Oh. My. Gosh. I am HORRIBLE.
I'm sorry, but... real life caught up with me in a bad way :(
Enjoy the chapter, though! :) I am sorry it took so long - I have the same frustration with other stories on this site.
Disclaimer: TWILIGHT ISN'T MINE.
Bella P.O.V.
My eyes widened as the scissors got severely close to my scalp, poised almost like she was going to plunge it into my brain. Suddenly, I didn't want her to cut my hair; I didn't even want to be anywhere close to this stupid place. Anger rolled within me like a thunderstorm, and before I could voice my realizations, Rosalie lifted a lock of my hair.
Snip.
Something deep within me snapped, and I smacked the scissors out of Rosalie's hand, sending them onto the floor and skidding across the room. I stared at the long cut across the back of my hand, and felt an odd sense of giddiness at my defiance.
Vaguely, I wondered if I was going crazy.
Neither Rosalie nor Alice moved, not even blinking. My sudden outburst had obviously surprised them. Luckily for me, no one else in the salon had noticed anything was going on between us; that would only make things even more complicated.
"Bella, what-?"
I ripped the tarp covering me with my left hand, and threw it to the ground. "You know, if I had wanted to be treated like a moronic child, I would have stayed with my parents!"
Rosalie seemed too shocked to speak for a minute, but then her nostrils flared and she stood up straighter. She reminded me of a bull about to charge, stamping the dirt, rearing back on its hind legs, just waiting for the perfect moment to run. "Who do you think you are, exactly? Alice and I were trying to do something nice for you; you have no reason to try and make it seem like a bad thing." She retorted.
"It is a bad thing!" I shouted, forgetting where I was. "If I don't ask for a haircut, then don't try to give me a damn haircut!" People started to look at us.
Then, Alice interjected, "Bella, you're being unfair! You even said you wanted to come, and now you're acting like an idiot!"
It was my turn for my nostrils to flare. "Really? If I'm such an idiot, then why would you bring me here?"
"Because you seemed lonely! All you ever do is sit around and mope all day!"
Ouch. While that was kind of true, I had a perfectly good reason for my moping around. But like that was any of her business. "Whatever, Alice. I'm out of here."
And with as much dignity as I could muster, my hair dripping wet, my hand still bleeding, I marched out of the hair salon. Alice didn't try to follow me. I preferred it that way.
I felt like my dignity had been ripped away from me and shattered to pieces. Lonely, yeah right, I thought. I couldn't believe I was being looked down upon, especially by Alice Cullen, of all people.
A wave of heat hit my face as soon as I stepped outside, and it was a relief compared to the icy temperatures of the salon. I gritted my teeth together as I stormed onto the asphalt, heading towards the street. I would walk back to my grandparents' house.
A sudden idea slammed me so hard that I actually stopped walking.
Why should I go back to their house?
I suddenly grinned, and started walking in the opposite direction of the neighborhood. I felt free, like I'd been confined in a cage and someone had opened the door. It was ironic that Alice had helped me, simply because it felt like my grandma used her as a babysitter sometimes. I smiled wider, and a middle-aged man walking along the sidewalk gave me a funny look. But I didn't care.
Free.
Edward P.O.V.
I was all alone in the house, for once. It was great. Nobody to break the unwavering silence that fell around me, almost solid in its uninterrupted state. I smiled as I stared at the ceiling, my hands clasped behind my head, my legs stretched out in front of me.
Some people would probably be surprised that I hated noise. Absolutely despised it. The only one who knew about it and tried to respect it was Alice, but she mostly respected everyone.
Thinking about that brought Bella to my mind like a sudden, irritating itch, and I groaned, turning on the TV. Anything to distract me from thoughts of the bratty girl. The first thing that came on was wrestling, though, so I quickly changed it until I found a football game. Anything was better than watching muscly guys grope eachother in a cage.
Then, the phone rang, which I welcomed more than I realized. I didn't even look at the caller ID before answering. "Hello?"
"EDWARD! I LOST BELLA! I CAN'T FIND HER! I BROUGHT HER TO THE HAIR SALON AND SHE JUST TOOK OFF, AND I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT STOPPING HER UNTIL JUST A SECOND AGO, AND NOW I CAN'T FIND HER, OH SHIT, OH GOD, EDWARD, YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!"
I only caught the first and last part of the rant because Alice had startled me enough with her yelling that I dropped the phone. "Wow. Okay. Um, good luck with that." I said, planning on hanging up.
"EDWARD!"
I sighed. "What do you want me to do, Alice? She's old enough to take care of herself, right?"
"Mrs. Swan said that she's here because she got in trouble with her parents, though! What if she runs away, and they'll blame it on me, and probably I'll never be trusted by anyone again; I'll just be known as the girl who lost Bella Swan, and she'll show up on some milk carton; they'll probably find her naked, face-down in a ditch or something! And then what am I supposed to do! Will that kind of thing show up on my permanent rec-?"
"Breathe, Alice!"
She gasped, and sheepishly muttered, "Sorry. I'm just worried about her."
I ran a hand through my hair and sighed again. What do you tell your physchotic sister when she's about ready to explode from guilt?
I got up and grabbed my car keys. "You owe me. Big time."
"Oh, yay! Thanks, Ed! I'll buy you some of that girly hair gel you like."
"It's not girly!" I protested, hanging up. But really, it wasn't. Really.
Outside, the air was grossly hot. Sweat beaded on my forehead instantly. Why would she choose today to bolt? I thought about Bella. She usually wore dark-colored clothes, so it would almost be like asking for a stroke to run away. I felt a slight pang of worry, but pushed it away. I wasn't going to let myself feel for the childish brat. I was simply helping Alice out.
As soon as I got in my car, I rolled down the windows to let some of the pent-up heat escape. I started backing up out of my driveway, and then heard one word, loud and chilling and startling.
"OW!"
I hit the brake, but whoever I'd hit was already on the ground. My blood ran cold. Shit, shit, shit. My mom always told me I was too careless when I was driving. I was finally seeing what she meant.
Getting out of the car, I rushed to the back of my car where a guy, looking to be my age, laid on his back, staring up at me with a weird look on his face. He had longish blonde hair that fell in scraggly wisps down his face, bright blue eyes wide. I looked him up and down, but nothing seemed visibly wrong with him, other than the fact that his clothes looked ragged and disgustingly dirty.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
He stared.
Shit. Unresponsive. What if he has a concussion?
"You okay?" I kneeled down and held my hand out to him. I felt relief flood through me as he took it and his grasp was tight; he was shaking, though.
Once he was standing up, he looked around him, at the culdesac, a quizzical look on his face. He glanced at the back of my car. Then at me. Car again. Back to me.
"You hit me!" His voice was deep, but the words made him seem like a kid.
I was speechless.
"I can't believe you actually hit me!" He looked at the car again. "What if you hadn't heard me? And you had just kept going?" He looked back to me, glaring this time. "You asshole!"
I was trying not to laugh. Seriously. This guy almost got run over by my car, and he was fine and yelling at me after a few seconds? I snorted, and he looked offended.
"I could sue you, you know!"
Oh crap. The last thing I need is to have my parents find out that I'm having a law suit filed against me. Not good. "Look, man, I'm sorry. Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
He shook his head. "No. I'm okay. My internal organs might be bleeding, though," he said sarcastically.
"Seriously, man," I began, "I just hit you with my car. Is there anything I can do for you?" I was amazed that he didn't seem to be pushing the charges, but he looked young and forgiving. I felt really bad, anyway, and I was never, ever going to drive without watching where the hell I was going again. I have to learn things the hard way.
He looked contemplative, scratching his chin. "I do need directions. I'm looking for this girl, Isabella Swan."
Holy fucking shit.
"Isabella Swan?" I asked for clarification. Just to make sure.
"Yeah, she came here to be with her grandparents. I was sure it was this neighborhood, but maybe I -"
I started laughing, leaning against my car, throwing my head back. I was exaggerating just a little, but not really. This was too weird to actually be happening. I was laughing at the weirdness of it all. The guy was looking at me like I was crazy, but I could care less. That would hopefully scare him off of his lawsuit threat.
"God, please tell me you're here to take her away," I finally replied, choking back my laughter.
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why? Is she bugging you?"
"I wouldn't say 'bugging.' I would say 'irritating the fuck out of.'"
He grinned slightly. "Good old Bells. I miss her. Where is she?"
He missed her? She had friends? No, wait - he looked like more than a friend. I had no time to think about it though, because he moved his hands like I was supposed to answer.
"Oh, yeah," I murmured. "We can't really find her."
"Tell me you didn't just say that."
He looked shocked. I hated telling him this.
"She took off while she was supposed to be hanging out with my sister. I was just about to go out and look for her when I kinda hit you."
His face suddenly grim, he said, "Take me with you. Please." He added the polite term almost grudgingly.
Let's get one thing straight here. I barely knew this guy. I almost flattened him like a pancake with my car. And then he just wants to hop in my car and drive off with me? Either he was crazy or I was crazy, but it was probably a mixture of both. Because then I said, "Okay," and we drove off, beginning our search for Bella.
Bella P.O.V.
Hot. Why is Phoenix so fucking hot? I thought this over and over, throwing it around in my head. But I had wanted this, so I tried to quit bitching.
I'd been walking around for at least an hour and a half. I was bored, frankly. There was nothing to do. A few guys had approached me and tried to offer me drugs, but I declined as quickly as I could and slipped away before they could try anything funny. Drugs definitely weren't my thing. I'd tried some weed once, with Jasper, but I didn't like it. He kinda enjoyed it, but with one disapproving glance from me, he scrapped the idea.
I was walking along some random street, and cars were beeping and scooting inch by inch across the asphalt. Traffic in Arizona gets ridiculous sometimes. I glanced over people in their cars, seeing some alone, and others with pets in the front seat. One certain blue van had three guys squished into the front seat, staring me down. I quickly averted my eyes and walked a little faster.
Finally, I found a small park, and sat down on the faded blue bench facing the monkey bars. Three little kids were climbing all over it, hanging upside down in places that kids weren't even supposed to be able to reach. I didn't see any people that could possibly be their parents; just two guys my age making out in a corner, not very well hidden behind a tree. Holy cow. Were they even breathing?
This, I decided, was the best part of this whole thing. Feeling free again, sitting at some random park in a city I wasn't familiar with. Later, I would probably be a little panicky. But then I'm not the kind of person to regret my desicions, so I shrugged to myself and watched some birds fly overhead.
That's when I heard someone calling my name.
Phew. I hope it was long enough. I'll try to update more often, but I can't make any concrete promises :)
Asta-la-bye-bye!