Chapter 15: Departure
B POV
It's Friday the 15th, Edward and I leave tomorrow to go to Spokane for the concert. We are leaving town bright and early to get over there in time to drop our stuff off at his buddy's house we were staying at and then go to the concert later that night. We should be driving back on Sunday.
To say I'm nervous is an understatement. I packed and repacked everything in my bag last night. I wasn't paying attention to the teacher's lectures because I was distracted by my own thoughts.
Due to being wrapped up in my thoughts I didn't see my self-proclaimed enemy zone in on me while I was in the hallway.
I stood at my locker to drop some books off when a hand grabs the back of my arm, hard, and spins me around.
"What did I tell you about Edward Cullen?" Tanya hisses at me. "I warned you not to go near him and now I hear you're going on a little side trip with him?"
I jerk my arm out of her grasp, the last thing I like to be is cornered.
"It's none of your business." I snap at her, slamming my locker shut and walking off in the opposite direction. She jumps in front of me and slams her hand into the locker to stop me from moving forward.
"You're damn straight it's my business. Edward is mine, not yours, you fat pig." She grits.
"If he were yours, then he'd be with you." I answer dismissively. I go to move around her but her two sisters are there to block my way.
"He is with me, he just doesn't know it yet." She flicks her wrist. "You have a snowball's chance in hell with him."
"Excuse me?" Edward looms over Tanya. "What did you just say?"
"Oh! Eddie," Tanya giggles nervously. "I was just telling Bella here to have fun on your little...trip."
"Yeah right. I heard what you said Tanya." Edward responds coolly. "Let's get something straight here. First of all, I told you if I ever heard you speak to Bella like that again I would report you for harassment. Second of all, I do not, have not and will never be attracted to you. You are a desperately stupid and an extremely fake twit of a girl who does not even compare to Bella on any level. You trying to belittle and manipulate her is ridiculous and shows how little a person you truly are. And thirdly, as for this trip, Bella is correct in saying that it is none of your business. She and I are friends, and I gave her that ticket because she is a fan of the band that we are going to see. You don't need to know any more than that. Bella," he looks at me, "would you like me to report this incident to a school administrator?"
I shake my head no and squeeze through Tanya and Irina into Edward's side. He wraps an arm around my shoulders, tosses a spiteful glance back at the purple faced Tanya and walks me to my next class.
"You okay?" He asks moving his arm from around me.
"Sure" I look down at my feet. He puts his fingers under my chin and tilts my face up. He sees the doubt in my eyes and the tears starting to form.
"Don't listen to anything she says." He whispers. "I swear to God when she breathes the air comes out crooked." His smile mirrors mine at that comment.
"Thank you." I respond. "I guess I owe you again huh?" I giggle.
"Absolutely not." Edward shakes his head. "I should have done that a long time ago. I guess I always figured there was an end to how far she would go." He shrugs. "But I guess not."
"I gotta get to class." I answer.
"Okay," He goes to turn away and then stops. He looks at me then leans in and leaves a small kiss on my cheek. "I'll see ya after school. You're still coming over to stay the night with Alice so we can leave early right?"
"Yep," I nod as butterflies rocket around in my stomach. I head into the door, this will be another lecture I won't be able to pay attention to.
Charlie carries my bag out to the truck for me before I head off to the Cullens.
"I left a meatloaf in the fridge. The directions are on the top. I'll be back Sunday night. I have my phone and I'll call you when I get to Spokane."
"Okay." He nods. "Stay safe Bells, have a good trip, and have fun!" He waves as I shut the door and roll down the window.
"Bye dad." I call back over the roar of the engine. Alice is waiting for me outside the house, a look of terrifying glee spread across her face.
"Bella!" She launches herself off the porch and toward my truck. "We are going to have so much fun tonight! Rose is coming over too! We are going to have mani/pedi night tonight!"
"Awesome," I nod in mock enthusiasm. I carry my bag up to her room and leave it at the foot of her bed.
"So?" She starts. "What are you taking to Spokane? She eyes my bag."
"Practically everything we bought in Olympia," I roll my eyes.
"Oh good!" Alice claps. "Can we plan your outfit for the concert?"
"I suppose." I lug my bag off the floor and onto the bright green bed.
Alice dives into the bag like a kid dives into a barrel of candy. She takes out all my clothes besides my underwear and bra and lays it out. Rose walks in the door just then.
"Oh yay!" Rose greets, "I didn't miss the outfit planning!" She closes the door and hops over to the bed.
Alice and Rose debate about what would be good in the car versus what would be good for the concert. They both decide comfort for the car trip and sexy hotness for the concert. They pair a coral and purple tube top with lace trimming with a pair of jeans that hug my butt perfectly and the gold gladiator sandals for the concert. For the car ride I'll be wearing khaki shorts and a dark blue boyfriend tee with a nice white cami layered underneath that peekaboo's my cleavage.
After my clothes have been put back in my bag the nail polish is pulled out. We all sit in the family room off the kitchen and watch a Freddie Prince Jr. movie that's on TV. Alice is giving me a French tip manicure and Rose is grabbing us a few diet cokes.
Edward and Emmett walk in from the back slider door, both shirtless, both sweaty, both in basketball shorts.
"I'll get you next time little brother." Emmett huffs as he shuts the door.
"We'll see about that," Edward teases, "Your short game needs some definite work."
"Yeah but my long game is pro." He brags. "Hey ladies!" He notices us sitting there.
I haven't stopped staring at Edward. His boxer briefs are peeking above his basketball shorts. They cling to his waist right below the point where the definite V of his hips begin to lead down to his groin. I swallow back a choke and trace lines up his body. His stomach is muscled, not overly so, but enough for me to want to run my hands over the contours of the lines. His pecs are defined but not bulging and they are all covered in a light sheen of sweat.
He catches me checking him out and tosses me a smile and a wink. I feel my whole face go bright red and avert my eyes to my feet.
"Come here baby," Emmett cat calls as Rose walks into the room with the sodas. "Gimme some of that sugar."
"Eew! Em!" Rose squeals. "You're all sweaty!" She feigns disgust and bats him away as he goes in for a kiss.
"You've never seemed to mind before." He winks. She giggles and gives in, laying a kiss on his lips. His hands start to roam down and she pulls back.
"That's enough." She warns. "Not in front of your siblings and Bella." She gives him another peck on the lips and twists out of his grasp to come join Alice and I on the couch.
"Well, I'm off to take a shower." Emmett announces. "You coming Eddie? Wait, that sounded gay. I mean, Eddie you stay right there until I'm out of the shower."
"Pssh," Edward dismisses. "I'm gonna go take a shower in the guest bathroom. You can use our bathroom."
"Yeah," Emmett agrees. "Cause we're men, straight men who don't ever shower in private together." A giggle escapes my throat as I look up at Edward. He rolls his eyes at Emmett and takes off toward the stairs.
As soon as they're out of earshot Rose starts in on me. 'So, Bella," Rose muses. "What's this I hear that you and Edward shared a kiss in the hallway?" She looks at me, one eyebrow raised.
My mouth drops with an audible half choke. "What?" I manage to say.
"Don't play dumb Bella." Rose scoffs. "It was all Tanya was screaming about to Kate and Irina when I passed them in the hallway earlier today."
"What?" Alice cries. "Bella?"
I look from Alice to Rose and back. "We didn't kiss." I shook my head. "He kissed my cheek when I was upset to try and calm me down. Tanya cornered me in the hall and tried to claim Edward again. He put her in her place and then walked me to class. I was upset and he kissed me on the cheek to calm me down."
"oooOOOO!" They both crescendo together. "Edward and Bella sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-."
"Come on now," I interrupt their little nursery rhyme from kindergarten. "It's not like that."
"Why not?" Rose asks a little peeved. "You have to admit there is something there. Why can't he be interested in you, huh? You're smart, funny, intelligent, a great cook I hear, fun, sweet. You are everything he needs Bella. When will you see that?"
I shake my head. He doesn't need me, he needs a girlfriend who looks good standing next to him, someone who he can show off to the world.
"That's it." Alice stomps her foot. "Bella! We understand what that douchebag Drake did to you and that your self-esteem took a major hit. But, Edward is smitten with you. Now, you listen to me. If you hurt my brother I swear to God, I will hunt you down and torture you with mani/pedi's everyday of your life!" Rose nods her head in agreement and scowls.
I put my hands up in surrender. "Okay, sheesh!" I concede. "Sorry. I'll try to be more objective. I'll admit his actions recently are becoming way more obvious and forward. I'll try to keep an open mind on this trip but I can't promise that by the time we get back anything will have changed."
"Ugh," Alice groans. "If that's as much as we'll get from you fine!"
The argument was given up and we finished watching the movie. We went to bed early as Edward and I were getting an early start in the morning and I didn't want to be sleeping on the ride over.
My phone alarm goes off at 6:30. I dig through the sheets for the annoying bugger and pull myself out of bed. I grab my bag of toiletries, my road trip outfit that I laid out and my towel. I shuffle out to the bathroom and tinker with the faucet until I get the right temperature steaming out of the shower head.
By 7:00 I'm out of the shower, dressed and in the entryway, bag in hand. Edward's bag is sitting on the ground by the doors but he's nowhere in sight.
"Edward," I whisper yell so that I don't wake anyone.
"Right here," He whispers as he comes around the corner. "Do you want to grab something quick here or grab something on the way out of town?"
"I hate fast food breakfast so let's grab something here." I drop my bag and follow him into the kitchen.
We grab some fruit and a couple cereal bars and head out to the car. Soon we're on the open road and I surprise myself because I actually feel comfortable and I'm not panicking.
E POV
"Pop that open for me would you?" I point to the glove compartment. "Hand me out the IPod adapter and the map of Washington please." She hands me the IPod adapter and leans back in to dig through the papers for the map.
I take this opportunity to rake my eyes down her legs. She's wearing mid-thigh length shorts, well at least they are when she's standing. Sitting, they ride up a little farther and my eyes are automatically drawn to that fact. Her skin is smooth and even more pale than her shoulders and arms.
I avert my eyes before she turns back to me with the map.
"Keep it, Navigator Swan." I wink at her. She smiles and sits back in her seat. "I know how to get us across the Sound and to Seattle." I answer. "We have to take a ferry from Kingston to Edmonds, but after that it gets a little fuzzy. I know we have to be on I-90 at some point."
"Umm, yeah." She laughs. "We have to be on I-90 pretty much the entire way." She says as she traces the line on the map.
"Well, let's just worry about getting to the Ferry crossing for now." I plug in my IPod and select the Current Faves playlist. We listen to music for a bit, discussing our favorite songs and artist. She likes pretty much anything but apart from Needtobreathe her favorite artists are Vanessa Carlton, Iron & Wine and Garth Brooks.
"Why Garth Brooks?" I ask.
"Well, my mom went through this country phase. She did nothing but listen to country and dress in Levi's, cowboy boots and cowboy hats. She would go line dancing and everything too. Well, I fell in love with Garth Brooks' music. There was always a deeper message behind his lyrics, he would never outright say what it was that he was trying to get across. At least in my favorite songs."
We finally arrive in Kingston and check the ferry schedule. The next one is scheduled to leave in a half an hour. We get the car registered and drive on board.
"Wanna go look around a little?" I ask.
We inspect the ferry and people watch a little. There's this cute married couple who are heading out on their honeymoon, all smiles and kisses. There's another couple with a few kids, all who have these bright blue eyes filled with fascination and wonder.
The boat finally leaves the dock and we head towards Edmonds. We watch the birds swoop and dive in the air. Bella points out a brown thing floating in the water up ahead. As we near it I notice it's a seal, but it's not moving. I mention that I think it might be dead and as soon as I do, it flips its fins and looks up at us. It plays around a little and then heads north.
It takes us about half an hour to forty minutes to get to Edmonds. We depart of the boat and drive south on I-5 to Seattle. Bella directs us perfectly along the exits and we smoothly enter onto I-90 towards Spokane.
"So," I ask as we exit the greater Seattle area. "What do you miss most about Phoenix?"
"Hmm, the warmth I think." She answers. "I loved being able to walk outside and not be cold. I miss the color brown as well."
"You know," I smile, "Washington isn't all green ferns and vegetation. Once we get out to the basin and plateau area of Washington, there's brown fields and mountains and rock formations. This state is actually really diverse."
"Really?" she asks. "I've only ever seen the Olympic National Rainforest. Everytime I would mention Seattle in Phoenix everyone always had this stigma that the only weather here was rain and snow."
"Well, maybe over on the west coast of Washington sure." I shrug. "But weather on the eastern side of Washington is much drier. Higher elevations, way more sun, colder winters though."
"Hmm," she ponders. "I can't wait to see it."
"But other than the weather and lack of vegetation." I redirect. "Do you miss anything else? Any people? Friends? Boyfriends? Grandparents?"
"Well Grandpa Charles is my only living grandparent and he lives in Port Angeles. I didn't leave any friends in Phoenix and the only idea of a boyfriend that I had was the reason I moved." She audibly snaps her mouth shut like she just said something that would offend me.
"What?" I ask.
"Nothing." She shakes her head.
"No." I deny. "You said that your boyfriend in Phoenix was the reason you moved. Why?" What did that dickhead do to her? This was too suspicious, she came here "broken" as she put it and I get a feeling that he played a huge part in that.
She stares at the passing cars and doesn't speak for a long time. I wait patiently for her to answer, knowing that she just needs some time to collect herself before she delves into this with me.
"His name was Drake." she finally admits. "He was the guy all the girls swooned over. Remind you of anyone?" She gives me a sideways glance.
I take in the weight of the moment. She is finally opening up to me. This amazing, shy, peculiar and beautiful girl is sharing her past with me. The question now, is, did I really want to know? She's been burned, and she just admitted to me that the guy that left her with a broken wing, reminded her of me.
This was definitely going to be harder than I thought.