Bella's Point of View
I watched Edward's form disappear behind the foliage as I drove down the driveway from the house. It felt like a piece of me was being left behind and all I wanted to do was circle around and go back to that piece.
Still, I didn't want to be too dependent of Edward. If I were then we would never leave the bedroom. Ok, getting a little too far ahead of myself.
I shook my head slightly to clear it—for now—and tried to focus on the road. The way to the reservation was pretty much straight forward, but thankfully, I didn't get lost.
Usually when I went somewhere once, I had a pretty good memory of how I got there in the first place.
I was at the little store within a half hour, and sure enough, Jacob and his friends were all standing around the outside.
He smiled when I pulled in and rushed to my door opening it before I turned off the engine.
"Someone's eager." I teased.
"I just missed you." He answered pulling me from the cab and into a hug.
"Ok, just don't go all emotional on me." I joked which earned a laugh out of him.
"Hey Bells," One of them called out, "How's the truck been?"
"Pretty good, my sister's been working on it a bit." I answered.
"Sounds like it." He replied.
"So now that she's here can we please to the cliffs," Embry complained, "They've probably already started the fire."
We followed the others onto a trail in the forest, usually, it would bother me, but the trail was clear of roots, rocks, anything that I would trip on. Also the guys seemed to know where they were headed. Jacob stayed behind me the entire time. I kind of got the feeling that this was not just a friend helping a friend, I just hoped I was wrong. I didn't want to hurt his feelings if we needed to have a talk.
We walked for about ten minutes before we finally emerged into a clearing. The waves sounded distant, but not too far. The soft grass under my feet turned into rock as I realized we were standing on a cliff where a large blazing fire was heating up. I spotted Billy pretty quickly along with some older people sitting next to him that I did not recognize.
"Thought you boys were lost or something," Billy laughed when we were close enough, "I was about to come rolling after y'all."
"Then you would have been the one who would get lost or stuck," Jacob teased his father, "We just caught up with Bella here." He slung his arm on my shoulder. I really hope it was a friendly gesture.
"Nice to see you again, Bells." Billy greeted.
"Thanks for inviting me." I replied.
"Charlie's daughter?" One of the elder men asked Billy. Billy nodded his head to answer. "For a second I thought I was seeing his spirit or something." He joked.
"I have pictures and I suppose I look a lot like him."
"Also Renee too, Harry, can't forget that her." A woman stepped in.
"Bella, the Clearwaters, Sue and Harry." Billy introduced us.
"Charlie use to drop you off at our place sometimes when he had to work." Sue came up to me and engulfed me in a hug. "I can't believe how grown up you are." She whispered in my ear.
She jumped back a bit when my baby moved and let out a little squeal.
"Sorry." I whispered.
"I think he's hungry, let's go eat before these wolves eat everything in sight again." She wrapped her arm around my shoulders.
Her touch felt familiar for some reason. I can't really remember her, and yet I feel so close to her.
Supper was just hot dogs, chips, and some vegetables that got passed around, but weren't touched very much. Sue Clearwater never mentioned my baby and neither did anyone else, I guess they were just waiting for me to say something.
It was interesting and fun to spend time with the tribe. Billy told stories of the ancient Quileutes, I was so mesmerized by his words that when one of the boys—Quil, I learned—started talking I jumped making everyone laugh at me while I blushed and hid my face behind Jacob.
Once the fire was starting to die down, people started to get up or talk amongst themselves. It was the first opportunity I had to look at my phone.
Shit, it was after midnight and I had no reception, but I could guess that either mom or Edward had left me messages. If I didn't leave now a) someone was going to come looking for me, or b) the police would be called.
I turned to Jake, for a while now he's been talking with his friends about cars—as usual—pretty much ignoring me until I tapped his shoulder. He was always generous enough to give me his undivided attention when I needed it.
"I'm sorry we kept you out so late." He apologized as he walked me back to my truck.
"It's not your fault," I replied, "I should have been keeping track of time."
"Think you'll get in trouble?"
"I'll probably get an earful from both mom and Edward, but other than that I'll be fine."
"Alright," He looked so solemn, "I just don't want them to ban you from coming back."
"Then I'll have to sneak out." I giggled.
"Good luck with that, but call me next time you want to come hang with the cool kids." He joked.
Once I was far away from the reservation, my phone had a signal and sure enough, I had messages and texts from everyone in the family including the grandparents. Grandma was threatening to be on the next flight to America if I didn't call her first. I pulled over in the Thriftway shopping center that was practically deserted, but always had a few cars there since it was open 24/7. Grandma spent 15 minutes lecturing me about mine and my son's safety. It almost made me start crying thinking that she hated me now, but that was the hormones which she was the one to point out.
After grandma, I opted to call mom since Edward would probably demand where I was and order me to stay put so he could come get me then sell my truck. Mom wasn't as frantic as grandma or as drastic as Edward could be, but I did get a bit of a lecture for not obeying curfew.
I told her not to tell anyone else that I was coming home just yet, but promised that I would be home within the next 20 minutes tops. She agreed. I just didn't tell her that staring at a poster in the store's window brought my cravings back. Dinner at the bonfire was pretty good, but that was a long time ago for my standards. Plus, Sue kept pushing the vegetables at me and made me miss dessert. I had a sweet tooth going, bad.
After getting off the phone—and parking closer to the entrance—I followed my craving that led me into the dessert aisle.
It was difficult to choose with all the brands and different mixes of brownies—the frosting was easy since the store only carried one kind of cream cheese icing—but looking at my phone, I only had less than ten minutes before all hell was going to break lose again.
I was pretty sure that mom had told the family by now that I was on my way home and that Edward was on pins and needles waiting to jump at the chance to come find me.
Opting for some pre-made brownies instead of waiting for a batch to bake, I quickly grabbed the package—along with some peanut butter chips—then all but ran to the check out.
There was only one checkout open and that was being manned by Tyler Crowley; my baby sensed my distress for he was kicking hard against my stomach.
Tyler saw me coming as I walked up to him, putting my goods on the belt waiting for him to scan and bag them.
"Hello beautiful." He greeted.
I quickly pulled out my wallet for his smirk was giving me the creeps. It reminded me of a predator's grin before the hunt started—I knew I shouldn't have watched that crime show with Alice and Rosalie.
I thrust over the money to him before he asked, but he just chuckled.
"Eager for something are we? You know that the chocolate makes your feel orgasmic good right?" He said calculating out my change.
I grabbed it out of his hand with a scowl then the bag as he held it out for me.
Without a goodbye from me, I turned on my heel then left the store as quickly as possible.
Once in the cab, I smashed down the locks then took a minute to relax myself. My back was starting to ache from sitting on a backless log for a while and my muscles were sore from the long day. It also reminded me that I should look into Lamaze classes before my due date. My swim classes have been helping me with breathing techniques, but I doubt that they would really help me to keep calm while I push a little my big little sprout out of my little body.
Agh, I need my craving fix now! I'm starting to stress.
Pushing my poor truck to its near limits, I made it home with thirty seconds to spare. Thankfully no one came out to greet me.
After hiding my bag in my jacket, I made my way into the house.
No one was in the kitchen, but the light had been left on probably awaiting for my return. I shut it off as I made my way into the living room—but sneaked over to the drawer to get a knife for the frosting.
A lamp had also been left on in the living room, but still no one was in there.
Deciding this would be a good chance to sneak my treats into my room undetected, I padded my way up the stairs ignoring my aches and pains. Gahh, I didn't think I would have these pains until a couple more months towards my due date.
Surprisingly, I made it into my room without anyone seeing me, all the while, turning off the lights as I went.
Stashing everything in the drawer by my bed and changing into my pajamas, I padded my way into the bathroom to do my nightly rituals. By now, I was ready to drop and sleep until school on Monday. First, I needed to let my whereabouts be known.
The light to Alice's and Edward's room was off, either they were both asleep or weren't there. Guessing, I went back to the first floor to say goodnight to mom and dad, knowing that they would be in their rooms still waiting for me.
Sure enough, I was right. Knocking on their door, I heard mom's voice asking who it was.
"Just me," I poked my head in the door. "I wanted to say goodnight and I'm home."
"Thanks for letting us know, Bella." Mom answered. Dad was curled up already asleep.
I waved goodbye trying to be very quiet then went off to hunt for the rest of the family.
It didn't take me long to find the others for I saw them leaving Rosalie's room on their way to their rooms.
"Well, looks like the party girl decided to come home after all." Emmett laughed.
"Hey everyone." I waved.
Edward looked serious, but enveloped me in a hug anyways.
"I'm just glad you're home." He whispered in my ear.
I pulled back to give him a kiss on the lips. He smiled then pecked me a couple of times.
"Ok enough of that, let's go to bed already." Alice ordered.
I leaned into Edward agreeing with everyone else as they started to move.
As much as I wanted Edward to come to bed with me and sooth away my pains, my cravings were overpowering everything else for the moment.
Still, he walked me upstairs and tucked me into my bed before another kiss then he left the room.
I waited for a few minutes before quietly opening the drawer to retrieve my midnight snack and a flashlight.
It was bad of me to sneak this let alone eat it so late at night, but as soon as the treat touched my taste buds I was in heaven.
After eating a few brownies, my son was satisfied enough, so I hid my treats back in the drawer along with the flashlight.
It took a while before I was comfortable enough to sleep, but eventually I did.
As predicted, I slept until about two in the afternoon. I probably would have slept longer if Edward hadn't woken me up. He was concerned that I was sick and wanted to take my temperature.
As much as I love him, I threw a fit when he tried to put the thermometer in my mouth. Maybe the late night sugar and my aches didn't help the situation either. Luckily, Edward remedied one problem, but stayed oblivious to the other.
His magic fingers worked wonders on my back muscles, and I made him also do my feet as well. He was only too happy to oblige. I fell asleep while he was working on my feet only to be wakened up by my stomach again.
I asked Edward to go down and make me a sandwich and chips using the excuse that my body was too tired to get up. Nope that wasn't the case; I just wanted more of my brownie treats. Although, when I was in the middle of eating one, Edward popped his head back into my room.
"When did you get that?" He asked leaning against the doorway.
I chewed slowly then shrugged my shoulders instead of answering.
He did not look happy, just shook his head disappointedly then moved closer to the bed.
I knew what he was doing, but I was not ready to give up my sweets yet.
Unfortunately, he was too quick so we both ended up holding onto the packages.
"Bella, please let go," I shook my head, "You can have a little more after you eat something better for the two of you."
As I've been noticing that saying please usually gets Edward to fall into my demands, he knows that by dragging my son into the compromise or logic makes me fall into his demands. What really makes me cave is when he touches my stomach while my son kicks into his hand. Like two against one.
I groan and release my grip, but for some reason the tears start falling and they wouldn't stop.
"I'm sorry that I had to be a little mean on you, love." He pulled me in for a hug then rubbed my back. "I hate it when I have to, please know that I do love you both so much."
"I know." I blubbered in his shoulder.
"Then why are you crying?"
"I don't know, probably because of everything; the problems with the paper, Tyler checking me out last night at the grocery store, I'm hungry, I need to start on Lamaze class." I ranted still crying.
"Shhh…I hate it when I make you cry, let's just go over one problem at a time ok?" I nodded my head again.
"You went to the grocery store and saw Tyler right?"
"Yeah." Sniff.
"Damn, I wonder if it worked." He almost whispered, but I caught it.
"What?" I asked.
"I'll tell you later, alright?"
I nodded then told him about how Tyler was looking at me when I was paying for my groceries. Surprisingly, Edward actually stayed calm.
"Ok, so Tyler is going to need to be spoken to. We can do that." He finally said. "What's the next problem?"
I told him about my problem with the principle and what he thinks of my stories. Edward suggested that Angela and I should stay strong and keep trying. It seemed logical, but I was a little too hormonal to think like that.
"Next, you want to start Lamaze classes right?"
"I don't know." I sniffled.
His chest vibrated as he chuckled. "You don't know?" He questioned.
"Edward, please just give me the brownies and leave me alone." The tears were starting back up again.
"I'm not leaving you alone, and I think you've had enough sweets for today."
"But…" Now I was whining.
"No buts…How about I make you a smoothie though?"
It wasn't going to be as sweet as the brownies and icing, but it did seem healthier.
I nodded my head in reply.
The smoothie did help to curb my cravings to a dull throb in my mind. Edward also entertained me on the tricks that he and the others pulled on Mike and Tyler which helped me forget about the dull throb.
Getting to sleep that night was difficult because I had slept in so late meaning I only got less than six hours of sleep.
Because of lack of sleep—and coming down from a major sugar high—school was not that enjoyable.
Swim class wasn't that easy either. Edward had to carry me from the locker room to Rosalie's car where I fell asleep once the door closed. Mom woke me up an hour after we arrived home.
For the rest of the week, my exhaustion levels had been thrown off, but got better during the weekend. Unfortunately, Edward decided to take charge of my meals; nearly controlling everything that I put in my mouth. Mom and dad had agreed with him to help regulate my healthy choices, but I still had the others as my back up just in case—sometimes.
"Bella, I'm not going to get you another pudding cup." Alice fumed. "You've had enough and dinner is not too long from now."
"But Alice, you're nephew is hungry for chocolate." I pouted while rubbing my big belly.
"Oh no you don't," She told me sternly, "How are you going to fit into your homecoming dress if you keep asking for more chocolate?"
My mouth opened and closed a few times before I could organize the words.
"How can you say that to me?" I asked close to tears. "I thought you were my best friend and you're calling me fat?" My voice broke a few times.
Alice was shocked probably realizing what she had said.
"Bella, please, I'm sorry." She tried to say, but I ran out of the room—more like waddled.
"Bella," She kept calling after me, but I didn't want to see her.
"Hey, food's ready." Jasper called coming up to our floor. I nearly ran into him; luckily he caught me.
"Bella, what's wrong?" He asked me, but my sobs wouldn't allow me to answer. Ok, my hormones had officially taken over. "Alice, what happened?" He asked her. I buried my face in his shirt as he gently rocked me from side to side.
"I accidentally called her fat." Alice whispered, it sounded like she was crying now too.
"Ali," He sighed. "Bella, let's go into your room and I'll get Edward for you or do you want to eat with us?"
"I'm not hungry now." I whispered.
"Bella, I'm really sorry." Alice tried, but I wasn't listening to her at the moment.
Jasper walked me into my room and tucked me into my bed.
"He'll have his phone on him, want me to text him to come up?" He asked.
I nodded my head then sniffled.
He smiled, but as he was pulling out his phone, Edward's footsteps were pounding up the stairs.
"Alice must have gotten him for you, darlin'." Jasper commented.
Alice was trying to make amends and it made me feel a little better.
Edward came strolling into the room with a tray in hand.
"Thanks dude." Edward said to Jasper before he put the tray down on the desk.
Jasper tipped his non-existent hat at me before leaving.
"Feeling any better?" Edward asked sitting on my bed then handed a plate of food to me.
"A little." I mumbled just staring at the food. Now I had lost my appetite.
"Alice told me what she said to you and that she was sincerely sorry about that." He tried to feed me some food, but I wouldn't take it.
"I don't want to eat tonight; in fact, I'm through with snacks of any kind." I ranted.
He chuckled then went to start on his own plate.
"Bella, you and your son need food to survive. Snacks should only be sparse."
"She still shouldn't have called me fat, even though she's right." The sobs came back.
Edward put his plate down and pulled me into his chest.
"Shhh…you are not fat. Your stomach is just growing, but after the baby is born your body will go back to normal."
"But I'll be fat and ugly until then."
"Bella, look at me." He pulled my head back to look into his eyes which were serious. "You are gorgeous in every way possible and impossible. I still can't fathom who an exquisite creature chose me, but I am determined to keep you if you'll have me."
I looked back at him feeling the serious gaze in my eyes that reflected off of his. "I'll always want you, and I guess what you said could be flipped to my view. Why would a smart, handsome devil like you want an abandoned, pregnant teen?"
"Because you were too beautiful of an angel to resist." He nuzzled his nose against mine making me giggle. "There's my favorite sound in the world."
"Thanks."
We ate quietly in my room after that. Well, actually, I didn't eat very much. Apparently, I should have listened to Alice and not had too many snacks before dinner. Edward looked disappointed, but didn't say anything.
As we were cleaning up, someone knocked on my opened door. Alice was peeking around the corner looking—for the first time that I've known her—shy and timid.
"Can I come in?" She asked. "I have to talk to you about something."
I could feel Edward's gaze on me, but I didn't look at him.
"Sure." I answered.
Edward picked up the tray then gave me a sweet kiss on the head before heading out.
Alice didn't come into the room until Edward left, but before he did, it looked like they had a brief silent conversation.
She still seemed timid after he left, so I smiled a bit to reassure her. She was still apprehensive, but came in anyways sitting on the side of my bed. I crawled up a bit to meet her.
"I'm really sorry about what I said to you, Bella." She started. "I got a little carried away and sometimes—like Emmett—I don't think before I speak first."
"Is that a Cullen trait?" I asked some-what seriously.
Alice giggled then answered. "Mom says it is, but Edward was lucky enough to not inherit it."
"I think for him, it's the opposite." I added. "He thinks AND worries too much."
We laughed a little more until I had another question.
"Alice, you mentioned something about a dance?"
"Oh right, I totally spaced that out, which is weird because I've been very careful to keep it from you like Edward asked…" She started to rant until I spoke up.
"Edward asked you to keep something from me?"
"Only because he knows that you've been tired lately and don't like to get dressed up."
"Can you please just tell me, I don't like it when people make decisions for me? Especially when I don't know what the plan is in the first place."
"The homecoming dance is next weekend," She paused when my face turned to shock. "The boys are expected to go because they are on the football team and the best players." She continued slowly possibly trying not to give me a sensory overload. Too late.
"Alice, I can't dance and I hate going to them." I said flat out, but started to think. "Wait, this is important to the guys right?" I asked.
"I think the coach will beat down on them more if they don't attend, but you shouldn't just do this for Edward. It will be fun, trust me on that."
"Alice, I don't know." I looked down at my stomach trying to really explain another problem.
"Bella, listen to me." She grabbed my head forcing me to look at her. "I, painfully, remember the lecture we got from the principle about teen pregnancy and he said that most pregnant teens drop out of high school in order to take care of the baby.
"Those teens didn't have support the same way that you do, and I know that you don't like it when your pregnancy dictates your life for you. You should go and have fun because when will be the next time that you can?"
I mulled it over in my head for a few minutes. When the baby comes, I won't have much time for anything. In fact, I'm nervous about my school work, but I plan on talking to the school's councilor to talk about my options. Then during the summer, I plan to get a job. Between work and a baby, I'm going to be pretty busy despite having everyone helping. Why not have fun now?
"Do you have a dress for me yet?" I asked when I reached my decision.
Alice squealed, bounced, and clapped her hands—all at the same time—in happiness.
"Yes, I have three." She exclaimed grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door.
It was only three dresses, but it took us three hours to finally decide on the dress.
The dress was teal blue that fell down to my knees with a v-neck that didn't go down too far, but showed enough cleavage when Alice made me wear a push up bra. I was happy that it wasn't black for once. Although, I wanted to hide my shape, I was getting tired of looking like I was going to a funeral. Alice didn't agree with my choice, but after Rosalie came in to see what we were fighting about, she helped to settle the score. Did I mention that I loved my big sister?
Everything was planned out for the dance. Edward was pretty surprised that I was going, but what also surprised me was that Eric would have made Angela and me either way because he had assigned us to do a feature on the dance.
The job would be pulling me away from Edward for a while, but I was still glad to be part of something big. Angela and I often joked over the week that we were uncover someone spiking the punch or a big prank to be pulled while the king and queen were announced.
Another downfall was that Eric wanted the article to be handed in on Monday so that it would be in the school's paper later that week—he decided to push it back a day in order to give us more time to work on it. So, instead of going home with my family after the dance, Angela and I decided to have another sleep over at her place and work on the feature until our fingers fell off. Edward was not happy to hear about that saying that I would need my rest after the dance, but I think he just wants some us time. After all, we haven't had that time in quite a while. Trust me, my body has been screaming for some time now.
Saturday, the day of the dance, Alice woke me up before the dawn broke over the horizon. I grumbled at her saying that a little mama and her son needed their beauty sleep, but she dragged me out of bed regardless.
All day, I was held up in her room and bathroom getting plucked, fluffed, and dulled up by Alice and Rosalie. Now I'm starting to hate my big sister. At least I got a say in the dress.
My hair was loosely curled then put up in a high pony tail. Alice let me borrow a set of her pearl earrings and necklace since the dance was a 50's theme. When it came time for the shoes, I got my way again and wore my flats using the excuse that the heels hurt my back.
Rose was wearing the classic poodle skirt with a tight white blouse and pink scarf around her neck. Her hair was also curled, but put in low pig-tails. She refused to wear the white tennis shoes, so she got to wear her white stilettos instead.
Alice's dress was the cutest. The dress was white with red poka dots and a matching belt. The top only showed off her collarbone, but the bottom flared out down to her knees. She went for the white tennis shoes with red lacing. Being the crazy Alice that we know her to be, she dawned on a pair of 50 style glasses that looked strangely familiar.
"Alice, are those the glasses that Mrs. Cope lost last week?" Apparently, I wasn't the only on to think that.
"I'm just borrowing them, and they don't do anything for her face either." Alice argued.
Looking at the clock when we were done, it was hard to believe that it took us 12 hours to get ready.
Thankfully, I was pushed out of the room as soon as I was ready—but I think that my complaints were getting tiresome. This was the only time I had to pack my bag for the sleep over tonight.
Downstairs, the boys were dressed in simple, yet nice looking pant and blazers with white shirts. Their ties were tied loosely around their necks. I'm not sure if that was on purpose or if Alice was going to throw a fit if she saw them.
"You look beautiful." Edward was, of course, the first one to reach me.
"Thanks." I replied giving him a little twirl. Surprisingly, I didn't fall down. "Can you believe it took 12 hours to get me this way?"
"Alice may have gone a little overboard, but the end results look positively ravishing." His eyes darkened a little which I could feel had the same effect on my eyes.
"You better watch yourself, Cullen, or else I'm not sure if I can make it through the dance." I whispered in his ear giving it a little nip not caring who was watching.
Edward growled slightly. "Do you really have to go to Angela's tonight?"
"I made a commitment to her, but how about I give you a little treat later?" I purred.
"Bella, I'm not superman, please stop testing my control." He sounded threatening, but I could hear the playfulness in his voice.
"Ok, I will." I gave him a quick peck on the lips. "For now." I added then walked away.
He seriously growled again.
By now the girls were downstairs and mom had already started on the pictures. It didn't take too long since I had the excuse of getting to the school early to meet up with Angela. Everyone was grateful to me.
We each rode separately. Edward and I took the Volvo, Emmett and Rosalie in the convertible, finally Jasper and Alice in the Jeep.
The gym was transformed into a dance hall with balloons and streamers hanging everywhere. Alice took one look at the decorations and declared that she would need to be on the dance committee if they were going to keep decorating so "poorly".
Edward made me dance once with him because I had to find Angela soon. I hate dancing because I'm not good at it, but I couldn't resist the pout. Also the shove from his twin pixie sister got me too. Still, wrapped up in Edward's arms, our bodies swaying to the slow beat of the music was so calming that I didn't realize how long we had been like that until someone tapped Edward on the shoulder.
Jasper got our attention then pointed out Angela on the other side of the room taking pictures.
A few kisses later, I finally got out of Edward's arms.
"Sorry I'm late, Edward wouldn't let me go." I said when I reached Angela.
"It's ok; you two make a cute couple." She giggled.
I gave her a confused look for which she showed me the picture that she took of Edward and I on the dance floor.
I thought it was sweet, but I forbad her from showing it to anyone else. I didn't want evidence of me trying to dance no matter who was holding me.
Our plan was to just take pictures and make a story out of that. We had gotten less enthusiastic about our stories lately so we've been trying to invent a game where we take the pictures and use that to make our story. So far, it had been working and we've received so many compliments from our peers about the stories.
For tonight, Angela handed me a spare little camera to use on my own for when we split up. We started off by taking several pictures of the various couples dancing around the floor. I gave Angela the job to take pictures of my family, but they surprised me by pulling me into their little group for poses. Edward didn't let me go so easily after that, so giving him a distracting kiss while running my hand down his chest was the leverage I needed to get away from him. I don't know how, but I swear I heard him growl over the music. I blew him a kiss before walking away though.
Next, we started talking to a few members of the dance committee. It was Angela's idea and I'm sure that Alice would have been demanding an explanation for the decorations anyways. They weren't very insightful, so we moved on shortly.
We continued on talking to people and taking pictures for the next hour, but it was proving to be rather dull. The only times that we caught some action was when a couple of guys tried to spike the punch. Unfortunately, Edward found out and made me promise to stay away from any opened beverages.
Also, we caught some pictures of Mrs. Cope asking Alice if those were her missing glasses. Alice put on her most innocent smile—the same one that Edward uses—to dazzle the woman while saying she had just found them and didn't know who they belonged to. I'm surprised that she got out of that one, knowing my acting skills; I wouldn't have gotten away with it. Alice, however, made me delete the pictures after the incident.
When our agreed hour was up, we sat down for a rest. Actually, I was resting, Angela had no one to hang out with. I did notice that she kept looking at Eric from time to time with a mixture of longing and resentment.
"You should go talk to him." I finally said.
She whipped her head back to me. "Bella, I don't…"
"No, he was only looking out for our well-being last time. That makes him a good person, you should see if he wants to dance with you." I interrupted.
"Really?" She asked indecisive.
"Yes." I said firmly.
She hesitated, but got up anyways with a nervous smile plastered on her face.
I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes listening to the music. After some time, my eyes shot open at the feeling of rough hands rubbing harshly into my shoulders.
"Feel good, pet?" Mike Newton.
I tried to wiggle away, but he kept a good hold on me.
"You know how I hate it when you try to get away from me. I can only play this little game of yours for so long." He leaned down to start slobbering on my neck.
I tried to cringe away while looking around for anyone, but they were all too absorbed in the up-beat song currently playing. They wouldn't even hear my screams or pleas for help.
"Should we stay here or I know the perfect janitor's closet we could go to." This time he slobbered on my ear.
My family and no one else were watching me. I looked around for anything within reach. A cup of punch and a fork were all that I could find.
Thinking and moving fast, I knocked my head into Mike's face—it hurt, but I ignored it. While he was a little distracted, I grabbed the cup and threw the liquid into his face. His eyes were open enough for the punch to sting. Finally, I grabbed the fork just in case, he had released me and was holding his eyes, but I didn't want to take any chances.
I got up as fast as I could then made my way to the dance floor. The crowd would help to cover me and possibly I could find my siblings.
The lights were dim matching the rock music that was playing and people were dancing crazy. It was mayhem, I just wanted to find someone, I wanted to find Edward.
I didn't know how long I had been wondering and pushing my way pass people until someone grabbed my arm. Fearing it would be Mike again, I swung my weapon at my attacker, but they caught it.
"Bella, calm down." It was Emmett holding onto me.
His usual happy face was crumpled into worry watching me struggle against him.
"Bells, what's wrong?" He asked pulling me into his body.
"Where's Edward?" I asked over the roar of the music.
Emmett didn't waste any time leading me away from the dance floor to a table where the others were sitting. Finally, there was Edward.
He didn't notice me at first, but as I was making my way to him he jumped up with a smile that disappeared when he saw me running to him. He caught me before I fully crashed into him.
We didn't talk, but I felt him moving us again. Out in the hallway, a few people were making out against the lockers, but they didn't pay any attention to us.
Edward leaned us against the lockers and that's when I noticed that the others had followed us too.
"Bella, what happened?" Edward asked tilting my face to see his.
When I was about to answer, well, speak of the devil and the devil shall appear.
Mike came stumbling out of the gym. I cringed closer to Edward.
"Was it him?" Edward hissed in my ear.
My focus was on Mike, but I nodded slightly answering him.
Edward gave me one finale squeeze before passing me to Rosalie and Alice. Jasper and Emmett flanked Edward who stalked towards Mike. Mike didn't move probably too afraid to when he noticed the guys heading towards him. I could just imagine the fire in their eyes as they stalked their prey.
Edward grabbed onto Mike's collar with both hands pushing him back wincing when he hit the wall, but Edward didn't stop there, he lifted Mike until he's feet were off the ground.
Mike tried to bring his hands up to fight, but Emmett and Jasper caught them before he had a chance; pinning them against the wall.
As Edward's arm was flexing back to strike at Mike, the coach came out the gym.
"Cullens, Newton, stop rough housing and get inside for the announcement." He ordered not caring about the fight that was about to take place.
Edward looked back at Mike and held onto his collar again with both hands bringing his prisoner down close enough to his face.
Because of the music, I couldn't understand what Edward said to Mike, but I could tell it was threat for Mike's eyes got impossibly wider and his face turned ghostly white.
With one last hit against the wall, Edward let go, but not the others. Instead, Edward took Rosalie's place while she strutted up to Mike. I was able to hear what she snarled in his face.
"If you ever touch or think about my sisters again, I will personally castrate you and force you to choke on your own balls." If Mike was white before, now he was translucent.
Before Rose turned around, she brought Mike down by his shoulders to meet her raised knee against his stomach. He groaned loudly in pain bringing me back to the night at the restaurant when I kicked him in the balls. Like that night, he curled up on the floor trying to catch his breath.
Edward and Alice flanked me walking to the others and back to the gym. Before we went in, someone was tugging something out of my hand. I jumped and looked down to see Jasper's hand trying to gently pry my fingers out of the death grip of the fork. I had forgotten that it was there. Edward helped when I wasn't cooperating then kissed my hand and lips.
I leaned against him as he walked us over to a table with the others where we found Angela talking quietly to Eric. It looked like things were going well until she saw me, but I gave her a look that said 'later' I was glad that she understood. Eric was totally oblivious to everything. I was sort of glad about that.
Thankfully, Edward and the others didn't ask how I was when we sat down, but I had a feeling that we were going to have a discussion later tonight.
The boys couldn't stay too long for the coach cut the music and ordered—yes ordered—the football team to come up on stage. He didn't sound too happy only because our team didn't bring home the homecoming trophy and therefore weren't going to the state playoffs next weekend in Seattle.
The boys were none too happy about that when we got home after the game, but that was before I asked Edward if he wanted to go to the dance. After all, it was a girl's choice dance. Also a hot bath and sharing a warm bed with his girlfriend helped too. From the looks on Emmett's and Jasper's faces the morning after, it was easy to assume that they got a similar treatment.
Their coach, however, must never get that kind of treatment from the misses. I felt bad for him.
Instead of saying that he was proud of the team for putting in some good effort, he promised to train the boys harder until they cried like little babies and couldn't move a finger. I cringed for the guys; they looked scared out their minds.
Once his scary speech was over, the coach handed the microphone over to Mrs. Clapp who changed the atmosphere talking about her plans for the girl's varsity volleyball team. Alice and Rosalie were called up on stage with the rest of the girls from the team—the boys made it back to me by this time.
After the speeches were over, the music started back up. Only it was slower this time, and Edward pulled me to the dance floor. I relented just to be safe in his arms.
After a few more songs, the homecoming king and queen were announced, but after checking in with Eric if Angela and I were covering this, he said that he would handle it personally which made us wonder why he even wanted us to show up in the first place. The king and queen were basically the reason behind the whole dance besides the celebration of the game.
Of course we were pissed off, but after thinking it over, we decided that our article would just be about people having fun since the pictures we took were mainly of people smiling and laughing. It wouldn't be a huge project anyways, so Angela decided to develop the film and we would meet up tomorrow at my place to put together a collage.
It wasn't long after that that the others decided to go home. I couldn't have agreed with them more for my feet felt like they were going to burst through my shoes.
I didn't fall asleep on the way home, but was carried by Edward up the stairs where he helped me get ready for bed then put me to sleep my rubbing my feet and back until I was relaxed enough for dreamland.