Chapter 3: School

Beep

Beep

Be…

Thud

Finally. My alarm turned off with a loud thud against the wall and a light thud against the floor. I hate that fricken alarm clock. I got out of the bed against my will and started getting dressed for my "first" day at school.

I decided to wear some black skinny jeans and a nice t-shirt with my black converse. I grabbed my back pack and walked out the door to my old truck.

I drove like a mad woman on the way to school and arrived there in record timing. (I decided to screw the laws. I was going to do everything wrong now. I will be the opposite of Bella. I was going to speed wherever I went and break the rules.) I shuffled out of the truck. I got a few confused stares but I ignored them. I ran in the office without tripping and gathered my map and schedule. (I know I don't need a map but it was all part of the act I was putting on.) I walked out the door and ran into something cold and hard. I looked up and froze where I stood.

"Hi. I'm Alice." Alice said. "I heard you were knew here. Whats your name?" she asked. I looked in her eyes and saw she looked sad. Why on earth would she be sad?

"Uh…hi. Yes I am new here. And I'm Annie Currington." I said in the happiest voice I could muster. Even though my heart was tearing apart with every second. I moved my hand to clutch my stomach to hold myself together.

"Hi Annie. Would you like to come meet my family and friends?" oh shit. Her friends were…I can't even think of them anymore without breaking out in tears. I couldn't do that here though. It would give me away. Alice grabbed my hand and started to drag me away.

"Alice?" I asked as she stopped.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Whats wrong? You look kinda down." I said. I was truly curious as to why she was so down in the dumps. When I was here she was very happy and boisterous. Now she was dull and not talkative. At least she wasn't shy.

"Oh…well…" I saw her eyes turn to sadness. If vampires could cry… she would be balling right now.

"Well…" I urged her on.

"My best friend did something terrible. She hurt everyone in my family and she hurt my other friends. Most of all she hurt my brother. It killed us with what she did. I'm just hurt that she could do something like that." She was talking about me. What I had done to them. I had killed them. Not literally but mentally. My stomach was in knots and my heart was clenched tight. I felt like I was getting no blood flow through my veins.

"I'm so sorry, Alice." I said attempting to apologize to her. Even thought it wouldn't matter, she doesn't know it's me.

"It's ok. Were just hurt. Come on." She said pulling me toward them again.

"Hey everyone look who I found." Alice said. "Everyone, this is Annie. She is the new student here."

"Hi." They all said at the same time in a dull tone. Could they be upset for the same thing?

"Why is everyone so sad today?" I asked. I was so curious as to why everyone was so sad. It was really pissing me off.

"Because it feels like we lost a sister when we really lost a friend." Embry said.

"Oh. I'm sorry." I admitted. Of course I was sorry. I did this to them.

"Thanks." He said in a dull tone.

"Annie? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Abby asked in a sweet tone. Too sweet. Something was up.

"Uh yea." I said unsure of how I was to answer. She pulled me toward the door to the parking lot and spun around. Her eyes were black with anger.

"What are you doing here, Bella?" she seethed. Shit. She knew. But how?

"Bella? Who is that?" I asked trying to cover for me.

"Don't play dumb. What the hell are you doing here?" she yelled this time.

"I couldn't stand it. I had to come back. I needed to be with yall or at least see yall again. I couldn't take it. It was too much for me to handle." I admitted. I was going to be honest with her.

"Why couldn't you just stay away? We were doing fine without you." She said. She wouldn't look me in the eye signaling that she was lying.

"I know your lying. I saw the way they were acting. They are depressed because of me."

"Damn straight we are."

"You say we… do you mean…"

"Yes we. As in me, Emmet, Alice, Jasper, Embry, Lindsay, Jake, and Edward." she said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes. We all missed you. After you left, you took a piece of us with you." She admitted. I saw she was holding back tears. She had always been the strong one, so it was killing me to see her like this.

"I have been feeling like crap every since you left and I hate that I'm acting like this. She started again. "I am still in shock that you did that to us."

"I know. I am too. But you don't know why I left. Do you?"

"Because you wanted too?" she asked.

"NO! I would never ever want to leave. Ever! I left because if I didn't, she would kill yall. I only did it to save your lives." I admitted.

"She couldn't kill us. We would kill her."

"No, she had backup with her. Yea some would have gotten killed but all it takes is one stab to the heart and it's all over. I couldn't lose you like that. So I left with her against my will."

"Do you know who you hurt most?" she asked. I had an idea of whom. But I wanted to make sure.

"Who?" I asked in a shaky tone.

"Edward." I knew it was coming. His face had haunted me ever since I walked away. When he pulled away from me. It just about killed me.

"Did you see his face?" she asked. I saw he had a scratch on his face, but I didn't think anything of it. He had his head in his hands and he was hunched over so I didn't get a good look at it.

"Yes. What happened?"

She took a deep breath and started to talk.

"Well, Embry heard this terrible sound. He said it sounded like someone was trying to tear a boulder. It was awful. So he and the rest of the family ran upstairs with the rest of the family and saw Edward attempting to…" she stopped and tears started to run down her face again.

"And what?" I urged her. I was desperate to know what he attempted to do to himself.

"And he…was on the ground…trying to…claw his heart out." As soon as the words left her mouth I froze. I couldn't breathe. I had caused him to attempt suicide. ME! A STUPID, UGLE, MEASLY HUMAN! UN fricking believable.

"He had already scratched up his face when we got there. We sat him down and just basically yelled at him for a long time. I have never been a big fan of the Cullen's but this was terrible to see." I was unable to move and breathe. I was in shock. I didn't realize I was on the ground until Abby knelt down beside me attempting to soothe me.

"I'm so sorry, Abby. I don't know what else to say. If I could go back, I would. I wish I could take away everything that I did, but I can't. I would give anything to go back, even my own life."

"Really? You would do that?" she asked.

"Yes." She helped me up and crushed me into a hug. It was a gut reaction to wrap my arms around her. I pulled her closer to me. I didn't ever want to let go. I was afraid she would let go and yell at me again, but she didn't.

"I'm sorry." I said again.

"I know. It will take a lot to gain my trust back. But, if It helps, I missed you too." she said as she let go to look at me.

"Do you think we can still be friends?" I asked.

"I think that can be arranged. But we have to keep the act going in order to keep this a secret. Which I'm assuming you do?"

"Oh yea of course." She started to walk away. "Hey Abby?"

"Yea?" she said turning around.

"It's good to be back."

"It's good to have you back." She walked back in the cafeteria and I walked in after she did. I was attacked by Alice as soon as I got back to the table. She squeezed me in the tightest hug ever.

"Welcome back, Bella." She whispered in my ear so only I could hear.

"Thank you." I whispered back. She skipped back over to Jasper. He looked at me with confused eyes. I would have to keep him in the dark. I would have to keep everyone in the dark except Alice and Abby of course. This would be a tough rollercoaster ride. I don't think I'm ready to get on yet. But, I don't have a choice. I will have to take whatever life throws my way. No matter what.