CHAPTER 5
COMPOST IS COOL

"DO you need anything else?"

Jenny Fowler shook her head and sent a warm smile towards their waitress at Sully's. Her niece, Margo, sat to her left, chowing down on a bacon burger. Margo was trying to eat healthier, but she hadn't been to Sully's in a long time, due to her aunt's conflicting shifts. She was going to eat this greasy bacon burger and she was going to enjoy it. Jenny gave her a look as she bit into a wedge of lettuce from her salad.

"Forgot to ask you this morning — do you have a fact of the day?" She asked.

The dark-haired niece nodded. "Out of all the planets in the solar system, Venus has the longest day. It completes one rotation every 243 Earth days and it's day lasts longer than the orbit."

Jenny widened her eyes at the fun fact as Margo continued to eat her burger. She decided to change the subject. "What happened to your classmate was awful. Wrong place at the wrong time," Jenny hummed. "Thankfully, she's okay. Just a few bruises and a scratch."

Margo wiped her mouth with the edge of her sleeve. "The car only hit her truck. How did she survive that?"

Jenny shrugged. "She was mumbling something to her dad about some guy saving her. I think she meant it to be Doctor Cullen's son, but he said she might've just been imagining it from post-traumatic stress."

"Weird," Margo murmured, taking another bite into her burger. "Something is off about Forks lately. Maybe I should become an investigator."

"Please, Courtney will allow you to become anything you want. That's what big brains do." Jenny replied with a chuckle. She took a sip of her iced tea before saying, "Carlisle said he saw you out in the waiting room. Says we came from a beautiful family."

"Oh, and I bet you swooned over that."

Jenny lightly tapped her niece's arm and shushed her. "Do you talk to his children?"

Margo furrowed her brow. "No, they only talk with each other. I have biology with Edward Cullen though." An invisible light bulb dawned above her head then, and Margo quickly pulled out a paper from her bag next to her seat. She slid the paper across the table to her aunt. "Speaking of biology, here's a permission slip. Mr. Molina wants to take us on a field trip this week."

"In biology?" Jenny asked with a bewildered expression, to which Margo nodded. She unfolded to paper and read it over. "You're going to a greenhouse to study compost."

Margo glanced to her aunt, noticing the deadpanned look she was giving off. "Why are you looking at me like that? It sounds interesting!"

"Are you sure you don't just want to stay home?"

Margo frowned. "No, I want to go. Mr. Molina makes the subject interesting."

Jenny shook her head as she took out a pen from her purse. She scribbled her name down on the permission slip and handed it back to her niece. "I'll never understand you, kid."

•••

Mr. Molina had decided on combining his two biology classes for the field trip, meaning that Margo was going with Melinda's class. Margo was ecstatic to be going to the greenhouse with her best friend, while Melinda wasn't too keen on going. "Truthfully," she said, "I'd rather sit in class. This sounds boring." That response earned a frown from Margo.

They took two buses to the local greenhouse. Melinda, Margo, and a few others were stuck on the second bus with the Cullens once the first got too full. Margo handed Mr. Molina her permission slip with Jenny's signature before boarding the bus. It didn't take long to get to the greenhouse, seeing as they did live in a town with one road that went through everything. Margo sat with Melinda in the front, and when she looked over her shoulder, she saw Edward with his siblings, Jasper and Alice Cullen, seated in the last two rows. When Margo and Edward's eyes met, she grinned big at him and waved, an act that she knew would earn her an annoyed expression. He really wasn't a fan of Margo Richards, but what suspect was good friends with a curious detective?

Melinda's quick eyes had seen the exchange, and she stared at Margo with shock in her vision. "What ..." She paused. "What was that?"

Margo turned to her. "What?"

"That wave you just did." Melinda looked over her shoulder slightly. "Are you and Edward, like, friends or something?"

Margo laughed then. "No, no, no," she smiled proudly. "He hates me actually."

Melinda sat back in her seat, "Oh."

Once at the greenhouse, Mr. Molina was allowed to show them the various plants and types of soil by the owner. "Eggshells, carrot tops – compost is cool!" He explained while gesturing to a brewer's pot chock full of soil. "Now, who wants to see me making a steaming cup of compost tea?"

His response was a mix of groans, but Margo Richards, not to much surprise, shot her hand up. She rushed over to the pot full of compost with Melinda following, clearly agitated that her friend had to be this way. Margo volunteered to stir the compost while Mr. Molina held down on a latch and brewed the tea from the end of the pot. He allowed it to pour in a glass mug and showed Margo once it was done. "Oh, my god," she exclaimed, "that's so –"

But her statement was cut off when a pair of gloved hands placed themselves on her rain jacket. Margo looked over her shoulder as Mr. Molina continued his teachings and walked away. It was Alice Cullen, beaming towards her with her too-perfect teeth and spikey hair. "Hello, Margaret," she greeted cheerily.

"Hi," Margo replied in a confused tone. Alice began to lead her away from the compost pot and Melinda, who was knitting her brows together. "It's just Margo, by the way," the brunette corrected as Alice continued to walk next to her with hands on her shoulders.

"Well, Margo, I know we don't talk a lot, but maybe we should! I like smart people, and I've heard that you're very smart for someone our age." Alice giggled softly. "It has come to my attention that you've become pretty interested in my family, and I just wanted to let you know that we like to keep our business to ourselves, okay? No need to pry!"

Margo stared at Alice with wide eyes, who was giving her the same large smile throughout their conversation. Was she guilty about something? Why would she feel the need to say that, especially with such a cheery expression? Margo cleared her throat, "Are you threatening me?"

"No, silly!" Alice's laugh chimed like bells in the cold air. "My family is just very closed off, especially Edward. He's very shy, and I think he's been feeling different lately. He told me that you might've blamed him for some odd events happening recently." Margo's mouth opened to retort, but Alice pressed a finger to her lips. "No need to explain, dear. He might've taken something you said the wrong way. I just wanted to pass on this message."

Margo nodded slowly, wrinkling her nose just a bit. Alice flashed her bright smile once again before whispering, "Bye now! See you on the bus!" Margo watched the girl dance away, as if she was as light as a feather. She met back with her boy friend (probably?), Jasper Hale. The group had dispersed to outside the greenhouse, Margo noticed, seeing as there wasn't anyone left inside.

Melinda opened the greenhouse entrance, spotting Margo still there. "What was that about? Why'd you leave me?"

Margo blinked rapidly before turning to Melinda. "I ... I don't know."

•••

"Hey!"

Margo looked up from her drab lunch tray, and met the eyes of Eric Yorkie. Her mouth was full of lettuce, and as she chewed, she recognized the faces of Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley beside Melinda, who was smiling at her awkwardly. Once Margo had wiped a napkin over her mouth, she asked, "What are you doing at my table?" Her eyes shifted to her friend. "Mel, what are they doing here?"

"Warm welcoming," Mike muttered. "You haven't changed, Margo."

"Oh, shut up," she replied spitefully. "You act as if we don't have a freaking class together, Mike."

The group of popular kids looked to Melinda with help in their eyes. Melinda was supposed to be the mediator between them and a hostile Margo Richards. The smart girl wasn't usually an aggressive person, she just didn't like Mike and his group of friends, so she didn't really care about being nice towards them. "Well," Melinda dragged out the word, "Eric here has invited us to visit La Push beach with his friends. Remember how I asked you to go? Now's our chance to go with a group!"

Jessica continued off that, "There's a big swell coming in."

Margo lifted her brow. "Really?" She asked. "What's the catch?"

"What would I need from you, Margo?" Eric questioned matter-of-factly.

"I don't know. Just answer the question."

"Margo!" Melinda called through gritted teeth. "Tell them you'll go."

Margo dropped her fork on the tray. "Fine," she smirked towards her friend, "I'll go. But don't make me regret it."

•••

A/N: Deadass only posting this for a friend that doesn't have a Wattpad acc but here you go kids