AN: I posted a day early last week and I was surprised that less people checked out my story. I guess I'll have to keep it on Fridays. Anyway thanks to all who did read AND review. I'm sending you my virtual love. Thank you to my regulars, my newbies and to those that used to review but stopped—I miss you and I still care what you think so tell me.

I don't own Twilight or Bad Reputation.

Chapter 18 Truth and Consequences

I waited for Jacob the Monday morning at the school parking lot. I wanted to see what everyone's reaction would be. As soon as he arrived, he pulled into his usual parking spot by the entrance. He pulled off his helmet and things suddenly went in slow motion. People stopped dead to take a look at the new look for Volcano. He got compliments like That looks so cool and Nice 'do, although the stooges took the opportunity to mock Jacob instead.

"It's good to know that if I ever forgot your name I could just look at the volcano on your head to remember," James laughed.

Emmett couldn't even speak. He was laughing so hard.

I walked up to Jacob and kissed his cheek. "They're just jealous."

Paul snorted and added, "You're really not as scary now that your woman sheared you like Samson."

"Hey, I can still whip every one of your asses!" Jacob called out. He smiled and turned his attention back to me.

"I guess now they are going to call me Delilah," I giggled.

"Well she was really beautiful too." He pulled me in for a hug and kissed me. I was so melted by it I barely notice his hand moved down to my behind again.

"Bella!" Angela shouted. We pulled apart from the shock.

I smiled at him. "I guess I'm wanted."

I walked over to her. "What are you shouting for?"

"Didn't you feel his hand? It was on your southern region."

"So?"

"I don't understand how you could be okay with him touching you like that," Angela stated. "You should have yelled at him."

"It's fine. It doesn't bother me," I dismissed.

"You need to set some boundaries, places he is not allowed to cross."

"Angela I already have two parents," I reminded her. "I don't need a third."

"Bella," she spoke in a shocked tone.

"Sorry. I know you're worried, but don't. I know Volcano cares about me."

"I'm sure he does," she admitted reluctantly. "But I don't want you to wake up one day beside him having allowed things to go too far and you realize you made a mistake."

"It wouldn't be a mistake," I mumbled involuntarily.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Huh?" I questioned innocently.

"What did you say? 'It wouldn't be a mistake.' Are you seriously thinking about sleeping with Volcano?"

Not sleeping . . . I stayed silent. I didn't want to lie to her and twisting the words around would be deception. I was tired of hiding it, but I still wasn't completely willing to confess.

"Well?" she cued.

I turned my face to look at the scenery around us.

"Omigosh, you already have!" she determined. "How could you? I knew you would buckle under the pressure. I told you he was going to want sex. I warned you. You told me you could handle him—that he won't be your first."

"He's not like that!" I defended. "He never pressured me. It was my decision completely."

"You told me you wouldn't change anything permanent for him. Why did you change your mind?" she asked gravely.

"I didn't. I had already lost my virginity over the summer to some guy named Edward. I never told you guys because it was a fiasco and I just wanted to forget it happened. But being with Jacob," I paused for a sigh, "With Volcano it's perfect. I think . . . I think I love him."

Angela went silent. I couldn't believe what I just said. And from the looks of it, neither could she. I never really acknowledged it until that moment and it felt so intense. Love at first kiss. I didn't even know if it was possible, but it explained a lot. Why I never forgot him over the years and why I was so quick to trust him when in reality I barely knew him—love makes you blind.

"You're serious? In love? . . . with Volcano—Jacob Black?" she expressed for clarity.

"He is so much better a person than he lets on. He's smart and caring, not to mention deliciously handsome. A bit rebellious, but it is all in good fun. He saved Rose and he really likes me. I've never regretted being with him," I explained.

"You really sure about this, about him?"

"Yes."

"You used protection, right? Because if you get pregnant, I'm going to feign being in shock with everyone else. I don't want to deal with your mom."

"Definitely. For that situation alone we never forget."

"Are sure it's love? I'd hate to think you were thinking with your—"

"What? Little head?" I laughed. "I hate to break this to you, but I'm a girl."

"Girls could have clouded judgment too. Just look at Jane. She's pregnant and has no idea who the father is."

"You don't have to worry about her. It was a false pregnancy. She's got her crimson flowing."

"She lied?"

"No, I don't think so. I think she just jumped to conclusions. I think it might be because of birth control pills. Jane already had a baby it would make sense for her to be on the pill. If you mess up the sequence, you could miss a period. My mom told me during the traumatic sex talk while on birth control pills you would register a positive on a pregnancy test. If someone skipped the 'dummy pills' for a few months, they could skip their period entirely."

"God, your mom told you all that?"

I gave a shiver. "When I was eleven. I feel bad about Jane though. I think she still doesn't know who she was with that night."

"That's just sad."

*0*

Right before chemistry class I was standing by my locker, when Jacob came and hugged me from behind.

"Hi Bella, how are you at weddings?" he asked.

"Ex-cuse me!" I stuttered. I pulled out of the hug to face him. I hoped his feelings had grown like mine, but we were still sixteen.

"Weddings. My Aunt Emmie is getting remarried and I was thinking you might want to accompany me," he explained with a smile on his face.

So that's why he already had a tux. "Seriously? I would love to, but doesn't this go against your code? Your parents are going to see me and talk to me—they may even . . . oh no! like me," I teased.

His expression didn't phase. "Let them. Although, my mom will be too pissed off because I'm bringing you," he warned. "My aunt's best friend, Sue Clearwater, has a daughter Leah. I'm supposed to march with her. They were hoping I would become interested in her and go out with someone good for a change."

"Because I'm so awful for you," I joked.

He laughed as he nodded.

"So my appearance will ruin their plans." I put my arms around his neck.

"Yup." His arms went around my waist. "But then again maybe they'll finally realize I already have someone great. I want you at your beautiful best, the real you." He gave me a toothy smile and pulled me in for a kiss. As my heart thumped madly to the feeling of his lips against mine, my stomach started to knot. I needed to tell him I loved him, but I couldn't—not yet. We headed into the classroom to take our seats.

Before Mr. Banner had a chance to start the lesson, Jacob leaned over and whispered in my ear. "By the way the wedding is this Sunday."

! There were no words in my vocabulary for how freaked out I was. How in the world did he think I could get a dress in time? I tried to take notes, but my mind began to wander. I finally just pulled out my phone and texted Rose for help. She agreed to go with me every day to the mall after I finished tutoring Jacob until we find the perfect dress.

*0*

When lunch came about, Emmett was sitting at our table.

"Hey, you lost? Don't you usually sit outside?" I mocked.

"Too cold."

"Yeah, it sometimes does that in December. Where do you guys usually sit when it is this cold?" I pondered.

"Various places. Most of the time a classroom we've recently emptied, but today I wanted to sit with my sweetie."

"Ooooh, he called me his sweetie," Rose cooed. She turned to him and kissed him right on the mouth.

"Doesn't it make you sick watching others PDA?" I heard coming from behind me. I turned to the voice that was now an appealing melody. "Hey cuteness."

"Hi Jacob I mean Volcano," I laughed. He smiled at my tongue slip.

He sat beside me. "What are we having for lunch today?" James and Paul also took a seat.

"We are having some old fashioned chicken noodle soup. I don't know what those two are having." I pointed to Paul and James. "What happened to Victoria?"

"She's studying," James answered. "She's gotten reclusive."

"More than before? That's amazing. Next thing you know she'll be invisible," Asia commented.

"Speaking of reclusive, has anyone seen Jane lately?" Angela asked.

"Who cares?" Jacob uttered.

"Yeah I haven't seen her moping about recently," Rose perceived.

I became worried, what if she assumed I will tell her secret and now was avoiding school all together? Or maybe she didn't actually get her period but in fact lost the baby? And I was too inconsiderate to ask if she was okay, too afraid she would recognize me.

"Crap crap shit crap," I swore.

"What?" Jacob inquired.

"Nothing. I just thought of something really important that I forgot to do." I got up. "Enjoy the soup. I'll be back in a minute."

I wandered about the school hoping to find Jane with no luck. I walked into the administration office and spoke to Ms. Cope hoping she'll help.

"Ms. Cope I need a number to a fellow student. I think she is out sick and I wanted to give her a call."

"What is the name of the student?" she queried.

"Jane Reece."

She looked into her files and gave me her number. I stepped out of the office and into the stairwell. I dialed it eager to speak with Jane.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Don't hang up. It's Bella."

"How did you get my number?"

"The administration. Look, I was wondering how you were doing?"

"Why do you care? You have a guy and I'm a pathetic loser," she stated.

"We were friends once and you're not a pathetic loser. In the bathroom you needed a pad. Did you lose your baby or something?" I asked.

"If you're desperate to know my business, no I was just really late. I'm never late. The last time I was late I turned out to be pregnant. So excuse me if I jumped to conclusions," she spoke sourly.

"Aren't you happy? You're not pregnant and the last few months could be forgotten like a bad dream. Pregnancy scare over—now you could go back to normal."

"Is that what you think happens? Girly, you have no idea what it's like to be me. Boys assuming I'll sleep with them, whispers always behind my back, and the lies people will say to my face. I'm a person who hates who she is. That's why I like to do the school plays. I get to be someone else for a while. No bad vibes, no insulting names, no reputation. On stage I am not Jane Reece; I'm somebody else."

I stood there with my mouth agape. I couldn't think what to say.

"At least when I'm on stage my parents are proud of me. I'm not the disappointment that is me," she added.

"Jane, I'm sorry for calling you that horrible name. I got angry and I fired back without thinking. I just assumed since you slept with all the boys at school that you were—"

"You're really trying to get me to jump off this roof, aren't you?" she interrupted.

"What? You're on the roof?"

I made a mad dash up the four flights. I burst through the door and searched around for Jane. I saw her sitting on the ledge still holding the phone to her ear.

"No don't!" I implored. "Life can't be that bad." I was still heaving with my words.

She turned around to me. "Relax. I wasn't going to jump. I was just up here thinking. Trying to figure out how I allowed things to get this bad. I never slept with all those boys. They were all liars. I've only slept with four people in my whole life. The first was my steady boyfriend in my other school who continued dating me after I got pregnant. But since he was a senior and going off to college, he eventually dumped me like a bad habit. Last year there were two, one after another and that's when the rumors started," she revealed.

"Why didn't you ever deny it?" I posed.

"Because I believed it. I had a baby and slept with two boys trying to get over my boyfriend. I must've been slut. Even if the other boys were just lying about me, I led them to think they could. But until you said I didn't know who I slept with, I hadn't realized how bad the rumors got."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I just . . . believed what people said and never bothered to see the truth," I said with full remorse.

"Yeah well the thing is I really don't know who I slept with, which disgusts me the most."

"Can you be honest with me? Why are you competing with me for Volcano?" I interrogated.

There was a pause before she exhaled. "He was different from the others. When he'd talk to me, it was like he was giving me his full attention. And it wasn't like in a lewd way. I could tell really he liked me. But then you came around and I was back to 'Loose Jane' treatment."

"I didn't mean to stop your friendship. If he stopped showing interest, why'd you think he slept with you? He was obviously into me."

"First of all, he wasn't then. And his interest in me was way before he even knew you existed," she justified.

Unless you knew him before he was twelve, "I doubt it," I claimed.

"I have been hanging around Volcano since he came to this school," she stated angrily.

"But no dates," I pointed out.

"Technicalities." She waved her hand in the air dismissively. "He was going to. He even said so."

I thought about what Jane was saying and decided to take it with a grain of salt. Jacob already explained that he was trying to make it seem like Jane was his girl—but in truth she wasn't and I believed him.

"The party," I reminded her. "What made you think Volcano was there?"

"Some alcohol, a deceptive costume, and a liar. The guy had the same tan complexion as Volcano. I could tell from his hands and he also had a black hair ponytail. His physical build was just like Volcano, too."

"Did he say he was Volcano?"

"No. I asked if he was Volcano and he said yes."

"As in, that was his costume?" I inquired.

"I don't know. He had a painted face and regular clothes on."

"That's not very helpful."

"Forget it. I'd rather not know." She turned and jumped off the ledge onto the roof's solid ground. She headed through the entrance door.

I sat there for a moment contemplating some things. Most people judge others by their reputation and I was the same on this case. Jane wasn't really a trollop; she was just misunderstood. Some people are worth more than their bad reputation. Jacob certainly was.

Oh no! I left Jacob with my food. I was happy to discover, Jacob had left my dessert untouched and purchased two additional desserts from the lunch ladies. I was now the proud owner of two individual sized apple pies.

*0*

When afterschool tutoring as well as my make out session with Jacob was done, I set out for the mall to meet Rosalie. We went through several boutiques trying dress after dress, not finding anything worthy of impressing Jacob's parents. We did this every day for almost a week. Rose would leave the mall with her multitude of bagged items and I pouted with my one bag of 'just in case' accessories still without the right dress.

Finally, on Thursday Rose and I came across a little boutique on the way to the mall called Dress Palace. We quickly found a parking spot and stepped right in. It was filled with gowns for all occasions, in several colors, styles, fabrics and possibilities. I knew I would positively find the perfect dress here.

"This place is great. We should come here in May for our Prom gowns," Rose uttered excitedly.

"Oh? So now you've decided you're going to the Junior Prom?"

"Not only that, I have a date. Emmett asked me."

"Already? It's in five months."

She just shrugged.

We began to go through the aisles, pulling loads of dresses off the racks. I headed off to the dressing room for trial. I felt like I was in a fashion show. Rose gave me her votes—thumbs up or thumbs down. As I posed, I gave her the lowdown on the situation.

"He wants me to be his defense against the dreaded set up with Leah," I informed her. I glanced at myself in the mirror.

"So he's using you?" Rose asked.

I made a pout in the mirror and went into the dressing room. I came out in a silver sequence full gown. "Well, kind of, but at long last they get to really know me. I'm not sure what they think of me right now. It can't be good. I'm always fleeing the scene somehow."

"What do your parents think of him?" she mused. I pulled up the hem and stood on tip-toe.

"They don't know about him. I've kept the whole boyfriend thing quiet," I confessed. I went back to the room to change.

"What? Where do they think you're going on Sunday?" she called to me behind the door. I came out in a short red two piece.

"A wedding of one of our teacher's, so if they ask you're going too." The outfit wasn't wedding material. I went back to try on another dress.

"I don't know . . ." she hesitated.

"Oh come on Rosalie! I've done it for you before."

"Yeah, but it was one date. You are trying to hide an entire boyfriend. I think you should come clean to them."

"Oh, don't grow a conscience on me now. I'll tell them when I tell them," I said dismissively.

We ultimately came to one that was so perfect I couldn't imagine not wearing it. I was so excited I called Jacob as soon as I got home.

I took some time sitting on my bed to contemplate Jane's situation. I never bothered to worry about the way others saw me. I guess you never know until things just hit you in the face. It made me wonder if I should worry. Jacob and I were getting more public attention and already one of my friends knew more than I wanted. Did loving Jacob make me forget myself? Will I be following in Jane's path?

AN: Well what did you guys think? What was your take on Jane's situation? Next chapter is the wedding. Stay tuned. Please review.