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CHAPTER SEVEN
"ELEANORA PRIMROSE HADLEY!"
Ellie had just stepped out of Bella's truck when her name was blasted across the parking lot, everyone turning to see the source of the confrontation.
"SYDNEY ANNE TAYLOR!" Ellie shouted back with a smirk. "Why is it when I yell your full name back, it doesn't have the same effect?"
Sydney Taylor stopped in front of Bella's red truck with a disgruntled expression on her face and she observed her two friends.
"First of all, I suppose that I should be slightly offended by the fact that you are riding with Bella still instead of me." Sydney started jutting her lip out like a child as Ellie bit back a laugh.
"You didn't tell me when you were getting back!" Ellie defended.
"And second of all I just got back only to discover that while I was gone my friends nearly became roadkill!" Sydney shouted as everyone realised the source of the drama, soon getting bored as the car crash involving Bella, Ellie and Tyler had already been replaced by another good source of drama.
"I think the keyword is 'nearly' there, Syd." Ellie chuckled. "The car didn't even touch me and both Bella and Tyler only had minor injuries, so we are all completely fine." Bella opened her mouth to interject as Ellie shook her head in response knowing exactly what was about to leave the brunette's mouth.
"But you are completely fine?" Sydney continued, her eyes still flickering over her friends.
"Completely." Bella continued with a smile.
"Besides you are extremely late to all the drama, it only happened a few days ago and everyone's already forgotten about it all," Ellie added. "But anyway how was your camping trip?
"What do you expect?" Sydney returned dramatically. "About as boring as you'd expect."
"Yeah, the photos I got really showed how much of an amazing time you were having, smile and all." Ellie continued sarcastically.
"Really?" Bella asked innocently. "I'm glad you had a good time."
"She had a terrible time, Bella. I was just joking." Ellie returned gently.
"Ah well, at least you are back now." Bella continued, a slight crimson hue decorating her cheeks.
"Couldn't say it better myself," Ellie added, slinging an arm over Bella and Sydney's shoulders as the bell rang overhead. "Well, now we can't have Miss Taylor late on her first day back now can we?"
Sydney started forward as Bella nudged Ellie to get her attention, gesturing slightly over to where despite the bell ringing to signal the start of class, Edward Cullen still hadn't moved and was staring in their direction.
"You go ahead, Syd. We'll be with you in a sec." Ellie informed before turning back to Bella. "I'm just as curious as you are and you know that I saw what you saw but confronting him once more isn't going to achieve anything, okay?"
Bella mumbled a response as Ellie started forward towards the building once more, only to realise Bella was no longer beside her and still staring at Edward Cullen. "Come on then, Bella!"
Ellie seemed to be escaping to the forest a lot more recently. Her mind couldn't keep up with everything that was happening around her and despite her mum's wishes Ellie couldn't help but escape even if it was only for an hour.
She had been rattled to her core by the sight of the dead deer that had ended her previous visit into the forest but even that wouldn't stop her from seeking some sort of relief from the thoughts pounding through her mind. Ellie was just about to sit down when the sound of cracking branches echoed throughout the trees once more, she pressed herself against the tree trunk, her eyes frantically searching for any movement before a figure finally emerged from the trees.
"Jesus Christ, you scared me!" Eleanora exclaimed loudly, clutching at her racing heart. "What on earth are you doing here, Jasper?"
"I could ask the same of you. Do you not know of the monsters that could potentially attack you out here?"
"Guess that monsters don't care much for girls with anxiety then," Eleanora replied. "Lighten up, Jasper. Sometimes I need to escape and I do it here, why is that such a bad thing? Besides I could probably take anything that came my way." Eleanora joked, sitting back down again.
"You'd be surprised," Jasper muttered, the last syllable just reaching Eleanora's ears.
"Well, you are welcome to join me if you want. I'm starting another crossword if you want to help out and stop brooding over there, honestly thought that was Edward's job. He seems to be the best at it."
It took a few more moments for Jasper to eventually snap out of his thoughts, sitting a careful few metres away from Eleanora, his eyes never flickering from her figure. Despite everything, at the end of the day, he didn't want to hurt her, accident or not and close proximity would only make that harder.
"What are you thinking about?" Eleanora questioned, ignoring the distance between the two of them, observing how thoughtfully Jasper seemed to be watching her.
"Apologies, but I was just wondering why do you do so many crosswords?"
"Oh, that's nothing to apologise for, it's a perfectly reasonable question." Ellie returned, her pencil tapping against her crossword book, a mindless habit that Jasper had picked up on. "But as you obviously know by now, I suffer from Narcolepsy. Although I'm on medication I only often feel functional and mostly awake for limited periods before I just feel too exhausted and too useless to complete anything. For me, crosswords help to extend that period of time just a little bit longer, although it often doesn't last long. Plus I don't know if you've heard but crosswords are very good for your memory and concentration as well as the fact you get to learn obscure words to trick your teachers on essays!"
"There's always that added benefit of course." Jasper chuckled, smiling in the direction of the brunette.
"Indeed," Ellie replied. "Alright let's test your concentration and memory then. What's a nine-letter word with a clue of 'a complex system of paths or tunnels in which it is easy to get lost?'"
