She was so focused on where to puncture, what angle to slash in for maximum destruction, that she failed to notice when Edward slipped away, or when the owner of the car approached her. She jumped when she heard a throat clear.
"Ms Swan." Mr Berty spoke, "Can you please explain to me exactly why you were just about to slash my tires?"
Bella's heart stopped beating.
Slowly, dreadfully, loathingly, she turned her head around. Stood there, with his arms crossed over his chest, a raised eyebrow and impatience spattered all over his usually smiling face, was the principal of Forks High, and the executioner of her death.
"M-m-mr Berty, I…" Bella stopped. Nothing was gonna come out of her mouth that would justify her case. A case that she didn't completely understand either. Could Edward have been mistaken about James' car? Was that a possibility? It didn't seem probable. James and him went to a lot of the same places. Edward would know his car. That only left her with one conclusion; Edward had lied. He had taken advantage of her trust and lead her into a trap. But why? Why would he do such a thing?
A moment from yesterday's conversation played through her mind.
"Besides, there's not much I can do that can land me here."
"I guess I'll just have to try harder to convince you."
"I wouldn't hold my breath."
"You really shouldn't have said that."
Did Edward really just sabotage her to get her into detention?
"An explanation with words would suffice, Ms Swan." Mr Berty broke through her musings politely.
"I-uh-I was informed…that this was James' car," Bella tried with the truth, "I didn't know this was your car, Mr Berty, or I wouldn't have agreed. You have to believe me. It was only James's car that I was after. Not yours. Never yours. I'd be too scared. Just like I am now. " She knew she was blabbering. She was on the verge of tears. Bella Swan, Chief Swan's daughter, the girl with the perfect track record and not a single treacherous bone in her body, was caught red handed vandalizing the principal's car. Not caught, set up; Bella amended in her brain.
"So you were intending to harm Mr Hunter's car?" Mr Berty repeated thoughtfully, "Is that so?" There was a distaste in his mouth when he uttered James's names that gave Bella hope that maybe this was okay. She knew he didn't like James. She'd heard it yesterday. He might go easy on her too. Relief starting inflating in her chest.
"Yes, sir," Bella nodded vehemently, hopefully.
"Hmm," Mr Berty speculated, "So please then, Ms Swan, explain to me what makes you think that's any better than vandalizing a teacher's property? Regardless of faculty or student, you have been caught causing damage to a vehicle that does not belong to you. It is a crime in every sense of the word. I would call the cops right away if it wasn't for the fact that the town chief, might I remind you, is your father and it would be extremely awkward for all of us involved to explain to him when his highly intelligent and mature daughter suddenly became a vandal. What do you have to say for yourself?"
There went her inflating relief. And there came the tears.
"Mr Berty, I-" Bella sobbed, "I'm so so sorry. I didn't even want to do this. I knew it was a bad idea and I just wanted to go back to class but then Edward asked if I could do this for him and then he said please and I felt so bad because of yesterday and what James wanted to do to his sister and it's all so messy and I don't even know why I was set up like that, or quite frankly speaking, why am I even involved, its all just a little confounding to me and like I know this is so unlike me, I know, all my life I've tried to be a good student and you know make everyone proud and now just one badly thought out decision and all my handwork would just go down the drain-"
"Bella!" Yelled Mr Berty, more than a little shocked by her emotional outburst. Bella wiped at her face and tried to appear as if she was a cool and collected young lady who didn't just word vomit in front of her high school principal. "Jeez, I was just scaring you a little bit, kid. I knew this was a mistake the second I saw your shaking hand trying to slash any kind of hole into the tire, and I caught you before any real damage was done. I wasn't actually gonna call Charlie. You're just lucky it was me discovering your little act here and not anyone else. That would've certainly complicated things. It looks like Edward put you up to this?"
Bella nodded hesitantly, a part of her feeling bad that she was throwing Edward under the bus like that. A very small, very insignificant part of her. A part that was obviously just really stupid.
"I'll talk to him. Christ, that kid's getting himself into all sorts of trouble." Mr Berty muttered to himself with the concern of a close relative, or a mentor, not the principal. "As for you, I'm letting you off the hook. Only because you're the furthest thing from a delinquent I've ever seen, and enough trouble has brewed here in the last couple of days. I'm not adding another misbehaving teen to the mix. It's bad for business. You get to keep your near perfect record, Ms Swan. This won't taint it. I won't tell Charlie, you obviously won't try this again, and none will be the wiser." Bella thought she might just walk away from this ambush scotch free.
Until Berty said:
"I do wonder however, Ms Swan. If Mr Cullen asked you to jump off of a cliff, would you?"
He continued before Bella could reply."No, because that's not what smart kids do. They think for themselves, make their own decisions, not just blindly do what the other kids are doing because of peer pressure or stupid shit like that. You know better, Bella, I know you do."
Again, didn't let Bella get a single word in before he continued, "So therefore, to give you some extra time to contemplate these decisions and mistakes you've made by not thinking for yourself and instead, for letting someone else think for you, I am going to give you a unique opportunity. You will be joining Mr Cullen in detention until the end of the week. It should be enough to ensure that you won't be making the same mistakes again."
"But, Mr Berty-" Bella protested.
"It looks like we've come to an understanding." Mr Berty gave her a quick nod and smile as he cut her off, beyond pleased with himself. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go witness some teenage buffoons make an absolute spectacle of themselves on the baseball team. I would encourage you to go to class. There's only so much trouble I can save you from. And next time, Bella, before you're about to key someone's car, just make sure it's the right car. I would hate for this to become a common occurrence."
Bella wasn't a betting girl, but she could have sworn she'd seen Mr Berty smirk as he turned around and left the parking lot, leaving her with only her sinful nail and humiliation and nothing else.
Bella sat there for a few seconds, trying to absorb what the fuck had just happened. Looking back at the situation again only made her angry. There was only one person to blame, and he was about to get an earful. She knew that he would be close. He'd gotten away in time, but he wouldn't have left and missed the show. She got up from the floor and scanned the parking lot. His douchie silver Volvo, of which she knew off because she went to forks high and alas, everyone who went there knew of Edward Cullen's famous whip, was parked on the left side of the parking lot, right by the exit. It would've given him the perfect vantage point to witness her ambush.
She walked- no, she stormed, absolutely raging, toward his car. As she got closer, she could make an outline of messy hair, pale skin and a black T-shirt. He saw her approaching, his green eyes suddenly alert and scrambled to start the car and back out, but he was too late. As soon as she was close enough, she grabbed the driver's door handle and yanked it, opening the door and leaving him exposed and defenceless against her wrath. She saw real fear in his eyes, and in their reflection, she saw her own fury
"Bella-now, lets not get that angry, we can talk about this-"
"Why would you do that to me?" She roared, getting way too close to his face to be comfortable "Why would you humiliate me like that? I was so nice to you and I trusted you and you set me up! And for what? Just so I can spend 3 or 4 stupid days in detention with you?! What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Edward put his hands up in defence and tried agin. "Bella, c'mon, it's not that bad, Berty wasn't actually gonna do anything-"
"How would you know that? How could you have guaranteed that? Just because you've got him wrapped around your finger doesn't mean the rest of us do too! He could've called my dad or taken me off of student council or suspended me for the week or all of the above, and it would've all been your fault!"
"Okay, I understand you're angry, and you have every right to be. I admit, that was a total dick move. I should've not taken so lightly-"
"Not taken it lightly? You should've not done anything at all! You just sabotaged me, Edward. You made me look like such an idiot." Now that the anger was simmering, the hurt came to the surface. She thought she could trust him. She thought he was good.
"I'm sorry, Bella, I'm so sorry. I know it looks bad, trust me. It wasn't supposed to be as serious as you think. Berty's chill, Bella, I know him. He caught you right before you did anything serious, and you barely got punished. It was best case scenario." Edward shrugged with one shoulder, trying to convince Bella that he had really had had the right intentions, that he had thought this whole plan through, that he was at heart a genuinely nice guy. Bella bought none of it.
"So, what? Am I supposed to thank you? Should I be grateful to you for coming up with just the perfect crime that wouldn't get me in too much trouble but just enough that I could be part of your stupid breakfast club fantasy? You couldn't just be alone in your punishment? You just had to drag me in with you?" The fury and flames were back. Bella wasn't just angry. She was livid.
Edward shook his head, more afraid now than before. 'Bella, it's not like that. Listen to me, I-"
"No, Edward," Bella interrupted, putting up one hand in the air to cut him off once again, "You listen to me. I don't know what this grand ploy of yours is to make a rebel out of me, to introduce me to the dark side, to make me a bad kid, but its is not going to work. From this day on, I'm never speaking to you again. You have taken things too far, and I don't want to be your stupid pawn. This friendship, or whatever the fuck it was to you, is officially over. I'm done."
With that, Bella slammed his door shut in his face, and walked away without looking back even once.
SURPRISE! IM BACK!
Ive got 2 words for you; covid19 and boredom. Hopefully, this time I'm back to finish this thing. i struggle, as many people do, to finish huge projects that I've started, and I think it would teach me a lot about myself if I can see this story and these characters through. Ive done things differently this time around and anally plotted, chapter by chapter, every thing about this story, so hopefully I never get stumped. I hope you decide to commit to this story like I have again.
all mistakes are mine
see you soon :)
