A Bad Deal?

The Devil Plays Cupid

Bella licked her lips nervously and cast furtive glances down the hall. It was mainly empty, with only a few students down the far end of the hall due to the early morning. Then, sure that no one would see her, she quickly walked over to the targeted locker and slipped in a thin piece of paper in through the vents, never pausing in her stride. Done, she let out a breath of relief.

This situation had been going on for the past two weeks ever since Rosalie and Bella had spray painted several houses in broad day light, earning a newspaper article about the vandalism. Bella had clutched the article between sweaty fingers, reading to see if anything incriminating about her had been written there, but thankfully no one had any clue as to who had done it.

The town had been in uproar over this, especially given how several houses had been toilet papered not too many nights ago. Charlie had woken the next morning to the white paper surrounding his house, and while he and Bella tore them down, he had ranted about who had done this; listing motives and possible suspects. He had even questioned Bella if she knew anything about this. But she had merely shook her head no, her lips thin and tight. She didn't want her father to suspect that she was being bullied, as he had a faint idea of what had happened in Phoenix but not the full disclosure.

Bella knew it was only a matter of time before eventually someone would catch on to who really was doing these attacks and Bella would find herself smack dab right in the middle of it thanks to a certain blonde. And now the blonde's latest schemes in making Bella suffer was to make her leave loves notes in Angela's locker, since Rosalie still thought Bella liked her best friend.

Bella had nearly cried when she had heard of what Rosalie had planned for her, but there was nothing she could do about it but carry it out. Luckily all that it required was for Bella to leave unsigned notes in the locker for the past two weeks. The sappier and more sexual, the better.

Bella had been uncomfortable, mortified even, writing them down. This was her friend after all! And she most definitely didn't feel that way about her. Yet Rosalie was insisted. She wanted raunchy notes. Notes that would make Angela squirm. Notes that could be technically taken as sexual harassment given their content. And the blonde wanted to read them over before she approved them and had Bella leave them in Angela's locker.

Bella hated this, but she couldn't do much in the way of outright denying Rosalie this. She could do something though. Something that could make the blonde uncomfortable. So she had taken to pretending she was writing love notes to the blonde and in this way poured out all her unexpressed emotions. Rosalie had been impressed by the intensity of the letters, and not unnerved like Bella had hoped she would be. Although perhaps a part of Bella was happy that Rosalie wasn't disgusted by the words that Bella had written under the guise of them being for Angela.

"Whoa, I didn't know you had such dirty thoughts," Rosalie had smirked, bringing her mouth closer to Bella's ear at this. The two of them were sitting in the back of the school library, side to side on the bean bag chairs. The closeness of Rosalie's lips made Bella shiver. "It almost makes me jealous to hear you worshiping someone like this."

Huh? Jealous? Rosalie was jealous of Angela?

"Because you should be worried 24/7 about not pissing me off, and should be thinking of how best to cater to my needs."

Oh, yup. That made more sense.

"But seeing you write this is so amusing. I feel like I know all your dirty little secrets." Rosalie mussed as she pulled away, snatching the written letter from Bella's hands and glancing it over.

"The way I lick a path from your collarbone down the valley of your pert breasts, tasting every inch of your smooth skin..." Rosalie snickered as she cut off the line there. "It would be a big shame if Angela were to find out these notes came from her best friend."

A flash of panic hit Bella hard in the stomach. She made a motion to grab for the paper before she could even think it. "No! Don't."

"Oh, would someone not like that?" Rosalie asked coyly, shifting her body and the paper just out of reach.

"No, I wouldn't. I'm already way out of my comfort zone by you asking me to do this. I don't need any more trouble," Bella couldn't help but whine out. Really, she was getting so tired of this. It seemed unlike Victoria who favored physical torment, Rosalie liked to cause mental and emotional anguish.

"Ah, if you put it like that...maybe if you beg nicely, on your knees, groveling before me." Rosalie tapped her chin mischievously and the glimmer in her eyes was one Bella did not like. "I won't tell anyone about it. Although really. It's not good for you to keep such things in. The sooner Angela knows the sooner we can get to having your heart break!"

"I thought you were going to help me get the girl?" Bella asked, not really caring if she got the girl, but Rosalie had so far being parading this newest scheme of hers as a way to get Bella a girl.

"Oh please," Rosalie scoffed. "Angela is as straight as they come. She's going to say no. And it will be amusing to see your dirty little secrets air, only for her to be horrified that it was you the whole time that was sending her these notes. Not only will your heart break but so will the friendship between the two of you. And then you'll be completely friendless."

"You are sick and cruel," Bella spat out, rising to her feet, her hands in fists. "I can't believe I-" have a crush on a person like you! Bella almost finished, but she couldn't. That slip up would end her for sure. She felt her face was red with anger, that's how much Rosalie had succeeded in pissing her off right now. "You know what. I don't care. I'm going to tell Angela myself what I've been doing. And I don't care if she hates my afterwards but at least I'll tell her before you get a chance to do it. I'll take away all the fun!"

At this Rosalie's haughty attitude dropped and she was suddenly serious. But she wasn't saying anything as Bella ranted on. "I bet you've never even felt love. Or understood the concept of love. One shouldn't mess with such things. It's sacred. And precious. But a heartless bitch like you wouldn't understand."

Rosalie slowly and quietly got up, standing close to Bella, hovering over her with her additional height and making good use of those five inches she had on Bella to be intimidating. But Bella didn't back away from the scary look in her eyes.

"Love?" Rosalie spat the word out, her eyes dark and dangerous. "You are stupid for believing such things exist. Love is dumb. Love is useless. Is it blinding and dangerous. There is no such things as pure love; as true love. There is no such thing as someone loving someone else truly because people only love others for their own benefit. Love is selfish."

Rosalie's chest was heaving at the end of this. Clearly it was a topic she was very touchy about and Bella had just hit it on the head with all the force of a missile. "Then I feel sorry for you," Bella said. What she had meant to be a scathing and snide comment at first, once she had said it she realized in part she really did feel sorry for the blonde. What had made her despise love like this? A love damaged rich girl with attitude problems. Of course that had to be added on to the being known as Rosalie.

"Because as long as you can never love anyone, no one can truly love you." Then Bella snatched the note she had written out of Rosalie's lax grip and left the flabbergasted blonde behind in the library. And still fueled by the anger in her veins that served as her confidence, she decided to go find her friend. She knew the girl had after school art club.

Finding the tan girl in the art room, she stuffed the note in her back pocket. Oh boy, this was going to be a lot to explain, but Bella figured she owned it to the girl. The situation had escalated. If it had been only Bella that Rosalie's actions had been hurting then Bella would have left it. But this was affecting Angela now. Bella could see how distraught the girl was. She was jumpy, and almost as if scared by the notes. Bella had to amend that.

"Angela. Can we talk?"

"Uh, sure, Bella," Angela seemed a bit thrown off by Bella's appearance. She looked up from the watercolor she had been working on. "What's wrong?" she asked when she noted Bella's pale face and the sweaty pallor of it.

"Let's go outside," was Bella's response. "It's a long story."

A/N: Baby steps Bella. Rosalie is not happy at all by Bella's little outburst.