Chapter 9

BPOV

"How are we doing this?" I asked Edward as I took my cereal bowl to the kitchen to rinse it out so I could get to school.

"That's up to you, angel. We can go separately like we always have, ride my bike together like we did on Saturday, or take your truck like we did on Sunday." He said as he rinsed his own bowl out next to me before stacking both of them in the dishwasher.

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me, Edward. Do you want everybody to know that you are dating the virginal mousey preacher's daughter?"

"Do you want everybody to know that you are dating the presumed playboy jock?" He countered.

"I'm not ashamed of you and I don't give a flying fuck what anybody at that school thinks of me." I told him, tossing in a sweet smile to counteract my foul language.

He laughed snagging me by the wrist as I went to walk past him. "We'll take your truck since my back is still healing. Can I drive?"

I reluctantly handed over the keys to my precious baby to stop him from pouting and making us late for school. Unless he was changing gears our hands were intertwined on the bench seat between us. I took a deep breath as he pulled into the parking lot of the school driving slowly to where I always parked, at the back of the lot, without instruction from me. "Here we go." I whispered more to myself than him as he killed the motor.

"It won't be that bad, angel. Plus, I thought you said you didn't care what they said or thought?" He asked throwing my words back at me.

Smiling at him I slid across the bench seat until my thigh was flush with his. "Actually, I think I said I didn't give a flying fuck what anybody thought of me." I whispered against his lips before stealing a kiss from him.

As I went to pull away he sunk his hands into my hair holding me in place as he slanted his lips across mine deepening the kiss. "Is it odd that I find your dirty mouth extremely sexy?" He whispered just before sealing our lips together again.

A knocking on the truck window caused us to pull apart with a gasp. I looked over Edward's shoulder to find my sisters standing there with huge smiles on their faces. "Ready to face them?" I asked Edward softly nodding in the direction of my beaming sisters.

"Of course. Let's go." He said opening the door. Once he was out of the truck he turned around holding a hand out for me to take.

As soon as my feet hit the pavement Alice launched at me. "Thank God!" She exclaimed as she bounced up and down on me while I stood bone stiff.

I patted her gently on the back as Edward reached forward plucking her off of me. "Hi, Alice. Why are you thanking God for today?" He asked her as he grabbed our bags from the back of the truck.

"For you. You've finally brought my sister into the land of the living." She chirped before waving and hopping off towards the school leaving the rest of us looking at each other in confusion.

"Wow." Edward said wrapping his arm around my shoulder, mindful of the hoodie I had on with my earbuds wired through the hood. "Hi, Rosalie, how was your 'date' with my brother yesterday afternoon?" Edward asked as I steered us towards the school building so we weren't late to class.

She looped her arm through mine and fell into step with us. "It was great, thanks for asking."

Edward nodded.

"Do you know about…?" I trailed off not wanting to verbalize it with so many people paying such close attention to Edward and I and his arm across my shoulders.

"Yes." Rosalie said simply looking over at Edward who just shook his head.

"Not here."

"Okay, see you guys later." She said spotting her friends across the parking lot.

"Bye Rosie." I called out to her as I snuggled deeper into Edward's side.

I was standing in front of my open locker replacing my morning books for my afternoon books when Lauren Mallory finally cornered me. "You have to know it won't last, Bella. He just feels sorry for you. A girl like you could never hold the attention of such a fine specimen of the male creation." She said as she twirled her bleach blonde hair around her fingers and blew a bubble that I had to grip the side of my locker to keep from smashing into her face.

"Go the fuck away, Lauren." I told her as I stuffed my last notebook into my bag. "You don't know what the hell you are talking about." With that I slammed my locker shut turning on my heal onto to jump at the close proximity of a chest I was slowly becoming very familiar with.

Edward reached forward cupping my face, tipping it up until our eyes met. "What did I tell you about that mouth of yours?" He whispered before sealing our lips together right there in front of the entire school. I reached forward gripping the edges of his shirt as his mouth devoured mine.

The smile that spread across my face as we separated for air couldn't be stopped. "Thank you. I needed that." I told him as I leaned forward against his chest.

"Anytime."

I had only thought the whispers were bad before lunch but after the kiss in front of the gossip queen herself they multiplied a million times over. Once again, I found myself standing in front of my locker when I was verbally accosted by none other than slut extraordinaire, Jessica Stanley. "Who knew that beneath all those drabby clothes was someone that could withstand Edward's stamina." She said as she reached out towards me.

I grabbed her finger mid-air. "So help me to fucking God, if you lay one slimy disease infested finger on me I will break them all and smile while doing it." I snarled at her tossing her finger away angrily. "Grow the fuck up!" I snarled at her as I whirled around and made my way out of the school.

"Rough day, Bella?" Esme asked as I walked into her room to keep her company while Edward fixed dinner. I had offered to help him but he had turned me down telling me that I could go keep Esme company and maybe get some 'awesome advice' on how to deal with those 'slutty snobs' at school.

I nodded as I sat in the chair beside her bed. "Yes, apparently your son and I dating is one of the greatest tragedies known to the dimwitted slutty variety." I told her rubbing my temples to ease the headache that I felt settling in.

"He is a pretty amazing catch if you ask me but I think they are just jealous that he's smitten with you and not them." She said softly as she reached her hand out for me.

Taking her hand gently in mine I was shocked at how cold she felt. "They are but they don't have to be so obvious and hateful about it." I told her as I encased her cold hand with my much warmer ones.

"Rise above them, Bella, don't stoop to their levels." She said with a wink.

"So just ignore them and hope they go away?" I asked her, slightly confused.

She chuckled lightly. "Now I didn't say all that. Let me give you a few tips on how to deal with women like that." She said patting the bed beside her.

I had never laughed so hard as I did that afternoon as Esme regaled me with stories of her past encounters with women who were enamored with Carlisle and jealous because he was so smitten with her.

The next day when I was caught unaware in the bathroom by both Jessica and Lauren. "Well lookie what we have here." Lauren said as she hopped up onto the counter beside where I stood washing my hands.

"Little miss goodie two shoes who thinks her shit don't stink because she has Cullen feeling sorry for her this week." Jessica said as she hopped up onto the counter on the other side of the sink I was using. I rolled my eyes at their attempt to scare me.

"You two are absolutely pathetic. Why are you so jealous of me? Is it because Edward actually likes me instead of you two disease filled slut bags?" I asked them as I turned off the water stepping over to the paper towel dispenser to grab some so I could dry my hands.

I smiled as their jaws dropped open in shock. "By the way green is so not a good look on either of you two." I told them as I pulled open the bathroom door stepping out into the hallway. After school Edward ran me to the library since he had soccer practice I was going to work a few hours even though I was technically scheduled off for the next four weeks while this project was underway.

"Are you sure I can't talk you into coming to watch me strut my stuff on the field?" He asked with his cocky smirk firmly in place.

I shook my head. "No, you don't need me there to stroke your ego because if it gets any bigger we all won't be able to fit in the cab of this truck." I told him as I leaned across the seat to peck him on the lips. "Be safe and have fun."

"Yeah yeah. See you in an hour or so. Have fun and try not to get a paper cut." He said as he pecked me on the lips again.

I laughed as I hopped out of the truck heading into the small library that was a sanctuary on particularly rough days. "Hi!" I chirped happily as I rounded the counter to where Clovis sat reading her newspaper.

"Hi, sweet girl. You seem to be in a better than the last time I saw you." She commented as she hugged me tightly.

Nodding I sat down in the extra chair back there and told her about all the things that had happened to me since last Friday, just a mere four days ago. "Why boys think they need to put on this macho act to impress girls I will never understand. I'm happy for you sweet girl."

Just then my phone started ringing. Edward. "Hey, are you finished?" I asked answering the phone.

"No, but I need you to come get me so I can go to the hospital for an x-ray. I rolled my ankle and coach won't let me back on the field until I get it looked at."

"Where are you at now?" I asked so I would know where to park so that he wouldn't have to walk very far.

"The gym."

"Okay, I will be right there." I told him hanging up, stuffing my phone in my back pocket so I could grab my bag and books. "I've gotta run. Edward's been hurt and needs to run to the hospital for an x-ray." I explained to Clovis who was watching me with an amused smile.

"Good luck, sweet girl. See you next time." With that said she kissed me on the cheek which I returned before racing out the door. I hoped nothing major happened because I know from the hype around school that he had a big game against Street Water, one of their biggest rivals, this Friday night. The big hype not only included the game but Prom also which was this coming Saturday night, one week into our family planning project. I wasn't planning on going to prom at all and Edward hadn't said anything about it at all, but we had also not discussed it either. Maybe I would bring it up while at the hospital just to see what he wanted to do.