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Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
A Long Week
Bella made her way to English still quietly fuming over her confrontation with Edward. How dare he warn her not to get too close to Jacob! It was none of his business who she spent time with. She was bitterly regretting not following through with Charlie now. Edward had gone beyond just trying to capture her attention by following her around, he was now spouting his unwanted opinions about who she should or should not be friends with.
As Bella walked into class, she found that it had already started.
"Nice of you to finally join us, Miss. Swan." Mr. Mason said sarcastically.
Bella flushed as everyone turned in their seats to look at her. A few snickers followed. She hated being the center of attention. This was all Edward's fault for making her late with his disparaging remarks about Jacob Black.
Bella hurried to her seat, trying to avoid Mike Newton's eye as he attempted to whisper something to her. She'd had enough of boys for one day.
It seemed an age before class ended. Mr. Mason was in a particularly foul mood. He seemed to have taken it as a personal affront that anyone dare be late for one of his classes, and he took his sour mood out on the perpetrator. Bella found herself once again front and center as Mr. Mason continually called upon her for answers.
All in all, it was shaping up to be a very bad day.
Bella breathed a sigh of relief when class ended, hoping upon hope that she could escape without Mike Newton doing his usual puppy dog routine. No such luck. Like an ever-faithful Labrador, he followed her out of class, soon to be joined by Eric. Bella sighed in defeat, listening in frustrated silence as both boys tried to compete with one another to gain her full attention.
What was it with the boys around here? She thought morosely.
The rest of the morning passed in a blur. It was difficult to believe that she hadn't imagined what Edward had said, and the way his eyes had looked while he said it.
Bella was still mulling over whether to tell Charlie about it when she got home as she walked beside Jessica into the cafeteria. Jessica was babbling on and on about her dance plans-Lauren and Angela had asked the other boys and they were now all going together as a group- completely unaware of Bella's inattention.
One brief glance at the Cullens usual table filled Bella with relief. The other four members of the family were there, but Edward Cullen was absent. Perhaps he had gone home. Well good!
Much cheered up by the thought, Bella followed the still babbling Jessica through the line.
"Edward Cullen is staring at you again." Jessica confided in a loud stage whisper, breaking through Bella's abstraction. "I wonder why he's sitting alone today."
Bella's head snapped up as she followed the direction of Jessica's gaze to see Edward smiling crookedly, staring at her from the empty table across the cafeteria from where he usually sat. Once he caught her eye, he raised one hand and motioned for her to join him. To add insult to injury, he had the audacity to wink.
Red hot anger flooded through Bella, making her hands clench into fists at her sides.
"Does he mean you?" Jessica asked in surprise.
"No, Jess, I think he means you." Bella countered. "You should go over there."
Jessica looked like a rabbit caught in headlights. "Me?" She whispered. "Are you sure? He looked like he was gesturing toward you."
"No, it was definitely you." Bella nudged a suddenly reluctant Jessica forward. "You don't want to keep him waiting." She watched as Edward's eyes darkened with annoyance, as if he had just overheard their whole conversation-which couldn't possibly be the case unless he had super hearing. Still, Bella got some satisfaction out of the fact that she had thwarted his cunning little plan to trap her during lunch.
"Will you come with me?" Jessica pleaded in a low voice. "It'll make it look more innocent. I don't want Mike to get the wrong idea if he sees me with another boy-especially one of the Cullens."
"I'm sorry, Jess." Bella said breezily. "I need to go over my notes for biology. You'll be fine. And I want to hear all the gossip afterwards, okay."
"Okay." Jessica agreed. Squaring her shoulders and clutching her lunch tray firmly in her hands, she sauntered over to Edward's table, giving Bella room to make her escape.
Bella did a little victory celebration in her head when she found that Edward was absent from biology. Her celebration didn't last long, though, when Mr. Banner revealed the lesson plan for the day – blood typing.
"Please can I be excused?" Bella begged. "I already know my blood type, Mr. Banner."
"No one will be excused." Mr. Banner was unsympathetic. "Just get on with it, Miss. Swan."
So, that's how Bella found herself twenty minutes later, propped up against Mike Newton as he towed her across campus. When they reached the edge of the cafeteria, out of sight of building four in case Mr. Banner was watching, Bella stopped.
"Just let me sit for a minute, please?" She mumbled to Mike.
Mike helped her sit on the edge of the walk.
"And whatever you do, keep your hand in your pocket." Bella tried to stem the rising tide of her nausea. She had always been affected by the sight and smell of blood ever since she was a young child- which was ironic considering the number of cuts and bruises she'd received over the years due to her innate clumsiness.
"Wow, you look really green, Bella." Mike said nervously, obviously worried that she was going to puke up on him at any moment. He was beginning to regret his knight in shining armor routine now. His crush on Bella didn't include her being sick all over him.
"Bella?" A different voice called from the distance.
No! Please let her be imagining the horribly familiar voice of Edward Cullen.
"What's wrong-is she hurt?" His voice was closer now, and he sounded upset.
Bella squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that his unwanted presence was a result of her fevered imagination. "Mike." She said urgently. "I'm ready to go now."
Mike was getting stressed. Edward was all in his face, glaring at him as if he would like to take him apart piece by piece. "She fainted in biology." He explained hastily. "She didn't even stick her finger."
Edward's face relaxed. "Bella, can you hear me?" He said gently, concentrating on her instead.
"No." Bella moaned. "Just leave me alone and go away."
Edward chuckled dryly, completely ignoring her request.
"I was taking her to the nurse." Mike said defensively. "We just stopped for a rest that's all."
"I'll take her." Edward replied sternly. "You can go back to class."
"No. I'm supposed to do it."
Bella had never been so thankful for Mike Newton's stubbornness. She opened her eyes blearily. "Yes. Mr. Banner specifically told him to take me. So, you can go now, Edward. I mean you don't want to be caught skipping class."
"I'm not skipping class. I had permission to sit this one out." Edward revealed with a smirk.
"Oh, so you're frightened of blood, too?" Mike snickered.
Even though she was still trying not to vomit, Mike's comment and Edward's subsequent glare made laughter bubble in her throat. She clutched her stomach, groaning.
"Oh, Bella, sorry." Mike quickly bent down to help her.
"I said I'll take her." Edward insisted.
"No. I'll go with Mike, like Mr. Banner wanted." Bella used Mike to pull herself upright. "Just go, Edward."
Mike grinned, enjoying seeing Cullen put in his place. He deliberately made a show of putting his arm around Bella's waist and hers around his shoulder. Edward scowled, his eyes narrowing, but Mike ignored him, carefully guiding Bella back along the path to the nurse's office.
The grandmotherly nurse fussed over Bella, telling her to lie down, insisting that the nausea would eventually pass. Bella gratefully rested her head on the cool pillow and closed her eyes. She knew it was going to be a bad day as soon as Edward accosted her in the car park that morning. Now it had gone from bad to worse.
"Would you like me to call your father, sweetie?" The nurse asked when Bella showed no signs of improvement. She had already sent Mike back to class. "I can write you a note to get out of the rest of your classes if you like."
"Oh, could you?" Bella asked eagerly. "That's so kind of you. I still feel rather poorly."
"You just rest." The nurse said, smiling. "I'll get Ms. Cope to make that call."
Bella smiled back weakly before laying her head back on the pillow and closing her eyes in blessed relief.
Charlie placed a glass of water on the bedside cabinet. "If you need anything else, Bells, just holler."
"I will do." Bella smiled gratefully up at Charlie. She was glad that he wasn't one of those parents who hovered. She had told him she wanted minimal fuss as she was feeling much better now that she was back home, and he had complied.
As Charlie closed the door behind him, Bella tried to concentrate on the third act of Macbeth. She might as well make use of the extra free time to get ahead in her studies. She was dreading going back to school the next day, knowing she would have to suffer the usual fainting comments. Jessica would get a kick out of that story in retaliation for Bella foisting her on Edward at lunch. Bella smiled as she wondered how that little episode had turned out. Maybe she should call Jess and find out.
Jessica answered on the first ring. "Hello."
"Hi, Jess, its Bella."
"Oh, hi, Bella." Jessica replied sarcastically. "What do you want?"
"I'm just catching up on the gossip like I said I would. So, what did Edward Cullen want at lunch?"
"I don't know." Jessica sniffed. "He never really got to the point. He was quite rude, actually."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Bella sympathized. "I always thought he was a bit arrogant."
"Yes." Jessica agreed. "I don't know why I wasted my time talking to him. I've never seen him with anyone but his family. They're all weird."
"Weird." Bella agreed, feeling slightly guilty for using Jessica to prompt her own escape from the cafeteria. She decided to try and make it up to her. "You need a distraction-why don't we go shopping some time?"
"Really?" Jessica was surprised by this unexpected offer. "I thought you hated shopping."
"Not when I've got the right company." Bella enthused, thinking she deserved an Oscar for her performance.
"Okay." Jessica said, cheering up. "I can't go Saturday because that's the day of the Spring dance. But what about the next weekend?"
Bella had forgotten about the dreaded dance. "That sounds great, Jess."
"Are you sure that you won't come with us?" Jessica asked. "There must be some boy who might not mind pairing up with you."
Bella gritted her teeth at the way Jessica made it sound like the said boy would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to accompany her. She felt the urge to burst Jessica's bubble by telling her that she was only Mike's second choice, but didn't have the heart to be so mean. Instead, she stuck to the same excuse she had given everyone for not attending.
"I'm spending the day with my friend Jacob in La Push."
"Oh, that's right." Jessica sounded bored now. "Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow, Bella."
"Bye, Jess."
Bella breathed a sigh of relief as she hung up. She tried to concentrate on MacBeth again, but the words swam in front of her eyes. Giving up, she slammed the book closed and lay back down on her bed, with sleep finding her quickly. She mumbled Jacob's name a few times, totally oblivious to the shadowy figure hiding in the corner of her room, watching, and listening intently.
Bella wasn't looking forward to Friday, and it more than lived up to her non-expectations. Of course, there were the fainting comments. As expected, Jessica got a kick out of that story. Luckily Mike had kept his mouth shut about how bad she had really been. She spent most of the day being careful to surround herself with other people, giving Edward Cullen no chance to get her alone. The day seemed to drag on and on, but eventually it came to an end with no interaction with Edward.
That night at dinner, Charlie seemed enthusiastic about their trip to La Push in the morning. Bella thought he was overegging it because he felt guilty about leaving her on her own so often, at least this time they would be doing something together. Sort of. Well, they would be in the same place at least. She had no idea what Jacob had planned for the day, but whatever it was, she found that she was looking forward to it.
Bella didn't have a very restful night. She kept waking up at intervals, convinced that there was someone else in the room. But every time she switched on her bedside lamp to check, there was never anyone there.
In the morning she opened her eyes to see a clear yellow light streaming through her window. She couldn't believe it. She hurried to check, and sure enough, there was the sun. It was in the wrong place in the sky, too low, and it didn't seem to be as close as it should be, but it was definitely the sun. Clouds ringed the horizon, but a large patch of blue was visible in the middle. She lingered by the window as long as she could, afraid that if she left the blue would disappear again.
Charlie was in a really good mood as he climbed into the cruiser. Bella was riding shotgun. Normally she would not have been seen dead in her father's vehicle, but it was only fifteen miles to La Push. She could endure that.
Gorgeous dense green forests edged the road most of the way. Bella gazed out of the window admiringly, looking at the sun glittering on the Quillayute river. She opened the passenger window, trying to absorb as much sunlight as possible.
Soon they pulled up at the Black's house-a small wooden place with narrow windows, the dull red paint making it resemble a tiny barn. Jacob's garage was located around the side of the house, hidden from view by a thick band of trees and shrubbery.
Even before Charlie had killed the engine, the front door opened and Jacob came running out, smiling widely. Effortlessly, without a conscious command on Bella's part, the muscles around her lips pulled upwards, an answering smile spreading across her face. All her frustrations from the week gone by melted away at the sight of him. A strange feeling of warmth bubbled in her throat.
"Hey, Bella." Jacob pulled her door open for her, extending his hand to help her out.
"Hi, Jake." Bella placed her hand in his, grateful for the help. The ground was quite slick with mud still from the constant rainfall. The sun hadn't had time to harden it yet.
"Is your old man inside?" Charlie asked as he locked the cruiser.
"Yeah, he's ready and waiting with popcorn in hand." Jacob joked. "He's been looking forward to this game all week."
"Me, too." Charlie grinned. "You kids' sure you don't want to stay and watch it with us?"
Bella rolled her eyes. "Yes, Dad, we're sure."
Charlie laughed at her lack of enthusiasm. "I'll convert you one day, Bells."
"I highly doubt it." Bella responded with another eye roll.
Charlie laughed to himself as he trudged toward the house.
Bella turned to Jacob now that they were finally alone. "So, what's the plan for today?" She asked.
"You'll see." Jacob said, reaching for her hand.
A/N-thanks for reading!