The Hard Way To Learn A Lesson

Chapter 3- Edward's Den

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Bella POV

I was still fuming when Charlie came in the door that night.

"Hey Bells," he said, grinning as he hung up his belt.

"Hi," I replied in a tone that clearly reflected my bad mood.

Charlie frowned as he came into the kitchen and sat down at the dining table. "What's up with you?"

I set his plate of lasagne in front of him and sat down to start my own without saying anything.

"Well?" Charlie pressed, picking up his own fork and starting to eat.

"I have to marry Edward Cullen," I spat, my anger flaring again.

Charlie froze. "What?"

I quickly corrected myself. "Not really marry him, marry him but… near enough," I semi-explained. "It's for a stupid psychology project that's supposed to teach us about what marriage is really like." I scoffed at that. "And Mr Marshall had to pair me up with Cullen of all people!"

Charlie was still frowning, but he had continued to eat, which was a good sign. "And what does this… project entail?"

"I have to live with him for three weeks," I told him. "I actually have to stay in the same room as Edward Cullen. Ugh, it is so annoying!"

There was a pause.

"You'll come round to the idea," Charlie said eventually. "You always do. I'm sure he's a nice boy when you get to know him."

"I'm sure he's no better when you get to know him," I retorted. "Besides, I'd sooner get to know the dust under my bed before getting to know him."

Charlie chuckled and I glared at him.

He backtracked quickly. "Bella, it's three weeks. It's not forever. You'll get over it. Just put up with the boy for that long."

I stared at him in amazement. "Aren't you going to get all panicky at the thought of me living with a boy?"

Charlie sighed, serious again. "No. Bella, I know that you don't think that this is a very good project, but I disagree with you. I'm not sure what your teacher wants you to get out of it, but kids are marrying far too young these days. It's about time that they learnt that marriage isn't all it seems to be. You know that 50% of marriages end in divorce?"

"Yes, Dad, you've told me."

"I just don't want you to finish up the way your mother and I did. This project will probably do you some good and will make you youngsters learn that marriage and families are things to think seriously about."

"Dad, I have nothing against the project at all, but I would never marry Edward Cullen. I despise him. I thought you were supposed to marry someone you love?"

"You marry someone you think you love," Charlie corrected me. "It doesn't always last forever. You two will just have to work together and I'm sure you won't hate him after a while. He's probably a nice guy."

"You don't know him," I mumbled.

"But I know his father."

Now that caught my attention. "You do?"

"Yes. Dr Cullen- he works at the hospital. I run into him occasionally. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met and I can't imagine him to raise a bad child. It's probably just his behaviour inside school; showing off for the girls."

I had never considered Edward's behaviour a show, but now that Charlie mentioned it, I supposed it was possible… wait, what? No! No, I was not defending Edward Cullen! His behaviour was him completely. He was a player. Period.

"So when do you start your project?" Charlie wondered.

"Friday," I answered.

"And you'll bring this young man to meet me?"

I cringed; I could only imagine that. But, then again, Edward would probably have to stay here some time…

"Um… sometime," I said, "but probably not on Friday. I think I'm going to stay there first. See, Edward's got a sister, Alice, who's my friend so it'd be nice to have someone else there who hates him almost as much as I do."

"Bella." Charlie was stern now. "Give the poor guy a break. He can't be all that bad."

"No, you're right," I sighed. "He's worse."

"Just get on with him, get a good grade and then you never have to speak to the guy again, okay Bells?"

I gritted my teeth and speared my lasagne with my fork. Stupid Mr Marshall. I couldn't wait until next week when we could 'negotiate'.

Edward POV

The journey home with Alice had been silent… until now.

"Why, Edward?" she asked quietly.

"Why what?"

Alice sighed and hesitated, as though she was thinking of how to word something. "Why are you like you are?"

"And that wasn't vague at all." I rolled my eyes.

"That's what I mean!" Alice cried. "Why are you so rude?! So… immature and… just plain pathetic."

"Ouch," I said, acting hurt. "But, honestly, Alice, I don't know what you mean."

"Yes you do," she said. "Bella told me everything. All about your girlfriends, your attitude, your… everything. You never used to be like that. I just want to know why you'd let Carlisle down like that. Doesn't he do anything?"

"Of course he has," I replied honestly. "He's tried everything. But he's given up. Even the teachers have given up on punishing me."

"Do you not care?" Alice asked.

I sighed, unwilling to tell her anything. "I used to."

"But…?" she pressed.

I felt my lips set into a frown; a sign that I wasn't going to say anything more on the subject. I wasn't willing to discuss the reasons behind my behaviour with my sister of all people.

Alice sighed, understanding the sign. "You know, Edward," she said, "you should really change before it's too late."

I scoffed at her words and then turned the radio up, effectively ending all conversation until we got home.

***

I lay on my bed that evening, playing with my phone contemplating calling Mason or one of the guys. But then, I had an idea. I had no idea where this sudden flash of whatever it was had come from, and I wasn't sure whether I was grateful for it or not, but I decided that there was no harm in trying.

I slid off of my bed and crept along the corridor and up the second flight of stairs. I held my breath when a stair creaked, but Alice didn't come running to see why I was going up to the third floor, so I presumed that I was safe and proceeded on up.

I reached the top of the stairs and silently walked along the corridor until I reached the familiar oak, panelled door. There was a nail hammered wonkily into the wood and a hand-painted sign hanging on wire that was dangling from the nail. I smiled slightly as I traced the painted words with my finger: 'Edward's Den- Keep Out'. Well, that was what it had once said. Half the letters were missing now so instead it read 'Ewrd's Dn- eep ut' but it didn't matter.

Hesitantly, I reached for the door handle. I twisted it gently, careful not to pull it off as I always used to. I remembered accidentally locking myself inside and laughed once at my boyish stupidity. I took a step inside and shut the door behind me, deeply inhaling the musty, old-wood smell that used to be so much a part of my life.

Then I saw it: the familiar shape hidden under a grey-white sheet. What used to be my most prized possession and had then been abandoned, just like my old life of A grades and perfect tardy records. Carefully, I took one end of the dirtied sheet between the index finger and thumb of my right hand and pulled. The sheet fell away effortlessly revealing the dark brown willow frame of my once-loved piano.

I lifted the lid and stared at the ivory keys for a long moment and then I sat down on the stool and rested my hands on a few of the keys, the C chord playing at a very low volume. The feel of the keys under my fingers brought back so many memories that I had forced into the back of my mind.

I pushed the memories away again and gently started to play the melody that naturally came to me… the melody that haunted my past full of untold secrets.

I played softly to myself until I couldn't do it any longer. Then, I shut the lid again and threw the sheet back over the piano, hiding it away with my memories; I couldn't afford to let memories like that into my life right now. But deep down I knew that hiding the piano now wouldn't make much difference- the damage had been done and I'd let the memories in. Now I'd have to fight them off with all the willpower I had.

I went back down the stairs to my bedroom and retrieved my phone back off my bed. While I had been gone, I had missed three calls, all from Mason. I rolled my eyes and called him back, preparing for more taunts about the stupid psychology project that landed me with my worst enemy as a wife.

Bella POV

Beep. Beep. Beep. There was that annoying beeping noise again. Ugh. Why wouldn't it just leave me alone?

"Go away," I mumbled.

But the beeping continued. Suddenly, my sleep-fogged brain realised what it was and I reached out to turn my alarm clock off and go back to sleep. But my hand came down and slapped the top of my desk. I opened my eyes and looked at the desk. Underneath my hand there was a fluorescent pink post-it note. I sighed and pulled the sticky note off, trying to ignore the irritating alarm.

'Nice try Bells' it read in Charlie's familiar scrawl. 'Get up and find it.'

I groaned and lay back in bed, deciding to ignore the alarm for as long as humanely possible. That wasn't long at all. I must've lasted for about one minute before it annoyed me beyond ignoring it and I got out of bed to look for it.

An hour and a half later, I pulled into the school parking lot. I headed for my usual space but, to my intense surprise, a silver Volvo had already taken it. I ground my teeth together. Was he trying to irritate me to death before we had to start the project?

I was surprised at my sudden irritation at Edward; though it was inevitable, he hadn't actually done anything that bad yet. The space was open to anyone. I reluctantly parked next to it and proceeded to the form room.

"Hey Bella!" Alice called, waving to me the moment I set foot inside the classroom. Everyone looked first to Alice and then at me, making my face turn inhumane shades of red. I hurried to my seat next to Alice and sat down, too embarrassed to be surprised that she still wanted to sit next to me.

"Hey Alice," I greeted her, dumping my bag on the desk.

"What's up with you?" she wondered.

"I am not a morning person," I grumbled.

Alice opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by the door banging open and three girls coming in. Kelsey Jones was in the middle, crying her eyes out and Rosey and Kara either side of her, trying to comfort her, though she looked like she was way beyond that.

The classroom fell silent and all of the other girls crowded round. Alice and I exchanged glances and listened closely to the conversation.

"What happened?" Kyra asked nosily.

"He… he… he," Kelsey gasped between sobs.

"Broke up with her!" Rosey helped her out.

There was a chorus of gasps, 'what?'s and 'no!'s. Alice rolled her eyes at me.

"It was terrible," Kelsey wailed. "He called me Chelsea and then he told me that it was… o… o…over!"

"How could he do that?" someone else asked.

"Yeah, didn't you only get together yesterday?"

Kelsey nodded miserably, and I heard Alice's chair scrape the floor noisily as she stood up beside me. Please say she isn't about to do what I think she is.

"What did you just say?" Alice demanded. I groaned softly. Yes, she is.

Everyone turned to stare at Alice and the only sound was a quiet sniff from Kelsey.

"Did you just say that you got together yesterday?!"

"Yes," Kelsey replied.

"I'm sorry but in what kind of twisted world would you be this upset because of a guy that you got together with yesterday?"

"Alice," I mumbled.

She ignored me. "Come on, Kelsey! He must be a jerk to break up with you that quickly!"

"Alice," I said a bit louder as a sharp intake of breath went round the classroom.

"He's evil! You should be glad that he's dumped you. A guy that… that… callous doesn't deserve a girl like you… a girl at all!"

"Alice!" I warned, but it was too late.

Becca stood up too. "Who do you think you are?" she demanded of Alice.

"I beg your pardon." Alice glared at her, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Nobody, not even his sister, can speak about Edward Cullen like that," Becca spat, tossing her black hair out of her eyes.

"It was Edward?" Alice enquired. Her tone was polite, but I could see the glint of anger hidden behind her startling blue eyes.

"Of course. Who else would Kelsey be that upset over? He isn't callous and she was damn lucky that he even looked at her."

Then, Mrs Connell came in. Alice sank back down into her seat, muttering incoherently.

"I did try to warn you," I said.

"That boy is such a jerk!" Alice spat vehemently. "How dare he pick up girls like that and then drop them the day after?"

"I told you about this yesterday," I reminded her.

"Yes, but it's one thing hearing about it and another completely to see it in action," Alice said.

I shrugged.

"He is so dead. No, he is more than dead. He is… ugh! A jerk," she repeated.

"Well, I bet that Edward would say you were a jerk if he could hear you now," I joked.

Alice made a face. "Touché."

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I had to finish on that word- it is just my new fave word at the moment :D

I have to admit that I'm not very happy with this chapter but, hopefully, you liked it more than I did.

And, because I forgot to mention it last chapter, who totally loves Mason?! I didn't intend to make him a big character on any scale, but I might bring him in a bit more now. Not as in huge, huge character, but I want to mention him more because I just love him XD

Sorry times a million about the whole updating thing on all of my stories because I seem to be really falling behind on updating at the moment. I'm just finding it really difficult to get chapters finished right now and also writing has had to take a back-seat when it is competing against homework, plays and other stuff. But there are less than three weeks left of school now so I'll be able to do a lot more writing soon… probably. I don't have an amazing social calendar so there will probably be more updates.

And, just to warn you, there probably won't be another update for a while because I am going to Thorpe Park on Thursday!!!! I am so excited!!!! :D For those of you who don't live in the UK, Thorpe park is a theme park and it is amazing :D

This is an updating schedule I'd like to keep to if it is at all possible:

Tomorrow (Wednesday)- I will try to get chapter 33 of A Million More Mistakes up because I know that that is waaay over-due an update.

Thursday- No updates :D

Friday- The Hard Way To Learn A Lesson

Obviously, I can't guarantee any of that, but that is what I will try to do. I am sorry if I can't update them that fast but I should be able to.

Also, I do NOT INTEND to bring Jacob into the story at the moment. I might change my mind but I really do despise him so I might just write a story where he IS NOT IN IT!!! I hope that answered your question Sarilin! I can appreciate how hard it is to type his name ;)

And thank you so much for the reviews!!! But (and I want to say this in a nice way…) this story has more than 300 hits for every chapter so maybe a few more of you could leave a little feedback? It would really mean the world to me. I accept anonymous reviews if you don't have an account and constructive criticism is welcome as long as it is constructive.

PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Thank you so much

Steph