Prom
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.
A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!
Part Eight-Hot Water
Bella could hardly see through her tears. She felt like such an idiot. It had been such a wonderful night. Despite her ambivalence about the whole prom thing, Jacob, Old Quil and the others had made it into something special. A night to remember. But now it was a night she would rather forget. Edward's words kept going around and around in her head.
"Jacob was paid to be here. The others just came along for the ride."
It felt like a huge hole had been punched in her chest. Was this what it felt like to have your heart broken? Not in the romantic sense, but because of a betrayal of trust. More than anyone in her life she had trusted Jacob Black. Her arms wrapped around her middle as she pushed through the gym doors and wandered outside. The cool air hit her in the face, a light breeze ruffled the silky hair rippling down her back. She closed her eyes, the tears still bleeding from under the lids. She had never felt such despair.
With her eyes shut Bella couldn't see where she was going and she walked smack bang into Embry Call and Angela Weber making out in a darkened corner.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Bella began to apologise breathlessly before she realised who she was talking to. "Angela? Embry?" Her tears retreated as she stared at them in shock.
"Oh, Bella, it's you." Angela giggled in embarrassment. She pushed her shiny brown hair out of her eyes and adjusted her glasses. "Um...I'd like to introduce you to Embry." She shot Embry a shy smile as she did so.
"I know who he is." Bella was still in shock. When had this happened? She tried to recall the last time she had seen Embry during the night, but she had been so caught up with Jacob for the last hour or so, she couldn't remember. "Embry came with me. And aren't you supposed to be Ben's date?" She asked Angela.
"Oh, that dweeb." Embry answered before Angela had a chance to. "When Ange met me there was no competition." He threw her a confident smile as he wrapped an arm around Angela's shoulder.
"I didn't know you two came together. I thought you were supposed to be with Edward, then I saw you with that cute guy with the long hair, so-" Angela looked at Bella in confusion.
"That's Jake." Embry whispered sexily in her ear, making Angela's cheeks flush red. "He's my best friend. We came as a group. Don't worry, I am all yours."
Angela giggled again. "We met when he offered to do my hair." She twirled the long braid that Embry had weaved for her. She flashed him another shy smile. "We got talking and other things."
Bella didn't really want to hear about the 'other things' that Angela was referring to. She could guess. It was fast work on Embry's part. She sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "Well enjoy yourselves." She muttered. "I'm sorry I disturbed you."
Finally Embry and Angela seemed to notice that Bella was upset. They shared a confused glance before hastening after her. "Bella, are you okay?" Angela was the first to ask.
"Why are you out here anyway?" Embry chipped in before Bella had a chance to respond. "The last time I saw you, you were wrapped around Jake on the dance floor."
Mentioning Jacob was the worst thing he could have done. Bella burst into tears and ran away from them. It was so dark she couldn't see where was going and tripped, tumbling right into Quil junior and Jessica Stanley, who were making out on the other side of the gym.
"My dress. It's ruined." Jessica wailed as she looked at the mud splatters on the creased satin dress. She glared at Bella, her curly hair like a cloud of snakes around her head and just as venomous.
"Chill, babe." Quil injected smoothly. "You still do it for me. Mud or no mud." He finished his cheesy compliment with a wink.
"What are you squinting at me for?" Jessica snapped as she shot him an evil glare. "How can I pose for the group photo's now." Her eyes narrowed as she turned her vitriol onto Bella. "You did this on purpose." She accused.
"I tripped." Bella said faintly. Her head was still spinning. Angela with Embry and Quil with Jessica? Where was Mike Newton?
"You always have to outdo everyone." Jessica was practically crying now. "Look at you in your skinny jeans and dressy top. You just have to show off and be edgy."
"Jess, I promise I wasn't. I was just wearing what I felt comfortable in. It was your choice to wear that dress. You don't need to conform to fit in." Bella couldn't believe she was saying this. All she ever did was try to be what others wanted. If it hadn't been for the guys intervention tonight, she would have been dolled up like a princess if Alice had her way with her. Despite her unhappiness at what Jacob had done to her, at least some good had come out of the whole mess. She still had her dignity regarding what she was wearing.
Her little speech seemed to have gotten through to Jessica at any rate. "You know it would be good to stand out from the crowd. I still have my cheerleading outfit in my locker." Her face lit up at the thought. "I could change into that. I look so good in it, too."
"You're a cheerleader, Bess?" Quil was impressed. He slipped his arm around Jessica's waist and waggled his eyebrows at her. "You know I've never dated a cheerleader before."
"You've never dated anyone before." Embry's voice came out of the darkness as he and Angela finally joined them.
"And my name is Jessica not Bessica." Jessica scolded him as she stamped her foot.
Embry raised his eyebrows at her little tantrum. He was glad that he had pulled the shy, sweet Angela and not the spoiled little princess in the satiny pink dress. "How did you two hook up anyway?" He asked curiously. "The last time I saw you, Quil, was when you were spinning tunes with your grandfather."
"This little lady needed a knight in shining armour and of course she found him." Quil winked at Jessica again.
"Humph!" Jessica huffed. "Mike was being an idiot. So I grabbed the first guy I could find so I could make out with them and make him jealous."
"So, you were using Quil." Bella didn't know why but this made her angry. After still being under the impression that Jacob had used her for a bribe, she felt mortified on Quil's behalf. "You're despicable."
"How dare you accuse me of being despicable?" Jessica retorted as she drew herself up to her full height, which wasn't much as she was only five foot nothing. Her hair made up for the lost inches though and she matched Bella's steely glare. "You are the one who cheated on poor Edward and went off with that cute guy with the long hair. And we all know you've had your eye on Mike, too. And probably this guy and Bill here." She jabbed a finger in Quil's chest.
"It's Quil." Quil pointed out indignantly.
Jessica wasn't even listening. "Well you can't have them all." She raged. "Bill's mine. You can't have him."
"I'm all yours, Bess." Quil was thrilled. He had never been so popular with the female sex. His pop would be impressed. He wasn't used to having girls fight over him.
"My name is Jess." Jessica yelled at him. "Now be quiet, Bill."
"Quil." Quil said again, grinning.
"You don't deserve Bill..." Bella yelled back at her.
"Quil." Quil tried to make himself heard above the screeching.
"Quil then." Bella's unhappiness had turned to anger. Jacob wasn't here to yell at but Jessica was a good substitute. "I did not cheat on Edward. I came here with friends. Or at least I thought they were my friends." Her emotions seesawed again as she remembered the root cause of her unhappiness. Tears sprang into her eyes. "But it seems I was just being used."
"Bella?" Angela put a gentle hand on her arm. "What are you talking about?"
"These guys." Bella's lips quivered as she pointed at a startled Quil and Embry. "They brought me here pretending to be my friends when all the time they had been bribed to be here. And all it took was thirty dollars."
Suddenly Quil and Embry found themselves faced with three pairs of accusatory eyes. Bella, Angela and Jessica glared them fiercely, suddenly united in fury against the two boys supposed bad behaviour.
"Hell." Embry mumbled under his breath. He stared at Angela's face, searching for the sweet, shy girl he had first met. Right now she looked like a female wrestler getting ready to knock his block off. "Ange, it wasn't quite like that." He pleaded.
"My god!" Quil stared at Jessica fearfully. Her curly hair was like the snakes of Medusa ready to strike him down. "Bess, listen it wasn't like she says."
"Explain." The three girls demanded together as they surged forward, surrounding the hapless duo until their backs were pressed against the wall with no chance of escape.
Jacob ran out into the open air. He had been desperately hunting for Bella for the last ten minutes. But she had disappeared. So had the guys. The only one he could find was Old Quil. The elder was back on the dance floor, surrounded by his new fan club. There was no way Jacob could get close enough to ask him if he had seen Bella. Jacob was glad when the cool air hit his feverish skin. It was getting hot and sweaty in the gym with all those bodies gyrating about. He breathed in deeply, trying to clear his head so he could focus on finding Bella.
Just then he heard voices coming from the other side of the gym.
"Ange, it wasn't quite like that."
Was that Embry?
"Bess, listen it wasn't like she says."
Was that Quil?
Jacob followed the direction of the voices; his curiosity piqued. They led him to a darkened corner of the gym. He wondered who Ange and Bess were. Whoever they were Quembry seemed to have gotten into hot water with them, which didn't surprise Jacob one bit. He sighed heavily, supposing that he was going to have to pause in his search for Bella while he rescued the two idiots. What he didn't realise was that he was about to walk into some hot water of his own.
A/N-thanks for reading!