I'm leaving tonight for home….late, late tonight. I might even be able to update from the airport, but IDK.
-----
BPOV, 8 Weeks Along:
I had never liked Health class, and today was no different. I didn't feel good, and here I was lying on the floor so that my 3 partners could trace my body outline.
Since I was the shortest person in my group, my partners, Mike, Edward, and Angela, had nominated me to be the corpse.
Edward, of course, had protested, but I didn't want any more trouble. The faster we got this over with, the faster I could take some tums.
"Bella, you're going to need to spread your legs a little wider." Mrs. Phillips said absentmindedly as she observed our groups work. "Or else your group won't be able to finish the diagram."
"I'm sure Bella has no problems with that." Mike hissed to Angela under his breath. That one really hit home, and I instantly felt all the blood in my body rush directly to my face and I inhaled sharply. I felt like I had been punched in the gut. And everything else happened so fast.
I saw Edward's head snap up and I saw him round on Mike. And then, Mike was suddenly on the ground; clutching at his nose, which was gushing blood. And Edward was standing above him, shaking his fist and looking positively livid. The combination of the blood streaming from Mike's nose and the morning sickness I had been feeling all day was making me feel faint.
I heard Mike utter something else under his breath, and Edward lunged for him again, his fistconnecting with Mike's face numerous times.
"Edward Masen!" Mrs. Phillips shouted, waving her arms around. Edward kept punching Mike, until I screamed.
"Edward, stop it!" I begged, standing up and grabbing his arm just before it met Mike's face again.
"Edward, get to the office." The principal had come in the room behind us, his face contorted in anger. Edward followed without protest, wiping the blood from his hands on the hem of his shirt.
We all watched him go, and once he was gone, everyone's attention turned me. The nauseous feeling from earlier was suddenly creeping up again, and I knew I was about to lose my lunch in front of my entire health class.
"Mrs. Phillips, I don't feel well." I blurted as I ran out of the room, my hand clasped tightly over my mouth.
I bolted into the bathroom, the contents of my stomach resurfacing just as I reached the toilet. Thankfully, the bathroom had been empty and no one was around to hear me get violently sick. Tears streamed down my face as I washed my mouth out in the sink, and I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I couldn't do this. I couldn't handle the judgmental stares, the rude comments, and the untrue insinuations. I was not a slut or a whore. I had only had sex with one person, the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The person I loved. And we had only done it one time, but that was all it took.
All it took for me to be labeled a slut. All it took for my relationship with Edward to be put under pressure. All it took for people to make false assumptions about who I was as a person. And about who Edward was.
I don't know how long I cried, but it took awhile for me to gain my composure back. Once I did, I squared my shoulders and walked out into the hallway. Just as I rounded the first corner, Edward's mother came out of nowhere, her face angrier than I had ever seen it.
"Bella, what happened?" She asked, pulling me towards the office with her.
"I, uh…Edward kind of snapped in Health class when Mike Newton said something totally untrue about me…and then the principal took him into the office." I stammered, blushing at the memory about what Mike had said.
"He has a temper on him." Elizabeth said darkly, yanking the door to the office open. "You should come in, dear. Tell the principal what happened."
"Oh. Um, okay." I agreed, following her into the office.
I had always admired Elizabeth Masen. She was beautiful, charming, sweet, intelligent, and an amazing mother. I had seen before just how frazzled she could become, but she was truly holding herself together now, although I knew she must have been enraged.
"What's going on?" She asked, storming into the principals' office without knocking.
"Ms. Masen, as we told you on the phone, Edward beat up a fellow student in Health class this afternoon." The principal said evenly, looking pointedly at Edward, who was sitting sullenly in the plastic chair next to the principal's desk. Blood stained his knuckles and the bottom of his shirt. But he looked oddly satisfied with himself. "Miss Swan, could you tell us what happened?" He suddenly asked, and I blanched.
"Um….the teacher told me something, and then Mike twisted it around to make it sound really terrible. Edward was just….defending me." I said vaguely, twisting my hands.
"What exactly did Mr. Newton say?" The principal pressed, looking at me with his hands folded over his desk.
"I don't want to say." I whispered, mortified.
"He called her a slut." Edward said angrily. "Well, he insinuated that she was a slut. Which she is not."
"Edward." Elizabeth murmured, resting her manicured hand on his shoulder. Her diamond wedding band and engagement sparkled in the sunlight streaming in through the windows.
"And is that it?" The principal asked with a pinched expression on his face. The question was directed towards me.
"No. He said something else…but I couldn't hear it." I admitted, causing Edward to stiffen up.
"He said it was too bad I didn't have a father to teach me how to use condoms." He spat, and Elizabeth's face went pale. Any mention of Edward's father did this to her, and I knew after all these years, she had still not completely gotten over her husband's tragic death.
"Miss Swan, you can go back to class." The principal said shortly, and I left the room without hesitation.
-----
A/N: Ooh. Burn. The meeting with the adoption agency will be up next chapter.
In the time I have been in Europe, I have gone to one huge duffel bag filled with my stuff to the one huge duffel bag, a stuffed backpack, and two carry-on bags also filled with stuff.
Xoxo- Melodyella aka Mellie
Oh… and please review!
