Hey! This chapter is pretty short. But, I plan on having another chapter up later. Plus, the end is in sight!
Bella's POV
The bell rang and students came running out of their classes. My books were all over the hallway getting kicked around and shoeprints on them, but I didn't care. I stood at my locker and waited for the late bell to ring so that all of the students would get out of the hallway.
Rosalie was next to me in about two minutes. Emmett was right behind her. "We're going to find that book." Rosalie stated already knowing the situation. "Jasper texted me the moment he found out it was missing. Alice was next to me and I sent her looking in dumpsters…"
"Dumpsters?" I dead-panned and cringed at the thought of my book going into the trash.
"We'll find it." Rosalie reassured me.
I nodded once and looked at the floor. I saw feet shuffling in the hallway and I noticed it was Emmett picking up my books for me. When he was finished gathering them up he threw them in my locker.
"What if we don't find it?" I asked.
"That's not an option." Rosalie said firmly.
"There are six of us." Emmett said. "And one golden book, this will be cheesecake easy."
I smiled at Emmett's attempt at a joke.
"Come on." Rosalie said. "Let's help Alice out."
I walked to the back doors of the school where a few garbage bins were. They were all huge, green, and slimy. I saw little Alice peeking into one of them using her phone as a flashlight.
Emmett went to the next one and Rosalie began looking around the trash bins. I began to look in the last trash bin. We worked for a few moments until we heard pounding coming around the corner. We all looked up and saw Jasper and Edward running towards us. Jasper stood back a few steps, though.
"Did you find it?" Alice asked hopefully.
Edward stepped closer to me. "Bella," he said closing his eyes, "I know where your book is."
I could have kissed him. I probably would have if our friends weren't standing right there. I ran to him and hugged him.
"I can't believe you found it!" I said and realized tears were silently coming down my face.
We were still embraced when Edward said, "Do you remember on Monday when you ran into Emmett?"
I took a step back to look at Edward. "Yeah…"
"Well," Edward took a deep breath. "I noticed you left a book behind and I didn't realize its significance. It's at my house, Bella."
I didn't know how to react for a moment. One moment he was the guy that I would have easily kissed and the next I wanted to push him.
I stomped on his foot and stormed off.
I thought that maybe my friends would follow, but I saw Jasper put his arm up when they tried. He knew I just needed to be alone. I couldn't stand the thought of being with anyone right now.
I left school through the front door. Nobody stopped me. I ran to my truck and I turned the car in the ignition and it wouldn't work. I hit my hand on the steering wheel and then the car roared to life.
Where was I to go now? It was basically the middle of the day. No one would be home for another hour or two. I couldn't go to my house after that. I'd go to Jake's and wait for him there.
An hour late Jake came into his garage like I knew he would. When he realized I was here he smiled, but frowned when he saw my expression. He'd come to know this expression perfectly.
"Bella…" He began.
I took a deep breath and spoke in a small voice, "I'm sorry for coming here. I just… I have nowhere else to go."
"Don't be sorry, Bells." He said coming to sit on the hood of his car as I sat on the tires.
"I don't mean to keep coming here and burdening you more than I already have, but…"
Jake put a hand up to stop me, "I love you, Bella. Not like that, but as a sister. You're not inconveniencing me in anyway and you're no burden."
"Jake," I said, "that's extraordinarily nice of you."
Jake smiled sadly at me. "What's bugging you?"
I took a deep breath. "I lost my book. Or I thought I had."
"Wuthering Heights?"
"Yes." I said and he nodded. I recapped the story of trying to find it and realizing that it was gone up until Edward told me he had it.
"He doesn't know about Renee?" Jake asked finally.
"No. Well, he does now."
"And that's a bad thing?"
"No. It's just not something I wanted to deal with."
"It's part of who you are, Bella." Jake said. "Just like how my mom got into a car accident is part of me. Whenever I go driving with Leah I drive her crazy making sure she's secured."
"I can't protect anyone from cancer, Jake." I said.
"I can't protect anyone from a drunk driver, Bella. But, that wasn't my point. I mean, that you're always going to cherish the snow and that book because it's what brings you back to your mom."
I nodded my head.
"And this Edward guy," Jake said, "he didn't know this. He'll give you back your book."
"I know that." I said. "It was still scary thinking I lost that book."
"You didn't lose it, though." Jake smiled at me.
I smiled back and felt a little bit better.
Awhile later Jake was working on his car and I was just sitting there. "Hey, Jake?"
"Yeah."
"Who was that Leah girl you mentioned?"
"Oh, uh, well, she's sort of this girl…"
"Uh huh." I smiled.
"I've been seeing her for a month… or three."
"Jake!"
"Uh…"
"You didn't tell me!" I laughed. "You little jerk."
He laughed with me.
"So, is that who you're spending Valentine's Day with?" I asked.
"Yeah, yeah." Jake said. "Oh, yeah, tell Blondie that I'll take her shift on Valentine's Day."
"Are you sure, Jake? I'm sure Rosalie could handle…"
"I was just doing it to annoy her." Jake laughed.
Edward's POV
The last bell rang for the day and I wanted to sprint to my car, get to my house, and give Bella back her book. I couldn't, though. I had no idea where she ran off to. I quickly walked off to my car anyway. I drove straight to my house and ran up to my bedroom to grab Bella's book off of my dresser. I picked it up and looked at the book. It was falling apart a little bit. I knew Bella mentioned her mother writing a note in it, but I didn't want to intrude.
But, who was I kidding? I'd already kicked myself into her life and… God, I'm such a horrible person. I can't invade this privacy. I needed to talk to Bella. I called Rosalie to find out where Bella was, but Rosalie wouldn't pick up the phone.
The thing with all of our friends was that they weren't mad or angry with me or the situation, but sad. They knew I had no clue that the book meant so much to Bella, but they still felt like I should have known. And why was I keeping the book? I didn't even know.
My doorbell rang and I deserved a golden star for my sprinting. It was just Emmett, though. When had he ever rung the doorbell? I stepped aside and let him in. He walked straight to the living room and we played video games for hours. It took my mind off of everything and he knew it would. Jasper came in next and the three of us played for hours.
Bella's POV
I went back to my house at ten at night and shouldn't have been as shocked as I was, but I was shocked when I saw Rosalie and Jasper sitting at my kitchen table.
"Hey." I said to them and sat down. Rose and Jasper were on one side and me on the other.
"You're okay now?" Jasper asked.
I nodded.
"No more taking off like that." Rosalie said.
I shrugged.
"How's Jake?" Rosalie asked slyly knowing where I'd gone.
"He's okay." I said. "How's everyone?" I asked only wondering about Edward and the way I stomped on his foot.
"Ask Jasper, he was just with Edward." Rosalie said.
"He seemed sorry." Jasper said.
"I know."
"He didn't know about the whole picture..." Jasper said.
"He still took her book…" Rosalie said.
"Rose…" I said. "Please.
She sighed.
"Are you still going to the dance?" I asked Rosalie getting the topic off of myself.
"Only if you don't need me." She said.
I rolled my eyes. "Jake said he'd take your shift."
"What?" Rosalie asked. "I'll be right back! I need to call Alice and tell her to change all of my appointments."
Rosalie walked out and Jasper stared at me for a moment.
"Will you be okay staying here tonight?" He asked. He knew it was hard for me to live here sometimes.
I nodded. "I have to just deal with all of this. It's not going to go away."
----------------------
Eh. I'm going to update later tonight or tomorrow morning.
