12
E
I spend first period in tardy hall because I made a stop on the way to school and got held up.
Hopefully, my plan won't backfire. There's a big possibility it could. I fucked up. Royally. I knew it the second I got in my car that I messed up. I shouldn't have left Bella to deal with Mike's dumbass alone, but I got embarrassed and it was too late to turn back around. The regret settled in the bottom of my stomach and just got worse over the weekend.
Rosalie left me threatening text messages and voicemails until I turned my phone off and spent two days wallowing in self-pity.
The idea struck on my way to school, and I ducked into the grocery store. I didn't expect the line to be so long so early in the morning or the cashier to be so slow, so I accepted the tardy slip and spent the hour trying to perfect my apology. I have three periods to change my mind if I need to.
By the time I meet Emmett and a still pissed off Rosalie in the lunch line, I'm confident with what I've come up with. I glance over to Bella's table and see that she's got her head down, resting on her arms while Angela rubs her back.
"You fucked up, man," Emmett says while his girlfriend just glares.
"I know."
I'm about to ask Rosalie for advice when Mike walks up, skipping the people behind us and ignoring their complaints.
"I don't know how you did it, Cullen." He shakes his head in disbelief.
"What are you talking about?"
Mike laughs. "You and Swan. Was it pity, or was she just desperate?"
"Shut the fuck up," I tell him through clenched teeth.
"What? Did I hit a nerve?" He chuckles. "I mean, you've got no game, man. We all saw the way you were slobbering all over her—"
I don't know what comes over me. I've always been a pacifist, but I've been dealing with Mike's shit for too long. Enough is enough. My fist collides with his jaw, and the fucker is down for the count.
It doesn't hit me until the lunch monitor is dragging me out of the cafeteria. I won't be able to make my grand gesture from detention.
Today is not turning out the way I thought it would.