Chapter Ten

March

"So, Emmett." Alice began, setting her lunch tray down at the table across from me. "What are we doing for you birthday this weekend?" I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my water.

Now that everything between Bella and I were settled, all of us began hanging out and talking again. It was strange, how everything kind of just falls in to place like that. But that's high school for you I suppose. Edward didn't sit with us anymore, instead he joined the table that Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley sat at across the small cafeteria. I was fine with that, the further away from me the better.

"Why don't we all go to Seattle for the weekend? Rent a suit or something and just absolutely plastered." Rose suggested.

"Right before finals? Yeah right," Bella scoffed.

"Honestly, I'm down for the hotel room idea. There isn't shit to do in this town unless you go to La Push and cliff dive. And even the locals are getting tired of us coming." Jasper grumbled.

"I'm going to have to agree with the Hale twins on this one. Sorry, Bells." I smirked at her as she rolled her eyes at me. The rest of us fell into easy conversation after that, leaving the final touches to the trip to Alice.

None of us were worried about getting permission from our parents, they all trusted us. And considering we all had some weird falling out for most of the year, a trip like this will be encouraged.

~~~GND~~~

"You ready for this last class with Edward?" Jasper asked as he jogged up next to me. I groaned loudly and stomped my feet like a toddler. "I'll take that as a Hell yes." He chuckled. I grinned at him before leading the way into our seventh period study class.

It was just a free period for the senior class to be able to catch up on assignments and study for final exams. Since our graduating class was so small, we only had to really take up two classrooms. Twenty students per teacher. A lot of the students used it for what it was intended too, that's what I had done for most of the year. But now that our finals were coming up and we all, well most, had applied to colleges there wasn't much else to do other than study and focus on the senior activities.

When we walked in Jasper and I made our way to the back of the class, shedding our outer jackets at the door and on the hook that was provided. We were too busy talking about the trip and laughing that we didn't even take notice to the broody redhead that hadn't sat with us lately.

"Are you lost, Cullen?" I sneered, plopping down across from him. He barely looked up at me before rolling his eyes and going back to the homework he had in front of him. "I'll take that as a yes. Tell you what, I'll give you directions. You're going to- "

"Em, leave it." Jasper cut me off sitting down next to me. Putting himself between Edward and myself. I gave him a dirty look but didn't say anything further.

We were about half-way finished with the period and I had been glaring daggers into the front of Edward's forehead for half of that, and the other half of that thinking of all the ways I could sneak Nair into his shampoo.

"Emmett, what the fuck is your problem now?" Edward smacked his pencil on the desk and his green eyes glared into my blue ones.

"I don't like you."

"Obviously." Okay Professor Snape. "Can we just forget about everything that happened this year? I fucked up, I got it. I hurt Bella, I'm aware. I hate every part of that, and I regret it. I let too much shit get to my head and thought I was untouchable."

I quirked a brow at him and leaned back in my chair with my arms crossed. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

"Guys come on. Leave it alone." Jasper begged, plopping his elbows on the table, and dropping his face in his hands.

"You think I haven't tried?"

"Not hard enough."

We were both ignoring Jasper's babbling and were having a staring contest. I heard words stop, shut up, leave it alone, oh my god, worse than females. None of which broke our concentration until the final bell rang.

Edward broke contact first and I grinned triumphantly. "I win, motherfucker." I darted out of the classroom and pushed passed freshmen to get out to the parking lot, him trailing right after my feet. I had just barely made it to my jeep, enjoying the game of cat and mouse when I felt him pull my back by the hood of my sweatshirt. He was about to swing when Jasper tackled him from behind. "Oh, come on, Jazz. Let him up if he wants to play with the big boys."

"Emmett, stop pushing him!" He yelled, pressing a knee into Edward's back to keep him down. I chucked my bag into the open top of the jeep and shed my sweatshirt, also tossing that into the jeep.

"What's going on?" Alice asked, running up beside us with Rose and Bella trailing behind.

"I'm trying to kick Emmett's ass, but your boyfriend won't get up!" I rolled my eyes at Edward's form on the ground. He was bigger than Jasper, he could easily push him off he really wanted to.

"Are you aware of what happened the last time you guys got into a fight, Edward?" Rosalie patronized, checking her nail beds. "Although, I'm ready for all of you to knock it off with all the childishness between you." Her eyes flickered up to mine and then she turned to Bella. "Come on, Bella. I'll take you home. We'll let the neanderthal play." Bella rolled her eyes at her friend and then cast a wary look at me before allowing Rose to pull her away.

"Let him up, Jazz." I said.

"No way! Are you crazy? That is not happening. Go home, Em. This is ridiculous. He apologized to you, leave it alone." I balked at Alice's words. Like I was the one that needed an apology.

"I'm not the one that needed or wanted an apology, Alice. I'm not the one he hurt; he needs to apologize to Bella. I get that he's your brother. I do." She was aggressively shaking her head at me, trying to blink away tears. "You can't protect everyone, especially when they made their own bed." I turned away from the trio and hopped in my jeep. Waiting for them to move out of the way before speeding down the road to my house.

~~~GND~~~

R&R