Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Obsession

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 13:

The prom was excellent, but compared to Paul’s epic performance during the floral exchange, everything else simply didn’t rise to the challenge that night. It didn’t matter, though. The friends all had a fantastic time together and repeated the experience the following year at their senior prom.

After high school graduation, some of the group went off to college, while others attended tech school.

Kim and Ben received associate degrees concurrently with their high school diplomas. They started college as juniors at Washington State University-majoring in computer science with a minor in cybersecurity. Following their college graduation, they married and worked in Silicon Valley-one at Google, the other at Oracle. But they couldn’t stand the area, so they moved to Port Angeles to begin their cybersecurity firm.

Katie and Jared, both of whom were never very studious, earned vocational certificates. Jared became an EMT and eventually a paramedic, while Katie became a massage therapist. They were married and lived in La Push. Katie worked at a spa in Port Angeles.

Leah completed her Associate in Nursing degree at Peninsula College when her friends finished high school. She transferred to Washington State University for her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. After two years in Pullman, she was hired as a registered nurse at Forks Medical. Meanwhile, Tyler earned a two-year Criminal Justice degree at Peninsula College and then attended the police academy. He was hired by Charlie immediately. Leah and Tyler now lived in Forks.

Unfortunately, not all the couples stayed together. Angela and Eric broke up just before their high school graduation, and Jessica and Mike broke up after their freshman year of college.

Jessica attended the University of Washington for a year before dropping out due to a miserable freshman year, which included breaking up with Mike. She never returned to college; instead, she did a six-year stint in the Army, then returned to Forks and became a 911 dispatcher. Upon her return, she hooked up with Eric Yorkie, whom she ran into while having a lone dinner at the diner. They hit it off immediately, and within six months, they were married in front of family and friends at Reverend Weber’s church. Eric was a chemistry teacher at Forks High School, and all the kids were terrified of his pop quizzes.

Angela earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography at Seattle University. She returned to Forks after graduation and opened up a little photo studio, her goal from the beginning. She ran a brisk business as the only photographer in the area. She was hired to take family portraits, senior photos, and, of course, weddings. She also did all the yearly pictures for the area schools. In fact, her business did so well that she had to move to a larger studio. She found the perfect spot in a little strip mall next to Newton’s Olympic Outfitters, where Mike had just returned to manage the business with his parents after a five-and-a-half-year stint of heavy partying at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Not one of his friends was surprised he enjoyed his independence to the fullest, especially with Mrs Newton’s helicopter parenting. Angela and Mike hooked up and were married in a double ceremony with Jessica and Eric, attended by all their friends.

As for the pack, after the Cullens left, they disbanded for the most part, as no vampires crossed the area during their lifetime. They all eventually began careers after completing their education and remained acquaintances. Most stayed in the area, but others moved away to follow their dreams.

Paul remained close friends with Jared because he was part of his lunch table. He also maintained close relations with Tyler and Leah because Bella and he were close to them. After the events of junior year, it was impossible for the group not to remain friends.

Paul was also close with his extended family-the Blacks. Billy and Julia were still going strong and in love as ever. During Paul’s senior year, his mother gave birth to a little girl-a testament to Billy and Julia’s love. She was loved by all of her half-brothers and sisters. She was also the driving force that caused both Paul and Jacob to attend college very far away because she was loud!

In the fall of her senior year of high school, Bella was offered several full scholarships by universities that wanted her to play for them. Most of the scouts had been keeping an eye on her since her freshman year of high school. Despite moving from a D1 high school to a D3, the recruiters continued to follow her stats and communicated with the softball camps she attended. The recruiters also knew she came from outstanding stock; being the daughter of Charlie Swan and the former Renee Higgenbotham was no joke-both had been fantastic ball players during college. In fact, Charlie Swan could have signed with the major league if he hadn’t followed his dreams of becoming a cop.

Several colleges with top softball programs offered her a full ride, but she refused to sign with them. The universities could not understand what was holding her back. Most girls would have immediately jumped at the offer from any one of the universities, but Bella would not budge. She kindly but firmly informed the colleges that she was still considering her options.

One representative knew his chances of recruiting Bella Swan were next to nil. The girl had offers from some of the top ten softball programs in the United States, while the college he represented ranked at twenty-four. He was about to head to his car and take off to speak to the next prospect when he happened to be in the right place at the right time. He overheard a conversation between the girl and her friends about colleges. Bella refused to select a college until she knew where her boyfriend Paul was going, which wouldn’t be until January-at the earliest if he applied through early decision. Through the course of the conversation, he discovered that the boyfriend was in the running for class valedictorian or at least salutatorian. And that’s when an idea brewed in the recruiter’s brain.

After learning the boyfriend’s name from a passing student, he called one of his colleagues, who called in a favor to get Paul Lahote’s SAT scores. The next day, he met with Paul Lahote’s mother, Bella Swan’s father, and the principal of the high school, who he learned was the boy’s stepfather. The recruiter put his offer on the table: a full athletic scholarship covering room, board, tuition, and books for Isabella Swan in exchange for her talents on the softball pitch. In addition, Paul Lahote would be offered a full academic scholarship covering tuition, room, board, and books. Each scholarship was renewable based on academic achievement and, for Bella, athletic performance.

The parents were ready to sign, but the kids were the ones who bargained for more. Paul required single rooms for each of them for each year they were there. This was readily agreed upon. It was Bella Swan who wanted something more. She told the recruiter she’d be willing to sign if, and only if, she was awarded an additional scholarship. “I promise I’ll keep my grades up, but I want something else. I plan on becoming a physical therapist, which requires two additional years of postgraduate work. I either want the NCAA postgraduate scholarship or whatever Baylor can muster up-the more lucrative, the better; otherwise, I’m signing with UT or OU.”

And that threat did it. The University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma were number one and two in the softball ranking. They were also the bane to the representative’s recruitment efforts. As long as those universities existed, he could never hope to recruit a top prospect, and Bella Swan was the ‘it’ girl of the recruitment year. After excusing himself, the man called his higher-ups to make the deal come to fruition. Within the hour, Bella Swan and Paul Lahote had committed to Baylor University. They still had to submit applications as a formality, but they had signed a deal, and their futures for the next four years were set in stone.

So, Bella and Paul attended Baylor University in Texas. Bella played softball for four years admirably and also maintained a respectable 3.8 GPA while majoring in Exercise Physiology. She received a scholarship covering her tuition, fees, and books for her postgraduate work at the same university.

On the other hand, Paul horrified both Billy and Julia when he earned his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. The parents wondered how on earth Paul would get a job after college. Julia began regretting introducing boy bands to her son. Fortunately, he applied to law school during his senior year and continued at the same university as Bella.

The couple rented an apartment together near campus during graduate school, working part-time jobs to pay for rent and expenses. They knew they were luckier than most graduate students. Bella and Paul had earned scholarships to cover most of their school expenses, so it was no problem for them to work part-time to make up the difference.