Surviving High School

Troubled Soul

A/N: First off, I'd like to thank you all for the love and reviews this story gets.  However, I've been getting a lot of reviews and/or messages, begging/demanding that I update.  While I love the fact that you all want more, please don't do that.  I update two, sometimes three times a week on here.  That's a lot, and I have other things that I have to get done.  I also try and let you all know when the next update is in these author notes. So, the next update will be on Tues night, early Wed morning.  Okay?  Okay.  Rant done.  On with the story!

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Just as her hand swung forward, it was grabbed by someone, and a voice growled out, "Don't even think about it, Victoria."

I heard the growling voice of Emmett behind Victoria, and the look on his face was one I'd never seen. His eyes had gone cold. The anger etched on his face was full of hatred. I'd never seen Emmett like that. Gone was the happy-go-lucky guy; he was replaced with the don't-fuck- with-me-or mine guy. Not that I was complaining. At that moment, I was very happy to have an angry Emmett on my side.

Victoria spun around when he grabbed her arm, startled that anyone dared to interrupt her. She attempted to yank her arm out of his grasp, but he wasn't letting go.

"This doesn't concern you, McCarty," she hissed at him.

"Wrong, Victoria. It does concern me. You're threatening my friend, and I don't take kindly to that."

"Back off, McCarty! You don't want to fuck with me!" she shouted at him.

"Oh, you've got that right. God only knows what kind of nasty diseases you have," he said, all the while tightening his grip on her arm. He then leaned in. "Stay the fuck away from Bella. If you choose not to, you're going to have more than Rose to worry about."

He let go of her, folded his arms across his massive chest, and stared her down. She continued to stare right back at him but quickly realized that she wasn't going to win the battle. I didn't know what she was thinking, but did she honestly believe she could take on both Rose and Emmett? She gave me one final glare and stomped off while the crowd around us applauded Emmett. As I watched her stalk off, I let out a breath I hadn't realized that I'd been holding. Emmett leaned against Chuck and wrapped an arm around me.

"You okay, Champ?" he asked.

"Sure. I'll be fine once my heart stops pounding. I can't believe she almost hit me! Thank you for being here, Emmett."

"Anytime. Can't have my little sister getting smacked by a hobag, now can I?"

I shook my head and gave him a hug. He hugged me back and then pulled away as our friends approached us.

"Geez, Bells. First, you go after Edward and now you're hugging all over Emmett. Should I be worried that you're going to come after me next?" Ben asked jokingly.

"Nah, you're safe, Ben. Your girlfriend isn't nearly scary enough for me," I said, pinching his cheek. "Plus, you're not that cute."

He shot me a wounded look and clutched a hand over his chest, a move that I'd seen Emmett do before. They really were too much alike.