Chapter Twelve

Bella

This turned out to be just the beginning of my nightmare. When I went back to school after the weekend the story of my "behaviour" at my birthday party was hot news. Somehow Lauren had heard a rumour about what supposedly happened at the party and was busy telling everyone who would listen, which was almost everyone. The girls all thought I was crazy to two-time Edward even for his brother and everyone was scandalised at how I had betrayed my best friend Alice Cullen. The boys thought I was an easy lay and the girls all thought I was after anything in trousers, or out!

The people in Forks blamed me for losing their doctor who had been very popular and I knew Charlie had a hard time from the gossip mongers who delighted in comparing me to my flighty mother! Angela was the only one who bothered to ask for my side of the story and that's how I found out Lauren had heard the story from Alice who she overheard talking to Rose when she met her and Emmett in the school parking lot the day they left Forks. So the Cullens were all in on the lie!

After this I kept to myself, even Jake got nowhere and he would have been allowed to visit, Charlie liked him anyway. I kept my head down but rumours, not only the one story, flew about as to why the Cullens left and for a couple of months people watched to see if I were pregnant. When he found out this was the last straw for Charlie and I was sent back to Renee and Phil who were now living in Florida.

"I can't hold my head up in this town with you here Isabella. I was so proud and excited when you moved back, I told everyone what a great kid you were and now I'm seen as the gullible fool. Maybe around people like your mother that kind of behaviour is tolerated but not here in Forks."

I didn't bother defending myself, I was tired of trying, so I just packed my things handed Charlie the keys of the old red truck and flew back to my mum and Phil.

Their house was small and usually crowded with other baseball players and I kept to my room as much as possible. I'd learned my lesson the hard way, trust no one. Several of Phil's younger friends showed their interest but I ignored them until they got the message.

"Bella you can't hide away for ever. For heaven's sake you made a terrible mistake but you've learned from it. Luckily no one here knows what you did so you can make a fresh start."

"I don't want a fresh start. I didn't do anything"

I didn't like to tell her that Phil's friends were only too aware of my "past reputation". He had told them one night at a party when he was drunk and they saw me as easy, until they met with my response which was short and pithy!

I finished school without putting in too much effort, my drive and determination had been severely hit by the lack of faith both my parents seemed to have in me. As I sat night after night alone in my room the bitterness and anger hardened against the Cullens. Why they had lied I had no idea, I'd never done anything to hurt any of them but they had damaged me, ruined my life, and I just couldn't get over that.

I worked after school and weekends for the money to go to college and had enough to take me to San Francisco far from everyone I knew. I intended to make the most of the opportunities when I got there, I wasn't interested in relationships, they just led to trouble in my experience. Renee and Phil weren't exactly sorry to see me go, I think they preferred to live alone and entertain their friends without a daughter cramping their style and although Charlie and I spoke occasionally we never got back to where we had been before the Cullens came along. He started seeing Harry's wife a few months after Harry's death and they got married pretty quickly but I made excuses not to go to the wedding and he didn't push it.

College was going well although I still didn't put in as much effort as I should have, just enough for me to get decent grades. My enthusiasm for life had leaked away and it was an effort to bother at all but if I didn't then the Cullens had won and I had just enough spark left to find that unacceptable. A few weeks after Charlie and Sue got married a box arrived from Forks containing all the odd bits I'd left behind when I moved back with Renee. Most of it was really rubbish, he needn't have bothered but at the bottom were the still wrapped presents from Carlisle and Esme, which went straight in the garbage joined by one from Rosalie and Alice's. The truck radio I'd destroyed ripping it out and I'd thrown that in the trash the day after Carlisle's visit. Then I saw the present from Jasper, the one that had proved so damning when Charlie found it. I was amazed he hadn't disposed of it or maybe he'd forgotten the reason for my leaving, at least the details.

I still felt bitter about the way they had manipulated me and the passage of time hadn't softened the pain. I hesitated, my hand over the bin then withdrew it. Was I stupid enough to believe it contained anything? I really wanted to know if it had been a plant or if Jasper had been innocent of any involvement in the 'plot' to ruin my reputation. I made myself a strong coffee and sat at my desk pushing my laptop and text books to one side then pulled the tape from the paper loosening the gift tag too which fell to the floor. Leaving it there I unwrapped the paper with trembling fingers knowing what to expect but still hoping that I was wrong. Inside was a plain white box, no markings at all. So it was all a joke, all part of the great show the Cullens had put on especially for me. No doubt the box would prove to be empty or at best contain a slip of paper with some rude remark." Ever been had?" Or "Bet you didn't expect this!" Oh well I'd gone this far so why not finish it now.

I lifted the lid from the box and inside was indeed a slip of paper but it was wrapped around a silver bracelet bearing four charms. I lifted it up feeling so relieved, Jasper hadn't been in on the plot after all. The charms were so pretty and I put the bracelet on unfolding the slip of paper to read the words written on it and as I did so I found a small carved wooden swan. Two presents then!

"Dearest Bella, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for any problems I caused between you and Edward. Happy Birthday.

Jasper

P.S. I asked Emmett to give this to you so Edward wouldn't suspect anything.

I turned the box over and saw more writing on the bottom, a different hand had added this and I put it to the light to read the tiny letters,

"Bella, I'm not sure I'm doing right but I think something is wrong. If I'm right then you'll know and if so I'm leave you a puzzle to unlock if you wish. I think it might lead to understanding at least."

There was no signature and I couldn't tell who had written it, the only thing I knew was that it hadn't been Jasper or Edward. The only person who had touched the gift according to Jasper was Emmett. Was this puzzle something to do with him? I was intrigued for a few seconds before I dropped the box onto the desk, why was I bothering? Hadn't I learned my lesson even now? I looked at the bracelet and touched the clasp but something stopped me taking it off. It would be a constant reminder that I been betrayed by the Cullens. It didn't make me feel any better, in fact it made me more bitter still, especially knowing Emmett had been in on it, he was the one who had put the gift in the truck, the gift Carlisle knew about but I didn't.

I rubbed the scar on my arm, the place Jasper had sucked out James venom. That's the way I always thought about it, not James bite but Jasper saving my human life for me. Now I thought about it certain things came to mind. I'd since broken my other arm, cut myself numerous times and bruised it every few weeks but this arm, I'd knocked it, cut it, bruised it but every time the marks had disappeared almost immediately.

Did it mean that a little of James venom remained in the tissues, enough to cause rapid healing? It seemed a bizarre thought but then anything vampiric did. All I knew was that I never wanted to meet any of the Cullens again and this rather strange healing property helped me avoid clinics and hospitals. With other injuries I often suffered the pain rather than risk bumping into Carlisle again because I wasn't sure I could control my anger even now. Luckily I hadn't been really sick in ages, not since they left as a matter of fact. Not even colds and flu, it was strange but then maybe I finally got lucky.