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Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight

Bella's POV

"So," Edward said as I followed him to his car. "Did you and James have a good time last night?" I glared at him as he opened my door for me and he chuckled in response.

"I can't believe you called my dad," I said when he was behind the wheel.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? Just stand by and let some jerk get you into bed?" I was quiet. I couldn't believe he would even think that I'd want to sleep with James. The thought sent chills down my spine.

"Wait," Edward went on. "You haven't- I mean, you're still a...you know, right?"

"Oh my God, Edward! What kind of a question is that?" I couldn't believe he would actually bring this up. I mean, sure, he was my best friend, but he was still a guy.

"I mean, you guys have been together for a while now and, you know, I don't know if I'm protecting you or just stopping you from doing something you do all the time. I just don't-"

"Edward!" I interrupted his ranting. "We haven't done anything and I don't plan to, okay? So, just drop it."

"That's a relief. I'd hate for you to get pregnant with that guy's baby and-"

"Please stop talking before I puke." He laughed and I studied his face. He really did look relieved and a lot happier than he had a few minutes before. Was it because he had feelings for me or was he just being the overprotective best friend? I wasn't sure, but I couldn't help but wonder about that for the rest of the morning.

Of course, lunch time always ruined everything. After I went through the lunch line and set my food down on the table, Emmett thought it would be funny to take the chocolate chip cookie right off of my tray. He laughed as he took a bite and then lifted it over his head, out of my reach.

"This isn't funny, Emmett!" I reached for it, but refused to give Emmett the satisfaction of seeing me jump for the cookie like a little kid. He continued to laugh and I turned to Edward.

"Emmett, give Bella her cookie back," he said as he started eating his lunch.

"Nah, I don't feel like it," Emmett answered. Edward tried to hide his grin and shrugged. I sighed and turned back to Emmett, reaching for my cookie once more.

"Please, Emmett," I begged as I put on my best puppy dog face.

"Fine," he gave in. I smiled as he lowered it slightly and reached up to grab it, only to be stopped by Emmett's sudden outburst.

"Dang, Bella, what happened to your arm?" I pulled back and covered my left forearm with my hand.

"Oh, it's nothing," I said nervously. "Hey, did you guys study for the Pre-Cal test today? I completely forgot about it." I was about to sit down in my chair when Edward stood and tried to grab my arm.

"Stop it," I protested as I tried to pull away, but he was too strong and it didn't take long for him to move my hand out of the way. His jaw dropped as he examined the cuts on my arm. He had positioned my arm at an angle so that the rest of my friends could see it, as well. All of them, even Rosalie, looked horrified.

"Oh, that," I said, trying to sound casual. "There was this cat-"

"You don't have a cat," Edward said.

"I know. I went outside yesterday and-"

"It was raining yesterday."

I bit my lip, knowing this wasn't going to end well, but I had to try. "So what? It rains all the time. I'm used to it. Anyways, I tried to pick it up and it scratched me. No big deal." I tried to shrug it off.

"Cats don't have six claws," Emmett stated as he stared at me. All five of them had their eyes glued on me and I wanted to just turn invisible. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Did you do this?" Edward sounded pained as he asked this and I felt tears coming to my eyes.

"What? Why would you even ask that?"

"Did you cut yourself, Bella?" he asked again, a little louder this time.

"No! Of course not!" My voice cracked and I looked around at my friends to see if they believed my lie. Technically, I did do it to myself, but not because I wanted to. Alice had watery eyes and was definitely on the verge of breaking down. Rosalie had her hand over her mouth like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Emmett and Jasper both looked really sad and Edward... I didn't even want to look at him, but I had to. He looked really hurt and worried. I could feel his eyes searching my face for any sign as to what I was hiding.

"Why did you do this?" he asked. "Are you depressed? Is something bothering you? You know you can talk to me, or any of us."

"I didn't..." I started, but I couldn't lie to them. They all had already drawn their own conclusions and I wasn't going to change their eyes. "I didn't want..." I suddenly felt so exposed. I noticed Edward studying my arm, which was still on display, and pulled away. Edward looked at me with tears in his eyes and I couldn't take it anymore. Edward never cried.

"I have to go." I grabbed my backpack and ran out of the cafeteria. Once I was outside of the doors and next to the gym, I broke down. All of my friends thought I was depressed and cut myself. How could they even think that? Didn't they know me at all? I absolutely hated blood. And Edward thought I was sleeping with the guy who made me do this and constantly beat me. I felt angry at the thought and I wanted to scream, but all that came out were sobs.

A few kids who were hanging out around the restrooms were staring at me, but I ignored them. I had to get out of there. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and started to call Charlie when I changed my mind. He was at work and would be really worried if he saw me like this.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked back to see Emmett. He had always been like a big brother to me and I wondered what he would do if he knew about James. I wanted to yell at him to go away, but he put his arms around me and just held me as I sobbed.

"Come on," he said after a minute. "I'll take you home."

"Emmett," I croaked as I pulled away, trying to protest. I sounded horrible and I knew I must look even worse.

"Shh, it's all right. We don't have to talk." I looked at him and he smiled sadly when I nodded.

"Come on," he continued. "Let's go the back way so we don't have to draw anymore attention." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me to his car. Sure enough, he was true to his word and didn't say anything the whole ride to my house.

"Don't worry about your attendance," he said when he pulled into my driveway. "Alice is going to take care of it.."

"Thanks, Emmett," I told him as I wiped my face clear of any tears that were still there.

"Don't mention it." He patted my back encouragingly. "I'm here for you if you need anything. So are the others. Particularly Edward."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just...can't talk about it. I'm sorry." I shrugged, not sure what else I could say.

"It's all right, Bells. I just want to make sure you know. If you ever want to talk, you know where to go." He hugged me one last time before I went inside. After setting my backpack down, I took a shower and got dressed in my pajamas. I spent the rest of the day watching movies and pigging out on popcorn and icecream. When Charlie got home and asked why I was there so early, I told him I wasn't feeling well and Emmett took me home. He didn't mind and left me alone for the rest of the night.

My phone kept ringing with calls from Edward and Alice, but I ignored them until they stopped. I guess they finally realized I didn't want to talk.

"Hey, Bells," Charlie said at one point when he came into the living room. I turned the TV down and waited for him to continue. "The tow truck is coming to get your truck in a few minutes. Do you need to get anything out of it?" Darn it! I completely forgot that the motor was still messed up. I had hoped I could drive myself to school tomorrow so I could avoid Edward, but I didn't have a choice now.

"I don't think so," I told him when I got back to my movie. I went to bed early that night, though it took a while for me to fall asleep. Once I did, nightmares about James kept me from sleeping for very long. Around four in the morning, I gave up and just stared at the wall for a while. I considered skipping school the next day, but that would only make the situation worse. Everyone would be even more worried and bug me non-stop. I guess I would just have to be a big girl and deal with it.

So, what do you guys think? I think I'll have a chapter from Edward's POV a little later...

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