A/N:Thanks for reading and supporting this story,everyone!Alright, I'm pretty sure you all want to know what's going to happen to Elizabeth next?So,here it is Chapter 4.Happy reading and remember to review if you want! - MissMei92

THE TALE OF ELIZABETH CULLEN

I waited for it to come. The humiliation. The embarrassment. The laughter at the expense of the new girl. But there wasn't any. I had shut my eyes, as a reflex, freezing instantly where I had been standing. "Um…new girl, are you okay?" Somebody tapped my shoulder lightly. I opened my eyes and found myself being stared at by the entire class. I felt like turning around and running out of the classroom, but instead I tilted my head downwards to hide the red in my face, a product of my embarrassment.

The person who had spoken before, who I was pretty sure was the one who'd caused me to freak in the first place, was the boy standing the closest to me. His hair was blonde and crazily messy, and he looked like the kind of guy who'd get on both his teachers' and his classmates nerves. There was a smug look plastered all over his face, obviously happy at having been able to humiliate me, and he was grinning like an idiot did at that fact. I would have smacked him or something but somehow I didn't. I suddenly couldn't even glare at him, because that would mean making eye contact. I chose to look up in the direction of the teacher, whose annoyed expression was directed at him instead.

"Mr. Gregory…," Her voice sounded sharp and held a lot of authority in it, "…just because your father is the principal of this school, doesn't give you the right to bully new students, especially girls. Honestly, your antics are completely uncalled for! Now, apologize to Miss Cullen, immediately," She narrowed her gaze at him and gestured at me. I turned back to him, hesitantly. His face was still smug and smiling, but he did as he was told. "Sorry, Miss Cullen." He then ran back to his friends, a group of other boys standing at the far side of the classroom.

My brain suddenly processed all that the teacher had just said. Mr.Gregory…father…principal…his dad was the principal? The man I had just seen who looked so old, so old he had a head of completely whitened hair? That confused me a bit, since I didn't think that people that old could still have such young kids. Which kind of reminded me that my dad was over a hundred. I laughed inwardly at the irony.

The teacher, who had a name tag on her, which said: "Miss Robinson", had turned her attention back to me. "I'm so sorry for that display just now, Miss Cullen. That boy is just so stubborn, sometimes," She smiled a big, warm smile at me. "Anyway, why don't you sit with Miss Jeffrey, over there?"She pointed at a solitary figure in the left-hand corner at the back of the classroom.

The girl wore pink-rosy lenses and her thick, caramel-strawberry hair was braided into a long braid, which she threw over her left shoulder. She looked oblivious to everything which had just taken place in the classroom, unlike the other students who were still staring at me with wide, curious eyes. I nodded to Miss Robinson and walked down the straight opening between the rows of glass desks. Oh, my gosh. Everything in this school was made from glass!

I made it, without falling over my unsteady feet, to the empty desk beside Miss Jeffrey. I smiled a friendly smile at her, but her eyes didn't meet mine. She stared straight ahead, smiling as if to herself, but as though, she acknowledged my presence in that way. I sat down and opened my backpack, taking out my pencil-box and a piece of scrap paper. Miss Robinson was still trying to get the class to settle down, but there wasn't any chance of that happening anytime soon. So, I started doodling, one of my favorite things to do when I was bored. I drew a girl, and then another girl, and then another one. I labeled them on top with their names and ages.

"Do you like Barbie dolls?" The girl beside me suddenly uttered, her voice bored and expecting, as if the answer was clear. My eyes flew to her from the paper I'd previously been so engrossed in. She looked like she was mocking me, but her eyes seemed a tad bit sad too. I shook my head. "I've never had a Barbie. But I don't really like dolls, anyway. Why?" She was surprised. "You don't like Barbies? And yet, you're drawing girl after girl on that paper." She was almost incredulous at my action.

"I like drawing but I don't like playing with dolls. They creep me out sometimes, with all their smiling." I shuddered slightly. She looked happy now, a small smile creeping along her lips. "Good, I hate Barbies. I cannot stand any one of the girls here.They're always chatting non-stop about how great Barbie is. It drives me nuts!" She blurted out, bitterness saturating her smooth, mature voice. I gawked at her. Why would she hate Barbie so much?

"Umm…why don't you like Barbie dolls?" I asked. She glared momentarily, before her expression softened slightly. "I just despise them. It's none of your business, really." Her tone was guarded and cautious. "Oh," That was really all I could say. I then realized I hadn't introduced myself. Something which would earn me a berating from both my mom and my aunt Esme. "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself to you. I'm Elizabeth Cullen," I said, hoping to avert her attention from the previous subject. It worked. Her face brightened up, and she looked sunnier than before. "I'm Seraphina Jeffrey. Happy to make your acquaintance," Her style of talking sounded so mature and polite. She held out her hand to me and I shook it.

"So, where are you from? What made you move to the Big Apple?" I looked at her, bewildered. She processed my reaction instantly and giggled. "You don't know what I mean when I say 'Big Apple', do you?" I shook my head slowly. She laughed again. "It means New York," She explained cheerfully, amused by me. "Oh, I see," I couldn't quite understand what was so hilarious. "So…?" She pressed.

"Well, I've actually lived in the French countryside my whole life, making the city something completely new to me. So when I came here, I was kind of awestruck to see so many people," This was no lie. She seemed interested in this little tit-bit of information. "Really…so you've never met boys and girls your own age, I suppose?" She guessed, confidently. How did she know? "How did you…" She interrupted me abruptly.

"I saw the way your eyes hit the floor when you saw Kyle," She said, smiling devilishly. I blushed a very, very deep red. "I…" I trailed off. "It's understandable, I guess. He is cute, but after what he did to you, I'm surprised you still think that way about him," She stated, matter-of-factly. I didn't get a chance to respond. "Children, take out your English textbooks and flip to page 27," Miss Robinson chirped. The whole class was quiet now.

I listened to her lesson but it was about the proper use of grammar, particularly adjectives. Something which had already been ingrained in me, due to my extensive reading habit. I tried to start a conversation with Seraphina, several times throughout the lesson but she pretended to not hear me. I sighed each time and tried to focus but couldn't. When the lesson ended, and Miss Robinson walked out, to make way for the next teacher, I tried again. This time she answered, albeit apologetically.

"Sorry about just now, but I don't talk during lessons. It's just something I do," She seemed genuinely sympathetic. "Oh, but I don't think that way about him at all," I said, but it came out half-heartedly, which was surprising for me. She was dubious about my sincerity. "Whatever you say…" She still had that devilish smile on.

I was about to protest but then the next teacher, Mr. Henderson came in. He started droning on about multiplication tables, which I'd memorized already, but somehow made the kids in class mesmerized instead. I decided to go back to my doodling while Seraphina kept up her concentration, although I knew she had already learned everything. The day pretty much stayed the same, until lunch period came. When I got up to leave class, along with everybody else, I saw that Seraphina was still seated. "Aren't you coming?" I gazed around the classroom. It was empty already.

"No, I don't eat lunch." was her only reply. I wasn't taking no for an answer. "But you have to eat lunch! Otherwise you'll be hungry later, won't you?" I asked her, my expression like that of a worried mother. She looked at me like I was being absurd. "Why do you care so much? Just go. I don't eat lunch," She turned cold and gazed away, crossing her arms. I shrugged, giving up and left. But I still couldn't understand why she wasn't going to eat lunch.

I was walking along the corridor when I realized I had no idea where the cafeteria was! I sighed exasperated with myself, and turned around, heading back to class to get my map of the school. When I got there, Seraphina was gone. She must have decided to eat lunch, after all., I mused. I picked up the map and followed the path lined in arrows on it, to the cafeteria. I bought my lunch: a plate of chicken lasagna and a cup of lime juice.

I surveyed the cafeteria warily. All 2 floors of it. I didn't see Seraphina at all. Where did she go if she wasn't here? I looked around again, hoping to see someone from my class that I could sit with. I saw a few but they were so engrossed in themselves that I didn't want to intrude. Besides that, the tables were already packed full with other 1st-graders. Then I saw Kyle. He was sitting with his gang in a table, near the centre of the cafeteria. There was an empty space.

If I could, I would have avoided him at all costs. But the odds were so not in my favor. There wasn't any other spot left in the cafeteria where 1st-graders were sitting. I took a long, deep breath and strode, in what I hoped was a confident way, towards his table. I stopped when I reached there and totally ignored their snickers and jokes, as I slid as gracefully as I could into the seat.One of them pushed their tray to my spot to block me.

I pushed it back forcefully, feeling braver than before. They all looked taken aback by this. I pretended to ignore them, although I was secretly pleased at being able to defend myself. I was about to take a bite of my lasagna when Kyle joked, "Isn't that a little fattening?" to his friends. They started laughing uproariously. I glared at him, slightly fuming. This made them laugh even more. Until I took my spoonful of lasagna and dunked it all over Kyle's mussed blonde hair. I was so fed up with them, making me the butt of their jokes.

Kyle didn't react, at first, his expression blank as a page. I was about to get up and leave, not caring if I ate lunch anymore, when he chuckled. I looked at him, amazed at his composure. He started to laugh some more and I was completely lost. "You're funny," He finally said. "Huh?" I didn't bother to keep my feelings hidden. I did not get him. "Yeah, you are. No girl here would ever have the guts to do that. They're all too proper," He spat the word out. His friends all laughed, once again. To make his point proven, he even ran his hand in his hair, further coating it with the saucy lasagna. I was shocked, to say the least.

"I thought I could bully you, like any one of the other girls. But you're different. I like you," He seemed genuine. "Then, will you please stop cracking dumb jokes and let me eat? I'm hungry," I said, but I wasn't angry anymore. Strangely, I was happy. "Sure, right guys?" His friends all yelled in unison, "Right!" I stifled a giggle.

The rest of that lunch period passed by in a flurry and I was soon back in class, where Seraphina was waiting, reading her Science textbook. She was way more serious about studying than I'd thought. "Seraphina?" I smiled at her as she looked up, her facial expression a mixture of boredom and blankness. "Yes…" Her voice was listless. "What do we have next?" I asked, though I knew the answer. "Art," Her single response.

I gave a short nod and started doodling again on my paper, this time adding a boy to the paper. I felt someone looking over my shoulder and stopped drawing. I tilted my head slightly and saw Seraphina smiling at me, knowingly. I turned a bright red for the third time that day. "Don't worry, I won't tell," She promised. I gave a small sigh of relief at this. Then, Mrs. Lorenzo entered, lugging with her a box of art materials, from colored papers to PVA glue.

Art period wasn't exactly something I looked forward to, despite my drawing interest. I thought I could draw pretty well, actually, until I saw Seraphina's handiwork. She had drawn a beautiful woman, sitting all alone in a forest, looking out into the far distance. Her detailing was so defined. I looked back at mine and frowned. My cat looked like a hand. I felt like crumpling the paper up, which I did.

I got up, to throw it away, but I was so frustrated at my lack of skill that I didn't watch my footing, and I fell. Next thing I knew, I heard a pair of angry voices screaming at me at the top of their lungs. "You…you…" I heard one say, "…you klutz!!!!! You ruined it!!!" The other finished. I tried to find my balance and when I did, I realized what had happened. I'd banged against a glass desk nearby, and my knee was throbbing from the impact, but that was hardly something major right now.

Because I found two identical faces with long, burgundy hair staring hard and angrily at me. I winced. But not from any sort of pain, more from what I'd done to their project. It was covered in a strange mixture of sticky glue, water and a tub of indigo paint. It looked like it could have been the product of an artist experimenting with the abstract. Only they hadn't been experimenting. I realized I must have ruined something really precious to them because one of them looked ready to cry.

I started to apologize profusely, even trying to salvage what was left of the ruined work. But the one who wasn't on the verge of tears slapped my hand away, furiously. The whole class was staring again but I didn't care. I was scared that the teacher would be mad at me. But Mrs. Lorenzo had seen it was an accident and she quickly consoled one of the twins, the one who was about to cry, while the other glared in murderous rage at me. I backed away slowly to my seat after it was confirmed that there wasn't going to be a mental breakdown on the part of one of them.

I felt really guilty at what I'd done, but Seraphina reassured me. "The twins overreact to nearly everything. The one who was about to cry is Rachel. The one who can give looks which kill is Natasha. They're spoilt mad and their parents are wealthy art collectors. They own several art galleries in New York. You might have heard of them, the Warner family?" I shook my head, absently. I hoped I hadn't upset them too much. But I lost all hope of that when I saw Natasha turn around and shoot daggers in my direction. And that's how I gained a friend, a crush and an enemy or two on my first day of school.