Hey everyone,

It's me again here's the next chapter in my friend's story, hope you enjoy it. It's longer then the last one and again we don't own any twilight characters. Have fun reading and please let me know what you think :)

Thanks,

Sushi xx

The next day, Amy was sitting in the library and waiting for Sushi and using the internet. It was her day where she didn't have any classes, so just bumming around and not doing much seemed like a good idea. They hadn't really done a huge amount of work in class that week, so it wasn't like she had to be studying and going over notes and lecture slides. Actually, she wasn't entirely sure that she enjoyed the days like this; she would much prefer to have something to do. But later on in the semester, when the work started piling up, any kind of break would be appreciated, so she might as well take advantage of the lack of work. So she was e-mailing her friend Louise, from back home, about recent events, including the gorgeous lab demonstrator that she couldn't seem to get out of her head. Mostly she just wanted to know his name; it was much easier when you could put a name to a face. Despite that, she wasn't sure that she wanted to see him again; there was definitely something about him that made her feel slightly nervous. Oh well, her microbiology labs were only every second week, so she had a couple of weeks before the next time she was going to see him. All the thinking was making her slightly fidgety and she just finished her e-mail and was looking for something to do. She was just considering getting up and going to find Sushi, who was really late, when a familiar voice spoke from behind her.

"Oh well look who it is," a male voice said.

Amy stood up then and somehow managed to trip over the side of the chair. She fully expected to hit the ground, but then someone caught her and set back on her feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, examining her with golden coloured eyes.

"You have really cold hands," she blurted out without thinking and he jerked his hands away from her like he had been stung.

"I'm sorry," she managed to stammer out. "I didn't mean to be rude,"

"Never mind," he said somewhat awkwardly. "Did you understand all the work from last night?"

"Yeah," Amy said, fidgeting and looking down at the ground. She couldn't believe this; she had once again managed to make herself look like a complete imbecile. This was taking the phrase 'socially challenged' and pushing it up to a whole new level. But then this seemed to be a unique situation, even when she was having moments of painful shyness, she managed to avoid falling over chairs. What was it about this guy that was making it so hard for her to function like a normal human being? On the bright side, maybe he would find her weird and hence leave her alone and then she wouldn't have to endure any more awkward moments like this. She began to deliberate the best way to get out of this situation, she could probably make some excuse about going to meet her friend, after all that wasn't a lie, and he didn't need to know that they were supposed to meet here.

Just as she was about to start making her excuses, with her usual impeccable timing, Sushi showed up. "Hey Amy," she said. "Who's your friend?"

Amy opened her mouth but then remembered that she totally didn't know his name. "Uh," she trailed off somewhat awkwardly, and once again mentally cursed herself for acting like an idiot.

Sushi just raised one eyebrow at her, and then stuck her hand out. "Hey I'm Sushi, like the food," she said. It was Sushi's icebreaker, the line she used when meeting new people and Amy had never been as grateful for it as she was at that moment.

He hesitated. "Sorry, I don't shake," he said. "I have some issues with touching people's hands,"

"Oh are you a germaphobe?" Sushi asked him. "Don't worry, Amy gets the same way, she can start freaking out over the strangest things,"

That was it, Amy had officially reached the point of wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her, right there and then and spare her some of this torture. It was true, she did have some issues with germs, but her personality quirks were not something that needed to go public.

"My name is Edward, by the way," he said. "Edward Cullen," Amy got the distinct impression that he was making an effort to break the awkward tension, but she was just relieved that she finally knew what his name was. She was snapped back to the present when he started speaking again. "So why are you called Sushi then?"

"It's just what my friends call me," Sushi explained. "Don't ask why, because I don't really know, it just worked out that way. So what course are you doing at uni then?" It was at that point that Amy was feeling rather jealous about her friend's ability to talk so casually to someone that managed to leave her completely tongue-tied. But then it had been like that for the year that they had known each other, Sushi had always found it a lot easier to meet and talk to new people than she had.

"My masters in microbiology," he explained.

"So you're the hot lab demonstrator then?" Sushi asked and Amy immediately sat down on the chair, staring down at the ground and covering her face with her hands. She couldn't believe that Sushi had just said that, what the hell was he going to think about her now?

"I was the reason that she was late home from her lab, yes," he said. "What subject are you majoring in then?" he asked her.

"Chemistry," she said cheerfully. "With some physics and some calculus on the side,"

"That's quite impressive," he said, and Sushi just grinned widely.

"What can I say, I enjoy calculus," she said.

"I can tell that you do," he said.

Sushi gave him a curious look. "How can you tell something like that?" she asked.

"Well duh, it's because he can read minds," Amy said mockingly, deciding to move from awkward silence to sarcasm and Edward just looked at her and she blushed and looked down at the ground once again.

"It was just a gut feeling," he said quickly, and it almost sounded like he was covering up for something. "You know people get those sometimes, surely you've had one before,"

"Hey just relax," Sushi said, holding up her hands in a placating gesture. "It was just a joke,"

They stood there talking for a few more minutes, until Sushi stopped and explained that she had to get going to a chemistry lab, one that she had very conveniently forgotten about when they had made their plans for lunch that morning, said goodbye and then left. Amy was left sitting in her chair feeling extremely awkward, and wondering what the hell she was going to do.

"Well she was um interesting," Edward said, and she looked up to see him standing there, looking at her.

"Hey no bad-mouthing Sush," Amy said quickly. It didn't matter how shy she was, no one was going to get away with saying anything bad about her best friend.

"I wasn't," he said. "I just said that she was interesting,"

"Ah right," Amy said. "I'm just going to go and get some lunch, I'm starving,"

"What are you in the mood for?" he asked. "I have recently found that my afternoon is free, and besides, you'd just look strange sitting around by yourself,"

"Well I'm strange anyway," she said, shrugging, trying very hard not to worry about what he was thinking about her, it wasn't like it mattered anyway. "So it's not going to make much difference either way,"

"Since it's not going to make any difference, then you shouldn't have any problem with me coming with you then," Edward pointed out and Amy realised then that she was about to try and start talking her way out of it. Then she realised just how insane that was, she was practically trying to run away from this seriously hot guy like he had the plague or something. And he was intelligent too, and one thing she had always said was that she liked guys that she could have a proper conversation with. There was nothing stopping her, except for that uncomfortable feeling niggling at the back of her mind, a feeling that was almost reminiscent of fear, but that was stupid, what reason did she have to be afraid of him?

Unable to find any kind of response, she just stood there and after a moment she realised that he was looking at her oddly.

"What?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Nothing," he said quickly, shaking his head.

"Ok," Amy said. "I guess you can come along if you really want to,"

She packed her laptop into the bag and made sure that she had all of her stuff and then stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder and then once again she found herself feeling rather awkward.

So that was how she found herself sitting at a Japanese restaurant with Edward sitting across the table watching her with those strange eyes. She had no idea what she was supposed to be thinking, especially when he kept on giving looks like she was confusing him or something. Also she was trying rather hard to avoid his gaze, every time their eyes met her breath caught in her throat. This was insane; no male should be having this kind of profound effect on her, no matter how attractive he was. Amy glanced down at her lunch that was sitting in front of her.

"Are you sure that you don't want to eat something?" she asked him, and he shook his head.

"No I'm fine," he said. It was strange, they were in a restaurant and he had made no indication of wanting to eat or drink anything. Just one more thing to make Amy uncomfortable, but then the last half hour had been filled with uncomfortable moments; this really shouldn't make any difference.

"Oh ok then," she said, and then decided to ask something that had been bothering her for a while. "Hey what's up with your eyes?" she asked him, and he looked briefly confused. "I mean, they're such a strange colour, I've never seen eyes like yours before," he just looked at her and then Amy began to feel weird. "I'm sorry, I've offended you, haven't I?" she asked him.

Edward just shook his head. "Don't worry about that, I'm not easily offended,"

For some reason, he had a smile on his face; she wondered what he was finding so amusing.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked.

"Just a private joke," he said, and then sighing to herself, Amy turned back to her food.

She was beginning to doubt that there was any point in this conversation, it wasn't like there was any personal information being shared between them and she couldn't escape the feeling that there was something he was trying to keep from her, some really big secret. Looking down at the meal in front of her, she just prodded at a piece of chicken with her chopsticks.

"Why aren't you eating?" Edward asked her. "I thought you were hungry,"

"Not really hungry anymore," she said. "Do you want some?"

"Um no thanks," he said. "I don't eat chicken,"

"Well what do you eat then?" Amy asked, unable to stop herself. "People?"

As soon as she said it, she realised that it was a complete mistake, the expression on his face immediately tightened.

"I have to go," he said rather abruptly, standing up. "It's been a pleasure; I assume that I will see you around university then,"

He left and Amy just sat there for a moment, before going up to pay for her lunch and then heading home. It was quite a hike up to her room, they had quite a steep driveway and then some stairs up to the front door and then Amy lived on the third floor in the flat, and Sushi lived across the hall. Once she got up to her floor, a brief glance in the doorway told her that Sushi and Jacob were sitting on the bed with textbooks spread out across the bed, but she just went straight into her room, shut the door and then locked it before lying back on her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She was so irritated at herself; there was no reason why she had to say such stupid things. Though, why had he seemed so upset by it? It was just a joke; it wasn't the sort of thing that should offend anyone. There was definitely something weird going on, something different about it which Amy wanted to figure out, though there wasn't going to be a chance to pry any information from him, not when he was probably going to start avoiding her like she had the plague or something. It was just going to be a mystery that was going to remain as such.

There was a knock on the door and Amy didn't say anything, she wasn't really in the mood for talking to anyone at that particular moment.

"Hey Amy, open the door!" Sushi called out. "I know you're in there,"

"Go away, I'm having a nap," she replied.

"No you're not, I just saw you walk in," Sushi said. "And besides, you never have naps, I'm the one who naps, so stop lying to me and open the door,"

"Not going to happen," Amy called back.

"Come on, you know you want to open the door for me," Sushi said.

"No actually, I don't think I do," she said. "So why don't you get back to your studying and just let me be, I'm not going to open this door,"

"I'm not moving," Sushi said. "You can just stay in there and pee your pants and whatever, but I'm not moving until you open the door,"

"Fine," Amy shot back. "You just have fun standing out in the hallway even though there's a guy on your bed,"

"Good I will," she replied, and Amy knew that she was going to; she never let Amy get away with being upset about anything.

Amy just lay there for about a minute until she heard Sushi again. "I'm still here,"

So she found her I-pod and turned it on rather loudly. Then another sound reached her ears and she realised that there wasn't only one, but two people banging on her door.

"Fuck off," she said rather loudly; she was beginning to get annoyed.

"We're not moving until you come out," Sushi replied.

"Get your farce out here, you little piglet," another voice said, this voice was male and Amy recognised it as belonging to another one of her flatmates, David, who lived across the hall and next to Sushi. David was an arts student at the polytechnic and was most known for his blue streaked hair, piercings and tattoos. He was rather intimidating when you first met him, but he wasn't actually that scary.

That did it, she was not going to be taunted by David, they spent much of their time together arguing and insulting each other, it was just like having an older brother. Amy turned off her I-pod and then flung the door open and proceeded to try and punch him repeatedly, while shouting at him loudly.

"See told you it would work," David said to Sushi while trying to fend off the repeated blows.

"So what's wrong then Amy?" Sushi asked.

"Nothing," Amy said. "I'm just tired, that's all,"

"That's a lie," David said. "You're sulking about something,"

"I am not," she replied loudly. "You don't know what you're talking about, so just shut up David,"

"You know, I'm just going to leave, so I don't have to stay around here and get punched by you," he said and then retreated down the stairs and Amy poked her tongue out at him as he left.

"So what's really wrong then?" Sushi asked her.

"Nothing," Amy repeated. "I'm just a little tired that's all, how many times do I have to repeat,"

"I don't believe you," Sushi said suspiciously.

"Well it's true," Amy said. "So I'm going to have a lie down and why don't you get back to your studying?"

"Because I want to know," Sushi said. "You know it will feel better if you tell me about it,"

"I don't think it would," she replied. "Doesn't Jacob need your help?"

"Nah," Sushi said dismissively. "He can totally do the work himself, I don't even know why he's asking for my help," she leant forward and started whispering. "I don't mind though, I just totally like looking at him,"

"I think he heard you," Amy said, noting the amused expression on Jacob's face, and the slightly mortification on Sushi's. "So can I get back into my bedroom now?"

"No," Sushi said. "You're going to come and hang out with me because I totally made a fool out of myself just then,"

Amy sighed and then went and sat down on the chair in Sushi's bedroom and tried to stop herself from smiling as her friend began to blabber on about calculus and chemistry to try and cover up some of the awkwardness.

"So Amy," Jacob asked rather suddenly, making her start. "How was your day?"

"It was just a day," Amy said. "Nothing much happened,"

"Amy has a man-friend," Sushi said, winking at Jacob. "Older man, micro lab demonstrator, just the way she likes them,"

"Apart from the fact that when you were around he was completely ignoring me," Amy pointed out. She was going to nip this off in the bud; she did not want anyone getting the wrong idea, not after what had happened today.

"I swear he was just being nice though," Sushi said.

"Oh so that's what you call it," Amy said. "So I suppose Jacob is just being nice to you too," she couldn't help herself; the mood in the room was so obvious that she just had to point it out.

Sushi went red then and immediately launched into a monologue about calculus, trying to change the topic of conversation. Amy decided that it was probably good time to leave then and then went back into the room and pulled out her microbiology notes and books to do some work.

Sushi came into her room later on after Jacob had left and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Amy why did you leave me alone with him after saying that?" she asked her. "It's completely different; I was just being nice to Edward,"

"Then why don't you try telling him that?" Amy asked, staring very fixedly at her notes.

"What's really wrong?" Sushi asked her. "Something has got you all upset, so why don't you just tell me what it is,"

"Look I just really don't want to talk about it," Amy said. "It doesn't really matter anyway,"

"Alright then," Sushi said, looking unconvinced. "But you're going to have to talk about it at some point,"

Amy wasn't entirely sure that she agreed with that, she didn't really want to mention him again; she thought it would just be better if she forgot him, it wasn't like she had to deal with him unless she was in a micro lab and then surely she could get someone else to help her. No, she was going to put him out of her mind, although that was a lot harder than it sounded.

A few days later, Sushi was walking home with Jacob, who seemed to be insisting that he walk her home from all her labs, even though it was still daylight when she finished. But she wasn't going to complain, it wasn't like there was really anything to complain about. She liked having him walk her home, she enjoyed spending time with him and she got the distinct impression that he felt the same way, he was the one the kept on contacting her, not the other way around.

They were just chatting idly, and then rather suddenly, Jacob froze, and spun around so that he was looking down the street in the direction that they had just come. Sushi was confused and was about to ask him what was wrong, when rather suddenly he set off, half running down the street. She just stood there for a long moment as he disappeared from view, feeling rather confused and not sure what was going on.

So she did the one thing that seemed to be a good idea at that point and she headed straight back to the house to talk to Amy. She told her that she was sure that he didn't like her and Amy very firmly reassured her that she was sure that he did and to stop being stupid. Then she announced that next time she saw him, she was going to punch him, even if he was like really tall and muscular, that didn't matter. That was typical Amy; she always got particularly defensive if someone was upsetting one of her friends, an odd quality for someone who didn't really stick up herself.

"You know what?" Sushi said after a while. "I'm in the mood for something sugary; we should go to the dairy and get something with sugar in it,"

"Ok then," Amy said.

After picking out something laden with a sufficient amount of sugar, they found themselves standing outside the dairy when Amy totally turned and started walking in the opposite direction to the one they were supposed to be heading; she was walking back towards the university. For the second time that day, Sushi was confused and she was beginning to wonder why everyone was walking away from her. Looking around she could see only one thing that Amy might be running away from and that was Edward. Sushi was even more confused, why would she be running away from a guy that she liked? And she was sure that she liked him, it was obvious after seeing how red she went whenever he was mentioned. She was sure that Amy liked him, a Edward said a brief hello as he walked past and then continued walking in the direction that Amy had gone and at that point Sushi was completely lost, she didn't know whether to just go home or whether she should go after Amy and see if she was okay.

She eventually concluded that it was probably best if Amy sorted out her own problems and she decided to just head back home, and find out the rest later.

Amy was walking very quickly down Great King Street, and hoping that if she just kept on walking she'd eventually be able to circle back around and then head back to the house. That would be preferable, going back and hiding in her bedroom, perhaps if she just stayed in there long enough, this big great mess would simply just go away.

"So you're running away from me now, is that it?" Edward asked and she rather suddenly stopped and he was standing right beside her.

"No," she said defensively.

"So heading off in the opposite direction and leaving your friend standing on the corner of the street doesn't count as running away now?" he asked.

"Honestly, why do you even care what I do?" Amy asked loudly. Her annoyance had begun to get the better of her and now she was just annoyed and upset and whatever other stupid emotions were whirling around in her head. She hated getting emotional, and yet it seemed to be completely unavoidable and it was all because of this stupid male standing in front of her.

"Go away," she said shortly and continued walking off down the street, but he didn't go away, he was still walking along beside her. "What part of go away don't you understand?" she asked, very pointedly looking straight ahead as she walked.

"No I understand that perfectly," he said. "But what I don't understand is why exactly you want me to go away,"

"I don't want to talk to you," she said.

"But there must be a reason for that," he said.

"No reason," Amy said. "I just don't want to talk to you,"

"You are a strange girl, do you know that?" he asked her.

"Well if I'm so strange then why don't you just leave me alone?" Amy demanded loudly.

"Because maybe I find the fact that you are so strange interesting," he said. "Trying to find out what makes you tick,"

"You know, that's kind of creepy," Amy pointed out.

"Maybe you should just stay away from me then," he said.

"Which I was trying to do before you started following me," she said. "I mean honestly, you could at least start making some sense if you're going to follow me around Dunedin," she paused for a moment. "So why are you following me exactly?"

"I told you because you're interesting and I'm trying to work you out," he said.

"Well then why did it seem like you were much more interested in talking to Sushi than you were to me?" she asked.

"Because she's easy to read, I can tell what's going on in her head, but with you it isn't so easy,"

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Amy asked, feeling even more confused by the whole thing. "According to Sushi I'm easy to read, she can always tell when something's bothering me,"

"But then it depends what kind of reading you're doing," he said. "Reading emotions is different,'

"Different from what exactly?" she asked suspiciously. "I mean it's not like you're a mind reader or psychic or anything like that,"

"Of course not," he said, just a little too quickly. "It's just different, now why don't I walk you home?"

"Why?" Amy asked. "It's not even dark yet, and I know the way home,"

"Why don't you just amuse me with this?" he suggested.

Amy thought about it for a moment. "Okay, I suppose," she said grudgingly, still not fully understanding why the idea of a hot guy walking her home would bother her so much.

So as they continued walking, Amy decided that it would probably be best if she made idle conversation, that was what you were supposed to do in this kind of situation, wasn't it?

"So do you have family living in Dunedin?" she asked him.

He nodded. "We all moved here a few years ago, just before I started my degree,"

"Any brothers or sisters?" she asked.

"Two brothers and two sisters," he said, and Amy was slightly surprised, he had a reasonably big family. "Well Emmett and Alice are actually my brother and sister and we live with Rosalie and Jasper,"

"Are they adopted?" Amy asked, her curiosity beginning to overcome any shyness that she had.

Edward nodded again. "We all are," he said.

"Oh okay then," Amy said.

"What about your family?" he asked.

"Oh it's just me and my parents and my little brother," she said. "We're a pretty standard family,"

"Right," Edward said. "So what are you actually majoring in at university then, I don't think I actually asked you,"

"Microbiology," Amy said. "I'm also doing like physiology and botany papers oh and a classics paper next semester, but they're more like interest papers,"

"Okay," he said, and then they just walked along in silence for a long moment before he spoke again. "You know, you really shouldn't walk around the streets by yourself at night," he told her.

It took Amy a moment to register that he was actually telling her off, and she automatically got defensive. "I was just walking around the block," she told him.

"That's not the point," he replied.

"Oh are you worried about the weirdoes that I might meet on the way home? Well I'm sure they can't be any weirder than you," she teased.

"Is that how it's going to be now?" he asked her, amusement in his voice. "I was meaning to ask you, have you fallen over any chairs lately?"

"That is a low blow," she laughed. "You shouldn't mean to us naturally clumsy people; we can't help our balance impairments,"

"Remind me to keep an eye on you in microbiology labs," he told her. "I get the distinct feeling that you're going to break something one day,"

"Shouldn't you be helping the rest of the class instead of being on Amy watch?" she asked him.

Edward thought about it for a moment. "Well, there are other lab demonstrators to do that," he reminded her. "And besides, someone has to keep an eye on you and stop you from doing harm to yourself and others,"

Amy gasped dramatically, feigning insult. "You had best watch yourself Cullen," she told him, waving her finger threateningly at him. "Otherwise you may find yourself in a less than savoury situation,"

"I'm sorry Amy, but you just aren't at all scary," he told her. "Maybe a small child may find you slightly intimidating, but you don't scare me at all,"

"Well then I'll just have to work on that," Amy said as they reached the bottom of her driveway. "One day I will scare someone, somewhere,"

"Remember small children don't count," he said sombrely and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well this is my stop then," she said as they came to a halt, glancing up her driveway. "I guess that I'll see you in our next microbiology lab, maybe I'll manage to spend the whole four hours without tripping over something,"

"Miracles can happen," he said, giving her this breathtaking smile that made her heart do a funny little jump inside her chest, he was very disarming, she wondered briefly if he was aware of that.

"You never know," she agreed. "Well goodnight then,"

"Goodnight Amy," he said, and then started walking off and Amy just stood there for a long moment, watching him walk away, feeling slightly dazed.'

Then she realised what she was doing, shook her head and then headed up the driveway and the stairs to her flat and then continued on up to her bedroom, unable to remove the smile from her face. Once she got into her room, she took her jacket off and then slung it over the chair at her desk and then looked around to see that Sushi was standing in the doorway with a curious expression on her face.

"So did you have a nice time?" she asked her.

"It was fine," Amy said, and then frowned as a smirk spread across Sushi's face. "Stop looking at me like that!" she told her friend.

Sushi just smirked even more. "You can't stop smiling can you?" she asked her. "So what happened then, I take it it was something good to make you this happy,"

"It was nothing," Amy said, shaking her and trying to wipe the smile off her face, rather unsuccessfully. "We just sorted out what happened the other day, that's all,"

"Now why don't I believe you?" Sushi asked her.

"Because you read into things like that way too much," she replied.

Sushi just shook her head. "No, not this time," she said. "I know you too well, something happened and I'm going to find out what it was,"

"Stop being nosy you," Amy told her.

"I have to be nosy, it's my job," Sushi said and they both laughed.

Hope you liked! Please let me know what you think.