Chapter 10

I thought you said you were different.
Was that what I heard you say?
Said that you'd love only me.
Thought that you'd be all I need.
~What about us- Brandi

The following day, Bella dreaded her lunch break. After telling Alice about her suspicions regarding Demetri, she didn't know if Alice was going to berate her, ignore her or anything in between. She hadn't meant to cause this rift in their friendship and it was eating at her. To make matters worse, another day had gone by without a single text or call from Jacob. She knew he was busy with work, but she wanted to hear from him as she missed him dearly. This was the longest they had been apart in six years.

The bell rang and dismissed Bella's class, signaling the start of her lunch break. She didn't want to enter the teachers lounge and cause an awkward silence between herself and Alice, so she decided to have lunch in her classroom. It was something Bella was used to doing as before she became friends with Alice, she rarely conversed with her coworkers and tended to stick to herself.

Today Bella had packed herself a tuna fish sandwich and a orange. Earlier she had purchased a lemonade so she used it to wash everything down. Bella unwrapped her sandwich and grabbed a slice. She brought it to her lips to take a bite but it never reached her mouth.

"Hey Bella!" Alice greeted suddenly, startling Bella into dropping her sandwich into her lap. One slice of bread fell to the floor but most of the filling landed in her lap and dripped down her leg. "Whoops."

Bella looked down at the mess in lap with disgruntlement. She looked up at Alice, semi-distracted by the tuna seeping into her clothes. "Not that I'm not pleased to see you, but I thought you were mad at me." Bella opened her desk drawer and pulled out several napkins in an attempt to clean herself up.

Alice half sat on the teacher's desk and pursed her lips. "Sorry if I confused you. I wasn't angry at you." Alice narrowed her eyes and Bella froze. "I'm angry at him."

Bella managed to clean up most of the tuna and threw away the soiled napkins in the wastebasket by the door. While she was there, she closed the door so that their conversation wouldn't travel into the hall. "I'm sorry Alice. I swear I haven't been leading him on. I'm happy with Jacob." Saying her husband's name aloud had pangs of sadness washing through her. She really missed him and hoped that he would call or text her soon as everytime she tried, he never replied or sent her to voicemail.

"I know Bella. He know you're married, I don't understand why he chose a married woman over a single one." Alice sighed in exasperation and glanced at Bella's outfit. "Sorry about that."

"I'm fine." Bella lied, feeling her pants sticking to her skin. She returned to her seat and looked at Alice seriously. "You will find someone soon, I promise."

Alice waved away Bella's words. "I'm not worried. I already have a date this weekend."

"How lovely." Bella exclaimed in surprise. "With who?"

Alice whipped out her phone and checked through her messages. "His name is Aro. He's 28 and works as a limo driver."

"That's good Alice. I'm happy for you. Is he cute?"

Alice showed Bella a picture of a lanky man with extremely dark hair. He had a mysterious quality to him and Bella thought he looked like a villain from a movie. But she didn't want to insult him so she merely half-smiled at the picture. "Where are you going on the date?"

"He wants to take me to some place in Port Angeles. But I said that's too far. After all, I barely know him. So we're going to Vic's tavern." Alice put away her phone and crinkled her nose. "I hope he's not a weirdo. I'm trying to be nice, so I'm not doing a background check on him."

A knock at Bella's door had the women turning their attention to their visitor. Demetri opened the door and sauntered in with a cheerful grin. "I knew I would find you here." Once he was inside the classroom, he took a seat at one of the desks in front of Bella's own. "What made y'all eat here? Change of scenery?"

Bella and Alice exchanged glances. "Girl talk." Alice replied, then looked down at her phone. "It's almost time for class to start isn't it." She looked at Demetri and his smile fell. "You should probably get a head start to your class."

Demetri looked at the time and his bow furrowed. They still had twenty minutes left until next period. He looked at the women with a strange expression then stood from the desk. "Is something wrong?" he asked hesitantly.

Bella didn't know what to say so she remained quiet. Alice however narrowed her eyes at Demetri. "Do you mind?" she pointed at the door and continued to stare at him pointedly.

Demetri awkwardly removed his body from the desk and shuffled towards the door. "Sorry for bothering you." he left and closed the door on his way.

Bella stared wide-eyed at Alice. "I can't believe you did that. You're so ballsy."

Alice smirked at Bella. "I did it for the both of us." The art teacher sighed and her body seemed to sag. "I should've known he likes you."

"What makes you say that?" Bella questioned.

Alice threw her hands up in exasperation. "He asks about you all the time. I just shrugged it off at the time, but now that I think about it, it's kind of creepy how much he mentions you." Alice looked at her painted nails airly. "Then again, it could just be my jealousy. Gosh he is so hot. Such a waste."

The women chatted amicably for the rest of their break, but eventually it was time for them to teach their classes.

After school had ended and Bella had Renesmee at home, she felt her phone vibrate. She looked down and found a text message from husband. 'Do u luv me no matter wat'

Bella stared at the message strangely. Jacob didn't normally text like that, but she was so happy to hear from him that she didn't care. 'Of course. Why would you ask that?'

It didn't take long for a reply and when she received one, her blood ran cold. 'i cheated on u'.

Bella didn't bother with texting him back. She immediately called him and listened to the phone ringing. Her mind was whirling with questions and emotions. How could he do this to her? Why would he cheat? Was he unhappy with their marriage? What was going on? The heartbroken wife didn't receive answers to her questions as Jacob sent her to voicemail. When she was allowed to state a message, Bella tried her very best to remain calm. "Jacob, I know you're there. Please call me back soon. I don't understand what's going on." Her voice began to crack and she knew she had to end the message soon before she started crying. "I love you. Please call me as soon as you can." She hung up quickly then threw the phone away from her fiercely. Bella released an anguished scream and curled up into a ball on the couch.

Not much time had passed when Bella felt something tugging at her arm gently. She looked up with puffy eyes and found her daughter standing in front of her looking distressed. "Mommy what's wrong?"

Bella grabbed her daughter and placed her in her lap. She hugged her intensely and felt Renesmee return the hug with as much vigor as the small child could muster. "Nothing's wrong baby." Bella lied, rocking back and forth with Renesmee. "Mommy just has a boo boo."

Renesmee gasped in horror. "Where mommy? I'mma kiss it better!" When Bella pointed to her cheek, Renesmee leaned forward and kissed her mother's cheek softly. "All better?"

Bella nodded, holding back tears. "All better." She looked at the time and put on her best smile. "It's time for bed sweetie. Let's get you ready." For the rest of the night, Bella was on autopilot. She gave Renesmee a quick bath, had her brush her teeth then even read her a bedtime story before tucking her in for the night. Midnight took his spot on Renesmee's bed, by her feet. After her daughter was asleep, Bella exited the room, closed the door, then took a hot bath for herself. Somewhere deep inside she was hoping that the bath would help calm her, but she felt so lost. Bella ended up staying in the tub until the water turned cold and she became as pruny as a raisin in the hot sun.

The night was long for Isabella Black. Sleep would not befall her as she kept tormenting over the text message her husband had sent her. First, Jacob doesn't contact her for days, then when he did, he sent something to distress her. What hurt the most was that he didn't even tell her verbally. He did it through texts and dodged all her calls. The more Bella thought about it, the more it made sense. Why would Jacob call her when he was cheating on her? The reason she wasn't able to get in touch with him or why he hadn't texted her before was because of this debacle.

The next morning was very hard for Bella. At most, she received three hours of sleep. While she felt weary and sullen, she didn't have work as the weekend had finally arrived. In the state of mind Bella found herself in, she didn't think she would be able to teach her students. The English teacher rarely called off from work, but today would've been a sick day. Her emotions were really taking a toll on her body.

Bella remained in bed for a lengthy period. She drifted in and out of awareness for a long time, never fully falling unconscious with sleep, yet never becoming cognizant either. Her mind remained awhirl with negative thoughts about her life and what was becoming of it. She had tuned out the world and closed herself off to everything around her.

"Bells? Honey?"

A voice called out to the woman, curled up on her bed. She didn't want to answer, she didn't want to move. She just wanted to remain motionless, drifting through her thoughts with carefree abandon.

"Isabella, wake up!"

Her body began to shake and soon she was roused out of her stupor. Bella blinked her eyes rapidly as they began to focus on her room. When she finally seemed to become alert, she sat up in bed slowly and leaned against the headrest. Her father was standing at the side of her bed looking concerned. "Charlie?" she called out quietly. "What are you doing here?"

Charlie crossed his arms and looked down at his daughter sternly. "Isabella, do you have any idea what time it is?"

Bella merely shrugged languidly in response. She did really care what time it was, why Charlie was there or how he got into her house. All she wanted to do was curl back into a ball on her bed and mope.

"Isabella!" Charlie took out his phone and held it up to Bella's face. "It's 8 o'clock...in the evening!"

"So?" Bella responded indifferently. "It's 8. Big deal." She looked at the time again, but with confusion. "Wait is it really 8? Renesmee!" Emotions began stirring inside of Bella. She had essentially been comatose all day, leaving her daughter to fend for herself.

Charlie held up his hands in a calm down demeanor. "Hey, don't worry about Renesmee. She's watching a movie in the living room and eating some ice cream." Charlie took a seat next to Bella on her bed. "Bells, what's going on? I called earlier and Renesmee picks up the phone. She tells me her mommy isn't feeling well and all she has to eat is some dry cereal because she can't reach anything else."

Bella thought of her child forlornly. She leaned against her dad and began to sob impulsively. "I'm sorry Charlie. A lot has been going on." she wiped away her tears and tried to still her shaking hands. "How did you get in?"

Charlie chuckled and threw an arm around Bella. "I'm a police officer Bells. I have skills." His laughter simmered down and he became serious. "What's going on Bella? It's unlike you to shut down like this."

Bella reached over to her nightstand and grabbed her phone. She turned it on, and was flooded with missed calls from Charlie. After she had cleared away her screen, she showed him the last text Jacob had sent her. "See for yourself."

Charlie took the phone and scanned the message. His face grew rigid and he clenched the phone so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "I'm going to kill him."