Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it! (By the way, sorry for the chapter titles. I can't think of good titles, but I hope nobody cares). Enjoy!
I woke up the next morning remembering to speak with Jess, Mike, and Edward that day.
I groaned and fell back on my pillow.
The ride to school was noisy. There was a lot of wind, and I was sure I felt some rain and even hail. Yup, pretty much a normal day in Forks. I parked in the lot and headed to school.
"Bella!" I heard Jessica's shriek across the lot. Ugh, I really don't want to do this right now, I thought.
"Um, Hey, Jess," I answered dubiously.
"So," she said hurriedly. "Ple-e-ease tell me you couldn't get the tickets."
"Way to be supportive," I mumbled. "But yes, I did."
Jessica's face fell. "So you're really going then?"
"Oh, Jess, don't start this whole act. We have phone numbers and emails and I'll try to visit every once in a while."
"But we're friends. And you-you were just getting happy! With Mike--"
"Wait, wait, what did you just say?" I was astonished she thought I liked him like that. Anybody who knows me should know that Mike and I would never EVER be together.
"Well, don't you...?"
"No!"
"Oh."
"Jess, listen to me. Go with Mike. Ask him out or something. I think he really likes you." Well, I hoped he did. I really didn't want to have to be in the center of a teenage romance drama.
"Thanks, Bella. I'll really miss you, you know." She hugged me.
"I know. I will too. But let's save all this for Sunday. I still have four more days here."
"You're right. Sorry. See you in Trig!" She walked away.
Sometimes I wondered if she was actually my friend. I mean, she acted like it, but was that just because everyone else did (which, personally, I don't get at all)?
I followed her into the building and went to my locker.
"Hey, Bella!" I groaned mentally at the sound of Mike's voice. His eager, Bella-full, annoying voice.
"Hi, Mike. What's up?"
"Did you get the tickets you were looking for?" Not again! What makes them think I would give up this wonderful opportunity? This great opportunity to escape this annoying, cold placeā¦
"Yes, I did, Mike." My voice sounded strained and annoyed.
"Aw, that's too bad." He sounded like he really meant it.
"Mike, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I really am going to Jacksonville. But I have four more days here, so don't worry." Four long, long days.
"But why do you have to?" he begged.
"Because I really want to see my Mom again. And Forks was never the right place for me."
"Yes it is!" he pleaded. "I really want you to stay, Bella! The dance is two weeks away!"
How Mike could be so stupid?
"Mike!" I exclaimed. "We must've been over this a thousand times! I don't dance, and I'm not going!"
"I know, but it could still be fun, Bella! We'd all dance with you, you know."
"Mike, that would just mess up my schedule. Now listen- you go to the dance with Jess, I'll go on my plane, and everyone will be happy."
"I won't be happy," he mumbled.
"I have to go to Trig. I can't be late." And without another awkward moment, I swept out of the hallway.
Why did everyone have to like me so much? It really got on my nerves. If I didn't have any friends, I could just be in and out of Forks without the guilt of leaving friends back home. Of course, there was always Charlie, but I'd keep in contact with him.
The rest of the day went by pretty slowly and was pretty boring, so let's just fast-forward to Biology, shall we?
"Hi, Bella." I heard the irresistible, silky voice of Edward Cullen and turned around reflexively. He was there in his seat, just a foot away from me. I was twelve inches away from an angel.
"Hi," I breathed.
"So, are you going to Jacksonville?"
"That's the plan. I got tickets for Sunday." I always tried to act casually around him. It was hard to keep from hyperventilating though.
"Why not sooner?" Ever since the van incident, I've been trying to get his secret out of him. He says we shouldn't be friends, for some unknown reason. I really hate him for thinking I hate him.
"Tickets were cheaper."
Awkward silence. Well awkward for one of us, anyway.
"I don't really hate you, you know," I said. "We can still be friends, right? It's just kind of frustrating, not knowing your secrets."
"That's makes two of us," he whispered, more to himself.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing. But Bella, it really is better if we weren't friends. Trust me."
"Um, okay."
We didn't speak through the class, and afterword he just left without talking to me again. I was perfectly okay with that though- I was running out of things to say to him.
