Revision 1.0
I'd like to thank those that added this story to their alerts and reviewed. Thank you so much for the support. I greatly appreciate it. Grab a snack or something cause this chapter is sort of long.
I do not own.
Chapter Two - Learning the SBC's
As I turned onto the highway, I began to tune onto my radio, instantly cringing at the talentless artists singing along to strange beats and pseudo new wave sounds. What was America listening to?
I shuddered and turned off the radio, instead opting to simply plug in my iPod and sing along to stories of paradise cities. In between yelled out 'take me home's' and heavy guitar riffs, I began to imagine just how this year would pan out. Maybe, since I've been collecting a bunch of good karma over the summer, the gods would finally push Jasper to ask me out.
Right, fat chance.
I was a social pariah, but just the fact that I was one of the lucky girls to be inducted into the Jasper Whitlock Hall of Bang made me a freakin' legend. Or at least in my mind. Who knew what Jasper actually felt about screwing me, the dorky cop's kid. I bet he regretted it the second after we did the nasty.
Just that thought alone caused the lyrics to die on the tip of my tongue.
Damn. I really had to tell Rose about what happened. She could probably give me some advice on this shit. Then again, her advice consisted of shopping for some ultra revealing clothes and tattoing the words 'Screw me, Jasper' on my forehead.
Okay, maybe not the last one, but she would definitely push me to tell Jasper I wanted some more hanky-panky. Not that I didn't, or did. No, wait. God, nevermind. I was beginning to sound like some horny ass teenager. Oh yeah, I was a horny teenager that boned Jasper Whitlock at band camp. Touchdown dance!
I quickly pulled into the school parking lot and scanned across the lot for an empty space. Usually I got to school earlier just so I could avoid the sprawling traffic, but my mom's failed attempt to dress me made me late. I found a spot and was about to drive into it when a shiny Volvo zoomed past me and parked in the spot. I didn't hesitate to honk my car horn for a solid ten seconds.
The driver and passenger door opened and I scrunched up my nose in disgust. Alice Brandon and Edward Masen faced me, the two assholes that have, in a nutshell, ruined my life here at Forks High. I wanted to push them off the face of the planet so badly. I'd probably be doing everybody a huge favor.
Since middle school these two haughty, annoying pricks have been throwing insults at me on a daily basis. Not that it affected me, anymore at least, but it aggravated me to no end. Who the fuck cared if all my classes were AP? And, yeah, I have been gaining a couple more LB's, but so what? Did I ask you to count my calories? I didn't fucking think so.
I glared at Alice, with her stupid fresh off the runway clothes and stupid clown-makeup face and just stupid everything. She thought she was the shit because her mummy dearest worked for Donatella Versace and her precious daddy took over businesses for breakfast. Rich, schmoozing, jerks.
It's not like Alice was pretty. She probably couldn't even fill out a B cup. I'm sorry, but I didn't want to be a sixteen year old trapped in a toddler's body. Nope, I actually liked having boobs, thank you very much.
Alice simply waved at me, a smirk on her painted lips, before yelling out in a scratchy voice, "Thanks for the spot, Becca!"
I gripped the steering wheel and slightly eased up on the brakes. I applied pressure to the gas pedal and had to breathe to stop myself from ramming into this girl. Fuck, I wanted to run this bitch over.
With my jaw clenched, I cranked down my window manually and shouted back, "What's wrong with your voice, Mary? Sucked too much dick last night?"
Her smirk vanished, her shades were already adorning her face, when she directed her tiny as fuck middle finger towards me. I glanced toward Eddie-boy, who was running a hand through his frosted-tip bronze hair, and sweetly smiled at him. He scowled at me, his usual emo self, and put on some stupid shades.
Did they not see that it was raining…again? This town was wet nearly 360 days out of the whole year and yet they decided somewhere in the depths of their tiny brains that they should still wear sunglasses. Idiots.
While driving by Alice, I took my hands off the steering wheel and flipped her off with both hands, a shit-eating grin on my face.
I drove around the lot a couple times for an empty parking space and finally found one near the back of the lot. I quickly parked into the space and started grabbing all of my things. It was a good thing that I already picked up my schedule and books last week cause the lines in the office and book room would be hell.
I stepped out onto the wet pavement with my bag over my shoulder and locked up my car, not that anybody was going to steal it unless they wanted to unleash my dad's Bad Cop Wrath of Doom. I readjusted the strap of my bag and began my trek to the school I was stuck in for two more years.
My feet moved on autopilot as my eyes scanned the lot for Rose. I wouldn't be surprised if she was with Emmett. Sure enough, she was leaning on Em's Jeep, swapping spit with said car owner. Gag. Whenever Rose and Em started to make out, you'd think their lips were super glued together. It was cute, for the first few minutes, but once you saw all that tongue action and the serious macking down that Em was giving her, well...
I mean, don't get me wrong, Emmett was pretty chill. He was in our year, but the boy was a huge beast. Just his weight alone was intimidating. And in the blue corner, weighing in at a solid two-fifty-five, Emmett 'Bear' McCartney. Yup, totally scary. Add in the fact that he looked like he's been popping 'roids while in utero and you got a macho man. Secretly, though, he was a softie. He would try to give me his death stare, but in the end I'd always get his cute dimpled smile. Emmett was only fond of three things; Rosalie, football, and teasing my virginal status.
Too bad he didn't know I got some from his quarterback this summer.
Rosalie and Em managed to put their tongues in their respective mouths and separate from each other just as I reached them, thankfully. Rose jumped away from Em and sprinted at me, her speed never stopping even when she crashed into me. She nearly knocked me down to the ground with her hug.
"Bella!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as she jumped up and down in her excitement.
I blushed when I realized that every single student in the lot was staring at us. It probably didn't help that Rose and I were caught in a weird, embrace. Whatever, people already made snide comments about our friendship and how we were secretly lesbian lovers. I ducked my head, but squeezed Rose back with an equal strength.
She pulled away and held me at an arms length distance, her eyes looking me up and down. I blushed yet again and tugged on her hair, which got longer over the break.
"Ow, bitch. That hurt." I laughed at her expense and looked over her shoulder to wave at Emmett, shooting him my cheesy smile.
"Hey, Em." He flashed me his trademark smile and took the three steps to where Rose and I were standing.
He pulled me out of Rosalie's grip and crushed me in a tight bear hug. I clutched at his shoulder, my talon-like nails digging into the skin, and squealed as he spun me around in circles endlessly. His booming laughter seemed to echo around the lot, causing me to blush like crazy. I brought my arm back and lightly punched his beefy shoulder, which probably wasn't a good idea because my knuckles felt a little sore.
"Belly Button!" My horrid nickname fell from Emmett's lips. Cue the blush.
I smacked his cheek with a little too much force, but he got the message. He slowly placed me back to the ground, but not before winking at me. Once my feet hit the ground, he grabbed my arm and slowly spun me in a three-sixty, whistling as his eyes took me in.
"Damn, B. Camp did you some good. Look at you. There's more to hold onto now that you got-OW, babe that hurt." Rosalie decided now was the perfect time to smack some sense into her boyfriend.
I winced at Em's small comment about my weight gain, trying hard not to take offense. I didn't believe it was that noticeable, but if Em, who was as observant as a rock, managed to spot it, then I must be huge. I could just imagine what the rest of the school had to say. Stupid band camp and they're strict unhealthy meal plan.
My eyes fell to the ground, but that didn't stop Emmett from apologizing profusely. He was rambling and saying all kinds of ultra-flowery things. Like how he liked my newly developed curves. I clenched my eyes shut and shook my head a little bit at the whole situation. I was being a drama queen, but damnit I was sensitive about that topic.
The bell rang and I exhaled a breath in relief.
"It's okay, Emmett. Just need to hit the gym, right?" I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice, but judging by the look on Emmett's face, I failed horribly.
"Bella, I-"
"Fuck, Emmett. Go to fucking class." I shot Rose an appreciative smile at her interruption, and also gave a weak smile to Em. He still looked regretful, but at least he smiled back.
I started to walk to my first class, which Rose so happened to be in, too. I didn't say anything when she told me this little fact, causing a deadly silence to settle between us. My lack of verbal communication must have unnerved Rose because every so often she would huff angrily and give me her patented side-eye.
Normally I would have joked about Em's comment and not let it affect me, but this was something I was really sensitive about. The whole weight thing was a really sore topic; even my mom steered away from it, for the most part. I haven't really talked about my weight problem ever since I embraced the fact that I wasn't ever going to be rail-thin. Like I've said before, it usually didn't affect me. I just hated the fact that other people noticed my body's changes so freakin' easily.
Rose finally cracked and said quickly, "I'm sorry Emmett is such a dumbass." I shook my head, my lips already curving into a smile as we entered our English class.
I scanned the room and settled for some seats at the back. Typically jocks sat at the desks in the back of the classroom, mainly to avoid answering any of the teacher's questions, but Rose got along with them perfectly fine, and so did I...by association.
I sank into a desk with a mosaic of juvenile graffiti. Carvings of initials and miniscule 'was here's' scratched onto the wood. I traced the etches with a finger, deciding whether I should ask Rose something I've dying to ask her.
Keeping my eyes on the desk and my tone conversational, I asked, "Can you really notice it that much?"
I looked up and looked right back down. Dang, Rose could seriously murder people with that glare.
I guess that was my cue to abort my woe-is-me mood and put the idea out of mind. I tried to not roll my eyes at the rant I had caused. Gosh, she didn't understand what it was like to feel self-conscious. No, sir. I bet Rose could have walked into a room full of the most gorgeous models and watch as their egos would instantly inflate, along with any confidence they once had. She was just so gorgeous and I, I was that whatever, bleh kind of girl. It sucked being pegged as just Rosalie Hale's fat dorky friend...who, let's not forget, was a cop's kid.
Hopefully Jasper didn't see me that way. Maybe he liked me and oh gosh, I really had to stop thinking about him. It's as if I genuinely enjoyed setting myself up for disappointment.
"Isabella Marie Swan you have the hottest body ever and oh my god Jasper Whitlock is in this class."
My head snapped up so fast that I was shocked I didn't get whiplash or break my neck. I looked towards the door and around the classroom, but there was no Jasper Whitlock in sight. My eyes scanned the room two more times, hoping I somehow missed sight of the blonde heartthrob.
I narrowed my eyes at Rose, my hands itching to smack her and that smug little smile. "You, whore. I hate you."
She giggled and threw her arm around my shoulders. I rolled my eyes yet again at my blonde friend because only she knew me like no other. I had to give her credit, though. She managed to derail the trainwreck that was the 'I hate my body' talk. When a rather cute substitute teacher walked into the class to announce that Mrs. Hill was in labor, Rose and I talked till the end of the period.
Once the bell rang, Rose and I separated since our classes were in different sides of the school.
As I walked down the hall to my math class, I ran into Jessica Stanley, the local nosy gossip who also happened to be the local floozy. That girl fucked anything with a heartbeat, no questions asked. No, I take that back. I heard that she actually fucked a carrot, which was the biggest myth in this small town, but every rumor had a basis of truth. Guess she's just that desperate.
"Bella! I heard your little scene with Alice earlier. Let me tell you, I never knew the cop kid had a backbone," her annoying nails-on-chalkboard voice was overheard by everybody in the hall, which brought unwanted attention upon myself. I felt major damage to my ears and I gritted my teeth as Jessica continued to speak about my nonexistent courage.
Keep your cool, Swan. Keep your cool.
"Also, I really am shocked that you haven't seemed to notice those love handles spilling over your last season jeans. Y'know, I run every other day from five to six. If you want, I'll run with you. I need some motivation and I'm sure that if I look at your body for a couple seconds, I will have enough motivation to lose a couple of those LB's. Hey, did you hear that Jasper Whit-"
And my patience just snapped.
"Shut the hell up, Jessica! Who cares if I told Alice off? She's a bitch who has no friends except for Emo Eddie. And why do you give a fuck if I gained like ten pounds? I don't even fucking care about my weight. Besides, if you run as much as you say you do, you wouldn't scarf down all that junk food like some underfed cow. You seem to have a couple Twinkies on your back, though. And as for motivation, maybe your motivation should be to find an actual dick to fuck instead of a carrot, dumb bitch."
I walked away, with a skip in my step, and I was vaguely aware of all the students' eyes on me. At this point I didn't even care. I just told off a fellow classmate and that was like a triple shooting star. I never told anybody off, no matter the situation.
"That was one time!" Jessica screamed as I walked away and I threw my head back and laughed. Poor, sad girl.
Classes went by quickly and in every single one, random people in my class gave me high fives. I smiled and listened to most of the teachers drone on about how we should behave in the class and amongst our peers. Of course, the teachers directed their little speeches and glares towards me since they heard about the Alice-Jessica thing. I was on cloud nine thousand infinity. Nobody could touch me.
Soon lunch came and Rosalie and I were giggling about the whole thing. She was really surprised that I told two people off on the same day. She even teared up a little and said she was proud of me. A drama queen, that one.
"Bella, why is Jasper Whitlock walking over here?" The fork I was holding slipped from my fingers, slid off the table, and landed onto the ground.
She was kidding.
"Screw you, Rose. I am not falling for that crap again." My voice shook and I lamented how pathetic I sounded.
"Damn, I thought you would've," she said, a glint in her azure eyes.
My shoulders lost all the tension and I visibly relaxed. I sunk into my seat and stole her unused fork. My noodles were getting cold and my stomach was rumbling.
I was chewing on my food, a noodle hanging out of my mouth, when the chair next to me was suddenly being used by none other then Jasper Whitlock. I sucked in a breath, forgetting that I still had noodles in my mouth, and started to choke and sputter.
Jasper crinkled his brows before awkwardly patting my back. This made me giddy inside and I was damn near dying from suffocation. I wanted to puke out my food and jump Jasper's bones all at once, which wouldn't be a good combo. I finally swallowed when Rose told me to quit making a scene. Bitch didn't even help save my life.
To say the moment after my noodle failure was nice would be a total lie. It was awkward and I refused to look anywhere, but my apple. And the apple wasn't even a nice looking one. It was some crappy yellow-brown color. What color was that? Brellow? Yown?
"Hey Hale, have you seen Emmett?" Jasper finally broke the uncomfortable silence and I instantly blushed, even though he wasn't talking me.
His voice was so rough and oozed hotness. It made me think of summer and late nights smoking cigarettes. Probably not that attractive, but damn that voice could do things to the strong-willed.
"Sorry, I haven't seen him since second…"
She kept on talking, but I was too busy fantasizing about Jasper. That voice of his just did things to you. I bet he could read me the Bible and I would melt at his feet. Wait, was that unholy? I don't really know. I mean, I was never really religious. Charlie called himself a true follower of Sportsism and my mom worshipped Christian Dior.
"What about you, Bella?" a loud voice broke through my musings and I instantly said 'no' without even thinking.
It was a habit of mine, but when you had a friend like Rose, who threw you questions at random, 'no' was usually the answer. At least most of the time.
There was a deep sigh and then the sound of a chair being scraped against the linoleum floor. I looked up just in time to see Jasper glance over to me. The corner of his lips slightly curved upwards and I couldn't help but smile back at him, albeit a little awkwardly.
"Thanks, Rose. See ya around, Bella."
"B-bye," I fumbled over the one word, waving at his retreating back. I felt so dumb.
Thankfully, though, the bell rang and I knew I had to get away from Rose before she started making fun of my social awkwardness.
I turned heel and damn near sprinted in the direction of my next class. I slowed down as I reached the choir class, my breath coming out in short breaths. It was the class I was looking forward to the least. I hated singing in public and I hated my band teacher, Mr. Knox, for even suggesting the idea. I already had drumline to practice and now I was thrown unwillingly into choir, too. Somebody kill me.
"Okay, class," Mrs. Lane's melodic voice echoed throughout the soundproof room, "Grange do try and pretend to be remotely interested in the theater. Your lack of enthusiasm is killing me slower than my husband. Now, where was I? Oh yes, I will start off with placing you in pitch groups. You'll all go up alphabetically, so first on my list is, Isabella Swan."
What the fuck? I was always towards the end of role call! I didn't remember learning that the letter 's' began the ABC's. Mrs. Lane might as well change the ABC's to SBC's and teach them to every toddler. I grumbled out how I already loathed the class before getting out of my seat in the back, walking around some haphazardly thrown backpacks, and stood in front of the class.
The lights went off temporarily, but a spotlight was quickly turned on and focused on me. Wow, Mrs. Lane had a cool set up in here-too bad she was one sandwich short of a full picnic. I felt sweat bead on my forehead and I wiped my hands on the back of my jeans.
Don't mess up. They're nothing. Swallow that puke coming up your throat.
"Sing," Mrs. Lane said in a clipped tone. This singing business wasn't a joke to her. I was in serious shit.
I audibly gulped and heard some snickers come from my peers.
You're gonna mess up. You're nothing. You're gonna throw up.
"A whole song?"
"No. Just a chorus would be nice, Isabella."
I opened my mouth to protest, but instead I actually started singing. My voice seemed to travel around the room so I snapped my eyes shut so I wouldn't see any sneers or looks of deep disapproval.
I sang about the players playing and the cleansing rain that let me know. I sang and didn't open my eyes. I sang. Oh my gosh, I actually sang.
I chanced a glance at Mrs. Lane and bit my lip when she smiled at me with a dreamy look clouding her eyes. Could've sworn she was being snappy just a few minutes ago.
Mrs. Lane shot out of her seat, and began to clap along with a couple students. I ran a hand through my hair, a nervous tic of mine, and looked down at my shoes. I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks, but thankfully the vomiting feeling I was battling earlier seemed to leave.
"Magnificent. If you can sing a song like that then you are definitely a soprano, Miss Swan. I am glad Mr. Knox recommended you." Yeah, that made one of us, Mrs. Lane.
I gave her one last smile before stepping away from the front of the classroom and walking back to my seat. I silently watched students step onto the stage and sing songs that I wouldn't be caught dead listening to. Eric Yorkie, a kid with bad acne scars and hair that could probably give more oil than actual oil wells, seriously tried to rap. The whole time he was up there I couldn't stop laughing like a mad woman. All he was saying was "swag" and a few other weird phrases.
"And that's some Drizzy Drake for ya, Mrs. L," Eric all but shouted while crossing his arms over his chest and puckering his lips in a duck-like fashion.
"Yes, cause we all know that's music at its finest," retorted a disembodied voice. I looked around the room and caught sight of Jasper Whitlock carrying a green slip of paper.
Today must be my lucky day. Two run-ins in less than 2 hours.
"Ah, Mr. Whitlock. So great of you to join us." Jasper shot her a grin as he walked over to her. When he tried to hand the slip of paper to Mrs. Lane, she waved him away. "No, no I don't need that paper. Just take her. Let me call her. Miss Swan, if you could so kindly accompany Mr. Whitlock back to Mr. Knox's classroom."
My jaw dropped and I stared unabashedly at Jasper. I did not want to walk with him alone. I mean, I did, but what if I got a bad case of word vomit? Oh my god, maybe I was going to trip and eat it hard. Or what if I actually throw up? Or what if I told him I've been in love with him since the seventh grade?
"Umm, Bella, now would be nice," Jasper's deep voice filled the class and I groaned.
Fuck me, please.
I picked up my bag and walked towards the front of the class, my eyes downcast, and I glanced at Jasper from under my eyelashes. Man, I was such a dork.
"Miss Swan, if you can, please practice singing. We will be singing tomorrow so be prepared to lead," Mrs. Lane smiled at me and turned back to the class with a flurry.
I blinked a couple times because surely I heard her wrong. She did not just say that I was going to lead the class. Fuck it all.
I turned towards the door in silence and started to walk with Jasper to Mr. Knox's classroom, which was on the other side of the school. We walked quietly together and my discomfort was ratcheting up a few notches with each passing second. I was about to combust when Jasper started to speak.
"So, you must sing really good if you're leading tomorrow," he stated, a hint of playfulness in his voice.
Despite my nervousness, I laughed. I laughed so hard, I felt tears prickle the corners of my eyes. I still didn't fully comprehend Mrs. Lane's decision. She was thrusting me into the limelight, right front and center, for the whole world to see my failure. The whole things was hysterical. After my chuckles died out, I replied to his comment.
"Yeah, I guess. I don't know why. I'm not really good at singing or anything for that matter. I don't really think I'm good at anything aside from reading. Sure, I can carry a note, and yeah maybe my pitch is good, but I don't think I was good-good. Anybody could sing Fleetwood Mac. There has to be somebody else in the class that can sing better than me. And I'll shut up now cause I'm rambling." I blushed and looked away from Jasper's smirk.
I just made myself look so stupid in front of the hottest guy in the whole world. Where the hell was my dad's shotgun when I needed it?
Jasper's laughter filled the empty corridor and my shoulders slumped ever so slightly. He was laughing at me. The gorgeous, Greek god was laughing at me. Of course he would. He was popular and I was just that cop's kid.
I glared through my tears at the stretch of hallway in front of us and didn't speak for the rest of the walk. Neither did Jasper.
It turned out that Mr. Knox just wanted us to practice our drumming. My sticks weren't in my bag since I rushed in the morning and forgot to grab them. Curse my mom. I had to borrow some shitty ones that were wrapped in peeling tape and the whole time I used them, I longed for my own sticks. It felt like I wasn't being faithful to a friend, which was crazy cause drum stucks were just sticks.
Right, sure they were.
After the bell rang I walked towards my van and looked through my bag for my keys. I got to my car and was about to unlock my car when I saw a little Sticky Note taped to my windshield. I looked around other cars to see if they had one too, but I found that mine was the only one with a note.
My fingers reached out for the note and I yanked it off my windshield.
"Bella!" I jumped a foot in the air at the scream and whirled around, a hand clutching my beating heart. "Can I come over today? I really don't want to talk to Emmett."
"Holy shit, Rose. You scared the shit out of me," I told her while lightly smacking her arm.
She just snickered and walked to the passenger side. I sighed and placed the note inside my bag for later inspection.
I unlocked my car and jumped in. I reached over to unlock the passenger side. Rose opened the door and clambered inside. Her feet instantly rested on the dashboard as she began to mess with my radio.
She exhaled a deep breath through her nose before muttering how she had to check my car's something-something cables. I hummed in response and drove out the lot, laughing and singing along with Rose to some classic rock. In the back of my mind, there was a voice nagging me to tell Rose what happened at camp. I pushed away the voice and smiled at her. It was my secret.
So, there it is. Capitulo numbero dos. To those that didn't quite catch it, the song Bella sang is 'Dreams' by Fleetwood Mac. I suggest ya'll check it out if you haven't heard it. Stevie Nicks is just amazing... I hope it wasn't all too bad. Reviews make me update faster. Hint, hint.
~geek