Crimson Gold

Part 2: Chapter 9: Difficulties

3rd Person POV

School, Four Months Later

As Ryan pulled into the lot, he thought back to what had been going on these past few months. He and Alice had officially started dating, something that both Alex and Dana had congratulated him on, and so far, everything had been going smoothly. Unfortunately, that wasn't the same for New York.

Multiple Infected had been surfacing, and Alex had been trying everything he could to keep them under control. He had controlled most of the Infected in the city, but these new ones that keep on appearing were impervious to his control.

Shaking his head, Ryan pulled into the school parking lot right next to Bella's old truck.

As he got out, he heard Jessica talking with Bella. "—big day," she was saying. "R and J essay due."

"Oh, yeah," Bella replied.

"Wherefore art thou, Bella?" Mike asked, mimicking a Shakespearean accent.

Shaking his head, Ryan walked up. "No, Mike, that's not how you do it," he chided. Changing his voice to that of one of the poets he had consumed back in New York, he said, "Dear Bella, art thou prepared for our sickest doom of an essay?"

"That was actually pretty good," Jessica commented as the others laughed.

"Let me take a picture of you guys," Bella suddenly said. "My mom wants me to put together, like, a scrapbook full of memories."

"Oh."

"Cool. Yeah."

As everyone got in, Angela backed up. "I take them. I'm not in them."

"No, no, no, come here," Eric said, pulling her in.

"Well, you are today," Bella said smugly.

"Come on, Ryan," Jessica called. "Get in here."

Ryan shrugged. "Might as well."

As he walked up next to Jessica, she said, "You'll photoshop this if my nose looks big, right?"

"Don't worry, I'm in the picture," Eric assured. "No one will be looking at you guys."

Ryan snorted. "Yeah, cause they'd be trying to figure out what that big photoshopped section was."

"Hey!" Eric protested as Bella snapped a photo.

"That's good," Bella affirmed, putting away her camera.

"Oh good," Mike said, looking over. "Cullen's here."

As Edward walked over to Bella, Ryan ran over and hugged Alice. "About time you got here," he greeted. "I was beginning to think you forgot school."

Alice giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "How could I forget something as boring as school?"

"That's the thing," Ryan groaned. "You can't."

Jasper laughed and patted him on the back. "You'll survive."

Timeskip

As Ryan, Jasper, and Alice walked down the stairway, Ryan spotted Bella and Edward walking toward them. "Bella!" Alice called, vaulting over the railing with Ryan following close behind her.