IN MY TIME OF DYING.

01. UNO : standing in world of my own (n.e)

There was something strange about her; that peculiar girl whom no one really knew about. The girl who normally didn't speak with anyone unless spoken directly to. She would normally choose to sit alone during lunch rather than hang out with her friends like Jessica or Mike, always stayed to herself in class, probably achieve straight A's, and yet Rosalie still couldn't figure out what was different with the girl. She seemed perfectly normal to the human eye.

In Rosalie's eyes, the girl was perfect. She was a goddess that was to be lifted upon a pedestal for all to see. But she wasn't. This girl wasn't seen by anyone at all. Well, by anyone but Rosalie Hale who took to her free time to find out what the small brunette was like.

The only time the two had actually spoken was when they bumped shoulders in the hall causing the girl's papers and textbooks to go flying. Rosalie was quick to help the fragile looking girl back up, grabbing each textbook that had fallen.

She had barely uttered her name, a sorry about to come out afterward, before the girl cut her off with a short 'I know who you are.'

Rosalie didn't know how the girl knew her. She didn't know how such a perfect girl could know Rosalie, but, of course, normally it was the opposite in other people's eyes. Suddenly, after that one day, that one small interaction, the brunette was everywhere. She was in the hallways at her locker, sitting only a few rows away in English class, or just waiting out in the rain for someone to come pick her up.

Haunting the hallways and haunting Rosalie wherever she went. The ghost of a girl skating through the school unnoticed by the student body. Much to Rosalie's dismay, it seemed she liked it that way.

The girl, Cecilia, she had learned when their teacher had called on her to present a poem she had written, seemed to be all skin and bones. Rosalie would watch her carefully, and notice the frazzled posture and sunken eyes. The more she studied the girl, the more she couldn't look away.

The next time the two had spoke to each other was during their unit of Romeo and Juliet in English class. Sure, they skirted around each other, occasionally looked at each other, but both girls had no clue what to do with the other. Every time Rosalie would try to manage a conversation with Cecilia, the brunette would get pulled out of school for the rest of the day for some unknown reason.

Each sentence seemed to drag on with the couple professing their love for each other. The love that would immediately die a mere fourth eight hours later. But despite the story's flaws, Cecilia managed to fall in love with it over and over again. The hero's tragedy was love; love was their demise.

Cecilia occasionally looked up from her torn up copy, eyeing each and every person in their required Romeo and Juliet table groups. She would've preferred to work alone on a topic such as Shakespeare, but Mrs.Atkins wouldn't allow it, so she was stuck.

She quickly tabbed the page of the book, setting it down on the hard wood of the desk. Her hands were getting way too cold for her to move. It almost felt like her finger tips were numb. Rubbing her cold hands together, Cecilia looked up at the group around her. Each person was invested in the enamoring story except for Rosalie.

The blonde was staring out the window with a slight frown on her face. For once, the sun barely peaked through the sky, showing a slice of light in the day, but as soon as it came; it left leaving behind the dreary clouds.

"Well that's unfortunate," Cecilia sighed as she spoke, rubbing her cold hands again. Rosalie turned to face her, eyes cold and calculating.

"What?" The blonde asked almost as if she couldn't believe Cecilia had spoken. It probably had been the first time she willingly spoke out loud towards another classmate besides her friends.

"The sun," she explained, "it's gone now. I guess we should be used to that, it is Washington after all. It's cloud central here."

A small laugh bubbled it's way out of Rosalie's throat, startling the both of them. "Yeah, it really is."

Cecilia gave the blonde a small smile, and with one last glance toward the ever darkening sky she opened her torn up book, getting completely lost in the poetic words of Shakespeare.

____

Gym class was a thing of Cecilia's nightmares. Right after English she had been struck with the unfortunate tragedy of wearing baggy shorts and loose, messy hair. The only reason she wasn't out of it yet was because gym was the only class she could just not worry about anything. Of course, that would have to end soon. She'd have to choose to do something else to finish up the year.

Well, even though she still had gym, she wasn't exactly doing it per say. Normally Cecilia would just sit out and watch her friends work while she moped in a corner. Sometimes her time of dying sucked a lot. Although, really anything was better than getting her head bashed by a volleyball.

She had been sitting in the stands with her hair pulled up and out of her face, and a paperback book resting on her shoulders. There was a new girl at school, and so far she was a lot more interesting than any old book. Clearly, gym was not the new girl's forte, but that's what made her interesting.

Isabella Swan, the new girl. Cecilia knew she'd be the topic of everyone's thoughts for the rest of the year. They never really got new comers at their school, and Isabella's arrival was big news. Maybe instead of calling her the new girl, the should call her the girl who can't play sports.

Cecilia cringed for what seemed like the fiftieth time that period as she watched Isabella attempt to hit the volleyball. The coach definitely should've listened to her please not to play. Then, she'd be up in the stand with Cecilia and her book. Not that she was a people person, but it would be nice to know one person who didn't look at her like she was basically a walking sickness. Sure, her friends didn't, but she didn't really have many of those.

She watched their game intensely, watching each girl hit the ball with impeccable timing, the passes fleshy across each side of the large net smoothly until it went to Isabella. The brunette jumped, hitting the ball with the palm of her hand in the wrong direction. The volleyball went flying over the volleyball court and right into the head of Mike.

"Oh my god, Mike!" Cecilia called, tabbing the corner of her book as she quickly set it down on the bleacher seat. Now she really regretted not bring able to do gym class as she tried to rush down the bleachers, her feet noisily clomping down each step.

The squeak of her shoes against the dirty wooden floor brought no attention to Cecilia by anyone but Mike and the new girl Isabella. Their heads whipped around as they watched the worried strawberry blonde rush forward and grab Mike's face. Normally, Cecilia was not a touchy feely person, but when to came to her friends getting hurt, she'd be on them in an instant.

"Hey, are you okay, Mike?" Cecilia asked, ignoring the new girl who seemed to gain everyone's attention but hers.

Her brown eyes peered into his as her hands frantically searched the back of his head for any sort of bump. Mike quickly grabbed Cecilia's hands dragging them off of his head, positioning her so she was standing off to the side of him and Isabella.

"I'm fine, Cecilia. Nothing major, only a volleyball," he replied, staring at the brunette who had tilted her head down, clearly feeling very awkward in the situation. Cecilia, however, was not so easily turned. She still stared at Mike with worry before her eyes flitted to the other girl. Isabella's feet shuffled against the gym floor, and she was probably internally cursing herself for hitting him.

Isabella looked up, meeting Mike's eyes with a stunned expression. "I'm sorry about that," she rushed, the words spewing from her mouth. Cecilia almost laughed as Isabella's face who looked like she was about to soil herself.

He shook his head, rubbing the spot where Isabella had hit him. "No, no... That's... You're Isabella, right?"

"Just Bella." She replied.

"Yeah, hey! I'm Mike..." Cecilia watched as Mike reached over to shake Bella's hand, fumbling over words as he spoke. She gripped his hand back, tentatively shaking it. "Newton."

Bella looked over at Cecilia who was only staring at the pale girl with a curious look on her face. The worry she had when she had run over to Mike was now gone and a small smile replaced it. Cecilia waved at Bella before folding her arms over her chest like a barricade between her and the new girl. "And I'm Cecilia. Don't mind him, he can be a little dumb at times."

Bella flicked her gaze to Mike for a split second before she smiled back at Cecilia. "Nice to meet you."

"She's got a great spike, huh?" Cecilia turned to find Jessica running toward them, a large smile plastered on her sweaty face. Bella, however, looked incredibly awkward as she was now surrounded by the three. "I'm Jessica, by the way... Hey, you're from Arizona, right?"

Bella nodded, casting her eyes down again. She felt for the poor girl who probably didn't like being the center of attention. "Yeah."

The smile never left Jessica's face as she stared at Bella. "Aren't people from Arizona supposed to be like... Really tan?"

A Bella looked down again as she spoke, brows furrowed. "Yeah, maybe that's why they kicked me out."

The joke was horrible, but Cecilia couldn't help but smile as Jessica and Mike awkwardly busted out laughing at it. "You're good." Mike pointed at her.

Jessica's nervous laugh got lauder as she dragged on, not knowing what to say next. "That's so funny..."

Bella backed away from the two, looking desperately like she wanted to flee at any moment. The nervous laughter had yet to cease, and Cecilia rolled her eyes at the two. Calmly, Cecilia walked over to Bella, wrapping her arm around the girl's shoulder. She looked back and muttered a small good-bye to her two friends before she dragged Bella away.

"Look, they're a little hard to get used to, but trust me, you're in good hands." Cecilia explained, dragging the girl back to where she had sat before the whole incident. Unhooking her arm from around Bella's shoulder, Cecilia sat back down onto the hard plastic.

"Oh, yeah. I can see that," Bella agreed, slowly taking a seat next to Cecilia.

Cecilia reach for her long since forgotten copy of Romeo and Juliet, staring at the torn corners and ripped paper pages. She refused to meet Bella's eyes, instead opting to stare at the book in her hands. "Being new here is the only thing that can get you into the spotlight. In a week or so you'll be out of the school's attention span."

Beside her, Bella tensed in her seat. Her gaze pierced into Cecilia's side, eyes wide and alarmed like a deer caught in headlight. Her mouth opened and closed, looking for the right words to say. "Oh, no that's-"

Cecilia looked up, effectively cutting the other girl off. "I can tell you feel awkward about it. Trust me, something else will happen and you'll be old news."

"Can I sit with you at lunch?" The question was quick, and Bella looked awkwardly away at the courts of people playing with more coordination than the two girls combined. The lump that had seemed to form in Bella's throat grew even larger. "I don't really know anyone."

"I'm pretty sure Mike and Jessica will let you sit with us. They seem to like you enough," Cecilia explained, fingers playing with her book. "I don't normally sit with them, even if they are my friends, but I guess I could make an exception for today."

She regretted the words as they left her mouth, but it was too late. Bella immediately perked up, a look of relief washing over her face. As much as Cecilia wanted to sit alone, she was glad that she'd have some sane company to sit with. Maybe that could help with her friend's insistent chatter. She loved her friends, but sometimes she wondered how she got stuck with them. Maybe it was because no one else wanted to be friends with the only dying girl in the school.

"Would you? I'm going to need someone to keep me sane today." The noise around them seemed to cease, and Cecilia merely shrugged as the school bell blared in their ears signaling the end of the period. Cecilia grabbed her torn up book, wanting to change out of her gross gym clothes that never seemed to get any use. It wasn't her fault they stayed pristine, but that normally happened when you never really got the chance to work out.

"Yeah, why not?" Cecilia bit her lip as she gave the girl one last smile. She quickly made her way down the bleacher steps, careful not to trip and rushed out the closest door of the gym, leaving Bella to sit alone in her own silence.

_____

[word count: 2320]

Comments make me happy. (:

Also, here's an update because I actually hit 1K today so yay. Sorry it was a short chapter, I promise to make them longer.