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FOUR

alex's first two weeks of school went pretty well for the boy. he'd steadily integrated himself into meredith's friend group, occasionally mingling with jessica and angela because of chris and hailey. he had also made a few other friends around the school from some of his classes, but he mainly stuck with those guys.

bella swan seemed to be doing better, though, surprisingly. her complexion was still extremely pale, but not as much as before, and she had become more talkative with alex as the weeks went on.

when he'd asked the girl about it, she'd simply flushed a bit and explained that she was hanging out with a friend from the reservation. and after bringing it up to hailey, who he knew used to live on said reservation, the forrest girl had rolled her eyes at his statement and groaned a bit.

"what's with that reaction?" alex had asked, earning a smaller groan before she decided to answer.

"she's talking about jacob black. his dad is kind of the tribe leader in la push, great friends with bella's dad. they were friends when bella used to live here when she was little, and he's had a crush on her since." alex's eyes widened in understanding, wincing slightly when he realized what she wasn't saying.

"so, bella's sort of using him as her... rebound? is that the word?" at hailey's nod, he'd sighed. "i didn't think she would be the kind of person to use someone else to make herself feel better."

hailey had only scoffed and begun ranting to him about her issues with bella swan, but upon having seen that alex was lost at some point, refrained from continuing, and allowed them both to continue with the assignment they'd been given.

currently during his third week of school, alex was sitting at lunch with earbuds in, humming to some pop song while quietly eating his food. his eyes would flicker from person to person as his friends bantered and yelled at each other, smiles quirking up his lips whenever any particular action amused him, but he was mostly just zoning out while going through the motions of eating.

"what about you, alex?"

the voice that cut through both his thoughts and his music was merediths', and he looks up to find all four of his friends staring at him with expectant eyes. swallowing what was in his mouth, alex raises an eyebrow in question while tilting his head slightly.

"huh?"

chris snorts amusedly at his oh so eloquent response, opening his mouth to explain. "we were talking about this party down at the rez that we're planning on going to. you wanna go with?"

alex blinks owlishly, mouth gaping the slightest bit at the unexpected question. a party? he'd never been invited to a party with people he barely knew, before. was it going to be like all the typical parties american high schoolers went to in the tv shows? would there be alcohol? oh god, was he gonna encounter drugs?! alex had only ever gone to friendly hangouts and birthday parties before, along with the casual class outing he would be invited to out of obligation because of his classmates- this was so out of his element!

realizing his train of thought, hailey was quick to reach out and gently place her hand on his shoulder, catching his widened eyes and smiling calmly at him.

"you don't need to overthink it, alex. it's not gonna be like the typical parties on tv, but there will be some drinking. it'll be at first beach, and there'll be a bonfire going because la push loves to throw bonfire parties, and it won't get too wild. you have no reason to worry, alright?"

her words were definitely comforting to the worried teen, but they didn't completely quell the feeling of worry that settled in his gut. alex had no idea how to go about going to an american high school party, or any kind of general party among other teenagers. he hadn't been a very social kid back in thailand, having never seen a reason to go out of the way to interact with people he likely wouldn't stay connected with for very long after school ended.