𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐑, j. hale [3]

I. Tension

"Okay, the next question asks you to describe the central themes of The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe."

Alice waited expectantly, but the girl in front of her was staring out the window at the overcast sky with a blank expression on her face. Her emerald eyes were clearly very far from Poe and his poetry, lost in the gray of the clouds outside.

"Evelyn? Ugh, Ev, you're not even listening to me!"

At the sound of her name, Evelyn was pulled from her thoughts and back into the dreary school library. She smiled sheepishly at Alice, who sat with her arms crossed in her chair and a delicate pout on her lips.

"Sorry, Alice," she apologized, flipping her English notebook to her notes on Poe and his work. "I guess I'm not that focused, today." She hadn't been thinking about English at all, in fact. She had been thinking about what had happened in Italy just a short few weeks ago, replaying it in her head and still trying to wrap her mind around the dangerous uncertainty of her future. In the aftermath, finals didn't seem all that important to her, anymore.

Alice sighed, rolling her eyes playfully as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. "Well maybe you should've waited for a day that you weren't so distracted to ask me to help you study for the English final."

"The final is in less than month, Alice, I don't exactly have that much time to wait at all." The brunette sighed, flipping aimlessly through her notebook. "Doesn't taking high school finals ever get old to you? I don't know how you all do it over and over again. It's miserable."

Alice raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, giving her a knowing look. "Well, you'll be joining the club pretty soon and then you'll get to retake them forever like the rest of us."

Right. Evelyn winced at the mention of her impending transformation, making Alice's eyes widen in realization.

"Sorry, Ev, I shouldn't have said that. I know you're still really uncomfortable with it."

Evelyn smiled, though it didn't quite meet her eyes. "It's fine. I guess I better start getting used to the idea sooner rather than later." She was cut off by the lunch bell ringing, and she forced a bright smile on her face as she began shoving her notebooks and pens in her bag. "Let's go find the others, I'm starving."

The pair made their way out of the library and into the crowded hallway of Forks High School along with the rest of the students who were eager for their lunch break. They weaved in and out of the throng of students with ease, Evelyn allowing Alice to guide her to their usual lunch table where Mike, Jessica, Angela, Eric, Bella, and Edward already sat.

They slid into the two empty seats, just catching the end of the conversation about Jessica's valedictorian speech.

"Jess doesn't need clichés. Her speech is gonna be epic," Bella said, grinning at Jessica from across the table.

Jessica nodded. "Epic? It's gonna change lives."

Angela looked up, smiling when she saw Evelyn slide into the seat beside her. "Hey, guys! How was studying?"

"Not productive," Evelyn said with a laugh, shaking her head. "This English final is gonna kill me. Why does Mr. Berty require us to memorize literally everything from the entire year? Who just knows every Shakespearean sonnet off the top of their head?"

Edward grinned. "I do."

Of course you do, she quipped back in her head. He only grinned wider. "Okay, well then you're just weird," Evelyn teased out loud for the benefit of the rest of the table. "Maybe you could take my final for me?"