A/n: This is a peek into one of the times Angela used mindless chatter to distract Bella from her thoughts, told from Bella's POV.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight series or the characters. I can only wish.
"So…have you heard the latest? Lauren caught Jessica and Tyler screwing around."
"Hm." My noncommittal response gains no notice.
"Yeah, and so now they're totally fighting. But it's not like she and Tyler were actually exclusive, so Lauren can't exactly be mad that he slept with Jessica, you know?"
"Yeah. She shouldn't expect more than sex." Another monotonous response is ignored. I tried not to sigh in exasperation yet. Why was she so insistent on gossiping like this? It wasn't like her. One minute we are sitting in front of my TV, and the next she is gossiping. Is she on something?
"Exactly. Anyway, did I tell you what my little brothers did?"
Another stupid prank, probably. "No, what did they do?"
"They gave their teacher a gift. It was just a simple teacher coffee mug that was in its original packaging. Now that sounds completely innocent, right? Except that somehow they managed to sneak a tiny salamander in the mug without making the packaging look like it was disturbed at all. The poor teacher nearly had a panic attack."
"The poor soul," I agreed. I didn't know what else to say.
"Yeah, and boy are my parents pissed. I'll bet that my brothers will be grounded for life."
"Hm."
She glances at me before continuing, "Anyway, Lauren tells Tyler to never talk to her again, but he keeps following her around like a little puppy begging for forgiveness. The boy just doesn't get a clue. I mean seriously, when will he ever take the hint? And Jessica is stupid for sleeping with him. The guy sleeps with any girl he can, who knows what kind of venereal diseases he might be carrying? It's gross. What happened to waiting for love?"
I shrug, "Beats me. Maybe we are missing out on something?" I try to sound interested for her sake. But really, I don't care.
"Maybe," she agrees, "Maybe we are the only two 18-year-olds who are still virgins at school."
"It's possible."
"Well, whatever the case, at least we don't look like whores. Speaking of whores, rumor has it that Lauren slept with half the football team. Can you believe her? It's a wonder she isn't pregnant yet. And she seems proud of it too. She's been telling everyone that she is seeing a college guy, but she never reveals his name or anything. She's gotta be making it up."
Now I'm staring at her like she's grown 3 heads. She never gossips or goes into name calling, it's just not like her. It's official. Angela is definitely on something. Or maybe the Angela I know is a mask to cover the real one. Or maybe aliens abducted her and sent this one to impersonate her. Whatever the case, this was not normal.
She glanced at me and smiled before continuing, spending the next couple of hours bringing up gossip and whatever else comes across her mind. And all I can do is gape at her and give simple, noncommittal answers. She probably would have gotten more responses talking to a wall. Eventually she got up to leave, claiming a need to be home for dinner.
It wasn't until I was lying in bed that night that I realized that I hadn't thought about Edward or Jacob all day. And then I realized what she was actually doing. She wasn't gossiping to gossip. She wasn't talking incessantly out of a need to. No, she was talking to keep my mind distracted, to keep me from dwelling on my broken heart.
I immediately felt guilty for my non-responsiveness, before I realized that she didn't expect me to respond. No, she didn't require me to respond or to even be interested in what she was saying. All she wanted was for me to not have enough time to think about Edward.
I glance at the clock before grabbing my phone and sending a text,
Thank you Ang.
She didn't need an explanation before she sent her response,
Anytime Bella. I'm glad I was able to help.
I put my phone down and vowed to at least try to participate in the conversation next time. It was the least I could do, since she provided the distraction.
