Hey,
Alex here and it's my chapter so review and tell us what you think of the story so far review and ask for a teaser if you want one :)
BPOV-
"Well why not?" He asked, I sighed and tied the short black apron around my waist. I flattened out the creases with my hands.
"Because." I said, childishly. He creased into laughter at my tone and I frowned. I missed that laugh; it had been the first time I had heard it since the break up.
"You'll show up for the sole reason of embarrassing me." I complained.
"Bella, I will not!" He exclaimed, as if his dramatics would make me feel better about him staying away from my place of work.
I rolled my eyes, "Bella, Edward Cullen does not embarrass himself," He said quickly, trying for me not to have heard that he wouldn't embarrass himself.
I snorted at his antics and crossed the room to get to my small dresser inconveniently placed a long distance away from everything else in my sparsely furnished room.
"Yes but Edward Cullen does embarrass Bella Swan." I stated simply.
We had been talking over the phone almost every day since the break up but that seemed minimal compared to my having spent most of my days with him in person before the break up. Not only was the break up hanging over my head but the conversations themselves were awkward. They always seemed to refer back to something that had happened in our relationship, or during the breakup which would cause me to precariously teeter over the brink of hysterics while he was on the other end of the line seemingly unaffected.
"Okay I think it's time to stop talking in third person before Alice eaves drops on the conversation and assumes that I am talking to myself," he said knowingly. I smiled as I heard her tinkering voice call out in the background, "again!" before a door- I am guessing his- slammed blocking out the rest of whatever she was trying to say.
"Okay tell me now or I am hanging up," the phone or what's left of the relationship- oh MY BAD! - Friendship?
"Is that an ultimatum?" I asked teasingly, I pulled my hair up into a thick black scrunchie and glaring into the mirror for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"Yes," He said simply, "last time. Tell me." He commanded.
"No." I countered, just a stern as he had been.
"Okay. I'm hanging up,"
"Bye." The line went quiet, and I sighed heavily thinking he had actually hung up.
"Edward!"
"Carly?"
"Hang up the phone."
"Who? Me?" Edward questioned.
"No Carly."
"What?" she said as if I had accused her of doing something.
"Hang up."
"Hey Carly, what's up?"
"Carly," I growled. They were too close, I noticed, now that we had broken up.
"Nothin' much… will you come to my soccer game?"
"When is it?"
"Tomorrow...and will you bring Bella with you? She has been PMS-ing all week and stuff she probably misses you, she always gets all pissy when you're not around-"
"CARLY!" I growled. I sprinted to my door ripping it open and then running into Carly's open door and knocking her off of her chair before grabbing the phone out of her hand and clicking it off. I stuffed the phone in my pocket and kicked a stray pillow at her stomach. I hated going in her room, it always smelt of sweat poorly covered with my perfume. Her room was like my own personal lost and found, or more like stolen and found. I turned and stomped out of her room, but not before grabbing my hairbrush off of her dresser.
"Carly?" Edward's voice questioned from the phone that I had cradled between my shoulder and ear.
"She's gone." I stated simply I felt my face heat up as I remembered what she had told him just minutes ago, I slammed the door on my way out of her room.
"Oh ok, so are you gonna tell me or…"
"You're a persistent bastard you know that?" I said playfully. He chuckled and then his voice got deep and whiny.
"Pleas!" he begged, I snorted-very UN-lady-like, and smiled.
"Nope," I was at my door now and I closed it and went back to my dresser placing my brush on it.
"But, come on!" I hadn't forgotten my threat.
"Bye, Edward."
I hung up the phone and spun on my toe sinking to my knees.I bit back the sobs that usually make themselves known whenever I end a conversation with Edward. And Carly kicking in, in the middle of our said conversation and telling him that I had been pms-ing because I missed him didn't make it any easier. I sighed as I tried to wipe the past few minutes from my mind. I started to examine my outfit closely-black; shoes, polo and ballet flats and dark blue jeans. I felt so glamorous.
I lifted my head to look at my whole body in the ceiling to floor length mirror hanging on the back of my room door. It was a little cracked since the day of the break up I had thrown a jewelry box that Edward had given me, at it. And in my angry rage I had also broken the diamond earrings I had inherited from my mother's mother, and lost the diamonds, in both.
I looked in the cracked mirror and frowned. Dark brown eyes, wow shockingly exotic, not. Dark, thick, barely manageable hair that naturally fell in loose curls. The only thing that 'saved' me from being totally boring looking were my full lips which were, thank god, in proportion to my face so they weren't too big or small. But that one little factor just wasn't enough. I knew it wasn't enough, he knew it wasn't enough.
And yet I did nothing to change it.
I wasn't good enough for him. My dull, average looks were no match for his striking model-like features. My A's B's and the occasional C's (but only in Macroeconomics!) were nothing in comparison to his straight 'A' honor roll making, brilliance. My shy and mousy attitude was nothing next to his outgoing extravert attitude.
I just wasn't good enough.
Not smart enough.
Not pretty enough
Not out-going enough.
And not once did it occur to me that I should have been fixing it. Never once did I question if I was enough, but I was a fool. A fool in love. And a fool who got her fucking heart broken because she wasn't smart enough to change for him. And never once did I think that he was unhappy. Or that he'd leave me. Or that he'd suggest that we should, 'Just be friends'.
I snorted at my bitterness and shook my head before standing back up and collecting my purse and double checking my room for anything that I might need before heading out of my room and awkwardly loping down the steps. I blushed deeply at my nonexistent audience when I stumbled over the last step.
Then it occurred to me; I was stupid enough to think he'd stay with me after high school was over. The thought almost made me fall to my knees again, but I powered on through the shame and ignorance I felt so that I could get past my father who was lounging happily in the front room.
"Bye." I muttered as I passed him.
I was really getting tired of his happiness over my getting a job. It was supportive comment here, supportive comment there. Couldn't he just be quiet and allow me to wallow?
"Good for you, Bells." I heard a smile in his voice; I guess I got my time to wallow.
All of last week.
And I used the time to do just that, If I hadn't have had him, Alice, and Angela to encourage me to… move I probably would have gone into a catonic state. And then there came the time around Wednesday that I felt my whole world would collapse, and of course Angela and her clean, church-girl text messages were there to help me out of my funk.
Bella plz tlk 2 me. I assume ur sitin ther ignorn me as u hav ben but plz anser?
And of course I couldn't help but to be a jerk in return.
Well dnt assume thngs ang. Cause u make n ass out of u and me.
Don't curs at me! Came her outraged reply, and dnt cal me n *#
I giggled thinking about her reply, she was truly offended at me cussing at her, and I found it hilarious as I tried to explain the ass-u-me joke to her.
"What're you laughing about?" my mom called from her place crouched over her precious sunflowers. I swear that was the only hobby she kept...A hand shovel was in her right hand as she dug holes into the always muddy dark brown earth, mud chunks were flying this way and that staining her dark brown hair. She didn't even lift her head as she spoke to me.
"Nothing," Carly dashed out of the door and loped down the porch steps with grace that I had obviously not received, getting Charlie's two left feet instead of Renee's Ballerina balance. Her shoulder length brown curly hair tangled from her fall as she ran up to my mom.
"Mom! Bella pushed me off of my chair and stole my brush!" She said panicked, my mother sighed and stood up facing Carly. Carly towered over her, her five feet six beating my mother's five feet four easily.
I quickly sobered up as I hopped into the cab of my trusty, rusty, red beauty, or as everyone else fondly called it "that piece of crap on wheels". I double pumped the clutch and started up my truck on my way to work. I waved back at Renee and Carly as they both glared at me and started towards work.
I pulled up to the big cabin that made me eye it warily every time. I pulled into the dirt pathway, leading to the poorly paved parking lot. The whole place was poor looking as a result of its poor funding, because let's face it... who wants to fund a bar that serves minors? It would be a good investment though the place made tons of money being the only club and bar that served sixteen and over. But they had to be old enough to drive.
The owner, Seth, who I had spoken with when being interviewed, had firmly stated that the customers had to be sixteen or over because any younger went against his morals.
Ha. Morals!
I backed into one of the employee reserved spaces right along the edge of the withered building. I was slightly nervous but mostly scared about the crowd that I would probably have to endure while working at the bar. I hoped to God that they started me off easy and have me stock something.
The dirty parking lot was crammed with beaten, old, rusty cars just like mine. I had learned that many older people didn't hang out around here. There was a city wide fear of being busted around the place (well unless you were under twenty-one), so with a parking lot this crowded I was bound to run into many from my graduating class. Another reason to be wary about being around here; you couldn't get trashed without hearing about it in school, or in my case around town. I heard the loud laughter from the porch up at the front. A boy came stumbling around the corner of the building before doubling over and retching into the soil. I had to hold back my own barf as the sight made my stomach twirl and bubble with nausea.
I pulled the "Employee Only" marked door opened, but not before noticing the spray painted curse words and dicks on the outside of it. You'd think kids would be more respectful to the owner of the bar that let them get shitfaced without ID.
I immediately noticed the difference between the ruddy outside appearance and the retro high tech inside. Even in what Seth had called the "Employee hall" the single red light bulb in the middle of it, right above the door, and bouncing off of the metallic walls, lit up the whole hall. I tilted my head back slightly as I took in the hall. A throat cleared at the left end of the hall, my head snapped toward a fiery red head glaring at me she held up a finger and curled it to her slowly three times. I mentally kicked myself into gear walking quickly towards her she turned once I was in front of her and retrieved a box of bottles they clanked loudly as she held them up and passed them onto me.
"Stock the bar then start serving up drinks," she ordered sharply. She spun on her heel, and muttered something under her breath sounding like, idiot…hire… chief's kid…she shook her head and picked up her pace, and pushed open the heavy looking door at the opposite end of the hall. She held it open, and then noticed that I hadn't been following her.
She huffed, "Come on kid. Bar's out here." I nodded and walked quickly, trying to not take a spill onto all of the heavy boxes that I was toting, and passed through the open door.
My co-worker expertly maneuvered around the thrashing bodies. I stood at the door trying to trace her path with my eyes but quickly lost all traces of her as the crowd moved together again, not even noticing her. I then stopped again take in my surroundings. The metal walls blocked out any of the sunlight that could have been filtering in from the small hall that the door connected to, creating a dark but still fast paced lively environment. Multi colored lights bounced off of the walls,a nd there was a platform containing the DJ and all of his equipment; silver hard looking booths flanked either side of the stage. There towering above the bumping, grinding, and gyrating bodies was the circular bar, as Seth had fondly named it. It almost looked like one of the many historical statues that were scrambled around Forks, except for the fact that the shelf that stood so tall was stacked shelve upon shelve with liquor, beer, and shit that could probably have you engaged in one of the most captivating conversations with a wall that you've ever been in.
I snapped out of whatever trance the room had put me in and headed to towards the crowd, I pushed my way past the lot before coming about half way through for everyone to pack in closer than they already had been blocking my way to anywhere. I tried shoving through only to get disapproving, outraged, and annoyed looks from those around me I huffed and sent them all a pissed off look back. A huge body somehow moved its way through the crowd until the person was right in front of me, the person spun around sloppily before their eyes focused on my face.
"BELLA!" The thunderous voice yelled, clearly heard above the music.
"TONY! GET YOUR DRUNKEN ASS AWAY FROM ME!" I yelled back.
"YOU LOOK SO PREEETY BELLA." He slurred loudly, I had some hard feelings with Tony, I wasn't 100% sure, but I had the suspicion that he had something to do with our breakup.
Asshole.
"IMMM HUNGRY!" he whined loudly before spinning around and pushing his way through the crowd. I got lucky because his big, buff ass was enough to clear a path for me. I followed him, blindly hoping that he led me to the bar. I sighed, when we finally reached it. Tony plopped himself heavily into a bar stool and laid his arms and head down on the counter. I sighed, and rolled my eyes disgustedly at his sloppiness. I crouched down and started stoking the bar from the very bottom up, the shelf was laden with square spots that allowed drinks to be placed into them as well as a clear view to the other side of the bar. As I worked my way through the middle section, I heard a smooth voice and peeked through one of the holes to see the side of the bar that my co-worker was manning, and standing on the opposite side of the counter was…
Edward.
My heart thundered in my chest as he continued to speak.
"You're looking nice, Chelsea." He said, smiling handsomely at her. So her name was Chelsea. She giggled like a little school girl and asked him what his poison would be for the night. I rolled my eyes at the old line and suddenly became aware of the tears that were building in my eyes, as the two flirted. Chelsea mixed his drink and slammed it onto the counter with gusto. I felt as if a thick hand had wrapped its self around my throat, and pulled me to my feet choking the air out of my lungs, as I watched him leaning across the counter to kiss her blushing cheek.
Like he used to do with me.
A sobbed ripped itself through my chest as I collected myself and took off through the crowd as fast as possible. I freed my hands of the heavy box, and shoved people out of my frantic way.
When I had made it to the employee hall I collapsed on the floor and let the sobs overtake me. I pulled myself off of the floor, still crying before reaching into my apron to retrieve the keys. Then crashing through the door that led to the outside world, I ran to my truck which I had only then realized was parked next to one of the unreserved parking spots. Then, and only then, did I realize the silver Volvo on the other side of my truck...
Ok so it's Alex again,
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