Chapter 12: The Tea

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The course of true love, never did run smooth.

The course of true love, never did run smooth

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A N N A B E T H

"Annie?"

I turn around at the sound of that voice to see a somewhat familiar pretty blonde girl standing in front of me.

It takes me a second to recognize her, but when I do, I smile real big.

"Lou?"

Louisa Davies- the girl who was supposed to be my exchange program partner- smiles even bigger. "Yes!"

"Oh my goodness, hi!" I nearly squeal.

"Hi!" she squeals back, giving me a once-over, "Girl, you're even prettier in person."

"Oh, stop," I wave her off, as she pulls me into a tight hug, "Is everything okay with you? I heard you had something come up -an emergency?"

"Yeah," her face falls a little bit as she pulls away, "A family thing. Sorry for ditching you, by the way. You seemed super cool over the phone and now, I know you're even cooler in person. I was looking forward to it."

I smile at her. She had seemed like the loveliest person over the phone too.

As a part of the exchange program, we were required to contact our partners as soon as they informed us of the pairing, and Louisa had reached out before I could.

The moment she introduced herself, I instantly knew I'd like her. She had introduced me to her girlfriend Imani over facetime too, and they had decided that the three of us were self-declared best friends.

"Don't worry about it," I reassure her, "I'm working with someone else, so I'm not alone either."

Her face softens with something akin to pity.

"Yeah, I heard," she gives me a sympathetic smile, "James Jackson, huh? How's it going so far?"

"It's going well!" I tell her brightly, with a smile, "Why'd you ask like that, though?"

"Annie," her face softens even more, and she pats the side of my arm, "Everyone knows that Jackson's an asshole. You can be honest."

"What?" my smile falls slightly, "No, no- I'm serious, he isn't that bad. He's a little grumpy, sure, but he looks out for me. He really does."

"Mr-I-make-people-cry-because-I-feel-like-it looks out for you?" she asks me, an eyebrow raised and her expression disbelieving, "And Mr-I-get-into-fights-for-fun? I heard about the fight yesterday too. Jenson doesn't want to press charges, but his parents are pi-issed."

"Jenson said something to provoke James when he was already mad," I defend, "I'm not saying it's not wrong and I absolutely despise violence, but I just see where that came from?"

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