Chapter 4
By the time Sunday night rolls around, the past 24 hours feel like a fever dream.
Jessie didn't bring up Angela, Peter, or Victoria. And Angela doesn't call me - despite me texting her a million times to check in on her.
Of course, though, Jessie doesn't let up on obsessing over Edward, which makes even less sense to me than her making out with Peter at the party.
When I asked her what was even the point of that—if she was trying to piss off Angela or make Edward jealous, she didn't cop to either.
And despite being tapped into every post and picture online about the party that I could find, I see no shred of evidence that Angela and Victoria actually hooked up. But it really would be a weird thing for Edward to lie about.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of pictures of Jess and Peter, though.
Just great.
When Monday morning comes, I'm already close to being late to school when Jess texts me, to say she doesn't feel good and won't be coming to school.
I call bullshit, but I also don't blame her for skipping out today.
If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't want to face anyone either.
Shit, I can barely handle the whispering about me now, and I'm only getting it by association versus anything I've actually done.
It would have been nice if she'd told me that earlier, though.
"Where are your other halves?"
I spin around at Edward's voice coming from behind me at my locker. Somehow, I made it to school on time; just with not much time to spare.
In this moment, I realize that even though I wasn't drunk on Saturday, I must have been affected by… something. The music, the lighting, who knows - because now, in the starkness of the day, I really can't stand him again.
"What do you want?" I ask.
"You're by yourself." He points out. "Just seeing where your girls are."
"Not here, obviously."
My coldness toward him does nothing to fade his grin as he leans to the side of the wall next to my locker.
"How are you doing?"
Unsure how genuine he's being, if at all, I decide not to answer.
I've had enough people trying to creep into my life or back into my life lately, trying to get the inside scoop on Jared. It's been easier to tell everyone that we broke up — easier to refer to him as my ex. To say that I want nothing to do with him. But I still can't figure out Edward's angle. He's one of the few people who would have direct access to him as well. In fact, he probably knows more than I do.
"Why are you talking to me?" This time, fully curious, I school my voice as best as possible. "Where is your other half?"
In the same way that Angela, Jess, and I are usually joined at the hip—when it came to school, so were Edward and Peter.
"Yeah," he clears his throat. "I haven't heard from Pete since he left the party."
That was two days ago.
My heart clenches, and I slowly turn to face him.
"I haven't talked to Angela either," I admit.
The warning bell sounds around us, letting everyone in the hallways know we have about three more minutes to get to class before we're late. As with its normal desired effect, people scatter like roaches to get to class, but me and Edward are stock still—staring at each other, waiting for the other person to say something.
I bite first. "Should we be worried?"
I don't know why I bother asking that since I'm already worried. Adding to that, I feel bad for being annoyed with Angela for not calling me back yesterday. What if something happened on their way home?
Edward shrugs. "Pete skips all the time. He just normally tells me so I can make up an excuse to tell coach."
"Right." I nod, for lack of knowing what else to say. While the sports gods of the school do whatever they want, including barely making it to class, Angela, rarely skips.
At the very least, not without letting one of us—me or Jess—know. I get why she wouldn't have said anything to Jess with whatever's going on with them, but to not tell me either? Especially with finals coming up?
Another bell rings, now leaving me, Edward, and only a few stragglers hanging out in the hall.
I feel frozen yet panicked all at the same time.
"What do we do?" I ask.
Edward plucks his bottom lip, then sighs. "I can't miss Calc today. Jenks is doing a review for the final. So I gotta go, but let me know if you hear anything.
He turns and hauls ass quicker than I can respond.
"Umm okay."
The rest of the day is the opposite of a blur. I am hyper-aware of every minute that passes. Every notification on my phone that buzzes against my thigh feels like I'm getting electrocuted, only to be deflated when it's not Angela.
Edward doesn't seem to be doing any better either. We don't speak much again, but the few times we pass each other in the halls or lock eyes during lunch includes a silent conversation.
Have you heard anything yet?
Nope.
Against my better judgment, I sneak into the bathroom to text Jess before my last class of the day.
*[Hey Jess - Have you talked to Angela?]*
The response is almost immediate.
*[Yeah, right.]*
Okay fair.
When the last bell of the day finally sounds, I'm surprised but not shocked to find Edward standing by my classroom door. He's leaning against the wall, hands in pocket, one leg bent, and the other hand holding his phone.
Girls walk by, giggling, trying to get his attention and for a second I wonder if he even knows the full effect he has on people.
"Stalking me now?" I ask, approaching where he's standing.
"I'm riding by Pete's. Want to come? I'll drop you home after."
Everything in me screams I should not agree to leave with Edward. There is no truce here. I still can't stand him, and it's clear he's enjoying getting under my skin lately.
But I guess for our friends, I can pretend long enough to make sure they're okay.
I shrug, following behind him. "Sure."
Similar to Peter, Edward drives a mustang. And even though I don't know much about cars, I know this thing can go fast. We've all been witness to them racing down Main street and leaving everyone in the dust time and time again.
So, I blame myself for not having my seatbelt on quick enough when Edward tears out of the parking lot and I nearly land face-first against the glove compartment.
"Jesus, Edward."
He chuckles, careless. "My bad."
Twenty minutes later, I'm sitting in his parked car, watching him walk from behind Peter's house, looking deflated.
"He's not here." Edward sighs, climbing back into his driver's seat.
As we're parked in Peter's empty driveway, this revelation isn't surprising. "Yeah, the no cars around thing kind of gave that away."
Edward turns to face me and quirks an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Sorry."
This isn't the time to be snarky and sarcastic with him, but I really can't help it.
"You think Angela is home? You think she'll know where he is?"
"Unless she's actually sick, she won't be at her house." Her mom is always home and absolutely does not play when it comes to school.
I doubt Angela would be bold enough to skip and stay home all day with her mother there.
"And she doesn't drive," I add.
I mean, she does, but she doesn't have her own car, so there would be no easy way to tell if she was there from simply driving by. And there's no amount of money in the world you could pay me to ring her doorbell and face down her mother. That lady is strict as hell and doesn't like anyone.
Either way… I don't know why we're not stating the obvious here. "They're clearly together, though. And I also doubt Peter's at her house."
It's not like she's allowed to date or have boys over.
Edward wraps both hands around the steering wheel and taps his thumbs against it. "Bella..."
I gulp, feeling a stark shift in the air from just the way he uttered my name. "Yeah?"
"When's the last time you spoke to Jared?"
I groan and even whine a little. Not this again. Not right now. "Edward, our friends could be dead in a ditch somewhere. Can you not?"
"I was with him that night."
Internally, my blood runs cold at his words. On the outside, I have no idea what my face or body shows him. So, I say nothing, rotating in the seat to face him. You have my attention is what I hope my body language is telling him because I cannot find my words right now.
"That chick, Lauren? I was ... me and Jared and some other people too ... we were all hanging out that night."
A lump forms in my throat as he pauses. I'm assuming to assess how much he wants to tell me. How much he can tell without implicating his friend, or maybe even himself. The thought sickens me.
"They umm, I know they hooked up," he adds.
I ball my hands into fists. Edward has no idea what he's just done. Because that right there was the first piece of proof I heard that Jared lied to me. According to him, he didn't know her at all.
"So, you were there when he was cheating on me."
Edward's eyes widen, and I wonder what he's thinking. In the grand scheme of things, Jared's cheating should probably be the least of my concerns. That alone doesn't inherently make him a monster. Everything else though ...
"He's an asshole," I say around my shattering heart. "Fuck him."
Next to me, there's a long, long pause before Edward breaks the silence with a deep sigh. "I don't know what to think. And I didn't tell you that to hurt you, but I knew you weren't getting any answers from anyone else. So..." he shrugs.
Another round of silence hits. This is the most Edward, and I have spoken in one day in a long time. If ever. He knows more than he's letting on though, that much is obvious, but I don't want to hear anymore. I can't handle hearing any more right now about Jared, or Lauren, or the other girls at his school saying that he —
"Wait!" Edward perks up, his sudden outburst scaring the shit out of me, as he puts his car into reverse and inches out of Peter's driveway. "I'm such a dumbass."
"What? Where are we going?" I wonder, looking around. Nothing seems different from what it did five minutes ago. What did I miss?
"I know where Pete is. They gotta be at The Rez."
At that, my stomach drops. The Rez is the last place I want to be. The last place I'll probably be welcome right now. But as Edward says it out loud, it makes sense because that's where a lot of the guys from the team hang out.
Slumping down in the seat, thoughts whirl around my mind as Edward kicks his car into gear and speeds our way to the outer limits of town.
And I pray with everything that I am not to run into any of Jared's family.
Thank you to everyone for reading!
For anyone wondering what's going on with Jared, you'll start getting some answers soon - I promise!
All will be revealed in due time :-)