Old rivalries

Part 9

Day 36

Since when did Mike become such an egoistic pool of lump? Oh right, he's always been like that (insert rolling of the eyes). Going down the beach was both painful and freezing. My suspicions were right, the air really was crisp and cold, with a little added bit of crispiness.

Sure it didn't rain, but that doesn't mean I didn't freeze my ass off. But I'm not saying the day didn't surprise me by being so…productive.

Alice had picked me up early in the morning, insisting that she drove, seeing as she 'Didn't want to be seen with the big red truck' I instantly took offense, but Alice just laughed and put her arms up in defeat. "Hey slow down, I do admit it does have it's certain charm, it's very…" she thought for a moment, then when the right words came to mind, she gave me one of her cheeky grins, "Antique!" she said, slurring her words.

I rolled my eyes and dropped my bag in the booth of her dad's black Mercedes Benz. (Hey, don't ask me what kind of model it is, I don't speak car language. I can only understand broom broom)

I took another look at the car and was blown away by how shiny it looked. The Cullen's had a ridiculous taste when it came to cars. Alice once mentioned that her whole family liked speed. That would definitely explain Edward's psycho driving.

I got inside the car and let my head roll back on the seat, not looking forward at all to seeing Mike, and whoever else he's dragging. Alice on the other hand was much more enthusiastic. I think this whole deal with Jasper has finally gotten to her head. She's gone insane.

"Think about it Bella, maybe there will be boys there who could be better than Jasper and Edward!" she had clapped happily. I just shook my head and gave her a sideways look. "Don't get your hopes high yet" I said gloomily.

"Aw come on Bella, cheer up, for once, just forget about Edward. He'll figure out sooner or later that it was definitely his loss the moment he sees you with another boy" she added. I rolled my eyes once again, "He always sees me with Mike" I said lazily. Alice sniggered slightly, then looked out the window, "Well, Mike doesn't really count does he?" she asked.

I couldn't agree more to that.

I opened up the small compartment to look through the CD collection rather than listen to the radio, I was surprised to find a copy of Debussy inside. "Alice…I never thought you for the classical type" I started slowly. I looked towards her, surprise still etched on my face.

She just chuckled and eyed the CD in my hands. "That's not mine, that's Edward's. Dad must have borrowed it off him" she said cheerfully.

I looked at the CD then at Alice, still pondering what I just heard. "He listens to classical music?" I asked in a surprised voice.

Alice nodded, "You'll be surprised. If you go inside his room, one side of it is filled with CD's ranging from heavy metal to classical. He loves music, he plays the piano you know?" she said, laughing slightly at my surprised face.

Actually the last bit didn't come as a surprise, he could sing too. I heard him singing inside the auditorium when he thought that there was nobody else looking.

God, that day felt like it happened a million years ago. I can't believe I've come this far, having Alice as my best friend and having one of the most popular boys in our year level ask me out. I never would have thought about this in a million years.

Too bad it's the wrong boy who asked you out. Came a sad voice inside my head. I brushed the feeling of longing that kept coming back to me.

I haven't spoken to Edward since that disaster in the library. I've done all I could to avoid making eye-contact with him. I'm surprise I've managed to avoid him what with the rehearsal happening and everything, but it seems God has taken pity on me.

All week Ms. Culling just got us to carry in the sets and to set up the music that was going to be used. If we had to do anymore of the blasted balcony scene, I really will shrivel up and die.

We've reached the town, Alice was just pulling out outside Mike's parents sporting goods store when we saw Mike standing outside a van filled with about 7 teenagers. I looked at Alice worriedly. "He doesn't expect us to ride that thing, does he?" I asked, my mood getting darker by the second.

"No…" Alice started, "Huh, Not if I can help it, come on Juliet, time to turn your acting skills up" she said distractedly as she tried to park the car.

Great, just great. I can't lie to save my life, I thought to myself. Which was true, I tried once, I always turned red, and my nose always flared up, worst of all I couldn't keep eye contact.

Alice and I hopped down, putting on a smile as Mike headed towards us grinning from ear to ear. "Bella! Hey!" he greeted, then to my utter most embarrassment he embraced in a hug, and gave me a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Which by the way, note to self: Must put disinfectant on it.

I tried to break lose from his tight grip, awkwardly bowing my head so his arms sort of slid off my neck. "Wow Mike, you sure came prepared, who's van is that?" I asked uncomfortably.

I know I'm being horrible and all, I already feel guilty, but Mike was just so…In your face, that at times, I feel like I'm suffocating, which is completely insane, seeing as he's not even my boyfriend.

He looked proudly at the van and blushed a little. "Oh! That old thing? It's my dad's, he decided to lent it to me for the day" he beamed. I made an oohing sound while Alice spluttered right next to me that I had to elbow her.

"You guys are riding with us yeah? The guys has been dying to meet you!" Mike said excitedly. I gave him a smile and snuck a worried glance towards Alice. But Alice just gave me a wink and came between us.

"Actually Mike, were going to have to take a rain check on the van, I promised dad that I won't leave the car alone" she said, biting her lips. Alice looked so cute that Mike looked slightly dazzled. "But we'd love to meet your friends though!" she added quickly. Mike looked slightly disappointed but he just shrugged and led us towards the van full of teenagers.

There was seven of them, five guys and to my dismay, Lauren and Jessica were there. Jessica gave us a fake smile and started eyeing Mike up. I gave Alice a sideways look, and I could tell that unfriendly words were hanging just at the very tip of her tongue.

"Guys, this is Bella and Alice, girls, this is Adam, Jason, Riley, Rolan, and Jasper" at the name Jasper, Alice flinched a little bit. All of the boys smiled nicely towards us, all their eyes sparked with interest towards Alice. Surprise, surprise.

I gave them all a smile and made small talk as Mike went inside the store to talk to his parents. The boy named Rolan gave way too much attention to Alice, he was too friendly. Alice on the other hand appeared oblivious to his charms.

She kept staring at the boy named Jasper. No doubt comparing him to the other Jasper. Poor guy didn't stand a chance. He looked far too prepubescent. He had long hair, too pale of a skin, and a very bad acne problem. While Jasper in the other hand, I'm not saying that I have a crush on him, but he is an eye candy, easy on the eyes.

He was lean and muscular and with a disarray of blonde hair, he was also very tall and fit. No wonder he's the captain of the baseball team. Edward played baseball too, but his main sport was track.

I've seen him train before, I've snuck behind the track and field training area and had spied on him on my first day. I didn't mention it, because thinking about it now, I realized just how stalkerish it was.

The door of the store opened, and Mike finally came out, heading our way. "Is everybody ready?" he looked around and smiled, then he turned to Alice and I, "Girls just follow us alright?" he said, then gave me a wink before he went on the driver seat of the van.

I had chills run up and down my spine, and trust me, they weren't the spine tingling one like the ones Edward gave me. I just shook my head and jumped in the black Mercedes.

When Alice jumped in, she gave me a look then started giggling. I just shook my head and just stared out of the window. The sooner this day finished, the better, I thought to myself.

We started the drive towards the reservation. It turned out Alice knew exactly where we were going, she started driving almost as fast as Edward and over took the van where she waved at Mike's shocked face.

She stepped on it, sharpish. We were soon speeding down the high way, with Alice turning up the music, and me clutching my heart, feeling like I was about to have a heart attack any moment.

When we arrived, I got out of the car and slammed the door then started heaving. "ALICE! You're almost as bad as your brother!" I yelled out, close to hyperventilation.

Alice just laughed and started taking our bags from the booth as I recollected myself.

When the van arrived all of the boys were cheering and clapping, while Alice took a bow. I just shook my head unbelievably. I was wearing a normal t-shirt, seeing as it really wasn't that cold in town, but as soon as I stepped out of the car, I started shivering all over the place.

The cold hitting me with impact. I squealed and jumped back inside the car to grab my hoodie jacket. When I stepped out, Alice took a hold of my hand and started dragging me towards the beach.

I was either going to freeze to death or get frostbites. Alice started laughing as I clutched myself together in order to keep warm. "Don't be such a drama queen Bella! Save it for Romeo and Juliet!" she said cheerfully. I really was going to kill her one of these days!

We walked down the beach to find the perfect spot to put all of our stuff down. We found a spot with burnt up black logs, where the remainder of a campfire still laid. There were logs all around it, so we all set our things down and sat around the burnt up logs.

Mike got up and brandished a lighter and some lighter oil. He poured some on the burnt up pieces of logs as everybody else added to the firewood. I watched as the fire licked away at the pieces of wood like it was a delicious delicacy.

I drowned out all of the talking and got a little lost that I didn't respond straight away when Mike directed a question at me. Alice poked my ribs and I jot up. "Aw Alice, what was that for?" I whined. She pointed at Mike and I looked at him confused.

"Nothing Bella, I was only asking if you were hungry" he asked dejectedly. I instantly felt guilty for not paying enough attention. "I'm sorry Mike, and yeah I'm pretty full thanks, I already ate" I answered sheepishly.

Mike gave me a radiant smile and just nodded. It seemed everybody was getting along just fine, but then Lauren started whining about being bored. So we all decided to go for a walk around the rock pools. Originally I declined, knowing me, I'd probably fall in through one of the halls and have a sea urchin bite my ass.

But Alice started whining as well. "Bellllaaaa, you havvveee tooo commeee!!" she said, dragging every word, and when I refused, she used her innocent puppy dog eyes on me. I watched as her lips started to quiver, and her eyes went as round as saucers. Which was such a heartbreaking sight.

I grunted and got up hastily. She squealed and gave me a hug. "You are the best friend in the world!!" I just smiled weakly and nearly whacked myself on the head for being so lame.

We started walking around the edge of the forest. I carried a stick around with me, poking at the dirt. The boys were shoving each other around, while the boys stayed as far away as possible. The boy Rolan started flirting shamelessly with Alice, while she was to polite to get rid of him. We kept walking around, I flinched when I saw the bushes start shaking.

We all stopped on our tracks and stared at the bush nervously. I hid behind Alice, preparing myself to bolt. Mike decided to take the stick away from me and started heading towards the bush slowly.

He started to poke at it, and a sound escaped, followed by an angry hissing that sounded a lot like a raccoon. The girls screamed when a gigantic raccoon stepped out of the bushes.

I jumped and started running towards the beach where another group were just sitting around a bonfire talking and laughing. I heard running footsteps behind me and I looked back, everybody was right behind me, mostly the girls, including Alice, while the boys chased them with the raccoon, laughing their asses off.

I squealed some more when Mike accidentally dropped the raccoon, and it was running after him at a fast phase. We were all heading towards the same direction. I wasn't watching where I was going when I tripped over a random log lying on the sand.

I gave a yelp and completely tripped over, creating a domino effect. Alice fell behind me, followed by Lauren, then by Jessica, and the rest of the boys. I laid there for a while then quickly got up, watching everybody entangle themselves.

Then I looked up and realized that Mike had headed towards a different direction, while the raccoon followed him angrily.

I couldn't keep my amusement as I looked at the ridiculous scene playing out in front of me. At first I started to giggle, then the giggles turned to a full on stomach cramping laughter. I held my stomach to stop my self from toppling over.

Alice joined in, until the rest of our group joined in. I had tears in my eyes by the time I realized that we had fallen on top of the other groups bags. I turned to apologize but my smile sort of disappeared as soon as I saw who stood in front of me with an amused expression on his face.

"Hey" I said lamely. Edward stared at me, as if drinking in my presence. I looked around to see who was with him and realized it was pretty much everybody from the jock table. I smiled awkwardly and felt silence where I thought Alice was.

I looked at her and realized that she was looking at Jasper staring at her. I swallowed slightly and looked at Edward right in the eyes.

Had his eyes always been that green and penetrating? I thought to myself. "So, what are you guys doing here?" I asked, trying to sound cold. Edward noticed my tone and looked a little crestfallen.

Then we heard more footsteps coming from where we came from. I turned to look and realized that they were natives. They had to be the local La Push teenagers. There were five of them. The one in the middle smiled at me as they started heading our way.

"We heard some racket, are you guys alright?" the one in the middle said. I noticed that he had a warm smile, and a certain charming roundness. He was taller than the rest of the boys, he had long hair that went up just above his shoulder, and dark warm eyes. He looked about our age.

I smiled back at him and shrugged, "I'm fine, I don't think Lauren is though" I said, nodding towards Lauren who had scratched her knees. I heard Tyler mockingly laugh at her, some boyfriend he is. Lauren gave him a filthy glare.

Then one of the reserve boys came and inspected the wound, holding it intently, Tyler's smirk was wiped off his ugly face.

The boy who smiled at me started talking, "Seth, do you think you could run down to your house and fetch Leah? Get her to bring the first aid kit" he said worriedly.

The boy inspecting Lauren's knee smiled down at her and spoke up, "yeah sure Jake, if I can pull away long enough from Sam" he said, rolling his eyes.

The boy called Jake turned towards me and smiled, "Names Jacob, the one who just went is Seth" he said warmly. The other guys behind him introduced themselves as Quill, Paul, and Embry.

Another boy popped in carrying the raccoon in his hands, followed by Mike, who looked slightly sick. I tried to stifle a giggle at the look on Mike's face. I looked towards Alice to see if she saw, but she was still busy eyeing Jasper up.

"Hey! I found Nemo!" he said, referring to the raccoon as he patted it lovingly. All the girls flinched as he ran a hand under the raccoons face.

"Jared, I told you to cage that thing!" Jacob said darkly. Then as if the raccoon had a mind of its own, it hissed at Jacob, and I took a step back. I felt two hands on my back as I started to lose my balance again.

I turned to find Edward looking down at me, then suddenly I felt the hostility in the air as Edward looked up coldly at someone behind me. I turned to look and found him glaring at Jacob.

The two of them were staring at each other as if they wanted to have a duel, fight till the death, right there and then. I laughed nervously and started moving towards where Alice stood. But Edward had put a firm hands on my shoulders.

"Ed-Edward! Let go!" I hissed. It seemed that Jacob heard it too because he moved closer, raising the tension in the air.

"Why don't you let her go Cullen?" he said coldly. His eyes shooting daggers at Edward. Then I started to feel uneasy.

What the hell was going on?

"Why don't you mind your own business Black?" Edward asked, just as coldly.

"What if I don't want to?" another question

"You don't want to what?" came Edward's question. They were both driving me nuts!

Alice turned towards the both of them and told them to just shut up. "You're giving Bella a headache!" she said, which was partly true.

"We came here to have fun, well we came here to have fun, I don't know what the hell your doing here, are you stalking me or something?" she asked, with her eyebrows raised.

"Oh yes, cause I just have to keep a look out for my little sister after all, who knows maybe she's secretly dating" then his eyes darted out at all the nervous looking boys with us.

"Ahhuh, I came here so I can have my wicked way with all of these boys, they were all very good" she said the last part tauntingly at Jasper who flinched. Then Edward started turning red. Alice took one look at his face then rolled her eyes.

"Oh, get a life Edward, you're just worried Bella might pull" she said loudly. I furiously turned red and screamed out "Alice! Leave me out of this!" then quickly looked down as soon as everybody's gaze turned my way.

Then she looked at Edward's blushing face, "Oh, you know it's true, your just jealous" she said slyly. Then Edward looked at her the rolled his eyes.

"I am not jealous!" he said, and with that he walked off. I stared at his back, dumbfounded. For someone who swore he wasn't jealous, he was doing a very bad job of hiding it.

Jasper smiled at me apologetically and went after Edward. Then I felt a searing pain in my heart. I felt guilty somehow. I was so tempted to run after Edward, but I stayed rooted on the spot.

"Alice, that wasn't very nice…" I started. Alice just shrugged, "It got rid of him right?" And with that everybody just went on doing whatever they were doing like nothing happened.

The rest of the jocks joined us anyway, for once mingling with everybody else. I became so preoccupied with my own thoughts. I felt sad for Alice, a part of me thinks that she's only doing this to forget about Jasper, but I know that all of the smiling, and all the laughing was just for show.

She was as miserable as I was, I could feel it. Despite the short time I've known Alice, I feel like I've been friends with her all my life. I knew it when she was sad or in pain, despite the fact that she's always hiding it with a smile.

I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that I didn't realize somebody sit next to me. "Hey, Bella right?" a warm voice said next to me. Jacob sat right there, smiling down at me. My god he was tall.

"Your friend Lauren should be fine, Seth tended her cut, seems like Leah couldn't make it, she's a bit pre-occupied with Sam" then he started coughing, "heh, if you know what I mean" he said, cocking his eyebrows at me.

When I didn't answer he continued. "Sorry for sounding random, but are you Charlie Swan's daughter?" he asked good naturedly. I smiled, surprised. "Do you know him?" I asked, he nodded and grinned. "He's best friends with my dad, you might know him, Billy Black" he finished. I looked at him and instantly recognized him as the little boy who use to run around naked in our little inflatable pool during summer before Renee and Charlie divorced.

I looked at him in awe, "Oh my god! Jacob? As in the Jacob Black who use to run around naked in our little inflatable pool?!" I squealed, and jumped on him, giving him a bear hug.

Alice became Alert and was looking at Jacob and me. But I took no notice, I just continued squealing, and Jacob just laughed. "How have you been kid? I haven't seen you in ages! Last time I saw you, you were butt naked, screaming for your dad to buy you an ice cream!" I watched as Jacob turned red. I just giggled and pat his back.

Suddenly I got all of his friends attention. They were all laughing as they asked me to tell them about the running around naked bit. I was only too glad to tell it, seeing as Jacob didn't really mind.

I can't believe it's really him, he's grown up so much. "What have you been up to these past years?" I asked cheerfully. Suddenly my mood had increased a great deal.

"Well I've been busy with sports and everything, but since track season hasn't started yet, I've been working at the shop, fixing old cars and stuff" he smiled at me, I just nodded at everything he said, "Oh yeah, you should come by for dinner or something, drag Charlie with you! I've been working on this car, I'll have to show you sometimes!" The whole time, we just had light conversations, and I watched the La Push boys joke around.

But somewhere in between, a question kept lingering in my mind. Why did they hate each other so much? Jacob and Edward I mean. The air between them was so hostile. I must've been drifting off again when Jake shook me. I turned to him, looking confused.

"What's up Bella? Why the silence?" he asked, honestly worried. I pondered for exactly 5 seconds before asking the question that has been burning in the back of my mind.

"What was that before? You and Edward seem to hate each other so much?" I asked cautiously. I watched his face, trying to read him, but when his face broke in to a smile, I let out a breath.

"It's the usual guy stuff you know. We're enemies when it comes to running" Alice picked this moment to chime in. "No kidding, Edward beat your butt 3 years in a row" she said lazily. Jacob gave her a cool look but as soon as he saw the same innocent look Alice gave me before, he softened, and looking slightly titillated, he smiled at her.

"It's true, he has beaten me a couple of times, but this year, I'm going to kick his ass, tell him to watch it" Jacob said, rather blankly. I couldn't help but be tempted to read between the lines.

I had so much questions to ask, but I thought I might as well save it for Alice. Seeing as she knew some stuff already.

Time went by pretty quickly. Alice and I decided to say goodbye. Jacob made me promise to keep in touch, which of course, I did.

On the way home, I couldn't fight the itch anymore. "So tell me the deal with Jacob and your brother… Please?" I pleaded. Alice gave me a look and just smiled.

"I knew you were going to ask me" Alice replied.

I waited for her to talk, anticipating what she was going to tell. "Jacob is still stuck on the past. His ex-girlfriend hooked up with Edward at a party. Edward didn't know the girl already had a boyfriend, or else he wouldn't have done it" The thought of Edward kissing another girl left me feeling low, but I kept on listening.

"Lets just say that Jacob didn't take it so well. During the district athletics last year, he attacked Edward in front of everybody. He started calling Edward a leech, and a fight broke out. Since then every time they saw each other, Jacob would resort to snide remarks, while Edward would call him an adolescent dog. But it's been quiet lately" she continued, "Probably because it's the first time they've seen each other in a very long time"

I tried to process everything Alice said. But I just can't imagine Jacob as the violent type, Edward even less. But by the looks of things, there are still a lot of things that I don't know about.

Now that I know all of this stuff about Edward, I can't help but realize just how much I don't know about him.

Day 36 (11:00 PM)

I just got woken up by a really weird text message from Edward.

"Bella he's bad news, I hope you know that.

Xxx

Edward"

What the hell does he mean? I didn't missed the three x's either.

a/n: Thanks for the reviews you guys!! I love you all! Thanks for those who alerted this. And for those who realized that there was no kissing scene in the balcony, thanks for clearing that up for me...I actually knew that, no really lol! I'm not lying. I actually had the book opened next to me, lol. But thanks so much for pointing it out :D Please keep reviewing, and hopefully you guys don't hate this chapter...It has it's slow sides I guess. Oh yes, I asked you guys to read imprint on, but meh I didn't get much reviews, please go read it!! it's actually started to build up now...it's very juicy, lol well till my next update!!

xo

rose