"Bella."
"Bella you have to wake up."
"Bella!"
I felt around for something to throw at that annoying voice. I found a pillow and chucked it in the general direction of the voice.
"Hey! No need to throw things, La."
I hated that nickname so much. It reminded me of the smurfs.
I opened my eyes. To my surprise, I found that there were two pairs of eyes fixed on me. I looked into the familiar hazel eyes then into the piercing green.
I sat upright. "I don't have a bruise, do I?" I whined. Nick burst out laughing. Edward just shook his head in disbelief.
"Pay up," Nick said.
Edward reluctantly handed him a twenty.
"I don't get it," Edward said slowly, "You stop a fight, then get knocked out and fall onto the concrete, and you are worried about a bruise!"
I laughed. "A bruise is the worst thing that could happen, really."
Edward looked at me like I was insane. "What about a concussion? Or cracking your skull? Or knocking your teeth in?"
"Please. Stuff like that doesn't happen to me," I told him.
"Stuff like that can happen to anyone."
"Edward. I'm the girl who climbs from a three story window every morning to get to school. I'm the girl who has never studied a day in her life, and is a straight A student. I'm the girl who has swam with a shark and lived. My luck's not about to run out."
He seemed to accept that.
"Why are you here?" I blurted out bluntly.
I had wanted to ask that so bad that it came out rudely, as if I didn't want him here.
"Sorry," I said honestly. "I'm not good with being curious."
He chuckled slightly-the sound hit me harder than that fist that knocked me out. Then I saw his cheeks flush a delicate pink. He looked very embarrassed.
Nick burst out laughing and I became aware of his presence once again. I turned to him, hoping for the explanation that I knew I wouldn't get from Edward.
"Well let's see," Nick said tilting his head, "First he tackled Tanner, who was the one who punched you, then, when everyone else was trying to rip Tanner apart, he started freaking out because he wasn't sure if you were breathing, and then, he literally picked you up and carried you as he sprinted into the nurses office. Then he sat right down in here and waited for you to wake up, his face as white as a ghost."
I looked at Edward, who was anything but as white as a ghost. I thought he might just pass out from the amount of blood that had rushed to his face.
Nick was smiling, in a carefree way, seeming unaffected at all by Edward's embarrassment. But he still got the message when I looked pointedly at him. Leave!
"Well, I suckered someone outta twenty bucks, and embarrassed someone in the same hour so I think my work here is done," he said, then turned and waltzed out of the room.
I rolled my eyes, glad I had not told him my obsession with Edward. Nick would rat me out, even if he was my best friend.
I turned to Edward, and jumped off the mat that I had been laying on. "Calm down," I told him soothingly. "I wouldn't want you to pass out. It is very possible to pass out from that much blood rushing to your head."
I wasn't actually sure if it was possible, but I really wanted him to calm down. Even if the fact the he was blushing was simply adorable. He face stayed scarlet. I tried a different tactic.
"Hi, I'm Bella, what's your name?" I asked comically extending my hand.
"I'm Edward Cullen," he said finally speaking, and shaking my hand.
I realized that before he told me, I didn't have a clue what his last name was. "See? Embarrassment is a state of mind. You just have to know how to use it to your benefit," I told him.
"Oh really? If you were in my position right now, how would you turn this into a positive?" he asked, a little sarcastic, but I sensed he wanted help in making this better.
"Well, you- I would start by admitting that I didn't find you completely invisible, and then explaining why I acted like that."
Edward paled instead of blushed this time. "Ummm. I never thought you were invisible, but you were a bit intimidating."
I was confused. Intimidating? Me? I spent half my time trying to look pathetic for crying out loud!
"I'm not saying that you were scary or that I thought that you would hurt me or anything... It's just the second I first saw you, you were surrounded by a crowd of people, and you were simply talking, and everyone seemed to want to hear what you had to say. You seemed so... so important. I knew you were somebody. And I didn't think that you would ever pay any attention to me. But I couldn't help but watch you. I was amazed. You had people following you around, and yet you wanted to do everything for yourself. You were so generous- I swear you bought half the school's lunch that day. I wasn't sure if you were in a relationship because you were always with some boy or another. Eventually I settled on the assumption that you were with Nick because you seemed to be around him much more." Edward paused to take in my amused expression.
I simply couldn't wrap my head around the concept of me and Nick being a couple. But, as I thought over it, I could see how someone who didn't know me could believe that. Nick and I are always together, and he knows me better than anyone else.
Edward continued. "But eventually Emmett told me that you were single, and he wondered why I hadn't talked to you yet. Rosalie told him that you mentioned me."
Now it was my turn to blush. Never trust Rosalie to keep a secret from her boyfriend.
"So I waited and eventually an opportunity came. You left your sweater at the lunch table one day and I went to return it to you. But your brother answered the door..."
"Oh." That one sentence was all I needed as an explanation. I remember that day, but now I had new eyes.
I had been sitting up in the den listening to a Paramore CD when I heard the doorbell. I ran downstairs, but Tyler beat me. Since I was already downstairs, I wandered into the kitchen to start on dinner. I was simmering some onions on the stove when I heard my brother arguing with whoever was at the door.
I walked to the door to try and settle whatever was wrong, but I only caught my brother slamming the door. He turned around and threw me my sweater and then stormed downstairs muttering about something.
I opened my mouth, but I was swallowed by darkness.
