Charlotte

Six: Bella's Back!

"Where've you been Lottie?" Mike asked, pulling the chair, that was next to him, out for me. I'd missed the first couple days of the school week - the illness that I'd developed after seeing Bella's blood had lasted a lot longer than I thought it would. I only stopped puking my guts up yesterday morning.

"I just haven't been very well, nothing major," I explained, taking a seat, and pulling a box of blueberry muffins out of my bag.

"You want one?" I offered to my friends. Unfortunately, me and Bella had the same group of friends, but she was a lot closer to Angela, and I was a lot closer to Mike and Jess.

"Did you make these Lottie?" Jess asked, making her way through a muffin.

"Me? Cooking? Don't be stupid, you'd know if I cooked because my house would've burned down."

"Yeah, and then you'd get in trouble for the murder of Chief Swan," Mike added, his hand reaching for a second muffin. I swatted him away, scolding him for his greed.

"Speaking of Chief Swan, I saw something in the woods," Angela commented, picking at her meal.

"Like what?"

"Babe, I like, totally believe you," Eric chimed, but it wasn't a very convincing comment.

"No he doesn't, his just trying to get lucky," Jessica also agreed that Eric wasn't very convincing. I chuckled at her comment, whilst Eric protested loudly, switching between arguing with Jess, and ass kissing Ange.

"No, it was jet black, and huge," Ange explained, "on all fours, it was still bigger than a human."

"A bear maybe?"

"Or an alien, you're lucky you didn't get probed," Mike added, seemingly completely serious. I do worry about him sometimes, he isn't the brightest out there.

"Or a wolf," I added, letting out a howl. Almost immediately, I fell about laughing, clutching my stomach as I giggled. I stifled my giggles as Bella wandered over, taking a seat on the other side of Mike,

"No, our dad's had some complaints at the station. This like, massive bear has killed like, five hikers. But they can't find the bear."

"Lat time you lot doubt my girlfriend," Eric gloated, laughing as he pulled Ange into his side. Admittedly, they were a cute couple. They'd gotten together at prom last year, which had resulted in me losing five bucks to Jessica, because I'd bet that it would've taken them longer to get together. Jess didn't know that me and Ange also had a bet on how long it'll be until she realises she has feelings for Mike.

"So, I mean, Bella's back," Mike mumbled, turning towards Bella. He was loud though, so it was almost impossible not to listen to him,

"Do you wanna go see a movie?" Yes! Please take Bella out, please. One, she might be less miserable. Two, it might take her away from Jake. I listened intently, almost crying with happiness when Bella agreed to go with the blonde boy.

"We could go watch that 'Love spelled backwards is Love,' have you heard of it?"

"Oh! I've heard of that, you'll love it Bella," I couldn't help myself.

"No romance, how about that 'Face Punch,' you heard of it?"

"I know it's an action movie..." poor Mike trailed off, looking thoroughly disappointed at Bella's refusal to be in a romantic setting with him. Still, action movies can be romantic, right?

"Perfect, do you guys wanna go see Face Punch?" Bella asked, turning to the rest of the group. We all enthusiastically agreed, but my heart sunk at the sad, puppy dog look on Mike's face. Poor guy.

"Yayy, movie night with Bellaa," Jessica sang, sending me a knowing look. We both remembered how the last movie night had gone, with Bella running off to pursue some perverse bikers. I'm praying that because we will be going as a group, that she won't pull any of her antics.

---

The drive home was quiet, as per usual. Since Bella began her newfound obsession with Jake, our already strained relationship splintered, making any moment together awkward.

"Should I invite Jake to the movies?" Bella asked, acknowledging me for the first time since I'd sat in her truck.

"He doesn't know anyone though."

"He can just sit with me," Bella explains. She must really want him to join us. That was probably why she made it a group thing, just so she could invite Jacob.

"Yeah I gu-"

"-I really like him Charlotte." My heart sunk. I mean, I already knew that she liked the boy, but hearing it come from Bella, herself, it just hurt more. I hummed in acknowledgement, my throat thick, and my eyes welling up with tears.

"I just don't know what to do, because I still want Edward. I'll always love Edward more than I like Jake," she continued, this was the first time she's even mentioned her ex since he left last year.

"Does Jake like you back?" I stammered, almost too scared to hear her answer.

"I hope so," she muttered, eyes glazing over. That wasn't a yes. It wasn't a yes. Jake might not like her. I mean, Quil and Embry had implied that he liked me more than Bella. But, he did spend more time with her, but that was her choice. I chose not to go and see him, I chose to stay away. So, I don't think me or Bella knows who Jacob likes, hell, it might not be either of us.

"I think Mike likes you," I added, wanting to move away from the idea of Jacob having feelings for my older sister.

"Yeah, but I don't like him. And, I think Jessica likes him."

"Yeah, I don't think Jess knows that though. Me and Ange have a bet on how long it'll take for her to realise she likes him."

"I don't think even he knows he likes her, considering what you just said," Bella explained. Admittedly, it was nice to talk like normal sisters, even though my heart still hurt at the 'secret' that Bella had just shared.

I mean, I had always said how happy Bella seemed with Jacob.