I don't own Twilight. I do own a frozen front door and a crap load of chores to do before we lose power.
Chapter 8
Bella had run off to the girl's bathroom slamming the stall door behind her. She sat on the closed toilet and let her frustrations out. There was not a chance in hell she would let Edward see her cry. However, now that she was on her own, she let the tears flow. Of all the self-righteous, sanctimonious assholes in the world she had to be stuck with the pretty one. The arrogance of that man. The gall he had to say to her get over it. As if he was the centre of the universe.
She tried to remember why it was she had fallen for him the first time. What had it been about him that lured her in? Sure he was handsome, beautiful even, but he had seemed so kind before. He always helped his mother, doing chores around the house that she needed. He drove his sister where she needed to go and looked out for her at school. He had been friendly to Bella whenever she was around Alice. Bella remembered listening to several debates between Edward and his father regarding the treatment of patients in the medical system. He was so eloquent and succinct in his arguments that it made Bella look at him in a different light. She found his intelligence attractive.
He wasn't so attractive now, she thought petulantly, and decidedly less intelligent.
Bella wiped her eyes. She left the bathroom stall and went to the sink to wash the tears from her face. She had two more classes to get through before she could go home. As she cleaned her face she decided that she wouldn't let anyone know how much that stupid note hurt her. Now that she finally understood why everyone at school ignored her she felt nothing but pity for their closed mindedness. To blame her for Tyler's injury was asinine.
He was the one driving and not wearing his seatbelt properly. He was the one speeding on icy streets. He hit her and broke her wrist, scarred her face, and scared her.
She had done nothing, been an innocent bystander, a victim. If they wanted to hate for it, so be it. She wasn't going to waste her time and energy trying to change their minds. There were only a few months left to the school year and then she could leave this town and all it's stupid people.
With this new resolve Bella went to class and finished her day. She didn't give a rat's ass who wrote the note. She wasn't going to tell anyone about it. If she got more of them or if they became threatening she would tell her dad but until then there was nothing to do about it.
After school she had to work a few hours. She was on cash register duty that evening which lent a lot of time for thinking. There were very few customers, not much call for sporting equipment in November. The weather hadn't turned to winter yet, so no snow gear was sold. It was too cold for camping, at least in her opinion, and too wet for hiking.
Bella was allowed to read if there were no customers but asked not to do homework. She was currently re-reading Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, losing herself in pre-war Japan. She had read it once before and thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the way the book was written.
Bella was so lost in the book she almost missed quitting time. She counted her cash drawer and made the deposit. She did her clean up and final sweep of the store, clocking out just a few minutes late. After turning off the lights and locking the doors, she went out to her truck to find that someone had smeared peanut butter on her side mirror. It was quite common for some kids to pull pranks for a while after Hallowe'en.
She grumbled to herself, swearing quietly under her breath as she wiped the goop away with the paper towel she kept in her truck. She'd have to wash it properly when she got home, in the dark and the cold, which led to another string of curse words.
Bella was happy that Charlie was working nights so that he wouldn't know what time she got home. She didn't have to hurry to get home to make his dinner or to clean up if she had made leftovers. She had a few hours until his shift ended at eleven, more than enough time to clean her mirror and get ready for bed. She drove home slowly, not wanting to get in an accident because her mirror was streaked with peanut butter, it was a bitch to get off the glass.
Bella got home safely, only passing one car on the way. She ran into the house to grab some cleaning supplies taking the time to put her dinner in the microwave to heat. It only took a few minutes to get the rest of the residue off the mirror, even in the cold and dark. She gathered her supplies to go back into the house and checked the mailbox on her way in. She left the mail on the table and grabbed her dinner. When she was comfortably settled she rifled through the mail, knowing that there would be nothing for her but hoping all the same.
In the middle of a bunch of flyers and junk mail was a folded piece of paper with her name on it. She unfolded it and read, it was the same note she had gotten in her locker. Which meant either the same twit who had written it in the first place was now leaving them at her home or, worse, that Edward had found it in the library after she had left. If Edward had found it that meant that he had read it and been to her house to drop it off.
That idea horrified her more than receiving the note in the first place. She didn't want him to know. She didn't want him to know anything about her life. She didn't want his pity or concern. She didn't even want him near her house.
AN: Happy Oscar Night.