~*~ Author's Note~*~
Thanks so much for the reviews, and to those who saw, I deleted the last AN… thanks for your support (I was just feeling a teensy bit vulnerable… and had one too many margaritas…). Oh, and just a thought to chew on, that pullover didn't stay put by accident ;)
This one's short… but shit is going to start hitting the fan in the next chapter. Watch out. (Is that Edward I see on the horizon?)
~*~ Little Triggers and Winking Hours~*~
"Earth to Bella." Jessica's slightly perturbed voice snapped me back into reality as my right hand stopped looping over and across my notebook page.
A few weeks had gone by since my break-in at the Cullen house. I couldn't make myself venture back to Dr. Blomquest's office after missing three consecutive meetings.
My Wednesdays and most of my nights were spent blackening pages with the strokes of my pen. The first night I had written until my fingers grew numb, my eyes started to tire, and dawn's morning light licked the edge of my bed.
I wrote about every little piece of nothing that would come into my head. From counting my freckles to trying to describe the taste of peanut butter, my hand was able to do what my mind couldn't: it strayed far away from any whisper of him.
Although I was a living display of irony. I was still wearing his pullover.
Yet it seemed to be working. Each time I felt as if I were going to crumble, I would reach for the spiral. Connor had been talking about sports with Mike, and when I zoned in and listened, Connor had stated,
"Eh, I mean Chicago's alright, but the Bears haven't been top notch in a little while."
My logic shook its head in disappointment at how small of a comment threatened to shake me. Little triggers squirmed their way past my defenses every single day. And instead of screaming at Mike again, or bursting into tears for all to see, I wrote.
I had been nearing the third line of a recipe when Jessica had caught my attention.
"Sorry, Jess," I said with a smile. "Essay." I had found that the more teeth bore in Jessica's direction, the happier she seemed to be.
"Jeez, Bella, come on. Lighten up a bit. It's Friday, you know. Well I was just saying how I'm getting some people over tomorrow. My mom and dad are driving down to California for their anniversary."
Lauren looked over at me. "Just don't go saying anything to officer dad about it. I do not need an MIP, thank you very much." She crossed her arms across her chest. That had actually been pretty restrained for her. I had seen how Lauren could get when tested. I had no desire to have her lash out on me.
"I dunno. If it's going to be a problem if I come-"
"No! It's fine. Come on, Bella, we never get to see you outside of the school." Mike's hopeful eyes flashed with anticipation.
"You do, Mike. I work with you around every other day. And I'm not sure this is my type of deal."
"Well, I'm so sorry we are beneath the great and wonderful Bella Swan." Lauren rolled her eyes, picked up her tray, and stalked away from the table. Oh no. That had come out all wrong.
"I didn't mean it like that." I said quietly, addressing my statement to Jessica.
"It's alright. She's probably just majorly PMSing. I'm going to make sure she doesn't need anything…You're going to come, though, right?" She waited expectantly for my answer, hovering between sitting and standing.
A night of drunken teenagers unsupervised with the police chief's daughter. That scenario made me nervous to no end. "I don't really think-"
"Good. Be at my house at nine on Saturday." She smacked her hand down on the table, winked at me, and then walked swiftly out of the cafeteria, following Lauren's trail.
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Saturday afternoon and come and gone in a blur of stain-proof tents and hiking boots. The store had been unusually busy due to the impending spring season. However, any time Mike got the chance, he would whiz by me spouting off something about Jessica's party.
"Are you still coming?" and "So is that a maybe, as in you're probably going to come, or maybe as in, not really going to come?" and "I can pick you up if you need a ride." and "This is going to be so much fun, the last time we all hung out at Jessica's…" I had tuned him out after around an hour of winks, grins, and air fist-pumping.
I had been surprised that he was invited at all, what with Jessica's prior fury towards him. I was beginning to notice that Jessica, whether subconsciously or with her own knowledge, would go to any lengths just to be in the general vicinity of Mike. This tended to annoy Lauren.
It had begun to annoy me, too. I desperately wanted the control, the option, to see him again.
I sighed as I stared at the clock.
"You can go ahead and leave… ya know, get prepped up for Lauren's."
"Mmmm," was all that escaped my mouth.
"You are coming, right?"
This was the fifth time he had asked me. I stared at him pointedly.
"Because you can't get away that easily, Swan. I'll have you know kidnapping isn't beyond me."
He beamed up and me, and I let out a little sigh. I wasn't sure that he was capable of kidnapping, but he probably wouldn't be opposed to stopping my house and trying to convince me to go.
So, with complete trepidation and deep-set frustration, I said lowly. "Fine. But only because I don't want Charlie to kill you after you've carried me off."
