Disclaimer: SM's, not mine.
Glad you all enjoyed the EPOV last chapter! We all agree he's a jerk, right? Right. Haha, I'll add more of those since everyone liked it. Sorry I couldn't update faster. RL, y'know.
Alright, on with the chapter! We're skipping ahead in time a little...
Chapter 6- Bastard
I stood there in disbelief, a mixture of emotions in me. But there were two words that summed them all up at that moment, words that I had never used until that instance when I stood there, watching the red car disappear out of my sight.
"That bastard."
That feeling only intensified as the days passed by. Every morning, he would come to class late and saunter over to his seat beside me, setting his backpack down on his desk and slouching down in his seat. He'd get me to get his books out for him, pick his things up if he dropped them, carry his back pack to the next class, do his classwork, and get him lunch. Recently he'd also started teasing me, running his hand down my arm sometimes or leaning over and talking to me in a low voice, invading my space and making my heart pound for no reason. I didn't dare resist him, remembering that threat he had made in the car, but I could feel myself getting frazzled.
Everyone in the school avoided me more than before, except now that avoidance was accompanied by whispers. If someone ran into me by accident, they would get wide-eyed and run off as if I had the plague. It was all because of him. When he walked down the hall, students parted like the red sea. In class, if he so much as shifted, everyone's eyes shot to him, the air tense. He didn't seem to notice, just stretching or sighing and slumping deeper in his seat, but I knew he did because he would look around and smirk. He only seemed to become more of a bastard the more time I spent around him.
Despite my increasing dislike- no, hatred- of him, I also couldn't suppress that other feeling I had. I found myself becoming curious about him. Even though I was around him so much, I didn't find anything out about him, nor did he find out anything about me. Sometimes, he would get a message, and, just like he had the day we went to Burger King, he would leave suddenly. I saw him with a tall blonde-haired boy sometimes, but he never spoke about him. Some days I would notice that he'd have a small cut on his face or his knuckles; other times he would just look brooding and upset. We didn't talk besides him giving me orders and me replying or retorting. If I dared to ask him anything or talk back, he would just stare at me, or sometimes command me to do something, calling me Princess.
I spent a month like this, until I started getting used to it, even though it still made me angry. I took it as a matter of course that I would be ordered around and handled roughtly, ignored when I spoke, and ignored and whispered about by others when I didn't. But a day came by to change that.
Edward hadn't shown up for class that Monday, so at first I felt relieved. I went through my day as usual, without anyone telling me what to do and able to focus on class. Somehow, I had kept up my grades despite dealing with Edward, hiding what I was going through from my mom. Not that that was hard to do in the first place, as long as my grades were good. But as the day went on, something started bothering me. It didn't feel right; even though everyone had said he almost never came to school, I wasn't aware of that- since the moment I met him, he had showed up every day at least, even if he left in the middle of the day.
Thirty minutes after school ended, I took my cellphone from my pocket and texted him.
To: The Bastard
Where are you?
He didn't answer.
He didn't show up for school two more days in a row, and didn't answer any of my texts. I felt myself getting uneasy, and I didn't know why I would feel agitated in the first place. Maybe he was just going back to the way he was before. Anyway, it was nothing for me to worry about; I couldn't stand him anyway. But I couldn't help myself- I had gotten used to him being there, bossing me around and being sarcastic. Even if I didn't like it, it still gave me a sense of foreboding to go so long without it.
The fourth day, Thursday, I waited until almost everyone was out of class, and then stopped the girl who used to sit beside me.
"W-what?" she asked me, shrinking away from me a little.
"Why are you so scared of me? Not just you, but everyone?" I asked, truly wanting to know.
"You're with... him. Edward. No one talks to him, but you've been spending all of your time with him," she said, not meeting my eye. "He bosses you around, and you're the honor student… It's just not right."
I thought on that for a second then asked her, "Have you perhaps seen him around anywhere?"
She looked at me for a second, the expression on her dainty face unreadable. Then she slowly said, "I saw him with some boys from another school the other day on my way home from school. They were walking into an alley; that's all I know," she said.
"Thanks," I said. She nodded and turned to leave. "What's your name?" I called after her, and she turned to look at me.
"Alice Brandon," she said before she turned and left.
I stood in front of the building, catching my breath. I had run there as soon as school ended. It was silent around me, the only sounds being the sound of the wind blowing through the tall grass and leaves of the huge magnolia tree. Swallowing, I went over to the building slowly. Two weeks ago, Edward had brought me out here to grab something he said he'd forgotten. When I'd tried to follow he'd forbidden me to go into this building, throwing me a look when I had asked him why. But now, I was too worried and curious to listen.
I walked slowly to the door and pushed on it, my heart pounding. Just as it opened, a dangerously low voice from behind me said, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
I jumped, gasping in fear, and turned around. There was Edward, papers in his hand, an almost-healed cut on his lip and the area around his right eye a faded yellow of what must have been a horrible bruise. He was dressed in a dark blue t-shirt and light blue jeans with his trademark white sneakers on his feet.
"I said, what are you doing here?" he asked me again.
"I…I-I was just…" I started, but he cut me off.
"I told you not to come here, didn't I?"
"Yes, but I was just…"
"Leave," he said, brushing past me. I suddenly felt angry- I had come here, worried about him, but all he wanted to do was reprimand me and tell me to go?
"You're such a bastard," I said in a low voice, turning to leave.
"What did you say?" he said from behind me.
Taking a breath to get my courage, I turned around. "I said, you're a bastard!" I said, looking at him defiantly.
There was a long pause and then he spoke. "Go on," he said, standing there with his arms crossed.
"You're a mean, sarcastic, rude, cynical, lazy bastard!" I almost yelled, releasing all the pent-up anger I had. "You do nothing but fight and push people away, and anyone around you is nothing but something for you to play with! No wonder everyone is scared of you!" I finished.
"Is that all?" he asked, his arms still crossed, the expression in his eyes telling me to go on.
"No!" I continued, "And you treat me like crap! I already feel guilty enough for losing something that important to you, so I went along with you for this whole month! But I'm tired now! I'm tired of you ordering me around, not telling me anything. And I hate the nickname Princess, you, you... bastard!"
I finished and stood still, my breath coming in short, fast bursts. It was utterly silent as he stood there, his eyes still unreadable. And then suddenly smiled and started laughing.
I stood there, frozen in part disbelief and part anger. Anger because he was laughing after I had just spilled all of my feelings to him, disbelief because of the beauty of his smile. It was the first time that I had seen a true smile from him, not just a cynical or mocking smirk. It was large, and changed his whole face, his usually harsh and wary-looking eyes squinting into arches, his green orbs sparkling. His cheeks scrunched up, changing into rosy balls. But it was his smile that was most breathtaking. It practically took over his face, stretching to show his healthy pink gums and straight white teeth.
"What's so funny?" I asked defensively, not sure if I wanted to laugh along with him or yell at him some more.
He stopped laughing, looking at me. "I wasn't expecting that from you, Princess. That's the first time anyone has talked to me like that," he said, amusement and warmth in his voice.
"Well…" I said, all of the wind taken from my sails with that. Mustering some of my ire back, I lifted my chin and said, "Somebody had to tell you."
His lips quirked ruefully. "Yea, I guess so. I just didn't expect it to be you, Princess."
"I told you I don't like that name," I grumbled.
With that, his eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "You don't think it fits you?" he asked.
I shook my head, not taking my eyes off of his. I wasn't sure why, but this felt like some sort of test, and I found myself wanting to pass it. I felt nervous because he'd gone back to his impenetrable demeanor, and I knew that meant his temper was about to snap.
"I'm not some sort of Princess," I said, my voice trembling slightly.
He smirked sardonically then. "Aren't you?" His voice had an edge to it that I didn't like, and I felt my hackles rising. I knew he was just trying to get a rise out of me though, so I kept my voice even.
"Why would you think I am?"
His smirk grew as he crossed his arms, leaning back against the building. "Let's see... Number one," he said, holding up his index finger. "You make perfect grades all the time. Number two, you suck up to all the teachers. They're always saying Isabella this, Isabella that, and you just sit there like that's how it's supposed to be. Number three, you walk around here like you're better than anybody else, when you're probably worse than everyone else for having a stick up your ass all the time. You think you're the shit when you're not, and you probably have everything easy, too. You haven't had a thing to fight for in your life, have you? You're arrogant, frigid, and bitchy. Do I need to keep going, Princess?"
I just stood there, feeling anger bubble up inside of me. But behind it was something that made my heart squeeze, and it was something I was familiar enough with to recognize. I was hurt.
I'd known he didn't like me. I didn't expect him to, but I thought it was just because I'd lost something important to him. I'd never guessed that he had that impression of me. And the thing that hurt the most was that the reasons behind my behavior were so far off from what he thought.
"That's not true," I whispered, blinking to hold back the tears burning behind my eyelids.
"Isn't it?"
"You don't know anything about me."
"I know enough. And you couldn't deny any of it, could you Princess? People like you are the reason I hate this place," he said. "Walking around like everyone owes you shit when they don't owe you anything. You think just because you got in on a scholarship that you're the shit? You think just because you can do a few equations and write an essay that you're better than everyone else? You're just like all the other pretentious fuckers who walk around and let daddy-"
Slap.
The sound cracked through the air and then everything went still. For a few breathless moments, everything was frozen. My mouth fell open as I watched his head stay turned to the side where it had snapped, a red hand mark visible on his high cheekbone. I lowered my hand and stared at the palm, blinking in disbelief as it started turning red from the impact. I looked up, wide- eyed, as I heard him shift. When he turned back to me, his green eyes dark, I felt a frisson of fear. But what surprised me the most was the look of surprised satisfaction in his eyes and the moisture I felt running down my cheeks, and how steady my voice came out when I spoke.
"You don't know anything about me. You think I think I'm better than everyone else? In case you haven't noticed, you don't talk to anyone else around here either. You accuse me of thinking I'm better, when you're laughing at me for having to have a scholarship to get in? How'd you get in this school, Edward? I know it isn't cheap. Did your daddy pay for it?" I was shaking with suppressed rage and hurt by now, letting my tears stream down my face without heed. I didn't care when his eyes darkened even farther and narrowed, didn't care when his jaw and fists clenched as I spoke, showing that I had hit a mark.
"Maybe I'm alone, but at least it's not by choice. Maybe I make good grades and get a lot of attention, but at least I try my hardest at all I do and don't do the bare minimum just so I can say I did it. Did you ever think that I get attention because I work? You think I can keep the best grades by sitting around and letting it come to me? I work my ass off all day to do that. I give up friends and a life so I can be something when I get out of here. You say I haven't really worked for anything, but everything I have I've worked for. And maybe it has made me cold, but you know what? I'd rather be cold than not have any feelings at all. And as for my daddy..." My voice broke and I shook my head, pressing my lips together on a sob. I couldn't go there.
Something flashed behind his eyes then, but it was gone in a second, and the atmosphere between us was charged and still. I stared hard into his green eyes, and suddenly I was so tired. Everything he'd said had managed to hit the parts of me I kept buried deep inside, and I knew I just couldn't do this anymore.
I turned away from him, picking up my backpack. I rummaged in it and pulled out a stack of papers, gathering myself, feeling more tears sting my eyes as I thought of how I'd written notes from all of our classes down so that he wouldn't be behind when he came to school. Even though he wasn't there, I still did it because of that small part of me that cared. And just like always, whenever I put myself out there like that, it was always trampled on and ignored. When would I ever learn?
I turned back to him, holding them out. He still hadn't moved and my hands shook as I dropped the papers on the ground in front of him. I spoke without looking at his face, hearing how defeated and small my own voice sounded and hating it.
"These... are the notes from the days that you were out. The pages are numbered and I highlighted the parts that were going to be on the exams. I didn't want you to miss them, but... I guess I shouldn't have worried about it. You don't care after all, right?" He didn't answer, and I swallowed as I turned away from him, wiping my tears.
"I'm not doing this anymore, Edward. All I wanted was to see if you were alright since you'd missed so many days of school. I should have known better. All you've done is abuse me, make fun of me, and hurt me for the past month and a half. I may be alone and I may be weaker than you, but that doesn't mean I have to take this. Obviously I can't afford to pay you back, seeing as I had to get a scholarship and all... so I'll get a job or something and pay you back. But I just... I can't do this anymore."
After a second, I heard him shift and pick the papers up. I heard them crackle and rustle in the breeze as he flipped through them. Finally, after a moment, he lowly said, "Princess..."
I couldn't decipher the emotion in his voice, but it occurred to me that I wouldn't have been able to anyway. I'd only heard derision and anger, and I didn't know anything else. I didn't know anything about him, just as he didn't know anything about me. I shook my head and started walking away, feeling liberated when I did. The next words came out of me, and I said them even as I turned the corner.
"It's Bella, Edward. Not Princess, not Isabella, but Bella. And one of the most pretentious things that anyone can do is assume they know everything about someone... when they really know nothing at all."
[A/N] So yea... that happened! Bella finally stood up for herself! What do you guys think?
Would love to heard from you. Thanks for reading!
