Chapter Five: The Truth Behind the Mask (EPOV)
Bella's last words haunted me as I made my way back home. The sadness on her face as she said it was heartbreaking. There was something about Bella Swan. She had secrets, and for some reason I didn't completely understand, I wanted to know all those secrets. I wanted to be someone she could tell them too. But I could also see that she didn't trust easily, and that she wanted no pity. Whatever her secrets were, she seemed determined to keep them to herself.
Bella was special. Since the first moment I saw her in the cafeteria, I knew there was something different about her. She looked so…innocent. Her brown eyes searching the cafeteria, her teeth lightly chewing on her bottom lip. She was wearing makeup, but very little. Her clothes were casual. You could tell she didn't care about impressing others. And by the time her eyes landed on me, I knew I wanted to talk to her, to get to know her. But she was hard to crack. She had her secrets, and she wasn't going to give them up any time soon.
By the time I pulled into the driveway at my house, the rain had almost entirely let up. There was a light sprinkle falling as I walked slowly from my car to the house. I let myself in quietly, trying not to wake up anyone, but there was a pixie waiting for me as soon as I turned around.
"Did you have fun at Bella's house?" She asked, trying to remain innocent.
"Yes, I suppose so." I answered simply as I hung up my hoodie.
"What did you guys do?" She asked as she followed me into the kitchen.
"We played 20 questions and talked about random things. Why are you so curious?" I asked, turning around and eyeing her curiously.
She shrugged. "I like Bella. She seems like a sweet girl. I can definitely see us being best friends." She said simply. "And…I could also see you two being very, very close." She wiggled her eyebrows.
"Alice, stop. I just met the girl."
"So?" She said immediately. "I met Jasper at Emmett's birthday party. We were dating and saying I love you by the end of the night."
I rolled my eyes. "That's just because you and Jasper are strange." I smiled at her sarcastically.
She groaned. "Edward, trust me on this! You know I can just…sense things. And right now, I'm sensing that you and Bella could be good for each other. She seems like she needs…a friend."
For the first time since I got home that night, I looked at Alice seriously. "You get that feeling too?" I asked quietly.
She looked sad. "Bella seems like she has some problems that she is not dealing with. And she needs to deal with them or else it's going to eat her up inside."
"Well then, we just need to be there for her. I don't want to force her into talking. Let's just wait until she comes to us." I said simply.
Alice sighed. "Fine. We'll do this your way. But if it doesn't work, I'm going to have an intervention." Alice said firmly.
I laughed. "Yes. Ma'am." I saluted her.
She laughed with me. "Goodnight, Eddie."
"Night, Pix."
The next morning, Alice decided that we should go out to eat at a restaurant that she had seen the day before for breakfast. I agreed to go, deciding that I didn't feel like sitting around all morning.
Alice and I sat in a booth, chatting about mindless things while were waiting for our food. I was sipping on some coffee while Alice was slowly drinking her orange juice while trying to steal sips of coffee from my cup. Just as we started to talk about why coffee was not good for someone with as much energy as her, we heard the little bell on the door of the restaurant jingle. I looked up to recognize Jessica and Lauren, two girls from school who sat at our lunch table.
Lauren practically lit up when she saw that we were there, and she and Jessica quickly made their way over to our table.
"Edward, Alice! Hi!" Lauren said much too enthusiastically for my taste.
"Hi, Jessica. Lauren." I said, nodding at each of them while Alice waved casually.
Without even asking us, they sat down next to us, Jessica sliding in with Alice while Lauren slid in next to me. I cringed.
"So, how was your first day at Forks High School?" Lauren asked with what I guessed she thought was a seductive smile.
"Fine." I answered simply.
Alice nodded. "Yeah. There are some really nice people around here. Like Bella Swan. She was so nice to me." I could see Alice had something up her sleeve, but I didn't comment on it.
Lauren rolled her eyes while Jessica snorted.
"Please. Bella Swan will take any kind of friend she can get." Lauren sneered.
"But Jessica, aren't you friends with her?" Alice asked.
Jessica shrugged. "Her dad's the police chief. I don't want to get on his bad side." She said simply.
"She takes whatever kind of attention she can get." Lauren continued as if Jessica and Alice hadn't spoken.
Jessica nodded in agreement. "She obviously didn't get much attention growing up." Jessica added.
I looked between the two girls curiously. "What do you mean?"
Lauren looked shocked. "You two don't know?" Her eyes widened. You could tell she was excited to gossip. "Well you see, I think we were in, what, like, 5th grade. And for like a week straight, Bella didn't show up to school, but no one knew why. When she came back, the story was that her parents had a mutual divorce. But, we found out like a week later that her mom just walked out." She smiled like this was some great news. "The only thing she left was a note. No phone call, nothing personal. Just picked up her stuff while Bella was at school and her dad was at work and left. She hasn't heard from her since the divorce papers were delivered. And even then, her mom never communicated with them in person. She had her lawyer take care of everything." She concluded with a self satisfied smirk on her face.
"I'm confused. If you're not friends with Bella, how do you know all this is true?" I asked, not wanting to believe that this happened.
Lauren smiled. "My dad was her dad's lawyer. Charlie had to tell my dad the whole truth. And I just happened to be in the next room while they were talking about everything." She acted proud about this, like it was a good thing. I felt disgusted.
Alice looked very sad as she looked back and forth between Lauren and Jessica.
"Poor Bella. That's so sad."
Jessica shrugged. "She'll take attention anywhere she can get it." She rolled her eyes.
"Pick up order for Mallory?" The clerk at the desk yelled.
"That's us." Lauren said as she stood up. "See you two later!" She said with a smile and a wink as she walked away.
Alice and I didn't say anything as the two girls got up and left. We didn't say anything as the waitress brought us our food. We were quiet as we ate, both of us realizing that we now had an idea as to why Bella was the way she was. She didn't like anyone to take care of her because she never had her mother to take care of her. But what about Chief Swan? The girls didn't really say anything negative to them about Bella's father.
I was still contemplating this as I heard the cling of the bell again. I looked up to see Bella herself walk in and going straight up to the counter and sitting on the bar stool. I nudged Alice under the table and nodded in Bella's direction. Alice and I both watched Bella from where we sat, not wanting to alert to our presence.
"Hey sweetie." The older waitress said as she walked over to Bella with a large coffee in her hands. She set it in front of Bella along with two creams and two sugars. "You okay?"
Bella sighed and nodded. "Yeah, just a long night, I suppose." She started to dump the cream and sugar into her cup.
"The storm keep you up?" The lady asked as she prepared other drinks for other customers.
Bella shrugged. "No, I was fine during the storm actually." Bella answered. I could see her blush from where I was sitting. "I just had an awful night after that. I couldn't sleep."
The woman leaned forward and patted Bella's head. "Why don't you take the day off, then?"
Bella shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Just let me get some coffee in my system and I'll be fine."
"Isabella Swan. The least you are going to do is taking a half day. I won't dock you any money. You work too much, kiddo."
Bella sighed. "Fine. But this is the last time, Joan. I feel guilty."
The woman, Joan, laughed. "You're off at noon. Get started whenever."
I watched as Bella smiled and stood up. She pulled of her jacket to reveal the waitressing outfit that everyone else who worked here was wearing.
"I'm all ready. I'll just keep my coffee here." Bella smiled as she took another sip. "Where do you want me at?"
I watched as Joan looked around, her eyes landing on my table.
Alice and I both looked at each other and acted as if we were deep in conversation.
"Take that table over there. Just check what they need and then give them their check when their ready."
"Alice." I whispered. "Do not mention anything about what Lauren and Jess told us."
Alice rolled her eyes. "Duh."
"Hey you two." Bella said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Need anything?"
"Hey, Bella!" Alice said with a huge smile. "You work here?"
Bella nodded. "Mhmm. I've been working here since the day I turned 16. Joan has a soft spot for me."
I smiled at her, realizing that this girl had could easily make people develop a soft spot for her. She was lovely, but she didn't even realize how lovely she was.
I smiled at her, purposely trying to charm her. I watched as her face got red and she looked at her hands.
"So Bella. How was the rest of your night last night?" I asked, even though I already knew.
Bella looked anywhere but at me. "Fine. I fell asleep right after you left."
I looked at her incredulously. "Really? Because you look really tired."
She smiled a very fake looking smile. "No, I'm fine. I just didn't put any makeup on today." She said simply.
Before I could call her out on her lie, the bell to the restaurant clanged again as a new set of customers walked in.
"I got to go. I'll talk to you guys later though." She said with a smile.
"Yes, I'm going to text you when you get out of work. Because you are coming to dinner tonight at my house."
Bella cocked an eyebrow. "I am?" She sounded hesitant.
"Yes you are. I already asked my mom this morning. She can't wait to meet you."Alice said.
I looked over at Alice. "You did?" Alice smiled at me.
"You sleep in very late, Edward. Mom and I made dad breakfast and cleaned the kitchen before you got up." She looked back at Bella. "I'll pick you up personally at 2. See you then."
Bella shook her head. "I couldn't. I don't want to impose on your family."
I shook my head. "Trust me, you wouldn't be. My mother enjoys nothing more than cooking for people. She'll love you."
Bella still looked reluctant, but then she shrugged. "Ok. But I can just walk there, you don't have to-"
"I'll be there at 2." Alice said again with a smile.
Bella giggled. "Okay, fine. I'll see you then."
And with that, she turned and walked to the table that was two down from us where the new customers sat.
"Hi, Welcome to the Joan's. Can I get you something to drink?"