Disclaimer: by general petition, my "fun" disclaimers shall return. Now…what to say? I suppose, for today, you will have to make do with my clarification that Stephenie Meyer would probably never dare to write a story with a main character who is Deaf, as she would be too afraid that people would not be comfortable with it. Not only have I obviously written a story with a Deaf main character, but I have proved that, when written well, people really do care about the Deaf community and its members! Yay!

Chapter 12—Bella P.o.V.

Bella woke up to her beeping alarm clock and groaned, rolling over in bed to try and get away from the noise. When it did nothing but grow louder, she gave up. She slithered out of bed and unplugged her clock before grabbing her things and heading to the shower. James had stayed up late the previous night, drinking and screaming and singing loudly and off key. She had barely gotten any sleep.

Much to her surprise, Bella found that there was hot water left still in the shower. Usually James stayed under the shower head until all the hot water was gone before getting out. Why hadn't he done that that morning? Of course, Bella was not about to complain about getting a warm shower without having to go over to the Hales', so she simply finished showering and made her way downstairs. She found the answer to her questions in the living room. Or, rather, on the floor.

James must have drunk much more that she had thought the previous night because, despite his high alcohol tolerance, he was laying spread out on the floor, surrounded by empty beer cans and bottles, snoring away. When he woke up he would have one heck of a hangover, Bella realized. That did not bode well for her at all. Trying to make as little noise as possible, so that James could, hopefully, sleep it off, Bella made herself some breakfast and then made her way out the door.

It wasn't until Bella opened the door to the outside that she realized that there was a thunderstorm outside. She looked at her old, decrepit truck and shuddered. There was no way it could drive her safely to school and back home, not when she was so sleep deprived and the weather was that bad. Groaning, she took out her cell phone and called Jasper. He picked up before the dial tone even began sounding.

"Bella? Are you OK?" he sounded worried, and Bella allowed herself to roll her eyes. Jasper always thought something bad had happened to her, no matter the situation. Although, thinking about it, she only ever used her cell phone when there was an emergency. It was on the Hales' plan, and she always felt guilty about their spending money on her. She hated it when anyone spent money on her.

"I'm fine, just a tad sleepy. I don't know if I can stay awake all the way to school. Come pick me up? Please?"

Her voice was whinier than she had intended for it to be, yet it seemed to have the exact same effect that she would have expected anyway; Jasper was delighted. He always made jokes about her truck and how old it was.

"We'll be there in five minutes. Rosalie is just finishing up her juice now, and we'll be out the door in a matter of seconds. Stay inside until we get you, or you will get soaked and frozen. With your luck, you'd manage to fall into a puddle face-first and drown to death."

Bella frowned as Jasper laughed into the phone. So she was clumsy. So, what? Lots of people were uncoordinated! She just happened to be less coordinated than anybody else in the Olympic Peninsula. By the time she had thought of a good comeback, however, Jasper had hanged up. She stayed inside the house, as agreed, but she remained right next to the door, staring out the window. Every couple of seconds her gaze would roll over to the unconscious figure on James and she would shudder. She was not looking forward to that evening.

While she had been watching James, Jasper and Rosalie pulled up to the driveway and honked. On the living room floor, James stirred and groaned. Before he even had time to take in a breath, Bella was out in the porch, the door shutting closed behind her. She ran into the car, her heart thundering in her chest almost as loud as the storm overhead. As soon as she was in the car, safe, however, her eyes began to drift shut again and she leaned her head against the window, embracing the soft pressure of sleep falling over her. She had been sleeping badly lately, both because of James' bacchanalia and because of her much-too-common nightmares.

Before Bella had been able to truly fall asleep, however, Jasper shook her awake gently. She blinked repeatedly, trying to get herself to wake up fully. When that did not work, she shook her head about wildly and slapped herself, yet nothing seemed to work. She was still half asleep, but at least she could walk in a straight line without looking drunk. Obviously exasperated, Jasper picked her up from her seat and deposited her gently on the parking lot ground. Bella took a deep breath, shook her head once more, and, forced herself to wake up. It worked, but she could tell that the tiredness would return soon.

"Are you sure you're OK? Maybe you want to stay home today," Jasper said, his hand reaching out to steady her. Bella was naturally clumsy; when she was tired, she was likely to topple over without any cause, "I'll drive you home. I don't mind."

Bella shook her head, smiling at him and slightly losing her balance as the world danced before her eyes. She really needed either some sleep or some caffeine. The first was more preferable, the second more likely. Indeed, just as these thoughts crossed Bella's mind, Rosalie pulled out a can from her backpack. Bella stared at her in amazement; it was an espresso shot. Even as Rosalie placed it on her hands, she could not believe it. Rosalie loved her caffeine almost as much as she did Emmett.

"Rosalie, are you…do you…are you really giving this to me? You're not just telling me to hold it?"

"No, silly!" Rosalie teased, her light smile and teasing tone belied by the lines on her forehead and around her eyes, which showed her true concern, "I noticed you had been increasingly tired. The dark circles under your eyes are getting much too dark and much too large. Would you like me to take care of those for you?" she asked, searching through her bag for her make up kit.

"No, that's alright. But, Rosalie, thank you. So incredibly much," Bella said, her tone still amazed as she opened the can. She inhaled the smell of the coffee and sighed happily before taking the first drink. She finished it in just a few minutes, before they were even fully in the building. The caffeine did not seem to have too much of an effect on Bella, but at least she was not struggling to stay awake any more.

"Feeling better?" Jasper asked lightly, obviously amused by Bella's quick consumption of the caffeinated drink.

"Much!" Bella replied, looking much happier. She ran a bit ahead of them to throw the can away, tripping over her feet once, but not falling. She saw Alice and Edward standing in the library and headed towards them. She started chatting with them, but, before long, the bell rang and she and Alice headed off to English. They had been sitting in class for a while when the speakers came to life to make one single announcement:

"Mr. Mason, could you please send Bella down to the office?"

Bella groaned and got up. She had a faint idea as to what that was about; she had assumed that, when James woke up, he would get himself to school. If he had not, however, or he had not woken up, people would be wondering where he was.

"Bella, darling, do you know where your father is?" Ms. Cope asked her as soon as she walked into the office. Bella had been spot on.

"Oh, sorry, I should have come by earlier. He was not feeling very well this morning. I think he has the flu," she lied easily. Over the years, it had become increasingly easy to lie to everybody. Everybody but Jasper, that was.

"Oh. That's not good. That deaf kid is in the library, and I don't know what to do about him. Should we send him home?" Ms. Kraus asked Ms. Cope, looking worried and nervous.

"Ehm…Ms. Kraus? Maybe I can talk to him. Would it be possible for him to, maybe, come to my classes today, Ms. Cope? I'll sign everything for him, so he won't miss a whole day of class."

Ms. Cope and Ms. Kraus looked incredibly relieved, so Bella made her way to the library and found Edward. She smiled at him while Ms. Kraus scribbled a note to him. When he read it, his eyes widened. Bella found it endearing how he was trying so hard not to be an inconvenience. She managed to convince him that he wasn't one, and finally she convinced him slightly. Bella felt nervous in the library, so close to where James spent so much time, and so she led Edward towards Mr. Mason's English classroom as soon as she could.

At first she was embarrassed signing, but when she saw the smile on Edward's face, she gained more confidence. She knew she was making some mistakes, and, at first, felt bad, but as she signed more and more she started to get the hang of it, and she got to a pretty fluent mode. By the time the bell rang, however, she was starting to be exhausted again. Math class was much easier in that she did not have to sign, but much harder in that she had nothing to really keep her from falling asleep. History returned that to her, and she actually enjoyed herself quite a lot. It had taken all she had to deliver the lecture, though, and by the time she got to art she could not keep her eyes open for one more second. The fact that they were watching a presentation presented in the overhead projector, which emitted a low hum and some heat, and with the rest of the lights turned off, was not helpful at all.

At lunch, Bella could barely hold herself together. The blood in her head was thrumming, her eyelids were dropping, and she felt her every muscle grow heavier and heavier. Edward, on the other hand, was sitting right across from her, jumping up and down on his seat, appearing as excited as a young child set loose in a theme park. She began to drift off, only to be startled rather severely by a hand touching her forehead. It was Edward, checking that she was feeling alright. He was also worried about her, she saw. If she had not been so tired, she would have smiled at his concern. It was cute. She simply shook her head; James was home. She could not stay home with him.

Things seemed to happen rather quickly (and loudly, she thought) when she was feeling sick, and so Bella suddenly found herself encased in strong, comforting arms. She inhaled the familiar scent and let it calm her; it was Jasper. She pulled away from him and smiled up at him, trying to reassure him. She also signed her reassurance to Edward, to make sure he stopped worrying. As soon as she could, though, she fell asleep.

Dream Sequence

Bella was eight, and she was sitting in her grandmother's living room. There was a large piano there, and she watched it, as she had every time she had gone to visit Grandma Victoria. Without thinking much about it, she walked over to the stool. Grandma Victoria was teaching Jasper how to play, and Jasper had invited Bella to watch. She could not participate, though. Grandma Victoria wouldn't approve. At the time, however, Grandma Victoria and Jasper were not there. Maybe she could play, just a little bit? Grandma Victoria had taught her to play, back when she still liked her. Bella did not remember much, though.

Checking that nobody was coming, Bella sat at the stool and began to play. It did not sound at all good, not like when Grandma Victoria played, but it was nice to play the piano. Suddenly she felt somebody yank her from the back of her shirt, pulling her off the stool. It had hurt, and she rubbed her neck, trying to soothe the pain. She looked up to see her attacker and found Grandma Victoria smiling down cruelly at her.

Get off the piano, worthless girl. You cannot play. You aren't even good enough for that, she signed, an angry and hateful expression on her face. Bella held back her tears; Grandma Victoria would only laugh if she cried.

Are you crying? What kind of a stupid girl are you? Get out of here before that nice boy, Jasper, she signed his name; she had given him a sign name not long ago, is in the bathroom. He won't want to see you crying when he gets out; you get all ugly. Like that whore of a mother you had.

Taking her grandmother's advice, Bella ran out of the room before Jasper could find her. Once in Grandma Victoria's guest room, she allowed herself to cry. It was not a nice feeling at all, but at least it was feeling something.

End Dream Sequence

Bella was brought back from her memories when she heard the bell ring. She sat up quickly, making the blood rush to her head, making her dizzy. Once she had finally settled and stabilized herself, she realized that Edward, Jasper, and Alice were trying to decide what to do about her.

"Guys," she said, signing at the same time, "I'm OK. I can go to class just fine!"

The three teens looked at her for a second before turning back to each other and chatting some more. They ended up deciding that Edward would go with her to help her. At first, Bella had thought that was pretty much a joke; why would she need help? But when she fell asleep in Biology and had trouble keeping her balance on her way to Spanish, she realized in just what a needy state she was. At this point she allowed him to lead her, taking comfort in his warm hand around hers. For some reason, it made her feel a bit safer.

After being able to practically sleep her way through Spanish, Bella found herself, once again, being led by the hand to the locker rooms. Not really comprehending the situation, let alone being able to oppose it, she changed into her Phys. Ed. uniform, as Edward had ordered her to do, and shuffled her way into the gym. She had never before noticed how loud the students were…she made her way to a corner and rested her back against it, allowing herself to slide all the way down to the floor. She rested her forehead on her knees and began to drift off to sleep once again. She was woken up by Coach Clapp blowing his whistle.

"OK, guys! Today's teams are as follows…," he started, beginning to read names from a list. Bella barely processed it when Coach Clapp read her name, but Alice and Jasper surely did, and Edward interpreted their horrified looks accurately, so when Bella looked up to see what was going on she found three pairs of eyes watching her worriedly. Alice had also signed to Edward to inform him that he was playing that day, so he walked over to help her up and lead her to the field. He found them a corner that he did not think many people would come around to and told her: stay here! Don't move, don't try to get the ball, and don't fall asleep. It's just a half hour class; we can get through it without harming you too horribly, alright?

Bella nodded, still half asleep. She could barely see through her half-hooded eyes, though, and she began to sway on the spot. Edward was watching her worriedly while also trying to look out for the ball, in case it came too close and they had to move. A sudden movement to his right caught his attention and he turned around to look at it. Bella got dizzy by watching his sudden moves and tried to lean over to hold on to him. She misjudged the distance, however, and grabbed empty air instead. She fell over and sheer, piercing pain ran through her ankle. She let out a whimper and Edward was instantly kneeling at her side, a regretful and guilty look on his face. Bella was too tired to dwell on it, though, and, despite the pain, finally allowed herself to drift into proper sleep.

Bella's eyelids fluttered open and she found herself staring up at the ceiling of her room at the Hales'. She blinked, not truly understanding what she was doing there. What had happened? She remembered school, and she remembered Edward having been in her classes…She remembered changing for Phys. Ed., and then…nothing. She had been too tired and too sleepy to remember. Truth was, she had probably slept more during the school day than anything else. She rolled over on the bed to find out what time it was and, when she saw the clock, she almost screamed. It was six thirty. She was supposed to have dinner on the table an hour before. She should have been home hours ago…

She got out of bed to find her ankle numb. She looked down and found it wrapped up in bandages, and she remembered falling in Phys. Ed. and, upon realizing that she was wearing pajamas, changed into some of the clothes she always kept stored at the Hale's. Bella then made her way downstairs and found Jasper and Rosalie watching T.V. It seemed Mr. and Mrs. Hale were out on a date.

"Bella, you're awake! How are you feeling? Do you want something to eat? Does anything hurt? How is your ankle?"

Bella groaned, trying to stop the volley of questions she was receiving. Seeming to realize the problem, Jasper quieted down and waited for her answers.

"I'm better. Much more rested. Only my ankle hurts, and it's more like a numb pressure than anything else. However, I should get home soon. James expects dinner at five fifteen everyday, you know that!"

"I know, I know," sighed Jasper, obviously unhappy as to that fact, "come on, I'll drive you. If he does anything bad, though, promise to call me. Alright? No trying to brave things out. I want to help you, you know that."

Bella nodded and kissed his cheek. She also hugged Rosalie before following Jasper to his car. Jasper drove rather fast, acknowledging the fact that Bella should get home as fast as possible to cause the least conflict possible. He got there quickly and parked right outside. He stopped Bella before she could go outside.

"I mean it when I tell you to call me. If I have the slightest reason to suspect you kept something from me, I will do something drastic, alright? You need to learn that we care about you and your well being!"

Bella smiled, nodding. She was too chocked up to reply in any other way. She kissed Jasper's cheek once more and got out of the car, grabbing her backpack from the trunk. Jasper drove away, so that James would not see the car waiting outside and think anything fishy was going on, and Bella headed into the house. She was met by silence. This did not last long, for, as soon as she had set down her bags, James came out of his room, his face red with anger.

"So the slut finally returns home. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Abandoning your home, your chores, your family, and your responsibilities? I bet you were off with some guy, getting it on. I bet you he paid you, too. Nobody would want to be in a real relationship with you, you are too stupid, too ugly, too worthless. Why would anybody want to stand you when they can have you in any way they want to? I can see the appeal. You may not believe me, but I can. That, of course, does not change anything. You are still a slut. Just because you are having more success now that you did before does not change anything. Who was it? Was it that Hale boy? I bet it was. Ma always says he's a good boy, but, if he hangs out with you, he can't be. Nobody worth two pennies would hang out with you without getting anything in return. You're just like your filthy slut of a mother."

"Don't you dare say that!" Bella screamed back, startling not only James, but herself. She never talked back, no matter what he said. Today seemed to be different. "Don't speak about Mom like that. Like you knew her. Like she was anything to you. Don't you dare ruin her name. So she made a mistake. Big deal. Everybody does, and she was just a kid. You have made many more mistakes throughout your life, and you are an adult, a parent. What is your excuse? Huh? You don't have one. So don't you dare judge. And don't you dare talk about either Mom or my friends like that!"

With that she shot up the stairs before James had time to pull himself out of his stupor and chase after her. By the time he was able to do that, she was already locked in her room. She barely slept that night, worried about James' coming in and doing something to her. Despite her sleepless night, however, she had never felt so good. She had loved standing up to him.

The next morning, Bella did not dare come out of her room until she had heard James leave for school. She then hurried to the shower, she changed, and she ate breakfast. Like every Friday, Jasper and Rosalie were waiting for her outside. She skipped over and put her bag in the trunk. The twins stared at her in amazement, not understanding what had her in such a good mood.

"Bella? Did anything happen last night? You look very…cheerful."

"What," Bella answered, "can't I just be happy that it's Friday and I get to spend the weekend with you? Come on, Rosalie, just drive."

Rosalie did as Bella said, still confused as to her behavior. Neither she nor Jasper were going to complain, though. They enjoyed the cheery Bella much, much more.

AUTHOR'S NOTE—OMG, today was very exciting (in a very passive way). I was in the bus to get home from school, and there was this guy sitting right across from me. I had finished the chapter of the book I'd been reading and he had been just watching the streets go by, so our eyes kind of met and I smiled at him. He smiled back. We were getting close to my stop, so I was putting my stuff away. When we were one stop away from mine, he leaned over, tapped the bus driver on the shoulder and SIGNED "one more stop." I was so excited! I wanted to say hi, introduce myself, or something, but just then we got to our stop. He got out before me and started to walk down the street, and I began to wonder whether it would be rude of me to go up to him and introduce myself. I don't know ASL very well, so it would be pretty awkward, and I didn't want to use him as a lab rat. So I just let him go. I feel like I'm kind of a chicken, now, but it was still exciting. He lives a street down from me, so there is a chance I will meet him again. Next time, I will introduce myself!

Thanks to:

Skittleysweet—gah! Don't remind me about APs yet! I have 5 months of blissful oblivion ahead of me.

Kolored—thanks for your "vote!" See, that's what I think, too.

morganator9939—thanks for your input!

Katevangogh—thanks for the vote!

dramione12—thanks! And thanks for the vote as well. That is what I figured and what most people are saying.

Mrs. Dom Masbolle—I know! I want an Edward for myself! Then I could practice my ASL.

reborn-fire-bird—yup, yup, that's what everyone is voting. Thank you for your input! (BTW, you can have Jasper if I can have Edward!)

Veronicaloves05

Dangwe

iWant2BaMonsterToo

Music ADD—I'm hoping that won't happen, either! I'm so not good with Bella/James writing. Oh, and I find it very interesting to see that most people prefer to refer to him as Mr. Carper, rather than James, as he is known in the books. I feel like I'm creating a whole new character! Oh, BTW, you are reviewer #250. Congratulations!

GrlWithoutAName—thanks for the input!

Viper003

Scarlett—thank you! I'm glad you liked it. I definitely loved the sibling scenes; I actually have five siblings (two blood sisters, two step brothers, and one step sister), but most of us don't see each other much...I'm the second youngest, so most of them are off in college. I thought a lot about them as I wrote this! As for updates...since you are not registered, that is slightly problematic, isn't it? I remember the days before I got an account, with the gazillion bookmarks. You can do one of two things: if you give me your email address, I will email you whenever I have updated. If you do not feel comfortable with that, I will tell you that I always update between 10PM and 1AM, daily. I hope that helps you!

A. Fire. In. The. Attic—I am quite flattered that I can make you worry about a fictional character. Yay! And, just so you know, I also live in a state of constant sleep deprivation...this chapter was pretty easy to write, because it's basically the story of my life... T_T

PlatypusFreak—I'm glad you liked it! I'm already working on the next chapter, and I have outlined quite a bit into the story already. And, I must say, you are not quite right about it having been a day. Trust me, I update every 24 hours! Quite regularly, actually. I tend to post at 11.30-ish. So there. xD

Beckayyboo—thank you for the input! I had actually not considered having other characters have P.o.V.s...now that you mention it, I think that'd make for an interesting story. Would you like a separate story, made up of random Alice or Jasper P.o.V.s? It would probably be made up of one shots. Tell me what you think; if you like the idea, I'll try and start working on that.

Maegirl

ChanceTakerHeartBreaker x3—it would take longer, because I'd be writing both perceptions of the story in one single chapter, so it would be doubling the chaps up...so 10,000 words per chapter, instead of 5,000 (those are scary numbers!!!)

AsItThunders—of course I'll check out your story! It may take me a little bit, because I have exams next week, but I will before the month is over, OK? I am really flattered that you like my story, so the least I can do is read yours back! I do not think you are being stuck up at all, and I am really happy and flattered that you would think so highly of me. As to how I know so much about ASL and Deaf culture...I did my research before writing this story. I'm very interested in languages, and so I think ASL is the coolest thing ever. Deaf culture kind of comes hand in hand with it. Also, I have some AWESOME, INCREDIBLE, LOVABLE, reviewers who actually are part of the Deaf community and who have been helping me out. I love them!!! (And you, of course. I love all my reviewers!)

beachcutie12—high school sucks. Then comes college, and you can sleep. I can't wait until I have classes that start at a decent time. My school starts at 7.15 every morning.

Cabtwilighter—I'm glad you liked it, and I hope this answers your questions. Your assumption about Jasper's worry was right, by the way. You were the first person to assume the truth! Yay for you!

Questions & Comments:

Tianna M.V.A.—I know! I was so sad when I realized I didn't get to write sleep-talking Bella. But, we do get a dream sequence!

not-a-writer-ish—huh? Amnesia? I'm confused...I hope my chapter answered your question, though...

HorsecrazyJr—I have been considering adding a Laurent. I'm not sure what kind of a role he would play...any suggestions would be welcome!

twilight-maximumride-cross—I hope this chapter answers your question!

Special thanks to:

cheesepuff311—don't apologize for long reviews! I love them! They make my day and cheer me up, making me write more, faster! I am very happy you liked the chapter. I think this has been my favorite chapter to write so far, actually. As for Esme's hair…There is no real reason for it, other than my wanting Bella to go in a little wordless rant about blond women versus brunettes. Sorry if that confused you, or something. . I really hope you keep reading and reviewing (long or short reviews, whichever you are most comfortable with!).

Hannajamesnivek—I actually wasn't aiming my disclaimer at you, you just reminded me about some complaints I had gotten before. . I'm so happy you liked my Edward/Alice scene! I wrote it especially for you (I had one saved for later on, but when I got your message I decided to write one now)!! And, to clarify, Renee and James got together during their senior year, Renee got pregnant halfway through it, they married right out of high school, and then Bella was born. Renee and James were together for four years before Renee died. As to idea bouncing...I have a little plot bunny literally bouncing around my head. I will probably PM you at some point (if I haven't by the time you read this chapter) to talk to you about it. It involves Esme, Jasper, and Bella. 'Nuff said. I am very, very, very happy you like how I am developing my characters. There are some I am unsure of, and some I have to work more with (Carlisle and Emmett, namely). And I'm glad you enjoyed my Lauren and Jessica appearance. They will keep popping up and being..."regular" teens. I got the idea for Edward going to class with Bella as I was writing, actually. It seemed like such a great idea that I completely abandoned my chapter outline for the day and improvised. I had to spend all of my Environmental Sciences class rearranging outlines today, but it was worth it. I thought it would develop the Bella/Edward relationship and give some more insight into Edward's personality. I'm glad I was right! Lastly, about the P.o.V.s...I think I have actually figured out a way to not repeat chapters and still show different perspectives. I have to work with it some more, but I will unveil it to the world soon. I hope you will be around to see it! Thank you so much, and, please, keep reviewing like you do! A lot of my ideas are actually coming from your suggestions and inferences.

HONVampyreChick—Thanks. I had actually not really thought about the fact that I won't be writing sleep talking. I'm slightly relieved; I'm horrible with dream sequences.

Attackoftheemo—did I get your last review? I don't know, since, if I didn't, I wouldn't know...I reply to every review I get, so if you had not reply, I probably didn't get it. And thank you!

BroadwayBound96—I'm glad you enjoyed it! I actually had lots of fun writing the Alice-Edward interaction...

As of the time of this posting, I have 266 REVIEWS!!!!!