Twilight is not mine. What is mine, -32c with windchill, and I'm more than willing to share with anyone who asks. I'm even willing to ship.

Chapter 9

Bella woke up after a disturbed sleep with a don't give a shit attitude. Whoever the little turd was that left that note in her locker could bite her. Mr. and Mrs. Crowley had asked her to help Tyler and no one was going to make her stop but them. She dressed in black to match her attitude, getting ready quietly so she didn't wake her dad. She skipped breakfast, choosing only coffee and got her lunch together. After making sure there was enough fresh coffee for Charlie she drove to school. Bella ignored all of her classmates and carried on her morning as usual.

She sat in the cafeteria with her book, pretending to be alone, eating her lunch. Ten minutes before the bell rang she made her way to the library. She waited at their table for Tyler to arrive.

Edward carefully watched Bella over lunch. He had only just noticed that she ate lunch by herself. Tyler was surrounded by all his friends, laughing and joking about their teachers and homework. He had been missed the day before and everyone was trying to catch up with him. Edward noticed Bella slip out of the cafeteria early and looked around at Tyler's table. He didn't see anyone looking at Bella, it was like she wasn't even there. When they arrived at the library, Bella was at the table, the thick Harry Potter book in front of her. He tried to catch her eye, to smile at her and let her know he saw her but she refused to look at him. She greeted Tyler and started a summary of the last few chapters so that there wouldn't be any confusion about where they left off.

Edward slipped out of the library as Harry was beginning the first task of fighting dragons. Edward made note to himself that maybe he should read the books too so that he knew what was going on. He went out the parking lot at had his lunch in his car. He didn't want to go far in case Tyler needed him.

He could only sit still for half an hour before he wanted to go back to the library. He walked slowly back into the school unsure if Bella would allow him to listen in on her reading. Maybe he could find a place hidden where he could listen without her knowing. As he walked through the school he came upon a group of seniors studying in the hallway. He vaguely recognized them, they weren't the ones that fawned over Tyler at lunch, but he knew one of the girls had been friendly with Alice when they lived here. He approached the group trying to think of her name and how to get the information he wanted from her.

"Hey there, you used to hang out with my sister, right?" He felt ridiculous, but the girl nodded.

"Yeah, I'm Katie. How is she?"

"Good, good. Loves the city. She's seeing this guy Jasper"

"Cool, tell her I said hi." Edward nodded at her.

"So, I wanted to ask, what's going on with Bella Swan, Alice's friend? I don't see her around much." Edward lied trying to get information.

"Oh God, that's so embarrassing. Okay, so after the swim team found out that Tyler was hurt really badly and would have trouble for the rest of his life, they decided that it was Bella fault some how. It didn't really make sense to some of us but they ordered that everyone ignore her, cause she wasn't really popular and Tyler was. They, mainly Mike, blamed her, said she should be the one with the brain injury. They said that if anyone was found being friendly with her that they would pay. I don't know why we all went along with it. It is really mean but it's hard, you know, when all the popular kids want you to do something, you just have to do it. You know, like survival. It's a really small school. Shit, I feel really bad for her and everything but there is only one of her and lots of them, you know? And then it got to the point where we had all done it for so long we kind of forgot about her. It's like a habit, you know. I hadn't really thought about her until you asked."

Edward just looked at her, confused. First, man, she talks a lot. He had trouble understanding her. Second, that was the stupidest thing he had ever heard of. He thought that kids were smarter than that. He wondered if he had ever been that stupid. Probably. But these kids were like sheep. Just because one kid said jump, they all did. Wasn't there one intelligent student at this school? Other than Bella?

"You have got to be fucking kidding me. Tell me you're joking and something else happened."

Katie and her friends just hung their heads. Katie eventually looked back at Edward. She shook her head.

"Shit." He couldn't think of anything else to say. He turned and went back to the library. He hid behind some stacks and thought about what Katie had told him.

He didn't know what to do. He wasn't supposed to interfere with the students, he was just supposed to help Tyler. He could tell the Crowley's, they had enough to deal with. He didn't think the school could do anything, or would do anything. Was this even considered bullying? He could see Bella's father showing up in full uniform and scaring the crap out of all the kids, and as much as he liked that picture, Chief Swan wasn't the right person to go to either.

Edward realized, eventually that there was one person who would probably be perfect. Tyler.

Tyler liked Bella and if he knew what his friends were doing in his name, he's get really mad. But Edward wasn't sure how to go about it. Tyler was still learning how to regulate his temper. Edward didn't want Tyler to really lose it with his buddies, just for him to tell them how stupid they were being and to make them stop. Then, maybe, if Bella was happy again, Edward wouldn't feel like such a shithead. He needed a plan.

AN: I love supreme stupidity. It is universal and ageless.