There and Back

When I walked into the school building with Rosalie, it was like the first day all over again. Everyone was staring at me like they'd seen a ghost. Ms. Cope, the secretary rushed out to me when she saw me. "Oh, Liz. I'm glad to see you're doing better. The whole school has been so worried about you."
What the hell was she talking about? "Excuse me?" I asked politely. Well, politely for me, anyways.
She looked confused for a moment. "Dr. Cullen sent a note in when you first missed school saying that you had mononucleosis. We've been hoping you'd get better but we weren't sure when you'd be coming back to school."
"Oh right," I pretended to know what was going on. "Well thank you."
I walked off with Rose giggling right beside me. "Way to play it off. I think she might have actually bought the story."
I shoved her gently. "You couldn't have told me that the school thought I was dying of mono?"
"I could have. This way was just more fun." By the time we caught up to everyone else, Rose was still laughing.
"Thanks for the heads up about me having mono, guys. I just made myself look like an idiot because I had no clue what Ms. Cope was talking about."
"I'm sure you could've made yourself look bad without our help," Emmett laughed. I made a face and stuck my middle finger out at him. Bella made a disapproving tsking sound which I ignored.
"Is there anything else I should know before school starts? Or am I going to have to say that I don't know what anyone is talking about because I was held hostage by a bunch of psycho vamps for the last few weeks."
Jasper smiled slightly at my bad mood. "All your homework is done. We've been going to your classes and getting it for you. Emmett did it all for you."
I winced. Emmett was cool and everything but he wasn’t exactly the smartest Cullen and he’d enjoy being a smartass and making me fail. "Does that mean my grades are even worse than before?"
"No, they're pretty much the same."
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but thanks. I'm glad I don't have a month's worth of homework to do now." The bell rang and I sauntered off to my first class.
People were avoiding me like a leper. Jessica and Lauren shot me a hard glare. It's not like I did anything to them. What is this, a soap opera? Nope, worse. It's high school. Rick walked up to my desk. "Who gave you mono, Z?" he demanded.
"First of all," I answered icily, not looking up at him, "It's Lizzy. And second of all, it's none of your damn business."
"Just tell me. Was it that stupid kid?"
My eyes were narrowed when I looked at him. "No. It was Mike. He didn't tell you he won the bet?" My sarcastic tone was dripping with false sweetness.
Rick's glare was murderous. "That's not funny. You and I both know that you wouldn't touch Newton."
"I repeat: it's none of your damn business. Now just get the fuck away from me."
I was literally saved by the bell. As class drug on, I was getting more and more glares from people. I could hear them whispering behind my back but I wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of me blowing up in their faces. All of my classes until History went the same way.
"Annoyed?" Jasper asked as he gestured to the seat next to him.
"Is it that obvious?" I dropped my stuff on the desk in a huff. "Everyone in this school is calling me a slut. And then there's the guys who think I'm easy and are trying to use that to their advantage. I am seriously ready to shoot everyone!"
He smiled. I was suddenly feeling much more relaxed. I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply. "Better?"
"Much. Thanks, Jasper."
Lunch finally came. We were all sitting at our normal table. Alice was planning a shopping trip for after school. Most of us just tried to tune her out. I imagined myself sitting with Jacob on the beach or something. "You're going too, Lizzy." Her demanding voice snapped me out of my daydreaming.
"Thank you, Alice," Edward said. "I don't want to know what was coming next in your head."
I stuck my tongue out at him. "Here, let me show you." I was about to think some very inappropriate thoughts just for Edward's sake when Angela and Ben tentatively approached the table.
"Um, hi, Lizzy," she said hesitantly. "I'm really glad to see you're feeling better."
I smiled genuinely at her. Angela was such a sweetheart and I could tell she was being totally honest. "Thanks, Angela. So how have you been?" I pulled out a chair between me and Bella for her. She sat down but she seemed nervous.
"Good. Thanks. So was Dr. Cullen taking care of you this whole time?"
"Yeah. But I had to go away for a while so I wouldn't spread it to anyone. I was pretty out of it when I left so I didn't really even notice until I was gone."
"Wow. That must have been pretty scary to wake up somewhere without remembering how you got there."
"You have no idea,” I said honestly. “Hey, Angela, Alice is planning a super huge shopping spree after school. You in?"
Her eyes widened a little. "Really? Sure, that sounds fun."
"Terrific," Alice chimed. "We'll meet you after school. Sound good?"
"Yeah. I'll meet up with you later." She got up to go back to her table with her boyfriend in tow.
"Cool. Now I'll just call Leah and see if she wants to meet us there. Since someone *cough* Alice, won't let me go to La Push then I might as well bring some of it to me."
"Fine. She'll meet us in Port Angeles." Her face suddenly darkened and she looked toward Angela's table.
"What's wrong?" Bella asked.
"Jessica and Lauren are trying to talk her out of it. They're jealous," Edward answered.
I rolled my eyes. "Do they ever think that maybe there's a reason no one invites them anywhere?" I turned around towards the table and called, "Angela, can you come help me with my math homework real quick? It'll only take a minute."
She smiled gratefully at me. The other two tried stopping her but without success. They glared hard at me. I shrugged. They already hated me so why not have a little fun? Seriously, though, my mom’s soap operas had less drama!