Chapter 27
You never know where some people will go.

Yeah some people been hurtin' me.

You can tell by look, by the slightest crook.

In the neck or the blink of an eye.

~Constant Conversations- Passion Pit

By the time Thursday rolled around, most of the teachers at Forks high were anxious about the mandatory teachers meeting being held on Friday. They all knew it had to do with the new principal with whom none of them had yet to meet. By the time their lunch hour had rolled around, more teachers were found in the lounge than usual.

"I heard it's an ex-military man." Spoke Mrs. Weber from the science department. "I also heard he was insanely strict."

"I heard he's an ex con. No lie." Demetri looked at his colleagues nervously. "But that can't be true right?"

Bella looked up from her coconut cake and made a face at Demetri. "That's impossible. If you've gone to jail, you can't work anywhere in a school."

Many of the teachers nodded in agreement and a sigh of relief escaped Demetri's lips. "Well that's good because I'm pretty sure an ex con would make a horrible principal."

"Not necessarily." Alice chimed in. "One in three people who are sent to jail are actually innocent of their crimes." She paused and looked at the only teacher with an accent in the room. "At least here in America. What was it like teaching in Chile?" She directed her question at Huilen, a Spanish teacher who grew up in Chile and moved to the states when he was in his twenties.

Huilen smiled at the question and his bright green eyes twinkled. "It was nice. I enjoyed teaching there very much."

"What made you move here?" Alice asked curiously. It was a rare sight to see Huilen in the teacher's lounge as he was similar to Bella. He tended to eat lunch in his classroom and mainly conversed with the only other Spanish teacher at the school.

"My wife's sister moved here with her husband many years ago. After her husband passed, she became very lonely. So my wife and I moved in with her. I do enjoy it here." He admitted with a slight smile. "And we visit Chile every summer so it's like the best of both worlds."

Alice nodded in understanding. "That's really lovely." She took a deep gulp from her beverage and returned to the conversation at hand. "Alright so we've eliminated ex con. But possible military principle seems sketchy. Anyone else heard anything?"

Ms. Mallory, one of the older teachers who'd been teaching at Forks for over 25 years, pursed her lips and stroked her chin in contemplation. "Well, I was chatting with some of the other teachers in the history department, and someone overheard that the man they're bringing in is very important."

"Important?" Demetri queried. "How so?"

Ms Mallory leaned in close, causing everyone at the table to mimic her subconsciously. "I'm talking ex president."

Her words caused mixed responses from all of the teachers in the lounge. Some were excited at the prospect of working with a former president while others were doubtful that someone who could've been as esteemed as a president would stoop so low to be a mere principal.

"That can't be true." Demetri grumbled. "If I were a former president, why would I want to be a principal?"

"Well maybe he likes kids?" Huilen shrugged at the thought. "It does seem silly though. Besides, which president would it even be?"

"Oh my gosh! What if it's Bill Clinton?" Alice voiced ecstatically. "I always liked him."

Demetri grinned and nodded in agreement. "He was cool. Well, aside from that scandal."

"Guys, I doubt it'd be Clinton." Ms. Weber looked at each of her colleagues before speaking again. "What if it's Bush?"

They all gasped comically and looked at her with mock horror. "Don't even make such jokes. He nearly ruined the country. Think of what he would do to the school." Bella grunted, then polished off the last of her cake. "I doubt the school board would allow him to be principal."

"Well I don't know about all of you, but I am looking forward to meeting this new principal." Demetri chimed in.

"Tomorrow's meeting is going to be very interesting." Alice spoke just as the bell rang, ending their lunch hour and interesting debate on who the new principal would be. "Time to teach these hellions"

As the teachers filed out of the lounge and entered the already crowded halls, Alice sidled up beside Bella as she walked to her room, even though her art room was on the other side of the building. "What's up?" Bella asked, wondering why she was being escorted to her classroom.

"You won't believe how many times Aro called me last night." Alice told her as they made their way down the hall. "I called the police but since he's not actually doing anything wrong, they won't help."

Bella frowned at the news. Aro seemed like a disturbed individual and she really hoped that he would leave her friend alone as she didn't deserve such harassment. "What about your sister's husband, the cop?"

Alice made a face of annoyance. "They won a free cruise. I didn't know people actually won those. I thought they were all scams. Regardless, she's gone for the week."

"Well maybe you should change your number." Bella suggested as they made it to her classroom that was already filling up with students.

"That sounds like a good idea." Alice admitted with a small smile. "I think I might do that." She gave her friend a slight hug then scampered off to her own classroom.

Bella taught her classes like normal, but her thoughts were infiltrated by the identity of the new principal and Aro. While Aro wasn't personally her problem, she didn't want any harm to come to her friend. By the time her last class rolled around, she had forgotten about a certain student had made it her mission to 'figure her out'. Bella had just finished passing out an assignment and returned to her desk when she found a hand raised in the air. The hand was connected to Jane. "Yes Jane?"

Instead of shouting across the room, Jane left her seat and sauntered up to the desk. She was holding a manilla envelope and a knowing smile graced her lips. Once the teen reached the desk, she opened the manilla envelope and removed a few pictures and articles printed from a computer. "I finally found out where I recognize you from." Jane spoke softly and laid each of the pictures across the desk while holding on to the articles.

Upon noticing the pictures, Bella blanched and felt her palms grow sweaty. She picked up the picture in the middle and found herself frozen in fear. She was wearing a muddy wedding dress and Jacob was lying on the ground battered and bruised with Edward looming over him. The picture was taken over six years ago, but Bella remembered it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.

Bella did not wish to marry Edward. But he had threatened the life of a boy she cared deeply for. If she did not marry him, she knew that Edward would kill him. He was so rich and powerful that he could easily make it look like an accident and she couldn't risk that.

As she stood at the end of the aisle, on her wedding day, she sent silent prayers that something, anything would happen to save her from wedding the monster beside her. Her prayers were answered when Jacob, soaking wet, burst through the doors screaming. "Bella! No!"

Bella was so stunned that she dropped her bouquet. As Jacob dripped his way down the aisle, he spoke sweet words that took Bella's breath away. She knew Edward was seething beside her, but she couldn't take her eyes away from the boy who had stolen her heart. When he asked her did he love her, all hell broke loose. It happened so fast that if she had blinked, she would've missed it. One moment she was embracing Jacob, the next, Edward was wrenching him from her, much to the shock of their audience. He then proceeded to slam his foot into Jacob's body. Bella watched in horror as Edward attacked the man she loved.

When Edward realized he had lost his cool, he paused in his attack. Jacob took that chance to escape and fled down the aisle. Edward chased after him immediately and Bella watched them leave before following after with dread filling her body. Many of the people who had attended the wedding felt drawn by the fight and rushed to see what would happen next, phones at the ready. They snapped pictures and some even recorded the events that were transpiring. Once everyone had reached the backyard where the men had ended up, they were assaulted by the storm that had not let up for hours. The dreary weather was like a bad omen.

The rain continued to attack the earth, much like Edward against Jacob. Bella cried out when Edward struck Jacob in the jaw. She knew she couldn't just stand on the sidelines and allow them to fight as it seemed as though Edward was hellbent on killing Jacob. So, in her saturated and muddied dress, she kicked off her heels and trudged through the soggy earth until she reached them. She tried to pull Edward off of Jacob but it only angered Edward who retaliated with a slap that left an inflamed handprint across her pale skin.

The slap struck a chord within Jacob who slammed his fist into Edward's nose. The punch threw off Edward's balance and he walked away a few paces to massage his bloody nose.

Bella quickly dropped to her knees to assess the damage done to Jacob. He was still breathing which caused her to breath a sigh of relief. Jacob looked at her fondly and even battered and bruised, she could see the love in his eyes. As she wiped away some blood that was leaking from his nose, she wanted to tell him she loved him. But his eyes changed and she saw the fear flicker through them. Before she could ask what was wrong, her body was suddenly airborne. The startled bride collided with the ground roughly where she rolled a few feet before coming to a stop near a tree. She sat up gingerly and realized she could hear sirens through the storm. Bella didn't get to dwell on the sirens for long when she heard Edward yelling indistinguishable words. Her eyes connected to the large kitchen knife protruding from Jacob's body and she found herself pushing Edward out of her way before tripping over a branch and landing beside Jacob.

"Bella…" Jacob murmured, eyes trying to focus on her but his pupils were dilating and retracting sporadically.

"I'm here." She told him while lifting up one his hands gently and placing it on her cheek.

Jacob weakly ran his thumb across her slap mark that was beginning to fade. "He didn't...get you...right?" By the end of his sentence, Jacob was breathless as though he had run a marathon.

"No. You saved me Jacob." Her words came out thickly and her eyes glazed over with tears threatening to spill across her already wet cheeks.

Jacob sighed and his lips actually tilted up into a very soft smile. "That's...good." His eyes began to flutter and Bella clutched the hand against her cheek tightly.

"No! Jacob! Stay with me!" She screamed then slapped his face lightly.

Jacob jerked from the slap and opened his eyes lazily. "But Bella...I'm so…tired." He told her, eyes drifting closed once more.

"Don't you leave me Jacob! I will never forgive you if you leave me!" Bella sobbed, releasing his hand and cupping his face. "Please don't leave me!"

Jacob coughed and Bella was stricken when she found blood dribbling from his mouth. "I'm so...sorry." He whispered, then closed his eyes for a final time. "Forgive...me."Jacob's voice trailed off and Bella screamed up at the sky as tears of agony flooded down her dirty cheeks.

"Mrs. Black?" Jane called out, waving her hand in front of Bella's face.

Bella snapped back to reality and placed the picture face down on her desk. "So what do you want?" Bella asked quietly.

"What?" Jane asked stupidly.

"What do you want?" Bella reiterated. "You bring me these pictures from years ago and there must be a reason behind it. So what?"

Jane seemed taken aback by Bella's bluntness and even faltered with the articles in her hand. "So you aren't going to deny it? These are you in the pictures?"

Bella nodded slowly. "Yes, those are pictures of me."

Jane smirked. "I knew I recognized you. My dad had these in a box in his room. I must've seen them when I was younger and remembered you.

Bella didn't ask what she wanted to ask. Why did her father save articles about her past. Instead, she repeated her earlier question from before. "What do you want?"

"I've never heard anyone talk about this. Which leads me to believe that no one knows about this." Since Jane didn't phrase it as a question, Bella didn't answer. Bella's lack of response made Jane's eyes narrow. "Is it true?"

"Is what true, Jane?" Bella asked lightly, causing the girl to bristle.

"You've kept this a secret?"

Bella shrugged and stacked the pictures together before handing them back to Jane. "It's not really a secret. I just don't like talking about my past." Bella could tell that her cool demeanor was getting to Jane who was trying desperately to assert her dominance.

"Well what would happen if someone were to leak these photos and articles? It's a small town and word travels fast."

"Word does travel fast." Bella admitted then smiled. "But so what?"

Jane scowled at Bella and clutched the envelope closer to her body. "My father said that if people knew about what happened to you, things would change."

"Then things would change." Bella said with a smile. "Now, if you are finished with your questions, I'm going to have to ask you to return to your seat and complete the assignment."

With a look of indignation, Jane turned from Bella and reclaimed her seat.

After Jane had gone, Bella felt her shoulders sag in relief. Her exterior may have remained cool as a cucumber, but inside she was feeling panicked and scared. One of the reasons she had stayed in Forks was because almost no one knew about the scandal she'd had with Edward. She didn't want to be treated any differently. If people learned about what happened, they would learn about the money that was given to her and Jacob as a 'sorry Edward attacked you, please don't sue the company' bride. She'd remembered when they had first had money. People had come out of the woodwork asking them for money. They had even received death threats from a more deranged group of people who felt that she had wronged Edward. But once they had moved and run out of money, life had returned to normal. She really didn't want things to change but Jane's threat still hung in the air.

A/N: This is the last one I have in reserve! But I have been working on the next couple of chapters. So hopefully y'all won't have to wait too long for another update. Again, if I disappear for long than a couple months, don't be afraid to shoot me a message like: hey, you wanna update? (Sometimes I put writing on the back burner and forget about it.) Thanks for everyone who fav/alert and review. Warms my heart! ^w^