Devilish Detective ✅

Like A Tiger On An Antelope

"What's the matter, Bells?" Audrey sounds worried and I pull out the note from my pocket and stretch it out to them, but it gets snatched from my grip.

With furrowed brows, I turn to find Trixie opening the letter, a smirk on her red coated lips.

"Hey! Give that back!" I frown at her while I try to get the note back from her, but she sidesteps and easily avoids me.

I take in a deep breath and leave her be. Years of knowing her has taught me that there is just no point fighting against her. The best thing to do is sit back and hopefully, she'll get tired when she realizes her bullying isn't getting to me.

Nat doesn't seem to have the same line of thoughts as I do though, because she suddenly pockets her phone, a scowl on her face as she takes a step towards Trixie who is surprisingly without her best friend today.

"Yo, queen b," Nat hollers and Trixie looks away from the note and her smug smile falters when she catches Nat's glower, and for the first time since I've known Trixie, I see a glimmer of fear flash through her eyes, but it dissipates immediately.

"Sheesh! Are you all always this uptight? I was just joking around!" She exclaims in her overly pitchy voice as she rolls her eyes, feigning irritation. "Here you go, Bells. It's no surprise you have a secret admirer. You're not that ugly." She grins cheekily at me as though we have been friends since forever.

I raise a brow as I take the note from her with caution as I am expecting her to suddenly prance on me. She doesn't do anything shady though. Her grin only widens when I take the piece of paper from her hand.

"You can step back now." She shoos Nat who lets out a low growl before stepping back a little.

"If you want your tiny limbs to remain attached to the rest of your bleached skin, I'll advice you walk away from my friends," Nat warns, her voice low with malicious intent dripping in every word.

Suddenly, I find myself being slightly terrified of the quiet, gothic girl.

Trixie becomes a shade paler and her grin becomes more forced, but she still stands her ground and manages a scoff as though she is unimpressed by Nat's threat.

"Words, words and more words." She dismissively waves Nat off. "I'm not here for you, pink mannequin or bubbly princess." She points to Nat, then Cherry, then Audrey. "None of you are worth my time. I'm here for pretty, pretty Bells here."

My brows furrow in suspicion, but before I can air a word out, Cherry steps in front of me at an attempt to shield me from Trixie.

"Your reign of terror is over, girlie. Now, you better get your ass outta here, else, I'm gonna be all over you like a tiger on an antelope. You feel me?"

For someone always in pink, always super excited and always ready to give hugs, Cherry manages to sound super scary.

"You don't need to hide behind your goons, Bells. I'm only here to invite you to hang out with the girls and me at lunch today. And just you. We don't need the rest of the freak show." Trixie clicks her tongue in her mouth before she turns on her heels and walks away, alleviating most of the tension in the air.

I glance from behind Cherry at Trixie's retreating figure, watching the way her chestnut hair bounces behind her with every step she takes.

When she is out of sight, Cherry and Audrey simultaneously release a breath of relief, while Nat goes back to leaning against the locker close to mine and inspecting her phone with no cares in the world.

I find myself narrowing my eyes at her as I wonder just what kind of a girl Nat is. One second, she's pretending like she doesn't care about our existence, the next, she's standing up for us, and now she's back to acting like she'll rather be anywhere but here.