Eden and Bea (LGBT+)

🍂 x 13

Eden's POV 

We may have been walking a little further behind the others, but I knew that we still had enough time to catch up with them. 

I didn't care how curious Beatrice was. As I quickened my pace in an attempt to regroup with the other students, I reminded myself that she had no right to know anything about me. I wasn't going to let Beatrice know anything about me. 

What reason did she have to get any insight into my life whatsoever? It wasn't as if the two of us were friends. As soon as I thought it, I felt my heart betray me, as it ached a little with guilt and the knowledge of what might have been. I tried to reassure myself that none of that mattered, as my eyes explored the trees, flowers and dirt around me. Thrilling. 

There were some good things about wandering through the forest, though. For one thing, the fresh air was good for my headache, which was thankfully beginning to fade. I had also remembered to bring a water bottle with me, thankfully, though I could have been distracted from doing so when Beatrice ended up trying to interrogate me once again. What was it with her, anyway? She asked far too many questions sometimes. 

As we continued to walk on, I realised that we wouldn't be heading back to the tents any time soon, so I decided to start daydreaming. At least when life got tough, I could rely upon maladaptive daydreaming to get me through it. I knew that indulging in an act of escapism wasn't why we came on this trip, but sometimes I needed to distract myself to get through situations that were difficult for me. This was difficult for me. I reminded myself that as soon as I returned to the tent, I would be able to read and write in my notebook to my heart's content. 

It did make me feel a little better, until I realised that Beatrice was gazing at me again with an expression of curiosity. 

"Stop staring," I whispered to her. 

She swiftly rotated to look away from me. 

"Sorry," she mumbled and then frowned, as though she hadn't meant to apologise, especially not to me. 

I pulled my phone out of my pocket for a moment and took some time to take some pictures of the wildlife. Fortunately, where we were, it wasn't as though there were any 'no flash photography' signs to prohibit me from doing so. 

"Oh my god, there's a bear over there!" Beatrice said then, as she pointed a short distance away from her, into the trees. 

"Where?" I said immediately, looking in the direction that she was pointing only to find that oh, there wasn't actually a bear there. 

Beatrice scoffed and gently brushed against me, as she wandered past. 

"You're so gullible," she said in a sing-song tone. 

I felt my heart rate settle down a little after my moment of surprise and tried, with little success, to prevent my lip from twitching upwards at the corner. 

It had been a decent way of getting my attention, that much was for sure, though I wasn't convinced that Beatrice actually wanted my attention. She merely wanted to mess with me, right? 

I really disliked her sometimes, I thought to myself, but managed to push the thought out of my mind, as we reached the rest of the students. 

Once we had paused, I took a moment to try to gauge how I was feeling, but I honestly didn't have a clue. 

Besides feeling a little hungry, I was irritated at the fact that Beatrice was still with me, more than anything else. 

Then again, I supposed this much was preferable than being stuck by myself- only just, though. 

"Wow, Ren! I really like your outfit," a girl said beside me, then, and I could tell by her voice that she was being genuine. 

"Thanks-" I went to reply automatically, until I realised that she wasn't talking to me, but instead to Ren Grey who was standing close by. 

"Thank you! They're designer," she said. 

I looked down at my own basic clothes and sighed. What the actual heck was wrong with the world today? 

Ren and the other girl started to talk to one another and soon enough, many people had gathered around Ren as she started to talk to them about the different types of flowers and berries around us in the wood. 

How did she even know this much about them? 

Absolute weirdo. 

The only one who hadn't gone over to speak to her was Beatrice, who came to stand by my side. 

"Wow. Ren's rich, kind and smart. Who would have thought it, right?" she said in my ear, as though taunting me. 

I knew that she wasn't actually taunting me, however. Well, maybe she was. I wasn't too sure at this point. 

"You know, I don't think she's actually that bad. She keeps to herself and minds her business," Beatrice continued, then. 

With a forced serious expression, I spoke again. 

"She does indeed- something that I wish you would do," I said and then pushed past her, managing to get to the front of the line. 

"Hey everyone! Look at all those squirrels," Axel said, immediately turning everyone's attention away from me and towards him. Oh, the power of the football jocks...

Everyone went to observe the cute squirrels, while Axel came to stand beside Beatrice and released a small laugh. 

"Heh. How're you doing, Bee-bee?" he asked her. 

Bee-bee? Seriously? 

"Yeah, bumble bee, how are you doing?" I asked then. I didn't actually mean the question- I just wanted to see how much I could annoy her at this point. One way or another, it had become a genuine form of entertainment. 

Beatrice switched her gaze from Axel to me and I noticed that some humour shone in her eyes, but it only lasted so long before she returned her attention to her best friend. 

So predictable. Those two had always been together, and though I didn't understand it, I supposed I could admire their friendship. However, I still had no idea what Beatrice saw in him.