A/N: Thaknyou to everyone for you support with Bella over the past few months, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of her fic! Special shout out to Leila and Moony (yourpalmoony) for being there to help me edit, I wouldn't have been able to finish it without either of you.
The Whittemore siblings' ride to school was usually silent. But today, it was particularly silent. The air was charged, as if at any moment the silence would burst, and it made Bella slightly uncomfortable. She'd chalk it up to first day nerves, but her brother never got nervous. Especially not about school. No, this was different.
Turning to look at Jackson, Bella quickly scanned her fraternal twin's expression. The slight smirk, the laser focused concentration. He was excited, exhilarated would be a better word.
Jackson had a lot going for him within the walls of Beacon Hills High school. Bella wasn't exactly unpopular either, but Jackson was the real king-pin. He had the money, the girlfriend, the car and the spot on the coveted lacrosse team. So him being fired up about returning after winter break wasn't a long shot.
However, Bella hated to admit it, but sometimes his passion for being the best freaked her out. At least recently it did. When he was in that state he was a different person - someone willing to do anything to succeed.
It was like riding in the Porsche with a live grenade in the driver's seat. One wrong bump and the whole thing would blow up in her face.
The car's engine revved, pulling Bella from her thoughts. They had arrived. Butterflies lurched in her stomach when she saw the crowds of teens filing into the school. She stopped, tugging down the mirrors to make sure her lipgloss hadn't strayed or a rogue eyelash had found its way onto its cheek. She took a deep breath after confirming everything was perfect. Taking a final moment to tighten her ponytail, she stepped out of the walking status symbol, also known as Jackson's car.
Not bothering to take a second glance at his sister, Jackson swung open the car door, striking a student trying to jam his bike into the rack next to the parking lot.
Bella vaguely recognised him, trying to place his crooked jaw, sandy skin and shaggy hair. They must've had some classes together, but Bella couldn't remember his name. He had a lacrosse stick coming poking out of his backpack - he must've been trying out. "Good luck with that…" She thought to herself.
Jackson stared down the boy with displeasure. "Dude, watch the paint job" He spat, his blue eyes not leaving the stranger for a moment.
The tension was only broken with one of Jackson's lacrosse buddies calling him away. As he strode away, Bella tried not to make eye contact with the unfamiliar student as she slipped away. She couldn't tell if it made things more or less awkward.
Bella's blonde ponytail bobbed in time with her clickety-clacking high-heels, her hand instinctively reaching towards her pocket to pull out her phone. She was meant to meet Lydia somewhere in the parking lot so they could walk in together. However, Lydia was nowhere to be seen.
Before her manicured fingers could hit send on her "where the hell are you?" text, she saw a flash of strawberry blonde out of the corner of her eye.
"Those shoes are to die for" Lydia remarked, greeting her friend with a magnetic smile.
"They'd better be, they cost a hell of a lot," Bella replied, raising her brows. "But you have to tell me where you got that skirt, now that is cute" She continued, pointing to her friends plaid ensemble.
Linking arms, the pair began the walk into school. If Jackson was the king-pin, Lydia was the queen. On top of that, together Jackson and Lydia made up Beacon Hills number one power couple. therefore, since Bella was Jackson's sister and Lydia's best friend, she became the de facto second in command.
Deep down Bella knew a majority of her popularity came down to who she knew, not who she was, but she really didn't care. She liked the attention. She liked sitting at the best table and being on the cheer team, going to all the best parties and having the hottest boys fawn over her.
"Hey, Lydia!"
The voice sounded awkward, but confident. One not important enough to remember; someone Lydia was apparently intent on avoiding.
"You look… like you're gonna ignore me." He finished, sounding defeated.
Bella took a glance at the poor soul trying to hit on Lydia Martin. He was standing with the boy from before, however, this one was taller, paler, lankier, and had a buzz cut instead of a unkept mane like his friend. He had a lacrosse stick, too, and somehow looked even less qualified to be on the team than the boy standing next to him.
Every time Bella saw one those poor guys she felt sorry for them. She understood why they tried to get on the team, for the majority of them it was the only chance they ever had at being anything in this town. But Bella knew the guys on first line. They'd pummel guys like "buzz-cut" and "lopsided-jaw" in their sleep.
"Looks like you have a secret admirer," Bella remarked once the girls had safely made in into the school building.
"What?" Lydia replied with clear disinterest. It seemed as though she missed the comment entirely.
Bella figured Lydia got remarks like those all the time. The way she carried herself made her seem almost ethereal. When guys saw Lydia Martin they couldn't help but fall desperately in love, even if they didn't have a chance in hell. Bella was the blonde cheerleader; she was highschool level attractive. Lydia was milan-fashion-week level attractive. The kind that would actually hold up outside of a town like Beacon Hills.
Lydia was simply magnetic.
All she could do was hope some of that magnetism would rub off on her eventually. Money can't buy everything, and it sure as hell couldn't buy Lydia Martin's everything.
Cheer practice happened to coincide with lacrosse tryouts. You'd assume this wouldn't be a problem, but it turned out to be quite a distraction for the girls who had just arrived back from winter vacation. Bella, on the other hand, was more than ready to get back into the one part of school she actually enjoyed. She hoped that this year she'd get the chance to be the new cheer captain. But until then she needed to concentrate on her technique, something none of her other teammates seemed particularly interested in.
Scanning her surroundings she noticed Lydia positioning herself on the bleachers, allowing the perfect view of her boyfriends tryout performance. Alongside her was a girl Bella had never seen before, a very rare occurrence for people like her and Lydia Martin. Lydia wasn't usually the one to take a liking to a new student. Though judging by the girls stunning looks and fashionable clothes, Bella could work out a reason or two why Lydia might be showing her around.
Bella gave a small wave towards the pair, which Lydia noticed and reciprocated _, before turning to the brunette girl and whispering in her ear.
She was probably talking about her. Bella wondered what she was saying. She assumed it would be positive. Wouldn't it be?
"Girls! Let's warm up." The voice of the current cheer captain, senior Avery Brown, pulled her from her worries.
Jogging over to their designated patch of grass, Bella noted that even their captain was busy watching the boys twirl their lacrosse sticks or whatever the hell it is they did.
Bella was the only one taking this first practice of the semester seriously. Though in the back of her mind she figured she could use the head start she was getting to her advantage as the season progressed.
Bella began to stretch; gripping her tricep with her left hand, pulling her right arm over, all the while turning to face where all the other girls were gawking.
After an entire Christmas vacation of Jackson training for lacrosse, bragging about lacrosse and consuming his entire existence with lacrosse, Bella was less than interested in the outcome of the tryouts. She didn't want to consider the fact that Jackson most likely felt the same way about her cheerleading. Jackson wanted to be captain of the lacrosse team just as much as she wanted to captain the cheer team, but at least Bella knew when to shut up about it. At least she hoped she wasn't that obnoxious.
The goalie had been set, and the rest of the boys lined up ready to take their shots. Bella couldn't tell who the unlucky soul was from where she was, but she knew that anyone trying to guard a goal against her brother was going to have a hard time.
Despite her best intentions, Bella couldn't help but watch intently as the whistle blew and the first player launched the ball towards the goal.
"Ouch"
He'd managed to stop the ball, shame it was with his helmet and not the lacrosse stick.
A fit of giggle erupted from the girls around Bella as her lips pressed together, trying to hide a smile.
Her interest in the whole tryouts had just increased, albeit in a slightly sadistic way.
The next guy in the lineup seemed somewhat cocky after that display. He lined up the ball and volleyed it towards the regrettable player waiting inside the goal.
Bella watched intently, expecting another embarrassing failure.
What she didn't expect, was the boy to catch the ball with seemingly impossible reflexes.
"Isn't that Scott McCall?" She heard uttered in among the slow build of applause. This was proving to be much more interesting that Bella had originally anticipated. The only thing that might damper it would be-
"Crap" Bella mumbled, her mouth talking before her mind could fully register the fact that Jackson had confidently pushed his way to the front of the line, and was now facing off with Scott.
She couldn't tell if it was the general mood or her twin-tuition, but that same air of nervousness from the car ride earlier fell over her. It made the world around her slow, her arms drop to her sides, her fingers twitch in anticipation.
She just hoped to god that Jackson didn't loose.
Bella's eyes were glued to her brother as he charged the goal like a bull seeing red. The months of blood, sweat and tears she'd watch him work through were all channeled through him as he stampeded, hurling the ball as if his life depended on it.
It seemed impossible. Thinking back on it Bella still couldn't pinpoint exactly how he did it. But Scott moved effortlessly, swerving to the left in a flash and positioning himself perfectly to catch the ball.
The crowd erupted into cheers, but all Bella could see was Jackson sulking away, his ego badly bruised after that display.
While the rest of the boys returned to the usual practice, Bella trailed after her brother, hoping the damage wasn't that great. His helmet had been removed and tossed haphazardly to the side. His resentment was blatant as he pulled open the zipper to his duffle bag with unnecessary force, squeezing his water bottle and squirting the contents into his mouth.
Approaching one Jackson Whittemore while his ego was damaged was not an easy undertaking.
"Nice job out there!"
"-Save it" He interrupted, shooting his twin a glare through icy blue eyes.
Bella's fists clenched, rethinking her approach after her obvious misstep. Disarming the Whittemore family drama before it became an issue had become her job within the household.
"You know you've got the captain's position in the bag, don't worry about some nobody and his five minutes of fame" She hoped addressing the issue directly might be the way to go, if it wasn't she'd already done herself over so there wasn't any use debating it.
He paused, his water bottle waiting patiently in his right hand.
"Whatever. Coach is an idiot if he doesn't make me captain, he'd be throwing away the entire season otherwise"
Bella smirked at her brothers blunt way of looking at things. She was just happy that, by the sounds of it, he wasn't too upset about having his ass kicked in front of his entire team.
Taking a final swig of water, Jackson strode past his sister to join the rest of the guys on the field. Day one, and she'd already defused her first bomb.
The rest of the practice meandered on as expected. The girls actually managed to get a bit of practice in themselves, and Bella expected the team's enthusiasm would pick up once the lacrosse games actually started.
As the crowds dispersed Lydia made a bee-line for Jackson. The latter was intent of sulking alone, and ignored her, walking to the changing room instead. Bella made her way over to the redhead and her new friend, curious about how this new "friendship" exactly came to be.
"Enjoyed the show?" Bella joked, earning an eyeroll from Lydia and a small smile from the stranger.
"I'm Bella, by the way" She continued, extending a hand to the new girl, while internally sizing her up.
"Bella, you will not believe it if I told you-" Lydia interrupted. "Her mom was a buyer for a boutique in San Francisco." She put hard emphasis on the last words, as if to stress the importance of such a fact.
"Thats pretty cool" Bella replied, trying her best to seem nonchalant while internally panicking. She did like the idea of competing with this exciting "new girl."
"I'm Allison" The brunette finally replied, taking Bella's hand, one she only just noticed she'd been holding out the entire time.
"What team are you on?" Allison asked with a warm smile.
"She's on the cheerleading squad" Lydia interjected, yet again. "It's not exactly a real team. But it's cute." The slight digs Lydia dealt out on a regular basis were something Bella was accustomed to at this point.
"I'm trying to make captain this year" Bella continued, ducking behind the girls to grab her gym bag. Lydia didn't see the hours of work she put into cheer, but even then she doubted Lydia would ever close to the same pedestal she placed lacrosse on.
"Bella, I was thinking we could have a study session at your house tomorrow after school? Just the three of us?" That was another thing Bella was accustomed to, Lydia randomly inviting herself to over to the Whittemore house.
When she said "just the three of us," she suspected that meant "just the three of us plus Jackson." Well, usually it was just the two of us, but apparently this Allison girl was here to stay. At least for now.
"Sounds good" Bella replied with a little less enthusiasm than expected. "I really have to get changed, but I'll see you guys later alright?" She finished, ducking away before either girl had a chance to reply.
Bella wasn't expecting this much of a change to the social dynamics this quickly into the school year. She knew her place on the ladder, and a shiny new toy was the last thing she needed.
Promptly slipping into the girl's locker room, Bella weaved through the few girls still changing and grabbed her clothes from her bag.
She didn't give herself much time to think. She knew, if she let herself, she'd worry about Allison and Lydia for the rest of the day and into the night.
By the time she was finished, the majority of the other girls had already left. Bella enjoyed the silence for a moment before stepping out. Down the other end of the hallway, milling around the boys locker room door were the same guys she'd noticed from that morning. The one Jackson assaulted, the other being the one that had the horrendous run in with Lydia.
"Seriously Scott, that was the best thing I've ever seen in my damn life"
This means floppy haired, lopsided jaw boy was the same guy that scored those incredibly shots on the field earlier. How the hell was that possible…
The unnamed friend looked positively elated. Bella could believe that it was in fact the best thing he'd seen his damn life.
Scott, on the other hand, was a combination of disbelief and slight terror. "Look, I'll tell you in the ca-" He started, abruptly stopping mid-sentence when he noticed the blonde cheerleader staring at them attentively.
Bella gripped the strap of her bag tightly when she realized she'd just been caught eavesdropping. Subtly wasn't exactly her strong suit.
Not taking the time to internalise the confused, shocked and somewhat embarrassed looks she was receiving from the boys, Bella turned and charged out the door.
It was hard to keep up her "popular girl" mystique when she keeping on doing horribly pathetic things like that. She was just glad Lydia wasn't around to witness the horror.
Going as fast as her oxford-clad feet could take her, she reached the parking lot. Jackson had gone off to god knows where with his lacrosse buddies and left the Porsche behind so she could get home. Bella swore the only reason he let her drive it was because they at one point shared a womb.
Sitting in the car seat her fingers lightly tapped against the car door. The vague dread that had plagued her all day made her hesitate. Jackson, Lydia, her parents, her squad; a crowd of friends, strangers and acquaintances sat on the edge of her mind and looked on her forebodingly.
Bella Whittemore had no reason to be worried, yet she was still sinking into the leather seats as she inevitably did. Her hand hovered over the parking brake yet despite her best efforts she couldn't move. Her mind, instead, swirling with doubt and fear that within seconds lead to physical symptoms.
It always came on seemingly at random, infecting her from the pit of her stomach to the crook of her neck to the tips of her fingers. An electricity of sorts, but not the good kind that came with anticipation or joy; but one of pure anxiety.
An overwhelming sense of dread.
As if in an instant the air in the car felt thick and insufferable. The feeling sped up her breathing, causing her chest to heave in panic. Bella's baby blue eyes prickled with tears. Her vision obstructed. The seat belt wrapped around her torso seemed to grow tighter and tighter.
In a flash her shaking hands fumbled for the eject button, tugging off the belt before feverishly pushing the porsche door open and tumbling out.
She didn't have much time to process the stinging pain radiating through her scraped hands, as she noticed an inky shadow loom over her.
Bella's eyes shot towards the figure in a panic. It took all her effort to quell the scream bursting in her throat when she was his face. He looked as though he'd been burned from toe to tip, his skin leathery, charred and disfigured. All she could focus on in the sea of burnt flesh was his eerily blue eyes, watching down on her like bright beacons. His hand was extended, covered by a black glove, she assumed it was because it looked a lot like his face.
"T-thanks" She managed to stutter out, the panic from her anxiety attack mixed with her fright crushing her words.
"You sure you can drive like this?" The stranger questioned, not taking his eyes off the Whittemore for a moment.
A shiver ran down her spine. Something about the comment sounded less like concern and more like a threat.
"Yes" Bella managed to choke out, not exactly the most gregarious of answers but it got her point across.
Bella could feel her left leg shaking, her car keys rattling in her trembling fingers. After years of managing these symptoms the threat of having such an intimidating stranger right next her made her feel as vulnerable as when she had her first panic attack.
"Well okay, just be careful. Wouldn't want you getting hurt out there. Not after what happened last night" He chuckled, contorting his face into an almost smile before casually strolling away.
Bella kept her hand on the porsche door, watching the man until she saw him disappear behind the school building. Her stomach felt wretched, her hands were still shaking. Despite this she jumped into the front seat and put the car in reverse faster than she had before.
Anything to get away from whoever the hell that was.
Her eyes watched the road as she drove but in her mind all she could see was him. That face. His words.
"Wouldn't want you getting hurt out there"
But now Bella Whittemore felt a very real reason to feel scared.
The overwhelming sense of dread had multiplied, and changed its flavor to one of pure gut wrenching fear.