DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these wonderful characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer.
I tried to pay attention but it was all I could do to stop eyeing him from the corner of my eye. Thankfully, the bell rang and I watched as he made his escape. I picked up my books in a hurry—hoping to catch Mike or Jessica on the way to the Gym. I prayed—prayed my hardest that Edward Cullen wouldn't be in there—awaiting me.
I could tell by his hardened look—he was not happy at all to see me in the Gym. The volleyball courts were all set up, and we were all divided up into teams.
With my horrible luck—Edward was paired against my team…
On a good note, Mike and Jessica were both on my team—and Mike kept saving me from the spikes coming from all the rest of the boys.
"It's coming to you, Bells. Hit it hard!" Mike shouted as I watched the volleyball fly right toward me. I screamed and hit as hard as I could and I watched it hit Edward Cullen right in the face.
"Oh!" I shouted. "Oh no! I-I'm sorry!" I yelled over top the other team's screams.
Edward sat up slowly and touched his head. His teammates surrounded him for a moment and helped him up.
"I'm sorry…" I tried again and looked at him. His eyes were so dark—almost amusing, but annoyed. "It's okay. I'm good."
"But…I hit it hard…" I felt the pain in my hands, I could even see it; my hands were bright red from the impact.
"Wasn't as hard as you think." He murmured—surprisingly I could hear him above all the noise.
After that—Mike made sure that I didn't have the chance to make any more craters in anyone else's face. There were moments when I would look over and see Edward eyeing me—or watching me, which would make me knock into my teammates.
"Whoa, Bella. Stay over there unless you want to get hit by the ball." Mike said, pushing me back into the back middle. Edward slightly smiled and continued to play. I couldn't stop watching the way his body bent and moved—it was almost graceful…too graceful...
He was built—but not buff like most of the guys in the Gym. One could easily tell that all these guys did was work out.
'That's probably all they have to do around here…' I thought to myself. Out in Arizona, it was so different. There were things to do and places to be…
Here—in Forks, everything was slow and thought out. Nothing was done by instincts.
But this boy—this person, I could tell… he wasn't like anyone here. He defiantly didn't belong here.
When Gym class ended, I watched as he ran out of the Gym and headed into the boy's locker, and only glanced at me over his shoulder once.
Charlie stared at me as I ate quietly over our called-out pizza.
"How was school today, Bells?" He asked, obviously curious.
"It was okay." I whispered and looked up at him from under my eye lashes.
"Did you make any new friends?"
"I met a girl named Jessica, and two guys named Mike and Eric. I spent most of my time with Jessica and Mike though."
"Well, that's good. Those kids are good ones. They've never had problems with the police."
"Charlie—I'm sure most of the kids here haven't had problems with you or your co-workers."
"You'd be surprised." He said with a laugh.
"What about…Edward Cullen?" I whispered and eyed him for a moment. He shrugged and sighed. "I've heard nothing but odd stories about them…but Dr. Cullen is a good man. He comes from a good family, and I've never had problems with the Cullens. People… tell stories about them, but I'm never one to believe them."
"Stories?"
"Just stupid ones, Bells. You know how people talk…"
"Yeah, I suppose."
"Aren't you hungry?" I looked down at my half eaten pizza and shrugged.
"I just have a lot of homework to do. I guess I'm just kind of stressed."
"Bells… I don't want you to feel like you can't' talk to me like you can with your mother. You know you're free to call her whenever you want…"
"I know…"
"I'm sorry that you had to make a choice…"
"Charlie…I didn't have to. I just chose to make my mother's life easier." He nodded and sighed.
"I'm glad you're here, Bella." He said. I nodded—and understood.
Charlie has been in love with my mother ever since the day she left him. I could still see the young Charlie that I only saw in the old pictures are home… and I could imagine my young mother falling head over heels for him—and moving here, to this small house in the middle of no-where… and then…leaving.
I felt so horrible for Charlie.
He never loved again.
Maybe that's why he was so happy that I was there…
"Well, I'm going to go do more homework.' I took my paper plate to the trash and touched his shoulder before I headed up the stairs to my room. After a few silent moments, I heard Charlie turn on the TV and started watching what sounded like a football game.
I flicked off my light and laid on my bed and started thinking about the day's events…
And Edward Cullen's dark eyes.