"A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal." -Oscar Wilde

1. Catatonic

Today was not Edward's day.

The last place he expected to be was sitting in the front of a big yellow school bus beside a blond frizzy haired girl who was completely engrossed in Stephen Hawking's The Grand Design and kept throwing what she thought were seductive smiles my way. I groaned. Why the fuck did the principal think this was a good punishment for me?

I could imagine what everyone was saying about me. It was bad enough practically the entire fucking school watched me board the bus. I could hear them laughing and whispering to each other, muttering about how I was getting what was coming to me.

Well, one deathly glare at all of them quickly put them in their place.

I had thrown myself in the first empty seat I found, wanting to make a quick escape as soon as we got to the mental hospital.

Mental hospital. God, what a stupid idea. This was obviously my father's idea of a joke. I'd have to remember to kill him later.

The only people on this bus were either overly enthusiastic preppy kids looking to get as many community service hours as possible, druggies who were looking to get out of suspended, or other random people. I was here because the principal, Mr. Greene, thought going to see people who were worse off than me would 'make me more humane.'

Whatever the hell that meant.

I pushed my earphones into my ears and cranked up the volume in my desperate attempt to keep my anger at bay. The last thing I needed was to end up punching Frizzy Hair Girl for no reason. I figured I could take it out on the unfortunate soul they assigned me to talk to. Honestly, I didn't know what they expected us to talk about. What do crazy people have to say, anyway? The voices in my head think you're cute.

I sighed loudly and shrunk down in my seat, crossing my arms. I was seriously going to kill Mr. Greene and my dad.

Luckily the ride to Forks Mental Hospital only took fifteen minutes. Forks, Washington is a very small town and everything is pushed together. Sometimes it felt very suffocating. Especially today.

The bus pulled in up by the entrance to the hospital. Mr. Banner, the unfortunate teacher assigned to chaperone this little field trip, got out first. I stayed in my seat, determined not to get up because it felt like getting up meant giving in. Letting Mr. Greene and my father win. If there was one thing I did not do, it was to admit defeat.

I felt a small tap on my shoulder and turned in annoyance to Frizzy Hair Girl beside me. She was watching me expectantly. "You gonna get up?"

I turned my body so that my legs were in the aisle so she could get past. She breezed past me without a second look. I watched Mr. Banner out of the window as he got a head count, frowning when he was off by a number.

"Where's Edward?" Mr. Banner asked.

Frizzy Hair Girl immediately pointed at the bus. That was when the bus driver, who apparently hadn't noticed that I hadn't gotten out, turned to me.

"Gotta get out. Even if you don't want to," he said knowingly.

I sighed again, this time much louder, and stormed out of the bus to join everyone else outside.

"Ah, Mr. Cullen. Finally decided to show," said Mr. Banner loudly. A couple of people snickered, including Frizzy Hair Girl. They shut up when they noticed me watching them, then averted their eyes to the ground.

"There is a list here of each of you. Beside it you will find the name of your 'buddy.' There is no trading names. You have who you have. You will be doing whatever your buddy wants to do, whether it's to play a game, do origami, or simply listen to their stories. Once a week for two months you will be coming here to spend time with your 'buddy.' That does not mean you can't talk to other patients here, but you must stick to the person assigned to you. Does everyone understand?" Mr. Banner asked, looking at everyone. His gaze seemed to linger on me a second longer than anyone else.

Some people muttered responses. Most either just nodded or didn't make any signs of acknowledgement at all. I kept my hands in the pockets of my jacket, wanting nothing more than for this day to end.

Mr. Banner began reading the names of the patients we were assigned to. I tuned him out, not caring to listen. I barely registered the words he spoke a minute later as he said, "...Cullen, you're buddy is Isabella Swan."

I rolled my eyes. Did he honestly expect me to care? I saw a few people cast haphazard glances my way, probably curious to see how I was taking all this. I was the only one here because of a personal punishment from the principal. They probably thought this was funny. Most of those back at school didn't care to openly show their amusement. In the end, I'd show them.

Isabella Swan. It was a pretty name. I wondered for a second whether this girl or woman or whatever was as pretty as her name. If she was young as well then maybe this might not be as difficult to get through as I thought. Assuming she wasn't a whack job. Which was impossible since this was a mental hospital, after all.

Mr. Banner ushered all of us inside. I made sure I was last.

Waiting for us in the lobby was a plump middle aged nurse. She grinned at all of us, probably happy that we were visiting some of her patients.

Mr. Banner explained to us that the nurse would tell us where we could find our 'buddies.' I hated that word. It made it seem as though we were back in kindergarten.

The nurse didn't give us a big speech about how much she appreciated us coming, which was refreshing. She told us all, one by one, where we should go. Once again I made sure I was last, wanting to prolong this whole thing as long as possible.

I hardly noticed when it was my turn. I didn't even look at the nurse when she asked me who my buddy was. When I told her a gentle smile escaped her lips.

"Isabella's in the recreation room. You can't miss her. She's the one by the window," the nurse said. I repressed an eye roll and turned to go, but a hand grabbed my wrist to stop me.

I turned in surprise, frowning. It was the nurse. She smiled at me sadly. "Be patient with her. She's been through a lot."

I stared at her, expecting more, but that was all she said before she patted my shoulder and turned to go into the office. Mr. Banner stood in the corner, watching to make sure I went to the recreation room.

Pissed and feeling defeated, I turned and stormed off in the direction the nurse had pointed me.

The recreation room was smaller than I thought it was. It was barely the size of my living room with only three tables. Some of the kids on the field trip looked up as I entered, some already playing games with their buddies. I ignored them, my eyes searching the room for my buddy. Isabella Swan.

There was a small window in the farthest corner of the room away from the door. Staring out of it, transfixed, was a girl who looked my age. She was sitting in a plastic orange chair usually found in elementary schools. I couldn't see her face from where I was standing, but I could already tell she was beautiful, even with her long brown hair hanging from her head in greasy strands and her dirty blue bathrobe.

I walked over to her, letting a small ounce of relief slip through my defenses. I pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. She didn't even look up as I approached.

I thought about taking out my ipod and listening while we sat together. Something told me this girl wasn't in a talkative mood. Hell, I wasn't sure if she even knew I was there.

But, just to say that I tried, I decided to try. "Isabella Swan?"

She didn't even blink. She kept staring out the window. I glanced out the window, curious as to what was so interesting outside. It faced the back of the hospital. There was a small garden that looked to be growing some flowers. There I saw more people from the hospital, including Frizzy Hair Girl. She was reading The Grand Design to an old bald man who kept pointing to parts of the page and laughing. She didn't look too happy about that.

I cleared my throat. "My name is Edward Cullen. I'm here to, uh, keep you company, I guess."

She still left no sign that she had heard me. Her hands were folded casually in her lap. I looked behind her at a tray beside her. It was full of uneaten food. Most of it looked like slop. I couldn't blame her for not eating it. What was her problem? Was she catatonic or something? Christ, was that why that nurse told me to be patient with her?

The room reeked of rubbing alcohol and jell-o. A scream coming from the TV on the other side filled the room. A couple of the other patients screamed too as a response, which resulted in a couple of the nurses standing nearby to hurry forward. I guess they didn't take much nonsense.

I turned back to Isabella, wanting to slap her in order for her to come back to reality. I had little patience for people who couldn't live regularly. People who took easy ways out in order to avoid everyday problems. People who acted like this- catatonic or 'crazy'- I had little patience for. Of course I knew there were some who had something genuinely wrong with them. But Isabella was young; my age. A teenager. What reason could she have to be in a mental hospital?

"Do you...want to go outside?" I guessed, trying to figure out her fascination with the outdoors.

I watched her intently, waiting for a reaction. What the hell was her problem? Did she think she was better than me?

"Look, Isabella, I'm trying really hard to be nice here, but you..." I stopped short when I finally saw her face.

She was absolutely beautiful. She had dark, chocolate brown eyes that, at one time, had seen better days. Her skin lacked the color to it that most people had. It had more of a grayish tinge to it. When was the last time she'd been out in the sunlight? Her lips, while red, looked pale and thin. Yet, despite all that, I could see her beauty. I should let Alice at her. She'd really have some fun.

"Do you talk at all?" I was beyond irritated. Screw patient. I couldn't be patient. Not when this was beyond all hope. How did they expect me to spend two hours everyday for two months with her? You can't talk to catatonic people. You're just wasting your time. Which was exactly what I was doing.

"Fuck this," I snapped, jolting out of my seat, the chair falling behind me as I did so. I stormed out of the room, past the oblivious patients and surprised nurses and back to the bus. I ignored the surprised protests of Mr. Banner and the bus driver and half-ran back on the bus. I shoved the earbuds back into my ears and put the volume as high as it would go. Screw this bullshit. I wasn't coming back here. And damned anyone who would try to make me.