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CHAPTER FOUR ʟɪᴇs
"That big one was this close to biting my arm."
Despite worrying about the bites that had been close to scarring her body, Rosalie stared at herself in the mirror, stretching back her clear skin as if she had the capacity to show signs of wearing and age. It seemed the years of endless living had not eased her vanity like the others.
"Maybe it wasn't the best idea to jump on his back," I said, smiling as Alice sat down beside me.
Rosalie groaned, rolling her eyes. "You're supposed to be on my side."
"Since when?"
"Since I said so," she said, her perfect face breaking out into a smile. "What happened to partners against enemies?"
I laughed, finally understanding her meaning. "That was one chess game against Alice."
She shrugged as if it was the same thing. "That's what I said."
"I know for next time. You're the first one I'd go to if I needed help in a fight."
Rosalie smirked. "After Alice, of course."
My eyes widened. Rosalie had been getting more comfortable with me each week, and that meant I was no longer free of her joking but harsh comments that she would slide in every so often. Out of all of the Cullens, she was certainly the one who was no apprehensive to say something.
"I want us all to talk," Alice said, drawing our attention away from Rose's last few words and instead to her. Esme glanced up from her sketchbook beside Carlisle as Emmett and Jasper entered the room upon hearing her announcement. "We need to talk about what just happened?"
"Go ahead, Alice," Carlisle said.
"We need to work something out to avoid clashing with the pack again. Next time Victoria could use it to her advantage- more so than she this evening," Alice said, and a round of nods agreed with her. "Also... I don't think we should tell Bella. Edward won't want to, and it's unfair to go against that. We can't tell her. Not yet."
The week after the chase, Bella returned from Florida considerably more flushed than she had gone, both from the sun and the constant thought of whatever was going on in her mind.
The usual, heavy-handed soundtrack of rain and confident wind paved our way to school the first Monday morning. Edward had driven the four of us, with Bella in the passenger seat and me and Alice, who'd been agitated the whole time, in the back. Something was coming, and by the look on her face, I could tell it was something to do with the conversation she'd made us all have early that morning.
Usually, the darker days would come with an invitation to ease worries and relax, but Jacob's scent flooded the car park as we climbed from Edward's Volvo, Bella refusing to stay behind. He stood by the main steps, swarmed by the crowds of seniors that entered the main doors, dragging their eyes past him and his newly fixed motorbike. It was comical. In a way, Jacob was hiding amongst the school hordes away from the risks of having this conversation alone, but he stuck out sorely. With his height being easily more than six and a half feet, his build like that of a professional bodybuilder, not a sixteen-year-old boy, and his undeniable attractiveness, it was hard not to notice him.
