I stared after her, in shock. It wasn't true, was it? Did she really think that? It was impossible to tell. I couldn't hear her thoughts, like I could everyone else's. She remained blocked, a mystery. She had seemed to dislike me from the moment she came, and now I knew why.
Alice had said that she was going to be interesting. I had seen the visions of her in the hospital, me kissing her gently. How the hell was that ever going to happen? The girl despised me. Everything about me. She could think clearly around me and when she spoke, venom entered her words.
Jasper had said that she was always nervous, half relaxed and always feeling a primal kind of fear and sense of self-preservation. It made no sense. She was hiding something, yet being very open. She only spoke when spoken to.
According to Rosalie she was really good at Spanish and English. I could tell she was very good at biology. Maybe she was a wonder child with an IQ of 170 or something. I had to find out. Her lack of expression and humour confused me. She was always asleep. She had the iciest attitude towards me, and yet, I was captivated by her. I barely noticed that the class had ended, but stumbled my way to my next class anyway. I watched her through Alice's eyes for the entire period.
The entire gym period I was so bored. We were learning how to tie the knots for the different parts of the harness and rope lines. I sat on the ground, making every knot I knew how to. Some climbing, some ship knots, slip knots, devil's knots... I was practically asleep. The instructor saw that I wasn't paying attention and decided to pick on me. His mistake.
"Isabella isn't it?"
"Bella."
"Bella, tell me what are you doing?"
"Debating with myself sir."
"On what?"
"Which knot to use."
"The Eight knot is the one we're using."
"Yes, but it doesn't hold up so well if someone is dropped a while then suddenly stops. I've ruined enough equipment using that knot sir. I was thinking..." I showed him, since I had no idea of the name. "This one. Sturdy, strong, easier to adjust when you're climbing, if necessary." He looked at the knot.
"Where do you climb?"
"I used to climb on the escarpment in the Olympic Peninsula, then on the walls of an extremist gym."
"You'll want to climb a lot then?" he asked.
"No. It's not challenging enough. I'll probably just anchor." He nodded approvingly and went on, letting me continue my list of knots. Alice and Rosalie looked at me, shocked. I ignored them, blushing despite my best efforts not to. Halfway through the class the first people started climbing. I was true to my word, acting as an anchor to them, making sure their lines weren't twisted and that they felt relatively safe.
"Push away from the wall as you're coming down. You don't scrape up your knees then." I instructed the guy I was helping. I let him down a lot faster than was necessary and he looked pale when he got to the ground. I unhooked him and let him go, waiting for the next person. I called Alice over. She shook her head.
"I can't stand heights."
So Rosalie went next. She was nearly as fast as me, but when she got to the top, she slipped and crashed into the wall.
"You okay Rose?"
"Let me down. Please!" she yelled back. I dropped her down, quickly, stopping her abruptly near the end. When she was back on her feet I checked her over.
"Did you scrape against the wall? Got any bruises?" I asked. She smiled back.
"No I'm okay, but thanks. I'm glad you're the one helping me."
"Your rappelling is really good for a beginner."
"I had no choice; you go really fast."
"Sorry." And I did something I hadn't done in a while.
I hugged her. I never hugged anyone outside of my family. She noticed my hesitation and cautiousness and hugged back, gently. The next person to climb was Angela. She was nervous, so I helped her out by practically pulling her up the wall. The tension on the string never relaxed, thus helping her to feel a little safer. She got halfway up then slipped. I could tell by her face that she was terrified. I brought her back down, slowly. When she got to the bottom she was shaking and flexing her fingers.
I grabbed her hand and rubbed comforting circles, relaxing the muscles.
"Do this for a while, you'll feel better." Soon, everyone was coming to me for advice. So I let someone else anchor, finding a good spot to relax. Alice came and sat beside me.
"You need to try and climb at least a little." I told her.
"One condition." She smiled. I was instantly cautious.
"What?"
"Sleepover."
"Alice, I've known you for what two days?"
"Please? Friday night. It won't be just us, there will be Rosalie, Jessica, Angela, Lauren, Jasper, Emmet, Ben, Tyler, Mike and Edward.
"There are boys going?"
"They're sleeping upstairs. We get downstairs."
"I..." I had no reason not to go. "I'll have to ask Ali and Pete."
"You call your parents by their first names?" she asked.
"They're my aunt and uncle. My mom and step-dad are in Phoenix." My father is rotting away in Forks' cemetery. I didn't say that. I thought it though, and she probably saw my eyes darken.
"Oh. Okay then. Well, can I have your phone number? That way, Carlisle and Esme can talk to Ali and Pete, and then we'll be set."
"Write yours down, I'll call you." She disappeared and found a pencil.
She wrote her phone number on the wall. I stared at it for a bit, closing my eyes and making sure it was imprinted. We then rubbed it off and Alice threw the pencil across the gym. It hit one of the instructors. He looked around furiously but couldn't find the source.
"Did you hear?" Rosalie asked as she came over to us.
"Hear what?" Alice replied.
"By Friday this class will be co-ed."
"What?" I asked.
"Boys and girls. That means that Edward and Jasper will be in our class!" Alice seemed elated and jumped up, dancing with Rosalie.
"Great. Yet another class to try and avoid him in." I muttered to myself.
That night I called Alice's house and got Ali and Esme talking. I did all of my homework as soon as I got in, and cooked dinner again for Pete, Ali and myself. When they came in, I talked a little with them, and we ate dinner together. I smiled a lot more now; they were far too welcoming not to be comfortable around them. I fell asleep right after dinner waiting to wake up at two in the morning again. I did, screaming as usual. I got into the pool, with my pyjamas on, to cool off. When I got back out I sat, shivering, in the warm night air. I dried off and had a shower, aware that it was about 2:45. I went back outside again, grabbing my bicycle. I rode for a little, regretting only owning dark colours. I was cycling along a road, and it was dangerous to wear black at night. I kept pedalling, not knowing or caring where I was going. I eventually came to a beach, after about an hour and stopped.
"Bella. What are you doing?" I asked myself.
"I was about to ask the same question." A velvet voice said behind me. I whipped around to see Edward, dressed in jogging equipment. He was breathing a little heavily, but not sweating, despite the heat.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"This happens to be part of my property." He said, pointing towards a house on the ocean's edge.
"Well I'm sorry for intruding." I grabbed my bike and turned it around.
"Is this why you're so tired during the day? You exercise vigorously all night?" he asked, scrutinizing. My temper snapped.
"It is none of your business why I'm so tired during the day. You have no right to care about me. Why the hell are you running at three in the morning?"
"I couldn't sleep. I was hoping a run might exhaust me." He smiled, shrugging. I was so glad I couldn't see his eyes properly. His smile dazzled me enough. I forced myself to get onto the bike and began pedalling away.
"See you." He called.
I could hear the smile in his voice. As I was cycling back, I paid even less attention to my surroundings. I barely noticed that I was straying from the side of the road into the middle of the lane and back again. I didn't notice that I was going so fast until a car's headlights appeared, frighteningly close. I lost control of my bike, trying to swerve out of the way, and felt the bike and me be tugged out of the path of the car. On the side of the road I tumbled, my bike twisting around me. I heard harsh breathing.
"Bella? Are you alright?" Edward asked. I lay there for a moment, thinking.
My bike hadn't been going towards the side of the road. I was headed straight for the car. I had felt a strong, cold hand grab my waist and pull me and my bike out of the path of the car. I had also been going far too fast for Edward to keep up with me, let alone save me.
"Bella? Can you hear me?" He asked. I could feel the bike being lifted off of me. Edward's concerned face appeared in my vision and I blinked, confusedly.
"How the hell did you do that?" I asked.
"Do what?" he said innocently, but his eyes were loaded with anger and caution.
"Two things. Keep up with me and then save me like that."
"I run quickly, and you saved yourself, I was behind you and saw your bike swerve. I thought you were going to hit that car you know." He said, but his eyes were filled with pleading now. He was hoping I'd accept the story.
"You weren't anywhere near me, and my speed would've left a marathon runner behind. You pulled me out of the path of the car. How?"
"I didn't do anything of the sort." He snapped angrily at me. "It's dark, and you've obviously hit your head or something." I sat up, ignoring the throbbing in my head.
"I haven't and you are lying."
I stood, brushing the dirt off of me, and realised that my arm had been badly scraped against the tarmac. I pushed past him, grabbing my bike, finding the chain disconnected. I fixed that and noticed four indents on one of the bars in my bike. It looked like the bar was made of Play-Doh and someone had squeezed it, leaving finger impressions. There was no way a human could be that strong. Or maybe I had hit my head too hard. Maybe this was a dream.
"Bella, I'll call my father, he's a doctor, he can take a look at your head."
"You will do no such thing. I'm going home." I retorted and began to pedal, slowly this time; my head was really killing me. Edward was running beside me, keeping pace easily.
"Bella-"
"Leave me alone!" I yelled back.
He stopped, and dropped out of my vision. When I got home I had another shower, to try and wash off the dirt and blood. My arm was pretty badly scraped, and my head was killing me. I got a few Advil and tried to sleep, but my head was buzzing with unanswerable questions. How had Edward kept up with me? How had he pulled me out of danger? How was he strong enough to damage my bike? Why was he so desperate not to tell me? Was he lying about being up at three in the morning? I got no sleep for the rest of the night.
I had breakfast quickly in the morning and went to look at my bike. There were no dents. But I also knew that this wasn't my bike either. It had the scratches I had come to know and recognize, but there were a few differences.
Last year, a child had stuck gum in the chain, it ruined the gears. There was no gum, and the gears were fine. One of the handles could slide off easily before. Now it took some effort. When I finally got it off, I looked for the fuzzy ball I had left inside, it wasn't there.
This wasn't my bike. It was an exact replica, with scratches and paint chips where they used to be, but it wasn't my bike. Someone had switched it. Why, when and how I could only speculate. It was most likely a cover-up of something. The incident maybe? Why would someone not want proof that Edward had bent the bar of my bike? Precisely because he had bent the bar of my bike.
I drove to school carefully, trying to ignore the pain echoing through my head. My iPod and car stereo remained off. When I got to school Alice and Edward were arguing, with the help of the others, but this time, Alice and Edward were arguing on the same side. I, instead of walking to them, found my locker and the Advil I had stashed there. I swallowed two, dry and walked slowly to my first class, trying to focus through the pain. I had had a concussion before, so I knew that this wasn't nearly that severe, it just hurt. But the Advil did help. I had already finished my English essay, so I decided to skip.
I waited until everyone was in class, then slipped into my car. I had left an alarm clock in there, from a camping trip a while back. I set it for an hour later and fell swiftly asleep.
I was cycling down the school hallways, at night, looking for something. I could see Edward and Alice at the end of the hall, shouting at each other, but I couldn't hear them. All of the lockers opened and suddenly I was underwater. I was in my backyard pool, with my pyjamas, my head breached the surface and I could hear a beeping.
I woke up, to the alarm clock beeping. I shook off the strange dream away and grabbed my trigonometry book. It was one class I couldn't afford to skip. I got there just as Alice did.
"Where were you?" she asked. She looked worried, cautious, as if afraid I'd bring up what happened last night. She wasn't there, but no doubt Edward had told his sister what happened.
"Sleeping off the Advil." I shrugged and we walked into the class together.
"Advil? Are you okay?" she asked.
"Before your brother saved... I mean... found me, I knocked my head. It's not serious, it'll go away by tomorrow, but it aches today." She stared at me and an unspoken conversation occurred.
She knew that I wasn't going to accept what Edward had told me. She knew I wasn't going to push for anymore answers. I knew she knew the truth. I knew she wouldn't answer if I asked anything. After a minute of staring at each other, respect and gratitude filled her eyes. I wrote, with pencil on the desk between us.
Tell him thank you.
For finding you, you mean?
Of course. And for the new bike.
She scowled at me and I smiled back. It still wasn't a proper smile, but it was enough to brighten her mood a little. In Spanish I slept, listening barely to the teacher before falling asleep. She asked me a question, I could hear it, as if through water. I knew how to answer, I just couldn't be bothered to move. A meter stick slapped the desk beside me, making my head hurt with the sudden loud noise. She repeated the question angrily, when I didn't move.
"Después de pasar el puente." I replied, still unmoving. She sniffed and stalked off, asking different questions to the rest of the class.
I slept until lunch. I was too hungry not to eat, but too tired to eat. I grabbed a slice of pizza and quickly ate it, lying my head on the table as soon as I was finished.
"Bella, you are a waste of a good bench spot." Emmet laughed.
"Am not."
"Are too."
"You skipped English today didn't you?" Edward asked. I decided that he didn't warrant an answer.
"You skipped English today didn't you?" Rosalie repeated.
"Yeah. Leave me alone! I'm trying to sleep!" I protested. They laughed and let me be, for a few minutes.
"So are you coming to the party on Friday?" Jasper asked.
"Yup."
"Sweet." Jasper said something else, but I didn't catch it.
My head decided to act up, and flashes of pain swept through me. I didn't realise I had fallen off of the bench until I was actually being shaken on the floor.
"Bella? Are you okay?"
"Yeah. My head just hurts a little." I said. When I stood up, I realised that nearly everyone in the cafeteria was staring at me. I excused myself and found a spot to sleep, close to Biology class. Edward found me right before class. He gave me a gentle shake, smiling at me while I scowled at him. I went to class and tried desperately to stay focused. Mr. Banner was talking about a project.
"You and the person you sit beside are going to be working on a major lab for the next few weeks. I will assign each of you different materials and instructions, over the next few days. You will complete a full write-up of the lab, and answer analysis questions at the end. You will start next Monday, we have another lab and some material to cover first."
"My house or yours?" Edward asked courteously.
"The school. We'll see how much material we can cover during lunch hours."
"We can talk about it this weekend." He shrugged. I scowled. He was the one part I wasn't looking forward to this weekend. I sat, listening to the teacher drone on, until Edward interrupted my silence again.
"Why did you move here so randomly?"
"What?"
"To California. You move in the middle of the school year, for no apparent reason."
I looked at him, and regretted it. His beautiful butterscotch eyes were searching mine intently. I was compelled to tell him the truth, or at least some of it.
"Phil travels a lot. My mom wasn't happy staying home with me, so I moved." To Charlie's, in Forks. Then the incident happened and I moved here instead, to escape the memories. Not that that was possible, with my nightmares. I didn't say that. His eyes could never make me tell that truth.
"Don't bite me or anything, but why do you sleep so much during the day?"
"I... don't sleep well at night." I shrugged. He continued to stare at me, with intense fascination, as if I were a three headed turtle or something.
"Stop."
"What?"
"Staring."
"Déjà vu."
I rolled my eyes and found a blank piece of paper. I thought about drawing. I wanted to draw, but I'd end up sad, reminded of Charlie, or something similar. So instead I began writing our lesson down in Greek. Edward seemed to understand it because he randomly tapped my page. I glared at him, then looked where he'd tapped. There was a grammar mistake. I erased it quickly and changed it, scowling when he smiled. At the end of Biology he swept Jessica into a brief kiss and I pushed past them both, heading to the gym. When I was changed, I didn't bother to put a harness on. I wasn't climbing.
Instead, I spent the period giving people advice, the boys mostly, because they had joined the class today. It was Thursday and I had already proved my knowledge to the girls for two classes now. Mike and Ben needed desperate help. Tyler also kept calling me over, but I soon realised that my advice was not what he was looking for. I helped Ben begin climbing, letting him know exactly which rocks he should grab. He managed to get all the way up the wall. Mike needed less help with the climbing. Tyler needed no help at all, but pretended he did. I practically dropped him to a foot above the floor before I stopped his descent. This had all the girls laughing. After school finished I went home and slept. I actually didn't have much homework that night, so I slept until Ali and Pete arrived.
They wanted to take me to dinner properly, so I got changed quickly and we went out. I was in a black skirt and a dark red, form fitting shirt. It was probably the most expensive shirt I owned, at a grand total of 60. Ali's hair tie cost more than that. I had borrowed a pair of Ali's shoes, red flats that complimented the shirt beautifully. We talked for a long while over dinner, until Pete and Ali suddenly jumped up.
"Billy, Jake! So good to see you. How have you been?" Two guys came over.
"Hey." The younger guy was about my age, with long black hair, tied back into a ponytail. He had russet coloured skin and deep brown eyes. As we looked at each other, recognition flickered across both of our faces.
"Bella." He whispered. Billy looked at me, and the same shocked expression came over his face.
They sat across from us, and despite their best efforts at normal conversation, I could hear them treading on eggshells. I excused myself, whispering into Ali's ear that I was taking a cab home, because I felt sick. She nodded and rubbed my arm. She wasn't stupid. She knew why I was leaving.
When I got outside, it was actually raining.
"Billy and Jake brought Forks' weather with them, clearly." I decided to skip the cab.
It would take me an hour to walk home, but it was an hour I needed to clear my head. I took off Ali's shoes, slipping them into the bag I had brought, and made my way carefully down the road, toward my new home. Billy and Charlie had been good friends, Jake's older sisters I had played with as a child. They knew what happened. Not the rape, no one knew that part, so I hoped. But they definitely knew about Charlie's murder.
It began to pour about half an hour after I started walking. I was soaked through to the bone and enjoying it. Just then a silver Volvo pulled up beside me.
"Need a ride?" It was Edward. Alice and Jasper were in the car too. I stopped and considered it. My feet were actually beginning to hurt; the road had more and more gravel over the tarmac.
"I'll ruin your upholstery." I warned him. He laughed as I slid in. It was nice being in the dry.
"So you actually own colour?" Alice said. Scrutinizing my dark red, soaked, shirt.
"This is about the extent of it."
"Well I think it looks fantastic." Alice smiled. I shrugged and looked back at her and Jasper. Jasper was air guitaring to his iPod tune. I smiled. It was my first real smile. I actually showed a little teeth. Alice was overjoyed as soon as she saw it.
"Where do you live?" Edward asked. I told him the street name and number and suddenly we were driving. He shot down the road, faster than I would've thought possible.
"In a hurry?" I asked, trying to keep the blatant fear from my voice.
"No. I always drive like this." I looked at the speedometer and my stomach flipped.
We were going at ninety miles an hour. I tried to remain calm, and look indifferent, but clearly Edward must've seen some discomfort, because the needle inched down towards eighty.
"I hate driving slowly." He muttered. I opened my mouth, to retort and decided that my voice would break if I answered him. We slowed and stopped and we were outside of Pete and Ali's house. The rain was calming down.
"Where are your shoes?" Edward asked. I patted my bag and looked at the clock. It was nearly eight o'clock.
"Ooh. Bedtime!" I whispered enthusiastically. Edward and the others had no idea if I was being serious or not. "Night guys. Thanks, by the way." I got out and walked around back, knowing that I had no key, and that the back door was open.
I slipped into the house and decided to sleep, as soon as I sat on my bed.
When I woke up screaming, I was mostly dry, but my comforter had absorbed a lot of rainwater. I threw off the wet clothes and grabbed my swimsuit. I swam, quietly, for an hour, and then decided to sleep again. I would've swam longer, but that nagging feeling of being watched was eating away at me. I slept in, missing breakfast. I grabbed an apple on my way out of the house and drove to school. Alice was waiting, buzzing with excitement. She couldn't wait until tonight. It wasn't until lunchtime that I remembered my birthday.
Alice was talking about the date, it being mathematically special or something and I remembered my birthday. It was tomorrow. I nearly spat out the salad I had been chewing. Instead I tried to swallow, and ended up choking. I was coughing pretty hard until Emmet whacked me on the back. It helped and I was able to breathe again.
"Wrong hole." I lied and stared at my salad.
I tried not to wince as I was eating it. No doubt my mom and Phil would've sent presents and Ali and Pete would've gotten something too. I hated people spending money on me. I didn't deserve it. I slept at the table while the Cullens and Hales talked about the sleepover that night.
My head was feeling much better today and I was able to concentrate more in biology. Edward and I were given a lab about making a polymer using Borax, PVA glue and water. We were making putty. Edward and I only had to agree on a colour.
"Blue. Black. Green." I suggested.
"Blue is fine." He shrugged.
"What?"
"Red is also very cool."
"And with the PVA glue, it would turn pink." I pointed out. He scowled.
"True. Blue it is." That was the only thing I said to him all period.
He walked behind me to the gym. I harnessed up, only to help rappel. The teacher told us what our next two units would be.
"Swimming, starts next Thursday and dancing will follow two weeks after." Groans flew around the class. "Now, get climbing. Here's a challenge for you. Pick a colour of rock and stick to it. Bella? Would you like to demonstrate?" I hadn't been paying attention and he knew it.
"Sorry sir? Could you repeat that?"
"Colour coding. Climb one would you? I believe you would enjoy red." Red was the second hardest.
I slipped on a helmet and the instructor acted as my anchor. I stared at the wall, picking my path, then began to climb. I wasn't too fast; the rocks were well spaced, and for a few I really had to stretch, or let go of a rock I was holding to. When I got to the top I hit the bar, hearing a metallic ring echo out, thanks to my ring. The instructor let me down as quickly as I did to others, but one deft push away from the wall brought me down with one swift movement. I landed and undid the knot. I could hear cheering; Alice Jasper and Rosalie were clapping for me. As was Tyler, and Mike and a boy named Eric. I sat down again, blushing.
"How can you stand the height?"
"Think of something important that you like."
"My credit card."
"No, how about my iPod? You've been bugging me for a list of my songs all week, right?" she nodded. "So, on Monday I'll climb again and put my iPod at the top. You have to climb next. If you get it you can borrow it for as long as you need it. If not, you aren't allowed to bug me about it again." She considered it and I heard Edward snicker behind me.
"Deal." I shook with her, and was then called away to help someone. Monday could be interesting.