Animals in a Cage
Annaleise Marie
Chapter Nine: Riddles
AN: I have a really long note at the bottom of this so for now I'd just like to express my thanks to everyone who's taken the time to read this story. It means the world to me. And thanks to my awesome betas, almondgirl3 (who will literally spend two days assessing all of the ways to replace the phrase "turning the incline up" until I find one I'm happy with) and Faith212 (who is making admirable attempts to wrangle my comma use into something vaguely acceptable). Seriously, you should see the mess I send them as first drafts. They deserve a medal.
X
APOV
"What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?"
It was lunchtime on Friday, and Edward apparently thought he was reenacting the Gollum and Bilbo riddle scene; he had been asking them for the past ten minutes. It was pretty annoying, mainly because of the way he tended to lord it over the rest of us that he knew the answer. But hey! At least he was in a good mood. That was a pleasant change. He usually sulked around or acted all fidgety during lunch.
"Emmett, Emmett, and Emmett when he's acting like an ass," Rose answered dryly.
Jasper started laughing but Emmett had to think about it for a moment, his brow furrowing in concentration. "What? Are you calling me an ass?"
Rose shook her head, rolling her eyes.
"She's saying it only takes you a minute to come once, a moment to come twice, but if you're acting like an ass you're not getting any so you might not come in a thousand years," Jasper explained, still laughing.
Emmett glared at Rose, though the corner of his mouth was trying very hard not to twitch into a smile. "Not cool, babe. I'll have you all know I always last at least five minutes."
"Impressive, truly," Jasper drawled. He was leaned back in his chair with one foot propped against the edge of the table, his fingers interlaced behind his head.
"Why does every conversation end in a discussion of Emmett's junk?" I asked.
Emmett shrugged, winking at me playfully. "It's the center of the world, baby."
Rose punched him on the arm and he scowled, rubbing the spot. "Okay, what's the real answer, then?" she asked.
"The letter 'm'," Bella said. We all turned to look at her, surprised. She had been pretty quiet during all of lunch so far. "Isn't that it?" she asked, fidgeting as we gaped at her. "'Once in a minute, twice in a moment, never in a thousand years'... The letter 'm'?"
"Yeah," Edward nodded.
"I've got one," Jasper said, leaning forward and staring intently at Edward. "When you don't know what it is, then it's something; but when you know what it is, then it's nothing."
"What?" Rose asked.
"It's a riddle," Bella said, grinning.
Rose glared at her. "Duh. Thank you."
Emmett laughed, his hand coming down on the table. "Duh? Duh? The nineties called; they want their slang back."
"The eighties called; they want theirs back, too," Rosalie snapped.
"Burn." Emmett blew on his fingers.
"No, I mean—" Bella started.
Jasper shook his head. "No, it's funnier this way," he said, his shoulders shaking with quiet laughter. "Look, you can practically see the wheels turning in his head." He nodded at Edward, who was staring at a spot on the table, his eyes narrowed in a look of intense concentration.
"Okay, I'm bored with this now," I announced. "Everyone going to Newton's tonight?"
Emmett grinned, looking positively giddy. "You know it. Rose has to pay for that minute man joke."
"Please," Rose scoffed.
"Bella?" I asked.
She nodded, biting her lip. "I don't think I'm going to fight this time though," she said.
Rosalie shot her a strange look but it was Emmett who spoke first. "Yeah, the whole public panty-soaking thing; it's hot, you know, but you don't want to come off as too much of a skank," he said. He was in his element today, I'd give him that. Bella turned bright red. "Now, if you were fighting a girl..." he trailed off, his eyes taking on a faraway quality.
"Like you two don't go at it like gerbils after every fight," I said.
Jasper raised an eyebrow at me. "Gerbils?"
I nodded seriously. "I hear they're quite virile."
"I don't think that's what they say about gerbils in relation to sex-"
"The point is—" I cut him off, waving my hand dismissively. Everyone looked at me expectantly and I shrugged. "Okay, I don't have a point. I was just trying to get off of that subject."
"How about them Braves?" Emmett said. "It works just as well, and no one loses face."
Edward screwed up his face in disgust. "No one likes the Braves."
Emmett looked offended. "I'll have you know, the Braves have a very strong and loyal die-hard following,"
"Yeah, but you're not one of them." Edward laughed.
"But I do envy their commitment to such a lost cause," Emmett said, his face completely serious.
The bell rang; Emmett groaned as the rest of us started gathering our stuff. Rosalie slapped Emmett upside the head, telling him to get his shit together. He stood up and headed off with her, bitching the whole way about the evils of math as the rest of us went to our separate classes.
X
EPOV
"So why aren't you fighting tonight?" I asked as Bella handed me a bag of grapes. I nearly cried. Did she not realize what hell these would be to sort through? But she had been trying really hard and had been really cool about the whole thing, so I took them grudgingly.
"Charlie wasn't exactly cool with the whole banged-up scarred thing," she said, gesturing to her face. "Probably shouldn't turn up like that two weeks in a row."
I looked at her, almost running into a freshman. The mark from my ring hadn't been too deep to begin with, but now it was almost completely gone, leaving only a thin, light pink line along the curve of her cheek.
"Sorry," I said, guilt eating at me. "Jewelry isn't allowed for that reason. I didn't think about it."
It seemed lame as far as apologies go, but that was really all there had been to it. I just hadn't thought to take it off.
She just nodded, hitching her bag higher on her shoulder. "So, what's up with everyone?"
I finally selected a grape, popping it into my mouth, which made her smile. It was the smallest of the bunch, and it took me a second to answer as I adjusted to the tart taste. "What do you mean?"
"Well, most of the week, they've been really...tense with each other. And then today, just like that—" She snapped her fingers for emphasis. "—it's over?"
I shrugged as we turned into the Chem lab. "We don't fight often. When we do, we get really mad for a while, and then when enough time has passed that we're not actually mad anymore, it just kind of goes away."
"Is that healthy?" she asked, taking her seat and looking a little dubious.
I laughed. "Probably not; but it's worked for years. Don't mess with a good thing, right?"
"So is that what happened with Rosalie and me?" she asked, a look of comprehension dawning on her face. "She calmed down, so it just went away?"
I thought about that. Whatever Rose's motives were for telling Bella about Leah, I was pretty sure that if she was still actually mad at Bella, she wouldn't have done it. But on the other hand, I wasn't really under the impression that she liked or accepted Bella any more than she had before, but rather the rage had just died down. It was a trickier situation than the other disagreements.
"I don't know," I finally said. "It's possible. Of course, you've calmed down, too. So that might be part of it."
She nodded, looking thoughtful. "I like that," she said after a moment. I looked at her quizzically, not sure what she meant. "That you don't necessarily have to fight everything out to the end. You can just pick up and start again."
"Fighting things to the end usually does more damage than just letting go," I said, nodding as the lights dimmed and the projector flickered to life. called the class to start and Bella and I fell into a comfortable silence.
X
APOV
"Qui suis moi combattant ce soir?" Jasper asked. We were supposed to be doing exercise seventy-six, but generally Mme. Mason didn't pay too close attention as long as she heard us speaking French.
Who was I fighting tonight? I thought about it for a second and then shrugged. "Victoria, je suppose." There weren't a lot of truly good options when it came to the girls. There were only a handful who could really fight, the others were just there with their boyfriends or trying to look badass.
"Vous en avez marre d'elle?" he asked and I stared at him blankly before cursing under my breath and pulling out my French dictionary. In four years of French, I had never encountered the phrase "en avoir marre de".
"Oh," I snapped it shut. Are you bored with her? He smirked at me. "Rose... se bat contre Emmett toujours, et Bella... ne... se bat pas ce soir. Il n'y a pas de personne d'autre." While Jasper could speak French with more confidence - whether his was technically correct or not - I always had a lot more trouble. But I finally got it. Rose always fights Emmett, and Bella isn't fighting tonight. There's no one else.
"Me," he said, shrugging. I shook my head. I wouldn't fight Jasper. I didn't like him fighting at all in his condition, and I certainly wasn't going to be the one to harm him. After a moment, he spoke again: "Rose got really quiet after Bella said she wasn't going to fight tonight," he said after a moment.
I thought about it. It was true, but I wasn't sure why he was bringing it up. "So?"
"It just seemed weird," he said, shrugging.
"What's weird, Monsieur Whitlock, is that you two don't seem to be making any progress with the exercise," Mme Mason cut in, making us both jump. "Are you having trouble understanding it?"
"Non, Mme Mason. Désolé," Jasper answered quickly, looking properly apologetic. "Vous êtes à la recherche belle aujourd'hui." His flattery only earned him a glare from Mme Mason; I tried to hold back a laugh.
"You're like a walking Google translator." Despite my best efforts, the laughter finally bubbled to the surface.
"What?" He frowned.
"Recherche means to look, as in search; you wanted parais. You told her she's 'searching beautiful today'."
"En français, s'il vous plaît," Mme Mason called from across the room.
When the bell rang, Jasper picked up where he had left off. "All I'm saying is, Emmett makes a comment about beating Rose in a fight, and she says nothing? It's not like her."
I shrugged. "I doubt it has anything to do with Bella not fighting, though."
"That's the only weird thing that happened before that," he pointed out.
"There was a lot weird about that discussion," I argued. Seriously, I couldn't even count how many times the conversation had somehow turned to Emmett's dick over the years. It never stopped being disturbing.
Jasper shrugged but didn't say anything else on the subject.
X
BPOV
Following Emmett and Rosalie's example from the week before, I drove right past Mike's at five o'clock and parked further down the road. I felt unreasonably nervous as I climbed out of my truck and smoothed down my skirt. I tried not to think about the fact that the reason I was wearing the stupid thing was also the reason I was nervous.
Edward and I had found steadier footing this week. I shouldn't be nervous about seeing him. I mean, it wasn't like this was even a date. So why was I trying so hard to impress him?
I wished I'd brought pants so I could change out of this stupid skirt now...
I froze a few steps down the sidewalk, my stomach lurching. I was doing it again; I was trying too hard to be a part of them. Oh shit. And I had been doing so much better.
I was about to turn around, go back home, and change into something a little less desperate, when Jasper pulled up and parked behind the truck.
Trapped. Dammit.
Alice climbed out, beaming at me. "Hey, Bella!" she called and then let out a low whistle. "My gosh, you have nice legs. And your hair is so cute! You should really consider the whole curls thing more often. Very...vixen-y." She brought her hand up, miming claws.
I felt my face heat up. "Yeah... I was actually just going to go back home and change..."
"Um, no," she said, rolling her eyes. "Trust me. No." Her eyes had a strange glazed quality and I remembered Edward telling me that she drank. Was she drunk? Should I take a drunk girl's word on what I should wear?
Jasper climbed out of the driver's seat and looked me up and down, his expression unreadable. "So that's why you're not fighting," he said. "Gotta tell ya, Bella, that's not really what these things are about."
"Oh my God," I groaned. "No, I just... I wasn't fighting anyway because of Charlie, and I just thought—"
Jasper cut off my rambling, shaking his head. "No business of mine," he said evenly. "Anyway, let's go."
"Well, I think she looks great," Alice said as we started off toward Mike's.
"I never said she didn't look good."
"You were kinda rude." She glanced at him, disapproval knitting her brow.
Jasper stopped, bringing the three of us to a halt. He sighed and turned around to look at me. "My apologies, Bella. You look very nice this evening."
I almost laughed at the formality of it, but I couldn't tell if he meant for it to be funny or not. "Thank you," I said instead. He looked pointedly at Alice, who nodded, looking only slightly appeased, before turning again and continuing on.
We walked the rest of the way in silence. Jasper and Alice didn't let themselves in the front door, as Rosalie and Emmett had, but cut around the house and through the back gate to a set of steps leading down to a door below ground-level, sitting snug beside the back deck. I guess too many people entering the house in one way could attract too much attention? I wasn't really sure what Mike's parents thought about this whole thing, or how much they could even possibly know about it if they weren't putting a stop to it.
The basement was already packed when we let ourselves in. I followed Alice and Jasper closely as they pushed through the crowd, unsure of what else to do. I scanned the crowd for Edward but couldn't find him. I was a little disappointed, but I reminded myself that this was something they did every week; he probably just wasn't here yet.
"Alright," a voice called over the crowd; Mike stepped onto a milk crate and waved his arms to get everyone to settle down. "Welcome to the Gathering. We have a lot of first-timers tonight, so here's a rundown of the rules: Two to a fight. No jewelry; no weapons. And leave your personal shit out there." He gestured towards the crowd. "This is not where you settle scores," he said. "Now, boys against girls is allowed—but both players must agree to any fight...although if you don't fight, you're prob'ly a pussy and everyone's gonna know." Laughter rippled through the crowd; the roomed hummed with untapped energy. "And the fight is only over when a player taps out...or is no longer able to participate." The last of his words were swallowed up in cheers.
He gazed out over the crowd, his eyes flashing with humor. "Ladies first tonight; up first is Rose and Emmett."
"Bite me, Newton!" Emmett shouted back as he and Rosalie appeared at the edge of the crowd.
Mike shrugged and hopped down off of the crate. Rosalie walked up to him and said something that was easily drowned out by the crowd. Mike looked confused and Emmett crossed his arms, his jaw tense.
"Are they not going to fight?" I asked Alice. She shook her head, looking confused.
Mike and Rosalie exchanged a few more words before he stepped back on the milk crate and cleared his throat. "Change of plans, people." He shrugged. "Emmett won't be fighting this round."
"Pussy!" called a voice from the crowd, which was met with peals of laughter and jeering from everyone else. Emmett's head snapped around, scanning the crowd, his eyes aflame with anger.
"What's going on?" Alice leaned into Jasper.
His expression was grim. "Told you it was weird."
As I watched, Rosalie's eyes scanned the crowd before coming to rest on me. My heart jumped into my throat. Oh, fuck...
"Instead, Rose would like to issue a challenge to one of our newer fighters," Mike continued as the crowd grew restless, their excitement almost a tangible current in the air. Rosalie's face broke into a sadistic smile, and she pointed at me right as Mike yelled: "Bella Swan!"
The crowd lit up, whooping and yelling; some booed - obviously in favor of Rosalie beating my ass to a pulp. Encouraging...
"Hope you're wearing cute panties," Alice muttered.
"Are you kidding me?" I asked, my eyes wide. "She's going to kill me!" I wasn't wild about looking like a coward, but seriously. Rosalie? Fuck. If she didn't kill me, then Charlie certainly would.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you to always wear cute panties in case you die?" Alice asked seriously.
"The expression is clean panties, darlin'," Jasper corrected her.
My eyes bulged. "Are you two serious right now?"
"Come on down, Bella," Mike called from his milk crate. Everyone had turned to look at me by this point, and it was a strange sensation to see all eyes looking back at me... sizing me up.
I took a step forward and a hand came down on my shoulder. Startled, I looked up to see Edward standing there, but rather than looking at me, his eyes were fixed on Rosalie.
"You're not seriously going to bring this shit into the gathering, are you?" he asked.
Rosalie shrugged. "Call it a bonding experience," she said. I looked back at Edward and saw that this jaw was set, his eyes flashing angrily. Rosalie just smirked at him. I nearly turned and ran; nothing good could come of this. My heart thumped painfully against my ribs.
"Guys, what did I say about bringing your personal shit into this?" Mike groaned, scrubbing his face irritably with one hand. "What did I just say?"
"Edward's overreacting," Rosalie said smoothly. "I just heard she put up a pretty good fight last week, is all."
Mike looked from her, to Edward, to me, and then back again clearly trying to decide what to do. He threw his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Fuck it. I don't care; do what you want. Just make up your minds quick. You're not the only people waiting, you know."
"Do you want to fight her?" Edward asked, quiet enough that he couldn't easily be heard by the surrounding crowd.
I didn't want to lose face, so I said the first thing that popped into my head: "I'm not wearing pants."
Edward's eyes darted down, startled, and I blushed. He saw the skirt and nodded. "Two minutes," he called out, pulling me down the adjoining hall that ran under the stairs. I remembered from when we skipped school Monday that Alice had gone that way to search Mike's room for leftover pot. The crowd behind us called out irritably, upset by the delay.
Edward closed the door behind us and turned to look at me. He looked tense, his posture rigid. "Do you want to fight her?" he asked again.
I shrugged. "I don't want to not fight her," I said, furrowing my brow as I tried to think of how to explain it. "I don't want to back down. But I don't want to fight in a skirt." Edward looked at me pointedly. "And yeah, okay; I'm a little afraid of her."
Edward nodded and headed for Mike's closet, pulling it open and shifting through the clothes. "Rose's power is in her arms," he said as he searched. "She has a wicked right hook, so it's best to just avoid that entirely. If you can avoid her hitting you, eventually she'll try to land a kick. Her balance is pretty poor, so when she does that, take the chance to knock her off balance." He held out a pair of jeans and a belt, giving me a second to soak in everything he said. "And do not let her get you on the ground. If she gets you pinned, it's over. Emmett can barely get out of it."
I nodded, pulling the jeans up over my skirt and buttoning them before lacing the belt through its loops and cinching it tightly. It probably looked ridiculous.
"You're not going to win this fight," Edward said quietly as I rolled up the legs. "I'm not trying to be mean; it's just the truth. But if you remember all that, you can give her some hell."
I nodded again, looking around and finally finding a rubber band on Mike's desk. I pulled my hair out of my face and secured it quickly before peeling off my jacket and handing it to him. I couldn't speak. I felt like my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, and if I tried to speak I might vomit.
"Ready?" Edward asked. I nodded and he opened the bedroom door, leading me back out.
There was a second where the room quieted down as I emerged, and then Mike started laughing.
"Okay," he said between gasps of laughter. "Okay, that works. Let's do this." He hopped down from the crate again, his laughter drowned out by the crowd's uproar. "You know, Bella," he said once I reached him, "if you wanted in my pants, you could've just asked."
I felt my face heat up again, but I didn't answer him. I stepped over the tape line and Rosalie smirked at me; I squared my shoulders, bracing my feet apart, feeling out my balance.
Avoid her right hook. Wait for the kick. Don't let her get me on the ground...
"You ready?" Rosalie asked. I nodded.
Don't let her get me on the ground.
Mike counted down, but he was mostly drowned out by a loud rushing in my ears. I glanced around. Everyone seemed to be shouting, but I could barely hear them. Alice was on her feet, waving her fists as her mouth moved.
"Go!"
Rosalie shot forward. I side-stepped. Her fist connected with my shoulder, knocking me off balance. I hopped back, regaining my center.
Her fist was already pulled back again. I dropped and turned; her body followed her fist. I brought my foot up and kicked the back of the knee as she lurched past.
Her knee buckled, but she didn't fall. She spun around, her face furious. A blur: Her fist collided with my jaw.
Spots. I tasted pennies.
Pennies?
I shook my head. Rosalie took advantage of my hesitation.
She kicked out; my legs disappeared from under me. I reached out, trying to break my fall. I grabbed her leg, sending her sprawling.
I scrambled back from her, breathing hard.
I had to get up.
Don't let her get me on the ground.
I found my footing; so did she. She ran forward. I was ready this time.
Her head snapped back. Pain shot through my knuckles.
I felt a surge of victory—too soon. Her knee came up and sank into my stomach.
No air.
I doubled over, coughed. Thick warmth trickled from my mouth. I brought my hand up. Blood.
Blood?
Pennies.
Her foot came up; a sharp pain in my shoulder. I fell to the ground, head spinning. Nothing made sense anymore.
Don't let her get me on the ground.
I tried to raise myself up. The floor swung wildly. I shook my head hard. No better. No better. Stuck.
I brought my hand up, slammed it down hard on the ground. Once. Twice.
I expected another kick or punch to land and I tensed, waiting for it. But the hand that rested on my arm after a moment was soft, yielding. Another came around to my hip, and then I was being pulled to my feet.
It took a second, but then Rosalie came into sharp focus. Rosalie had helped me up? What?
She held her hand out to me. I stared at it blankly for a beat, puzzled by the gesture, and then finally grasped it, shaking.
"We're good." She dropped my hand and slipped back into the crowd. I just stood there, confused, until Edward appeared beside me and led me out of the square.
"Next up is Jasper and James," Mike was shouting as sound rushed back into my ears. Edward was leading me up the stairs and out of the basement, but I was hardly paying attention. The fight, and Rosalie's words afterward, were still making my head swim.
He led me into a bathroom on the first floor, slamming the lid down on the toilet and guiding me to sit down. He paused for a second and then handed me the empty trash can from beside the sink. I guess he expected me to throw up.
"That...could have gone better," he said after a second. I didn't say anything, and he turned the water on, wetting a wash cloth before turning back to me. "Are you okay?" he asked.
I nodded. "What about Mike's parents?" I asked as it finally clicked that we were upstairs and not in Mike's bathroom. I mean, I had realized we were going upstairs, but... I shook my head and the motion sent a wave of pain through me.
Edward raised an eyebrow at me and said, "They're out of town this weekend. Didn't you hear him yell at me to bring you up here to patch you up?"
I shook my head, hissing at the motion. "No."
I watched him as he crouched down in front of me, handing me the washcloth and then reaching up without warning to open my eyes wider.
I jerked back. "What are you doing?"
"I'm checking your pupils. I think you might have a concussion." He reached towards my face again, slower this time. I tried to hold still, but having people around my eyes always made me nervous. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got beat up by a blonde shark," I said dryly. I licked my lips.
Edward laughed, but quickly turned serious again. "Do you hear any ringing or anything? Do you feel like you're going to vomit? Is your vision blurry?"
I shook my head. "It was, but it's cleared up," I said. "The hearing thing started as soon as I stepping into the square."
"Hearing thing," he repeated.
"Like not hearing Mike. It was all just sort of muffled."
"Nerves," he said, nodding. "I think you're going to be fine." He took the washcloth back from me and, steadying my head with a hand on my jaw, started wiping around my mouth and chin. I winced. "Yeah, you're going to have a bruise. Where's this blood coming from?"
I shrugged. He sighed and stood up again to rinse the washcloth out.
"Rosalie said we're good," I blurted after a second.
He scoffed. "That's it, then?" He wrung out the washcloth and setting it on the side of the sink. I didn't know what exactly he was asking, so I didn't answer. "Well, your shirt's pretty much wrecked, but I think you'll be okay."
I looked down to see that blood from my mouth had made it down to my chest, leaving a dark spot on my blue tank top. He grabbed the washcloth again and handed it to me.
"You'll probably want to clean that up yourself..." he said, his eyes lingering on my chest. I didn't even have it in me to blush. I stood up, pausing for a second to make sure the world was done trying to throw me off of it, and then moved around Edward to look in the mirror.
I didn't look as bad as I expected. My face wasn't swollen, although the skin along the left side of my jaw was starting to darken, and drying blood had created a line down my neck and disappearing under my shirt. Other than that, though, I didn't look any worse for wear.
I cleaned up as Edward looked politely away. "Ever the gentleman," I teased him, already starting to feel more like myself again, now that the rush of the fight had died down. He looked at me, surprised, before quickly looking looking away again.
I rinsed the washcloth and then pulled my hair out of the ponytail, hissing as the rubber band pulled at my hair, stinging my scalp. The curls I had spent a full half-hour on earlier fell around my shoulders and I sighed in disappointment. They had all but fallen flat. Oh well. The night hadn't exactly gone as planned so far, anyway.
What had the plan been? I would put a little effort into my appearance, come to the gathering and... what? Edward would fall madly in love with me? I nearly laughed at that.
I undid the belt and pulled Mike's jeans off, straightening my skirt as Edward continued to look pointedly away.
"Okay," I said when I was finally put back together again.
Edward turned around and handed me my jacket, which I put on and zipped up far enough to hide the bloodstain. "Do you want to go back downstairs?"
I shook my head. "I think I've had enough," I said wryly. "You don't have to stay with me, though. I don't want you to miss out," I added quickly at his tense nod.
"Nah." He shrugged. "I don't want to leave you alone."
My heart jumped a little at that, but I tried to calm it. It would be best not to read too much into any one thing he said. Besides, he had said it casually; it probably didn't mean much. "I was just going to go home," I said quickly.
He shook his head and then quickly added: "I mean, you can if you want. I'm not going to stop you or anything... but do you really think it's a good idea to go home to the good Chief Swan after dark looking like you've been mugged?"
He had a point. I didn't think my face was going to look any better in the morning, but the circumstances might look less grim by the light of day. Besides, it would give me time to think of a good story to explain it; I didn't think Charlie would just let this one go like he had the scratch. I would definitely have to invest in some better makeup. Alice and Rose never looked too banged up; they could probably tell me what worked.
Plus, you know, the additional insistence that he was fully willing to miss the gathering to be with me didn't hurt either.
"Okay," I said. "So what do we do, then?"
"Well, first: you need call your dad," he said. "I don't need him tracking me down in the dead of the night trying to find you." My stomach twisted with guilt; I hadn't exactly told Charlie I was going to be with Edward. I couldn't tell if I was feeling guilty because I had essentially lied, or because that would make it seem like I was embarrassed of our friendship or relationship or whatever it was. Maybe a bit of both.
"Then, I don't know, we talk or watch a movie or something," Edward continued, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Sounds thrilling." I smiled to show him I was joking.
"Yeah? If you want thrilling, go home and try to explain that to the Chief of Police now," Edward said with a laugh, spreading his hand out and waving in my general direction. "The best I can offer you is some company while you figure it out."
X
AN: Okay, guys, here's the thing about this story, and as you read this, please, please keep an open mind, because I do not mean to be confrontational at all. I have certain things that I want to happen in this story. I have a clear and distinct direction that I'm heading in and I have a plan. So while I really do try to take into account reviewer feedback and suggestions, sometimes they are not possible at the time.
I read every single review; I appreciate every single review, but if you request, for example, more of a certain pairing or to see a certain side of them and I can't work it in, I'm not ignoring you or being arrogant or whatever, but know that I did see it and please don't get overly-insistent that I do it a specific way. The reviews that prompted this have been removed, and I don't want to really get into them, but just take my word for it, okay? Posting a review on every single chapter demanding that I write more of what you want in this story... It's impolite and a little douchey. For lack of a better description.
There will be plenty of opportunities for filler and additional content between the big points in this story, and I promise I will take what you guys want to see into consideration at those points, but understand that there is also a plan in place for this story.
Having said that, I hope that doesn't discourage any of you from reviewing and leaving comments or suggestions, as I really do love them, and love seeing all of the different opinions regarding characters. Just practice a little bit of tact. This doesn't apply to 99% of you. Most of you have been more than I could ever want as reviewers. But I don't want to become overly-stressed regarding this story because that makes it hard to write, and I don't want to have to disable anonymous reviews because I have a few regular non-registered reviewers who are very courteous and I don't want to punish them. The person who is responsible, though, you know I'm talking about you. We can avoid this whole mess in the future if we just treat each other with respect and courtesy. :)
I'm sorry to go all lecture-y and wall-of-text here, I hope you all understand.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this chapter (and the accompanying essay AN), and special thanks to everyone who took a second to drop me a line: Angelik Angel, Twilighted, deltagirl74, Nellychick, and dramamamapwnsall. You guys are made of some serious awesome sauce. See you next chapter!