Author's Note: Well, well, well. Look who it is. Judy1998 is back! Hurrah! Miss me? I got so many PMs, asking me where the hell I was and when I was going to update. I never knew fans could be so scary. But I'm back, so I'm forgiven, right? School just ended, and I was trying to enjoy my five days of break I get before summer school. I'm going to be taking two full-year courses over summer, so I probably won't have much time to update. But bear with me, okay? Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
Chapter 27
Bella's Point of View
When my eyes fluttered open, I noticed immediately that I was positioned differently. I remembered collapsing randomly on the bed, but now, I was straightened, and the sheets were over me. There was a cool cloth over my head.
My first thought was: Was Charlie or Renee back? I couldn't help but hope…
The pain in my stomach had reduced a little, and I was able to sit up without much trouble. The cloth dropped to my lap as I looked around my dark room blankly.
It was dark outside. One glance at the clock told me that it was nine o'clock in the evening.
Feeling lousy, I trudged to the bathroom slowly and stepped into the shower. When I came back out, I remembered that I had no pads in the house.
"Stupid idiot," I mumbled. I was about to leave the bathroom when I saw the cabinet doors under the sink slightly open. There was something that was stopping it from closing properly.
Curious, I opened it and found a bunch of pads with different sizes stacked neatly inside. I frowned. Who had bought these?
Still, I took one and put it on before heading toward the medicine cabinet. I wonder…
Sure enough, my usual bottle of menstrual painkillers had been replaced as well. I took two pills and downed it with water from the sink.
I felt much better now that I'd taken a shower. But I was a bit hungry…
The living room had been cleaned spotlessly. The entire house was lighted brightly, and there were sounds coming from the kitchen. I walked into the room and blinked to see a familiar, petite figure stirring something in a pot.
"Alice?"
Alice whirled around. "Bella! How are you feeling?"
"Better," I said, still surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Psh," she scoffed. "How can I not be here when my best friend is sick?"
Slowly, I sat down on the dining table and watched as she continued to stir, then add salt into the pot. "Since when do you cook?"
She grinned. "I don't. But what can I do? I can't exactly get you fast food when you're running a temperature of exactly one-oh-two. So I called Esme and asked her how to cook chicken soup. I'm not good at improvising when it comes to cooking, but I excel at following instructions."
She turned off the stove, then transferred the soup to a bowl. She placed it in front of me and handed me a spoon. "I'm pretty sure it's edible. Even I can't mess up Esme's recipe." She sat down next to me. "Eat up."
Tentatively, I ate a mouthful of the soup. It was really good. The warmth comforted me and warmed me up.
"I hope I'm not poisoning you," Alice prompted.
I smiled. "It's really good, Alice. Thank you."
Her face relaxed into a relieved smile. "Thank goodness. I think this is the first time I got something edible out of my cooking skills."
I laughed once. "Thanks for the pads and the pills, by the way."
"Oh, I didn't buy them," Alice said casually. She paused, then said, "Edward did."
I choked on my soup. When I could finally speak, I blurted out, "What?"
"You may recall that he stopped by earlier to see why you ditched school," she said. "He realized you were on your period and was having serious cramps, so he decided to leave like you told him to. He couldn't exactly stay and help you through that, can he? Instead, he called me up, ordered me to get ready in ten minutes, and practically dragged me here without telling me what was going on. He'd stopped by the grocery to get you those items, and told me to take care of you. End of story."
I was probably very red. "Oh, God… I'm sorry, Alice."
Alice shook her head. "Don't be. You have to start accepting help instead of keeping it inside. Even with your parents, you never let us try to talk to them or try to comfort you. Are you going to deny help even when you're deathly ill too?"
I stared into my bowl.
"At first, I thought Edward was a fool to listen to you," she continued. "You know, about you ordering him to leave when you were obviously sick. But then, I realized he was only respecting your privacy as a woman…and I know he's worried even now, wondering if you were worse than before. By dragging his sister to your house almost forcibly means something, Bella. It means he cares for you almost obsessively…and even when he's not able to care for you personally, he's making sure that there's someone else doing it for him."
I felt a lump in my throat as I recalled his worried expression earlier. I ate another mouthful to force the lump down.
Alice sighed. "I was so worried. I don't think it was just the cramps; you were stressed out over Charlie and Renee, and then about Edward…"
"I'm sorry, Alice," I murmured. "Thanks for being here for me."
She scoffed dramatically. "Well, at least you know."
I smiled slightly. "Do I have a lot of work to make up?"
Alice looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure. Your teachers were very surprised when you weren't there." Her face hardened. "Oh, speaking of school, I need to tell you something."
"Mm?"
"You know that drug dog that was supposed to patrol school today?" she asked. "Well, he did, and he found a couple bags of crack in someone's locker."
I looked up, startled. "Whose locker?"
Alice fixed her stare onto me. "Yours."
I blinked, stunned.
There was a long pause as she studied me carefully.
"A-Alice…" I stuttered. "I…"
"I know what you're going to say," Alice said, interrupting me. "That you weren't taking drugs. But what can I do? The dog found cocaine in your locker…and none other than Charlie Swan witnessed this."
I couldn't breathe. "But…Alice! I swear-"
"Shh," Alice said soothingly. "I know. I know you aren't taking them. I know you're stressed out over your parents fighting and Edward, but I know you're not desperate enough to start taking drugs. I know. But never mind that. What matters is this: Who would plant those in your locker?"
I shook my head slowly in denial. "I don't…"
Alice sighed. "It was huge today. Charlie demanded to know whose locker it was, and then, when he found out it was yours, he went so pale. I thought he was going to faint. The entire school is in confusion because…well, you can't blame them. Isabella Swan, the most logical, reasonable, intelligent person in the entire school…no one hates her…and then, you 'go and do drugs'." She made quotations with her fingers.
"What…" I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. "What happened? How did… I don't know how…"
"You weren't at school today. I mean, you left right after homeroom, before the drug dog even got there. So, of course, it looked doubly suspicious, like: Why was she trying to hide? Honestly, your disappearance was bad timing, but I guess I can't really blame you for it. You can't control when to have your cramps and when to stop.
"I can't speak for the rest of the school," Alice said. "But I think some of your teachers still trust you, and some are a bit skeptical. As for the students…well, it isn't pretty. They've turned on you almost immediately.
"But Edward and Emmett and Jasper and Rosalie and me, of course, we believe you. We know you would never take drugs. You disapprove of drinking or smoking, so why would you do those things yourself? We're on your side, except…we don't know how to prove everyone wrong."
I had tears in my eyes. "What about…Charlie?"
"He…" Alice looked troubled. "Ah… He… We were trying to convince him that it wasn't possible…but I don't think he believed us."
My breath came out in a devastated sob.
"Don't get me wrong, Bella," she said quickly. "He didn't look angry or anything. I think it's more like he feels like it's his fault rather than it being yours. He probably feels like if he and Renee hadn't fought so much, you wouldn't have cracked up and gone ahead to take drugs…"
"So my own father won't trust me?"
"Well, I…pretty much, yeah," Alice said, biting her lip. "The news is all over town. It's…it's pretty bad."
"Who is it?"
Alice hesitated. "I…I don't know. I was under the impression that everyone loved you and respected you, so I don't know who would go ahead and plant crack in your locker to frame you. But I have my hunches."
"Tell me," I said in a low, demanding voice. "Who would ruin my reputation? Who would hate me so much that they would try to frame me?"
Alice studied me. "Who else would it be? Someone who has been jealous of your relationship with Edward, enough to go ahead and try to separate you two. Someone who has claimed him as 'hers'."
I stared at her in disbelief. "You don't mean…"
"Yes, Bella," Alice said in a hard voice. "I think it's time you saw that Tanya Denali is not all you think she is."
"Tanya?" I repeated incredulously. "You're still not on about-"
"Yes, I am!" Alice yelled suddenly. "You have to see it! Just forget the so-called 'friendship' that you guys seem to have, alright? Just see, for once. You can't deny that everything about her is suspicious! I mean, she wanted Edward. And you were in the way. She could see that he loved you, and knew that you were going to be trouble for her. So what did she do? She separated you two by forcing you to fight with him!"
"Alice-"
"And then, she decides that it won't be enough, since everyone is on your side. She was the one who framed you with the crack in your locker, Bella. Face it. She planned this from the very beginning. She befriended you to throw you off so you can never suspect her, and she completed what she meant to do by turning everyone from you."
The horrible thing was, as soon as Alice spelled everything out, it all made sense. There always had been something about Tanya that hadn't been right. Her secretive past that she didn't like to talk about…the story Charlie had told me about her in Seattle with the drugs… It all fit.
I shook my head, trying to find some sort of objection. The Tanya I knew wouldn't do that…
"Admit it," Alice snapped. "She's toyed with you. And now that she's got everyone on her side, she'll kick you out of the school, and away from Edward. And Edward won't be able to do a thing."
I couldn't deny it any longer. Everything just came rushing out, and I burst into tears. I just sat there, crying in despair, mourning over everything that I'd lost because of my stupid trust toward someone who hadn't even been a friend.
Alice's expression softened. "The truth is harsh, but I had to make you see it. Do you see it now?"
I couldn't even nod. I was unable to control my crying. Maybe it was my currently crazy hormones assisting my tear ducts, because I couldn't stop.
Tanya Denali… She had cost me so much. My reputation, my trust in myself, my trust in others, and, of course, him. Edward. She'd caused me to lose my Edward.
I realized my mistake, but it was too late. I was already ten steps behind she was. She was going to end up with Edward and leave me broken and helpless, unable to function.
AN: And Tanya strikes again! Don't you just wanna slap her silly? Leave me lots of reviews, please!
