| ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ |
𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒 passed. Hazel was slowly coming back around to her friends, making her usual jokes often enough that the others weren't too worried. Hazel had even allowed Minnie and Kassie the chance to have a sleepover. Hazel didn't tell anyone about her Halloween, not even Christian, and no one asked. Christian knew something was up, though.
"You seem to be getting better each day," Christian commented one morning. "Good to see you realize how much of a nuisance the Cullen's were." He spoke, swinging his arm over the girl's shoulder.
Hazel didn't respond. Mostly because she'd spent her afternoon writing to Alice and Jasper once again, although she knew they wouldn't reply. It helped her cope. The other reason was that Christian's simple action made her feel queasy and a little sick. Him doing it just felt plain wrong. His arm was significantly lighter compared to Emmett's.
"Whatever," Christian sighed. He didn't want to push her if she was just going to stay silent. "We have Home Ec. Let's roll."
The curly-haired girl grimaced. Home Ec was not her favourite class at the moment, but she endured it. Mrs Kerry was their teacher once again. And she still hated Christian. At least, that's what he said.
"Hey, Christian, do you mind if I visit you and Valentina on the Reserve?" Hazel whispered to the boy beside her. "Say... This weekend? I thought it would be nice to visit you guys. I haven't been there since my birthday."
"Um, hell yeah!" Christian whispered loudly. Mrs Keery turned and glared at him. He waited until she turned back around before glancing at Hazel. "The guys have been missing you. So have I."
"Cool, I'll be by on Saturday."
☆
HAZEL GRINNED IN excitement as the bus pulled up at the end of the Reserve's dirt road. The rain came down in light little spits as she jogged up. Christian was halfway down to the entrance, a large black umbrella in hand when they saw each other. Hazel smiled wider and ran up to the boy, pulling him into a bear hug.
"Hey, Haze," he grinned.
"You need to put on a proper shirt," she told him, looking at the t-shirt he wore.
Christian rolled his eyes. The pair made their way up the slightly muddy path back to Christian's place. They stepped inside the warm home and Hazel immediately spotted Valentina in the kitchen. Hazel could help but shoot Christian a raised eyebrow.
He shrugged as he shook out the umbrella. "She comes by ever so often now that she's out of school. But, you know her, she's doing online college."
"Oh, my Gosh!" Valentina span around and took out her earbuds as soon as she noticed the other girl standing in the home. "Hazel! Girl, I haven't seen you in forever! How are you? Give me a hug!"
Hazel grinned and stepped over to her. She happily accepted the girl's embrace.
"It's good to see you, Valentina," Hazel greeted. "As for things, they've been... Well, they've been rough, to say the least. What about you?"
"I've been good, Hazel. I've gotten to know Chris a lot more." Valentina cheekily winked at him, earning a scoff as he strode over, planting a kiss on Valentina's cheek.
"I don't know if that supposed to be dirty or not," Hazel muttered, glancing between the two with her brows knitted. The couple shrugged in sync.
"Oh, Hazel!" Valentina perked up, quickly grabbing the girl's hands with a solemn expression. "I, uh, I heard about the family leaving. Are you feeling okay after that? I heard Bella Swan's been pretty depressed."
"Val, babe, Bella's always dramatic about everything," Christian pointed out. "If anyone here should be depressed it should be Hazel." The girl of the conversation didn't speak. "I mean, she had two Cullens up and leave her."
Valentina gasped, giving her over a swift hit to the stomach. "Christian!" She hissed. The boy coughed and shot her a look, to which Valentina aggressively gestured to Hazel.
"Oh, shit, my bad, Hazel." Christian bit his lip. "It just slipped out and I–"
"It's all good, Chris," Hazel plastered on a smile over her blank expression and shrugged. "I'm coping really well. I don't think any mention of them can hurt me now."
"You sound like you've suddenly become invincible," Valentina laughed lightly. She pointed to the kitchen bench she stood only minutes before. "I've made sone rocky road if you'd like something to eat. Best get some before Jared and Paul take them all."
"Oh, man. I haven't even asked yet. How are they?" Hazel inquired, stepping over to the bench and taking a piece before looking back at the couple. "They still being little shits?"
Christian narrowed his eyes at her. "Says you. Jared and Paul are fine, though. They keep wanting to push me off a cliff, but I keep telling them I'll only do it once they man up."
Hazel hummed, already heading for her second slice of the delicious treat. The trio continued to talk for a while longer. Some of the others at the Reserve even came by including Billy Black's sone, Jacob. Each passerby sent Hazel a knowing look, but never vocalised their thoughts and made sure she never saw.
After an hour or two, Hazel announced her mother had come back. She stole one last slice of rocky road before heading out, calling back to them that she would return the next day.