Surprise! Update! Finally! Summer break is eating me. I went to visit some FF friends in Connecticut and have been working non-stop. But here is the next chapter. I swear I will update soon. BTW, I introduced a new random character so Bella would have some sort of college friends. I hope you don't mind. XP
New Night
Chapter 2: Second Meeting
My eyes opened at 4:30 p.m. Who knew I could sleep for five-and-a-half hours straight?
I stretched and considered skipping the first day of College English 2, but decided that would be a bad plan. I blinked a few times before I finally rose from my bed. I decided I would skip dinner for a much needed 15-minute bout on the Internet. My mother, Renee, had most likely emailed me wondering why I hadn't emailed her back.
My laptop powered on and I typed in into the address bar. Sure enough, there sat two emails from my mother. After I quickly responded with a few generic "College is fun. I'm meeting new friends," I decided it was time to check a few social-networking sites, not that I actually had a social life or anything.
I logged in to Facebook. My whole 34 friends hadn't left me wall posts or messages. Big shocker there. I sighed. Just as I was about to close the window and go to class, I noticed a green notification on the upper-right hand corner. Two new friend requests? I clicked the link eagerly. The first was Jacob. Not a real surprise. I quickly clicked accept. The next request made me skip a heartbeat.
Edward Cullen.
At first, I was filled with rage. The boy who had ignored me all throughout my stay in Forks was now trying to be my friend? For a microsecond I considered clicking ignore, but then my hormones kicked in. This was Edward. Beautiful, amazing, mysterious Edward. Even if he was just inviting everyone he remotely knew to be his friend, at least I could read his profile and stare at his picture whenever I wanted.
I clicked accept and was about to indulge in a few minutes of oogling, but I instead glanced at the clock. 4:45. I groaned and grabbed my bag and a hoodie. I didn't know how cold it got here on a late-August night, but if it was anything like Forks, I would need something warmer.
The walk only took five minutes. Luckily, I wasn't the first one in the class. Soon, the professor entered the room and handed out a stack of papers. His syllabus wasn't as intense as it could have been, but I still had a ton of work that needed to be done in fifteen short weeks. I groaned a little and listened to m professor drone on about papers and essay tests.
Somehow, I managed to zone out for an hour and forty-five minutes and came back to planet earth as my classmates were exiting the room. I made a mental note and promised myself to get my attention span back from wherever it was hiding. I shoved my packet of paper in to my bag and traveled back across campus to the math building. I made another mental note to look up bus schedules.
I somehow managed to trip on my shoelace just as I entered the familiar room from this morning. I thought I was going to fall, but only moved a few inches before something strong placed me back on my feet and placed my books into my hands.
"You should take dance classes. I hear they help with balance."
That voice. It couldn't be.
I looked up from the ground and froze. Honey eyes gazed in to my own. My jaw fell, leaving my mouth open to gape, but I didn't care. I had zero control over my body.
"Are you okay, Bella? You seem to be staring quite blankly at something," Edward said. His hand moved off of my waist. I immediately missed its chilling presence.
I shook my head. Must speak, I told myself. "I'm fine," I finally said. "Just confused why I'm not in a pile on the ground, that's all." At least I was forming sentences this time around.
"I have great reflexes," Edward chuckled. "I saw you walk by through the window and moved to the door. Given your track record, I wanted to make sure you didn't fall and make a mess of yourself."
I huffed and took the closest seat to where I stood. "I can take care of myself," I protested, knowing that wasn't the truth. Besides ending up in the hospital from a sprained ankle, I had also burned myself on the stove, fallen down four individual flights of stairs, sprained my wrist and walked into numerous doors and people in the last year alone.
"You and I both know that you couldn't pass the walking portion of a sobriety test even if you hadn't had a stitch of alcohol," Edward rolled his eyes and took the seat next to mine.
"Even if that happened to be true, why would you of all people need to watch over me. Don't you have better things to do?" I spouted off, not knowing where this side of me was coming from. I should be praising the Lord for Edward's presence and yet a part of me questioned it. I couldn't believe that this boy who had ran from me before, who I knew virtually nothing about, would want to talk to me, let alone look out for my well-being.
"Keeping young women out of body casts should be everyone's concern," he answered. Edward turned to looked at me. His lips formed a smile. The smiled burned in to my heart. It should be illegal to look like that while smiling.
"Whatever," was my oh so articulate response. I crossed my arms on my chest and looked forward. Why did he have to be so impossible? And gorgeous? And possibly the most amazing person on this hemisphere? "And just why did you decide to come to this college? Do you enjoy mocking me?" I knew he wasn't here for me. Why would he be? Why did I have to always think about him? Why was I asking myself so many questions?
"Bella, if you wouldn't mind, could you save your ridiculous questions for after class? I do not mind answering them, but I would like to get my tuitions-worth of class."
I blinked. All the seats surrounding Edward and me were filled with students. The professor was already passing out papers and here I was, staring at Edward. "Fine," I sighed and turned to face the front of the room. Now, not that I had much of an attention span to begin with, but what little I did have was lost on the boy sitting next to me.
The class began slowly. I read over my homework schedule. It didn't seem too gruesome. I smiled at that. The professor, Max as he wanted us to call him, was putting a few notes on the bored. He promised it would be a short session. Even so, the classroom was getting stuffy. Max asked some girl to open the window. The breeze felt nice against my face. The wind played with my hair and brushed it over my shoulder.
The action was small, but the corner of my eye still caught it. Edward off to my left stirred. He moved to the left, all the way to the left. I decided if he moved any more he would fall off the chair. I tried not to stare and glanced back to my notes. I wrote a few more from the board and then decided it would be okay to spare another look. This time my eyes fell lower to his hands. Edward's grasp on his desk was quite impressive. I wondered if he would leave a mark on the innocent piece of wood. My eyes moved upward and locked with his. For a moment, I lost myself in seas of topaz.
But wait, he was looking at me? I quickly turned to face the dry erase board and slumped in my chair. He had noticed my staring. I would never be able to look at him. I would have to drop math, again. My eyes closed for a few moments. I sure had a knack for messing things up.
The rest of class moved quickly. I think it was because I was wishing I could run out the room. When Max announced class was over, I automatically stood and grabbed my books. I turned to rush out of the classroom. I glanced to Edward's seat. He wasn't there. I mentally went over the last thirty minutes of class. Edward hadn't left. And I had stood the moment class had ended. I rushed to the hallway and caught glance and a very fast-walking Edward.
I ran as fast as I could. I would not let him run away again. I had done nothing. Just like the time at the sporting goods store. And yet here he was, running away from me. In a college. I panted as I exited the building. I scanned the college grounds. No sign of a beautiful auburn-haired boy in sight. I paused to catch my breath.
He ran away again. He would always run away. No matter how enticing his eyes were or how fluid his voice was, he would always run away from me.
I didn't feel like going back to my desolate dorm room just yet, though. I felt like if I went back and sulked, Edward would win whatever game we were playing. I threw my bag back over my shoulder and walked around campus. It really wasn't that horrible of a place. The guys who ran Dartmouth certainly spent a lot of money on keeping the grounds clean and rather beautiful. After about 20 minutes I still felt on-edge. I hated how a 18-year-old guy could fluster me so easily. It shouldn't matter if he constantly ran away from me.
I scoffed at a crack in the sidewalk I tripped over and decided a late dinner would be a good idea. My stomach was currently raging war with my intestine. I swiped my car and began picking out everything I knew would be bad for my health. I needed to binge eat.
After grabbing everything that was either fried or swimming in some unidentified sauce, I found a seat in the corner. I took a few fries and shoved them in my mouth. I chewed my 100 calories and tried ever so hard to not think about Edward fleeing from math class. And of course I failed. It just didn't make sense that he would be acting so immature in a college setting. No matter what angle I assessed the situation from, I could find no logic or motive in Edward's actions.
Luckily, I was saved from the impossible task known as deciphering a teenage boy. Two girls sat down next to me.
"Hi! I saw you in calc earlier. Name's Jessica," one very brunet and very over-excited girl said. "Mind if we sit?" Jessica motioned to her friend. The second girl seemed like Jessica's polar opposite. She kind of hid behind Jessica and offered a sheepish smile.
"Sure, why not?" I responded and moved my bag to the empty seat on the other side of me. "My name's Bella," I said, looking at the two girls awkwardly and wishing I had some sort of people skills.
The other girl sat down and kept the same timid smile on her face. "My name's Amanda. I think you live in my hall."
I narrowed my eyes and pretended that helped me place her face to one of the few people who I remembered I lived with. I didn't understand why narrowing eyes was supposed to help in situation like this, but it wasn't helping me at all. After a few awkward moments, I finally spoke. "Sorry. Don't recognize you. I don't leave the dorm much."
"It's all right," Amanda's smile grew a little. "I don't either."
After I smiled back to Amanda, who I assumed I would become better friends with, I glanced over to Jessica. The brunet seemed throughly bored and then leaned forward with a cheesy smile on her lips, "Say, who was that guy you were talking to at the beginning of class?"
I couldn't help but groan. So someone else had noticed Edward and I's exchange? Meh. "He's someone I know from home," I said with a shrug, trying not to let my two new acquaintances see that Edward meant much more to me.
"You two seemed to have a slight disagreement," Jessica grinned. I assumed she was one for gossip, even in college. I also assumed she had noticed how enticingly beautiful Edward happened to be. "And he stormed off after class. Loverspat, I assumed."
And of course she wanted to know if said beautiful guy was single. "No," I sighed. "Nothing like that. He's actually kind of a jerk to me." I shoved more cafeteria food in to my mouth.
"All men are in the beginning," Jessica said, pointing a fork at me like she was now my authority on men.
I rolled my eyes and shoved a fork-full of spaghetti in my mouth. "Trust me," I said and swallowed hard, "me and Edward don't have a thing."
Jessica grinned, "Then I guess he's free game."
Aha, I thought to myself. I knew all along this was just Jessica trying to determine if the lovely Edward Cullen was available. I sighed as I continued chewing my meal. Amanda looked to me and smiled warmly. Maybe this dinner would actually leave me with a friend. Probably not. Better to not get my hopes up.
After another fifteen minutes or so, Jessica became bored with my uninteresting small talk. Lord knows I suck at it. She politely excused herself. Apparently she had a sorority meeting of some sorts in a half hour. Amanda and I walked in a comfortable silence back to my dorm. She didn't offer to hang out and just promised to see me around. I could tell she was about as shy as I was. The whole situation reminded me a lot of Angela from back home. I waved bye to my hopeful new friend and retreated quickly to the confines of my room.
It was nine thirty when I sat at my desk. I wasn't really tired due to the small coma from earlier that afternoon, but I still knew I had three classes tomorrow and needed to find some form of on-campus employment in the morning. I groaned and ignored the idea of sleep.
As my laptop powered on, I tried hard not to think about all the events surrounding this day. Most of them seemed trivial. All but one. I just wished I knew why he ran. I didn't think I was that repulsive. I reasoned that no matter what I would talk to Edward when we had class again Wednesday. A small part of me entertained the idea that I might share another class with him. I knew the chances of that happened were slim to none, but I couldn't help but hope I would see him at some point tomorrow.
After replying for the second time today to my mother, I decided on some good old solitaire to pass the time. Usually, the monotonous clicking of cards made my body relax and mind slow down, but tonight the game just wouldn't grab my attention. So, I clicked on the bookmark for Facebook. I couldn't help myself, something about pointless networking site just pulls me in.
I checked the news updates. Nothing really exciting. I also noticed that Jessica and Amanda both requested me as friends. I approved them both and then checked my wall. Nothing new. I sighed. Facebook was supposed to waste time, not depress me. My eyes moved up and I noticed I had a new message. I tried to remember the last time anyone had actually sent me mail via Facebook. I couldn't remember anything.
The page loaded at an excruciatingly slow pace, as most things do when you're actually looking forward to them. My jaw dropped. Edward had messaged me. I opened the message and was surpsied by the short but to-the-point mail:
Bella,
Sorry about leaving so quickly after class. I have a few personal matters to which I must attend. Don't take my outbursts personally. Please try not to fall all over yourself.
Edward
My eyes blinked. Edward was nice to me? He apologized. He took responsibility for his actions. This new development was a bit too much. I couldn't think of anything coherent to respond with and shut my laptop as consequence.
I sat in my chair, unmoving. I was quite sure full minutes were passing by, but still silent I remained. I never thought in a million years that Edward would be the type of guy to apologize. I mean, he was beautiful, mysterious, and now I find out he has manners? How perfect could one guy get?
I grumbled to myself and threw my body down on my mattress. I reached across to my cell and set the alarm for nine in the morning. I didn't have class until one, but I had promised Jacob I would meet him for breakfast. Plus there was the matter of me finding a job to attend to. I promised myself I wouldn't run around campus looking for Edward, but I knew that every auburn-haired guy I passed would make me take a second glance. This realization saddened me. I pulled the comforter over my head and closed my eyes.
As my mind prepared for sleep, I briefly fantasized about Edward. I knew he would never like me, but still, the idea of simply touching him sent butterflies to my stomach. I curled under my comforter and closed my eyes. A girl could dream, right?