𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘍𝘖𝘜𝘙

(the cursed witch, act one)

IT HAD BEEN DAYS SINCE NINA LAST SAW EDWARD CULLEN. For a couple days, she had assumed he was sick, but with his family still showing and weeks still passing, Nina assumed the worst.

Maybe he was attacked; pummeled to the point of not being able to walk. Or he was murdered. That was less likely but it was still possible. And Nina slightly wished it were the case.

But with him not showing up, Nina's anger slowly dissipated until it turned into a slight annoyance. But she also felt bad in a way. Maybe she had come off too strong and scared him off, not that she really cared all that much, she barely knew him and she wasn't going to let him ruin her little time in Forks.

By now, she had long forgotten the boy who had fungal acne deep inside his nostrils. Or atleast, she thought she had. He had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth, making Nina's biology class much more bearable as she got to sit in with Mike and Bella through every lesson.

Bella had also long forgotten the Cullen and their strange first interaction. She had come to the conclusion that he was just a stupid teenage boy with issues.

There was one thing that had started to peak Nina's interest though – her mother had been acting strangely for the past few days. What irked her even more was that Natalie hadn't uttered a word about the cause of her strange behaviour.

She was at work for longer hours and when she did come home, she barely spoke to Nina before she retreated back to her bedroom where hush words could hardly be heard through the door.

Although Nina hated the newfound silence, she found herself in a sense of calm. While she only heard her mothers voice utter soft mornings and goodnights, she spent the most of her time in the Swan residence that was only three houses down.

"I swear to God, Mr. Henricks hates me," Nina groaned, her attention on Bella as she huffed and puffed over her business class.

Bella laughed softly, "What did you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything, Bells. All I did was prove a point. He's the one that doesn't like women that have opinions."

"You called him a dink," Jessica piped in, a smile playing on her lips as she watched the teenage witch snap a pencil in half from stress.

"Well he is one. He doesn't know how to run a business. If he did, he wouldn't be a teacher making a shitty wage. I was just informing him that his knowledge on the current stock market was wrong and he didn't like it."

"And you know so much about it?" Bella asked, playing into Nina's current obsession.

"Of course I do." Her eyes turned to look at the blonde boy across from her, "Mike, your family runs a business. Am I right?"

He looked between his friends, "It honestly hurts me to admit this, but she was right."

"Hah!" Nina exclaimed, happy with being told she was right. If there was one thing to know about Nina, it was that she hated being wrong. She also hated people, but that was beside the point.

Eric's eyes suddenly moved away from the witch and instead looked directly behind her as a confused frown took place on his face. "Nina, any reason why the Kardashians are watching you like they are planning your death?"

Nina hummed as she glanced behind her and saw the Cullen family -minus Edward- staring her down. She shrugged as she looked back at her friends, "Probably because I drove their brother out of town."

"Wait, that was you?" Jessica asked, her eyes lighting up at the mere idea of drama.

"It wasn't even that bad. I just asked him why he was staring me down like Jeffery Dahmer."

"You asked him if he had a snot infestation," Bella cut in, earning a laugh from Mike who had been there at the time and witnessed the amusing altercation.

"Well, he kept holding his nose. What else would I think?"

"That you smelled bad?"

An offended look fell on her face, "I smell incredible, Micheal. Unlike you and your axe body spray."

"Screw you, Evans."

She smiled, "I would, but I'm too busy screwing your mom."

Bella held back a laugh as she stood up and pulled Nina with her, "Alright. That's enough out of you two. We have a math assignment that we need to work on."

As the two girls walked out of the cafeteria, they passed the Cullen's table and earned a smile from the dark haired girl, Alice. Nina's lip twitched upwards uncomfortable as she hurried past them, dragging Bella with her.

"I'm gonna fucking die," Nina whispered to Bella.

"She only smiled at you."

"None of them have ever smiled at me. They probably figured out how they are going to kill me. Oh my god. Can I sleep at your place?"

"And let them kill me too? Not a chance, Neens."

Nina gasped dramatically, "So you'd let me die alone?"

"I mean... Yeah. It's self preservation. I don't want to die before I turn eighteen. Especially by being murdered."

"Right. Cause only losers get murdered. I get it. So why'd you say we had a math project?"

"Mike kept giving me creepy looks like he was going to ask me out."

"Gross. If you're gonna date anyone in the friend group it's gonna be me."

Bella blushed, "Alright. Stop your flirting. I don't think my heart can take it."

The bell rang suddenly, causing Bella to sigh, "Gotta go. I got art."

Nina nodded, "You still driving me home tonight? Or are you too scared?"

Bella laughed, "We'll see if you're still alive."

When the final bell of the day rang loudly, Nina waited for the rest of the students to leave the classroom before she left, knowing she was still having trouble finding her way around in the large highschool.

Sighing when she reached yet another dead end, this time near the boys locker room. Turning around, she clutched her text books against her chest as she went through a different hallway, although it looked the same as the other six she had walked down.

Realizing she was walking in circles, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number that had been put in only a few days before. When the person picked up, Nina could hear them laughing.

"Let me guess, you got lost and that's why I'm gonna be late getting home?" Bella's voice asked in an amused tone, the sounds of her truck's heater blasting muffling her voice slightly.

"I didn't get lost," Nina replied in an offended tone. "I just happen to not know how to find my locker."

"It's on the second floor."

Nina rolled her eyes, "Thanks, Sherlock." As Nina turned around through yet another hallway, she stopped when she saw someone's back facing her. "Oh thank fuck. I think I found someone. I'll be out in a minute."

Hanging up when Bella said a simple okay, Nina walked toward the person, "Hey, sorry, I'm a little lost. Can you show me where locker 248 is?" she asked, reading the paper the secretary had given her on her first day.

When she reached the person, she watched as they turned around.

Fuck. Shit. Bitch.

Emmett Cullen stared down at her, practically towering over her with a grin on his face.

He's gonna kill me. This is how I die. Fuck, I really wanted it to be somewhere cool. Like on a beach, particularly a warm beach being suffocated by mermaids. Not this.

She stepped back hesitantly, "Sorry... I can find it myself–"

Before she could turn around, he stopped her, "Hey, don't worry about it. You said 248?"

Nina followed after him, trailing a few steps behind as she replied quietly, "Yes." She wasn't sure why exactly he was helping her. He had to have known that she was the reason why his brother had left town so suddenly. Maybe they weren't that close though.

"So, you're the reason my big brother is all flustered," Emmett spoke suddenly as he stopped making Nina realize they had already reached her locker. The grin on his face had yet to leave, even as he leaned against the wall of lockers and watched her as she fiddled nervously with her lock.

"Am I? I didn't notice he was gone."

Emmett laughed loudly, "Man, when I tell him that it's gonna break his heart."

"Would it?" Nina asked, feeling herself calm slightly around him. She felt somewhat safe with his go-lucky attitude and sense of humor. "I am sorry, though... If it was me that made him leave. I wasn't trying to offend him. If anything he offended me so I should have been the one to fuck off to god knows where."

Emmett laughed again as she shut her locker and looked down the hallway. Out of nowhere, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and began leading her out of the school, "You know, Nini– I can call you that, right?"

She nodded.

"Good. I think I'm beginning to like you. I think you could really piss off my brother and I would love to see him show a little more emotion than his regular 'I've never touched a woman and it shows'."

The witch laughed softly, "Poor guy. That makes a lot of sense though."

Emmett's arm left her shoulder as he moved to hold the door for her, her eyes immediately seeing Bella's truck waiting for her.

"Thank you," Nina told him as she walked down the steps, "For the door and making sure I actually was able to leave the place before they locked me inside."

He shrugged, "You looked like you needed it. It can be pretty terrible starting a new school. If you need any help with anything, my siblings and I are here. We'd all help you out, Nini."

Nina's lips curved into a smile, "Thank you, Emmett. I'll see you tomorrow."

The boy nodded and turned away from her as he walked toward his Jeep where Alice, Rosalie and Jasper were waiting for him, Alice wearing an incredibly chipper look on her face with Jasper and Rosalie looked as though they were about to kill him.

The witch shook her head as she opened the door and got into Bella's passenger seat, only to see the brunette staring at her.

"I see you weren't murdered," Bella commented as she drove out of the school's parking lot.

"He's actually pretty cool. A lot nicer than Eeyore."

Bella laughed, "His name is Edward."

"Is it? I thought it was Eeyore the whole time." She paused as she dug through her bag, finding her homework from her English class, "Did you want to stay at my place tonight for a few hours? We can work on that 1984 essay?"

The human girl nodded as she drove down their street, pulling into Nina's driveway and putting the truck in park. "Might as well. I think Charlie was having Billy over and I don't think I can deal with fish and chips again tonight."

"Well you can stay the night if you want. My mom probably won't be home until midnight and she won't mind you being over. If anything she'd be happy I am being social and not a loner."

Getting out of the truck, Nina pulled out her keys as Bella followed her to the door. "We could order a pizza if you want?" the witch suggested as she opened the door, letting Bella inside before locking it behind her.

"What about Chinese?"