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As she waits outside the classroom for English, nervously checking her schedule and map to make sure that she's in the right spot, Mia feels someone approach her. She's made her way to the classroom early, as it's directly after lunch, and she's terrified that she'll get lost in the wave of students heading back to class from the cafeteria. Mia does not, under any circumstances, want to enter a classroom in the middle of the lesson.
"Hi," a soft voice says next to her, and Mia turns to see Alice, the dark-haired Cullen girl from the cafeteria standing by her elbow. "Are you in Mr. Robertson's class too, right?"
Mia nods hesitantly. She's unsure why Alice Cullen is deciding to talk to her, considering all Jessica had said about the Cullens' not talking to anyone besides their own foster family. "Yeah- English II, right? I'm in the right place?"
Alice nods happily, a grin breaking across her face, before she leans into Mia slightly, taking a delicate sniff. Mia frowns, leaning back- it was odd behaviour, that's for sure.
"What perfume are you wearing?" Alice asks, curiosity dancing in her amber eyes. "It smells just like honey."
Mia's brows knit in confusion. She didn't think her perfume would be that strong nearing the end of the day, "Oh, it's actually jasmine. It's just from a little independent boutique in Brooklyn," she explains. She's actually running out, and she'll have to order some more soon- luckily the boutique has an online store.
Alice frowns deeply, looking very confused for a second, before shaking her head, wiping the expression with a bright smile. "Well," she tells Mia. "It's beautiful."
The other students have started to gather by the door now, and the teacher has arrived, unlocking the door and pushing it open, allowing them all to file in. As they step inside the classroom, Mia feels confused for a second, pausing to see if Mr. Robertson was planning on calling her up to introduce her as the rest of her teachers had done. Instead, a delicate hand curled under her elbow, and Alice looped their arms together.
"He's not going to make you introduce yourself to the class, if you were worried about that," Alice tells Mia in a low voice. "He's too focused on his teaching. As soon as we sit down, he's going to dive straight into a reading of one of Romeo's monologues. He'll sign your pass at the end of class. Here, there's a spare seat next to me- you can sit here if you'd like."
Mia bites her lip as she watches Alice slide into her desk, with all the grace of an experienced ballerina. "Are you sure?" The desk next to her is indeed empty, but Mia feels awkward, like an imposter.
Alice's smiles are sunny and welcome, and she taps the seat next to her with a dainty, manicured hand. "Of course," she says. "I can tell that you and I are going to be fast friends."
For some reason, Mia feels comforted; Alice sounds like she genuinely means it. She slides into the desk, placing her shoulder bag at her feet as Mr. Robertson breaks into a dramatic monologue, just as Alice predicated.
"Did I accidentally walk into a drama class?" Mia whispers to Alice, and the pixie girl giggles quietly.
Despite a rather dramatic retelling of Hamlet, Mia finds Mr. Robertson a very good teacher. She's spending the lesson copying lots of notes, due to being informed of an important Romeo and Juliet essay coming up soon in the school year, when she notices out of the corner of her eye that Alice's pen has stopped writing, but her hand is shaking. Before Mia can think to worry about if Alice would find it odd, she reaches over and places a hand over Alice's. The girl is staring like she can see through the chalkboard, eyes wide and white. Mia assumes that she's having some sort of panic attack, and squeezes her hand softly.
"Hey," Mia murmurs, and Alice sort of jumps out of her trance at the sound of Mia's voice. "Are you alright?"
"Oh," Alice says. She looks dazed, and takes in a deep breath through her nose, closing her eyes for a brief moment. When she opens them again, she has a calmer expression on her face. "Yes, sorry. Zoned out for a second." She pauses, before adding in a lower voice, "Your perfume is really calming."
Mia frowns at the comment, having no clue how perfume could smell calming, but brushes it off, sending Alice another smile before turning back to her notes. Curiously enough though, when she asks Bella in the parking lot if her perfume is too strong, Bella says that she can hardly smell it, and that it must have worn off over the course of the day. Huh, Mia thinks. Alice must have a really strong sense of smell.
