Chapter 2

A few minutes passed before Angela and I arrived to school. I parked my car, pulling in smoothly to my daily parking spot. We got out of the car and grabbed our things from the backseat. I reached for her free hand with mine and we quickly passed through the front doors. Our lockers were fairly close, my last name being Swan and her's, Webber.

People milled around us as we navigated through the crowded hallways, and familiar faces smiled greetings. Despite the fact that everyone knows about Angela and I dating, we were still pretty popular; which goes against social norms. We weren't bullied or beaten up. Fortunately, everyone was okay will us being ourselves. Our lunch table was always full and we never had a boring Friday night if we didn't want to.

As we reached my locker, I reluctantly let go of Angela's hand. It felt as though I was being parted with a piece of myself—I think I may have some separation issues. She turned her head and smiled at me with her beautiful face. I instantly returned the gesture.

"I will see you at lunch then?" she asked me, already knowing my answer.

"Of course," I replied, reaching out to rest my hand on her hip. I gently pulled her toward me for a kiss before we departed. My body tingled, as if electricity was being passed through it, when Angela's pressed against mine. Our lips met briefly and then the first warning bell rang.

"See you soon! Love you!" Angela said as she turned away from me and raced down the hall. My eyes travelled to her butt.

"I love you, too!" I called after her, still staring at that masterpiece.

After throwing my books into my locker, I grabbed my folder for Biology and headed to class. When I reached the room, I walked through the doorway into the boring and faintly smelly classroom. The room was pretty huge. It included rows of lab tables on both sides of the room with a large space between them. Shuffling my feet, I reached the lab table where I sat every day. I didn't talk to anyone in the class, so I just sat alone, which was normal for me. Besides Angela and Katie, I don't have any other really close friends. She is the socializer and I just usually go along for the ride. It doesn't bother me to spend time by myself sometimes.

After I sat down, everyone started to shuffle in, and the volume of the room rose exceptionally. Shoes squeaked on the tile floor and chairs scraped. People talked about what they did last night and what they had planned for this weekend. Books slammed down on the hard table tops and when the final bell rang, the teacher cleared his throat, demanding attention. I looked up from my folder where I had been doodling random shapes and squiggles. Suddenly, my eyes locked on the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She was short with pitch black, spikey, hair. Her outfit was one put together with an outwardly obvious sense of fashion. At the moment she was looking down, most likely embarrassed at being new. The gorgeous girl was standing next to Mr. Weaver awkwardly, almost as though she would rather be anywhere else. But when she looked up, I realized my judgment of her mood from her posture was dead wrong. Even from across the room I could see that her eyes were the most interesting color, a swirling topaz. My stomach dropped when she looked directly at me and smiled hugely. Her teeth were perfect and beamingly white. My head started to go foggy before I realized that I had stopped breathing. Who the hell was this person? No other girl besides Angela had this kind of effect on me.

"Ehem! Class, I would like to introduce you to a new student that just transferred from Alaska, Alice Cullen!" Mr. Weaver said with unnatural enthusiasm. Maybe she had gotten to him too. Then he turned toward Alice.

"You may take the open seat next to that young lady over there," he said as he lifted his hand to gesture toward me. I pulled my features into a slight smile, trying not to convey my enthusiasm for having this beautiful girl sitting next to me. Alice walked, no, more like danced toward me. Her face was still lit up in a huge grin.

"Hello!" she greeted me as she pulled out the chair next to mine. I turned to face her and my mind went foggy again. I looked away, trying to gather my thoughts. Speak, Bella. Speak!

"Umm, hello. I'm Bella Swan," I said in a quiet voice. I turned back to my doodling and listened as she settled her stuff on the table. I heard her take in a deep breath and for a second I could've sworn I heard her sigh. Did she just smell me? Like, I know I smell damn good, but really? I decided to ignore my paranoia and instead tried to tune into what Mr. Weaver was saying, but before I was able to, Alice cleared her throat.

"Bella, what a beautiful name," she stated in a whisper. I looked over to smile at her. I had to resist the urge to be sarcastic and say that of course it was because my name means beautiful in Italian.

"Thanks," I said simply, as I was getting foggy brained and dizzy once again. Chastising myself, I breathed in deeply, which wasn't a good idea. Alice smelled amazing! It wasn't like she was wearing some really pleasant smelling perfume. She smelt like something I had never smelled before, and it was glorious. I blushed when I realized she was looking at me with those Topaz eyes in wonder. What the hell?I thought to myself. What was happening? I turned away again to try and regain my bearings, but she started to speak again.

"You're welcome, Bella," she said in her tinkling voice. I did not turn to look at her again. Something about the way she got to me scared the shit out of me. Since I met Angela, I had never looked at another girl, much less ogled at one. Feeling ashamed, I looked down from Mr. Weaver. I couldn't let this Alice character get to me. I would never, ever, do something to ruin Angela and I's relationship. She meant way too much to me. I loved her for fuck's sake! Nothing could, or ever would, change that.

"I'm going to assign a lab today. You will work with the person next to you to try and discover which stage of Mitosis these slides are in," Mr. Weaver said as he fanned himself with the stack of Lab Sheets. He started passing out papers to the partners and instructed us to get out our Microscopes. I was just about to reach for the cupboard where it was held when I realized the Microscope was already on the table.

"How did you know where it was?" I asked Alice curiously glancing in her direction. She smiled at me and shook her head.

"I just guessed, Bella. It was in an obvious spot," Alice said as she pointed to the label on the cupboard that clearly said "MICROSCOPE". I blushed as she giggled at me. I covered my mouth with my hand and laughed.

"Ah, I suppose that was apparent," I joked, not trying to hold back my chuckling. I grabbed the lab worksheet and box of slides and placed them in the middle of the table, ditching my stool. Alice went about hooking up the Microscope and turned it on. She held out her hand to me, waiting patiently for me to place the slide, labeled "1", into her hand. After I completed that task, she put the slide into the slot and looked into the Microscope for what seemed like only a second before leaning back.

"Anaphase," Alice stated as she reached for her pencil to write the answer on the worksheet. She gestured for me to double check and it took me longer to decipher the cell.

"Yeah, Anaphase," I said, tapping my fingers on the table, nervously.

"Brilliant!" she exclaimed, continuing to work on the project. She grabbed another slide and began to study it.

"So, Bella, tell me about yourself. What do you do for fun? Favorite food? Are you dating anyone?" Alice asked me. I thought for a moment before answering. I wasn't sure why she had asked me the last question. In my opinion, something like that was personal, but I didn't want to start off on false pretenses, so I answered them all honestly.

Well, I like to read, shop, cook, and go to the movies. My favorite food is whatever my mom makes—she is an amazing cook. And, yes, I am dating someone," I said, hoping she wouldn't ask me who I was dating, but that was the first question she asked.

"Oh? Who?" she asked innocently, still working on finishing the lab. I sighed before answering. I hardly knew this person and I was going to tell her that I was gay. Usually this wasn't something that came up in the first conversation.

"Um, her name is Angela. Angela Weber," I said sheepishly, studying her face for a reaction. But to my surprise, her face stayed relaxed and nonjudgmental. Actually, if I read her expression correctly, I could sense a little bit of disappointment.

"For how long?" she prodded me further. My curiosity peaked when she continued on.

"I'm just so curious about you, Bella. You are one of the most interesting people I have ever met," she said. My jaw almost dropped and my eyebrows knit together on my forehead. I'm not stupid, I could tell that Alice wasn't a social hermit crab. She has to have met many people. Many people, who are most likely way more interesting than me. Plus, we have only had one conversation so far.

"Almost two years. Why am I so interesting?" I asked.

"Wow! That is a long time for a high school relationship to last. Congratulations, Bella!" she paused before answering my question. It looked as though she was thinking very hard.

"You are interesting because of how quiet and reserved you are. You never put forth any information that you aren't asked to," she said as she turned her head to look at me. I smiled because it was very true. Even Angela tells me that I'm exactly like that.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm shy. Ask me anything and I will answer honestly, but I'm not the kind to talk about myself without prompt," I said, smiling at the beautiful girl that was standing next to me, so close that our arms would sometimes brush. Suddenly, I realized that I had moved from my original spot, two feet away, where my abandoned stool was sitting. I couldn't even remember moving toward her. Slowly, I backed away and sat back down. Hearing my movement, Alice looked at me and frowned.

"Do I smell?" she asked curiously. I laughed out loud at her question.

"No, you actually smell very good, but I realized that I was standing so close to you that I might as well have jumped into your lap!" I joked at her and reached over to pat her hand in a friendly way. As mine touched hers, I shuddered at how cold Alice's hand was. She smiled in apology and pulled her hand off the table in a quickly.

"Sorry, my hands are always so cold. My father says it's from lack of good circulation or something," she said as I pulled my hand away.

"Oh, I was wondering," I said. In avoidance of this awkward conversation, I asked her a question.

"So what do you do in your free time?"

"Well, I like a lot of the same things you do actually. I love shopping and reading. I go to the movies on a regular basis, even if there is nothing I really want to see. I also enjoy hiking and outdoorsy stuff," she told me. I was pleased to know that she shared my interests. Maybe Alice and I could be friends…

"Hiking? Really? I enjoy that as well. We will have to go on a shopping, movie, and hiking extravaganza sometime!" I said enthusiastically, thrilled to have made a friend in someone who likes the same things I do. Angela and Katie both detested shopping and hiking, although they do go to the movies with me when I whine enough, or I offer to pay.

"Don't forget a trip to the bookstore," she said, winking at me. My breath hitched again as I took in her features. Alice had high cheekbones and a smooth, rounded, chin. Her skin was completely clear of any blemishes and her eye brows arched gracefully, obviously well kept.

Not even really realizing what I was doing, I handed my iPhone over to Alice so she could add her number to my contacts. She grabbed it excitedly and tried to slide it to unlock, but the screen didn't register her touch. Her lips rose at the corners into a smile.

"Damn these iPhones with their heat sensing touch screens," she joked at me. I smiled at her and grabbed my phone back and simultaneously held out my hand for hers. Quickly, she placed her Blackberry into my hand. Chuckling, I quickly typed in my number.

"I suppose Apple didn't foresee someone who has hands with bad circulation not being able to use their iPhone," I laughed again at the face she gave me.

"Well, I apologize Ms. Swan. Not all of us have the gift of perfect circulation!" she said sarcastically as she gently swatted my shoulder. Then she grabbed her phone and typed quickly. A second later, I received a message from an unknown number that said, "Let's hangout soon! –Alice". I grinned at her and started to reply. "Sure thing. Friday?"