CHAPTER 8 | THROUGH AND THROUGH

EPOV_

One of the first major lessons I learned from Aro was that "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent." He instilled that in me through and through, and it's a pillar for much of how I carry myself today. I will relinquish that ability to no one, and I damn sure wasn't about to start today. So, if Newton wants to fight, I'm prepared for that. Another major lesson I learned during my time in Italy was Krav Maga, and I can guarantee he's not prepared for this.

I head butt Mike, and he falls to the ground. His head snaps up toward the girl he was talking to. She cackles and walks off, disappearing into the newly formed crowd. "No! Lindsay, wait!" She was gone. Mike was furious. Perfect. He rushes to his feet, and walks back up to me.

"You asshole! You know what? I'm gonna fuck you up worse than I did two years ago!" He states while backing up, preparing to swing, I suppose.

"Do it," I set down the beer, "I am begging you, wholeheartedly, to throw this first punch. Do it. Fucker." I egg him on.

"Alright, that's it." He throws a right hook, aiming at my face. Dumb move. I deflect his punch with my left arm and nail him in the face. Hard. "Shit!" He yells, covering his now bleeding nose. "C'mon, Newton. It's just like two years ago," I order.

"Okay, now you're gonna get it Cullen!" He then attempts to leg sweep me—very poorly might I add—and leaves his torso unguarded as he looks down. Boom! I offer him a healthy punch to the throat. This isn't even a fight. He screams, grasping his Adam's apple.

"Motherfucker!" He squeals, voice raspy. "You wanna kick, huh?" I yell, "Let me show you how it's done." I assume a standard kickboxing stance and execute kicks to his head and ribcage, effectively forcing him to tumble over.

"Fucking ouch!" He pants out, falling on all fours. His heavy breathing and half-bloody face tells me he's almost at his limit.

I notice Mike's hand thrusting toward my direction. But it wasn't a punch. It was... sand? Really? As I brush off, he tries to spit a bloody loogey at me. You useless little shit. Fuming, I just stand there, looking down at a clearly frightened Mike. "You," I pause, "are such a bitch."

"F-fuck you!" He charges at me with all of his might. Big mistake.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. I take on a defensive stance, and brace myself for the contact. Once he was about a foot away from me, I grab him under the arm and flip him. I hear a bone crack as he thuds onto my knee and then to the ground. I'd forgotten about the crowd, but they remind me of their presence with all of their gasps, laughs and squeals."Ahhhh!" He cries out, arching his back away from the sand. Yep, he's definitely shattered something.

"Cullen, you bastard!" He stumbles up, looking broken the entire time, and slaps my cheek. "Who's the bitch now?" He questions, smug. I kinda feel bad for the guy. Kinda. I chuckle lightly before nearly taking his jaw off. He was out cold. "You tell me," I reply.

Feeling like I'd relayed my message, I pick up my beers and start to walk away. However, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. After watching all of that, all the crowd did was laugh, yell or cheer. I turn and walk back over to Mike to help him up because he seemed to be having a lot of trouble doing so on his own and surely no one was going helping him. I know the feeling all too well. I bet that doesn't feel too good huh, Mike?

Once he'd finally gotten up, I help him brush off, give him a bottled water and a towel to clean up. He finally regains his bearings, and notices that everyone present is laughing at him and insulting him. "Come on guys," I start to silence and shoo, "the shows over."

"Fuck all of you," He flips off the whole crowd, "especially you." He said, aiming the gesture at me.

"Whatever, man," I say laughing at him, putting both of my hands up in defeat. "But hey, don't say I've never done anything for you."

"Oh yeah, thank you oh so gracious Mr. Cullen for kicking my ass. I'm so grateful," I chuckle at his sarcasm.

"Heads up," I say nodding at the crowd behind him, eight football players quickly emerge from it. They look pissed. "Newton," one of the offensive linemen booms, "we are so tired of putting up with your shit!"

"Look... guys... Can't we-" Mike starts, but is interrupted when another guy tosses him over his shoulder. "We'll take it from here, Edward," he pats my shoulder, then they all migrate to the deserted side of the beach. "Take it easy on him, guys," I walk back over to the boys, who were jumping and laughing at what just took place. "Dude!" Emmet boomed, "that was the most awesome shit I've seen this year!"

"Yeah man!" Jasper slaps me five, agreeing with Emmett. "That was fucking revenge! He shouldn't bother anyone for a while," he pats my back.

"Dude, this is so worth celebrating! We need to party. Sucks we have to wait till this weekend to really get it out of our systems." Hm, that sounds interesting. "This weekend?" I question.

"Yeah man, we only have one more week of summer left. We have to go out of it with a bang! Therefore.. You, Emmet and I are hosting this huge party at my place Saturday night before we go back to school Monday," he smiles.

"Its gonna be like a mix of homecoming and MTV Spring Break," Emmett adds.

"It sounds fun, I'm actually really psyched!" It's genuinely touching to finally feel as if I belong. My time in Italy has taught me scores of lessons, and made me realize the frivolousness of much of what I found important a few years back. Sure, popularity is fun and all, but it's things like building relationships—such as my relationship with Audrey, or my boys—that I find the most rewarding. Spending time with people that are conducive to your flow of positivity and overall just make you happy. That's what counts. All of the other crap is just icing on the cake.

"Good. And there's guest rooms for both of you if you guys have to uh, stay the night," Jasper winks. We all guffawed in amusement. Of course, in all that learning you realize that you must have a little fun every now and then!

I will see to it that senior year is going to be kick ass. Through and through.

BPOV_

"Can I help you?" says McHotass. Yes. Yes you can. You can take off those tight little— Oh shit, you just got caught! Snap out of it!

"You're right, we're moving way too fast, get away from me," I spout and hop up, nearly sprinting back to Ali as fast as I could. Wait, what the fuck did I just say? We're moving too fast? Who the f-? I quickly sit down and look for a disguise.

I pull my straw hat and my big black shades from my tote. McHotass will never find me! "Bella, are you okay?" Alice asks.

"Yeah fine never better are you okay? I'm fine, I'm absolutely perf," I word vomit.

"Aw, I'm sorry," she says, probably completely aware of what just happened because she's my spirit animal. "For what? That I didn't get to touch him?"

"Well, that and that you didn't get to meet him." She's right. I got that close and he still has no idea who I am. "Alice, I have to meet him," I smolder. Wow, I feel so desperate. I usually never get this worked up about any man. But he's not just any man. He is a hunk of sex. "That makes the two of us," She mumbles whilst staring in his direction.

"Woah now, damn it!" I snap. He's mine. MINE.

"Oh, I don't want him. I mean, I do want him, but you called dibs. However, I'm talking about that hunk he's talking to. I want HIM," she points at Jasper Whitlock."Oh, Jasper," I say, and she nods her head almost maniacally. She's right, the boy has come quite a long way since freshman year. Sure, he was cute then, but now he's pretty much sex on legs. He literally transformed from a cute, pubescent boy next door to a young, buff Matthew McConaughey.

Emmett was there too, but he's always been a prize. Rose has tried many-a-time to score that boy, but he's more elusive than a crooked criminal. The sight of these three men together is almost overwhelming. I try to speak in order to break my concentration. "Mm, Jasper is really hot too," I add, both of us staring at the group like a couple of predators.

Al licks her lips, and closes her eyes before allowing La-La land take over. "Jasper. Oh, Jasper!" She enthuses. She was in her own little world.

"Alice."

"Yeah, baby," she moaned. Okay, that's enough.

"Alice!" Her eyes shoot open and she snaps her head to me. Did that really just happen? "Sorry," she looks down sheepishly, blushing. "Hey, where'd they go?" I look up to find my three beauties gone from their original spot. Strange.

"I miss him already." This girl is psycho. "Alice, you are bat-shit crazy," Who was I to talk? Honestly, I'm crazy too, through and through. The things I would do-

"Hey guys," Rose returns and sits. "Oh, hey babe!" Alice yells before drinking a sip of water, "what's up?" she asks, screwing the top back on her bottle.

"Did you guys here about Jasper Whitlock's party this Saturday?"

"JASPER!?" Oh, Alice.

"Yes, Jasper."

"Oh, JASPER!" She spouts lustfully. Rose stares at Alice for a while and then looks at me, asking a silent question. I close my eyes and nod resignedly.

"Oh.."

"Yeah.."

"Well," Rose continues,"party! We have to go. It's supposed to be awesome."

"Of course we're going," Alice exclaims,"BOOZE, and I'm going to make that boy fall so deeply in love with me."

"Oh yeah? How do you know that, Al?" Rose and I giggle. "Because, I'm psychic, duh! I've told you bitches this before, but you guys never believe me!"

"We believe you Alice," Rose states in all seriousness. "Really?" She smiles brightly. "No!" We burst out into laughter.

"Anyway, this provides us with a beautiful opportunity for us to formally meet McHotass, Jasper and Emmett, so we'll go to the party, meet the guys and... let fate guide us from there."

"Sounds like a great plan, Bella! Let's do it," Alice cheers, "I'm gonna go grab us some martinis." She hops up and runs off to the bar. I love that girl.

"Hey Rose," I start, "what's that extremely sexy guy's name? The one with Emmett and Jasper. He has a really nice butt.. And everything else.." I'm trying to play it cool. Is it working? "I'm honestly not sure," she responds, "but when I was over at the bar, literally ALL of the other girls were ogling and eye-fucking him. He is hot, you better claim your man, Bells." Shit! Competition. But there's not that many girls that could have a chance too, right? We're like the crème de la crème. "Thanks for the heads up, babe. I will make sure his ass is all mine. And his penis... But I mean that in the least slutty way possible." We both laugh hysterically. "And you must be preparing to leap on Emmett, right?"

"Yep, he is going to be mine. Emmett. Oh, EMMETT!" she moans. Oh, shit. I stare at Rose wide-eyed. "What?" She smirks.

"Please do not pull an Alice on me." We both laugh.

"I'm kidding! But it's quite fun imagining the debauchery that is bound to happen. Sucks that we have to wait 'til the weekend."

"At least you bitches know the guys you're going to be fucking soon. I don't even know his name!" I can't imagine shouting his name while he fucks me. Unfair. "Bells, you need to start pursuing him. Fast. Or he'll end up fucking that whore, Lauren or some other sloot.." I gag at that possibility.

"Oh my god, you're right! There is no way that whore is taking my man!"

"She will if you don't take him first. I'm sorry to say it, but he is up for grabs right now. And he seems to be what everybody's grabbing for.." She was right. He is up for grabs.. Not in my book. A plan began to form in my head.

"Rose, let's make a plan." I start detailing with her, when Alice runs back over to us, squealing like a giddy third grader. "Oh my god! Jasper Whitlock just totally personally invited us to his party!" Rose high-fives Alice. "I was at the bar, when he bumped into me and we started talking," she was almost crying hysterically. "He's so hot," she falls to the sand and buries her face in a beach towel. Okay, now she is crying. Tears of joy I presume. We pick her up and sit beside her, "Alice, snap out of it! What else?" Rose holds her by the shoulders.

"Rose, Emmett intimidates me, he's so freaking sexy. And Bella, I checked out McHotass up close and my god. HIS EYES ARE GOLDEN." I can't help but laugh internally at her release of all of this emotion. It was hilarious. She's literally in tears, explaining how hot the boys are. I love my life. Rose and I hug her and we all just begin to cackle our little hearts out.

"So, Bella, what's the plan?" Rose laughs.

"I was thinking. Makeovers before the party, arrive fashionably late. Make them a little jealous and then we'll go from there." I smile.

"That sounds like a pretty good outline," Alice smiles, "but its not going to be as easy as it sounds.." Right. This is going to be a shit show if we don't play our cards right. Saturday, we'll be the definition of hot girl army, and will come prepared to stake our claim. That boy is mine.

Bring it on, bitches!

A/N: Chapter 9 coming soon!