The next several weeks have been extremely challenging. A lot of gossip was bouncing around the pack. Rumors about Mike - he was on house arrest at the time, like I feared, his punishment wasn't quite as severe as he had deserved. I didn't know why things went this way, because Sam didn't find it necessary to let the authorities step in, or if because it was Alice who was the victim of the assault. If it had been a more popular person, one that looked and acted like a La Push local, would things have been taken more seriously? The elders judged Mike on his past, which had been spotless. They took into account that he had been drunk and Alice had been dressed provocatively. It was all bullshit. Mike would walk away from this with a slap on the wrist. The only good thing that came out of it, was the fact that he wouldn't be starting school with us. He had a full year of closely monitored house arrest.
But that wasn't enough to bring Alice out of her declining mood. She barely has left the house. We would be starting our first day of junior high soon, she would have been calling me to go out for school shopping by now. I stopped by a few times a day to check on her, but she didn't speak too much. The whole incident had been too much for her. I wanted to do something, anything to get her mind off of all this. Even if it meant taking a trip to Port Angeles for a shopping day.
Rene still hasn't made an appearance yet, I guess she was just enjoying her break away from the pack. I did worry about her. But this wasn't the first time she has left for an extended amount of time. Charlie was over every day to keep me company. He was furious after hearing details of what happened at the party. He was chief of police here at La Push, he carried a gun on him and reminded me that he wouldn't be afraid to use it, if he ever saw Mike again. It was comforting, but embarrassing.
Today, I found a can of pepper spray sitting on my nightstand. A present from Charlie no doubt. He had always worried about me before this all happened, but now he was going overboard. Still, I decided to carry it with me. I didn't feel as bad as Alice did about this whole thing, but I will admit, I've caught myself in the middle of nightmares about Mike. His tight hold around me. The feeling that I couldn't escape. I felt powerless under his will. I never wanted to feel that way again. Maybe Alice felt the same way. That's why I was determined to talk with her today. To have a real conversation.
I sat across from her, waiting patiently for her to look through the menu, clutched tightly in her little hands. She had been staring intently at it for at least fifteen minutes now. We had only managed to order drinks at this point. I could tell that she was on edge, the way her eyes darted towards the entrance, each time someone new came walking in. Was she worried that Mike would come walking in through the doors?
"Have you decided on something?" Our waitress snipped, her hand on her hip. She was getting impatient. This was probably the third time she came to our table to ask.
Alice peeked at me, nodding a little.
"I'll take a mushroom ravioli please," I said, passing the menu over to her.
"I'll have the same," Alice muttered quietly, doing the same. Her hands trembled slightly as the waitress ripped the menu from her hands. She didn't bother keeping up a friendly demeanor. Her heels clicked as she marched away from her table.
I highly doubted that she would be getting a good tip from either of us.
Alice hated mushrooms, so I couldn't imagine why she would order the same thing I did. Was she really not ready to order? I should have asked for more time. Guilt pricked in my chest. It was hard seeing her like this. She wasn't herself at all. I just don't know if she would ever be the same.
Her blue eyes lingered in front of her, not looking at anything in particular. She seemed deeply in thought. I didn't want to disrupt her, but I had to know what was on her mind. I wanted to find a way to naturally begin this conversation.
"So, how was your day today?" I commented casually.
Alice flinched slightly, her eyes flying up to my face. "Great, how about yours?"
"Pretty boring,"
"Did you get to see Alpha Edward again, I mean since… everything happened?"
There was a pinch in my heart at the thought of him. "A little bit, it's complicated, his pack is stationed in Forks, so he isn't far away, but traveling while trying to keep his own pack in order is a bit of a challenge."
Alice nodded glumly. "At least you found your imprint. I'm sure he will try to find more time to come and see you."
Edward had offered for me to join his pack, but there was no way I could accept. Not while Alice was in this state. I couldn't leave her behind. She needed me around. Not to mention my parents wouldn't approve. Not until I turned eighteen. Then it wasn't up to them anymore. I hoped by that time, Alice would be in a better headspace.
"Honestly, I'm not too concerned with that, I'm more worried about what's going on with you." I said softly.
"I don't know what you mean, I'm perfectly fine." Her weak attempt of a smile wasn't fooling me. She laughed nervously, running her fingers through her dark spikey hair. She never was very good at lying.
"I can see that you aren't fine. Don't bother trying to lie to me Alice."
Her shoulders slumped, casting her eyes out the window. "I just need some time to sort it all out. I'll be fine."
"I can only slightly imagine what you're going through. If Edward and the others didn't show up when they did… well I'd be in the exact same situation…"
"The whole thing is my own stupid fault. You warned me not to get drunk that night. I didn't listen. Now I have paid the price for being an idiot."
"Don't say that. None of this is your fault. This is all on Mike. And if someone is telling you otherwise I'll knock them out." I huffed, folding my arms across my chest.
The image of me fighting anyone, must have been amusing to her. She tilted her head back a little, a genuine smile coming to her face. Her tinkling laugh was a relief to hear. This is the most emotion I've gotten out of her in the past few days.
"Bella the boxer, I'd pay money to see that." She mused.
"Don't count me out, I've been working on some moves."
Alice raised a brow. "Is that so?"
"Yeah, after everything that happened that night, Edward suggested that I do some training. Just a little self defense practice. I don't ever want to feel helpless like that again. I want to take my safety into my own hands. There will be days where Edward won't be around to save me."
Alice nodded, chewing her bottom lip for a moment. She didn't respond right away. The waitress returned with our meals. She practically slung them at us, without so much as a 'enjoy your meal'. I didn't know where her attitude was coming from, but it was beginning to piss me off.
The two of us let it go and began to eat. I watched as Alice picked the mushrooms out and stacked them on her napkin. There was a sour look on her face as she picked her meal apart. I couldn't help but laugh.
"If you don't like mushrooms, why did you order it?"
"To be honest, I wasn't even paying attention. I just ordered whatever you got. I should have known you would pick something slimy and disgusting." She wrinkled her nose.
I rolled my eyes. "It's not disgusting, you just don't have good taste."
She stuck her tongue out at me. "Bite me, Swan."
This was the first glimpse of Alice returning to her normal self. It gave me hope that things would start turning around for her. I didn't want my best friend to be scared of the world. She was always such a bright light in my life. She pulled me out of some dark places. I could never thank her enough for that. When my parents divorced, things were really hard and awkward. But she was there for me. So, I would be there for her.
We ate in silence for a while, I could see she was starting to relax a little more. The trembling in her arms had stopped. She held her head a little higher.
"I think I like the sound of practicing some self defense. Maybe I'll join you."
"That would be great, I usually meet up with Edward and a few members of his pack. Our next training session is this friday. Do you think you can make it?"
Alice shrugged her shoulders. "I don't see why not. I'm not particularly busy these days. But we are going to have to find a time to head back into town and do some more school shopping. I don't think we have nearly enough outfits."
I groaned, letting my head fall back. I wanted to protest, but there was no way I'd have the heart to do that. Not when she was really starting to cheer up. "Alright, how about after we go over the weekend. You can come spend the night if you want."
There was no doubt in my mind that Rene probably still wouldn't be home. And even if she did come back sooner, she loved Alice. She wouldn't mind at all if she stayed over the weekend.
Alice was beaming from ear to ear. "That sounds perfect! I can't wait. I really need to get out of my house. My parents are suffocating me. They barely let me out of their sight. I was lucky they even let me go out tonight with you."
Well, any parent would be highly concerned about their daughter after the traumatic incident Alice went through. She was lucky to have such kind parents. Of course, I couldn't complain about my parents either. Well I couldn't when it came to Charlie. He was a very vigilant and doting father. But Rene, it was a different story. When she was home, it felt like I was the parent. She was a wonderful mother, of course, but she had a complete disregard for responsibilities. I paid the bills, tended the house, made dinner, woke her up in the morning so she didn't miss work; the list of chores was endless. I loved them both. But some days were just a little overwhelming. I've missed out on a lot of things in my early childhood, mostly because of Rene. I held some resentment, but at the end of the day, I understood her. I accepted that she was just the way she was. Take it or leave it. Charlie decided to leave it.
As we ended our meal, the waitress came back, donning a big fake smile on her face as she passed us the check. "I'll just leave this here, for whenever you are ready. Is there anything else I could get you two lovely ladies?"
So now she wanted to be nice. Now that it was time to give her a tip, for all her hard work. The nerve. I felt my blood boiling. My arms started to shake. Heat tumbled down over my body. There was a sensation taking hold of me. I felt like I could rip this woman's face off. I hated her. I wanted to see her die. These thoughts were dark, irrational and not like me. I was never an overly angry person. This temper just seemed to come out of nowhere. I slammed my fists down on the table, knocking over both of our drinks.
"Get lost you bitch," The words poured out of my mouth too fast for me to pull them back. Alice and the waitress stared at me, mouths dropped open. Both were shocked by my outburst.
"Bella, calm down," Alice muttered to me quietly, she reached out to touch my arm. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she felt how hot my skin felt. "We need to get you home."
The waitress openly glared at me. "How rude, I'll have to ask you to pay and leave." Her tone was sour.
At this point I knew something was very wrong, I was sweating profusely, I couldn't calm down. My entire body ached. It felt like I was going to lose my mind. My vision was starting to get blurry.
Quickly, I heard Alice slam down a wad of money, before coming to my side. She slung her arm around me and brought me up to my feet. "I'm so sorry, my friend is ill,"
The waitress snorted, swiping the money to count it out. A smirk came to her face. "Well, enjoy the rest of your day, we hope to see you again soon." She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder, before walking away.
Stupid bitch. Alice probably gave her a sizable tip. Of course she would want our business again. If I was in my right mind, I would have punched her. But Alice had me out of the building fast. I winced as she drugged me along. Pain wrecked my body. We made it halfway through the parking lot before my legs failed me. I couldn't hold my body up to walk. Alice and I tumbled to the ground. She scrambled over to me, moving my hair from my face.
"Bella, please, we need to get you out of here, I think you are about to phase." She begged.
Panic choked me for a moment. No. I wasn't ready for this to start happening. I sucked in several big breaths, getting light headed. My heart was pounding in my chest. I couldn't stop shaking. I didn't want it to happen here, not like this.
"N-no…" I said with tears rolling down my cheeks. I could see there were a few nosey by-standers migrating over to us. I needed to get myself under control and fast.
Alice quickly crawled on top of me, wrapping her arms around me, trying to keep as much of me out of sight as possible. "Hang in there, it's going to be okay." Her words would have soothed me, but with the growing number of eyes on me, I could focus.
Suddenly a familiar voice called out.
"Stand back, there is nothing to see here, kindly keep moving along." It was Jasper. He moved around the crowd that had started.
"Go on, she just isn't feeling well." Emmett grumbled, joining in with Jasper. People already began to disperse. But I couldn't stop my rapid breathing. It was a suffocating feeling. I was having a panic attack.
"Alice, could you please move over a little, so I can tend to Bella?" Edward's voice made my heart flip. I looked up, searching for him, but everything was cloudy. My hand reached out towards the voice.
"Oh, umm… sorry," Alice said, quickly jumping off of me.
The next thing I felt was a pair of strong arms around me. I could tell we were moving quickly now. We weren't going in the direction of my truck, instead we entered a huge black van. Edward lightly placed me on the floor in the back and shut the door behind us. It was dark and quiet. Surprisingly the floor was all carpet. Edward pulled the curtains over the windows. It was a very outdated van, the vintage kind, early sixties. I've always referred to these kinds of vans as hippie vans. A volkswagon. Not the kind of car I would picture an Alpha driving.
I curled into a ball, howling against the agony I was feeling.
"I know my sweet, it should taper off soon, you are doing so well." He spoke softly, stroking my cheeks, wiping my tears away.
His touch was comforting, I clung to that. I reached out, taking his hand. I needed to feel like I wasn't alone in this.
"Why is this happening now?" I grunted, looking up at him.
He watched me with tormented eyes. "Unfortunately a new group of bloodsuckers moved into town. You are the third, that I've watched go through the turn. Just in these last few days."
I felt like I was about to be sick, I quickly turned away from him as my stomach churned. He sensed my discomfort, moving a small basin in front of me, right on time for me to empty my stomach. My nose burned as I puked up my mushroom ravioli. I was so uncomfortable. And on top of that, embarrassed. I can't believe this is happening now.
I groaned, wiping at my mouth. "I'm sorry,"
Edward shook his head. "There is nothing to apologize for my sweet," He gently gathered my hair up in his hands, keeping it from my face.
I was sick for a while, until I couldn't hold onto my consciousness, I slipped into darkness.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you are enjoying the read. Jacob will be making an appearance soon.