six.
knee-jerk dumbass

   Lorraine was gone by the time the girls had gotten ready for school two days later. JT's neck had bruised from the woman's nasty grip. Since it was particularly cold that day, a thick burgundy turtleneck wouldn't raise any suspicions.
   Her stitches were doing fine as long as she didn't move too harshly. Her lungs also proceeded to be a pain, but they functioned as they should.
   As they pulled into the parking lot, JT wanted to flip her seat back and just sink into invisibility. Tyler was quick to open her door, but the girl shoved past with a small thank you and headed to Bella's side as quickly as she could.
   The brunette jumped as JT appeared by her side. She had been staring at Julian, per usual, and hadn't noticed the blonde coming over.
   "Hey Bells, how are you?" She leaned against the side of the Swan girl's truck, examining the dent in the side. Crunching metal and screams filled her ears for the briefest of moments. Shaking her head, she looked at Bella to find her also looking at the dent with her thumbnail between her teeth.
   "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Bella responded, eyeballing the blonde.
   JT gave her a half smile. "I didn't know there was protocol for asking a friend how they are."
   Surprise littered the brunette's face rather quickly. "We're friends?" JT quirked a brow.
   "I can go back over—"
   "No! It's fine." Bella absentmindedly twirled a strand of her pretty dark hair. "I'm okay. Just a bit of a headache. How about you?"
   JT watched the students in the parking lot mingle about. They laughed, smiled. Life was perfect for them.
   "Just peachy," she started. She lifted her sweater lightly, allowing Bella to see her bandage. The bruising around the bandage itself had gone away for the most part, but it was still a gnarly shade of yellow on her pale skin. "Doc gave me the stitches that dissolve. I won't have to go back for a long time, hopefully."
   Bella laughed lightly, "I'd say hopefully is a good word for you."
   "It seems we've both made rather interesting entrances, haven't we?" JT muttered, unamused with Tyler and Lee's show of flexing their muscles. Her eyebrows furrowed. She had been there all of four days and had been to the hospital twice. No wonder her mother had been angry.
   "But you've been here the majority of your life, haven't you?" Bella asked, gathering her backpack from the passenger seat. JT's eyes found the golden ones of Edward Cullen.
   "Places and people change, Bells. It's best that we always remember that."
   Bella's brown eyes drifted to the Cullens as well. "You're right."

   English was a breeze. She had read up on the material while she was gone and Bella's doodles on her notebook kept JT entertained for the majority of class.
   Trig, however?
   Double angle formulas could rot in hell.
   JT sat next to Rosalie, offering the girl a smile. It dropped quickly when the other blonde promptly ignored her and didn't make any attempt to speak to her for the entirety of the period.
   The Mallory girl could, however, see her sister killing herself on the inside. There was no one on earth who hated trigonometry more than Lauren Mallory, and that was a fact.
   U.S. History moved a little bit differently. Alice looked almost relieved to see JT, which lessened the tension in her muscles after her class with Rosalie. Emmett nodded once, the action only worsening her mood. He had been so bright and rowdy the other day.
   "How are you feeling?" JT had a feeling that Alice's bell chime voice would never cease to sound like music.
   "Just fine, Alice. How about yourself?" Alice's eyes narrowed slightly, but her bright smile stayed in place.
   "Doing great! My new shoes are supposed to come in tomorrow, so I'm really excited!" New shoes? Alice would have a much better time talking to Lauren about that subject.
   "That's very nice, Alice," JT murmured. Her neck was itchy. She wasn't used to having materials there.
   "Did you catch the game last night?" Emmett finally turned around. His face was pensive, thoughtful.
   She was excited that he had spoken to her, but the memory of her mother drunkenly yelling at the TV last night made her frown. "No. How was it?" Itchy, itchy, itchy.
   "It was pretty trash, honestly. But the Sox beat Oakland so I'm not too mad about it." He shrugged nonchalantly. Her fingers finally found their way up to her neck, scratching the skin softly there. She noticed both of the Cullen siblings widen their eyes and quickly put her sweater back in place. "What—" Emmett's dreaded question was cut off by Mr. Bird pulling a TV on a cart into the room.
   "Today we're beginning the film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It came out last year, but it's historically accurate and I like it. So get comfortable kiddos."
   When the bell rang, JT considered bolting to her next class. That was a poor plan due to the fact that Alice was her partner. She just hoped the pixie girl would avoid asking about her neck.
   Luckily for her, Alice did avoid the subject. Instead she chattered about Alaska and how the movie The Notebook made her absolutely sob, but she loved the book even more.
   When they entered the art room, Jasper was already painting. Diane Meyers and Emerson Brown were red as tomatoes as they reached down to pick up fallen books. Both girls had been painted to perfection and JT was immediately jealous of his raw talent.
   "Have you chosen my partner yet?" Alice inquired, leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder.
   JT had chosen someone, actually. "Ben Cheney. You two would balance each other out quite well, I believe," she answered, biting her lip. She was nervous that Alice wouldn't like her decision, but the girl eased her worries quickly.
   "Oh good! He's very nice," Alice chirped. Jasper wrapped his arm around her waist as she leaned on him, continuing to paint with his other hand. The action was simple but she could tell that it was full of love.
   She wondered if she would ever experience a love like theirs.
   JT spent the rest of the class period looking at pictures of couple poses for inspiration, her stomach grumbling when the bell finally rang.
   She got her tray and sat beside Angela once again. Knowing that Rosalie was already angry with her for whatever reason, JT decided to respect her boundaries and sit at her own table again. She would deal with her small minded peers if it meant the comfort of others.
   Angela smiled softly at her, pleased with her seating choice. "My mom packed me a ham sandwich like I haven't been vegetarian for four months. I'll trade you for your PBJ?" JT happily swapped sandwiches with the girl. She had always been known for being flexible when it came to food. The only thing she couldn't handle was salami.
   "JT, we're all going to La Push this weekend. Do you want to come?" Eric asked, shoving a carrot in his mouth. "We talked about it yesterday but you weren't here." The blonde looked to her sister.
   "I'm going to Port Angeles to shop. Go ahead." Lauren signed.
   JT smiled. "Sure! What's the plan?"
   Mike leaned forward, excited to explain the big day. It was supposed to be nice, which meant less cloudy and warmer than usual. They would meet up at his parents' store in the morning and carpool.
   JT cursed under her breath as she realized she forgot a spoon for her pudding and applesauce. Excusing herself, the blonde headed to the salad bar where the utensils were located. Her fingers snagged the last spoon, earning a groan from a freshman behind her. He was quick to quit his grumbling when she sent him a glare.
   When she turned around, the spoon slipped out of her hand and she yelped at the closeness of Edward Cullen. His hand expertly caught the spoon without removing his eyes from her.
   "Edward," she breathed. "Hi."
   "Frightening the freshmen, are we?" He taunted, a small smirk on his face.
   "Hey! I'm not frightened—" the freshman cut himself off and scurried away when Edward shot him a look.
   "I got to the spoon first." She delicately took the spoon from his nimble fingers. She noticed that he avoided touching her skin, but ignored it. "He was just too slow." Looking up, his golden eyes seemed more amber today. He placed an arm on top of the salad bar, leaning against it. At his height, he was able to do so comfortably. It was a luxury that JT's 5'6" self couldn't afford.
   The corner of his lips quirked up. "I was wondering if you were going to La Push this weekend as well."
   Her eyebrows furrowed. "Are you?"
   He chuckled lightly, a nice sound. "No. Bella asked Julian, and the two of you seem... tight." The grimace he made at the last word seemed like the statement bothered him. Why would it matter if she and Bella were getting closer?
   "I am. I won't be able to surf because of my stitches. But there's supposed to be whale watching, too," she added. "Is Julian going with Bella?" She had to give the girl props for getting ballsy and asking the blond boy.
   His gaze traveled over her head for a lingering moment, causing her to turn her head. She noticed three things.
   1. Bella and Julian were staring rather intensely at each other from across the cafeteria.
   2. Eric was glaring out of the corner of his eye at Edward.
   3. Rosalie was glaring daggers at the two of them.
   Flushing, JT looked down at her hands. "I don't understand what I've done to make her angry," she murmured. She truly had admired the girl from the start and was hoping to become friends.
   "It's not you, it's me," he reassured.
   A small laugh burst through her lips. "Breaking up with me already, Eddie?" The regret on her face showed up as soon as the words left her mouth. Her skin turned deep pink, her cheeks on fire. She was looking at her feet, so she didn't see the full blown, shocked smile on his face. "Uh, I have to go eat."
   JT's face burned as she made her way back to the table. Angela smiled curiously.
   "What did he say?"
   It wasn't what he said at all. She had just been a knee-jerk dumbass and embarrassed herself in front of a genuinely cool person that probably thought she was stupid now. "He wanted to know if I was harassing the freshmen."