Thanks to everyone who took the time to read! I greatly appreciate those who review, it lets me know I'm not being a pest by continuing to post. I kind of suck at writing replies though so please know that your reviews do motivate me and they are greatly appreciated!
This chapter is dedicated to three people. Steph, who is awesome and corrects me on my fail!grammar, Steph's new little cute niece Freya, and Uncle Howie for teaching me how a true lush acts.
This is a disclaimer. I do not own anything but a car and a sweet TV so none of the recognizable characters or settings or plots or blah blah blah belong to me. I'm not making money off this, I'm just waiting to leave for work.
Chapter 3 - Sound the Alarm
"Bella!" Alice's voice reached my ears and I paused looking behind me to the path swarmed with fellow classmates desperate to be off campus. I was unable to spot my shrimpy dark haired best friend, so I just stood to the side and prayed for no bodily injury. "Bella! Wait up!"
"Took you long enough." She finally emerged beside me, looking just as eager to flee the premises as the rest of the school population that were passing around us in a mad dash for the parking lot. "Making me wait for you like that is a death sentence. You know these brainless mofos would trample anything in their way without a second thought."
We started shuffling along the path, Alice shifting her bag from one shoulder to the other. She was a fan of accessories in all forms; her book bags changed at an astonishing rate. I preferred to keep most things in my truck. Since few of my classes required texts during class, I opted to carry the solitary notebook and whatever textbook I needed on a daily basis in class - which was usually my math text. Anything that didn't fit into my jean or sweater pockets was left behind.
"So tell me about what happened on the drive home." I decided to venture in the direction of conversation I knew she was just itching to get to. Though Alice and I had seen each other a few times today, we'd hardly had time for her to divulge the details of her time spent with Jasper; well at least not on the level of detail she was so eager to share. She'd spent most of today's lunch grinning like the village idiot as she had a text conversation with Jasper, while I sat bored out of my mind, trying to rush through the homework that was due next period. At least I was able to steal her brownie without her getting pissed.
"Oh Bella, you have no idea," She looked completely blissed out and her steps were lighter, almost floating, as she launched into her review of the night. It was a safe topic. I knew if she were lost in the memory of the long drive she spent with Jasper, I would be able to think of something other than my own drive back.
Unfortunately for me, the memory of that drive was a much less pleasant thought to entertain. After the sociable Edward spoke his piece, an incredibly tense and awkward silence settled in between us. I blamed him, naturally. He was the one who'd pointed out that I didn't know a damn thing about him, so what was I supposed to talk to him about?
The silence had been broken by him pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. I promptly told him he was fucking crazy if he thought it was okay to smoke in my truck. He was back to being a dickhead and told me my truck was a piece of crap and that he'd crack the window. The argument continued until he just shouted "Fine!" and slumped down all anger and pouting in the passenger seat. The silence resumed for the remainder of the drive. He mumbled a "later" before slamming my truck's door and sulking up the driveway to his house.
Instead of letting myself sink into furious thoughts of how he hadn't even shown courtesy by thanking me for shuttling his sorry ass home safely, I focused on Alice's words and the lovey dovey look in her eyes.
"So then he kind of smiled and he said that he wanted to 'hang out' again sometime." She was caught up in her recap, confusion playing across her face. We had reached my truck and paused near truck bed so she could finish her story. "But I don't know if he means, hang out as friends or hang out in the sense where there's a lot of touching and very little talk. What do you think?"
I didn't get the chance to respond because, at that moment, we were interrupted by a very unwelcome presence.
"Well hello, ladies. How are we doing this lovely day?" I could feel my eyeballs roll back into my sockets. Tyler Crowley; my very first mistake in the world of adolescent dating. He'd moved here in seventh grade and by eighth grade he was showing an interest in me. I, of course, was thirteen and completely taken by what I thought was charm and the air of mystery that he gave off, because I hadn't spent every school day of my life with him. I quickly learned that the charm was actually arrogance. Despite being so outwardly arrogant he was ridiculously clingy. At the time I was put off by how juvenile he was – well that, and he was all hands – but I eventually learned to expect nothing more from guys.
"What, Tyler?" I snapped. I definitely didn't want to deal with his 'flirting' today. Mondays sucked and I was ready to get out of there without having to shoot Tyler down. Again. After we'd broken up (or rather I dumped him) he'd been kind of a jerk, but then once we were in high school he'd decided he still had a shot with me. I couldn't go a week without him attempting to woo me.
"I just wanted to see how your weekend went, Bella," he gave me his best smile and I desperately wished I could summon up the ability puke on his shoes; maybe that would get the message that I wasn't interested across. "Thought I'd see if you had any gentleman callers that I should consider competition for your company next weekend."
"Nope." I popped the word out casually and shot a look at Alice who was silently watching, her amusement written all over her face. What a pal, she wasn't helping me out in the least here. "No gentlemen on my radar, and that most definitely includes you, buddy."
"Oh, Isabella why fight it?" He leaned in a bit and I stepped back into the side of my truck. "You know you're just dying for another shot at me."
"Bye, Tyler." I said, injecting as much of the curt, icy bitch attitude I was known for into my tone, but it was like he was completely immune to rejection of all forms. He didn't budge and I was ten seconds away of removing him from my personal space with a more violent tactic. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Alice working up to say something but someone else beat her to the punch.
"Well I'll be damned." Edward had materialized to our right. Alice and Tyler both looked totally stupefied that Edward Cullen was speaking in their general vicinity. I suddenly felt even more violent. My hands were tightly clenched into fists and I was making an effort not to swing at anything. "Crowley, I knew you were an idiot but harassing the police chief's daughter in a parking lot full of witnesses? That kind of stupidity is bordering on suicidal."
I narrowed my eyes at Edward, who just raised his eyebrows in feigned disbelief at Tyler. Of course he'd stand here lecturing my ex-boyfriend on how stupid he was to harass me in front of witnesses. Edward was much smarter about it. He only harassed me on abandoned porches and deserted highways in the middle of the night. No witnesses to fall back on. Though I didn't need to point out that Charlie wouldn't need witnesses, one word about the way either of these boys behaved toward me and they'd both be goners. Lucky for them I didn't feel the need to have Charlie fight my battles for me.
"Later, Bella. Alice," Tyler nodded at us and made a quick retreat, obviously spooked by Edward's interference. Even though I was kind of grateful for said interference, I didn't let that keep me from glaring at Edward and willing lasers to shoot from my eyes and melt a hole clean through his brain.
"You know, when a man saves you from unwanted advances, it's common courtesy to thank them, Bella." Edward sneered at me; Alice gaped at me even more. Bastard. I was hardly going to thank him – he'd called me by name, and that had definitely not gone unnoticed by her. Now I was going to face the 'Alice Inquisition' as to why Edward Cullen was suddenly swooping off his dumpy horse in tarnished armor to "save" me, as he put it.
"Please, I can handle Tyler Crowley." I scoffed. "I've been fending him off for years and I've managed just fine without your lame displays of heroism."
"If that's how he acts after years of your deflection, then you obviously aren't handling the situation well enough." He crossed his arms over his chest to punctuate his genuine disbelief.
"You've been paying attention to me for, what, two seconds? You have no right stepping in and judging the way I handle my life." Perfect, he'd worked me up into super pissed off and ranting mode. He, of course, just oozed smugness. Somewhere in my mind, I was berating myself for responding to the provocation and giving him the desired reaction. However, the rest of my mind was too set on telling him off to put a stop to it. "Where do you-"
Turns out I didn't have to stop the rant because a sharp horn blast cut through my speech. My head snapped around and caught sight of an all too familiar blue sedan. Renee's car was swerving through the parking lot, and instantly, my blood ran cold. She turned down the row I was on, using her horn again for no apparent reason. I swept my eyes around the parking lot, noting that a good number of students had already left, but there were still more than I had hoped for, left gawking at the scene before them.
The car came to a jerky halt twelve feet away from where Alice, Edward and I stood. Renee – apparently already well into a typical state of shit-face – was fumbling around in the driver's seat. The car rolled backward a bit then jerked to a stop once again. She was wrestling with the seatbelt, and that's when I came to the horrified realization that she was getting out of the car. I shot a look at the Edward and Alice; Edward looked like everyone else, gaping at the spectacle my mother was creating. Alice's eyes met mine when I looked at her and her face twisted into this pitying look that set my skin on fire. She knew. Of course she knew. We'd known each other far too long for her to not know, after all, she'd been around for these kinds of occurrences many times before.
I tore my gaze away from the Alice's wide sympathetic eyes, my stomach twisting up in humiliation. I had never wanted anyone to know about this shit, but of course this wasn't the first public occurrence. Everyone knew she was a drunk I'm sure, and it was a favorite topic of gossip what with her being the chief of police's wife. Drunk driving Renee though? That was going to set the gossipmongers into a frenzy. Renee was stumbling out of the car and making her way toward me. The car was parked in the middle of the road; still running, door open as far as it would go.
"Bella, sweetie, sorry I'm late. I completely forgot, but I'm here now!" She was slurring pretty bad. My mind was racing with questions. Where had she gotten the liquor? Charlie and I had dumped all we could find during last week's attempt at intervention. How was she driving? Her set of keys were currently wherever the hell Charlie was and we'd hidden the spares so well she hadn't been able to find them in months.
Never underestimate an addict, the thought grazed my mind. You'd think we would have learned that by now.
"Renee, what are you thinking driving like this?" I hissed, stomping toward her.
"What are you talking about, honey? Your father is going to be late so he wanted me to pick you up." She hiccupped a bit on the last word.
"I have my license now. You shouldn't have come." With my free hand, I grabbed her arm at the elbow and started dragging her towards the car.
"Isabella Swan, you let go of me this instant!" She shrieked, jerking her arm free of mine and falling directly on her ass. "I am your mother and you will treat me like it!"
Her words were running together so much that, if this weren't something I was used to, I'd have not understood a word she said. I took advantage of her being down for the moment and rushed over to the car, shutting of the engine and practically ripping the keys out of the ignition. I slammed the door and walked back over to where Alice stood, waiting for me to give her silent permission to help. Even though I was mortified by her being aware of the situation, I knew Alice wanted nothing more than to help.
I caught a look at Edward who was eying me with a serious look.
"What?" I snapped at him as I shoved my hands into my pockets, struggling to keep my books balanced in my arms as I frantically searched through my pockets for my truck keys.
"Let me help you," he said, his voice hushed. Renee was now sprawled on the concrete rambling louder and louder as the seconds ticked by. I fleetingly observed that most students in the parking lot were standing around, whispering and laughing with each other while watching my train wreck of a mother, or shooting glances at Renee as they went about their business.
I felt the panic and utter humiliation, mixing in with anger at my mother. I wanted to yell at Edward, tell him that he was going to end up like the pathetic grown woman lying in the high school parking lot ,destroying her daughter's life just a few feet away, if he didn't grow a brain and stop doing all the things he did. I wanted to hit him and then tell him that this was exactly why I didn't drink. He should know; his dad wasn't any better.
And that fact was exactly why I didn't say a word to him.
He knew. He's been in my exact spot before. His dad was Carlisle Cullen, the brilliant brain surgeon and another town drunk. He needed no lecture about how he'd end up because he knew damn well what he was doing with his life. I may have not know a thing about him, but I could look at him in that moment and see there wasn't an ounce of pity on his face. It made me feel a little less isolated.
I still didn't know him though, and I didn't want to bring him in on something so personal. We might have had this common factor, but I didn't trust him. I shoved my books at him and he took them from me. It was something, I was then free to dig deep into my sweater pockets - through gum wrappers, pens, and scraps of notes - and finally hooked a finger through the key ring. I tossed the keys to Alice, who spun on her heel and rushed to the driver's door of my truck. She was my best friend for a reason.
I turned to my mom, my hands free of clutter, her car keys tucked partially into the front pocket of my jeans. I bent down and lifted her up. She choked off mid rant caught off guard by my actions. She burped loudly and burst into a fit of unending giggles as her body went limp. She was dead weight in my arms.
"Renee! Let's go, we need to get you home," I strained under her weight, practically dragging her to the car.
"Isabella…you don't call me by my name, missy." She pouted, slouching in my grasp and making herself all the more difficult to drag. I was panting with effort and my hair was in my face, making me wish I had a hair tie. Or wishing I could just drop my mom in the middle of the parking lot and drive away from this mess.
"Mom, let's go, dad's waiting for you at home." I sighed in frustration before attempting to lift her so she was fully standing. Instead of slouching more, she jerked out of my arms, staggering violently as her feet moved away from me.
"No. NO!" She was screaming now. "No, Bella I'm not going home. Home is boring! Charlie is boring. I don't want to ever go back again! I hate it there, Bella; you can't make me go back!"
And there it was. The truth behind all of this. Her discontent with the life she had. She just wanted to run away. At least she was standing now. I figured I'd play into her desires. I'd feel like shit for lying to her later, but I was desperate to get this behavior out of the public eye. I already had a feeling that the things she'd screamed at the top of her lungs about Charlie were going to send the town into a whirlwind of scandal in a few hours time, and it was going to crush him when the whole town was whispering about how he'd driven her to drink.
"Okay, mom, I won't I promise." I spoke softly. "Why don't you get in the car and I'll drive you to Seattle. We'll buy you a plane ticket and you can go far, far away." I kind of wished I could. This was killing Charlie; she was killing Charlie. It was torture to watch my family be torn apart like this.
"You promise, Bella? Promise with everything you have?" She looked at me skeptically. I just nodded, now I was fighting back tears. She got this crazy look of hope and glee in her watery, distant eyes. She looked down right giddy to be getting away from Forks and her family. She stumbled forward and managed to slump herself into the passenger seat as I pulled the door open on the driver's side. I started the car keeping my eyes focused on nothing but pavement before me; I didn't dare to look at a single person as I passed through the parking lot.
The drive was quiet until Renee realized I wasn't heading toward the highway. She wailed and cried, pleading with tears rolling down her flushed cheeks. She begged me not to make her go back. I kept silent because I knew if I said a word I would have ended up screaming at her, telling her just what I thought of her at the moment, and that'd only make her more of a sobbing, howling mess.
"You promised me, Bella, you promised!" She just sobbed over and over again. She even tried to open the door and jump out, but I flicked the auto lock switch on the driver side door beside me, and she couldn't figure out how to get it undone. I managed to get a quick call in to Charlie. I told him to get home as quickly as he could manage, he must have heard the howling moans beside me because he said he was on his way and disconnected a heartbeat later.
"Why won't you people let me go?"
I honestly didn't know anymore.