Today has been a roller-coaster. My emotions have been going haywire, not that I blame them. I felt like a hormonal teenager on her first period; God, how I hated those days. The mood swings killed me.
After a good lunch, Evie and I went to gym class while Noah followed David to his next class. I was actually kind of excited about going to gym. There, I could let a little loose. Not too much of course; I couldn't expose myself to the humans but I should could have fun and run around. Sure, the running would feel like walking to me, and I might get a little frustrated by having to hold back but at least I could do something.
My positive feelings took a sharp turn when I saw that Emmett and Rosalie were in my gym class. I hadn't realized they combined grade classes now but I should have known with my serendipity. Ever since I came back here, I have been abandoned by all things lucky.
Once again; damn it.
Like I said earlier, I was in no way mad at Rosalie. Hell, she's the one person I expected to ditch me. We since the wedding, we were on mutual ground but in no way did we have the same sort of relationship that I had with Alice. How could I hold hard feelings against her? I just couldn't because we weren't close. Alice, on the other hand…
I shook my head, stopping that thought in its process. I was not letting her back into my mind. No fucking way. I had enough of that right after I turned; I would tearlessly weep from the abandonment of my sister. It was almost as bad as the douchebag.
The others... they were different. I was more hurt than angry. I understood with Esme; she had a family to take care of. A whole group came before none, no matter how much it upset her. Carlisle was similar. He had a lot of trust, being with him the longest. He also always respected my feelings. If he convinced Carlisle, he would do what was best. Emmett was that protective big brother that I always wanted. He even threatened him a few times; just gentle warnings of what would come if he ever hurt me. Did he honestly not know the truth?
And Jasper...well, I don't know. We weren't too close, thanks to my ex's watchful eye. He was scared that Jasper would try to kill me again… or at least scared he would give them away and expose their kind. God forbid they kill the chief's daughter, right? They'd have the FBI on their asses, that's for damn sure.
I wonder what my father would say about me now. He's long gone, up there in the heavens with my erratic mother, her husband, grandma, and Billy. I hope he would be proud of me and the choices I've made. Maybe so much of the drinking from humans but my job requires that; can't be weak when you're out killing leeches, as Jacob would say. Maybe Charlie would give me credit for not killing anyone now. With the kids keeping a watchful eye over me, and my unexpected control in the beginning, I managed to keep my kills to a record low on the guard.
"Bella?"
The sultry and sophisticated voice tore me from my thoughts as I changed in the locker room. Both Evie and I paused in mid-dressing to look up, only to see Rosalie standing there in her golden glory. She was still gorgeous, even in the cotton shorts, worn t-shirt, and hair pulled back. She was definitely a heartbreaker.
"Rosalie," I murmured. She was still in shock, her pretty eyes wide and concerned. Her next actions scared the hell out of me; it contained the same level as shock as if I had cut myself and bled after a century.
She flew up against my and her arms wound around my neck, keeping me frozen in her arms. I couldn't believe that Rosalie Hale, the girl who hated my guts when I first came to Forks and wanted nothing to do with me, was hugging me. Hugging me!
When the fuck did hell freeze over and melt?
"You're alive… how?! How are you alive?" she demanded to know. She pulled back slightly but still kept me trapped in her arms. Her eyes had taken an alarmed state as she took in my features.
"Excuse me," Evie growled beside me. "I'd appreciate if you take your hands off my sister."
I shot a glance over to Evie, hopefully one that told her to calm down, and she huffed. I looked back at Rosalie but her eyes were no longer on me. They were on Evie and a spark of recognition lit up in specks. She looked between us quickly, reminding me of a cartoon character, and I could slowly see the puzzle pieces being put together. Shit, I cursed silently.
"How?" She repeated, only this time in a whisper.
"Rosalie, please," I started but she cut me off.
"We need to talk. Sometime, somehow, we're going to talk. As soon as possible, too. I want answers." Her tone went back to demanding, which set my daughter off again.
"You don't deserve answers," Evie hissed quietly so the humans didn't hear. "Your whole family deserves nothing. You should back the hell off."
Rosalie held up her hands in surrender, another action I didn't think the blond was capable. She stepped back but didn't move away from our changing area. That was fine with me. I gently touched Evie's forearm and shook my head. She stared at me, silently asking why, but again I just shook my head.
"Later, after we get settled in. Only us though; no one else. You and I both want answers," I answered. Rosalie stood tall again and nodded.
"I just want to say two things first," she murmured. I nodded for her to continue. "First, I believe what you told Jasper; I know you didn't choose to leave him. Second, Emmett has missed you too much. Please don't be so hard on him. It tore him apart to know what you thought all of these years."
"He still believed him," I retorted. Rosalie shook his head.
"You know Emmett; he's just like the others. They all couldn't believe it. We thought Edward honestly loved you."
A sharp pain lodged itself into my chest as I nodded. "Later," I muttered.
Roller-coaster, roller-coaster, roller-coaster…
"Walk with me? Both of you?" She questioned. Evie looked hesitant but she followed me and Rosalie. "By the way, I have a feeling the coach is going to pick one of you as captain; we're playing basketball. If you must, get your frustration out on the court with Emmett. It might help you guys straighten things out."
I thought about her words. Rosalie honestly was trying to fix things. While Emmett and Jasper had just tried talking to me to tell their side, she was offering solutions. An aggressive game between me and grizzly bear didn't sound so bad. It would allow both of us to take out our hurt and frustration on each other in a non-damaging way.
"That is, if he's on the other team," I said in return. She shook her head and smiled down at me. I was sort of shocked by her appearance; I had forgotten how tall she was.
"I'll take care of that," she murmured. Before we left the locker room, I pulled her to the side and waited for the human girls to leave.
"Rosalie, why are you doing this?" I questioned.
"Bella, you two were buddies when you were human. He misses that and I bet if you sorted some things out, you would realize you missed him too. I'm not asking you to reconcile with the whole coven, just Emmett. He's my husband and I saw how much it hurt him to see you again. Just please try," she explained. I heard Evie huff behind me, probably because she knew my answer.
"No promises but I'll try. It hurt me just as much as him," I answered. Rosalie's face lit up and she hugged me again. It would take a millennium to get used to that.
"Thank you!" she whispered as another group went past. She took us out and led us over to the two men, presumably teachers. The one was young and couldn't help but look over us with wandering eyes. I swallowed the venom that pooled in my mouth.
"Perv," I whispered, earning a slight chuckle from both Evie and Rosalie.
Rosalie introduced my daughter and me, and then explained her idea. She mentioned how she knew us from her old school and told them about some healthy 'rivalry' between Emmett and me. He agreed to make Emmett and I captains of the teams and split the whole class into two teams. It was fairly even; Rosalie and Emmett on one side with my daughter and I on the other. The humans didn't matter; they would hardly be involved in a game with vampires.
"Bells," Emmett said in greeting with a nod of his head. I nodded back and then looked at my team. They said they'd follow my lead, which was perfectly fine.
With the direction of the two coaches, we were positioned; Emmett and I toe to toe. The teacher looked concerned when he noticed the foot difference in height. If this game was away from humans, that wouldn't be a difference but from a human standpoint, it was hardly fair to put a tiny girl up against a six-foot-five man.
"Ladies first," Emmett muttered. The coach shrugged and tossed me the ball. I caught it with my gaze still connected to Emmett's and dribbled the ball a bit, making sure it was okay.
"Don't hold back, Cullen," I hissed.
"Not in my nature, Swan," he returned in the same temperament. So my blowing him off earlier pissed him off. Good.
I froze for a slight second when he called me by my real last name. I snapped out of it when the whistle blew and started dribbling again. Emmett waited for my move, expecting me to dart most likely to the left, but when a blur passed my side, I tossed the ball. It went in Rosalie's direction but Evie was fast; something she had inherited from her father.
The game was hectic, sort of the like the stalemate from World War I. Both sides could not get a break through and unfortunately, that was Emmett's and my fault.
"How do I know you're telling the truth about the phones not working?" He glared at me as I got in his way to block.
"I never lie," I hissed and leaped, smacking the ball from his hands and ran. He caught up with me easily and tried to block me too. "I tried to contact all of them but like we said, the bastard probably switched the numbers. Besides, no one came to see me afterward. Do you know how long I was on that island by myself?"
I tossed the ball to one of the humans who somehow managed to avoid Rosalie and get it to Evie. I looked back and Emmett and he still didn't answer so I continued. "Days Em; he left me by myself."
"He wouldn't have left you," Emmett muttered. He ran to guard and I followed, keeping my eyes on the ball; Rosalie had stolen it from Evie and was heading down the court. "He married you."
"So? I married him! Doesn't that say shit?!" I growled as I intercepted her throw and caught the ball before it made it to Emmett. The next thing I know, I was slammed into the ground by Emmett's massive arm and the whistle went off to call his foul.
The fucker checked me. He's lucky the floor didn't smash underneath me.
I opened my eyes to see him glaring down at me. I had closed my eyes and lost the ball from the shock of being hammered on the court. He bared his teeth as the teacher ran over to see if I was alright while having a hissy-fit about Emmett's actions.
"You never wanted to marry him in the first place, damn it!" He growled lowly before anyone but Rosalie and Evie could hear. Even though I could feel the cracks in my body healing right away, I played human and laid there for a moment. I rolled my head, pretending to be dazed, but was shocked to see Jasper standing in the doorway, watching me with concern. I narrowed my eyes and let the humans pull me off the floor. I brushed myself off and shook my head, as if to shake off whatever happened.
"This is a clean game, Cullen! Keep that crap off my court; next time, your ass is in the office," The coach hissed. Emmett ignored him, keeping his gaze on me. The man then turned to me and then started rambling on about going to the nurse and possibly an ambulance.
"I'm fine," I said to him, trying to sound as calm as a human could be. "I'm into sports; it wasn't bad."
Pulling a charming, dazzling smile was the only way to keep him from getting me out of the gym and letting me play but it worked. Evie looked like she wanted to murder Emmett right on the floor and Rosalie wasn't much better but when they saw that I just stared at them, they backed off.
The coached called game again and let me start with the ball. When he was out of hearing range, I talked again. "Because I didn't see the importance of a piece of paper if we were already going to be together," I growled and let the ball go. "I was from a different time, Cullen; marriage meant nothing, if not failure."
We started running again and he kept talking. "You never bothered to find us after you were turned," he said. I gaped at him, knowing my expression was not pretty.
"Why the hell would I want to find the family that abandoned me?" I inquired. He didn't answer me. "I had a job to do anyways. I couldn't exactly go on a wild goose hunt for people I wasn't sure I even wanted to see again."
As I started to jog ahead of him, I didn't see him stick his foot out, tripping me. I tumbled and landed on my ass, facing him. The whistle went off again but I played it off by claiming my shoe was untied. The coach didn't seem convinced but he resumed the game.
"Right," Emmett said with a grim smirk. "So instead, you joined the Italian Scum; that's classy, Bells."
I hissed and could feel the venom surge into my mouth again. "They took me in to protect me!" I retorted. "I needed their help so I made a deal. I didn't exactly have a choice, Em."
"Choice for what?" he demanded. "What could possibly make you consider the people who gave you nightmares for weeks?"
I didn't get a chance to answer because Emmett took off when Rosalie got the ball and went straight for the net. Knowing Rosalie would pass it off to him, I acted quickly.
"Hey, Blondie!" I called out to one of the human males on my team near the net. He pointed to himself to clarify and I nodded. "Hold your hands out together!"
He looked confused but did as I asked. When Rosalie tossed the basketball to Emmett, I launched myself at the boy. I leaped and kicked off his connected, outstretched hands, doing my best to not hurt him, and flew toward the net. Emmett had already tried to shoot but I caught it in midair to block it before using the net as leverage to swing down. I then tossed the ball back to my daughter, who finally made the first goal.
Emmett turned and stared at me, surprised by my fluidness.
"That, Emmett Cullen, is none of your concern."
Hey guys! Sorry for the late update. It's been pretty hectic. Hopefully you'll enjoy this update. Thanks for reading!