Falling To The Sun | B. Swan + E. Cullen

cinq

There's energy buzzing through her as she skips through the halls toward the cafeteria. Roman was on her second coffee of the day, her second thermos held tightly within her hands, and she feels a weight settle on her shoulders as she enters. 

Lunch hours were different with the hours she put into work, the time usually spent bent over her school work to free up her afternoons. It often left little time for her friends, more so during the winter and spring seasons where she was almost always out in the woods checking and rechecking the trails to ensure their safety. It made things a little bitter at times, but Eric was always there, her saving grace, her number one defender. 

He had a seat saved for her when she came in without knowing if she was even joining them, and she drops into it with a groan, flipping her bag around so it sat in her lap. It just so happens that it's the seat across from a fidgety Bella. Roman does her best to ignore Eric's elbow in her side. 

"Well, look who it is," Jessica says, voice rising so it's high and mocking. "Rowan, was it?"

"Haha, Jess," she rolls her eyes, pulling her brown paper lunch free and dropping her backpack to the floor. "How was everyone's weekend then? Might as well get my friend duties in now." 

She huffs at my teasing. "Oh no, you're not getting away with it that easily. 

"Jess, come on. Don't be like this." 

"Just apologize to her so she'll drop it, Ro," Lauren huffs, playing with her short blonde hair. 

"Ugh, fine, I'm sorry for being such an absent, flaky friend, Jessica," She says, reaching across the table to place a hand over the other girls. "I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

"Apology accepted," Jessica beams. "We were actually just discussing something that you could easily clear up for us." 

"I swear, if this is another thing about who I've caught doing it in the woods--" 

"No, no, nothing like that," Lauren interrupts blushingly. "Though, now that you mention it..." 

Groaning, she turns to Bella or Angela to clarify. "Me and Ben saw something out in the woods this weekend. I think it's a bear, but it was too big. Tyler claims to have seen it too."

"There are no bears that close to the resort!" Jessica protests and Roman sighs. 

"No, it's true. There was a hiker that came in saying he saw a bear just this Saturday by a trail near town. He was huge and black..." Bella trails off, swallowing thickly as eyes snap to her. Roman wonders how dense they could be to not realize she was there, smiling through the anger at their dismissal. "And my dad's been getting a few reports in. Roman, too, right?"

She looks to her almost desperately and Roman clears her throat, nodding in admittance. "There have been some tracks nearby the trails a lot closer to town. I've been working through them testing for things like that, closing them and stuff, so you shouldn't have to worry about it. Chief Swan and my mom are probably going to organize a hunting party if things get too bad." 

"Hmmph," Lauren sniffs, eyeing Roman with a concerned frown between her brows. She nods in understanding, acknowledgment, and the blonde turns to Jess, changing the subject. 

"Are you going to be joining the hunting party?" Bella asks worriedly, voice low as she looks down at the table. 

"Most likely," she admits. "It wouldn't be the first. My mom finally had me registered to carry a gun two summers ago, but I usually just use tranquillizers." 

"Just be careful," Bella stresses, the sincerity of her tone taking her by surprise and she jerks, thermos toppling over on the table spilling coffee down her front and she hisses, pushing away from the table.