"Name?" The red-haired chubby woman behind the counter looks underneath her glasses, staring at my small but present baby bump. Not that it kept me from trying to hide it. At the moment my wardrobe existed merely of sweaters even my dad could wear, if he wanted to. Today however I didn't do any effort to keep the Bump a secret. New school, fresh start – might as well start honest. They'd find out anyway and if they did whilst I obviously tried to hide it, all Hell would break loose. At least, so it did at my last school.
"Isabella Swan," I respond calmly, trying not to sound too annoyed by her glares. C'mon woman, ever heard of subtlety? You could at least pretend not to judge my entire existence.
It takes her a while to respond. "Ah yes, miss Swan. We have been expecting you." She plucks a hair on her chin. "You should know we have been informed about your… condition."
"You mean the fact that I'm knocked up?" I ask rather bluntly.
This throws her off a little. Good. "Yes. The school will do its best to hold this in consideration."
I force a grateful smile. "How very kind of you."
"Yes. Well, classes have already started, so I'll escort you to your classroom," she hands me a folder, "This contains a map of the school, your schedule and some other information. Keep it close."
"Yes, ma-am," I slip them into my shoulder-bag and follow her to my first class, which apparently is history. Fantastic. History and I have never had a decent relationship, and probably never will.
She knocks on the door a few times, before I hear a male voice saying 'Come in'. "Go ahead," she says with a kind smile. Alright, maybe she wasn't that bad after all. It just so happens to be I'm having a mood today, and generally have lousy social skills. I step inside, while she quickly informs the teacher of my sudden entrance.
Within a few second several of the students began whispering. Oh goodie, the fun begins.
"Class, this is Isabella-"
"Bella," I cut him off. I've always disliked the name Isabella. Far too fancy for my liking.
"Right. Bella Swan. She's new here, so let's give her a warm welcome, alright?" Then he focuses on me instead. "Bella, why don't you take a seat next to Edward? We unfortunately have already started, but come see me after class. I'll fill you in on what you've got to catch up with."
I simply nod and take my place, eyeing the person besides me. His short dark hair, his bright green eyes – let's be honest: he's hot as hell. He also appears to have the same cellphone as me, which I could only take in as the fact that he had good taste. Though I have no interest in making any friends. Like I said, I have lousy social skills.
"Edward Cullen," he introduces himself softly, reaching out his hand towards me.
Shortly I take his hand. "Bella."
"Newbie, huh?"
"Why, you must be some kind of mind-reader," I whisper with a hint of sarcasm.
"You're stuck with me for little less than an hour and that's the impression you want to make?" He raises an eyebrow at me.
"Yes," I responded dryly. "You should know I'm all rainbows and sunshine. I also save puppies and bake cookies in my spare time." Man, I could go for some sugary sweets right now.
He tries to supress a laugh. "Noted. I'll try not to look too impressed."
"Miss Swan and Mister Cullen. Would it be a bother to you if I continued?" History-guy raises his eyebrows at us and we both apologise, not saying another word afterwards.
The rest of the day passed by quite boringly. Even though I was still the talk of the day, most people avoided any contact with me – probably because I've been walking around with my Stare of Death the entire day. I really didn't feel like any human contact. Luckily the Stare always works damn good for me. If I am to believe my father, I had mastered this skill even as a toddler, when I was told I would in fact NOT get to meet Santa that year.
I make my way to my rusty old truck, searching for my keys. The glares of others continue to make me feel like I am a freaking movie-star who just had a huge scandal come out. And I'm trying hard not to flip them all off. Let's keep some surprise for the rest of the year.
With a sigh I finally make it into the truck and allow myself to take a breath. I did it. I survived. With a minimal amount of annoyance. I should let my dad now, he was even more nervous than I was this morning. Wouldn't be surprised if he had one his cop-buddies stalking me around, so I better inform him I'm still breathing.
Only, this is not my fucking phone, I realize the moment I search my bag. Yes, it's the same model, but the background of Edward and a girl that might be the embodiment of freaking Tinkerbell surely isn't my work. Plus, it is also far less damaged, since I tend to drop mine occasionally. . . God, Handsome has my phone.
Angrily I start calling my own number and quickly get a response.
Hello, Bella's phone? Might I take a message?
"You've stolen my phone," I tell the voice on the other side, although I know it's Cullen.
I hear a laugh. Well, I think it's more like a trade.
"Ha ha," I reply dryly. "You're hilarious."
I know.
"I want my phone," I continue.
I was actually just about to call you, to suggest bringing it over to your house. Where can I find you, miss Swan?
Smooth-talker. For some reason I don't want him to know. "I'm already in my truck, I'll come over. What's your address?"
With some fussing about being a gentleman, he answers and I put it into my GPS, which my dad gave me as a present. Since I 'have the same sense of orientation as a rock', he claims. And he was right. Even with the GPS it took me a lot longer to find his house than I suspected, mostly because I have driven through woods for the last fifteen minutes and began to wonder if he was just messing with me, leading me to my ultimate demise.
Eventually however, I come across a beautiful three-story house in the middle of the forest. "No way," I mumble to myself. This castle of a house is his home?
Before I even stopped my truck, Edward was making his way outside and knocks on the window on my side.
"I could hear that thing coming miles away," he says, eyeing my car.
"Good," I say with a crooked smile and hand him his phone. "You could've mentioned your house is in the middle of nowhere."
"My sincerest apologies," he chuckles. "Got lost, did we?"
I shake my head. I can't have him think I need his help. "Never."
The look on his face tells me he doesn't believe me for a second, but luckily, he doesn't push the subject. The moment he's about to give me what I came for, he stops his movement and pulls it away again. "I just don't know if this is a fair trade," he suddenly says.
"Excuse me?"
"Sure, we'll both have our belongings back in our possession, but you drove all the way down here." I know I won't like what's about to come. "Have dinner with us? I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind. Although my brothers might be a source of annoyance."
He has brothers? There's more of his kind? I don't know whether that's a good thing or not.
"Even more than you are currently?" I ask, smiling. He probably doesn't know about the Bump, I suddenly realize. He's acting far too different from other people. Less awkwardness. I'm not even used to it anymore.
He simply laughs. "My mother's going to kick my ass for thinking I didn't invite you in."
"Too bad I won't be there to see it," I tease and turn on the engine again, reaching out my hand. No way I was ready for family-time, certainly not with one I didn't know.
"I'll have to take you up on it later," he says sincerely, as he finally places my cell in my hand. "See you tomorrow, Bella."
"Goodbye, Cullen," I mumble and drive away, finally on my way home. To be honest, the way back went a lot smoother, making me realize I made a detour of about fifteen minutes the first time. My eternal gratefulness to whoever invented GPS. My eternal damnation to whoever thought of roads without signs.
"Dad, I'm home," I yell, entering the house. But no response. He must still be at work, since I would expect a cross-examination upon arriving home. Luckily my interrogation appears to be postponed for at least a little while. I wasn't ready for it either.
With a sigh I allow myself to crash on the couch for merely a few minutes, freeing myself of my shoes and instantly starting to doze off. That is, until my phone vibrates.
Let me know if you got lost again or your truck didn't make it, so I can come to the rescue.
- Edward
PS: Your number was in my phone after you called. I also took the liberty of putting mine in yours.
I'm clinging to the hope a pregnant woman won't kick my ass for it, because I'm afraid you still might.
I crack a smile. He did know, yet no awkward stares. It almost makes me forgive him claiming my number without the gesture of asking. Almost.