The Dead of Night

Chapter Twenty Eight

"What have I ever done to you, Lauren?" I asked, thoroughly confused by her outburst—and a little ashamed. I hated to admit it, but she was right; I had happily given up my human friends for the chance to live in the supernatural world again. What kind of person was I? Still, that didn't give Lauren—who had always hated me—the right to humiliate me. "Did I wrong you in another life? Why do you hate me?"

"And now you're going to play the victim card," Lauren spat, standing up with her tray while Jessica trailed behind her. "Bella, I can look in the mirror and say 'I'm mean, I'm a bitch'—but you try to act so innocent, like you've never done anything wrong!"

I was flabbergasted and embarrassed, especially when I looked around and realized that a good majority of the lunch room was staring at me. Even my own friends were making me nervous with the mixed expressions they all had: Angela looked shocked, Ben seemed apologetic, Mike was trying to hide his disgusted grimace from Jessica, and Eric was attempting to look uninterested.

"So, excuse me, guys," Lauren continued, "if I'm not willing to sit here and listen to Miss Bella 'I'm-so-fake' Swan talk about how great of a person she is and worm her way back into our group." With that Lauren turned on her heel and stormed out of the cafeteria with Jessica in tow.

Not wanting to see how many people were truly staring at me, I let my head fall to my hands and groaned in response to the humiliation. My mind immediately began wondering if I was everything Lauren had said I was. Did I really try to act innocent?

"Don't listen to her, Bella," Angela whispered, and I turned to face her. "Even before you moved here, Lauren's always been like that. She gets upset whenever the attention isn't one hundred percent on her."

"She's right, though," I grumbled and glanced at everyone at the table. "I owe you all an apology. I completely kicked you guys to the wind. I'm really sorry."

"Hey, it's no biggie, Bella," Eric said, cracking a hint of his usual smile leaning back in his chair.

"I know why you did it," Angela said softly as the guys began complaining about Lauren and Jessica, and I shifted back to face her. "That guy, Erickson, made you forget about Edward for awhile, that's why."

"Was it that obvious?" I asked, not wanting to reveal that I was actually in love with Eric. I wasn't sure why, but I didn't think Angela would understand. How could I have claimed to be in love with Edward, only to fall in love with someone else so soon after? Yeah, she wouldn't have believed that at all.

"A little," Angela admitted and giggled. "Honestly, I kind of liked him better than Edward."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Angela started, after pondering for a few moments, and leaned in like she was telling me a secret. "Eric always made his feelings for you known—physically, I mean. Edward always seemed pretty shy whenever I saw you two together. And Eric also knew how to put Lauren and Jessica in their place."

I could've sworn I heard a record scratch when Angela mentioned Lauren and Jessica. "I don't understand." I narrowed my eyes skeptically. "How did he put them in their place?"