𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟕: 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
Ellie made a return to school on Thursday. She was waiting cheerfully at the front of the school for Alaina at a bench, waving to her. Judging from the smile on her face, it seemed the feelings from Monday morning had passed, much to Alaina's relief.
"Alaina! How are you?" She didn't wait for her to answer.
A pearled white headband sat on her head, her earrings and the bracelet she wore matched with it. There was a new pearl strap with a new white phone case along with a pearl strap on her spotless white backpack. She would have mistaken pearls as her new obsession over pink, but that would be disproven shortly. Oh, to have the liberty of changing every accessory to match the theme of the day. Alaina could only dream.
Ellie clung to Alaina's arm, resting her arm on her shoulder, eagerly sharing something. Alaina had a hard time keeping up with the topic as she excitedly went on, but she caught the main idea.  Despite their lack of similar interests, she was a good friend and she was happy to have her company again.
Ellie was going on about this sale from a Valentino that had started the previous night, and how she'd stayed up and been one of the lucky few to order a keychain from the site before they had sold out. Alaina nodded supportively, listening to her friend, even if she couldn't relate to her elated mood over her success. She pulled out her phone to show Alaina a picture of the keychain, it was a pink pom-pom with a glittery cat and other pink shiny ornaments decorating the chain.
"Wow that's uh . . . pink," Alaina commented, not knowing what else to say. Still, Ellie was happy her friend was listening and responding to her, and her mood couldn't be crushed after obtaining an exclusive product before anyone else.
The two walked down the hall together. Students were on about their usual chatter, shooting glances towards Alaina and Ellie. "Did anything interesting happen while I was out?" She curiously asked, her smile a little nervous. There was no way several days had gone by without a new topic to buzz over.
Alaina shrugged. "Well, Brendan and Cordie stopped by the cafeteria and—"
Ellie's mouth dropped open. "No way!" First, it was Cordelia showing up to their classroom, and now it was her and Brendan coming to the cafeteria. It went without saying that it had never happened before.
"Yeah, we just talked a bit and they ended up inviting me to go shoot arrows with them," Alaina continued, turning to Ellie who clasped her arms like she'd just been the first to hear some juicy gossip. In fact, she was the first, no one had known about the invitation to the range until now.
The trace of a smile forming on her face, faltered at once. Ellie's hands tight around Alaina, she was losing her friend to the V4. "The V4 invited you to go out with them?" She questioned aloud in disbelief, more heads turning towards the two with the outburst. "Wow, you're so cool, they must really like you," she added. Her words almost didn't match her expression. Surprised. Rattled. Alarmed.