Everything slowly began to die down. Paul has listened to everyone and was informed of what was going on. I was oddly happy when he didn't put in his two sense and say I shouldn't fight in school or whatever. His silence was actually much appreciated at that time. I helped Jared with his bio corrections while Kim and Embry went to go get the supplies we needed.
It felt a bit unnerving to have Sam watch me the whole time. I swear every time I moved, so did his eyes. About ¾ through Jared's test, I slammed my pen down.
"Damn it Sam, would you quit it," I snapped to him. Everyone's attention shifted to us. His expression remained blank. "You know what you're doing. Stop," I warned. Paul glanced over at Sam and then me. It was obvious I was irritated towards Sam, which made Paul uneasy. I was really starting to hate that stupid stare. We got through the rest of Jared's test just as Kim and Embry came back.
"Woah, the tensions are high in this room," Embry announced. Kim hit him on the chest obviously seeing the problem. Paul was glaring at Sam while Sam was just staring at me.
"Got everything?" I asked getting up from my seat next to Jared. I pulled out the poster we had to use and then looked through the bags of things. I still felt Sam's eyes on me, but this time, so was Paul's.
"How's the shoulder?" Kim asked as we sat down around the coffee table.
"Just dandy," I breathed. "If only these two dumb asses could stop staring at me we would be great," I said elevating my voice as I was talking about them. We wet back to work, pasting and sticking things on the board. As I used the exacto knife, I sliced the palm of my hand.
"Shit," I exclaimed dropping the knife and holding up my hand.
"Oh god," Kim said frightened. Sam lifted me up off the floor by sliding his arms under my armpits. Watching my hand produce more and more blood, he rushed me to the kitchen to run water on it. Paul quickly followed us, just as concerned as Sam was.
I hissed at the stinging sensation. The water fucking hurt. Clenching my palm together as a reflex, Sam slowly dipped his hand under the small stream and made me open my fist. "Holy fuckin' shi-" I clenched my lips together as more pain hit me. I had swore enough today. No need to finish that sentence. Paul let out a growl as he watched what Sam was doing to me. His wolf must have interpreted it as Sam hurting me because a shaking Paul ripped the man from my side.
"What the hell?" Sam roared. Holding my wrist, I kept my open hand still as I stood under the running water. Did they really have to do this right now? Was it really necessary? Kim shut of the tap and brought me over to the counter where it was a bit safer from the boys. Taking a look at it, she grimaced and wrapped some gauze around my hand.
"Stay the hell away from her," Paul growled. Sam let out huffs of anger, trying to control his temper. Kim cut the gauze, taping it lightly on the back of my hand. Finding it to just bled right through the white bandage, she dug through the kit to wrap it up some more.
"Get outside. NOW!" Sam roared to Paul. Following the Alpha's orders, Paul sprinted outside. Sam took a quick glimpse at my hand and then strode outside himself.
I had to follow them. Tearing my hand away from Kim's aid, I rushed outside. Both Sam and Paul were now shaking. Before I could get any closer, Seth had put his arm out to stop me. "Its not safe Bella. They aren't in control," he explained. Defeated, I stood there watching them.
"Don't touch her," Paul growled shoving Sam. Sam shoved right back, making Paul stumble. "I can touch her all I want. Now cool it."
This made Paul even angrier. I had to step in. This was ruining the Pack, and their friendship. Side stepping Seth's arm, I put myself in between the two before they had a chance to shove each other again.
"Stop," I commanded putting my arms and hands out. Immediately they both halted in their place. Paul was still shaking and Sam was breathing in deeply with anger.
"Enough, both of you," I said looking at the two.
"Calm down," I said to Paul. He stared at me and slowly took in some breaths. He didn't want to hurt me so he needed to pull it together. Turning to Sam, I looked at him. "You too. Relax." He stared at me and then my bleeding hand. He took a step towards me and inspected it. Paul growled loudly and began shaking. Ripping my hand away from Sam, I stared at the angry man. Sam was getting wound back up again too. Before the shoving could start with me in the middle, Seth got me out of the way. Who knows who shoved whom first, but it was getting even more heated than last time.
"Quit it," I practically begged. Both of their attention turned to me. "Please stop fighting," I said. Seth let me go when he observed the two men were a little more stable.
"You," I said to Paul. "Stop being so commanding."
I heard a small chuckle. "And you," I said with narrow eyes, "Stop acting like own me."
The two began shaking and threw my hands up. Pain shot threw my shoulder and I bit my lip in pain. Paul and Sam immediately came to my aid but I backed up.
"I expected more from you two," I announced acting like a mother admonishing her children. This wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.
"Your acting like a pair of high schoolers! I'm not a prize for the taking. I am a human being. I am standing right here and I need you guys to grow up! "
"Bella," Sam said gently. I shook my head and looked at him. "No, I expected a hell of a lot more from you. You're older. You should be more mature."
Paul let out a sound and I turned to him glaring. "Oh, don't think I didn't expect anything from you either. You may act all cocky and proud but I know you can be just as mature as him if you showed some effort."
I let my heart clench at the two of them. They were hurting me. There was a pain in my chest and I slowly rubbed it. It wasn't the imprint. It was my heart condition. I hadn't taken my pills yet.
"I don't want to be with either of you," I decided. I felt panic and a rush of emotions swell in my chest but I ignored it. Stepping away from them, I shook my head. "Not like this. Not when you guys are acting like savages. Either grow a pair and deal with the fact that you both imprinted on me or stay out of my life."
"Come on Bella," Paul pleaded as I went to walk away. Anger flooded my veins and I spun back around. "You don't know me!" I shouted. "You know any fucking thing about me so stop acting like you do. You're never around and you never care-"
"I have work!" he protested loudly as he neared.
"Yea? Well so does Sam and he's made more of an effort than you have in these past weeks," I said calmly.
Paul growled in my face but I stood my ground. He didn't scare me. Somewhere inside of me, as weird as it sounded knew he would never hurt me.
"So is that what this is about? Who spends more time with you? Who cuddles with you more and talks to you?" he asked. I glared at him. "Are you comparing us now Bella? Is this a race?"
I raised my hand and smacked him across the face. "Don't you ever talk to me like I am some girl you can fuck and dump," I gritted out. My hand stung but I didn't care. He made my blood boil.
"Stay the hell away from me, both of you," I told Sam and Paul. I started to make my way to the front of the house. "And cut that stupid shit out!" I yelled spinning around to them. Sam and Paul were back to shoving each other.
"Bella!" Kim called with fear. She raced over to me when I turned back to the driveway. "Where are you going? You need to get your hand fixed. And what about our project?" she asked trembling.
"We can finish up the project another day," I said gently. "And my hand will be fine. I will wrap it up some more when I get home."
"Bella, please don't leave," she pleaded as I tried to move past her. "Kim I have to. I can't stand to be near these two idiots any longer. I will just see you tomorrow okay?"
Patting her on the shoulder, I walked myself home. It wasn't until I got to the front door that I realized I left my backpack there. Sighing I stood on my tiptoes for the spare key and then went inside. Charlie wasn't home. Big surprise there.
Scoffing my shoes against the stairs, I made it to the second floor slowly. I pulled the tiny first aid kit from our medicine cabinet and unwrapped my hand. It was red, puffy and still bleeding. Hissing, I stuck it back under water. After carefully drying it, I took out some antibiotic ointment and rubbed it on the cut.
"Damn it," I cursed out loud. Leaning against the sink, I tried to keep my injured hand unclenched as my eyes filled with tears. The stuff had stung like a bitch. Following that, I wrapped it with a roll of gauze. When I was done, I put the kit back in its place and plopped on my bed. I wasn't hungry and I couldn't do any homework. Letting my eyes flutter close, I went to bed for the night.
My alarm clock went off and I let out a moan. My body was slowly waking up from sleep. Sitting up, I immediately held the bed. A wave of lightheadedness hit me and horrible chest pain followed. Slowly standing up, my legs gave out and I collapsed to the floor in blackness.
I woke up to the blaring of my alarm clock. Getting up from the floor weakly, I found it had been over a half hour since I passed out. With almost all of my energy, I made it downstairs. Grabbing the phone, I dialed the Blacks number.
"Hello?" the man asked.
"Billy," I wheezed out. "Bella?" he asked concerned. "Are you alright?"
I cleared my throat and slid to the floor. "Tell Jake I'm not going to school today. Too sick."
"Okay. Did you want me to call your father?" he wondered. I put a hand to my forehead and brushed some hair out of my face.
"No," I wheezed out. "I'm okay. Just going to go back to sleep."
"Bella?" he asked after a few moments of silence.
"Yea" I asked.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes. Please don't tell him."
He stayed silent and then muttered a soft okay.
"Call me if you get worse," the man said.
"Will do," I told him. We hung up after that. Well, really he hung up the phone and I sat there against the wall trying to get enough energy to put the phone back on the wall dock. Using my hands to help me get up, I braced one on the counter and the other the wall. I had forgot about my bad hand so when I put too much pressure on it, I pulled back and fell to the floor.
This was not good. Finally after a few minutes, I crawled my way to where the medicine cabinet was. I pulled myself up against the cupboards, wincing at my sore shoulder. I had enough energy to grab my stash of hidden pills. Popping two dry in my mouth, I slid back down to the floor and fell in the darkness.
Waking up again, it took me a second to grab my bearings. Why was I in the kitchen? What happened? Figuring it all out, I got up slowly and looked down at myself. I was still wearing yesterday's clothes. Feeling a bit dizzy, I held the counter beside me. I needed to see a doctor. Grabbing the spare keys to my truck, I knew of a little free clinic just down the road. Driving was probably not the best thing, but I was better than this morning. The dizziness was fading.
Pulling into the parking lot, I walked in and felt weak again. Nurses and a doctor rushed over to me, guiding me into a room.
"I have Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy," I announced. They nodded immediately checking my heart and blood pressure.
"You're blood pressure dropped extremely low," the doctor said. "We are going to hook you up to an IV and check on you in a few minutes."
Nodding, I laid on the gurney waiting to feel better. It was after an hour and an extreme amount of begging that I got to leave.
"Push fluids and eat," one of the nurses commanded. She pulled the needle out of my arm and stuck a band-aid over it.
"What happened here?" the nurse Bobbie asked.
"Just cut it by accident," I said pulling it away.
"Can I get it fixed up for you?" she asked nicely. "I need to take a look, it may need stitches."
Sighing, I held out my hand. She unwrapped the gauze carefully and rolled up some supplies on a tray. "Well it looks like you just barely cut it enough so it wouldn't need stitches. But I want to wrap it up properly okay?"
I nodded. She washed it with saline and I hissed. Why did that always hurt? Glancing up at me, she made sure be careful. Within 20 minutes I was done and ready to get out of there.
"I mean it, make sure you eat!" Bobbie called as I walked out. I gave her a wave and then went back to my truck. It was almost the start of 5th period, I could make it. Stopping home to quickly change, I rushed to the kitchen, grabbed an apple and went to school.
I headed into the office and found Mrs. Tearwood smiling. "Well its good to see you, I had to mark you as unexcused for your absence."
"Sorry," I said. "I forgot I had a doctor's appointment."
She nodded "Okay, we can change it. Here, right yourself a pass," she said handing me the pad. I smiled. I love this woman. Mrs. Tearwood then sent me off to go to class, reminding me I would see her in an hour.
Slipping into my seat in Spanish class, I sat forward listening to Mrs. Walton teach her lesson.
"Where were you?" Kim hushly exclaimed. Someone gave her a shush so I just shrugged. A few seconds later she passed me a note saying 'answer the question.'
Knowing Billy told Jake I wasn't feeling well, I wrote just that and slipped the note back to her. "Are you okay now?" she asked as we walked out of class with Embry in tow.
"I'm fine, no biggy," I smiled eager to get away from them. Kim handed me my backpack and I gave her a thankful hug. Saying a quick goodbye, I headed for the office. The hour went a bit quicker when we had some work to get done. Mrs. Tearwood and I worked side by side like a factory line. When the bell rang to signal school was over, I gathered my things and headed out the door. Of course, I had to run into trouble when I saw Tessa and her posse coming towards me. Moving away from the office door, they stood in the middle of the block hallway. Dropping my bag, I moved towards her.
"Look who finally showed up," Tessa mocked. "Out banging the math teacher on break?"
I clenched my jaw stepping closer to her. "Please, like I'm scared of you," she said giving a little laugh, popping out her hip. I let out a harsh breath. She stepped closer, planning her face just inches from mine. "Oh, im scared," she teased. Starting out slow, I pushed her shoulders hard. "Get the hell out of my face," I growled. She stumbled back against her friends and glared at me. Shoving me back, I stumbled a bit at the force she put on my shoulder. She went to smack me but I grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her back. Tugging hard, I shoved her to her other two friends. She stumbled, catching her balance on her two friends. The sound of her annoying high heels clapped against the school floor. She let out a sound of frustration and I rolled my eyes at her. Making a fist, I was about to hit her when a voice rang out to me.
"Bella!"
I turned and found Sam walking down the hall. My anger flared at him. He didn't have any business being here and sure as hell did not have a right to talk to me.
I felt it before I saw it. Tessa was about to try and slap me again. Catching her wrist, I spun her around another time so her arm was in an awkward angle behind her back. "Touch me again and you will regret it. Touch any of my friends… say even a word to them, and you will no longer have limbs. Got it?" I warned in her ear. She gave a small nod and I released her. Picking up my bag near Sam's feet, I glared at him and walked off.
Slipping into my English class, I asked my teacher what needed to be made up. Not much I guess. She handed me a worksheet and told me to finish it by tomorrow. When I walked out of the room, Sam was waiting for me.
"Go away," I said looking at the homework. A few doors down was my Creative Writing class. Peering in the room, I found she wasn't there. I let out a huff and went to walk over to the science hall. Sam still continued to follow me. Trying hard to ignore it, I focused on what needed to be done. My science teacher was there already having my homework paper clipped in a nice stack. Thanking him, I took my work and went on. Lastly was math. Peering my head in, I knocked on the doorway and stepped in.
"Bella!" he said looking up from his computer.
"Hey Mr. Levin," I smiled. "I was worried, you weren't in class."
"Yea, sorry about that," I said not offering an explanation. As long as Sam was here, I wasn't going to be giving the teacher one.
"Well, here is some of the work you missed. I actually got to make you some notes and problems since you weren't here so maybe it was a good thing."
I let out a chuckle. Only he would find positivity in this and mix it with math. He handed me the papers and looked them over with me. He explained exactly what he wanted me to do and where to show the work.
"Any questions?" he asked. I shook my head. "Alright, then I will see you tomorrow."
Nodding I stepped outside the room and let out a sigh. I had double the amount of math now since I had left my stupid stuff at Sam's. When we got out to the parking lot, I had had it.
"Why are you still here?" I burst. Before he could explain though, another set of heavy footprint came walking up to us. Turning, I found Paul.
"You have got to be kidding me," I said. Both of the men looked surprised at each other. "I told you both to leave me alone."
"You know we can't do that Bella," Sam said shifting his attention back to me. I shook my head and moved some hair away from my face. Backing away from the two, I walked to my car and drove off.
When I got home, I slammed the door.
"Bella?" a voice asked. Turning, I found Charlie in the kitchen.
"What are you doing here?" I wondered stepping into the kitchen.
"I know I haven't been home a lot, but I thought we could have a family dinner," he poured something into the tall pot. He was cooking.
"Sounds… awesome," I said surprised while dropping my bag in the kitchen doorway. What was with the sudden change? Was he finally starting to get it now? Did he see why I was so hurt?
"Yep, I invited Sue and the kids here. They should be arriving soon."
I froze. Of course. When he said family he meant them, not me.
"Great," I sighed shutting the fridge. Grabbing my water bottle I walked out of the kitchen in a hurry, swiping my bag over my shoulder.
"Hey where are you going? Help me with dinner," he called.
Ignoring him, I slammed my door shut. I jumped on my bed screaming into my pillow. Why? WHY?
When I felt a little calmer, I pulled out my homework. Truthfully, I wasn't in the mood to do it. So instead, I laid on my bed staring at the ceiling. Where was all of this leading? What should happen next? Do I fix things with Paul and Sam? Do I just tell Charlie how I feel? Calling Renee, I needed to hear her voice.
"Hey sweetie," she spoke kindly. The events of today flooded back to me and I smacked my head. Was I going to tell her about this? Should I just go home and call it quits?
"Bella?" she asked.
"Hey mom," I sighed.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" she wondered.
"Yea, I'm fine. Just having a rough day. I miss you," I said with honesty. It was all true- Waking up and passing out, going to the clinic, running into Tessa, seeing Sam and Paul. Then to top it off all off Charlie…
I was a mess.
"Oh sweetie, I miss you too," she said sadly. "Well look, I don't want to make your day worse but I will let you decide on this."
I furrowed my eyebrows, not sure what she was getting at. Waiting for her to continue I heard her suck in a breath, "At first, I really wanted you home. I decided it, had my mind made up, and wanted you on the next flight home. But then the more Phil and I talked it over…" she sighed, "We both agreed you were old enough to make your own decisions. So if you are happy over there and want to stay with Charlie a little longer I guess I could handle it. But its up to you," she said kindly. Shutting my eyes, I let my face scrunch up. Why couldn't just this one time she make a decision for me? She always did it before and now suddenly it was up to me?
"Wow," I breathed composing myself. I heard the doorbell ring and turned to my door out of habit. I knew our guests had finally arrived. Chalking it up to Charlie's responsibility, I went back to the phone call with my mom. I tried my hardest to ignoring the happy muffled greets as they stepped in the house.
"I know," Renee's voice sympathetically, moving my attention back to her, "I don't usually do this and I'm always hovering you. But Phil is right, I need to step back a bit and let you live your life."
"Even if it doesn't last as long as you hoped?" I wondered.
"Don't push it Bella," she warned in a dark tone. "Don't you do anything stupid over there you here me? Don't make me call Charlie."
"Okay geez mom," I said just testing my limits, "I wont do anything, scouts honor."
"Good," she huffed. "Oh and sweetie, Zoey and Abby have been trying to get a hold of you. They said something about a visit?"
"What?" I asked. Realizing I had shut off my phone since the last time I talked to Renee, which was out in the parking lot with Sam, I forgot I was out of the communication loop. Checking the screen, I had found I had 12 missed calls and 15 unread text messages.
"Yea, I think they were coming to see you but I don't know. You know how impulsive those two are."
"Yea," I chuckled out. "Well look mom, I am going to try and get a hold of them. Thanks for…letting me decide," I said oddly.
I imagined her breaking out into a smile over the phone. "Of course honey. I love you."
"Love you too," I cooed back to her and then hung up. I read over my messages, which were mostly from my two besties.
'Iz? Where you at?' Zoey's text said.
'Izzy? Zoe and I were thinking of coming to see you!' One of Abby's texts read. I scrolled through the rest and found they mostly just repeated the same thing.
'Are you mad at us Iz?' Abby's text asked. Immediately replying to the two girls. I sent a long text explaining how I shut off my phone and left my backpack at a friend's the day after. Shutting my phone, I sat on my bed thinking of what to do next. I didn't really want to go back downstairs. Grabbing my things for a shower, I marched to the bathroom with a full intention of doing that.
When I was freshly clean, I peered at the staircase, still hearing chatter. Rolling my eyes, I went back to my room. Homework time. I sat there for what felt like hours, doing math, writing, AP anatomy and whatever else I could possibly keep myself busy with.
A knock on my door disrupted my studying and I looked up from the books. Leah was there biting her lip awkwardly.
"Hey," I said turning my body to face her.
"Hey, are you coming down? We saved you some dinner."
This time I bit my lip and shook my head. "No, thanks anyways, I will have to grab it later. Lots to get done," I said pointing to my books. She nodded, obviously seeing it was more than that. Entering my room, she sat on the edge of my bed.
"You don't have to avoid us you know that right? I know you aren't to fond of the Charlie acting like this-"
I shook my head. She had this all wrong. "Seriously Leah, like I told you in creative writing, this isn't about your family. I'm cool with all of you- really. I'm just still adjusting to some things with my dad. There have been some things boiling under the water that you really wouldn't understand."
"Well you can still talk to me," she pitched. "I can try and help."
I gave her a smile. As much as I loved that, it was all about how my feelings had been hurt because of their family, so I politely declined. "Nah, its okay. I think the wacko feelings are starting to drift away anyways."
She nodded and looked at her hands in her lap. "So did you kick Tessa's ass?" she wondered. "I heard you came back to school around 5th period. Sam told us you were ready to throw a fist. I think Kim almost peed her pants."
I let out a laugh. Oh Kim. "Well no, I didn't hit her, but yea, I got a few good moves in there."
We both chuckled. My phone began to vibrate signaling a call.
"Well I'll let you go," she said when I grabbed the device from my nightstand. Nodding, I told her I would see her tomorrow.
"Iz! What the hay man!" Zoey's voice rang out on my phone.
"Hey to you too," I laughed. "Hold up. Let me three way Abs," she said. Within seconds, Abby was on the line with us. "Izzy! Geez! We thought something happened to you."
"Sorry," I chuckled again. Such drama queens. "So what's up? What's with all of the emergency calls?"
"Ehh, nothing," Zoey said nonchalantly.
"Nothing?" I asked skeptical. "After all of those missed calls and texts, its nothing?"
"We decided we aren't going to tell you anymore because you missed the communication loop."
"Guys," I whined sinking in my seat. "Not fair."
"Not fair is not having one of your BFF's answer the phone after the 10th call. Now that's not fair," Zoey rebutted. I rolled my eyes and our banter continued. Unfortunately by the time we hung up I didn't get any information out of them. Sighing, I packed up my things for the night and went to bed.
When I woke up the next morning, earlier than usual, I got dressed, grabbed my things, popped my two pills in my mouth and went downstairs. Charlie was still here which surprised me again. I thought he would have been out and about by now.
"So it seems like we are still a bit on the wrong foot," he said folding his newspaper. I rolled my eyes. You think?
"Come on," he said when I stuck the apple in my mouth. Following him outside, I saw he had put up a basketball hoop above the garage.
"I know it's not much, but I thought since you liked basketball so much you could play it here."
I swallowed my chunk of apple I had in my mouth from the kitchen and gulped.
"Seth helped me out and Sue even brought a new ball over here," he said picking it up from the ground. I looked at it like a foreign object. This was not happening.
"You probably have to go to school soon but I thought you know…when I wasn't here you could blow off some steam with this."
"You have no idea what you this means," I whispered aloud.
"Good," he smiled misinterpreting my frozen body and stunned look. "Glad you like it kiddo," he said kissing my head. He left me out there, setting the basketball back down to the ground and went to go grab his things. He came back outside a little later, still so proud of himself.
"See you later Bells," he said and took off in his cruiser. Standing there a bit longer, I just looked at the net. Blowing out some air, I went back inside and finished getting ready for the long day of school.
A/N: So Charlie is trying...just not in the right way haha. Let me know what you think!
