*Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
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I find the log of texts I've shared with Edward and add another message. Can I talk to you?
He doesn't answer right away. I bite off a large chunk of my bagel and eat with hurried chews as I fill the gap in time. If he doesn't respond, I don't know what I'll do, but I won't sit here and pout. I'll have to come up with a plan. Going out the door Emmett left through would be a good first step.
My phone buzzes. I flip it over, reading it before the vibration stops.
Band room?
My fingers fly over the letters, telling him I'm on my way. I shove the rest of my bagel in my mouth and gather my things. "Bathroom," I say to Rosalie and Alice, but with my mouth full, it's hard to distinguish if what I've said is bathroom or band room, so it's almost, maybe, as if I haven't just lied to them.
Rosalie gives me a funny look, but it's brief. Alice has Jasper in her sights, so she only acknowledges me with a nod because crushes make people oblivious. Edward has made me oblivious to everything else more than once, so I leave her to her obsession to go meet mine.
There's no straight path out of the cafeteria, but I make it through the maze by sidestepping chairs as their occupants push back away from the tables. I step over backpacks but pause before stepping over Eric Yorkie who is sprawled out on the floor, apparently sleeping. I look up to the group of his friends sitting around the table beside him, all looking half asleep.
When my eyes land on Tyler, who I've heard has recently ended things with Lauren…again, he laughs. "Just step on him, Bella. He deserves it for staying up past his bedtime."
Eric snorts but doesn't open his eyes. "You're such a sore loser, Ty."
"I am not." Tyler throws a piece of bread, but it misses. Eric's eyes are closed, so he didn't even know it happened. "Rematch, tonight."
"Sorry, Bella," Eric says, as he lifts his head off the floor, so I can squeeze by without stepping on or over him.
I laugh as I pass but leave before I hear anymore. Boys can be so odd sometimes.
I have to stop at a water fountain on the way to the band room, so I can actually speak once I see Edward. Filling my mouth with bread wasn't a good idea.
I've never been in the band room, but I know where it is. There's a line of students outside of the door every morning with instruments in hand, waiting to be let in.
Standing outside the door, I can't see in. There's a piece of paper blocking the narrow window. I open the door anyway because I don't want to wait.
He's the only one in the room, but even if he weren't, I know he'd be the only one I'd see. He's sitting on the teacher's desk in the corner with a lunch tray right beside him. His hoody is off and by his side. This is a good sign. He wears that thing when he's hiding. He's standing and walking toward me the moment the door closes behind me.
"I'm sorry," we both say at the same time.
"Wait." He takes both my hands. "Why are you sorry?" he asks and presses a kiss to my forehead.
"Because I went with that Heidi girl after she tried to play that game on you?" I ask, as the theory falls apart at the sound of his confusion. "I should have told her to go away, yelled at her or something, and stayed with you."
He gives me a slight smile, and I want to kiss him, but that's not new. I'd kiss him all the time if I could, but I really like talking to him too.
"It's okay. You're not as mean as I can be. I get it," he says, "but I shouldn't have brought all that on you." He lets go of my hands and places his on the back of my neck. His fingers are massaging as if I'm the one needing comfort when I still feel like I should be reassuring him.
"That's about them, not you. I can handle it. Heidi should leave you alone now, though. I talked to her in class."
He smiles some. "Or she'll answer to you?"
I bite my lip. "Yeah." I fill him in on what she wanted when she pulled me away and what we talked about in class.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Emmett gets messed with constantly because of me, and I don't want that happening to you because they saw me talk to you for like thirty seconds. I don't know that girl, but just be careful, okay?"
I nod because it seems important to him even though these girls can't hurt me. I see the way they bother Emmett, though, so I understand his worry.
"We have to go before the next class comes," he says, but his nose is sliding along my cheekbone.
"Okay," I say, but I don't move to leave. I tilt my head and capture his lips with mine.
"You should probably go first," he says and kisses me one more time.
It doesn't feel necessary, but when he pulls at his hair and squeezes his eyes closed, I know he's been dealing with this a lot longer than me. I only know about the things I've heard and seen. Reluctantly, I leave him to his hiding.
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I should be working on my math assignment, taking full advantage of the time given in class, but instead, I can't stop thinking about what it was like with Edward this morning before we were interrupted. I'm trying to keep from smiling when a thought occurs to me. I text Edward, risking getting my phone taken away by the teacher. He's fairly known for doing that. Did you do something to my locker?
I don't expect him to answer since we're in class, but why else would he ask for my combination? He either had something in mind or he just wanted to snoop through my things. I don't know what class he's in, but he replies. What would I do to it?
My mouth opens in a teeth-baring smile. I don't know, but I'm going to check.
I manage not to laugh out loud when I read his reply. You can try, but I changed the combination.
I make sure the teacher is still preoccupied before answering back. Yeah, sure. Now I know you did something.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
I hold my fist over my mouth, coughing into it to cover up the laugh that I can't keep in anymore. He so did something.
As soon as class is over, I head straight to my locker, not caring that I'll have to run to make it to gym. Once I get it open, there's nothing new inside, but before I close it, I see what he's done. The picture of Alice, Rose, and me that had been on the inside of my locker door isn't there anymore.
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I get home from school and run up to my bedroom and grab Edward's water bottle off of my nightstand. I held onto it for long enough. I can call or text him whenever I want. It's silly to keep his water bottle. It makes a glugging sound as it empties into the drain. I liked having it, but I don't need it.
Once the piece of plastic I was crazy enough to covet is in the recycle bin, I go back up to my room to pack a bag to take to Rosalie's. As I'm shoving things inside my bag, I hear a car in the drive. I push aside my curtains and look outside. It's my dad, and it's a few hours earlier than he usually arrives.
When the front door opens, I step out to the top of the stairs, and say, "Hey, Dad. I wasn't expecting you."
"Yeah, sorry," he says as he throws his wallet and keys near the doorway. "You okay with me here, or were you going to pepper spray me?"
"I'll allow it this one time." I go back to my room, grab my backpack that's now holding my clothes instead of my school books, and zip it up before heading downstairs. It's a good thing he's here before I head out because I need to talk to him.
He's rifling through the fridge when I enter the kitchen.
"I'm going to leave in a minute, but can I talk to you?" I ask.
His fingers are poised to open a pop can, but they don't finish the motion. "Shoot."
I lift my backpack onto the counter, letting it hold its weight off my shoulders. "I don't think Jake wants me to say anything, so please don't tell him that I did, but Billy had a rough night last night. I just thought maybe you should know, so you could make sure he's okay and that Jake's okay too." I have to take a few deep breaths to make up for the ones I missed trying to get all that out.
My dad nods and opens the can. The crack of the aluminum echoes through the room. "I'll look into it. I haven't been out there as much lately, maybe it's time I changed that."
"Yeah, maybe," I say. My backpack slides off the counter when I move.
He lifts the can in my direction with an expression on his face that asks if I'd like one. I shake my head.
He takes a drink and asks, "You're talking to Jake, then? Any chance you'll come out to La Push this evening? Looks like it's going to be a nice night. We might even lose some of this cloud cover and catch a better view of the stars."
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Once Jake and I had made it to the beach, I had taken my shoes off and sat right down directly in the sand before filling my mouth with greasy, crunchy fries that tasted like tiny pieces of heaven. "I could live here," I said as a seagull landed nearby and eyed my plate. I eyed the bird right back before Jake scared it away.
"If you want to live here, I'll make you a house," Jacob said and proceeded to find a stick and draw a box around me. "Can I come in?"
"No," I said, playing along even though it felt silly. I pointed to a space outside of my drawn house and said, "You can live next door though, if you want to."
We both laughed, but he did as I asked, drawing his own box and staying out of mine. If houses drawn in the sand kept people out of my personal space, I was all for them.
I ate more than my fill, and reluctantly, let him finish what was left on my plate. When the food was gone, we wandered down the beach and looked for items to decorate our houses. I felt like a little kid, carefree and full of imagination until the sunset drew our attention to its beauty and the fact that it was time to head back.
"We're not really supposed to take the shells, but I won't tell if you won't," Jake said as he filled his pockets.
I grabbed our trash from dinner and brushed sand off my pants. "Is that why you have enemies? You're a seashell stealer?"
"No, but that'd be a better reason." Jake's happy, light-hearted mood darkened some. "They're overreacting. Not that we were ever really friends anyway, but that group is friends with my sister's ex, Paul, and they think I sabotaged the relationship."
"So, they think you did something you didn't do?" I asked. It was hard to believe anyone would dislike him to the extent of calling him an enemy, let alone a group. I didn't like most people, but Jake was growing on me.
He laughed a little and picked up both of our shoes. "I wouldn't say I sabotaged them, but I wasn't on his side, either. It is what it is. Both my sisters got into schools in California. They got far away from here. Paul can get over it, or he and his friends can go on hating me forever. Either way, it's worth it."
I knew I wasn't getting the whole story. For enemy lines to be drawn, there had to have been more, but I didn't know what it was like to have siblings and to want what was best for them. He may have been good at hiding it, but as I tilted my head, I was already seeing him from a different angle. Under all that happy, I could see the effects of a troubled life were there after all.
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My dad looks eager for me to join him in La Push, and I don't want to crush his hopes, but plans or not, I can't go. "Tempting, but no," I say. "I'm not talking to Jake. Sorry. I'm staying over at Rosalie's."
He gives me a dramatic sigh and grabs a few things from the fridge. "Well, do you have to leave now or can you visit with me for a minute?"
I look at the time and calculate how much I have left in order to get to Rosalie's early. "I can stay a few minutes," I say as I let my backpack fall to the floor.
"You'd rather spend your evening with the Hales then with me in La Push? What do they have over there that's having you choose them?" Charlie asks as he mixes what he calls his famous ranch dip.
"Flowers, and you know, people that actually like me." When he stops stirring and looks at me like he's going to object to what I've said, I snag the spoon and steal a taste. I don't want to talk about the people that like me out there. "It wasn't a choice. You knew I had plans with my friends." I lick the spoon again. "Can you make us a batch of this? I forgot how good it is."
Charlie put a lid over the dip. "Because I only make it when I go to La Push. Remember the ocean, kid? I thought you wanted to be a mermaid. Some beach bum you turned out to be."
I scrunch my nose and stick my tongue out at him.
"Gah, Bella. Gross."
"Sorry," I say, covering my mouth and laughing as I realize there's still ranch dip on my tongue.
He pulls out his wallet and throws a twenty on the counter beside me. "Treat your friends to a pizza or whatever you kids eat nowadays."
I take the money without protesting. I still have money, but soon I'll have to get a job or start accepting more of my dad's money. Today, I'll take the money, but I need to start looking into who might be hiring.
"Thanks. Drive safely," I say as I sling my backpack over my shoulder.
"You too. Have fun."
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Pulling up to Rosalie's house, I don't know where to park. There are no cars in the driveway, but I don't want to block her mom in or block her dad out.
"Whatever, Bella. Just park." I stop as far to the side of the white, two-car garage as I can get. Aside from the white garage and trim, the house is painted canary yellow. It's probably the brightest house in Forks and the lawn's the most pristine, thanks to her mother's compulsive gardening habit. Before I met Rosalie, I didn't know such a personality trait existed.
Mrs. Hale waves to me from her flower bushes. I've met Rosalie's mom a few times and every time she's worn gardening gloves and a wide-brimmed hat just as she's wearing now.
I wave back as I walk up the planter-lined porch steps. I don't have to knock. Rosalie opens the door, pulls me into her house, and closes the door behind me. I can hear her parrot squawking in the kitchen, as if she can sense something is going on.
In a hurried rush of words and a look of panic, Rose asks, "Bella, do you like Emmett because it really seems like you do?"
"Do I like Emmett?" I ask, repeating Rosalie's question as she stares at me like if my answer is detrimental.
"Do you?" she asks with her eyebrows scrunched together, as she waits for an answer that I'm not giving only because this question is so bizarre.
"No." I take my backpack off and set it beside the door. "I told you I like Cullen. I thought you believed me."
"I did." Her face relaxes. "I do, but at lunch, you were staring at Emmett and then you ran off. That's not all. You left the skate park with him the other night and then today you were like, Emmett, let me feel your wrist, so I can make you a bracelet." She flutters her lashes.
"Rose, that is not what happened," I say, starting to feel defensive. He asked for a bracelet, and I measured his wrist. No way did I flirt with him.
"I know. I know." She throws her hands in the air and starts pacing the room. "This was not supposed to happen. Emmett McCarty. I mean really? What the hell is going on with me?"
"So, you do like him?" I ask to which her head falls forward, and she scrubs her face with her hands. I'll take that as a yes, even though she doesn't voice it. "What about Alec?"
My question is met with a wince from Rosalie. "We've been on a break for a while, but I'm pretty sure that taking a break is code for breaking up, and I'm the only one in the world that wasn't aware of that."
"I'm sorry," I say, feeling really out of the loop, but lately, every time we talk about Emmett, Rose has been adamant that she has a boyfriend. "Does Alice know?"
Rose gnaws at her lip. "She knows we were taking some space to figure out our routines without trying to see each other all the time. She doesn't know that the space agreement included the freedom to see other people."
Things start to add up. Alec hasn't come back home since he left, and all those trips to visit him in Seattle that Rose had planned haven't happened yet. The way she talks and the way she conducts herself has been as someone in a committed relationship that was a bit flattered and a bit embarrassed by Emmett McCarty's admiration.
"Did you want to see other people?" I ask, following her to the beige couch in her living room where we both pick up a floral-patterned pillow and sit down. There are too many pillows to sit without moving them.
She hugs the pillow to her chest. "Not at first. I just thought it made sense to give him that freedom because if I didn't, then whatever he did would be cheating, and I just didn't want to get cheated on. Which is just really sad now that I'm saying it out loud, but I didn't want to see anyone else. I mean… who would I see? What was the point if Alec and I were just going to get back together? I've never had a casual relationship. I've never even dated anyone else. Alec's the only guy I've ever kissed. Was it like that with you and Jake?"
Now I'm clinging to the pillow in my lap. "No, well he was my only relationship, but I dated some in Phoenix and there was kissing, but it all feels pointless now—with Jake and guys in Phoenix. Not that kissing is pointless. Just kissing them was pointless." I stop myself from rambling on further. I've had a lot of kisses recently that have been far from pointless. "Anyway, are you going to tell Alice about Alec?"
"Should I?" she asks as she picks at the seam of the pillow. "I think I was in denial that it was over, but now I think she might go crazy trying to set me up with someone. I've seen the way she's been talking to guys for you since your breakup."
I grimace. Alice may be giving me a break from trying to set me up, but I'm hoping we can stretch that into a permanent hiatus.
As I watch Rose's manicured fingers move against the different colored roses, I say, "She's trying to get you with Emmett anyway, so …"
Rosalie laughs, letting the pillow fall to her lap. "Imagine if she knew I really do like him."
I shrug. "I don't know how that would go, but she knows I like Cullen, and she wasn't so bad today when we talked to him."
"Are you kidding? She was awful. Bella, look who's here." She pushes her hair off her ears and says, "See my earrings. Bella made them." Rosalie chuckles. "Sorry, Bella. Cullen knows you like him."
I laugh at her portrayal of Alice. "It's fine, but you know, Alice has trusted us with her Jasper obsession. So I think maybe we should do the same with her."
"You're right," she says, and I realize that, yeah, I am. Rosalie is here trusting me, and I'm over here having only given them enough information, so they know I have a crush on somebody.
Her parrot goes on a tangent of noises that has her standing up. "I need to feed her. You can put your bag in my room if you want."
"Yeah, sure." I'm careful to set the pillow back on the couch in the exact position it was in before I head to Rosalie's room.
The hallway is filled with crackled-gold framed photos. Rosalie is present in all of them, some with her parents, a few with her parrot, and many in various gardens over the years.
Her bedroom has a white four-poster bed pushed up against the wall. Her bedspread is a light lilac and laid in a way I could never dream of getting my bed to be so wrinkle free. The decorative pillows outnumber the ones on the couch, all presenting various shades of purple violets and irises.
A copy of the photo that Edward stole from my locker is displayed on her dresser in a frame that's covered in glitter and probably hand-embellished by Alice. There's not a photo of Alec in sight, plus there's the matter of her missing necklace. I should have realized things with Alec were over sooner.
As I look at the picture of Rose, Alice, and me, I wonder how many times Edward has looked at it since he stole my copy. I can kind of get where Rosalie's confusion about me liking Emmett came from, but as I think about Edward, it's a funny thought that anyone could think I was interested in anyone else.
My head turns toward the open bedroom door when the doorbell rings. Now that Alice is here, this evening just might get even more interesting.
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Author's note:
Sorry for the later update. I feel like I've been trying to give it another read-through and get it posted all day. Kids, I have three, and having a toddler and a teenager at the same time can be pretty interesting. Thanks so much for reading. I'm thinking no chapter next week, so I can sort out all the editing of the next couple chapters again, but fingers crossed for the following week.
As always, I can't thank those helping me on this story enough. Sri ffn and YourVixen preread and dazzled eyes22 betas. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I know many are anxious for a public relationship, and I'm not really about the long explanations, but I want to say that while the contest was months ago, and then I took a few months to write and ready chapters for posting and have now been posting for several weeks, the timeline of this story so far has only been one week. That being said, I'm super anxious for them to get on with a public relationship as well, and I appreciate every single one of you that has stuck with me thus far. Thank you!