Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
She should've known. Until meeting the Cullens, luck was not something Bella was familiar with. She really had no reason to think she would be as lucky in her classes as she was last year. Either the school administrators thought she, Jessica, and Lauren worked well together or they were harboring a secret sadism for Bella...because the three of them shared almost every class this year. There was nothing Bella could do...not when so many of her classes would be so affected. And of course, the cherry on top of this cake from hell was that her friends wouldn't be with her for the majority of these classes.
She could feel Jasper's eyes on her as they walked out of European History together-the only class she shared with him.
"I'm fine, Jasper," she sighed.
"You can't lie to me, Bella," he whispered. "I can tell, remember?"
Bella said nothing. She merely gritted her teeth and concentrated on the path to her locker. While she could put on a brave face and act unaffected for her friends' sake, Jasper was right-she couldn't fake it with him.
All day, the whispers had followed. Even when she conscientiously turned off her ability to listen she still spied her name come up, rendering her ability to ignore her peers useless. Most likely they were encouraged by her lack of protection in classes. No Rosalie or Emmett to glare at them made them significantly more audacious than they were last year.
Bella couldn't understand what had changed. Was it obvious how intimate she was with the Cullens? After becoming even closer to them over the summer, she now found herself seeking physical proximity to them that she doubted existed in June. In the hallways when they spotted one another, was the unadulterated happiness and relief on Bella's face cluing people in on the fact the they were much more than just friends?
The Cullens possessed a thick armor, figuratively and quite literally, that Bella herself did not have. They had decades to grow accustomed to this sort of treatment, but with the added bonus of instilling enough fear in others that people generally didn't dare cross the line with them. Bella possessed no such gifts. And she was further handicapped by her memories of her life before...every whisper, every stare, every snide remark reminded her of more terrible memories she couldn't escape.
By the time lunch rolled around, Bella's stomach was coiled around itself painfully. She wasn't in danger of exploding-her control in that regard was stellar now-but that didn't mean she couldn't feel it inside. It wanted to come out...and it hurt.
No more secrets meant there were no more reasons to eat alone on the school roof. But as the room quieted and the whispers increased while she walked towards their table, Bella began to seriously reconsider the merits of that decision.
"Hey, Bells," Emmett said. "How's it going?"
"Fine," Bella smiled after she briefly flicked her eyes in Jasper's direction. 'Don't say anything,' she mentally begged him. "I wish they'd assign something in English that I haven't read."
"Is there anything in the English language you haven't read?" Emmett teased. He pulverized a few fries on his plate and Bella was briefly distracted, thinking how incredible it was that nobody in decades had noticed that none of them ate.
Before she opened her own lunch bag to unpack the sandwich Rosalie had made for her this morning, the girl in question laid a hand on hers. Bella looked up, her pain momentarily quelled by Rosalie's touch.
"What happened?" She whispered. Rosalie's eyes were full of concern and love, and Bella hated to lie to her.
"Nothing," she replied, hoping her amused grin would be enough of a distraction for her, for all of them. "Jessica and Lauren must've been pretty eager to see me, that's all. Nothing new. Nothing I can't handle."
She took a bite from her sandwich and quickly changed the subject. "How are you liking Computer Programming, Alice? As easy as you thought it would be?"
Jasper watched as Bella skillfully moved the conversation around the table to talk about anything but what was clearly (to him, anyway) bothering her. Nothing made sense. Bella was laughing as she spoke to Alice and Emmett, but on the inside, he knew she was hurting. Every once in a while, she'd glance around the cafeteria and sure enough, she'd flinch as if burned when catching sight of someone looking back at her. He knew they were talking about her, about all of them. But this was normal. Wherever they went, he and his siblings have always been fodder for rumors. It was expected especially in a small town like this. But even he had to admit that the students' way of interacting with Bella had a different...flavor than the way they interacted with him.
Still...this is the girl who defied Rosalie for crying out loud! The one who stood her ground and gained the respect of two large covens. She spends the majority of her time with creatures whose nature compels them to drink her blood. And she does it all without blinking an eye, and with the most grace he has ever witnessed in a human. So where did she go? This Bella was someone entirely new. This Bella had nothing to say when Lauren continually taunted her strained relationship with her father, a fact that had become common knowledge much to his surprise. He knew she wasn't exactly popular last year either, but did their presence in most of her classes back then really make that much of a difference?
Beside him, he could feel Edward's equal surprise with Bella's behavior. He knew her the least, but through their thoughts he had learned a lot about her. From him, Jasper could detect mild confusion, surprise, and curiosity. He also sensed anticipation. Jasper looked down at his schedule and saw why: Edward and Bella were finally going to be in a class together.
Bella sighed in relief when Edward nodded towards the empty seat next to him. She could handle a vampire struggling not to kill her. No problem. He had chosen the table well-it was right by a window.
"Open it," she whispered to him as she set her things down. He did and she quickly sent her scent flying through it and away from Edward.
"Thanks," he said. His eyes slowly brightened to their usual gold. "I'm sorry things are more difficult for you. Jessica and Lauren are skilled information gatherers...and disseminators."
"How did they find out?" She asked. She had been taken by surprise earlier when Lauren, in a clear attempt to rile her, made an off-handed comment about her shed.
"It's difficult to make sense of it," Edward whispered back. "Someone who told someone who saw something who said something until it got to her. None of them have actually seen the property if that's what you're worried about."
The teacher's entrance spared her from coming up with a response.
After the usual first day speech and an explanation of their first in-class assignment, Mr. Banner quickly had them working in pairs to identify and write down all the tools they'd be using in class as well as the parts of the microscope. Bella and Edward found a good rhythm and finished long before anyone else, to Mr. Banner's approval. Bella didn't feel like talking and she felt grateful that Edward didn't push her.
"Think she's angling for Edward?" she heard Jessica whisper to Lauren. They weren't even trying to keep their voices down.
"Isn't it obvious?" Lauren snickered. "Probably thinks he'll magically change her life or something."
"Ugh, that's so wrong," Jessica said vehemently. "He deserves better."
Bella resisted the urge to slam her head onto the table. Beside her, Edward cocked his head and pretended to be busy with the piece of paper in his hand.
"Just ignore them," he whispered. "We've all heard much worse over the years."
"How do you do it?" She asked, genuinely curious. "How can you stand listening to their thoughts?"
He shrugged. "Over time I've learned to ignore it. They're just petty humans, Bella. You're much more than that. Don't let them bother you so much."
Bella raised an eyebrow. Wasn't she just another petty human too? Two months ago he was going up a wall because she was human. Bella sighed. She had too much on her mind to worry about what was going on in Edward's.
Please let this day come to an end, Bella silently repeated to herself. She'd be fine. She knew she would. Some time alone was all she needed to realign her expectations for the year. She had been foolish to forget...foolish to think things might be a little better. She made that mistake every September when she was younger, and here she was doing the same thing...with the exact same results.
"Pay attention!" Jessica hissed.
Bella rolled her eyes but said nothing. Her Gym class grade wasn't going to deteriorate because of her tendency to space out. As alarming as it first seemed to be trapped with Jessica, Lauren, Mike and Tyler in one class, it wasn't so bad if Bella focused on staying out of their way. That meant keeping away from the action...and that meant ample opportunities to space out and think.
"So Bella," Mike grinned while Jessica was busy with another player a ways down. "Since you have your own 'house' practically, does Chief Swan care if you bring boys home?"
Harhar, she thought.
"Not at all, Mike," Bella found her voice. "But there's a minimum penis length requirement to get through my door. I don't think you'd qualify."
Predictably, his face turned red. "Watch it," he whispered. "Doors on those sheds aren't too strong."
"You watch it," Bella hissed back. "You've gotta be pretty mental to threaten the Chief's daughter. And if he doesn't arrest your ass...Emmett will leave it bloody raw."
It happened in a split second and then it was gone. Mike's facial expression changed from anger to pain as he felt a burning session on the anatomical part they had just been discussing. It was over as soon as it had begun though, and Mike, though still reeling from the effects of that little sting, walked away in confusion without another word.
Bella immediately felt guilty for what she had done. That could have gone very badly. She could've done much more damage or even killed him. And while he was obviously a prick based on the threats he so casually made to her, Bella had no right to decide or execute his punishment. On the other hand...that felt...incredibly good. A familiar feeling of satisfaction swept through her body and made her eager to experience it again. It was just like the brief seconds after one of her more destructive episodes in the past when everything inside her had poured out. Those seconds of gratification were always quickly overwhelmed with fear and remorse because usually she'd have to deal with death in the vicinity.
But no one had died here. Mike had already moved on-he was flirting with Jessica who happily reciprocated. Jessica passed the ball and Bella followed its path until it reached Lauren. Those two had made her feel miserable today. Why couldn't they just ignore her? The rest of the students unfortunately seem to follow their lead and Bella had to endure endless jabs about her living situation all day. She passed the ball to someone else and eventually it came to Bella.
Lauren sniggered to Jessica as they both looked at something behind her. Bella didn't need to turn around to know that someone, probably Tyler by the sound of his breathing, was trying to sneak up on her. Quickly, Bella threw the ball as hard as she could at Lauren who caught it deftly...and then dropped it just as quickly as she yelped in pain. Lauren looked up, surprised. Her hands shook for a few moments before the pain passed. Bella moved out of Tyler's way but kept her eyes on Lauren's.
She got through the last class of the day without further incidence or another word, but the message in her eyes was loud and clear for anyone that bothered to look: don't fuck with me.
Author's note: And the roller coaster that is Bella's life twists and dips...
Author's note II: Some of you are asking me questions in the reviews and I'd really like to answer...except you keep reviewing as a guest! If you expect us to converse please make yourself an account pronto.
I'm feeling the start of a cold coming on :( Know what will make me feel better? REVIEWS! :D