Chapter 36- Edward's POV

I smiled at Ella as soon as she approached me. "Ready to go, babe?" I asked, holding my hand out to take her bag. 

Ella handed over her bag. Her face fell as soon as she saw the uncomfortable look on my face. Despite my efforts, I hadn't managed to mask the fact that I was shocked with the message I had received merely minutes before.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Everything's perfect," I mumbled. I resumed walking. Ella didn't, she called out my name instead.

"Edward!" she yelled with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

I turned around, and when I saw her expression I walked back to her, putting my arm around her. "It's okay, love. Let's go home and then we can talk."

Ella didn't say anything,  but instead listened to what I had said and started walking right next to me. I really couldn't afford telling her about the stalker's new threat in the middle of her street, could I? Nah, she would probably freak out... and I don't blame her at all. This was getting way out of hand.

Right then I remembered the short conversation I had just had with Malcolm before he left. I frowned. Now that was strange. I stopped in my tracks, making Ella stop with me. "Something weird happened today," I muttered.

Ella squinted, as if she hadn't heard me. "What?" she asked.

"I saw your brother. We talked. It was cool." I spoke in short sentences, annoying myself and probably even Ella. My conversation with Malcolm really was strange though. After getting angry for my being with Ella again, we started discussing his situation. And he had taken my advice.

This is absurd.

"Really?" Ella sounded surprised. "What did you two talk about?"

I bit my lip. "Um," I said. "First of all, he knows about us." I gave her a meaningful look. She nodded, as though to say that she knew, and encouraging me to go on. "He said he's getting help for his...er- problem. That's why he's going away this weekend." I couldn't find the proper word to say. Problem seemed to suit both of us fine.

Relief was visible on Ella's beautiful face. Damn, I could never get tired of looking at her. She's so beautiful.

"That's great! Wow," Ella shook her head, seeming to drift away into another world of happiness. She blinked and looked at me. "What else did he say?" Her eyes met mine.

"Well," I shifted the bag from one hand to another. "He told me to take care of you. So I guess he approves." I grinned at her.

Ella looked surprised. "Really?" She didn't give me any time to answer her though, she just jumped up at me and hugged me hard, then kissed me. I caught her and laughed.

"Careful!" I said, unable to wipe the stupid smile from my face. "I don't want you getting hurt." I placed a kiss on her temple, and we continued walking until we got to my house. Before taking out my keys, I turned to Ella and grabbed her wrists gently, and pulling her face to mine. "I love you," I said before kissing her softly.

Ella smiled as she pulled away. "I love you too," she said.

But suddenly I wasn't smiling anymore. Someone was standing a couple of metres away from us, staring. And from the look on her face, she wasn't happy. I stepped back from Ella.

I took out my keys and waved them to Ella, who had also seen her. She took them from me and opened the door to my house, while I went down the steps reluctantly. This is really not the way I pictured my afternoon to be.

How tired I was of seeing her face. And this meeting wasn't coincidental, either. She meant to meet me. This is the street I live in, for goodness's sake. I stopped in front of her.

"Beth," I greeted, nodding at her. Her eyes narrowed. She was probably still thinking about what she had seen. I shouldn't have kissed Ella in public.

"Hey," she said, eyeing me briefly. Her simple action made me feel very uncomfortable. 

I didn't want to look like I had something to hide, but curiosity got the better of me, and I found myself blurting out, "What are you doing here?"

No hellos, how are yous or anything that could be considered small talk. Straight to the point. And of couse it came out sounding very wrong, like I was doing something illegal. Which I was.

"I came to talk to you," Beth answered, her eyes flickering at my expression. I probably looked very guilty. "But I can see that you're already busy." She pursed her lips and looked at the door leading to my house. I didn't dare turn back to check if Ella had gotten inside yet. I couldn't figure out whether it was jealousy or something else altogether that I was dealing with here with Beth.

"I am," I replied curtly. "What did you want to tell me?"

"Aren't you going to invite me inside?" Beth asked. The look I gave her made her glare back at me, and she continued speaking. "I won't be teaching at our school anymore," she revealed.

I raised an eyebrow. And I care because? I mumbled an "oh", because I did not have anything else to say.

"It's a transfer," Beth continued, even though I hadn't asked. "The principal said that he received something which showed that I had been seeing someone from our school staff, and he told me that he couldn't risk that the students, or worse, their parents, come into possession of these photos or whatever they are." My ears pricked up at this. Beth didn't seem to notice, though, because she continued speaking. "It turns out that he had already received a similar photo of one of the teachers, and he said that it's too much now."

John. She meant the photo of John... with Ella. I gulped.

"Wait, wait. What do you mean about you and someone else from the staff? Who do you mean?" I asked cautiously. I was hoping that I wasn't included in this story.

"You, of course." Beth shook her head. "I don't know who sent the information, though."

I had a pretty good idea who that might be.

I groaned. "So I'm involved in this? Then why don't I know about it? Why did the principal choose you to leave and not me?" I asked.

Beth shrugged. "He didn't choose me, I chose to be the one to be transferred. I wanted to leave, remember?" She looked at me and I nodded. "Besides, you know how he is with you. You're his favourite."

I thought about the times that Principal Barnes had dissed me, then remembered that he had given me a chance to work after I got out of jail. I pushed the thought away as I looked at Beth. "No he doesn't!" I said.

Beth rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say."

"Yep," I said, turning to leave. Beth called my name, though, and I had to turn back. "Yeah?" I knew what was coming.

"I thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend," she said.

"I didn't. But that was two months ago. I do now." I sighed, remembering the day when I had said this to Beth. It was Ella's birthday and we had just broken up. I had ended up kissing Beth that evening, too. I really did regret that.

"Oh, I see," Beth said. Her look was suggestive. "I thought you were more intelligent, though."

"About what?"

"Dating a student."

I felt myself getting red but I didn't say anything. Beth realised this and continued. "Did you think I wouldn't recognise her? You've had your eye on her since the beginning of the scholastic year! And you've managed." She shot me a withering look.

Now I knew what I had been dealing with when she first spoke to me. It wasn't jealousy. It was disgust.

"It's not like that," I mumbled.

"That's what anyone who's doing something wrong says. You always manage to surprise me. Unbelievable." Beth narrowed her eyes for the second time and I turned and started walking up the steps to my house, not stopping even when I heard her call out, "Be careful! What you're doing is illegal."

I reached the door, which, thankfully, Ella had not closed, or I would have looked like a total fool knocking on my own door. I closed the door behind me.

My conversation with Beth had to have been one of the most uncomfortable that I've had to endure these past few weeks. I ran a hand through my hair. She had said so much... and all of them revolved around what was my life at the moment... Ella, and my stalker.

I walked to the kitchen, where I found Ella, sitting down with a glass of water in front of her. She hadn't tried to listen in to the conversation I was having with Beth, and I really appreciated that. But now it meant that I had to explain. I briefly recounted what Beth had said to Ella, and she listened and asked questions about it.

"So you're saying that the principal also received photos?" she asked. I nodded. "And Beth is the one who suffered from this?" I nodded for the second time.

"Yeah, she was the one who had to leave the school," I said, reaching for a glass in the cupboard. "But apparently she was okay with it, she volunteered to be the one to leave."

"Mmm," Ella mumbled. "That sounds a bit fishy, doesn't it?"

I stifled a smile. Fishy? My girlfriend is so cute.

"What do you mean with that?" I asked.

"Well, I don't really trust Beth. Could it be that she sent the photos herself to the principal, so that she could leave the school? You said she was looking for another job, and this would be the perfect opportunity."

I narrowed my eyes, thinking. It really was possible. Anything was possible at this point. This was so confusing. "Yeah, okay. But why would she do that? Her reputation is ruined. Surely she wouldn't do this just for the sake of changing schools?" I thought loudly. It just didn't seem believable. Not Beth, anyway. She wasn't stupid.

Ella shrugged. "I don't know. This is getting tiring."

"Tell me about it," I mumbled, shutting my eyes. I opened them and reached for Ella, pulling her up and against my chest. "Sorry that we had to end up talking about this, love. Something always seems to crop up and I absolutely hate it when it's the crazy, freaked out psycho," I said into her hair. I kissed her temple and led her towards the couch.

Ella smiled at me, shifting closer to me. "It's alright. I knew about all of this before I started going out with you. You were honest from before, and told me what was going on with your life."

Suddenly I felt very guilty. I hadn't been fully honest, no. I hadn't told her about Nathan's mum.

I pushed the thought away. "It's already worrying that people could find out about us. It's dangerous. But having a stalker as well is really annoying... it's like we can't go a minute without anyone knowing what we are doing."

It was already so dangerous being together. But I was willing to risk it all. I kissed Ella softly. Then I moved back, remembering something.

"Beth knows about us," I said.

The lines on Ella's brow creased. "That makes me even more suspicious of her," she mumbled.

I shrugged, putting an arm around her. "I don't know, Ella. Is she the only one who knows?"

"Well, my brother knows." Ella met my eyes.

My eyes widened. "No way, he wouldn't," I said. Then after a couple of seconds of thinking, I added, would he?"

Ella shrugged as well. "Who knows." I didn't say anything. It was sad to see that she didn't even trust her own brother. But in circumstances like this, who could she trust? We had to keep an eye open for everyone. It really could be anyone.

"Nathan knows," Ella suddenly said.

My head shot up. "What? Since when?" We had only just gotten back together.

"He saw us when you were next to me in class. I saw it in his eyes, he knows," Ella said, looking at me.

I exhaled. I hadn't been careful enough. "Awesome," I said sarcastically. "Do you think it might be him?" Ella didn't say anything and I continued. "So, Beth, Malcolm, or him?"

"Anyone, really," Ella said. "Do you know any other people who might want to get revenge on you for something that happened in the past?"

I chuckled. "Ella, so many people hate me that I've lost count," I said. I wasn't lying, I had made so many enemies over the years. My rough past ruined my life.

"Well, I don't know then," Ella muttered.

I did not answer, as I did not know what to say. I was thinking about something else. I couldn't keep lying to Ella, I had to be honest with her if I wanted her to see that I really did love her. So I had to tell her. I looked up at her.

"I need to tell you something," I said, my heart suddenly beating much more rapidly.

Ella raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" she asked.

I took a deep breath. "There's someone else who could be blackmailing me," I replied. I blinked and turned my eyes back to Ella who was waiting for me in anticipation now.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Nathan's mum."

Hey... sorry this is late, but I had a writer's block and I'm really busy right now. But since I love you guys, I updated :P Thank you for your support!

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