Chapter nine: Tests

Unbeknownst to Bella, the argument that followed Jacob and Billy's visit was anything but calm. Sam had been furious with whatever Billy had been trying to suggest without his permission or advice.

"Let me get this straight." Sam boomed, the people surrounding the campfire looking at their feet in complete silence.

"You're suggesting she's not human?"

"I'm saying that I don't know-"

"Answer the question, Billy."

"I don't know."

Paul scoffed.

"What do you mean, you don't know. Did you see the girl Jacob?" Sam said as he moved his into Jacob's direction, he looked a lot more timid than his father although his face showed anger.

"Yes." Jacob said through clenched teeth. "We went over for dinner."

"Is she a vampire?"

"No."

"It's not as simple as that." Billy started arguing before Jacob had had a proper chance to answer Sam's last question.

"I believe it is as simple as that." Sam started, "In this world there are werewolves, vampires and humans. That's it. Jacob said he saw the girl bleed, that's all I need."

"But-"

"I don't care Billy." Sam said, waiting for Billy's eyes to meet his before he sighed deeply, rubbing his temples, "I'm not going on some kind of witch hunt because your best friend's daughter is taller and looks different." Some of the other bare-chested, short-haired men around the fire laughed.

"She had the bite of a cold one on her arm." Billy said for the third time that evening. "And she was able to push Jacob away from her."

"Yet she isn't a vampire." Paul said sarcastically whist drinking from his beer. "Maybe it was the adrenaline."

"But she has-"

"Billy, enough." Sam said with a demanding, clear voice. Billy ground his teeth but nodded and looked away nonetheless.

"I don't care how she got the scar or what she looks like. If the girl bleeds, she is human. End of discussion."

"Maybe we should invite her for one of our bonfires and see for ourselves." Paul said with wiggling eyebrows, "Inviting the vampire girl into the wolves' den."

"Like she would come after what they pulled. You're lucky she didn't say anything to her father." Leah said without looking up from the bottle in her shaking hands.

The fire in front of her was hot on her face but she didn't mind, she had been feeling cold more often which was strange for a July, even in Forks.

"I didn't congratulate you yet."

"What?" Bella said when she noticed someone talking to her.

"I wanted to congratulate you on graduating high school." Jacob said sheepishly, leaving enough space for another person between the two of them just in case. Bella nodded but didn't reply. "I'm also here to apologise for our behaviour last time we saw each other."

"Our behaviour?" Bella asked with raised brows, taking a sip from the lemonade in her cup and staring at the band-aid on her arm. "Since when do you apologise for your dad?"

"Since now?"

"So," she said, willing to test the waters even further after what happened between them nearly a month ago now. "Were you checking if I was some sort of, how did you put it before, leech?"

The entirety of the group around the campfire stopped talking and moving all at once, dozens of wide, dark eyes staring at her. A few of them shaking with clenched jaws.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She started with sarcasm in her voice, "Are we still pretending everything is normal and there's nothing weird going on at all?"

"Bella, now is really not the time." Jacob murmured next to her. She realised that somehow the others shouldn't have been able to hear him, but they did.

"Yeah Bella, listen to Jacob." Paul said mockingly with squinted eyes. Sam nudged him in the shoulder with accusing eyes whilst Bella looked at them with suspicion in hers.

"Really?"

"What are you going to do Swan, push me?" He said teasingly.

Bella rolled her eyes and looked down at her shoes before murmuring to herself, testing a theory. "If you don't want me asking questions, you should stop acting like a suspicious asshole."

"Hey," Paul hissed angrily as she got up from his seat, "Don't call me an asshole."

Bella snapped her eyes up at him without moving her head and grinned at him from under her lashes. Paul froze when he realised he had reacted too quickly to something he shouldn't have been able to hear. Bella never broke eye contact as she moved her head to look at him with deep eyes, wanting to see him squirm. It took Sam standing up and placing his hand on Paul's shoulder for him to sit down again, still not breaking the eye contact.

Bella smiled again as she got up to fill up her cup again, she passed Sam and Paul whilst murmuring, "Maybe you should try slicing my arm again if that makes anyone feel any better."

Her hands were steady as she filled her cup, she felt like a stream of confidence was bursting through her, she almost felt like she was on some sort of adrenaline high. I've never felt like this before, she mused to herself. The silence surrounding her continued until she sat down next to Jacob again, he looked at her with sheepish but tense eyes.

"So," Jacob tried to break the amazingly awkward silence after a few minutes, "what are your plans for next year?"

Bella snorted into her cup, "Good way to get rid of the tension, Jacob." She murmured as she wiped some lemonade from her upper lip. "I'm going to be taking a gap year, I kind of forgot to apply for colleges with everything going on so I will be working part time at the library so I can save some money."

"What has been going on?" Leah asked without thinking, she had forgotten the short-haired girl had been sitting next to her. Bella turned her head to look at the girl with sad face.

"Well," Bella started with a deep breath, "I guess my boyfriend broke up with me and his entire family moved away without saying goodbye or telling me where they were moving to. Plus, his siblings were my friends too."

"That must've sucked."

"Yeah, it still sucks."

"What do you mean with they didn't say goodbye?"

"I went to their place and everything and everyone was gone just days after my birthday. I went by without telling them and Edward was just about to leave."

Leah whistled, "Damn. What a dick."

Bella laughed, "Yeah."

"Did he ever give a reason for leaving like that?"

"Leah." Sam said.

"What I can't ask her a question about a failed relationship?" She said angrily, making Sam look down with a guilty face.

Bella looked down again as the previous emotions of adrenaline and confidence made room for a deep sadness and sharp pain. She cleared her throat in an attempt to clear her thoughts, she could hear his monotonous voice in her head again.

"Bella?"

"He told me we didn't have a future and that he didn't love me."

"That must've been difficult, I know what it's like to love someone who doesn't really love you back." Bella didn't notice the awkward tension creeping between them and the men sitting across from them. Sam looking down with sadness and guilt.

"Especially if your friends went away with him." Leah added.

"Yeah," Bella said shakily wiping away a single tear, she noticed some younger boys pointing at it. She blushed and looked down again. "Anyway, I've made a new friend at school. I knew her before but I got so pulled into their family that I kind of forgot to maintain that friendship before."

"That's nice-" Leah started, but Bella focused on Paul across from her.

"A human one, I hope." Paul murmured as he rubbed his hands together, smirking at Sam who rolled his eyes at him. Bella didn't know he had murmured it too quiet for her to hear and yet she did. She found herself failing something which Paul hadn't even meant as a test.

"Of course she's human." Bella replied with confusion.

"What?" Paul said.

"You said: 'a human one, I hope.' And I said:' Of course she's human."

"You heard that?" He said almost in shock.

Bella laughed with confusion, "Of course I did, you said it."

Paul laughed uncomfortably, his finger digging into the side of his legs, "Yeah, I guess I did."

Bella smiled and turned back to Leah and Jacob, unaware of Paul and Sam's intense glare. Paul lowered and quieted his voice as much as he could, moving his head towards Sam's ear.

"She's definitely not just human."

"I'm afraid Billy might have been right."

"You should join us again." Leah said after a few more hours passed and Bella started feeling drowsy, the warm fire luring her to sleep as she had rested her head on Jacob's very warm shoulder.

"I might, although I would try to not make it as awkward as this one."

Leah smirked and waved her goodbye, sticking her tongue out at Paul as he caught her gaze. Paul gave her the middle finger but couldn't keep a smirk off his face. He winked at Sam and motioned his towards Bella, who was making her was past the fire, Sam looked at him with tired eyes but nodded nonetheless. Jacob hadn't noticed the small exchange between the older boys and only noticed something was off when Paul suddenly stood up when Bella walked past him, walking into her harshly with his head turned the other way, making her stumble and fall back.

She moved her arms back to catch herself, instantly thinking back of what happened at her birthday, almost a year ago now. But there was no glass surrounding her, no small shards piercing the skin of her thighs, no bruising cold hand pushing her away. Just a warm, very hard body walking into her.

She hissed when her hand starting stinging, moving so she was sitting on her butt she placed her hand in her lap to look at the damage. She was bleeding and there were streaks of dirt and dried leaves surrounding the blood on her hand.

"Paul, seriously!" Leah said angrily as she made her way towards them, Sam grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"I'm so sorry." Paul said as he crouched down, "I didn't see you there." His voice was filled with concern Bella believed, she sighed as she looked up and didn't see several pairs of hungry eyes staring back at her. Several people looked at her with interest whilst the others shook their heads and Paul's act.

"That's okay." Bella mumbled as Paul reached for her hand.

"You must definitely think I'm an asshole now." He said as he looked at her hand and the blood, his shoulders dropping with relief.

"I already did but not because of this." She tried to tease back.

He laughed and moved back to help her to her feet with Jacob. Each gently grabbing an arm before hoisting her up to sit in Paul's previous spot.

"God I'm sorry, you're bleeding." Paul said again, Leah decided it was a good thing Bella didn't really know Paul because the insincerity of his words were noticeable to everyone but Bella.

"It's fine. Does anyone have some water?"

"Here this one hasn't been opened yet." Leah said, helping Bella get rid of the dirt on her hand whilst Sam and Paul watched with morbid fascination. "I'm sorry we don't have any band-aids."

"That's fine, I have some at home."

Leah nodded and walked her to her car, "I'm sorry for Paul, he can be an ass sometimes."

Bella laughed, "Yeah I noticed, at least he didn't walk me over on purpose."

Leah smiled tensely and closed the door of Bella's car, waiting until her car was completely out of sight before she let the shivers which had been rippling through her body since Paul had opened his mouth take over.