You Like Me Just the Way I'm Not

"Lisa, what are you doing here?" Alex asked in shock. Belle awkwardly moved to the side as she watched them move away from the group to talk alone with one another. Belle felt a presence by her side and when she looked, Jack was stood next to her.

"Well this is a surprise." he said before rolling his eyes. Belle said nothing as she watched Lisa wrap her arms around Alex for a hug. She had to force herself to look away from the gesture and Jack noticed straight away. After all, Alex had nearly kissed Belle until his ex girlfriend showed up out of nowhere.

Once the pair had finished their conversation, Alex and Lisa had returned to the group where the brunette said her hellos to the rest of the band. Cassadee gave Lisa a quick hug and then sat in the spot where Belle had sat a moment ago next to Alex. Belle was left stunned. Not only had Lisa ignored her, but she acted as if Belle wasn't there. Alex obviously noticed so therefore he introduced the blonde to Lisa.

"It's nice to meet you." Belle greeted. Lisa's eyes inspected her over and Belle got the impression Lisa was judging her.

"Likewise." she replied displeased. A smile, appeared on her face, obviously fake. For the rest of the night, lots of chatter and laughter kept everyone entertained. Rian had started a game of beach volley and Lisa made the teams. It was her, Alex and Jack against Rian, Zack and Cassadee, leaving Belle out on her own. She reassured the group it was fine and she decided to sit by the side keeping score. Although, 30 minutes in, Belle had become quite bored. She watched the group of 6 closely who were having too much fun to even notice that Belle had wondered off halfway down the beach.

Belle sat down and pulled her knees up against her chest. The warmth had dropped and a cool breeze now lingered in the air. Belle didn't want to admit she was being slightly mardy, but when someone comes along and shows off right in front of her, she couldn't help, but feel forgotten. Like an outcast. As soon as Lisa had entered the camp, Belle had been less noticed. She hardly interacted and often spoke a few words when she could. Most of the time, Lisa didn't care about her views/opinions, she simply wanted to interrupt Belle for the fun of it. This reminded her of Belle's sister especially, how Lisa had pushed her out. Belle had only met the girl tonight as well.

A few tears leaked from her eyes and she quickly rubbed them anyway. Belle sniffed and rested her chin on her knee. She closed her eyes and listened to the soft movements of the waves. "Are you alright?" asked a familiar voice. Belle's head whipped around and she came to face Alex who had knelt down at the side of her. He looked so concerned.

"I'd say yes, but then you'd probably tell I'm lying." Belle answered. She wondered how she didn't see Alex coming. She must have been too lost in her thoughts to even care.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No not really." Alex knew she was hurting. He also knew the position she were currently in. Being judged and left out upon wasn't exactly on his list of friendly things.

"Look about earlier well the whole night in general really," he said sincerely. Belle stared deeply at him while her lips quivered. "I should have said something, Lisa was out of line by treating you like that-"

"Like what? A loser?" Belle interrupted him. Alex knitted his eyebrows.

"No, Belle that's not true." he insisted, reaching out for her hand.

"So, I still felt like one." she said. Alex gave her a look as if he didn't believe her. "Alex, I've been frowned upon my whole life, it's not something I can just shrug off and forget about. Fuck, can we please move away from this, I don't want to talk about it." Alex nodded in agreement and there was a silent pause between the pair.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to your girlfriend?" Alex let out a small laugh and Belle looked at him in confusion.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Oh." was all she had managed to reply with. Alex continued to stare at Belle until her face started to feel warm and before she knew it, she was blushing. Alex smirked at her and grabbed a fistful of sand before throwing it all her. She squealed and shielded her face from the gritty mixture.

"Sorry," she apologized quietly. "I assumed you and her were-"

"We were, but not anymore." Alex assured her. "Besides, someone new has already caught my eye."

"Well, she must be lucky." Belle said, glancing at him before looking away and frowning.

"Belle, are you free tomorrow?" Alex asked suddenly, changing the subject. Her eyes widened and her heart pumped faster.

"Yes, why?"

"I was hoping I could show you around LA, I mean you're new and you know seeing as you're going to be living here for what, 3 months?" Belle nodded in confirmation.

"That would be great." she grinned.

"Awesome! Hey, lets head back." he said gesturing to the camp fire. Belle bit her lip and looked to Alex with panicked eyes.

"If I go back with you, promise me you won't leave me on my own."

"Maybe." he teased, sticking out his tongue.

"Alex!" she cried before chucking a handful of sand at him like he'd done earlier.

"I'm sorry," he chuckled and held out his hand for Belle to take. "I promise." Belle took his hand and he pulled her up to face him. Though, once their hands had touched, they felt the same spark as they did when the pair had met for the first time. Both fought hard not to let go.