Chapter Two of Power of Love :) Enjoy you guys!


At the sound of the gun, Bella jumped. She and her friends were watching the high school swim team have their meet. Bella didn't like pools, but she didn't hate them. Even though she and her friends were ten feet from the edge, she felt as if they were in the water. The air in the room seemed dark, a dank mist, bluish green and heavy with the smell of chlorine. Everything echoed and bounced off the walls. The shouts of the crowd, the explosion of swimmers as they plunged into the water. Bella wished she were out in the bright April day.

"Tell me again," she said quietly. "Which one is he?"

Jessica Stanley turned her head and looked over at Angela Weber. Angela looked right back, as they both shook their heads, laughing.

"Well, how am I supposed to tell?" Bella sighed. "They're hairless, every one of them, with shaved arms? And not to mention shaved legs, shaved chests. A team of bald guys in rubber caps and goggles. They're wearing the school colors, but for all I know they could be a shipload of aliens!"

"If they are aliens," Angela said with a small smile, "I'm moving to that planet then."

"Edward is the one in the center lane," Jessica nodded. "The best swimmers always race in the center lanes."

"Best of the best," Angela added in. "The best at the butterfly stroke."

Bella of course, already knew that. The swim team poster was all around school: Edward surging up out of the water, his shoulders rushing forward, his powerful arms pulled back like wings. The person in charge of publicity was her friend Angela. She knew what she was doing when she selected that photo. The number of posters was constantly disappearing into the girl's locker room. Now, Bella turned her gaze back to Edward, watching him shake out his arms and legs. He had a perfect build for a swimmer. The cap on his head hid his bronze colored hair.

"Swimmers up!" the starting official shouted, as the competitors climbed onto their blocks.

"Wow, those little suits do not leave much to the imagination, do they? I wonder what Mike would look like in one," Jessica winked.

Bella rolled her eyes and nudged her. "Keep it down. He's right over there."

"Of course I know that," Jessica replied, running her fingers through her hair.

Bang!

Bella turned her attention back towards the swimmers. For the past three months, Jessica had been in a hot, hungry and heated pursuit of Mike. She wished that Jessica would fix her eyes on someone else. After all, Mike was Bella's step brother. Mike noticed someone looking over at him and glanced over his shoulder, a grin spreading across his face. He had a charming smile, dark blonde hair, blue eyes. He was tall, and he believed he was better than some people at this school. The Newton's were rich, but Bella knew that it wasn't his money that drove Jessica wild. She turned and put her arm around her friend, pointing towards a swimmer stretching, in hopes of getting her attracted to another man. But Jessica obviously wasn't interested. She began bouncing in her seat as Mike made their way towards them, hands shoved into his pockets.

Bella felt Mike's eyes on her as he took a seat next to her, ignoring Jessica and Angela, who was busy taking pictures. She turned to meet his look, and Mike winked at her. She quickly gestured to her friends, face heated. "Mike, you know my friends Jessica and Angela, right?"

"Not very well," he smiled at each of them.

Jessica glowed, giving off a little giggle. Mike glanced at her and smiled, eyes traveling up and down her for a moment before looking off in the distance for a moment. He stood back up, nodding his head. "I see a couple of my friends over there. I should go and say hi."

Bella nodded, glancing over towards the bleachers where his friends sat. Eric and another guy, Mark, were waving towards him, a grin on their faces. Mike left with a nod towards Bella's two friends, his eyes bright and full of laughter. Bella turned back to the pool again; she saw that three rubber capped guys in identical little swimsuits had been watching her. She had no idea, if any, of them was Edward.