Bella, what are those?

4

It's been about 2 weeks and I've been getting to know Alice. We get along pretty well, and she understands that it will take time for me to trust her. So, I've known her for about a month and a half. I had learned that Alice is really affectionate, but she knew that I didn't like that. So, she tried not to do that to much.

I had an exemption from gym, and could leave early. But, I had an English essay to do, so I decided to stay in the library and finish it. By the time school was finished, I had it done. I walked out, and saw Alice walking over to me.

"Can we talk?"

I nodded, and waited for her to continue.

"In private?"

I nodded, confused. Did someone say something to her? We went back to my house, and I threw my bag in the corner. I didn't exactly feel comfortable, but I'd rather talk about this here, than at the school.

"Did someone say something to you?"

She nodded, sitting on the couch.

"Yeah, something happened today."

I asked her if she wanted anything, and she shook her head. One thing I'd noticed about her, was that she never ate. Ever.

"What happened?"

"It happened in gym. Jessica said something about you..........."

 Yeah, she told Alice. How am I going to deal with this?

"W........ What did she say?"

Alice looked at me, and smiled. She was going to tell me that she knew and that she didn't want to see me ever again. I knew she was.

"She ............. She told me that you were different and that I shouldn't be friends with you."

I ran my hand through my hair, I knew someone would do something like this.

"And now you don't want anything to do with me."

"Bella, I don't care. That's what I told her. I don't care if you're different. You're a nice person. I understand now, why you were so reluctant to get to know me. But, I would never say that I didn't want to be friends with you because of that."

She ................ She didn't care. Angela was right.

"You............. You don't care?"

"No, Bella. I don't care. You're still the same person. There's nothing wrong with being different."

She really didn't care............

"It all makes sense now. The abuse, the teasing. It's not right, Bella."

Wait ..........................

I looked at her, and she was watching me, concerned.

"Did she ................... Did she tell you how they found out?"

Alice looked away, not answering me. Yeah, they told her.

"They told you."

She nodded, looking at me. She started playing with my fingers, looking down at our hands.

"She told me something, but I didn't listen and walked away. I couldn't listen to what she was saying."

I took a deep breath, I was upset, but I needed to hold it together and talk to her.