Back to the Start
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
Hijacked
It was later in Calculus that Bella overheard the first piece of gossip.
"My money's on the big Indian," someone was saying.
Annoyed, Bella peeked up to see that Tyler, Mike, Austin, and Ben had their heads bent together, deep in conversation.
"Yeah." Mike whispered. "Did you see the size of that Jacob kid? I think he could easily take Cullen down." He sounded almost pleased by the idea. "I mean it's old news that Cullen has been hassling Bella. He deserves a good kick in the rear for that. No girl should have to put up with that shit, you know what I mean?"
Mike Newton suddenly went up in Bella's estimation by ten degrees.
"I don't know." Ben mused. "There's something about Edward. He's always so smug…so confident. I have a feeling he can take care of himself."
Bella glowered in Ben's direction. No wonder Angela had dumped his sorry ass. She was better off without him.
"I'm with Ben." Tyler agreed. "Besides, if that other kid messed Edward up, you know those big brothers of his would get involved."
"Have you been down to La Push lately?" Mike asked. "Lauren and I went to the beach a couple of weeks ago, and believe me, Jacob's friends are all just as big as he is."
"Huh," Tyler said. "Too bad it didn't turn into anything. Guess we'll never know how it would have turned out."
"It didn't look over to me." Austin butted in. "Maybe we will get to see."
Mike looked at Austin in disapproval. "You guys know that this isn't fair on Bella, right? She is caught in the middle of the whole thing."
"Jeez, Newton, chill." Ben rolled his eyes. "You're only rushing to her defence because you've still got a major crush on the girl. Get over it. Bella Swan will never look twice at you."
"Shut up, Cheney." Mike snapped, rising from his seat. "Bella is my friend. I'm just looking out for her. As all of you should be. Girls are not just objects you know."
Ben rolled his eyes at Mike, before turning back to the others. "Anyone in the mood for a bet?"
"Ten on that Jacob kid." Austin said at once.
"Ten on Cullen." Tyler chimed in.
"Ten on Edward." Ben agreed. "What about you, Newton? You in?"
"No." Mike said stubbornly as he walked away.
"Oh, ignore him." Ben said dismissively. He lowered his voice a little. "Hey, do you guys believe what it was really about? You know it might affect the odds."
"I can guess." Tyler muttered, then shot a glance at Bella at the same time as Ben and Austin did.
From their guilty expressions, none of them had realized Bella was within easy hearing distance. They all looked away quickly, shuffling the papers on their desks.
Bella stared over at them resentfully. She had half a mind to march over there and call them out on their bullshit. Mike was the only one who had publicly defended her. It hurt that the other boys were so willing to use her emotional trauma for some stupid bet. In the end, she decided it wasn't worth her time making a scene. It would only add fuel to the gossip, and it was running rampant enough as it was. Putting her head down, she pushed the boys' ignorant remarks to the back of her mind, and concentrated on her work instead.
It was turning into a bad week.
Wherever Bella went, people would stop and stare at her, whispering behind their hands. She knew why. Lauren and Jessica had taken full advantage of the situation by spreading false rumours about her, Jacob, and Edward Cullen. It went around the school like wildfire. Some of the students posted about it on their social media. Bella's trauma was now out in the public domain, but the truth had been twisted by Lauren and Jessica's wicked lies. Instead of the villain, Edward Cullen was now the tragic romantic hero, broken hearted and fighting for the love of the faithless Bella Swan, who spent her time drifting between her Indian lover and the rich boy with the heart of gold.
In the beginning, the more Bella spoke up and tried to defend herself against the fabricated rumours, the more people disbelieved her. The gossip became more salacious. Like a game of Chinese whispers, what started out as one thing, soon turned into another. Before the week was out, she found herself being alienated by almost everyone, while Edward saw a sudden rise in his popularity.
Thankfully, Bella still had a few friends willing to support her-Angela, Mike, Katie, and Eric stuck up for her whenever they could. Sitting with her at lunch, they crowded around her, ignoring the curious stares and whispered comments.
Bella kept all this to herself. Jacob had enough on his mind without her adding to his burden. She told herself the gossip would die down eventually. She just had to be patient and ignore it. Once the other students saw that she remained unaffected by the whole thing, they would soon give up.
The only solace she took from the whole situation was that Edward didn't seem to be enjoying his sudden rise in popularity, either. He couldn't move without some girl or another trying to capture his attention. They clustered around him during lunch, forcing him and Alice to flee the cafeteria so they could get some peace outside. In the halls they flocked around him, walking with him from class to class. His expression was set in a permanent grimace, much to Bella's amusement.
Maybe Lauren and Jessica, in their wicked envy, had done her a favour after all.
So, Bella didn't admit to Jacob how much she was suffering. If he knew that, it would make him feel horrible and he would be afraid to ever leave her, even for the most necessary reasons. So, she put on a brave face, and carried on regardless, holding her head high as she walked the hallways of Forks high flanked by Angela and Mike.
Bella guessed deep down Jacob saw through her, though. He knew her so well. One morning she found a note he had left for her, written the previous night, before he left to patrol:
I'll be back so soon you won't have time to miss me. Look after my heart – I've left it with you.
She cried.
Finally, Saturday rolled around. Bella had a morning shift at Newton's Olympic Outfitters to distract her, until she met up with Jacob in La Push in the afternoon.
Not wanting to be ridiculously early for work, she ate her breakfast slowly, one Cheerio at a time. Then, when she had washed the dishes, she arranged the magnets on the fridge into a perfect line. Maybe she was developing obsessive compulsive disorder or something.
The last two magnets-round black utilitarian pieces that were her favourites because they could hold ten sheets of paper to the fridge without breaking a sweat-did not want to cooperate with her fixation. Their polarities were reversed, every time she tried to line the last one up, the other jumped out of place.
For some reason-impending frustration perhaps-this really aggravated her. Why couldn't they just play nice? Why was nothing in her life going the way she wanted? Not even something as ridiculously inane as this.
Stupid with stubbornness, Bella kept shoving the magnets together as if she were expecting them to give up. She could have flipped one over, but that felt like losing. Finally, exasperation took over and she tore off all the magnets, flinging them all on the counter in a fit of pique.
"There!" She cried aloud. "You've won! Happy now?"
Bella stood in the middle of the kitchen, feeling like an idiot. What was happening at school was getting to her more than she liked to admit. Then, with a weary sigh, she put the magnets back on the fridge, a foot apart.
It was still too early, but she decided she had better get out of the house before the inanimate objects began to bite back.
Yes, she was really, truly, losing it.
When she got to Newton's, Mike was methodically mopping the aisles while his mom arranged a new counter display. There wasn't much left of the fire damage now, only a lingering ashy smell. It seemed that Bella had caught mother and son in the middle of an argument.
"But it's the only time that Eric can go." Mike complained. "You said after – "
"You're just going to have to wait." Mrs. Newton snapped. "You and Eric can think of something else to do. You are not going to Seattle until the police stop whatever it is that is going on there. I know Eric's mother has told him the same thing, so don't act like I'm the bad guy – anyway you have the school dance to look forward to. It should be even more spectacular now that it has been moved to the Cullens mansion. We won't have to use that old marquee in the school grounds. It was so nice of Esme Cullen to take over the running of it. And that huge donation her lovely husband made to the fund, well – "She paused when she caught sight of Bella standing white-faced in the entrance to the store. "Oh, good morning, Bella. You're early."
"What…what was that you said about the Cullens and the d-dance?" Bella stammered.
Karen Newton was the last person anyone would ask for help in an outdoor sports equipment store. Her perfectly highlighted blonde hair was always smoothed into an elegant twist on the back of her neck, her fingernails were polished by professionals, as were her toenails-visible through the high heels that didn't resemble anything Newton's offered on the long row of hiking boots.
"Oh, I thought you would have heard." She simpered, touching the back of her hair as she spoke. "Carlisle Cullen and his wife, Esme, have made a large donation to the town's rebuilding fund. And, not only that, they have offered to host the upcoming auction and dance at their house. Isn't that simply marvellous? So charitable of them."
Mike cringed as his mother rambled on, completely oblivious to Bella's stunned reaction. He sidled over to Bella, handing her the hideous fluorescent orange vest that was an obligatory part of the store's uniform. "I'm sorry about her." He whispered. "She likes to think she's some sort of social climber. She has always been impressed with money and wealth. I'm not like that, though, Bella. I'm on your side."
"Thanks, Mike." Bella said weakly.
"Well…er…." Karen Newton finally seemed to realize she had lost her audience. She frowned, fiddling with a stack of flyers she was arranging by the register.
Bella stopped with one arm in her vest. She knew that look.
"I was going to call." Mrs. Newton continued, her voice rising in pitch. "I don't think we're expecting a ton of business today. Mike and I can probably handle things here. I'm sorry you got up and drove out…"
On a normal day, Bella would have been ecstatic with this turn of events. Today…not so much.
"Okay." She sighed in defeat. Her shoulders slumped. How was she going to occupy herself until it was time to meet Jacob now?
"That's not fair, Mom. If Bella wants to work…" Mike said, sticking up for her again. He was really proving to be a good friend.
"No, it's okay, Mrs. Newton. Really, Mike. I've got finals to study for and stuff." Bella smiled disarmingly, not wanting to be the source of familial discord when they were already arguing.
"Thanks, Bella. Mike, you missed aisle four. Um, Bella, do you mind handing some of these flyers out on your travels? I told Carlisle that I would spread the word about the dance. The whole town is invited, you know. The more people we can attract, the more money we'll raise."
"Sure, no problem." Bella muttered unwillingly. She put her vest away, and then tucked the flyers under her arm and headed out into the misty rain. She had no intention of helping to spread the word.
The dumpster was around the side of Newton's, next to where the employees were supposed to park. Bella shuffled along, kicking pebbles angrily out of her way, livid that the Cullens had highjacked the one event she was looking forward to, just like they had hijacked everything else in her life. With considerable force, and howling in rage, she flung the stack of bright yellow papers into the trash.
And then she was running for her truck. Fifteen minutes-that's all it would take. Fifteen minutes and she would be in La Push. She didn't care if she was early. Anything was better than suffering in silence alone at home.
Bella barrelled down the wet highway, turning the windshield wipers on high and ignoring the groan of the ancient engine. Fifty-five was the most she could get out of the truck, and she prayed that it would be enough.
She began to feel safer as she passed the first few houses outside of La Push. The old truck was positively wheezing by the time it grated to a stop in front of the familiar faded red house. A lump came into her throat at she stared at the little place that had become her refuge.
Before she could cut the engine, the front door opened, and Billy appeared. He looked over at her in concern. "You okay there, Bella?" He called out.
Bella shook her head, finally tasting the salt of her tears, she hadn't even realized she'd been crying. Billy jogged over to the truck, opening the driver's door, and reaching inside to help her out. His health had been improving in leaps and bounds since phasing. It still took Bella some getting used to, seeing him without the wheelchair.
"Its okay, Bella." He said soothingly as he guided her toward the house. "Come inside and tell me all about it."
A/N-thanks for reading!