CHAPTER 31
STATE OF TERROR

ONE MONTH LATER

MARGO'S pen scribbled across a piece of paper in one of her spare notebooks. She sighed, thinking over the sentence before ripping the page out and throwing it on the ground. Just below her bed sat a pile of crumpled paper, all in different shapes from the way her hands crushed the sheet. She started on a new page and wrote, Valedictorian Speech, at the top for the twentieth time.

My aunt used to tell me that we have an endless amount of opportunities, she scribbled out. Her ink spat blotches on the paper, and when Margo brushed it away with her finger, the ink smeared. She tried to ignore it.

"You have such a long life," she said. "You will be given so many opportunities, so take them." No matter what, I've always tried to take every opportunity handed to me, but these things can also come with mistakes. I know for us as teenagers that we never want to make mistakes, but once we leave this gymnasium with a degree in our hands, it will be the time to make them.

Margo's hand stopped. She read over her words once again and sighed dramatically. She hit her head against a pillow. Nothing felt like it sounded right, and she had a million other things clouding her brain. She needed to finish this speech for graduation, which was coming up in a month. She needed to begin packing and thinking about everything she needed for USCF. Oh, and she also needed to tell her werewolf boyfriend that she'd be leaving. Just a couple of first world problems.

Margo looked to her laptop, which was open on her bed. She had been browsing the University of San Francisco's website and looking more into the professors in the teaching program.

She hadn't thought about them in a long time, but Margo found herself reminiscing on her parents. They weren't good people, and she didn't need the stress of thinking about them in the first place, but she couldn't help herself. She wondered if they would be proud of her, finally, for getting into the school of her dreams, or finding a place she truly called home.

Margo wanted to believe that there was one good bone in their bodies, but her memories of them overruled that idea. They didn't want her if she was anything less from perfect. Regardless if she got into her dream college, they would've probably said the school was nothing compared to Harvard or Yale.

Why couldn't they have just been normal parents, who didn't want everything from her and didn't fight every second of the day? Margo could figure out most things, but this thought didn't cease to make her mind boggle. She wished they had loved her enough to let her be herself. She wished they could've been proud of her, at least once.

She was still surprised that she told Jacob about them, even if she blurted it out of anger. Margo had never felt comfortable talking about her parents, except maybe with Jenny, on occasion. She had never told Melinda. When Melinda asked one day why she didn't live with her parents, Margo told her that she didn't want to talk about it. "I just had to leave California," was her excuse, and Melinda accepted this. Margo was lucky to have someone like her. Maybe she'd tell her later on. She expected them to be friends long after high school.

Margo didn't want to get tears on her newest draft of her speech, so she shook her head and closed her laptop. What she needed right then was a shower. Night had fallen onto Forks, and all Margo wanted was to slip on her pajamas and go to bed. She couldn't be preparing or thinking about all of this when she hadn't even started her next English paper. Sure, it wasn't due for two weeks, but she did need to start it sooner or later.

After rummaging through her drawers, Margo found an old t-shirt and her favorite Minnie Mouse PJ pants. She grabbed her clothes and began to descend the stairs to tell Jenny that she was going to shower. She heard her in the living room, watching the news, which was facing the staircase in their home. Margo stopped her feet halfway down the stairs, noticing CNN on the TV.

A blonde news reporter was shivering in the cold as she brought a microphone to her mouth. Rain poured down on the scene around her, but the reporter still managed to speak coherently into the mic: "Seattle is in a state of terror. Police are baffled by the escalating murders and disappearances. Theories range from a vicious new gang to a wildly active serial killer. Reporting live, Veronica Herring for CNN."

Margo felt her eye twitch. The Nancy Drew inside of her was fuming, almost brewing over the edge like tea in a hot mug. Escalating murders, she thought. Wildly active serial killer? That's when it all ticked. Margo suddenly remember the conversation she had with Bella months ago, where they figured out the vampire presence that made Jacob first phase. Only one name repeated in her head.

Her name's Victoria, Bella had said. I was always afraid she'd come back to me for revenge. Jacob told me last week that she's been seen around the Canadian border.

Maybe she was just overthinking ... right?

•••

Margo held up her half-written valedictorian speech as Jacob drove her to school the next morning. His hand rested on her thigh as she curled herself into the new leather seat covers. As she released a loud yawn, she thought it would be so easy to just fall asleep right then. Margo shook herself out of the moment and continued to skim over the small amount of speech that she had written last night.

"What's that?" Jacob asked as he stopped at the only intersection in town.

Margo yawned again before responding, "My valedictorian speech – well, half of it." She held it up to her eye level. "How does this sound: My aunt used to tell me that we have an endless amount of opportunities –"

"Are we really gonna talk about you becoming an adult right now?" He sighed. "We're the same age, but you're almost out of high school. I feel like I'm missing out on so much."

She bit her lip hard. This could've been the time to talk with him about college, but she just couldn't. Not when he was smiling at her right now, with all-too bright teeth and eyes shining against the clouds above.

Margo looked away, mumbling, "That's fair." She then began to tap his leg to get his attention. "But you know what we should talk about?"

"What's that?"

"Bella Swan."

Jacob scoffed loudly as he pulled into the parking lot of Forks high school. He parked in the front row, where Margo's van usually was.

"Jake," Margo warned in a stern voice. She pointed a finger at him. "She told me that you're ignoring her. You're one of her best friends, and she needs you right now more than ever."

Jacob turned his head sharply. "I don't want to talk about it."

Margo stuffed her speech back in her bag. "But we should talk about it –" She sat back up, noticing that Jacob wasn't even looking at her. His head was turned to the driver's side window. She furrowed her brow, tugging on his shoulder fiercely. "Are you even listening to me?"

Jacob didn't answer. He only sighed angrily and cut the engine. Stepping out of the Rabbit, he turned to his confused girlfriend and said, "Come with me."

"What is wrong with you right now?" She muttered, jumping out the car and following his quick steps.

But as she began to walk at his side, his direction was clear. Waiting by the entrance of Forks high school was a sullen-looking Bella Swan, accompanied by her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen. She hadn't seen Bella for a bit, since her friend left on a small vacation to visit her mom in Arizona. As Margo looked at her own boyfriend's face, she saw nothing but anger, and the last thing they needed was a werewolf shifting in the middle of a school parking lot.

Rain began to patter on their heads, causing Margo to pull up her hood. Jacob allowed his jet-black hair to become slick with the rainwater as he turned to Bella. "Hey," he greeted in a monotone, "Charlie said you left town."

Margo hit her boyfriend's chest. "What he means to say is: How are you, Bella?"

"Good. Vacation was good." Bella replied with an awkward smile.

"That's not really what he means, Margo," Edward added in a sarcastic tone. He glanced at the other human girl for a moment, like he knew more than he let on. "He wanted to come out and talk with us to check if Bella was still human."

Margo rolled her eyes. "God, Cullen. What crawled up your ass lately –"

"Its okay, Mar," Jacob murmured. He grabbed his imprint's hand for a moment, allowing his warmth to calm her sudden anger, but her touch also allowed him to not lose himself. Jacob looked back to Edward and narrowed his dark eyes. "Look, I just came here to warn you, Cullen. If your kind ever come on our land again ..."

"Wait, what?" Bella and Margo chorused together. Both girls' heads turned to their significant others in confusion.

Jacob cocked his head to the side. "You didn't tell her?"

"Well, you didn't tell your imprintee either," Edward scoffed. "Just leave it alone, Jacob. Don't make this bigger than it needs to be."

Margo put up her hands. "I don't know if you two are talking in some 'monster lingo,' but you kinda have to let us in on what's going on."

Edward sighed, rubbing at his temples for a short second. He faced the two humans slowly. "Emmett and Paul had a misunderstanding. Its nothing to worry about."

Bella's brow rose as Margo replied, "Sounds like something we should worry about." She then turned to Jacob. "Why didn't you tell me about this? You're giving Cullen the cold shoulder about not telling Bella, but you didn't tell me either."

"Because this is bigger than just Paul and Emmett having a 'misunderstanding,'" Jacob said, holding up two fingers for quotations. "And its a bigger problem that I didn't want to worry you about when you were already worried about your valedictorian speech."

Bella held up her hands. "What big problem?"

"Jacob," Edward called through gritted teeth. Margo was sure he was going to blow our steam through his nose. "Its early in the morning, and you're testing my patience. You should leave now."

"Bella is the one the redhead wants. I think I would know that, since we've been chasing her for months." Jacob spat, leaning close to Edward. "Don't you think Bella has the right the know?"

Bella's eyes went wide as she looked between Edward and Jacob. "Victoria?" She whispered loudly. "So that's what Alice's vision was about weeks ago? You guys were expecting her?"

Margo's eyes shifted. She wrinkled her nose and placed a finger on her chin. So if Victoria's still around, she thought, does that mean she's been around Seattle? Margo made note to talk about this with Bella soon.

Edward looked away from his girlfriend, causing Bella to clench her teeth. "Whatever," she said, "we'll talk about this later." She then turned to Jacob. "Now, you. Why have you been ignoring me? Margo said you haven't been insanely busy. I thought we were friends."

"I had nothing to say," Jacob muttered.

Bella shook her head. "Well, I have tons to say!"

Margo put out a hand to stop Bella before glancing to her boyfriend. "Jacob, leave. You've done enough."

Jacob huffed loudly. He nodded respectively towards his imprintee and walked away from the three. Bella shook her head again and sprinted for the school door, along with the bustling crowd of students, as Edward followed behind anxiously. Margo stood in the middle of the parking lot, sighing as she watched Jacob drive away in the Rabbit. She felt a headache coming on.

Sometimes she wished she could live in a normality bubble like Jenny.