The start of a new school year. The end of summer. The end of freedom. The end of partying and drinking in excess. Okay, so maybe not the end of that particular outlet but it was still depressing. In typical fashion the sun decided to show itself just as it's full benefit could no longer be enjoyed. An entire summer of torrential rain and general greyness, but now, of course sunshine.
"Okay Bells, have a good day," Chief Swan, said interrupting his daughter's inner diatribe of the next six hours of tedium ahead. They pulled in through the school gates and stopped at the front curb.
"Got everything you need?"
"Yeah," Bella sighed, climbing out of her seat. For added effect, she slammed the door of the cruiser without giving her father another look before he drove away. That'd show him.
Pulling her tie loose and straightening her skirt, Bella stood defiantly looking up at the school while kicking the ground with her old scuffed Doc Marten boots.
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School, or as it's more commonly known, 'Tommies' was regarded as one of the best schools in the area, and the place most God-fearing parents want to send their children. Filled with hypocrites and idiots unable to think for themselves, the school represented no more than a prison for her.
As far as Bella was concerned, they could shove their Bibles where the sun didn't shine. Maybe they were in the right place afterall, the sun rarely shone in what was, quite possibly, the dullest town on the planet. Bella would tell them exactly what she thought, but her father had made it quite clear she would finish her education there and needed to keep on his good side if she wanted him to pay for College. For her, preferably as far away as possible. Alaska perhaps.
"How's my favourite little Anti-Christ doing this morning?" a voice whispered from behind as a chin rested on Bella's shoulder.
"Oh just brilliant. Better than brilliant. Fan-fucking-tastic with a cherry on top. I'm practically shitting 'Skittles'," she joked, turning around to be faced with the lanky frame of her best friend Jasper.
With a mop of curly blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes, they'd been friends since meeting in kindergarten. In many ways he was the brother Bella craved, but better. Of course they'd argue and bicker like siblings, but it would never last long. Throughout the disaster comprising her life, Jasper had been the one constant thread tying her together.
"What's with Pops giving you a ride? What did you do this time to get your truck taken away? Or should I be asking what forms of illegal substances did he find this time?" Jasper asked.
"He found nothing. I've learned that lesson!" Bella replied, remembering back to when her dad had found the secret stash hidden under her bed.
She had rolled into the house following an especially nice evening with Jasper, a bottle of vodka and the finest hash money could buy, only to be confronted by Charlie and his wife, Sue. Both were sitting at the kitchen table, it's surface strewn with cannabis, papers, tobacco, poppers and her favourite bong. It came as no surprise that Charlie decided to tear his daughter a new one that night and she lost her truck for a whole six months as punishment. The first Bella remembered of the whole thing was the next morning when she woke up naked with her head in a bucket. Following that incident, she was sure she'd be in military school or chained up in the basement if he had found the other paraphenalia in her room.
"I may have said something to Sue about her poor parenting skills, and the fact that her own demon spawn don't want to live with her."
"Nice one." Jasper laughed. After fourteen years of friendship he was well versed in the full potential of a 'Bella tantrum'. He was under no illusions about Sue having not felt the full force of Bella's abusive tirade.
Jasper smiled down at Bella, before putting his arm around her shoulders tightly and actively walking her towards the building, albeit reluctantly. Dragging her feet and grumbling, he simply laughed at Bella's response and carried on walking in long strides making it difficult for her short legs to keep up.
"How do you not burst into flames, or at least not get struck by lightning?" he asked, laughing as they walked through the main doors and was faced with a huge crucifix on the wall. Unable to reply and resigning herself to the fact the building held her consummately captive, Bella was sure she could smell the singe of fire and brimstone. She merely guffawed, back-handed Jasper lightly in the stomach, and watched on as he doubled over in mock pain.
Bella and Jasper walked through the school halls with the familiar smell of the school assaulting their noses. Nothing had changed since they started there all those years ago as impressionable and naïve young children. Maybe a new coat of magnolia paint but that's about all. If anyone wanted proof of the Catholic Church being protective of their purse-strings, the school was most definitely it.
The walls were decorated with pictures from various art projects. In Bella's opinion, most looked like an epileptic seal had drawn them and art was definitely wasted on the population of the school.
One more year, Swan. One more year, she chanted silently.
"Talking of flames. I need a smoke," she said. In one swift motion, Bella span around to walk backwards and grope the pockets of Jaspers loose black trousers for the little box she craved.
"Hands off the goods Swan," he laughed, swatting her small hands away and holding her small frame easily at arms length.
Mustering all of her strength, she managed to pull her hands out of his grip and lunged for her target once more. "Believe me Whitlock. There's only one packet I'm interested in and it's certainly not that one."
"Jesus, you're antsy this morning," Jasper laughed loudly as he flung the door open to the back of the school and the coveted smokers corner. Bella couldn't help but join in the amusement upon hearing his pronunciation. He had to be the only person in the town to actually say 'Hay-soos'
"Well if you hadn't smoked all of mine last night I wouldn't be in such a bitchy mood this morning," she huffed as he handed the box over. In all honesty, it wasn't just the lack of nicotine that had put Bella in a foul mood. Jasper was simply an easy target and the cigarettes an easy excuse.
"Oh, I find that hard to believe Bellazebub."
Kicking the old nubs away from them on the floor, the pair settled on the ground and leant against the building. The corner was their little safe haven as people, well teachers, rarely went around there due to it being behind the art block. The only interruption they could possibly face would be from Mr Dodd, who was the coolest art teacher ever and even then he'd just be bumming a light.
"You wanna skin up of shall I do the honours?" Jasper asked holding the box in front of Bella's face.
"You can," she sighed, closing her eyes and letting the morning sun warm her face. The faint sound of rustling paper could be heard as Jasper deftly rolled the joint, but the accompanying sweet odour was missing. Cracking one eye open and glancing over towards her friend, Bella's face broke out into a smile when she saw a bag of herbal rather than resin. "Ah the good stuff."
"Only the best," he winked with his mouth attached to the joint as he finished rolling it and sparked up. "Oh I meant to ask you. What was that shit you gave me the other night? It was intense. I pulled a whitey."
"No idea. James got it," she replied looking at the side of Jaspers face which had the familiar 'stoners grin' plastered across it. "Oi, puff puff pass,."
Bella inhaled a long hard drag at the joint, then rested her head back against the wall, closed her eyes, and held it in as long as possible before exhaling loudly. She watched the cloud of smoke haze and roll about before dissipating into the air. They sat in silence, not needing the interruption of conversation, as the warm fuzzy feeling engulfed them, and let the high take them away to somewhere happier.
"Wakey wakey sunshine. It's time for the real fun to begin!" Bella's daydreams were interrupted by a sharp elbow in the ribs.
Groaning, she turned her head to the side and simply held her arm up for Jasper to grab hold of. If Bella Swan was going anywhere near the auditorium it most certainly would not be under her own propulsion. With heavy limbs and a comforting buzz encompassing her, she could have quite gladly stayed slumped on the floor in a pot induced coma for the rest of the day. That proved to be an impossibility as she felt her body being wrenched from the ground.
"You look like Bambi on ice," Jasper whispered as they walked through the corridors giggling like a couple of fangirls. Vaguely aware of the hustle and bustle around her, they continued through the slalem of black and red uniforms, not caring if the younger kids fell victim to their pushing.
Slipping through the doors, Bella spotted the last few free seats at the back and pulled Jasper towards them before they were taken. There would be a quick escape route if needed by sitting at the back, and the bonus was nobody would see her sleeping. Well hopefully not again anyway.
From the position at the rear of the room, Bella was able to scan the heads in front of her. Five hundred pupils all corralled like livestock, bleating away to each other about what amazing adventures they'd had over the summer. She couldn't help smiling to herself wondering if any of them had been singing 'Y.M.C.A' with 'The Beatles' whilst wearing a hula skirt. One thing was for sure – she was never doing acid again, that was one trip too far.
"Bellaaaaaaa!"
Before Bella had chance to process the high pitched voice behind her, she was assaulted with a pair of arms around her neck in a vice-like grip. Twisting her head around, she was just able to make out the black spiky hair belonging to the ritalin-riddled midget more commonly known as Alice Brandon.
"Alice...can't...breathe, " she choked, trying in vain to remove Alice's arms away from what she feared was a rapidly bruising windpipe. For such a small person she really was terrifyingly strong.
"Oh sorry."
Letting go of Bella's wrenched neck, Alice hopped over the back of the seats and took her place in the last remaining free chair.
"Can you believe it's the start of our senior year?" she asked excitedly while looking around the room, perched on the edge of her seat like a meerkat. Anyone less educated in the phenomenon of Alice would have been convinced she'd taken a hit of amphet on her way here. Unfortunately, animated and overexcited behaviour was perfectly normal for her – as all the tests for ADHD could testify. Eternally optimistic, she made the 'Energizer Bunny' look lethargic.
"Tell me about it," Bella mumbled as Jasper's posture stiffened beside her and he angled himself forward to look across towards Alice.
"Oh come on sad sack. It's our last year. I thought I was supposed to be the emo freak here, not you," Alice joked, poking Bella in the side before leaning across her body to embrace Jasper in a tight hug, inadvertently giving a view of her rear-end as her skirt rode up.
"Alice, keep your buns in the oven!" Bella hissed as she grabbed Alice's arm and pulled her back into her own seat. As she straightened her skirt, Jasper stifled the groan that built in his throat. Looking straight ahead once more, he tried to concentrate on what was happening and suppress the memory of her breasts crushed against his chest.
"Fine," Alice huffed, crossing her arms."Damn you're snarky this morning, Bella."
The room grew quieter as teachers tried to put a lid on the excited chatter reverberating around the cavernous room. Seeing it as her cue to drown it all out, Bella pulled her mp3 player out and chose the most fitting music for this auspicious occasion. The heavy, angry music blasted into her ears as she closed her eyes to eliminate the surroundings.
Lost in the heavy beat, she could feel her hair being moved before one ear-bud was unceremoniously ripped from her ear.
"Death metal? Really Bella?" Jasper admonished as he held it up to his head to listen in. "Do you really think this is appropriate in the House of God?"
Snatching it back from his hand she crossed her arms and gave him the death glare she had patented many years ago. One look alone was usually enough to shut up even the most hardened offender.
"Actually I think it's very appropriate. Death – Jesus died for our sins, and metal, well, what do you think the nails were made of?" Satisfied with her explanation, she stuck her tongue out like a petulant child and turned the volume up. In her peripheral vision, she could see him laughing and shaking his head and couldn't hide the grin that formed on her lips.
As Mass got under way, Bella settled back with some grunge and simply followed the movements of those around her. When they stood, she did, and so on. There was no need for her to hear it to know exactly what was going on. These rituals were deeply ingrained from a baby-hood. Bella could recite the Creed without thinking and could probably do it backwards if the need so took her. Not that she would want to waste any precious and dwindling brain cells on such a task.
"You going up to communion?" Alice asked as everyone two rows in front filed out quietly.
"Nah, I'm good. Had a drink this morning before I got here," Bella replied.
There were two main reasons Bella refused to partake in communion. Firstly, it amounted to nothing more than cannibalism. Eating his flesh and drinking his blood? Pass. Secondly, and most importantly, the wine was now non-alcoholic and what's fun about that?
It was changed to non-alcoholic last year after it was discovered that some students had discovered its hiding place at the back of the chapel and drank it dry. What more could the teachers possibly expect from three bored students cutting class who just 'happened' to come across the strong cheap vino? It certainly made English more interesting for Jasper, Alice and Bella. There were suspects, three to be precise, but alas no evidence. If being the Police Chiefs daughter had taught Bella anything, it was that without evidence the law's hands were tied.
As their row stood to file out, Bella sat frozen in place and stared forward. Feeling eyes burning into her from all angles, she tried to ignore them, and concentrated on the lyrics to the song currently playing. No matter how much she hated being the centre of attention, this had to be endured, so she closed her eyes once more and drummed along with her fingers on her knees humming quietly.
Oblivious to the presence towering behind her, she was caught completely unaware when her ear-buds were ripped away and an arm appeared over her shoulder to grab the 'iPod' from her hands. Swinging around instinctively and expecting it to be Jasper, Bella was confronted by a very annoyed Mr Foley, the headmaster.
"You can have this back at the end of the day Ms. Swan if you give me a good enough reason for you to be using it during Mass," he snarled at her, before spinning on his heels and disappearing to the other side of the hall.
"Busted!" Alice chirped in Bella's ear as she returned her seat – Only it came out buff-ted because she was trying to remove the communion wafer which had cemented itself to the roof of her mouth.
"Told ya it was inappropriate," Jasper sniggered, sitting down in his seat and finding hilarity in his best friend's misfortune.
"I'll tell you what's inappropriate Whitlock!" Bella snapped, turning to look Jasper dead in the eye. "Having a boner during Mass!"
With the speed of a fat kid in a pie eating contest, her hand flew to his crotch and grabbed a handful of his man meat eliciting a very feminine squeak from him. Keeping her eyes trained on his, Bella raised one of her eyebrows and gave another squeeze, before releasing him and sinking back into her seat feeling thoroughly smug, if not a bit bored without any musical distractions.
As much as she would pay for it later, Bella couldn't resist calling him out on the crush he'd had on Alice for the past two years. She had regarded it as the worlds worst kept secret, but promised Jasper her lips would remain sealed – until he did something tto really piss her off.
Having been friends since small children, Bella and Jasper had the closest and most open friendship one could imagine. Jasper was the only person Bella had ever opened up to and often claimed to know her better than she knew herself. He was aware the same feelings were true for himself and knew they would have to remain friends for the rest of their existence. After all, they knew too much about each other to be on opposite sides of the fence. Best friends are your worst enemies.
As much as Jasper was comfortable and confident in his bond with his best friend, he had an uneasy feeling something was not quite right. There was something bubbling right under the surface. Something Bella wasn't comfortable sharing. He would sit back, for now - remain supportive until she felt ready to air her feelings, and pray it would be sooner, rather than later.
Huge thanks to my beta Gasaway Alley!