Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.

This chapter is a continuation of the whole Jessica drama. It's pretty short but there is a brief exchange of words between E and B which I enjoyed writing.

I've already finished writing the next chapter and it'll be up soon! I just need to sort out some plot details.

Haven't had many reviews but I hope that the kind souls out there who are actually taking time off to read this like what they read. You, yes, you! (:

Chapter05: Crush-ed

"Do you know what she wants from you?" Edward had intercepted Bella as she walked towards her locker, grabbing her by her arm and pulling her to the side of a less-crowded corridor.

He had spent the past hour debating against his conscience. His mind yelled out relentlessly, "Monster! Monster! You'll probably end up hurting her more than Jessica will." The clear divide of good and bad that he knew so well deterred him. Yet, some part of him – his heart? – made it exceptionally uncomfortable for him to see Jessica twist Bella around her pinky. He had to do something. Even if it was the first time he ever took the initiative to speak to a human.

"Do I know you?" Bella snapped. She used the same retort he had shoved in her face the last time she expressed concern towards him. A poor mimic. Her eyebrows may have been furrowed and her teeth clenched but her eyes betrayed her. They were twinkling mischievously, disclosing her actual emotions. Her false fury was almost laughable. Her reactions just made everything less sombre --

Edward blinked the distracting thoughts away.

***

"Look, I know you're still upset about the other night…" He cringed as he remembered. The look was painful. Something disturbed him.

Bella waved away his response. She did not need to know, especially when it hurt for him to explain. The need to protect him, to remove the sadness in his eyes was almost instinctive for her.

A brief moment of confusion flitted across his face before he went back to his agenda.

"She's not a good friend."

"And, you are one?" It made Edward grimace ever so slightly.

She laughed softly. She could tell Edward was terrible at this. It reminded her of Charlie. The Y chromosome must contain something that made 'caring' mission impossible. Nonetheless, she was quite touch at this unexpected display of friendliness. Her sixth sense was right, Edward, deep down, was a pretty decent guy.

"Technically, I don't even consider myself your fri—" Edward's smug yet playful eyes suddenly darkened. Something behind Bella had caught his attention and not in a good way.

Just as Bella was about to turn and see for herself, the high-pitched voice rang.

"There you are, Bella darling! Oh, and with our new groupmateee!"

Edward frowned and muttered something irately under his breath.

***

Dammit! He should have seen it coming. It was so obvious that anyone with an ounce of commonsense would have known. Yet, his logic had been clouded by his apprehension in approaching Bella. He had been, well, so unnecessarily absorbed with the latter's affairs that he had missed Jessica's other more worrying thoughts.

The thoughts that would have made avoiding this situation possible.

It was a tad too late now.

In one swift movement, Jessica had planted herself between Bella and Edward such that Bella was completely obscured. She motioned something behind her back and Bella took off with a small sad smile.

Fuck. Was it so difficult for Alice to give some form of warning? He swore. He knew somewhere Alice was probably laughing at his vexation with the situation. His siblings always took sadistic pleasure in his failing love life.

***

"You are doing the right thing,"Bella chanted in her head. She was trying to convince herself that helping out a friend was always noble. But why did it feel so unsettling? She patted her chest in an attempt to rid of the nagging ache in her body. It did not work.

She sat by their usual lunch table with the usual group of friends, continually patting her chest after every regular interval. The 'gang' was waiting for their friend's good news, waiting to congratulate Jessica on attaining the unattainable boyfriend.

A loud wail signalled Jessica's arrival.

"OMG, how can he do this to me?! That insensitive pig."

Jessica walked towards the table, ignoring the stares from around the lunchroom. Her face was scrunched up but there were no tears. Nevertheless, upon catching sight of her friend, Bella immediately went to her side, arm around her waist.

"What happened?" Bella inquired.

"He…he… said I was ugly and stupid. That I was not good enough for the mighty Edward Cullen." Jessica breathed in between sobs. There were still no tears.

"He actually said that?! Who does he think he is?!" The loyalty for her friend swelled within Bella. No guy should ever get away for that, no matter how decent he seemed. He could have at least been more gentlemanly in his rejection. It was already so difficult for Jessica – a sensitive girl – to confess her feelings. How could Edward do such a thing?!

Bella scanned around the room and squinted in the direction of the Cullens' table. Edward's back was facing her but she could see the two other Cullen boys howling with laughter. How maddening!

Without another moment's hesitation, Bella snatched a glass of soda off her table, stormed across the room – the small Cullen girl with a pixie-like haircut gasped – and dumped its contents onto Edward Cullen's head.

Another melodramatic chapter. :/

There were past reviewers who felt that Bella's reactions in my story aren't quite canon. The way I interpret Bella-of-the-series is that although she is a shy, quiet girl who hates attention, she is one that lets her heart rule her head. She's a passionate girl who was ever so ready to become a vampire because her heart told her so. It was only much later, after Edward's reminders, did she realise the gravity of the issue and its severe consequences. I place a stronger emphasis on this aspect of Bella because it's the part of her I respect the most. To me, life cannot be a pros-and-cons balancing thing; the rational thing to do might be the best decision but it might not be the right one.

Especially when it comes to something like love.

Love is unexpected, unpredictable, uncontrollable and unbearable. :)

I hope this better explains my take on Bella!