The Tutor

Chapter 21 – Crash & Burn

"Let me get this straight…" Jasper paced back and forth as Alice sat on the couch before him, watching his over-dramatized movements. "You've been ditching me all week because you didn't want to tell me something that had nothing to do with me…or you…or us? Have I got that right?"

"Jasper, I just couldn't – "

"Answer the question, Alice. Because I just want to make sure I understand before –"

"Before what? Before you start yelling at me? Before you break up with me?" Alice pouted.

Jasper took in the distressed look on Alice's face and plopped down next to her on the couch, causing Alice's small body to bounce.

"Hey, why'd you have to go there and ruin all my fun," Jasper said as he put his arm around her. "You gave me the runaround for days. The least you could do is let me give you hell about it."

"I didn't know what to do," Alice turned the sad eyes on her boyfriend. "Now that it's all said and done, I can see how I could have handled things much differently, but while it was happening…I just knew you would have wanted to tell Edward and then Rosalie would have been so pissed at me… and then Bella…"

"You really like her, don't you?"

"I do." Alice seemed saddened by that fact. "And now she probably hates me."

Jasper shook his head. "I'm sure she doesn't hate you. She knows it's not your fault."

"Yeah, but I knew and I didn't tell her. If I were her, I'd be mad. I'd feel like the biggest fool if my friends knew something about my boyfriend that I didn't know."

"It wasn't really your place to tell her."

"So if Bella cheated on Edward, and you knew, you wouldn't tell him?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"Because first of all, Edward didn't cheat on Bella. And second, Edward is my best friend. I've known him a lot longer than you've known Bella. It would be expected."

"So you're saying I should have kept Rosalie's secret because I've known her longer."

"I didn't say that." Jasper shook his head. "Rosalie's a hag and Bella should have done more than punch her in the face for her little fatal attraction stunt."

"I still think I should have told Bella. Even though I've known Rosalie forever…what she did was evil."

"Yeah. Besides, no one did anything to Rosalie."

"But what Edward did to Rosalie was –"

"Don't try to blame this on Edward. He's not responsible for Rosalie going psycho."

Alice shrugged, already growing tired of talking about the situation. "Are you going to tell Edward?"

"Hell yes I'm going to tell Edward."

*********

Bella crossed and uncrossed her legs as she sat at the public library looking over a book that she'd already read twice.

When she'd told her father that she was going to the library, he'd smiled and told her that she hadn't gone in awhile and he was glad she was going back. Bella immediately heard what he wasn't saying. Ever since she'd started spending more time with Edward, the little things that she used to do were falling by the wayside.

Bella hated her father's assumption that she was losing who she was for Edward. She preferred to think of it as layering her interests. When on her own, she preferred to read or write. However, being with Edward trumped both of those interests, as she'd rather engage in activities that required two people instead of one…at least where Edward was concerned. And it wasn't just the physical aspects of their relationship that Bella enjoyed. Learning about Edward had quickly become her favorite pastime.

But it was all a moot point anyway. Because despite her father's reasoning, Bella knew the real reason for her afternoon rendezvous to the library: it was impossible for her to receive or deliver a telephone call to Edward, whether she wanted to or not. And it really bothered Bella that she didn't know if she wanted to talk to Edward or not.

********

Carlisle sat at a red light, tapping his foot like an impatient teenager. He was finally getting home from the hospital early enough to take Edward out driving in the car that had recently been purchased for him. Though Edward didn't say much with words, Carlisle saw the way he looked at the car…the way he slid his hands across the smooth paint – with such reverence.

And Carlisle found Edward in that exact position: outside with his car, when he pulled into his circular driveway.

"Feel like going for a drive?" Carlisle asked as he approached Edward.

Edward seemed to hesitate for a moment as he paused to look down at his cellular phone. "Uh…yeah. Sure."

However, Edward's mood changed considerably once he got behind the wheel of his gem.

"Handles nicely, doesn't she?" Carlisle said of the vehicle.

"Yeah," Edward answered, his eyes on the road.

"So, how's school going?" Carlisle attempted small talk.

"Good." Edward put on the turn signal as he changed lanes.

"That's good. Real good," Carlisle nodded, taking in Edward's quietness. He decided not to push him and let the conversation drop, only speaking when the situation necessitated it.

"Where are we going?" Edward asked after a little while.

"We're just driving. No place in particular." Carlisle returned with a smile. "You want to get your driving hours in don't you?"

"I already know how to drive," Edward said in a flat tone.

"Well good. Then you should pass your practical the first time out," Carlisle said. His eyes lingered over Edward, silently willing the young man to release his obvious tension.

They drove around Forks, taking in the moss-covered trees and the buildings that looked liked they'd suffered one too many downpours. A few of the local merchants recognized Carlisle, and he waved to them as Edward silently meandered through the streets.

"Haven't heard from Bella…" Edward mumbled some minutes later.

Carlisle wasn't sure the words were meant for him, but he replied anyway. "Well, it's still early. Maybe she's just busy."

"She went somewhere with Alice." Edward added.

"Did you want to do a drive by? See if she's at home?"

Edward glanced over at Carlisle as if he'd sprouted a second head. "I just mentioned that I hadn't heard from her. I don't need to go running off to her house."

"OK," Carlisle held up his hands in mock surrender.

And twenty minutes later he pretended not to notice as Edward turned down Bella's street.

********

Charlie heard the muscle car engine long before he saw it, and the sight that registered before his eyes would have the father of any seventeen-year-old girl quaking in his boots. Edward Cullen behind the wheel of that Nova made even James Dean look like Mickey Mouse.

"Shit," Charlie muttered under his breath.

From his curbside position, Charlie secretly wondered how long it would take him to replace the trashcan lids and make it to his porch as if he'd never seen Edward. But then Carlisle Cullen stuck his head out the passenger side window and all was lost.

"Hello, Charlie. Haven't seen you around for awhile," Carlisle made light conversation.

Charlie moved into the road and offered his hand. "What can I say? Retirement has been good to me." Both men knew that Charlie's retirement was forced and didn't come easily.

"Been fishing lately?" Carlisle continued.

"You know it," Charlie put his hand on the roof of the car. "This is quite a beauty," he said as his eyes raked over the car. He bent down to get a good look at the driver. "This yours, Edward?"

"Yeah," Edward said. His eyes danced around a bit before they landed on Charlie's.

"You know how to work on one of these?" Charlie asked. It was his opinion that you shouldn't be allowed to drive a car if you didn't know how to fix it.

"I know how to do a tune up, change a tire, change the oil and clean a carburetor." Edward listed off. Even Carlisle looked impressed.

"Well," Carlisle looked around, "Should we say hello to Bella before we go?" His question, though aimed at Edward, was obviously for Charlie's benefit.

"You could, if she were here. She went to the library earlier." Charlie said. "Figured you'd know that, Edward." He couldn't pass up the jab.

"Oh, see! The library," Carlisle smiled at Edward. But Edward's expression hinted that something was wrong.

And then Bella drove up and confirmed it.

********

If she'd recognized the car as Edward's right away, she would have kept on driving. But she wasn't used to seeing him in it, and it wasn't until she saw her father standing in the street talking to Mr. Cullen that she realized, too late, that Edward was in the driver's seat. Seeing him reminded Bella that she'd turned off her phone, and when she turned it back on, she saw that she had three missed calls from Edward. Three. That was two more than she'd usually get.

Bella silenced her truck and sat in the driveway to regroup. She didn't want to cause a scene in front of the 'rents, but she didn't think she'd be able to act like nothing was going on with Edward.

A quick glance in the review mirror revealed Edward pulling his car up to the curb and parking. Bella knew she had little time as she jumped out of her truck, threw a wave in the general vicinity of all that testosterone, and began heading for her front door. Edward caught up to her on the porch.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were avoiding me," he said as he eyed her wearily.

"I'm not avoiding you," Bella said without looking at Edward. Immediately she hated the sound of her own voice. It sounded mousy and stale.

Edward was silent. Bella knew what he was doing. If he didn't speak, she would look at him. And if she looked at him, he'd give her that heart-winning smile and then she'd be done for.

And if it were a matter of an inappropriate joke, or an important event he'd forgotten, Bella probably wouldn't berate herself for giving in. But this was different. This was a betrayal of trust, and even though Edward hadn't told his side of the story yet, Bella knew that he'd lied to her. She'd known it even before she'd heard it from Rosalie and from Alice. She'd felt it in the moment the lie had left his lips. And still, she let herself be deceived. Because she was falling fast and hard for Edward Anthony Cullen.

"I got in a fight," Bella said, her eyes still appraising the ground.

"A fight? You?" Edward let out a deep laugh. "With who?"

"Rosalie." Bella looked up then – right into Edward's eyes. "Over you."

He looked her over, looking for obvious signs of a scuffle. When he didn't see any, all of his questions lie on his face.

"You got in a fight with Rosalie?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yep."

"Because of me?"

"Well…sorta." Bella didn't want to stroke his ego. "Over that video."

"What does Rosalie know about the video?"

"She took it."

"What?" Edward took a step back before letting loose on a long string of profanities. Charlie looked over in their direction and Edward lowered his voice. "That bitch! I'm going to –"

"She said she was doing me a favor. Said she knew from first hand experience that you took girls up Jasper's room for sex and then denied being with them."

"And did you fuckin' tell her that we didn't have sex?"

"I don't think that's the point, Edward."

Edward evaluated Bella, and in doing so, narrowed his eyes accusingly at her. "You don't think I had something to do with this, do you?"

"Not directly."

"Not directly? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Stop swearing at me."

"Well get off your damn high horse and quit acting like I fucking did something to you."

"You did do something to me." Bella steeled herself. "You lied to me."

"I didn't fuckin' lie to you."

"You said you didn't have sex with Rosalie."

"So."

"So you lied."

What transpired next truly scared the hell out of Bella. Edward's face morphed into one of fury, and then, right before her eyes, he transformed into someone else entirely. His eyes hardened, his face went rigid and he looked at her like he didn't even know who she was.

"This is some fucked up shit, Bella, you know that?" he spat out.

"Tell me I'm wrong, Edward." Bella said, already beginning to second-guess herself.

"I shouldn't have to," Edward began backing away.

"No, what you shouldn't have to do is lie to me. It wouldn't matter if I'd heard it from you." Bella told him.

"That's a bunch of bullshit, and you know it." Edward said. "You're just scared. Admit it."

"Scared of what? That you're going to do the same thing to me? Yes, I am. Scared that you don't really care about me and all you want is sex? Yeah. And scared that you don't care about me as much as I care about you? Hell yeah, I'm scared." Bella came clean. "But mostly I'm scared that I can't trust you. So I just want you to tell me the truth."

"Fine. I fucked her. Now, you wanna go to a movie?" Edward asked sarcastically.

Bella looked at him in awe-inspired fury. Did he not realize that she'd just opened her heart to him and he'd made a mockery of it?

"See," Edward pointed at her. "You don't just want the truth. What you want is an excuse."

"An excuse for what?" Bella didn't understand.

"Well you know what?" Edward continued as if she hadn't spoken, "Fuck you! I'm done. Don't talk to me, don't call me…don't even fuckin' look at me!" Edward fumed as he walked away. He turned around and flipped her off with both hands.

But Bella had already gone into her house and shut the door, distancing herself from Edward and his tirade.

********

Carlisle tried to maintain his casual banter with Charlie as Edward and Bella stood on the porch talking, but he could tell by Edward's body language that the discussion was getting heated. Carlisle attempted to wrap things up, but his efforts were futile. Edward was too loud and Charlie turned around just as Edward flipped the bird to an empty porch.

"Fuck!" Edward yelled as he stomped towards the vehicle.

"Hey!" Charlie yelled, taking in Edward's language. "You'd better not be talking to my daughter like that."

Edward reeled around and faced Charlie – an animalistic stare in his eyes. Charlie looked him up and down before taking a step closer to Edward.

"I wish you would boy," Charlie said in a threatening whisper. "I will haul your ass off this property so quick you—"

"Edward," Carlisle stepped out of the car and held the passenger side door open for Edward. "Get in the car, Son."

Edward got in without a fight. Carlisle nodded an apology to Charlie before getting into the driver's seat and speeding off.

"Edward, I think you owe the Swan's a monumental apology." Carlisle said. "Just because you get angry, that doesn't give you the right to –"

"Just tell me, do you ever get tired of being wrong?" Edward lashed out at Carlisle. "Because you said to tell her and I fuckin' told her and now it's fuckin' over!"

Carlisle deliberated over whether or not he should tell Edward to watch his mouth. He lingered over the decision for too long and then the moment had passed. Teenagers really should come with an instruction manual.

********

Jasper sat in his living room, for a rare solitary moment and flipped through the television channels.

"Oooh, ooh, extreme sports. Turn that back," Emmett came into the room carrying an oversized salami sandwich. Jasper eyed the sandwich with disgust. "What? I'm carbo-loading."

Jasper rolled his eyes and flipped back to the sports channel before laying his head back against the back of the couch and closing his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" Emmett asked.

"For once…nothing," Jasper looked over at his brother and grinned.

Emmett snorted. "That crazy girl of yours doesn't have you running all over the place?"

"Alice, is fine, but I'll tell her you asked about her." Jasper emphasized the name.

"Where is she? Doesn't she keep you on a pretty short leash?"

"It's not like that. And she's at some cheer thing. I didn't want to go."

"What you mean is she didn't want you to go."

"No…I meant I didn't want to go." Jasper opened his eyes. "She owes me some favors and I'm cashing in."

Emmett laughed then. "Why does she owe you?"

"It's a long story. Rosalie posted a sex tape of Edward online and Alice knew about it but didn't tell anyone…yada, yada, yada." Jasper waved the discussion away with boredom.

"Wait…Rose posted a sex tape of Edward online?" Emmett pressed the mute button on the television. "That girl is ruthless! I love it."

"You wouldn't if you were Edward."

"Well whip that shit out. I've got to see this," Emmett stood up. "Wait, there isn't any footage of hairy balls or ass, is there? Because I want no part of that."

"You can't see anything. It was too dark." Jasper said. "Plus, I think it's disappeared. Alice deleted it from Rosalie's camera and Youtube took it down."

"Nah, that shit is out there somewhere," Emmett shook his head as his laughter lingered. "That Rose…man, she's a pistol."

"Don't say 'that Rose', like you know her. You don't. And frankly, you should be glad about that. She's fatal attraction."

"Those are the good ones," Emmett said as he got up and headed out of the room. "They're great in the sack."

"She's still in high school, bro."

"Whatever." Emmett ducked his head back in the room from the hallway. "Oh, and you're an idiot to use your girl's favors to get out of a little cheerleading gig. What a waste."

Funny. Jasper had just been thinking the same thing.

********

Alice had learned the error of her ways, as far as avoidance policies went. So she'd decided to try being mature and facing up to the consequences of her actions. So when she saw Bella, alone at her locker, bright and early on a Monday morning, she marched up to her, took a deep breath, and rattled off her rehearsed speech.

"I know what I did to you was unforgivable…well…not unforgivable, but…anger-worthy. And I know I should have told you but I had only just found out and I didn't know you that well and Rosalie has been my friend for a really long time and I just…I'm so sorry, Bella." Alice exhaled.

Bella nodded. "Let's just…forget about it, okay?"

"Really?" Alice was bewildered.

"Really." Bella said. Her eyes flashed around fleetingly and Alice assumed she was looking for Rosalie.

"She's not here." Alice said.

"Who?"

"Rosalie."

"Who cares?"

"Oh, yeah," Alice giggled. "I forget, you're not afraid of her."

"And you shouldn't be either."

"I'm not. I just…I know it doesn't seem like it, but she was…is…can be a really good friend. It wasn't always like this."

"Mmm." Bella didn't offer an opinion one way or the other.

"I don't suppose Rosalie will be gracing us with her presence anytime soon. She's trying to wait out Edward's temper. And we all know how that is." Alice laughed.

"So, did you do your history assignment?" Bella asked.

Now who was practicing avoidance tactics?

********

Carlisle's advice to his wife on how to handle Edward was to give him time and space. So, although she didn't question him on what had happened with Bella, she made it clear that she expected him to follow house rules, go to school and get his homework done.

And since no one was asking him to talk, giving him a hard time or requiring anything extra of him, Edward had no problem doing what he was told. He didn't go out on school nights, was his usual moody self and he adhered to a semi-normal hygiene routine.

And then Rosalie had confronted him at school. She came up behind him while he was at the smoking rock with Jasper.

"Edward?"

"Get the fuck away from me, Rosalie."

"Edward, I know you're pissed and…"

"I swear to god, I will hit a girl," Edward snubbed out his cigarette and turned to face her.

Jasper stepped in between the pair, unsure of what Edward would actually do. "Rose, just leave."

Rosalie eyed Jasper bitterly. "Don't call me Rose." She said as she turned and walked away.

"I could get arrested for what I want to do to her." Edward spat venomously.

"I must say…I was expecting more from you," Jasper goaded him. When he saw the death glare that Edward was giving him, he was quick to add, "It's just that Rosalie got exactly what she wanted: to break up you and Bella. That pisses me off."

As if Edward needed a reminder that his relationship with Bella had ended. Although someone might stand to remind her, not of the end of the relationship, but that one had actually began in the first place. Because Bella acted as if Edward didn't exist at all and the population of Forks High, with the exception of Jasper, was all too quick to embrace the act that it hadn't.

The semester ended and Edward began a whole new classroom rotation. On the first day, he was present to all of his classes, only to find that Bella wasn't in any of them. Edward then fell into the obscurity that he was used to: late mornings and forgotten homework.

And in that quiet obscurity, the fits of rage began.

The first time it had happened, Carlisle was at work and Esme was sitting in the kitchen helping Maddie with her homework. The house was eerily calm and the female Cullens were lured into a false sense of security.

When the fire alarm began to blare incessantly, Maddie started screaming and Esme ripped up the stairs toward Edward's room. At first she just wanted to make sure he was okay. But upon her arrival, she smelled the strong odor of smoke.

"Edward, what's going on in here?" She happened upon him just as he was trying to douse out the smoldering pages of the Washington State Driver's Manual.

"Just cleaning up," Edward answered as if one always burned garbage in the middle of one's bedroom.

"Are you burning something?" Esme asked him.

"Just paper. A little science experiment that went wrong."

"Edward, you could have burned the house down! What on earth has gotten into you?" Esme held her hand across her heart to quell its erratic beating.

"Nothing." Edward slipped by her and went outside with his garbage can.

Esme looked around for more damage but all she saw was little shards of burned paper that had wafted out of the metal garbage can Edward had been holding.

As soon as Carlisle had come home, he'd freed Edward of his lighter and promised him a visit to the hospital burn victim unit if he tried anything like this again. It was an elementary move on Carlisle's part, but Edward had made it seem like a bad decision that had gotten out of hand. And so Carlisle and Esme had let him off with a stern warning, despite their nagging feelings of doubt.

********

Bella marveled at the irony of how easy it was to find something when you weren't looking for it. Or in her case, someone. Edward was everywhere she didn't want him to be.

Unfortunately, that didn't include classes. Having him in a class would have been the safer choice, because they wouldn't have been allowed to talk and there would have been something else to focus her attention on. But walking in the halls, going out of the office when he was coming in, passing one another at the restrooms, in the parking lot…it was getting old fast.

The first few times it happened, Bella's heart broke all over again when Edward would look through her, or away from her like they'd never once had a conversation. Like he didn't know what she looked like beneath her shirt, beneath her pants. But then he started making snide comments to her, first under his breath, and then a little louder. And then Bella wished for the vacant looks and stranger stares.

"Hey, Bella. I saw that your dad dropped you off this morning," Alice was saying as the two girls met up before an art class they had together. "What happened to your truck?"

"It died," Bella said.

"Oh. Well I can give you a ride home after school. Unless your dad is coming…" Alice trailed off.

Bella noticed that Alice was continually casting stares over her shoulder and when she turned to see what she was looking at, she saw Jasper approaching, which Edward in tow.

Surely he's not going to walk over here. He hates me.

But he did walk over there. Bella smelled the strong stench of cigarettes as he got close.

Bella tripped slightly as she shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the other, resulting in a barely-there wiggle of her hips.

"What's the matter, Swan? Bush growing back?" Edward quipped.

An awkward silence ensued.

"Well…I'll see you in class, Alice." Bella nodded towards her friend and ducked into the classroom before Edward decided to let loose any more vulgarities.

The classroom was nearly empty and Bella hurried to the seat near the wall that she usually occupied. Anger washed over her for the tears that begged to cascade down her face. She pressed her fists against her eyes in an effort to keep them at bay. When she felt she'd successfully halted the waterfall, she sat up and began pulling her art supplies out of her backpack.

It was then that she noticed Alice sitting next to her.

"I hate Edward," Alice whispered.

Bella looked down as if she was going to ignore the statement, but after a few silent seconds, without looking up, she whispered back, "I wish I did."

********

"Will you guys just get back together already?" Jasper asked Edward as the two of them schlepped towards the parking lot, skipping their last class of the day.

"I don't want to get back together," Edward shook his head. "I don't go backwards."

Jasper laughed. "Oh yeah. I forgot about all your rules," he said with sarcasm.

"They're not rules. I'm just not a pussy. Once I make up my mind—"

"So I am a pussy because Alice and I got back together?" Jasper asked in irritation.

"No, you're a pussy for a whole list of other reasons and because you and Alice got back together." Edward laughed.

Jasper, however, did not. "You know what, Edward, I'm beginning to think that even you don't believe that bullshit you're peddling. And furthermore, all that stuff you call me a pussy for, well, I'd rather be all of those things with Alice, than none of those things without her."

Edward again rolled his eyes, but he didn't offer anything verbally. He followed Jasper to the far edge of the parking lot, where Jasper had parked his car. Over cigarettes, they casually shared conversation about cars, music and what they'd do if they got kicked out of high school. It wasn't until Alice came knocking on Jasper's window that they realized school had ended for the day.

"I don't know how you two get away with skipping class to sit in the parking lot." Alice rolled her eyes.

"They know we're here," Jasper rolled his eyes. "Mr. Chambers is just too lazy to jog his fat ass out here and tell us to get to class."

Jasper laughed and looked over at Edward to get his reaction. He saw that Edward was watching Alice closely but wasn't speaking.

"So, I'm gonna head home. Wanna come by later? We can get pizza." Alice said to Jasper, as if they were speaking some kind of code.

"Sure. Are you taking Bella home?" Jasper asked. Edward fidgeted slightly and turned to look out the window. A tree across the lot suddenly had his attention.

"No. She's getting a ride with Mike Newton. She mentioned wanting to get an application from his parents' store and he said he'd run her by and then take her home." Alice answered. As if on reflex, Edward turned and looked at her and saw that Alice was staring directly at him with a smug expression on her face. Edward fought the urge to call her a bitch, since Jasper was there, and turned to look back out the window. He remained that way as Jasper drove him back to his house.

Edward wasn't sure if anyone was home but he didn't bother going inside his house once Jasper dropped him off. Instead, he went through the side door of the garage and headed for the side yard for a smoke. He'd discovered that it was one of the few areas of the property that wasn't visible from any position in the house.

Edward kept the back door of the garage open so that he could hear, in case anyone walked in. From his position against the wall, he could see his car. It sat there, in all of its polished splendor, mocking him and his inability to drive it.

You're such an idiot. You have to ride bitch with your friends because you were too stupid to pass the driver's test on your own. Now Mike Newton is giving Bella rides because you can't. Pretty soon, she'll be "riding" him…

Before he gave it another thought, Edward had picked up a stone from the rock garden and hurled it at his car. It shouldn't have felt as good as it did. So he hurled another one. And then he picked up a small boulder and, holding it between two hands, beat the hood of the car continuously – over and over he pounded against all of the frustrations of his day: Bella acting like he was invisible – smash! – Bella not hurting the way the way he was – crash! – Jasper acting so self-righteous because he had a girl and Edward didn't – crack! – Alice and her smug-ass looks – thud! – the realization that Rosalie had triumphed – smack! – and Mike-fucking-Newton driving Bella around. His Bella. But she wasn't his anymore – shatter – .

Suddenly strong hands pulled at Edward's shoulders and he let go of the large rock. It toppled across the car and thundered to the floor, but not before taking down a pair of skis and a garden rake.

Edward collapsed against the warm body, allowing himself to first be shaken and then enveloped.

"Edward," Carlisle's voice was stern and disappointed.

Edward pushed off of Carlisle quickly, as if he'd expected someone else to be holding him. He then noticed Esme in the corner, crying profusely. And then his eyes focused on his car and then Carlisle.

And for once, Carlisle was speechless.