Girl In Red (R.HALE)

2

Leigh paused in the doorway to the cafeteria, analysing her options. 

She could sit by herself, listening to music and pouting as she ate the wilting vegetables that her mother had prepared for her. That felt a little sad, though. Carrot sticks and loneliness were not ideal to her. 

At first, she didn't see any familiar faces, despite making a few acquaintances in Chemistry and History. But, just as she was about to give up and claim a table all to herself, she spotted Bella Swan's pale, embarrassed face amongst the masses. She lifted a hand in a wave as she began to walk, making a beeline for the brunette's table, and not particularly caring to ask before she placed herself in one of the empty seats. 

Bella was surrounded by new faces, all of which were gawking at her like she was some exotic new pet that only the rich kid could get a hold of. A baby-faced blond chattered in her ear from her left, and a dark-haired boy boxed her in from the right, a pretty girl in a lurid pink top sitting opposite. 

"Leigh," Bella said, sounding bright but desperation flaring in her eyes. 

"Hey, Bella," Leigh said coolly, casting her eye over the others at the table. "Hello." 

"Hi," the blond boy said, looking a little shaken by her brisk greeting, but smiling all the same. "I'm Mike, nice to meet you." 

Leigh nodded in his direction, shooting him a warm smile.

"I'm Eric," the dark-haired boy said, his smirk almost attempting to be flirtatious. "Enchanté."

Leigh looked at him for a moment, before continuing to remove the blue, plastic lunchbox from her bag. "Ravie de te connaître aussi." 

Eric pressed his lips together, finding himself unsure of how to respond, and the blond boy - Mike - threw his head back in a disproportionate amount of laughter. 

"Wow, you can, like," the girl in the bright pink shirt started, "speak proper French." 

Leigh turned her attention to her as she popped off the lid of her lunchbox, drawing out a stick of celery and biting into it with a grinding crunch. "Not really. Just the greetings." 

The girl looked a little unnerved, but let out an awkward laugh anyway, despite there being no joke.

"I'm Jessica, by the way," she said, before glancing to Bella. "How do you two know each other?" 

"We don't," Leigh said simply. "We ran into each other in the office this morning." 

Bella nodded. "Sit together in Lit." 

Jessica nodded, opening her mouth as if she was going to say something else, before closing it again. 

"You know, Mike," Eric said, "I didn't know you'd met my home girl, Bella?" 

Mike sat up a little straighter, surprised. "Oh, your home girl?" 

A guy that had been walking past suddenly diverted his path, leaning down just to the side of Bella's face. 

"My girl," he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek and yanking Mike's chair out from under him. 

The blond yelped as he went crashing to the floor, the saboteur sprinting through the cafeteria and skidding toward the doors just as Mike scrambled to his feet and began to pursue him. Leigh watched them go with wide, surprised eyes, before looking to Bella who proceeded to melt into a puddle of concentrated embarrassment. 

"Oh, my God," Jess said, scooting a little closer to Bella. "It's like first grade all over again. You're the shiny new toy." 

Before Bella could respond, a slender, dark-haired girl with thick-rimmed glasses appeared seemingly out of thin air, wielding a camera.