EPOV
I hated school. School was one of those things that I would have done anything to get out of. At that point, I was willing to stab myself in the eye with a pen just to get sent home.
School was even worse when I had to face my crush everyday; a crush that I knew would never develop into anything more than that. A one-sided, pathetic crush.
"Edward!" came the shrill voice of my twin sister, Alice. "It's time for school! Let's GO!"
I groaned and pulled myself off of my bed and into my shoes. My feet shuffled noisily along the carpet as I dragged myself out of my room and down the swirling staircase.
Alice was hopping up and down by of the front door. When she saw me take the last step off the stairs and into the giant foyer, she practically jumped on my shoulders and shoved me out the door. I stumbled down the porch steps and tripped over a large stone that sat in the exact spot I walked every morning. The next time I blinked, my face was buried into the gravel.
Alice laughed too loudly for my liking that early in the morning. "Very smooth, Edward." And then she plopped into the passenger seat of my Volvo.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That morning was one of the worst. Not only was Rosalie the first person I saw when I pulled into the parking lot, but she had herself completely wrapped around her giant, muscular football boyfriend, Emmett. They were sitting on one of the picnic tables, Rosalie in his lap with her arms linked around his neck. Emmett place his hands around her waist, and began kissing her, all down her neck. Rosalie giggled when he reached her shoulder, probably hitting a ticklish spot.
I grumbled under my breath and kicked the car door open. Alice jumped in surprise and faced me. Her expression said "What the hell?" before she could even get the words out of her mouth. I nodded my head in the direction of Rosalie and Emmett; Alice immediately understood. She came around to my side of the car and put a hand on my shoulder. "Edward..." she trailed off. There was nothing she could say. And she knew it.
I made my way towards the building with my first class, and sure enough, I had to walk right past Rosalie and Emmett. I stopped for the shortest second, watching the girl I swore I was in love with make out with the one guy I despised. I realized I had actually stopped mid-stride, and Rosalie ended up turning to stare at me, probably wondering why I had stopped. I faked the best smile I could manage, and continued on my way.
CRASH!
My eyes closed at the impact, and when I opened them I was sitting on the ground, my books and papers strewn everywhere. I looked forward to find the person I ran into, and Bella Swan (Rosalie's best friend) was on the ground like I was, staring at me, looking as shocked as I felt. The instant our eyes met, her face turned blood red and she turned away to start collecting her things.
I came back to my senses enough to realize there were people surrounding us, laughing. I groaned quietly and started to pick up my things, too. Bella had already gathered her items, and made her way over to the picnic table that Rosalie and Emmett sat at. Once Bella sat down, Rosalie broke from Emmett and turned to her. She started chattering away about something that happened over the weekend, and then I couldn't hear anymore, because I was practically running towards the school building.
BPOV
People had been talking about it all day. That goes to show you how much excitement there was in Forks, if a freaking collision between two kids was the highlight of the day. Whenever someone passed me today and laughed, I could feel heat form on my face. I knew I was blushing, big time. The worst part was the actual collision with him; he knew I was staring right at him. Normally someone like Edward Cullen watched where they were going, which was why I was so shocked when HE was the one my clumsiness crashed on today. I had a feeling he would try to say something to me, probably mock me, and so I hightailed out of the situation as fast as I could, making my way over to Rosalie and her boyfriend, Emmett.
"So, who are you going to body slam next?" Emmett teased, during lunch. He laughed loudly enough for the whole cafeteria to hear, which to be honest wasn't much, because our cafeteria is very small.
My face turned red again. I giggled stiffly and said, "Shut up, Emmett."
He grinned triumphantly and leaned back in his chair, slinging an arm over Rosalie's shoulders. Rosalie stared longingly at Emmett, her blue eyes shining. Then she turned to me, flipped her golden hair behind her shoulder and said, "Did the guy even apologize to you?"
The question caught me off guard. I choked on my answer. "Uh..I don't think I gave him a chance to. And his name is Edward."
"Yea. Edward." said Rosalie. She crossed her legs and started to examine her nails.
Emmett turned to Rosalie. "Isn't Edward that kid that's had a crush on you for like, ever?" He laughed his cafeteria-shaking laugh.
Realization crossed Rosalie's face. Then she giggled, flashing her perfectly white teeth. "HA! That's right, he is!" Emmett laughed along with her, and I just sat there, staring at them. It was kind of mean to be making fun of someone just because they had a crush. Everyone has a crush. Well, everyone normal. I'm not normal. But I laughed along anyway.
My eyes gazed across the cafeteria, assessing the different groups clustered around the rounded tables throughout the room. It was filled with the normal cliques you would find in high school. The preps, goths, rockers, geeks, and loners.
Then there was us. And the Cullens.
We weren't any specific clique that fit into a neat little category. Neither were the Cullens. Rosalie and Emmett were the couple of school: pretty, popular, and perfect. They didn't hang out in any one clique. They talked to everybody. And me, I was a friend they picked up along the way. One that didn't fit in anywhere.
The Cullens were the opposite of Rosalie and Emmett. They didn't socialize with anyone but each other, unless forced to by the terms of a teacher or a project. Even though Alice looked like the exact kind if person to be a social butterfly, she sat quietly through school, the excitement in her eyes waiting to burst after the final bell rang. Edward looked like everyday was his own personal hell, and all he wanted was to be as far away from school as possible.
That look intensified whenever he was close to Rosalie.
I continued to scan the cafeteria, and I found that I was searching for the Cullens to see if Edward was getting ridiculed as much as I was. I found him and Alice across the cafeteria, sitting by the giant window that stretched across the entire wall. Alice was tapping her fingers lightly on the table, staring at Edward with sympathy in her eyes. Edward had his head resting on his hand, shoulders slumped.
He was in his personal hell. Again.