The red and blue lights shined through my review mirror and a quick siren burst rang in the sky. I groaned and seriously considered out driving the cops, but that would get me in more trouble than I was already in. A man walked up to the window and gave it a swift and loud knock. To my dismay, it was Charlie standing on the other side of my car. "How can I help you sir?" I asked politely.
"Where do I start? Your vehicle reeks of marijuana, and your out past the teenage curfew. We need to talk," he said.
"To talk?" I muttered in confusion.
"I would have come to your house if I didn't see you on the road. Can you step out of the car?" Charlie asked.
"Is this some trick?" I asked sarcastically even though some part of me actually wondered that.
"Your clearly under the influence of illegal substances, if you don't want to cooperate I can take you into the station," he said aggressively.
"Yes sir," I muttered angrily. I stepped out of my car and leaned against the drivers door. The air was cold and frigid so I crossed my arms around my chest to keep warm in my t-shirt. Bella never gave me my sweatshirt back, not that I wanted it after it was ripped and stained with blood.
"What were you doing with my daughter?" Charlie asked.
"Is this what your pulling me over for? I'm pretty sure this is an illegal interrogation."
"I'll ask you one more time, what were you doing with my daughter?"
"I wasn't doing anything with your daughter," I lied.
"Son I don't care how long I've know you, or how close I am with your family. You're a troubled kid who is clearly making some bad decisions and I'm trying to keep my children on the right track. I've been watching you for awhile and I saw you dropping Bella off at my house," he said.
"So you're stalking me now? You know I could press charges," I said.
"Okay smart ass lets do this your way," Charlie growled. He grabbed my arms, twisted them so they lay uncomfortably on my back and than smashed me against my car. "Is this what its going to take for you to talk. Huh?" he asked while placing metal handcuffs on my skin. The sharp edges cut against my skin, slicing open raw flesh.
"Alright alright," I sighed in defeat. If Carlise had to pick me up from the downtown jail I would never see the day of light again Charlie stepped back hesitantly and I turned back to face him. "I was with Emmet for a few hours and when I was about to leave Bella asked if she could hangout with me. I think Emmet wanted to be alone so he encouraged me to take her. If were any good at stalking you would know that nothing bad happened. You need to relax Charlie," I said.
"Its officer, Edward," he said. He scratched his beard and let out a sigh in confusion. He grabbed my shoulder, turned me back around and un-cuffed my hands. "The next time I see you looking this fucked up I'm bringing you into the station you hear me?" Charlie asked.
"Sure," I muttered.
"Get out of here before I arrest you." I may have gotten off easy with Charlie, but the fact that hes Emmet and Bella's father doesn't make what happened very good. If Bella found out Charlie was about to arrest me who knows what she would think. I spent all of Saturday laying in bed and not talking to anyone, and than all of Sunday working on my motorcycle. When it was finally running I sighed in relief and than went back to laying my bed and not talking to anyone. Monday morning was a rude awakening. I woke up at six thirty to find my dad gone. Today was Alice's first day back at school since her suspension and we had to make a lunch and organize all of her papers.
"Have a good day at school," I called to Alice. She hopped off my motorcycle and than ran into the building carrying her oversized purple backpack. Some part of me worried about how she would do today, but I pushed it aside and got to school on time, something I hadn't done since the beginning of the year. I sat down next to Emmet who was scrambling to do his overdue math homework.
"Whats up?" I asked.
"Coach is going to kick me off of the team if I don't pass math," he growled. I rolled my eyes. I hadn't been to a single practice in a month and still refused to answer any of coaches calls. I'm sure if I should up at a game he would still start me. It wasn't like I was good, its just that Forks is a small school with little athletic ability, so I made everyone else took even worse than they are.
"So pass," I shrugged. Emmet lifted up his head for just enough time to scowl at me, than he was back to work .
"I was up all last night because my dad was screaming at Bella, and it was near impossible to finish any work," Emmet complained.
"What happened to Bella?" I asked a little too interested.
"She went behind my dads back and got her belly button pierced. She looks like a little tramp but she refuses to take it out and my dad freaked. You know how the strict bastard is. This is what happens when girls grow up without moms, they get all rebellious and crazy," he muttered. That one hit home. I felt a nervous pain go through my body when I though about Alice not having a mom for support. Would I be enough? Emmet realized what he said quickly and cursed himself. "Shit Edward I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that," he rambled.
"Its fine," I shook him off. Emmet and Bella's mom wasn't dead, but she rarely had contact with them. She lived out in Arizona and only sent cards on their birthdays. Shes living with some younger guy that plays baseball all around the world. I did my best to get through the day and managed to pay attention in almost all of my classes. Although the only thing I learned was that there is no way I'm passing this year, it felt good to keep my mind away from home. That is until Bella decided to remind me of it. I walked up to Mr. Simons only to find a note on the door saying the class would be meeting in the library for the next week. After convincing myself not to ditch, I wonder downstairs to where the library was located.
Our schools library was huge and jam packed with rows of books. There were back rooms and smaller sections where books sat on the ground stacked in unorganized bunches, it was a book lovers glory. I found Bella sitting in between two shelves in the 'diagnosis' section. Her back was up against one shelf, nose in a book. I cleared my throat and sat down opposite of her.
"Hey," I said.
"I thought you would have ditched," she smiled.
"I just love Mr. Simons and this class so much," I muttered sarcastically.
"How is your mom doing?" she said. When I didn't answer she looked down at her book and stayed quiet. I looked at the book in my lap and tried to focus on the now blurring lines. She finally decided to change the subject after a few minutes of silence, and me not answering. "What happened to your wrists," Bella asked. I was glad she put an end to all of this awkward silence but the topic made me feel even more uncomfortable. Did she know I got in trouble with her dad?
"Umm I got a cut," I muttered, looking away from her intimidating gaze.
"A cut?" she asked. She never stopped invading my privacy.
"Yes Bella," I said coldly. "Can we just work on this project?" I asked.
"Okay," she said. Her eyes scanned the paper until she found something worthy enough for our project. After asking Mr. Simons what our project task was seriously, he said he was being dead ass and our assignment would be on sleep insomnia.
"Alright I found one. 'Sleep insomnia also know as the fear or lack of sleep eventually has waring affects on your body. It increases stress levels and studies show that eighty five percent of all diagnosed persons with insomnia have increase in rage, frequent melt downs or anxiety attacks and a slower, weaker immune system.'" I listened to her voice sound like silk as she read from the book, it was almost trance like. She looked up at me and it was as if a light bulb lit up above her head.
"What?" I asked.
"Did you just hear what I said?" she asked. I nodded even though I had zoned off a little bit. "Edward, your name should be under the definition of insomnia."
"I sleep," I said, but my voice wasn't strong, every part of me felt mentally and physically worn out.
"Emmet told me when you cant sleep you leave the house and end up chain smoking all night." Thanks Emmet, I thought. "And you always come to school smelling like cigarettes, so that means you haven't been sleeping. You also never eat, I mean when was the last time you had lunch? And!" she continued excitedly, it was like she was unfolding a mystery. "You have panic attacks, which the book just said occurs frequently with insomnia," she said the last part more quiet.
"I do not," I denied.
"Yes you do, you had one on Friday. You blamed it on the weed but I googled it when I got home. Marijuana cant give you that affect unless it was laced," she said.
"Did you have to google the definition of laced too?" I shot at her.
"You're avoiding my point," she huffed.
"I wasn't aware you were so determined on diagnosing me with a problem," I said, but my mind wasn't in this conversation. I kept thinking back about my mother and only half my brain was paying attention to Bella. It was like babysitting a little kid that never stopped crying.
"I wasn't, I guess it just stumbled upon me," she mused.
"Do you want to know one of my biggest pet peeves?" I asked, leaning in closer to Bella. Our faces were only inches away from touching as she whispered back to me,
"I have a feeling I don't want to know."
"Its when people like you, all perfect and put together, try and figure out whats 'wrong' with me. Like I have a disease or something and you need to change me. Did you ever once think I don't want to change, did you ever once think that I don't have a problem, that this is just the way I am?"
"I'm not trying to change you," she argued. "And I'm not perfect."
"You're just saying that. All girls like you say that. You sit and talk about how ugly you are or how dumb you feel, even how fat you look. But in reality you're none of those things. You know you're perfect but for some reason you need someone to tell you it so you feel important," I said.
"That's offensive," she scolded me.
"But its true," I added. Bella didn't deny it.
"I don't think any of that. Sure I know I'm not fat and obviously I'm not dumb. And I've never once looked in the mirror and thought I needed someone to call me attractive to think it. I'm just not likeable. You know yourself that no one likes me," she said. I thought back to when Jacob was explaining to me what happened to their relationship. I'm not looked fondly upon in your town and when people gave her shit she would do her best to defend me. I guess that put her on a bunch of peoples bad lists.
"Who cares about what everyone thinks," I said. "I stopped caring a long time ago. Stupid things like peoples opinions don't matter when you have bigger things to worry about."
"You don't care what people thing about you? You don't care everyone is scared of you? They look at you like you're a time bomb, like you're going to explode," she said.
"Maybe I am," I muttered. Bella eyes the clock above her and sighed.
She sat looking blankly at her notebook. "We got nothing done. You should come over today and we can finish the work," she offered.
"Is your dad working today?" I asked. After I said it I realized how obviously nervous I sounded but luckily Bella didn't seem to notice.
"No he has off,why?"
"No reason. My dads gone, come over to my house instead," I offered. A small part in Bella's face lit up and she nodded happily. I ditched last period and went out to the courtyard to light a cigarette. Nearly three minutes into my relaxation time Bella came trotting out besides me and took a seat on the bench.
"Ready?" she asked.
"You want to ditch?" I asked surprised. She rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand to hurry me out of the school. I nodded and looked around the courtyard to make sure no one was looking. News traveled fast in this school and I don't want people telling Emmet I was cutting class early with Bella. I don't think Emmet would appreciate the fact that I'm hanging out with his little sister and purposely hiding it from him. I led Bella to the parking lot where my newly fixed motorcycle sat. "Don't you have a car?" she asked nervously when I stopped in front of it.
"You scared of a little adventure?" I challenged her. The only way to get Bella to do something she opposed of was to make her think I was going to think lesser of her. As soon as I threw a challenge her way she was going to jump on it to prove me wrong. Like I expected, Bella grabbed the black helmet out of my hand and put it over the mess of hair on her head. I swung my leg over the seat and waited for Bella to timidly hop on. She held her leather messenger bag as a barrier in between our bodies. "Hold on tight," I ordered. Her small hands slipped around my chest and clung to my sides so hard her knuckles turned white. I roared the engine, gave it some gas, and we were off.
When Bella and I arrived and home and I collected my helmet Bella's hair looked like a beautiful mess. The oxymoron described her perfectly. It looked like she had just rolled out of bed and forgotten a hair brush, but with her long curls it suited her. I tossed the heap of plastic on the ground and pulled out another cigarette. I lit the cigarette and blew out a few puffs of smoke before walking inside. The cancer stick was still lit and hanging out of my mouth when I got inside and met Alice. "Edward!" Alice called.
"Hey there doll," I smiled at her. "How was your first day back?"
"It would be better if you weren't smoking," she scowled.
"Whats with the attitude?" I asked her. .
"I thought you said you quit smoking," she scowled at me.
"I did," I said truthfully to her. "For awhile."
"Well you should stop again. Cigarettes kill people," she said.
"Cut it out, I have company," I said. Alice looked at Bella for a few uncomfortable seconds than looked away.
"Are you the one he punched?" she asked. Bella was about to open her mouth and speak when I cut her off. Is this the beginning of the rebellion girls go through when there mom isn't around?
"Go to your room Alice, you're being rude!" Alice stormed down the hallway to the sun room and slammed the door shut. "Anyways... Are you hungry?" I asked. Bella, who was still smiling at Alice's outburst, shook her head no.
"If Alice is so against smoking you should quit," she said.
"There you go again, trying to change me." Bella rolled her eyes and gave a huff of defeat.
"Alright lets go," I smiled. I led her upstairs and made an abrupt left to where my room lays. It was nothing special. The walls were a dark navy but my room was so musky and untidy that it looked a lot darker. The blinds were all yanked shut and a few empty cans lay across the windowsill.
We were both standing on the outside looking in when she said sarcastically, "Nice place."
"I don't clean often," I shrugged. I placed my cigarette on the side table and picked up the pile of clothes at the head of my bed. I threw them out in the hall than sat down on the large matress. Bella followed my lead and rested all of our books in between us. I picked up the cigarette, gave it one last inhale and than threw it in the trash. "So. Where were we?" I asked.
"I have some good ideas," Bella said while making herself at home. "For our experimental section lets actually test out the theory of insomnia causing stress and immune weakness. We'll spend as many nights as we can not sleeping and have each other write about how the others moods, appetite and all of that is affected. It will be fun," she smiled.
"That would suck," I groaned.
"Are you scared of a little adventure?" she whispered, repeating my exact words from earlier. Her soft voice was teasing me, I couldn't help but smile and shake my head at her. Why was I enjoying this so much?
"Fine," I whispered. I leaned in closer to Bella and stuck out my hand. She slid her small, freshly painted hand into my grasp and shook it. When the promise was locked her hand still sat inside mine her chocolate eyes bore into mine for a few lingering seconds. She licked her bright red lips and leaned in closer to me.
"The whole town may look at you like a time bomb, but I don't. I don't intend on being careful with you, I don't think you'll explode Edward." Her soft voice sent chills down my back. I couldn't explain why I was reacting like this to her. Shes my best friends little sister, I shouldn't be getting into this mess, but the closer her lips came to mine the deeper into the trance I fell. Bella's eyes watched my hand as I slid it up her arm and rested it on her neck. She removed her stare and caught my gaze again.
"Everyone keeps telling me to stay away from you," she whispered. I rested my head against her forehead and breathed in her sweet scent.
"Maybe you should," I whispered back.
"I don't want to stop feeling alive," she muttered, pulling our foreheads apart. She shut her eyes and waited patiently for me to make the next move. It was good to know I had some control over what was happening, but I've never been good with power, I always take advantage of it. I was about to give in and meet her lips when the phone in my pocket started ringing. Bella tore open her brown eyes and looked at me with a sly smile on her face.
"You can take that," she sighed. After groaning and opening my phone I threw it back on the bed. My dads pointless check-ins just ruined my moment. Yet at the same time, maybe this was a greater force helping me out of a bad situation. Should I be thankful?
"Its my dad," I said. The phone stopped ringing for a half a second before it began again, the screen showed the number of my dads cell once more. Finally when I realized he wasn't going to stop calling I picked up the phone.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you answering my calls?" Carlise began before I could even say hello.
"Homework," was my only response.
"Well stop doing it. I need you to get to the hospital. Now. Its your mother." I closed the phone and sat in silence for a few seconds. Finally, I looked up at Bella and shrugged.
"Do you like hospitals?"
Well, it took a while but there it is! I have most of the next chapter written so it will be posted shortly. I actually had to do insomnia as a biology report on the stability of homeostasis. My friend and I ended up not sleeping for two days and it was the most terrible experience ever! Please! Let me know how I'm doing, I haven't written in forever and I need some feedback! Thanks for reading.