Chapter 7: I Would Die to Kill You

Bella's POV:

I walked through the metal-rimmed glass doors of the cafeteria and was immediately sucked into the chaos of the shoving crowd of hungry students. My muscles recoiled in pain as they shoved and pushed against me, hitting my nerves near my wounds. I flinched as I escaped the crowd, and got in line for lunch. When I came to the front of the line, I decided to just grab a soda, since I really wasn't that hungry. By the time I exited the line, the crowd had died down, and I could clearly see the groups occupying the tables as I scanned the cafeteria.

One table, the closest, was taken by none other than the sluts….and the players. I rolled my eyes as the sluts seemed to dissolve around the main attraction...Edward Cullen.

There was no one in this world I hated as much as Edward Cullen.

His tousled bronze hair was a must for some girls when it was coupled with his intoxicating green eyes. Or, that's what I've heard. He had a medium build, and a good amount of muscle. He was a cold, heartless, monster. Once, in 8th grade, he borrowed a pencil, and said "Thanks, kid," and then turned back to talking to his sluts. My reaction was shocked, but at the same time, not surprised. As far as I was concerned, I didn't exist in Edward Cullen's universe. And as far as I was concerned, I was okay with that.

A girl with strawberry blonde hair giggled as she sat, straddling his lap. I looked away as she held his full attention. I did not want to watch them going at it. My eyes passed by the jock table, where Emmett McCarty was telling some loud joke, and all of the guys were laughing loudly with him. The cheerleaders giggled from the edge of the group. Emmett McCarty was the town hero, his dad had some rich, fancy job, and he got everything he wanted. He was huge and had muscles for days, and black curly hair.

My eyes scanned the rest of the cafeteria, and landed on a table where a bunch of snobby-looking girls sat. These were the theater-queens. And the leader: Alice Brandon. She was a piece of work. She was an idol for fashion at our school—hell, in the entire state. She had all of the new lines and designs before they even came out, and she paraded around with her nose in the air and her steps long and angelic, almost like skipping—or a Tennessee Walking Horse. Her form was tiny, and her short, black hair stuck out in all directions. Sometimes, the way she moved, combined with her facial appearance, reminded me of a pixie.

I rolled my eyes and looked away from the performance the girl was giving her friends, and that's when I spotted the table in the far corner of the cafeteria, occupied by a couple of dark-looking people, and none other than the infamous Jasper Whitlock. Of all the people in this damn school, I think I accepted Jasper the most. We were close friends when we were younger, but we separated some time ago, when he chose to run with a different crowd. I still remember his hateful words that day...

Jasper had heart, I had to admit that. But if someone were to look at him in the state he was in now, they would think the complete opposite. His tangled blond hair hung in his dark, dilated eyes, and I could see the dark circles under those eyes clearly, as if they were permanently etched into his skin forever. Every once and a while he would let out a cough. But even from this far away, I knew Jasper Whitlock was nothing less than high. Hell, the entire school knew it. Jasper was the best drug dealer for miles. Even the teachers knew Jasper Whitlock was high. But for Jasper Whitlock, it was a damn fucking party. For Jasper Whitlock, it was life.

After all of this time, I realized I was standing in the middle of the cafeteria absentmindedly. Sighing, I turned around to walk out of the building, when my body collided with something hard. I yelped as my muscles recoiled in pain, and I stumbled backwards. I managed to keep myself from falling over...but I couldn't say as much for the other person who collided with the linoleum floor. The next thing I heard was a high pitched shriek, alerting everyone in the cafeteria of the situation. It also alerted me of who I had knocked on their ass.

Rosalie Hale.

"That was uncalled for." I said, referring to her screech, as I glared at the girl sitting on the ground. Rosalie Hale was nonetheless of perfection, perfect curves, clothes, cheerleader, blonde hair and all. Speaking of cheerleading and the slutty outfits they wear, she was wearing hers. Lovely. She picked herself up off the floor and glared at me, pushing her long blonde locks out of her sea-blue eyes.

"What was uncalled for was you in the fucking way!" she hissed. Everyone in the cafeteria was silently watching us, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasper and his buddies get up from their table, silently drifting towards the exit.

"Can you not see with your fake hair in the way?" I asked, cocking one of my eyebrows. Her eyes narrowed as she took a step towards me, raising her hand to my chest, and pushing me backwards, hard. I flinched and gasped as she hit a bruise. I stumbled backwards, when she reached out and shoved me again, only harder. I stumbled more, before my body hit the ground, and pain surged through me as my bruises, brakes, and scratches were hit. It was like every single one of my marks was re-opening, dousing me in their abyss of hurt. I yelped.

Out of the corner of my eye, Jasper Whitlock froze.

"See this, Bitch." Rosalie sneered, taking my soda and opening it, before turning it upside down and pouring it on me. Oh, fuck no she did not. She laughed, and the entire cafeteria erupted into laughter, until a hand stretched out and forcefully grabbed a hold of Rosalie's arm, pulling her away.

"What the f—" she was cut off as Jasper shoved her to the ground, much like she had to me. Jasper moved towards her, when Edward Cullen ran from his table to our spot in the cafeteria, and punched Jasper in the face. Jasper stumbled backwards, a bit shocked, and probably dizzy from the drugs he was on. Edward approached him, prepared for another punch. Wet and sticky, I jumped up from the ground and yelled out in anger as I jumped up onto Edward's back, latching myself onto him as I repeatedly hit him.

"Get the fuck off!" he yelled. My fingers encircled his neck, my nails digging into his skin. That was when I felt tiny fists pounding on my back, and I screeched in pain. I looked behind me at Alice Brandon who was hitting me with everything she had, when Emmett McCarty ran up and put his hands between us, trying to separate us. Meanwhile, Jasper had steadied himself and ran over to Emmett, tackled him from behind, causing both of them to fall to the ground. Alice ran at my back again and jumped on me, knocking her, Edward, and I to the ground. Rosalie had picked herself up off of the ground and ran over to where Emmett and Jasper were wrestling around on the ground, before she started pulling on Jasper's hair, trying to get him off of Emmett.

I brought my fist up and punched Edward in the face, and flinched as my knuckles took a beating. Alice grabbed a hold of my hair from behind and yanked, causing me to scream out as she jumped on top of me, pinning me to the ground with her tiny form. Emmett had gotten off of the ground and was now tugging on Rosalie, trying to get her off of Jasper.

"Ehem." A voice cleared, and we all froze, and looked up at our principal. We all immediately separated, when Alice jumped up from the ground.

"Oh my god, it was terrible, Mr. Tanner!" she said, putting on an Oscar-winning act as she put her hand to her forehead. "They attacked me!"

"Come with me, all of you." Mr. Tanner said as he turned around. Alice grinned. "You too, Miss Brandon." He said, and her smile disappeared. We all frowned as we made our way to the principal's office.

"Proceed." Mr. Tanner grumbled, sitting down in his huge swivel chair behind his fancy desk. Everyone was completely silent.

"It was all Hale's fault!" Jasper yelled, breaking the silence. Suddenly, the entire room was thrown into a spinning chaos of accusations.

"Screw that! You almost hit a girl!" Edward yelled at Jasper.

"She pushed Swan to the ground and dumped soda on her!" Emmet yelled at Edward.

"Because she knocked Hale over!" Alice screamed.

"It's fucking Swan's fault!" Rosalie screamed, narrowing her eyes at me.

"This is bullshit. Hale's fat ass was in the way." I said, smirking. Her expression turned shocked, and her head went backwards a bit.

"You whore!" she screamed, jumping up from her seat and making a lung for me. In one fluid movement, McCarty's arm stuck out and held her back.

"Get off of me you whale!" She screamed at him, hitting his arm. He let go, just when I jumped up from my chair and tackled Rosalie to the ground. I pinned her down, brought my arm back. It snapped forward and punched her in the face. Blood started to trickle from her nose, and she screamed, when the security guard ran in and grabbed me, pulling me off of her. I whimpered as his huge hand enclosed around my bruised arm, and clamped my teeth shut as he pushed me against the wall, and silence was once again restored in the room.

"This is ridiculous!" Mr. Tanner said, rubbing his forehead. We all sat in silent tension, awaiting our judgment. "Get out of here," he finally said, "I need to think of a punishment for you all. But for the rest of the day, you are all suspended. Come see me in my office tomorrow."

Without a backward glance, I ripped away from the security guard's death grip and stomped out the door. The ice cold wind hit my face fiercely as I pushed open the glass doors of the office and walked out onto the wet pavement and into the parking lot, the dampness on the sidewalk leaking through the soles of my shoes. The rain poured down in big drops, but it was a light rain. It wasn't the quick, fierce rain of a storm. The pitter-pattering of the raindrops hitting the sidewalk replenished me, soothing my anger. As they hit the cement, the smell of rain immersed the air around me, and I took in a deep breath as I continued for my car.

Behind me, I could hear the office doors opening again.

"Nice car, emo bitch!" I heard Rosalie yell at me from behind. Without a backward glance, I raised my hand and flipped her off.

The ride home was silent. My radio was completely turned off, which was a rare occasion. And as my car pulled up to the front of my house, I turned off my car and stared out the rain-doused windshield and into the cloudy sky. I wouldn't cry. It wasn't me, because I needed to be strong. If I wasn't strong, I wouldn't make it through this.

I tugged at the handle of my Mustang and stepped out into the downpour of the storm. I didn't bother protecting myself from the rain, and soon my hair and clothes were completely soaked as I headed towards the front door. My shoes slopped through the light puddles, the water splashing around me and soaking the bottoms of my jeans. When I finally made it to the porch, I yanked the door open and walked inside.

What surprised me to see was Charlie standing there.

It was, what, 12:45? Why was he home now?

"Bella...why don't you have...a seat." He said, giving my soaking figure a glance over. I rolled my eyes and sat down, indifferent. "Well, I'm going away for a couple weeks, they are sending me to help with an investigation…." He said, and I continued to stare at him with indifference. Okay, so he was leaving for a couple weeks. Big deal. I was waiting for the freaking punch line.

"...and you'll be staying with Mr. and Mrs. Cullen."

I froze. No, wait, I think my mouth dropped open, and then I froze.

"You mean, Edward Cullen's parents?" I asked. "As in, staying in the same house as Edward Cullen?" I asked in disbelief. He looked at me hesitantly.

"Well, yes."

"Why? What have I ever done?" I yelled, jumping up from my seat. My chair knocked over, hitting the ground with a loud bang.

"They are good friends of mine and they agreed to take care of you. They said some other kids will be staying there as well as their parents all have things going on."

"Why can't I just stay here, alone?" I asked. But then I froze, thinking of being here alone, and Jacob coming and going whenever he pleased. That scenario didn't seem very enthusiastic.

"Because, it's too long a time. You're only 17, for Christ's sake, Bella! Pack your bags, you're heading over there tonight."

There was nothing in this world I hated more than Edward Cullen—scratch that.

There was nothing in this world I hated more than living with Edward Cullen.