JANUARY 29^th 2005 – FRIDAY

FORKS HIGH SCHOOL – CAFETERIA

The food tasted bland.

Not just for Angela and Bella, who had reached a sort of silent-tacit agreement not to talk about Xavier, but everyone gathered around the table.

No, everyone in the cafeteria.

Aside from Xavier, who had the most severe injuries, there were a couple of students who had been clipped by shrapnel enough to leave behind lacerations.

It was a regular day at school but the cafeteria was noticeably emptier because some students had taken the day off to visit their friends in the hospital.

Everyone around the table was in a dour mood.

There was Eric…

Jessie, Brittney, Brandon, Mike, Bella, Angela, and Jessica.

Though one person amongst them couldn’t help but ask, and Angela found herself more and more pleased that Jessica’s worries were always so plain on her face.

It gave Angela the comfort of organizing her thoughts.

Though she didn’t want to talk about Xavier, it was mostly because that was the only thing on her mind these days.

“So, how is Xavier?” Jessica inquired – the same question she has been asking for the past three days.

“I haven’t heard much from him,” Angela admitted, gently rubbing the phone in her pocket. “I got like one call from his parents – they sent me some pictures and that was it.”

Bella tried not to show surprise when she heard Angela mention Xavier’s parents.

There was a silent competition happening between the girls – a competition Angela was partially aware of but pretended not to know about.

As for Bella, she wanted to know just how close Xavier's and Angela’s relationship was because many times Xavier had given the indication that he wanted her a bit more than Angela.

After the snide remark from Edward, Bella started to wonder if Xavier was actually sick, and if not, did that mean that she and Xavier’s kiss meant absolutely nothing?

Even without the kiss, dance atop the roof or balloon war, Bella just needed to know if her friendship with Xavier truly meant something to the confusing teenager.

Now and again, in the midst of her thoughts about Xavier, Edward would pop into Bella’s mind, and her eyes would drift to the corner of the cafeteria.

There, Edward sat with The Cullens.

Three days had passed since the incident, and Edward had missed the next sunny day, and upon his return, he didn’t so much as direct a glance in Bella’s direction.

Bella was in a tough place without Xavier, and her ever-growing curiosity toward The Cullens, specifically Edward Cullen.

“Can you send me those pictures?” Jessica inquired.

That had been her goal since the start, and when Angela didn’t refuse, Bella threw her phone into the lot to receive the pictures.

DING

DING

Jessica’s and Bella’s phones rang with the images of Xavier in the hospital, and Bella made a mental note to examine the pictures in detail a bit later.

That would help ease her mind in more ways than one.

“Thanks…” Jessica became more energetic, unaware she was letting her less-than-noble intentions leak.

Angela was too exhausted to correct her best friend, especially when she knew it would change nothing. At this point, Angela had the added responsibility of comforting many of Xavier’s ex-girlfriends.

The Eternal took care of his exes as much as possible, and with his absence, The AI System in the house constantly reminded Angela that the duty had fallen to her.

The red Bindi in her head had become a curse of smartphone-like notifications.

“When will he be back?” Eric asked, surprising everyone. “I mean, we need him to view the progress of the video shoot or we won’t have a Homecoming.”

“How is that going, by the way?” Angela was curious. “Have the location I forwarded been useful?”

“Mike is working with Erin to record the song, and I scouted the locations yesterday to lay down the foundation for the video shoot. We have already gotten The President’s permission to lock off the auditorium for two weeks,” Eric reported.

“And let me just say…” Mike shivered in excitement. “Xavier's music is just… next level. Xavier is going to be rich if he wasn’t already rich.”

“He isn’t rich…” Angela and Bella replied at the same time and shared a look.

Bella deferred to Angela.

“His parents are rich,” Jessie contributed to the conversation – a rare occurrence with Xavier not around. “His parents maintain the house and he gets money from investments around Forks. Sadly, most of that money goes to maintaining different projects. I don’t know what they are, but I do know one of those expenses is taking care of his exes.”

“What? NO…” Mike, Eric, Brandon, and Jessica frowned.

“Why?” They inquired.

“Because he likes taking care of girls,” Angela sighed and admitted. “I think he likes the damaged ones and strives to make their lives a little bit better…”

“Didn’t Blake go missing,” Brandon scoffed, thinking about the way Xavier protected his sister at that time. “Not much of a protector to me.”

Angela shrugged her shoulders, quickly searched through the gallery on her phone, and presented a picture of Blake to everyone.

The girl was at a new school, surrounded by new friends, and seemed genuinely happy.

“He sent her away?” Bella inquired.

Angela slowly nodded, grateful that her connection to The Mansion granted some privileges to access secrets Xavier would not have shared with her otherwise.

Jessie stiffened and Brittney quickly grabbed her lover’s hand beneath the table – this was news to them both, especially since Jessie had been asking Xavier to send them away for a while now, but his response was always that he couldn’t.

This meant he could, but refused to.

“When did this happen?” Jessie asked.

“When we went to Mason last weekend, I think…” Tyler replied this time, pleased that a topic he was familiar with had been asked. “Xavier was really secretive about it so I didn’t ask, but since Angela is showing you guys, I guess it’s not that big of a secret.”

“No… it’s a secret,” Angela shrugged and confirmed. “I just decided to say fuck it and stick it to a boyfriend who won’t message his girlfriend back in three days.”

Bella caught something hidden in Angela’s tone. “I thought he was too injured to text or call or do much of anything,” Bella pointed out.

“OH yeah…” Angela agreed arbitrarily.

Nobody pursued the matter.

-----------------

On the other side of the Cafeteria.

“Is she still looking at us?” Rosalie inquired.

Though playing a human had become their second instinct, Rosalie and Jasper had trouble keeping up with the normal, fidgeting movement of humans.

A vampire has no need for constantly shifting positions, or even to blink, but here – in the cafeteria – The Cullens were forced to do all those things, all the time.

Alice stared into space for a couple of seconds before reporting. “She won’t be looking anymore – her mind is preoccupied.”

“With him?” Edward asked through gritted teeth.

Alice’s eyes met Edward’s and he read her most recent visions of his self-destruction.

“Even I understand that look,” Rosalie snorted. “You want the girl but you don’t even have the will to fight for her – fucking disgusting…”

“Easy…” Emmet placed a hand on Rosalie’s shoulder.

“You know what she will have if she ends up with me…” Edward growled with disgust on his face. “Xavier is the better choice no matter how you consider it.”

Alice silently shook her head and signaled for Jasper to tune down Edward’s intense feelings.

“And Xavier?” Jasper inquired after the mood has stabilized.

“Sometimes he returns next week, sometimes he doesn’t… can’t see anything beyond that,” Alice reported, scratching her head in irritation. “Though, the question is – which versions of events do we want?”

Even Jasper – who wanted all threats to Alice to disappear – couldn’t answer that question with certainty. After all, something powerful enough to stop Xavier from returning was not something the vampire would want to face.

۞۞۞

XAVIER’S HOUSE

The Bugatti and Hummer waited until the gates had opened, and Angela led the way toward the garage of the house – she had to be the first person in, or the gates would never open.

A couple of minutes later, Tyler, Jacob, and Jessie were busy working on the two cars in the garage.

It had become routine over the past three days – the guys insisted they wanted to surprise Xavier with a payday whenever he came back to Forks.

Of course, Angela would never allow them to sell the cars before Xavier returned since he was the person responsible for selecting the clients who would pay the best price.

Angela entered the house and made her way up the stairs to the bedroom, and as she walked, the security measures automatically disabled due to her presence alone.

More and more, Angela started to notice just how much trust Xavier had placed in her when he granted her permission to the house.

And more and more, Angela was starting to realize that the house wasn’t so simple – something Xavier had failed, or rather, chose not to mention.

---------

Angela made her way into the painting room, shedding layers of her clothing on the floor as she did. Walking around the house naked had become a habit since Xavier appreciated it, and Jessie was the only other person in the house.

And Angela had an additional reason for such actions.

The painting room had dozens of Xavier’s unfinished masterpieces, and while Angela didn’t dare touch anything Xavier was working on – the painting room also held the most active interface.

A large mirror disguised as a wall made up the southern face of the painting room.

Angela waved her hand in front of the wall, and the brown camouflage faded to reveal a pristine reflection that seemed to contain fluid material, not unlike water.

It was a computer – the fanciest computer Angela had ever seen, and it had the tendency to move around the house as it was needed.

“ETERNAL FILES – 05…”

The red Bindi on Angela’s head blinked twice – the signal for an inability to access the file with her current authority level.

“Access ETERNAL FILES – 05…”

Angela tried again, and again, two red blinks from her bindi told her this method would not work with her authority level.

Still, there was a way – the same way she had been using for the past two days. The system – whatever it was – had been invulnerable, but Xavier had made it vulnerable with one command.

“Play Xavier’s final message for contingencies,” Angela ordered.

The screen flickered and projected a scene of Xavier altering settings as he spoke to the mirror, and his exact words were projected with subtitles on the screen – do anything to make sure she doesn’t leave this place at night.

Angela smiled and ordered. “I will leave unless ETERNALS FILE – 05 is displayed for me…”

The red bindi on her forehead flashed red consecutively until the red light suddenly turned green, and countless classified files in Xavier’s handwriting were displayed.

Angela resumed reading where she had paused the previous night. “So… let’s see… let’s see… oh,” She found the page and read. “Gann Josin…”

-----------------

An hour later, Angela sat in the living room on the first floor, and on the table in front of her was a transparent bag of Xavier’s personal stash.

It was supposed to be discarded.

Angela had told Xavier she discarded the drugs, but when it came time to do it, she couldn’t help but think to keep it for a rainy day.

And it was currently pouring.

The pills were harmless on their own, a bit more dangerous when combined with liquor, and toxic when mixed with more pills – something Xavier had taught Angela early on.

“It is as if he expects everything,” Angela grumbled.

There was a time when she wouldn’t even think about smoking weed, and now, she was considering ecstasy. Luckily, she was at home – with Xavier’s creepy AI as a monitor.

Nothing would happen.

Angela tore the bag open, took a single blue pill, and placed it on her tongue – a gulp of water followed, and Angela waited for the effects to rid her mind of all concerns.

DING

DING

Angela whistled toward the glass table in front, and an image of the gate was displayed.

Jacob was jumping and hitting the camera as Bella’s teal car parked outside the gates of Xavier’s House. Obviously, Angela knew what the boy wanted, but the ecstasy hit her system at that moment, giving Angela other ideas.

The gate opened…

Bella greeted Tyler, Jacob, and Jessie before making her way into the house.

“Welcome…” Angela slurred with a bright smile.

“I just came to see if Xavier—”

“Was back yet?”

Bella shook her head. “I wanted to know if Xavier is really sic—”

Bella couldn’t finish her question since Angela took two quick steps into her personal space, met the innocent teenager’s lips with her own, and sent the secret pill rolled in her tongue into Bella’s mouth.

Bella’s eyes widened.

The kiss surprised her…

Then, it froze all her actions and Bella’s lips couldn’t help but respond on instinct when Xavier’s memory started to play in her head.

Finally, Bella snapped out of it.

The Innocent Teenager forced Angela away, and the hallucinating girl only giggled in response, flopping her unsteady body onto the soft couch.

“What the heck, Angela?”

“What?” Angela frowned.

“You just – you just… what will Xavier think when he hears about it?” Bella stuttered.

“He’ll be happy that he gets to fuck both Angela and Bella,” Angela snorted, her inhibitions lowered to the maximum.

Bella was disgusted. “How can you tolerate such a… such a… bad guy?” She couldn’t find the words to describe Xavier – maybe, she didn’t want to.

Angela became silent, and her expression was deadpanned as she gazed into Bella’s eyes. “Are you saying that because you’re genuinely disgusted by my relationship, or are you saying that because you wish Xavier was single so you can have your chance?” She inquired and reminded. “Think very carefully about your answer because Xavier will know about it…”

Bella would have hurriedly denied the former, but if she was being honest, the innocent teenager wasn’t sure which it was – disgust or jealousy.

“Coming here was a mistake – maybe I should—”

Angela rose from the couch, grabbed Bella’s arms, and tossed the weak girl onto the couch. Before Bella could raise any protest, Angela had gestured to the glass table and an image flickered to life.

WOAH

Bella gasped…

Then, her eyes widened…

“Recognize it?” Angela scoffed.

“That’s… that’s… that’s—” Bella frowned, examined the picture from all angles, and concluded. “This is a painting of me, and also not me?”

The painting was of an older Bella with red eyes and graceful stature – it was an image of the very painting that caused Angela’s and Xavier’s first breakup.

“Xavier has been painting you even before you showed up at Forks,” Angela explained, waving her hands in front of her face to see if she could catch the colorful lights. “I guess he has been watching you for a while – sometimes, I think he is a serial killer, but it’s more like a serial fucker.”

Bella felt the effects of the pill impacting her system, and though she retained full mental capacity, pretty colors started to cloud her eyes, and she felt more alive than ever before.

“And…” Bella slurred. “Are you jealous?”

“Jealous? Of course…” Angela replied. “But sorrier because he loves me, and I don’t feel sorry for you – I feel sorry for myself.”

“Then…” Bella clenched her fist and found the feelings buried deep in her heart. “I promise not to get in your way – you don’t deserve that if you’re willing to put up with all of this.”

Angela slowly nodded – she was paying attention to the dancing colors, but she still heard what Bella said.

Bella leaned next to Angela, and they enjoyed the dancing colors together.

A bond had formed – a deeper bond than would have formed had Xavier not been in the picture.