Girl In Red (R.HALE)

14

Leigh spent the rest of the weekend in bed. 

Emmett texted her a couple of times, despite her not remembering giving him her number, to check she was alright. At first, she'd ignored them, but then he'd threatening climbing through her window and she'd caved. 

Neither of them mentioned Rosalie. 

Leigh was more angry with herself than anything else. 

She'd let herself believe that Rosalie's disinterest was just a defence mechanism, that she'd warm up if Leigh put the effort in. Stupidly, after their conversation in the library and at the hospital, she'd thought that was starting to happen. 

She was an idiot, obviously. 

Rosalie was just a cold person. She didn't care about Leigh, and it seemed she didn't want Leigh in her life. So, Leigh would oblige. 

Bella had called, too. 

By the time Monday rolled around, Leigh had decided that she wasn't going to be bothered by it anymore. She'd made a mistake. Time to move on. 

The week felt longer, somehow. 

It rained continuously, as per usual. Jess and Angela prattled on about the prom and whatever boy Lauren Mallory had been found hooking up with in the supply closet, whilst Mike and Eric had testosterone-fuelled fights over who spent more time brooding about Bella being with Edward. 

Leigh tried not to look over at the Cullen table. 

She didn't greet Rosalie in the hallway. She sat on the other side of the library. She even switched parking spots, not wanting to lose her temper again if they ran into one another. 

Bella spent a lot of her time with Edward, but they still got to talk during English Lit. The brunette gave up asking about Rosalie after a while, as Leigh's only response would be a shrug. She had well and truly shut off any kind of affection she had previously felt, replacing it with the same cool indifference that Rosalie always wore on her face. 

Lorrie had also noticed the change in her daughter. Daniel had read to her every night since she visited the Cullen house, and she knew that he only did that when one of them needed some form of comfort. She'd tried talking to her, but Leigh refused to admit that anything was wrong. 

In the end, none of them had any choice other than to take her at her word. That she was fine. 

~~~ 

Leigh's phone buzzed, taking her attention away from her Calculus homework. 

'Bored. ~E'. 

She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. 

'Cool. ~L' 

She dropped her phone back on her bed, going back to her equations. 

'Come on, new kid! You can do better than that. ~E'

She scowled. 

'You don't need to keep checking on me. I meant it when I said I wouldn't tell anyone. ~L' 

'That's not why I'm texting you, stupid. ~E'

'Then why are you texting me? ~L'

'I told you. I'm bored. ~E'

Leigh rolled her eyes, not even bothering to reply. 

She didn't believe him for a moment. They were concerned that because she'd argued with Rosalie, she'd suddenly start running around gathering the townsfolk to come and burn their house down.