmed down, as I turned into town and found a spot. Calling it a restaurant was generous, but the booths were not entirely uncomfortable and the lady behind the counter waved as we came in.
"What'll you have?" She said as soon as we reached the counter. I spoke to her more times than I could count, and I could never quite understand the woman's name because her accent was too thick.
"Combo 3 and a small order of Wonton soup, and whatever she wants." I ordered without looking at the menu.
Bella looked at the board for a few seconds. "Combo 5 with Tofu and an extra spring roll."
"Fifteen minutes, go sit I'll bring it out." The counter lady said pointing at one of the booths. We looked at each other and shrugged almost in unison before heading to where she pointed.
"I can pay for my half." Bella offered but I shook my head.
"I invited you, and I hope this is just the first time we hang out." I waved off her offer, but hoped that I wasn't pushing too hard.
"Fair enough. I'll get us next time. I'm glad you invited me out, I probably would've been moping at home thinking about that freaking Cullen guy." Bella frowned, and sighed slightly.
"Can't blame you. Edward Cullen is kind of godlike, but there's no reason to treat you so badly. Even if he was trying to deal with something heavy."
"Yeah, but it isn't like we're dating or anything. So did he ask you out yet?"
"Edward?" I replied in confusion. In what world would I be even remotely in Edward Cullens league.
"Ben." She corrected, and I felt like an idiot, but Bella's smile made it clear she didn't think so.
"Oh, no, and I don't think he's going to. During Bio he actually talked to me, but didn't say anything that made me think he was interested. Plus, I saw him talking to Brianna earlier today and she did the whole laugh while touching his chest thing." I was convinced my crush was almost oblivious to me, or he was so unbelievably shy that he would never make the first move.
"Sorry. Well maybe he's not interested in her." She suggested, but I shook my head immediately.
"She's pretty and smart. How could he not like her." I found myself pouting, it made me feel so alone and invisible.
"So are you, and don't let anyone else tell you different." Bella reached out and pulled my hands into hers and gave me a reassuring smile. I almost laughed, she was telling me the exact thing I had almost said to her yesterday.
"You are too." I said simply, and she half nodded and pursed her lips a little.
"Yeah, well I'm good at giving advice but not so great at taking advice."
"Is anyone?" I smirked.
"Probably not." She shrugged again, and pulled her hands back to her lap. "So what kind of stuff do you like to do? I mean if we're going to Seattle in a couple of weeks we should have a plan."
"Oh, well there's the obvious stuff like the Space Needle and the Pop Culture Museum, but it is getting a little late in the year for the Aquarium and Zoo. But that's the big tourist stuff." I rattled off, but couldn't hide my excitement at the prospect of spending time in the city with a friend instead of my parents.
"Which you must've done by now." She countered. "I had seen everything fun to do in Phoenix in like a year."
"Well yeah, but the exhibits change periodically. There are other things we can do, there's about five hundred million places to shop, and tons of places to walk around and explore. I'm probably gonna settle there when I graduate college."
"What do you think you'll study?" The question caught me off guard and I had to think about it for a few seconds. I hadn't really articulated my plans.
"I'm thinking either something medical or maybe some kind of scientist. I've always been more analytically inclined and I know it's cliche but I want to help people." I didn't add that I would also minor in music theory.
"Nothing wrong with that."
"What about you?"
"I'm gonna be a writer." Bella's confidence was endearing, I easily see her at a book signing with a line of fans out the door.
"What kind of writer?" I asked with perhaps a bit more enthusiasm than really warranted.
"Honestly not sure, I've been writing poetry and keeping a diary since I was ten. I started on short stories a couple of years ago, and I just finished my first novella. So far it has been mostly drama and romance, but I really want to try my hand at fantasy someday." She sounded proud of her accomplishment, and I totally agreed that finishing anything as long as a novella at 17 was impressive.
"I'd like to read anything you are willing to share."
"Really?" Her voice sounded less than confident, but I couldn't blame her. It was one thing to be proud of your, it was another thing entirely to put it out into the world. Even just sharing with one person could be intimidating.
"Absolutely. I mean I'm kind of into writing too. Well, not exactly writing. I write songs, but I doubt I could ever make a career of it." I looked down, I couldn't believe I had told her that I dreamed of being a singer/songwriter. But it was only fair when she was willing to let me read her stuff.
"Why not?" She asked sincerely.
"I don't think I'm that good." I answered glumly. I knew I lacked the confidence to be a performer.
"Alright, tomorrow I'll come over to your place and I'll listen to you sing, and you'll read one of my short stories. Then we can be totally fans of each other's work." She said giggling, just as the food arrived.
"Mom makes absolutely inedible healthy food." I tried to warn her, but she just shook her head as she took a big bite of tofu.
"I'm a vegetarian, I'm used to things being inedible." She managed to say between chews, and somehow didn't look like a savage.
"She's going to love you." I said shaking my head, she couldn't say I didn't warn her.
"Haha. So are we gonna study?"
"Right, studying." I said with a frown, reaching for my book bag.
"Angela, thank you."
"For what?"
"Being my friend, I haven't really had anyone I thought could myself with." She gave me a genuine smile, and it made me look down as I tried to repress the tears forming in my eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I've had people around me all my life, and once maybe a few years ago I might've called Jessica and Lauren my friends." Trying to sum up my feelings was hard, I knew there was a hole in my life where a best friend should be, but I had always thought Jessica was that friend. Lately I wasn't so sure.
"But they treat you like shit." It was the second time she had said it, and this time it really hit home.
"You're right, and I'm tired of it. I need someone I can trust, who won't judge me."
"Me too."
We talked and managed to get in some studying, but we both realized we were real friends. I dropped her back at school, and made my way home. I kissed my baby brothers goodnight and made small conversations with my parents before heading up to my room. I immediately pulled my guitar onto my lap and thought about the last song I had been working on, and began to strum aimlessly on the strings. Even though I made no progress, a familiar tune began to form as my mind wondered and I went with it. The lyrics of the classic conjured up as I began to play the melody.
"Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping. And the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains. Within the sound of silence…"
I felt my breath catch, as if something unnatural had passed through me. As I stopped, I felt more than heard something outside. I got up and moved to the window, peering out onto the darkened street. Obscured in the spaces between street lamps, a shape that looked like a man was staring up at my room. I couldn't make out features, just a shadow. Then it was gone, as if a ghost had been listening to me.
Author's Notes:
To reiterate, each chapter will have a different voice. It doesn't alternate perfectly, and some characters will have fewer chapters than others. There are three more new chapters before we get to my original content and from that point there will be some reconstruction especially in the early chapters. We'll see how extensive that'll be when we get there. For now I'm already working on Chapter 3, which will be from Alice's POV.
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Thank you for reading!