36

"Goddamn it, Esme, come on!" I yelled, pacing back and forth in the living room.

"Calm down, Edward," sighed my mother, coming out of the kitchen. "I'm sure she is hurrying."

"Yeah, Eddie, I'm coming," muttered Esme, hopping down the hall as she struggled to put on her shoes. "You almost seem excited about going back to school."

"I just need to see for myself that she is alright," I whispered, sheepishly. I felt like such a sappy mush in that moment but I had been worried about her all night.

"Well, we should go then," said Esme, clearing her throat. "Mom, Dad, we'll see you later, ok?"

"Ok," smiled Elizabeth, coming over and hugging us both. "If you need anything, just call. Bella, too."

"We will," whispered Esme.

"Be careful," said Ed.

I simply nodded my head as I slung my backpack onto my shoulder and followed Esme out of our apartment and headed down to the car. It's been two days since we left the island that had been our so called refuge from the men who were after us. The first day was spent flying back into the country while the next day had been spend sleeping. A lot. After not really sleeping at all in our few days away, both Bella and I were extremely tired. Not only were we physically exhausted but emotionally and mentally we all had been pushed well past our limit and needed to take the day to decompress.

I convinced my parents that Bella needed me to stay with her all day yesterday. I don't know that they really believed me but they let me stay with her anyway. Bella and I didn't do anything more than sleep in each other's arms but it was still one of the most amazing nights if my life. Of course, I'm the fact that Esme stayed with Carlisle helped convince them that it was okay. Plus, I think they two of them needed sometime alone as well. They still were waiting to hear if they were being sent back to Italy or not. I think a part of them was hoping they were going to get to stay here with us, Bella and her brothers included.

Esme pulled her car up in front of the school and sighed as she cut the engine. For a moment she just sat there, quietly and calmly. I knew it was hard on Esme to come back here too. She had been afraid that her sudden disappearance had cost her the job she had worked so hard for but Peter insisted that they had taken care of all of it. We didn't really trust anything those people said anymore.

"Well, I guess we should get this over with," muttered Esme. I looked over at her as she looked at me. "If you or Bella need me, you know where I am."

"I do," I said, nodding my head. "Same for you, ok?"

"Ok," smiled my sister.

Esme and I climbed out of her car and headed up the front pathway to the front doors. I tugged on the strap of my backpack as I followed her through the double glass doors. Just as I expected, everyone stopped and starred at us as we made our way down the hallway. I suppose when you disappear for a week, they are bound to ask a few questions. Esme led me down to her office, where we found Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, and Bella.

All four of them look apprehensive but Bella looked downright terrified. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was clenching her hands into tight fists. I went straight to her and pulled her into my arms, feeling her body relax immediately. So did mine. I needed to hold her in my arms just as much as she needed me to hold her.

"We need you to make it clear that they aren't allowed to come near her, Esme," said Carlisle, quietly. I laid my head on Bella's as I looked over at them. "We don't want them trying to corner her here at school."

"Ok, um, I can let everyone know that besides the four of us and my parents, neither Bella nor Edward are allowed to leave school campus with anyone else," said Esme. "You may have to go get a court order if they push it but for now, that's what I can do."

"Thank you," murmured Carlisle, taking her hand in his. "For everything."

"Anytime," whispered Esme. Emmett and Jasper both cleared their throat as if to remind them both that we were still actually in the room. Carlisle and Esme both looked up at the two of us. "Oh, right. Um, Bella, if it is ok with you, I took the liberty of rearranging your schedule so that you and Edward are in all the same classes. Is…is that okay?"

"Thank you, Esme," said Bella, quietly. "I really appreciate that."

"I just want to make this easier on you both," muttered Esme.

"Um, we should probably to get to class before Mrs. Owens gets pissed so…" I trailed off. "We'll meet you at the car after school?"

"Ok, have a good day," smiled Esme.

"Yeah, okay," snorted Bella.

Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper laughed as Bella and I headed out of the office. My sister means well but even if we hadn't just spent the last week finding out that everything Bella had been believed about her parents was nothing more than a fucking lie, we still wouldn't be having a good day. We were in high school with a bunch of assholes, after all.

Bella tightened her grip on my hand as we walked into our first class. Mrs. Owens and everyone else, stopped talking and looked over at us. Neither of us said anything as we crossed the room. I sat in my usual seat and pulled Bella into the seat that was usually occupied by Jessica. Maybe this way I wouldn't have to sit by her anymore.

"Breathe, Baby," I whispered, leaning over to Bella. She let out the breath of air that she had been holding and gave me a very small smile. "I think you can smile bigger than that."

"Maybe I-"

"You're in my seat, freak," snapped Jessica, interrupting Bella, whose face hardened into hatred as she looked up at the bitch.

"It's my seat now," growled Bella, squeezing my hand even harder.

"Jessica, take a different seat," ordered Mrs. Owens. Jessica spun around and glared at our teacher.

"That's not fair. Just because the freak is back doesn't mean I should lose my seat!"

"I said to find another seat," snapped Mrs. Owens. "I will see you in detention this afternoon since you seem to think that you can speak to me anyway you please."

"But-"

"SIT DOWN NOW!" yelled Mrs. Owens.

Jessica huffed but she moved across the room to the only other free seat in the room. She shot daggers at me and Bella, who was trying not to laugh as we saw her get her ass handed to her. But how stupid can you be to challenge your teacher after they made it very clear that you were to sit your ugly ass down and stop throwing a temper tantrum.

"Now that we got that settled," sighed Mrs. Owens, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. "We need to get started. Today, we will be discussing…."

I turned my attention away from her as she started drabbling on and on about Shakespeare and all the amazing works he had written during his lifetime. It wasn't that I disagreed with her but I just didn't really care for the man's work. I propped my head up in my fist and looked over at Bella, who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

I spent the rest of the hour just watching her stare off into nothing. I couldn't help but wonder what was going through her beautiful mind. The look on her face told me that it wasn't all pleasant. While the Bella that I had fallen in love with wasn't always the most pleasant person to be around, she had made some huge strides in being happy. Was this just one more thing that her parents had taken from her?

The bell rang sending a shrilling echo through the room. Bella flinched back a little in her seat but I don't think anyone other than me noticed. They had all gone back to ignoring us. Was it better this way? I wasn't so sure. I slid out of my desk, grabbed my backpack, and slipped my arm around Bella's waist, leading her toward the door.

"Edward, Bella," said Mrs. Owens. We stopped and looked back at her. "Is everything ok?"

"No," I said while Bella just snorted and shook her head.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked. Bella turned her body so that she was facing our teacher.

"Why do you suddenly care?" asked Bella. "A week ago, you hardly acknowledged my existence and now all the sudden you want to help. No thanks."

Bella turned and pulled on my hand to get me to follow her out of the classroom. I looked back at Mrs. Owens, who looked quite upset with the words that Bella had just spoken. Was it that she dared talked to her like that? Or was it the truth of Bella's words that were bothering her? I didn't really care either way.

I slipped my arm back around Bella's waist as we headed down the hall to our next class. As we walked down the hall, the kids on either side of us stopped and stared. It was so quiet that I could each breath they took and let out. It was annoying. What did they think we were going to do? Suddenly decide to take out everyone? Simply ridiculous.

Bella and I headed into our history class and my eyes automatically fell on the empty seat next to mine. The seat Ben usually sat in. While I was still plenty pissed with him for lying to me, he had been the first person here to really befriend me. The first person to look past all my bullshit. I shook my head inwardly as Bella and I went over and took our seats. She took the seat that had been Ben's and looked at me.

"Was this his seat?" she asked. I simply nodded my head. "I miss them."

"You do?" I asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm still really fucking-"

"Language, Miss Cullen," sighed Mr. Taylor coming into the room. "It's not really that hard to not use vulgar words."

"What would you know about what is hard or not?" asked Bella, heatedly as she looked over at him. "Sometimes in life the only word that can truly express the way someone feels is fucked."

"Not being creative enough to find a more acceptable word is just pure laziness," said Mr. Taylor, folding his arms around his chest. Bella scoffed as she mirrored his own actions and crossed her arms.

"Spoken by someone who had never experienced real pain in his life," said Bella. By now, everyone was looking back and forth between the two of them.

"You don't me or what I've experienced, young lady," grumbled Mr. Taylor.

"Oh please," spat Bella. I could feel the anger washing over her. I knew I should try to calm her down but maybe this was what everyone needed to hear. That they knew nothing about real hardship. "You are so easy to read. Let me guess. You grew up in the Seattle or someplace big like that. Your parents are still married after forty or fifty years of marital bliss."

"Bella-"

"You live in the nice little bubble where everything was good and nothing bad ever happened," continued Bella, ignoring his attempt to stop her rant. "You graduated high school, went to college, met the girl of your dreams. You studied your ass off through four years of school while everyone else around you was going to frat parties and orgies but not you. No, you were focused on making something of yourself so you didn't enjoy the college experience. You graduated with honors, married the perfect girl, and settled into life here in this shit-hole of a town. That honestly makes you feel like you are better than everyone because we are nothing more than a bunch of little shits who are uneducated morons," seethed Bella, standing up.

Mr. Taylor was standing there in the front of his classroom with his mouth hanging wide open. Everyone else was looking between the two of them with equally shocked looks on their faces. Bella shook her head once more as she crossed the classroom. She stopped in the doorway and looked back at him.

"See, you don't know shit about why the word fucked is the true definition of my life," said Bella. She looked over at me before she turned and walked out of the classroom leaving everyone sitting there looking completely shocked.