CHAPTER 3
I place a few items on my tray at random, not really caring what I eat today. As long as I don't die of starvation, then I don't really care what goes in my mouth. A trait I picked up from living with mum, if it's edible, then eat it.
Seating myself at the table, I eat the small amount of food in silence while the group of people surrounding me followed suit.
"So Bella, what did you get up to over the weekend?" Jessica asks the second I swallow my last mouthful.
"Oh, just rearranged my room around, unpacked the rest of my stuff, cleaned and explored the town."
"Oh right, that must have been what you were doing when we seen you down the street. Was that Jasper you were talking too?" she kind of squeals a little when she says the name.
"Who?" I ask, the name unfamiliar.
She rolls her eyes at me, then nods toward the table where the angry boy from lab sits with the scarred man from the park bench and three others. "The blonde guy."
I nod, "yeah, is that his name?"
"Okay, clearly you haven't been paying attention. Now, the blonde guy is Jasper Hale, twin brother of the gorgeous blonde girl who is Rosalie Hale. They are the foster kids of Dr. and Mrs. Cullen. Now, the other three are their adoptive kids, Emmett, the big guy, Alice, the little fairy-like girl and Edward, the one that looks like he's in pain. And the best part…" she pauses, presumably for dramatic effect. "They're together, like… together-together."
"They're not actually related," Angela points out.
Jessica rolls her eyes, "it's still weird. Anyway, Emmett and Rosalie are a thing and so are Edward and Alice."
"Maybe they will adopt me too…" Angela sigh's in an un-Angela like fashion.
"So, what were you two talking about?" Jessica leans in, not wanting to miss a single word.
"He asked me how I got my scars," I half shrug, nonchalant.
Angela and Jessica both gasp in shock, "rude much?" Jessica says.
I again half-shrug, "I don't care, I'm not oblivious to their presence."
"But still, isn't it painful to talk about?" Angela asks, concern lacing her tone.
"No, not at all. If you were to ask too, I'd tell you, it really isn't that big of a deal."
"Oh," Jessica replies, "so... how did you get them?"
"I was in Houston for a weekend and some psycho broke into my motel room and abducted me, then attacked me in a back alley."
Angela and Jessica both gasp while the rest of the group stare open-mouthed. "I thought you were going to say an animal attacked you or something," Jessica retorts.
"Well, she was as wild as an animal."
"That is just horrible to know that a human being is capable of such horrific things," Angela mumbles with a drawn in brow.
The bell rings, so I walk to biology with Mike at my side, trying to start a conversation with me, in vain might I add. I break away from him and take a seat next to my lab partner, who once again makes a big point of moving as far away from me as possible.
"Good morning class, today we will be doing lab work and because our school funding goes toward much more important equipment such as tackle bags for the football team, we will be sharing microscopes today. Now please, turn to page three-forty-six in your text books, your instructions are written there, and I want you to write your findings in your workbooks. Please." He turns away from the class and busies himself with some paperwork on his desk.
I sigh and flip open the text book, read through the instructions, then divert my gaze to my lab partner. His gaze is affixed out the window, somewhere that is not here. I half-shrug to myself and pull the microscope and slides over to myself, hogging the equipment all to myself. I idly note that I probably wouldn't even need the microscope if I took my eye patch off, but I've got to do something with my time, so I leave it where it is.
In my peripheral, I see my lab partner has suddenly become interested in the left side of my face, which he has a good vantage point of. I ignore him, and continue on slowly with my work.
It is a boring and uncomfortable hour, but the bell finally rings, as it always does, and again, I am free to go home. I gather my gear and walk out to the car park, making a beeline for my truck. Upon my approach, I sigh heavily. Someone has parked as close as they possibly could, making it near on impossible to open the door. I round the car to the passenger side where I discover the passenger door is locked, and this side doesn't have a keyhole. Great, just great. I backtrack and wait at the back of the truck for the owner of the car to move it.
I search the faces of the students, hoping to match a face with the car. Mike, no, Jessica… no, Angela, no, lab partner, no. A loud, ear-piercing screech draws my attention to a black van skidding out of control, and it's heading straight for me. I beg my legs to move, and they do, but not quick enough. I'm hit from the side, but the wrong side. My body hits the asphalt, but I keep my neck craned to prevent my head from hitting. My vision finally adjusts to the new surrounds, and it isn't who I expected to be hovering over me, pushing the black van away with his bare hands… my lab partner.
Screams fill the lot and in a blink of an eye, my lab partner is gone from the scene, disappeared. A flock of students hover about, checking for injury, asking questions.
"I'm fine," I answer generally. I push myself up off the ground and stand by my own steam, much to the protest of others. I stand on my tippy-toes, and find who I am looking for instantly; Edward. He stands with his siblings across the lot and he has even more hatred plastered on his face than ever before. I inspect his family's faces to see if they mirror his feelings, and the girls certainly do, but his brothers don't, they just stare at me blankly.
A paramedic pulls up close by, followed by my dad. Two paramedics and my dad push through the crowd, the group make a circle around me, looking on.
"Are you okay?" Dad whispers in my ear as he hugs me.
"Can we get away from here, take me to the hospital if you must, I just don't want to be gawked at," I whisper back.
He doesn't reply, he just takes me to the paramedic van and walks me inside, "I'll follow in my cruiser."
"Okay."
One paramedic joins me in the back while one takes the drivers seat and wastes no time in leaving the scene.
"What about the driver?" I ask the paramedic, trying to look back.
"The other van has him, your Dad didn't want you both in the same vehicle," she replies.