AN: Gotta lol at how reviewers are surprised this story might actually have a plot and character development. I know it's smut, but give me a little credit guys. ;)

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Chapter 9:

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Bella and Alice didn't talk for almost a full week. Jessica had let Bella borrow her bed and she had moved in temporarily with Alice. At night they would all lay in bed, separated by the tiny bathroom between their rooms, and Angela and Jessica would listen as Bella and Alice whispered to them the story of how the rupture came to occur, each subtly exaggerating in their favor, each subtly lying.

There was an English class Friday morning and the two pairs arrived from opposite ends of the corridor, frostily and without greeting, like generals meeting on a battlefield. Alice spun on her heel in a puff of miniskirt and entered the classroom. Bella snorted and went in as well. Jessica and Angela shared an eye roll and followed after them.

The four of them took seats as far apart as they could manage and the lesson began, the teacher lecturing from the whiteboard while Bella and Alice glared at each other discreetly across the classroom and leaned to whisper to Angela or Jessica. Soon the teacher, Ms Cullen, was handing out worksheets. Angela received hers and offered her teacher a sunny smile.

"Thanks, Miss Cullen," she said.

The teacher returned the smile. "You're welcome, honey."

Bella gave Angela a skeptical look, wondering why she would be grateful for school work, and Ms Cullen went on down the row. She handed worksheets to Alice and Jessica, Alice still glaring in Bella's direction and Jessica wondering how long the fight was going to last.

"So you and Bella still not talking?" she asked quietly, after the teacher was gone and the whole class was silent and bent over their worksheets.

"Nope," Alice said.

Jessica was half-concentrating on her worksheet and she didn't realize her next question might be a little controversial to her simmering friend. "When you gonna apologize?"

Alice's head whipped up. "Why should I apologize? I never did anything wrong. It's not my fault she likes me and I don't like her back."

Jessica cringed and glanced about to see if Alice's raised voice had drawn attention but the teacher was busy at her desk at the front of the class.

A couple of the girls had looked over and one of them was Angela. She looked at Jessica and Alice over there, a twinge of pity in her tummy, and turned to whisper to Bella.

"I can't believe Alice hasn't apologized yet," she said, forlornly, sympathetically. "I always thought she was so nice."

Bella snorted, not looking up from her work. "I used to like her when I first got here," she said. "I thought she liked me too, but she was just using me."

"Are you sure, though?" Angela asked, troubled.

Bella looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Angela gave a little shrug, no fan of conflict among friends. "Well, Alice can be a little oblivious sometimes—trust me, I know—but I don't think she wants to hurt anybody's feelings," she said. She looked over at Alice, she looked back at Bella. "She's a good person, she's just a little…"

"I'm not the only one she hurt, Ange," Bella reminded her. "She hurt you too."

"Yeah, but that's what I'm saying," Angela insisted. "She didn't mean to, she was just being Alice. Is it really right for me to blame her? I mean, I can't control how she feels. It made me sad, but…"

She sighed. Bella didn't seem much moved.

"All I'm saying," Angela went on, "is maybe you should give her another chance. She really does like you, you know. I just think she has a little trouble admitting it."

Bella frowned and looked across the room at Alice. A grudging flutter of butterflies moved in her stomach as she looked at how cute the other girl was, with her doll-like face and her pretty black hair.

Alice looked over at the same time and felt a similar flutter of butterflies. But as their eyes met, their gazes went darker until Alice snorted and turned back to Jessica.

"I can't believe Angela turned on me too," she said. "She used to be my best friend."

Jess shrugged helplessly and tried to make an excuse. "I don't think she turned on you," she said. "I just think she feels sorry for Bella."

"Exactly," Alice hissed. "She chose Bella over me, and I'm the one Bella yelled at. So much for best friends. She should've been on my side."

Jess nodded reluctantly. She had heard it all before and even though she knew it was pretty hopeless to try and defuse her feisty friend she thought she ought to try.

"Well, yeah, maybe that's true," she said, "but, you know, technically speaking, Bella never actually did anything wrong."

Alice's eyes flared. "Oh, so you're turning on me too?"

"No," Jessica added hastily. "No, of course not, but…"

Alice glared at her for a moment but then her face softened. She could see Jessica's frustration and deep down she knew Jessica had a point.

"I know, I'm sorry," she said. "You're a good friend, Jess."

Jessica smiled. Her hand was laying on the desk, biro in her fingers. Alice put her hand over it and smiled back.

"You're the only one sticking by me," she said, caressing the other girl's hand affectionately.

Jessica blushed and chuckled awkwardly. Alice gazed at her face, gauging her reaction as she would any other prey. It was just instinct, not anything she thought about. Her eyes moved to the ribbon the other girl wore around her neck and she could feel the temptation stirring in her stomach.

Bella was gritting her teeth. She looked over and saw Alice clasp Jessica's hand and now Alice was holding the hand and smiling innocently as if she wasn't a total whore. Bella snorted and nudged Angela.

"Look at that," she said, gesturing across the room with her pen. "I guess Jess is next on the list."

Angela looked and made a feeble defense. "They're just friends, it's not like…"

She trailed off. Alice was caressing the other girl's hand, rubbing it suggestively, and her smile had turned into a foxy smirk. Jessica was visibly going red and Angela went a little red too before she turned back to Bella.

"Unbelievable," Bella said through clenched teeth, still glaring. "I feel sorry for Jess. Someone should warn her that Alice is just gonna use her and throw her away."

"You don't know that. Maybe Alice likes her?"

"Yeah, and maybe she likes Leah," Bella retorted. "Or maybe she likes Rosalie, or me, or you. I bet she doesn't even know who she likes."

"Look," Angela said quickly, almost distraught, hating to see her friends fight. "I know you're upset with her, but it's not good for you to avoid each other like this. Just talk to her, okay? Just give her a chance to apologize. I'm sure she will if you just give her a chance. She's just afraid to talk to you, that's all."

Angela's voice was very earnest and Bella was very close to giving her a grudging nod. But the teacher happened to be making her rounds about the classroom and at this point she came up behind the two of them.

"Miss Webber," she said in a gentle tone with a gentle smile, placing a gentle hand on Angela's shoulder. "No talking. Focus on your work."

Angela glanced at her beautiful face and forgot all her troubles instantly. "S-sorry, Miss Cullen."

"This isn't the first time I've had to remind you," Miss Cullen added, still smiling, still with the hand on Angela's shoulder. "I want you to stay behind after class, is that understood? We need to talk about your behavior."

Angela flushed with delight and tried to hide it. "Yes, ma'am," she said.

Miss Cullen gave her shoulder a gentle caress. She had hardly even glanced at Bella, even though Bella had been guilty of talking too, and Bella was worried she was in trouble as well.

"Do I have to stay behind too?" she asked.

"N-no," Angela blurted, face on fire. "Just me."

Bella thought that was weird but didn't say anything. Miss Cullen only smiled, gave the girl another caress, and moved off back to her desk. Angela had promised she would focus on her work but she couldn't resist focusing on her teacher's ass for just a second as she walked away.

A few of the girls had looked over to see what was happening and one of them was Alice. Bella looked at her again, not quite glaring, but still sullen. They were looking at each other when the bell rang for lunch. A great shuffling ensued with all the girls getting ready to leave. Bella and Alice maintained their glare and then Alice spun back to Jess with a flirty smile on her face.

"Hey, you what we should do?" she asked cheerily. "We should hang out for lunch, just us two. What do you think?"

"Err…" Jessica had already grabbed up her books. She was still rattled from the way Alice had touched her hand and she didn't quite know how to handle it. "I-I can't," she stammered, "but I'll see you back in class later, okay?"

Then she got up and went out. Alice's smile dimmed and slipped away. She looked over at Bella but Bella had risen and she was walking out without looking back.

—

It was a lonely lunchtime for Alice. She wasn't in the mood for company and she didn't even eat. Instead she strolled the grounds outside until finally she sat herself down underneath the cherrytree in the courtyard where everybody going by could see how miserable she was. She had picked a small bloom from the flowers that grew at the base of the tree and now she was picking the petals one by one. She couldn't understand why she felt so bad.

She hadn't been there long before Bella and Angela went past on their way back to the dorms. They both saw her, sitting there alone in a softly falling rain of pink petals, and they both felt sorry for her.

"Go talk to her," Angela said, nudging Bella.

Bella looked at her and back at Alice. Alice was plucking the flower in her hand and she hadn't looked up. Bella sighed.

"Alright," she said.

Angela smiled and hurried on, glancing over her shoulder. Bella sighed again and went over to Alice.

Alice looked up when she heard shoes on the grass. She saw Bella and her heart flipped for some reason. Her skin went all electric as Bella sat down beside her, the tension crackling between them, but she kept her small face stony.

"Hey," Bella said.

"Hey," Alice replied.

It was the first words they'd spoken in days. Alice kept her eyes on the flower in her hands. It only had a few petals left. Bella looked out over the courtyard, at all the girls going by the gravel lanes in their uniforms, and back at Alice.

"Where's Leah?" she asked.

Alice didn't look at her. "I don't know."

"Did you break up?"

Alice sighed and plucked the last petal from the flower. Then she tossed aside the flower and sighed again. "I don't know," she said. "We hadn't really defined our relationship yet. She told me to think about it, but…"

"But what?"

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to have a real girlfriend," Alice said. She glanced at Bella discreetly. "Not Leah, at least," she added, half hoping Bella would notice the hint.

But she didn't. Bella only registered that Alice wasn't ready for a real relationship and that seemed so typical that she snorted out loud. The sound caused Alice's face to cloud over. Her tingly feelings turned cold and she brushed at the pleat of her skirt primly, as if to get rid of something.

"I see you and Angela are really close lately," she commented, with thinly veiled bitterness.

Bella frowned. "Yeah," she said. "So?"

Alice shrugged innocently, plucking up another flower and examining it idly. "Oh, nothing," she said. "Just thought it was funny. First you accuse me of trying to make you jealous, and now here you are all over Angela."

Bella's mouth fell open. "Wait a second," she said. "You think that I—" She pointed at her chest. "—am trying to make you—" She pointed at Alice. "—jealous?"

Alice looked at her. "Well, are you?"

"No! Angela and I are friends. Real friends. Which seems to be a concept you don't even understand."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You don't know how to be a friend, you only know how to pretend."

Bella jumped to her feet and dusted her skirt from grass. Alice caught a glimpse of her panties and the flash of lust she felt only made her angrier. She jumped to her feet as well and threw down the flower she was holding.

"I do not!" she claimed. "I'm the friendliest girl in school, everybody loves me! You and Angela are the ones who turned on me!"

Bella was shaking her head, very upset. "Whatever, Alice," she said. "If you can't understand what you did wrong, then I don't even know what to say to you."

Then she turned on her heel and stalked away. Alice watched her go and then she huffed and spun and went off in a different direction with her hands clenched in little fists.

—

"Wow, she actually called you a bitch?"

Jessica couldn't believe it. It was nighttime and they were studying on Alice's bed. Alice had been telling her the story of what happened at lunch and might've embellished the harshness of Bella's language just a little bit.

"Basically," she confirmed, nodding. "I mean, I was going to forgive her, but all she wanted to do was accuse me of stuff. Stuff I didn't even do, by the way."

"Wow," Jess repeated. "I guess she really is mad at you."

Alice nodded again. Then she shook her head. She was looking down at the textbook in her lap and beyond all the anger and selfishness she really did feel bad.

"Yeah," she murmured.

Jessica noted the tone in her voice and wanted to make her feel better. "Sorry," she said, a little awkward at comforting people. "That sucks. I know you really liked her."

Alice snorted. "It doesn't matter," she said. "I tried to be a good friend, but I guess I wasn't good enough."

Jess still felt bad for her but still didn't really know what to do. But then she remembered how Alice had touched her hand in class and thought she would give it a try. She reached over and placed her hand over Alice's, caressing it slightly. Alice looked up, a flicker in her eye. Jessica smiled.

"Well, at least you still got me," she said. "Right?"

A big smile went over Alice's face, a smile that was relieved and grateful and just a bit wolfish in the corners. She turned her hand slightly so that their fingers entwined, clasping them together.

"Yeah," she said. "I guess you're my best friend now, huh?"

"Guess so," Jess smiled.

"You know, I really like you Jess," she said. "You're much cooler than I thought you were."

"I like you too."

"No, I mean it," Alice persisted, still holding her hand, squeezing it affectionately. She giggled and gave a pretty blush. "You've been so nice to me lately."

"Well, you know," Jess said, an awkward chuckle escaping her. "You're my friend."

"Yeah," Alice agreed, nodding, smiling brightly. She didn't let go of her hand and after a minute she giggled and tilted her head. "You know, you're really cute."

Jessica blinked. No one had ever said that to her before. "You think so?"

"Mmhm," Alice murmured, gazing at her brazenly. "I never noticed it before, but you are."

"Oh," Jess blushed. "Thanks."

"I should thank you too," Alice whispered, shifting the text books off her lap and crawling forward to where her friend was sitting against the headboard. Jess recoiled slightly but only because she was nervous. Alice could see the pink in her cheeks and she knew she wanted it. She smiled and cupped the other girl's face. "Thanks for being such a great friend, Jess," she said. "I don't know what I'd do without you. But maybe we could be more than friends. Hm? What do you think?"

Jessica wasn't capable of thinking. Alice's face was right there in front of her, her lips so close, and all she could think about was if she was about to be kissed.

"I-I don't know," she stuttered.

Alice smiled and placed a kiss on the corner of the other girl's mouth, teasing her. "That's okay," she whispered. "Let's just take it slow."

Then she pressed her lips flush to Jessica's. It was Jessica's first kiss and her mind almost popped. She never realized how much she liked Alice before and she couldn't believe Alice actually liked her back. It was amazing. Alice moaned and deepened the kiss. Jessica tilted her face a little and opened her mouth. She was completely lost in the kiss, so lost she didn't notice that Alice was untying her ribbon. Alice's finger's moved deftly, as if she didn't need to concentrate on the kiss at all, and when she had the ribbon undone she unthreaded it from Jess's collar and tucked it under the pillow for later. Then she deepened the kiss even more and started unbuttoning Jess's blouse.

—

That night Alice lay awake in bed. She lay for a long time, until she was positive Jess had fallen asleep, and then she sat up and fetched the ribbon from under her pillow. She couldn't see it in the dark but she could feel the cool satin.

She stood up quietly and switched on the lamp to the dimmest setting. In the orange glow the ribbon looked blood red. She looked at for a moment and then she opened the beside drawer and took out her little rosewood box. She flipped the brass catches, doing it very quietly, and opened the lid.

She didn't even know how many ribbons were inside. Lots. She poked at them with her finger. She used to be really proud of her collection but right now she didn't know what she felt. She could hear Jessica breathing softly in her bed and with a bad feeling in her heart she added her new best friend's ribbon to her collection. She regarded the ribbons for a moment, not quite admiring them, and then she frowned.

"Fine," she muttered to herself. "I'm a slut, I don't care."

Then she shut the lid and went back to bed.

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