𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒
One - 1
Twilight

HAYLEY WOODS LEANS IN CLOSE TO HER LAPTOP, THE LIGHT FROM HER SCREEN ILLUMINATING HER FACE AGAINST THE DARKNESS OF HER ROOM.

Her long brown hair is pulled back in a tight pony tail, secured by two elastics and a scrunchy, but still it isn't enough to capture the entirety of her hair as stray pieces stubbornly remain outside of their hold.

She puffs her cheeks out and blows the stands away from her eye-line as she focuses back on the brightness of the device in front of her.

She scrolls down on the website- a dodgy supernatural forum she found, after hours of searching-, reading the words on the screen intently: Vampires; mythical creatures that subsists by feeding on blood from a living animal. They drain their victims by plunging their sharp animal-like-fangs into their prey's neck and sucking the blood right from their bodies. Vampires are said to hunt at night, since sunlight weakens their power, and-

"I'm going to suck your blood!" A voice declares from behind Hayley, putting on their best Dracula impression as their hands clamp down on the girl's shoulders.

Hayley jumps, screeching in alarm. She quickly shoves her chair backwards, into the person behind her, who grunts out in pain. In her rush to stand, she slams her knee against the wood of her desk, causing a sharp feeling of pain to shoot up her leg. The person behind her laughs at her reaction, finally retracting their hands away from her body.

"Oh my god, I got you so good!" Jessica Stanley, Hayley's new (and soon to be ex, if she continues on as she is) friend, teases. Hayley rolls her eyes, hitting her on the arm lightly with a scowl.

"So, not cool!" She huffs, glaring at her venomously as Jess continues to laugh.

"Oh, come on!" Jessica giggles, sitting on the edge of Hayley's bed as though she belongs there, "You don't really believe in this whole vampire crap, do you?"

"I- of course, not!" Hayley rushes to assure, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

"Very convincing, Vampirella." Jessica grins. Hayley rolls her eyes in response to the unwelcome nickname, running her tongue along the inside of her teeth is mild annoyance. She wants to read more about them, not because she believes in their existence but because no matter it's lack-of-truth, it's interesting to read the history and folklore surrounding them. But now that Jess is here, breathing over her shoulder, there's no way she'll be able to finish it!

"What are you doing here anyway, Jess?" Hayley questions, shutting her laptop in an attempt to draw Jessica's attention away from her research.

"Smooth," Jess grins at her quick change of subject, "But, I'll allow it. I'm here to see what you're gonna wear to school tomorrow!"

Hayley raises a brow, her eyes darting towards her window to gaze out at the starry night, "That's why you're here? At this time of night?"

Jessica nods, her brown hair bouncing against her shoulders, "Yeah! We can't be seen together if you look like you get dressed by Kate Young."

Hayley rolls her eyes (an action she seems to do a lot around Jessica), "Of course, not," she nods towards her wardrobe, welcoming Jess to look through it, "I haven't unpacked it all yet." she warns.

"It's been three weeks since you got here! How have you not unpacked everything yet?" Jess criticises, moving towards Hayley's wardrobe and pushing through her clothes with a frown.

"Because I've been dragged out every single day for those 'three weeks' that I've been here!" Hayley retorts, sending her a pointed look.

Jess shrugs, smirking lightly, "Guilty! I mean, can you really blame me? I just wanted to make sure you weren't some weird-hermit Vermont-girl, or something!"

"Sure, whatever you say...," Hayley snorts, pushing herself away from her desk and moving towards her bedroom door, which Jess had left gaping wide-open when she entered, "I'm just going to talk to my dad, real quick. I'll be back in a sec."

Jess waves her off disinterestedly, her eyes remaining firmly on Hayley's wide range of clothes, "Yeah, yeah, you go talk to that hot dad of yours. I'll be fine here."

Hayley scrunches her face up in disgust at her comment, but remains silent as she exits the room, closing the door gently behind behind her as she goes.

She climbs down the stairs, peeking into the living room and finding her dad sat watching TV, his gun in his hand as he carefully cleans it.

"Hey, kid, where's your friend gone?" He questions, his eyes flickering up from his gun momentarily to look at her.

"Oh, she's just looking through my clothes..." Hayley shuffles awkwardly, any confidence she had had coming down here, disappearing under her father's half-interested gaze, "I- um, I looked at the thing you told me to."

Tyler's head snaps up towards her, his attention captured by the admission. He stares at his daughter for a beat, before placing down his gun and turning his full attention towards her, "And...?" He prompts.

"And: it's insane," Hayley breathes, throwing her hands up incredulously, "I mean, vampires, dad! Really?"

"You don't believe me?" He asks carefully, examining her through hooded eyes.

"I want to- really! But, dad, vampires!?"

"Yes. Vampires," He agrees after a beat, "I know how it sounds, but it's true: they live among us. They're our teachers, our doctors, our friends-"

"Dad-" Hayley tries, her voice bordering on desperation. Why is he doing this? Is this some kind of stupid inside-joke that Hayley's missing out on? Is he trying to be funny, or something? Because he's really not!

"No. Listen." He commands, holding a hand out to her when she opens her mouth to interrupt him again, "I understand why you think they're not real, truly, I do. I mean, if you would've asked me a few months ago, I would've said the exact same thing- but they are, Hayley. Vampires, werewolves- they're out there, in the shadows-"

"So, what changed?" Hayley interjects in frustration, loosing interest in whatever speech he's spewing at her now. She doesn't care about his opinion on the existence of vampires and other mythical creatures, she just wants to know why he does, and why he's trying so hard to make her believe it too. He's never been superstitious, in fact, it was her mother who was! So, why? Why does he believe in these impossible creatures?

Her dad is silent for a second, his gaze falling to a picture of Hayley and her mother on the mantelpiece, "Massachusetts." Is all he says in response, to Hayley's annoyance.

"Wow. Thanks. That really cleared things up for me, dad!" She scoffs, shaking her head, "Is that why we moved here? Because you had some kind of epiphany about the supernatural?"

"Well...yes, but-"

"Dad-!"

"Hayley-" he tries, stepping towards her, his hands held out in an attempt to calm her, his gun long forgotten on the table behind him.

"No!" She backs away from him, anger on her face, "You pulled me away from my friends, my home- the place my mother grew up in- to what? Chase mythical creatures...? They don't exist, dad-!"

"Hayley-!"

"No...I don't wanna talk about this anymore...," she takes another step backwards, towards the stairs, "I should go see Jess before she comes down here and catches us arguing. The last thing I need is people around here thinking we're weird." she scoffs, turning towards the staircase with a frown.

Her dad watches her go sorrowfully, allowing her to leave the room, "We'll talk about this tomorrow." Is all he says, not wanting to argue anymore with his daughter.

Hayley merely nods, having no desire to do so. Her dad can go and chase some non-existent creatures, for all she cares, but she wants nothing to do with it.

She jogs up the steps, opening her bedroom door and flopping down on her bed, a groan slipping from her lips.

"Parents suck, right?" Jess grins, looking down at Hayley, her head tilted to the side as she watches her closely. Jess jolts once her words catch up to her, her eyes growing wide, "Oh- um- I'm sorry...I forgot...about your mom."

Hayley closes her eyes, turning her head away from Jess' gaze and humming softly, "It's fine..."

Jess hesitates for a second and Hayley can practically hear the way her mind spins with curiosity, "...Where is your mom?" The girl finally asks, intrigue prevailing over her morals. When Haley doesn't answer, the silence washing over them, hot and heavy, Jess shakes her head, stepping away from from the other teen regretfully, "Sorry, I-"

"She died," Hayley whispers, interrupting whatever apology Jess was going to say, "freak accident, they called it."

"Oh, god!" Jess gasps, sitting next to Hayley on the bed and placing a comforting hand on her back, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know! I thought you'd say your parents had a divorce, or something- not this!"

"It's fine." Hayley repeats curtly, rising into a sitting position, Jess' hand falling from her back.

Her dad is just grieving her mom, Hayley gently reminds herself, just like she is. And grief can make people do weird things. This whole 'supernatural stuff' is probably just a minor (albeit, weird) stage in that long, painful process of healing.

Hayley doesn't imagine she'll ever heal from her mother's death. A piece of her soul forever missing, buried six feet under with her mother's cold, dead body in their hometown Stowe.

She thinks she'll always feel like this; damaged, lost, broken. She wishes she could go back in time to four months ago, when everything was...good. Normal. Right.

But, she can't.

And, she'll never be able to.

Jess looks at her nervously before jumping up to her feet and putting on a wide, clearly fake, smile (Hayley appreciates it all the same), "Well, that was depressing!" she turns away from Hayley and back towards the wardrobe, pulling out two hangers worth of clothes and chucking them on the bed beside her, "These are perfect! Wear these, and you'll look absolutely gorgeous for your first day!"

Hayley eyes the clothes on her bed critically, but gives her a small smile nonetheless, "Thanks...?"

Jess smiles widely, "No problem! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Jessica leaves as quickly as she had arrived, a wide smile of accomplishment on her lips. Hayley watches her go before turning back towards the clothes, picking them up and spinning them around in her hands.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day, she can already feel it.

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HAYLEY JUMPS OUT OF HER BATTERED BLUE JEEP, HER BLACK BOOTS HITTING THE GROUND HARSHLY AND RESULTING IN A PUDDLE SPLASHING UP AT HER, SOAKING THE BOTTOM OF HER BLACK FLARED JEANS.

The brown-haired girl groans loudly, looking down at her jeans disdainfully, "Great! Just what I needed today!"

A soft giggle sounds out from beside her, making her turn sharply with a glare.

Who the hell-!?

A short, brown-haired girl, with pale-as-snow skin, stands beside her, her lips curled upwards in a wide smile, amusement dancing across her face. The girl's eyes are big and wide, the word 'Bambi' coming to Hayley's mind as soon as she sees them. Dark-purple bags highlight her eyes, not weighing down her face, but instead shining beautiful against her stark-white skin.

All in all, she looks...ethereal.

Now, Haley's not one to be insecure about her complexion- far from it, really-, but she's never been more jealous of a person's appearance in her whole-entire life.

The girl, who looks to be around the same age as herself, radiates a feeling that makes Hayley want to scratch at her skin in anticipation. It's endearing, to say the least.

When she realises that she's been standing in silence, mouth open in shock, for way too long, she attempts to stutter out a sentence (or at least a few words so that she doesn't look like an idiot- for any longer than she already has), but before she can, the girl disappears, merging into a crowd of people, like she was never even there to begin with.

Hayley starts after her, but stops sharply in her steps when a chipper-voice loudly exclaims, "Hey, Hayls!" An arm wraps around hers, dragging her backwards sharply. Hayley stumbles slightly at the suddenness of the added weight to her arm. Jess continues, unbothered by the other girl's clear struggle to stay upright, "Are you excited? It's your first day!"

Hayley clears her throat, shaking her head in an attempt to pull herself out of her daze, "Thrilled."

"Wait...I thought I picked out blue jeans..." Jess pouts, looking down at Hayley's jeans like they've personally offended her.

"Who was that?" Hayley asks, ignoring Jess' disappointed expression, her eyes drifting over her shoulder in the direction the girl went off in.

"Who was who?" Jessica inquires, turning her head quickly to follow Hayley's gaze and frowning when she doesn't spot anyone in particular.

"Never-mind." Hayley mumbles, turning away and allowing Jess to continue pulling her forwards, towards the school.

Jessica's heels click loudly along the floor as they walk through the halls, her head held high as she ignores all the stares that turn their way in intrigue. Hayley looks around them, feeling slightly uneasy with all the attention on them. Jess catches this look, laughing lightly and wrapping her arm tighter around hers in response.

"Oh, don't mind them!" She bats her hand at the groups of people staring at them, "We haven't had a new kid here in a while. Especially not two. It's unusual."

"Two?" Hayley echoes in confusion, "There's another new kid here?"

"Yeah, another girl," Jess nods, before unwrapping her arm from Hayley's and spreading her hands wide in front of a wall of lockers, a bright smile on her lips, "Here we are: you're very own locker!"

Hayley sends her a small grin at her infectious enthusiasm, pulling out her timetable from her bag and carefully turning her locker's dial to the code.

Jess rips the timetable out from her hands as soon as she's done, "What have you got first?"

Hayley looks down between her timetable and her now empty hand before answering her, dropping her jacket into her locker as she does so, "English."

Jess scrunches her nose up, before shaking Hayley's timetable excitably, "Oh! We have second period together: P.E!"

"We do?" Hayley questions, leaning back against her locker and watching as people pass them in the halls, presumably on their way to their own lessons.

"Yep, I can't wait for it already!" Jess hums happily, "I'll introduce you to my other friends at lunch, you'll love them!" she starts to back away from Hayley, moving in the way of the people trying to walk through the halls (not that she notices- or cares), "Well, I'll see you in P.E then!"

The girl turns on her heels, skipping off to her own lesson with a smile on her lips. Hayley starts forward after her, but quickly steps back towards her locker when she realises she'll only get trampled on by the waves of people in the halls, "Hey! You're meant to be my tour guide, where the hell are you going!?"

Hayley throws her hands up, groaning in frustration once more, her timetable dangling from her fist.

Great! Her first day and she's already lost- thanks a lot Jess!

"You seem to be having some bad-luck today." A sweet voices says from behind her. Hayley freezes at the sound of the angelic voice, her shoulders tensing in shock. She turns on her heels towards the sound, her eyes growing wide as she spots the girl from this morning smiling up at her.

"Yeah- no- uh, I mean," Hayley coughs in an attempt to clear her throat, much to the amusement of the girl in front of her, "I'm lost, can you help me please?"

The girl smiles wider (if that's even possible), nodding gently along with her words, "Sure." She holds out her hand for Hayley's timetable, which she immediately passes over, grateful for the help. Their fingers brush ever so slightly and a cold chill shoots up Hayley's arm in response.

She's...freezing, Hayley notes, looking at the girl in concern.

How is she not shivering? Should she ask if she's okay? Offer her her coat?

The girl doesn't notice Hayley's mild worry, instead observing the contents of her timetable closely, "You're right next door to me, come on, I'll show you the way."

She offers back the piece of paper to her, her smile still in place. Hayley takes it, careful not to touch her fingers this time, as she nod's absentmindedly, her eyes staring into the other girl's hazel-brown ones (that she swears gleams a vibrant orange under these artificial lights).

"I'm Alice, by the way," The girl smiles as she gestures for Hayley to follow her, "I didn't have time to introduce myself earlier."

Hayley follows after her like a lost puppy, her eyes lighting up as she finally gets to put a name to the face.

Alice.

Old German for nobility: a fitting name for someone she could swear was an intergalactic princess in another life.

"I'm Hayley," she breathes, "I just moved here three weeks ago."

"Really? Where'd you move from?"

"Vermont." Hayley answers, mentally mapping out the way they're walking (since Jess doesn't seem like she'll be helping her out anytime soon).

"So, are you liking Forks so far?" Alice asks politely.

Haley turns her gaze to Alice for a second, noting how she seems to almost float on the toes of her feet, rather than walk, "I think it's pretty nice, so far..."

Alice smiles, stopping in front of a wooden door with the room number '27' stamped on it, "Well, this is it!"

"Right..." Hayley's shoulders fall slightly, she forgot she actually had to go to a lesson! Why couldn't Alice just have the same class as her? It would make everything so much easier to know at least one person in there- even if they had just met a few moments ago!

Alice seems to read her thoughts, laughing slightly and nudging her arm with her hand gently, "Oh, come on! It's not gonna be that bad, I promise!"

"How do you know?" Haley questions, raising a brow, "this could be hell!"

"It won't be," Alice smiles knowingly, "trust me."

"What, can you predict the future or something?" Hayley retorts with a grin, well aware she's just attempting to stall for as much time as she possibly can before she inevitably has to go in.

Alice laughs quietly, looking down at her feet, "I guess, you could say that..."

"Really? Well, I'll keep that in mind when I have a test."

Alice smiles, looking up as the bell-rings loudly, "Well, that's my cue. I'll see you later, Hayley."

"Is that a fact or a promise, mind-reader?"

Alice pretends to think for a second as she backs away slowly, "A little bit of both."

Hayley laughs, the anxiousness that was in her chest prior lightening ever so slightly. As Alice waves goodbye, her cheery smile still on her face, Hayley turns, taking a deep breath before opening the class door and entering it, a newfound determination burning in her chest.

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BY THE TIME SECOND PERIOD COMES AROUND, HAYLEY IS MORE THAN READY TO GO HOME AND CLIMB BACK INTO THE COMFORT OF HER BED.

Well, to be completely honest, her English lesson wasn't that bad, per-say, it just wasn't exactly good either. It was draining, more than anything, to sit in a dull room with other kids her age and listen to an old guy drone on and on about some dead, white man who wrote one good novel (that's filled to the brim with misogynistic comments and racist overtones) in his lifetime.

So yeah, pretty much like any other English lesson she's ever had in her lifetime.

Jess had accosted her as soon as she got out of her class, practically dragging her by the arm (once again) towards the school's office, where she picked up her new P.E. uniform; red and gold, the spartan logo embellished on the front left pocket.

They had got changed in the girl's locker-room, Jess impatiently tapping her feet as Hayley shoves her clothes on, the red and gold sticking out against her tanned skin.

Once they finished getting changed, they quickly move towards the sports hall. The P.E, coach meets them and the rest of their class at the door, ushering them in energetically.

Jess, being one of the team captains, immediately pulls Hayley alongside her onto the court. And after the process of picking teams was established, they all get into position on either side of the volleyball-net.

Jess starts with the ball, slamming her hand into it and firing it at the other team, who immediately slap it back towards them. This back and fourth carries on for a few rounds, Hayley mostly staying in the back and allowing Jess to take all of the hits, before one of the ball goes astray, flying towards Hayley at a high speed.

"Block it, Hayley!" Jess exclaims pointedly, from the other side of the pitch, jumping on the balls of her feet.

Hayley moves herself into position, hitting the ball back and towards a lonely brown-haired girl in the back corner of the other side. Said girl flounders, hitting the ball and sending it off the side of the court. Hayley winces, feeling bad for sending the ball in her direction, however unintentional it actually was.

The ball lands harshly against the back of a boy's head, "Ow!" He exclaims, his hand flying upwards, towards his neck.

The girl on the other-side hurries towards him, panic and concern on her face. As they converse, the boy grinning down at her, Jess's face contorts into annoyance. She huffs, marching over to them, Hayley following after her in mild-curiosity.

Jess steps in-between them, forcing a smile on to her lips as she lightly nudges the blonde boy with her shoulder, "She's got a great spike, doesn't she?" Jess turns to the girl, fake-interest shinning in her eyes, "So, you're from Arizona, right? Aren't people supposed to be tan down there?"

Hayley cringes beside Jess at her words. Fuck, this is awkward...she wishes she didn't follow her over now.

"That's why they kicked me out." The girl jabs back, causing the other two to laugh. Hayley's own lips twitch upwards at the joke, watching as the girl shrinks away slightly from the attention.

"Hey," Hayley calls as Jess and the boy continue to converse beside them, "I'm Hayley."

"Bella." The girl smiles gently, ducking her head slightly to hide behind the strands of her hair.

"Sorry about sending the ball your way. I didn't know you'd hit it off the court."

Bella laughs nervously, "Yeah...I told them not to let me play."

Hayley smiles, "So, you're new here too?"

"Yeah! You're new too?" Bella lifts her head, looking relieved to find out she's not alone in her struggles, "I just moved here!"

Hayley hums, "Me too."

"I can't believe you're new here," Bella continues, "You look so comfortable, like you've been here for years!"

Hayley shrugs at her words, "I mean, it's not too bad here. These people seem to fawn over everything that's not from this town though."

"You've had the stares too?" Bella cringes.

Hayley nods, "Yeah...hey, do you wanna stick together, or something? It would be nice to have someone who's..." she looks around the hall at all the student's surrounding them, stares being constantly thrown in their direction like they're some kind of exotic animals, "semi-normal."

Bella sighs a breath of relief, her shoulders sinking slightly, "Yeah, I would love that. Everyone's so..."

"Intense?" Hayley finishes.

"Yeah. Intense."

Hayley nods, looking to her left at Jess who laughs loudly, slapping the boy's arm in amusement, "Yeah, I get you."

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HAYLEY FOLLOWS JESS- AND WHO SHE NOW KNOWS IS MIKE- INTO THE CAFETERIA, BELLA STICKING CLOSELY TO HER SIDE THE WHOLE WAY.

The brown-haired girl drops into a seat next to Jess, sliding her tray of food onto the table in front of her. Bella takes up her other side, allowing Haley to use the side of her chair to rest her feet on. For only having just met Bella, Hayley can already say she's her favourite.

Just as Haley picks up her apple, biting into its flesh, a boy runs towards them, pulling a seat from a table beside them and slotting himself perfectly between Bella and Hayley, forcing the latter's feet from the chair.

Hayley glares at the boy, "Do you mind?"

The boy beams, taking no notice of her hostility, "Oh, hey! You're the other new-girl, right? Hayley Woods? I'm Eric! I haven't been able to find you all day! How would you like to be a feature on-"

"No-" Hayley interrupts curtly.

"But, I didn't even fini-" he tries again.

"No." Haley reiterates firmly, turning away from the boy and back to her apple, signalling the end of their conversation. In the corner of her eye, she sees Jess hiding a smile behind her water bottle, clearly enjoying watching the boy get turned down.

Eric, with a wide smile, bounces back quickly from the rejection, turning his attention solely onto Bella, "Mike, you met my home girl Bella."

"Your home girl?" Mike questions, an amused grin playing on his lips.

"My home girl." A boy says from behind Mike, pressing a kiss to Bella's cheek and then pulling the chair out from under the blonde boy.

"Hey!" Hayley yells, standing to her feet, ready to defend Bella. Bella shakes her head, sending her a pointed look that clearly screams 'please, don't make a scene!' as she grips onto the sleeve on her shirt, tugging her back down to her seat.

Mike yelps, jumping to his feet and chasing after the unknown boy, leaving Hayley to huff and collapse back into her chair.

"It's first grade all over again, and you're the shiny new toys." Jess scoffs as she watches Mike disappear from the cafeteria, the two boy's laughter following them the whole way.

Haley bites into her apple, eyeing Jess's obvious jealously at the attention Bella's attracting. And when she catches Hayley's look, Jess stabs her fork into her salad, smiling widely (with far too many teeth for it to be genuine).

A bright flash blinds Hayley before she can say anything to Jess, causing her to yelp slightly in surprise, "What the fuck!?"

Hayley blinks harshly, attempting to clear her vision from the black spots that invade them. And when they finally do fade, a girl's figure appears in front of her.

The girl wears a sheepish smile on her face, her eyes apologetic as she awkwardly explains her actions, "Sorry, needed a candid for the feature."

Hayley tilts her head, her face shocked. What is with people and their lack of boundaries here!?

"Feature's dead, Angela. Don't bring it up again," Eric chastises the girl, before turning back towards Hayley and Bella in turn, "I got your back, baby."

Hayley scrunches her face up in disgust, "Our hero."

The girl, Angela, deflates, looking down at her camera in disappointment, and Hayley almost feels sorry for her. Almost.

"Guess we'll just run another editorial on teen drinking." She sighs, slipping into a seat opposite Eric. Hayley shrugs, biting down on her apple once more. As long as she's not in it, she can care less what shit they write.

"Sorry. There's always eating disorders, or Speedo padding on the swim team." Bella offers.

Hayley snorts at her suggestions, what would they write about speedo padding-?

"Wait, that's a good one..!" Angela exclaims, pulling out a notepad and pen from her bag to jot down her ideas on the subject of the swim-team's speedo padding. Eric removes himself from the chair next to Hayley, rounding the table and sitting next to Angela to watch what she's writing in interest.

Hayley turns to look at Bella in disbelief as the girl climbs into the seat Eric vacated, not wanting anyone else to sit between her and Hayley again. Bella sends her a look back, her lips twitching upwards in amusement, before her gaze quickly slips over her shoulder. Hayley follows her eyes, turning towards the door where a group of people enter.

She watches them as they move, her eyes immediately turning towards the back of the group where Alice stands, a curly-haired boy at her shoulder. The boy looks down at her, whispering something in her ear, causing Alice to laugh.

Hayley swallows thickly at the sight, her heart dropping in her chest. She doesn't understand why she's feeling this way. She only just met this girl today- barely hours ago- this is ridiculous, even for her standards!

She shouldn't feel...jealous-? No, it's not jealousy! It can't possibly be! It can't!

Before she can turn away from them, Alice's eyes turn towards her (almost like she could sense Hayley's eyes on her frame). The girl smiles, lifting her hand up in a small wave. Hayley's eyes grow-wide at the action, immediately turning away from her and ducking her head in embarrassment of getting caught. She curses herself for doing so, feeling like an asshole for not returning the gesture. Why didn't she just wave back!?

Hayley rushes to turn back around, ready to wave this time, but Alice is already gone, sitting at a table in the back of the cafeteria, her head turned towards the curly-haired boy once more.

The feeling returns stronger in her chest, but she swiftly stamps it back down, stuffing her apple back in her mouth in an attempt to distract herself from the horrific tsunami of emotions she's feeling.

"Who are they?" Bella asks, her voice sounding hazy to Hayley's ears as she leans closer to her side.

Before Hayley can remember how to string together a coherent sentence (which would probably be something along the lines of, 'how should I know? I've been here as long as you have!'), Jess leans in on her other side, sandwiching her between the two, as she whispers, "Doctor and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They all moved down here from Alaska two years ago."

"They kinda keep to themselves." Angela declares, looking up from her notepad towards the Cullen's table.

"Because they're all together. Like, together together," Jess reveals causing a cringe of disgust to flow through Haley. That's so wrong, on so many levels..., "The blonde girl, Rosalie, and the big dark-haired guy, Emmett; they're a thing. I'm not even sure that's legal."

"Jess, they're not actually related." Angela defends, quite weakly in Hayley opinion.

Hayley looks at her, her mouth curling in distaste at her words, "That doesn't make it any better. They're practically brother and sister by law."

"Yeah, and they live together." Jess agrees with a nod.

"What about her?" Hayley asks, nodding her head towards Alice, "Is she..." the 'dating one of her siblings-by-law', goes unsaid, but is picked up by Jess nonetheless.

"Who? Oh, the little dark-haired girl?" Jess asks, prompting Hayley to nod.

"Alice," She corrects. Jess looks at her in surprise, causing Hayley to elaborate, "We met earlier."

Jess scrunches her face up in remorse as she says in a patronising voice, "Oh? Really? You poor thing. That sucks. She's like really weird...she's with Jasper, the blonde who looks like he's in pain."

Hayley looks over towards Alice and Jasper, watching as she talks animatedly towards the boy, a bright smile on her lips.

A sullen feeling claws its way up her throat, the jealousy remaining coiled in her chest like a panther, ready to pounce on its prey.

"Well, that's what everyone says anyway." Angela agrees.

Jess looks at her weirdly, "Have you seen them together? Of course, they're dating!"

The green emotion continues to rise, overwhelming her senses and causing her vision to spin. She puts her drink down, harsher than she intended to, causing some of the liquid to overspill from the lid and drip onto her clothes. She stands up suddenly at the cold sensation, her chair screeching backwards. Bella jumps up as well, offering her tissues from her bag. Before she can get them out however, Hayley puts her hands out, stopping her from continuing.

"No. No, it's fine, Bella. I'm just gonna go to the bathroom and dry off."

"I'll come with-" Jess begins, pulling her bag onto her shoulder.

"No! I mean, no, it's okay. I'll be right back."

Jess looks at her sceptically before sitting back down, her bag strap falling from her shoulder, "Well, if you're sure..."

"Yeah," She mumbles, "I'm sure."

Hayley leaves the table, her bag remaining on her seat, not seeing any need to take it with her as she quickly makes her way to the bathroom.

She opens the girl's bathroom door with a sigh, entering a stall and tearing off some toilet paper from the roll. She uses it to dab at the wetness that drenches her clothes, her lips set in a frown at the sight of it. As she rubs at the water, she moves back towards the sinks, facing the mirrors with a groan of frustration.

The door swings open, but Hayley pays no attention to it, hoping whoever it is will just go around her and leave her to wallow in peace. They don't.

"You're bad luck hasn't stopped yet, huh?"

Hayley tenses up at the voice, her eyes darting towards the mirror in surprise. Alice stands behind her, that smile, that sends goose bumps all over her skin, on her lips. Hayley ducks her head at the sight of it, looking back down at her wet t-shirt.

"Yeah, seems like it..." Hayley agrees in a low mumble. It just had to be her, didn't it? Fate just really hates her today!

Alice watches her for a moment, before disappearing into one of the stalls, and for a mere second, Hayley hopes that that's the end of their conversation. But, of course, it's not, that would just be way too easy for her!

Alice comes back out, toilet paper wrapped securely around her hands. She stops beside Hayley, her body mere centimetres from her shoulder, "May I?" she questions, looking into her eyes so earnestly that it makes Hayley falter slightly, her mouth hanging open as she struggles to form any kind of words.

Hayley shuts her mouth quickly with an audible click, nodding for Alice to continue and angling herself towards her so that she can reach her clothes better. Alice gently lifts Hayley's shirt up, putting her hand beneath the fabric and causing Hayley to tense up as her cold hands brush against her stomach.

"Sorry, I should've asked. Is this okay?" Alice questions, pausing her actions to look up at her through her thick eyelashes.

"Yeah!" Hayley squeaks, turning her head away from her in embarrassment as her cheeks turn a dark red at their close proximity.

"I would ask you how your first day is going, but I'm sure I can already guess." Alice laughs as she begins to blot the water stain on her shirt with the toilet paper.

Hayley laughs nervously along-side her, "Yeah...it's certainly been memorable."

"You said you moved from Vermont right?"

Hayley hums in confirmation.

"Where were you? Middlebury?"

"Stowe." she answers, her voice unconsciously softening at the mention of her hometown.

"I hear it's beautiful there in the winter." Alice comments, smiling up at her.

Does she ever stop smiling? Hayley wonders as she stares at the up-ward tic of her lips, "Yeah, it is. It's snows heavily so everything's just pure white. It's amazing."

Alice tilts her head up towards Hayley, "It's sounds it. Maybe, I'll go there one day."

Hayley nods, staring down into Alice's round eyes as she breathes, "Yeah. You should."

Alice stares back for a second, before declaring suddenly, "I'm not dating Jasper." as soon as the words leave her lips, she ducks her head, staring at her fingers, which are still intertwined with Hayley's shirt.

Hayley's face burns as she inhales sharply, "It's none of my business, really-"

"No, no, I know," Alice rushes to assure, tightening her hold on the fabric, "I just-...I just wanted you to know that."

Hayley nods slowly, unsure how exactly to respond. She 'wanted' her to know?

...Why?

Alice clears her throat, backing away from Hayley and realising her hold on her shirt, "There. Like nothing ever happened."

Hayley looks down at her t-shirt, taking note of the darker patch on it and cringing slightly, "Yeah, as good as new."

Alice takes the toilet paper from Hayley's hand (she didn't even realise she was still holding it), and deposits it into the bin beside them.

"Thank you." Hayley says gratefully.

Alice nods, "Anytime."

──────────────────

"HOW WAS SCHOOL?" TYLER ASKS AS SOON AS HAYLEY ENTERS THE HOUSE.

She drops her keys on to the side, avoiding eye-contact with him as she answers curtly, "Fine."

"Just 'fine'?" He probes, raising a brow.

"Well, I wasn't attacked by a vampire, so I'd say: great." she retorts, chucking her bag onto the floor.

Her dad scoffs, shaking his head, which only serves to add more fuel to Hayley's fire.

"So, you're still preaching the existence of vampires, huh? Gonna get a sign and walk around predicting the end of the world too?"

"Their existence is as real as you and me are. And If you can't see that, that just shows to me that you're not ready to hear the rest." Tyler rebukes, turning sharply away from Hayley and into the living room.

"Rest of what?" Hayley interrogates venomously, following after him.

"The truth." he answers simply.

Hayley exhales, backing away from him, "I can't do this right now. I'm going to my room."

As she leaves, her dad sighs, picking his gun up from the mantlepiece and sitting down on a chair. The picture of Hayley and her mother is in front of him, their beaming faces staring up at him in adoration.

"Soon...," He promises the still-picture, "soon."

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(6183 words)
Written - 15/12/2023
Edited - 06/08/2024
Edited - 13/08/2024

author's notes,
Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed!
Anyway I changed Eric's entrance a little...
not really sure why lol it just kinda happened 🤷‍♀️
My spotify, tic tok and pinterest is @ thatwearsthecrown :)