Lost and Found

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!

Part Twenty Nine-Expulsion

Bella and Rebecca were still waiting for Jacob and Jared to return when Sarah and Charlie arrived at the house unexpectedly. The girls exchanged worried glances as they looked at their respective parents dubiously. Sarah looked pissed while Charlie just seemed really disappointed. His mouth was drawn into a thin line as he regarded his daughter sadly.

"I thought you would be here when the school called to tell me you just walked out of class." Charlie said directly to Bella.

"Funny how I got the same call at work regarding you, Rebecca." Sarah snapped at her daughter. "You can't just keep sneaking out of school like this."

Rebecca was miffed at being scolded when she knew that Jacob skipped classes on a regular basis and she knew that Sarah didn't question him. All her panic vanished as she stood up and matched her mother's glare. "Why pick on me? Jake seems to get away with it."

"Jake is different." Sarah's cheeks flushed as she swallowed thickly. She knew it must appear like she had double standards regarding her son's discipline, but she could hardly explain to Rebecca about her brother's unique circumstances.

Bella looked between mother and daughter, frowning. She thought Rebecca had a point. Then there was the whole mystery of why Jacob and Jared had run off like they did without a proper explanation. The way the two boys had reacted when the wolves had howled defied logical reasoning. Bella suspected that something was going on that either Jacob was being forced to hide or he just didn't trust her enough to tell her. She didn't know which was worse.

"Bella, I am talking to you." Charlie broke through her sombre thoughts. Bella had totally tuned him out. She averted her eyes guiltily as witnessing Charlie's disappointment in her was too much to bear. He would never understand what it was like to be her. "Bella, do you realise what a difficult position you've put me in?" He continued angrily. "The school is going to inform the social services about your bad attendance and your tendency to disrupt the class. You're done there, my girl. The principal has decided it's not working out. You've effectively been expelled."

Bella gasped in shock. She hadn't expected that. Her face turned white and she felt faint. Even Rebecca was showing a smidge of sympathy. "But that's not fair." She muttered in Bella's defence. "Jake is the one that usually disrupts the class. His friends do too, they're all the same."

Sarah was shocked to hear this. She looked at Bella sadly. "Is this true?" She asked.

Bella just shrugged. It was all moot now. The decision had been made. She sank back on the couch and hung her head. "I'm sorry." She mumbled.

Charlie ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He wanted to comfort his daughter but he had to let her deal with the consequences of her actions. He had pleaded with her time and again to behave at the school. He had pointed out how important it was to create a good impression for the social workers. He was still under intense scrutiny as he fought to get full custody and stop the states interference. This whole scenario had just made things worse. "Why, Bells? Why would you do this when you knew how important it was?"

"I don't know." Bella mumbled again.

"That is not good enough." Charlie was getting increasingly frustrated with her. "Billy and Harry had to pull strings to get you into that school, Bella. We all thought being surrounded by people who care for you would help you settle in, but now I'm finding out that it's the total opposite."

"I didn't realise, Charlie." Sarah interjected. She felt partially responsible. She knew that Jacob only tolerated school, but he had special dispensation to leave at a moment's notice for valid reasons. She hadn't realised that he had been playing up in class and in doing so was getting Bella into trouble as well. Then there was Rebecca too. It hit her hard that she didn't seem to know her children as well as she thought. "I'm to blame here. I should have stressed to Jake how important it was that Bella attends regularly. I just assumed he would have realised that himself. I often forget he is only coming up to eleven."

"Maybe so." Charlie agreed. "But Bella knew herself how important this was too." He looked at his daughter again. Bella seemed to have shrunk in on herself. Rebecca was sitting next to her again, apologising in a low voice. For what Charlie didn't know. But Bella wasn't responding to the older girl.

"What happens now?" Sarah asked Charlie anxiously. "Maybe Billy can talk to the principal and try to smooth things over."

"No, there's no point. The social worker assigned to Bella's case has already insisted she attend the local establishment in Forks. There's nothing I can do. She starts Monday."

Bella suddenly came to life. "Please, daddy, no." She begged as tears began to roll down her face. "Don't make me go there. I'll behave I promise. Please…." She flung herself at him and clung to him as she continued to plead.

Moisture welled in Charlie's eyes as he tried to remain in control under the emotional onslaught from his only child. He wanted to give into her and give her what she wanted, but he really had no choice, his hands were tied. He looked at Sarah helplessly only to find that she too looked on the verge of tears. Rebecca was openly crying too. Charlie hated himself in that moment. Despite his best efforts he had let Bella down and there was nothing he could do but blame himself.


The red head leered at Jacob as he snapped at her heels. She changed direction in a blink of an eye and he was just too slow to keep up with her. He could hear his brother's frustration in his head. The red head's mate was leading the others on a similar dance on the other side of La Push. The darker skinned male whizzed around the trees near the red head, taunting Jacob and the pack. It was obvious that the coven were getting a kick out of forcing the pack to chase them. They were leading them a merry dance on purpose, just because they knew they could. The pack were like inexperienced children to them. Jacob cursed in his head, wishing he was older and stronger so he could end these wicked cold ones. The red head loomed in front of him again and he made an extra effort to fasten his pace, he lunged forward and his teeth grazed the red head's shins. She hissed at him before speeding off again, only to be replaced with the darker skinned male with his long dread locks flying behind him.

And so it went on….


Jacob was exhausted when he finally arrived home. The whole pack was. The cold ones had eventually tired of taunting the wolves and as abruptly as they had first appeared, they vanished. Sam called off the hunt. There was no way any of the youngsters had enough energy to track their enemies. So whilst Jared and Paul remained on watch until some of the others were rested, Sam sent the others home. Even though it was very late, Jacob hoped that Bella would still be at his house, waiting. He knew this wouldn't really be the case. Charlie would have picked her up and made her go home with him by now, but he still couldn't help the flood of disappointment surge through him when he went inside his house and found only his mother waiting.

Before she spoke Sarah checked him over for injuries. She asked him what had happened and he did his best to explain. He collapsed onto the old couch and his mother went into the kitchen for a moment before coming back with a plate piled high with food. Sarah knew that food was her son's fuel, without it his body couldn't function properly as he switched between forms. She passed him the plate and a glass of water before sitting in a chair opposite and watching him devour the food silently.

"Thanks mom." Jacob passed her the empty plate as he sagged back on the couch and closed his eyes.

"Jake, before you go to sleep we need to talk." Sarah said gently.

Jacob opened his eyes again and scrutinised her carefully. "What's wrong? Is it Bells?" He asked, suddenly panic-stricken.

"Yes, it is." Sarah hated being the one to tell him about Bella's expulsion and wish she could have waited but it was best to get it over with.

"She was okay when I left." Jacob bolted upright as a sudden adrenaline surge chased away his exhaustion.

Sarah sighed heavily. "Bella has been expelled from the school. Skipping class today was the last straw. She will be attending the local school in Forks instead."

"What?" Jacob couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stared at his mother in horror. "They can't do that."

"They can." Sarah replied tiredly. "I thought you knew how important this was, Jake. I know how difficult things are for you, and I understand that makes it hard for you when you attend classes after having missed so many through no fault of your own, but disrupting the class and getting Bella involved too has led to this outcome."

"Bells didn't do anything wrong." Jacob practically yelled at his mother. "Just go and tell them that. Tell them I'll behave and listen to the dumb teachers if that's what they want. They can't make Bells leave."

"Keep your voice down." Sarah chided him. "It's too late, Jake. Bella's case workers insist she goes to the local school in Forks. There is nothing that can be done now."

"This is not fair!" Jacob shoved his hands into his hair and gripped the ends as he let his own guilt and anger consume him. He couldn't believe it. After the trying day he'd just experienced endlessly chasing the vampires, this bad news just pushed him over the edge. Tremors coursed through his body and he was forced to retreat before he phased inside the house.


Charlie made Sam a hot drink before joining him at the table. Sam gulped the coffee down, not caring that the hot liquid burned his throat on its way down. It settled in his stomach and made him feel nauseous. He pushed the empty mug away and gazed miserably at Charlie. "I feel responsible." He muttered.

"None of this is your fault, kid." Charlie replied in surprise. He had been forced to tell Sam about Bella's expulsion from the tribal school. He had expected Sam to be a little upset but he seemed devastated and full of guilt. "I was hoping that being with Jake would help Bells settle in. I just didn't think. This is all on me."

"I was supposed to be keeping an eye on her. I should have known. If I did I would have made Jacob behave better." Sam lamented.

"I know you have to take charge of them when you're…you know, running as a wolf." Charlie lowered his voice. He always struggled when talking about Sam's alter ego. "But Jake and the others are not your responsibility outside of pack duties. You couldn't have known."

"I let her down." Sam wouldn't be dissuaded from taking the guilt on his own shoulders. He was so angry at Jacob. He knew how precarious Bella's position was. Jacob had been reckless and Sam couldn't forgive him for that. He swallowed thickly before looking at Charlie again. "Maybe Bella being friends with Jake isn't such a good idea right now. She needs stability, Charlie, and he's not exactly being a good influence at the moment."

Charlie mulled over Sam's words. What he said made sense, but Charlie also knew that Bella would not cope well with being told that she couldn't see her best friend. His daughter and Jacob were so close. However Charlie couldn't forget that it was Jacob's inability to behave maturely in class which had created the problem. The boy was still so young; because he looked so much older than his years it was easy to forget that he was not quite eleven. "It might prove too much for Bells to not see Jake at all." Charlie replied cautiously. "But it might be good to limit their interactions and always make sure one of us is there just to keep an eye on things."

Sam would have preferred an outright ban, but he could see Charlie's point. "Okay. When will you tell her?"

"Not tonight. I don't think I could take another emotional outburst right now. Bells is upset enough as it is." Charlie glanced toward the stairs. Bella was in her bedroom hiding out. "I'll sit her down in the morning and tell her then."

Sam nodded his agreement. He felt more at ease now that Charlie had made a decision. It would teach Jacob a lesson too. He had been challenging Sam's authority too many times lately. The pack needed to be cohesive but Jacob's constant chaffing at any decision that he made was making things difficult, and with the rogue coven of vampires on the loose, the pack needed to be united. Sam stood up and dumped his empty mug in the sink. "I've got to get back out there, Charlie. Jared and Paul need their break."

"You be careful." Charlie warned him.

"Always am." Sam smiled wearily as Charlie patted him on the shoulder. He glanced toward the stairwell. He knew Bella would be seeking out her black wolf for comfort around midnight and he wanted to be back in time to meet her. With this thought in mind he bid Charlie good night and left to start his patrol.

A/N-thanks for reading!