BPOV

My day just went downhill from there. English was okay, and I could feel the passion for his subject radiating from every one of Mr. Cullen's pores and that usually made it so much easier to respect what they had to say. The rest of the teachers here were crappy, and the trig teacher actually made me stand up and introduce myself. I thought I wanted the routine, but actually what I wanted was something to enjoy. I was sure English would be it, and now the rest just seemed 100% useless.

I don't make friends easily, so when a curly haired girl, an excitable puppy of a student, bounded towards me with an overly friendly smile I slinked away before she reached me. I was obviously going to dodge that bullet. I wasn't quite sure when I had decided being on my own was the way forward but I was going along with it. If you let people in, they let you down.

Last period was gym, and to my credit, I did actually consider going for like 2 minutes. Then I'd have to get undressed and have people staring at me for whole other reasons than just my being new. I made the executive decision to sit in my truck and listen to music on some obscure radio station that I'd found. It played my kind of music. Men with husky voices and guitars and probable beards, I was kind of a folk girl. Start as I mean to go on, I smiled.

I sat in the passenger seat, kicked my shoes off and rested my bare feet on the dashboard. Start as I mean to go on, I smiled. From the bottom of my jeans you could see my pale ankles encircled by the various anklets I had on. I loved them, the little bells I had on them sounded like coins jingling when I walked and it was comforting, like the sound of a rising and falling chest reminding you that you're alive.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of copper. Mr. Cullen, I was sure. He looked at the truck with a look of mild disgust while he made his way towards a silver Volvo. Figures. Then his eyes quickly darted to mine, and an unreadable expression crossed his features. Great... my first day and I'm already gonna be ratted out for skipping gym. He was starting to make his way over and my heart sank.

He motioned for me to open the door, which I did. Still in my previous position, feet on the dashboard. I wanted to try and convey confidence even if I didn't mean it.

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere Bella...?" He asked. Confused, and so not the picture of fury I was expecting.

Lie, don't lie? Lie, don't lie?

"Yeah, gym", my mouth decided for me, before my brain had time to think it through.

"And you're not there because..?" He urged me to go on.

"Because it's serious ninth circle hell"

"Dante, too? Well, Bella you are a mystery." He winked at me. Winked?

"What, you aren't gonna report this?"

"No. I would have given my left arm to have a teacher not bust me for skipping gym when I was in high school", he grinned.

I laughed nervously, not sure whether he was lying or not. I also let my eyes look him up and down properly for the first time. He certainly didn't look like he skipped gym much, unless of course the body of a renaissance statue was something he had just naturally acquired. I doubted it.

I looked back up at him and his eyes were unbelievably concentrated. I blushed intensely from being caught looking at him.

"Well, I'll leave you to the raw awesome power of The Felice Brothers" he smiled, motioning towards my old stereo.

"You know The Felice Brothers?" I asked, totally shocked. He struck me as a chart music kind of guy.

"Sure. I saw them in Seattle a couple of weeks ago at the Tractor Tavern. You didn't go?"

"I didn't live here then but I totally would have" No way. Attractive, intelligent and into Bob Dylan-esque folk music. Way too good to be true.

"They were good. They even did Her Eyes Dart Around. You know the one?" I did but I didn't acknowledge him, I was too busy wondering why it was so easy to talk to him without cowering away in fear. Then I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of him softly singing, "O my love is light as a dove. Her skin is fair and dark is her hair. And her eyes dart 'round and fall on the ground... That's weird. It sounds like you." He smiled briefly and then as if considering his words he frowned deeply. I blushed. He made his excuses. And stalked away shaking his head minutely as he went, looking like he was berating himself for something. I was left confused and reeling.