Chapter Two

Bella contemplated on wearing one of her baggiest hoodies and having her hood up on her first day back to Forks High. She knew she needed to be stronger, braver. She shouldn't just curl into herself as though she was a tortoise not wanting to leave her shell.

So, she dressed in a simple navy-blue quarter length blouse, dark washed jeans and the right boot of her favorite pair of lovingly used boots. She brushed down her hair softly, knowing her head was still tender, obviously because she had a fractured skull (she flinched at the thought of how hard she must have fallen to have fractured her skull!) She placed one of Charlie's old coats from when he was in high school over her blouse without thinking, having just grabbed one of the coats from the coat closet upstairs.

She studied herself in the mirror, knowing her rib brace was still smug underneath her blouse. She subconsciously made sure not to breathe too deeply, thankful it would only take two months at most for her to have her ribs heal. She just wasn't looking forward to checking her calendar in the future or having to go to the doctor quite often.

The drive to the high school was filled with tension from Bella, as she tapped her fingers against the leather steering wheel. She did love this truck though, flustered at how Charlie had bought the truck from Billy Black for her as a homecoming gift. She knew it was worn around the edges and didn't go over 40 when it came to speed, but it was hers.

Renee hadn't bought her a car or let her buy a car when she had lived in Phoenix. She thought Bella had enough friends to carpool around the city, or she could take the bus that was outside the neighborhood. So, most of the time Bella ended up being at home when she wanted to be out, paying the house bills and wishing she wasn't doing adult things when she was too young to do so.

The high school was off the highway, and as Bella pulled onto the campus, she noted how the high school looked more like matching houses than a normal high school building. She parked in the front office parking lot before she entered the front office.

The office was made of orange flecked commercial carpet and there were padded folding chairs up against either wall. Potted plants were in every crevice of the building, though there were more than enough plants that were outside. The office was cut in half by a counter, where a large red-haired woman was sitting behind the desk with glasses perched on her long nose. She was wearing a purple sweater and her glasses were the same exact shade of purple.

As though she realized who it was that had entered, Mrs. Cope hurriedly got up from her spot at the desk and went around before she reached Bella. Without thinking, Mrs. Cope reached forward and put her hands on either side of Bella's shoulders as she studied her. Bella froze and felt her heart increase in speed, not used to someone being so close to her.

"Oh, Bella, it's so good to see you again. I made sure to make a laminated copy of your schedule, along with your school map. Don't worry about anything, we have all covered," Mrs. Cope explained, only for Bella to realize she was earning special treatment from the school faculty.

She would have told her it was fine if she kept the copies because she wouldn't need them but that wasn't the case. She ducked her head sheepishly before she took the copies and left the office, the cool air around her waking her up some more. She sighed and glanced down at her map and schedule before she began to go in the direction of the English department building, her eyes scanning over the different teenagers that were going across the campus in false hope of seeing if she knew any of them.

The front doors of the building opened, and she went through them, barely having the doors close behind her in a whoosh before she was welcomed with arms wrapping around her, causing her to gasp from the pain that rushed over her. The person that had wrapped their arms around her pulled away, allowing her to see the short dark-haired girl that must have been Jessica Stanley (she was wearing a quarter length pink sweater with dark jeans and tan boots with fur trimming on the top of the boots).

"Oh my god, Bella! I'm so glad you're back and okay!"

Jessica cried as tears actually came across her tear ducts before they fell down onto her concealer covered face. The thickness of her makeup could be noticeable, but Bella wasn't the type of person who would hold that against her or make a rash decision of her character. She hurriedly pulled out tissues from her leather purse and patted the spots around her eyes to get as much of the tears off of her as possible without ruining her makeup.

"I-I don't know if you'll–" sniff– "remember but I'm Jessica," Jessica managed to say, before Bella nodded her head. Jessica smiled brightly when she had confirmed she remembered her, as though she had been told she had won backstage tickets to go see Britney Spears.

Bella grabbed the water bottle that was in the side pocket of her backpack before she snuck her pain killers from her purse and took them when she noticed no one else looking at them. Jessica seemed to connect the dots because she had another apologetic look come across her face.

"When I hugged you, I must have hurt you. Broken ribs, right?"

"Fractured skull, broken ribs, and my left leg is broken," Bella replied, though she almost went to touch her wrist where the bite mark was. Best to leave that to only her, her dad, and the doctors down in Phoenix and now in Forks. (Hopefully the Forks doctors would hold up to the doctor/patient confidentiality because she didn't want anyone knowing about the bite mark)

It only made Jessica even more concerned about her. In fact, it didn't take long for word to spread around about Bella's true injuries once she had finished talking to Bella, only because they had to get to Mr. Mason's class. Bella wished she hadn't told Jessica about the extensive number of injuries she had received back in Phoenix. The last thing she needed was more attention on her, but then again that was a given, with what had happened to her.

Mr. Mason was more than kind when she arrived in his classroom. He had made sure to make a review outline for the past three months, so she could study it before she would take the test by the end of the next month. The outline wasn't thick, it was moderate sized, and since English was her favorite subject, it shouldn't be so hard for Bella. The slight headache she would have from studying too hard would be a given.

Jessica had made sure to have Bella sit next to her, though her friend Lauren merely arched one of her eyebrows. She did have sour features though there was a smug vibe to her, as though she was glad the Cullens had left her. Bella apparently wasn't as special as she thought she was, since Edward decided, he didn't want to stay after all. As soon as he learnt he had no strings attached to her anymore, he had made sure to leave.

Bella was tired by the end of English and would have loved to go to the library (wherever it was), before finding a small, comfy corner to take a nap. She knew she had to keep pushing through, the last thing she needed was for everyone to have another excuse to baby her.

She left the building behind her, before she went in the direction of where her government class was with Mr. Jefferson only for her to be stopped by a gangly boy with oil black hair and skin problems, obviously this happened to be Eric Yorkie. He blushed as he stopped in front of her, his fingers intertwining together and untwining due to his anxiety. He stopped a moment later, he sat his worn-out backpack down before he pulled out a teddy bear from the backpack.

Bella blushed as she looked at the small teddy bear, with a crimson ribbon tied around it. She wished she could push the teddy bear away from him and tell him to take it back. She almost felt as though she should be in a hospital bed, diagnosed with some terminal illness, only for Eric to come in with a teddy bear for her. The teddy bear wouldn't bring her memories back, or the hypothetical terminal illness in the hypothetical hospital bed.

"Hi Bella, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Eric Yorkie. I hope you like the teddy bear." Eric gave an encouraging smile towards her, as though he was expecting her to be thrilled to pieces at the thought of someone giving her a teddy bear.

"Oh…thank you, Eric. I'm not allowed to carry gifts around school, you'll have to take it to Mrs. Cope, and she'll have it until the end of the day," Bella easily responded, thankful it was in the school code of conduct book. She wouldn't have to carry around that teddy bear.

Eric was the one who blushed this time before he left her alone, telling her he'd see her at lunch. She watched him disappear from her view before her shoulders slumped. She really, really didn't want to be here. Why couldn't she be homeschooled right now? She would have rather spent the last two months of her junior year at home than here.

The warning bell going off was the only reason Bella went into the building where the Government class was. Students were moving quickly past her to their own classes, or they were moving slowly in order to be locked out of their classrooms (that way they could listen to their I Pods and have an hour without doing anything really)

Mr. Jefferson was standing outside of the doorway, his hands folded behind his back as he observed the late comers. He paused his stiffness when he saw Bella, his eyes softening some when he noticed her cast and the way she flinched some when she was breathing too hard.

He had heard about what had happened to her and learnt the extent of her injuries. He'd just never imagined Dr. Cullen would uproot him and his family, leaving her like this, all because his son had broken up with her (sure he got a better job offer, but he probably only took it because Bella didn't recover her memories).

Reaching him, Bella gave him a small smile, tired but still there. "Hi, Mr. Jefferson. Sorry, I'm late. I've got to walk not too fast, doctors said it would be best if I don't rush myself."

Mr. Jefferson shook his head, his thinning hair revealing he was nearing his middle-aged years. "It's alright, Miss Swan. No harm, no foul. Take all the time you need. I'll give you the desk closest to the door, so you don't have to walk too far to leave. I'll also be giving you an outline of the past three months' work, just so you can know what we went over."

Bella knew all her teachers were doing this, they would make an outline for her to know all they had taught for the past three months. She would study it and take the little test they would give her, but it wouldn't make a big part of her final grade. Her final grade would be for these past two months she would be here for her junior year. She was almost relieved when she had learnt this, she didn't want to repeat her junior year because of her amnesia.

By the time lunch arrived, Bella knew she would be able to slowly put herself into the school society again. It wasn't anything that was too overwhelming. If she were still in Phoenix, well she didn't want to imagine what she would be going through with such a large, populated school.

Reaching the cafeteria building, Bella went to enter only for her phone to go off. She glanced down, noting it was Charlie's phone number. Leaning against one of the areas of the wall she was in front of that didn't have a window upon it, Bella answered the call.

"Hi, Dad. You called at the perfect time, I'm about to enter the cafeteria for lunch. How's work? Have you had lunch yet?" Bella could hear a chuckle on the other end, warm but tired, allowing her to know Charlie hadn't had too bad of a morning.

"Work is the same old, same old. Kind of a slow day to be honest. When you were in Phoenix, there was a big party at La Push Ocean Park, where they were celebrating how the Cullens had gone," Charlie informed me, there was an irritation that was leaking from Charlie.

He might not like the Cullens anymore, but he still thought it was immature of the Reservation to throw a party because the family had left Forks. The Cullens were originally fine. The kids never caused any problems, and Carlisle was one of the best doctors the town ever had. They hadn't done anything to warrant any kind of ill temperament.

"Really? Were you there at the beach or were you already in Phoenix?"

Bella glanced around as she stood outside, noting in the corner of her eye Jessica had opened the cafeteria doors to see her.

Mouthing she was talking to her dad; Bella was relieved when Jessica quickly nodded her head and shut the doors behind her as she went back into the cafeteria. She was thankful Jessica hadn't done the opposite, where she would nod her head and come out so she would be waiting for her while acting as though she wasn't eavesdropping on Bella's conversation with Charlie.

"I was already in Phoenix, we just gave them a warning, since there are a few houses that are near the border of the Reservation. We have no jurisdiction at the Reservation, as you know. They didn't party too much longer afterwards, I guess they didn't want to press their luck," Charlie mused on the other line. There were doors opening and closing, along with phones ringing.

"Anyway, enough about me, how has your day been, Bells?"

Taking a deep breath, Bella told him how her day went. By the time she was finished she was shaking some from the anxiety, but she managed to calm herself down. She whispered a goodbye to Charlie before she hung up the phone and sat down on the bench next to where she was standing. Her stomach grumbled some from hunger but twisted some from the anxiety–not a pretty combination.

She turned her head towards the cafeteria doors as they opened, revealing the Asian girl she remembered being named Angela Weber. The girl gave a small smile towards Bella before reaching her, she sat down next to her with a steaming bowl of Asian ramen noodles. It looked and smelt delicious, enough for Bella's stomach to grumble again.

"Hi, Bella, I'm Angela. I thought to come out and check to make sure you're okay. Jessica was going to come out again, but I didn't want her to overwhelm you," Angela announced before she went to hand Bella the bowl of Asian ramen.

Angela was soft spoken; her voice was barely able to be heard. She had a welcoming, loving vibe to her. She blushed though when she had her head tilted down, she reached her hand up and pushed pieces of her bangs away.

"My mom thought I should make extra ramen for everyone. It's homemade, she gets all the ingredients from one of the Asian food stores in Port Angeles. I thought you would like some, since you haven't eaten anything yet. I hope you don't mind."

Bella smiled as she looked down at the bowl of Asian ramen. She agreed a moment later before she was handed the bowl. The warmth was welcoming to her. She was offered either chopsticks or a fork. Taking some of the chopsticks, Bella shrugged internally before she began to eat the ramen. She couldn't stop smiling, as she ate the ramen, it had been a long time since she had something this good. She also never had a friend who did something like this for her.

When she was finished eating the ramen it didn't take long for the bell to ring, signaling for their next class. Bella handed the bowl, now empty, and her wooden chopsticks back to Angela before thanking her for the ramen. Angela merely waved her hand in order to let her know it wasn't a big deal, her mom just happened to love cooking for people (she was also the head of the church Potluck, where her husband was the Preacher).

It was strange, when Bella entered Biology, for she kept glancing at the seat next to her once she sat at her usual lab table. Apparently, Edward had been her biology partner, and within time they were inseparable from each other. Rumors where he had tried to change this period for another period of the day, but obviously he didn't succeed.

Glancing down at the lab worksheet she had been given, Bella felt reassurance wash over her when she saw she had done this lab back in Phoenix. Though when she glanced around at the lab worksheets that were around hers, she realized that they all had a different lab worksheet than hers. The reassurance washed away, as embarrassment flooded over her instead.

Mr. Banner had given her a lab worksheet which was from Phoenix, basically, in order to let her feel as though she could still do lab work. She kept her head down and away from him, tears rising in her tear ducts at the anger which was resonating through her. She didn't like to be belittled and her jaw clenched. She closed her eyes as she looked down, cursing herself when a few of her tears fell and splattered across the worksheet.

"Oh my god, she's crying!"

"Is she having a breakdown?"

"She's just asking for attention."

That last comment was enough for Bella to snap her head up, gather her things together, before she got off her stool slowly but surely. She already had a broken leg, the last thing she needed was to add to her injuries and end up in another leg cast. She didn't turn her attention to any of her classmates in order to try and see which of them had made those comments.

Instead, Bella left the classroom, even though Mr. Banner called for her to not leave. She didn't want to be in that room any longer, she didn't want to look at the empty stool next to her and be reminded why her lab partner wasn't there. She didn't want people jumping to conclusions and thinking she was pulling the victim card for them to pity her.

Reaching her truck, Bella got in quickly and threw her things into the passenger seat next to her. Locking the doors, a split second later, Bella leant forward and let out all the tears and sobs that were breaking free from inside her. She was cheated out of this; she was being babied by the high school and she wished she had never come to Forks to begin with.

She almost wanted to go to L.A. and find this asshole of an ex-boyfriend before slapping him across his face. She wanted to kick him in the groin and watch in satisfaction as he fell onto the ground in pain from said kicked groin. She wanted to tell him she was glad he had broken up with her and hadn't stayed after all, because he obviously didn't care about her enough to stay for her. She didn't need that toxicity in her life anymore.

Taking a shaky breath, Bella sat upright and wiped away her tears before she pulled out of her parking spot. She drove off the campus, knowing she was going to be in trouble for skipping the rest of Biology and then skipping the entirety of Gym. Not that Gym mattered, she was going to pass it, even if she ended up skipping the rest of Gym for the last two remaining months of school. The faculty pitied her so much they were going to make sure she passed. Even if they made sure to have the final exam completely different from the rest of their students' exams, by making it extremely easy.

Arriving at Charlie's house, Bella got out of the truck and gathered her things before she went up the front porch steps of the house. She had to move slowly but thankfully it wasn't snowing anymore, so she wouldn't have to worry about tripping down the steps because of slicked ice. She would probably just trip down on them because of her clumsiness.

Entering the house, Bella plopped down onto the couch and grabbed the Afghan blanket from on top of the couch and wrapped herself in it like a burrito. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, before letting herself fall into a calm nap. She didn't dream, she just got a simple rest. Something she was certain she needed.

Waking up to the sound of the police cruiser pulling up the gravel driveway, Bella glanced over at the clock on the wall only to flinch when she noticed not a lot of time had passed since she had gotten home. Charlie had been called by the school to tell him about her just up and leaving school in the afternoon. She hoped he wasn't going to be too disappointed in her.

The front door opened a moment later, revealing Charlie Swan standing there with an exasperated look upon his features. He pulled off his uniform hat and placed it on the decorative side table where the answering machine was, along with the bowl that held random keys to things in the house. He came over and sat down on the couch next to Bella, watching her softly as she sat upright and flinched some from the sourness in her muscles. She must have slept at a funny angle.

"I guess the school called you," Bella mumbled as she looked down at her hands, which sat in her lap. Charlie reached out and put his hand on top of hers.

"I should have expected this, I was putting too much pressure on you. I'm sure I can find you a retired teacher who can help you with the rest of the school year," Charlie admitted a moment later, making Bella frown.

She didn't want to sound ungrateful, but she felt as though she was damned either way: she could go to school and be reminded she was three months behind on her schoolwork or she would be basically homeschooled and prisoned in her own home. Either way she wouldn't be happy in the end, which only made this even more awkward.

"Can I think about it tonight? I'll tell you before bed," Bella probed, earning a sigh and a nod from Charlie before she got up from her spot on the couch. She grabbed her backpack along with the rest of her things before she went upstairs to her bedroom.

Her eyes went over to where the diary was, waiting in her desk drawer. She bit her lip and thought about pulling it out, but she knew she wasn't in the mood to read about Edward Cullen right now.

Dinner was filled with no conversation whatsoever between Bella and Charlie. Charlie seemed as though he wanted to ask her what her decision was, well if she had come up with a decision. Bella just wanted to go upstairs and get under the covers of her bed, before deciding she had enough of the world for a while. She could actually spend the rest of her junior year away from her classmates, from the rumors and reminders of how she didn't know what she was like these past three months, but they had clear memories of the past three months.

Charlie was going to retire for the night, when Bella knocked on his bedroom door. He opened it, having a night robe on so she wouldn't see him in just his boxers. She glanced down at the worn-out floorboards before deciding what she was going to do.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alec from the Volturi is my favorite character from the saga, but Angela is my second favorite of the saga. I hope you enjoyed the second chapter.

as always: Twilight doesn't belong to me

-EMMY

edited: 3/10/2022