ָ ▋٬ 𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗕𝗜𝗔. 🩸

𝗼𝗻𝗲.         🦇      𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕.

⸝⸝ ʚ 🦷! ⌗ °•.      𝑰𝑵 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑲𝑺, 𝑾𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑻𝑶𝑵, 𝑵𝑬𝑾𝑺 𝑮𝑶𝑻 𝑨𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑫 𝑭𝑨𝑺𝑻.

      It was a place where everybody knew everybody, and when someone new arrived, the community would try so hard to weasel their way into the lives of the new arrivals. The people of Forks were incapable of keeping their noses out of other peoples lives.

Even when the local priest and his wife were found dead, they couldn't help themseleves. When given no information, they tended to spin their own stories, their own theories, just to keep themselves satisfied. Like animals that constantly needed to be fed.

But Cecilia Chapel just wanted to be normal. A life without the gossiping about her, or her family. People tried to pry into her life, find out more than what could be given by police about the tragedy. But the reality was, that she knew nothing. And sadly enough, she was fine with that. She just wanted to move on. She wanted to be a normal girl, living in a normal house in her somewhat normal community.

She wanted to read her novels, and imagine herself as someone different. It helped her escape from reality, that she could be someone more exciting... someone cooler. Because her life had never been something out of the novels she read late at night. Maybe something out of the horror genre, but definitely nothing out of the romance genre.

The harsh reality was that Cecilia Chapel had never been anything special.

But then, she met him.

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🦇

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⸝⸝ ʚ 🦷! ⌗ °•.      𝑨𝑺 𝑪𝑬𝑪𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑨 𝑾𝑨𝑳𝑲𝑬𝑫 𝑼𝑷 𝑻𝑶 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑮𝑹𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑺 𝑺𝑯𝑬 𝑯𝑨𝑫 𝑽𝑰𝑺𝑰𝑻𝑬𝑫 𝑾𝑬𝑬𝑲𝑳𝒀 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑷𝑨𝑺𝑻 𝑻𝑬𝑵 𝒀𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑺, 𝑺𝑯𝑬 𝑾𝑨𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑺𝑼𝑹𝑷𝑹𝑰𝑺𝑬𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝑬𝒀 𝑾𝑬𝑹𝑬 𝑰𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑨𝑴𝑬 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑫𝑰𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬𝒀 𝑯𝑨𝑫 𝑩𝑬𝑬𝑵 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑨 𝑾𝑯𝑰𝑳𝑬. They were overrun by weeds and unwanted grasses that she felt the need to pick away. Perhaps the cemetery staff no longer bothered to venture to this part of the field littered with the dead, the graves too old to be cared for. It surprised her nonetheless, considering one of the graves held the remains of the Priest they once considered a friend.

     But she couldn't deny that the cemetery was still beautiful, of course. It always had been. Although there was hardly any maintenance ever done, the beauty of the area was all thanks to the rain that blessed Forks. It kept the air fresh, the grass green and lush. It allowed the moss the find its home at the base of the tree trunks and among the branches that fell to the ground among the glossy ferns.

Most people in town, especially the people she attended school with, craved the sunshine and wanted to escape from the gloomy and dull weather. But she loved it. It made her feel at home. It was one of the only things she liked about the godforsaken town. It gave her peace.

Because the trees didn't whisper — they kept to themselves.

Eventually she sat among the grass, her hands gently fiddling with the silver cross that hung from her neck. Although she knew that the grass was wet with the morning dew, she didn't mind getting her dress wet. What she did fear was how the long grass irritated her exposed hands, causing her to feel itchy all over.

"Hey," Cecilia whispered to the graves, rubbing her arm sheepishly as she took a quick glance around to make sure nobody else was listening in or staring at her with pity. Because she didn't want pity. "It's almost been ten years... Tommy says he's planning something for you guys. I overheard him at church... something about lanterns. I'm sure you would have loved to see them. Maybe you can see them from up there."

She signed, wishing there was some kind of response, but as per usual — nothing. Every time she spoke to the graves, she just wished she could hear their voices for one last time. When some people spoke to their loved ones, they felt like they were talking to themselves.

But Cecilia never felt that way. She knew they could hear her and were listening whenever she visited.

A small beam of sunlight broke through the dark clouds that surrounded Forks, casting itself upon the headstones, and Cecilia smiled as she let out a small laugh. "I guess you are listening right now... Can you believe I start senior year today? People are picking out their colleges already... and Viv wants to go somewhere far. She wants to get away from this place and she wants to take me with her, but... I don't know if I can. Who will be left to give you flowers if I'm not here?"

She pondered for a moment, "well, I suppose Tommy could if I asked him to..."

      "LOVE BUG!"

      Cecilia glanced over her shoulder rapidly, looking toward the entrance of the cemetery. Even from such a distance she was able to determine who it was. Red hair, and a great sense of winter fashion — it could only be one person. Well, only a handful of people ever spoke to her so she didn't expect anyone else to be speaking to her, especially with that special nickname.

      Vivienne Hayes. Gorgeous from head to toe, and attracted all sorts of attention. The students of Forks High found it hard to believe they were best of friends. Total opposites. One was on the cheer team, and the other... well, in their words, was a loser. Best friends since kindergarten, and practically inseparable — clearly.

      "Coming!!" Cecilia shouted back, watching the red head wave before getting into her car. She pulled out her flip phone, checking her one unread message from Vivienne telling her she arrived around from five minutes ago. Then her eyes wandered across the small screen to the time. A gasp escaped as she covered her mouth, shoving her phone back in her satchel. She was late. And she was hardly late for anything. Except for the multiple times she was late to church because she couldn't get out of bed.

      Brushing away the loose pieces of grass from her white dress and white tights, she smiled down at the graves. "I'll be back soon, I promise!"

      The girl almost tripped as she ran toward the beaten up car that was waiting for her. Vivienne's eyes trained on the small girl as she sat in the passenger seat, holding the satchel she carried everywhere against her chest, panting like a dog.

      "Jeez, Love Bug, you didn't need to run... OH MY GOD!"

      Cecilia looked around, checking behind her and brushing her fingers across her face. Perhaps there was some dirt on her nose? Or possibly a bug? "What is it?"

      "Do you even sleep? The bags under your eyes are getting worse and worse," Vivienne laughed, pushing her hair over her shoulder, "those novels are really destroying you, buggie."

      "Hey! They're good for the soul!" Cecilia argued.

      The read head rolled her eyes, "uh huh, sure, virgin." Almost instantly, she earned a slap over the head. "Okay! Okay!"

The pair laughed together before the car started and they were on the road. They sat in silence for a while as Cecilia stared out of the window, resting her head against the glass to watch the raindrops race across the glass. When she looked over her shoulder, her eyes wandered across Vivienne's tense body language.

"Will you be okay?"

Vivienne snapped out of it and looked over at her, "why wouldn't I be, Love Bug?"

"Last time we spoke you seemed quite sad about the whole Tyler situation... I just want to know if you'll be okay seeing him at school," Cecilia admitted, facing away from the window so she could lean into the conversation.

Sighing, Vivienne still put a smile on her face. "It's the final year. I can't let him keep me down, y'know? Besides, this is high school. There's always going to be bad moments. But I'll be alright. I always am. I can take a lot of shit."

"Okay..." Cecilia whispered, "but if he does anything..."

"It'll be fine, Cecilia," the red head defended herself, "I'll just live knowing I love him and he's fine hopping from one girl to another."

Silence, again.

Turning back to face the window, Cecilia crossed her arms around her satchel, "you deserve someone better than him, Viv."

For what seemed like the first time ever, Vivienne had no response that she could give. She was always known for her witty responses, but this time, she didn't have one. Especially not when it came to this topic. Despite all the things Tyler Crowley had done, the girl still loved him. She knew that Cecilia had tried to understand where she was coming from, about never giving up on that boy, but at the end of the day, Cecilia couldn't understand that love mad people do stupid things, even if it meant hurting yourself in the process.

The pair had never shared a moment of awkward silence before. Of course there were moments of silence between them, but nothing quite like this. This silence made the air hard for both of them to breathe.

"Well... speaking of our love lives..." Vivienne cleared her throat, "let's talk about Mike."

Cecilia rolled her eyes, turning her head to look at the red head, "what's there to talk about?"

Laughing, Vivienne showcased an evil grin, "oh, I don't know... Maybe the fact that he has a big fat crush on the church girl. Has since our church choir days!"

"Mike Newton does not have a crush on me!"

.

🦇

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⸝⸝ ʚ 🦷! ⌗ °•.     𝑨𝑺 𝑴𝑰𝑲𝑬 𝑵𝑬𝑾𝑻𝑶𝑵 𝑻𝑨𝑳𝑲𝑬𝑫 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑺 𝑶𝑭𝑭, 𝑪𝑬𝑪𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑨 𝑩𝑬𝑮𝑨𝑵 𝑻𝑶 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑬 𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑩𝑬𝑺𝑻 𝑭𝑹𝑰𝑬𝑵𝑫 𝑴𝑨𝒀 𝑯𝑨𝑽𝑬 𝑩𝑬𝑬𝑵 𝑹𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻. She stopped listening about two words in. Vivienne was leaned up against her car, witnessing the worst thing she had ever seen. A nervous and overly talkative guy attempt his best to get the girl who hid away in her room and read novels all day about guys who were the complete opposite from Mike.

      Cecilia sighed, completely zoning out from the conversation. Well, it wasn't much of a conversation considering that took two or more people. It was more like Mike was talking to himself.

      "Right, Cecilia?" Mike asked, wanting her opinion.

      Looking over at Vivienne, Cecilia prayed that the red head would give her any kind of clue as to what the boy was talking about, but she just shrugged — leaving her still clueless. Because they both weren't listening. "Sorry, I kinda... zoned out."

      "That's cool. Totally cool. Um-" Mike grew sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck, "I heard you got the flu over break. Hopefully that's... all... good now."

      "Yeah! All good! It passed pretty quick..." Cecilia smiled kindly, rubbing her left arm awkwardly. A flu that I got way back in June, she thought to herself. It was now September.

      Mike smiled, "I'm glad. Y'know I got the flu wayyyy back and-"

      "Do you ever stop talking?"

      Cecilia and Mike looked over at Vivienne, equally shocked. While Mike's ego was hurt, Cecilia refrained from laughing. That was one thing about Vivienne Hayes, she couldn't help but speak her mind.

      "I'm sorry?"

      "Is it a talent? Being able to talk people to the point of boredom?" Vivienne went on, flipping her phone out to respond to the latest message from Tyler Crowley. Baffled, he couldn't muster up any words. Instead, he bid his farewell to Cecilia, and Cecilia only, before disappearing across the lot, joining his other group of friends.

      "That was cruel..." Cecilia admitted, adjusting the strap of her satchel over her shoulder. Although she did find it mildly amusing, she couldn't help but feel bad.

      "He's so tiring... ugh," the red head expressed her disinterest. "Can you finally admit that I'm right? He's so head over heels for you it makes me want to barf."

      "I mean... Maybe he's just being sweet."

      "Sweet and boring," Vivienne corrected, putting away her phone as she looked over to where Mike had wandered off to. But she wasn't looking at him, she was looking at Tyler, waiting for his reaction to her message.

      A white wrangler style jeep swerved its way into the lot, with a student sticking what was nearly his entire body out of the sun roof of the car. He was practically begging for attention. It was accompanied by another two cars, also definitely going faster than they should have.

      "Aren't they going a little fast for a school parking lot?" Cecilia whispered, her overly cautious brain thinking of the endless possibilities of someone getting hurt. Not to mention the blood. She shivered at the thought, taking a deep breath.

      A red BMW convertible followed close after, and a silver Volvo not far behind. All parking beside one another. Cecilia had never seen them before. She hit Vivienne's side, moving her attention away from Tyler and onto the pale people who began to get out of their cars.

      "Who are they?"

⸝⸝ ʚ 🦇 ! ⌗ °• ━━━ '' - «🕸»‧₊˚𓍯 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚
╰┈➤ it quite literally took me four attempts to write this chapter and i still hate it but it's the one i went with. hopefully it's not too bad but i promise it will get better. i just need to find my groove with writing a twilight fic. this and the next chapter are just quite literally u getting to know the characters, so it won't be anything particularly special.

▋٬ gorgeous manip by tiishas