I drove straight home after cheerleading practice. I noticed that Bella was standing outside of my house.
"Come and walk with me." Bella instructed.
I followed her deep into the forest.
"I'm sorry that I failed you." Bella said. "I should have seen it coming."
"It was nothing." I replied.
"It wasn't nothing. He could have killed you. I could have killed you." Bella responded. "I've failed you two times too many and both times you've gotten hurt because of it."
"I'm fine." I tried to tell her.
"I've realized you will be better off without me." Bella stated. "I won't look into your future and you can live a normal life."
"I don't want a normal life!" I shouted. "I want to be with you. If you're so afraid of me getting hurt, then make me one of you."
'I can't do that. You don't know what you're getting yourself into." She responded. She walked closer and kissed my head. "This is the last time you'll ever see me."
And with that she was gone. I began to try to chase after her but I knew that I couldn't possibly keep up with her because she was much faster than me. I eventually just gave up and collapsed, I think I might have sprained my ankle. I decided that I would let whatever was after those hikers just come and get me.
"Alice!" I voice called my name. It took me a second to register that it was Jessica. I didn't say anything but I think she saw me anyway.
"Alice, what the hell are you doing out here?" Jessica asked.
"Bella broke up with me." I remarked, full of sorrow. "How did you find me?"
"Charlie said that you went this way." She stated. "Come on let's get you home. Can you walk okay?"
"I don't know." I replied, feeling the pain in my Achilles tendon.
What she did next was kind of unexpected. She managed to pick me up and starting to walk.
"How are you carrying me?" I asked in surprise.
"I work out." She explained "And you're not that heavy either."
She ended up carrying me all of the way home. When I got there Charlie, Jacob, Billy, and Charlie's friend Harry Clearwater were outside of the house.
"Charlie!" Jacob said to get my father's attention.
Jessica walked me over and deposited me into Charlie's arms. I kind of felt like I like I was a package being transferred between two mailmen.
"Where have you been?" He asked in concern.
"I'm sorry…I got lost." I replied.
He turned to Jessica. "Thanks for finding her." He said to the brunette who was surprisingly stronger than she looked. I still don't know how she did that.
"It was no problem." Jessica stated. "Alice and I are friends. I'm sure she would have done the same for me. She probably wouldn't have been able to pick me up but you get the picture."
I considered what she had said and I honestly don't know if I would have gone looking for but I probably had to consider it now. I was lucky to have a friend like Jessica.
I had found out from Harry that the Cullens had left town. Bella was really gone. All of them were gone.
"I think I wanna go to bed." I stated.
"Do you think you can walk?" Charlie asked.
"My ankle kind of hurts." I replied as I he set me down. I took a few steps before I felt the pain. "Nope."
He carried me up to bed. I didn't even want to bother changing.
"What did you do?" He asked.
"I don't know." I replied.
"Well I'm not doctor but sounds like a sprain." Charlie diagnosed. "It'll probably be better by tomorrow. If it's not, then I guess you could miss some school."
I nodded before he left me alone. I tried hard to fall asleep and ended up tossing and turning for about an hour for I was able to do it. I hadn't slept without Bella in a long time and when I first think of that, it sounds kind of dirty even though I haven't had sex with Bella.
I wanted nothing more than her to hold me…to wake up in the morning and find out this was just a dream and it would be my birthday when I woke. That I wasn't attacked by Jasper and that Bella didn't leave me. I really hoped that I would wake up and everything would be back to normal.
When I woke up in the morning, I got of bed and landed my ankle. I slowly walked to the kitchen and decided that I shouldn't go to school. Walking on it might only make it worse. I don't know if I could go there anyway. I ate a bowl of cereal and slowly walked out into the living room. I didn't want to do things that involved standing. One of those involved showering. Climbing the stairs wasn't exactly easy but it was easier than when my leg was broken. I honestly think that when people make houses, they think people will never get injured. No wait the house was probably made by Mexicans who don't speak English and don't care if the house last because it's just a paycheck to them. Though, they may have not been the case because Forks didn't seem to be hit by the immigration boom. I have yet to see a Mexican since I moved here. There were several of them in Arizona. Some of my friends were Mexican even.
After going off on that tangent, I made it to the bathroom and began filling the tub, opting to take a bath. It was probably my best option at the time. After my bath, I decided to take a short nap. It was about noon when I woke up. My clock told me that it was in fact Wednesday which meant that yesterday was Tuesday and Bella really had left me.
I decided to skip lunch and watch TV. All that was on the big channels was soap operas and talk shows with people that I really didn't like. I decided to turn to the cable channels and eventually settled on Disney which was currently showing Hannah Montana. I hadn't noticed but Miley Cyrus was really getting hot and I am still close enough to her age that I can say. I suppose it would be better to have a celebrity crush on her than Blake Lively who was several years older than me.
I watched several episodes of the show and found it to actually be kind of enjoyable. Around the time that school was over, my phone started to ring. I kind hoped it would be Bella but it was Jessica.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Are you coming to practice by any chance?" She asked.
"My ankle still hurts.' I replied
"Okay so I hope it gets better soon." She said. "So how are dealing with the whole Bella leaving thing?"
That was when it hit me. Everything began to play back and everything that happened was suddenly real. The tears began to flow.
"Alice, are you there?" Jessica said after I didn't answer.
"I need to go." I responded as I hung up the phone. I started crying and I couldn't stop crying. Bella was gone. She was really gone and not coming back. I really wished that I knew where she was because then I could go there and we could be happy again. I could run away and she could turn me into a vampire. I would leave everything behind just to be with her again. All I wanted was Bella to hold me in her arms and tell me that she loved me.
Charlie came home around 5:00 and found that I was crying some more. It was like it was going in cycles. I would stop for a little while but then it would start back up again. I think he realized that I wouldn't be able to cook for him because he ended up ordering pizza. I didn't blame him. If I tried to cook, I might end up burning the house down because I don't think that I could focus on the food or I might end up accidentally cutting my finger off. That was what caused all of this to happen: a simple cut. I never knew that such a minor injury could cause so much. Unfortunately for me the wound had an infection even though it had healed. The infection was them leaving me and I don't know if there was a cure for it.
I missed both Thursday and Friday blaming my ankle as well even though it was starting to heal. I just didn't want to be there. It was the place where I first met Bella and naturally it made me think of Bella. I was hard to find a place that didn't make me think of Bella. Even my own bed made me think of her. I don't think that I could get Charlie to replace it because he didn't know that Bella was there pretty much every night.
The next few weeks weren't much better. I really didn't care about my homework. I usually sat alone at lunch at the Cullens' table even though Jessica practically begged me to come sit with my old friends. The only time that anybody noticed a smile on my face was when I was cheerleading but I had to fake that. Jessica had told me that after missing the first game with injury and the second because "I did feel like I had enough cheer", that I would be kicked off if I missed another one. I understood her point of view that she was trying to think of the best interests of the squad. One thing that I decided was that I wasn't going to cut my hair until Bella came back so it was starting to grow longer.
On Saturday, I was home alone on the couch, watching bad movies. Charlie was doing police stuff. There was knock on the door. I knew it wasn't Charlie because he wouldn't knock.
"No one's home." I replied. Oh real smart move Alice. Now they know that I'm here. I heard the door open and noticed Jessica walk in.
"God Alice, look at you." She commented looking at the mess and the mess that I was.
"I'm fine." I replied.
"You're not fine but you can't keep letting her control your life." She responded. "Get up!"
"Why?" I asked, still laying face down on the couch.
"Because we are going to La Push." She said as she pulled me to my feet. "And we're going to have fun."
So it looks like Alice has someone who will not let her be depressed. I can't help but wonder if people are starting to figure out what Jessica's role in the story is going to be. Don't forget to review.