Caught in the Cross Fire - Jared Cameron

Chapter 2

I was already sitting at the counter, nibbling at a pop tart when Bella finally came trudging down the stairs. She looked exhausted as she gave me a tired smile, walking over to the pantry to fish out some breakfast. "Why hello there sleeping beauty," I teased her, a twinkle entering my eyes when she shot me a glare. "Don't you look like a ray of sunshine!" I chimed, biting down on my pop tart again.

"How are you so cheery?" She whined as she blindly grabbed a pop tart from the box. I watched as she opened the package, taking one out and nibbling on the sides of the pop tart. Guess we are sisters after all.

I held up my mug of coffee. "Second mug," I stated with a small shrug, nodding over to where the rest of the coffee was. Bella's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as she placed her pop tart on top of the other one; reaching up to grab a mug from the shelves. Coffee was a girls best friend in the morning; especially to keep you awake during school hours.

I mean, seriously. Why do we need to be at school at 7:45 in the god damn morning just to learn?

I watched as Bella poured her a cup of coffee; taking a tentative sip of it. She grimaced at the taste, causing me to smirk as she walked back over to where she left her pop tarts. "Why drink it if you don't like it?" I asked her teasingly, chuckling lowly.

Bella shrugged as she tore her pop tart in half. "Caffeine," she stated matter-of-factly, biting down on one of the halves of her pop tart. "Where's Charlie?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. I guess she expected him to be down here to show her off to school.

"You mean dad," I casually corrected, raising an eyebrow when she flushed slightly in embarrassment. What was so wrong by calling our parents mom or dad? "He had to leave early due to a case," I informed her, taking a short sip of my coffee; sighing when the hot liquid traveled down my throat, "he should be home before we get home from school." Usually he would stay later to finish up a case, but my guess was he wanted to see how Bella's first day went.

She nodded her head timidly, and soon the kitchen was plagued with silence again. We finished our breakfast, grabbing our backpacks before walking out of the house. I locked the door behind me; following Bella to her new truck. We could have gone separately; I had my own car. A pretty nice Ford Taurus that dad had got me when I first got my license (we went dutch on the price. I had saved up quite a bit to get a car, but dad was adamant about buying one for me), but it felt silly to travel separately when we can travel together. Made for easy traveling and we can always take turns driving.

I threw my backpack into the back of the truck before sliding into the passenger side. I placed on my seat belt and began scrolling through my phone as Bella drove like a snail to school. "How is the school?" She asked me timidly after a few moments of silence, glancing over at me before glancing back towards the road.

I paused, locking my phone and turning to look at her. She looked extremely nervous; her hands gripped the steering wheel. "It's not that bad," I told her honestly, wincing. "Your first day is going to be rough," I didn't bother to sugar-coat it. I remembered when the Cullen's got here; they were the talk for months before something else took over the gossip. They still were the topics of conversations, only because of their unnatural beauty. "You'll be the base of the topic for a few weeks, possibly a month..."

Bella grimaced as she entered the school parking lot. "That's what I was afraid of..." she murmured quietly as she found a spot to park.

"Give it a few weeks and the excitement will quiet down," I patted her shoulder comfortingly, unbuckling my seat belt. I exited the car, watching as Bella did the same. We grabbed our bags from the trunk.

"Nice ride," a familiar voice muttered sarcastically. I threw the new voice a glare, my glare hardening when I saw who it actually was.

"That wasn't necessary, Crowley," I spat as I grabbed a hold of Bella's wrist; pulling her towards the entrance of the school before he could utter another word. His van wasn't anything special either, so he really had no room to talk. "Don't worry about him, Bells," I gave her a bright grin, earning one in return, "he's all talk and no bite."