here goes yet another apology for keeping you guys waiting - i'm really soo sorry it's taken me so long to get this up. i'm so envious of the authors who are able to get up a chapter a week - really, i am in awe of you. i wish i was like that! i've been working on another story, which has yet to see the light of day yet - but it will. i think i just need to finish this one up before i turn my focus to that. so that, as well as some writer's block, and some work related business is the reason for my delay. soo so sorry!
i need to say thank you for everyone who has reviewed and stuck with the story, you guys are phenomenal and mean the world to me. all of your comments mean so much so really thank you for taking teh time and letting me know what you think. i really appreciate it. i don't know if i can actually tell you how much it means :)
a giant thank you to pennylaine for being there for me and listening and helping work out all the things i may have missed. basically, she just deserves a huge thank you for everything
i'll stop yammering on now...
BPOV
"Hello Victoria," I said, sauntering into the bathroom.
"Hi!" she answered bubbly as ever. Her back was towards me as she hunched over the bathroom counter, finishing a line off her pocket mirror. I guess Alice hadn't been exaggerating when she said Victoria had a bit of a drug problem. After a minute she finally straightened up, closing her compact. She turned towards me, rubbing her nose to make sure there were no leftover remnants. "Oh, hello," she said, more subdued this time, once she noticed who she was talking to.
She wasn't unpleasant, just more low key. She was now trying to cover up the fact that she had been doing Coke all of two seconds ago; instead of trying to conceal this from the beginning like a normal person would have done…
"Well I see congratulations are in order," she said with a smile, feigning more enthusiasm than necessary and pointing to the crown on my head, "over your all your wins."
All my wins? What the hell was that supposed to mean?
"There's no need for pleasantries. You can drop the act," I told her, walking towards her.
She didn't flinch with my statement, maintaining her composure. "What?" she asked with a giggle. If I didn't know better I would have said she sounded a little nervous. "What are you talking about Bella? What act? We're friends – what would I ever do to you?" she asked, cocking her head to the side and looking slightly taken aback. She was trying to work the angle of being offended.
I felt the door begin to open against my back; Edward was trying to make his grand entrance. I causally lifted my foot and scratched the back of my leg, just in case Victoria was watching, and then kicked the door behind me, keeping it shut. I wasn't ready for him to come in yet. I heard a quiet groan from behind the door; I must have smacked him in the head…oops. Well, he shouldn't have tried to come in yet – it wasn't time.
"We're friends huh?" I replied coolly, tracing a random design with my finger along the marble countertop. Distraction from what I was actually doing was imperative; I needed to keep her attention on something other than what I was actually saying. She would be more susceptible to letting something slip that way. And thus far it seemed to be working as I saw her eyes dart to watch what my fingers were doing. She seemed fairly engrossed in them, trying to make out the pattern.
"Well of course – why wouldn't we?" she asked again with a laugh, finally taking her eyes away the countertop. She was still playing along with the notion that everything was perfectly fine between the two of us. She took a small step back, though; maybe she didn't think this was such a friendly encounter after all.
I leaned against the door, making the point crystal clear to Edward that it wasn't time for him to come in... Well, not unless he wanted to get hit in the face again. "Oh I don't know," I replied, dragging my words out. "I don't really think friends try to sleep with their friends' boyfriends; maybe that's just me though," I continued, looking her directly in the eyes.
Her eyes darted up to meet mine and she held my gaze, not willing to back down. She kept shifting her weight back and forth, though, like she was uncertain of something. "That whole thing with Edward? You guys were together then?" she asked, trying to act as surprised as she could, being high and all. "I didn't know that; I mean he was the one who had initiated everything. If I had known you two were together... I wouldn't have done anything with him – I assumed he was single by the way he was acting. You have to believe me; I wouldn't do anything to compromise ourrelationship."
She wouldn't do anything to compromise our relationship – yea right… I felt my temper flare up, trying to get the best of me. She was infuriating: trying to turn this all around on him, to make him out to be the bad guy! I should have seen this coming. She always tried to make herself look better and place the blame on someone else, manipulating the situation to her benefit. She had an uncanny way of deflecting negativity and escaping blame. I had seen it so many times in Charity Committee where she had totally escaped the wrath of the committee even though she had totally fucked something up big time. Somehow, someone else would take the blame or she would come up with some feasible explanation to excuse her and everyone would just buy it. Not this time though.
I needed to remain calm and not flip on her too soon. I softened my gaze and tried to keep my voice as calm as possible; I wanted to see how, exactly, this was going to pan out so I needed play along. "What do you mean? How was he acting?" I inquired further, relaxing my stance slightly. Maybe if I looked less confrontational, like I believed what she was saying, she'd open up more. It was worth a shot.
And my assumption proved correct. As soon as my posture shifted and I uncrossed my arms Victoria relaxed as well –looking less jumpy than before. Amateur - you never let your guard down.
She began fumbling with her hands and bit her lip, like she was nervous. "It wasn't anything blatant, just little things he did: like a touch here and there, little things he said, the proximity that closed between us during the night. By the middle of dinner I knew he was definitely interested. So I started flirting more… Who wouldn't – I mean, he's fucking Edward Cullen, you'd have to be insane to not flirt back. By the time we left dinner he practically carried me to the elevator going back to his room," she said with just a hint of a smile across her lips which flattened out into a hard line, hinting that there was more to the story.
"What? Did something else happen that night?" I asked taking a few steps closer to her, feigning concern. Well, it was up to Edward's digression now when he was going to come in; hopefully, that would coincide with when Iwanted him to come in.
She took a breath and nodded, allowing the gravity of what she was about to say to sink in. "There was...," her voice trembled slightly as she played with her hands even more. She was twitchy but that could have been due to the unknown quantity of cocaine she just ingested.
I had to admit that she was better than I gave her credit for; she was more believable than I anticipated. She had a vulnerability to her that made you almost want to believe what she was telling you.
"I was into it as we were going up the elevator but when we got up to his room I hesitated; I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go forward with this. I mean of course I wanted to go through with it but I didn't want him to think I was some sort of slut and spread that around school. I didn't want to rush into anything too quickly; I really liked him. I had reservations and wanted to slow things down but he didn't stop; he didn't even listen to what I was telling him... He's not as great as he seems Bella," she said in all seriousness.
Really – she was trying to insinuate this? She had some balls to claim this bullshit; it was utterly preposterous.
I felt my restraint lessening with each passing minute, especially at what she was trying to imply. I couldn't let that show at all, though. I took a few breaths to calm myself down which, surprisingly, did the trick. I walked closer to her placing my hand, reassuringly, on her arm to make it appear like I was trying to comfort her; in actuality, I was blocking her from trying to get away. As soon as Edward came in the door she would try to bolt and I couldn't have her leaving before I was done with her. "Are you saying what I think you're saying: that you said no but he didn't stop? That you didn't want to go through with it and he forced himself on you?" I asked, patting her arm gently and urging her to continue. She nodded again as her eyes started welling up.
I moved my hand from her arm to the counter in front of her, so that my body was now directly blocking her from the exit; she'd, literally, have to go through me before she could leave this bathroom. "Why didn't you press charges?" I inquired, pressing her for answers. If I pressed enough and asked for more details she would eventually slip up.
She looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact. "I guess I was too embarrassed. I didn't want to admit that something like that could happen to me. But I feel a little better, now, since I opened up to you; I feel like I can really trust you," she stated, now looking at me with doe eyes.
Jesus, how was I supposed to play along with this crazy biatch's theory when it was just getting more and more insane? I felt no empathy for her, just unadulterated loathing. I reminded myself that this was necessary for the plan. I needed her to think I was on her side but I wasn't sure how long I could keep this rational side of me going when every second that I looked at her made me want to bash her face into the counter even more.
You're doing this for you and Edward, I reminded myself yet again before I spoke again. "I get that," I sympathized with her as she looked down, "but there's just one thing that I don't understand; maybe you could explain that to me."
She finally met my gaze again with a sniffle but said nothing, like she was waiting for me to continue. She really was getting into the role of the frightened and timid little girl, trying to play up the sympathy vote. Yes, she was much, much better than any of us had given her credit for – and she was even high. I could only imagine how this would have played out if she was totally sober.
And that was the final straw; her last, staged, sniffle sent me over the edge. I wasn't planning on concluding my interrogation of her this quickly but I couldn't hold it in anymore; it was time to release the Bella that I had been holding back. "You just seemed very, er - enthusiastic, by the time I got there for someone claiming that she was taken advantage of. You seemed quite spirited by that point– which doesn't quite gel with what you just told me," I stated, now moving directly in front of her and changing my stance and tone from something sympatric and understanding to one that was completely confrontational. "In fact, it seemed like you were having a fantastic time that night and you were more than willing to tell me all about it... but that was the point. This whole façade, from that night to right now, has all been for my benefit since this whole concocted story never actually happened; isn't that right? No you don't have to answer that – cause he can do it for you."
As if on cue Edward slowly pushed open the door and stood directly in front of it; making the point abundantly clear, in case she hadn't figured it out yet, that she wasn't leaving until we were ready for her to leave. Her eyes flickered with shock and surprise for just a moment, realizing that she had been set up and then glazed back over, as if she was about to cry again. She, quickly, returned to the timid and broken girl she claimed to be when it was just the two of us. She knew she was cornered but wasn't dropping her act.
"Don't let him come closer," she whispered in a frantic voice and grabbed my arm, causing me to roll my eyes. Did she really think that I was still on her side?
"So what exactly are you accusing me of?" he asked with no warmth to his voice or eyes at all: he was stone cold.
If I were her I would have been a little concerned at this point...
"I think we all know that nothing happened that night, so why don't you just admit it?" Edward continued.
Victoria defended her position without hesitation. "You're the one who can drop the act – I already told Bella everything that happened!"
"Oh, you told her? Well then that totally clears things up..." he said, snorting loudly. "It just so happens that I told her what happened too; but I willingly gave up the information - I wasn't cornered into doing so. I wonder who she's going to believe? I told her everything: from the moment Bella and I got off the phone earlier that night to the minute that we met in the hallway. And just in case she didn't believe me, I've got a restaurant full of people and security footage from the hotel to back up my story – what have you got?" he said, challenging her with a look that dared her to even breath.
Security footage? I suppressed the surprised look that I know was trying to take over my face – this was news to me. My eyes darted to his for any sort of explanation, since he had never mentioned anything about this before. His eyes met mine for a split second, softening; as if to say just go with it, before the hardened expression took over his face again directing his attention back towards Victoria.
She was quiet; at this point I couldn't quite figure out what Victoria was thinking. She looked like she really wanted to answer Edward but was hesitant for some reason. He picked up on this as well and just waited for her to say the wrong thing. This could quickly turn into a battle of he said, she said, if I didn't watch it and then the whole point of this confrontation would be lost.
As much as I had no problem watching the two of them go at it, the verbal sparring wasn't going to get us anywhere helpful and needed to be kept to a minimum. Maybe I was right, that it had been a bad idea to have Edward in here with her after all, especially with what she had just accused him of. Neither of us could have foreseen that Victoria was going to spout off this bull shit, though. I was pissed off enough for the both of us before, and now with her insinuating that he had taken advantage of her, it was really too much. I could only imagine how Edward was taking it and what he actually wanted to say to her. He was staying surprisingly calm, maybe a little too calm, but I didn't know how long that was going to last. I needed to intervene before things got too out of hand. Besides, I was ready to lay into her; I wasn't about to let Edward have all the fun.
I gingerly turned towards Victoria to observe her: she looked as resolute as ever, like Edward was the one making this entire thing up. When she noticed I was watching her, though, she softened her demeanor. "Bella, you believe me, don't you? Why would I lie to you about this?" she asked in a gentle voice, the way one might speak to an infant. She was trying to lull me onto her side by trying to make me feel protective over her- by making herself look weaker than she actually was. I supposed she thought I was easily convinced by her dramatics…
Edward and I moved closer to each other, as if we both knew we needed to put forth a united front. We needed to show Victoria we were on the same page and that nothing she said would turn us against each other again. Even though I knew that everything she said was a lie, there was something about her that made you want to believe her. Victoria's manipulation skills were far more advanced than I gave her credit for but her evasion from the truth was stopping here. Edward had been right; she was trying to play us against each other. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice...fuck you, that wasn't going to happen.
My face hardened in resoluteness and anger. "Well that is the question of the hour: why would you lie about this in the first place? What, exactly did you have to gain from breaking us up? I think that matter needs to be addressed since that's the only true statement you've uttered since I came in here. What's your motivating force, I mean, aside from just being a bitch?" I asked her point blank, beginning to pace in front of her.
"What are you talking about – I didn't have any motives. I wasn't trying to hurt you – I was just telling the truth. You deserve to know the truth and what you're getting yourself into – that's why I told you. He's the one who did this! You should be mad at him; I didn't do anything wrong. I'm just trying to help you; can't you see that?" she pleaded, her voice trembling and tears welling up in her eyes again but I cut her off.
I moved from Edward's side and went directly in front of Victoria – I was done playing. If she thought he was menacing, she hadn't seen anything yet. I would make Edward look like a fluffy puppy. "Cut the crap," I growled at her, moving even closer to her. There was no way that I could conceal my true feeling for her any longer and my face showed that. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I paced: I looked fierce and deadly, even he took a little step back. "There's no fucking way I'd ever believe anything you have to say after everything you've already done. You're a lying, manipulative, nobody who makes calculated moves solely for your own benefit. You don't care about anyone other than yourself. I take back all that about wanting to know what made you want to do this cause, now, I don't fucking care since your sticking with your little story," I told her coldly, now circling around her like a shark stalking its prey. She was a whimpering mess who looked slightly deflated, like I had taken the air out of her sails, but I could tell that none of this was genuine; she was still trying to get me to buy into her act.
"So listen very closely now: I'm done with your lies and false accusation. All of this stops tonight: I want you gone. I'll even be generous and give you until the end of the week. You can either leave Forks and this school on your own accord, pretending like this year never happened and never uttering a word about Forks, this past year, me and my friends ever again, or I will personally make your life a living hell. You think I don't mean it: try me," I told her menacingly, without flinching. "I'll make this little game you're trying to play look like a day at the beach by the time I'm done... You got that?" I threatened, meaning every word I said. If she didn't believe me, I dared her to challenge me. In fact, I wanted her to.
She straightened up suddenly and looked me square in the eyes. Apparently she was over playing her games too. "What? Did you really think I was just going to leave 'cause you told me to'?" she asked with a sickeningly sweet laugh, blinking away her tears in an instant.
This chick was a psycho… She was acting like a crazy person you see in all those slasher flicks with her frantic laughing and the insane look in her eyes. I braced myself for the serial killer knife to come out of her clutch while she cackled away at any moment.
Her face morphed into something cold. She was no longer that scared and timid girl with tears in her eyes who had tried to convince me that she was really on my side – her true feelings were now on display. There was a fire in her eyes and a swagger about her that I hadn't seen before – like there was nothing we could do to get to her: that she was untouchable. Finally, we were about to see the real Victoria. "You think you scare me? Or any of you for that matter?" she said, glancing fleetingly at Edward, before stepping closer to me so that there were mere inches apart. "Bring it on cause I'm not going anywhere. Your reign of supremacy is over Prom Queen," she spat at me as a cruel smile danced across her lips.
Edward was by my side immediately as Victoria reached for her purse behind me. He must have been worried she was going to try to hit me and some sort of battle royale was going to break out in the middle of a girl's bathroom. We were both on edge but I wasn't about to go all trailer park on her ass.
Victoria just grabbed her purse, without trying anything else, and headed for the door. "Be seeing you," she said, giving me an air kiss before leaving.
"I was hoping she would say that. Let the games begin," I stated, adjusting my crown.
It had been a couple days since Prom and we had all been laying low, which was slowly killing me. We had decided it was best to let a little time pass before any of our plans came to fruition but I was getting more than a little impatient. I was not one to wait around to get what I wanted… And what I wanted was Victoria gone now; was that really too much to ask for? Ever since Prom she had been walking around the school like she owned the damn place and my tolerance was very quickly waning.
Jane had already been notified and had given Victoria's test to her "customer" earlier in the week. The class had taken the last Friday so they should be getting their grades today, especially since Edward had asked Jane not give back the tests until today. Victoria should also have gotten her English paper back today as well, if they hadn't already been returned. The papers were due weeks ago but teachers' return rate of papers at this school was abysmal – it wasn't surprising that it had taken this long. But even this had been a wait - the grades should be in by now, damnit. I knew we couldn't control the turnaround rate of the English papers, since our inside person didn't even know that she had helped us, but a month for grading was morethan enough time.
I checked my phone yet again; the fifthtieth time in the last twenty minutes. Edward was supposed to send me a text confirming that Jane had passed back the tests but there was still nothin... I started worrying. My brain was racing a mile a minute, concocting different scenarios in my head which didn't help matters. The longer I waited the more elaborate the scenario became. The teacher could have found out about Jane's cheating ring, forcing Jane to use our plan for Victoria as leverage to get out of her punishment and which woulod get Edward shipped off to god knows where because they tried to make an example out of him... Jane was always a favorite of Aro's, a pet of his even, and if Edward was implicated... He would be going down instead of her, without a doubt. By the time the text would actually come, this scenario would probably have Edward in some Siberian prison exiled for some unknown reason. I thought, without a question, that we were done for. The text just needed to come, if only just to keep my sanity.
I began anxiously tapping a pen against my desk. I just needed to know things were okay. Once I knew that, that things were good and that the second phase of the plan had been set into motion, I could finally sit back and relax a little: we would be in clear. Edward just needed to send that damn text… now.
"Can you chill out; you're going to break your pen in half the way your tapping it," Em teased, grinning. "That or the pen's going to fly out of your hand and impale someone in the eye."
I glared at him; I was notamused.
"Don't you give me that death stare; it's not my fault he's not texting you faster. Besides, if anyone's going to stare the other person down it should be me staring you down. It's been five days – five whole days - and you have yet to tell be about the whole Jasper-and-Alice-are-a-couple secret-and-having-a torrid-love-affair. I'm truly offended I wasn't included in this cover up AND that you kept it from me," he said, feigning hurt feelings. "How rude!"
"That's nice," I stated absentmindedly, still staring down at my phone. I hadn't paid attention to what he had said, really. It was most likely something about Rose; I could rely on that. Or maybe it was Jasper; he was still bitching about J being Prom king. No wait, he just said something about Alice and Jasper, which I had to probably respond to accordingly...and I hadn't. He would know I wasn't listening to what he was saying if I didn't respond the right way quickly. I thought about it for a minute and tried to recollect what he just said: it was about not telling him about the two of them, yet again. Something else to add to Em's 'What to Bitch about Today' list. "Don't feel too bad – I didn't say anything to Edward either," I told him, focusing a little more on what he was saying.
"Well, then spill it," he said, yanking the phone away from me. "I'll at least feel better that I found out before boy wonder."
I glared at the phone-napper and reached for the phone, willing him to give me the phone. I didn't want to tell him anything right now, especially since he jacked my phone. I would have protested in a more verbose manner but I didn't want to make a scene in the middle of Psych. We were working in partners, so it was already loud, but I figured that yelling, and possibly even punching, would arise suspicions and draw a bit too much attention.
"Give it back," I growled quietly. He simply shook his head with a growing grin. I extended my hand even further, so that it was now across his body, but still nothing.
"How bout I put it between the two of us, in the middle, so you can see if it blows up while you tell me about Alice and Jasper. I need details and it seems like you're only going to tell me if I'm holding your phone hostage," he said with a chuckle. "Besides, I think it would be in everyone's best interest if we discuss this topic when Rosie isn't around. She's still freaking out about the two of them and more than a little pissed that no one told her about it. She's a lot less angry at Alice for some reason– which I don't get at all. I told her the reason no one told her was because you all knew she was gonna act like a god damn crazy person but she didn't really wanna hear that either. See this bruise," he said pointing to his arm with a slight pouty face, "that's what she did when I simply mentioned to someone else that they were sorta cute together."
"What, can't keep your woman in check?" I laughed. I tried to keep my mouth shut and stay annoyed with him but I couldn't help it; Emmett was always able to lighten the mood and distract me. The topper of all this was Rosalie beating him up: that was always, and will always be, hilarious. You can't stay upset with Emmett when you can visualize Rose punching him and Emmett just sitting there and taking it. "Don't act like this is because Rose isn't around. I know this is just because you're dying of curiosity. We all know you're the biggest gossip out of all of us – hands down. You're so nosey. And, on top of it, you're fucking pushy about it too; you're the one who should really relax," I teased back.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah; I'm a girl… let's move past that. Get on with it missy!" he further pressed, getting antsy.
He wasn't going to quit harassing me until I finally gave in and told him. I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to rehash the rise of Alice and Jasper as a couple - again. For the second time this week I was forced to discuss them; didn't people realize I had other things on my mind? Edward had tried to get info out of me too but I, somehow, stayed strong then. Well, the starting to make out with him probably had something to do with my ability to distract him. Unfortunately, I couldn't just make out with Emmett to get him off my back... well, not without some repercussions.
I was sick of discussing all things Alice and Jasper. Being the secret keeper has its pros, but generally, it isn't what it's made out to be. You're the one people confide in and are expected to stay mute about it until they're ready for the big unveil but then when everything comes out in the open you'rethe one who gets all the damn questions and everyone gets mad at for keeping it a secret– not them. Balls! Hopefully this would at least be a good distraction from glancing at my phone every two seconds.
I let out a huff, letting him my exacerbation with this subject. Emmett ignored it, though, making a hurry up motion with his hand. Like I said, the bastard was getting antsy. "There's not really much to say about the two of them. I mean, you know Alice – once she puts her mind to something, she usually gets it. This time, what she wanted was Jasper," I explained, fumbling with my pen again and trying hard not to stare at the phone. So far, distraction not working…
"So this happened fairly recently then?" he asked, snatching the pen away from me too now. He was quite grabby today…
I tilted my head to the side and bit the side of my mouth. "I wouldn't, exactly, say recently… maybe a little while after you and Rosalie got together. Maybe a little before? I'm not exactly sure; they were definitely together when we went to LA," I answered him.
"What?!" he yelped. All the desks close to us turned around to see what the commotion was all about.
"I just told him I got into Columbia," I explained to our classmates, trying to placate their interest. It seemed to work because they quickly went back to work over the lack of news. Getting into Columbia wasn't really noteworthy in Forks: it was like getting into a junior college – it was everyone's fallback school.
That threw Em for a loop. "Wait you got into Columbia? I didn't think you applied," Emmett asked, confused.
"I was throwing them off the trail Em…" I mumbled to him.
"Oh," he said sheepishly and looked down. "Anyway, I knew that asshole was seeing someone! Jazz had been all secretive and vague about his plans and what he'd been doing after school since October but he kept denying that he was seeing a girl; he kept claiming that he was working on college applications or some bullshit like that. Granted, I thought he was just fucking some cheerleader that he wanted to keep a secret… but my instincts weren't wrong and I was right about the cheerleader!" Emmett beamed, proud of himself. "Wait, so you've known this wholetime, for like seven months? And you said nothing?"
"Kinda…" I replied, looking away from him and evading the question. Like I said, the secret keeper always got the brunt of it.
I looked back down and the moment I had been waiting for had arrived. My phone had gone off; Edward had finally text! And not soon enough; I didn't want to hear Em bitch even more about how I'd kept him in the dark this whole time.
"So all those times they were meeting for ASB or music committee they were…. Wait a minute, there never wasa music committee was there? It was just something Alice concocted so the rest of us wouldn't question why they were together so much," he stated, the light bulb going off.
Sometimes it took a while for him to connect the dots... I couldn't be bothered answering him, though, my phone was lit up and I wanted to see what that text said. I grabbed my phone and quickly opened up the text.
We're good. Alice already got a call
It was good news: everything was fine and had gone to plan. This text was concocted to let me know everything was okay without explicitly saying anything. We were taking precautions so that nothing could get traced back to us later on, just in case someone's phone got intercepted. I felt a heavy weight lifted off my shoulders; no one was getting expelled...today at least. I finally relaxed against the chair, closing my eyes and allowing my neck to rest against the top of my chair, as I handed my phone to Emmett so he could read the text.
"We'll discuss at lunch?" he asked.
I nodded my head, keeping my eyes closed since I knew the bell was about to ring. I just wanted to enjoy this for just a moment before we started this process allover again. It was pointless to rehash this with Emmett now when we were meeting up with everyone at lunch in two minutes and would have to go over the next phase of the plan again. I exhaled; everything was working out as planned. There was no reason for me to have been stressing but that was me, the worrier.
"Remember your paper on some form of psychosis is due this Friday," Dr. Leonard reminded us as the bell let us out.
This paper was cake; it hadn't taken me more than a couple hours to crank it out. I didn't need to do any research whatsoever. I had my very own, personal case study on delusional and obsessive behavior to use… thank you Victoria.
Em and I walked to our lunch table. The other four were already there, sipping on coffee, nibbling at their lunches and generally acting like nothing was adrift. Jasper and Alice were in their newly, veryPDA filled coupled up state, whispering inside jokes between the two of them, while Edward and Rosalie were bickering over something which could be heard from across the room. Like I said, the norm – it was an off day if Rose and Edward weren't bickering.
"Hey babe," Emmett called out before grabbing the seat next to Rose and giving her a quick kiss. I took the last open seat in between Alice and Edward. The seating breakdown had become the new standard and went as followed: Jasper, Alice, me, Edward, Emmett, Rosalie. Rose and Jasper needed to be kept as far away from each other as possible at all times. They still weren't really speaking and if they did, a full scale brawl usually followed. Generally at school they tried to remain civil and keep the peace, saving all the real fighting for when it was just the six of us.
"How was class?" I asked casually, trying to keep things very generic and boring; just in case anyone was listening in.
"Same old crap, nothing exciting," Alice commented in the same bored tone, passing me a note in the process.
I opened the halved paper and found that the note was actually from Mr. Davidson asking Alice to come to a disciplinary hearing after school. I felt Edward's head next to mine – he was reading the note along with me. His head was in the crook of my neck, resting comfortably there; this small action made my heart do a quick little flip.
"Everything went smoothly in class for me too," Edward told everyone else. Apparently he hadn't sent anyone else a text about what went down as they all looked over at him anxiously. "I told you everything was going to be alight," he said, low enough so that only I could hear him, and then kissed the side of my head.
I passed Alice's note over to the other side of the table so they could check it out. Rose read the note and asked, "Has she been notified yet?"
Alice shook her head. "They wanted to make sure everyone could make it to the meeting before they told her. They'll probably spring it on her now or next period. They don't like to give the accusee a lot of time beforehand just in case there's evidence they try to manipulate," she explained.
Emmett raised his eyebrows doubting that was actually the case.
"It's happened in the past and the person got off scot free," Alice continued.
"Ok, so they'll spring it on her, you guys will have a meeting, and everything will go down accordingly? Yet another successful takedown gone off without a hitch," Rose stated putting it all together.
Alice scrunched her face in frustration for just a moment and then frowned. "In theory that should happen but I can't predict what the committee is going to decide. I can only press so much before suspicions arise over my motives. I believe that they'll choose expulsion, since she was caught twice for cheating, but who knows," she explained, slightly dejected. I knew she wanted absolute certainty about the outcome of this hearing but couldn't guarantee anything which was driving her nuts.
Alice was always right: either by knowing the outcome ahead of time through skewing facts in her favor, convincing people into believing what she told them beyond a doubt, or making sure she was able to manipulate people and the evidence. It was the rarity when she was indecisive over anything and she hated that feeling. It made her anxious which seemed to be contagious as I looked at my friends around the lunch table. This was the only time I had ever seen Alice shaken in her abilities.
"Well you are a stickler for the rules," Edward mused, trying to lighten the mood. "If they know you at all they'll know that, that is your motivation for her expulsion. I have full confidence in you persuasion capabilities munchkin," he said, putting on a brave face and attempting to reassure her. I could tell he wanted to believe what he was telling her but even he was uncertain of the outcome.
"Well that makes one of us," she said pouting and pushing away from the table.
"Hold on... "Jasper mumbled, with a look on his face that made it seem like he was working out something in his head. "Wait a damn minute...," he said with more enthusiasm and smiling. "What if there was more evidence presented at this hearing; wouldn't that almost guarantee her expulsion?"
Alice glanced over at him confused for half a second and then immediately understood. Her face lit up instantly and she started planting light kisses all over his face causing him to laugh and making Rosalie shudder and make a heaving noise. "You're brilliant!" she exclaimed with a jubilant clap.
"Is that why you're dating him?" Rosalie murmured.
Emmett elbowed her in the side which she did not take kindly to. Jasper ignored the comment altogether; he had learned it was better to ignore than to engage when this topic came around with Rose; unless he was in the mood for a very loud argument.
"Maybe..." Alice teased, as if she was going to give this idea some serious thought before she intertwined their fingers and started giggling to herself. Jasper smiled back, lifting their hands and kissing the back of Alice's before pulling her closer. They were just so damn adorable together.
My usual moment of happiness over their cuteness was cut short, though; I was utterly perplexed over what the hell J and Alice were talking about. I looked over at Em, Edward and Rosalie who looked just as confused. We were missing something – and I felt like it was something obvious. Edward looked over at Alice for a moment and exchanged looks now too. I watched him as he quickly realized what was going on. It only took him a second to get on the same wavelength as the other two; it was really quite annoying when he did that. Edward was always so perceptive and attuned to what everyone else was thinking.
"Do you think you can manage to delay the hearing?" Edward asked with a smug grin, pleased with the turn of events. His demeanor, as had Alice and J's, had shifted from skepticism to utter certainty.
Like I said: annoying. Didn't he think the rest of us wanted to know what was going on?
"That I can definitely do," Alice said with a dazzling smile. "I'd be disappointed in myself if I couldn't."
"Maybe not tomorrow but later tonight, in the evening?" Edward added but Alice was already shaking her head like she had already thought of that.
Before Alice could say anything more, I cut her off. "Um, do you mind telling the rest of us what the hell is going on? I'm glad you three have this figured out but I would really like to know what the hell you all are talking about," I sighed, irritated.
Edward pulled me closer and kissed the side of my head again once he noticed my agitation. That fucker loved it when I was irritated – he couldn't help but smirk. My irritability greatly lessoned once he did that – I couldn't help myself. "The pictures Bella," he explained. "We just need to get them to Victoria's parents before she's notified of the ethics hearing; the drugs and the partying will further reinforces her downward spiral to her parents and the ethics council. Alice will look like the concerned student worrying over her well being, looking out for Victoria's best interest. But the pictures have to come before hand otherwise it'll look sketch."
It took me a second to put all these pieces together. "J, that really is brilliant," I stated with a smile.
Jasper looked offended. "What's with all the doubt? Did all of you think I was Emmett?" he joked.
Emmett threw an empty water bottle at him which Jasper easily avoided. "And that's why I'm king punk," he told him with a wink, just to rile Em up even more. Jasper always loved pushing his buttons.
"Don't," Rosalie warned without even looking over at Emmett, her tone said enough.
"Fine," Em grumbled.
"Alice, why don't you go arrange a later meeting time and make sure that the announcement hasn't gone out yet," I suggested, steering the conversation back to its original topic.
"I'm already on it – emailing as we speak," she said, getting up and typing away on her phone. "You talk to Mikey and tell him I'll give him the deets for tonight soon," she shouted before disappearing into the hallway.
And with that the bell rang signaling the end to yet another lunch. This period was over faster than anticipated but that tended to happen when we plotted. The rest of us gingerly made our way up from the table, throwing away the remainder of our lunches and heading to our prospective classes.
"Let me know what's up – if you need any help," Rosalie called out as she and Emmett disappeared into the hallway. I nodded before they were totally gone hoping that she saw this.
Edward pulled me along to Bio as I processed the change in plans and how this was all going to go down. The worrying swept over me once again. I had a feeling the change in plan would work but I couldn't help but be concerned; overanalyzing and worrying was just in my nature. "Are you sure this is going to work out?" I asked him with skepticism in my voice, peering over at Victoria across the courtyard.
"Just let Mike know what's up – everything will be fine," he reassured me. "There's absolutely nothing to worry over."
"What's taking so long?" I asked, pacing back and forth across my room.
"They'll be here soon; just relax," James replied.
Soon? Relax? Those two words were no in my vocabulary at the moment. James had said that exact same thing to me 20 minutes ago and they still weren't here and I wasn't any calmer. In fact I had worked myself up even more. Mike and Alice had gone over to Victoria's house hours ago and we still hadn't heard from anyone yet: not a peep. I was starting to get very worried. I looked over at everyone else – they didn't look worried. Was I the only one freaking out? They looked a tad on edge but no one else was stressing the way I was; they looked more anxious than anything else.
I glanced at the clock again: it was almost 9:30. The meeting at school had to be over by this point.
"I'll be right back," Edward said making his way for the door. "Grabbing some water – anyone else want anything?"
No one answered or paid much attention to him. None of them appeared to be worried but no one was exactly have a grand ole time either. I glanced down at my phone again – still nothing. I paced some more trying to kill time. The minutes seemed to drag on – five minutes felt like an eternity. I now wished we had gone with Emmett's plan of bugging Alice and Mike while they talked to her parents so we could have at least heard what went on. No, I thought that was going overboard, that it was unnecessary – Jesus that was stupid.
I walked to my other window, which faced the backyard, and noticed that the light in the library was on which was odd. No one went in there except for me and dad – and he was away on business. I strained my eyes, looking at little harder to see if I could make out who was in there but I saw nothing. I was too far away. The door opened and I saw Mike walk into the hallway. Without hesitation I flew out my room and down the stairs.
"B, where are you going?" Jasper yelled out but I was already a few feet from the library now.
Mike was standing on the outside of the room just waiting, like he was expecting me. "What took so long? Where's Alice? How did it go? What did they say? Why didn't you call? Why are you in the library? Who else is here?" I asked. Questions were popping up in my mind faster than I could spit them out.
"Stop, take a deep breath and just relax," he told me.
"Everyone needs to stop telling me to relax – what happened?" I ordered loudly, not quite at yelling level yet. I would refrain from doing that unless I didn't get the answers I was searching for.
"Chill - everything is fine; there's just been a change in plan," he explained, staying very stoic and calm.
A change in plan – I didn't like how that sounded. "What do you mean exactly?"I inquired, lowering my voice slightly.
"Bella, you've got to stay calm. Do not go flying off the handle; you've got to promise me that before I tell you anything," Mike stated.
I just looked at him; I wasn't about to make any promises about staying calm when it involved Victoria. "Tell me what it is now and then I'll decide if I'm going to stay calm or not," I hissed.
"Bells, I'm serious – this is all on thin ice so you've got to stay even keel," Mike pressed.
I couldn't imagine what was going on that I needed to stay so calm about. And what was he talking about 'on thin ice'?
"Just promise Bells," he urged.
I considered it and then finally nodded my head. I'd try my best… He gave me an earnest look; he wanted me to say the words.
"I promise…" I told him, begrudgingly.
"Okay, then we can go into the library," he stated, opening the door. "Just think of you happy place – waterfalls, beaches, puppies…calm thoughts, okay?"
I walked through the door and Edward immediately grabbed my hand and then wrapped his arm around my waist. For a brief second I thought he did this just out of normal habit but when I saw Victoria, I knew this was to restrain me. All I could see was Victoria; I couldn't focus on anything else except for her. Why was this bitch in my house?
"Michael Alexander Swan!" I yelled. My brother had totally lost his mind. Why would he bring her here; to our house of all places? Edward kept a firm grasp around me as I lurched for Mike. I fought him on this and made it a fair distance before Edward pulled me back to him. Even as he pulled me back I still tried to wiggle out of his grasp. I might be small but I was scrappy.
"Let's just hear her out," Edward whispered, as he played with my hair trying to get me to simmer down.
Now I looked at him like he had lost his mind. What was wrong with both of them and where the hell was Alice? And again, why was she in my fucking house!
"Now repeat everything you told me at your house to them: verbatim," Mike ordered coldly, as he turned and locked the door to the library. The message was clear: one way in and one way out.
Victoria walked around, looking at the books and making herself comfortable before she settled in to tell us whatever information she had.
She was just wasting our time: I knew it, she knew it – we all knew it. She was just stalling so she could come up with some way to get herself out of this. I didn't believe for a second that she had anything of use to say to us. I started fighting against Edward's arms, again, to get closer. If they weren't going to say anything to her and kick her out of my house, I sure as hell was; Edward kept his arms locked around my waist, though, I wasn't budging.
"Love, calm down – Mike had to have brought her here for a reason," Edward said only to me. His voice was so low I doubted anyone else could have heard him.
I looked up at him and he gave me a quick kiss, calming me down a little more. I adjusted, settling into a more comfortable position against his chest as he held me. I was positive he wasn't about to let me go, so I figured I'd make myself as comfortable as I could.
"It would probably be in your best interest to get to the point quickly," Edward elaborated coldly, glancing at me for a second. I was staying calm for now but I think we all knew that could change at any minute.
"Before I say anything – I want a confirmation that all this cheating bullshit will be dropped. I'm not saying anything until I get your word on this," she said.
Both Mike and Edward shook their head resolutely. I did nothing though – I was not agreeing to that if I could avoid it.
"No, I don't want to hear it from you two: I want to hear it from her," Victoria spat.
Everyone looked at me. I didn't want to make this promise because I didn't want to keep it. I wanted her gone; no, I wanted her destroyed. I stood there motionless. Victoria and I sat there staring at each other for minutes.
"Just agree to it," Mike said, moving closer to me.
"I can't; I'd be lying. All I said was I'd hear her out – that is it," I commented back. I was fuming that Mike had put me in this position.
"She said she would leave," Edward interjected.
I turned and looked at him. Did he know what she was about to say? "And you trust here?" I scoffed, giving her the dirtiest look I could muster. "When did she say this; do you know what's going on?" I asked, turning back towards them and getting more upset that Mike and Edward were keeping things from me too now.
"Mike said she told him that. She hasn't said anything since I came in the room: she was waiting for you," he explained.
I looked back at Victoria and studied her posture and overall demeanor: she didn't seem aggressive or that she was lying but I needed to have her say this. "Is it true? Will you leave if I pardon you?" I asked her.
"Pardon me? Who do you think you are? I can't believe I'm about to do this," she scoffed.
Both Edward and Mike gave me a hard look, trying to curtail anything I was about to say - which didn't work. "Who am I?" I began, narrowing my eye at her and ready to unleash everything I had pent up since I walked in the door.
Edward cut me off, though. "Well you don't have to; we'd be more than happy to go along with everything that's in the works already," he replied harshly.
She considered this for a moment before answering. "I'll go as long as all the charges against me have been dropped. I just want this done with. I want some semblance of a life back eventually," she replied in almost a defeated manor. But I'd seen this act before – I couldn't trust what she was saying.
"And once you've helped us out," Mike interjected.
"And once I've helped you guys out…" she repeated, with a slight edge to this bit; she didn't want to help me out one bit.
I looked over at Mike first, who seemed to believe what she said. Then to Edward, who looked more skeptical, but still seemed to believe she was being truthful. They both wanted me to hear her out, so I'd take one for the team and listen. No one could ever say I wasn't a team player…
I thought about my choice of words before I spoke; if I was about to agree to this I wanted to make sure there were no loopholes in my statement. I didn't want to give her any wiggle room at all. "Fine: once you explain what happened and assist us in any capacity that we need, all charges against you will be dropped and you can go on your merry way and never come back to Forks again. And when I say never, I mean it. No coming back to see family, friends, transcripts whatever – I want you gone. Make up whatever excuse you want to your parents to get them to move but get it done," I told her.
"So you're exiling me?" she exclaimed as if this was some ridiculous notion.
"That's exactly what I'm doing – those are the terms. You can start all over, from scratch with a clean record as long as you never come back here, or no deal. The cheating, the pictures… everything will follow you," I warned, with just a hint of a smirk on the edge of my lips.
She glared at me for a moment; she didn't want to agree but she had no choice if she wanted her life to go back to the way it was. "Fine," she agreed, begrudgingly.
"So spill it then," I told her.
Again, she just stared at me; giving me the dirtiest look imaginable. I knew she had to hate the fact that I was telling her what she could and couldn't do which just made me smile even more.
"Where exactly do you want me to start?" she asked looking at Mike.
"Why don't you start after the part where your parents said they're sending you to rehab once the school year is over," Mike suggested.
I knew this bit of information shouldn't make me even happier but it did. I could rest assure the summer would be calm because her ass would be locked up in the middle of Utah or something.
"Fine," she said flatly, clearly not thrilled with the fact that she had to go to rehab either. "Once my parents were done praising Alice and Mike for trying to 'steer me on the good and righteous path', as my father put it, I was desperate to not get kicked out of school too. I wanted to at least have a clean academic record, since my personal one is going to be tainted with this damn rehab stint. I needed to make sure nothing was going to stay in the way of my future college plans; getting expelled for cheating and drugs isn't exactly something desirable at Oxford. So I tried anything I could think of as a bargaining tool, even if that meant helping you. I told Alice and Mike everything I knew about what was going on. That I wasn't alone when I planned all of this," Victoria said, taking a breath.
Now my curiosity was piqued. She wasn't alone in this? That made sense – she would have needed someone to help with all of this. Why didn't I think of this sooner?
"I told them how I was approached by someone. They asked if I was interested in dating Cullen and if I wanted to knock Bella down off her giant pedestal. The answer to both of those was of course, yes. You know, you really thought you were untouchable, that you could do no wrong… It was a lot of fun to take you down a few notches especially since you act so much better than the rest of us. You know you're not right?" she said pausing again but this time waiting for my response.
I said nothing to her. I just watched her, waiting for her to continue. She wasn't going to bait me into anything; I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
She snickered a bit. "At first I had doubts since you were nice to me, much nicer than the rest, but then your true colors came out. You weren't any better than Alice or Rosalie, in fact, you were worse. At least with them you knew what you got; you always knew your place with them. Initially, it was difficult figuring out how best to take you down but then the whispers about you and Cullen began and I knew the best way to proceed. When the date auction presented itself I knew that was the way to go about it; I could kill two birds with one stone. I had no problem securing Edward in as a date, especially with my benefactor 's help behind the scenes; he wanted to see the two of you torn apart even more than I did. Then it was just a matter of acting. You're so gullible Bella – I couldn't believe that just being in Edward's room and having his shirt on was all it took to make you believe we had slept together. And Cullen, such a boy scout, ready to come to anyone's aide at a moment's notice. Jesus, you believed what I told you, hook, line and sinker too. What the hell is wrong with both of you? I guess you're bond wasn't as strong as you tried to make everyone believe it was," she commented, with a faint cruel smile.
I felt my fists balls up and my breath pick up. Edward pulled me closer and started playing with my hair again. I wasn't sure who he was trying to comfort: me or himself. His body had become tenser as her story progressed and his breathing was steady and even- something he did to calm himself down. This had been an intricate plot from the get go and he was not happy about that.
She took a sip of water from the bottle she was holding onto and relaxed into a large chair facing us; she was getting comfortable. "Then it was just a matter of keeping the two of you apart and throwing you off our trail. I told him the Roofie thing wasn't going to help the situation but he just didn't want to listen. I mean it didn't really bother me drugging you but I just didn't see how that was going to help matters. I knew they'd try to pin it on me in the end but they couldn't make it stick without incriminating themselves either so I wasn't too worried," she continued but the rest had kinda turned into white noise.
At this point I knew exactly who she was talking about and I was seeing red, literally. I couldn't see anything at all; I was blinded by my rage. I couldn't even think I was so mad. I now fully believed the defense people used when they claimed they didn't remember whatever heinous crime they did because it was in the heat of passion or overwhelmed with hatred and blacked out. He had done all of this – that fucker was truly insane. He had gone way over the line. I always had my suspicions that he had been involved with the Roofie incident but I could never back those claims up, especially since he was drugged himself. At this point I was so mad I was shaking.
"Just to confirm that we're all on the same page, you're saying Jake did all of this," Edward said through gritted teeth.
This brought me back to the matter at hand and what was going on. I was still fuming but I had somehow compartmentalized it so that I could separate my hatred for Jacob and my concern for Edward because he was furious and I didn't want him flying off the handle. I saw the hand that was not interlaced with my fingers balled up so tight his knuckles had turning white. He was trying to remain as composed as he could but it wasn't working. "Jake was the one who convinced you to do this? Tried to tear us apart? Fucking drugged Bella?" he yelled, totally enraged now.
"That's exactly what I'm telling you," she said, that damn grin still plastered across her face.
Now I was the one holding him close and trying to calm him down but it didn't seem to be working. He was livid and I didn't know how to help. I wasn't sure what exactly he was going to do but I knew it wasn't going to be good. All I knew right now was that I needed to get him out of this room immediately.
so... what did you all think? let me know! you know how i love hearing for all of you so. this was a tough chapter for me to get out for some reason so i hope you all liked it and it lived up to what you all were hoping for.
the story is winding down, probably 2-3 more chapters at most, so the posts might take a little longer than expected to get up. or i might have a wave of inspiration and get everything up in a month (though i think that is highly doubtful, lol)
the next chapter will be edward's and he's out for blood. a showdown between jake and edward is brewing...
in case you all aren't familiar with the song from the title - it'll be on my profile page