Author Note: Thanks for the great response to this story!
Teasers for guessing the chapter title from New Kids on the Block went to: 2loveybunnies, Midnight Cougar, SassYNoleS, and galaxy69uk. Also kudos to monica03, Taylor9901, dawnhybb, and That'sMzPeachesTYVM for guessing the right band.
Thanks again to moosals for pre-reading. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.
Chapter 25 – Hangin' Tough
It's the last week of classes before finals week, and I'm both excited and nervous. Excited because the semester is almost over, and nervous because I'm still wondering when or if James will confront me about the photos I deleted from his phone.
There's no sign of James on Tuesday, and then Jake graciously agrees to be my bodyguard again on Wednesday morning through lunchtime. Still no sign of James.
On Thursday morning, Jake's old Rabbit dies on the way to his 8am class. Alice is still in bed, but I'm at least awake and showered since I have class at 9:30. He has AAA tow his car to the garage, then sends me an SOS text to meet him there.
"Thanks, Bella, you're a life saver," he smiles as he gets in my car. "Maybe I won't be too late," he frowns, checking the time on his phone.
"I'll drop you off as close to your classroom as I can," I promise.
"We've got a game tonight against William Jewell," he reminds me. "Do you think you'll be able to pick me up afterward?"
"Alice can't do it?" I have a paper due tomorrow for one of my classes, which I really need to finish up.
"No," he shakes his head. "She's got that outing with the student government tonight."
"Oh yeah, I remember now," I nod. "Sure, I can pick you up."
Once my afternoon Astronomy class is over, I go to the Quiet Lounge to finish my paper and then start studying for next week's finals. After getting a bite to eat at The Nosh, I drive to the arena parking lot, so Jake and I don't have a long walk to my car after the game.
I find a couple people I know from class and sit with them during the basketball game. It's tied at 40 going into halftime, which I gather is somewhat of a surprise, since William Jewell is unbeaten and we have already lost three games.
We end up winning 77-74, making the crowd go wild with excitement. Even if I still don't understand the sport, I'm happy that Jake played a great game.
I follow the crowd down to the first floor of the arena and use the ladies room, then find the Tritons' locker room and hang around outside, waiting for Jake to shower and dress. Pulling out my phone, I send him a quick text to let him know where I am.
"How'd you do it?" a male voice asks.
I nearly jump a mile in the air, looking up into the face of James Hunter. I'm surprised that he actually looks more curious than angry.
"How'd you do it?" he repeats when I don't reply.
"Do what?" I ask in confusion.
"You know what! Delete the photos from my phone."
"I don't know what you're talking about," I lie.
"Don't give me that shit. I couldn't find the photos of you and your boyfriend on my phone last week. How'd you delete them?"
"I didn't delete any photos," I lie.
"Maybe not by yourself," he allows, "but Jake must've helped you. Did he steal my phone from the locker room during a practice?"
"How would he be able to steal your phone and do anything to it? You've got it passcode-protected, don't you? If you don't, you're dumber than I thought," I add, hoping it doesn't antagonize him more.
James looks angry for a moment, but then his anger turns to a pensive look. He knows I'm right and that Jake couldn't have just grabbed his phone at some random moment and unlocked it by himself.
"You think you've gotten away with it, huh?" he growls, suddenly grabbing my wrist. "You think you've bested me?"
"Let go of me!" I yell.
"Nobody makes James Hunter look like a fool," he says through clenched teeth, bringing his face closer to mine. Ugh, he's got bad breath, too.
It's relatively quiet in the arena, with most students already gone. There's no one here to save me but me. And so I do what I learned in a self-defense class back in Chicago. Using all of my strength, I bring my knee up, slamming it into James's groin.
"Fuck!" he screams, staggering backwards. "You bitch!"
He lunges for me, but I'm able to duck out of the way. Unfortunately, I'm more or less trapped against the wall and he easily catches up with me. Grabbing my left wrist hard, he slams me into the wall.
"You're gonna pay for that, you fucking bitch!"
"Let go!" I scream. "You're hurting me!"
"James!" a female voice yells out. I turn my head toward the sound. "Get away from her right now!"
"Or what?" he sneers, his grip tightening painfully on my wrist.
"Or I open this door," the beautiful blonde woman says, her hand on the door to the locker room. "You don't want the coaches to overhear and find out what an asshole you are, do you?"
Without even waiting for his reply, she throws the door open. "Emmett!" she yells.
Wearing only his boxers, Jake's friend Emmett appears in the doorway within seconds. "Get the fuck off of her!" he yells, running toward us.
James lets go of my arm to face Emmett, who cocks his right arm back before landing a hard punch to James's mouth. I barely manage to get out of the way before he slams into the wall, then falls to his knees.
"What's going on out here?" a bearded man asks, running out of the locker room.
"Your little assistant was assaulting this woman," the blonde says, pointing to James. "How many times do you have to hear that he's trouble before you guys start to believe it?"
"The bitch assaulted me first!" James whines, cupping his hand over his balls.
"No, she didn't," she argues, turning to the coach. "I saw everything with my own eyes. He had a hold of her wrist before she kneed him."
"You need to work on that aim of yours, Bella," Emmett says, flexing his right hand. "He should've been incapacitated from a knee between the legs."
"My aim was fine," I retort. "I can't help it if the target was so tiny."
"I'm Coach Shaw," the bearded man says, coming over to where I'm cradling my aching wrist in my hand. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"James started accusing me of stealing his phone and then he grabbed me. He wouldn't let go!" I cry, the fear just now starting to manifest, even though I know I'm safe.
"Let me see your wrist," he says gently.
When I show it to him, he pulls my sleeve back, revealing angry red marks in the shape of James's fingers.
"Emmett, please call campus security," he says calmly.
"With pleasure," Emmett growls, heading back into the locker room.
"Are you all right, Ma'am? Do you need to see a medic? I can get you an ice pack."
"I-I think it's Ok," I stutter, flexing my fingers. "Probably gonna bruise."
"Get up," he orders James, pulling him by the arm. The look James gives me is lethal.
"Are you really all right?" the blonde woman asks quietly, motioning for me to step aside.
"Yes," I nod. "Thank you so much for intervening."
She gives me a small smile. "James has gotten away with enough shit because no one would actually do anything about his behavior. I'm Rosalie, by the way — Emmett's girlfriend."
"It's nice to meet you," I reply, doing my best to return her smile. I thought she looked familiar; now I remember seeing her photo in Emmett's room at the frat house.
"Bella!" Jake yells, rushing out of the locker room. "Are you all right? Emmett just told me what happened."
"I'm all right. Thanks to Rosalie and Emmett."
"Do you want to get out of here?" he asks, wrapping an arm around me.
"No!" Rosalie interjects. "Coach Shaw had Emmett call campus security. She's going to tell them her story and maybe that asshole will finally be expelled."
"I'll be right here with you," Jake says, hugging me to him.
A half hour later, I've repeated my story to campus security and lodged a formal complaint against James Hunter. Both Rosalie and Emmett saw him grabbing me and are willing to state as much on the record, and the marks on my wrist confirm it.
All I can do is tell them that I don't know why James thinks I had anything to do with missing photos on his phone. When the idiot pulls his phone out to show them, he unlocks it with his thumb, lending credence to my story that Jake or I couldn't possibly have taken the phone without his knowledge and deleted anything from it. I can tell that the security officer doesn't really believe there were any photos in the first place.
Jake and I walk out to my car with his arm around me protectively. "I shouldn't have asked you to pick me up tonight," he frets.
"No, it-it was probably gonna happen anyway. He would've found me sometime. Maybe he'll actually get in trouble this time?"
"Maybe," he allows. "I guess someone had to be brave enough to file a formal complaint."
"Rosalie didn't exactly give me much of a choice," I point out. I'm not upset though — I'd love to see James gone from UMSL as much as anyone; Edward and I have a whole semester of hiding our relationship ahead of us.
"Can you drive?" Jake asks as we near my car.
"Yes." I roll my eyes. My wrist hurts, but it's my left one and I'm right-handed.
Alice still isn't home when Jake and I arrive. Saying goodnight to him, I undress and get ready for bed, then take a couple of Tylenol for my wrist.
I know I'm going to need to tell Edward about this. He'll see the bruises on my arm when we go out Saturday night, if nothing else. I'm afraid to tell him now, before I see him in class tomorrow, in case he's not able to avoid showing his concern for me. James may actually be lucky if he gets expelled, because if Edward runs into him after this, he just may want to kill him.
"BDE" sends me a text on Saturday afternoon, confirming plans for our date. We couldn't go out Friday night, since there was a big freshmen celebration for reaching the end of our first semester — minus finals, of course. It was cold enough that I was wearing long sleeves, but Alice still saw the bruises on my wrist when I reached for something across the table. She was livid when Jake and I explained what happened; due to our busy schedules, I hadn't had a chance to tell her sooner. Maybe she's the one James should be worried about instead of Edward.
I have no idea what Edward has planned for tonight, just that we are actually going out somewhere. I'm surprised he would risk it, but he promises it'll be fine.
"Brrrr!" I rub my hands together as soon as I slip into Edward's Volvo.
"Were you waiting long?" he asks, his brow furrowed in concern.
"No, only about a minute." I can't help it if I'm a wimp when it comes to the cold.
"I pre-heated your seat for you," he says as he pulls out of the apartment complex.
I smile widely. "You're the best boyfriend."
"I try," he replies, winking at me.
"So where are we going?"
"The restaurant is a bit out of town," he answers vaguely. "I'm not sure you'd know where it is if I tell you, but I heard some of my colleagues talking about it this week. One of them said he and his wife go there every year on their anniversary."
"Sounds nice. Am I dressed Ok?" I'm just wearing leggings and a long sweater since I've been studying all day.
Edward glances over at me. "I'm sure you're fine. You love showing off your legs to me, don't you?"
"I wanted to be comfortable!" I protest. And if it drives him crazy, all the better.
This restaurant really is in the middle of nowhere, as we exit I-44 a few miles past Six Flags then turn north onto a winding two-lane road for several miles. We've barely reached what I would call a town when Edward turns into a parking lot.
Inside, the dining room is homey, with a fireplace along one wall. I feel like I'm in someone's house. The menu is surprisingly large — a mix of pizzas and pastas, along with sandwiches and entrees that really wouldn't be considered Italian at all.
"Even this place uses provel cheese," I mumble to myself, making Edward laugh. I finally settle on salmon, since it's one of the few dishes without the offending processed dairy product.
"Are you sure we're not going to run into one of your colleagues here?" I ask, worried that others may have been inspired by the conversation he overheard.
Edward smiles. "The guy who was looking for recommendations wanted to find a special place to take his wife for her birthday, since it's just a few days before Christmas and gets lost in the shuffle every year."
"So… they shouldn't be coming for another couple of weeks?"
"Exactly," he nods, just as our waitress drops off our salads.
"So," he says, breaking the silence a few minutes later. "I take it you haven't run into James at all this week."
Shit! I'd really wanted to wait until we were back at Edward's house for that discussion, so it didn't ruin our night. "Bella?" he prompts when I don't reply.
"I ran into him Thursday night," I admit. "Jake's car died so I had to pick him up after the basketball game. I was waiting in the arena near the locker rooms when James approached me."
"And?" he presses, eyes wide. "What happened? Why didn't you say something earlier?"
"He asked me how I did it — how I deleted the photos," I reply, ignoring his second question for now. "I denied doing anything, of course. He assumed Jake had stolen his phone from the locker room or something, until I pointed out that Jake wouldn't be able to get by his passcode."
Edward frowns. "How did you guys open his phone?"
"James uses a thumbprint," I explain. "Either Jake or Emmett used his thumb to open it after he passed out. You know, he doesn't seem to have any idea that he passed out that night at the after-game party. It's like he remembered nothing at all once he woke up." Thank god.
"All right, so what happened Thursday? I assume nothing since you didn't text me."
"It's no big deal," I preface my explanation. "James got mad because he looked like a fool and he grabbed my wrist, but—"
"He touched you?" Edward confirms, his nostrils flaring.
A/N: I'll change the title if anyone can think of a better one lol.
So James finally caught up with Bella. She got a good knee in, but Emmett's punch was more successful… And so was Rosalie calling for help! We'll learn next chapter if there will be any justice for James, while Bella has to deal with her boyfriend not freaking out. Moosals was upset with her for not telling Edward right away, though Bella had her reasons.
Next update on Thursday.
For a teaser: An early 80s song played at all the skating rinks and wedding receptions.