A/N: So so so so SO sorry about how late this is. Like, you have no idea how sorry. My Beta had this edited and ready for me weeks ago. But it's finally here:D
Thank you for your support and reviews. You've all been so great. Thanks for reading and enjoy the latest chapter:)
PS. Some of you might need to go back and read the last chapter; yes, it really has been that long. For those who just need a little reminder, Bella's in the nurse's office with Edward after the 'biology incident'. xoxo
CHAPTER SIX- BELLA'S POV
I'd been sitting in the nurse's office for over an hour with a cold compress pressed to my throbbing forehead and having to listen to Edward sniggering to himself in the corner.
He'd found it incredibly funny that I'd feinted at the sight of blood and he hadn't stopped teasing me since we were left alone.
"It wasn't even your own blood!" He'd said.
I'd told him to shut-up.
Still I was glad he was there. I couldn't seem to keep my eyes away from him.
The nurse bustled in again and I reluctantly tore my eyes away from him and focused on the floor. I opened my mouth to ask if I could leave, but she'd already grabbed a stack of forms and left.
A soft buzz filled the room and Edward rummaged through his pockets, captivating my interest again. He pulled out a phone and read the message with his eyebrows knit together. After a minute he gave a short burst of laughter as if someone had told a good joke and began to type his response.
I couldn't help the stupid smile from forming on my face, as I watched Edward's large hands working over the tiny buttons. He seemed to be fighting a smile himself. He pocketed the phone and turned back to face me, the smile sliding off his face to be replaced with a frown.
"You're staring at me. Why are you staring at me?" He turned to look over his shoulder in case I was staring at something behind him.
I quickly rearranged my features and raised both eyebrows at him. "Sorry?"
"You were staring at me. You're still staring at me." He quirked an eyebrow at my poor acting.
"Nothing, nothing. I was just thinking about, uh, something."
Edward snorted in disbelief, his green eyes searching mine for the truth. "How are you feeling?"
I lay back down and closed my eyes. "Tired. I want to go home."
"Don't we all?" he muttered.
"So ditch with me." I suggested. I grimaced at the false confidence that flowed from my lips.
"I'm grounded you know." He reminded me. "My old man would be mad. And besides, I thought you didn't want to get into trouble on your first day?"
I looked down at my hands as I spoke. "I thought maybe you could keep me out of trouble." Stupid, stupid, stupid! I instantly regretted my choice of words. What the hell is wrong with you, Bella?
When Edward didn't say anything I dared to glance up. My cheeks flamed when I saw his expression. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see, but it definitely wasn't amusement.
The corner of his mouth twitched again and I ducked my head in embarrassment.
Neither of us said another word for the rest of the time I was stuck in the office. I thought that I'd upset him somehow, maybe said the wrong thing, but then he probably would have left, right?
I was relieved that the beautiful boy was still seated beside me at the end of my two hour visit to the nurse's office. Edward seemed more than happy to leave the confines of the pokey room, and I nearly feinted again as he stood up and stretched, showing a thin strip of his lower back and the waistband of his boxers.
We were at the locker bays before he finally broke the silence. "You hungry?" He twiddled with the small dial on his locker door.
Now that he mentioned it, I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. "My lunch is in my bag, and I left it back in the science room."
"That's right. You don't have a locker yet, do you?"
I shook my head. "Maybe I should go get it…" I suddenly felt incredibly stupid for leaving all my stuff in class.
"Naw, there's another class in there now. We'll get it later. Here-" He threw something small and orange at me. A packet of crisps.
"Thanks." I split the packet open and munched on them hungrily.
"No problem. Thirsty?" He held up a can of beer.
"How do you get away with that?" I gestured at the can.
He shrugged. "I don't tell my parents."
I laughed and took the can off him. "I meant at school. How do you get it past security?"
I remembered the tight security at Phoenix High, and the punishments if you were caught. Not that I was ever involved in that stuff.
"We don't have fancy security here. No guards, metal detectors, or drug-sniffing dogs."
"You don't get much crime in the tiny town of Forks." He added.
"Would that be why my dad is the only policeman?" I joked. There were more cops living down my street in Phoenix than there were in this entire town.
"Probably." He laughed and slammed his locker door shut. "So what do you wanna do?"
"I thought you were grounded?"
"I am." he smiled lopsidedly. "But that doesn't mean I can't ditch!" "But before you said-"
"I said Carlisle would be mad. I didn't say that I cared." He gave me one of those blindingly white smiles again.
I stumbled back from the glare and rubbed at my sore eyes. "Why don't you give me a tour?" I suggested.
"That's boring." He complained. "Let's do something fun!"
I narrowed my eyes. "Define fun."
He grinned evilly and loped off down the hall.
"Hurry up!" He called out without even turning around, voice full of mischief.
I stared mutely back at him as he kept walking. After he realized I wasn't following he half turned and caught me staring open mouthed at his back.
"Was all this just an excuse to stare at my ass?" He was grinning arrogantly, his already swollen head growing to the point where I wondered why it hadn't already burst.
"Are you kidding? You don't even have an ass." I laughed as his pride deflated a little.
"I do so have an ass," he frowned, turning to look down at his butt. "Well, maybe not in these jeans..."
I laughed and jogged up the hall ahead of him. "You can show me your ass tomorrow, let's go have some fun!"
***
It was the end of the school day by the time Edward and I quit having fun and found the others.
At first I'd been doubtful about what we were going to do; he looked like the kind of boy who'd think 'fun' meant to set fire to someone's lawn.
Instead we'd driven down to the local music store in my beat up Chevy and checked out the latest CDs.
When Edward showed me his favorite band I'd laughed; Metallica was so old school. But when he saw my favorite bands he said he'd never even heard of them, and laughed when I insisted that All Time Low were very popular back home.
"So what have you two been up to?" Jasper greeted us in the car park. "You weren't around at lunch."
"Bella felt sick in biology so I took her to the nurse's office." Edward turned to wink at me. I smiled back, glad that he'd left out the part about me nearly chucking up and feinting.
"I heard about that." Jasper shook his head unbelievably. "Who feints at the sight of blood?"
I groaned. The whole school probably knew about it by now.
"Wait a minute!" Alice exclaimed, her hazel eyes wide and staring at me.
"I don't understand why people even say that. It's not like I was going anywhere," Jasper said to no one in particular.
"You!" Alice's gaze was so fierce, I actual took a step back, bumping into Edward's arm.
"Alice?" Edward looked as startled as I felt.
"I went up to the nurse's office just ten minutes ago to see if the rumors were true." She turned her icy glare on Edward, releasing me from those prying eyes.
"Rumors?" Edward stuttered.
"Yes, rumors. About the Cullen boy 'messing around' with the new girl."
"No!" Edward looked shocked. "Alice, how could you think that? I promised!"
Alice looked confused. "But you weren't in the sickbay…And everyone was saying…"
"Saying what? What's happening?" I looked wildly from Alice to Edward to Jasper and back again.
Jasper cleared his throat then; a subtle reminder. Alice and Edward shook their heads at me.
"What's wrong?" I asked Edward.
"Nothing, I just- nothing." He didn't look at me as he spoke.
I looked at Jasper for help, but he wouldn't look at me either. What the hell was going on?
I tried again, but he cut me off before I could get a word out. "What plans have we got tonight?"
"Shopping, shopping, shopping!" Alice chirped.
I shot Edward the same horrified expression Emmett and Jasper had worn at lunch. It was both a plea and a warning.
Edward saw my expression and tripped over his words as he hurried to get them out. "I don't think Bella's really up for shopping today. Especially after what happened..." His was smiling sympathetically, but his eyes were mocking me, so I stuck my tongue out at him.
Alice pouted, her lower lip jutting out. "But who will I go shopping with, then?"
"You have Rosalie, remember? Bella can hang with me until you get home." Edward said.
I nodded enthusiastically, wondering if Edward was making up an excuse to be alone with me again. I felt butterflies flutter in my stomach and my heart soared along with them at the thought of spending time alone with Edward. But then I remembered that Emmett and Jasper were going to be there and my heart fell again.
She nodded curtly, agreeing with Edward's idea and then very suddenly beamed at us.
"Whoa, what are you so happy about?" Edward was trying hard not to laugh.
"That new underwear store opened yesterday so now we can go lingerie shopping!" she squealed excitedly.
Edward covered his ears and winced theatrically and I just laughed at her sudden mood change.
Alice flashed us another brilliant smile and skipped off to go tell Rosalie the good news. I was still laughing when Emmett loped towards us.
"Christ, did she win the lottery or something?" Emmett asked.
"Nah, she's going lingerie shopping!" Edward grinned at Jasper tauntingly.
"But we were supposed to go out tonight!" Jasper looked upset.
Emmett laughed loudly. "She's doing it for you, man.
Jasper just made a face and flipped him off.
"So I take it you're not going with them?" Emmett asked me.
"No, I'm feeling a little sick." I replied.
"Actually," Edward grinned slyly, "She just doesn't like shopping."
"A girl that doesn't like shopping?" Jasper asked incredulously. "Fuck, will you marry me?"
"Of course, my darling Jasper!" Emmett cried out, jumping in front of me. "And we shall marry on a beach, on a far away island, on ponies, and I'll wear a dress with a fifty foot train made entirely of the finest and most expensive silk, and we will make love on a boat at midnight to the music-"
"You ass, I wouldn't marry you if I were gay and you were the last fag on the planet." Jasper said and I cracked up laughing. Edward was bent over, clutching my truck for support as Emmett pretended to cry.
"You loser, let's go." Jasper said, mock punching Emmett on the shoulder.
"Wait a minute, I don't have a car." Edward said.
"You're riding with us, Assward." Emmett said.
"No, I need to get some meds for my jaw... and my hand."
"What happened to your hand?" Jasper asked.
"I punched a door." Edward turned to wink at me.
"You dumb fuck! What'cha do that for?" Emmett asked.
"It was locked."
"So unlock it? There's this new invention, it's called a key."
"I didn't have a fucking key!"
"Naughty Eddie, don't you know not to swear in school?" a young voice drawled from the shadows.
We all turned in surprise at the sight of three massive boys each carrying several bottles of beer. The largest of the three, who also happened to be the youngest judging by his almost childish features, was the one who had spoken. Despite the cold weather none of them wore shirts or shoes, just a pair of scrappy cut-off shorts. They were all rather good looking and well built, and each of them seemed gleefully conscious of the fact.
"Jacob!" Emmett snarled at the young boy.
The boy, Jacob, just laughed. "Where's your girlfriend, Emmy-bear?" He taunted. "Looks like she's not here to save your massive arse again, is she?"
Emmett swore and made a move to hit him, but thankfully both Jasper and Edward grabbed a hold of him and held him back.
"Piss off, Black." Jasper growled.
"Would you look who it is, boys?" Jacob drawled. "It's Jazzy, the child molester. Are you still with that stupid pixie bitch or have you found another ten year old to fuck?"
Now it was up to poor Edward to hold both his friends back. "Fuck you!" he spat. I could see he was considering letting Jasper and Emmett go. He looked pretty pissed about the Alice remark.
I wished I could do something. I wished I could be strong enough to do anything that would help. But I knew that I would cause more trouble than help, and Jacob was easily twice my size in both height and sheer mass.
I pictured the two of them fighting; Edward all bruised and bloodied up while beefy Jacob stayed unharmed and still smiling tauntingly.
I whimpered at the horrible picture in my head and everyone turned to look at me curiously.
"Well what do we have here?" Jacob took a huge step towards me and I stumbled backwards in surprise, nearly landing flat on my back. One of Jacob's cronies sniggered, but I didn't dare look away from the terrifying boy before me.
"Leave her alone," Edward spat. But Jacob just laughed and took another step closer. He was now close enough to reach out and touch me.
"We didn't actually think we'd live to see this, did we boys?" Jacob jeered.
Edward struggled to hold back his two best friends while Jacob's friends continued to taunt them.
"Check it out Quil, Embry. Little Eddie-Dinkins has got himself a girl!"
"Leave her alone! Don't fucking touch her!" Edward cried out, but he could do nothing else without letting go of Jasper and Emmett.
"Protective, aren't we?" Jacob leered. "But I have to say you scored high, Eddie. She's pretty hot."
He reached out towards me and I flinched away from his hand, stumbling back a few more steps.
"You mongrel!" Edward screamed. Jacob let his hand drop and turned to face Edward.
"What did you call me, you filthy piece of shit?"
"I said you're a mongrel; a dog; a mutt!" Edward roared.
"Shut up." Jacob snapped.
Edward ignored him. "Didn't your mummy tell you not to hurt girls, you pussy?" He stumbled forward unwillingly against the strain of Emmett and Jasper.
"I'm sorry?" Jacob sneered.
"Apology accepted, moron. You know as well as I do that the only shit around here is you and your stupid drugged-up cult."
"You fucking bastard!" Jacob roared, and he dropped the bottles of beer with an ear-splitting shatter.
Quil and Embry were suddenly on either side of Jacob and one of them massaged their knuckles threateningly. Jacob looked positively furious and I could see the thick blue-ish vein pulsing on the side of his neck.
"You wanna go me?" Jacob grinned tauntingly and flexed his biceps.
No, no, no. I thought. God, no, Edward. Don't do anything stupid…
"Fuck you. I don't want any more trouble." Edward said as he slid forward a few more unintentional inches.
Jacob was watching Jasper and Emmett struggling with Edward. "It looks like they do."
Edward just shook his head.
"Aw c'mon!" Jacob drawled. "You weren't so shy the other day. I saw Paul, ya know. He wanted me to give you a message."
"Yeah?" Edward panted.
"He said his nuts are still sore, and if you don't watch yourself- well," He turned to smile at me. "We're in the presence of a young woman, and his next line was rather inappropriate." He lumbered casually up to Edward with both hands up, palms forward.
Edward didn't look happy. "Back off!" He snarled.
Jacob's smiled. "Just delivering a message." He leaned in towards Edward's ear and whispered something quietly.
I strained my ears, not sure if I really did want to hear it, when suddenly Edward roared and let go of Emmett and Jasper. With a sound like an explosion the three of them leapt on top of Jacob and attacked him.
Jacob was ready for them. He threw Jasper off easily and had Emmett around the throat while one of Jacob's friends stalked over to Jasper and kicked him hard. Jasper curled into a ball in an attempt to protect himself and I saw that his nose was broken; blood poured freely down his dirt covered face. He was clutching one arm oddly and I could already see the purple splotches that were the beginnings of bruises.
The huge boy kicked Jasper again, this time on the top of the head and Jasper lay still. Satisfied, the boy and his friend lumbered over to help Jacob who had succeeded in throwing both Emmett and Edward off him and onto the asphalt.
"No!" I cried out uselessly. No one spared a glance for me; they were all too busy ripping each other to shreds. I knew I should call for help, maybe Alice or Rosalie were still around. Or even one of the teachers. Heck, I even had a mobile phone, I could call my dad. But I couldn't remember how. Everything was becoming a blur, and all I could do was stay frozen on the spot while bawling my eyes out.
I wanted to at least close my eyes so I didn't have to see the gruesome picture of blood and bruises, but I couldn't even do that.
I watched on in horror as Emmett was thrown against a huge white jeep. He gasped on impact and I could see his pain written clearly across his face (don't need this- it is repetitive and takes from the action going on). With a roar he leapt up and tackled down another boy. They both fell to the floor and rolled around painfully. When Emmett finally got up I could see he'd knocked the boy unconscious.
Jacob saw it too. "Quil!" He cried out, but he couldn't move to help because suddenly Edward was there, blocking his path.
I fought back a scream at the sight of him. His shirt was torn in several places and soaked with blood in others. Purple bruises were already visible along his cheek and jaw line and one eye was swollen shut. He smiled tauntingly and blood trickled slowly out of his split lip.
"Move!" Jacob roared, as spit flew from his mouth .
Edward laughed and licked his bleeding lip. "Let's do this. "Emmett's my second," Edward glanced at the unconscious Quil. "I assume Embry's yours?"
Jacob looked amused. "What happened to be being a good little boy?"
Edward shook his head, his smile faltering. "They- I- it doesn't matter!"
"Well," Jacob smiled. "I guess we should 'do this', but I have one request."
Edward raised an eyebrow but otherwise did not reply.
"Leave them out of it," Jacob nodded at Emmett and Embry who were still fighting. "This is between us."
NO! I screamed in my head. This is so stupid, someone help, please!
I felt a wave of dizziness and I struggled to stay vertical. Edward and Jacob's voices began to slur together until I couldn't even pick out individual words anymore.
Please, help…somebody…help…
As if someone had heard my desperate pleas, a huge red shape shot past me. By this point I was beyond recognizing objects and was just proud of myself for recognizing the color.
I heard a yell, and a tiny voice screaming. Someone was crying too. I tried to listen, but it was painful.
It was like I was at one end of a dark tunnel; I could see the tiny pin prick of light and just barely hear the people on the other side. The voices were echoing, bouncing around in my skull and it hurt to listen.
And then everything went dark, like someone had bricked up the tunnel exit. Suddenly I was lost in the blackness, and even the voices couldn't hurt me there.
Hope you liked it:) Don't forget; Review, Rate and Criticize:D Love you all xxx
PS. Did you know that more people die from falling coconuts than shark attacks???