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Throughout the remainder of that day, Bella repeatedly thanked her lucky stars that she shared most of her classes with at least one of the Cullens. It would seem that her little outburst in defense of her friends yesterday had earned her a place on the school's blacklist. Lauren, and by extension the group of kids at yesterday's lunch table, was among the most popular in school. She was also not someone who took a rebuking lying down, and was now determined to make Bella's high school stay in Forks as miserable as possible.
Bella wasn't enormously concerned with this. It would've been nice to be someone with lots of friends and who exchanged smiles and friendly chit-chat on a daily basis...but it's not like Bella knew what she'd be missing. Besides, if she had to be perfectly honest with herself, she knew it was better this way. More friends and chatter would mean more questions that she couldn't answer. It would mean more opportunities for Bella to lose control and hurt someone. Her dance with the Cullens was difficult enough.
In any case she didn't have to worry about anything while in the company of her friends. Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie could summon pretty intense glares against anyone who dared look at Bella the wrong way. Alice's glares achieved the intended effect on her targets, but they also made Bella crack up in hysteria-which made Alice huff in annoyance every time.
"Really, Bella," she said after Bella snickered for the third time. "They won't take me seriously if you don't too. How am I supposed to strike fear in the hearts of our enemies?"
Bella rolled her eyes as they walked together through the hall, though she turned serious again soon enough.
"Alice, they're not 'our' enemies." Bella thought back to what Lauren had said yesterday-she didn't have anything negative to say about Alice then. "You don't have to make yourself a target for my sake. It's not worth it."
"Yes, you are," said Alice, in a manner that suggested the case was closed.
Bella sighed. She'd drop it for now, but the thought of Alice's life-or any of the Cullens' lives-becoming more difficult because of their intolerance of Bella's bullying...well, that was intolerable.
As far as Bella could see, she had to concentrate on two-well, three things to get herself through each day in school. She needed to be a stellar student so when it came time for college applications she'd have a chance, but she also needed to be extremely careful not to outperform Einstein or do something that would draw suspicion. Finally, she needed to avoid situations like the one in which she found herself yesterday, when she almost blew up the building. And Bella thought she had a pretty good idea on how to do that.
Luckily, Bella had study hall and lunch (the two times in the day she was Cullen-less) back-to-back, otherwise her plan wouldn't work as well as she believed it would. When the bell rang for 4th period study hall, Bella quickly veered up a rarely used staircase. When she reached her destination, a set of heavy doors locked in place, Bella furtively cast a glance around her. Finding the area deserted, she looked down at the lock. Seconds later, she heard the click of the lock coming undone. With a smile, Bella opened the door that led to the school's rooftop and closed it behind her. Problem solved, she thought.
Emmett and Rosalie were worried. It was 15 minutes into lunch period and there was no sign of Bella. They glared darkly in the direction of Lauren's table every few seconds, both wondering if the vengeful girl had done something to their friend. Of course, they knew she hadn't. They could hear Lauren and her friend, Jessica, talking about Bella and wondering where she was. They had a few new jibes they wanted to throw at her. Emmett and Rosalie growled loud enough to almost attract their neighbors' attention.
"Cool it you two!" said Jasper, who was feeling the extra tension around him. "I'm sure she's Ok. She's probably in the library."
"That's a good idea!" Emmett jumped. "I'll go check."
He was about to leave the table when something Lauren was saying to Jessica caught his attention.
"Get this, I heard from Mrs. Donaldson who heard it from her husband, who's good friends with Chief Swan that he didn't even want her to come. Even her own father can't stand her!"
"Well I heard that the Chief tried to find any other relatives who'd take her," Jessica said. "But they all think she's cursed or something and refused."
"What do you mean she's cursed?! How?" Lauren asked her eagerly.
"Well, her mom died in this really big explosion," Jessica said. "Bella was supposedly not even there, but some reports say there was a little girl who was found on the scene...the only survivor! And then she disappeared without a trace! Poof!"
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Lauren. "You think that was her? That she had something to do with it?"
"Who knows?" Jessica said, mysteriously. "But why didn't she live with her dad all this time? My mom remembers her mom. She told me they were all really happy together before they moved to Phoenix. What could've happened that would make the Chief hate his own daughter, enough to send her away across the country?"
"If that's where she really was..." Lauren let that hang.
This time, all four Cullens had to stifle their snarls.
"Alice, will Carlisle and Esme really mind if we shred these hags to pieces?" Rosalie asked.
Alice paused and looked off into the distance. "Yes," she said, disappointed.
"Damn it," Rosalie said.
Bella snuck back into the building a few minute before the bell signaled the end of lunch. When she made it to calculus before anyone else, she took a moment to congratulate herself on a brilliant execution of a rather brilliant plan. Now, she thought, all she needed to do was repeat that performance every school day for the next 26 months.
She was pulled out of her musing when Rosalie and Emmett slid into their seats beside her.
"Where were you?" Rosalie hissed, startling Bella.
"What? Oh, hi..." Bella replied cautiously. Shit, does Rosalie hate her again? Rosalie kept glaring at her, and Bella felt her heart drop in disappointment.
"We were worried, Bella Bear," said Emmett. He gave Rosalie a pointed look and she softened her features slightly as she met Bella's eyes.
"We thought Jessica and Lauren might have done something to you," Rosalie explained softly. "We couldn't find you in the cafeteria."
Bella sighed in relief, then snorted at what Rosalie and Emmett were implying. As if Lauren and Jessica could honestly stand a chance against her. Of course, without using her powers Bella was at their mercy...there were far worse punishments than sticks and stones after all, as any bullying victim could attest to. But her seven years on her own had taught her how to put a barrier between herself and the rest of the world. She had gone months at a time without uttering a word to another soul. And sticks, stones, or unkind words...Bella doubted there was anything in the world more painful than the pain she experienced on a regular basis.
"I'm serious!" Rosalie hissed again, incredulous at how lightly Bella was taking her own safety.
"Relax," said Bella gently. "I'll show you where I was. After school," she muttered as the rest of the students started to trickle in.
Throughout the rest of the afternoon, Bella spent her time implementing the other parts of her plan to 'get through high school and not kill anyone'. By the middle of AP Lit, she had even devised a fun way to get through reading books at a normal reading speed. After she was done with a page, she'd force herself to stop and then lightly tap out the lyrics of a song or two...in morse code. After a couple of minutes, she'd read another page and do the same thing again. She thought it worked pretty well as it kept her turning pages at the same rate as the other students.
She failed to notice the queer looks Jasper kept giving her.
"Bells, you're a strange one," was all Emmett would say.
Bella had kept her word and after they'd gathered their things from their respective lockers, she had taken Rosalie and Emmett to her new hideout. It was a little strange, but Bella was more accustomed to the view from higher up than from the ground. Rooftops were among her favorite places to haunt before, mainly because of their convenience and accessibility day or night. Trees were good too, but roofs tended to be more stable...especially when she slept. Not that falling from a great height could ever hurt her...
"So this is your plan? You're going to hide up here everyday?" Rosalie asked. She too was giving Bella a strange look.
"You make it sound so dreadful," Bella complained. "It's wonderful up here! Fresh air, cool breeze, birds-"
"And bees," said Emmett with a chuckle. "What?" He added when Rosalie punched him in the arm.
"And when it rains?" Rosalie asked.
Bella just pointed to her jacket. "Hoodie," she added for good measure.
Rosalie shook her head. Bella refrained from bringing up what she desperately wanted to ask...just why she couldn't have lunch with them. Bella didn't want to appear clingy, which was why she hadn't and wouldn't bring it up...but the question exasperated her nonetheless. It would be one thing if she thought the Cullens didn't want her to sit with them, but she believed the opposite was true. She had seen the wishful looks on Emmett's and Alice's faces yesterday at lunch. They wanted her to sit with them. No, there was something else going on here, but Bella thought it best to keep quiet for now.
Bella walked the length of the roof as she mulled, and turned to walk around the edge on the way back like she was accustomed to doing when in deep thought (and when she happened to be standing on a rooftop), when Rosalie suddenly pulled her back.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Rosalie asked hysterically.
"Huh?" Bella asked, confused. "Oh, Jeez no. Relax, Rosalie. I'm good with heights. See?"
Bella proved her point by doing a perfect back flip, landing two inches from the edge of the roof.
"Super Bella!" Emmett exclaimed, laughing, and mimicked her move. Soon the two of them were doing parkour tricks all over the school roof, laughing and outdoing each other with every move...while Rosalie watched with a mixture of awe, shock, and confusion.
The next few weeks followed the routine that Bella had established on her first days of school. She'd either bike or catch a ride to school with the Cullens. She'd spent the day trying to perfect the line between being super smart and super scary smart. Because of her speed, she was pretty much always able to finish her homework in class before the last bell rang, which was a good thing because her evenings were usually spent in the company of the Cullens. Much to her happy surprise, she no longer had to spend lunch in isolation either. One or more of her friends always finished lunch early and would come up to join her. They'd talk, read, or in Emmett's case, perform dangerous parkour moves until the bell rang and they reluctantly had to rejoin civilization.
After school, Bella would bike home and make herself something simple to eat. She respected Charlie's ground rules and, save for when he signed her library card application, Bella hadn't gone to see him, nor he her. He kept his word too-he never demanded or asked anything of her, and every Sunday morning like clockwork he'd slide an envelope full of money under her door. Seeing his police cruiser outside was the only sign that he even lived in that house.
Sometimes she went to the library as it was still a familiar and comforting place for her, and now that she had her first library card she could and did take books home by the bucketload (figuratively speaking of course, though she did install two baskets on her bike for the express purpose of hauling all her books). At that point in the day, after the Cullens had had their dinner, Emmett or Alice would pick her up to come over. She didn't have a cell phone, but somehow they always seemed to know where she was. She shrugged when she thought of that-it was a pretty small town...there were only so many places one could be.
At their house, Bella would relax in her pursuits of a myriad of different activities with her friends. Between video games, reading, chess and other board games, and of course working with Esme on whatever project she had going on, Bella seemed to have her little niche in the world. She was even starting to develop a small appreciation for fashion (a very small appreciation) and would occasionally acquiesce and let Alice lend her something to wear. She even found something she could do with Rosalie. When Bella got her first good look around the garage, she was was stunned into silence...not just because of the gleaming cars but at the, well for lack of a better word, 'high-techiness' of the equipment lying around. She was more surprised to learn that taking care of these cars was Rosalie's passion. She remembered the first time she saw Rosalie in that garage, wearing a workman's jumpsuit and still managing to look sexy. That was the first time Bella could say she thought Rosalie looked truly happy, and Bella couldn't begin to describe the feeling that Rosalie's blissful glow elicited in her. The next day, Bella went to the library and read every book on auto care she could find, and from that point on she made a point of hanging out with Rosalie from time to time in the garage and acting as her assistant.
There were a few times when the routine changed, and that was when the Cullens went on their extended camping trips. On those days, Bella had to endure a far bigger share of dirty looks, verbal taunts, and occasional shoves from her classmates. But it was rarely too much for her to handle. Bella had found her happy place. Whenever the abuse was close to reaching her breaking point, she would simply think of Esme's hugs or Carlisle's calm voice. She'd think of Jasper's kind eyes, Alice's musical laugh, Emmet's cheerful grin, and Rosalie's...well, Rosalie's everything...and it would be enough to calm her down. Bella had never felt so happy and secure in her life.
Which was why she was feeling both excited and apprehensive at the moment. She didn't want the happy routine to change, but surely with a family like the Cullens, things could only get better...right?
The fifth sibling, Edward Cullen, was returning home tomorrow.
Author's Note: Dun dun dun.