Surviving High School

Ordinary Day

A/N: A big thank you to all that read and review.  Makes me happy to know that you all enjoy my story!

....

I was greeted Tuesday morning by the infernal beeping of my alarm clock. With a groan, I flopped over and smashed my hand down on the clock in hopes of quieting it. Getting up, I couldn't help but hope that today would be a little less dramatic than yesterday. Although, telling Mike off had been empowering; it felt really good to let out it all out. And then giving Edward a taste of his medicine. Classic.

However, the "talk" with Mr. Laurent had been more than embarrassing. Adding insult to injury, I'd totally forgotten that he was Bitchtoria's father. Yeah, I know. How the hell I managed to forget that was beyond me. It wasn't until I stepped into his office and saw his glaring red hair that I remembered he had spawned the devil herself. I didn't understand it. Mr. Laurent was a perfectly nice man, if not a bit emotional, but how the hell he had a daughter like her was beyond me.

After a quick shower and breakfast, I made my way to school. As I pulled into the lot, I noticed Mike, Jessica, and Lauren arguing near Jessica's car. I made sure to park as far away from them as possible. I really didn't want to get sucked into whatever they were arguing about. I did wonder where Jessica stood in all this. After all, she was dating Mike, and she was best friends with Lauren. I locked Chuck and was making my way toward the front doors of the school, when Jessica called out my name.

"Bella! Wait a sec."

I stopped and waited for her to catch up with me. I noticed that she seemed a bit flushed and asked her if everything was okay.

"No, everything is not okay. Mike and Lauren are being complete jerks! I cannot believe them! I thought they were your friends, and then they go and do what they did. Well, let's just say Mike is going to the dance by himself."

I was a bit taken back by the venom I heard in her voice. Sure, Jessica and I were friends, but we weren't super close. The fact that she was siding with me over her boyfriend and best friend, made me realize that perhaps I had misjudged Jessica.

"Oh, Jess," I sighed. "I don't want what's going on with me to affect your relationships with them."

"Bella, please," she snorted. "You're my friend, too. What they did was wrong and low. I've always known that Lauren didn't like you, but I didn't think she'd do something like this. As for Mike, he's always had a crush on you," she said, sounding a bit sad. "And even though he and I are dating, he got jealous because you seemed to like Edward. In a way, I understand his train of thought in that he thought he was helping you, but he can't seem to understand that he's just made things worse."

I threw an arm around her and gave her shoulders a squeeze.

"Thanks for being my friend, Jess."

"Of course. We'd better get going before the bell rings."

The day passed by pretty quickly, and I noticed that while there were still some stares and whispers, they weren't as bad as they had been yesterday. Throwing my books into my locker, I made my way to the cafeteria, got in line, and grabbed a slice of pizza and an apple. I started to make my way to my usual table, but thought better of it when I saw Mike sitting there, glaring at me. I saw Jessica nearby and asked her if she wanted to sit with me, but she said she was heading to the library. I looked around the cafeteria and noticed Emmett and Rosalie sitting at a table in the corner.

"Mind if I sit with you guys?" I asked them.

"Stumbling Bella! Of course not. Always glad to have your smiling face at our table," Emmett said with his usual gusto and a huge grin.