Messages in Italics are from Alice

Messages in Bold are Bella's reply's.

X

I walked to chemistry with Angela and Lucy. We had a few classes together. We were in the same English and Maths class. We stopped outside chemistry, talking. I noticed that Angela was watching Lucy a lot.

"So, what's Ms. Brandon like? The teacher at my old school was boring."

"She's nice, Lucy. Come on."

Angela went to class and we walked in. Alice was already there, and a few students had walked in behind us. We walked up to her desk and she looked up at me.

"Ms. Brandon, this is my cousin Lucy. She just transferred here."

"Right. Here's a list of the topics we've covered. If there's anything you haven't covered, let me know."

Lucy sat next to me, and Alice started the class. It turned out there was only one thing that Lucy hadn't covered, which was quite easy and I told her I'd help her catch up. It wasn't a difficult topic. We started the work and Alice was checking everyone understood everything. She stopped, explaining something to Lucy, who had taken the seat right next to me. I was having a little trouble and she had to explain it to me. I noticed Lucy, looking at me, as Alice explained what I was doing wrong. She had an odd look on her face, but I didn't think much of it. I watched her once or twice, but didn't think Lucy noticed.

When the class was over, Lucy had to go back to one of the teachers to pick up some work. I went back to my locker and grabbed my stuff. I walked back to the class she was supposed to be in. I passed Alice's class and knew she was still there. She noticed me walking by and smiled at me. I thought I'd be there for a while and walked in.

"Hey, Lucy is getting stuff for English. It'll take a while, she's dyslexic. She's OK with this because it's numbers. You OK?"

She looked up at me, and I sat down.

"Yeah, are you sure this is a good idea? She could walk in."

"You're my chemistry teacher. I was having trouble with that equation. It's not exactly difficult to explain. She'll be a while, anyway. She hates English. I would to, if I was dyslexic."

She turned to me, ignoring the tests in front of her.

"Yeah, I know. I just don't want to make things awkward for you. Well-"

"Yeah, I know. Have you got many of those left?"

I looked at the tests in front of her, there was a lot.

"Yeah, I gave that test today. I should have them done in a day or two. Have you got much to do?"

"Not much. I have to write a short story for English."

She nodded and moved a little closer.

"Do you-"

"I like writing them. It'll just take a while. I like to write, but I like drawing more."

She nodded, and I took her hand. She seemed to think it wasn't a good idea and tugged her hand away.

"Relax pixie. She won't walk in."

She relaxed a little and let me hold her hand. We talked for a little while, and I left to find Lucy. She was leaving the class when I saw her. She walked over to me, putting on her jacket.

"Hey, where did you go?"

"Oh, I had some stuff to do. You ready?"

She nodded, and we went home. I made something for my dad, and we went upstairs. We went into her room and sat on the bed.

"You were right about Ms. Brandon, she's really nice."

"Yeah, did you get everything you needed for English?"

She nodded, yawning.

"Yeah, I did. I'll be staying back twice a week, is that OK?"

More time with Alice for me.

"That's fine, if it helps then there's no problem."

She looked at me, like she was thinking about whether she should say something. I nudged her shoulder, and she looked up at me.

"Is everything OK, Lucy?"

"I just ............. Never mind, I'm over reacting."

"Lucy, if something is bothering you, you can talk to me."

I was starting to get nervous. Did she see something in chemistry?

"Well............. I noticed .................. In chemistry, you and Ms. Brandon, you were looking at each other a lot. And it didn't seem like you were trying to get her attention to ask her for help."

Oh crap. Oh crap, how the Hell do I explain this? I decided to just try and talk my way out of it.

"I was just trying to figure out the problems. Why would I stare at Ms. Brandon?"

"Because you like her? And by the way she was watching you, I think she likes you to."

She's been here for a day and she knows.......................... Not even Angela figured anything out. Well, other than the fact I thought she was pretty. Lucy sat there looking at me, she knew she was write.

"I knew it! She doesn't know you like her, does she?"

I sighed, running my hand through my hair. A habit I'd picked up from Alice.

"If I tell you about something, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone. OK?"

"Why do I get the feeling, that you're about to tell me something that could get someone in big trouble?"

Well, that was one way put it.

"I'm dating Ms. Brandon. I-"

"Bella, you could get into big trouble for this. She could lose her job!"

"Can I finish, please?"

She took a deep breath, and I continued.

"It's been going on since the beginning of October. The 2nd, to be exact. Angela knows, that's why we both got nervous, when we realised that you were in my chemistry class. She will kill me for this, but Alice-"

"Alice?"

I looked at her, and she realised that she was supposed to keep her mouth shut. I hit her with a pillow, and she grumbled calling me mean.

"Yes, Alice. Did you hear about .................. About what happened a few months ago?"

"The party?"

I nodded, and she put her hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, I did. I didn't want to say anything and upset you. But, yeah I heard about it."

"Well, Alice has helped me get through it. I can talk to her about it, when I can't talk to my dad. The guy got 5 years, but I find it easier to talk to her."

She took a deep breath, looking at me.

"You need to be really careful about this, Bella. You could get into big trouble. I'll cover you, along with Angela, who by the way is really cute."

I hit her with the pillow I was holding.

"She's straight....... I think. I noticed how she was watching you. But, are you sure that-"

"You're letting me stay here. And from the way you talk about her, I couldn't do that to you."

I hadn't been expecting this.

"Well, that means I won't have to work out what to say when I spend time with her. We spend time together at the weekend, sometimes."

"Maybe, I could get to know Angela a little better."

I finished my homework. that short story had taken 4 hours, but I was pretty happy with it. Lucy walked in, smiling at me.

"Hey, could I ask you a favour?"

"You need help with English?"

She nodded, and I told her to sit down.

"Thanks, Bella."

I shook my head, I really didn't mind. She was prepared to cover for us, so it was the least I could do.

"It's fine, Lucy. Now, what's the problem?"

I helped her, while my dad watched TV. He had checked on us, and went back downstairs. We finished everything, and sat on my bed, talking.

"So, how did you-"

"Long story. But, I was in her class after school getting help. I kissed her. She avoided me for a few days, but I eventually got her to talk to me, and we started dating. After .................. After the party, she helped me. She came to see me, when my dad was at work and Angela was upstairs."

She shook her head, noticing the ring I was wearing.

"Alice gave you that, didn't she?"

"Yeah, and I gave her one. It was for Christmas."

My phone beeped with a message from Alice. She wanted to know how I was, and if Lucy was finding the work OK.

"Yeah, she's fine with it ....... She actually figured us out. She's fine with it, she said she'd cover for us. I tried talking her out of it. But, she said something about you were looking at me."

"That's her, isn't it?"

I looked up at Lucy, who was smiling.

"How did you-"

"You started smiling. Tell her that I won't tell anyone."

'I knew that she'd figure it out eventually. But, this is ridiculous. Well, this makes things easier for you. You won't have to come up with excuses when we spend Saturdays together.'

"Yeah. She promised not to tell anyone, and something about Angela being cute. I think it was after I hit her with the pillow the first time."

Lucy went to bed, but I stayed up, talking to Alice for a while.

'Be nice to your cousin.'

"Be nice to your brother."

I laughed, thinking about the way she talked about him.

'Very funny, baby. How did she figure it out though?'

"Like I said, she noticed the way we were watching each other. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't listen. She reacted the same way Angela did, talking about how much trouble we could be in. But, she eventually listened to me."

'Good. How is the short story?"

I smiled, thinking about it. It wasn't due for two days, but I wanted to finish it.

"It's finished. It isn't due until Wednesday, but I wanted to finish it. And, yes, you can read it if you want."

I knew she would want to read it. She loved my drawings, and I hoped she would enjoy this.

'Thanks, baby. I'll take it tomorrow.'

I told Angela that Lucy had figured it out. She was surprised, but happy that she was going to cover for us.

I sat beside Lucy at lunch. She was watching Angela. She liked her, that much was obvious. But, I wasn't to sure about Angela. She was after breaking up with Eric, but seemed happier than she had been in a while.

"Hey, you staying back today?"

Angela knew about Lucy staying back, Lucy had told her about it. So, I didn't have to worry about her hearing it.

"No, not today. I have to stay on Tuesdays and Fridays. Is that going to be a problem?"

I shook my head.

"It's fine. I'll figure something out."

Lucy smiled, and Angela laughed.

"I'm sure you will, Bella."

I glared at Angela, who kept laughing.

Lucy and Angela started talking. They seemed to get along pretty well, something I was happy about.

I sat down next to Lucy in chemistry and we started the work. Alice made sure everyone understood, and check on Lucy. She was pretty good with numbers, just not English.

"You're pretty good at this, Lucy."

I looked over to see Alice smiling at Lucy.

"I'm good with numbers, just not English."

"Everyone finds some things difficult. Just do your best, and let me know if you're having trouble with any of this."

"I will. Thanks, Ms. Brandon."

Alice walked back up to her desk, looked at me, and started looking through the papers on her desk.

I finished the questions, and started to put my stuff away as the class ended. I noticed Angela waiting and Lucy walked out to talk to her. They started talking, as I put all my stuff away, and searched the bag for the story. The class was empty and I could hear them laughing. I walked up to the desk, and Alice looked at me.

"I think those two are about to kill one another."

"No, we're not."

We looked at the door, and realised both of them had been watching us. I narrowed my eyes, and they looked at each other before standing back.

"Anyway, you wanted to-"

"Yeah, I do. What's it about?"

I sat down, handing it to her.

"Have a look."

She took it, looking at me. I noticed the laughter had died down, thinking that they'd gone outside. Alice started reading the story, and I leaned on her desk. I took her hand, rubbing the back of hers with my thumb. She smiled as she read. She squeezed my hand, and I looked up at her.

"Vampires? Really?"

"It was all I could think of."

She shook her head, as she read. I watched her, as she laughed.

"What?"

"Very funny, having the brother and sister fight."

"I needed something funny, they were in the middle of a crisis."

She finished it and handed it back to me.

"It's pretty good."

I was relieved she liked it, but knew she wanted to murder me for including that.

"Thanks."

I kissed her, smiling at her.

"Aw, you two are so cute together."

I turned to see Lucy. Alice turned bright red. I squeezed her hand, letting her know it was OK and she could relax, before dragging Lucy out of there.

"See you tomorrow."

I dragged Lucy out, while she complained. I can't believe she caught us! I really need to be more careful.

"Lucy, don't do that. Ever. OK?"

She seemed to realise that sneaking up on me, hadn't been a good idea. But, I wasn't worried about myself. Yes, I'd gotten a fright, but after the weekend Alice had.................. Well, it wasn't a good idea.

"Sorry, Bella. I won't do that again."

I nodded, and we went home. My dad arrived, and I made something for him. We sat together at the table, talking.

"So, how are you getting on, Lucy?"

Lucy looked at me, smiling.

"OK. Bella is helping me catch up."

My dad nodded, and we talked about school for a while. When we were done, Lucy and I cleaned the kitchen. My dad watched TV and we went upstairs to do our homework. Lucy stopped outside her room, turning to me.

"I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't think-"

"It's OK. Just don't do that again, please."

"I won't I promise."

I went into my room, and grabbed my phone. I asked Alice how she was and started my homework.

'I'm fine, baby. She just startled me.'

"I asked her not to do that. She thinks it's me, but it won't happen again, pixie."

She thought it was me, but I really didn't care. Alice was jumpy already, her being upset over what had happened at the weekend made me worry about her.

'You didn't have to do that. At least she didn't catch us cuddling, like Angela. But, you like your cuddles, right baby?'

That made me smile, she had said she thought I was cute, when I was being silly about wanting cuddles.

"How could I not like cuddling with you? Silly pixie. And, I did, I noticed you had gotten a fright and I knew she'd do that again if I didn't say anything. She knows about the party, so I knew she'd believe me."

'Well, this silly pixie, is your silly pixie. You were there, and I felt you squeeze my hand. She was just trying to embarrass you, baby. Although, dragging her away like that, may have been a little excessive.'

"She upset you, she deserved it."

That may sound mean, but she had a thing about people sneaking up on her. I didn't even do that. Lucy wouldn't do that again.

'Be nice to your cousin, baby. And if you tell me to be nice to be nice to my brother, there'll be no cuddles for 2 weeks.'

That made me laugh. 2 weeks? Yeah, right.

"You couldn't go 2 weeks with no cuddles, pixie. I am nice to Lucy, when she's not doing stuff like that. I love you, and don't like when you're upset."

'I couldn't, could I? Sure, you are, baby. Sure you are. It's late. Night, baby.'

"You couldn't and I am. Night, pixie."