Dusk Till Dawn (Discontinued)

Jealousy

Rosalie

"Hi, Ms. Cope," I greeted once I was close to the desk, using my sweet, persuasive voice.

"Oh, hello, dear."

"So, Bella has gym next hour," I started, leaning my upper body against the counter, "and she doesn't think she feels well enough to go. And I offered to drive her home. Do you think you could excuse her from class?"

Ms. Cope had to swallow loudly before she answered. "Do you need to be excused, too, Rosalie?"

"I don't think Mrs. Goff would mind."

"Okay, it's all taken care of. You feel better, Bella."

After giving the older woman an appreciative nod, I turned to face Bella once more; she, for some reason, quickly turned her head to face the floor, a slight blush coating her once pale cheeks.

"Can you walk, or do you need me to carry you again?" I asked, my lips pulling up in a small smile. I seemed to do that a lot around her.

"I can walk," Bella said.

I gestured for Bella to follow me outside, however, we were stopped when another person entered the building. Jessica. She had a worried look on her face that quickly disappeared when her eyes caught sight of Bella.

"Mike told me what happened— are you okay?"

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine," she muttered, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm actually going home, resting just to make sure."

"Oh," was all she said. Jessica's blue eyes flickered over to me, a look of jealousy within them; I impatiently crossed my arms, waiting for their conversation to be over.

The smaller brunette continued. "Oh, okay, then. Um, so, are you going this weekend? To the beach?"

What was this? They had plans. I sucked in a quiet breath, controlling my anger but my annoyance peeked through. I overheard the conversation from Mike's excited ramblings from lunch, so I knew it wasn't going to be just the two of them. I leaned against the wall, impatiently waiting for them to finish.

"Sure, I said I was in," Bella promised.

You have no reason to be jealous, Rose, I thought, somewhat bitterly. You guys aren't together, she can do what she wants.

Jessica gave her a blinding grin. "Awesome! We're meeting at Mike's dad's store at ten." She finally acknowledged me, with a slight pout. "And, sorry, Rosalie but it's kind of invite only, so..."

I merely shrugged. "We should get going, Bella. Get you home, hm?"

"Right," Bella agreed. "I'll see you later, Jess."

Jessica turned back to the direction of her class, her shoulders slumped and muttering under her breath. "Stupid, tall, pretty, blonde bitch. I bet she got plastic surgery done. Freak."

Secretly rolling my eyes at Jessica, I guided Bella to my car. Before lunch, Alice cornered me and told me to grab my car from home since we all drove with Edward as usual. I didn't think much of it before but I would have to thank her later.

"I hope it's okay that I'm taking you home," I said to her when we were a few feet away from my BMW. "I just don't think it would be safe for you to drive by yourself."

"I— is this car yours?" Was all she said, looking wide-eyed at the vehicle. It did gain a lot of attention, hence why I rarely brought it out. No one was outside so my car had yet to gain the attention of others. I only nodded at her question.

"If you give me your keys, I'll have Alice drive your car home later," I said, opening the passenger door for her. "It won't be any trouble."

"...if you're sure," she uttered, carefully stepping into the car.

I quickly moved over to my side, preparing myself to be fully engulfed in her almost hypnotic scent; the slight rain made her smell better. My hand clenched at the wheel while I fiddled with the heater for her to warm up with the other. I drove toward the exit, watching her from the corner of my eye.

After a few minutes of slightly awkward silence, Bella suddenly looked at the stereo with interest. "You like Brahms?"

That's surprising. "You listen to the classics?"

"Not...anymore," she confessed, slightly uncomfortable, now looking out of the window.

"My mom played a lot of classical music around the house, so I only know my favorites."

Her mom— a sore subject, maybe? "This one is one of my favorites."

Almost as if she was trying to change the subject, Bella asked, "I know Jessica said it's invite only, but are you going? This Saturday, I mean?"

"Where is that exactly?" A beach was mentioned but never specified. Not much chance of avoiding sunlight there. Emmett would be irritated if I canceled our plans.

"Down to La Push, First beach," she answered.

Impossible then.

I managed to hide my disappointment, settling for saying, "Like Jessica said, I wasn't invited."

She sighed. "I just invited you."

"I'd rather not have your girlfriend hate me even more," I teased.

Bella slumped down in her seat, muttering out, "She's not my girlfriend...or my type."

"If you don't mind me asking," I hesitantly started, "what's your mom like?"

I could hear her grinding her teeth together, but she still answered. "I have too much Charlie in me. She looks like me but prettier—" I highly doubt that "—She's outgoing, irresponsible, eccentric, brave...we're not really close anymore. Haven't talked to her since I moved here."

"I'm sorry, I hope you don't think I was prying," I apologized. "Only curious."

"No, it's okay. I didn't mind."

I never noticed before but her tone sounded more parent than child. It was easy to understand how the irresponsibility of her mother would cause Bella to be more mature than the rest of her classmates.

I slowly saw her house come into view and felt myself deflate a little. I hated that our time was cut short. But maybe, she wouldn't mind if our conversation lasted just a little bit longer.

I loved hearing her talk.

____________________

When The Last of Us is finally airing, I will be far from normal about it

Bye!