A New Dawn
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters. No copyright infringement intended.
The rest is mine.
Chapter Five
As I sat in the stuffy library of Forks High on Wednesday afternoon, Jasper Whitlock and Emmett McCarthy sat two tables away, staring at me.
I could see this out of the corner of my eye but did not look in their direction. Even when I tried to focus on the book, I couldn't as I could feel their eyes on me which made me a little uncomfortable.
What the hell could they possibly want?
To talk, like the others?
Their staring became annoying to the point that I was ready to snap out on them, but I decided against it. They hadn't done anything yet. Maybe they were simply shocked to see me again. I did look different since I'd fled this shit hole.
So, I tried to play nice.
I waited and waited.
Then waited some more, but the staring did not cease.
What the fuck?
I sighed, snapped my book shut, and turned my head to glare at them.
They looked surprised for a moment before regaining composure, looking at me with cold expressions.
You have got to be shitting me.
"What?" I hissed at them, all but ready to cut their balls off, the nerve of those assholes to give me a dirty look.
Slowly, they got up and stalked over to my table.
I think they were trying to intimidate me. It was not working; it only made me angrier.
They each took a seat on either side of me, trying to use this as intimidation also but failing.
I wasn't scared.
I was fuming.
"Bella Swan, right?" Whitlock asked.
"Long time, no see," McCarthy said.
There was nothing friendly in their tones.
"What do you want?" I ground out, gritting my teeth.
Whitlock narrowed his eyes at me, yes narrowed.
You motherfucker, I thought as I glared at him with pure hatred.
"What did you say to Alice?" Whitlock demanded.
"And Rosalie?" questioned McCarthy.
They. Have. Got. To. Be. Fucking. Kidding.
"Excuse me?" I demanded angrily.
"They aren't the same people they were. You had no reason to treat them that way," Whitlock said, and I could tell by the tone in his voice that he actually believed the bullshit he was spewing.
I laughed humorlessly. "Are you kidding me?"
He looked a little taken back, surprised even, but he quickly recovered. "No, I am not kidding you," he hissed.
Hell no!
"You actually think in that sick fucking twisted head of yours that I owe them, owe any of you? I owe none of you anything! Do you have any idea what you morons put me through? Do you? I cried myself to sleep nearly every night because of what you all used to do to me. Humiliated me. Hit me. Poured milk on me in front of the entire school. I had to leave my father, my life, just to get away from you assholes! Fuck you. Fuck all of you," I spat, glaring at the both of them, preparing to get up and leave.
"Hold on a sec, Bella," Emmett said, putting a strong hand on my shoulder and forcing me to stay seated just like he had that day in the cafeteria when Cullen poured milk all over me…
Then I'm not sure what happened.
Something inside me must have finally really snapped then because the next thing I knew, I was on top of Emmett, pounding away at his face as hard as I possibly could, my knees digging hard into the insides of his elbows, pinning his arms to the ground.
I felt hands tugging on me, trying to pry me off.
I heard shouting somewhere in the distance; I think it was the librarian calling for help.
Finally, someone looped a strong arm around my waist and yanked me off.
I was in a blinding rage though. I tried to lunge out of McCarthy's savior's arms back at a bloody Emmett laying on the ground, but whoever it was holding me kept me firmly in place.
The strong arms carried me out of the library and into the deserted hallway.
"Bella, please, calm down!" a familiar voice pleaded.
I realized it was Jake holding me as I thrashed to get out of his grip, but he held strong, never letting me go.
I stopped my fighting and went limp.
Then broke down, sobbing in his arms.
"It's okay, Bells. You're okay," Jake's comforting words drifted to me as I tried to get a grip on myself.
…
I knew there would be consequences for what I had done.
It didn't matter what Emmett or Jasper or any of the others had done to me in the past.
I only worried what Charlie would think of my behavior and what I'd done.
Emmett's father came down to the school as well as Mr. Whitlock.
Luckily, Jake waited with me outside the principal's office.
I expected Charlie to ask me what the hell I was thinking when he got down here, but instead he asked if I was okay.
"Bella, thank god, when they called…I thought something had happened to you," he said, sounding out of breath as he pulled me in for a hug.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Char—Dad, but I—I…umm, you're not mad at me?" I asked, confused and trying to breathe in Charlie's tight hug.
He pulled back, puzzled. "Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you?" he demanded, looking at me as if to judge if I'd gone crazy, after all.
"Well, I…I punched Emmett McCarthy in the face…repeatedly," I gulped.
"Bella," Charlie said sternly, looking me in the eye. "Those boys shouldn't have even been anywhere near you," he said sincerely.
"Besides, Bells, Mrs. Greene said she saw Emmett put his hand on you first," Jake chimed in.
Charlie's eyes went wide. "What?" he demanded, looking at me.
I sighed. "I tried to get up and leave and he put his hand on my shoulder, trying to force me to sit down again."
Charlie turned ten shades of red.
"Umm, Dad, this is Jake. Jake, Dad,' I introduced them as a distraction. "Jake's the one who pulled me off Emmett."
Charlie was still visibly angry, but he said mentioned that he knew Jacob and Jacob's father, Billy.
"What?" I asked, looking at Jake. "You never told me our dads know each other."
"Yeah, they go fishing together. Besides, it never really came up," he shrugged. "They've known each other since high school."
"What? How come I never met him?" I demanded, looking back to Charlie who simply shrugged.
He was too busy eyeing Mr. Whitlock, Jasper, Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy, and Emmett with anger in his eyes.
This wasn't good.
Principal Mallory called us in first, me and Charlie. Jake, unfortunately, had to wait outside with the assholes.
Mrs. McCarthy gave me an apologetic look as we walked past them walked into Principal Greene's office. She felt sorry for me even though I'd bashed her son's face in.
Speaking of which…
I chanced a glance at Emmett who was staring at the floor, his head hung. His nose was bandaged. He had a pretty bad black eye. His lip was busted. A skin-colored bandage was on his left temple.
Whoa. I did that to that burly grizzly bear?
Jasper was sitting like Emmett, looking anywhere except me as he hung his head in . . . shame?
Well, I'd be ashamed, too, especially if my parents were there to rip me a new one.
Mr. Whitlock looked quite angry, but not at me. He was looking at his son with disappointment.
Mostly, Charlie did all the talking with Principal Mallory and I sat there quietly unless asked a direct question.
I looked down and noticed my knuckles were a little bruised. Ouch.
I felt weird, strange.
Was I happy that I'd beaten McCarthy's face into a bloody pulp? Did I feel remorse? Did I stand up for myself or act a bully like they were? Did I do the right thing?
I wasn't sure how I felt...about anything really.
I guess the only way I could describe how I felt right now was . . . numb.
A/N: Hope you guys liked it.
Review?
b2222646-79b3-45ad-bb0d-0100fd07e522
Y2:b2222646-79b3-45ad-bb0d-0100fd07e522