Chapter 24: Guidance Counselor and fishing trip

Anna's POV:

"Slut," one girl whispered loud enough for me to hear while her and her friends, who giggled gleefully, past by my desk on the way out of the classroom.

Edward growled lowly beside me and when I cranked my neck to look at him I saw his murderous expression.

"Come on, we have to go to our next class," I said as I touched his arm. His eyes focused on me and immediately softened.

"I wish I could do something," he mumbled clearly angry at the fact that he was unable to protect me from being bullied.

Two weeks past since I "came back" to school and sill had to deal with the disapproving looks, the hushed whispers behind my back or like just happened, people calling me names.

It was still eight weeks until graduation.

Charlie and I haven't gotten around to go fishing yet but therefore we met at the diner in town every where I had a job. Charlie made sure to come by every time I was on my shift.

Most of the people there were looking strangely at me, I could practically hear them think "….so much like Renee. The apple doesn't fall far…." in a disapproving tone, but Deb Stone, the owner, was a great woman who did not treat me like an outcast.

"Anna, can you clean up table four and seven?" Deb called while I was in the storage getting some napkins.

"Sure," I called back and grabbed a pack of napkins before I went back into the front of the diner.

I filled the empty napkin holder and hid the rest of the pack under the counter before I retrieved what I needed to clean the tables.

I was done with table seven and went over to work on table four when the front door of the diner opened and customers entered. I only caught a brief glance of them, an older woman and a man in his forties.

"I'll be right there," I called out.

I hurried to clean the table and when I was done I went over to the booth where the two new customers were sitting.

It was Saturday and the breakfast rush was over leaving a small time window before people would stream in for lunch. Only three more customers were in the diner. One was quietly drinking their coffee while reading his newspaper whereas the other two were tourists who were discussing their camping trip.

"Hello, my name is Anna. What can I get you?" I asked politely with a friendly smile on my face.

The elder woman looked at me with a raised eyebrow and disgust suddenly overtook all her features as she saw me standing in front of her.

"Isn't there any other waiter?" She asked and screwed her nose up at me.

Lucky for me not many showed their disapproval of me that openly.

"No there isn't," Deb's voice rang out behind me.

When I cranked my neck I saw her standing there with her hand on her hip daring the elder woman to say anything more.

"I'd like a coffee, black, two eggs sunny side, bacon and toast. Oh and orange juice please. My mother takes the omelette, fruits and an English tea," the man quickly placed his order.

I wrote it all down on my little college block and turned around to look at Deb offering her a grateful smile.

I was glad that there were at least some people who didn't treat me like an outcast or a criminal. And at least the truckers from out of town were giving me good tips.

"Miss Swan." Mr. Jefferson our government teacher called for my attention.

I looked at him as he was ambling over to Edward's and mine desk.

"I nearly forgot that I had been asked to tell you to go to the office of the guidance counselor after my class."

"OooooKay," I blinked at him being a little confused.

He nodded and left.

"What's that about?" I turned my head around and asked Edward.

He just shrugged his shoulders looking as confused as I was. His eyes narrowed as he was searching the minds in the school and suddenly his faces twisted up into a slight grimace.

"What?" my eyebrows kneaded together.

Edward sighed.

"The guidance counselor wants to speak with you and Bella about what is going on with you two."

"She is there as well?"

Edward nodded hesitantly looking with cautious eyes at me.

Oh, for f**** sake! My subconscious moaned edgy.

I sucked in a deep breath as I felt anger and annoyance course through me before I collected my things, threw them in my bag and stood up.

"What are you going to do?" Edward asked carefully.

"You'll see." I barked upset and stormed off to the office of the guidance counselor.

"Anna?" Edward fell into step with me but with one glare I shut him up and he sighed heavily.

I knocked at the door and entered.

"Ah, Miss Swan, it's nice to see you. I'm Mr. Jones the guidance counselor of Forks High." He greeted me from behind his desk.

I offered him a crud nod.

Two chairs were placed in front of his desk in the small room that contained next to the desk and three chairs, two bookshelves filled with books and a file cabinet with a small coffee machine standing on it.

In the left chair she sat and didn't dare to turn around to look at me. Good!

"Please take a seat."

Walking over to the right chair I grabbed the back of it and pushed it as far away from her as I could.

Childish much? My subconscious snorted a little at me but I did not care.

Mr. Jones gave me a look which I ignored as well.

"Well, I was informed about the fact that there seem to be some kind of issues between you two and maybe it would be beneficial if we would discuss this…"

"I don't think so," I interrupted him.

He looked startled at me.

"What she had done is unforgivable and I do not wish anyone to butt in into my personal affairs. Did I make myself clear?"

Mr. Jones looked eye wide at me.

What did you think would happen, buddy? My subconscious shook her head at him.

"Have a good day," I forced a smile before I stood up and was about to make my way out of his office, leaving him behind with the family stealing witch.

Having just taken the first step away from them I heard a chair being shoved over the ground and a hand grabbed my wrist stopping me from walking away any further.

"Please, Anna, can't we…" Her whiny voice was making me want to throttle her.

Spinning around I jerked my hand forcefully out of her clutches.

"Don't you freaking dare to touch me ever again," I growled at her.

She winced and looked like a little lost damsel in distress. I grimaced in disgust.

"I'm sorry. I really am. If I could undo what I have done…"

"The point is you can't," I threw in, stopping her lamentation, "you can't undo what you have done, now can you."

"Please, I….I…" She stammered as her body shook with sobs and of course big tears pooled in her eyes and ran down her blotchy cheeks.

"Bella is obviously sorry maybe….." Mr. Jones piped up as he was stepping around his desk.

"You have no idea what happened nor do you know what has done." My voice was raised as I spat the words at him.

But then I paused and narrowed my eyes at him.

"You want us to talk?"

"That is why I called you here," he nodded.

"Alright, then out!" I was pointing at the door.

"What?" He looked confused at me.

"Either you go or I do?" I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

I knew I was extremely impolite and quite frankly behaving like a bitch but I was beyond caring about that. All of them thought of me as the evil one anyway.

I swallowed hard and bit my lip while I glared at the guidance counselor.

He gave me a long look and sighed after a few moments nodding his head once.

"Alright, I will be just outside the door." He said and left the room but not before throwing one last look at us.

It was plainly visible in his face that his sympathies laid with the family stealing witch. I huffed and shook my head not looking at him anymore.

"Shouldn't you be in class…" I heard him say to Edward as he closed the door and I turned to look at the pathetic creature in front of me.

"You wouldn't even be here if you wouldn't have found those stupid books, now would you?" I sneered at her. She winced further and whimpered.

Her arms slung around her middle as she sat on the chair. She swallowed hard looking away from me around the room as if trying to come up with something.

"Please, I….I…" Her huge red rimmed eyes that were full with pathetic tears were pleading.

"Please what? How dare you ask anything more of me?" I demanded.

Her wide eyes looked panicked at me while her mouth opened and closed but no sound escaped her. She looked like she wanted to run but was too scared to move a muscle.

For the love of god! Please, someone put her out of her misery, preferably forever. My subconscious sighed disapprovingly and disgusted.

My hand drove through my hair while white hot fury was coursing through every cell in my body. My heart was beating frantically as I tried to think through the furious pounding in my head.

"I knew….." she choked and my glare was on her again. She skidded on her chair further away from me.

"I knew it was a mistake the second I closed the door. I knew I had done something wrong and I felt so bad about it and guilty…"

"But obviously not bad enough to open the door again and let me back into my world," I spat at her.

"I…I…" she stammered while she looked frantically around the room for some kind of answer, a way out of her predicament.

"How could you just throw away your family like that? Do you have any idea how much Charlie loves you?"

"You don't know how it was," she suddenly blurted out as she shot off from the chair. Her fists were clenched at her sides and she frowned angrily at me.

"The situation I was in when Edward…."

"Oh don't give me that crap." I interrupted her, "Boo hoo Edward left you it's not like you tried to stop him and besides it was your decision to remain in my world."

She shook her head and wanted to say something but I did not give her opportunity.

"That suddenly something came over you. You wanted to have my life because you thought that it was better since you obviously are a coward and wanted to run from the problems you created instead of dealing with them. That this is the reason why you made a bad decision and just shut the door behind me. Granted, I get it."

She looked relieved.

Does that idiot seriously think she will be forgiven for what she has done? My subconscious stared in utter disbelieve at the family stealing witch.

"But then, when you were as you say feeling sorry and guilty about what you have done to me why didn't you let me come back? Why didn't you just open the door? Four months! For four months you stayed in my world living my life and only when you found the books and knew about the future that was meant for you, you came back."

Her face became redder the longer I talked.

"I…I…..just," she stammered quietly before she cried again while sobs shook her frame and she slung her arms around her middle.

You what? Were a selfish bitch that didn't care about anyone else but herself! My subconscious spat with her arms crossed over chest.

"How can you even look at yourself in the mirror?" I was beyond furious.

"I love Edward," she sniffed ignoring what I had said and as I heard those words out of her mouth I couldn't hold it together.

A hysterical laughter tore from my throat leaving the family stealing witch frowning and confused.

"Oh, that one is rich," I breathed between my giggles before I regained my composure.

"You don't even know him," I exclaimed and she glared furiously at me.

"All you see when you look at him is his beauty and the other predatory trails that he has to draw his prey in and that's all. You are not in love with Edward the deeply fucked up man he is with all of his issues and peculiarities but with the idea of the perfect and god like gentlemanly knight in shining armour you believe him to be. You are such a child." I shook my head at her for the first time feeling something besides anger, fury and bloodlust when it came to her. Pity.

"I am not a child. I have cared for my mother ever since I can think. She told me that I had been born an adult….."

"Being withdrawn most of the time does not make you a grown up," I corrected her.

"You don't know anything about my life or me or how much I love Edward or how sorry I am about what I have done to you."

I have been shaking my head during her little speech but on the last part my eyes snapped up to her and narrowed.

"Please tell me because I'm really curious. Are you really sorry about what you did to me, what you have stolen from me only to throw it all away in a heartbeat a moment later," she nodded her head frantically, "or are you just sorry because my presence here is interfering with what you want." I sneered coolly at her.

When her eyes widened in alarm, her face blanched, her breath stuck in her throat and her body went rigid I had the answer.

It was more than I could take before I knew what I was doing I was in front of her, my hand lifted into the air and it rushed down, her eyes widen in shock and surprise.

But before my hand could collide with her face the door was ripped open and a cool hand grabbed my wrist stopping my movements. My head whipped around and I looked into golden pools that were gazing sympathetically down at me before their owner shook his head.

"That is not you."

I grit my teeth together while my body was trembling with rage as I was having trouble breathing because of all the anger that was coursing through me.

On some level I noticed that the guidance counselor followed Edward into the office and was saying something but I was not in the state of mind to care about that or even hear the words he spoke.

"You are just a disgusting, pathetic, selfish, little bitch who doesn't know to appreciate the things she has and one last thing, what you feel for Edward is not love, you are obsessed with the idea of him being your hero," I spat at her, jerked my hand free of Edward's grip and turned on my heel as the guidance counselor was calling after me while I heard her sobs, whimpers and needy cries for Edward.

Once out of the office I stormed out of school into the yard to catch some air because I was too upset to go back to class.

My hands were stretched out in front of me and braced against the back of a bench. My head was bowed and my eyes closed as I was greedily sucking oxygen into my lungs. After some time I noticed a presence beside me.

Slowly I turned my head and saw Edward standing next to me. He had a sympathetic look on his face and opened his arms to me for a hug.

I hesitated at first but in the end I accepted his offer.

Edward's POV:

"Are you alright, son?" Carlisle's worried voice reached me as I was sitting on a fallen tree not far from our house, on the other side of the river.

"No," I breathed after a while.

He sighed and sat down next to me while my head was in my hands as my elbows were braced against my thighs.

"It's like I don't even know Bella anymore," I was shaking my head.

The confrontation in the school office between Anna and Bella left my mind reeling. I couldn't believe what I had heard.

…..or are you just sorry because my presence here is interfering with what you want…..

When I heard Bella's heartbeat quicken as well as her breath stuck in her throat as her pulse began to race it was like something broke inside of me.

"I think…..for the first time," I tried to put my thoughts into words but it was harder than I thought it would be.

Carlisle sat patiently besides me thinking about the latest Bach concert he and Esme had visited to give me time and privacy but also because he knew that Bach calmed me.

"I'm not reasoning Bella's flaws away in her favour anymore." I said and then cranked my neck to look at the man who was like a father to me.

"Rationally, I know about all the wrong doings and all the short comings that Bella has and rationally, Anna is the healthier choice," I shook my head and heard Rosalie approaching us though she had her thoughts tightly controlled, masking them with snippets out of her and Emmett's private life which I really had no desire to see.

She stopped a few feet away from us, knowing that I would send her away if this conversation between Carlisle and me was not meant for another pair of ears.

"Anna changes me in a good way and I even dare to say that I slowly start to like the person I'm becoming because of her. It also didn't escape my notice that she fits in with our family, our life style and I don't mean our diet, unlike Bella."

While Anna was elegant and gracious but yet modest Bella was all about casualness and inconspicuousness. The both of them couldn't be any different if they tried in the way they presented themselves as well as in their personalities.

"Anna challenges me and shows me my limits while Bella is only in constant awe of me." I sighed heavily.

"I was the one who introduced Bella into this world because of me…."

"No, you weren't Edward," Carlisle shook his head.

"It was young Jacob Black who told her of our secret and it was her decision to get close to you and to us. She could have run and we would have never known. It was her decision, Edward." Carlisle corrected me and I sighed heavily again pondering that fact for a while before putting it off for another time.

"I have always seen Bella as accepting, loving, understanding and faithful to her family though the last one had been proven to be incorrect after James attacked her and she demanded for the first time to be turned. And as for the rest I think that only applies in combination with me."

I had always been glad to have all of Bella's time for myself but now thinking about it I couldn't help to feel sorry for her human friends who were the first to welcome her in Forks.

After we became a couple she ignored them all together and only associated when she absolutely had to. She didn't even try to keep the friendship up with them, if it weren't for Angela and Mike, who always included Bella into their group, she would not have any human friends.

"My mind knows that Anna is the better choice but I can't just switch those feelings off that I have for Bella. I don't know what to do."

Carlisle looked sympathetically at me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"I wish I could help you but unfortunately this is something you have to resolve on your own. No one can tell you who the right one for you is." He paused briefly and his gaze dropped off my eyes before it returned.

"I can't tell you when it will be but at some point you will know."

"Are you telling me this to cheer me up or because you believe it?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Both." He chuckled lightly and a tortured, small smile twitched on the corners of my mouth.

"Would you just stop with this pathetic whining!" Rosalie spat disgusted at me when she suddenly appeared in front of me.

Startled I looked up at her.

"Rosa….."

"No," she silenced Carlisle by holding her hand up before she glared back at me.

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are that Anna is currently too busy trying to keep herself together, deal with everything and is miles away from being ready for a relationship to notice what a moron you are?" She looked incredulously at me.

"Errr…"

"Don't tell me that after everything that happened you honestly consider to return to that brain-and-backboneless twit."

"Rosalie!" Carlisle warned sternly.

Anna is a real woman who knows who she is and deserves better than that AND just so you know if you continue to show her what a weak jerk you are she will not pay you the time of a day.

It's not like it's good for her to be surrounded by our kind. Well at least she does not smell like a taunting temptation and if I have to arrange myself with one of them Anna is definitely the better choice. At least she hadn't asked to become one of us and knows to appreciates her humanity…..Her inner monologue stated her true feelings while she was shouting at me through her thoughts.

You better man up instantly because when Anna snaps out of her current sullen mood and starts to organise her life and you are still the pathetic, undecided moron you are now you will never see the girl again. I can promise you that!

"And besides aren't you concerned even a little for the safety of our family?" She shook her head in incomprehension.

"Rosalie the Volturi…." Carlisle sighed rising from the fallen tree.

"That's not what I'm talking about!" She barked at him while her body trembled with anger.

Her mind was a mess of images because she was too upset for me to be able to get a clear read on her. Whenever she was too angry her mind turned into a whirlwind of broken pieces. How she could get coherent sentences out and argue spot on when her mind was in such a state never ceased to amaze me.

"Let's forget what she did to Anna and that I detest her. Emmett and this family is all I've got. How can you expect from me to allow someone into our middle that is easily and instantly ready to throw her own family under a bus for her selfish desires?" My sister exclaimed throwing her hands in the air.

"A few days after she came together with Edward and was nearly killed by one of our kind she demanded to become one of us even though Edward made her aware of the consequences of such a decision over and over." She growled at a startled Carlisle.

"And the situation we are in now and the fact that Anna is here proves that she did sacrificed her own family. She did not come back for her father who loves her or her mother who misses her, no she came back after she read in those damn books that she will get what she wants when she's back here." At least that was what that stupid twit thought. Her mind bristled.

"How can you even consider letting someone like this into our home?" Though Carlisle was shocked about what Rosalie was implying I could see in his mind that he did not dismiss Rosalie's concerns and that she planted a seed of doubt in his mind.

My first instinct was to defend Bella against the accusations of my sister but doubt was also eating it's way through my mind.

"Who is to say that we are not the next who are going to be thrown under a bus if she discovers some knew obsession and we are in the way?" Rosalie crossed her arms over her chest and glared fiercely at the both of us expecting answers.

All Carlisle could do was to stare speechlessly at her while I sighed heavily and buried my face in my hands.

Anna's POV:

"Everything ready for your fishing trip with Charlie?" Edward eyed me with amusement while I was setting the alarm.

"What?" I growled under my breath.

"Nothing," he shook his head as a wide grin spread across his face and I sighed in annoyance.

"Actually there is something I wanted to ask you," I said when I put the alarm clock on my nightstand.

"And that would be?" He questioned while I patted the spot beside.

He came and sat down on my bed.

"I don't want Charlie to be at his house when Riley shows up to collect her stuff which is why I was thinking of distracting him on that day." It went well in the books and in the other time line Charlie was not at home by pure luck (or many, many roses that needed to be distributed).

Edward's eyes softened while he looked a little strange at me before he shook his head and nodded thoughtfully

"I was also thinking along those lines."

"I haven't asked before but what is the plan regarding Victoria?"

"What do you mean?" His brows furrowed.

"Are we doing everything like last time or were you guys planning on doing anything different this time? In the movie they were hiding somewhere on a junkyard but fighting in the city is not a good idea," I shrugged.

"You were there when we discussed this."

"I know I just thought that maybe you changed your mind or something."

"If it were so I would have already informed you," Edward looked deeply into my eyes as he said that.

"It's safest for us to wait for them here since we know how their attack will happen." I nodded at that.

I nodded until something occurred to me.

"Yeah, but last time we didn't discus Bree. Are you going to tell her to run before the Volturi shows up?" I felt sorry for her in the books. She obviously didn't want to fight but had no other choice.

"What?" He asked and a split of a second later a shocked gasp left his mouth as his golden pools widened with realisation.

He jumped off the bed and was pacing in front of me muttering something under his breath until a knock on the door interrupted his angry pace.

Edward went to open it.

"Is everything alright?" Carlisle asked in a worried tone.

"How did I manage to push that into the back of my mind?" Edward grumped clearly upset with himself.

"There is a girl named Bree you spared her the last time because she didn't fight….." I shrugged and Edward sighed deeply before he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jane tortured her to get information about why so many of our kind had been made, who their sire was and why they attacked us." He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

Carlisle sucked in a deep breath and looked concerned.

"We will have to kill them all to be the only ones to provide an explanation for the happenings." I heard Jasper's voice from behind Carlisle.

We had talked about Victoria and the fight about a month after Edward and I were snapped back into this time line. Back then it was decided that Carlisle and the others would tell Jane and her companions about Alice's story and that when James saw her again and discovered her "coven" he wanted to play what ended in his death which Victoria wanted to avenge.

12^12^12

My mouth suddenly opened up wide when a yawn pounced on me. My hand immediately shot in front of the open gate that just wouldn't close.

"Boring?" Charlie asked me from the other side of the boat.

"Sorry but yeah," I nodded as I placed the fishing rod safely away like Charlie had previously showed me and reached for the Thermos bottle with the latte macchiato that Esme has made for me to keep myself awake.

Charlie was eyeing me with a raised eyebrow.

"It seems to me you did not discover your love for fishing just yet."

"Or ever." I added with a smile while I was pouring myself a cup of caramel coloured coffee.

"Want a cup too?"

"No," he shook his head, "I don't fancy this Starbucks stuff."

I giggled.

"That's not Starbuck," I held my steaming cup up, "but Esme also pack a bottle with pure black coffee." I said and fished the other Thermos bottle out of the pick nick basket that Esme and I had packed.

I was originally only going for something hot to drink, some cookies and some sandwiches for breakfast on the ocean but when I came down the stairs in the morning Esme had half of the basket already packed with all sorts of goodness.

"That I accept," he nodded approvingly and reached his hand out for the Thermos bottle.

"Dad," I called for his attention when he poured himself a steaming cup of coffee. He looked curiously up at me.

"A guidance counselor?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

Charlie's face immediately reddened and he looked embarrassed into his cup.

"That obvious?"

I nodded my head. I knew even before Edward confirmed my assumption that Charlie had asked the principal to try to mediate between the witch and me.

He sighed heavily.

"It's just hard for me to watch…..."

"I know dad and if I could I would tell you but…"

"Why can't you? I just don't understand what happened? You weren't raped were you?" His alarmed wide eyes bore into mine.

"What?...No!...What in the world gave you that absurd idea?"

Charlie sighed and bowed his head looking into his black coffee again.

"I can't figure out what happened and my mind goes crazy…."

"Dad," I stopped his rant as I leaned over and touched his hand, "I was not raped. I just….can't put up with Bella's behaviour anymore."

His eyebrows kneaded together in confusion.

"I don't understand."

"It's something between her and me."

"And him," Charlie grumped bitterly.

"Edward is not such a bad guy. He just has his own issues from the past. He is just a teenage boy."

"You sound so mature all of the sudden." He mused thoughtfully and I had to agree with him.

Everything that happened to me had changed me and my view of the world. I couldn't even tell when it happened that I stopped feeling like a child, like a teenager but somehow I felt so much older than I actually was.

"Kids grow up." I shrugged.

"Are you and Edward a couple?" He blurted out and looked sternly at me.

"No," I shook my head, "I'm not in the place to have a relationship right now and Edward is brooding over his own issues caught between a rock and a hard place."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He stared through narrowed eyes at me.

"That you should not stick your nose into other people private business, Chief Swan." I stared back.

"You are my daughter."

"And I have a right to a private life. If I should need your help I will ask for it. I know it must be hard to be suddenly handling two teenage girls but you are doing a great job even when you do not have that impression."

He blushed deeper the more I talked.

"Will I ever get to know what happened, will I?" He asked in a toneless voice after a while looking at the wide ocean.

"No," I shook my head and I could hear his sigh in defeat and the frustration behind it.

Poor Charlie. My subconscious was gazing sympathetically at him.

"I'm sorry for all the crap that Renee must be giving you." Edward had told me that she had been calling Charlie at least once a week for a report on the situation and was blaming the poor man for everything.

"Anna," he sighed and looked down.

"She hadn't…." his eyes suddenly snapped to mine and he looked upset.

"I'm not taking her calls anymore." I shrugged and Charlie muttered something under his breath.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Charlie looked confused.

For being this great to me even though I'm actually a stranger to you.

"For being you." He blushed and coughed once to mask his embarrassment.

After that we went back to fishing well he continued to fish while I took out the camera, I had borrowed from Jasper, again to make some more photos. It had been a breathtaking sight when the white mist rolled over the surface of the water in the early morning hours.

Though it briefly reminded me of the day when my life got irrevocably changed and of everything that I had lost. Luckily, I had become pretty good at breathing pain away until I could push it into a little box and burry it deeply inside of the shattered remains of my heart which is why Charlie did not notice anything.

I feared the day when everything I was pushing away from me would break free and force me to face it but at least I had still a little more time before then.

"Thanks for trying even though you hate fishing." He mumbled after a while.

"So obvious?" I smirked at him and he barked laugh as his eyes cringed.

"Hey, I would have not tortured myself out of my comfy, warm bed at five o'clock in the morning on a Saturday just for anyone."

Charlie offered me one of his rare smiles before his attention turned back to the fishes that thankfully did not take the bait today.