Chapter 2
Bella stood at the her locker, debating. When the shock of the fight finally wore off, she was undecided as to what she should do. She had to talk to Mr Berty, but he had his hands full. The issue at hand was far greater than his approval for the dance. Still, she had to get it before the council could move forward with any planning, and they needed to start as soon as possible. And it would only take a second.
After a few minutes of contemplation, Bella decided she would wait for some time before she went to Berty. There was still half an hour left before lunch ended. She would find someone to pass the time with, and when she assumed the coast was clear, she would go to the principal's office.
The hallways were loud with the talk of the fight as she made her way to the field in the back. Everyone was gossiping about it. Something this excited hasn't happened since she was in her sophomore year and a scandal broke out about a teacher and a student. And even that wasn't this big of a deal. The reason was quite obvious.
Edward Cullen was a big deal. Ever since he came to Forks High in his freshman year, four years ago, he was popular. Not just because he was beautiful, although that was enough reason on its own. Every girl had a crush on him, or at the very least, let their eyes linger on his green eyes or chiseled jaw. Bella had caught herself many times over the years. That wasn't all, however.
He fit the cliche "highschool star", ticked every single box in fact. He was an athlete, and a dedicated one at that. This year he was named captain of the football team, and there was already talk of colleges interested in him after graduation. He was also loaded. The Cullens moved when Carlisle, his father, took the job as the resident doctor at the only hospital we had in Forks. He was probably the wealthiest man in Forks, besides perhaps the mayor. He was also good at school. Not top of the class by any means, but he was part of the twenty percent of students who were on the honor roll last year.
All this packaged in one tall, bronzed hair boy with good manners and a charming smile made Edward Cullen high school royalty. Everyone lusted after him. So it only made sense that all the students were entirely invested in the events that conspired that day. There was much speculation on what James had done to Edward to cause such an outraged reaction from a mostly composed boy. Rumours went around and spread like wildfire. As Bella walked around the building, she heard snippets of conversations here and there. Most involved Alice Cullen's name, Edward's younger sister.
Bella hated the gossiping. She hated the rumours and the talking and the excitement of it all.
I wish people had other things to talk about.
Of course she wondered herself about the fight, but thought better than to include herself in the circle of gossip. Everyone had their reasons for doing things, and Edward Cullen mostly likely had one too. And no one had the right to speculate on that reason, even if he had chosen the most public way to display his reaction.
She walked out the backdoors of the building facing the large field that the school use for any sport that couldn't be played in the gym. By the doors stood a few outdoor benches, and Bella wasn't surprised to find some of her friends there. When Bella found a break from being attached to Angela's hip, she spent her time with Tyler, Lauren, and Eric. Tyler and Lauren had been dating since junior year, but had recently broken up. So Bella was also not surprised to see that Lauren was missing from her usual spot.
"Hey boys." She greeted the two friends.
"Hey Tinker," Eric greeted back. They had started calling her that in the fourth grade. It stuck. At this point, it felt more like her name than the one given to her at birth. Isabella.
Still, she always preferred Bella.
"Hey Bella. What's up with you?" Tyler asked. Bella had noticed that since his breakup, he stared at her more, and talked to her more. He even complimented her often, not enough to be weird or alarming, but more than she was used to from him. Today was no exception. "Hey, I like your shirt."
Bella laughed inwardly at the likely ingenuine compliment. She was wearing an oversized, ordinary plaid shirt. Nothing she hadn't worn before, nothing that should garner such attention. She thanked him quickly.
"I was just headed to talk to Mr Berty about the dance, but I'm sure he's currently busy."
"Yeah, no kidding." Eric exclaimed. "Man, I heard all sorts of shit about the fight today. Cullen apparently went nuts on James's ass. Beat him to a pulp. I wish I'd seen it." Bella decided not to disclose the fact that she was there and had witnessed the whole incident.
"Yeah, though Brandon heard somewhere that James had it coming. Something about fucking with Cullen's sister or something." Tyler piqued in. Bella didn't want to discuss the fight any further, and was quick to change the subject.
"Hey, did you guys hear about the dance? We're gonna have one this year. For real." She started.
"Yo, it's actually happening?" Asked Eric.
"Yeah, as soon as Berty says yes." Bella answered.
"Man, a dance sounds like fun. The timing sucks though." Tyler sighed. "It'll be a bust being single for it. Maybe I'll just have to find myself another girlfriend for when it happens." It didn't escape Bella that he kept his eyes on her the whole time he said that, and it made her aggressively uncomfortable. She cleared her throat.
"So, um, what were you guys up to?" She asked.
When twenty three minutes had passed and Bella couldn't imagine the matter of the fight still being discussed at the principal's office, she excused herself from her two friends and walked back to the main office. Once she reached the reception, she smiled at Ms Cope, who didn't ask any questions when Bella walked straight into the hall towards Mr Berty's office. As council president, she was in the office quite a lot.
As she neared the office, she saw the door opened slightly ajar, and no one of consequence standing around, and she breathed a sigh of relief. But she heard voices as she was almost about to push the door open.
"You can't tell my parents, Mr Berty. You just can't." An urgent, velvety spoke frantically. Edward Cullen.
"Edward, son, this matter is too serious. You have to accept the consequences of your actions." Mr Berty replied, with an awful lot of care for a student who just beat up another student for no apparent reason.
"I take full responsibility of my actions. I do. I know I fucked up. And I will take whatever punishment you give me." Edward spoke vehemently. "But, you have to understand, my parents cannot get involved. They cannot know. You know what it would do to them."
Bella heard Mr Berty sigh.
"I don't know what you want me to do, boy. Mrs Hunter wants justice" He spit the word out. "She wants your parents to pay. I had to remind her of her own kid's discretions to shut her up, but she won't stay quiet for too long."
Edward stayed quiet for a very long time. Bella didn't think he would respond at all, that he was just going to accept his punishment. It gave her the chance to catch herself. It was wrong of her to eavesdrop on such a private conversation, and extremely rude. She willed herself to turn around and walk away immediately. She needed to mind her own business, not become so hypocritical and disrespectful. However, as hard as she tried to convince herself to do the right thing, she couldn't for the life her make herself move.
At last, Edward whispered, only loud enough for her to hear.
"He's lying." His voice trembled.
"I know." Mr Berty sighed again. They didn't speak for a while.
"Alright here's what we're going to do. I'm not going to suspend you, or your mother will ask me questions that I don't want to give her answers to. I'll take you off the football team, and revoke your title as captain." Edward made a sound of protest. "Just until the season starts. You know damn well we don't got a chance in hell for winning without you." he said with smile in his voice. "Withdraw out of most of your activities, so it looks like you're being punished. Wait for things to blow over before you say anything to anyone. I'll deal with Mrs Hunter."
"Thank you, sir. I can't describe to you how much I appreciate this. I won't fuck up this much again. Pardon my language." his voice was dripping with relief and graciousness.
"You're a good kid, Edward. I know that punk deserved it, regardless of what he did. I've wanted to knock him out good on many different occasions. I just wish you hadn't done on school property, in the middle of the day, with every student watching." Berty scolded. Edward was quiet again.
"I just saw red. When I heard what he planned to do…" Edward confessed. "I couldn't stop."
At that very moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch. Bella jumped in my spot, gasping. Thankfully, the two men didn't hear her.
"Should I go to class?" Edward asked.
"Well, it might be more important to get your knuckles tended to. It seems like you bruised them up pretty bad." She could picture Edward shrugging.
"They'll heal." Edward responded flippantly. "Will I be-"
"Yes, you'll be excused from class, Edward." Mr Berty laughed. "How a kid like you got caught in such a situation is beyond me. It doesn't make any sense." Edward didn't respond. It heard his chair squeak as he got up, and Bella took that as her cue to leave.
"Also Edward, I think it would be a good idea for you to go to detention for a while." Mr Berty suggested. Edward considered this for a moment.
"Okay." He agreed. "For how long, do you think?"
"The rest of the week sounds good. Or maybe longer, if Hunter's mother gives me more shit. We'll see."
"If that's what you want, sir." Edward responded. Bella glanced up at the clock as she listened. She had three minutes to stop at her locker, grab her books, and make it to chem. With a silent sigh, she turned on mher heel. The last thing she heard Edward Cullen say was, "I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad."
I didn't want to make Edward an asshole like last time. You'll see, there's gonna be some mega changes. I hope ya'll like them. I can't stop writing. I don't think I had this much fun writing last time.
Please review and lemme know what you think. Your thoughts on the old stuff, on the reinvention of the characters and plots, what you like better. I'm dying to know.
Until next time.
-Ashley
