New Girl

Clash of the Monsters

Angela didn't want to make a big fuss out of her birthday. That didn't stop them from having a surprise party at her house during the weekend. It was only the girls and they ate the cake as Angela unwrapped the presents they gave her. Lauren was able to find a first edition copy of Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey.

"This must've cost a fortune, Lauren," Angela said. "This is too much."

Lauren scoffed, "I'm not taking it back. It's up to you where it ends up."

Angela couldn't hide how touched she was and gave the blonde a tight hug. She let Bella look at the book.

"I didn't know there was a third Bronte sister," she remarked.

"Poor Anne was always overshadowed by her sisters," Angela explained. "Which is a shame because Agnes Grey is such a lovely book."

"It's hard not to be overlooked over the love interests her sisters were writing," Lauren declared. "Problematic men all around."

Bella frowned. "Wuthering Heights is my favorite book."

"And we all know Heathcliff and Catherine deserved each other. They're both insane."

Jessica snorted. "Can't really argue with that."

Bella looked at her in betrayal and Jessica added, "It's true, Bells. They were in a toxic, obsessive relationship that destroyed their lives and everyone around them."

Angela nodded. "That's not love."

"Love should make you a better person, not worse."

"If it destroys you, get rid of it," Lauren stated. "Life is too short to spend it on horrible relationships."

Bella asked, "But shouldn't love be...more?"

"You mean epic? Spanning years and continents, lives ruined, and bloodshed?"

Bella nodded. "Sounds amazing."

"Sounds exhausting." Lauren took a big bite of cake. "And who the hell has the time for that?"

"Ruined lives and bloodshed." Jessica laughed. "Could you imagine a love that ridiculous?"

Bella didn't answer.

In an effort to distract Bella from her obsession with Edward Cullen, Jessica was trying to persuade her to join the school newspaper. They didn't have a Book Club and she figured Bella could write for the Book Reviews section. It would help with college admissions and keep her too busy to have to care whether Cullen was really a vampire or not. Satisfied with her plan, she went to talk to Lauren about it.

Lauren was the managing editor for the paper and was preparing to be editor-in-chief next year after the current one graduated. Lauren's talent for terrifying everyone to doing anything she wanted helped make sure they always met their deadlines. Lauren Mallory ran a tight ship and she did not hesitate to throw people overboard if they disappointed her. The only one who wasn't afraid of Lauren was Angela but she was a cherub.

Jessica went to the classroom where Lauren was looking over articles for that week's issue. Lauren was proofreading with a red pen.

"No can do," Lauren told her. "We've cut Book Reviews this year."

Jessica stared at her in disbelief. "Why?"

"People didn't care about it as much and we're using the space for something else."

"For what?"

"Eric's Movie Reviews are popular and we're giving him a bigger spread for this month. He's writing about Top Ten Movies to Binge for Halloween."