Conclusiones

But when it comes to basketball,

You might as well step back!”

The cheerleaders repeated the same cheer, and jumped excitedly with their pompoms. More people were starting to arrive, including the other team, who just entered with their black jerseys on. Whoa. They were all so… BIG! I noticed a lot of them were Native Americans from their tan skin and facial features, I guess this game wouldn’t be as easy as the last one.

“

This game is pretty intense. The Wolves are pretty good, though they never beat us, but they came close last year,” Alice whispered in my ear. I nodded my head in comprehension, she continued,

“

Don’t worry! They may get more muscles, but we got the skills and the brains,” she smiled surely and that made me relaxed a little. Edward’s fan girls were starting to rise up their banners. They were chanting his name, and we still had ten minutes to the game!

“Come on Edward! Let’s go! Go Edward! Edward!!”

They screamed crazily when the team finally came out from the locker room. The other team looked annoyed and slightly taken back by the fans; I would be too hearing those squeals for your opponent. We cheered loudly when we saw Emmett and Jasper come out. They skimmed through the crowd, and to our surprise, they saw us and waved!

When I saw Edward jog out with his teammates at last, I couldn’t help but smile. He was talking to Jamie, who was snarling at the opposing team. Were these to two schools rivals or what? Because neither team looked friendly when they saw each other. After glaring at each other intensely, Edward interrupted the glaring between his teammate and the other team.

I admit, he does have the whole Captain stance. I couldn’t help but notice the respect and admiration his teammates had for him. No matter how loudly his fan club was screaming, he never looked in their direction. The gym fell silent when the other Captain walked up to him to talk; I saw and heard through the screen and the speaker,

“

Long time no see, Black,” Edward greeted him acidly.

“

Yeah, you too, Cullen,” the boys tone was reproachful, too. “I hope you don’t think you’re going to beat us again this year, cause we are new and improved,” he smirked.

Edward nodded, “We had had been practicing, too. And of course, our skills top last year’s,” he finished confidently. “May the best team win,” he extended his hand and the other guy took it, each still staring intensely at each other.

“

Good luck,” the boy smirked.

“

Thank you, but we don’t need luck to lead us to victory,” Edward smirked back as the other guy’s face wrinkled.

“

Don’t’ get cocky, Cullen, we’ll see,” he sneered and the buzzer went on. The game started, and I was just about as excited and nervous as the players.

Our team got the ball, and Emmett made the first score with a jump shot. Rosalie, Alice and I hugged each other and squealed. What a great way to start the game! The other team looked pretty upset; their Captain was scowling them for not blocking Emmett. That made me a little angry; I felt the urge to just go up to the Captain and tell him to chill. It was only a game.

Edward pounded fists with Emmett when he passed by, both grinning sheepishly at each other.

“Step aside, Ready!

We're turning up the Heat! We're on our way to victory,

We won't take defeat!”

Our team was very united and I was very impressed with their teamwork. They were already six points ahead and the game barely started! Rosalie said that Emmett, Jasper, and the rest of the team trained especially hard for this game since the wolves came in second place for district last year. Edward did a spectacular set shot, we cheered for him,

“

Alright! That’s my brother!” Aliceyelled loudly as the gym echoed with the chant of his name.

“

Edward! Edward! Edward! Edward!!”

“

We love you Edward! We love you!” Rosalie gagged after hearing some girls sitting behind us declaring their love for him.

“

Please! Keep your thoughts to yourselves! This is a basketball game, not his fan club meeting!” she screamed at them when they finally reached her limit. The girls looked slightly taken back, but they were still holding posters with Edward’s name in big, red hearts, waving it in the air. Alice and I both found this too funny.

Throughout the game, they had caught up with us little by little, and that made me extremely nervous. During the half time, our team was winning, but I couldn’t help but break out a cold sweat. The Wolves were only down by eight points. But Edward didn’t even look freaked out. He was expressionless, and it was hard to know what he was thinking. His teammates looked slightly nervous as the opposing team looked joyous and confident.

“

We’re winning this year,” the Captain smirked and his face came on the screen again.

“

I would be more impressed if you were able to say that at the end of the game,” Edward said back at him icily as we all back him up with a bunch of “yeahs!” The other team’s arrogant, stuck up attitude was beginning to piss me off. And I thought Edward was arrogant. Compare to them, he was like the saint of ethics.

The game continued, both teams gaining points. Edward’s face hadn’t changed, still cool and completely unbothered. At the final fifteen minutes of the game, that was when the game got serious.

Edward leaped for the ball aggressively and gracefully when it was thrown by the other team to his teammate; it startled us all with excitement. He caught the ball and ran straight for the hoop. He didn’t make any stops on the way no matter how many guys from the other team stood in his way, he slipped snappily by them, causing them to frown. Miraculously, the ball went swiftly threw the hoop from the three point line by a remarkable shot that he did. Alice and I hugged each other and squealed! So that’s why he was so cool with it, he was feigning and holding back! I couldn’t understand why he did it, but I guess I kind of suspected that from the beginning. Edward was a lot better than the Edward that played during the first half

of the game, although he played good, but he wasn’t like his usual self, the basketball prodigy.

The other team’s face fell and their jaws were hanging open when Edward continued making prodigious shots. In five minutes, he had already made more than fifteen points with the help of his teammates. I was smiling so hugely that my face was starting to sore, but I didn’t care! We had seconds to the end of the game, and my heart was beating rapidly, excited at the sound of the buzzer.

“

BEEP! BEEP!” We cheered when we looked at the score board. During the last fifteen minutes of the game, Edward had scored over thirty eight points, leaving us thirty one points ahead! Rosalie, Alice and I were too happy to say anything! We just held hands and jumped up and down with excitement.

“

The victory goes to… The Bulldogs!” the announcer said as we all cheered loudly. Edward and his teammate high-fived each other blissfully and the cheerleaders were shrieking with happiness. The gym went crazy! The ground was practically shaking from all the laughter and cheers. The other team went back to their bench disappointedly; their Coach was not pleased with their performance. Rosalie, Alice and I ran down the bench to congratulate the guys. With some shoveling and pushing, we finally reached Jasper and Emmett. The couples kissed; and I looked away. Watching my best friends make out wasn’t exactly high on my priority list.

After their make out sessions, I hugged the both of them, “Congratulations!! You guys were fantastic!”

“

Thanks!” they chuckled. I watched them talk to Rosalie and Alice animatedly about the game; it made me happy just seeing how happy they were together.

“

What? No congrats for me?” Edward’s voice came from behind and it startled me. With a short gasp, I turned around and saw him grinning hugely at me. Probably I was still high from all of the excitement; I hugged him with a huge smile of my own.

“

You were amazing out there! The word amazing didn’t even cover it!” I exclaimed wholeheartedly as he laughed.

“

You know, I try my best. They weren’t really that good,” he joked and grinned.

“

Speaking of trying your best, why were you holding back? You could have totally beaten them from the beginning of the game, and definitely have gotten more points,” I asked him, suspicious. To my surprise, he laughed.

“

You noticed that? Perceptive, are we?” he teased, smiling crookedly as rolled my eyes.

“

About the team, not you… so don’t get cocky,” I grinned, teasing him back and waited for him to explain.

“

Let’s just say I’m not a fan of the Wolves. They always piss me off with that arrogant attitude, and I just wanted to rub it in their face a little. And I thought, hell, why not build up their hopes on winning and crash it when they were at the highest point? It was more torturous for them than just beating them from the beginning. I bet they’re feeling pretty stupid right now, thinking they were winning the game and stuff,” he chuckled darkly as I beamed at him.

“

Evil plan...” I tapped my temples smilingly, “But I like it, genius,” I gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. He laughed,

“

Thanks.” The cheerleaders were obviously looking for Edward, their smile turned into a snarl when they saw us together. They watched us a few yards afar.

“

Congratulations on winning the game, Cullen,” a husky voice sneered from my back. I turned my head around and saw the Captain from the other team looking really pissed.

“

Thank you, Black. It sounded almost sincere,” Edward sneered back; a hard, mocking edge entered his voice. It was easy to feel the intensity and hatred they had for each other, I felt awkward just standing between them. He wasn’t as tall as Edward, a few inches shorter; but quite muscular. He was kind of good looking, though not as good looking as Edward. No

one would ever be half as good looking as Edward, I thought to myself helplessly. I quickly pulled that thought out of my

head. Enough praising Edward, I scolded myself silently. The guy’s face softened up when he realized my presence.

“

Well… Well… Well… Who’s this pretty girl right here?” he smirked down at me, his eyes dancing up and down my body, as if evaluating. Edward gritted his teeth together.

I could tell Edward didn’t really want to give the introduction, but he did it anyway, unwillingly. “This is Bella. Bella, this is…”

Edward snorted quietly, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“

Nice to meet you,” I smiled politely.

“

You too. So, are you new here? Because I had never seen you before, and you are far too pretty to be missed,” he said, flashing a flirtatious smile.

“

Well, there are over hundreds of students in this school… so it would be normal if you hadn’t seen me. But consider yourself lucky, I am new,” I grinned sheepishly.

“

Jacob!” his teammate hissed at him, probably for socializing with opposing teams. Man, what was with his school? Didn’t they take the game a little too seriously?

“

Alright!” he yelled at him. “Bella? Listen, maybe… umm… we can keep in touch? Here’s my number,” he scribbled down quickly on a piece of paper that he had in his pocket and smiled when he handed it to me. “Call me anytime, and I hope to see you soon,” he picked up my hand and kissed it, giving me a wink. His glances turned to Edward…

“

See you in the tournament, Cullen,” the unfriendliness came back to his voice, his jaw twitched when he said Edward’s name.

“

Yeah, just get out of here, Black,” Edward replied, his tone was filled with venom as well. Jacob walked out of sight with his teammates, and his coach gave Edward a cold, harsh glare before exiting the gym. They seriously lacked sportsmanship. Edward snorted and shook his head angrily. “Want me to dump that in the trash for you? I can get something to wipe off that poison from your hand,” he sounded so disgusted, his face wrinkled and I decided to play with him a little.

“

What made you think that I wasn’t interested?” I gave him an annoyed look. His body stiffened, and his face turned deathly pale.

“

I… uh…” he stuttered. I bit my lip, and I couldn’t hold back my laughter anymore.

“

Relax. I was joking,” I assured him, still laughing as he sighed in relief. “The chances of me dating him would be just as small as me dating Mike…” I rolled my eyes.

“

I’m glad,” he whispered and took a step toward me, tucking the lock behind my ear. My heart raced as it always did when he touched me… I tried to modulate my voice, but it was caught in my throat.

“

Edward!!” I would know that shriek anywhere. Lauren gasped when she saw him standing so close to me. He sighed, “What is it?”

“

We’re taking the group photo, they wantus now,” she whined. You mean you wanted him now, I almost blurted out.

“

Give me a minute,” he told her as she stomped away with a huff. His eyes still hadn’t left mine. I gave him an encouraging smile,

“

Well go! What are you waiting for? They can’t possibly not have the Captain in the photo,” I said in mock horror as he rolled his eyes.

He deliberated and sighed, “I guess not,” he said, walking away backwards, still facing me, “Later… stalker,” he smiled crookedly as I scoffed at his teasing.

“

Stalker?” I repeated him, outraged.

“

You were paying awful a lot of attention on me during the game,” he chuckled and quirked up his eyebrow.

“

Please… don’t flatter yourself,” I snorted at him, although half he said was true. I was paying a lot of attention on him, but never would I admit that.

He laughed, “Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow, Bella,” he waved and disappeared into the crowd.

It was ridiculous how that one little sentence made my heart flip. I was sure I was blushing. I sighed and went outside the gymnasium to look for my friends when my legs started to function again.

Chapter Twenty

mean, I wasn’t technically the new girl anymore, and being Juliet was old news… so what did they possibly have against me?

I was getting out my textbooks, waiting for the bell when I arrived in first period. Then I saw a girl walking up to me, frowning.

“

Hi, Bella, is it?” a girl asked.

“

Yes… May I help you?”

“

I’m Rachelle. Listen, I just want to confirm something. Are you dating Edward Cullen?” she asked, frowning again. I couldn’t believe my ears, “Of course not! Why would you think that?” Was she trying to be funny? Me? Dating Edward?

“

Well, a few of us saw you walking home with him two days ago with his jacket on… And we saw you hugging and talking to each other last night,” she said bitterly.

I sighed, “We’re friends. Really. And the reason that I had his jacket on was because a certain moron got me wet, and Edward offered his jacket since it was cold, so now you can go back, and tell the rest of the school, that there is absolutely, positively nothing going on between me and Edward Cullen.”

The girl looked slightly surprised by my response; she bit her lip and went back to her friends, who were huddling around her desk. Though I seriously doubt that it was necessary for her to repeat what I said, since I was sure that my volume was loud enough for every one in the classroom to hear. I was annoyed; what was with everyone thinking that there was something going on between me and Edward? Can’t a guy and a girl be friends?

In Biology, I bumped into Lauren at the entrance of the classroom. She started giggling when she saw me and we walked into the classroom together, unfortunately.

“

So Bella, enjoyed the rehearsal?” I wanted to rip her head off, and cut off her throat. That surprised me; I was never so violent in the past. Instead of doing neither, or expressing my anger, I played along.

“

Yes Lauren. Thanks for the shower, how did you know I was dying for something to cool off the heat?” I smiled sickly back at her as her face fell, startled and puzzled at my response. “By the way, how’s detention?”

“

Bitch,” she spat angrily.

“

Right back at cha,” I replied acidly as she scoffed and went back to her seat. Edward looked at us with an amused expression; he coughed and quickly composed himself. I swear I saw him smirking.

“

Edward! We went to the game last night! You were absolutely great!” a few of his fan girls came up to him as they came in the classroom and started to congratulate him, batting their lashes. He replied with a polite thank you, and pretended to work on some assignment. Lauren slapped her desk and growled at the fan girls. The fan girls went back to their seats after Lauren gave them a deathly glare.

“

Hey Edward,” she said in her high pitched voice as she walked up to him.

“

Lauren,” Edward smiled.

“

Didn’t see you after the photo shoot. Where were you?”

“

Out with some friends,” he said simply as Lauren’s gaze turned to me, questioning.

“

Last night, the Kangaroos totally sucked. I mean, they couldn’t even throw the ball into the hoop!” she said proudly, rolling her eyes as if she had ten years of experience.

“

You mean the Wolves?” Edward said very slowly, as if she was mentally disabled.

“

Oh my gosh, you’re so smart! Ha ha ha!” she laughed hysterically and slapped Edward’s shoulder jokingly as he turned to me, mouthing a “help” with a grimace. I chuckled silently as I listened to the rest of the conversation.

“

Boy, it’s getting hot in here,” she winked at Edward and started taking off her jacket. Her hands were lingering on her chest

In document TRÁFICO DE DROGAS, TRATA DE BLANCAS Y DELITO SOCIETARIO (página 38-55)