A/n: So, I ended up with some major writer's block due to the mixed responses concerning Bella's reaction to Edward and Edward's reaction to Bella. It made me want to change the narrative up a bit and that ended up making me lose focus from what I had originally intended for this story. So, I've decided that I need to just stick to my original plan or else this story will not get completed.

So, allow me to clear something up, because I know a lot of you are confused about Bella's reaction. I wanted her reaction to be in character to the Bella in the books. Bella was head over heels for Edward in Twilight and she is just as head over heels for him in my story... kind of. She's obsessed, let's just say that. Now, for Edward's reaction, I can't really tell you. That will have to come out as the story unfolds.

Now, for the people who aren't happy with the way the story is going so far but are still intrigued, I hope you will give my story a chance to grow.

Thank you all for the feedback and support!

Chapter Three: I Hate the Way You Hate Everything

"Damn, Bella," Lauren sneered as we walked into the locker room, her shoulder bumped into mine, hard. She laughed her annoying nasally laugh and walked to her locker. "I've heard of dropping friends, but never seen anyone take it so literally."

I glared at her back, "It was a fucking accident, asshole."

Like, damn, I felt bad enough without people throwing it in my face every second. I didn't purposefully hurt my best friend. I didn't understand why everyone was acting like I just kicked a puppy. I didn't mean to do it!

I opened my locker and pulled my phone out, checking my texts and Facebook messages, hoping for something. I had a lot, but none from Alice. I sent her a quick text, letting her know I was sorry and to text me when she knew what was going on with her wrist. I sighed and stuffed my phone into my backpack. I took my cheer uniform off and changed back into my regular clothes. I sat on the bench to change into my sneakers.

Angela came to sit next to me, putting her own shoes on. She leaned in closer to me and whispered quietly, "What even happened? I have never seen you fumble that hard before."

I shrugged, not wanting to admit that I was distracted by a boy. A boy that seemed to hate me for no particular reason. A boy that I was once head over heels for. A boy that I never stopped thinking about. I tied my shoes, pulling the strings tightly, my aggravation slipping out.

Angela nudged me with her elbow, "You good?" she asked. And the concern coating her tone made me look up. She was genuinely curious and concerned. Angela wasn't a nosey person. She was kind and caring.

I frowned, "On a scale from one to ten, how much do you think Alice hates me right now?"

Angela pursed her lips and tilted her head with a small smile, "You probably have a ton of groveling to do. And probably a long shopping trip with no complaining."

I nodded slowly, "I will do it for her. Gosh," I groaned, "I feel like such a bad friend." I slapped a hand to my forehead, trying to contain the frustrated scream I could feel brewing in the back of my throat.

"It was an accident, Bella," Angela assured me, patting my bare knee softly. Her colorful nails, painted to match our school colors were chipped slightly.

She didn't understand. She just didn't know about the conflict going on in my head. But of course, how could she?

I leaned closer to her and whispered, "Don't get me wrong, I feel awful that I dropped her, but I feel even worse because of why I dropped her," I admitted reluctantly, but I needed someone to confide in and Angela was always a trustworthy person.

Angela's brows furrowed and she frowned, "And why did you drop her? I thought it was an accident."

My eyes widened at the implication, "No, it was!" I groaned again, leaning my head between my knees for a moment before I looked back into her soft brown eyes. "It was because I got distracted by a boy."

Her eyebrows raised, "The one who jumped off the bleachers when you went over there?" she asked. And to her credit, she only sounded slightly amused by the strange actions of both me and Edward.

"You saw that, huh?" I felt my cheeks flame.

"Who didn't?" she shook her head, smiling. "Who is he? An old boyfriend?"

I blew out a long shaky breath, some stray locks of hair flying upward and out of my face, "No, just an old friend. An old friend who seems to despise me now. And I don't know why. That's what's so frustrating," I threw my hands up, gesturing wildly, "It's literally driving me mad not knowing what the hell his problem is with me," I complained.

I laughed humorlessly, "And then I feel like a fucking bad friend to my actual friend because this is what I'm thinking about while she's in the emergency room – because of me."

Angela looked like she wanted to say something, but thought better of it and instead stood up, reaching her hand out to me, "Come on, let's get to class and hope for a better day."

I took her hand, grateful that she wasn't judging me or making a big deal out of things like everyone else seemed to be. I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder, slamming my locker shut. Angela looped her arm through mine and walked to our shared first period with me.

The whole class was in chaos, everyone still in pep rally mode.

I ignored the stares and the pointed whispering that followed me to class. I knew that everyone was pretty ticked off that the pep rally was postponed thanks to me, but, fuck, give me a goddamn break, people. Accidents do happen. I was walking proof of that.

I plopped down in my seat at the back of the class, Angela taking her spot in front of me. I let my hair down from its tight ponytail, my hair blanketing my face, shielding me from prying eyes. I just wanted to scream at everyone who looked at me.

Mr. Mata, our math teacher, called the class to attention with a loud two-finger whistle. Everyone stopped talking and immediately took their seats. I was grateful for a reprieve from the eyes on me and tucked my hair behind my ears, focusing all of my attention on the front of the classroom. The less of a reason I gave Mr. Mata to give me a hard time, the better.

Not that this day could suck any worse, but I wasn't ready to test that theory.

"I don't care how bummed you all are about the pep rally being canceled. We're in class now and I expect you guys to shut up and pay attention," Mr. Mata said in that condescending and bored tone he always used with his students.

He made sure we knew that we were lower beings compared to the likes of him. He truly was the biggest tool I had ever met. My dad, who went to school with him back in the day told me that he was a bully. I was not surprised one bit.

He turned his back to us and started writing a scary-looking equation on the whiteboard that had way too many letters in it if you asked me. When he turned back around, he scanned every face until his eyes landed on me. He held out the black marker in his hand and grinned sardonically.

I gulped back the fear bubbling forth.

Of course. Did I mention that the guy seemed to hate my guts? Apparently, I had that effect on the opposite sex.

"Care to give this a shot?"

I shook my head, "No, sir. I don't think I can," I replied honestly. It was the God's honest truth. I had no idea what the hell he had written up there, much less how to solve it.

He sighed impatiently, clearly annoyed with my answer, "Let me rephrase. Come up here and try your best to solve this equation. Participation is not optional in my classroom, Miss Swan. You know that."

There were a few snickers and whispers as I slowly stood up from my desk and walked up to the front of the classroom. I took the marker from him and set my arm on the board to steady my hand. I could feel the anxious sweat starting to pool at the nape of my neck and dampen my forehead. I really hated being called to do work on the board.

I looked helplessly over at Mr. Mata, pleading with my eyes for him to take some damn mercy on me for once. He sat on the edge of his desk, his hands clasped on his knee and his mouth pulled into a puckered smile. The man just oozed douchbaggery.

"We've been learning this since school started this year. You should at least be able to try and solve it," he said after I hadn't made a move to answer it.

I took a deep breath in and turned back to the equation in front of me, my legs starting to shake and my knees feeling wobbly. My hand that was holding the marker shook as well as I looked the problem over and studied it from every angle. I started at the section that I thought I was supposed to begin with. Mr. Mata cleared his throat pointedly, and I glanced over at him. He shook his head with displeasure written all over his face.

I quickly erased what I had written with the side of my hand and looked over the equation once more, breathing heavily through my nose. My fear of failure mixed with my performance anxiety was warring in my belly, causing nauseating knots to form there.

The door opening interrupted my train of thought. Not that the train was going anywhere productive. I looked over and nearly dropped the marker from my sweaty hand.

Kill me now.

Edward stood there in all his pissed-off glory, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a blue slip of paper clenched in his right fist. He looked past me, those narrowed eyes of his seeming to purposefully look anywhere but at me.

"Are you the new student?" Mr. Mata asked. He got up from the desk and plodded over to Edward, holding his hand out for the slip.

Edward smirked with a raised brow, "What gave me away?" he asked sarcastically. He shoved the piece of paper at Mr. Mata's chest.

Mr. Mata caught the slip just before it could flutter to the floor and trudged back over to his desk, looking it over as he went with furrowed brows. For the first time ever, Mr. Mata looked dumbfounded and unsure of himself. He was used to students bending and bowing to his will just because he was a huge mass of a man with an intimidating attitude.

"Take the empty seat in the second row," he told Edward distractedly, pointing his finger to the seat that was next to Lauren.

Edward clomped his heavy boots over to the desk, seeming to not notice all the eyes that were on him. He plopped down and dropped his backpack next to his feet. He slumped down in his seat and crossed his thick and sinewy arms over his chest, his eyes going to the window that led to the courtyard. The veins in his neck were pronounced and the hard set of his jaw was a clear indicator that he was not to be trifled with.

I was pulled from my Edward-induced trance by stubby fingers snapping in front of my face. I looked over at the teacher, startled to see him so close to me. He snatched the marker out of my hand and motioned for me to go take my seat with a sarcastic raise of his brows. His face told me that he was wholly unimpressed with me.

"Does anyone else want to try to solve the equation since Bella is unable to?"

I felt the heat pool into my cheeks as a couple of people laughed at my expense. I kept my head down as I scurried back to my seat. Angela reached out and softly touched my arm as I passed her. I fell into my chair and set my arms on my desk, hiding my face in them for the remainder of the class. I knew I should have paid attention to how the problem was solved so I would know for the next time, but I was having a bad freaking day, and it wasn't even noon yet. And, yeah, I realized how selfish that was given that Alice was the one in the hospital.

When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of class I looked over at Edward, seemingly out of my control. He was already up and speed walking out of class, bypassing all the stares he was still getting. Mostly from girls who were giggling and whispering to each other, pointing at him.

It pissed me off that Edward refused to acknowledge me. I didn't care if that was irrational. It made my blood boil. And it only made me want answers more. But I knew that wasn't likely to happen, so I decided to ignore him for the rest of the day, the same thing he was doing to me. Not that he would care, but it would at least put us on even ground until I figured out a way to approach him and get my answers.

That's all I wanted from him, and I would leave him alone like he so desperately wanted. After all these years with no contact and no explanation, and his attitude toward me now, I deserved some goddamn answers.

Not wanting to run into Edward, or really anyone else in the hallway, I stood up slowly and stayed back as everyone filed out of class. Angela gave me a quizzical look but walked away when I smiled slightly and gestured for her to go ahead without me. A few people lingered, talking amongst themselves. I gathered my things at turtle speed and waited them out. By the time I got to the hallway, it was almost time for the second period.

Social Studies.

It was one of my favorite classes. Not because of the material we were learning, but because Alice sat right next to me, and the teacher always let us socialize as long as we continued to get our work done promptly. Which we did since we helped each other out.

The thought of Alice made my stomach clench painfully. I was reminded again that I was the worst friend to ever exist.

I walked to my locker quickly and pulled my cell phone out of my backpack. The late bell was going to go off soon, but I needed to check in on Alice. I just had to. I was bummed but not surprised that there was still no text from her.

I quickly typed another one.

Are you okay? Please tell me your wrist isn't broken. Don't hate me, okay? I love you so much 3

I put my phone back inside my backpack and slammed my locker shut. I headed to my second-period class with warring thoughts. Some about Edward and some about Alice. I was a terrible friend, honestly. Worrying about what that dickhead was thinking when my best friend was in the emergency room because of my fuck up.

I hung my head in well-deserved shame.

The day went by so slowly after first period. Luckily, I didn't see Edward again until lunch came around. It was easier to ignore what I didn't see. I sat with my friends at our usual table in the center of the lunchroom. They were all talking about what happened, asking me how I fucked up so badly, and asking if Alice was okay because they assumed she would have told me something by now.

No luck, though.

I had checked my phone between each period and had it glued to my hand during lunch, checking it constantly. Waiting for a response. Nothing. Zip. Nada. It hurt because the read receipts were on, and I knew she saw my text. She was willfully ignoring me for the first time ever.

That shit hurt.

I tried to ignore Edward altogether, during lunch but I might have peeked a few times. I was only freaking human. He was sitting at a table in the far back by himself, a permanent scowl marring his features.

Seriously. What the hell was his problem? How could one person be so angry all the time? That had to be really unhealthy for the soul. Not to mention, really fucking annoying.

Like, get over yourself, dude.

That was good advice for me too, honestly. Get over him. Get over it. Get over myself. That's what I needed to do but it was so much easier said than done. I still felt that connection between us that we had when we were younger. I still had a grain of hope that the old Edward was still in there somewhere under all that hateful and impenetrable exterior. We were connected at the hip from kindergarten all the way up until the summer before freshman year. It was difficult but I just had to come to terms with the fact that the boy I once knew didn't exist anymore.

The kind, sweet boy who used to pick me flowers out of my neighbor's yard, was gone.

"Alice is okay!" Angela shouted, startling me. I jerked my head up and looked over at her. She had a big smile on her face and waved her phone around excitedly.

"She texted you?" I asked in a small voice. I was barely able to contain the hurt in my tone. I was sure it was written all over my face anyway.

"Yes. It's only a sprain," Angela explained to the table. She smiled sympathetically at me and then turned to Mike, who was asking questions about how she was doing and if she would be able to cheer at the upcoming game.

According to Angela, it was only a minor sprain and as long as she kept pressure off it for the next month, she'd be good to go. I was relieved to hear that, but the corners of my lips still pulled down of their own accord. I felt like crying. I just wanted to go home and bury myself under the covers until she forgave me. I dropped my eyes to my phone in my lap and then clicked over to Alice's contact and typed out another text.

I'm glad you're alright…

I powered my phone down and stood up from the table. I grabbed my lunch tray and told my friends that I needed to use the bathroom before class. They didn't seem to notice my sour mood. Either that or they were nice enough not to make a big deal out of it.

They just waved and said they'd see me later as they were caught up in hearing about Alice. I wanted to know just as badly as everyone else, but I needed to get out of the lunchroom before I had a full-on breakdown in front of everyone.

I emptied my tray and left it at the top of the trash caddy. I didn't look back as I left the lunchroom. I could feel the sadness taking over, the hurt enveloping me in its bitter embrace. I quickly rushed to the nearest bathroom and ran through the door. Luckily there was no one there because I just needed a goddamn minute to myself. I slid down the wall, bending my knees and dropping my forehead to them, letting my tears flow out.

Could it be possible that I lost my two best friends in less than twenty-four hours? I mean, sure, Edward hadn't been my best friend for a few years, but I still thought of him as one until he showed me that that was not the case anymore. And then, because of my infatuation with the guy, I hurt Alice, my true best friend.

I sighed and tried to shake the thoughts from my head. Surely Alice would forgive me. She had to know it was an accident. She just needed some time, that's all, I tried to reason with myself. Alice was known for holding grudges and giving the cold shoulder, though. I had never been on the receiving end of one of her ice queen acts and it really fucking sucked.

I suddenly felt bad for Carmen Rivera in our freshman year when she accidentally dumped her tray of food down Alice's shirt.

The bell signaling the end of the period went off. I forced my body up and went over to the sink. I cleaned up the little bit of mascara underneath my eyes and patted down my thick and wild hair. Some freshmen girls came barreling in, giggling wildly. They stopped short when they noticed me.

I knew that I looked like a mess. A wreck, even.

But fuck it.

I gave them a tightlipped smile and brushed past them, ignoring their hushed whispers. I went to my locker, put my phone away, and then grabbed what I needed for my English Literature class. I made it to class just as the late bell rang and quickly ran to my desk, slamming my things down on top of it and falling into my seat.

Mrs. Tilly walked to the front of the class with a bright smile on her kind face, "Class, please be seated and quiet down." She put her red-tipped pointer finger in front of her mouth.

When everyone had settled down, she gestured to something in the back of the room, "We have a new student! Come on up here, Edward, and introduce yourself."

My eyes closed tightly, my hands forming into fists on my lap. Of course, he's in this class. The one class that I found therapeutic.

God must really fucking hate me.

"Nah, I'm good," he retorted gruffly.

There were a few snickers from the students, but Mrs. Tilly quieted them down with one look.

"Edward, won't you please come and just tell us a few things about yourself?" Her tone was full of authority though her expression remained kind and patient.

Everyone loved Mrs. Tilly. She was sweet to everyone and in return, we did our best to make her days easier. Apparently, even surly Edward wasn't immune to her charms because a few seconds later I heard those boots stomping down the aisle.

Edward stood next to Mrs. Tilly with his hands stuffed in his jean's pockets, his shoulders slumped forward and a bored look on his face. He looked a little less angry as well. But that was probably just the power of our teachers' charms working on him. That, or even Edward couldn't keep up that much anger all day long.

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and shrugged, "What do you want me to say?"

"Well start with your full name, where you came from, and what brought you here."

He scratched the back of his neck in a rare moment of vulnerability before quickly checking himself and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Edward Cullen," he stated gruffly. "I just moved here from Chicago, but I lived here before for most of my life. I came back because… because I just decided to, I guess." He ended with a one-shoulder shrug.

He looked at Mrs. Tilly again.

"Am I done?"

Mrs. Tilly smiled kindly at him, "Sure, Edward. Go take your seat." She turned to face the rest of the class, clasping her hands together and smiling broadly at us, "The rest of you should have completed your short stories, so start passing them up to the front. I am so excited to see what you guys came up with!"

I already had my short story sitting on top of my folder. I chose to write about a fictional world of my own creation where vampires and werewolves fought against each other for territory. I thought I did a pretty good job with the word minimum we were given. Writing was always fun for me and a great release, so I enjoyed doing it very much.

Stephanie, a girl from the squad and a semi-friend, tapped my shoulder wagging a pile of papers in my face. I grabbed them and Mrs. Tilly collected them and then moved onto the next row to gather theirs. I opened our assigned book to the page we left off on and waited for class to get going.

Mrs. Tilly put the short stories in a bright yellow folder and set them on her desk.

"Open your books to the chapter we left off on, please," she ordered, clapping her hands together twice.

I leaned back in my seat, stretching my legs out in front of me. I picked up my pen and tapped it on my book. I had already read the whole book before it was ever assigned to us this year, so I tuned out the class as they discussed the chapter we were supposed to read for homework.

My eyes wandered the colorful classroom, reading the posters on the walls and scanning the faces of my classmates as they eagerly raised their hands to answer whatever question our teacher had asked. As if drawn to him, I turned my head slightly to the side and looked back at Edward. He sat in the row next to mine, two seats down.

My eyes widened when his fiery ones connected with mine. I tried to look away, but I felt like I was captivated and under his spell. Much like I used to be when we were friends. His eyes held mine for a hot minute. He leaned forward in his seat, tilted his head to the side, and smirked.

It wasn't a cocky smirk. It wasn't a happy smirk. It wasn't a playful smirk. No, the smirk on his face was full of so much contempt, that it almost made me want to shrink back in my seat and set my eyes forward. But I couldn't. I was stuck right where I was.

Edward opened his mouth and mouthed out the words, "Fuck off, Bella."

I huffed, the spell finally breaking because he was such a fucking asshole, it was unbelievable. I turned my eyes back to the front of the class and set my jaw. I pushed my hair over to cover my face, hiding from Edward.

What the hell did I ever do to him?

Now let me know if you all like this story because I have some ideas for other stories I want to write, so if no one is really reading this one, I am going to focus on those.