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An Unwanted Invitation
When Bella arrived back home after dropping Jacob off at his house, she decided to make chicken enchiladas for dinner as a special treat for Charlie. She was feeling in a good mood, and that was down to Jacob. He was so easy to be around, in fact she preferred being with him over everyone else. Its not like that she didn't enjoy spending time with her friends at school-especially Angela-but she always felt one step removed from them. As if they weren't on her wavelength. Like she had to put on an act just to fit in. With Jacob she didn't have to do that. She could just be herself, like that was enough. It was refreshing.
Bella thought about this as she moved around the kitchen making the chicken enchiladas. It was a long process, and it kept her busy. While she was simmering the onions and chiles, the phone rang. She was almost afraid to answer it, but it could be Charlie or her mom.
It was Jessica, and she was jubilant, Mike had finally accepted her invitation to the next school dance. Bella celebrated with her while she stirred, glad that Jessica didn't know that she was Mike's second choice, after already having asked Bella herself earlier that day, even though the dance was supposed to be the girl's choice.
"You know, I thought that you might ask Edward Cullen to the dance." Jessica said after she had finished gushing about Mike.
Bella grimaced. "Why on earth would I do that?" She demanded curtly.
"Oh, um, I don't know. I just thought…you know…he's always staring at you. I just assumed…" Jessica tried to quickly backtrack.
"Well, you assumed wrongly." Bella snapped, irked that Jessica had ruined her good mood by bringing up that arrogant ass. "I'm not going to the dance."
"But why?" Jessica was truly astounded as to why anyone would want to avoid such a special social occasion. "There's not much to do in Forks as it is. Why would you want to miss this?"
"I promised my friend Jacob that we would hang out that day." Bella fumbled for a reasonable sounding excuse.
Jessica's ears perked up. "Oh, you never mentioned this boy before." She said, fishing for gossip. "Is he…?"
"Ah, Jess, there's someone at the door. I have to go. See you at school." Bella quickly hung up the phone before Jessica could make an innocent outing into something salacious.
After she hung up, Bella tried to concentrate on dinner-dicing the chicken especially, she didn't want to take another trip to the emergency room. But her head was spinning, overanalyzing everything that had happened that day as usual. Edward Cullen continued to make her feel uncomfortable. She supposed she was going to have do something about him if he continued to try and force his company on her. She couldn't imagine why he was so intent on inserting himself into her life. She was nobody special. There were plenty of girls salivating to spend time with him, most a lot prettier and a lot more interesting than she was. Let him make 'friends' with one of those.
Occasionally Bella found herself glancing over her shoulder. She knew it was ridiculous, but she had an odd feeling she was being watched. "Pull yourself together, Swan." She muttered under her breath.
Bella tried to ignore the feeling, hoping the food prep would distract her from her crazy thoughts, but it wasn't enough. The hairs on the back of her neck continued to rise, a tingling sense of unease settled on her shoulders, making her clumsier than usual. After another piece of cutlery slipped out of her hand when she was setting the table, she cussed under her breath, annoyed at her overactive imagination.
When Charlie came home, slamming the front door behind him as he stepped inside the house, she nearly had a coronary.
"Dad!"
"Hey, kiddo." He said wearily, shrugging off his work jacket. "I'm home."
"I can hear that." Bella answered with one hand pressed over her heart to check it was still beating. "You nearly took the door off its hinges."
"Oh, sorry." Charlie apologized. "Did I startle you?"
"Just a bit."
As Charlie entered the kitchen, he immediately became suspicious when he smelled the green peppers. Bella couldn't blame him-the closest edible Mexican food was probably southern California. But he was a cop, even if just a small-town cop, so he was brave enough to take the first bite. He seemed to like it. Bella got a kick out of seeing him slowly beginning to trust her in the kitchen.
"Dad?" Bella asked when he was almost done.
"Yeah, Bells?"
"Um…I just wanted to ask you something."
"About?" Charlie was immediately on the alert as he picked up on her anxious tone.
"There's this boy."
"I thought you weren't interested in the local boys." Charlie said cautiously. "Have you changed your mind and asked one of them to the dance?"
Bella grimaced. Only in a town this small would a father know when the high school dances were.
"No – I don't dance, Dad." He, of all people, should understand that-Bella didn't get her balance problems from her mother.
"Easy, Bells." Charlie chuckled. "So, what is it then? Has one of them asked you on a date? Is it Mike Newton? He's not a bad choice for you."
Bella felt like giving up. She had never heard Charlie talk so much. And, ugh, Mike Newton! No freaking way. She liked him much better than most of the boys in her year, but she would never even consider dating him.
"Dad, for the last time, I am not interested in dating anyone."
"Oh." Charlie looked confused now. "When you said it was about a boy – "
"I meant that this boy has been kind of hassling me at school." Bella cut in before he could go off on another tangent.
Charlie immediately went into cop mode. His brows drew down, his expression became serious. "Hassling you?" He demanded. "In what way?"
Bella had been dreading this part. She didn't want to make a big deal of it. After all, Edward Cullen hadn't actually done much more than try to engage her in conversation, as well as all the freakish staring. Maybe she was overreacting. She felt silly now.
"Don't worry about it, Dad." She stood up and began to clear away the empty plates. "I can handle it."
"Bella?" Charlie gave her a warning look. "Tell me who it is and I'll have a word."
"You don't need to. I'm just overthinking things as usual." Bella tried to make light of it. "Please don't worry."
"I'll always worry. You're my daughter." Charlie grinned suddenly, it lit up his whole face, making him look years younger. "Are you sure about this?"
"I'm sure." Bella said, dumping the dishes in the sink. "I'll be fine."
"Was that Bella Swan I saw dropping you off?" Billy asked lightly.
Jacob stared at him incredulously. How did his old man know that? Billy was sitting at the kitchen table, carving a piece of wood. He was nowhere near the window.
Billy chuckled at his son's disbelieving expression. "Son, I can hear that old monster's motor from miles away. I used to own the thing, remember?"
"Oh, you mean Bella's truck?"
Billy could almost see the lightbulb going off over his son's head. He laughed again, shaking his head in amusement. His son's crush on his best friend's daughter hadn't abated over the years. In fact, it had only intensified. Jacob had been devastated when Bella stopped spending the summers with Charlie after she turned twelve years old.
When the police chief revealed a few years later that Bella was coming to live with him in Forks again, Jacob had been ecstatic. He had thrown himself into fixing up the old Chevy after Billy suggested to his friend it would be perfect for Bella. Jacob was always dropping none too subtle hints about taking a trip to Forks, perhaps calling in at the Swan's on the way.
"Charlie is always coming here. Maybe, you could return the favor for once and spare him the drive. I'll take you over there whenever you want."
"You don't have your license yet, son. And Charlie is a cop."
"Charlie won't mind."
"Is that right? Maybe one day."
Billy would always smile to himself, amused by his son's quiet frustration. It seemed that Jacob had finally decided to do something about it. "Why don't you sit down and talk to your old man for a spell?"
"Why?" Jacob was immediately suspicious.
"Does there have to be a reason?" Billy gave him a knowing look that never failed to remind Jacob of the time when he was seven and had been caught sneaking out of the house to cause mischief with his friend's Quil and Embry.
Jacob shifted awkwardly, not really in the mood for a heart-to-heart chat with his old man. He had a feeling Billy was going to ask him some very uncomfortable questions. He began to make his usual excuses.
"Can this wait? I'm tired. School sucked. I have a ton of homework to do."
"Ah, school. I was hoping you'd be the one to bring that up." Billy was suddenly all business. He materialized an ominous looking piece of paper from the depths of his pocket, and held it up to Jacob with a sour expression.
Jacob glanced at it once, and grimaced. Okay, so he had been a bit neglectful of his studies lately. He was naturally good at math, but talent wasn't enough to get you through pre-cal without some application, so he could understand the C- there, and he'd forgotten about that test in biology (too busy daydreaming about Bella to take notes). He'd managed to scrape an acceptable B in English. That had to count, right?
"Well…I've been kinda busy."
Billy regarded him thoughtfully. He was an easygoing guy. Had never really been into discipline. He trusted Jacob to make his own decisions. So hoped that he would turn things around without too much of a lecture.
"I'm not going to tell you how to manage your time, but maybe if you'd take an hour or so away from that old wreck you're restoring, and skipping classes to see Bella, and spend it hitting the books, I won't have to explain to the rest of the tribe why the future chief flunked out of high school."
To his horror, Jacob flushed, knowing he had been caught out. He opened his mouth to retaliate, realized that nothing he could say would make things better, and snapped it shut again. "I'm going to my room to start my homework." He mumbled.
"I knew you'd see it my way." Billy said cheerfully as he watched his son slope off to his room in defeat.
The next morning, when Bella pulled into the school parking lot, she deliberately parked as far as possible from Edward Cullen's silver Volvo. She didn't want to cross paths with him at all if she could help it. Getting out of the cab, she fumbled with her key and it fell into a puddle.
What a great start to her day, she thought irritably.
As Bella bent down to get it, a white hand flashed out and grabbed at it before she could. She jerked upright, groaning internally when she realized Edward Cullen was right next to her, leaning casually against her truck.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to sneak up on people?" She snapped, snatching the key from him when he held it out to her.
Edward appeared amused by her irritation. "Bella, its not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant."
Bella scowled at his perfect face, itching to wipe the smug smile off it. She stalked off, praying silently in her mind that he wouldn't follow.
One glance behind showed that those frantic prayers were not going to answered. God wasn't on her side today.
"Bella." Edward's voice was quieter this time-velvet muted. He fell into step beside her. "Why do you keep pretending I don't exist?"
Bella scowled. "I'm not pretending. Just hoping."
Anger flashed in his tawny eyes. His lips pressed into a hard line; all signs of humor gone. "Bella, you are utterly absurd." He said, his tone turning cold.
Bella's palms tingled- she wanted so badly to hit him. She was surprised at herself. She didn't normally condone violence, but she was beginning to think it might be the only way to get the message through his thick head. She quickly walked away before she gave into the urge.
"Wait." Edward called.
Bella kept walking, sloshing angrily through the rain. But he was soon next to her again, easily keeping pace.
"I'm sorry, Bella." Edward apologized as they walked. Bella ignored him. "Can we maybe start this conversation again?"
"Why won't you leave me alone?" Bella grumbled.
"I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me." Edward flashed her one of his crooked smiles. If it was meant to be endearing, it didn't work on Bella. She remained unimpressed.
"Do you have multiple personality disorder or something?" She asked severely.
Edward remained oblivious to her harsh tone. "I was wondering if you would like to do something on Saturday- you know, the day of the spring dance – "
"Are you trying to be funny?" Bella interrupted him. The rain soaked her eyelashes as she glared up at him.
Edward's eyes were wickedly amused. "I really get under that skin of yours, don't I?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Edward Cullen!" Bella retorted. "I am not going to the dance because I already have plans with a friend on Saturday." She emphasized the word friend. "So, if you were hoping I would ask you, then you'll be sorely disappointed. Go with someone else if you're that eager to go."
Edward's amusement vanished as quickly as it had arrived. "What friend is that?" He asked suspiciously. "All of the people you know are going to the dance."
"How do you know what all of the people I know are doing? Are you a mind reader?" She accused sarcastically. "The friend I'm talking about lives in La Push."
"You mean Jacob Black." Edward's eyes were suddenly intense again when he uttered Jacob's name. "Bella, you should not get too close to that boy." He warned her.
"Whyever not?" Bella demanded. "You don't even know Jacob. Anyway, its none of your business who I spend my free time with. I'm going now. Don't follow me."
With that parting comment, Bella turned away from Edward abruptly and walked to the front of the school building, fuming all the way.
A/N-thanks for reading!