Important (Rewritten for Viola)
1. Buy Viola a HalloWiener ticket.
2. Get two similar cowgirl costumes, so we can swap places at the party.
3. Seriously make an attempt in convincing her to join Fashion Design and Illustration.
4. Find out if she like-likes anyone.
5. Figure out a way to make it up to my fans (might need Adele's help).
6. Fluff pillow in case number 5 doesn't go well (it's for sobbing in).
There was silence as Bella and Viola leaned on the car after school, waiting for Cody to arrive. It was unlike him to be so late. Usually, he was only a few minutes late, but today it was far worse.
Bella glanced at her friend, who was scrolling through her phone. Her chest hurt the whole day, after her and Beau talked, and she wanted nothing more than to talk to her like everything was fine.
She took out her phone, then began texting.
Hey. You don't wanna talk to me openly but we can chat... and before you ignore this, I'm not asking anything personal :)
She tapped on 'Send', and in less than two seconds, Viola's text alert went off. In her peripheral vision, Bella saw her read the text, then glance at her, before typing back a reply.
Hi!
Just a hi? Well, she was more talkative than that.
Let's discuss Halloween. Wanna scare the hell out of Cody this year?
I doubt there's anything that can scare him
He's my bro and I know he's creeped out by The Grim Reaper even though he doesn't wanna admit it
Really? I honestly expected more from him
Me too. So? Should we scare him?
And risk being hated for the rest of our lives?
Um... yeah. But he'll get over it. Besides he can't hate us. We're too sweet
True :) So you have the costume?
Not yet. But I'll probably go shopping this Saturday
Instead of shopping for a one time thing, why don't I design one extra spooky and use fabric from my weekend fashion class? Ms. Eden wouldn't mind. I'll sew it there too
THAT'S AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
And that's way too many exclamation marks!
Bella laughed, then turned to her. "But you'll show me the design so I can have a Halloween fashion show in my head?"
Viola smiled. "I'll always show you my designs."
"No matter what?"
"No matter what."
They stared at each other like lovers, before Bella said, "We're going to kill Cody when he arrives, aren't we?"
"Yep! You don't keep a lady waitingâno way!"
"What is it?"
Viola stared ahead, not saying anything, mouth agape, and Bella was forced to look.
When she did, she also couldn't look away. "Am I really seeing this?"
"Uh huh."
Cody was walking down the front stairs of the school, a big smile on his face. But that wasn't the surprising partâhe had an arm around a girl, holding her close, acting all cozy. Bella, in her fifteen years of life, had never seen her brother with any female apart from her and Viola. She had already concluded that her and her best friend's actions had caused him to feel awfully repelled by girls. This was just shocking.
"Is that Kyra Gilroy?" Bella asked, still dazed.
"I think so."
Cody and Kyra walked up to them. "Hey, girls. Sorry for keeping you waiting," he said, taking his hand off her back so he could hold her hand.
Bella shook her head, wanting to clear it up, then smiled widelyâsickeningly wide. "No problem. At least you're here."
"Yeah, right. You're using that I'm gonna kill you later tone."
Bella didn't have any plans to kill himâanymoreâshe was just shocked. Good shocked.
"Me?" She waved a hand in dismissal. "No."
"I don't believe you, but I'll pretend I do. Anyway," he looked at Kyra, "this is Kyra. My... girlfriend."
Bella gasped loudly, despite seeing it coming. "My word!"
"Hi," Kyra said to her, eyes big and bright, smile wide, then looked at Viola. "Hi."
Viola forced up a smile, but Bella's was as genuine as a smile could be.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Bella... and this is my best friend, Viola."
"Nice to meet you, too."
"So, I'll see you tomorrow," Cody said to her, with a voice Bella had never heard him use.
"Sure." She gave him a peck on the cheek, then released her hand. "Bye, guys."
"Bye!" Bella said loudly, and Kyra gave her one last smile before walking away. "So Cody," she said once she was out of earshot, "girlfriend, huh?"
"I'm not talking about that with you. Let's go home." He glanced at Viola, who was staring at some freshmen on her right, but didn't say anything.
"When will you introduce her to Mom, and Adele, and Dad?"
"Bella! Just get in the car, okay?"
He walked over to the driver's side, then unlocked the car.
"No wonder you were so late. Gosh, I won't be able to shut up about it. Cody has a girlfriend!"
Bella went on and on, high on the discovery, but Viola got into the car, then stared out the window.
"Have you ever thought about hosting a giveaway?"
The sound of pots falling immediately came from the kitchen downstairs.
"What was that?" Stephanie asked from Bella's laptop, staring at her.
"Just four stupid boysâmy brother included. One sec." She turned in the direction of her door. "Can you guys keep it down? I'm trying to video-chat here!" she shouted.
"It's Ashton's fault, sorry," a voice shouted back.
Bella mentally shuddered at the thought of Ashton touching her kitchen utensils, then turned back to her laptop. "Sorry about that."
"No problem."
"So, back to the giveawayâI've never thought about it. What do I offer? I still need everything in here."
"I don't know. It's up to you. Hey, meet my roomie, Gabrielle."
A redhead immediately jumped on the bed, landing beside Stephanie so she was in front of the camera, and Stephanie's laptop tipped to the side at the force, giving Bella a temporary view of the glittered ceiling. Stephanie mumbled her name before setting the device upright. The redhead smiled. "I was beginning to wonder when she'd introduce me. Hi, I'm Gabrielle, but you can call me Gabby."
"Hi, Gabby. I'm BelindaâBella for short."
"Oh, I know. Steph has told me a lot about you."
Bella's smile widened. "Really?"
"Of courseâ"
"So, Bella," Stephanie suddenly interrupted, "how's Viola? I haven't heard from her forever."
Bella sensed something different about Stephanie, but she assumed it was paranoia and replied to her question anyway. "She's fine. Just dealing with some issues."
"Issues?"
"Yeah. Some stuff. I don't know."
"Oh?"
Stephanie was acting weird, that much was clear, but why?
"Steph, are you okay?" Bella asked, not sure if she should smile or not.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be? I'm fine."
She had gotten her answerâStephanie wasn't fine. She saw Gabrielle give her a weird side glance, a clear indication that she, too, noticed something was really off.
That evening, Bella had just changed into her pink heart pajamas and walked into her room when her phone pinged. She checked to see what the notification was about, and paused a bit afterwards. She wasn't sure about what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what she was looking at.
Beau Algernon just followed you.
Was she dreaming? Was it another Beau Algernon? Not the one that gave her a weird feeling in her chest; not the one that made her feel important?
Bella was confused, so she logged onto Twitter to see what was really going on. The profile picture wasn't of a person, but of a guitar sketch. The bio said, Living with music. Don't overthink it, and that was enough confirmation, but she still didn't want to believe it.
It was when she saw the direct message from him that she decided to accept it.
Beau Algernon followed her, and it wasn't a big deal, but didn't he have better things to do?
Hi! Just adding a bit of spice to your evening. How are you doing?
A smile broke out on her face as she replied.
I'm good. Thanks for stopping by my corner
His reply came almost immediately, like he had been waiting for her to text back.
My pleasure. It's like I've also helped myself. Couldn't get my mind off those sad eyes
Her brows raised in surprise, and she lay on her bed, stomach down, before replying.
Oh really? How are guys so good at this stuff?
She bit her lower lip as she waited for a response. She quickly followed him back, before going to stare at his previous text. Sad eyes. She remembered earlier that day by her locker, and how he had managed to help get her mind off Viola for a while. The fact that he called her Belle also came to her memory, giving her a fluttering sensation in the pit of her stomach.
Her smile almost tore her face in half when his reply popped up.
What stuff?
Sweet talking. It's like a craze for guys
Oh. So you think I'm sweet talking you. Why would I do that?
Idk. Cause you're a guy and that's what guys do
Her heartbeat picked up pace in anticipation. Maybe she was being too eager, but she couldn't care less. Even when their relationship was still limited to winking and suppressing blushes, she knew there was something about Beau, but just couldn't figure it out. It was the same thing that made her glance back in his direction when he was no longer looking, and made her stare for too long.
I don't sweet talk. What's the point? I speak in honesty
I don't believe you
You're a tough nut to crack I see
Glad you finally notice
Honestly I'm being sincere. Trust me when I say you're not a girl I can lie to
Oh! Just me or several others too?
Curious much?
She tapped the curve on the top left side of her phone on her bottom lip, thinking about what her next reply would be. When it came, she typed, That pretty much answers my question. I've hung out with a lot of guys your age, and I know all about them
But you don't know me
You can't be sure I don't
As a matter of fact, I AM sure. I see you almost everyday and most of the time, you're with your phone. Unless you're cyberstalking me, you have no idea what you're talking about
Confident! How can all this come from an egoless teenage boy?
I picked up the broken pieces sweetheart ;) Patched them together pretty well too
Her smile was seriously getting out of control at this point. What was it about this boy?
You know what, I have to finish my homework. You're wasting my time. SERIOUSLY!
This one I'll never recover from
She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her, and she sent a quick goodnight with a laughing-crying emoji, before logging out.
She lied; she didn't have any homework to finish. She just wanted to think. Not sure what about exactly, but she wanted to think.
She saw her face in the screen of her phone, then said, "You're officially goofy-grinning, Bella. It's official."