Disclaimer: I dont own anything but the plot

Chapter 9 Car trouble

Bella POV

The event and conversations during the night had given me a lot to think about. I told Edward that I couldn't give an answer yet on whether or not we would join his family. I told him that even though they all seemed really nice, I'd like to get to know them all a little better. We also agreed that I should meet his parents as soon as possible, and that Luke should be introduced to the rest of them as well. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't notice the time until five minutes after we should have left. Luke was ready to go two minutes later, but luck was not shining on me today. The truck wouldn't start. It spluttered and coughed and then made a really weird noise, that made me question if it was actually dying.

Luke tapped me on the arm and I turned to look at him. What do we do now?

I thought for a moment, then sighed. "We'll have to run. It'll be difficult to stay out of sight, but I don't see another option."

I'll get the harness from the back. We stepped out and I tied him to my back. The harness we used was one I had made out of old seatbelts, straps from an old backpack and a safety harness used for rock climbing that was securely tied around Luke's middle and both of his thighs. I had made it, so that when I needed to carry him while running, I still had my hands free and he wouldn't easily fall off and get hurt. Just like a baby harness, but bigger and homemade.

Since we were now running to school we made it with a bit of time to spare. I quickly unstrapped Luke from my back, kissed him on the forehead and told him to have a great day. He kissed me on my right cheek and wished me the same.

There was no room in my bag for the harness so I had to carry it in my arms. I had no idea what to do with it once I got to school. I couldn't leave it outside, everything was damp and wet, and the sky looked like it might rain soon. It rained a lot in Forks. I got to the school and stood in the treeline contemplating my predicament. Then I heard fast footsteps and suddenly Alice was standing by my side, smiling.

"Good morning Bella." She hugged me tightly.

"Hi Alice. Good morning."

Edward suddenly appeared beside her.

"Hi Bella." He said and looked at my hands. "Are those seat belts?"

"Umm… Yeah, they are. How did you guys know I was over here?"

"I saw a vision of you running through the forest and then stopping here. " Alice said.

"Oh. alright. Hey, do you guys know a good and dry hiding place around here? I don't want to carry this around all day, but I also don't want to leave it out in the rain either."

"Where's your truck?" Edward asked.

"On its deathbed." They both raised an eyebrow. "It wouldn't start this morning for God knows what reason, so I had to run here. I use this to strap Luke to my back."

"Oh." Alice said. She looked past me for a second and then returned her eyes to me. "You should ask Rosalie to take a look at it for you. She's a really good mechanic."

Edward smiled knowingly while looking at her profile. "Really? That's great, I'll ask her later then. But for now, any good hiding places?"

"You can put that in my car. Come on." Edward turned around and walked back out to the parking lot. He led the way to a shiny silver volvo and opened the trunk for me.

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

I was a little put out that none of the Cullens were in any of my morning classes. I really wanted to talk to them all, get to know them. Mike approached me after english. He said that he wanted to talk about the little misunderstanding we had yesterday.

"What misunderstanding? Are you saying that I interpreted the things you said the wrong way?"

"Completely. All I was trying to do was warn you against the Cullens. They're not good people Bella. I swear, sometimes when Edward Cullen looks at me, I get the feeling that he wants to kill me."

It was very hard to hold back my grin. I tried very hard not to start laughing hysterically.

"I'm serious Bella. The look in his eyes are totally murderous."

A few giggles escaped my mouth.

"It's not funny. I really am serious."

"Oh I'm sure you are Mike. I have no doubt. But I'm also sure that if he looks at you that way, he must have a reason."

Mike frowned at me. "I think it's time for your apology now."

That pulled me up short. "My apology? What exactly am I supposed to apologize for? I mean if it's for laughing, then I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, but I just think you're being a little ridiculous."

"No, not for laughing. For what you said to me yesterday. I think I deserve an apology for the things you said."

I ground my teeth. I was aware that we had attracted an audience, and couldn't understand why Mike was doing this here and now. I don't like audiences. "But I guess if he wants to go down harder than need be, who am I to stop him."

"And you don't think I deserve an apology? The only reason I gave you my opinion on your behavior was because you basically called me a gold digging whore." I heard a few gasps around us. People started muttering. "I don't know you Mike Newton, but I feel pretty confident in my opinion of you. All you want is a pretty piece of ass on your arm so people envy you your luck. But buying girls with bribery and insults to the people around her is not luck. It's disgusting. I think you are a sad little piece of human trash and I feel sorry for whoever ends up stuck with you." I spat the last words out. Then I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the room towards my next class. I heard some of the muttering in the room before I got too far away. A lot of people had heard and the overall opinion of Mike was plummeting fast.

I sat next to Jessica in both trigonometry and Spanish. She asked me if the rumors of my fight with Mike were true. When I confirmed this, she started defending Mike.

"Jess, do you have a crush on him or something?" She blushed. I had guessed right. "Seriously Jess, get that guy out of your head. Trust me."

"You've barely known him for two days. I've known him since Middle School."

"Fine, if you don't want to trust my opinion I can't make you. But trust me when I say this then. You are much too good for him. He doesn't deserve a kind girl like you."

I don't think she believed me, but she let it go. For now at least. When my Spanish class finally ended I was surprised to find a brooding looking Edward outside the classroom. He looked up when I walked over to him and the brooding look was immediately replaced with a bright smile.

"Hey there." He greeted me.

"Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I came to invite you to lunch." His smile grew, which just made me smile even more than I already was. "Do you want to sit with us today?"

"Yes, thank you. That sounds nice." People were staring at us as we walked to the cafeteria, but since most of them had been staring at me since this morning, and a lot of people had been staring yesterday too, I barely noticed.

Edward was very quick to pay for not just his own food props, but mine as well.

"You didn't have to do that, I'm not completely broke, you know."

"I know. But remember that you allowed me to help you out financially, and I'd say that this qualifies."

I shook my head. "You're incredible."

"Thank you." He flashed me a toothy grin.

"Don't say things like that to him." Rosalie said as we sat down at their table. "You'll just be in danger of his head swelling even more than it already has." I laughed at that. Then greeted everyone around the table.

"So Rosalie. Alice told me that you're a pretty good mechanic."

"Pretty good? She's the best auto mechanic ever. You wouldn't be able to find better for all the money in the world." Rosalie looked very pleased and more than a little smug at Emmetts praise.

"I'm alright." She said. "Why are you asking?"

"Well I was wondering if I could persuade you to take a look at my truck."

"What's wrong with it?"

I explained how it wouldn't start this morning and the weird death noises it had made.

"I don't know anything about cars other than how to drive or fill it with gas and sprinkler fluid. So I have no idea what it's problem is."

"Can I come by tonight and take a look at it?"

"Sure that would be great." I gave her an appreciative smile. "Then you can meet Luke too."

That got her excited. I could see it in the way her eyes and smile widened. "Excellent. I would love to meet your brother. When is his bedtime? I don't want to mess up his sleep."

"Seven O'clock."

"Is it okay if I get there at six then?"

"Yes, that's fine."

"Hold on. I wanna meet the little guy too. Can I come?" Emmett asked.

Alice and Jasper were also enthusiastic about meeting him, but Alice could see that it wouldn't do to be so many. It would just overwhelm him. So it was decided that Rosalie, Emmett and Edward would come tonight and Alice and Jasper would visit another evening in the near future instead. I hadn't thought that Edward would want to come, having spent almost the entirety of the previous night there. But he said he really wanted to come. That way he could be the mediator, introducing them to Luke as his siblings. That was a good idea since Luke already liked Edward.

In biology I became happily surprised when Edward all but picked up where we had left off in our conversation early this morning. It was as if he wanted to know everything about me. I too was very curious about him. We spent practically the entire hour asking each other questions like: What is your favourite colour? What kind of music do you like? What books do you prefer?

We did do some work occasionally. I still had to study of course. The hour was up far too fast for my liking, and I headed off to gym. But not before Edward added a statement that left my heart, if it had been possible, pounding with gratitude and affection.

"I'll drive you home today. Just you don't have to run."

"But, what about your siblings?"

"I'll drive them home first and then come to the Elementary school to pick up you and Luke."

"I don't mind running."

"I know. But I told you. I want to help where I can."

I smiled. "Thank you Edward. That's very kind and generous of you."

In gym class I was loath to remember that I was on a team with Mike. He didn't speak to me, and I tried hard not to roll my eyes when he huffed at something I said or did. I had decided to try and be good at PE, but not overly so. But it was difficult to reign in the strength of my arm when I batted the badminton birdie across the net. At least I didn't hit myself in the face with my racket, like I did a few times when I was still human.

When I got to the parking lot after class, I saw that the silver Volvo was already gone. "I wonder if he's just a bit." I thought to myself with an amused smile. I ran to get to Luke and found, once again, that he was standing outside with Shannon and the Webber twins. Angela, or maybe her parents were picking them up today, had not arrived yet, and since we were going to wait for Edward, I spent some time getting to know the boys. They were very sweet, but I could see what Edward had meant by them supposedly being troublemakers. They had a very mischievous glint in their eyes.

Edward arrived and Luke was very happy to see him. Apparently he had thought that meeting the mind reading guy, had just been a dream. I couldn't blame him for that. It had been in the middle of the night after all and I myself found Edward's presence to be like that of something from a dream. I had thought when moving here that I wouldn't find any real friends that I could be truthful with or trust with any real ferver. I was very lucky to have found Edward and his family.

"So, is there a story behind the nickname Lucky Luke?" Edward asked on the drive to my house.

"Remember how I told you last night about why Luke calls me Bells instead of Bella?"

"Yes. You said it was so that he didn't have to spell out your name every time."

"Exactly. For the same reason, I have given him the name of Lucky Luke. But the sign I use is the one that means cowboy."

He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Why that sign?"

"Because of the cartoon character of course. He's a cowboy named Luke with extraordinarily good aim. He never misses his target and always catches the bad guys. The show is called Lucky Luke. " I explained, laughing a little.

He also gave a small laugh, but then his face became confused again, and then a bit suspicious.

I found that a little weird. He couldn't read my mind and the was 50% truth, so there was no way he could know the real reason. He couldn't know that I had given Luke that name as an infant, because it was nothing but God given luck that he had even survived that first year with me. Or for that matter, survived all the times he had been in danger. So what reason did he have to be suspicious?

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