Girl In Red (R.HALE)

5

"So, I leave you alone for maybe an hour," Leigh said, "and you get run over." 

"I didn't get run over," Bella contested, the pair shuffling forward in the line for food. "I was standing by my truck, Tyler drove over some ice and lost control." 

"Oh, my mistake," Leigh said. "You get crushed by a van." 

Bella rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. He didn't even hit me." 

Leigh raised an eyebrow. "You must be lucky." 

"Well," Bella mumbled, but didn't finish her sentence. 

Leigh hadn't mentioned anything about Edward, other than a throwaway comment about how he had returned to the land of the living. Bella had said she wasn't going to say anything about whatever had happened between them, and Leigh believed her. There was no point even asking. 

The girls approached their usual table, Bella with a tray of food and Leigh with her usual box of chopped veggies, to find Angela and Jess surrounded by Mike, Eric and Tyler. 

"Hey!" Eric called out. "La Push, baby. You guys in?" 

Bella hesitated, whilst Leigh gave him a look of suspicion. 

"Should I know what that means?" the brunette asked. 

"La Push beach down at the Quileute Rez," Mike cut in. "We're all going tomorrow." 

Leigh perked up at that. "How's the surf?" 

Jess looked surprised at Leigh's interest. "There's a big swell coming in." 

Leigh nodded. "I'll come." 

Mike chuckled. "Didn't have you pegged as a surfer, Leigh." 

"I live to surprise you, Mike," she said, tossing a grape into her mouth. 

Eric jumped up from his seat, putting his arms out to his side. "I don't just surf the internet." 

Leigh shook her head. "Sit down, Eric." 

"Eric, you stood up once, and it was a foam board," Jess said. 

"But there's whale watching, too," Angela said, looking to Bella. "Come with us." 

"La Push, baby!" Eric cheered. "It's... La Push." 

His attempt to be sultry made Leigh grimace. 

"Okay, I'll go if you stop saying that," Bella said. 

"Seriously, dude," Mike said, chewing on a mouthful of his sandwich. "It's creepy." 

"What? That's what it's called!" 

Leigh popped another grape into her mouth as Bella moved away from the table toward the salad bar. Without her permission, her eyes returned to the Cullen table, where they spent far too much time for it to be healthy. 

Rosalie was wearing a red halter top, the curves and dips of her collar bone and shoulders catching in the beaming cafeteria lights, almost glimmering. Her hair was piled up on top of her head in a knot, golden tendrils breaking free of the hair tie and shining ochre. She was reading something, the rest of her siblings talking, and her lips moved as her eyes travelled the page. It was only a small movement, but Leigh noticed it. It set her alight with butterflies once again. 

Leigh forced herself to look away again, realising how creepy she must look. She tried to tune back in to the conversation between Jessica and Angela, but found herself distracted by Bella instead. 

Edward had appeared beside her, and they appeared to be having a conversation next to a bowl of apples. 

Leigh frowned to herself as she watched them. She had been under the impression that Edward hated Bella, and after their heated exchange in the hospital, she had assumed that the feeling was mutual - yet, there they were, talking. Neither of them looked angry - Bella looked a little uncomfortable, but there was nothing new, there - and neither of them seemed in a hurry to get away.