CHAPTER TWO
❝ friends ❞
HAYDEN WASN'T TOO interested during her gym class, resulting in her sitting on the bleachers while most of the other girls played volleyball. She wasn't disappointed in the least, and was, in fact, enjoying herself with a new book. The girl was sprawled out with her bag sitting by her feet, all of her attention focused on the book.
Emmett had walked her to class, leading a comfortable silence as he dropped her off at the gym and bid her goodbye. She was surprised that he had suggested to walk her to class, but wasn't going to push it by asking questions. But since then, she hadn't socially interacted with anyone around her. They didn't seem to be too interested in her, and she felt the same for them.
Hayden could feel eyes on her before she turned her head, catching the eyes of a boy in the bleachers opposite of her. In fact, there was more than one pair of eyes on her, another belonging to a girl. The boy's face held no expression as he stared at her, his eyes reminding her of Emmett's. His hair was in natural blonde waves that reached his shoulders, and a pale complexion.
The girl had a pixie cut, her dark hair framing her face perfectly. Her cheekbones were high, and her eyes were dark like the boy's. And, unsurprisingly, her skin was just as pale as his. And there was one thing that Hayden couldn't deny.
They were utterly beautiful.
The two were as gorgeous as Emmett, and she guessed that they were all siblings from the way their skin and eyes stood out from everyone else at the school. It wasn't long until Hayden realized that the girl's lips had twitched into a smile. Hayden reacted in the only way she could think of- to return the smile with one of her own.
But what ruined her earlier assumption was when the brunette realized they were holding hands‒ so they weren't brother and sister. Then why did their skin and eyes look so alike? But, despite her urge to question herself further on the pair, Hayden decided to move her eyes back to the book, and made sure they stayed on the page.
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"I normally sit with Eric, Jessica, and Angela," Mike says to Hayden as they emerge from the lunch line in the cafeteria.
Hayden held a tray, of which she had only a piece of pizza, french fries, and a water bottle. One thing she did mind in Forks? The school lunch. She didn't complain though, only paying attention to Mike as he led her past several empty tables. He was all too infused in his own words that he almost ran into a chair.
The girl giggles as he awkwardly pats the chair, moving around it. Mike composes himself by clearing his throat, clasping his hands together, and continuing his earlier sentence.
"They can be, well . . . a lot. So just let me know if you're uncomfortable, yeah?" he turns to face her for a short moment. "We can move any time you want, just let me know."
"I'm sure I can handle it," Hayden assures him with a kind smile, following behind him as he stops at their table.
Two girls and a boy were already rested there, deep in a conversation- one that involved something of the school paper. The boy was the first one to notice Hayden's presence, pausing mid-sentence.
"This is Hayden, guys," Mike says as the brunette glances to his friends. "She just moved here from Georgia."
"Yeah, no shit," the Asian boy said, flipping his black hair out of his eyes. "Front page of the school paper, Mikey. She's hot news. I'm Eric Yorkie, by the way."
Hayden furrows her eyebrows, looking to Mike, before looking back to the others. She was on the front page of the school newspaper? The girl didn't like the attention as it was, let alone that she could be front page news.
"I'm Angela Webber," a girl with glasses speaks up, waving at Hayden. Her dark hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, looking interested at the announcement of the new girl.
"Jessica Stanley," the brunette says, her eyes meeting Hayden's for a moment. As if Hayden was staring too long, Jessica's eyes narrow, and are averted to Mike. "So where have you been all day?"
Hayden takes the seat between Eric and Angela, already well aware of the tension between Mike and Jessica. She could only guess that they had been in a complicated relationship at some point, but she wasn't sure. Or maybe they just hadn't, and had been too caught up in other things. Either way, Jessica was obviously a little infatuated with the boy that had walked Hayden to her classes.
"I've been showing Hayden around," the blonde boy says, tossing an apple between his palms.
"You guys know prom is coming up, right?" Eric pipes up, looking to Angela and Hayden as the other two begin to argue in whispers. "And I still don't have a date."
Hayden should've known this was coming- it was a conversation she dreaded. But, of course, she should've expected it because her family had moved so late in the year. And before she moved, she made a hasty decision; she wouldn't attend any dances in Forks. The girl would visit her grandparents as an excuse, or do anything other than that.
"What about you, new girl?" Angela asks curiously, lightly elbowing Hayden in the ribs. "Do you have a date to prom yet?"
"It's her first day," Eric rolls his eyes at her. "Would you expect everyone to bombard her so quickly? She needs a break, that's a little too much."
"I don't do dances . . . " Hayden says quietly.
"That's what everyone says until they actually attend a dance," the boy interjects. "I'm sure it would be fun for you. Just wait until you get a date and the excitement sets in."
"Now who's pressuring her?" Angela raises an eyebrow.
From there, Hayden tunes out, no longer finding interest in their conversation. It wasn't that she was shy- Hayden was definitely not shy. But it seemed they were a bit oblivious to the fact that she didn't fit in with them. They were kind too her already, but that wasn't enough for her to fully accept their friendship.
The girl's eyes graze over the room, somehow finding the door that led outside. She debated on dumping her tray and finding Bella, but she found all too quick that Bella was preoccupied.
"Who is that with Bella?" Hayden finally asks, catching Eric's attention.
But as Hayden realized, Bella was sitting with more than just one person. There were two other girls, and four boys. She recognized Emmett at once, along with the couple she saw earlier in gym. Bella was close to a boy with swift bronze hair, one that scanned the room with uncertainty, his arm locked around the girl's waist.
Another couple sat side-by-side next to Emmett, chatting lowly. The girl had smooth blonde curls, and resembled a supermodel; even her clothing could make it believable. The boy holding her hands was just as perfect, his hair short and brown. What Hayden couldn't help but notice, though, was that all of them looked so similar, despite it being obvious that they weren't related.
Their angelic qualities made Hayden's stomach ache with dullness. And they all seemed happy, smiles on their faces as they laughed and flashed their pearly white teeth. Their skin glowed, and their eyes sparkled. They almost didn't seem real.
"Oh, those are the Cullens," Angela informs Hayden, her voice going a little quieter as if they might hear her.
"They all look so . . . " Hayden couldn't finish her own sentence, not knowing how to put her thoughts into words.
"Similar? Perfect? Unreal?" Eric speaks up, laying his chin on his palm and propping his elbow on the table. "We've all been there. You'll get used to it, but it'll take a while. Some of us thought we were having hallucinations the first day they joined the school."
"They aren't related," Angela continues, shoving her glasses a bit farther on the bridge of her nose. "All of them were adopted by Dr. Cullen- Carlisle, and his wife. They're all together, but not together together. They aren't related, but they're still couples. Moved here a few years back, and have been popular since."
"Bella is with Edward, Rosalie is with Joseph, Alice is with Jasper, and Emmett is single. They normally sit alone, and their parents always take them camping when the weather is nice."
Hayden began fitting the pieces into the puzzle as the two gave her information, but it all didn't seem to add up. She couldn't place it, but something was off. There was no way they could show so much resemblance without sharing blood, right? But as she could tell, they didn't resemble each other, it was only their skin and eye color that made her hesitant.
"Rosalie is the blonde, and Joseph is the boy with her. Alice is the whimsical girl with the pixie cut, and Jasper is the one with the blonde curls. He and Rosalie were actual siblings and got adopted together, thus their last names being Hale instead of Cullen. And then there's the hair- Edward. And Emmett, the buff one with the cute smile," Angela finishes.
Just as Hayden began to open her mouth to speak, Emmett had looked in their direction- like he could somehow hear that they were talking about him. Hayden closed her lips as their eyes met, and her head began to spin.
Forks was definitely a crazy place.
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