Clarabelle Chapter Four

When the bell rang for recess, Gwen jumped up, shoving books into her desk. Clarabelle was waiting at her desk, her books already somehow neatly stacked. Her smile was tentative yet excited. Gwen smiled back, and the two girls bounded out the school doors into the crisp autumn breeze. Gwen started at the little kids’ end.
“These are their swings,” Gwen explained, “and this is their toy thingie, they call it the ‘Big Toy’, it has slides and bridges and stuff. Then this is the hopscotch area, and this is their field.” She pointed to each playground section as she gave it an explanation. “This, over here, is the older kids’ end,” Gwen began again. “Soccer field, benches, swings, basketball court. Then we have a toy too, we call it the ‘Blue Toy’, but no one really plays on it, mostly girls gossip on it. Sometimes the boys start a game of ball tag.” She stopped to take a breath, and realized that was the whole schoolyard. “Then there’s, um, well, I guess that’s it,” She finished lamely. She looked down at her bitten nails, tapping them against her leg. Clarabelle nodded slowly, absorbing it all. She glanced at the Blue Toy.
“Looks like they’re playing ball tag right now,” She said, pointing. Gwen shaded her eyes from the weak sunlight. “Yep,” She agreed. She rolled her eyes. “It’s the same thing with ball tag-boys are it, they tag the girls they like, the girls complain about how hard they throw it, so they throw it harder. It’s so dumb.” She exhaled loudly in exasperation. Clarabelle watched the game with amusement.
“Let’s go!” She cried suddenly, running over. Gwen’s mouth fell open.
“Jeez! Does she like getting hit hard with a dodgeball?” She muttered as she jogged over to join the shrieking crowd. It was exactly as she had predicted, the boys hurling the colorful foam balls with all their might at their crushes. The girls would cry out and pretend to be hurt, so the boys would remain it until they caught someone of their own gender. Why ANYONE would want to play was a mystery. When the boys saw the lovely but intimidating girl joining the fray, they switched targets. “Hey, that’s the new girl!” They would holler, pitching the ball with all their strength. Clarabelle easily weaved through. “Aw, man!” and “I had her!” and “What the-?” were the confused shouts when she dodged.
“I’ll get her!” Kody Anderson bellowed. He swaggered up to Joe, who was still it, who tossed it over. Kody glared at Clarabelle. Clarabelle simply smirked. By this time it was silent.
Kody smacked the ball into his hands a few times, the hollow ringing slap against his hands the only sound. Gwen cringed. Kody was the best looking, most athletic, meanest kid in seventh grade. He would hit Clarabelle for sure, probably hurting her to the point of tears. How embarrassing. Clarabelle didn’t look nervous, however. She stared coolly at the confident boy. He glared back. Everyone gaped at the pair. Gwen was nearly trembling. Suddenly, Kody drew back his arm. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. Suddenly, Kody’s arm thrust forward. SLAP! Everyone gasped. Clarabelle was holding the ball an inch from her face, apparently unruffled. Clarabelle tossed it casually back. The force knocked Kody off his feet, but no one dared laugh. Gwen clapped a hand to her mouth to keep her giggles inside. Clarabelle jumped off the Blue Toy, landing lightly on her feet. She strode over to Kody, spitting out sand. “Nice try.”
Clarabelle’s words broke the tension. Everyone started howling. Gwen was doubled over, hooting. The girls were all hysterically laughing. Even Kody’s close friends snickered. Kody walked away, shoulders up to his ears, which were cherry red. Clarabelle sauntered over to where Gwen was still chuckling. “Okay, drama’s over, let’s go,” She said in an undertone. Gwen got some control over her giggles and gasped, “Oh, God, Clarabelle, that was historical! Hysterical! Kody sure as heck won’t bother girls anymore!”
“Okay, okay!” Clarabelle said, closing the subject, but Gwen could see the faint smile of triumph shining through.

Clarabelle Chapter Two

Finally, finally, FINALLY, the bell rang for the end of school. Gwen stood up quickly and shoved her books into her schoolbag, double-checking her desk for anything she missed. She was anxious to get home, away from the new girl. She hated to admit it, but she’d felt like she was under inspection all day. For the two and a half hours Clarabelle had been there, Gwen had felt like a bug under a microscope. Even now, as she slung her bag over her shoulder, she felt Clarabelle’s hard eyes following her.

Gwen walked quickly in through her door, the familiar kitchen wallpaper calming her pulse a little. She sucked in a deep breath, unsure why she was so tense. Maybe it was the crawling hairs on the back of her neck, the whole way home, feeling like their were many pairs of eyes on her.
She took her books out of her backpack and set them on her desk, then switched on her sluggish computer. She decided to get a snack while it loaded up. She was rummaging around in her fridge when she sensed someone behind her. She froze, then whirled around and cracked the back of her head on the freezer handle.
“Ow!” She complained, gingerly touching the blooming bruise. She then noticed the “suspicious figure” was only her mother, Charmaine. “Oh, hi, Mom!” She added brightly, in a very different tone.
“Hi, honey,” Charmaine said slowly, her hair in a supercurly disarray around her amused face. “How was your day?” She asked, taking in Gwen’s jumpy behavior with raised eyebrows.
“Okay,” Gwen lied. Charmaine didn’t buy it.
“How ‘bout you? You okay?”
“Er, yeah!” Gwen chirped, lying through her teeth. “I’m fine! Great! I’m-“ Gwen’s sentence trailed off. Charmaine knew by her face she was not fine.
“What’s wrong, Gwen?” She asked, worried. Gwen bit her lip, wondering how to phrase it.
“We-my class-got an new girl this afternoon,” She offered half-heartedly.
Charmaines’ expression brightened.
“Well, that’s great, honey!” She exclaimed. Then, surveying Gwen’s expression, she paused. “Is it?”
Gwen shrugged. “I-I guess,” She said softly. “Clarabelle, her name is…” She trailed off.
Charmaine’s eyebrows drew together.
“Gwen, did she do something to you?” Charmaine asked, truly concerned now.
“Well, no, not really,” Gwen admitted. Charmaine’s expression cleared.
“Well, then, what’s bothering you, then?” Gwen fidgeted, uncomfortable.
“Well, I dunno, it’s just…she’s just…a bit…different.” Gwen decided. Charmaine’s kind face grew puzzled.
“What’s so bad about this Clarabelle, Gwen? What?” Gwen looked her mother in the eye.
“She’s not like most thirteen-year-olds. She’s different than us. Intimidating, somehow. Clarabelle is not your average girl.”

CLARABELLE Chapter One

HELLO...
This is Clarabelle Chapter 1, but I updated it to make the writing more MINE and not Stephenie Meyer's. Let me know if you like it! Don't be afraid to post a comment!

Gwen sat in her scarred desk, laboriously scrawling math problems across her notebook. She scowled at the taunting pages of her textbook, bright and perky, cheerfully promising at least two hours of homework tonight. She sighed, and put down her pencil, feeling like she was dropping a lead brick. Gwen’s brown eyes glanced at the clock on the back wall, its steady tick-tock and scratching pencils the only sound in the dreary classroom. Suddenly there was a quick knock on the door, and the bored seventh-grade class looked up hopefully, praying for any distraction. Their teacher, Mrs. Stanette, got up from her cluttered desk and opened the door. The principal stepped in.
“Hello, class, hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she chirped. “The new student you were expecting has arrived early! And here she is!” She beamed like she presented them a million dollars, then stepped aside, and a tall, slender girl glided in the doorway.
The class gaped at her. Not only was this mystery student a math distraction, but she was…well, different. Gwen stared like the rest, but the girl didn’t seem to be uncomfortable by the many eyes fixed on her. She pressed her lips together and gave a tight-lipped smile. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, and Gwen sighed in envy. Her waist-length hair hung shimmering in streaks of chestnut and black, so much more beautiful then Gwen’s plain, witchy black hair. But her hair contrasted with her skin, unlike Gwen’s, whose dark hair went well with her coffee-toned skin. No, this new girl’s dark hair was much unlike her bone-white complexion. Her glittering violet eyes, too, were very different. The girl stood coolly in front of the dumbstruck class. “Hello,” She said, seemingly without much interest. “My name is Clarabelle.”
The teacher greeted her warmly. “Hi, Clarabelle,” she gushed. “We are SO happy to have you here today! We even have a desk ready! It’s back there, by the girl with black hair. Her name’s Gwen.” She pointed to Gwen, who gave her a tight smile and a tiny wave. Clarabelle’s strange eyes switched from Mrs. Stanette to Gwen quicker than a hummingbird’s wings. Her eyes penetrated Gwen like she was trying to see through her. Gwen flushed and looked down quickly and pretended to work on math.
Gwen scribbled in a few answers, but stopped on number six. She tried to bully her brain into thinking. “Hi,” Came a low, hypnotic voice. Gwen jumped and twisted to look at the seat next to her. She hadn’t heard Clarabelle walk over or sit in her new desk. She must have a remarkably soft step. “Oh, h-h-hi,” Gwen stuttered. Clarabelle’s light eyes traveled over to Gwen’s messy workbook.
“The answer is 732.12,” She whispered. Gwen glanced down at her book and scratched in the row of numbers.
“Uh, thanks,” She said tentatively. “Um, how did you know that so quickly?”
“Oh, I know math,” Clarabelle said, lips curling into a smirk. She flashed her gleaming teeth at Gwen in a brief grin.
Gwen shivered. She wasn’t sure she liked this girl. She was…intimidating, somehow. Those slightly pointy eyeteeth, or perhaps that low, intense voice, or those cold eyes.