My Turf
(Sorry it’s been so long! Peace, love, enjoy!)
Chapter 8
I feel like a zombie. When I got home from work I went straight to bed, forgetting my shower and my pajamas. One thought had occupied the rest of my day at school, work, and now it was taking away my beauty sleep.
Edward Cullen, my sworn enemy, saw my bruises.
He held me while I cried and it felt… good… right. The one man I was destined to battle at school saw me at my most venerable point.
After I finished crying on his shoulder I seemed to be smacked out of my daze. I’m sure my face looked horrified as I looked up at him. He only looked concerned. That didn’t appease me though and in less than a second I was running down the hall away from him. He didn’t chase me and he didn’t attempt to talk to me in gym.
How was I going to face him tomorrow?
He will surely ask about my bruises and there is no way I will give him the truth. The truth is something that I won’t allow anyone to find out. Not even my closes friends. I love my father no matter what he does. No amount of abuse could possibly give me the desire to see him hurt in any way.
The rest of my night was fitful and I got almost no sleep. When I woke up in the morning I felt anything but refreshed. My eyes felt sleepy, my hair greasy, my clothes ruffled, and my breath was putrid. How lovely…
After my shower I decided on a long sleeve blue blouse that didn’t show any of my cleavage, some black loose jeans, and some boots. This morning I felt reserved, unlike the other day. I didn’t want my father to think I looked slutty. I wanted to impress him.
To my dismay my father was asleep on the couch, so he wouldn’t be seeing my outfit. My frown stayed glued on my face as I ate breakfast and got in my car.
Don’t you just love how makeup can do wonders? I thought as I looked in my rearview mirrors. You couldn’t see my bruises at all; in fact I almost looked like I glowed with happiness.
I met Alice and Rosalie as I got out of my car. Alice looked about ready to pop and Rosalie had a delightful smile on her face. As Alice hopped around me I couldn’t help but laugh, completely forgetting my earlier discomforts.
“Alice what are you so excited about?” I asked as I let out another laugh.
“Clear your schedule!” To my amazement that blurt didn’t come from Alice, it came from Rosalie.
“YES! We’re all going out!” Alice practically screamed. My mouth was in an obvious ‘O’ shape as I let this sink in.
“Where are we going?” I asked, trying to be open minded. I had to work, seeing as it was a Thursday.
“You remember those guys that are always around Edward?” Rosalie asked, seeming oblivious to the fear in my eyes at the mention of Edwards’s name. I nodded as a response. I hadn’t really thought about those other new guys, seeing as I was completely consumed by Edward.
“Weeeelll… me and Rosalie bumped into them at the mall! Remember we went yesterday after school, we invited you but you had to work… anyways! They were really funny and we had a great laugh with them about the arcade guy, Ernie. Jasper actually went up to Ernie and challenged him to a game of air hockey! You should have SEEN Ernie’s face when Jasper beat him! Emmett couldn’t stop laughing!” Alice spoke a million miles per hour and I held up my finger to stop her.
“Jasper? Emmett?” I was getting frustrated. Sure, I felt left out, but I got used to that after having to work so much. My father’s income isn’t very steady so I have to help out a little… or a lot.
“Oh, Jasper is the lean guy. Emmett is the big sexy one.” Rosalie replied, looking at her nails. I quirked my eyebrow at her obvious fancy of Emmett, but she only ignored me.
“So they want us all to hang out. Us three, Jasper, Emmett, and… well… Edward.” Alice said the last name so fast I barely heard it. My head snapped in her direction and she gave me a guilty smile.
“Why does Edward have to come?!” I asked furious. I could see no reason he needed to be invited.
“Bella chill out. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett are brothers, so we have to invite him.” Rosalie stated, sounding kind of agitated herself. “Anyways, just think of this as a golden opportunity to dig up some dirt on Edward.”
As the bell rang, signaling we were all later for class I let out a deep sigh. This night was not going to be fun, not at all. I would tell them I couldn’t go because of work, but Alice would never accept that.
I took my time getting to biology, in no hurry to see Edward after tomorrow. We also have that stupid project on a Pit Bull so were going to be seeing each other a lot.
Mr. Banner wasn’t too angry that I was late, and just asked me to take my seat. I spared Edward no glance as I sat down. I could tell he was studying my face, probably looking for signs of a bruise. I own very, very expensive makeup so it will do a great job of concealing any… accidents.
Mr. Banner saved the last fifteen minutes of class for us to talk with our partners. I let out a deep sigh as I turned my gaze to Edward.
He raised his eyebrows as he got a full view of my face.
“Bella, about yesterday-“ I interrupted him with a laugh, and I shook my head.
“Did you really believe all that?” I asked, trying to sound completely innocent.
“Um… do you mean your bruise?” His face contorted in confusion as I tried to understand what I was saying.
“You’re very gullible Edward. The bruise was fake, done with some makeup. I’m in the drama club, and I thought it would be funny to see your reaction if you thought I was hurt.” Lie, lie, lie. I let out a fake laugh and looked at him funny. Would he believe this? I’m not even in the drama club… “You’re reaction was priceless!”
He looked hurt as he averted my gaze and looked down at his notebook paper. I felt a pang of guilt but quickly pushed it away. I had to lie, for my father’s sake.
We spent a long five minutes in complete silence before he finally spoke up.
“So I hear were going on a group outing tonight?” I nodded and smiled at him before we fell into another silence.
The bell rang and I let out a breath I wasn’t even aware I was holding. As I stood up Edward walked up to me. Our faces were a foot apart but I could smell his heavenly sent even from here. His scent and eyes seemed to intoxicate me, rooting me to the spot.
“I’ll see you tonight.” His breath fanned my face and I held back a swoon. He glided out of the room as I was left staring at his back like an idiot.
How will I possibly survive tonight?
