Disclaimer: Twilight and its character are owned by Stephenie Meyer...The Striker twins however are mine...mine...MINEEEE!! muwahhhaahahahaa (evil laugh) Ps: apology note at the very end :) (Equivalent of 'The game' chapter) ENJOY!! R&R you know the drill

The Game

Part 15

Day 64 (Bedroom)

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

The alarm clock is starting to annoy me. I haven't had any sleep what so ever, and the baseball game is only in a couple of hours.

Tick, tick, tick, tick. The sound is really starting to imprint itself inside my head so that it feels like I'm hearing ticking in my ears permanently.

I looked at the clock, It was already five in the afternoon. Edward had told me to be over at their place by six tonight.

I had finished school early so I decided I had wanted to take a nap. But damn it! I can't, my sick mind kept thinking up ways of how everything could go wrong. I mean, what if James showed up?

I wouldn't put it pass him, after all, he had stuck his nose in my personal life, who's to say he wont wreck the only social life I have?

I gave up on trying to fall asleep and turned to do my homework, until I realized I didn't have any. I found myself feeling helpless and useless. I went downstairs to find Renee and Charlie having coffee and talking in hush tones.

They both looked up when they heard me enter the kitchen, smiles pasted on their face. It looked strained, the smile I mean. It looked so put on, as if in doing so, they were secretly inflicting pain on their faces.

I sighed and walked towards Charlie. I wrapped my arms around him. I felt like saying "It's okay, everything will be alright" but then I would be lying. I can't predict the future, I have no way of knowing what kind of shit James would throw at me next.

After drinking a glass of water, I slowly headed back up the stairs and closed the door of my bedroom. I sighed and opened up my closet. I might as well get changed. What do you wear at a baseball match anyway?

Just as I was to select an outfit, I heard my ring tone, then the buzzing coming from my bed. I picked up my phone, 'Hello?" I said in a low voice.

"Hey Bella, it's Alice!"

"Oh, hey Alice, what's up?"

"It's going to rain tonight!" she said in a shrill voice.

Yes! I had thought triumphantly, but my hopes got dashed when somebody else spoke on the phone.

"We're just calling to tell you to wear some warm clothes" Edward said casually.

"Oh, yeah, and if you tried to skip out on us, I made sure with the twins that they came to pick you up" he said even more casually. So casual that it started to piss me off.

I abruptly hanged up on him. Annoying as he was, I couldn't help it. I felt a shiver running up and down my spine at the sound of his velvet voice. I smiled to myself, but then instantly stopped as soon as I realized I was starting to look lame.

I composed myself and selected a thick wooly jacket , a blue long sleeve turtleneck, and baggy jeans. I changed my clothes and looked at the clock once again. One hour left to go. That's when I lied down on my bed. The tick, tick, ticking of the clock is still driving me insane.

I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes. Edward doesn't know anything about Charlie being sacked…And personally, I would love it if things stayed that way. I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me, pity is the last thing I want, especially from Edward.

I am now patiently waiting for my ride, hoping to God that the twins doesn't bring some ridiculous car that would embarrass me to oblivion.

Uh-oh, I think I just heard screeching tires hitting gravel. Looks like my ride has come.

Day 64 (Bedroom…10 minutes to midnight)

Wow, I mean wow. I am speechless. Lets have five minutes of silence while I wallow in my own misery. He knows, Edward knows, and I don't know what to make of it.

When I opened the door, I was expecting to find a sleek car. You know, the type that has a leather interior and all that stuff, but instead I kind of froze when I saw a two seater hot rod.

I'm not kidding, it was seriously a hot rod. All my hopes of getting across town without being embarrassed just got crushed. It was so tiny, fit for only two people. TWO PEOPLE!

I stared at Sam who was sitting on the driver's seat. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" I exclaimed incredulously. I looked at the hot rod's exterior and nearly screamed in frustration. I'm pretty sure I saw my embarrassment bar fly off the meter!

I circled the little car and looked at Sean. "It's fit for two people, there is no way we can fit!" I yelled out, and there was no way I was ever going to be seen riding that thing.

Sean jumped off and draped an arm on my shoulder. "Will you relax?" he said soothingly, "Stop squawking, you sound like a chook" he said matter of factly. I glared at him irritatingly.

"I do not squawk!" I yelled out.

Sam started laughing, and I threw him a dirty look. I felt Sean patting my shoulders. "Yes you do, you sound like a chicken when you start ranting" he said, sending me sympathetic looks.

I gave him a dirty look and brushed past him. I jumped on the vacant seat and stared out in to space. Sam started up the car and was starting to pull away from the drive way. "What the hell! How about me?!" he yelled out, I gave him another dirty look.

Sam looked at him, "You can walk" he said coolly, undoubtedly enjoying himself. I reached for my car keys and chucked it, aiming for Sean's head. It hit him and the keys hit the floor with a loud clunk!

"What? You don't honestly want me to drive this piece of tin?!" he said in an absolutely terrified voice. I let out a big sigh.

I looked at him, giving him a firm look. "There are worst things in the world you know" I said rationally.

He looked at me with a doubtful expression. "Oh yeah? Like what?" he said in a trembly voice.

"Well, an alien could abduct you, maybe a convicted criminal could kill you, or maybe myths could come true right now and a vampire will swoop in and suck yer vladdd" I said, putting on a Transylvanian accent, then added "Or my personal favourite; you could end up walking" I said casually, shrugging my shoulders.

Sean gave me an 'are you kidding?!' look before he disappeared inside my red Chevy. I chuckled mildly. Right, nothing worst than walking. I thought skeptically.

"Shall we go?" Sam asked in a cool voice. Something about the way he said that made me think we were about to shoot out of this hemisphere or something. I never saw it coming. He suddenly accelerated, shooting out, it felt like my whole stomach got left in the process. The wind swept my hair all over the place, giving the best impersonation of medusa.

I let out a shriek, holding on to the sides. "Sam!! You friggin maniac!! Arghh!!" I screamed out. I heard him laughing over the roaring in my ears. "Bella if I were you, I'd close my mouth! A fly might fly innn!" he yelled out over the roaring wind.

I closed my eyes, absolutely terrified. How the hell did he get the car so bloody fast anyway? I'm sure that it's a very old model. It was made out of a thin scrap of metal, painted over with black paint, striped with the American flag colours.

It seemed like Sam read my mind, he turned to me and grinned. "I had it especially made…" then Sam started talking about the mechanism of the car. "I love speed you know that?!" he said enthusiastically. He was grinning so widely, his smile was infectious.

I gave him a sideways glance as he savored the feeling of speed. Sam reminded me of someone who once drove me to school during one rainy morning…

My mind started drifting off towards Edward once again. I was going insane, I know its only been what? A week since I decided to be Edward free, I was having major Edward withdrawal syndrome. Symptoms: hallucinations, unexpected daydreaming and the craving for a certain messy bronzed haired, pouty, green eyed individual.

That whole ordeal after that dreadful sleepover at Alice's place seemed like a lifetime ago. That must have been a week after I moved to Forks.

I suddenly felt a tap on my head. I dazedly looked at the blonde boy right next to me. "Yes?" I said, my eyes slightly unfocused.

"You're day dreaming again" Sam said in a low voice which I could barely hear.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused. Sam ignored me.

"You seem to be drifting off lately, is something bothering you? Other than James of course" he asked, absolutely puzzled. He had slowed down a bit, and now he was completely ignoring the road.

"Sam, you idiot! Keep your eyes on the road!" I squeaked. I nervously clutched the sides of the hot rod.

"Well?" he asked.

"Well what?" I knew exactly what he was talking about, but I decided to play dumb. I heard him sighing before he sped up even more! I let out a scream. We were winding around a heavily forested area now which I instantly recognized.

A couple of moments later, I saw the familiar house of the Cullen's. The tires screeched and came to a halting stop. I hastily got out of the hot rod and tried to stand straight. I felt so dizzy, that the place felt like it was spinning around.

I was having a bad case of motion sickness. I sat on the ground and put my face between my legs. I could hear laughter from behind me as another car pulled up. I watched Sean climbed down the truck and started laughing along with his brother. They gave each other high fives and just watched me breathing uncontrollably.

I looked up in the sky, and I couldn't help it. I knew I should have been angry but I felt laughter bubbling up in the surface. The next moment I found myself laughing along with them.

Sam lifted me off my feet and dragged me up. "I hate you guys!" I said good naturedly. I whacked Sean on the back and he tried to get away. So instead I tried to whack Sam, but he got away as well.

The three of us got a little carried away that we didn't notice that we had an audience. I had Sam in a headlock while Sean was trying to pull me away when we noticed the Cullen's standing there, All of the Cullen's.

Emmet was smirking, no doubt wanting to join in on the fun, Alice looked surprised, while Edward had an unfathomable look on his face.

I blushed deeply and I straightened myself out. I awkward walked towards Alice who was now giggling slightly. She wrapped an arm around me and we both went inside the house. I brushed past Edward and once we were leveled, our eyes met and held for around five seconds before Alice dragged me inside.

"Are you alright Bella?" I heard someone say behind me. I turned around and found Esme smiling at me kindly. I gave her a bright smile and nodded.

"I'm good" I said, awkwardly dodging her piercing green eyes. I blushed and bowed my head. Alice and I left the boys outside and I could hear Emmett asking the twins if they wanted to play a game of hand wrestling.

Everybody else followed shortly. I saw that Jasper and Rosalie were both there. I could feel tension in the air as Jasper gave me a smile, then his eyes lingered towards Alice, who was uncharacteristically blushing.

I hid a secret smile and followed the delicious smell that was floating in the air. I started heading inside the kitchen but abruptly stopped when I saw the dining table. My mouth dropped open as I saw all the food in the table.

I felt someone behind me, I quickly turned around. I didn't realize how close Edward was standing next to me. As I was turning, my nose came close to bumping in to his. I backed up a little bit as I stared at him hopelessly.

Right at that moment, all reasons of why I shouldn't be with Edward flew out the window as we both stood there staring, just looking at each other and sharing breathing space.

I couldn't think straight, and he was standing so close, his scent was creating havoc with my senses. Next thing you know I stopped breathing and…I fainted.

I felt Edward's arms drape themselves around me as I tried to make sense of what the hell just happened. "Bella? Bella?!" Edward was tapping my head gently, trying to keep me up.

"You made me faint!" I said accusingly. Edward shook his head and helped me stand straight.

I felt Edward press his lips against my ears. "Why fight something you obviously can't control?" he said gently, his voice was like a lovers caress against my ear. I shivered and I turned around to stare at him.

His face was so beautiful. I never knew boys could be beautiful, but this one was definitely beautiful. We were standing so close, and he was smiling crookedly down at me. Then the moment was over as soon as we both heard footsteps coming our way.

We sprung apart. I looked guiltily outside the window, while Edward stood there staring at me.

Everybody walked in, the twins were both looking around the house, as if they couldn't believe the Cullen's were actually rich.

Alice stared at Edward and myself then grinned. "You two look like you just killed a cat" she said suspiciously. Emmett barged in then started to chuckle.

"Alice, I doubt they were killing cats here, I think they were exploring the art of making babies" Emmett said. I saw Rosalie giving him a disapproving look and he instantly stopped. "Okay okay, no need to bite my head off" he said defensively. He walked past Edward and Edward smacked his head.

Emmett growled at Edward but kept walking. I stifled a giggle as I watched Emmett's retreating back. Edward looked at me, cocking his eyebrows. I held out a peace sign.

"Okay everyone, before we all leave, I cooked some food. So come on! Dinner's ready!" Esme said happily. I looked at all the food once again then turned towards Esme.

"What the-? Are you trying to feed a bunch of horses or something?" I said , absolutely mystified. Esme let out a laugh, then nodded, "With the boys? I might as well be!" she said good naturedly.

I scratched my head before sitting down right next to Alice. "Brace yourself" she said mysteriously. I looked at her questioningly. All the boys sat down, including Carlisle, Edward's dad.

As the conversation started up in the room, my eyes became wide when I looked at Emmett. He was packing on some fried chicken, lasagne, some salad, and some home made fries. My mouth hanged opened when he slopped on a heap of mash potatoes. Then my eyes traveled around, Jasper was packing on at least 3 slices of lasagne and five pieces of bread.

I let out a choking sound as I stared at my own plate that only had one slice of lasagne. When I looked up I found everybody's gaze on me. Then Edward tried to stifle a snort, but everybody started laughing.

"Did you see her face?!" Edward said between fits of laughter. My face was frozen in the same horrified expression.

After the whole debacle over dinner, we all headed outside and somehow I found myself alone with Edward inside his car.

I sat next to him in awkward silence. I decided to break it ice by coughing loudly.

"So…Tell me, how the hell did I end up in your car?" I said coolly. I chuckled then looked at me.

"You know Alice, ever the pushy one" he said quietly. I frowned the shook my head.

"This is ridiculous" I whispered under my breath. Edward gave me a sideways glance. "Does being in my company really repulse you that much?" he said. I don't know if I was imagining it, but I think I heard a glimmer of hurt in his voice.

I felt my heart sink. I looked at him then looked away. "You know as much as I do the answer to that question" I said in a small voice. I knew he was staring at me. I couldn't bring myself to look at him, for I knew that if I did, I might do something stupid like jump him or something.

I looked out the window and realized that Edward was slowing down. He pulled to a stop on a hiking trail. I looked around confused. I saw Emmett's monster truck, but Emmett wasn't there, neither were the twins, Alice, jasper, Rosalie, or even Mr. and Mrs. Cullen.

I looked towards Edward who looked as confused as I was. I heard his phone beeping, which indicated him receiving a message. He flipped the phone open and read the message. I saw his face turn from puzzlement to annoyance.

He looked up at me then. "They've decided to have a race. My idiot parents decided to join them too" he said monotonously. I let out an exasperated sigh and got out of the car. I waited for Edward to come out, then started walking towards the trail.

"Bella, your going the wrong way" Edward said. He came leveled with me then took my arm. He dragged me towards the other way, where the forest looked thick and a little too scary for my liking.

I frowned deeply. "You didn't tell me hiking was involved!" I said grumpily, as I stared at my boots that had no grips what so ever. I already saw what would happen next. I stepped on a patch of slippery ground then went sliding down. Edward caught my waist before my butt touched the ground.

I groaned. Edward took one look at me then cracked up laughing. Yeah well, he wouldn't be laughing if he knew just how much his touched burnt through the layers of material that I was wearing.

I could feel the heat creeping all the way to my roots, I knew my face was already as red as a tomato. I grunted loudly and got back up my feet, completely ignoring Edward. I started walking, slipping every now and then, then cutting my hands whenever I tried to grab pieces of thorned branches.

I would hear Edward chuckling right behind me, followed by me turning around a shooting him a glare. After a while I realized that we had passed the same gigantic tree at least twice.

I turned around sharply to Edward. "We're lost aren't we?" I said nervously. But to my annoyance, Edward just smiled crookedly.

"I don't know, are we?" he said nonchalantly. I wanted to whack him so bad, but I refrained. "I wouldn't know Edward, seeing as you should be leading the way" I said slowly and patronizingly.

Edward let out a small laugh. "Oh I don't know, I was kind of enjoying watching you run around in circles" he said shrugging. I narrowed my eyes at him and just stood in front of him, two hands on my hips.

I couldn't believe it, he knew that we were lost, but creep that he was, he had let me wander about like a freak. I started making whiny noises when he wouldn't budge.

"Edwarddddddd Culllleeeennnn! Where the hell are wee??" I said in a voice that I knew would irritate him. He covered his ears then half closed his eyes.

"Urgh, shut up, its this way!" he said, pointing towards two big bushes. He pushed the two aside and I gasped. We were on the edge of a clearing. We've been there for a while, and I didn't even know!

I stamped away from Edward. "That was so not funny!" I said irritatingly.

Everybody was already in the clearing, waiting impatiently. After a gigantic series of ranting and lectures (from Mr. and Mrs. Cullen) the game finally started.

Not attracting any attention to myself, I started creeping towards a gigantic lump of rock and tried to hide behind it. But Jasper saw me. He raised his eyebrows then shook his head. Thank God, I thought to myself, he's not going to tell. But no such luck. Emmett saw me slinking away and instantly stood by my side.

I nervously smiled up at him. "Where do you think your going Swan?" he said mischievously. I heard the twins laughing menacingly at each other.

"Oh yes, I forgot, you absolutely hate sports" Sam and Sean both said in unison. I started backing away as the two of them started gliding towards me in such a manner that made me nervous.

Emmett looked from one twin to another and caught on. "Somebody give this girl a bat!" he said in his booming voice, before shoving me on to the diamond.

I don't know what happened, but I never got to say no….I didn't have a choice. I saw the ball coming my way, wheezing towards me. Thinking that the ball was going to bounce on my head, I closed my eyes and wildly swung the bat. I heard the hard ball come in contact with the bat then I heard a squeal. I opened my eyes. It was Rosalie. The ball had nearly hit her.

I looked at her guiltily. Everybody was laughing their asses off, while I kept doing a perfect imitation of a ripened tomato. I dropped the bat then started heading towards the lump of boulder I had seen earlier.

I sat on top of the boulder dejectedly. "Oh, leave the poor girl alone!" I heard Esme. But unfortunately the laughing didn't stop.

But for some reason the laughter suddenly stopped. I slowly looked up, but to my surprise everybody's face had turned impassive. All of them were staring at something behind me.

I looked at each of them one by one, then I looked at Edward. His face had turned from impassive to anger. Edward started walking towards me, extending a hand. I took it as he pulled me off the boulder. I shivered as Edward wrapped one protective arm around my waist. He was still looking at something behind me.

I slowly turned around. I felt my blood turn cold. James and Victoria stood there. And by the looks of things, they had another addition to their little group. James looked at me then smirked. I hardened my stance and without really noticing much, my grip tightened on Edward.

"What are you doing here Malone?" Edward said coldly. Victoria wrapped her arms around James as the three of them started heading our way. I didn't even notice but it turned out the Hale's, the Cullen's, and the Striker twins were already standing directly behind me.

"What? Not very welcoming are you? We thought we'd join you with a friendly game of baseball" he said nastily. "Besides, I would have thought that you would be more friendlier towards me. Lucky his job is not the only thing he lost!" he said, obviously pointing the fact towards me.

I froze. I felt sick. I didn't want anyone to know, especially not the boy who had his arms draped around me. I held my breath and glared at James. Edward was standing so still, I looked up at him to find him staring at me.

"What's he talking about?" he asked, his face was a mask of confusion. I couldn't speak. A big lump was blocking my throat. I tried to say something but all that came out was a squeak.

"Oh…ha ha ha" he laughed, his tone cold, completely lacking humor. "You didn't tell anyone did you? What? Too frightened of me now?" he said menacingly. I could feel my blood boiling. I was starting to shake.

James came even closer, walking towards me. "What's his name? oh yes…Charlie, how's he enjoying life as a jobless man. Come on Bella. From the scale of zero to crap" he said slyly, his voice a mere hiss. My heart was beating double time, my hands felt cold.

Then suddenly I heard Emmett's voice. "Why don't you get lost?" Emmett said menacingly, stepping in. I heard James laugh.

"What are you going to do?" then he snorted. "Your all muscles with no brain" he said loudly. I swear I heard Emmett let out a bear growl before he pounced on James. James looked up at him surprisingly then pushed him off, backing away slightly. His cheeks were slightly red as he tried to get Emmett off of him.

I heard Emmett laughing in a low voice. "I might be all muscles, but at least I fight my own battles" Then he looked at Victoria, who looked like she was about to pounce on Emmett. "Now I know who wears the skirt in your relationship" he said in a booming voice.

I could hear the twins trying hard to stifle their laughter. They instantly went silent when James sent them both a murderous look.

I could see that he was wavering, and his defenses were weakening seeing as he was pretty much outnumbered. "You're all going to pay for this" he said angrily, looking at all of us. To my surprise I saw Carlisle step out from the back.

"We'll see about that" Carlisle said coldly. The way Carlisle said it made it seem like he knew something about James, a secret perhaps. I watched as James angrily walked off from the field, back to where he came from. Victoria turned to look at me, her eyes completely narrowed, then she was gone. The other guy who came with them lingered on for a little bit. He was looking at all of us guiltily.

"I'm sorry, he can be very in your face" he said apologetically. "Please continue whatever you were doing" he added guiltily. We saw James turn around sharply. "Laurent!" he said disgustingly. The boy Laurent bowed his head and followed James obediently.

There was a big chunk of awkward silence before one of the twins broke the ice. "Laurent is pussy whipped" Sam said, feeling the need to point out the obvious. I shook my head.

I looked towards Edward. He had an expression which I've never seen before. His eyes were so cold, and they were directed at me. His gaze blew me away. That wasn't exactly the feedback I expected. I cringed slightly then looked down.

"Can we please just go home now?" I said in a tiny voice. Edward didn't say anything, he just walked ahead of me, not saying a word. I felt my heart gave out. I felt like crying. He was being all cold, and I had no idea why.

I looked around and found Alice standing behind me. She linked arms with me. And when we got to the car park, I watched Edward jump inside the car and drove off without saying a word to me. I was left standing there, looking dejectedly at the fast disappearing silver Volvo.

Alice wrapped her arms around me. "Jasper and I will take you home" she said gently. Once I went inside the car, I let out a small dry sob then looked outside the window. I felt all cold inside. The encounter with James had shaken me, but not as much as the way Edward had acted towards me afterwards.

Sure I wanted to be Edward free, but now that he's acting all cold towards me, I just want things to be fine between us. But I don't know what I did wrong.

"This will all blow over Bella, Edward is just being an idiot" Jasper said comfortingly when we got to my house. I nodded weakly before turning around and walking towards the front door.

How did things go from crap to just complete and utter shit?

I'm sitting on my bed right now. My brain hurts, I've stayed up just thinking. About Edward and his reaction. I know I should be worried about James, but I can't. I realize now that maybe I've been in denial about the way I feel about Edward.

I don't like him, God no. I don't even have a crush on him. I've probably said this before, but I'm not sure if I meant it before. Now, everything just seems so right, and for once I'm sure about how I really feel. God help me, I love Edward Cullen.

It's like every thought of me not seeing him ever again, or him never wanting to talk to me is sending daggers straight to my heart.

There's no stopping my feelings for him, bloody hell, its like my heart is on crack, its completely addicted and high on Edward Cullen.

Author's note: I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN WHAT FEELS LIKE TWO WEEKS!! I'm a very busy little girl, that's the result of selecting art subjects as your electives, gr gr grrrrrr. I'm so sorry guys, I felt so empty, especially checking my email and I don't see a single thing from my awesome fanfiction readers sniff sniff As always thank you so much for the reviews last time, oh my God! thirty more reviews until my target of 200, what do you guys say? Would it finally hit 200 this time?? (closes eyes and starts wishing) tail starts wagging anyway, its the school holidays now!! I can update more! So please review this, unless of course you want me to go on strike :) xo-Rose