Merry Christmas!

I watched Gone Girl last night (now there's a movie). I really liked the lady character, to be honest. She was smart, had a plan with back up plans. Got to love a girl like that, even if she's psychopathic.

Any who, the next chapter will be the last for the Twilight plot! Hooray me, meeting deadlines and all.

Onwards.

Chapter 10

Bella went to go meet the Cullens. At this point, Bella has begun to spend a lot of time around Dracula, and I didn't know how to feel about it, so... I didn't. It wasn't something that concerned me anymore, not until she wanted it to though.

I, on the other hand, was spending a lot of time by myself or with Charlie or Embry, who was becoming my best friend. I was beginning to figure out how to tease Embry too, who hated that. We spent a lot of time acting like a pair of fools. I saw Jacob and Quil a lot too. I think they were starting to become my friends too. It was fun, spending time with the three goofs, even though they were all a year younger than me.

"Hey, you okay?" Willow asked me, tucking a ginger lock behind her ear. I turned to her with a blank expression for a moment before sighing.

"Tomorrow's my birthday," I replied, moving my finger in a circle against the table. Willow frowned at me.

"I don't understand," she said. I was at Willow's to study, but the pair of us were already finished doing that. I wasn't ready to go home either. She was okay with that because we didn't hang out that often, and I was her only friend.

"I think this will be the first time Bella's forgotten about it. Charlie has been all sneaky, so I know he's got me something, but Bella..."

"She's so wrapped up in that guy that she's probably forgotten?" Willow supplied. I nodded sullenly. She smiled slightly at me. It was a sympathetic, hopeful sort of smile.

"I'm sure she hasn't forgotten," Willow told me gently, "Besides, you don't know yet. You have to wait until tomorrow to find out... which reminds me." She turned away from me, picking something up and holding it out to me.

"Happy early birthday!" she said, holding out the bag. I grinned, pulling out the paper on the top. I pulled out the case with a wide smile.

"Star Trek Season 3?" I said with a gasp. I hugged Willow quickly, "I can't believe you remembered that." I smiled at the box happily. I kissed it quickly. I couldn't wait to go and watch it. I had already seen it before, but this version was probably of beautiful quality. I wouldn't have to worry about commercials either.

"I do listen to you, you know," she responded with a small laugh, "I'm glad that it cheered you up." I smiled at Willow again. I glanced at the analog clock on her wall before looking at her with a grin.

"We have time to watch the first episode." Willow smiled back at me, and we wandered out into the living room to pop the disc into the DVD player.

XXX

"Are you staying for dinner, Maddie?" Willow's mom asked me. I nodded slightly, continuing to gaze mindlessly at the TV. Willow's mom chuckled. Willow and I were curled under a blanket, too far deep into the binge watching state. It was a pair of nerds in their natural habitat, a rare sight for the working mother. Willow didn't have a dad. He walked out on them several years ago, and Willow didn't like to talk about it much. Willow's brother, Matthew, was sitting in the armchair, happy to watch Star Trek with us, even though he had refused to ever do so before.

Some how, I ended up eating dinner with Willow's family, and Willow's mother kindly drove me home afterwards. I thanked her profusely for it, and she just smiled at me. I hurried inside, and Bella wasn't home yet. I excitedly told Charlie about the gift I got from Willow. He smiled slightly, but I was pretty sure he wasn't interested at all in Star Trek... it was disappointing.

I wandered up to my room to put my stuff away when Bella came tearing into the house with an explosion. She was already slamming doors and shouting in a pained, upset voice. I hurried out my room.

"Bella? What's wrong?" I asked, worriedly.

"Edward and I broke up," she said tersely before shutting herself in the bathroom. It took me a minute to realise that Bella planned on leaving. I faltered for a moment, watching as Charlie tried to reason with her.

"Just let me go, Charlie. It didn't work out, okay? I really hate Forks!" she shouted, dashing out of the door. Charlie was frozen solid, but it was like I was suddenly pulled out of my stupor.

"What the hell? WHAT THE HELL!" I screamed from the porch, thrusting my arms into the air. Bella stopped to stare at me, unmoving. Tears were starting to fall down my cheeks.

"It's my birthday tomorrow! Who does that because of some guy?" I hissed, my hands balling into fists, "You just get to run out whenever the going gets hard? And you're going to just abandon me while you're at it? What the fuck, Bella! Seriously, what the fuck." I then turned on my heel and stormed back into the house, sure she would follow me back in, but she didn't.

No, Bella didn't care if it was my birthday tomorrow or not. She was just going to run with her tail between her legs because she gotten her heart broken by the creature of the night, and I was the one who had to pay for it. Charlie was silent on the couch as I sobbed into my fists quietly. Eventually he started patting me on the back, and it really was comforting. I just wasn't used to this. My sister had always put me first except for in the summer... and she always hugged me and talked about how much she missed me afterwards. Ever since we had moved to Forks everything started changing, and it was scary and even lonely sometimes. The thing was, I never decided to give up and run away. I still wasn't going to. Instead, I would stay in Forks, be a good daughter, and plot my revenge on Bella for not only skipping out on my birthday but also for running away and hurting everyone's feelings for no good reason.

I knew her boyfriend had been bad news.

I knew it.

I swear I did... I just should've done something sooner, anything. Bella was definitely getting the worst sister of the year award.

I left the couch eventually, quietly trudging up the stairs to my room. I emailed Willow quickly about the whole ordeal, going on and on about how terrible Bella was until I finally calmed down enough to lay down and go to sleep, which took awhile. I stared into the darkness for an immeasurable amount of time, just wanting to cry some more, but I didn't.

XXX

The house is quiet without Bella there, even more noticeably so, at least. Also the both of us didn't talk much to begin with. I guess I was more similar to Charlie than I had realized. I smiled slightly at Charlie that morning before heading out to walk to school.

There was something comforting about being able to walk down the street in the cool morning air with no one around to bother you. It was peaceful, and it was the first chance I had gotten to really think about what had happened that night. I hadn't seen the Cullens since, and I wondered about that...

At the same time, I didn't want to think about Bella. She'd left, and obviously didn't give a rat's ass about me. She had made that as clear as glass. My apple pie relationship with Bella was ruined. If she came back, she'd have to battle to earn my trust back. I still loved her though and cared so goddamned much. Sometimes I cried when I thought about her, but I refused to try and call.

Charlie had bought me a little necklace for my birthday. It was surprisingly sweet in a way, especially because it was such a simple peace, which was the sort of jewelry I tended to like. From this, I found that Charlie was far more observant than I gave him credit for.

I was developing an appreciation for Charlie. It felt nice to have someone I could call Dad, and it was very different from staying with Mom. I could see why Bella loved her summers. Sometimes I wondered if it was partially my fault for following her here... Very arrogant, of me.

I didn't want to think of Bella. I was still angry, and it frustrated me to think about her. I reached up to grab the pendant on my necklace, a habit in the making, but Bella was always lurking in my mind, always there. I couldn't stop worrying about her.

Hope there's someone reading this... way out there.

~Minatu