Friday 14th February 7.45am
Roses.
They were everywhere. Not one, not six, not twelve. There were thirty-six roses, plastered all over my locker, each one aligned perfectly with the vertices of the door. Each one emanating an enticingly seductive smell which wafted through the battered History corridor of Forks High school.
Staggering towards the row of metal, I breathed in deeply, to calm my wild thoughts with the offending scent. Eyeing each passer by with intense scrutiny, making sure none of them were Emmett McCarty or Mike Newton, I approached my locker and placed my forehead against the bed of flowers. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to block out the few whoops, and suggestive elbowing I received from people who were making their way to home-room. This was the most embarrassing moment of my life. You know why?
I'm a guy.
And as chuffed as I am to have a gay admirer, I am actually heterosexual and such acts of love delicately stuck to my very public locker will surely cause my appeal to the opposite sex to drop by much more than a hundred percent. I squinted my eyes and tried to figure out my course of action and at how long it would take for me to rip off all the roses before the bell for home-room rang.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans, which came in the form of Emmett McCarty and Mike Newton. The last two beings I wanted to be seen by at this time.
What was even more unfortunate, was that I was not wide enough to cover the thirty six signs of gay-love that I was ashamed to be associated with. The two, tall, burly and silly looking fools caught my alarmed expression and decided to leap for their first prey of the day. With arrogant smiles and a swagger better suited to a tortoise, they came over.
"Edward! Yo, Edward, what's that behind you? Come on, show us, come you ass!" Emmett shoved my shoulder.
Uh-oh.
Working under pressure was not one of my feats.
"Erm, hi, Emmett, Mike." I said awkwardly, trying to wave them away from me. It wasn't that I was any shorter than them or obscenely lankier, I just didn't like confrontations. At all.
"Yeah hi moron, just move, I wanna see all that red crap behind you!" Mike yelled in my face, assualting my senses with last night's lasagna.
Against my will, I was thrown to the side and the three dozen roses were on full display. Mike and Emmett took one look at me, and began laughing boisterously.
"Oh God Eddie, what the hell are they?" Emmett guffawed.
A petite pixie looking girl danced by, "What do you think they are, idiot? Roses!" Whoever she was, I liked her.
Thinking fast comes in short bouts for me, "Well...it is Valentines day, and I'm selling roses at a dollar each so you can get yourselves the girl you want." I said quickly, feeling even worse at selling someone's love for me for money to two lowlife scums.
Mike's eyebrows furrowed in thought, "Hmmn, well I do have a thing for Jessica Stanely..."
Emmett roared with mirth. But then again, he laughed at almost anything.
"I'll take six!" Mike said proudly. Within seconds, six roses were standing upright in his hands, ready for Jessica Stanely.
"One for each second he lasted with her." Emmett added with a cheeky smile. I grimaced and pretended that I didn't hear him. Mike, however, shoved the brown-haired guy beside him and cussed him out. Emmett was left unfazed.
Six dollars were thrust into my hand, grimy due to the contact with Mike's hands. He flashed me a creepy pedo smile and swaggered off towards the direction of the Maths block. I relaxed infinitesimally, convincing myself that these roses were for sale and not actually for me.
Emmett stared hard at Mike's retreating figure until he had turned left at the end of the corridor and his footsteps gradually faded away. The bell for home-room had rung and most students were hurrying to their classes. I didn't want to be late either, but a six foot five inched army of muscle and thirty blatant roses were sort of pressing matters at the moment.
Emmett turned around to me and locked his glassy blue eyes with mine. I shuddered like a pansy and tried to look away, but his hand restrained me, stuffing my pockets with something - probably money. My heart thumped with realisation - Emmett was the one who gave me the roses! Oh my God, he was gay and he liked me. I chanted 'no, no, no, no' in my head, hoping that somehow, with some fortunate twist of fate, Emmett would back off and leave me and my heterosexual self alone.
"Okay Eddie, listen here." He began quietly, his mouth at level with mine.
"It's Edward-" I tried to correct him but he furrowed his eyebrows angrily and kept going.
"I like Rosalie Hale and I want you to send all thirty of these roses to her today. If you pull any crap with me, I'll have your balls on a thread by sixth period. Got it?" He hissed.
I was torn between laughing my ass off and covering my sheathed genitalia.
"Um. Okay." I squeaked and watched Emmett stalk away.
I couldn't believe what I'd heard. Rosalie Hale was probably Forks High School's biggest asset. And nerd. And musician. She was blonde, blue-eyed and dressed like a twenty-year-old granny. As in, her style didn't really exist. She was kind of scary, her mouth set in a hard expression and her high ponytail didn't lessen the evil in her eyes. Perhaps I was seeing things, but I was convinced that if you got on her bad side, she'd smack your face with Algebra and use her role as Valedictorian to get the PTA to kick you out of school. If there was one thing I learned, it was to never underestimate the power of a nerd.
I was also pretty sure that she'd never, ever, not even if Emmett was the only man on Earth, consider dating a jock. In ten years' time, she'd be a high-profile real estate attorney and Emmett would probably be a mechanic. And for someone who carries around hand sanitizer all the time, greasy men would probably be a not-very-good-idea.
In case you hadn't noticed, but I am a smidge stereotypical.
I was pissing myself, trying to figure out how to get the flowers off my locker and into Rosalie's face, all the while knowing that I was now obscenely late for home-room, and would probably never make it to first period either. Hospitality? Screw it, I knew how to make spaghetti bolognese. My straying thoughts and fretting were interrupted by the soprano voice of a short, pixied haired girl peering up at me with tawny eyes. It was the very girl who had snapped at Emmett. Lucky for her he was distracted back there or else she'd probably faced the brunt of verbal jock-induced abuse.
"Excuse me? I'm sorry to bother your impromptu deep-thinking session but I am lost. Do you know where room A63 is?" She asked.
Huh? I wasn't deep thinking. Okay I was, but that wasn't the point; A63, the hell was that?
"Um, don't worry about it. Um, A63? Do you know what teacher it is? How comes you haven't got a guide?"
Well done, Cullen. You know how to keep up a conversation. Douchebag.
"Yeah, it's Miss Lawrence, Math teacher. And I don't know why I'm guide-less."
Oh. "Okay I'll show you, and besides I have her first period anyway. I'm Edward, by the way."
Pixie beamed at me, bleached teeth and everything, "I'm Alice Brandon. I'm from Seattle." No wonder I didn't recognise her. She was new.
"Welcome to Forks. I assure you that it's a piece of shit." I said dryly.
Alice nodded sagely, her sudden upbeat aura fading, "Oh, don't worry, I know."
9.30am
Alice happened to be in my Maths class, and snagged the vacant seat beside me, earning a dissapproved glare from Miss Lawrence. In AP Maths, there were five people, and we were ordered to sit one at a desk of two, to ensure 'independence and self-learning.' Uh-huh, sure. So, when Alice proudly took her seat beside me, the teacher let her off since it was her first day and she'd probably had no idea anyway, but not without a stink-eye in my direction.
During the fifty-five minutes, Alice had filled me in on her entire life. She was an only child, and moved here with her parents David and Cynthia Brandon who were transferred here to overlook the construction of a new modernized town on the outskirts of Forks. She asked me about myself and I felt like a retard, narrating how I was also an only child, and lived with my parents Carlisle and Esmè who both worked at the hospital. Alice also told me her favourite colour was silver and rapt interest in fashion and textiles, and it was then that I felt like a gay best friend.
Bringing us back to the freaking roses. Before directing Alice and agreeing to become her guide, I'd stuffed the roses - albeit carefully - into my locker and decided that I'd worry about them later. However, later had arrived and it was time to start freaking out over the flowers again. How the hell was I supposed to get them to Rosalie Hale?
Why did Emmett have to like Rosalie? Why couldn't he have stuck to his own kind and sported a crush on Lauren Mallory? I'd just have to slip a note in her locker and she'd happily prance towards the captain of the baseball team in a poor excuse for a skirt. See, she didn't even need roses! Ah, the woes of life.
"Are you okay, Edward? You seem panic-stricken." Alice questioned with concern, as we walked to the benches outside for interval, seeing as it was a rare day where it wasn't raining.
To spill or not to spill, that was the question. Alice seemed like a pretty genuine person, and unless she was an Academy winning actress, her expression reflected actual concern. Ah screw it, I was stuck in a hole, I might aswell dig out a decent burrow now that I was at it.
"Alice, I know we've known each other for-" I checked my watch "-two periods, but I need your trust." I said seriously.
She nodded brightly, already hopping with satisfaction. "I promise, Edward. I won't tell a soul."
I smiled, and lead her to my bench. Technically speaking, it wasn't actually my bench, but Jasper, Jake and I always sat here whenever the weather was nice. Jasper Whitlock was my best friend since...well ever since I remember being alive. Our mothers were together in pre-natal classes and so apparently, and I shudder while thinking this, we were fetal friends. Um.
Jacob Black was a Native American who lived with his dad in La Push and he was just as muscled as Emmett, if not more. He moved to FHS a few years ago after he got expelled from the school on the reservation. He got expelled for punching a clingy ex-girlfriend. Of course, it was because he had anger management issues which have been long resolved. He doesn't hurt anything or anyone now. I think.
As expected, the two were sitting on the bench, waiting for me. When they caught sight of Alice beside me, they did a double take. I smirked for a second but knew that I didn't see Alice like that. A) she was new. B) she seemed to have a sisterly quality about her. C) I wasn't a douchebag.
Rolling my eyes, I made the introductions, "Alice, these are my friends Jake and Jasper. Jake and Jasper, this is Alice. She is new here."
Jake nodded his head with mock solemnity, "You have my sympathy. This place sucks."
Alice didn't say anything. Her eyes were glued to Jasper. Aw, no. Not again. This always happened. Every girl who looked at Jasper for longer than a second...fell in love with him. I didn't know what it was; the blonde hair, big blue eyes, or him in general?
"Well this place just got a whole lot better." She murmured.
Jake and I raised our eyebrows and rolled our eyes. We knew what would happen. Jasper would take an interest in Alice, seeing as she had boobs and was a girl. Then he'd suck face with her and take her on one date. Then he'd come back and tell us about how awfully boring, weird, irritating or downright creepy she was and promptly never speak to her again.
I'd probably have to forewarn Alice.
"Nice to meet you." Jasper said in a thick Texan accent. His parents were born and raised in Texas and despite never actually living there, he had a slight Southern twang. Only now he was showing it off like a jackass. And Alice silently swooning was proof his jackassedness had worked. Like it did everytime.
Jake cleared his throat loudly and obnoxiously. Alice and Jasper jerked back to reality and didn't even have the shame to look flustered. The pixie quickly turned to me and almost shouted, "You still have to tell me why you're worried!"
The other two looked a bit confused but they tilted their heads forward, for me to explain. Let the fun begin.
"I walked into school and there were thirty-six roses taped to my locker. Emmett and Mike came along and demanded to know why they were there. I lied and said I was selling them since it's Valentines Day today. Mike bought six for Jessica and Emmett wants me to deliver the rest to Rosalie Hale. If I don't, I am going to be left asexual." I rattled off monotonously.
"...Rosalie Hale? I'm pretty sure you've got the wrong person." Jake scoffed.
"...Roses? So someone has a gay crush on you? Then again you are pretty girly..." Jasper laughed loudly.
"Hey! I know Rosalie - she's my cousin!" Alice yelped.
This day just got weirder.
10.45am
I was sitting in Political Studies with my head on the desk. My fat, thick, huge, ugly textbook which had a black and white picture of Abraham Lincoln on it was acting as a pillow. Mr. Robertson, the teacher was droning on in a life-threatingly dreary voice about some amendment as he waved his pencil about. I think it was only to appear intellectual. His fifties glasses were perched on the tip of his nose and I had the extreme urge to push them back up. I swear the only reason why I sucked balls at Politics was because I was too concentrated on adjusting his glasses rather than listening to what left his mouth.
Alice had informed us of her relations before any of us had a chance to say anything potentially insulting. Jacob shut up like a fish and Jasper waffled about for a second before doing the same. I smiled blandly and nodded, claiming that we didn't really know her, which was actually true. Alice skipped off to find her cousin and I collapsed into a heap, and droned like a pansy about the woes of life.
"Alright, I want you to get into pairs and do a presentation on today's lesson, summarising the points learned. Include media to make it interesting; I love extras!" Mr. Robertson clapped his hands with glee. I shuddered involuntarily.
Shit. I sat alone in this class. I'm not really a loser. Its just that all the desks in this classroom were paired too. And I wasn't really into sitting next to Mike Newton or Lauren Mallory. I didn't want any form of STD, you see.
I looked around, already knowing everyone in my class was with someone else, but I had nothing to lose. Mike and Jessica (guess the roses worked) were nearly eye-shagging each other already, Tyler and Lauren were looking at each other, and a bunch of other people were shuffling closer. Ugh, this was so depressing.
That was when I spotted a little loner at the back of the classroom. Kerching. Who gave a shit who she was, I just needed someone for one measly presentation. I slowly backed out of my chair and slid swiftly towards the little loner. From what I could see, she had long brown hair, tied into a loose bun. She was wearing jeans and a grey shirt - thank the God above, she wasn't part of the bimbo army (who were identified by their micro-mini skirts in negative temperatures.)
And she was wearing Nike Air trainers. Sweet.
She looked up, with big, wide eyes the same colour as her hair. Her pouty face looked like a deer caught in headlights. I wanted laugh at her panicked expression. Shit, I wasn't going to rape her! Just being friendly and offering her my valued companionship.
Valued companionship, really Cullen? Really?
Her lips parted and the pools of blood on her cheeks made it seem as if she was guilty. She didn't look like she could hurt even a fly, what the hell was she blushing over? Must have been my inhumane good looks. I scoffed at the absurdity of my thoughts and shrugged internally (actually, I imagined myself in third person shrugging.)
"Oh...um...uh...um." She trailed, super awkwardly. I checked myself over quickly just to make sure I wasn't naked or something. Nope, fully clothed.
"Hey, I noticed that you don't have a partner either so do you want to pair up?" I asked quickly.
Jesus, she had communication problems. Her face looked just like Jasper's when his mouth was hanging at seeing Alice. I couldn't even believe I didn't know her name. She was cute, and huggable, and nice-looking. Huggable? Yeah why don't I just grow a pair of ovaries while I'm at it?
Clearly she was trying to get me to piss off with all that silence. "O...kay. Nevermind." I muttered and turned away.
"Wait!" She called out in a crystal clear voice. Damn, so she could talk.
I turned around, eyebrows raised.
"I'd like to work with you Edward." She smiled.
I don't know why I was as relieved as I was.
11.30am
Every set of toilets in FHS were situated around at corner. They were always the last door at the end of a corridor or junction between two corridors. The door was large and opened outwards, which was weird, but it happened.
The front office was only manned during the morning or fifth and sixth period. It had to do with the lack of staff considering Forks had a population of five or something around that number. And also the fact that everyone was a fisherman contributed to the lack of school teachers and admin staff. The reception was a small little box with a transparent glass window covering most of one of the walls and a door on the side, which just sat there, ajar. Security, as you can imagine, is of the highest order. Note my sarcasm.
It was fourth period; just before lunch. With the use of my amazing intelligence, I concluded that the office would be vacant, which it was. So, I sent Jasper into there and do a bit of snooping. Hopefully he would be back within a few minutes with what I wanted.
Jake was trying to be casual around the girls' toilets but was probably failing. I mean what if someone caught him? 'What are you doing here?' 'Well, I'm just strolling around the female WC because I want to go in and see what the sanitary pad machine looks like.'
That would go down great.
I, however, was loitering in the History corridor. Just walking up and down with a specific pace to make it look like I was walking to a place and not just roaming the empty corridors like a pedo.
According to my plan, Jake and Jasper should be coming in about thirty seconds.
Thank the Lord above, I heard footsteps and walked back to my position, ready. Jasper's hair floated along with his body. Jacob's feet appeared and they clumped loudly against the floor. In front of them, were not one, but two people.
Rosalie Hale and Leah Clearwater. The latter was the former's best friend. I mean, they even went to the toilet together. Why did girls do that? Did they watch each other pee, 'cause that shit is sick.
Beautiful. Jasper had successfully hacked the school computer and found out Emmet's timetable, to make sure he wasn't prowling about in a free period. Jacob stealthily pounced on the girls' toilets and grabbed Rosalie and towed her here. And by the looks of it, Leah Clearwater was there for his own entertainment. Mmmn. Leah and Jacob. Jacob and Leah. It worked.
"I demand to know why I have been physically extrapolated from the washrooms to be met with this feminine boy-child!" Rosalie hissed.
"Are you calling me gay?" I narrowed my eyes at her.
The blonde had the gall to shrug. "Well you did have a host of roses taped to your door by presumably an admirer."
"Presumably being the operative word." I bit back.
Leah butt in, with her shiny black hair being tossed over her shoulder like she was Miss America or something. "Excuse me, but if you can stop arguing and tell us why the hell we are here, that would be great."
I yanked my locker door open and stuffed the bouquet of roses and Rosalie. Her eyes widened and she blushed wildly. Flustered, she took the flowers while Leah shrivelled with irritation.
"They're from Emmett McCarty. He likes you. You should probably like him. Okay thanks bye." I said quickly and made my way.
The ear-splitting smile on Rosalie's face told me that she quite possibly may like Emmett too. Shaking my head and bumping fists with Jasz and Jake, I knew my job here was done.
12.30pm
Toying with my chicken fajita, I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. Everything felt wrong. And the sense of melancholy inside me was just downright creepy. I was never unhappy. Even when...even when I lost in the music competition to Tanya Denali - the fake blonde who didn't even know what a freaking semibreave was - I just laughed it off and continued playing the piano like I was Mozart. And now...just because there were two extra people at my lunch table, I wanted throw myself off a cliff.
Okay, not really, but that's not the point.
Jacob was smiling at Leah, his arm around her, and she snuggled into him and they shared a secret look. I turned away to avoid the perviness I was feeling, only to see Jasper and Alice giving each other disgustingly sweet puppy-dog eyes. They shared food and fed each other drinks. Gag. The two couples weren't even kissing (or proper couples) yet it felt so awkward to look at them and sit there.
It was then, that I realised that I was the fifth wheel.
Jake never dated anyone in school, and when he did date someone out of school, he never mentioned it much. Jasper was all talk and never got further than some after-school tongue-swapping which I was fortunate enough to not witness. But now, it was different.
And even Rosalie Hale and Emmett McCarty were awkwardly talking and averting their eyes in the cafeteria line. The nerd and the jock. Come on, why was I the only loner around here?
And then I remembered another loner I'd met today. And then I smiled.
1.25pm
I was back in Political Studies. Thanks to my retarded timetable, I had Politics third, then a free, then lunch and then I was back in Politics again. And for the first time in...ever, I was happy, despite being not the happiest person during lunch. I took my place beside my companion and fellow loner. (I had decided to admit that I was a loner - nothing beats some acceptance.)
I loved how she would look down, and bite her lip in thought everytime I asked her a question. Quietly, but ever-so-confidently, she'd answer every part of my query. She was a girl of a few words, but whatever she said was amazing. Well the two responses to my two questions, at least. It went like this:
"So, do you have notes for whatever Robertson garbled about?"
"Yes, I do. I realise that if you don't pay attention, you can just use the textbook and get the exact words he says in written form, which is far better."
And, "Do you usually sit here alone?" Unfortunately, I couldn't keep the sadness out of my tone.
"Well, I didn't until this term when Angela Weber moved to Government."
Who the hell was Angela Weber? I didn't care, I just wanted to know more about her. So, trying to not sound like an overly-interested pervert, I tried in round two of Politics. And the tragedy of me not even noticing this girl in my class for a whole term didn't escape me.
"If you want, I could sit with you...?" I trailed off uncertainly, then regretting even uttering the words. Way to go douche-bag.
Luckily for me, she smiled, "I'd love that."
We turned back to researching the content for our presentation, until Mr. Robertson appeared mysteriously.
"Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. One duo I would never have imagined."
3.15pm
I was shoving my books into my locker, as it was the end of the day. As the scent of roses hit my nose, I thought about how weird the day was. Weirder than any day ever. I was quite certain that this was all a dream and when I'd wake up, I'd cringe at how carried away my imagination could get. Except, I really liked the part where I spent two hours sitting next to a beautiful girl who smelled of cakes and warmth. I was gutted that she wasn't real. I really, really liked her, even in the short span of my dream.
A loud thump on the neighbouring locker snapped me back to reality. I turned my head only to see that it was Emmett. What on earth did he want now? I did as he said and I was promised that my manhood would remain intact.
"Yes, Emmett?"
"Edward...I just wanted to say thanks, man. You did what I, Emmett, the jock, didn't have the balls to do. You went up to Rosie and you told her straight about how I felt about her. And for that, I think you're pretty cool. I think we should chill sometime. Jasper and Jake, too."
I just stared at him. Was this Emmett? Was he talking to me? Apparently so.
"There'll be no Mike or Tyler or anyone." He pressed.
Huh? Okay. Um. Sure. "That would be cool." I nodded.
And off went Emmett, linking his hands with Rosalie halfway down the corridor. And with a jerky movement, he sent every critical onlooker running away, pissing their pants. Maybe being friends with Emmett wouldn't be too bad.
Digging through my locker, I found something unexpected. It was one red rose left from this morning. I inhaled it deeply and wondered what to do with it. I leaned against my locker and just watched the lone flower. I must have given Rosalie twenty-nine in my hurry and fury at that time.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed a certain brown-haired, chocolate-eyed girl walking towards me. I decided to take my chances and go in for the kill. Besides, it was Valentines day and it only came once a year. Better late than never.
"Bella." I grinned.
She stopped and turned to me, a soft smile on her face. "Edward."
"I, um, thought...that you might like this." I thrust the rose at her, and flinched at how lonely and pathetic it looked. I should have given her more. I grimaced and watched how Bella's usually shy, and timid self morphed into a self satisfied stance. She looked up slowly, a menacing glint in her eyes.
"Returning my gift, Edward? Didn't you like it?" She whispered.
What. The. Hell? I was confused. Beyond disconcerted. "What do you mean 'Returning my gift'?"
Bella tilted her head to the side in such a cute manner I could have mauled her there. And the expanse of smooth flesh on her neck wasn't helping anything. "What do you think I mean?"
I focussed on what she said. My brain was working harder than it had in the SATs last week. And it worked hard then. Returning. My. Gift.
"You gave me the roses? You're my gay lover?" I exclaimed in realisation. Holy shit! My gay lover wasn't so gay after all! Ah the profound relief inside me was palpable.
"Well, I wouldn't say gay, although I do apologise for not noticing the implications earlier..." Bella was back to her introverted self, as she looked down self-consciously.
I tilted her head back up so I could look her in the eyes. Her skin felt as soft and velvety as it looked. "Apart from being really creepy, that is the most flattering and nicest thing someone has ever done for me." I said honestly.
"I'm so sorry-" Bella began, but I cut her off.
"Don't be. Because I'm not. But I am sorry that I took them off so self-consciously. And sold them. And made a profit from them. I'm sorry about using your expression of emotion." I apologised, shamefaced.
To my surprise, she laughed. "You sold them? I like it. Did you make much?"
Before I knew what I was doing, I said, "Well, I'm sure if I added some more to it, I could take you out for dinner tonight."
Her eyes sparkled like stars, "Really?"
"Of course, I don't do anything I don't want to." I said earnestly.
And then I pressed my lips to hers. They were soft, and moved slowly against mine. Bella's hands flew to my hair as she left burning trails along my scalp, and my hands clamped securely around her waist. Pulling her closer, we backed into my locker and the intensity of our kisses grew. I cupped her face and swiped my tongue against her lips, sucking on her lower lip before pulling away reluctantly. I didn't want to be seen as some sort of sleaze. After the first date, Bella could take the reigns.
Grinning, Bella put her head on my chest. That is where I realised that I was jealous of Jasper and Jake at lunch. They had someone to care for, to share personal space with. They had what I had with Bella. And it was nice. More that just nice. Wonderful. Okay I should get a grip on myself now.
"I'm glad you put flowers on my locker." I said, before pecking Bella's forehead.
"I'm glad you weren't freaked out." She murmured against my sweater.
And we glad together. For a very, very long time.