A New Addition

Biology, again. I sauntered in, my backpack hanging demurely from my shoulder – light from the few books I'd brought to school that day. Chuckling to myself I saw little Angela Weber rush past me, struggling with a stack of books no doubt freshly taken from the library. She jolted me by accident and glanced back with a fearful expression, she glanced down and mumbled a quick sorry before hurrying to her desk and burying her head in the first of her many volumes. I rolled my eyes at her and continued on to my desk at the back of the class.

Sitting down I surveyed the room. Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley were chatting – she was evidently flirting by the many hair flicks and 'seductive' giggles, he was eating it up eyeing up her cleavage. There were a couple of geeks sat with Angela mimicking her behaviour, their faces hidden by thick volumes. The sporty ones who had less than 10 brain cells were busy making paper aeroplanes and aiming them down Lauren Mallory's low cut top.

Staring out the window I observed the light rain providing a slippy layer on the grass outside, little birds were flinching under the water. I sighed and glanced back to the classroom in time to see the new guy wondering in. Surprisingly he didn't look lost or nervous, he had a resigned expression on his face as his lifeless eyes surveyed the classroom. Our eyes connected for a split second before he glanced to the front and approached the teacher. They had a brief conversation and then Mr Branner gestured in the direction of the empty seat beside me. I rolled my eyes. I liked having the desk to myself.

Disgruntled I shoved my bag off the seat and it slumped onto the floor. He sat down wordlessly and took out a brand new textbook no doubt ordered before he got here.

I examined him as he flicked through the pages easily not acknowledging me at all. He had messy hair, that wasn't brown but wasn't ginger.. it was an odd shade that changed colour as it caught in the light. His nose was straight with high cheekbones. I suppose he could be stated attractive. He continued to skim read various pages before returning to the front page and effortlessly wrote his name in an elegant scrawl.

Edward Cullen.

I snorted. Not pretentious at all…

He glanced at me, expressionless but his eyes were questioning. He saw me looking at his name still wet from his ink pen shining on the page. He stared at me for a couple of seconds before turning back to the board and began dutifully jotting down a couple of notes that Mr Branner had written.

I stayed still for a moment, not entirely sure if I could physically move. His eyes were so intense, they were a fiery green that made him appear a lot older than his 17 years.

I leant forwards and rested my head on the desk. I hadn't brought a notepad and I had no intention of writing notes. I let Mr Branners voice wash over me as a pulled up my hood and fell asleep.

Sleep was not something that came easily to me, at home at least. Sometimes I got a couple of naps in lessons to keep me going through the day. I wouldn't class myself as an insomniac or anything in particular, I could sleep at home, I never had nightmares it was just getting to sleep that was the problem.

I could tell it was wearing on me as I had huge dark circles under my eyes and I could never concentrate on one thing at a time.

I awoke with a start when the bell rang and glanced over sleepily to see Edward packing away his things neatly into his bag. It seemed so systematic and he was concentrating so hard, I could hear him counting under his breath.

This kid was weird.

Quickly grabbing my bag I walked out the classroom and heading to lunch. I spotted Emmett and Rosalie almost immediately and beelined for their table. I wasn't particularly hungry so just grabbed a couple of chips off Emmett's plate.

"hey! Those are mine, get your own you squirrel."

I quirked an eyebrow at him,

"Squirrel?"

"Yeah you know, the little animals that have fluffy tails.. kindof look like a hamster?"

Thank you Captain Obvious.

"I know what a squirrel is you idiot. I was wondering what the hell you were talking about."

"Well, everyone knows that squirrels are the best thieves. They pick up the food they want off your plate and make a run for it. They 'squirrel' it away! They store it in their cheeks and can have it later."

I rolled my eyes at him and Rosalie grimaced,

"Hamsters. Hamsters keep it in their cheeks."

He stared at her,

"So do squirrels! How can you not know that? I'm sitting with idiots."

Rosalie laughed and pointed to a ketchup stain on his right shoulder,

"He got that from shaking the ketchup bottle too hard for a good five minutes and then firing it at himself."

She sighed and stroked his face lovingly,

"Why do I even put up with you?"

He grinned, showing his dimples and popped another chip into his mouth. He spoke with his mouth full,

"Because I'm just adorable."

They continued these proceedings and I looked away in case of couple-induced-vomit. I caught sight of Edward sitting at Angela Webers table. He was quietly munching on a sandwich whilst Angela and Eric fawned over each other, he seemed to be thinking the same thing. I watched as he finished his sandwich and folded the empty sandwich bag neatly into a tiny square and place it in his bag.

Glancing around I noticed I wasn't the only one watching Edward. Although none of them seemed to have noticed his odd behaviour as many of the girls were giggling to each other no doubt thinking him far more attractive than he is purely for the lack of boys in our town. It was astounding how affected they were by the lack of choice. The ugliest boy on earth could join our school and somehow, because he was new he would appear to them as Gods gift. Poor Edward, he definitely wasn't the ugliest boy, he was actually quite good looking.

He'd be slaughtered.

Sure enough, I watched as Heidi Moorbank sashayed over to the table he was sitting at. She took the empty chair next to him and began chatting. I continued to watch the conversation, I expected him to enjoy the attention from her but instead he neither abated her advances nor seemed to return the favour of conversation. Once he'd finished his lunch I saw him quietly make his excuses and stand up from the table. Heidi looked surprised by his abruptness and flounced back to her original table looking upset. He must have felt my eyes on him as he glanced at me.

Again the intense green were upon me and I felt like an ant under a magnifying glass.

I continued to stare back at him, refusing to let him win. He shook his head slightly and walked out the cafeteria. I sat back, the image of his intense stare burned into my brain, I was unable to let it go.

I had a feeling I had a lot more to learn about the elusive Edward Cullen.