This Is How It Starts
An: Bella/Rosalie. Edythe instead of Edward. Story deals with subjects of past abuse.
Bella listened on, unamused at the start of conversation as Jessica and Mike dished out the latest gossip churning out from the small town's rumor mill; today it was all about the Cullens. Honestly Bella could see why everyone was interested in the mysterious family that shook up the town about a month ago, they were all beautiful, modelesque even, and they kept pretty much to themselves which did nothing but add to the mystery. Bella also knew what it was like to be the new one in town and have everyone's eyes on you; it sucked.
"...and like they're all together!" Jessica finishes, obviously scandalized by the idea.
Bella frowns, "Yeah, but they're not actually related, you said so yourself, besides it's none of our business." Bella concludes.
Jessica shrugs as she leans against Tyler's van. "It's just a little odd is all." She mumbles, smiling a bit as Mike hums in agreement. Bella rolls her eyes, really she couldn't care less about who was hooking up with who. "Anyway," Jessica continues unperturbed, "...Edythe and Emmett are a couple and then Alice and Jasper, though I don't think Rosalie's with anyone…" Bella raised an eyebrow at the information, it was new to her, though she wasn't surprised that her assumptions had been wrong. She'd always just assumed Emmett and Rosalie were a thing seeing as how close they appeared to be in public, and she had thought Edythe to be the single one seeing as how she always seemed to be just off to the side of their little family group. Though, Bella thought, maybe Edythe was just opposed to PDA.
"Too cold to handle." Mike laughed at his own joke, Bella didn't find it funny.
"Just because she's not interested in you?" Bella tilted her head, awaiting an answer to her question, though she received none as Mike blushed and looked down to the ground. Bella smirked.
Her small victory was short lived however as Jessica came to his defense. "Well, she'd be crazy not to be interested in you, Mike, and really Bella, you can't say that she isn't kind of bitchy, I mean she is your lab partner."
Bella raises an unamused eyebrow, "Yeah, she is, and she's always been polite when we've talked. Plus, she's smart as hell." Her eyes widen to emphasize the meaning behind her words.
Jessica's eyes narrowed at not being backed up, but it was Angela who piped up. "Have you guys talked a lot? I have her in my math class, and I swear she's always the first to finish any assignments or tests, like genius level finishing early."
Bella sends the girl a small smile in thanks. "We've never spoken outside class, or about anything other than class, but she seems nice enough to me." Angela nodded, and Bella let loose a sigh of relief as the conversation moved on to the Homecoming dance that was coming up in a month's time. Bella easily tuned out at the mention of dates and dresses, so not a conversation she wanted to participate in.
A flash of blonde hair in the corner of her eye had Bella turning to find Rosalie Hale walking toward her. Bella straightened up, ignoring the shocked gasps of her friends as the blonde came to stand right in front of Bella. "Bella." Rosalie greeted her coolly, not codly, just with her usual aloofness. "I wanted to make sure you did your part of the assignment for Mr. Banner's class."
Bella nodded, though she frowned thinking back to the two part assignment her teacher had given out last night; one part for each partner. "It's definitely done, though that last essay question kind of threw me for a loop." Bella traps her bottom lip between her teeth, worrying about possibly affecting Rosalie's perfect grade in said class.
Rosalie frowned just a bit as she looked down at Bella. "Perhaps...I have to go to the library during lunch to check out a book for an English assignment...we can go over it then." Rosalie paused, glancing back at her family once before refocusing on Bella. "If you want that is."
Bella smiled up at Rosalie, in an unconsciously charming sort of way. "That'd be amazing actually." Bella laughed lightly as her friends gasped, not so quietly, when Rosalie gave her a small smile in return. "We both know you can teach the class anyways, and I wouldn't want to mess up your grade." Bella admitted offhandedly.
Rosalie frowned, for just a second, before her aloof facade fell back into place. Though Bella couldn't truly know if it was a facade, she had a feeling it was. "See you later then." With a firm nod, Rosalie turned and rejoined her family as they walked toward the entrance of school. Bella watched until they had disappeared behind the double doors.
A long whistle broke her focus and she turned to see an amused Angela who looked like she too had been watching their retreat. "So you don't talk outside of class, right?" Bella glared, betrayed by her friend as the rest of the group giggled at Bella's expense. She had never been so grateful for the bell as it allowed her an escape from any further teasing.
Lunch came all too quickly, and Bella found herself nervously entering the library in search of one Rosalie Hale. It sounded odd, even in Bella's head, though to be fair her life has never truly been normal. The librarian notices her presence with a glance before she's back focusing on the thick book laid out before, so Bella continues deeper, heading toward the tables set up near the back. So far so good, she thinks to herself, her fingers absentmindedly dragging across the spines of the shelved books. She had always loved books and the many worlds they offered up for her to escape into.
The sound of a clearing throat brings Bella back to the world around her. She turns and sees Rosalie seated, rather elegantly, at the table in the corner. Bella offers up a sheepish smile at Rosalie's expectant look, but she doesn't offer up an apology or explanation, instead she takes the empty seat in front of the blonde and fishes the assignment from her backpack.
"Do you like reading?"
Bella looks up from her paper, expecting Rosalie to be staring at her, but she's staring at the bookshelf Bella had been standing at before, curiosity burning brightly in her golden eyes. Bella looks at the bookshelf too, a wistful smile coaxing her lips up. "I do, I mean, I did…" Bella trails off as she looks away and back to Rosalie. The blonde watches her intently now. Bella sighs and shrugs her shoulders. "It's hard to enjoy the story when you already know how it ends, even harder when you know not everything ends happily ever after."
Rosalie's eyebrows furrowed together, her head cocking ever so slightly to the side as she considers Bella's words. The silence is awkward for Bella, not knowing if Rosalie is the type to take things at face value or if she's the type to dig deeper, it's the latter that freaks Bella out the most.
"Anyways, this is the part where I had the most trouble." Bella continues on, releasing a breath as Rosalie seems to drop whatever she was thinking so hard about in favor of helping Bella through the assignment. Bella is beyond grateful, both at the avoidance and the help.
By the time they've finished there's only a few minutes before the bell will sound, ending the lunch period. She's famished but it's ok because spending an uninterrupted thirty minutes with Rosalie left Bella in a better mood, better than she could remember feeling in the past year. They exited the library together, wordlessly agreeing to head to Mr. Banner's class together, and when a freshman boy drops his books at the sight of Rosalie, Bella gives a loud laugh.
"Poor guy." Bella grins as they pass the now blushing boy. Rosalie scoffs and for some reason Bella finds even more amusement in that than she did at the flustered boy. "Is that the natural reaction you get, people making a fool out of themselves? Do they often just fall to their knees and worship at the altar of 'Our Lady Rosalie'? Wait, is it that your stunning self just sends them into a fit where they forget everything that isn't you?"
The longer she goes, the more ridiculous her accusations become, the more she can see that aloofness start to crack and the remnants of a smile start to peak from the corners of her lips and the shine in her eyes. Bella laughs, because she can see a little bit of pride hidden there too, like it pleased Rosalie to have Bella wax on about all the ways the human population fawned over her. "Oh my God! Does everyone just fall in love with you on sight?"
Rosalie doesn't look at her, but her lips tilt up into a self-satisfied smirk as she finally responds to Bella. "Not everyone." Bella is unconvinced and she laughs again with a shake of her head. "What, you don't believe me?"
Bella shakes her head again as they come to a stop in front of Mr. Banner's class. Bella peers inside, noticing a few students milling about. She leans in close to Rosalie, like she's sharing a secret, when really she just doesn't want to be overheard, feeling a need to protect this playful side of Rosalie, like it wasn't meant for everyone to see.
"I find it hard to believe that someone wouldn't fall for you if given half a chance." Bella smiles softly, as she backs away from a stunned Rosalie and into the class. If it takes Rosalie a little longer than it should to follow bella to their table, Bella doesn't mention it, but her smile doesn't fade an inch for the rest of the class period.
It's not until the end of the day, as she exits the school to find the sky in a downpour does her mood dampen, just slightly. Of course the world would literally find a way to rain on her parade. She sighs, watching the other students pour into their cars or the cars of their parents as they get picked up. Bella waits under the school's roof for a few more seconds, mentally preparing herself for the wet walk home. She takes the steps down and out into the rain, but halts as the rain suddenly disappears from around her.
When she looks up there's a red umbrella above her and the person holding it is standing very close. "What are you doing?" Bella shouts above the sound of the rain pummeling the tin roofs and pavement around them.
Rosalie rolls her eyes, and it's so perfect Bella wonders if maybe Rosalie's practiced the move in the mirror before. "You'll catch your death out here." Rosalie doesn't offer an explanation.
Bella shrugs, pulling her backpack more firmly over her shoulder when it starts to slip. "I've walked home in worse." And she has, rain, sleet, snow, she's walked in it all before. Rosalie frowns, and Bella sees the same look appear on her face as the one in the library. Bella shakes her head and steps out from under the shelter of Rosalie's umbrella. "Don't worry so much!" Bella shouts back at her, pausing before turning her back completely on the blonde. "I'll be okay." Bella's words are punctuated by a flash of lightning, followed by the loud clap of thunder.
And Bella throws her head back, laughing at the suddenness of it all. "See you tomorrow, Rosalie!" Bella doesn't turn back around as she makes her way off campus, but she doesn't need to look to know that Rosalie watches every step she takes. She just knows.
The house is dark when she gets home, Charlie's police cruiser still absent from the driveway and a note taped to the fridge.
'No food. Went fishing.'
Bella scoffs and rolls her eyes, knowing damn well that 'fishing' really meant that Charlie would be too drunk to drive home from the reservation tonight and that she probably wouldn't see him until tomorrow night, if she was lucky. She crumples the note and throws it behind her, not caring if it made it into the trash can or not. Just like the note said, the fridge was bare, so she grabs her box of cereal from the counter and trudges up the stairs, eating a dry handful as she goes.
Safely inside her room, she sets the cereal box on her desk before making quick work of removing her wet clothes. Then she grabs a towel and heads back out to the hall in search of a hot shower, but instead she finds another note taped to the mirror.
'No hot water until tomorrow.'
A frustrated growl escapes her throat, her frustration boiling over until she's ripped up the note and left the mess scattered about the floor as she retreats to her room with a slam of the door. Perfect, just perfect, she thought angrily as she redressed herself in a pair of sleep pants and sweatshirt. Swiping the box from her desk, she lifts another handful to her mouth before a loud knocking sounds from the front door. Grumbling around her mouthful she makes her way downstairs.
"I'm coming!" She retches the door open, her surprise making her choke on her next words as she sees just who has decided to visit. "W-What?"