6. Stupid Idea.
...
Why I went to class I wasn't quite sure. It was a rather stupid idea. I still felt close to tears and it didn't help that the majorityof my Bio class had just witnessed my seemingly unprovoked attack on Laurent and felt like they had to run a play by play for anyone who missed it, oblivious to the fact that I was in the room.
There was also the matter of my non-existent lab partner. I had sat at the back of the room, alone, carrying out the class work by myself for the majority of the last month. My lab partner had been Jess but she hadn't been regularly attending school for awhile. Her empty seat was a steady reminder of what had just happened.
At least now I understood her reason for acting out. Laurent. I hated him so much for what he had done to my friend, for how he lied, making her out to be something she wasn't, for hurting Mike both physically and emotionally. I knew Laurent was lying, I didn't care what James said about hearing only one story. Jess was one of my closest friends and she had no reason to lie to me and I believed her entirely.
Laurent had destroyed their relationship and their livelihoods in the process. I knew that Jess hadn't been with Mike yet, she hadn't been with anyone. Laurent stole that from her and Mike. It was something she had planned to share with Mike before she started acting out, she rang me one night after a date they had and told me how she was ready. That night we went to a party and the next week she was absent form school. She had been so happy when they had started dating several months ago. She had had a crush on Mike for years and when he finally plucked up the courage to ask her out, she was ecstatic. She would ring me religiously sharing with me all the sweet things he had done, what he said to her. It used to drive me insane, all the gooey, lovey dovey-ness. What I would give to go back to those days.
I was also angry with James, not just for suggesting that Jess may have lied to me, but also because he didn't do anything to help Mike, or even stop the fight. He just stood there and then he acted as if I was being crazy, like I had embarrassed him. It felt like he hadn't even cared, that I hadn't been told earth shattering news by my best friend. He didn't seem at all shocked at the accusation I had thrown at Laurent. He completely disregarded it and me in the process. It had hurt, I needed someone to turn to, someone to tell me how to fix things. Someone to hold me and tell me it will be fine. Instead he told me to; quote "cut the crap."
I groaned internally. Thankfully Mr Banner hadn't made it to class yet, so I pressed my forehead to the table and closed my eyes, I tried unsuccessfully to mentally block out everyone around me and ignore the drama that was unfolding in my head.
"Is this seat taken?" I got such as shock I nearly toppled off my chair. Edward was leaning against the table and was grinning at my reaction. I blushed. Every girl in the room had turn to look in our direction. But for the first time since I walked in the room it wasn't at me. It was at Edward and I could see why. He looked like a god. He was wearing a collared black shirt and dark denim jeans; his bronze hair was in an artful disarray. But the most striking thing about Edward besides his amazing crooked grin was his green eyes. They were specked with gold and animated with expression. I realised I had forgotten to breathe.
"I guess not." I sighed, letting out my breath in a gush and moved my books to give him room. He sat down and turned to me, but before he could say anything Mr Banner entered the room slamming the door behind making most of the class jump, including myself. Another near incident with the chair had Edward silently chuckling again. I gave him an evil stare but it made him shake even harder.
"Sorry I'm late class. I had some administration details to deal with. I'm glad to see you found your way to class Mr. Cullen." Mr Banner said as he walked around handing out today's experiment instructions and equipment. It looked like we would be working with chemical reactions today. Edward began setting up the Bunsen burner and the beakers.
"So why are you sitting all alone?" He asked turning his entire body in my direction smiling. "Are all the guys too scared of James to sit by you?"
"Apparently not all of them." I stated sarcastically, his face dropped. "Sorry that's not fair. I'm just in a bad mood. I don't usually sit by myself...well actually I do... I mean for the last month I have." God I couldn't string two sentences together.
"And why is that?" He continued to smile his crooked smile.
"Jess used to be my lab partner; she hasn't been at school in a while."
"No I meant why are you in a bad mood?" He corrected.
"Actually they are one in the same." I replied sombrely. Why am I telling him this?
"You're in a bad mood because of Jess?"
"Perceptive aren't we?" More sarcasm. "Sorry." I mumbled. He chuckled.
"Is she the reason you were upset at lunch too?" I didn't answer. "Don't want to talk about it?" He asked as he reached across me to grab a container of sodium chloride brushing my arm in the process. My heart leaped. Why was he having this effect on me?
I smiled appreciatively. "Not really, no." He gave me another smile, one of understanding and continued in silence. I was the one to break it this time.
"I never thanked you for the ride home last night and for before, with James and I'm sorry for how he reacted." It all came out in a blur and I wasn't sure I had made any sense. He was chuckling again, causing me to blush. I stuck out my tongue which didn't help the chuckling situation and caused me to blush a deeper shade of red, as I realised how immature I was being.
"That's ok, I'm sorry I wasn't much company on the journey home." He ducked his head in mock shame causing me to smile. "And the thing with your boyfriend, James, was it? It's understandable, I would be protective and jealous if you were my girlfriend and another man had his hands on you." My heart skipped a beat when he emphasized, "my girlfriend".
"So why were you late?" I asked, curious, he had left the cafeteria early if I remembered clearly . I also wanted to change the subject. I hoped he hadn't noticed I was blushing.
"Got lost." He answered sheepishly ducking his head. Now I had the chance to laugh at him. But I didn't really feel like it. There wasn't a reason to be happy right now and I couldn't find the energy. Edward probably thought I was being rude as we continued out the rest of the exercise in silence. I kept catching him staring in my direction, every time our eyes met, he smiled, dazzling me and causing me to blush in the process. I would look quickly out the class window hoping to hide my embarrassing reaction. That's when something caught my eye. Mike and Jess were outside. Why is she at school? I thought. They looked like they were arguing and Jess was definately crying.
"Um, Mr Banner?" I called out putting up my hand and leaping out of my chair in the process.
"Yes Miss Swan?" He replied not looking up from his book.
"May I be excused to the bathroom?" Edward looked at me confused and concerned.
"If you deem it necessary, come and get a hall pass." He motioned me forward still not looking up from his book. I grabbed the pass like it was a lifesaver and rushed from the room.
When will it end?
....
When I walked out of class I stepped into another form of hell. Jess was standing only meters from Mike screaming at him. "Get the fuck away from me!" She held out her hands at arm's length and with every step he took forward she took two back.
"Please stop Jess; I'm just trying to help." Mike pleaded. His face showed the wounds of this morning but weren't as bad as I had thought they had been. He unsuccessfully tried to get closer to her while holding his hands in the air, palms up. Like the bad guys do in movies when they were trying to show the cops they aren't dangerous. But Mike wasn't the bad guy.
Jess just kept shaking her head. "Don't come any closer Mike I mean it!" Neither of them had noticed me and I remained quiet assessing the situation. What was she doing and why was she here?
Mike looked lost, beaten, exhausted and close to tears. He just stared at Jess as she stared back at him. Jess was in full blown hysterics as she started to rip the bandages from her arms, and then she did something that made me feel sick. She dropped to her knees grabbing at her arms, taking her fingers and scratching along her newest wounds. They opened up and began to bleed again. A scream caught in my throat. Mike was at her side in an instance and this time she didn't fight back, she went limp. He picked her up in his arms and carried her towards the bathroom.
I stood frozen against the wall as Mike walked past cradling her. Without looking up he whispered into her hair. "Go back to class Bella, there's nothing we can do." He was right, the damage was done. Jess was broken. Telling me why hadn't allowed us to fix the situation. In actuality I had probably made things worse. I watched them go feeling utterly helpless. My best friend was crying out for help and I couldn't do anything. She was right I couldn't make it go away, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even protect her. I had forced her to spill her secret, promising a release. I had failed her.
I ran back to class and took my seat next to Edward. He looked at me concerned and I realized I was probably turning blue. It felt like I hadn't taken a breath since I left. I stared down at the table and exhaled slowly, trying to stop my hands from shaking as I picked up a beaker to continue with the experiment. I felt a warm hand on mine stopping me in the process of crushing the breaker with my hand.
"Bella are you ok. You look like you just witnessed someone die." Edward murmured lifting my chin with the palm of his free hand cupping my cheek. Tears began to spill endlessly as the truth of what he had just said hit home. It was like I had just witnessed someone die. Two people actually, both Mike and Jess were being killed slowly, because of Laurent. I began to shake, on the verge of a major breakdown.
My world is falling apart. I screamed internally. I instantly felt horrible, my world was doing nothing. Jess's world on the other hand was and had been falling to pieces for a while now. And all I could do was watch those pieces fall while Mike and I ran around trying to collect them in the hopes of piecing her together again. All the Kings horses and all the Kings Men. The thought made me groan out loud.
"Do you want to leave the room?" Edward was worried. I nodded too afraid to speak; worried that if my lips parted the silent scream that racked my body might escape. I tried to get up from my seat but the room began to spin, I clutched at the table hopelessly as everything went black.
A/N - please R&R an let me know what you think. And I will add more chapters if you want them. I was thinking of doing an outtake of the fight between Jess and Mike from Mikes POV - to describe what he is going through. Let me know if I should do it :)