They Call Her Tala.

5. Smell the Roses

"It's later. Will you tell us about the girl, now?" Alyssa pleads excitedly, tagging along with her sister and her friends as the join the line for food. Rose already sits, waiting, at their otherwise empty table. Vixy grabs one of the prewrapped salads, signalling it wasn't made at the school. The salad may cost a buck or so more, but it was the price to pay when the lunch ladies were kinda sketchy.

Rocky buts in front of her sister, grabbing a salad as well. "You gotta wait till everyone is at the table, dumbo. Or Vixy will get pissy because she'll be answering the same questions over and over."

"Hey. I do not have floppy ears."

Checking out at the cashier with the addition of a bottle of water, Vixy ignores the two girls that bicker as usual. Kenneth walks by, sporting the usual black skinnies and leather jacket. Feeling a thud in her chest, Vixy looks down, slightly flustered.

Kenneth spots the girls and comes over, putting his arms over Vixy's and Rocky's shoulders. "Afternoon, Ladies."

Vixy slowly lifts her head as the lunch lady gives her the change. "Hi, Kenneth," She says after thanking the lady. Swiftly, she turns, nearly running into Kenneth's chest. "Still on for studying, tonight?"

Rocky adds in, "How about we all come over to your place after practice, Vixy."

Kenneth nods, "Sounds like a plan."

Vixy weakly smiles as her friends head to the table. She follows silently, taking a seat beside Rose.

Alyssa sits across from Rosalie after squishing her in a hug, to which the bassist grumbles, though she half-hugs the freshman back. Rocky sits next to her sibling, Kenneth at the head of the table. Rose keeps her head down, reading some vampire book or other while she picks at her lunch.

"Tell us about the girl, now!" Alyssa practically begs, excitement oozing from the kid.

Kenneth raises an eyebrow, "Are we talking about Tala?" When Vixy gives a nod, a grimace upon her face, Kenneth says, "She's kinda hot, in a wild way." Rocky's eyes flicker over towards Kenneth, her lips going thin. Vixy grumbles to herself, hating the wild girl even more.

"Tala is weird. And just annoying." Vixy says, her fork stabbing a piece of lettuce.

Rosalie, to everyone's surprise, is the first to speak. "Pretty sure Tala means 'wolf' in Native American or something."

Alyssa jumps on it. "Who named her? Or did she already have a name? What's she like?"'

Vixy shrugs at the first question, "Probably my mother. She seems to adore Tala. Everyone needs to adjust for Tala, not Tala needs to adjust to us." Taking a bite of her lunch, Vixy thinks about what she should say about the stranger. "Well, she has choppy black hair and gray eyes. She doesn't know English very well. And, she has this obsession with walking around naked."

Kenneth smirks, "That doesn't sound too bad."

Rocky rolls her eyes, "That is because you are a guy that is obviously thinking with his dick."

Ignoring Kenneth and Rocky, Rose continues to be a part of the conversation, though she keeps her eyes on her book. "She probably feels more at home without clothes. I mean, think about where she grew up, how she grew up... She's probably kind of homesick, you know."

"She freaking crawled into my bed, naked, trying to curl up against me!" Vixy exclaims, getting a few looks from the neighboring tables.

"Maybe she's a Lesbian."

"Or, maybe," Rose cuts in, giving Alyssa a look, "she was lonely, and you seemed like the warmest option."

Vixy shrugs her shoulders, "I don't care what the reason was, it was freaking weird." Ending the conversation at that, the teenager spends the rest of lunch in silence, eating her salad.