A/N: I love all of your reviews! Thanks for taking the time to read this! I would've posted this sooner, but my AC went out today and it got over 90 degrees in my apartment. Ugh. Anyway, AC's fixed so yay! Now I'm at work, listening to Ed Sheeran (British singer who is freaking awesome! Go listen to him. He's on Spotify), and posting this chapter. Enjoy!
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Very slowly I raised my eyes and found myself looking into her eyes; head cheerleader, rich girl, queen of Forks High. Bitchtoria. I knew that this would not go well for me. The look in her eyes put the fear of God to me. I swear there were flames coming out of them. I couldn't look away. I tried. Oh God, I tried, but her gaze held me paralyzed. Not to mention that she had a death grip on my forearm. All I could think was that this was the end. Life as I knew it was over. Her grip tightened on my arm, and those scary-as-hell-nails started to dig into my skin.
"So Bella, I heard something interesting about you today. Do you want to know what it was?" she asked me. Before I even had a chance to respond, she started talking again. "I heard that you're lab partners with my Eddie. That isn't true, is it? Which I find funny because I specifically remember telling you to stay away from him."
Oh shit, was all I could think. I was so scared, all I could do was stammer at her. "Um, I. . . I . . . didn't ask to be his lab partner. Mr. Banner assigned us to work together."
Victoria leaned down and got right in my face. "Well then tomorrow, you're going to ask Mr. Banner for a new lab partner, aren't you?"
Before I could say anything, Mr. Mason turned the corner. "Is there a problem here, ladies?"
Victoria plastered on a smile and looked at Mr. Mason. "No, Mr. Mason. Everything's fine. We were just clearing up a little misunderstanding that we had. Weren't we, Bella?"
All I could do was nod my head in response.
"Well then, I suggest you ladies get to class before you're late."
Victoria released my arm, and I rubbed the spot that she had grabbed. I could feel a bruise coming on. "Don't forget, Bella. Tomorrow you will ask for a new partner, and don't even try to talk to Eddie anymore."
I was so dumbstruck by the whole encounter that, once again, I just nodded at her and stumbled my way down the hall to class. I rushed into the room and tripped over Eric's backpack on my way to my seat. Once I was seated, I let out a trembling breath and tried to calm my shaking hands.
"Cutting it awfully close there," Mike said from behind me.
My voice shook a bit as I agreed with him. I could tell he wanted to ask me more questions, but thankfully, Mrs. Shapiro started class. The rest of the class period passed quickly, and I was so ready to leave. Once the bell rang, I sprang as gracefully as I could from my seat and rushed toward the door, eager to leave hell and enter the sanctuary of my home. I rushed toward Chuck, making sure to avoid any and all contact with anyone. I wrenched the door open, threw my bag onto the passenger seat, and climbed in. I took a moment to close my eyes and take a few deep breaths.
A tapping on the window almost made me jump out of my skin. It was Ben and Angela. I took one glance at the both of them, and I knew that they had heard about the encounter I had with her.
"Hey, Bells."
"Hey, Ben."
"How you holding up?"
"Um . . . I think I'm gonna ask Charlie to homeschool me."
Angela looked at me worriedly. "What exactly did Victoria say to you?"
"She pretty much informed me that if I want to survive high school, I'll ask Mr. Banner for a new lab partner, and I'll never speak to Edward again."
Angela shook her head at that. "I don't understand what she has against you. You're not going to ask Mr. Banner for a new partner, are you?"
"Um...yes. I would like to live till graduation."
"I think you should talk to Edward before you do anything."
"What? Why would I do that?" I asked, incredulously.
"Edward's his own person. She has no right to decide who his lab partner is. What happens if he doesn't want to switch partners? Besides, what reason are you going to give Mr. Banner for wanting to switch partners?"
"I doubt he wants to work with me, and I'll come up with some reason why I can't work with Edward," I told her. Although, I really didn't have any idea what I was going to tell Mr. Banner.
Driving home, I tried to come up with a plausible reason as to why I couldn't work with Edward. I didn't think telling Mr. Banner that Edward's girlfriend was out to get me would be a viable reason. Anyway, I wouldn't even want to imagine what Bitchtoria would do to me if she found out. I pulled into the driveway, grabbed my bag, and headed inside. I noticed that the place was starting to look a bit like a bachelor pad, with empty Vitamin R cans all over the coffee table and the floor needing to be swept. I decided to work off some of my stress and anxiety by cleaning the house. I had the living room and kitchen cleaned and was halfway up the stairs, when I tripped over my shoelace and tumbled down the steps.
Holy fuck! That really fucking hurt! My elbow felt like it had been shattered, and my head was throbbing horribly. I laid at the bottom of the stairs taking an assessment of the damage I had just done to myself. Nothing seemed to be broken as far as I could tell, but I felt something warm and wet dripping into my eyes. Blood. Oh, lord. Not blood. I couldn't stand the smell of blood, nor the sight of it. It was enough to make me pass out.
Cautiously, I reached my hand up to my head and when I pulled it away, my fingers were covered in the sickly red liquid. Swallowing the bile that was starting to rise in my throat, I slowly pulled myself into an upright position and leaned against the wall for support. I had just closed my eyes, when I heard the sound of Charlie's cruiser pulling into the drive.
"Bells," Charlie called out, as he unlocked the door.
"I'm here," I weakly muttered.
Charlie rushed over to me. "Oh geez, Bells! Did you fall down the steps?"
I started to nod, but my head was killing me, and I was getting fainter by the minute. Charlie ran into the kitchen, grabbed a towel, and held it against my head. "We need to get you to the hospital. You're bleeding pretty bad." Despite being out of it, I noticed how worried Charlie sounded.
Charlie helped me up and walked me to the cruiser. I couldn't even muster up any embarrassment about being driven to the hospital in it. Charlie threw the car into park outside the Emergency entrance and all but dragged me into the hospital. If there was one thing I hated, it was the smell of hospitals. No matter what hospital you're at, they all smell the same. Sterile and clinical. Charlie informed the nurse on duty that I needed to be attended to and soon, we were in the back in an exam room. Charlie was pacing back and forth, slowly driving me nuts.
The door opened, and there stood Dr. Cullen. Even in my semi-conscience state, I could still appreciate just how hot he was for an older guy.
"Isabella Swan. I was wondering if I was going to see you again. It's been a while since you've come to visit me," he joked.
I gave a small smile.
"So what happened here?" he asked, as he moved the towel that I had been holding to my head.
"I tripped on my shoelace and fell down the steps," I said sheepishly.
"Hmmm . . . you really should be more careful. First you hit your head on the table in your biology class and now this."
I was absolutely mortified. How did he find out about that? I turned to glare at Charlie, and he raised his hands as if to say it wasn't him. Dr. Cullen laughed at my expression. "Edward told me about it the other day. He mentioned that the two of you were lab partners and that you had taken a header to the desk."
Oh. My. God. Edward talked about me to his dad. I mentally gave a squeal. Edward Cullen deemed me worthy enough to talk about! I then remembered everything that had happened this afternoon. It saddened me to realize that Edward and I would no longer be lab partners after tomorrow. I just hoped Edward wouldn't be too upset with me.
"So will you be going to the game, Bella?" Dr. Cullen's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Um . . . the game?"
"The football game on Friday night?"
"Probably not. Football's not my thing. I don't really understand it."
"I've tried to explain the game to her." Charlie sighed. "But she just doesn't get it."
I shrugged. To me, football was nothing to get excited about. Although, seeing Edward in his uniform might actually make going to a game worth it. Soon, Dr. Cullen was finishing up putting in the six stitches that the cut required and told me once again to be more careful. We'd had that conversation many times before. Charlie and I thanked him, and we headed out towards the car.
"Mind if we stop at the diner and get dinner to go?"
"Fine by me. I don't really feel like cooking right now," I said.
We drove home in silence, the aroma of greasy cheeseburgers and fries filled the cruiser. We settled down to eat, and then Charlie went to go watch a game of some sort that was on. I popped a handful of Tylenol and told Charlie that I was going to go do some homework and then head to bed.
"Be careful going up those stairs. I don't want to have to take you back to the ER tonight," he called out to me.
"Thanks, Dad."
In my room, I booted up my ancient computer and while I was waiting for it to start, I dug out my English assignment. Yeah. That one. The brainstorming one. I hadn't even started it yet, and it was due tomorrow. Maybe I could Google some ideas. That sounded like a good plan to me. Slowly my computer came to life, and after forever, I was able to connect to the Internet. I checked my email and saw I had an email from my mother. She rambled on about the pottery class that she was taking. I quickly typed out a short reply and then logged into Facebook.
What did we ever do before Facebook? I could easily waste my life away on it. According to Angela's status, she was busy babysitting the little monsters, also known as her twin brothers. Ben was eating ice cream and watching movies. Tyler was going to the dance with Lauren, and Jessica was debating what color to paint her nails. I updated my status to say that I was just about to start my English assignment, and then I noticed it. That little icon that tells you that you've got a friend request. Huh. Okay. I clicked on the icon. No fucking way! Edward Cullen wanted to be my friend. My mouse hovered over the confirm button. Did I dare push it? Yes. Yes, I will be friends with you, Edward Cullen, despite the fact that your girlfriend is a territorial, terrorizing bitch.
I minimized the page and started Googling brainstorming ideas. I only needed three of them, so I figured I would take whatever popped up first. Write a story based on the point of view of a freshly scrubbed floor. Okay. That could work. What else. Hmm . . . write about a hobo who loves to hear himself sing. And last but not least, write about a super heroine who controls gravity. Done! Granted, it would suck if I actually had to write about one of them, but at least that assignment was done. Now I could go back to Facebooking. I maximized my Facebook page and loaded up Cityville, my newest Facebook game obsession. Stupid Facebook games. I was busy collecting money when the chat popped up.
Edward Cullen: hey bella
I sat there stunned. Edward wanted to chat with me! Me! Shy, quiet, clumsy Bella. I was in Heaven.
Bella Swan: hey edward
Edward Cullen: thanks for adding me as a friend.
Bella Swan: Sure. no prob.
Edward Cullen: whatcha doing?
Bella Swan: just finishing up my english assignment. brainstorming ideas.
Edward Cullen: sounds fun.
Bella Swan: totally.
Edward Cullen: dad says he saw you at the hospital today. u ok?
Bella Swan: yep, minor accident.
Edward Cullen: oh yeah?
Bella Swan: dived headfirst down the stairs.
Edward Cullen: nice! i take it you survived?
Bella Swan: not at all.
Edward Cullen: lol. Alright, i gotta go. Ttyl.
Bella Swan: night.
I watched as Edward logged off. Maybe Angela was right. Maybe I should talk to him about Bitchtoria. I really didn't want to stop being his lab partner, and I certainly didn't want to stop talking to him. I let out a sigh and decided that I'd sleep on it. I finished playing Cityville and logged off the computer.
As I got ready for bed, I thought more about things. I really needed to learn to stand up for myself, but I hated confrontation. Really hated it. I'd rather just give in. It was easier that way. But, I wanted to be Edward's friend. Okay, so I really wanted to be his girlfriend, but I'd settle for being his friend. Angela was right. Edward was his own person, and if he didn't mind me being his lab partner, then that's just what I'd be. Now, I just needed to gather up the nerve to tell Edward about Victoria and to tell Victoria to back off. I snorted at that thought. Yeah. I'd be dead before school let out tomorrow.
....
a/n: Someone's getting a backbone! When I originally wrote this, I was obsessed with Facebook games, especially Cityville. I have sense gained some control over myself and have narrowed my Facebooking gaming down to Bubble Safari. I'm proud of myself.
P.S. I promise the chapters do get longer. Remember, this was story was my first attempt at fanfic.