I take forever to update. Wow. I do not own anything (especially the smattering of quotes I used) and here is Chapter 2;

- Bailey -

I didn't start to hear the whispering until about ten minutes into my second class. Apparently there was a new kid in school. Not normally a big deal - we lived in Seattle, so it wasn't like you usually knew everyone you went to school with, but for some reason the new kid had been dubbed 'special'. From what I could tell for the high pitched giggles, and shushing from the girls, it was probably a boy. And a cute one at that. Which meant that Ashley Monroe was already planning her wedding, and the girls she picked on were unconsciously praying for their Cinderella moment. Nothing that concerned me.

Still it was kind of funny to watch the teachers try and quiet down the gigglers while they described him to their friends. Even funnier to listen to the descriptions they came up with, like, "tousled Adonis", and "sexy Greek god." It all sounded so scripted too, like they were getting these descriptions from some generic source. Señora Bates actually stopped trying to get things under control, instead choosing to sit and listen in on the conversations about the new wonder boy. And giving me plenty of time to finish my Bio homework before the lunch bell rang. In a way, I guess I owed him - if he got everyone this off topic, and I had more time to get my work done, more power to him.

The giggle feast continued down the halls on the way to lunch - even my friends were huddled close together, probably dissecting his every movement.

"Hey, Liv." I said sitting down next to her while Rebbecca and Jenny argued about what color his eyes were - gold, or turquoise.

I rolled my eyes, unrolling the top of the paper bag that held my lunch, and reaching in for the tuna sandwich.

"How long do you think they're going to obsess?" I asked her.

Olivia looked dead serious when she said, "Oh, I don't think that it's going to stop anytime soon. He looks just like -"

"I know!" Jenny squealed jumping in. "I couldn't believe it! That's exactly how I pictured him!"

"OME! Me too!" Rebbecca grinned, appearing to let go of whatever they were arguing about for the moment.

They seemed just about as excited as the rest of the giggle-squad. I wondered just how 'hot' this guy was, to merit so much attention from the female population.

"Who?" I asked around a mouthful of tuna.

Three shocked sets of eyes turned to acknowledge me, horrified.

"You don't know?" Rebbecca demanded, raising her eye brows so high that they almost disappeared into her hairline.

I swallowed before opening my mouth to reply, but Olivia, the great friend that she was, was already defending me.

"She doesn't have any classes with him yet."

I tried again, but she was already continuing.

"Besides, she hasn't read the books yet." She finished with an eye roll.

That's my buddy Olivia. Always ready to stick up for you, and then make not reading one book seem like a crime against humanity.

"Blasphemy!" Jenny and Rebbecca exclaimed in unison.

Oh dear, God. This had to be about that stupid apple book again. They had never started talking like that until they read it. I should have just been smart, and chosen to eat in the art room today.

"The new kid." Olivia explained, taking a bite out of her pepperoni pizza.

"He looks just like EDWARD, FREAKING, CULLEN!" Jenny went back to her squealing.

That name shouldn't have meant anything to me - I'd certainly never heard it before. But when she said, I felt my heart slam against my ribs. I shook my head. Maybe they'd mentioned it, and I just didn't remember… but that still didn't explain…

"He has the same, gorgeous, tousled bronze hair," Olivia sighed melodramatically.

"That great build and pale skin…" Rebbecca grinned.

"And those amazing, golden eyes." Jenny rounded out the description.

"Golden." Rebbecca snorted under her breath before they all turned toward me.

I stared back at them blankly, wondering what they were waiting for as I raised the tuna to my lips again.

It never quite made it as Jenny reached around to slap my hand, and the sandwich fell back down onto my bag. "You're eating at a time like this?!"

I raised an eyebrow to her inquisitively.

"Edward. Cullen. The hunk. From Twilight's twin could be anywhere in this school right now, and you can just sit here eating baloney?!" Rebbecca huffed.

"It's tuna." I muttered retrieving my sandwich. "The apple book? Seriously, guys?"

Rebbecca and Jenny continued to stare at me as if I had just grown out an extra head. Olivia shook her head. "She just doesn't know."

"So what? He looks kind of like the actor or something?" I asked, trying to redeem myself. Olivia would love me no matter what, but Rebbecca and Jenny? I was already treading on thin ice, this far in.

"Not at all." Jenny smiled, her eyes clouding over dreamily.

"So here's what you need to know," Rebbecca smiled coyly, as she passed on her "valuable" information on to me, the "interested" pupil.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. Main character in Twilight -"

"He's not technically the main character…" Olivia interrupted, trailing off as Rebbecca shot her a withering glare.

"He's the vampire who falls in love with the human girl, and then has to save her from all of the evil vampires who want to eat her, or don't want her to know their secrets." She continued. "And he's the most beautiful person on the planet. End of story."

Not that that's egotistical, or anything. I thought.

"Great. Now I don't have to read it."

"But that's not really the whole story," Olivia said, turning towards me. "That's just that his being hot and the book being in the first-person is all Becky, here, cares about."

Jenny and I laughed while Rebbecca pouted.

"There's this whole back story to it - he loves her, but his entire world doesn't want them to be together - plus, there's the whole temptation of her blood, and wanting it so badly, but wanting hermore. And then my favorite character, Jacob, who love her too, and wants to save her from Edward - introducing the lovely love triangle of lovey-dovey-ness." She added, snickering at her own made up word.

"And you love classics, Bailey - each book is based off one, in a sense. Twilight, Pride and Prejudice." Jenny supplied.

"The second one is Romeo and Juliet." Rebbecca quit pouting, not wanting to be left out.

"Wuthering Heights - your favorite." Olivia wiggled her eyebrows as if that were a necessary tactic in convincing me.

"Oh, and then more Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream… and… I can never remember the last one." Rebbecca scowled.

"The Merchant of Venice." I murmured.

"There, next to the feathered edge left by the torn page… Destroy this."

I blinked, and looked up to catch Olivia's curious glance.

"Yeah, that's it!" Jenny was almost yelling, she and Rebbecca were too caught up in their discussion to notice anything

The rest of lunch was uneventful. I finished my tuna in peace while the fan girls, ranted and Olivia tossed me one more glance before the bell rang.

I stood quickly, tossing the paper bag before heading to Biology. Jenny and Rebbecca were skipping arm and arm, having decided that since "his eyes changed colors" anyway, that there was no need to argue about whether gold or turquoise was more prominent.

Olivia walked with me on the way to the science lab before blowing a kiss, and scurrying away to English. I waved back until she rounded the corner and then headed into the room.

Right away I knew something was off. There was no more squeaking accompanying the gossipers. In fact, the room was almost dead silent, every girl, and even a few of the guys had their chairs turned toward the figure hunched over at the table in the back of the room, massaging his temples. My table.

So he must be the new kid, I mused, walking over. We must be lab partners now. Yippee.

Ashley Monroe snorted as I walked by, tossing her hair, and turning to whisper something to one of her droids. Just what I need. Her, of all people on my case. I wish that I had the guts to turn around and tell her off - I didn't pick where the new kid sat!

Suddenly the new kid's head snapped up, and his eyes locked on me. I stopped in my tracks.

The room was blurring, and he was the only thing that stayed in focus.

"Hostile…coal black…turquoise… the color of your eyes today. Curious. Gold…His eyes were green?"

"Miss Caruthers? Find a seat please." I heard my Bio teacher's voice call from the front of the classroom and his pulled the door shut behind him, ignoring the class' snickers.

I found my legs moving toward him, and my seat, though I wasn't the one controlling them. I hopped up on the bar stool, still fighting the embarrassment and making sure not to make eye contact again.

I had no idea what had come over me in those few seconds. It had felt like something about his eyes was screaming at me to remember…

I shook my head. I was being ridiculous. He was a little -okay, a lot more than I had expected. No wonder all of the fan girls were freaking out. I just… slipped. Let's call it that. And that look he gave me didn't help any - brooding and mysterious until I walk in the room and suddenly… he's chagrined and curious… regretful… and something else that I couldn't pin down. Relieved?

No. He wasn't looking at me. I was just in his line of sight. And anyone's knees would melt at that kind of look.

I struggling with my inner monologue for a few more minutes before the desire to look back at him over took me. He was the new kid - he'd be used to staring by now, right? Just one quick peek…

Big mistake.

"I peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it."

He was looking right back at me, eyes hypnotic, refusing to let mine pull away. I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks, but I just couldn't stop no matter how much my brain urged me to.

Come on, Bailey - you're making a fool out of yourself!

It seemed once again like their was no one else in the room but us. Mr. Phillips was a no nonsense kind of guy, and demanded the attention of his students by threatening them with a pop quiz. For some reason, half the people already failing, chose - reluctantly - to pay attention rather than to gawk at the astonishingly beautiful new kid and his nerdy lab partner. No one noticed.

I tried harder to turn away, almost succeeding when I heard a low velvet sound wrap around my ear. It was a name.

I turned back to face him immediately. Blushing because I knew he wasn't speaking to me. He hadn't said 'Bailey', but…

"Bella?" I glanced around the room quickly looking for someone by that name, and finding no one. I turned back toward him to find that he was still staring at me. Expectantly this time.

He's not talking to you, dummy!

But the way he just kept staring - probably wondering if I had a brain - forced me to respond.

"It's Bailey." I managed to stutter out, cursing myself the whole time, before turning away quickly.

I wasn't sure if he actually spoke again, but I could have sworn I heard him say, "no it's not." I didn't turn back this time, focusing on staring at the board the rest of class, pretending I couldn't feel his gaze on me, and managing not to take in a single thing that the teacher was saying.

I jumped up again the second the bell rang, and somehow managed to trip over my own feet, barely catching myself of the edge of the table. Within an instant a cold, steel arm wrapped around my waist and was pulling me up gently.

I clutched the arm for a moment until I felt stable again. Edward was the one holding me up.

Edward, who? You don't know his name!

My eyes flew to the front of the room, where everyone was shuffling quickly out the classroom door. Oblivious to my mishap, and their golden boy's rescue.

"Bella."

I looked back at him. Sadness. Urgency. Still regret.

I ran out the door. Ignoring the name he called after me.

Bella.

"No. Not anymore."

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