Alaina was waiting at the bus stop with her old hoodie flipped up over her head, covering her brown hair from the weather. The seemingly constant drizzle of the Pacific Northwest was replaced with an ice storm the night before. Back home in Michigan, school would have been easily cancelled and she desperately longed to be safely back in her bed. Although she appreciated the resiliency of Forks, she was praying that her bus didn't run off the side of the road.
She heard the familiar rumble of the bus from around the corner. As the bus pulled onto her street, she noticed that the giant tires were covered by chains to help drive in the snow and ice. Alaina smiled, feeling safer. In Detroit, she was terrified to drive in winter, so she appreciated the precautions that Forks took.
The bus stopped at her stop and she carefully walked over the icy sidewalk to the bus. The bus door creaked open, and the bus driver smiled at her.
"Mornin' Alaina," he said kindly as she walked on the bus, careful not to slip on the wet surface.
"Good morning Harry," she responded, and took her seat to prepare for the bus ride. Her motion sickness reared into full power the moment the bus took off. The mixture of skidding due to the ice and the sickening diesel fuel caused Alaina's insides to churn unpleasantly. She knew she was about to be sick. I have got to save up for a car, she thought as the gray landscape sped past her.
She let her mind wander to try to forget about the fact that she was stuck on a bus. She couldn't believe that it was only her second day of her new school… the second day of her new life. She put her forehead against the cool, frosty glass and shut her eyes to try to ease the sickness off. After a few more bus stops, the reached the school. The sudden stop did nothing to curb Alaina's impending nausea. She quickly walked off the bus, giving a quick wave to the bus driver. If she opened her mouth, she knew she would be sick.
Instead of walking to the school, Alaina moved towards the parking lot. She took deep breathes of the chilly air to settle her upset stomach as she maneuvered around the cars. The cool air was slowly calming down the acid in her body.
"Hey Detroit!" Alaina whipped her head around to see who yelled, her brown hair escaping from her hoodie. Mike Newton had spotted her from across the parking lot.
She inwardly groaned. "Hey Mike," she yelled back, but she didn't want to try to engage this early. She didn't need him following her around like a dog. He was nice enough, but he was overbearing.
Mike beckoned for her to come over to him. Alaina hesitated, but then realized he was just a few cars over from the Cullens. Although her better judgement warned against her, she started to walk over to him, yearning for a closer look at the strange family. She felt guilty about using Mike to get a better look at the Cullens, but the guilt didn't stop her.
All of Dr. Cullen's foster kids were in deep conversation around a silver Volvo. Although she couldn't hear their conversation, she could see the intense anger etched on Rosalie's immaculate face. She looked furious as her eyes darted between Edward and Emmett. Jasper had the same pained expression on his face as he did yesterday, and Alice looked annoyed, if not bored, with her sibling's fighting.
"Have a good ride with the freshmen this morning?" Mike said as she reached him. His hands were planted in the pockets of his faded letterman's jacket; he didn't move to hug her like he did yesterday. She must have scared that out of him with her immediate negative reaction.
"Ha, ha, ha." She responded, sarcastically. "It's really the highlight of my day…. Car sickness and underclassmen. You really can't get any more exciting than that."
"Why don't you just drive here?"
Alaina raised one eyebrow and resisted the urge to roll her brown eyes. "Because I don't have a car?"
"That's a good reason if I've ever heard one," Mike laughed, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Maybe I could drive you sometime -"
The rest of Mike's words were drowned out by the deafening sound of screeching tires. Alaina's breath caught in her throat as she saw an old van skidding dangerously across a large patch of ice. When she saw what the van was going to hit, she immediately lost her breath. Bella.
Bella was leaning on her red truck, headphones in, reading a book; she couldn't hear it coming. Alaina could swear that her heart stopped beating at that very moment. She was going to witness Bella, arguably her only friend in this new town, get crushed by a van.
Alaina's eyes were locked on to Bella as the van made contact with her truck. With Mike at her side, they sprinted over to the accident. Her breathing was hard as her heart beat wildly with fear. Around her, she could hear the screams of her classmates and hundreds of feet pounding against the pavement.
They reached Bella and several students, adrenaline pumping through their veins, pulled away the van from Bella's truck. What Alaina saw shocked her. Pushing against the van was Edward Cullen. They successfully pushed the van away from her and she was visibly shaking.
"Bella!" Alaina cried running towards her. "Oh my God. Oh my God!"
Alaina could hear someone yelling I'm calling 9-1-1! "Bella are you okay?"
Bella weakly nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, seemingly confused that she was alive. "I think I'm in shock."
Alaina nodded. She helped Bella stand up, as her legs looked like they were going to give at any moment. The rest of the students started to swarm around Bella, which gave Alaina a moment to glance at Edward Cullen. He was just at his car. How the hell did he make it over here so fast?
Edward locked eyes with Alaina, and gave her a strange glare. He looked equally shocked and furious. Alaina glared at him, completely baffled that the pair of them were in one piece.
"I think I hit my head," Bella said softly, jerking Alaina's mind back to her friend. She touched her head tenderly and winced.
"You might have a concussion," Alaina said. "Try not to move if you can. I think I hear the ambulance coming now!"
The sirens quickly reverberated in her ears. Alaina wasn't surprised to see the first responders here so quickly… she was the police chief's daughter.
Within moments, Bella was strapped into a stretcher and was placed into the ambulance. Edward refused the offers of the EMT, instead, he walked over to his car and followed the ambulance.
"We are going to the hospital to wait in the waiting room. You coming?" Jessica asked, bounding over to Alaina. She was bursting at the seams, not bothering to hide her excitement. She couldn't resist seeing the chaos first hand.
Alaina shook her head. "I don't think ditching on my first week here would be a good look," she shrugged. Jessica looked pleased - one less student to compete with for gossip queen. Alaina knew that Jessica would be expecting celebrity status at school tomorrow by witnessing the event first hand.
"Got it. See you!" She said, racing off with Mike to their cars. She didn't want to miss one moment of the action.
Alaina made her way against the crowd up to the school; she felt like a salmon trying to swim upstream. It was like half the school was racing to their cars to head up to the hospital. Alaina wondered how many of those students cared more about Bella or the perfect opportunity to ditch school. She had a shrewd suspicion it was the latter.
With how fast the incident in the parking lot went, she was surprised she still had a few minutes to spare before her first class started. She took her seat towards the back of the room and placed her tattered copy of Wuthering Heights on her desk. She drummed her long fingers rhythmically on her desk as she waited for class to begin.
"Good morning, Mr. Hale. So glad to see you on time today," Mrs. Crawford said as Jasper walked into the classroom.
"Wouldn't miss your class for the world, Mrs. Crawford," he drawled in his southern accent, grinning a brilliant grin at her. His perfect, diamond white teeth sparkled unnaturally under the flourescent lights of the classroom. His face had the same layer of pain as it did the day before, but Alaina could also sense concern on his beautiful features as well.
"Alaina," he greeted her, taking his seat.
"Hi Jasper," she returned, reveling in the opportunity to angle herself towards him. She mentally kicked herself for being awkwardly silent around him. She had always been a bit socially challenged, but she couldn't help but think that this magnified when she was around the Cullens.
"You look worried," he posed, looking at her curiously. He cocked one eyebrow as if trying to read her, but almost instantly reverted back to the pained expression that was on his face from yesterday.
"I am," Alaina responded, her heart aching. "I'm just worried about Bella. It's been a… weird morning." Alaina was wondering why he was even in class. Edward is his brother - isn't he worried about him?
"I'm sure Bella will be fine," he said, his expression now unreadable. The tone of his voice made it clear that their conversation was over. He turned to the front of the classroom, waiting for Mrs. Crawford to start her lesson.
Alaina was paying no attention - none of the students were. Even during Mrs. Parker's attempt at a lecture, there was a small hum of whispering enveloping the classroom.
"Really?" Mrs. Crawford said as she dramatically threw her book onto her desk. The class jumped in surprise. Her baubled scarf jingled with annoyance as she rubbed her temples. "It's no use today. Your homework is on the board. Please use the rest of the class as a study hall. I expect you all to be one hundred percent focused tomorrow after all this commotion dies down."
The class instantly erupted in chatter. Alaina quickly glanced expectantly over to Jasper, hoping he would talk to her, but he stayed glued to his seat and working on his homework. Alaina knew that he wouldn't be speaking with her, so she silently started her homework as well.
The rest of her morning classes were still buzzing with the events this morning and many of the teachers, like Mrs. Crawford, gave up on their lessons for the day, as they knew they would lose the good fight competing with high school gossip. Alaina was nervous about lunch; her classes only had a handful of students each, so she was worried that she was going to have to sit alone. Walking into the cafeteria, she was relieved to see Angela sitting at an empty table.
"Angela!" Alaina said, walking over to the table. Angela looked and and smiled her kind smile back at her.
"I thought I was going to be here alone! There was only one other person in my art class." She moved her backpack off of the seat next to her, which Alaina took.
"Same," Alaina said, pulling out her bagged lunch. "What a crazy morning."
"That's an understatement." Angela nodded. "Seriously... I don't know how much more this town can take. Two new students and a car accident in one semester? We might as well get our own reality show."
They laughed together as they ate their lunches. Angela was so easy to be around; she was kind, almost to a fault, and Alaina didn't feel like she needed to put on a show around her. She never prodded about Alaina's past, which she was eternally grateful for. The silence at the table was comfortable as Alaina looked around the cafeteria to see how many students were gone. With only a few of their classmates peppered around the lunch room, it was too easy to spot the Cullens.
"Whoa," Angela said, looking at them as well. "Rosalie looks so mad."
And she was right. Rosalie's long blond hair was whipping violently around her pale face with every movement she made. She looked to be arguing with Alice, who still had the same bored look on her face as she did this morning. With Angela's comment, Rosalie snapped her head over to their table, glaring at the two girls.
"Did she hear you?" Alaina said, startled with Rosalie's glare.
"She couldn't have," Angela responded, but she didn't sound totally convinced. "She's across the cafeteria…"
The comfortable silence was gone and replaced with heightened tension. Angela looked almost afraid to speak, and Alaina's mind was occupied with trying to read the Cullen's. Why was Rosalie so obviously angry at her siblings? And why was she fighting with Alice?
The lunch bell rang through the empty cafeteria, causing both girls to jump.
"I'll see you in gym," Angela said as they went their separate ways. She was speaking quietly now, neither of them totally convinced that Rosalie couldn't hear their conversation.
Biology came and went in the same manner that her morning classes did. Mr. Banner didn't bother trying to teach; he simply threw on a movie about mitosis… perhaps the most boring movie of all time. Alaina hated science so it was truly a test of her strength to pay attention to the movie. She found herself doodling absentmindedly in the margins of her notebook. Pretty soon, the entire page was filled with mindless drawings and she sighed, irritated with herself. This is why you're bad at science she thought to herself. You need to pay attention.
The bell finally rang, after what seemed like hours of learning about cells. Alaina couldn't have been more grateful that she was headed to P.E. Coach Clapp mentioned previously that they would be starting volleyball and it was hard to contain her excitement, even with her worry about Bella and Edward. Volleyball was her sport; she had played since she was in elementary school, and she was looking forward to blowing off some steam.
She walked into the locker room and quickly changed. Meeting up with Angela, the two girls walked over to the left side of the gym, ready for the warm up.
"I hate running," Angela said, obvious distaste in her tone.
"Me too," Alaina responded earnestly. Although she enjoyed sports, she just couldn't understand how people love to run. It felt like torture.
"We should stick together," Angela said and Alaina nodded quickly.
"Should we stretch?" Alaina asked.
Angela was already moving to sit down on the gymnasium floor. "Maybe next time," she said, laughing. Alaina followed suit. "Besides, it's prime people watching."
And she was right. It was interesting to have a mixture of the grade levels in gym. You could easily guess who was a senior. They had an indifferent, if not cocky, attitude as if they owned the school. Angela and Alaina watched the slow stream of students file out of the locker room, and her heart skipped a beat when Emmett emerged. She didn't like how he was showing off the previous day in gym, but it was almost impossible not to find him attractive. She nervously tugged on the hem of her uniform, becoming hyper aware of all the places where it fit too tightly on her curvy body.
Coach Clapp blew his whistle, signaling the start of class. Alaina helped Angela up from her seated position and waited for the next whistle to start running.
"Alright guys, we are starting volleyball. We don't have many students today, but we should have enough for two teams to play a game or two. We will review the rules tomorrow, but as you are all upperclassmen, I'm trusting that you at least remember the basics. I want you all to count off by 2s - no moving your place in line Miss O'Brien - this is how we will divide you into teams. Once the warm up is over, find a partner from your team and start warming up by passing to each other. Got it?"
The class mumbled their response. "Good. Mr. Cullen, start off with 'one.'"
He obliged in a very deep, bass voice. Although Alaina heard him speak the day before, she was still awestruck with how perfect and almost melodious his low voice was.
Angela nudged her in her ribs and Alaina was transported back to reality. She realized she was staring at him and her face flushed scarlet.
Angela mouthed the word "one" which Alaina then said aloud. It hit her - she would be on Emmett's team.
"Thanks, Angela," Alaina said, as the counting was done. "I completely spaced out."
"What are friends for?" She said kindly, nudging her gently.
They took their place to start the warm up. Coach Clapp blew his whistle, and they all started running. Emmett once again, was the first one to finish each lap. His athleticism was undeniable. For being such a large guy, he moved with a strange, even enticing, grace.
Once the warm up was complete, Alaina felt a wave of panic wash over her. Angela was on another team, so she would have to find someone to practice passing with. Her heart rate quickened as she scanned her team; she didn't want to be social.
"Hey! New girl!" a voice said from her left. Emmett. He tossed a volleyball to her.
She caught it, and stared at him in confusion, not knowing what to do with his attention. I'm so skilled at making great first impression. First Jasper, now Emmett…
"You're supposed to pass it, not catch it," he said smoothly. Alaina blushed.
She tossed the ball up in the air and set it gently over to him. "I'm Emmett," he said, bumping it back to her easily.
She returned his pass. "Alaina. I also go by new girl."
Emmett expertly set the ball back to her. She waited until the ball was close, and then spiked. Emmett effortlessly returned her hit. The ball flew perfectly back in Alaina's direction.
"You're good," Alaina said to him. He smirked in response and Alaina regretted the compliment. She could see his ego getting bigger.
"I know." He responded, and Alaina rolled her eyes.
"And humble," she retorted. They continued to pass back and forth, and Alaina was getting increasingly annoyed. No matter how hard she spiked or how difficult her pass was, he never missed returning it. And perhaps even most infuriating was that he would only bump or set the volleyball to her.
"Are you not going to spike?" She asked, slightly out of breath. Beads of sweat were forming on her temples.
"I would hurt you if I spiked to you," he said in a condescending tone. Alaina's temper was rising. Her eyes darted to his bodybuilder physique. Even if there was truth to that statement, she didn't appreciate his attitude.
"No," she said, spiking the ball particularly hard at him. "You wouldn't."
"I'm fairly certain I would, actually," Emmett grinned his perfect smile at her. His tone was cocky, and Alaina's temper was rising.
"Try me," Alaina said arrogantly. She passed the ball to him.
"I don't want to break your arms."
"Just spike the damn ball!" He returned it easily. Alaina set the ball back to him, provoking him to spike, which he did with so much power, Alaina was sure that she would be bruised down to her bone.
"Thank you," she said, trying to hide her grimace and save her pride. Emmett was right, but Alaina wouldn't never admit that to him.
A whistle blew. "Ones on the left side of the net, please. No more than 6 people on the court per team."
Alaina was grateful that their warm up was over. She scowled when her hand brushed her forearm that was the victim of Emmett's spike.
Emmett laughed as he made his way to the court and Alaina followed, noticing her expression. The game started and Alaina was feeling very confident. The game started off well; Alaina's dormant skill was evident and their team was playing very well together. Even the teacher was impressed.
"Good job, Pawlowska," he said as Alaina dug for the ball to save the other team from scoring. She was proud of herself; she forgot how much she loved her sport. Droplets of sweat were forming on her temple as she continued to play.
"Alright, let's mix up the positions please!" the teacher yelled to his class. A couple of the senior boys sniggered. "Your maturity is truly overwhelming, boys."
Each team shuffled their players around, and Alaina found herself by the net, right next to Emmett. "Don't get in my way, New Girl," he said as the other team began their serve. The volleyball bounded toward them.
"Mine!" Alaina yelled, preparing herself to receive the ball, but Emmett jumped in front of her to return it to the other side. She glared at him. He smirked in response, and she could feel her temper rising in annoyance. It's okay. It was just one pass.
The ball came back over the net, and a senior girl passed the ball to the front row. The ball was set into the air, and Alaina poised herself to spike it. Once again, Emmett blocked her, returning the ball to the other side and scoring in the process. Alaina clumsily walked backwards from the net, frowning.
"Hey!" Alaina said, unable to mask her irritation. "That was mine!"
Emmett raised an eyebrow. "Oh, did I ruin an opportunity for you keep showing off?" He quipped cruelly as the game continued around them.
Alaina gaped at him. His comment stung and she couldn't understand why he was being so cruel to her.
A whistle blew. "Alright kids! Good game today, everyone. Hit the showers - especially you two," the teacher stated, ending class. He pointed to the two senior boys from earlier. "Make it a cold one."
The class started to slowly wander to the locker rooms and Alaina tried to stay as far away from Emmett as possible. Once in the locker room, she met up with Angela.
"You killed it today!" She said, giving Alaina a high five.
"Thanks Angela," Alaina responded, tugging her school shirt over her head. "It was nice to play again."
The girls started to walk out of the locker room together. "Emmett was being a bit of a ball hog during that second game."
"You noticed that?" Alaina said, looking at Angela. She nodded. "Yeah, it was getting really annoying, actually. He said I was showing off."
Angela looked puzzled. "Seriously? I don't think you were showing off at all… And Emmett is normally really kind and goofy. I'm really surprised he said that."
"Yeah, I wasn't a fan of it, to be honest."
"Wait, Pawlowska," Coach Clapp interrupted, jogging up to meet the two girls.
Angela gave Alaina a quick side hug. "Let me know if you want to talk about it later, okay?" Angela walked out of the gym while Alaina walked to meet up with the coach.
"You played very, very well out there today. You really are a natural. Did you pay varsity back home?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I played varsity my sophomore and junior year."
"Good deal. Listen, I know it's a long time to think about it, but I'm tellin' ya, I need you to try out for the team next year. We could use a tall attacker leading the team."
Alaina's couldn't help but to smile at the prospect. "I'll definitely think about it! Honestly, I really miss playing… It takes my mind of things," she trailed off. Coach Clapp raised his hand.
"Say no more. I get it. Just think about it and bring your A-game tomorrow," he said dismissing her.
Alaina couldn't hide her grin as she made her way to the gym exit, but it was quickly wiped off her face when she saw Emmett leaving before her. She frowned as she remembered his attitude in gym.
Alaina couldn't shake her mood for the rest of the day and through the bus ride home. She was so irritated with Emmett's cruel comment. Where did he get the right to say that? But she was more mad at herself for getting as competitive as she did. She wanted to blend in with her peers and taking a gym class game of volleyball too seriously was not the way to do that.
As the bus dropped her off in front of her home, Alaina's thoughts drifted back to Bella. She was so preoccupied with Emmett's crass comment, she forgot to text Bella on the bus to make sure she was okay. Alaina cursed to herself, bothered that she had let Emmett occupy her thoughts so as long as she had.
She opened the front door and threw her backpack down next to her on the floor. She could smell the aroma of food being prepared in the kitchen, while her dad sat in his chair, watching the news. He looked exhausted.
"Hey Dad," she said, plopping down on the couch next to him.
"Heard there was a bit of a ruckus on campus today," he responded, turning to look at her. His face looked like old, tan leather. The lines on his face looked even more weathered than usual and his dark undereye circles looked as dark as a black hole.
"It was a little hectic today, yeah. Bella got hit with a car in the parking lot."
"So I heard. Chief Swan was beside himself when he got the call."
Alaina raised her eyes. "How do you know Chief Swan? Have you gotten arrested already?"
"Very funny," he said with a slight chuckle. "The interstate project is starting just a little ways from the police station. He checks in every so often on the progress. He's a good guy." He's a good guy. That was her dad's stamp of approval. Alaina had yet to meet Bella's father, but if her dad liked him, that's all she needed. "Is Bella okay?"
She shrugged. "I… I don't know, actually. She seemed okay when the ambulance took her away, but I haven't heard anything. I should actually call her." Alaina pushed herself up out of the couch.
"Before you go," her dad stopped her, turning down the television, "check in on your mother. She's, uh, not having the best day."
Alaina sat back down, her brow furrowed. "Did something happen?"
"Our lawyer called. The date has been set," he paused, his tone unreadable. "She's been working on your defence all day. It's taken a bit of a toll on her."
Alaina nodded and made her way to the kitchen, where she knew her mother would be. Her heart dropped in her stomach as she felt an inevitable panic attack coming on. She wasn't ready to face this… not yet. "Mom?" She asked, trying to get her mother's attention. She was hunched over the kitchen table, a pile of paperwork lying scrambled in front of her.
"Hi sweetie," she said, looking up and locking eyes with her daughter. Her eyes were brimming with sadness and she looked at least ten years older than she did when Alaina left this morning. "So, you've heard."
One thing Alaina had always appreciated about her mother was her bluntness. She was never one to beat around the bush with formalities or sugar coat things. Alaina nodded in response, her lip slightly trembling. Her mother was up in an instant and developed her daughter into a bone crushing hug. Another thing that Alaina appreciated about her mother was her astuteness.
Letting go of her daughter, she put her hands on her shoulders. "Just a few more weeks and this will all be over."
"I know," Alaina said, trying to pull herself together. "But that doesn't make it any easier right now."
Her mother tucked a piece of hair behind her daughter's ear. "This I know. But you are my daughter. You are strong. We will get through this one way or another."
Alaina wrapped her arms around her mother again and listened to the rhythmic beating of her mother's heart.
Pulling away, she decided it would be best to change the subject. "Did Dad tell you about Bella?"
Her mother frowned. "Yes, he did… that poor thing. How is she doing?"
"I don't know, actually. I should probably find out. Do you mind if I go upstairs?"
Her mother waved her hand dismissively. "Just be ready for dinner."
When Alaina got to her bedroom, she pulled out her phone and texted Bella.
Hey - how are you feeling?
Her phone started to vibrate a few moments later. She was surprised to see that Bella was calling her.
"Hello?" Alaina answered, shutting her bedroom door behind her. She didn't need her parents, especially her mother, eavesdropping on this.
"Hey," Bella's voice responded through the receiver. Alaina was expecting to hear her sound as if she was in pain, or at the very least, exhausted… but Bella just sounded bored. "Sorry for calling. I've been alone with Charlie all day. He's more of the "suffer in silence" type, so I needed to hear another human's voice."
Alaina laughed. "Fair enough. How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine. I don't even have a concussion," she said simply, but Alaina could tell there was another topic she wanted to talk about.
Alaina audibly sighed in relief. "Thank God. I was so worried! We all were."
"Yeah," Bella responded, choosing her words carefully. "I was just lucky that Edward Cullen was there…"
"It was the strangest thing," Alaina paused, not knowing exactly what to say to make her sound sane. "I have no idea how he got over to you so quickly. He was halfway across the parking lot by me and Mike."
"Right!" Bella said more animatedly. Alaina could tell this was exactly what she wanted to talk about. "Edward was trying to tell me at the hospital that he was standing right next to me. I know what I saw, but he was making me feel crazy."
"You're definitely not crazy. I saw him at his car, blinked, and the next thing I know he was right next to you. I mean, the whole moment was crazy so I don't know what I saw… But still."
Bella was satisfied with her answer. "I knew I wasn't crazy. How was the rest of the day?"
"Well, there were a quite a few people gone from our classes in the morning, since they went with you to the hospital. You were definitely all anyone could talk about for sure."
Bella groaned. "Great," she said, honestly disliking the attention. "Tomorrow is going to be painful."
"More painful than getting hit by a truck?"
"Honestly, I think so," she laughed.
"Speaking of painful… How much do you know about Emmett Cullen?" Alaina asked tentatively. She looked down at her forearms that were starting to bruise.
"Why do you want to know?" Bella asked. She could hear the amusement in her voice. Alaina rolled her eyes.
"It's not like that. We just had an incident in gym…" she trailed off.
"Well, to be honest, I don't know him that well at all. I don't have any classes with him," she responded. "But I've heard he's pretty nice? I know Jessica has Spanish with him and she's said before that he's a bit of a class clown."
"Interesting," Alaina said, disappointed. I wonder why he was such an ass to me earlier? "Just curious. It's not a big deal. I'll see you tomorrow, Bella. Try to stay in one piece?"
"I'll try harder tomorrow morning," she laughed. "Bye."
Alaina hung up the phone and fell on to her bed. She felt a weird mix of emotions: she was so happy to hear that Bella was okay, but she couldn't shake the annoyance of Emmett.