Chapter 2 Flashback

BPOV

"Eddie, can't we get pizza without meat?" I asked - he knew I was a vegetarian.

"Come on Bella, how long are you seriously going to stick with this whole vegetarian thing? You can't be serious, can you?" I gave him the look.

"Edward," I said sternly. His eyes grew wide and he knew I was serious. I only called him Edward when he was in trouble.

"Okay fine." He turned toward the cashier, "We'll get a vegetarian pizza, and two medium cokes." I squealed.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Eddie," I squealed, hopping up and down. I grabbed our cokes and walked towards a booth. Edward followed behind with our pizza.

Edward was my best friend. We met when he moved to Forks around the age of 9. His parents were killed in a car crash - drunk driver. Afterwards he moved here to live with his cousin Carlisle, who had just graduated from Forks High. He was so alone that first day of school. I remember the exact day I met him. I said, "Hi. I'm Isabella, and you're Edward. Push me on the swing?" We've been best friends ever since. Edward changed as we grew up. When we finally reached eighth grade this year, Edward's changes became more noticeable. His boyish features became more… manly. His green eyes had got even greener and brighter. And I wasn't the only one who noticed - he had girls trying to get with him left, right and centre. But for some reason he chose to hang out with me.

"So, Eddie, when we get home are you going to show me that song you've been working on, the one you're writing for me?" I smiled as I teased him. He turned a slight shade of pink.

"Isabella will you shut up and eat your vegetarian pizza?" He laughed. Edward was a wonderful piano player. He could write songs like it was programmed into his DNA. I always liked listening to him play, it was calming and soothing. I enjoyed watching his fingers glide effortlessly across the keys.

"Fine," I replied. "But after this I get to kick your butt at Mario Kart… again," I teased.

We finished our pizza and cokes over playful banter. I pushed open the door to the pizza place and started walking towards my house, with Edward right beside me. I always enjoyed walking with Edward. It wasn't like walking with one of my girl friends where you were always forced to say something, or it just felt awkward. With Edward silence was easy, so was the talking part. When we got to just outside my house Edward stopped and turned towards me.

"Isabella. Can I tell you something?" He asked nervously. Edward never got nervous, so I wondered what was wrong.

"Of course Eddie, you can tell me anything." I smiled widely at him to show him it was okay. He let out a deep breath.

"Okay Isabella, I just want to tell you that I… I… I lo…." He was cut off by loud sirens of the police cars pulling up to my house.

"What's going on?!" I said nervously, as I ran to the house.

I flung the front door open to see two police officers standing by my dad, I heard them say something about mom, Which reduced him to a sobbing heap on the floor. I started panicking.

"What's going on?" I said shakily. "Where's mom?" This comment caused Charlie to sob harder.

One of the police officers turned towards me. "Isabella, your mom, dear, your mom was murdered in Port Angeles this morning, after leaving a friend's house. We are so sorry."

It felt like someone had just hit me with a house - in one quick moment all the air left my lungs. I started sobbing uncontrollably. My mother, my loving mother, was gone. I would never again get the chance to join her in her latest fad. Like yoga class, or that one time when she was suddenly so interested in photography. I felt Edward pick me up and say, "Bella, Bella. I'm so sorry. It's okay sweetie." He carried me upstairs and set me in my bed, the whole time comforting me while I cried. I remember Charlie coming in to say something, followed by one of the police officers. Edward stayed by my side the whole. Many hours later curled against Edward, I fell asleep.

I awoke with my eyes glued shut and a horrible headache. "Eddie?" I managed to croak out. Even my voice was hoarse after all the crying I did. "Edward?" I said again. I moved around a bit and managed to open my eyes. I looked around the room and realized Edward was gone.

All of a sudden I was enraged. How could he leave me when I needed him? My world was literally falling apart, and he just left. I began dry sobbing, but there were no more tears left, and I was left heaving out my cries. When I finally got the energy, I trudged downstairs to find my dad talking with Mr. Weber.

"Don't worry Charlie, we'll take care of everything, you just get some rest. Remember you have to be strong for your daughter," said Mr. Weber. When they both realized I was in the room, Charlie came over and hugged me.

"Don't worry Bells, we're going to make it through this," he comforted. I started sobbing again. "Isabella dear, your mom would have wanted you to be happy again." I pushed him away from me.

"How do you know what mom wanted?!" I screamed enraged. "You can't read her mind; you weren't even there to protect her!" I yelled. "She asked you to come with her, and you said no because you had to watch the stupid baseball game! You could have been there to stop them from hurting her." I knew what I said may have been harsh, but it was true. I ran back to my room and slammed the door. This time the tears came freely.

I picked up Philly and held her tight. After a while I said, "Philly mommy is gone, and she's not coming back. I didn't even get to say goodbye." I sobbed and hugged her closer. She nuzzled her face into my neck. "Philly, you're the only thing I have left of mommy. She loved you like you were her child." Philly whined, she knew what had happened, it seemed she was saddened by it too. "Don't worry Philly, I'll take care of you now."

The rest of the week went by in a blur. I remember Philly finally having her puppies. Charlie said I could keep one - I named her Renee. Lots of people came by and gave their condolences. I don't remember a single thing about planning my mother's funeral. That was all taken care of by Mr. Weber; he even said that he would do the services for free.

I finally ran into Edward at the funeral, right after the graveside burial. He walked up to me and reached over to hug me. I pushed him away. Who did he think he was? Leaving me and expecting me to be okay with it, with him, just like that.

"Isabella, I'm sorry about your mom. Why won't you let me hug you?" he asked. He looked hurt. Well he should be - he hurt me when I needed him most.

"Edward, I don't want to talk to you. I hate you!" I said, as the angry tears streamed down my face.

"Isabella I don't understand. Why do you hate me?" Edward looked like he was going to start crying himself. His face had turned a pale white.

"You left me! I needed you and you left." How could he honestly act like he had no idea why I was angry? I turned to leave but he grabbed my arm. "Let go of me."

"Isabella you can't leave me. I love you," he stated. What a liar. Why did he think he could play with my emotions like that?

"How dare you say that to me? You don't mean it," I yelled. "You can't. If you loved me you would have never left," I said in an almost whisper.

"But Isabella, I…" I cut him off.

"Just leave me alone Edward," I whispered and turned away, to be consoled in the faces of people. That was the last time I had an actual conversation with Edward Cullen.

EPOV

When I spotted Isabella, I went to give her a hug; but as I was about to put my arms around her, she pushed me away and refused my hug. It was odd; she'd never refused one of my hugs before.

"Isabella, I'm sorry about your mother," I paused for a moment, waiting for a reply which never came. "Why won't you let me hug you?" I asked, hoping I didn't let it show how much that bothered me. I'm sure I didn't succeed.

"Edward, I don't want to talk to you. I hate you!" Did I really hear her say that? I stared at her in confusion, whilst her eyes started getting watery.

"Isabella, I don't understand. Why do you hate me?" I wanted to cry, but did everything I could not to.

"You left me! I needed you and you left." She turned to walk away, but I grabbed her arm, and made her look at me. "Let go of me," she whispered, not meeting my eyes.

"Isabella, don't leave me!" I started panicking, I couldn't lose her. "I love you!" This wasn't how I wanted to tell her, but she had to know. I couldn't let her leave without her knowing how I really felt. As I said those three words, anger flashed across her face.

"How dare you say that to me?" she screamed, and then in an whisper she continued. "You don't mean it - you can't. If you loved me you would have never left."

"But Isabella, I…" She cut me off, as I was about to explain to her why I had to leave.

"Just leave me alone Edward," she said in a low voice - so low I could barely hear her. That was the last time I had a meaningful conversation with Isabella Swan. I felt like my heart was breaking as I watched her walk away from me.

Every day after that I noticed the changes slowly being made in Isabella. She wouldn't talk to me - she wouldn't even let me explain why I had left her that night. Every time I walked up to her she would walk away, or continue talking to whoever was next to her at the moment.

She was now known as Bella, not Isabella, and after a while she started hanging out with Alice and Rosalie. Not that they were bad people or anything, but their hanging out turned into drinking and partying. Charlie did nothing to stop her, because he himself had become an alcoholic.

Towards the end of freshman year, I heard the rumors about Bella sleeping around with different guys. I didn't believe them at first - I was still imagining 13 year old Bella, my Isabella. During the summer I found out that those rumors were indeed true. After that I decided that I wasn't going to try to explain myself to her anymore. With time I began to hate Bella, not just for what she had done to me, but for taking my Isabella away from me.

When we returned to school in our sophomore year I hardly ever said hi to her, except every once in a while, but she'd only give me a nod in return and go back to what she was doing. Most of the time she barely even acknowledged I was there. Now, as juniors, I don't even talk to her unless I have to; I only hang around her at lunch, parties and any other A-Lister events. Bella and I have learnt to tolerate the time we are together, whilst hardly ever acknowledging each other's presence. Now, I've fallen into a daily routine that I'm comfortable with; one that always includes me ignoring Bella, and her ignoring me. It's best that way.

BPOV (Present Day)

"I don't understand Nessie! Who does she thing she is, demanding that I see a tutor or else she's going to fail me," I said aggravated. Renesmee and I were at my house flipping through magazines and preparing for the game.

"Well B, it might not be as bad as you think it is. She is letting you off easy. All you have to do is meet up with Edward four times a week, and you pass the class."

"Nessie, that's the problem - I can't meet with Edward, he's a jerk. Not after how he played with my feeling." I shuddered just remembering that day.

"Bella, have you ever thought he might have really meant what he said? About loving you. You guys were inseparable, maybe he wasn't lying. You were going through an emotional time B, maybe you projected your anger towards him?" she suggested. I loved Nessie, but there were times when I didn't like her being right. Because even I know she is, and I hated myself for it. I lost my best friend because I was too emotionally overwhelmed to realize what I was doing before it was too late.

"Nessie," I groaned. "Why do you always have to be right? Even if he was lying, I know for a fact he doesn't love me anymore. He doesn't even like me. You should have seen the look he gave me today in Biology - like I was a piece of garbage." I gave her a look to say 'just drop it, will you?' Getting up, I went over to my closet to pull on my cheerleading outfit. I pulled my hair into a high ponytail, and then put in my school ribbon.

Nessie huffed and closed the magazine. "Bella are you almost done? I'm supposed to meet Paul before the game," she said as I applied my makeup. After all, the head cheerleader is supposed to look hot. It's a rule - a rule that I rock.

"Yes Nessie I'm almost done. You know if you got laid you wouldn't be this antsy. Your sexual tension is killing my happy-high." I turned and smiled at her. She just blushed.

"B, do you think if I slept with Paul it would ruin our relationship?" She asked so quietly I could barely hear her. "I mean, I know he wants to. I'm just not sure if I'm ready yet."

"Sweetie, you know I was just kidding. If you're not ready, then you're not ready. And if he's pressuring you, then I'll call Emmett, he enjoys taking care of us like that." I could see Em now, driving his fist so hard into that boy's face. Well if he's pushing my Nessie, he deserves it, asshole.

Nessie and I walked downstairs and to the front door. "Charlie there's a game today! So I'll be back when I get back. Bye." He was probably passed out anyway, but I always felt bad when I didn't say anything. Letting him know this way gives me a clear conscience.

"Hey Nessie, did you bring the music for our routine? I asked Rose and she said you had it from when you guys practiced the other day." Rosalie had been working so hard with Renesmee to improve her cheer skills. We didn't want any of the other girls to think the only reason she was on the team was because of me - even though it was true. If we wanted everyone to accept Renesmee as part of the It Crowd, she needed a sport or something under her belt. Me, being the head cheerleader, decided that cheer was Nessie's sport. She wasn't necessarily bad, but she had room for improvement, and by the time Rose is done with her she'll be better than everyone - besides Rose and me, of course.

"Of course Bella, I have it right here." She pulled out the CD from her bag. "B, I finally landed my toe-touch!" She squealed excitedly. "Rose said I have it perfect now!"

"That's great Nessie, I'm so proud of you." I truly was, now the rest of the squad would see that she was on the team because she could do it.

We drove across town to get Alice, before stopping at Rosalie's house. We pulled up to the front of her mansion like house. Well it was a mansion compared to everything else in Forks. Nessie honked the horn just as Rose ran out the front door, her cheer skirt swaying in the wind.

"Remind me again Rose why you can't drive yourself to the game in one of your many cars?" I asked, a bit irritated as she was the reason we were usually late.

"Because Queen B, the Bitch Crew shows up everywhere together." She turned toward Alice. "You look out of place Al, you're the only one not in a cheer outfit. Why aren't you in Cheer, Al? You'd be a great flyer. You're just the right height." She giggled.

"Well Rose, I simply don't have time for extracurricular activities - I have clothes to design. I have to make sure we all look fabulous and one-of-a-kind, remember? Plus shopping is my only extracurricular activity," she smiled.

"Oh come on Al, your saying you never have sex? That has got to count as an extracurricular activity," I said, laughing.

"Well, if that's the case B, how do you have time for anything else? Volleyball and cheer, plus sex! You should be getting scholarships for all the extracurricular things you do," giggled Nessie. Rose gave her a high five.

"Gosh guys, I didn't know this was bag on Bella time," I said laughing.

It took us about ten minutes for Nessie to stop by and see Paul; I knew how badly she wanted him to come to her game. She wanted someone there to support her, besides the Bitch Crew. I also knew that Paul was going to come up with some lame excuse to not go to her first game. I couldn't wait for her to realize she deserved someone better, but that was something she needed to figure out on her own. Nessie walked out of his house with a dejected look on her face.

"It's okay sweetie, you don't need him, we're here for you," I mentioned. We all gave her a big hug each.

"He's a huge douche anyway," added Alice.

"No, he said he really wanted to come, but he had homework to catch up on," Nessie explained, truly believing what she'd been told.

"Come on Nessie, he's a jerk," said Alice, trying to convince her to see what was obvious to the rest of us.

"No he's not!" She shouted, getting angry now. "Guys, you're my friends, I thought you would support me!"

"Nessie, it's okay, we do support you. We're sorry, we won't bring it up again," I said, trying to calm her down. I haven't seen her this mad since someone told me my mom died because she hated me.

We arrived at the school just in time for warm-up. Alice went over to flirt with one of the guys in the stands, whilst Rose, Nessie and I walked over to the field and set down our stuff. A few minutes later Lauren and Jessica showed up, followed by Leah. Lauren is the Princess of the B-Listers, followed by Jessica, Leah and then Victoria. I can't stand Lauren and Jessica, they're basically bitches with frizzy hair. The only reason I let them on the team was because we were short of girls, and they were loyal to me. Leah, however, resented me and would do anything to make me look bad - but she was a kick-ass cheerleader. We needed her, as much as I would hate to admit it.

"Okay ladies start with our stretching exercises, and then we will practice the half-time routine," I announced with my head cheerleader power. I loved cheering, it was exhilarating and I got such a power rush. We worked through the routine and ended by practicing our pyramid. It was a bit wobbly, so I just hoped that we could nail it during halftime.

We cheered for our guys throughout the whole game, and totally nailed the half-time routine. Nessie did great; she landed every one of her jumps. When we ended with our pyramid, the crowd went crazy; even Alice was bouncing up and down. The Spartans won 27-14. Winning meant one thing: our post-game party, the one that Jacob Black threw at his house after every match, was definitely going to happen.

Too bad I had a tutoring session to go to; but maybe I could convince Edward to let me out early.

A/N

I know that Bella's reaction to Edward is a bit extreme, but you must remeber she is going through a very emotional time right now. Just trust me.

Review please. Reviews are like candy to a little kid.