Thank you all for reading/reviewing! Warms my heart! A huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her comma expertise and her ideas.
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"Oh, you sweet, sweet boy," I said out loud to myself as I stared at the postcard in my hands five days after we'd returned back to Washington.
It seemed that I hadn't been the only one to send postcards, and I stared down at the words written on the back. It read And tonight, I'll fall asleep with you in my heart. The boy was killing me, and I couldn't call him fast enough.
"You, sir, are deadly," I told him as soon as he answered.
"Why is that?" he asked as he chuckled.
"You are too freaking sweet. I mean, the things you write on these postcards just melt me."
"Yeah?" he asked. "Good. that's what I was going for. I want you to know just how much I think about you and just how much I love being with you."
There he went again, using the word love when talking about me, and it sent a thrill running through me just like it had the last time he'd said it.
"I love being with you, too," I told him, my heart skipping a beat as I used the L word for the first time while talking to him.
"I figured as much," he said a bit smugly, and I let out a small laugh. "And thank you for my postcard. I had a feeling that I'd be getting one from you."
"I couldn't resist," I told him before asking if anything exciting had happened while we were gone.
"Oh, yeah, but I'm gonna let Alice tell you," he said cryptically, and I barely held back a groan. I loved Alice to death, but she could ramble on for days.
"Why hasn't she called me? We've been home for like five days."
"Who knows," Edward replied, "but she's standing outside my room, yelling at me to get off the phone, so she can talk to you."
"Call me later, okay?"
"I will, sweet girl."
Moments after we hung up, my phone rang with Alice's number lighting up, and I answered immediately.
"What took you so long to call me?" I asked her.
"I've been busy, and then I got distracted because of the school musical. You know I'm doing all the costumes for it, right? So, I've been busy, but I finally remembered, and I just have to let you know."
"Let me know what?"
Alice went on to tell me that Tanya had gotten a job, being a cashier at Wal-Mart, in order to pay her father back. Her driving privileges had been revoked, and she was no longer allowed to see James.
"Well, that's only going to make her find ways to see him," I commented, and Alice agreed.
"Right? Although, what she sees in him is beyond me. At least when she dated Edward, I thought she had some sort of taste. Now, I think she's just desperate."
"Most likely."
"Oh, and get this. Rumor has it that a teenage girl from Forks was spotted at the women's health clinic here in P.A."
"And the big deal is?"
"Come on, Bella. Why would a teenage girl show up at a clinic in a different city without anyone with her? Chances are good, someone is knocked up."
"Oh," was my response. I didn't know who the girl was, but I definitely felt bad for her. Not only was she being talked about, but her entire life was about to change forever.
"I think it was either Jessica or Lauren," she told me.
"Huh. Well, I guess we'll find out eventually. I mean, if it's one of the two, they'll start showing eventually."
Alice went on to chatter about other things, but I didn't pay much attention to what she was saying until she yelled out my name.
"What?"
"Are you even listening to me?" she asked, and I apologized as I told her that my mind had wandered.
"Well, I said that I still can't believe that James was arrested for breaking into Forks High."
Both my dad and Alice had called me while I'd been in West Virginia and told me all about James' arrest for breaking into the school.
"I still can't figure out why he would do that. What did he expect to find? Drugs or money or something?" I asked, although I worried for a few minutes that he might have been trying to break into my locker. Not that I kept anything in there but my books and notebooks.
"No idea, but it sucks that he's out on bail now."
I agreed. Dad had mentioned it earlier, but we hadn't really sat down to discuss it, and I know we needed to. I didn't understand why anyone would let a crazy guy like James out to wander the streets and commit more crimes.
"Listen, Alice, I've got to go, but if you hear anything else, let me know! I'll see you Wednesday after school."
"I will, but do the same. If you find out anything, let me know," she said, and I told her I would before hanging up.
Over dinner, Dad brought up James and fully explained what was going on.
"As I told you earlier, James is out on bail. He will be tried for burglary 2 as well as petty theft, but I'll be honest, Bells. The sentence for burglary 2 is one to three months. However, since he has a record, I'm sure the judge will give him the maximum three months."
I scowled down at my baked potato and mumbled how it didn't seem right that he should be allowed to just run around town, and how the punishment just didn't seem like enough.
"I know, Bells, but that's the way the legal system works. We might not like it, but we have to respect it."
I nodded my head in understanding, knowing he was right, but I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all, and now I was plagued by the thought that James had been rifling through my locker. I guess it could have been worse. He could have broken into our house and rifled through my underwear drawer or something of the like.
The following day at school, I found myself distracted by the gossip that Alice had shared with me, and I was constantly looking around at the girls who passed me in the hallway.
I berated myself for doing it, but I had to admit, I was curious if the rumor was true.
"You're distracted today," Angela commented during class, and I nodded. I didn't want to fuel the fire of the rumor, so I just told her I was thinking about James and how it worried me.
It wasn't a complete lie. I was worried about the whole James situation.
"Guess who I saw working at Wal-Mart yesterday?" Eric asked, and I was grateful for the change in subject.
"Who?" Ben asked, and he told them it had been Tanya.
"Why was she working there?" Angela asked, and I told them it was because she had scratched the hell out of Edward's car and was having to pay her dad back for it being fixed.
"When did that happen?" Eric asked.
"Before break. I thought I'd told you guys that. I guess not. Anyway, she had to get a job in order to pay her dad back, and her car was taken away as well. Oh, and she's not allowed to see James anymore, but I'm sure she'll find a way."
"He's so freaking creepy. What the hell does she see in him?" Angela asked.
I shrugged. "Alice thinks she's just desperate, but I think it's more than that."
I went on to explain my theory of how I thought the two of them were scheming together to somehow break Edward and I up so that she could have him back.
"I know it seems farfetched, but ..." I trailed off.
"Maybe, maybe not," Angela said, and Ben and Eric nodded their heads. "Just watch your back, and know that we'll be watching out for you as well."
Just then, there was a ruckus across the cafeteria, and I saw Jessica snarling and pointing my way, and I wondered what she thought I'd done now.
"Man, she's got it out for you," Ben said in a low voice.
"Yeah, but I don't know why. She can't still be mad at me about Lauren getting suspended, can she? I mean, that was months ago."
"Maybe she's still jealous because you're dating Edward," Eric suggested. "I mean, that I can understand because your boy is hot."
Angela shook her head. "I don't think that's it. I think it's something deeper, yet I have no clue what it could be."
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Mike talking quietly to Jessica, but she wasn't having it. She kept shaking her head, pointing in my direction, and arguing with him.
Eventually, she was done listening to him because she shook his hand off her arm and began to make her way toward me with Mike right behind her. I braced myself for whatever crap was going to come spewing out of her mouth.
"You!" she hissed once she was beside me. "You did this!"
"I did what?" I asked because I honestly had no idea what she was talking about. "Listen, Jessica, I have no idea what it is you think I've done. Why don't you go find someone else to take your misguided anger out on."
"I'm sorry, Bella," Mike said as he grabbed Jessica's arm once more and attempted to drag her away.
"Don't you apologize to her!" Jessica screeched. "This is her fault! She's the reason everyone is going to know."
"If you keep screeching like that, then you're going to be the reason that everyone knows whatever it is you're freaking out about," Eric said rather loudly, and I had to hold back the snort that wanted to escape me.
"Shut the fuck up, Eric!"
"Ms. Stanley!" Mr. Banner, the biology teacher, said from behind her. "That sort of language is not tolerated. Come with me."
I watched as Mr. Banner marched her out of the cafeteria, and I had no doubt that I would be blamed for that as well.
"Just watch, she's going to say it's all my fault," I told my table.
"Probably," Mike said, and I'd forgotten he was even there. He looked tired and upset as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I couldn't help but wonder if Jessica was the pregnant girl.
"I'll talk to her and see if I can't get her to see reason, but I wouldn't count on it," he said in a tired voice. "She really has it out for you, and neither Lauren nor I can figure out why."
"I won't put up with it, Mike. I'm not a scapegoat for her to take her anger out on. I'm sick and tired of it."
"I know. I promise I'll talk to her, but I can't guarantee she's going to listen. I know it's no excuse, but she's been going through a lot lately, and she's taking it out on everyone around her."
"We all have a lot of crap going on, but that's no excuse, and you know it," I told him, and he nodded his head.
"I know. Oh, and I have some information on James and Tanya, but I'll tell you about it later,' he said quietly. "I'll be at the library after school if you want to stop by."
I told him I would before explaining to Angela, Ben, and Eric how Mike had volunteered to find out information about James and Tanya for me.
"He's changed," Ben said as we got ready to leave.
"Who?" I asked.
"Mike. He's not the jock asshole he was at the beginning of the year. He seems to have grown up."
The others nodded their heads in agreement, and I admitted I'd noticed a change in him as well. When I'd first met him, he'd been a cocky jerk who'd tried to flirt with me, but he wasn't like that anymore. Now, he was actually being nice and trying to help me, and I appreciated it.
After school, I went home to drop off my backpack and do some homework before going to the library.
A little after five, I walked into the library where I found Mike shelving books in the young adult section.
"What's up, Mike?" I asked, and he set down the book he was about to put away.
"I'm sorry about earlier at school," he said by way of greeting. "We've been dealt some news that's hard to swallow. Anyway, a friend of mine in P.A. told me that James has been asking around about you. From what it sounds like, he's developed a crush on you and has decided he wants you for himself."
I made a face at his words and barely held back a shiver at the creepiness of it all.
"Ugh, that's so gross. I've only met him, like, twice. How in the world could he have developed a crush on me? That's just not even feasible."
"I don't know, Bella. I'm just reporting what I heard."
"What about Tanya?"
Mike shrugged. "Rumor has it that she knows James has a crush on you, and she's encouraging it because that will allow her to go after Edward."
I just stared at him for a few moments.
"They must be freaking delusional," I said. "I mean, really, who comes up with that kind of plan or whatever that is? It's so dumb."
"I agree. I do know that James is out on bail, so just be careful."
"Thanks, Mike," I told him, and he nodded his head.
.........
Wednesday afternoon, I drove to Port Angeles to hang out with Alice and Rose and to have some girl time while Edward, Emmett, and Jasper were going to a hockey game.
"You know what?" Alice asked, and Rose and I shook our heads.
"I think we need some more provisions for the homemade pizza we're making for dinner. Perhaps we should hit up Wal-Mart to get what we need," she suggested with a slightly evil grin, and I couldn't help but laugh at her.
Fifteen minutes later, we were walking through the giant store, picking up chips and soda as well as pizza sauce before making our way toward the checkout lanes. Alice scoured through them until she found the one Tanya was working.
The second Tanya spotted us, a sour look came across her face, and I felt slightly bad that we were there to see her in all her glorious misery. Then, I remembered what she'd done to Edward's car and her attitude, and I got over the guilt I was feeling.
"Fancy seeing you here, Tanya," Alice said in an overly sweet voice, and I barely held back a snicker when Tanya shot her a death glare. Of course, the look she gave me wasn't much better.
She didn't say one word to us as she checked us out, and I was so tempted to say something, but I didn't. It took great restraint, and I really wanted to confront her about her scheming with James, but it wasn't the time or the place.
"I thought she was gonna crawl over the cash register and smack me," Alice said once we were back in the car.
I let out a laugh at her words because I could picture Tanya doing just that.
We had a blast, making our pizza and watching cheesy romance movies, and before I knew it, it was close to ten. I said goodnight to the girls, sad that Edward wasn't home to see me off, but I sent him a text once I was home to let him know I'd made it safely.