A/N: Here's the next one, I put it up early because of all of my wonderful reviews. Hope you like it!
Bella's POV
Alice had painted up a frenzy, and ended with a dash of sparkles. I swear, I will never figure out where she gets her energy and enthusiasm. Finally, at one in the morning, Charlie had come home. I rushed over, to heat up his dinner."
"Hey Bells," he had uttered tiredly.
"Hey Dad."
"Thanks for dinner; we had a couple of accidents out on highway 79."
"It was no problem," I had reassured him. "I had a friend over; we're going to sleep downstairs."
"Okay, just keep the noise down."
"Sure Dad."
After he had finished eating, we put in a movie.
Now I was staring around disoriented, my neck was stiff from the awkward position it was in. I refocused my eyes. I was still lying on the couch, with a blanket tucked around me. Alice bounded down the stairs, her hair was damp.
"I took a shower, I hope you don't mind," she said angelically.
"No, no, that's fine, I'm sorry I wasn't awake when you woke up."
"You had a late night."
She reached down and picked up her overnight bag. "Sorry, but I have to go. I have a dentist appointment."
I stared at her teeth, and tried to figure out why on earth she would need to go to a dentist.
Edward's POV
I was doing absolutely nothing, just lying in my room, staring at the ceiling thinking about the infuriating girl across town when I heard Alice burst in, exuberant as always.
Curiously, I came out of my room. Jasper did as well, running over to Alice and sweeping her up in a hug.
"Don't ever leave me for that long again, I don't think I would make it."
I felt sick from all of the loving feelings he was sending out involuntarily. I cringed.
If you don't like it Edward, you can feel free to leave, Jasper thought snidely.
That sounded like a good idea to me. In response, I stalked down to the living room. Carlisle and Esme were in there. Alice and Jasper followed me in. As spacious as the living room was, I suddenly felt claustrophobic.
"Edward, we all know how you feel," Alice broke in, disturbing the silence.
"I don't feel anything for her except for annoyance."
"Edward, shut up and listen. Stop being so freaking stupid. It's not as big of a deal as you make it out to be. She's hurting and that's terrible. I feel terrible for her."
"I don't think you should see her anymore."
"Edward, are you serious?"
"Absolutely," I said somberly, "it's not natural for her to be around us, we're not natural. It'll just put her in unnecessary danger-"
"Oh, so it's natural for you to be in love with her?'
"I've told you a thousand times, I'm not in love with-"
"Yes, yes, we've all heard your denial speech. Well Edward, I don't care what you think, I'm her friend and I would never put her in danger. You wouldn't either. She needs me."
"I'm sure she would have a perfectly happy life without you."
Her hands were on her hips. "Oh really."
I nodded.
"Okay then, you asked for it."
She closed her eyes. Images flew at me at an unstoppable rate.
"Bella, are you crying?"
"I thought that you decided not to be around me, I thought that you didn't want to be here anymore. It's okay, you don't have to stay, I understand completely. I won't be upset. It's fine."
My eyes widened, she must have really low self esteem.
"So who are your friends? Please don't say Jessica and Lauren."
"No, they are definitely not my friends. Angela Webber is probably the closest thing I have to a friend."
"Do you go shopping and hangout? Where do you go?"
"Nothing like that, she smiles at me sometimes, when I'm walking past her in the hallway."
"You don't have any friends?"
"Look, it's not a big deal. I am fine. Seriously, I don't need that. I enjoy reading. That's a solitary activity. Plus, I can concentrate on school now. I have really good grades because of it."
How could that be? No one likes her at all? She doesn't even have one friend? My eyes softened as I thought about how hard that must be on a human teenage girl. She doesn't let it show. She must have one hell of a mental wall up to be able to withstand all of that and not let it show.
"Well, I suppose that we all get a little pretentious sometimes."
"That's okay, if I looked like you, I would definitely be pretentious."
What, was she blind, could she not see herself clearly? She was the most beautiful person I'd ever known.
"Who do you like?"
"No one."
"Sure you do, who?"
"Mike."
"I know that you're thinking that I could never go out with someone like him. His standards are way above me. Don't worry, I know that. I would never act on this or anything."
"Bella, I was thinking that he was below your standards."
"Yeah, right."
The last thought infuriated me above the others. Newton, how on earth could she think she was below that vile Mike Newton? I pinched the bridge of my nose as the fury overtook me. What would he do if he knew just how much she wanted to be with him? I knew exactly what he would do, and it incensed my anger even further.
Jasper looked at me.
What are you not liking what you're seeing? That's not surprising. I have to feel her depression every day at school. She's a very unhappy person. But unlike you, she tries to be happy. I can feel her trying.
He sent me a wave of feeling.
That was tearing me apart to be given a taste of what she felt everyday. But Newton was still the worst of all. I had gotten a good look inside his mind, if you could even call that street drain a mind. I knew exactly the way his mind and actions worked. And I knew what he had in mind for my Bella. He was going to use her, just to prove a point to me. I blinked my eyes in shock. My Bella? Where had that come from? She wasn't my anything. Why would she even want to be with that slime? Maybe if I was friends with her, I could show her what a weasel he was and then she'd be safe from him. He would just use her for my benefit, and I wouldn't be able to watch that. She was too innocent to be used like that, too pure, too much like an angel. No one would be pulling at her wings, I could guarantee that. Yes, I could be her friend and she would take my advice and I would advise her to stay away from Newton. It would be simple. I could do this; I could be her friend and not kill her if it came to her well being. I just wouldn't let her in too much.
Alice smiled at me. "By the way, she's coming over to our house on Friday. I invited her over for a sleepover."
"YOU WHAT?"
"Yes, so you might want to go hunting on Thursday."
"No, I will not have her coming here. What about Jasper, hmm? Is he going to be able to control himself?"
"Don't you mean will you be able to control yourself?"
"That too," I said shortly.
"It'll be fine Edward," she said sweetly, "I've already foresaw it happening. You can control yourself. You can do this, just put forth some effort."
I wanted to strangle her. 'Just put forth some effort.' Ha, if she had any idea how much I had to repress the urge . . .
"Edward," Carlisle put a hand on my shoulder, "if Alice says that everything will work out, then I believe her. We'll let her do it. We'll all just take extra precautions. We'll all go hunting on Thursday."
I gritted my teeth, and was surprised when Esme's thoughts filled my head.
Edward darling let her come. She obviously doesn't have a very loving life, and is very alone. Just let her come. And if you do love her, then make sure it's possible and be happy.
I nodded tightly.
"We'll make her feel extra welcome."
Alice's face relaxed in secret relief.
"I'm glad, I think it's been a long time since she's felt truly welcome anywhere."
Monday
Bella's POV
I walked into the lunch room and found my table occupied by the Cullen family. I supposed I really shouldn't be surprised; it was the only empty table in the lunch room, mostly because I sat there. Alice caught sight of me and waved me over. Her eyes narrowed and I could tell she was looking at my outfit.
When I woke up this morning, I had realized exactly what I would have to wear as I stared at my closet. Then it hit me, I could wear the clothes I wore to the mall. Alice hadn't gotten a hold of those.
"Come on over after you get your lunch," Alice called out loudly to me. The entire lunch room turned to stare at me. I wanted to die. But she wanted me to sit with her, she wasn't ignoring me, and I supposed that was a huge advancement from what I had had before.
I started to walk toward the line. As I stood in line, I noticed Lauren and Jessica staring at me intently. Actually, they were glaring more than staring.
With my tray, I walked toward the Cullen table. I hesitantly kept walking, a slight smile on my face. This would work out, this could be fun.
Jessica's chair pushed back and squeaked loudly.
"Excuse me, I have to take care of this," I heard her mutter.
She walked right up to me.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going over to eat lunch."
She turned and pointed at the Cullens. "With them?"
"They asked me too."
"Well," she leaned close as if she was telling me a secret, "I heard Alice and Edward laughing about that. Apparently, they think it's pretty pathetic that you keep begging them to hang around you, and play the sympathy card. They think it's funny."
"I'm not playing any sympathy card."
"Yes, you are, I know what you're trying to do, they know what you're trying to do, everyone knows."
She looked at me, I didn't say anything.
"You're trying to steal Edward away from me."
"That's ridiculous," I said softly, aware that all eyes were on us, "and is Edward even your boyfriend?"
I could swear she growled at me. "Listen here you slut, I don't know why you think you would have a chance in hell with Edward, but you don't."
"Do you even know my name?" I asked her angrily.
"It doesn't matter; you don't have to know it's called a worm to know it's ugly."
"Listen, I'm just going to go eat my lunch, leave me alone, there's nowhere else for me to sit."
She laughed meanly. "Oh, well I don't think that you need to eat your lunch, if you know what I mean, and honestly," she glanced down at my tray, "pizza doesn't help your complexion at all."
My eyes filled with tears and they silently overfilled and spilled down my face. I shoved the tray down on the closest table and took off running unsteadily. I didn't care where I went as long as I got out of there. I ducked into the bathroom. I thought that once I got away from her and all of the staring people then some of the humiliation would go away. I was dead wrong. I went into a stall and locked the door. It didn't get any better, in fact, it got worse. I just kept replaying what she'd said over and over again in my mind as I cried.
I figured she was just lying about Alice and Edward playing a cruel joke on me, I couldn't see them doing that, but that didn't really matter. In the end I was humiliated anyway. I didn't act like a slut, did I? I hoped not. I really hoped that Edward didn't think I was. Oh no, Edward. He probably heard every word she said. I buried my face in my hands. I felt like I was going to be sick.
Edward's POV
We walked into the lunch room and Alice insisted that we sit at a table near the corner of the room. There were six seats, but surprisingly no one else was sitting there. Then as we all got settled, not eating our food, Bella walked in, and all of it made sense when she started to walk toward the table. This was where she usually sat. I frowned. Alice was getting very good at blocking her mind from me. Anxiously, I checked Mike's thoughts. I couldn't believe it. Mike didn't recognize her. How could he not recognize her? It was like he didn't even see her there; his mind flitted over her without pause. Unbelievable
Oh, there she is, Alice's thoughts bounced into my mind. Yes, even her thoughts bounced. Oh, Edward, I know you're listening; this is where she usually sets. Oh no, what has she got on? Where are the new outfits I bought for her? I'll have to fix that tomorrow.
Personally, I thought that she looked fine the way she was. I didn't see any problem with the way she was dressed. I thought she looked cute.
She went through the line, and I was watching as she hesitantly made her way over to us, when I heard Jessica Stanley's voice in my head.
Ugh, where does she think she's going? That girl is such a freak. I've seen her occasionally reading for, she gave a mental shudder, fun. Who does she think she is? I bet she's after Edward Cullen, well, she can't have him. I'm still deciding between him and Mike. Why would she even think she was worthy to think of my Edward in that way?
My eyebrows rose incredulously. Her Edward?
I'd better take care of this myself.
"Excuse me, I have to take care of this," I heard her mutter.
She walked right up to Bella.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going over to eat lunch."
She turned and pointed at us. "With them?"
"They asked me too."
Bella's voice was so soft, it was only a whisper.
"Well, I heard Alice and Edward laughing about that. Apparently, they think it's pretty pathetic that you keep begging them to hang around you, and play the sympathy card. They think it's funny."
I was immediately mad. I would never do something like that to Bella. I started to stand up, but Rosalie pushed me back down. This isn't your fight, let her handle it.
I sighed, and sat back down, she was probably right. What right did I have to be over protective of her? She needed protecting from me.
Then I heard Jessica growl, actually growl. "Listen here you slut, I don't know why you think you would have a chance in hell with Edward, but you don't."
I definitely couldn't let her take any more of this, I started to stand up again, but Emmett and Rosalie's hands held me in my seat.
This is not your place Edward, Rosalie's thoughts hissed at me.
Emmett looked at me apologetically, sorry man, but you know how Rosalie gets, I don't want her to be mad at me.
I couldn't get away from them without making a scene.
I heard Jessica laugh meanly at Bella. "Oh, well I don't think that you need to eat your lunch, if you know what I mean, and honestly, pizza doesn't help your complexion at all."
I watched her horrified, as she tore down Bella, until she was trembling and tears were filling her eyes. Every one of Jessica's demeaning words burning in my mind.
I watched her throw down her tray and run out of the room. How dare Jessica do that to her, and tell her those lies. How dare she hurt Bella in any way.
Alice turned to me as Rosalie and Emmett released me.
"I didn't know that this would happen, I didn't see it."
If she could cry, she would have been crying now.
"What if she thinks that you and I were making fun of her? What if she-"
"Go," I told her, and she rushed off toward the bathrooms.
I felt the guilt seep into my body as I sat there miserably and looked in the direction that Bella had gone. I hadn't protected her, she had gotten hurt, and I couldn't stop it.
A/N: Soooo, what do you think? I really like this one myself. Tell me how you liked it. I made this one a lot longer than the others, so I hope you liked it. Because it was extra long, could we try for 100 before we get the next chapter? Remember, reviews make me really happy. Thanks for reading.
