A/N: All characters belong exclusively to Stephanie Meyer. Other standard disclaimers apply.

New York Kids

By: C.K Degu

Chapter Three: Mushaboom

Weeks after my first day of school, after I finished up with my sandwich, I went back to school, running, as it were, because I was late. Throwing on a raincoat and jamming a hat to my head, I made a run for it. Again, I was running across the courtyard when I hit a concrete wall. Lying on the floor, I felt my head was swirling. Since when was there a brick wall in the middle of the courtyard? My mind was swirling as I closed my eyes. I was seriously afraid to open them. Where's my hat? But then I heard a voice calling my name. It was very deep, very…sexy.

"Bella? Bella are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said without opening my eyes.

"Then why are your eyes still closed?" A very amused reply right there from him, and I had to fight back a smile. I was pretty sure I was blushing though.
"Oh, because I'm afraid that my world will fall out."

I hear a melodious laugh suddenly, I'm lifted. I was lighter than air, and I was floating. What the heck?

"Oh," I said, opening my eyes. Someone was carrying me. I look up and it was Edward. EDWARD CULLEN WAS CARRYING ME.

"Holy crap," I blurted out, gasping and covering my potty mouth. Edward laughed again. Wow. He looked really good from this point of view.
"Why are you carrying me?" I asked him.

"You hit your head on something in the courtyard and you fell."
"Yes, I remember that it was cold and concrete."

Was it just me, or did he wince a little bit when he heard me say that? Maybe my mind was getting seriously frazzled. I wasn't too sure. Edward made a little motion and his made me wrap my arms around his neck.

"Oooooh, Virgin Mary just became Mary Magdalene!" Chris said as he passed by the empty hallway. I shot him a dirty look.

"Virgin Mary?" Edward asked, still amused. He was walking pretty slowly, like he was afraid I would pass out or something.

"It's a long story that my head can't comf—under—uhm…it's a long story," I said, feeling no need to fully explain this to Edward right now. But I can find something else to talk about. "What the heck did I hit back there?"
"In your words, something cold and concrete," Edward said.

"Yes, cold. Kind of like you. Did I bump into you?" I asked, looking up at him again. And then he looked a little upset. And also slightly panicked. It was weird that his emotions were so transparent. I could see it, the little frowns on his otherwise perfect face and each change of emotion. I didn't notice in anyone else.

"Edward?"
"Here we are, the infirmary," he said, somehow managing to open the door. The white light seemed so soothing. And Edward smelled really good.

The last thing I remember is the nurse laughing at a bump on my head and Edward doing some form of exclamation as the darkness swirled around my face. Fun.

By the time I come around, the day was already over. Apparently school let out early today. I opened my eyes to adjust to the cream color of the ceiling and the glare of the lights. I slowly sit up and my head is no longer spinning. I sigh in relief. But before I could hop off the bed, I heard Edward say my name. It was almost too soft to register, but I'd caught it just as it escaped his lips.

"Bella!" Elizabeth exclaimed, jumping up off her chair and coming to me.

"You're up! You're breathing! Mom and dad aren't going to kill me!" Then she proceeded to hug the wind out of me, which wasn't unusual. My sister was affectionate sometimes overly so.

"Stop, you're cutting off circulation!" I exclaimed, pushing her away, embarrassed. Before my sister could retort, someone came into the room.

"She's awake?" I heard Emmett ask as he came in. Elizabeth was then occupied with telling him that I was alright. I looked at them and sighed a little. They did look good together, happily consumed in their own little bubble of happiness. They looked like the kind of couple that we saw in movies. He must have seen that, so Edward smiled and stood against the bed to join me.

"She's just happy to see you're alright," he reassured me.

"How would you know that?" I asked him curiously. He lightly tapped the side of his head.

"I'm pretty good at reading people."
"Like an intuition?" I ask him curiously. Was it just me, or did the smile on his lips curve a little more, as if he was amused?

"Perception," he explained to me, and then the subject was closed. He offered his hand and helped me back on solid ground. I laughed to myself, and he gave me a curious look.

"I kind of forgot what it was like to be on land, after all that carrying you did," I explained, and that satisfied him.
"It was the least I could do."
"Edward, it's not your fault that I ran into you," I said, laughing it off. I was now sure of myself that Edward Cullen was the concrete wall I had bumped in to. He didn't look so happy with that.

"Bella, I was nowhere near you when you ran into the wall."
I frowned at him. Why was he trying to make me think otherwise?

"Edward, please don't be a liar. You're too nice."
"Believe me, I am anything but nice."
"Oh yeah? What about the whole chivalry act? Carrying me around the school like a bride thing? Thanks to you, I may not be Mary anymore, but I'll be a Mary Magdalene!"
"Do Biblical references annoy you that much?" Edward asked me, which frustrated me even more.

"That's not even an argument, Edward."

"Well please do enlighten me on what a proper argument would before you so I can respond accordingly," He seemed on the verge of laughing at me. Like I was some kind of an idiot.

"Why do you insist on telling me that you are not as hard as stone and cold as hell?"
"Because I—"
Just before he could reply, he grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the infirmary, away from the nurse's disapproving glare and my sister and his brothers' eavesdropping ears. When we go out to the hall, he dropped my arm almost immediately and sighed. I frowned at him and crossed my arms over my chest. I may have looked like a three year old, but I couldn't help myself. Edward Cullen was being impossible. Though there was no way I could look away from him, there was no way I could like him either at this moment. He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them, the gold resting on my face. I always thought his eyes were lighter in color.

"Look, Bella, you've had a very long day. I'll drive you home," he said calmly and coolly. But it didn't help me at all. It just made him look arrogant.

"No thank you, I'll walk," I said, stomping away from him, with my bag and books already with me. I didn't even bother to look back. I couldn't stand to look back. If I did look back and he was looking at me, I knew that I would stop and come running back to him. And if I did look back and he wasn't looking at me at all, it would just hurt too much.