Chapter 54 - Forks Interlude VII

RANDOM DAYS AT FORKSThe worn paper map crinkled in Bella's hand, its red marking stark against the faded ink caused by the previous day's washing.The map was important…But Bella had to admit that she was upset enough that washing the map didn't bring as much heartache as it should have.Besides, washing something in her pockets was not a big mistake.Still, it surprised Bella just how much time she had spent putting the paper map back together.As she looked at the map's details, Bella could imagine Xavier, with his cryptic charm, standing outside her bedroom windows, pressing the map into her palm with a mischievous glint in his eyes.The map was his first gift to her…And Bella honestly appreciated the gift, even as she found out he gave one to almost every girl in the school.Her anger had been staved off by the fact that the marked places on her map were vastly different from all the others, as Tyler happily confirmed as a form of apology.As she trudged through the halls of Forks High School after a particularly insufferable biology class, intrigue burned hot in Bella's chest.'Time to explore…' She thought.There was only so much of Mike, Eric, and Jessica she could take blowing a fuse.Thus, armed with the map, Bella embarked on a journey of Xavier-discovery.The red dots were a strict no-go zone but Bella was feeling particularly adventurous, and soon, she found herself detouring to one of the red zones.Out of the main building…Across the compounds…A couple of feet into the vegetation before rounding a small cluster of trees…What came into sight was a rusty drainpipe hidden amongst the thick forest bordering the schoolyard.Bella was tempted to take another step forward but something told her not to… instinct, long suppressed, was warning her that moving any further would be disastrous.A stick broke…Bella's heart beat wildly in her chest – someone was following her… or a bear was passing by.Both scenarios were unfavorable.The frail, black-haired teenager withdrew with haste…After Bella departed, Edward stepped out of the surrounding vegetation, and stared into the distance for a couple of seconds, as if threatening something to make a move.Sometime later, he departed with a sigh of relief."What are they still doing here?" He muttered, hot on Bella's trail. "Are they looking for someone?"...…Green dots sprinkled the map, beckoning Bella into the building at the center of the compound.She had always noted how students tended to disappear into the building during class, which should have been impossible since the center building always had classes ongoing."Just like Xavier," She muttered. "The best place to hide is under the teacher's noses, huh?" She chuckled.The first haven was behind the large painting beside the school's trophy case.Bella could hardly withhold the giddy sensations running amok in her body when she discovered a dusty vending machine in the room hidden behind the painting.The vending machine held no slots…Bella directly reached into the delivery compartment, finding a fruity granola bar…As soon as she withdrew her hand, the machine whirled to life, dispending another granola bar into the delivery compartment."Is this a free vending machine?" She realized. "Damn, Xavier has all the good stuff."With dripping eagerness, Bella continued to the next leg of her journey.Several more green dots found interesting things – small theater rooms, a dusty makeshift yoga studio, and a gaming room with the latest Xbox.Of course, not all the green dots possessed secret rooms… at least; Bella could not find all of them so she just assumed the music room was a haven by itself.Then, came something peculiar.Yellow dots signified her class, a predictable but necessary evil to add to the map.Except, Bella noticed there was one more yellow dot than she remembered.Either there was an extra class she should be taking and no one told her, or Xavier had sneaked something into the list that she would only notice if she visited every other place.Curiosity piqued, Bella followed the map's trail to a forgotten corner of the library.There, nestled amidst towering shelves, stood a dusty door with a faded sign: "Documentary Club – Restricted Access."The door had no knob as if to melt completely into the wall – it was the type of place you would have to know to find it.Hesitantly, Bella pushed open the creaking door.Inside, the air hung heavily with the scent of neglect, sunlight filtering through grimy windows to illuminate a room overflowing with video tapes."These are—"Bella picked up one of the videotapes, surprised to find a yellow dot present on it… as she examined the rest; she noticed only a select few had yellow dots.It was as if Xavier was telling her to view those…Gingerly, Bella picked a tape from the bottom, label marked 'The Maurice Story'.With a click, Bella loaded the tape into an ancient VCR tucked away in the corner.The grainy image flickered to life, revealing a student whom Bella had never seen before.His name was Maurice – obvious from the label on the tape.Bella watched with delight as the teenager, who considered himself an outcast, talked about his hopes and aspirations after graduation.Maurice modeled some of his pieces…He spoke about working with Rosalie and some of the doors she opened for him…Maurice talked about Xavier…The Eternal had gotten Maurice's sister out of juvie, just in time for graduation.By the end of the tape, Bella saw a hopeful side to the small town of Forks… and she had learned a bit more about Xavier as a person.Not the myth that most students expected him to be.As the videos unfolded, Bella was captivated.Unlike her father, there were students in Forks who aspired to have lives outside of the small town.Bella initially thought Forks was one of those places where nobody was willing to leave, but it turned out to be the exact opposite.Everyone wanted to leave… but they always came back, whether successful or not....…When Bella exited The Documentary Club, as she was making her way through the library shelves, she ran into none other than Edward Cullen.She unconsciously took a step backward, unwilling to bump into anyone and prove her clumsiness twice over.But stepping back turned out to be the wrong move – instead of bumping into Edward, Bella's back bumped into the library shelf behind her.Books shook and started to fall.Bella yelped…Edward's hands, in a blur of motion, caught four books threatening to crash into Bella's head."You should be more careful!" Edward growled. "The bump on your head from the accident still hasn't healed!"Bella blushed…She hurriedly shook her head, trying not to inhale the sweet scent that accompanied Edward Cullen everywhere."I'm sorry," She whispered, trying to seem brave.Edward sighed in exasperation. "You hungry?" He questioned, staring intently at the clues on her face since her mind was closed to him. "There is a place near here…""Hungry! Yes, yes!" Bella brushed her hair behind her ear, calming her voice into sounding more casual even though she had long surpassed the volume for that. "I mean… eating is cool."Edward chuckled and started to walk away, hiding his smile when Bella followed a couple of seconds later.∞The squeak of new sneakers and the rhythmic bounce of a basketball echoed across the basketball court at Forks, High School.Jimmy, Ned, and Clem were locked in a tense three-on-three against Sed, Jessie and Ron.Jean, off to the side, was recording the game with the trained efficiency of a professional videographer.Sweat beaded on their foreheads as the sun steadily dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows in the corners of the stadium.Not that they particularly cared.Ned and the others had broken into the basketball court to begin with."Hey, eyes to the right," Ned commented.Everyone looked…"One of Xavier's," Jimmy sighed. "Why do I only ever see Xavier's girl.""Xavier only has one girl," Jessie voiced, placing the ball on the ground. "Angela is Xavier's girl and all the others are like background noise.""So, I can hit on her?" Clem offered."Not that one," Jessie quickly replied. "Sammy is more important to Xavier since she is so damn smart!"Without another word, Jessie walked off the court and recovered her schoolbag, withdrawing a piece of cloth Xavier had ordered her to give Sammy if she came asking.Sammy, brows furrowed, approached Jessie.She leaned in, her voice barely a whisper. "Jessie, did Xavier leave anything for me? Raven wants to know…"Jessie stretched her hand back into her bag, recovering what seemed to be a small disk. "The piece of cloth is for you, and the black disk is for Raven."Sammy eagerly nodded. "Any other instruction?" She inquired.Jessie shrugged. "He only told me it was for you and Raven to work on," She paused. "And something about the chemistry lab being open to you guys all week?"Sammy nodded, measuring Jessie's expression to see if there was more… honestly; Sammy also wanted to see how much Jessie knew.But apparently, the girl knew next to nothing."Xavier doesn't trust you very much, huh?""I learned not to ask questions," Jessie replied, though the truth of such a statement affected her deep inside.Sammy turned to leave, a figure shifting in the darkness near the bleachers.No one noticed at first, but then a slender leg brushed against the light and a soft cough broke the sudden silence.The leg was so pale and pristine…A beautiful, gothic girl stepped out of the shadows, her dark hair cascading down her back.It was none other than Raven, her gaze fixed on Jessie with such intensity that Jessie started to feel uncomfortable.A silent 'good luck' left Raven's mouth, sending chills down Jessie's back.There was something wrong with everyone Xavier associated with but Jessie had a feeling that Raven was next-level even amongst those people.Jessie rejoined the basketball game.A hush fell over the court as the others stared at Raven's departing figure – nobody particularly cared about Sammy's flat figure."So…" Clem muttered, dribbling the ball. "I heard Raven helped Xavier stage the accident that killed Greg."A collective murmur of agreement rippled through the group."Raven is crazy enough to do that," Ned voiced."Remember that fight he took a baseball bat to the head like it was nothing?" Ron offered, shaking a bit. "Still sends chills down my back when I think about it.""Weird, right?" Sed added, sinking a jump shot.As the conversation continued, the air crackled with a mix of awe and unease.Xavier was one of them, a friend they played basketball with, yet stories like these swirled around him, leaving them all a little unsettled.Jessie remained silent throughout.It was best not to comment when everyone's minds were already made up… especially when she didn't know the truth of the matter.∞Angela hummed along to the radio, a small smile playing on her lips as she unloaded groceries.Living at Xavier's house was a whirlwind.Angela was particularly happy today because Xavier had seen her messages.It had been a week since they lost all contact but this morning, she woke up to see his phone had connected to the network, however briefly.Angela hummed as she imagined his messy charm, somehow endearing, and his cryptic Scottish pronunciations, both frustrating and intriguing.Her phone rang…Angela's heart leaped out of her chest as she rushed to grab it without even checking the caller's ID."Angela, please," Brandon's voice crackled through the receiver, laced with a desperation that she was all too familiar with.It was the type of desperation she promised herself never to participate in again… especially with Xavier being who he was.But…What kind of person would she be if she ignored the plight of a friend?"I need you," Brandon whispered.Hesitation warred with concern.Angela knew this song and dance.But how could she ignore a potential suicide threat?Sighing, Angela agreed to meet Brandon at the usual spot – the forgotten Amphitheater where Xavier encouraged the harder stoners to go for stress relief.There had hardly been anyone there recently, especially since she had gotten rid of Xavier's hidden stash of LSDs....An hour later, the air hung heavy with unspoken emotions as Brandon saw Angela cresting the hill.She slightly stumbled and he had the urge to run to her side, help her the rest of the way but he didn't dare.Brandon knew he was already crossing many of their established boundaries by calling her to meet him.When Angela arrived, before she could speak, Brandon – his eyes red-rimmed, pulled her into a tight embrace.Her first instinct was to push him away but after noting his fragile state, Angela decided otherwise.It was a mistake.Faster than she could react, or perhaps, she subconsciously refused to react, Brandon pressed their foreheads together and his lips were on hers.A jolt of electricity shot through Angela's body.A memory of a different time flittered across her mind.A time when Xavier was with someone else and she, in all her hurt, turned to Brandon for comfort… a comfort he was all too willing to give, even if as a replacement.Angela realized she owed him too much – still, she found the strength to push him away."Angela," Brandon pleaded, keeping his distance. "Remember when things were good between us? We can be happy again. Xavier… he doesn't deserve you. He probably doesn't even tell you half the things he does…"Anger flared hot in Angela's chest.Brandon, ever the underdog and manipulator.Sure, Xavier was not a saint by any measure but he was direct, something Angela knew Brandon lacked to a great degree."Don't talk about Xavier like that!" She snapped, turning to leave.Just then, Angela noticed someone smoking weed in the corner of the amphitheater – someone who had been there since the beginning but continued to mind her business.Jessie…Angela froze, her hand instinctively reaching to touch the red bindi dotting her forehead.Angela felt as if she had betrayed Xavier's mark.The silence stretched, thick with unspoken questions.Without a word, Angela brushed past Jessie and headed towards the school's auditorium.Jessie watched her go, turned her attention to the kneeling, sobbing Brandon, and furrowed her brow.Catching up, Jessie called out softly. "Angela, wait!"Angela stopped; her back stiff in preparation for the coming judgment."Look, I know about you and Brandon, but—" Jessie hesitated. "Are you going to tell Xavier about… the party?"Shame washed over Angela.How could she confess to a night of weakness, a lapse in judgment that would threaten the fragile happiness she had finally found?Though she and Xavier weren't together at the time, and she knew he would understand her seeing someone else for a couple of days; Xavier was also as likely to simply move on from her.Angela shook her head, a silent plea for understanding, much to Jessie's relief since she was the one to take Angela to said party.Jessie squeezed her shoulder in a brief, comforting gesture. "Alright," she said, her voice laced with concern, "But please, be careful."With that, they parted ways, both heading towards the school's dimly lit auditorium where the school musical rehearsals, at least that was how they registered it, were about to begin.Inside, Alice was leading the dancers through their paces, Rosalie meticulously checking costumes – some of them repurposed from the school's dusty mascot collection.Jasper and Emmett were helping with the set, their usual playful banter muted.And by the stage, Bella and Edward stood engrossed in conversation, their faces illuminated by the soft glow of the hanging lights.