The "AwkWard" Contest
Story Title: It Just Happened That Way
Pen name: queenofgrey & bananapancakes7 (collab)
Disclaimer: Rated M for secondhand embarrassment & horrible sex
To see other entries in the "AwkWard" contest, please visit the C2:
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Edward stood on the other end of the cafeteria, presiding over a table of his subjects, and smiled grandly down at them as he pantomimed swinging a bat and then, distastefully, what looked like the slapping of someone's behind. I absently took a bite of my peanut butter and Fluff sandwich and sighed, my cheek resting on my open palm as I watched him, and tried to figure out when it had come to this, when he'd become high school royalty and I'd become a social pariah. My mind always zeroed in on one person, one event – Jessica Stanley and The Great Hickey Debacle of Freshman Year – that had changed him, but I knew that it was more than that. Our friendship fell apart slowly over time, like a constant weathering away, an eroding, and now, there was nothing left.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Angela's voice trilled, A's extended in a sing-song manner as she tried to focus my attention back on her. She was talking to me, had been for minutes, but I wasn't listening. I was hardly ever listening when Edward was in the room. He sucked all of my attention span dry, like a black hole, and there was never anything left for anyone else. "Were you listening to a word I said?" I shrugged and glanced at her minutely, before looking back at Edward. He was seated now, with a cheerleader draped across his lap, and I grimaced, well aware that cheerleaders didn't even cheer for baseball, but they certainly cheered for him. "Of course not," Angela sighed, looking over her shoulder at Edward, before looking back at me and pinching my chin between her thumb and forefinger. "Focus, Bella. You have a speech to write."

"No one cares what the Valedictorian has to say; let alone, what I have to say," I mumbled, looking down at the blank index cards before me. I tore off another bite of my sandwich and swallowed it down with a loud gulp before saying, "They should just let him make the damn speech. Everyone loves Edward."

"His GPA is nearly negative, Bella, and not everyone loves him, just you."

"I do not," I said angrily and mowed down the remainder of my sandwich before my mouth could confess that I had lied. I gulped down the rest of my water and sighed, looking around at my peers. "God, I hate this place."

"We'll be rid of it in a mere two days," she reminded me and reached across the table to pat my fidgeting hands. I pulled them away, raked them through my hair, and let myself giggle a little bit when we both pushed our glasses up our noses at the same time. "See, there's a smile. Now write your damn speech, or I'll march right over there and remind him of—"

"That's totally invalid, now," I huffed, cutting her off. "He's clearly no longer a virgin. I mean, just look at the way she's hanging all over him." Angela followed my gaze to Pom-Pom-Toting McSlutface and the way her thighs straddled his lap. He whispered something against her neck and she bounced with laughter, causing his hands to tighten on her hips. I had to look away, then. "It's disgusting."

"Two days, Bella. That's all. Just two days."

I nodded and picked up my pen, began to write words that I would later edit into oblivion, while Angela studied for her AP Chemistry final. I thanked the heavens for her, as I wrote. For, if not for her, I'd be completely alone. Without a doubt, she would be worked into my speech somehow. The bell rang, pulling me from the scattered words I'd penned, and I sighed as I looked up just in time to see Edward palming Pom-Pom's ass as they walked off together.

"Two more days."

Graduation was set to start at noon on Saturday, but I was told to arrive at ten-thirty. I stood alone with sweating palms in the girl's locker room and teetered back and forth in my heels and awkward-fitting dress as I recited my speech under my breath. I didn't know why I was required to arrive so long before everyone else had to – eleven-thirty – but I thought it might have been one final blow dealt by the hell that was high school to really cement the fact that I hated the place. Yes, Bella, you must arrive early, stand uncomfortably in a sweltering room, and focus on the fact that you barely have your speech memorized; that sounds like an excellent way for you to finish out your already-terrible high school experience. Go team.

By the time the other students had arrived, I had the speech mostly down, though I'd lost most of my breakfast and the rest would no doubt be willing to reappear at the podium. Angela was one of the first ones to arrive, other than myself, and she rubbed reassuring circles on my back as she recited the speech along with me, encouraging as always. I nearly felt sure of myself as we lined up for the procession, but that was until Edward came busting through the hallway doors. His hair was a mess, as always, and his button-down shirt was askew and unbuttoned, and there on his neck, as the crown jewel, was a bright purple mark not dissimilar to the one that had began the downfall of our everything. He was freshly fucked, or so I could presume, and the anger that boiled within me was unbearable. I was supposed to be the one leaving marks on him right before graduation. That was supposed to be me.

"Whoa there, tiger," Angela whispered, clutching my hand, and I dug my nails into her skin, unable to stop myself. "Okay, ouch," she winced, prying my fingers from her palm. "That hurt. And stop growling."

Edward had the gall to smirk at me as he walked by us, and Angela had to hold me back to keep me from lunging at him and plucking out his eyeballs with my fingertips. I didn't have much time to fight and squirm against her, as the music kicked up and it was forward march into graduation and the rest of our lives. I took deep, huffing breaths, trying desperately to calm myself down – to no avail, of course – and as we entered the auditorium, my entire mind went blank. I could think of nothing – no words from my speech, nothing from my first draft, not even what year it was – but his damn smirk and that glaring purple mark of love from someone that couldn't possibly love him like I did. But, I didn't love him – no, not in that moment. I detested him, loathed him, wanted to do horrible things to his genitals and not in a good way. But, mostly, I just wanted to make it out of high school alive.

I sat in my seat on the stage and stared blankly at the audience, at the families and loved ones of the sea of people at my feet, and tried desperately to conjure up any part of my speech as the beginning of the ceremony rolled on. Before I knew it, my name was being called, the obviously mistaken awarded title of Valedictorian attached to it, and I was called to the podium. I stood on shaking legs, feeling like a newborn giraffe, and stumbled over to where Principal Greene stood, only tripping once along the way, and nervously shook his hand.

"I'm proud of you, Miss Swan," he said quietly, away from the microphone. I smiled and nodded, all the while thinking, Just give me one minute and I'll totally ruin that for you. He clapped me on the shoulder and whispered, "Give 'em hell."

The microphone squeaked as I approached it and adjusted it downward to accommodate my lacking height, and I watched as my classmates laughed at me. My cheeks flared the brightest shade of red that they'd seen since Charlie and The Birds and The Bees, and there was absolutely nowhere that I could run and hide. Instead, I squinted to find Angela's smiling face in the back of the room – damn you, alphabetical order – and cleared my throat as I begin to wing it.

"So, for those of you who don't know me, I'm Isabella No-Please-Call-Me-Bella Swan, and I'm this year's Valedictorian," I said quietly into to microphone, then backed off to clear my throat. I wiped my palms on the lower part of my dress and located Angela again, who had a look of shock on her face, so I opted to stare at the wall as I spoke again. "What does that mean, exactly, this Valedictorian word? Well, for me, it meant four long years of books and papers and no social life at all, which made my dad pretty happy, and it meant getting better grades than any other member of the student body." As the words member and body came out of my mouth, my eyes landed on Edward and my cheeks burned a little brighter as I nearly choked on my own spit. "So, yeah, I know I don't sound abundantly smart right now, but I assure you that I am. I, certainly, don't have a jock's GPA. You know what I mean?" Edward turned to Ben Cheney beside him and snickered as they talked quietly, their eyes darting back up to me a few times. It was then that I knew I had to get off the stage as fast as humanly possible, or the rest of my speech would resemble the telltale sounds of vomit. "That said, I'll just move this thing along and say congratulations, guys. We did it."

The rest of the ceremony was a complete blur and I spent the whole of it, even the part where I accepted my diploma and posed for a picture with Principal Greene against a tacky backdrop, swallowing down bile and crossing my fingers. When we all aligned for our coordinated exit, I walked in double-time and headed straight for the nearest bathroom once out of the auditorium. I barely made it through the door before the contents of my stomach erupted into the sink and I began wailing with my fists beating against the mirror. I stayed that way for a while, bent and heaving, my nose running, until I heard the hinges of the door swing open. I righted myself and clutched for a paper towel, but it was too late. Edward's reflection stared back at me in the mirror and his mouth hung agape at the sight of me. I couldn't blame him; even I found myself repulsive.

"Bella," he said quietly and it was the first time he'd said my name to me in ages. I couldn't look at him and, instead, covered my face with a paper towel as I fought against bile once more. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

I scoffed, the edge of the paper towel fluttering against my breath, and leaned back against the wall. "You, obviously, haven't been looking that hard. I've been right in front of you for the last two years, but you haven't said a damn word to me in all that time." The words sounded as bitter as they tasted, and I bent over the sink once more to wretch. I caught sight of him staring at me in the mirror and I groaned, tears snaking down my fiery cheeks. "Get the hell out of here," I managed between heaves, my voice strained and choked with cries. "Go."

"Bella, I'm not going anywhere." He moved closer to me then, which was the wrong move to make, and as I turned to bat away his hand that came to rest on my back, I vomited all over his shiny leather shoes. "Jesus, Bella!" He jumped back, away from me, and I found a little bit of embarrassing satisfaction in knowing that I puked on Forks High's Golden Boy. I watched as he removed his shoes, tossed them into the sink, and covered the spot on the ground where my breakfast now resided with paper towels. He sighed and padded back over to me in socked feet and I gaped at him through tear-blurred eyes. "I really need to talk to you," he said quietly. "So, clean up and then—"

"Honestly, Edward, you can't say anything of importance to me anymore," I spat, my head throbbing with an angry rush of blood. It wasn't true and I knew it wasn't, but I was trying to make it so. Edward wasn't the same as he once was and, after today, after I exited the sleepy town of Forks for a big name university where people would love me for my mind, I wouldn't be the same, either. "Don't you have some slut to tend to?"

"Our deal, Bella, I—"

"Yeah, yeah, Edward. I know. It's off and has been for a long time," I sighed, weary now. "You don't need to verbally break our verbal contract. I get it."

"Bella, no, I—"

"Edward, let me put this in stupid jock terms for you: fuck off."

He stood before me with a stern look to his face, his cheeks flaring an awful, angry shade of red, before huffing and turning. The door slammed shut with vicious finality and I knew that whatever we once had was gone for good, eroded completely and washed away with the sharp sting of my tears.

Make sure you move on to Chapter Three, if you like what you've read!
Thanks for reading!