The Sidewalk

"Bella." My mom said while pouring herself some coffee. "I'm being serious. I just want you to be happy. You're seventeen now, love-"
"I'm aware of how old I am, mother." I said, trying not to be too harsh with the tone of my voice. I didn't want to upset her.
"Tell me, Bella." My mom said, scrutinizing my face. Whatever she was looking for, she found, because she continued with what she wanted to say. "Do you even have any guy friends at this moment?"
I looked down at my hands that were folded on the counter. I twiddled my thumbs, and tried to pretend as if I didn't hear the question. I heard the ticking clock and it felt as if the seconds were purposefully lagging and telling me that I had to answer before too much time passed, so I decided to stall. "I can't be late to school." I leaped down from the counter stool and grabbed my back pack that was in the stool next to me. "I'll see you later mom."
"You better be prepared to answer me when you get home Bella Marie Swan."
Great, I thought to myself as I threw my back pack into the passenger side of my car, she used my whole name. I hate it when I make her sad… I put the keys into the ignition and the engine roared. I drove to school as slowly as possible, there were no cars around, there never were here in the little town of Forks. Forks, Washington wasn't the biggest town around and with that said, you could just walk everywhere. Cars weren't a big necessity here. Of course I could walk to school… but I hate rain. And it always rained here; I had no appeal to getting my socks damp and my hair wet.
I pulled into the school parking lot, taking the first spot that I saw. Our school wasn't very big and therefor there weren't a lot of parking spaces for the students that drove. I climbed out of my car and regretted parking in the place that I had. I hadn't realized it at the time, but I had just parked next to Edward Cullen.
Edward Cullen was absolutely perfect. Well not to me, but to every single female creation at this school. And no, I am not over exaggerating. Even the women teachers fancy him. Every day before the first school bell rang he would lean against his car like a Greek god and just let every girl that pass him, gawk at him before class starts. I tried to always avoid walking past him because I couldn't help but stare, and every look that he got would just boost his already enormous ego.
But honestly, I didn't blame him. He was perfect. With his silky bronze hair that stuck up in random places, his perfectly aligned, sparkling white teeth, his muscular body, his beautiful green eyes and his style of clothing was just awe-striking.
I took a deep breath and started to walk past him. And with much success, I didn't look at him. Slightly smiling to myself, I headed in the direction of my first class with my arms crossed. It was drizzling a little bit so I pulled up my hood. I was just about to step on the sidewalk of the school when I heard my name.
The voice sounded velvety and smooth. I turned and looked at Edward who was just a couple feet in front of me. "Yes..?" I said warily. I was worried as to what he was going to ask me. The only time he ever talked to me was to make fun of me, or point out one of my flaws.
"Do you have the History homework?" He asked me with a slight smile playing at his lips. His expression was one of humor, as if he were about to start laughing at me.
"If you want to copy my answers, that isn't going to happen." I snapped at him.
He chuckled and ran his hand through his bronze hair and for a split second I wondered what it would be like to run my hands through his perfect hair… "I wasn't intending on doing that. But seeing as that you are the smartest person in that class, I was going to compare answers seeing as that we have half an hour before class starts."
"Oh…" I said stupidly. Edward Cullen had just complimented me. "Yeah, okay." I followed him to the lunch hall where there were a few people. They looked at us as we both sat down at the same table. It wasn't very often that you saw Bella Swan and Edward Cullen talking, let alone sitting at the same table. Well honestly, you never saw that.
I grabbed my History binder from my back pack and pulled out the Study Guide that was assigned to us the day before. He grabbed his out too with a writing utensil. His hand writing was absolutely perfect compared to my messy scrawl.
"How did you learn to write like that?" I gasped.
He chuckled as he read my answer to question one. "It comes naturally. How did you learn to write like that?" He teased.
I rolled my eyes and folded my arms across my chest. "Just get you answers." I snapped.
He stopped reading my answers and put down my piece of paper. "There's no need to get all snappish Bella. Stop taking everything so seriously, loosen up a little bit." He pushed me a little so I shifted in my seat so I was farther away from him.
He looked at me with curiosity in his eyes. His beautiful green eyes showed no judgment, or humor at all, but curiosity and sorrow. It was almost as if he knew in those few seconds that he looked into my eyes, all my secrets. All my secrets as to why I was guarded.
Don't you dare walk away from the sidewalk Bella. I scolded myself as I turned and looked the other way. Don't you dare walk away from the sidewalk for someone like Edward Cullen. He isn't worth it.
Ten minutes of silence passed and I watched as the school got more populated. I paid no attention to Edward as he looked over our answers. "Okay." He finally said, sliding my paper over to me. "We have the same answers on everything." I turned to look at him and he grinned at me.
My head started to spin and he took my breath away. I breathed in slowly, trying not to make it obvious as to what just happened. My reaction was exactly what he was looking for. I stood up and in my haste to get away from him, my feet slipped out from under me. I tried to grab onto the chair to catch myself, but of course, it didn't work. I fell backwards onto the ground, taking the metal chair with me.
Edward immediately got down on his knees and started to help me up. He stood up and offered me a hand. "You need to be more careful Bella." He said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. There was slight humor in his eyes and I knew from that, that he was only trying to look like a gentleman from offering his hand.
Instead of taking it, I pulled myself up. "Maybe you shouldn't try to dazzle people so much." I said under my breath as I picked up the chair.
"You really shouldn't mumble." He scolded.
"You really shouldn't think that you can tell me what to do." I snapped back.
I grabbed my back pack and my Study Guide and walked away from him as fast as I could. Just as I was half way to my first class, the bell rang. Thank God.
My first class was English 11 AP, it was the only class that I didn't have with Edward. He seemed to be in every other class of mine. But luckily, we sat very far away from each other in each class, aside from History. We had a seating chart in that one, and somehow, Edward and I ended up next to each other. We barely ever talked to each other of course, so I wasn't planning on talking to him today.
I sat down in my usual seat, taking my time, seeing as that we still had 5 minutes. Everyone seemed to come in at the same time. One by one they hung up their wet jackets and took a seat. Mike Newton, a boy with a round babyish face, blue eyes and spiked up blond hair, sat down next to me.
"Good morning Bella." He smiled at me.
I gave him a tiny smile, trying to be polite. "Good morning."
"Was Cullen bothering you again?" He asked with a slight frown.
"No." I said sharply. "He was just comparing our answers for the Study Guide in History."
"Oh." Mike said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "You looked annoyed."
"Well it is Edward Cullen." I said with a smile, I didn't like to see Mike sad, even if it was just because I had talked to Edward. What a stupid reason to get mad anyways, he had a girlfriend. He shouldn't get jealous when I talked to other guys. Mike and I were barely friends anyways. The only time we really talked was in this class. "You and I both know that he doesn't really like me." I said playfully and nudge his shoulder.
He grinned. "Be careful what you say." He looked around the classroom, mostly the back of the class where Alice and Jasper, Edwards sister and her boyfriend, sat.
I nodded, but I didn't say anything. Mrs. Walters had just walked in. The class passed slowly as usual. Even though Mrs. Walters made English really fun, the class always seemed to pass slower than any other of my classes. And I was relieved when the second bell of the day rang. I walked to my second period, AP Biology, with Mr. Hodge.
I walked in, and I was the last one, but luckily, class had started yet. I made my way to my usual seat, next to Angela. Angela was my best friend, we've known each other since 2nd grade and we did everything together, of course we have Kate with us though. But as I was walking, someone took my seat. Emmet Cullen. I stood there and he looked at me. Angela looked at him and then at me and then did a repeat. She shrugged when I gave her a questioning look. Great… now the only place left is next to Edward.
I sighed and walked over to the seat next to him. I didn't talk to him as I got all my stuff out. "So I heard that Mike Newton is jealous of me." Edward said. He wasn't looking at me though, he was looking at the front of the class. But from the side, I could see that he had a huge smirk on his face.
"What, can you read minds or something?" I snapped.
He rolled his eyes and looked at me. "Don't be ridiculous Bella." He snapped back. "Alice told me."
"She's at the back of the class!" I said, agitatedly. "How can she-"
"Calm down." He interrupted me. "Alice can hear everything. Trust me, it gets quite annoying."
"I am calm." I said through gritted teeth. "Mike gets jealous over the littlest things, so don't let it go to your head."
"He has every reason to be jealous." He said, so quietly that I didn't think I was supposed to hear it.
I looked at him in disgust. Mr. Hodge had just started talking, but he was so oblivious to everything, that everyone was still whispering to each other. "You have every reason to be jealous of him." I hissed. "Just because he might not be as good looking as you are, he's so much sweeter and kind hearted. You should be jealous of that, because those are two things that you will never have!"
I turned away from him and I could feel him glaring at me. Suddenly, I was only two inches away from his face. He had grabbed a hold of my face, but it was gentle. Even though I couldn't move my face at all, his hold was comforting, as if he was holding a precious gem that he didn't want to drop or break or crush in his grasp. "You think you know me so well, Swan. When the truth is… you don't at all. And if that is what you really think of me, then I will show you differently." His fingers were sending electric currents throughout my body. I felt slightly winded and light headed. What was he doing to me? He let go of my face and pulled his face away from me. I slowly sat up straight again.
Through the whole class I was more aware of Edward then I had ever been. I wanted to touch him again; I wanted to make sure that what I had just felt wasn't just my imagination. But there was no way that I could've touched him without him noticing and thinking that I was mental.
The rest of the period passed slowly. I felt more aware of everything in that class than I had ever felt before. I wanted to somehow make the clock go faster; I needed to get out of here. I couldn't think while I was sitting next to Edward.
It seemed like it had been at least ten hours when the bell finally rang. I quickly shoved my binder into my back pack and practically ran out of the classroom. I pushed my way through the huge mob of people that was getting bigger and bigger because of the classes that were just getting out.
I made way slowly through the crowd, letting them all pass me. Once I was the last one in the crowd I started to pick up my pace. "You forgot this." I heard his velvety voice from behind me. How did I not see him?
I turned around and gave him a respectful smile as he handed me my jacket. "Thank you." Was all I said and I turned around to start walking again. I made it to the lunch hall with him closely behind me. I weaved my way through the tables and chairs and people. I saw my usual table, where me, my best friend Kate, Angela, and Ben sat.
I sat down next to Kate who was talking to Angela about homework while pealing an orange. I didn't really pay attention to them, but instead I watched Edward as he sat down with Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. I had never really noticed how attractive all of them were before now. Rosalie was literally drop-dead-gorgeous. Alice was very pixie like and she seemed to always be happy. Emmett was very big, not as in fat, but as in he had a muscle. And Jasper was very lean and he seemed happy too, just not as happy as Alice. And then there was Edward, the Greek god.
"Bella Marie." Kate said in a skeptical voice, and I snapped my head towards her. Angela was giggling so I knew they must have been talking about me while I was spaced out. "I know that face, and I haven't seen it in three years. So who exactly is it?" She said with excitement in her voice.
I looked down at my folded hands that were on the table. "I don't know what you're talking about Katie."
Kate didn't say anything; I knew that she didn't want to push me into telling her anything. After a moment of silence Angela finally said something, "She sat next to Edward today in Biology."
"There was nowhere else to sit." I said under my breath.
"Let me finish!" Angela said, exasperatedly. "Before you got there Emmett and Edward were sitting together. It looked like Edward was trying to convince Emmett of doing something. They were bickering under their breaths for like five minutes. Then you walked in and Emmett got up, grabbed his stuff, and sat down next to me."
I didn't know what to say, and I knew that Katie wasn't going to say anything before I did. "I don't know… what you're trying to say." I struggled at finding the right words to say.
"I've been suspicious about this whole thing for a while." Angela said. "I mean, you know how Edward is. He doesn't really ever talk to girls, unless it's Alice or Rosalie, and Alice is his sister and Rosalie is his brother's girlfriend. But he seems to always go out of his way just to talk to you, even if it is making fun of you. And then he makes Emmett sit next to me so that you would have no choice of sitting next to him. Obviously only sitting next to you in History, isn't enough for him."
Kate looked at Angela, and then at me, and then over at Edward. "I guess that explains why he's starring at you right now."
I didn't look over at him though; I didn't want to give him any ideas. "So what?" I said, grabbing the other orange that was on Kate's plate and pealing it. "Even if he does like me, it's not like there's any of chance of us being together."
Nobody said anything so I looked up at them. Angela had started to talk to Ben quietly, but Katie was staring at me and by the look in her eyes I knew what was coming next.
"Don't Katie." I said, once she had opened her mouth. "My mom and I already had this talk today; I don't need to hear it again."
The rest of our lunch passed in utter silence aside for Angela and Ben talking. As I watched them, the two people who I knew were utterly and completely in love with each other, I wondered how they did it… how they made it seem so easy to be with someone. Weren't they scared? Any one of them could just walk away from each other at any moment. But it was if they both refused to be scared of that idea.
And then it got me thinking… would I even be able to leave my safe zone, my sidewalk, just to be with someone that I loved? Would I be able to leave it, even if I wanted to..?