Whoo, this happened to a friend of mine and it sucked!
...
It happened during the few sunny days in a row when the Cullens were out camping.
While Alia really only counted Edward as her friend, she was getting along better with the rest of her classmates, especially since she was conscious of and being treated for her severe anxiety. She participated much more in class and made the occasional joke. She was no longer terrified of asking someone for a pencil or saying 'excuse me' to push through a crowd. If she saw someone doing something well, she made sure to compliment them. Perhaps she'd never be a full extrovert, but she was definitely more confident these days.
So, when in their history class, Mrs. Clark ordered them to form up in pairs for a two day project, Alia shrugged and looked around for someone not taken since her usual partner was away. To her surprise, she was approached not long after beginning her search by a tall, gangly boy with glasses. Connor, if she remembered correctly. "Hey Alia, mind being my partner? I'd like to ace this project."
"Sure." Alia said, offering a smile. She wouldn't let him make her do all the work, however. Still, from what she knew of the boy, Connor was one of those smart popular kids who wasn't a slacker. He was head of the photography club or something like that. "Honestly, I haven't read the chapter yet on the railroad, but I should be done for tomorrow's class. Do you have any ideas on what you want to work on?"
"No worries." He grinned. "I kind of like the idea of connectivity, or whatever."
They actually spent the class productively, which was nice. When they walked out of class, Connor chose to ditch his group of friends to walk with her. "You're not as quiet as I expected you to be."
"Sorry to disappoint."
"Nah, I meant it in a good way. You wanna grab lunch with us since Cullen's out?"
Alia smiled softly. "Thanks, but I have a lot of work to do in the library, so I'm gonna have to pass."
Connor smiled back. "That's cool. See you in class tomorrow. I'll bring that article I mentioned."
That encounter had Alia in a good mood for the rest of the day and made her put her all into the project. She was never going to replace her best friend, but good social interactions still made her happy and more friends never hurt. The next day, they all but finished the project an hour in advance and handed it in, leading them to chat for the rest of class about games and movies.
"You gotta get a PS2, if you're serious about gaming." Connor said authoritatively. "You haven't really gamed on the kiddie stuff."
Alia only nodded placatingly, not showing her annoyance at the condescending tone. He surely didn't know how he was coming across. "I'll think about it if I have the time."
Connor walked with her again after class unprompted. This time, he didn't ask about lunch but instead asked Alia to meet him after school by his locker for a favor. Before Alia could respond, he was off in a flash. Not questioning it, Alia headed off to the library again and then spent the rest of her day in boredom.
She wasn't one to ignore a request so she went to the designated spot where Connor was talking to some of his friends. One of them said something, and they all laughed at the joke. She really didn't want to interrupt the group, and was debating just leaving, when Connor spotted her and grinned broadly. "Hey, Alia."
"Hey." she said awkwardly. "You wanted to talk about something?"
"Yeah." Connor ran a hand through his mess of brown curls and pulled her a distance away from his friend group by the arm. "I think you're cool."
"Thanks?"
Connor nodded, and looked away, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out with me. On a date."
"Oh…" Alia said, her eyes widening. Connor looked at her expectantly and she felt her face heating up. This was not what she was expecting. He was cute enough, in a nerdy sort of way that Alia had always liked. "I don't— I mean—" she swallowed and used all of her brain power to think of a reply. For some reason, she thought of Edward and that steeled her nerves. "Thanks, Connor, but I feel like this is kinda fast. I'm really sorry."
Connor did something that Alia didn't expect. He laughed loudly. It was echoed by his group of friends, who Alia didn't even realise had been listening in. "Oh sorry, that's too good." Connor said mirthfully. "You actually bought it."
"What?" Alia said, dread pooling in her stomach at the way the group of boys were laughing.
Connor patted her on the shoulder. "It was a joke, Alia. I wouldn't actually ask you out." He explained like she was an idiot. "Thanks for being a good sport."
Alia looked to all their faces and swallowed. "Kind of a shitty joke honestly, but I guess if that's the best you can come up with…" she shrugged and walked away from them, trying to keep her pace normal and not too quick and to ignore the next wave of laughter behind her.
She tightened her grip on the strap of her backpack and quickened her pace as soon as she was out of the school doors. Once she was on her solitary walk back to her house, she let the angry tears flow, glad that it had begun to drizzle slightly. Part of her was self-deprecatory, as was her instinct, wondering what else she had expected. The other was righteously angry at the stupidity that boy had shown. Whatever her emotions would settle on, they were strong, so she dumped her bag at home and after a quick word to her dad, made a beeline for the woods where her treehouse awaited.
She couldn't focus on the book she was reading, a history of Egyptian queens, as her thoughts kept wandering to what had happened. The worst part was how she was going to deal with it the next day. Show up to class and pretend nothing had happened? What if he told the joke to everyone and it became an opportunity for everyone to titter behind her back?
Occupied with her thoughts, Alia didn't notice someone climbing up the rope ladder. "Missed me?"
"Oh, Edward." Alia summoned the energy to smile at him brightly. He shook the rain from his bronze hair. He certainly looked like the picture of health, his skin glowing and eyes bright green. She understood why Carlisle and Esme always dragged their kids out. The trips clearly did them a world of good, as if rejuvenating them. "How was your trip?"
"Camping was a bore…" his crooked smile fell as he looked at her properly, and Alia worried she looked off. She froze when he reached over and brushed a cool finger over her cheek, wiping the moisture there. "You were crying."
Shit. Alia hurriedly wiped the rest of the tears she'd forgotten about and didn't say anything as Edward crouched beside her. She felt his eyes inspect her critically. "What happened?" his voice was grave.
"Nothing really. It's just kind of been a bad day." she forced another smile and the memory of what happened popped into her head again, which she forced away. Edward was here. It didn't matter if other people were cruel. She'd always be able to depend on him. "I don't really want to talk about it, if that's okay." she said quietly.
Edward had an odd look on his face. He almost looked angry, but that didn't make any sense. Alia directed the conversation elsewhere and asked him if he'd be in school tomorrow, which he affirmed, putting her at further ease. Even if she had to deal with laughter tomorrow, it wouldn't be so bad if Edward was there at her side.
They walked back to her house together, where she saw that Edward had parked his car. Naturally, if she wasn't at home, he would have figured she was at the treehouse.
Alia was surprised when he pulled her into his arms when they reached the door. She leaned into his embrace, holding on to the back of his shirt and trying desperately not to cry again. They stayed there for a while, until Alia pulled away. "See you tomorrow." she said softly.
Edward gave her an indecipherable look and walked away quickly, his hands in the pocket of his coat. Alia watched him drive off, faster than normal. Though she was a little puzzled by his behaviour, she let it go and spent the rest of the evening playing Zelda.
The next day dawned, and surprisingly, Edward called her and apologetically told her that he wouldn't be able to give her a ride that morning because of car troubles. She assured him that it was totally okay and that she'd walk, which he accepted after a few more apologies.
She got her mom to call in to tell the school she'd be a half hour late, so it was no problem when she walked in to empty hallways with everyone in class. She decided that skipping the last few minutes of math class wouldn't be the end of the world and loitered by her locker, passing the time with reading and definitely not worrying. When the bell rang for the next class, Alia went to History with a pit in her stomach.
Edward was not there. Nor was Connor, to her relief. She sat down at the seat she normally did, fidgeting with her pencil and keeping an eye on the door with her peripheral vision. She tensed as Connor walked in, and looked to the board, as if very interested in the week's announcements. She saw Connor stop in front of her and reluctantly looked up.
The boy was white as a sheet as he looked at her, shocking Alia out of her nervousness. "Alia, I just wanted to say— to tell you— that I— I'm s— s— sorry for yesterday. It was— st— stupid— and I was a jerk and — I— I'm really sorry."
She could only stare at him, flabbergasted. "It's okay."
"I won't bother you again." He promised, swallowing, before rushing off to his seat.
Not even a minute after that, Edward walked in casually, smiling lazily at Alia. "Sorry for ditching you today. Did you get to school okay?"
"Obviously, as I'm sitting here in one piece." Alia said, still stunned. "Hey, did you…?"
He blinked, the very picture of innocence. "Did I… Did I what?"
It was impossible. She shook her head and grinned at him. "Nothing. Is your car okay?"
Edward tried to hide his smirk as he continued to converse with Alia in the minutes before class. He glanced over to that fool, to see him glance away immediately, terrified.
That morning, Edward had come to school with Emmett and Jasper, an hour early, to catch the boy in his club room. Even without Jasper radiating a terrifying aura that made the boy nearly soil himself and Emmett cracking his knuckles threateningly, the way Edward pinned him to the wall by his collar and furiously demanded he atone for his cruelty had the pathetic idiot sob in agreement and swear to do so and leave Alia alone.
No one who ever brought tears to Alia's eyes would be spared from his wrath.
