PINKY PROMISE ; CLEARWATER

VIII.

"HI CHIEF SWAN ," Nicole greeted the police officer with a smile on her face as he sat down at one of the many empty tables. "How are you and Bella? She isn't here with you today."

Charlie sighed, he was exhausted, but nevertheless, he liked talking to Nicole, she was a good listener and always knew what to say, or so it seemed to him. "Everything's alright. Bella's been a bit . . . off lately because her boyfriend broke up with her. But I'm sure she'll get over it soon."

Nicole frowned at that, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure she has a lot of friends who can help her move on, right?"

"No, not really. She's isolating herself" Charlie admitted, looking the girl in the eyes. Suddenly he had an idea. "You think that I could bring her over sometime? I'm sure talking to someone her age would help her a lot."

Her brown eyes widened a bit in surprise, she wasn't expecting this to happen, but she accepted it and really, Charlie looked, as he was sitting there in a slouched position, so miserable, she couldn't help but agree.

"You are my savior, Nicole," Charlie exclaimed, thanking god for having sent her to him.

Nicole, unsure of what to say next, just shrugged her shoulders, "I hope I can help her at least a bit." 

Finally remembering that she was at work and that there were other customers waiting, Nicole took his order and went on to the next person.

She just hoped everything would go alright once she met up with Bella Swan.

"So, you were worried and just agreed to help some girl - you have only met at work - out of her depressive state after a bad breakup?" Cecelia repeated in disbelief. 

Nicole, who only had realized later that she would actually have to go to Forks and talk to Bella, was now panicking.

Nicole sighed, "I know, I know. It sounds bad and now it really is bad, I mean he looked so desperate, I couldn't help but agree."

Walking over to their lockers, Cecelia laughed a bit as Nicole just banged her head against hers. "Things like these really only happen to you, don't they? You're too soft."

"Who's too soft?" Seth asked as he joined them, which he had been doing more often now. Cecelia thought it was really cute and Nicole just didn't know what to think of it. Did he see her as just a friend with whom he could hang out or was she more to him?

"Nicole," Cecelia responded with a look at her best friend who was drowning in her own misery. "She agreed to meet up with chief Swan's depressive daughter. It could help her get over her ex-boyfriend, apparently."

Seth looked at Nicole, his eyes growing soft as he watched her. "You mean with the Cullen boy, Edward, right? My dad told me that they had to send a search group out to find her in the woods on the day he broke up with her. Really freaky."

Nicole looked up from her slouched position, now interested in knowing more about the gossip, "You have to tell us everything you know about them."

Seth lifted his arms in defense at her demanding tone but continued on, telling them everything he knew about Bella's and Edward's relationship up until their breakup, which was not much.