𝑾𝑨𝑳𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑬𝑫𝒀━━𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒎.

𝒊𝒊𝒊. 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒌

( walking tragedy ! )
chapter three, smack
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━━arabella closed the counselor's door behind her and she leaned against it, sighing to herself. the glimpse of a familiar white and green uniform caught her eye.

"how'd you know i was here?" she bluntly asked her friend, the one who avoided her not too long ago.

"someone told me you'd be here..." chrissy nervously looked down at her bright white cheer shoes, "i just wanted to ask if you━━"

"listen, i don't know what in the world is going on with you but something's up and you won't tell me!" ara threw her arms in the air, "i want to help but i'm not doing anything unless you let me know what the hell is up with you."

the girl in front of her looked her in the eyes, and she could see a thin film of water coating them. she looked as if she was about to cry, and arabella wanted more than anything to hug her. regardless of the fact that they were in the middle of the hallway. "i'm not really sure either, but if you do want to help me you'll meet me near the busses after school."

she quickly turned on her heel and walked away, in the opposite direction of where they were supposed to be headed━━which was the cafeteria.

"hey! chrissy." ara gently grabbed her arm and faced the girl towards her, "lunch is this way." she smiled and they began walking together, not paying any attention to the late bell that rang above their heads.

"do you want anything?" chrissy asked, stopping them in front of a small vending machine.

ara shook her head, "i have lunch in my bag, thanks." two coins fell into the slot and the girl punched in a letter and a number━━the ones for ara's favorite snack. "you didn't."

chrissy bent down and stuck her hand through the large slot, grabbing the silver package. "i did." she stood up and handed ara a fruit roll-up, beaming. a childish preference, she knows. but you can't deny the incredible sensation of strawberry melting on your tongue.

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arabella decided she didn't want to press chrissy about what they'd be doing after school, especially in front of the rest of the cheer squad━━or the basketball team for that matter, so she left it alone.

instead of trying to make conversation, she reached into her bag and slowly felt around the bottom of the large pocket, but there was nothing there. she forgot to pack a lunch. again.

the only logical explanation was that she had been too caught up in getting ready for school to remember. for the record, her mom had been yelling at her and her sister, and she woke up thirty minutes later than usual, so she decided to cut herself some slack.

"left it at home?" chrissy asked. she hesitantly nodded, not giving her the full truth. "well, good thing i'm a mind reader!" she motioned at the snack laying in front of her.

ara smiled but was too busy internally scolding herself for not eating again to notice someone yelling at her table. that was, until jason yelled back.

"you want something, freak?" she looked over at the boy at the losers' table, dressed in a denim jacket layered over a black leather one. hey━━that was her thing!

"leave him alone." ara grumbled into her hands. she did not want to witness another argument between the two of them, especially in the middle of lunch.

"yeah, and what about him getting you stuck in the counselor's office? again." he snapped, smacking his hands on the table. its not like it was any of his business, but she figured chrissy had told him anyways.

"whatever." she laid her head down on her crossed arms. the lunch table was cold to the touch and it slightly stung her skin. chrissy wasn't trying to talk to her, and everyone else was too worried about politics and popularity for her to care.

her head shot up just a few minutes later when chrissy gasped. she had dozed off and could barely open her eyes as the bright lights coming from the ceiling were shining into them. "what?" she sleepily rubbed her head.

once her eyes adjusted, arabella followed her gaze and saw eddie grabbing two kids by their shirts and making them stand up. "what the fu.." she stopped herself and hastily stood up, ignoring the protests of her fellow cheerleaders.

"what in the hell is going on?" she marched over to the three boys standing up. eddie narrowed his eyes at her and removed his hands from the younger boys' shoulders.

"and why do you care?" he paused in front her, leaning down into her line of sight. "hm?" he smelled of old cologne and cigarettes.

she took a deep breath and raised her hand, slapping him across the face. the kids behind him jumped and took a step back as their mouths hung open. "that's for almost having me put in detention earlier."

the noise in the cafeteria died down until it was completely quiet, and all eyes were on them. she stood before him, clenching her fists to hide the way they were shaking. he looked at her with hurt eyes, pressing his hand to the place where she had hit him━━and she almost felt bad. almost.

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( note ! )

━━  .* ੈ✩‧₊˚  /  getting some more chrissy + ara content! loving these best friends but god is it gonna hurt.

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