Quinn O'Connell was the pretty girl in pink, the homecoming queen and all-around straight-A student. Most people saw her as uptight, narcissistic but most importantly... They saw her as a control freak with her perfect blonde hair and patronising sm...
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The weather in Forks Washington was naturally drizzly on Thursday afternoon and Quinn O'Connell herself had a face like thunder as she pulled into her usual parking space, tires perfectly aligned with the faded yellow lines of the parking lot as she stopped. Thursday was just a promise of Friday, the final day that she could visit her little paradise before the weekend came. As horribly harrowing as the week had been, the weekend would be harder.
The parking lot was practically desolate, safe for a rusty red truck that she proudly recognised. Quinn O'Connell always arrived early to Forks High School and nobody ever questioned her, she was just an eager beaver, a nerdy girl who couldn't wait for school to start and nobody ever questioned why that was. However, when she pulled the door open, stepping into the hammering rain for no real reason, she went skip-running along to Bella's passenger side door. If asked why, Quinn would not be able to tell you the reason why, on that random Thursday morning, she decided to interact with people.
But there was something vaguely alluring about Bella Swan, she was something like a comfort blanket, even though they'd only spoken once and when Isabella saw the girl coming dancing through the rain, she pulled the door open quickly to let her in. Bella was unnaturally curious about the valedictorian with the Cinderella story in the same way that Quinn was strangely comforted by the brunette with the pale skin.
"Good morning"
"Hey" Bella smiled shyly at the sight of the perfect blonde in her scruffy second-hand truck. But Quinn didn't seem to notice, she just smiled.
"Hi, what's got you here so early?" Quinn was much more engaging today than she had been the first time they had met and as Bella's doe eyes clashed with Quinn's ocean blues, there was a sense of familiarity that they couldn't understand. Quinn was trying to be nice, that much was clear. But neither of them knew why that was. It just felt as though they should be friends.
"I was just... I was just hoping to..." the brunette trailed off shyly, her gaze casting downward in embarrassment and Quinn frowned in slight amusement.
"What's wrong Isabella?"
"It's" she instantly went to correct the blonde but from the calm kindness in her eyes, she didn't have the heart to. "... do you know much about the Cullens?" Quinn was visibly shocked by the sudden change in conversation, a little frown denting into her forehead as she seriously pondered the questions. Quinn O'Connell had to be the only person in Forks Washington who didn't have a strange obsession with the beautiful family.
"The Cullens? Um... no, not really. Of course I've heard all of the gossip, Maddison doesn't shut up about them" the blonde scoffed, thinking about her friend. "Why? What happened?" Bella Swan didn't know Quinn O'Connell at all but for some reason, she felt implored to tell her, to trust her. Quinn O'Connell was like the warm, caring older sister that Bella had never had, and that was before she had even got to know the blonde very well.
"It's probably silly"
"I'm sure, if you're this upset about it... it can't be silly" Quinn smiled, a whole new side of her opening up and Bella couldn't help but smile in return. And strangely, despite being friendly for the very first time ever to somebody, Quinn O'Connell found it absolutely incredible. She wanted to be friends with Bella Swan. But she wanted Bella to be friends with the fake Quinn O'Connell, not the true one with the agonisingly dark secret.
"Well, I met Edward Cullen in Biology" she began, telling her story uncomfortably as she stared out the front window.
"Edward Cullen?... the single one" Quinn cut in, her eyebrow raising slightly and Bella blushed brilliantly.
"That's... that's not what this is about" her gaze shifted down to her lap, an obvious lie. "I sat with him in Biology on my first day and... he glared at me. As if... as if I was the scum of the earth. He kept cringing away from me as if I smelt really bad" curiously, Quinn leant toward the brunette and sniffing her very obviously, before shrugging.
"You smell alright" she beamed and giggled.
"I just don't understand, he was doing some kind of balancing act to lean as far away from me as he possibly could. Just glaring at me as if he hated me. After the lesson, I caught him in the reception trying to switch out of Biology class. And he hasn't been in since." She frowned sadly and Quinn tilted her head in confusion.
"I must admit... that's.... odd" Quinn contemplated. "You'll just have to wait until he's back and... confront him" she smiled completely seriously.
"What? No... no, I can't— no, I can't do that" Bella was completely flustered, stumbling and fumbling with her words.
"Well, it's the only way to find out what he wants Bella" she shrugged and the new girl was shocked to realise that the blonde girl had actually said her preferred name. Quinn didn't seem to realise her words but deep down, it had been a conscious decision. Befriending Bella was her first step in becoming someone else, herself rather than the facade. She didn't know why being close to Bella felt so important but she felt as though she was suspended in anticipation, waiting for something. "Well, time to get to class"
"Hey, Quinn?" Bella called once the blonde had jumped out of the truck and was a second away from slamming the door. The hood of her plain black raincoat was pulled up but the hammering rain pasted it to her skin in a second. She frowned through the rain at Bella, urging her to continue. "Do you want to meet up this weekend at some point?"
