Chapter 10- Discovered

Disclaimer- Edward, Bella, Alice, Jacob… blah blah blah... they all belong to SM. Seriously guys, where would we be without her? Well, not reading or writing this, that's for sure… so be thankful!

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Bella POV

Every letter I wrote to Edward I put in a shoebox that I hid at the bottom of my wardrobe, knowing that he would never read a single word, never receive a single letter. He would never, and could never, know any of the things I revealed to him from the depths of my heart. I ended up telling him everything, including the things Phil did to me and the torments I got at school. Even little things like how sad the sun made me because I knew I wasn't in Forks, how the only thing I looked forward to everyday was lunch with Jacob and, of course, how much I loved him.

Edward was the only thing I could believe in now. My friends, as Phil had pointed out, never called or emailed and I was beginning to think that they had only befriended me because of my inexplicable popularity when I had first started at Forks High. Charlie rarely called as well, claiming to be busy. I was beginning to feel even lonelier in this strange new life.

I had been in Phoenix for almost four weeks and the shoebox full of letters was close to over-flowing, but I didn't stop. I pulled into school one morning half an hour early. It was the first time since I had moved back that it had rained in Phoenix. This made me feel even more miserable than the sun did. I leant over and took a sheet of paper and a pen from the glove box and began to write.

Edward,

It's raining here in Phoenix. I know, I'm surprised too. It reminds me of Forks so much and makes me miss you even more. Mike and Jessica have stopped writing completely now and even Angela's emails don't come very often. She says that they all miss me, but I don't think it's true. I'm beginning to think that Phil is right. He told me that they don't really like me, they just wanted the popularity that came with befriending a new girl, which could be true in Jess' case, but I'm surprised that Mike would do that.

Jake's still being nice as ever, but he doesn't understand anything. He doesn't miss La Push at all. Or his Dad, come to think of it. He says he much prefers being here in the sun, but I hate it. It's too hot and moist; I'd much rather drink water than inhale it. And I'd rather be with my Dad. He's much kinder than Phil and much less ignorant than Renee. I'm sure he'd get suspicious; even I couldn't acquire this many bruises in this short amount of time. I didn't even bruise up that badly when I got hit by a van, for crying out loud!

But he still won't let me say anything, obviously. He's moved on now, sensing that his threats weren't getting to me as much anymore. He's threatened to start on my Mum now, and I can't let him do that to her. She doesn't deserve it.

And Leila's not being any nicer. Her snubs are easier to deal with than Phil's crap, but some of the things she says hurt. Sometimes, it's not physical stuff that hurts the most, you know? Bruises fade and heal, but some words will haunt you forever. Make you paranoid.

Oh, God, why is my life so messed up? It's like I'm stuck in a dark tunnel. I thought that I could see the end when I got your necklace, but now I'm sure that it was a mirage. This tunnel is never ending and I just can't keep going. I'm becoming a lifeless zombie, I know I am, but I can't stop it. It's this depression, sucking away at me. Like a dementor in that Harry Potter book. If I didn't know that you were out there somewhere, I don't think I could survi…

Suddenly someone tapped on the passenger side's window, making me jump. I leant across and opened the door, letting Jake in out of the rain.

"Hey Jake," I greeted him, sitting on the letter I had just written.

"Sheesh," he sighed, slamming the door behind him, "I thought we moved away from the rain, huh?"

"Yeah, well, we did, I guess. This is the first bit of rain we've had in four weeks," I pointed out, "They get rain practically everyday back in Forks."

"Yeah, I guess," Jacob admitted. We were silent for a minute, gazing out of the windows, but then Jake said: "Why are you here Bella?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" I looked at him to see him staring at me, concern in his dark black eyes.

"Who are you trying to kid, Bells?" he asked, "You're miserable here, anyone can see it, especially me. I see the way you're hurting but I don't know why. You're always tucked away so deep inside yourself and you never tell anyone what's wrong, although it seems I'm the only one around here who actually cares. But, believe it or not, Bella, I care for you. You're like my best friend round here and I don't want you to be upset anymore. Why don't you just move back to Forks? It's clear that that's where you want to be."

"I'm fine," I lied.

"Dammit, Bella!" he shouted, "Stop saying that! I know you're lying to me. I know you're totally not fine, Bella. I'm not asking why. If you want to tell me why, then you can, but I'm not going to force you. I'm just telling you to stop lying pointlessly. I know you're not happy here and I want you to be happy, okay?"

"Okay, so I'm not fine," I admitted, raising my voice a bit, "But that doesn't mean that you can tell me how to live my life!"

"I'm not telling you how to live your life!" Jake cried in despair, "I'm giving you advice! I can see what you want, Bella!"

"And what's that?" I asked.

"You want to go back to Forks. I'm not sure why you like it so much there, but it looks like you want to be back there."

"No, Jake, that's not what I want," I sighed, "I just want a quiet life. I just want… yeah, I do want to be back in Forks, because it's a hell of a lot better than here!" I opened my door and got out, slamming it behind me, not bothering to lock the truck. It was unnecessary anyway; who would want a rusty pile of junk like that?

Tears stung my eyes as I rushed to registration, already late. Mrs Rogers yelled at me, and I nodded, accepting my detention next week after school. I didn't care. I slipped into my seat and Leila immediately started up the snubs. I ignored that as well. Nothing mattered anymore. Jake was right; I just wanted to be back in Forks.

The rain was still tipping down at lunch and I wasn't sure that I was on speaking terms with Jacob, so I stayed in the form room to eat, burying my nose in Wuthering Heights again. I didn't want to eat in the presence of Leila and her friends, but it didn't look like I had a choice.

Unsurprisingly, Leila came over to me almost immediately and snatched my book away.

"What you reading?" she asked rudely, "Oh, Wuthering Heights. Teachers pet," she sniffed throwing the book to the other side of the room. She turned to smirk at me, "Fetch," she commanded in a sing-song voice. Her friends laughed cruelly.

I did as I was told and went to pick up the book, only to come back and find that they had taken my lunch.

"Leila," I sighed, "Can I have my lunch back?"

"What's that?" she asked curiously.

"What?" I looked down at where she was looking and froze. I had been stupidly, absent-mindedly fiddling with my necklace.

"Can I have a look?" Leila wondered reaching out her hand.

"No," I answered, tucking the necklace inside my blouse.

"Give it to me," she ordered.

"No."

"Bella, give it to me!" she cried, reaching out and grabbing it anyway. She pulled hard and the necklace snapped, hurting my neck. I flinched, but ignored the pain, jumping up to take it back from her.

"Give it back," I hissed.

"Why should I?" Leila sang smugly, playing with it, "Where did you get it anyway? There's no way you could afford something like this. Stole it, did you?"

"It was a gift," I shot back.

"What? From your Dad?" she snorted, "Nobody you know could afford something like this either. They must have stolen it." Ice shot through my veins? Had Edward stolen the necklace? Would Edward steal a necklace?

"Exactly," Leila sniffed when I didn't reply.

"Please?" I whispered, "Please, Leila, please give it back," I begged. This seemed to take her by surprise as she saw the true sadness in my face, the true pain in my expression.

"Give it back to her," a new voice instructed from behind me. I whipped round at the sound of his voice.

"Jake," I breathed.

"Give it back to her, Leila." He paid no attention to me and walked straight past me to Leila, "Unless you don't want to live to see another day."

"Jeez, I was joking," Leila muttered, throwing the necklace at me. I cupped my hands and caught it neatly.

"I was gonna give it back anyway," Leila said, embarrassed as Jake took one of my hands and led me out of the now silent classroom.

"Thanks, Jake," I whispered as soon as we were out. He shut the door behind us and took me outside. We walked through the rain to my truck where he pushed me in the front seat and got in the passenger seat beside me. His face was furious.

"What?" I asked, my voice quiet, "What is it Jacob?"

"Who's Edward?" he wondered, his voice gentle. Wow, that was unexpected.

"How do you know about him?" I asked in amazement.

"He gave you the necklace, didn't he?"

"Well, yeah, but how did you know…?" I looked down, averting his gaze, and fiddled with my now broken necklace, waiting for him to answer.

"This is sick, Bella." He shook a piece of paper at me, his voice disgusted. I recognized it as the letter I had written this morning in my truck. Oh crap. In my annoyance I had forgotten all about it and left it on the seat. But that didn't explain why he thought that it was sick.

"I was never gonna send it…" I started, but he cut me off with a shake of his head.

"No, Bella, not the actual letter. That's not sick at all. It's what's in the letter that's sick," he said, and then paused, staring at me, "Your step-dad abuses you?" he whispered.

I shrugged, not trusting myself to speak.

"Bella, you have to tell somebody," he said.

Now that made me cross, "Tell somebody? Jake, did you not read that thing? He said…"

"That he'll hurt your Mum, I know. But Bella, he can't do that. It's just a threat. If you told someone, he wouldn't have a chance to do that. And he won't really. Your Mum would tell someone, wouldn't she? And what threat does he have for her? Nothing. He's been putting ideas in your head, Bells. Of course your friends in Forks like you, they're just a bit busy. Angela still emails doesn't she?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"And the thing about the telling. Why can't you tell anyone? He's not gonna do anything, Bella. Just report him."

"Jake, I can't…" I began.

"Bella, you have to. If you haven't reported him by Monday, I will," he threatened.

I didn't say anything. I felt overwhelmed. Jake wanted to help me, but how could he? He didn't understand what it was like. He didn't understand. He just didn't.

"I understand, Bells," he whispered. Suddenly there was a strange strangled noise, like someone choking.

"Bella, it's okay. You'll be okay." Jacob put his arm round me and only then did I realise that I was sobbing uncontrollably. Okay was far from what this was.

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(Just for the record, I don't own Harry Potter either.)

OH MY CULLEN. Thank you guys so, so much. I was like "Hmm. Let's check up on my story" and I went on to find that I had 127 reviews!!!!! Guys, seriously. I am happier than an optimist on happy pills!!!! Happier than that -- XDXDXD. I never actually dreamed that I would get 15 reviews for one chapter and I got 17!!! Thank you so, so much.

Oh and that's the last of Jake for a very long while. Seriously, there'll be more Edward before there's more Jacob. TEAM EDWARD!!!

Quote: (wow this is amazing- how long am I going to be able to keep this up?!)

"I'm going to kill you so you can't breathe another word, and then your little friend will come to the same sticky end," Phil told me and I trembled with terror. Why hadn't I listened to Jake while I had the chance? Oh, please Edward, save me, I begged in my head.

Sorry it's a short quote, but the next chapters a pretty big one. Not word-wise. It's fairly short word-wise, but it's an important chapter, let's leave it at that.

Another thing is that, in the next few chapters, there will be a lot more Alice POV and maybe one Jasper POV. How do you feel about the Jasper POV? I can't really change the Alice (and I like her anyway, so I wouldn't!) but I don't have to do the Jasper, I just thought I might throw it in for you guys if you want it. I can do it in Edward's if you'd prefer that, but I've already done that (don't worry there will be more) and I want to do something fresh.

Please review guys and you can totally have a wet robward (sleepthroughthestatic ;)) or a (virtual) chocolate brownie or something. Updates come quicker when you review ;) One word is fine. Let's really push the boat out this time. Can we get 20 reviews for one chappie? Aim big. If everyone who reads chips in, it's easily done. Please? Just put "Is good." Or something. Pretty, pretty please?

We can so do it (I hope). Hint: If I get a lot of reviews, I'll definitely update tomorrow. That's a promise.

Thanks

Steph