2 | Defiance Discipline Dream Repeat

31 New Girl - Bella's POV

The first batch of bat cookies is cooking in the oven, and the second batch is ready to go in; whenever the first one is finished cooking. I practise dancing while Debbie makes the last batch of cookies. My urge to bake these cookies was stronger than to fiddle about at Jasper's place tonight. Also, I knew Debbie was alone since Michael is playing drinking games with the pensioners and Alfie. And I don't like to leave friends alone. Yes, she is my good friend again, and I'd bake biscuits with her every Friday.

''You're really pretty tonight,'' I comment sweetly.

''Thank you."

''Why?''

''Why what?''

''Why are you wearing proper trousers and showing your tits off tonight and not wearing torn jeans and flannels?''

''Because I want to, and I'm not going to the farm tonight,'' she replies a bit snappishly, dishing out the last chunk of dough on the baking tray. ''Are you gonna mould and decorate these now, Bells?''

''That's strange,'' I drawl. ''You do that.''

''You wanted to bake. Stop faffing around and finish these now.''

I groan bitterly and shuffle over to the worktop. ''I already did the first two.''

''We will only do one or two next time if you get bored so quickly."

''No, there are too many cookie monsters around us." I groan to show my dissatisfaction one more time before I get on with it. ''...Can you at least tell me about your family now?''

I know she isn't up for a talk about her family, but I'm so frightfully nosy!

''No, they're long gone, and it's irrelevant to you,'' she declares.

''Do you have an aunt or a grandma?''

''No, my family is my children and Michael."

"How sad." I sigh. ''Maybe you wouldn't be so mean if you had a kind mum like my mum or dad. I love my dad, but he's an introvert and not very chatty, and I prefer chatty people, so I guess mum's my favourite.''

''You wouldn't be such a brat if your mum wasn't a pussy,'' she retorts.

I grimace at her and stick my tongue out just as the doorbell dings.

Soon, an unfamiliar young woman gazes at my bat-cookies-in-process. She wears a black leather jacket with some furry trim, and I know I won't be able to like her if I ask if she's wearing a real dead animal and she says: yes. So I skip that. She's very pretty, and I'd love to make friends with a pretty girl.

''Hiya, I'm Isabella, but I go by Bella, Bells or Icey!'' I squeak, emphasising Icey. ''That's Debbie,'' I point at her. ''Debbie's stepdaughter calls her Dastardly Debs, her son calls her mum, and her husband Michael calls her the sexiest woman ever. She's sometimes a super kind lady and sometimes a big bitch. She's something in between at the minute.''

''Hello, Icey. I'm Lucy,'' she beams and reaches her hand out to shake mine. Her rusty acrylic nails look like Ms Bell's new autumny nails but vastly shorter. ''Nice to meet you.''

''I've never seen you before.'' I continue to scan her pretty appearance. My favourite detail of her outfit is the tiny hearts on her black nylons. If you, like me, are bewitched to try to count them, you won't notice if her navy blue skater skirt rides up, and maybe that's the idea behind the choice of outfit. ''Where did you come from?''

''I'm Debbie's colleague. I moved here almost a year ago from a small town a couple of hours away to work,'' she tells me.

''Oh...'' I drawl. ''Do you like her then?''

''We get along well,'' she chuckles and glances at her, which prompts them to just ogle at each other.

''Do you like vampires, Lucy!?'' I ask loudly to regain her attention.

She looks a little bemused, and I tap the tray impatiently for an answer. ''...I used to watch The Vampire Diaries.''

''Used to?" I look askance at her. "What do you mean by that?''

''I watched the show until it ended."

''Did you not rewatch it?''

''No. It's a good show, but there are so many other TV shows to watch."

I gawp at her. ''You are gorgeous, but I have to say, that's horribly strange behaviour, Lucy love.''

"Thank you... I guess."

''By the way, why are you here? Don't you have a boyfriend or friends your age? Everybody got boyfriends around here, even the boys. You look younger than Debbie. At first, I thought you were Zoe. You also remind me of Ms Bell. You don't happen to be the result of Ms Bell's teen pregnancy?"

"Ms Bell has never been pregnant and has no children, Bella," Debbie interjects.

"I don't have a boyfriend or many friends in this town besides my colleagues. I'm just here to have a nice evening with Debbie–"

''We should watch The Vampire Diaries tonight, then!'' I chirrup, clapping in excitement.

''Bella, you should bring your biscuits home before it gets too late,'' Debbie says while dishing out the biscuits in empty ice cream containers. ''Take these and bring them home now, precious Bells.''

''Are you kicking me out?'' I huff.

''I've been baking with you for the past 3 hours, and now I want to have a drink with my colleague."

''How unkind,'' I remark, pushing back on my chair. ''Anyways, good luck with dastardly Debs tonight. Magic doesn't work, so you better run and hide if she goes mental.''

''Thank you. Have a lovely night, Icey–"

''Ey up! Where did you come from?!'' Debbie suddenly exclaims.

I twist to look behind me, my jaw falling along with my biscuits.