My computer charger broke -_- I'm sorry for the delay but I'm using my ancient PC which takes forever to do anything, but I managed to finish up this chapter :) Thank you all for reviewing.
'You've got to be kidding me.' The thought was more astonished than annoyed…oh I was a little annoyed at first, the natural reaction to having your adopted parent come to your school and pass as a teacher, apparently just to make sure that you are okay…but then came the overwhelming rush of gratitude. They were looking out for me…going out of their way to assure me that I was safe. I would not be in any more danger here…that was for sure.
"Mrs. Cullen will be your substitute for the remainder of the week. Also, she has been informed that she should come to me if she has any problems." Esme smiled at him, her soft, sweet smile dazzling him for a moment before he managed to clear his throat shakily and stumble out of the room. A few stifled laughs were the only sound in the room as most students stared at her with open shock, and I wondered how many of them had seen Carlisle or Esme before.
"Good morning everyone." Esme greeted the class in her musical voice, standing with her hands clasped in front of her as she swept her gaze over the room, barely pausing when her eyes skimmed over me. "I'm Mrs. Cullen…"
"Wait…" The incredulous voice came from a boy sitting beside me and I flinched. For just a second her eyes hardened, and then her gaze rested on the tall boy sitting a row over from my desk, her eyebrow lifting as she seemed to dare him to continue. Something about her annoyed expression screamed 'dangerous' even to me, who'd lived with her for months. However, Simon didn't seem to notice. "Aren't you the Cullens kids' mom?" He asked loudly. Crossing her arms, she stepped closer to the rows of students.
"I beg your pardon?" I wanted to grab his arm and tell him to shut up, but I wasn't particularly fond of Simon, and this was sure to be fun to watch. Esme could certainly handle herself.
"Are you even qualified to teach Calculus?"
Esme gave him an incredulous look for a moment, and then visibly relaxed, her eyes cooling, her smile unfriendly. "Well, Mr…..?"
"Simon." There was silence as she waited. "Simon Radcliffe."
"Well, Mr. Radcliffe, I hold a Doctorate of Education, with a specialty in Educational Psychology, from Vanderbilt's Peabody College of Education and Human Development, along with a Masters in Mathematics from Princeton University." I have no idea why I was surprised. It seemed like all my family did was go to college, and I wondered if I would be as interested in furthering my education. Come to think of it, I would have unlimited time and money at my disposal…I could get quite a few science degrees in that time. The idea was intriguing, and I wondered if I could study medicine like Edward and Carlisle…the field, along with Biology and Anatomy, had always been interesting to me, and I made a mental note to talk to Edward about it. "So do I have your blessing, Mr. Radcliffe, to teach high school Calculus?" Her cold voice brought me back to the present, and I covered a smile with my hand.
Simon reddened, having sunk lower and lower in his chair with each word, and swallowed. "Yes ma'am." He mumbled.
"Thank you, Mr. Radcliffe. I appreciate that. Now, who can tell me on which unit you left off?"
The Calculus lesson continued without any kind of disturbance or further interruption. Esme was careful to call on several different people for answers, easily explaining any concepts my peers had trouble with...doing a much better job than our usual teacher. I kept quiet for most of the lesson, only answering once when called on, and kept my head down, ignoring her occasional quick concerned glances. As the lesson drew to an end, she closed her book and turned to the class. "Please complete problem sets 1 through 15 on page 394 by tomorrow. I'll collect them at the start of class, and we'll start the next unit afterwards." As soon as she finished speaking, the bell chimed and she smiled. "Enjoy your lunch." Waiting for the majority of the students to stand, stuffing their notebooks and textbooks back in their bags, she stood behind her desk. "Bella? Can I speak with you for a moment?"
Surprised, I nodded, ignoring the looks from my peers that varied from curious to annoyed to smug. "I'll see you later, Bella." Jessica stated in a tone that told me she would demand details later. Sighing in exasperation, I waited for everyone else to leave the room and for Esme to shut the door before walking up to her, my head naturally going to her shoulder when her arms went around me.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" She asked softly, her voice full of concern.
"I'm okay…when did you decide to stand in for our teacher?" I asked, still surprised over her status as my new teacher. She smiled and crossed her arms.
"Alice told me that your regular teacher would be…unable to return to work, and since I'm more than qualified, I spoke to your principal. There aren't that many substitutes willing to come all the way out to Forks, so he was grateful for the offer. Alice said I'll probably remain here for at least the rest of the month." She hesitated, her hand resting on my arm. "If that's okay with you." She qualified softly. "If it makes you uncomfortable…"
"No!" I shook my head. "Not at all…of course not. But…you don't have to do this." Esme smiled at me kindly, kissing me quickly on the forehead.
"Bella, I don't mind at all. I haven't got to teach in a while. It's something I enjoy. It's a bonus that I get to spend more time with my family." She glanced up at the clock for a second, then smiled at me. "Well, you'd better get to class. Edward is waiting outside the door for you." With that, she turned to the door with a smile, and Edward stepped through, instantly moving to my side and clasping my hand in his.
Edward kept my hand in his, leading me through the crowded hallway as we made our way to the cafeteria. He chatted softly with me for most of the way, occasionally questions or answering mine, but then we stepped into the cafeteria and he tensed, breaking off midway through his sentence.
"Edward?" I squeezed his hand gently, knowing he could probably barely feel it, but he gritted his teeth and tried to smile at me.
"Hmm?"
"What's going on?"
"Nothing." He tried to assure me, but I glanced around the strangely quiet room nervously.
"Edward?"
"Don't worry about it Bella." He soothed me, forcing his lips into a smile. "Come on. Let's get in line." Hesitantly I followed, watching absentmindedly as he piled food onto the tray, then paid at the end of the line. Letting him buy me lunch was something I'd long since stopped arguing about. Carrying the tray in one hand, he gripped mine and led me over to the table, making me frown at him in confusion. I didn't mind, of course, but he wasn't usually so single-minded in getting me around the cafeteria. Pulling a little on his hand, I caught his attention.
"Edward, please. What's wrong?" I almost begged, not able to understand the almost painfully angry look on his face. But before he could answer, I stumbled against something, his hand wrapped around mine the only thing keeping me from falling on my face, and there was a chorus of laughter from the table we were passing. But I couldn't focus on that, because suddenly Edward's face was so murderous that I honestly feared for the lives of all present…myself not included of course. "Edward, don't…." I mumbled, gripping his hand as hard as I could.
Across the cafeteria, I glanced at my family. They were all perfectly still, their eyes intent on the laughing students. And then I was angry. Because we all had enough crap to deal with...I didn't need these idiots causing me more trouble. Dropping his hand, I moved between Edward and the tallest guy at the table, not wanting them to see his face when he was so angry. "What the h*ll is your problem?" I snapped, crossing my arms and meeting his eyes. He snorted and leaned back in his chair, and for a brief second I prayed it would fall. Turning to the others, he just grinned. Rolling my eyes, I made my voice dry, not daring to let any of the pain show…I would just have to feel that later, when Jasper wasn't around. "Hello." I made my voice condescending. "Moron #1, are you deaf? Stupid? " His eyes narrowed as he turned to glare at me, one eyebrow lifting.
"God, can't you take a hint, you incestuous little c*nt?" There were a chorus of murmurs around the room, and I felt a painful sensation in my chest when I saw Jessica snicker. I'd thought she was still my friend…maybe not a good one, but still... Angela was giving the boys at the table a steely glare, and Ben held her hand tightly in his. But no one moved. I didn't even want to think about what Edward's face looked like.
But I had to get Edward away from this idiot, and looking at him would be the only way to do it. Tugging his hand, I turned to the statue behind me. "Come on Edward. He probably doesn't even know what that means." I turned to walk toward our table, trying to pull him along with me. I couldn't let him expose himself here…from the looks on Emmett and Jasper's faces, they were with Edward. Alice and Rosalie held them down, their small hands wrapping around the arms of their mates, but neither seemed averse to a quick killing spree. But then a warm hand was crushing my wrist.
"It means you're screwing your boyfriend's brothers you little slut!" He snapped. There was dead silence in the cafeteria, but before I could register how much he was hurting me, my hand was free, his hand in a grip I knew was iron solid and cold as ice. The boy stared up at Edward and tried to scoff, but couldn't' quite manage it.
"That's not what incestuous means, moron." I said dryly. I had to sit down…now. Or I was going to break apart. Jasper must have felt that because he was focusing on me, calm and safely fluttering around the edges of my pain. 'I'm okay…just need to get Edward away from him.' I wished we could go a bit further than our cafeteria table. "He's not worth the effort, Edward." I spoke carelessly, and a little smile turned the corners of Edward's mouth, the insult made more cutting knowing what I knew about how little effort it would take Edward to crush him. He released the boy's hand…belatedly I remembered his name was Levi, and started to head for the lunch table. I sat down between Emmett and Alice, and Edward sat across from me, nearly throwing the tray on the table in disgust and clenching his hands into tight fists. Reaching over numbly, I lay my hands on his. "Are you okay?"
He scoffed, cutting his eyes at the room full of smirking students. "No." He nearly snarled at me, but I wasn't bothered too much. Resigning myself to the fact that he would be angry for a while, I withdrew one of my hands, picking up a carton of chocolate milk he'd grabbed and twisting off the cap, taking a long drink. Honestly the thought of eating any kind of food made me ill, but everyone's eyes were moving back and forth between Edward and me, and I couldn't bear to worry them anymore. Grabbing an apple, I forced myself to take a bite, refusing to give in when my stomach protested painfully.
'I am not sick.' I told myself firmly. 'Not now.' Taking another bite against the wishes of my gag reflex, I twisted the apple in my hands, ignoring the searching looks coming from Alice. Jasper muttered something I couldn't catch, and I just barely heard Emmett tell him no. Edward's hand flexed under mine, and I didn't even see Jasper grab his arm.
"You can't." He told him forcefully. "Not now." The 'not now' part worried me, and I prayed he wouldn't kill anyone over me. "You okay?" Jasper turned to me, his bright eyes worried, and I forced a nod, swallowing back the pain and embarrassment. The emotions that suddenly swirled around me told me in indisputable terms that I was safe. "You better eat something. You heard what Carlisle said." He gave me a half smile and pulled the almost full tray over, and I tried to choke down a turkey sandwich.
Our biology teacher glanced up, his eyes lingering on me for a moment before nodding silently in greeting. Grateful that he wasn't going to try to talk to me or discuss the dramatic events from a week ago, I slid into my seat, glancing over at Edward whose jaw hadn't unclenched since lunch. The turkey sandwich sat uncomfortably in my stomach like a rock, and I leaned over, resting my head on my arms while our teacher began the lecture on cell division, a topic I understood well enough that I barely felt the need to take notes. Beside me, Edward absentmindedly scratched his pen across his paper, filling the page with his perfect handwriting. Deciding that I would just borrow his notes later, I was suddenly very focused on not throwing up.
I'd always had a weak stomach, and stress made it a hundred times worse. Closing my eyes, I focused on my breathing, making it as even as possible while my stomach seemed to twist in knots. The teacher began circling the room, handing out worksheets , when he paused at our table. "Bella?" To my surprise, his voice was genuinely concerned, and Edward's head whipped around as though he were waking from a trance. "Do you need to be excused?" He asked softly, the other voices in the room a dull humming in the background.
"Please." I mumbled. He nodded, stepping out of my way as I left the room, not glancing up at anyone, or looking back at Edward, as I shut the door softly behind me. Once I was in the empty hallway, I bolted to the bathroom, throwing the stall door open and, falling to my knees, emptied my stomach painfully into the bowl. Groaning, I rested my head against the cold porcelain, not even noticing the presence behind me until a cold hand pulled my hair back and rested on my neck. The toilet flushed loudly in the small room, and I was carefully pulled back against a stone body.
"Are you okay?" To my surprise, it was Rosalie who held me as we sat on the floor, and I managed a nod. Although our relationship was much better (and less awkward) than before, we still weren't quite as close as the other members of my new family. But she didn't seem awkward or upset now…instead she seemed concerned.
"'M okay." I managed to mumble, still taking deep breaths, nearly panting with the effort it took to stay upright against her. This kind of sickness always made me dizzy and I closed my eyes rather than watch the room spin.
"Do you want me to call Carlisle?" She asked quietly, one of her hands moving down to rub my back.
"No….I'll be okay. Just a second."
"Alight." I was a little surprised…I was used to the over protectiveness of my brothers. It was nice to have someone believe me when I lied about being okay. After a few moments though, I did feel better. She seemed to sense this and stood fluidly, helping me as she moved. "Do you want to go to the nurse?"
"No…thanks Rosalie." I managed a smile, which she returned hesitantly.
"Is it because of what happened at lunch?" She wondered, her eyes growing cold.
"I'm not sure…I think I'm just stressed." Her lips turned down briefly into a worried frown, but she nodded, accepting my answer.
"We'll do our best, you know." She spoke in a nearly silent voice. "We'll try to protect you from whatever we can. But you have to tell us if someone hurts you…we can't be everywhere at once, even if we'll try."
"I understand." I assured her hurriedly. "I don't expect you to…" She cut me off with an impatient huff.
"Don't be ridiculous. Of course we're going to do our best to protect you. We don't mind, and we know you don't expect it, even if you should by now. But Bella, you don't have to pretend that it doesn't bother you…what they're saying. It should bother you…they're being cruel just for fun."
"What can you do?" I asked just as softly, crossing my arms. "You can't exactly stop them from talking about me."
"No…but we can be quite persuasive when we want to." She grinned at me, her expression expectant, and I snorted.
"I'm sure you can."
Edward looked up anxiously when I slipped back into the room, abandoning all pretense of paying attention to the worksheet everyone was working on and gripping my hand. His eyes were remorseful as he scooted his chair closer to me, holding me against him. "Are you okay? Rosalie said you were sick." I was confused for a second before realizing that he'd read her thoughts. "Do you want me to take you home?" I shook my head, offering him what I hoped was a reassuring smile.
"I'm okay. I just wasn't feeling well." His eyes were tortured as he squeezed my hand.
"I'm so sorry…I wasn't paying attention…"
I shook my head. "Edward, I'm fine. It's okay. You don't have to watch me every second." But I knew he wouldn't buy that. "Please don't worry…" I didn't want him to constantly be tormented by the thoughts of the idiots we went to school with…I didn't want him worrying about me every time someone was mean to me. I would shove the pain down…bury it as deep as possible. It was unfair to Edward…to all of my family, for me to keep worrying them like this. So I wouldn't. Turning back to the worksheet with a forced air of calm, I peeked back up at him.
"So what did I miss?"
I stepped into the gym, grateful that we wouldn't be doing any actual physical activity, but not looking forward to this assembly. Around the room, a few people lounged by the bleachers, ear buds firmly inserted in their ears or eyes skimming over the page of their books, or chatting in small groups on the basketball court. I started to make my way over to the bleachers, glad that I'd packed Jane Eyre away in my bag, when Mike Newton appeared in front of me, a nasty look on his face. Still angry over his reaction in the cafeteria, I gave him a cold glare and crossed my arms.
"God, Bella. Isn't it enough that you're screwing them? Do you have to have them in all of your classes too?"
For a moment I wondered where all of this hostility was coming from…of course Mike and I hadn't been on the best of terms since Edward and his family had returned, but this was a bit extreme… "Who, exactly, am I 'screwing' Mike?" I spit out the word distastefully, my jaw clenched.
"The Cullens!" He snapped, rolling his eyes. "Everybody knows it."
"Really?" I lifted an eyebrow. "You know that there are five of them. You honestly think I'm…" I paused, then sighed, breaking off. It wouldn't do any good to chew him out here. Especially not with the entire class watching. I'd had enough of the spotlight for the day. Then I frowned. What had he been saying? "All of my classes?" I asked, honestly curious now.
"Yea." He stated obviously. "Isn't it a bit transparent? Switching in the middle of the semester?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I started to look around, confused, when I froze, my eyes caught in the butterscotch gaze of my older brother. "Jasper?" I mumbled in surprise.
"As if you didn't know." Mike rolled his eyes, and for a second Jasper's gaze was murderous and he stared at my unsuspecting classmate. Ignoring Mike's smirk, I headed for the bleachers, then paused, glancing back at the others. Most were staring at Jasper with a mix of awe and unease…the same look most of the Cullens got from our classmates. Immediately I knew that if I went to sit with him, it would only feed the rumors that…well I didn't really want to think about those rumors…to think that my brothers were capable of hurting me in that way…or that Carlisle…For a second I felt sick again, then I pushed it back, swallowing hard. I wasn't about to let these judgmental idiots keep me away from my brother.
I stepped on the bleacher steps, making my way toward him. He was no longer looking at me, and seemed the picture of ease, his legs stretched out as he lounged lazily like a large cat, his long body seemingly at ease, but I knew better. It didn't take the Cullens half a second to go from 'at ease' to in motion. He held a book in one hand, and seemed completely immersed in the words even as I sat down beside him. Smirking, I leaned over and reached out to snatch the book, but it was suddenly out of my reach, and he snorted, giving me an unimpressed look.
"How did you manage this?" I wondered aloud, crossing my arms and sitting back against the bleachers. He grinned, dropping the book in his backpack that was mostly a prop and turned to me before I could even read the cover.
"It was fortunate that Carlisle happened to make a significant financial contribution to the school's library right when I needed to change my class schedule." He informed me with a lazy smirk.
"Wait…Carlisle bought the school a new set of encyclopedias so that you could get into my gym class?" He shook his head.
"No, Carlisle bought the school a new set of encyclopedias and fifteen new computers because he cares about the education of today's youth." I rolled my eyes, not about to complain. My only ally in this class had jumped on the bandwagon to torment me until I graduated, so it would be nice to have a friend around. Plus, I doubted many people would try messing with me while he was here to look out for me. "I can switch back out…if it bothers you." He must have read my irritation and I frowned.
"No! I'm glad you're here…I'm irritated with them." He gave me a sad smile, resting his hand on my arm for a minute.
"I'm sorry about this." He told me quietly. "About them…I know you were friends with Mike." I shook my head, not about to let myself wallow in that.
"Mike's being a jerk." I told him simply. "If he wants to spread rumors about me with Lauren, then he's not much of a friend." Jasper's eyes narrowed a little, but he shrugged and, thankfully, didn't try to get me to talk about it. Instead he glanced up a second before our gym teacher stepped into the room.
"Alright everyone, line up at the door!" He called, his voice echoing through the gym. "Hale! Swan! You too!" Jasper stood, slinging his bag onto his back, and waited for me to head over to the steps, following closely behind. I made my way carefully down, grateful for the hand on my elbow that kept me from falling, which immediately dropped when I stepped onto the gym floor and moved to stand at the end of the line, trying not to pay attention to the eyes on me. Belatedly I realized that everyone seemed to move away from us as we approached, their eyes watching Jasper warily.
'They're afraid of Jasper.' Even though I already suspected it, it seemed strange to me. Of course, they didn't know him...no one really knew any of the Cullens. From the outside, they were all intimidating and frightening, but no one had seem them in their house, playing video games or working on their cars. They hadn't seen Emmett trying to make me lunch or Jasper laughing at my attempts to play chess...it still seemed so odd that they would be so fearful of my brother, even as he placed a hand on my back and encouraged me to move forward with the line. Snapping my attention back to the present I followed the students in front of me as we made our way down the hall to the assembly.
Thank you all so much for reading. :)