Astrophile (Paul Lahote)

twenty one

࿔*:･twenty one ࿔*:･

°. *࿐ ༻༺ ࿐°. *

It seemed Carter's little pep talk had little to no effect on Bella because following the weeks after that, she just seemed to fall deeper and deeper into her void of darkness.

She had started coming to school again but she never seemed to be all there. And she still sat with the rest of their friends at lunch, but she never talked to anyone, always staring straight ahead and not participating in conversations.

Carter started sleeping at her place every weekend, just so that Charlie could get some sleep because she would be there to comfort Bella after every nightmare she had.

The brunette still sat in front of the window every day, staring at nothing, talking to no one.

And just like that, October passed.

°. *࿐ ༻༺ ࿐°. *

Though one thing that Bella's new behaviour had done for Carter was it allowed her to catch up with her other friends. So while she still tried her best to take care of her friend, she had also started spending time with Vicky and Theo. And she hung out with Jake while he opened up different car parts to fix them. This also allowed her to hang out with Embry and Quil. Both of whom, Carter discovered, were a treat to be around because they couldn't be serious for two minutes

Like they were doing right now. Carter cackled loudly as Quil caught Embry in a headlock after he had decided to tease the younger boy about his prom date for the third time since he'd told them.

Jacob shook his head and chuckled at the pair of them. Embry sat next to Carter, panting as he finally managed to get out of Quil's grip.

He shrugged, "I mean come on, dude." He huffed a laugh, "Your cousin." He chuckled and Quil rolled his eyes, "Whatever Embry, it's better than not having a date at all." He said pointedly.

Carter laughed once more and Quil frowned at her, "Shut up, Carter." He whined and Carter put a hand on her mouth.

"No, yeah," she nodded, "I agree with you a hundred per cent." She mumbled, trying to not laugh.

Embry giggled loudly, causing Quil to throw a dirty rag at his face.

Carter rolled her eyes at the two boys before she stood up, "well," she sighed, collecting her stuff, "as fun as it is hanging out with you kids-" Quil made an offended face, "I have plans with Theo and Vicky."

"So," Embry smirked, "when are you gonna introduce them to us?" He asked.

Carter narrowed her eyes, "how about never?"

"Oh come on!" Quil protested, "They're cute, we're cute. That's like a great deal."

Carter grinned and shook her head at him, "No, Quil, you just take your cousin to prom alright?" Embry laughed loudly as Quil mumbled under his breath.

Carter chuckled, "See you later, boys!" She called as she left the garage. She headed towards her truck and threw her stuff in the passenger seat before she drove away from the Black residence.

°. *࿐ ༻༺ ࿐°. *

Carter chucked her car keys onto the table loudly as she entered the house and quickly took her jacket off. She rushed up to her room, hoping to freshen up before Theo and Vicky came to pick her up.

She screamed as she opened her door to see both the blondes sitting casually in her room, "Oh my god!" She yelled, "You almost gave me a fucking heart attack!"