My head was already pounding from the babble entering my right ear, and I mentally cursed myself for not packing the extra strength headache tablets that I had carelessly left on my dresser an hour earlier. It was a dreary Monday morning in late March, and I was forced to listen to my best friend Alice's ranting about our school's upcoming spring dance as we trudged to school. This was a topic I had consciously avoided for as long as possible, but with only twelve days to go until the annual event, I was running out of time to find someone who would possibly want to go with me.
"Oh! I'll have to show you my new shoes that I got to go with my dress, Bella! It took me ages to find the perfect pair, but they're gorgeous! I hope Jasper will like my dress…"
Ah, there it is. I was wondering when she was going to mention Jasper, it never normally takes more than three minutes of conversation until she directs it that way. Alice's 18 month relationship with her affectionate boyfriend Jasper meant that she didn't have the same worry as me. She already had the worst part out of the way. All she had to worry about was if her mascara would run on the night, or if she didn't have enough space in her handbag to fit all of her essentials. I had known Alice since we were thirteen years old, and I saw her treated badly by guys in the past so I was happy that she was being treated right by Jasper. I could see that he made her feel very secure, even though she never mentioned this. Of course I was happy for her, but despite this, I still felt jealous every time I saw them together. Anyone could tell that Jasper was madly in love with Alice just from the way he looked at her. I'd had a couple of boyfriends in the past, but I still hadn't found my version of Jasper yet.
"Hello? Bella, are you even listening to me? I asked have you found anyone to go to the dance with yet." Alice's voice broke my daydream.
"No not yet, but I don't think I'll go to the dance now. It's highly unlikely that I'll find someone in the next week or so, Alice," I replied with certainty.
"Oh, Bella I can't go on my own! Who am I going to run to the bathroom with for gossip sessions about how horrible Tanya Denali looks?" Tanya Denali was the school queen bee. She was gorgeous, popular, and had guys following her every footstep, including the school heartthrob Edward Cullen. He was captain of the school's football team, and wherever he was, Tanya was with him. Tanya and Edward were the perfect couple in school for two years, but were now "good friends", even with Tanya shamelessly flirting with him anytime she was within a two-mile radius of him. The idea of insulting the school's super-bitch with my best friend was very appealing, but the thought of going to the dance without a date was only to be described as social suicide.
"Sorry, Alice. Anyway, you won't even notice me gone with Jasper making goo-goo eyes at you all night, and we can have a long bitching session about Denali on the phone and you can tell me all about her streaky fake tanned legs."
"Bella I'm not going without you. We'll find you the perfect guy, don't worry. Ooh!" Alice was getting enthusiastic now as we walked into the school gates and she started scanning the grounds for potential dates. When I saw her eyeing a guy whose dandruff could cause an avalanche, I took her firmly by the arm and we went to class as I silently hoped that there would be no more mention of this.
To my dismay, Alice's eagerness had only increased as we walked to the cafeteria. "What about Austin Greene? Oh, or Connor Scott? He's pretty hot!" Alice asked excitedly as she pointed out various guys. "Alice, hon, Austin's body odour is nauseating, and Connor Scott is pretty hot I guess, but wasn't he the one who passed out those ecstasy pills at last years spring dance?" I wasn't trying to shoot poor Alice down completely, but I wouldn't go near those guys with a barge pole. "Yeah you're right, we'll find you someone Bella, don't worry." I wanted to tell Alice I wasn't worried one little bit, but was saved from that as Jasper bounded up beside us in the lunch line. "Hey baby," he cooed as he lightly kissed Alice's cheek and held her hand. Alice's face lit up instantly, completely forgetting about her guy-hunting mission as her cheeks blushed the usual pink colour anytime Jasper was around. "Hey sweetie, I missed you today," Alice stared lovingly into his eyes. "I missed you too, princess. You look beautiful today." That was my queue to go. That conversation was reserved for couples only, so I packed up my lunch tray and briskly walked to grab our usual table. But I walked a little too briskly and bumped into a tall, well-built figure in front of me. As everything from my tray tumbled to the floor, I wished there was a big hole in the floor that would swallow me at that very moment. No such luck. I looked up to the victim of my klutziness to apologise, only to see none other than Edward Cullen standing in front of me with his chocolate milkshake spilled all over his white football jersey. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," I noticed my voice shook a lot. I couldn't look him in the eye, so I bent to the ground and started to pick up the tray and food from the floor. Why did it have to be the most popular guy in school? So embarrassing! "Its okay, it's partly my fault too," Edward bent down to help me pile the mess onto the tray. "Sorry again," I said meekly as I dumped everything into the trash can, and before he could answer, I went to take my seat with Alice and Jasper in the corner of the cafeteria to wallow in embarrassment and misery. I could feel all eyes on me as I took the walk of shame to the table, keeping my head down to hide my scarlet cheeks. As I took my seat, I shot Alice a warning glance that told her not to mention anything. She understood, so she started chatting to Jasper about catching a movie that weekend as I sat in silence, wishing that life had a rewind button.
Walking to my last class that day, I felt relieved that this day was almost over. All I wanted to do was get home, go to bed, and hope that tomorrow would be better. Bad days were very exhausting. Since Alice had probably walked ahead to French class with her lovebird, I traipsed behind on my own when suddenly an unfamiliar shadow loomed beside me. I looked up to see Edward Cullen beside me. "Hey, Bella is it?" We stopped walking, and I was fairly certain my heart stopped at the same time. "Um, yeah, Bella," I struggled to remember my name. Wow, I never noticed how hot he was. "Hey, I'm Edward. I just wanted to say how sorry I am for what happened at lunch earlier. It was totally my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going," he looked at me apologetically.
"Oh, that's okay. I'm pretty clumsy most of the time anyway. Sorry about your shirt though," I replied. I tried my best to look at him, instead of keeping my head down like an unsocial loser, and noticed he had lovely blue eyes…
"Oh don't worry about that," his reply snapped me out of my semi-trance, "that shirt has been through so much destruction already, I'm sure a little chocolate milkshake won't hurt." He was being so nice; I thought he would be an ignorant prick like most of the "popular crowd" in school. He obviously wasn't under the Tanya Denali influence completely. I didn't know what to say back, so I just smiled timidly. Weak, I know. "I hope I didn't hurt you earlier when I walked into you. I'm pretty big and bulky, and I walked into you pretty hard." "Oh no, you didn't hurt me at all. I'm fine," I answered honestly.
"Come on, I'll walk you to class. It's the least I can do," he smiled at me, and I willed my jelly-like legs to keep me upright. As we started walking, he made casual conversation, which made me feel slightly less uneasy.
"So, are you looking forward to the dance next week?" He wondered. Is that all people talk about?
"Um, I don't think I'm going to the dance. It's not really a big deal to me, and besides, I don't wanna see my best friend being all corny with her boyfriend for the whole night, " I replied jokingly. He let out a soft chuckle.
"Yeah I'm not that big into dances myself. I don't see the point making all that fuss over one night that will probably end up in a drunken mess anyway. I'm not gonna waste my money on that shit," he said openly.
"I have to agree with you there. It takes ages to save up money for it and find the perfect dress that will probably end up ripped by the end of the night. Seems like such a waste, so I guess I'm gonna be the boring old shit and stay at home watching reruns all night," I managed to laugh freely and comfortably, he was very easy to get along with. Not what I expected at all, not that I ever expected him to talk to me in all of my existence. "Ha! We have a lot in common Bella," he smiled, "Enjoy class, I'll see ya around." I wondered why he cut the conversation off at that moment, until I realised we were actually standing outside my French classroom. "Okay, yeah sure I'll see ya soon," I smiled back as he touched my shoulder, smiled at me and walked away to his own class. That was the first time I ever realised I was attracted to Edward Cullen, and shit he was hot! "Snap out of it Bella, he'd never choose you in a million years!" I told myself as I walked into class and took my usual seat beside Alice. "What are you so happy about?" Alice asked curiously. I must have had a grin a mile wide. "Huh? Oh, nothing," I replied nonchalantly, and before she could press me for further information, Madame Blanc started class.