I don't own Twilight. What I own is my character's behavior, personality, background, and plot of the story.
Thanks to my Beta MadMooey18 for her constant support and help in making this story what it is today.
"You will not leave us stranded and run. Do you understand, Garret?" Bella demands as she whispers to him through the driver's seat window.
Garret rolls his eyes at her like he always does when she talks him into helping in whatever mess she decides to jump into. Usually, his girlfriend's younger sister is involved in whatever Bella is into. Tanya is sick tonight, and the frogs are going to get dissected by the high school juniors tomorrow, so if they don't free them today, they won't be there when Tanya is feeling better. Hence, why it's just Bella and her best friend, Edward.
"Are you sure we won't get caught?" asks Edward again as they sneak into the high school.
Not for the first time, Bella tells him, "We won't trip the security system because it's always down. The seniors sneak in undetected all the time."
"But what if it's not, and we get caught?" Edward whines at her. The last time Bella dragged him on an expedition, they got caught and he was grounded for a month. That was the most miserable month of their life. Bella can sweet talk her way out of a punishment.
He can't.
"We won't. Stop acting like a five year old. You are thirteen for heaven's sake," Bella whispers in frustration. Edward used to have guts, now all he does is worry that something will happen and it's starting to cramp her style.
"Exactly! We aren't kids anymore. We get treated like adults now. Adults don't steal frogs from the high school biology lab because their ethics don't align with the school's policy."
Bella stops and turns to face Edward, searching his face for something. Edward always tells her that she is the most courageous person he knows. He once told her that he admires her for that. He even told her that he envies how she has the guts to do what most people are afraid of.
When did he start thinking that her strong ethics are an inconvenience?
Confusing her surprise with hesitation, Edward rattles on, "Come on. Let's go home. I'm sure Garret won't judge you for changing your mind."
Despite her best efforts, Bella finds herself pausing for a moment to think about Edward's suggestion. She can feel the gap between her and Edward growing more and more as he starts changing. Edward used to think a lot like her. Now, it's like he is auditioning for a boring office job.
Her therapist says that it's because non-ADHD people grow faster than someone with ADHD like her. But, when did growing up become not doing the right thing?
Aren't adults supposed to do the right thing?
If that's what growing up looks like, Bella would rather eat rocks.
Straightening her back, Bella shakes her head and tells him in a sure voice, "You stay here, and I will do it. That way, if something happens, I will get caught alone."
And with that, Bella turns around and marches into school. She feels tears threatening to fall, but holds her head high and doesn't let them. It will be a cold day in hell before she cries over someone being a coward.
It's his loss, not her's.
Bella takes her mobile phone out of her pocket and looks over the school map which Kate, Tanya's older sister sent her to make sure she is heading in the right direction. Taking a left, followed by a right, Bella finds herself standing in front of the biology lab.
She takes a deep breath, then turns the doorknob.
That is when all hell breaks loose.
A siren starts blaring in the overhead speaker and a small light bulb in the corridor starts blinking red and blue. Bella knows without a doubt that in less than five minutes the police will be here. Bella looks back and forth between the corridor and the glass container holding the frogs, a couple of times.
There is no choice to make. Bella didn't come all this way to stop her plan now. She will save the frogs, even if it's the last thing she does.
As she places the containers on top of each other to carry them, she hears footsteps head in her direction that stop in the doorway. Bella freezes then slowly turns around ready for the angry reaction she will get.
To her relief, Edward is the face that greets her. "What is wrong with you? The police will be here in a minute. Now isn't the time to be slow," Edward reprimands her as he rushes and takes one of the containers.
Together, they both run as fast as their feet will let them toward Garret's car. Bella jumps into the front seat, while Edward gets in the back seat. Even before the doors are closed, Garrett is speeding towards the highway.
"I can't find anything. It's probably some kids smoking weed who tripped the alarm then ran off," A voice comes from Edward's back pocket.
"You know, kid, I still don't understand how you managed to hack into the police communication system," Garret tells him as Edward fiddles with his phone to mute the sounds.
Edward shakes his head in frustration then pushes his glasses up his nose. Not for the first time, he explains to Garret what he does. "I didn't hack their system. I simply created an app that can intercept the wavelength of their walkie talkie. From there, it's like using a radio to tune into a station. I just pick up the wavelength and hear everything they say."
During the month he was grounded, Edward used his free time to teach himself how to code when he got the idea for the app. He figured he won't get grounded again if he and Bella can avoid getting caught breaking the law.
"I stopped listening after the word "intercept", but it's cool what you do."
Edward rolls his eyes but then catches Bella's in the rearview mirror and smiles at her. They spend the rest of the ride in silence until they reach the pond they want to free the frogs in.
"Thank you for coming to help me. If you didn't, I would have been caught," Bella tells him as they watch the frogs jump into the pond.
Hoping the smell of weed Garret is smoking doesn't linger on his clothes, Edward scrunches in disgust as he tells her, "That is what friends are for."
Bella rubs her temples trying to make the headache go away; a side effect of not sleeping well last night. "You know, you would feel better if you spent the night actually sleeping instead of whatever you do."
Bella looks up at Phil and glares at him. "Says the guy who spends his nights having sex with my mother instead of sleeping," she mutters darkly at him.
Phil looks up smirking at her as he fills his coffee mug and tells her, "I would take your anger seriously, if I didn't know you loved me."
For good measure, Phil winks at Bella which prompts her to give him the middle finger. "I always wonder to myself, did I gain boyfriend, or did my daughter get a brother with the way the two of you bicker like kids," Renee mutters as she walks down the stairs and catches the middle finger Bella was giving Phil.
"Do not speak that into the universe. I am an only child and that will never change," Bella tells her as she feels a shiver run down her spine at the thought of having a sibling.
Renee giggles at her daughter's antics then kisses her forehead before taking a mug of coffee out of the cupboard and hands it to Phil to fill with coffee. He doesn't complain since the little shit worships the ground her mum walks on and does whatever she wants.
Bella isn't bitter that her mum moved on. That was bound to happen. Her mum shouldn't have to spend the rest of her life with the promise of abstency in memory of her father, but that doesn't change the fact that Bella would prefer that it just be them only.
It took her mum two years before she started dating and even for the first three years, none of her relationships panned out. It was only after she met Phil, who had just transferred from a hospital in Seattle to one in Port Angeles, that things worked for her romantically.
Had anyone told her that the idiot who had the biggest crush on her mum would one day interest her mum, she would have laughed in their face, but here they are. "Hey! Is either of you going to make me some breakfast, or do you want to take this to the bedroom?" Bella demands breaking up the two of them.
Phil turns to her with a glare. "I am not making you anything. You can make your own food."
"That's okay. I'll just ask Edward to bring me some of his mum's muffins to school."
Before she can finish typing her message, her mum snatches her phone from her hand and orders Phil to include Bella, all the while muttering under her breath about Esme judging her. Five minutes later a plate is shoved in her direction. Bella thanks him then digs in, and in five minutes she is done sitting and waiting by the door for Garrett to pick her up.
As much as Bella would rather ride with Edward, he rides with the Brandons and there is only so much of Emmett that she can handle every day. He knows better than to be an asshole to her, but that doesn't mean that they are friends, so she rides with Tanya who rides with Garrett.
"Wow! That was close!" Tanya exclaims after Bella whispered to her what happened as they run to their first class.
They slip into their homeroom right as the bell rings. "Tanya and Bella, seconds away from being late as always," Miss Sanders states as she closes the door behind them.
"It's not like we have a choice in the matter," Tanya states as each one of them walks to her seat.
Miss Sanders folds her arms over her chest and tells Tanya, "Pray, tell, why do you have no choice in the matter?"
Tanya smiles brightly at Miss Sanders as she replies, "It is our sworn duty to bring some fashion sense into this school and that takes time."
Miss Sanders turns to look at Bella waiting for her two cents on her friend's statement. "Can you imagine how dreary this school would be without us in it?" Bella asks, pouting her lips.
Miss Sanders simply rolls her eyes at them. She goes to her desk and starts calling attendance.
"My mum gave me a muffin for you," Edward whispers from beside her as he hands it to her from under the table.
"That is so nice of her," Bella whispers as she puts it in her bag then faces the teacher with a smile on her face.
When Bella tells people that Esme is like a second mother to her, they assume that she says that because Edward is her best friend.
That isn't true.
Esme is like a second mother to her because the person who looks out the most for her after her mother is Esme. When Bella decided that she didn't want to be cruel to animals anymore and went vegetarian, she found herself at a loss for meals to make. Esme swooped in, and took it upon herself to find ten different vegetarian meals and then teach Bella how to make them. She also started making muffins on the weekends for the days that Bella is too tired to make breakfast for herself.
The rest of their periods before lunch go without a hitch and soon, Bella finds herself walking toward their lunch table with her food tray.
"Bella, I missed you!" Alice exclaims as soon as she sits down then hugs her side. Bella puts down her tray then hugs her back while rolling her eyes at her. Only Alice would have such a dramatic reaction to going for a weekend without seeing her.
"I missed you too," Bella replies then pulls back from her to say hi to everyone on the table.
She gives Emmett a fist pump, waves at Tanya, and Irina then asks everyone, "Where is Edward?"
"I'm here," Edward replies from behind her, then places his tray on the table and slides into the seat beside her.
"What took you so long?" Bella demands.
"Like you are one to talk. You came only two minutes before him," Emmett says, earning a glare from her.
Edward rolls at the two of them then tells her, "I was asking Mr. Newton about our science project."
Bella nods her head in understanding then perks up when she spots the vegetarian pizza on his tray. "Thank you so much for getting it," she exclaims as she claps her hands together.
"All of us got it, but of course you noticed Edward's first," Alice tells her.
Bella smiles at everyone and thanks them, but is interrupted by Emmett who tells her, "I didn't. Vegetarian stuff is for babies. I am a man." Then he beats on his chest for good measures.
Alice glares at her brother then tells him, "Can you for once in your life, not spoil a moment? This isn't about you. Stop trying to do that."
"I can if I want to," Emmett replies not missing a beat. "Vegetarian options are for little girls, not men like me."
"Actually, more than third of the vitamins and minerals needed to build muscles and regulate male biological functions aren't found in meat. On the other hand, almost all of the vitamins and minerals needed are found in vegetables," Irina interjects.
"What about the ones related to brain function?" Alice asks leaning forward.
"Same."
"That explains why I am the twin with functioning brain cells," Alice tells her brother.
"Burn!" Edward exclaims laughing while Bella high fives her then wiggles eyebrows at Emmett.
Emmett glares at the three of them as he stuffs his face with his burger. Bella simply ignores his glare and eats her pizza.
When Bella became vegetarian, she found out that there are no vegetarian options in the school's canteen. She spent a month badgering the school principal everyday about adding a vegetarian option, until the principal agreed under the stipulation that other students eat it too.
Her friends supporting her? Doesn't surprise her. Emmett making it a point not to support her? Not surprising either.
"Isn't he cute?" Alice sighs as she leans into Bella as she stares dreamily at Eric.
Bela turns to Alice then follows her gaze before asking her, "You mean snot eating Eric?"
Alice sits upright as she turns to Bella and asks her, "What do you mean?"
"Edward and I caught him eating his snot two years ago, isn't it Edward?" Bella tells her, turning to Edward.
"Who?"
"Eric," Bella tells him.
Edward nods his head and tells her, "Oh yeah. He wouldn't know what was happening, until, like, if it slapped him in the face. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out that he doesn't know how to clean his own butt."
"Eww! What the fuck? I think I just vomited a little in my mouth," Alice exclaims in disgust.
Tanya hides her giggles behind her hands then tells her, "Like better boys next time Alice."
Alice just shakes her head as she stands up while muttering to herself, "I lost my appetite. I'm going to the bathroom."
"I just remembered Alice's expression," she replies when Edward asks her why she is giggling.
Edward laughs a little then reprimands her. "Focus! Our project isn't gonna finish itself."
Bella rolls her eyes at Edward's tone then goes back to reading from the book in her hands, but as she lays on Edward's bed with the book hanging above her, she can't help but think of Alice.
"Edward?" she asks tentatively, peeking at him from behind her book.
"Yes?" he answers, putting the laptop down. He figures from Bella's tone that they will have either an argument or a deep discussion.
"Why does Alice keep having crushes?" She asks him.
Edward shrugs, unsure of what she is asking.
"Aren't we too young to have crushes?" she asks.
Edward feels his throat grow tighter as Bella branches into a topic he doesn't want to talk about. "Don't know. Do you have a crush on anyone?" He asks distractingly.
Bella shakes her head and tells him, "I feel like I am too young to crush on anyone. I am only thirteen. What about you?" She asks.
"No one," Edward replies quickly, figuring that answering her " you" won't go too well with her.
Hello lovely people,
What do you think of this chapter? What do you think will happen next. Let me know in the review section, and follow and favorite this story, if you haven't already.
I didn't count the vitamins and minerals in meat, so I can't say with complete certainty that a third of them is an accurate statement. That was me eyeballing it based on the fact that I am Pesco-vegan, and the fact that I wasted three years of my life in pre-med and medicine adjacent programs in uni.
I am intrigued, is any of you following any plant based diet? I would like to know.
Until my next update,
Stay Safe