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Chapter 16
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Time crawled for Bella over the next two months of summer. She enrolled in Port Angeles Community College for her general studies and found it easier to adjust to college life than she'd thought. She wanted to get them done and out of the way before focusing on a teaching degree in elementary education.
The reservation was in dire need of decent teachers who cared about more than a paycheck and Bella was determined to be one of said caring teachers. She'd floored the pack when she gave old Quil, Billy and Harry hell for the lack of proper education at the tribal school; she'd turned them into simpering fools when she was finished with them. Paul only smirked and held her as she ranted and in the end, they said she had a point and used the money 'donated' to them to buy proper equipment and books for the school.
She had good days, yes, but today wasn't one of them. It was one of the rotten ones and Bella mused that nothing worse could happen to her before it did. The truck she so loved had just spluttered and died in her driveway. She moaned and slammed her head against the steering wheel. She was late for work (Forks Learning and Development Center had offered her a job after she'd gotten her child care certifications done online over the summer) after having slept through her alarm and to top it off, she felt sick to boot- darn kids.
She huffed, sent a text message to Paul telling him what happened before her cell phone died. The charger had come unplugged from her phone and she had been planning to charge it at work. Now she'd have to go inside to tell them she couldn't come in at all today because she had no way to get there.
"Fuck me running! Could this day get any worse than it already is?!" She hissed.
She'd just come back out front after calling in to the daycare to explain what happened. The manager told her she should take it as a sick day because she sounded horrible. It was the first time she'd ever had to call out in the two months she'd been there, and once she was assured they had coverage, she thanked her manager for the small mercy.
"Bella?" A stunned voice sounded. "Damn girl! You're looking good."
She was dressed in a pair of ankle boots, black pin stripe pants, and a black, drape-front stubbed tee. "No… now it's worse…" She mentally counted to ten before turning towards the voice at her back. "Hey… Mike, I thought you went away to college."
"Oh… no… I'm doing the same as you… going to the community college for my general studies before majoring in business." He shrugged.
"Oh. So, what brings you here at… 9:00 in the morning on a Friday?" She asked checking her watch for the time.
Mike grinned. "Had to give something to your dad. I got a job at the local paper writing one article a week... Just small stuff, really."
She smiled and nodded. "Sounds interesting."
"Hope so." He grinned. "So… I hear you've been slumming it with the natives this past summer. You and Jacob friends again?"
Bella's guard rose. She was in no mood for an interrogation. She turned a sharp eye on him. "Your point?"
"Hey… whoa kitty! I didn't mean anything bad by it." He hedged.
The rumble of an engine stopped anything crass from passing her lips. She grinned and ran into his arms as soon as Paul stepped out of his car. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms wound around his neck as she crashed her lips into his.
Paul grinned and held her to him. He pulled his head away just enough that he could eye her with amusement sparking in his brown irises. "What'd I do to earn that?" He asked, his lips brushing against hers.
"Missed you. Thank you for coming." She said in between kisses.
A throat cleared behind them. "Alright you two."
"Sorry dad." Bella grinned sliding out of Paul's arms.
"Didn't you two just see each other last night for a date?" He teased.
Paul grinned. "Sorry chief." He grinned when Charlie rolled his eyes.
Mike shook his head. It drove him nuts sometimes that the one girl he'd wanted, only wanted friendship from him. First, he'd been vying for a spot with Edward- even if she kept refusing him. Then it was Jacob- even if he was only a best friend. Now, it was the fool with his hands resting on her waist. Would he ever catch a break? He sighed and watched the two. He'd just have to bide his time and wait.
"So, what's the verdict, Paul?" Charlie asked.
"Well… from what I can see, she's got a torn belt fan… hey, grab me the flashlight from my car, please, baby girl?"
"Sure." Bella grinned, pulled the flashlight from the door and handed it over with a kiss to his cheek.
Mike scoffed. Didn't her dad care about the blatant PDA?
Apparently not.
Paul only smirked. It died on his lips, however, when he saw the blown head gasket. "Damn baby girl, when you do it, you do it don't you?"
"What's wrong?" Charlie asked.
"She's got a blown head gasket. You may end up needing a new car, Bella."
"Can I drive it to Jake's so he can look at it? I love this old truck!"
"Can't drive it, but I can tow it and you can steer it." He told her.
Bella shook her head. "Not it! Dad can help you with it… I won't!"
Paul and Charlie both chuckled. "Come on, Bells. I'll tow it, Paul can steer it, you can drive Paul's car behind us, ok?"
"Better!" She grinned.
Mike blinked. They'd be towing her heap of junk where again? He'd been too focused on Bella.
"Thanks for the package, Mike. I've got to run though."
"Of course, Chief Swan." Mike said with a nod.
Bella shared an amused look with her dad while Paul snorted, not trying to hide his laughter at all. Marshmallow indeed. Mike sent him a glare before turning on his heel, pouting the entire way to his car.
The cars were started, hazard lights thrown on, and Bella's truck was shifted into neutral. It took longer than the normal half hour to reach Jacob's house, but Bella was pleased that her truck made it in one piece- relatively speaking. She even went so far as to kiss and pat the hood of her truck, crooning to it.
"Boys… aren't you supposed to be in school right now?" Charlie asked trying to keep the smile off of his face when he saw them poking their heads out of the make shift garage door curiously.
"We've gotten out of school early the last couple days, Charlie. One of the benefits of a tribal school… when the teachers all get sick, all the kids get to stay home- no substitute teachers, you see?"
Bella rolled her eyes. "Poor things." She teased.
"Bells… why's the Chief towing your truck?" Embry asked eying her.
She gave him a dramatic sigh. "It's sick Em... You guys are the only hope I have of fixing my baby!"
It was quiet for a grand total of a minute before they lost it. Charlie only shook his head. "Teenagers." He muttered. Even Paul snickered.
"Your old man home?" Charlie asked Jacob.
"Should be. Harry's here too."
"Good. Bella… rest. And no more kissing Paul. He'll get sick too."
Bella huffed and pouted. "Yes, dad."
Paul grinned. "Come on baby girl." He wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her onto the bed of her truck while Quil climbed into the drivers' seat. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on her lips while he, Jacob and Embry pushed the truck into the garage.
Charlie only sighed and shook his head, amused at the boys' antics before walking in through the open front door. "Hey, old man, where are you?"
"Who the hell you callin' old man, old man?" A voice seemed to boom.
"Ahh hell, here we go." Another voice echoed. "What did you do now Billy?"
Charlie grinned when his two best friends came into view. "Bella's truck is on its last leg. Bella wanted Jake to take a look at it first."
"Poor truck." Billy teased.
Charlie rolled his eyes. "I'd say poor Bella first. I think she'd trade Paul in for the truck if push came to shove."
"Shouldn't it be poor Paul then?" Harry mused.
The three shared a moment of silence. "Nah."
Laughs were shared before Billy led the way into the living room. "How long can you stay, Charlie. I recorded the game last night so I could watch it today."
"I called in to the station. Told 'em I'd be here till Bella's truck got fixed. So, once I find out if she'll have her truck back… I'm good."
A beer was placed in Charlie's hand by Harry who had gotten up to get one for himself and Billy. The game was turned on and the three were lost in their own world while they watched the game.
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"So, who's up for some wrestling?" Embry smirked.
Bella rolled her eyes. "You puppies go play. I'm staying over here where I'm going to plot revenge."
"Revenge?" Jacob asked.
Bella smirked. "Oh yes… sweet blissful revenge."
"...why?" Embry wondered.
Quil eyed her. "On who?"
"I remember someone waking me up this past summer… a pack of someone's… someone's who heard something they shouldn't have…" She mused.
Paul laughed when they paled and gulped. She'd yet to get any of the pack back for their stunt over the last month of summer and all of them prayed she'd just forget about it. He pulled her to him, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "That's my girl." He murmured. "My little mate." He whispered possessively in her ear.
Jacob eyed her. "We're exempt for fixing your truck, right?" He wondered.
"Depends on if it can be fixed." She mused.
It was another thirty minutes before Charlie poked his head in through the garage doors. He chuckled when he took in the scene. Paul and Bella were cuddled up on the old couch, Quil and Embry wrestled around on the floor and Jacob tinkered under the hood of the truck. "Hey boys... how's the damage?"
"She's gonna need a new car." Jacob sighed.
Bella pouted. "Man! I loved this old truck!"
"Sorry Bells. We tried." Quil said with a small smile.
She grinned. "It's alright. I just need to go car shopping now… thrills..."
"I'll take you. Jake can come with us too if you want." Paul said.
"You sure?" Charlie asked.
Paul nodded. "I don't have to work until later. And Jake is good with cars- better than me- so he'd be able to say for sure how long it would last."
"Alright. Keep her away from anything fast! Or brand new! I'm trusting you two to help her find something to keep her safe." Charlie teased before walking back inside to say goodbye to Billy and Harry.
"You get to be the jealous boyfriend." Quil teased after Charlie left.
Paul grinned. "No complaints." He smirked while they laughed.
"Is that what you played this morning?" Jacob teased. Paul told them about seeing Mike eying Bella like a piece of meat on a stick.
Bella shivered and snuggled into him again. "I don't like him when he gets like that."
"I don't like him at all!" Paul griped.
"Aww… poor baby." She cooed.
Paul smirked before lifting her into his arms. "I'll show you poor baby." He murmured as he set her down on the work bench.
"Hey! Not in my garage!" Jacob whined. "Go to Paul's house!" He huffed.
"Or the woods!" Quil snickered.
Bella giggled. Her bad morning had started bleeding into a good one. She mused she'd have a good day yet. And she had her friends to thank, in large part, for it.
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Author's note:
Ok… so it's not an actual character death… but the truck could be its own character sometimes I swear. But it had to go lol. Poor thing was just on its last leg of life.