(3) Cut
Ugh, if I don't turn around maybe the person will get tired of jabbing their bony finger right on my shoulder. Poke. Please leave me alone. Poke. For the love of English, will you stop! Poke.
The poking stopped and I breathed evenly. Then I heard my name being whispered. I thought my body language made it clear I didn't want to communicate with anyone. It's not that I'm being a witch, I just don't want to answer all the inevitable questions. I could not deal with anything right now. Poke.
I looked at the clock. I still had twenty minutes left in class. I did not want to be poked for the whole time. As it is, I probably have a nice finger sized bruise on my shoulder. Poke. I turn around to give the death stare.
Jessica looked apoplectic and shoved the papers at me. I look down and muttered sorry. I take the papers and pass them ahead. How lame am I? Jessica hasn't wanted to talk to me in three months. Why did I think today would be any different? I happened to glance down at the paper. Test? Seriously? I forgot we were having a test today. I raise my panicked eyes and saw the teacher staring at me.
I gulp and reach for my pencil. Concentrate. I put my head down and stare at the first question. Nothing. I have nothing to say. I quickly write some lame answer already knowing that I have failed the test. I can hear Jessica clearing her throat behind me and I'm chewing my lip to keep from screaming at her to shut up. I finish the abrupt test and turn it over. The bell rings.
I take my test up to the desk and avoid the teacher's inquisitive eyes. I don't want to explain myself, not now. I am a prepared student. I don't do things like this. I study for tests and generally get great grades. I shuffle behind the other students as they chatter about some of the questions. Jessica and Mike walk ahead of me. Mike notices me lagging behind.
"Hey, Bella, did you think question three was confusing?" Mike turns away from Jessica and smiles at me. I should feel grateful that he is including me in the conversation but I can feel Jessica's scowl. I nod my head and duck in the girl's bathroom.
I go into the first stall and lock the door. I drop my backpack on the floor and it makes a soft thud. I put the toilet seat down and sit heavily. My hands prop up my chin and I concentrate on breathing. The hole in my chest aches throbbing my whole body. I deal with it because I have no other choice.
The toilet flushes. I wait for the girl to finish up. She takes too long at the mirror adjusting her hair. The door opens and another girl walks in. Jessica. They smile at one another. The girl at the mirror is vaguely familiar. I think her name is Sarah.
"Did you see Bella Swan today?" Sarah asks Jessica. Jessica is applying lip balm to her puckered lips. She nods and continues layering her mouth.
Jessica closes the tube and fluffs her hair. "Yeah, I just had English with her." Jessica starts running her fingers through her hair.
"Is she still a zombie?" Sarah mocks and smoothes out her eyebrows.
"She's definitely overreacting about the whole thing. Edward left, what? Like, three or four months ago." Jessica struggles with an errant hair.
"I would die if a perfect guy like that, totally, rejected me." Sarah sympathized. She closed her bag and shrugged it on her shoulder.
I could feel the hole engorging in my chest.
"She really needs to get a grip. He's gone now probably dating some hot girl in his new school. Crap, I'm going to be late." Jessica looks at her watch and they both walk out of the bathroom.
I waited a minute to make sure they were gone. I stumbled out of the stall and leaned my back against the wall. I felt like I couldn't breath. The room was getting fuzzy. I shrank down to the ground and closed my eyes. I do need to get a grip. Everyone around could see that I was losing it. I took out my journal and started writing.
Why does it hurt so much? This loneliness is making me crazy. Of course, I live with Charlie but he's never home. I am truly alone. "Him" had his distractions and I have snobby girls who think they know me. Why did I ever have to discover he was a vampire? My life would be so much simpler if I never knew. Now, I am putting everyone I know in danger. I can never tell. Maybe it's better that the Cullen's left after all I could blow their cover at any time. I want him here so bad. I would give my life to have him with me.
The door opened startling me. My pen made an ugly mark on the paper. Two girls walked in and one stared appalled at me on the floor. I shoved my journal in my backpack and left.
I got home from school and washed the dishes in the sink. There were a couple of plates that had crusty food stuck to them. I took my time scraping the food and filling the sink with soapy water. I occasionally glanced out the window and saw the deep woods fill my backyard. Hmm, I haven't walked the trail in a while. I needed to get out of this house! I'm going stir-crazy. Excited about my new plan I quickly finished the dishes and turned off the water.
I walked to the hooks and put my jacket on. The weather looked colder than this afternoon so I grabbed my mittens. Satisfied that I was as warm as I could get I pocketed my key and went outside.
The grass had turned a dull brown from the dropping temperatures. Maybe I should water the grass but decided against it. I didn't want the water to freeze the blades. I walked to the trail hidden by the overgrown brush. Charlie didn't have time to do any landscaping so our backyard blended pretty well with the encroaching woods. I walked the trail for a couple of minutes and found a baby nest in a small oak tree.
I smiled in delight and went to the nest. I saw four eggs inside cuddled in the twigs. I saw the delicate built of the brown branches perfectly intertwined with one another. Suddenly, I heard a loud squawking noise and looked up just in time to see the mama bird come back to her babies. The deafening noise scared me and I jumped back. I fell backward and my back hit a jagged rock. Owww! I felt the instant pain in my lower back. So much for the adventure.
I stood up slowly and the pain inflamed my whole back. I limped back to the yard. I took tiny steps until I reached the back door. I opened the door slowly and went inside. I felt something sticky on my shirt. I reached back and withdrew blood. Great.
I walked to the mirror in my room and lifted up my shirt. I had a huge gash in my back. Gah! I grabbed a towel and put pressure on my back. I couldn't drive with my back all messed up like this. I walked down to the kitchen and picked up the phone.
The only person I could think of to call was Charlie. I dialed the sheriff station. The receptionist answered and I asked for Charlie.
A second later and Charlie picked up. "Bells?"
"Hi, Dad, I'm sorry to call you at work but I have a cut on my back and it's bleeding a lot." I said and winced when I moved the towel away from the cut. I folded the towel and reapplied the pressure.
"Geez, what happened?" Charlie asked.
"I was walking in the woods on the trail and I tripped. I landed on a rock." I explained. I left out the baby birds.
"Honey, I have to go to Tacoma in a minute. We have a important interview with a suspect." Charlie paused. "I'll call Billy Black. I bet Jake can give you a ride to the hospital." I heard Charlie shuffling something on his desk.
"Okay, hurry Dad, please." I said painfully. My back felt like mini razors were slashing my skin.
"Here we go. Let me give him a call. Hang tight. I'll call you back." Charlie hung up.
I tapped my foot anxiously waiting for the phone to ring again. My back was aching so dreadfully that I didn't care if I had to drag myself to the hospital. I didn't want to drive but if I had to I would.
The phone rang.
I picked it up promptly.
"Bells, he's coming. Give him about ten minutes." Charlie announced.
"Okay, thanks." I breathed heavily into the phone I think I opened the gash even more if that's possible.
"Keep me updated." Charlie said rapidly.
"I will." I promised and I hung up the phone. I went to the cabinet and got another towel. I carefully peeled the blood soaked towel off my back. I held my breath. Resist the urge to smell the blood I told myself.
I grabbed the dark blue towel off the counter top. I put the towel against my back and threw the other towel in the trashcan. It was no good. The blood spattered stains had turned the once white towel an ugly maroon striped mess.
I saw a pair of headlights pulling into the driveway. Jacob. I went to get my backpack from the couch and put it next to me. I was crouching down like an old woman. I didn't care. If I stood straight up my back felt like it was on fire. I heard the car door slam and hurried footsteps came up to my front door. I didn't feel good. My head was getting woozy. I saw an outline of Jacob before my eyes blacked out and knees buckled.