Warning for language and sexual situations

Notes: Thanks so much for following and reviewing. I've read some astute predictions, and though the plot points may not be original, I hope you at least find my interpretation interesting enough to keep you reading. Thanks again!

Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I merely play with the characters for entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 37

The Worst Things In Life Are Free

Senior year started and it was going fairly well. In about a year, I had gained a vampire boyfriend, lost him, gained a werewolf boyfriend, and lost a father. In between that was all the other travails and angst of teenage life.

I scattered Phil's ashes off a cliff in La Push. Jake was by my side.

I had to sell the car to help pay the bills. On the way to drive it over to Jake, I had a breakdown. I felt overwhelmed all of a sudden, and I pulled over on the shoulder of an empty road where I was all by myself and I screamed. I screamed and cried and pounded on the steering wheel and lost it.

Jake was really vital in selling the car. That along with the job I still had was going to have to hold me over till the end of the school year. What I was going to do after that was anyone's guess. I was questioning my resolve to go to college.

With school and work, I didn't get to see much of Jake but we managed to get what little time we had together. Some mornings, he would give me a ride to school, sometimes on his motorcycle if it wasn't raining. Those times were attention-grabbing days at school. I would get a range of looks from impressed to jealous snickers.

One evening after school and work, I was invited to a big Quileute dinner on the reservation at Sam's place. I was pretty tired but I had said I would go, so I rode my bike over when my shift ended at night. Everyone was there already, the wolf pack, some of the girlfriends, and a bunch of the parents and younger children. Emily prepared a plate for me and I ate hungrily.

Jacob went to the kitchen to get me a glass of water when Chief Avery came in with a girl. He greeted everyone and introduced his daughter, Vanessa.

She was a pretty young thing with strawberry blonde hair.

That's when we heard the clatter of the plastic cup full of water hit the floor. Jacob stood in the doorway of the kitchen, open-handed where the cup just was, staring at Vanessa like he was... like he was...

I knew. I just knew he had imprinted on her.

The ones who knew about imprinting knew, too. Some of their heads turned to me. I excused myself and walked past the chief and his daughter and walked out into the cool night.

No one said anything to me, no one stopped me, either out of kindness or pity.

Then I heard footsteps running behind me as I walked over to Jake's place where I left my bike.

"Bella!" I turned around reluctantly to see Emily running after me. "Bella!" She caught up with me slightly panting.

I really wasn't in the mood to listen to any condolences, but Emily had always been kind to me so I waited to hear what she had to say.

But she didn't say anything. She pulled me into a hug.

I wasn't completely comfortable with it, but I knew her heart was in the right place. Although she hadn't been in my situation, I realized she must have felt tremendous guilt for the girl, her cousin no less, whom she put in my situation.

"I'll be okay. I knew this could happen. Tell Jake I don't blame him and to call me when he gets a chance, okay?" With that, I left her standing there.

Jake and I had a somewhat long and meaningful conversation, mostly him apologizing.

I was able to play off my hurt to him. Even though we had not dated long, I realized how much I came to like him and depend on him. Jacob was a really great man, and now he was someone else's.

He didn't want to tell me, but I begged him to describe what imprinting felt like.

He told me it was stronger than any singular feeling he had ever known before. It pained me to hear, but I didn't let it show so that he would continue. He said when he saw her, the whole world faded away and she became his new world.

I smiled sadly.

Since Vanessa transferred to Forks High School, we became friends, mostly through Jake. I would see him when he gave her a ride sometimes. At first, he tried giving me rides, too, like he had done before, but I felt like too much of a third wheel. Though they weren't officially dating, her being sixteen and him saying he was a good friend, an older brother figure even, I knew it would grow into something more eventually. She adored him. I didn't want to get in the middle of that.

I was alone now more than ever.

I was riding home on my bike on a particularly rainy night when a car pulled up beside me on the road. I stopped when I recognized a fellow student, Mike and Tyler's friend Dave.

"Need a ride?" he yelled through the sound of the raindrops.

"No thanks!" I shouted back but he'd already run out of his car near me. He took hold of the handlebars and pulled it firmly away from me.

"Here, let me," he said getting thoroughly wet.

I tried to tell him no but he wouldn't let up. He took my bike and opened the passenger side door for me while he put it in the trunk.

He started driving and I told him where to turn. But he didn't, instead driving away from my apartment.

"Where are you going?" I questioned.

"Oh, I wanted to stop by somewhere first, if that's okay with you?" he smiled politely.

I didn't answer.

We started heading toward more wooded areas lit only by his car's headlights. The swooshing of the windshield wipers and the sound of the tires rolling over gravel were loud enough to distract me from the constant pounding of the rain on the car.

He slowly came to halt and put the car in park. He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to face me.

"I'm sorry about your dad," he spoke.

I nodded politely, which was what I did whenever someone gave me their condolences.

"It must be hard, especially since your boyfriend left you for that new girl." He shook his head disapprovingly. "And Edward Cullen ditching you before that." He placed a hand on my knee.

I shifted my knee away from him so his hand would not reach.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," he said, though that was exactly what he was achieving. "I like you, Bella. I just hate to see you treated so badly by guys."

"Thanks," I said. "Can we go now?"

"Relax. I just wanted to talk to you." He reached his hand on my knee again. This time, I shifted my whole body away from him, but that just made him lean closer and move his hand up my thigh.

"What are you doing?" I nearly shouted.

He reached his other hand around my waist and tried to pull me towards him, all the while leaning his head closer to mine.

"Stop!"

"You gave it up for those guys and they treated you like shit. At least I wouldn't do that. I'll make you feel good," he said nuzzling his face in my neck while I pushed him more forcefully away.

"No!" I screamed unbelting myself. I wriggled away from his grasp and maneuvered my legs to push against him as well. I managed to kick him in the groin and he let go in a cry of pain.

"Fucking bitch!" he hissed. "Fucking slut! No wonder they fucking dumped your ass!"

I tried to kick him in the balls again, but his hands were already there guarding his loins and this only made him madder. He kept one hand guarding his precious jewels and he used the other to grab one of my flailing legs and pulled me. I screamed and reached up behind me for the door handle. It took a second to unlock it first and open it.

I clamored out and dropped into the muddy ground away from him. The car's wheels spun as he accelerated and I crawled away backwards so the dirt and rocks didn't hit me. The car jolted forward and the momentum of it closed the open door. I quickly got up and screamed after him and grabbed for the car. Though I managed to touch it, my hands merely swiped at it as it drove away, leaving me in the pouring rain and darkness.

By the time I made it home, I was completely soaked, like I had stepped into the shower with my clothes on, and I was chilled to the bone. I took my phone out of my pocket which had stopped working and I took out the battery and left it to dry.

Shivering, I peeled off my heavy, sticky, dripping wet clothes off in the bathroom and stepped into a hot shower. It warmed me up after a long, long time and I crawled into bed still feeling chilled.

I woke up after a restless night and remembered I didn't have my bike. I jogged to school to not be late. It was a gloomy morning, but at least it wasn't raining still. The running actually helped warm me up by the time I got to school.

I managed to make it to school on time, but when I got there, I noticed some of the students giving me repulsed and snickering stares as I walked down the hall toward my locker. And I knew they had somehow caught on to what happened to me last night, for what else could have brought on this change of attitude toward me so suddenly? I had told no one, so if anyone knew it was Dave who had spread the word.

What had he told people? Surely not that he had assaulted me. Did he tell people I attacked him? I had been defending myself, vigorously, but he could have told people any number of lies. Would he be so secure in his manhood as to tell people a girl beat him up? I didn't know him well enough to judge, but when I reached my locker, I got my answer.

Slut.

That was what was written on my locker door in thick black marker. I looked around to see small groups of students watching me, some with faces of pity, some expressing disdain, some waiting expectantly for my reaction.

I approached my locker, turning the combination, ignoring the written accusation in my face. I acted as if it wasn't there, though I noticed the person must have been in a hurry to write it because the letters spilled onto my neighbors' lockers, either that or they purposely wrote like that so their handwriting couldn't be identified. Somehow, I didn't think whoever did this was clever enough to consider this. I felt sorry for the people whose lockers were next to me. They had done nothing wrong.

But neither had I.

People clearly had their facts wrong. Not that it was anyone's business, but I was probably more chaste than half my grade. If anything, I'd be more adequately named a prude. Maybe even a tease. But a slut? I couldn't give it away to Edward. And with Jacob, I had been too hurt, too damaged to do anything more than kiss, and he was too much of a good guy to press me.

So I didn't care what they thought I did with Dave or anyone else. What did I care? I didn't care about anything anymore.

Except maybe getting my bike back.

After I got my books out of my locker and slammed it, I looked around to see if the perpetrator of this rumor was around in my audience. I didn't see him, so I didn't linger around the kids standing awkwardly trying to look as if they had business there.

I noticed how people couldn't stop staring at me as if I was going to break into a striptease in the middle of class or something. Yet, they avoided me as if I was a leper. I guess I was a social leper now. It suited me fine, except for the constant eyeing. I disliked the unsuccessful attempts at covert glances more than the overt glares. Who were they fooling? And their movements trying to be sly were distracting.

You'd think they never had a slut in Forks before. I guess such blaring declarations of sins weren't common in small towns. Maybe I should walk around with a red 'A' on my chest.

When I got to a class I had with Jessica, she gave me a sympathetic look on the sly and no other interaction. I took it to mean she felt sorry for me but that she couldn't do anything about it, certainly not be seen with the outcast.

Oh well. I've never really needed friends before. I was sure I could make do without again.

Then I went to lunch. I made a trip to my locker again before that, though I didn't exactly feel indifferent about it. I just didn't like the staring, I convinced myself.

I hoped to find an empty table before they all filled up. I got and paid for lunch quickly, though I wasn't hungry and looked around for a table.

I went to the table formerly occupied by the Cullen siblings. It was usually empty since they left but I had a feeling I had sullied their reputation now as I was a reflection of them, an abandoned toy of theirs. A sad slut mourning their loss at their table.

I looked at the table I usually sat at and saw my friends, or former friends, I wasn't quite sure. It was Mike and Angela sitting together, of course, and Eric and Jessica.

I saw Angela say something to Mike and the others, and then she got up and started heading toward me.

I immediately looked away, as if not being able to see her would make her disappear. I knew she was going to be a good friend, because let's face it, she was a sweetheart, but that was the last thing I needed. I would rather have the cold hatred of everyone in this town than the heartfelt sympathies of one truly nice person.

"Hey, Bella."

"Hey," I said, looking down at my uneaten food.

Someone coughed, "Slut!" at a nearby table and there was a burst of laughter.

I didn't look at Angela's face, but I could see her hands clasped in front of her still standing. "You know we don't believe that, right?" she whispered loudly enough for me to hear.

I finally looked up at her. "What if it was true? Would you still talk to me?" I didn't say it with spite but with apathy.

She looked taken aback for a second. I guess she didn't expect me to ask that. I doubted they didn't at least consider it to be true. After all, I was the new girl. How well did they really know me?

She lifted a hand to adjust the glasses on her face nervously. "Well, of course," she said.

I started to smile when I heard a girl say, "What did Edward ever see in her?"

Then her friend responded, "She was easy."

"Ew, no. He probably found out what a skank she was and had to get away from embarrassment," they laughed that high-pitched loud laugh that begged for attention.

Angela and I turned to look at them. They both glared back at me and one of them accused, "What are you looking at, ho?"

"Shut up!" squeaked Angela.

The girls scoffed but they turned around and tried to laugh it off.

That was about as tough as sweet Angela got. I stood up and gave Angela a quick hug and I whispered a thanks in her ear.

I picked up my tray to throw out and rack, and left the cafeteria leaving everyone to stare after me.

I walked in the mostly empty hallways to my locker. I didn't need to get anything but I didn't really have anywhere else to go. I took a closer look at the marks on my locker and rubbed my finger on it. It was not going to just scrub off easily. I sighed.

"Hey, slut," a voice came from behind me.

I spun around to see Dave behind me. He wasn't too tall but had a stocky build.

"Hey, sex offender," I retorted back.

"Hey, be careful what you say. Rumors, they spread like wildfire around here," he smiled like a snake.

"They sure do," I crossed my arms. "What exactly did you tell people?"

"I wouldn't want to stain your virtue with details," he smirked.

"Whatever," I sighed impatiently. "I just want my bike back, okay?"

He curled his lips down to show me his lack of care. "Maybe if you'd been nicer to me. I was only trying to be nice to you."

I wanted to punch his smug face. I was surprised at the anger that had risen in me, but I suspected it had to do with more than just him.

"Just give me my bike back and I won't have to tell people how teeny-tiny you are, okay?" I held my thumb and forefinger about an inch apart and made a sad frown with my mouth.

His eyes grew wide in confusion then anger. "No one would believe you," he scoffed.

"Try me. I've dated Edward Cullen and Jacob Black. Do you really think you measure up to them?" I smirked. "Besides, it doesn't matter if it's true or not, rumor spreads like wildfire around here."

I gave him a couple friendly pats on his chest and walked away from his seething expression toward my next class.

When school finally ended, I got my things and headed towards the exit. When I got outside the doors, I saw a small crowd around, which wasn't unusual since people tended to linger around after school. But when I got near the bike racks, the crowd dispersed around me and I saw my bike, bent and broken, chained to the rack.

A few people stared at me and snickered and chuckled.

I held back my anger and my humiliation.

I simply walked away.