What Really Matters
You treat me just like another stranger
Well it's nice to meet you sir
I guess I'll go I best be on my way out,
Ignorance is your new best friend
Paramore- Ignorance
(A.N.): Back for more are we ;). Well I can't say I blame you hehehe xD. I know he's a huge ass hole but I have to say I love writing this nasty Edward... I wonder what that says about my personality :P? Anyway darlings here is chapter 3.
Enjoy :D...
(Disclaimer): Nope I don't own Twilight or any of the sexy characters within ;D.
Chapter 3: Ignorance
I managed to drag myself to the front of school where, thankfully, no one was. The only car in the lot was Alice's bless her heart, she'd waited for me. I slowly started making my way to her car.
"Bella! There you are! Oh Lord, I just heard about what happened from those vile girls Lauren and Jessica. I'm sorry, so sorry." Alice yelled as she ran as fast as her heels permitted to catch up with me.
"Bella look at me sweetums." She grabbed my shoulders and spun me around to face her. Her face fell as soon as she saw the red blotches on my face.
"Alice." I croaked.
Alice just grimaced and hugged me tightly. Whispering over and over about how I'd never done anything to deserve this.
When Alice pulled away she had a hard look on her face. I certainly wouldn't want to mess with that look. She dipped into her coat pocket, brought out her phone and pressed it angrily to her ear. I sincerely hoped that it wasn't Edward about to pick up on the other line.
"Rose can you meet me at the mall in about twenty minutes... Yeah... Bring your sleepover gear too... Okay... We'll see you there, bye."
"Alice?" She held up a finger as she pressed the phone to her ear once again.
"Hey Charlie, it's Alice! I was just wondering if I could steal Bella away for the night?... We're going to take a trip to the mall with Rosalie... Yes Rosalie Hale... Yes she'd be staying at mine tonight with Rose... Of course I'll be keeping her away from my idiot brother... Oh thank you Charlie, bye." She was beaming as she got off the phone.
"You're on a first name basis with my dad now?" I laughed.
"Of course, you're dad loves me. Now then let's get to the mall for a good old girls night out. You and Rosalie are going to be great friends trust me. You can borrow some pyjamas from my house so we don't need to stop off at yours, unless you want to that is?" She asked as she got in her side of the car.
"No I'm fine." I replied.
"Alright then let's get this show on the road!" Alice clapped as the engine purred to life.
As we zoomed out of town I couldn't help but be reminded of how Edward loved driving dangerously fast. It must be a Cullen family trait. My heart gave a sad twinge when I thought of him.
This only made me angry with myself, he had treated me as though I was the most disgusting piece of crap he'd ever stood in then dragged all over the plush carpet. Alice was right; I didn't deserve to be treated like that by someone who'd been my best friend since I was seven. Why was I so upset? Why had I let him get to me like this?
It all came down to trust I suppose. I had trusted Edward to be there for me every moment of every day just like I was for him. I had trusted Edward with all my secrets, he knew absolutely everything there was to know about me but most importantly I'd trusted Edward with my heart.
I had trusted him not to break it but he did and in doing so he broke the trust.
A solitary tear slid down my face and landed on my hand.
"Bella, are you okay?" Alice asked softly turning slightly to look at me.
"I will be Alice, it's just difficult. I've grown up with Edward always being right by my side. My mother used to say that we were attached at the hip and now he's not here like he promised he would be and he's hurting me. He made so many promises that he couldn't keep" I laughed without humour.
"What do you mean?"
"After my mom died it was like my whole world came crashing down around me, I felt empty and it was Edward that helped rebuild me he promised that whilst he was around I'd never have to feel that kind of hurt again. So, over time, Edward became my world, he was always centred in everything I did because he promised me he'd be there forever. Now that he's being like this he's as good as gone and all I feel is the emptiness that I felt after my mom's death. Only now I have nothing to pick me back up." Silent tears danced over my cheeks and joined the solitary tear on my hand.
"You loved him didn't you?" Alice whispered, she too had tears in her fantastic hazel eyes.
"The stubborn, logical side of me says no, I didn't, but my heart couldn't feel this pain if it was just a silly crush." I bowed my head in disappointment.
"Oh Bella, why has he done this to you? You! I mean for Christ's sake you were the only person that saw past his appearance, you saw him for the person he was on the inside and this is how he repays you? I swear to God if he wasn't my brother..." She looked so sorry and I instantly felt bad that she felt like she needed to apologise for his behaviour.
"It's okay Alice, let's just go out and have great time." I managed a smile and she returned it gratefully.
As we pulled up next to Rosalie's car I couldn't help but wonder why on Earth had Alice brought me here, she knew shopping wasn't my cup of tea.
"Hey Rose, you know Bella of course." Alice smiled as Rosalie gave me a hug.
"Listen Bella I don't know if Ali told you why you're at the mall but I'm going to tell you now. We're going to give you a make over but don't worry no drastic changes just a few little things that we hope are going to make you feel better." Rose beamed.
I tried to find enthusiasm in her words but make overs were not one of my favourite thing in the world. I wasn't sure about this.
"First things first, haircut." Alice instructed as we stood outside the hairdressers.
"Really Alice." I said sceptically.
"Of course, like Rose said, nothing drastic but a few slight changes might make you feel better in yourself."
I ended up having side bangs added into my hair and highlights to bring out the red in my hair. I had to admit the finished result was actually pretty decent. My hair turned a lovely colour when it caught the light and the curls were all shiny and perfect.
I did feel a little better in myself and I began to smile.
"Wow Bells, you're hair looks amazing." Rose breathed.
"I know, I wish I had those natural curls like you do." Alice whined. It was rather adorable really. I giggled.
This made them both happy.
"Come on onto the next shop." She grinned.
Now the haircut had been Alice's idea so I was kind of dreading Rosalie's. When we finally arrived at our destination I realised that I had every right to dread.
"Did you know it's been proven that when a woman wears nice underwear it empowers her and makes her feel sexy?" Rosalie bounced her perfectly shaped eyebrows up and down which made me laugh.
"Rose do you really expect me to wear this as part of a daily routine?" I asked grasping a scrap of satin.
"Why not? I do, Emmett loves it." She winked then proceeded to show us her silky red bra.
"I bet he freaking does!" Alice laughed, which caused her to receive a slight thwak from Rose.
"Seriously Bells, you wear nice underwear everyday and you will feel so confident because it's that whole sense of 'you know you've got saucy underwear on but no one else does'. You just need to find the style that suits you." Rose exclaimed.
"What do you like?" Alice looked at me expectantly.
"Come again?"
"What underwear are you into, everyone has their favourite. Take our Rosie for example, she loves silk underwear and refuses to purchase anything else. Unless it's the occasional piece of leather." This earned Alice another thwak.
"If you're wondering about my preferences, I'm rather fond of the simple cotton underwear. They do make them just as attractive as the silky numbers." Alice blushed slightly.
"I quite like lace." I said hesitantly.
"Perfect!" They both chorused.
They both then took it upon themselves to buy me every single piece of lace underwear that they could get their hands on. I think I had every single colour that you could possibly hope to buy.
"Now you can throw out all your old ones because you're fully stocked." Rosalie joked.
I had to admit that I loved the underwear that they'd bought me. They even made me go into the bathroom and change. I had to admit I did look impressive. It was a massive confidence boost.
"Well?" They both asked impatiently. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing at them.
"You were right Rose, I feel so amazing knowing what I've got on under these clothes." I laughed.
She just looked at me as if to say 'see what I mean'.
We shopped a little longer and I ended up adding a few more pairs of shoes, jeans and tank tops to my collection along with a lovely new jacket. I understood now when people, mostly women, said that a good shop with the girls made them feel better.
Then it was time to go back to Alice's, the moment I had been dreading since the start of this trip.
What if Edward wasn't there because of me? Or worse what if Tanya was there? I doubted it, Edward wouldn't bring a girl that he'd been with less than a day home to his parents but then again, that was the Edward I knew. This Edward, the stranger would do anything and Tanya had said herself that they would be seeing each other this evening. In fact she mentioned more than just seeing each other but I really did not want to dwell on that, it broke me even more.
As Alice pulled up into her garage I took note of the Volvo parked right next to Emmett's Jeep.
"I take it you aren't staying with us tonight." Alice winked at Rose.
"Well if you want me to then I will but..." She trailed off looking longingly at the window where Emmett's bedroom was.
"Nah chick it's okay, you go, have sexytimes with my brother. Just puhlease don't let me and poor Bella, hear it!" Alice laughed then shuddered at her own mental image.
"Well then I shall be seeing you lovely ladies later then." Rosalie beamed and sauntered off into the car, taking her bags of shopping with her.
"Shall we Bella dearest?" Alice offered her arm to me as we got out of the car.
"We shall indeed Alice my love." I giggled taking her arm and doing a bad job of trying to balance the many bags of shopping that I had with me on one arm. Alice seemed to have this technique perfected though.
She dragged me through the house and up to her room where she threw the bags down on her bed.
"Wow, I didn't realise how much I'd bought." She said sheepishly. "And on my card to, oh crap mom's not going to be too pleased... Ah well." She shrugged.
That was another quality I admired in Alice, she was so carefree. If there was a problem, no matter how major, she'd either solve it or just shrug and move on. I'd dwell on things too much. Alice and I were polar opposites but that didn't stop me from wanting to be her friend.
"Let's just go and tell my mom that you're home and that you'll be staying the night." Alice announced as she pulled me up from the dresser and practically dragged me into the kitchen.
When I got to the doorway I stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn't move, I could barely breathe. There he was, sitting with his head in his hands, his fingers lightly tugging at his hair. Something he did a lot when he was nervous or agitated.
Upon hearing our arrival his eyes shot up to mine and widened as he took in the appearance of my hair and clothes. His eyes then became angry and unreadable and I ducked my head down to look at the floor. A blush spreading across my cheeks.
"Mom Bella's going to be staying the night." Alice said curtly. Never taking her gaze away from Edward. A look of pure disgust on her face.
"That's fine Alice darling. Would you like something to eat dear?" Esme asked me. She was wonderful, like a mother too me. Of course she could never ever replace my own mom but I liked the way Esme treated me like her own, she knew I needed some kind of motherly affection and she was all to happy to hand it out to me on a silver plate.
"If you don't mind Esme." I smiled slightly. I'd been asked to stop calling her Mrs. Cullen a long time ago.
"Why don't we just fucking adopt her." Edward muttered and I blushed again, Alice took my hand and gave her brother a hard look.
"Edward Anthony, language! Bella is a guest in my home and I will not have her feel intimidated by you of all people. I don't know what's gotten into you recently young man but this is not how your father and I raised you to behave towards a lady. A lady like Bella to say the least." Esme scolded.
Edward looked away from his mother and slunk off to sulk somewhere no doubt.
"Bella, Alice told me everything and I'm so sorry. I've tried to find out why he's behaving this way but he just shuts me out. Sweetheart I always want you to feel welcome in my home. Carlisle wishes the same. Our door is always open to you, never forget that. We love you very much Bella." Esme hugged me and I couldn't help the tears that fell.
Tears for the things I had, a father who loved me dearly, the wonderful new friends that I was starting to feel I could not live without, their parents who loved me like I was their own daughter.
Tears for the things I also didn't have. The best friend that I loved and lost and most importantly, the mother that I wished I could see just once more every single day.
(A.N.): Awwh damn! An emotional chapter there. I really did start to cry :'(...
Happy Easter by the way! I hope you all don't gorge yourself too much with chocolate but hey who am I kidding, I'm doing exactly the same :P.
I actually adore how much you all want to murder Eduardo right now, the reviews where you describe just exactly how you wish to punish Edward do make me smile so keep em coming!
Now then I have a little something to request of you... A challenge so to speak.
I want to know how you lovely people would, get even, shall we say? If it was you in Bella's shoes.
Tell me in your reviews and the one that makes me smile the most shall be posted in my author's note for the next chapter and that imaginative person shall get a sneak preview of a future chapter, however, I wont say which one ;).
*does waggly eyebrow thing*.
Sound good? I think so.
Love you my lovelies :D...
-XColourOfAngelsX-
