The Bonds Between Us • E.Cullen x Fem oc x B. Swan

Chapter 61

"The person you are trying to reach, can't come to the phone right now. Please leave your name and phone number at the tone."

BEEP

Cori sighed as she began to leave another voicemail.

"Hey, Embry. It's uh, it's Cori. I'm sorry if my sickness drove you away. I promise I thought I was over it. I hope you're doing okay. I wanted to tell you that I didn't absolutely bomb my last test, though I didn't pass it either. Call me back? Bye."

Cori said into the phone, leaving yet another voice message for the boy who had been avoiding her the last two days.

She needed math help, just barely scraping by on her test, she knew she needed more help, though a D- was better than an F.

Unannounced to her, Bella's head popped around the redheads door frame, just enough to catch the last of the voice message. Her brown eyes saddened hearing the hopeful tone of Cori in the message, but the brunette knew she had left two messages, along with a slew of text, only to get silence from the boy.

"Another message?" Bella asked making the girl jump. "Jesus, Bells." Cori said as she tried to recover from her hand being slapped to her chest. A small smile rested on Bella's face at the look Cori was giving her.

"Yeah, another failed attempt." Cori sighed as she tossed her math book off her bed, not truly worried about where it landed.

"Not that I don't enjoy it, but what are you doing over here?" Cori asked and Bella's cheeks bloomed red. "Your dad let me in." "Did he ask you over too?" Cori asked. "No, uh, I missed you." Bella told the girl and Cori smiled. "I brought you some snacks." Bella said as she held out the bag.

It was from their local grocery store, but nothing was in boxes. "Bells?" "Most of the flavors you didn't like, so I kept them at home. My dad will eat them." She told her and Cori laughed. "The chief will eat anything." She said and Bella chuckled, nodding.

Grabbing the bag softly from Bella's hand, Cori looked inside. It only took her to spy one thing for tears to blur her vision and for the girl the wrap the girl in a hug. "Whoa." Bella whispered not expecting the embrace.

"You remembered." Cori whispered. "Which one?" Bella asked remembering the assortment of the goodies she had gotten. "My blueberry gummies." Cori told her. "Yeah, the strawberry ones aren't that bad. I don't know why you don't like them." Bella told her and Cori smiled through her watery tears. "We really are Ying and Yang, aren't we?" Cori asked. "Yeah. I guess we are." Bella smiled as she accepted the hug.

Grabbing out a package of the said fruit gummies, Cori tore open the package, dumping them into her hand, eating them one by one. Bella smiled, not only at the red heads excitement of such a simple treat, but of just seeing her eat without consequences.

Seeing the girls book bag filled with books and papers, Bella's eyebrows furrowed. "Going somewhere?" She asked. "Jealous?" Cori asked making Bella shake her head. "Nervous. I'm worried about you Cori." "Don't be. What is it that your dad always says. I'm healthy as a horse?" Cori questioned. "Yeah, but-" "But nothing. A friend is gonna help me with my math, since Embry apparently fell off the face of the earth." Cori said, Bella hearing how the redheads teeth ground together at the boys name.

Cori was mad. She wasn't upset or sad. She was mad. She had had too many people walk out on her for some random boy to do it to her, even if he was just a study partner. She was beginning to believe she couldn't trust anyone other than Bella, Charlie, and her father.

"I'm getting ready to leave. I could drop you by Jacob's." Cori told her. "You're going to the Rez?" "The only one I trust with any knowledge of math is on the Rez." "Who?" Bella asked. "If I tell you, you can't tell Jacob. He'll make a big fuss. Well, more than he does anyway." Cori told her. "Fine. Who?"

"The Clearwater's. Specifically Leah. She used to tutor me when her and Sam were still a thing." Cori told her and Bella nodded. "Why would Jake-" "Everyone gets so squirmy around Sam, even the mention of his name makes people on edge. It's stupid really." Cori told her and Bella nodded, going along with what Cori was telling her, not knowing the truth to be able to back her claims.

"Can you even get your Jeep out?" Bella asked. "Why what's wrong with it?" Cori asked her eyes wide with question as she looked out her window at the vehicle. "It's been sitting there for months Cori. Can you even get it started?" "She's never failed me yet." Cori said as she grabbed her keys and her wristlet wallet from the small key holder next to her door, the pair having a thick layer of dust on them, as the couple headed out the door.

Climbing in, the doors squeaked as they entered, their feet getting tangled in dead and wilted weeds that had over stayed their welcome, though hadn't been eradicated yet with a weed eater.

Shoving the key into the slot, Cori turned it, only to hear it stutter a click, then a rumble as the starter finally kicked in after sitting for so long, the machine finally coming to life.

In a sense Cori saw her self in her jeep. She saw her withering emotions, her heart and innocence crumbling, dying at her feet as her body stay to battle outside storms that life threw her way.

Though with the click, that click was the hope, it was Bella re-entering her life and making it worth living again, and soon she hoped she would be as loud and powerful as her jeeps engine as it now seemed to roar in the girls ears.

"To the Rez." Cori cheered with her hand pointed forward, nowhere near the correct way of the reservation, but it didn't matter as it sparked a laugh from the Swan girl and at the moment, that was all that mattered.