Chapter 3

Bella's POV:

It never ceased to amaze me how the fact that I was a vampire didn't change how horrific I was in gym. Sure, now I was super-fast, unnaturally graceful and ridiculously strong, but those were not traits I was allowed to show off in front of the human eye. So even though I was I a lot better in the class than I undoubtedly would've been as a human, I still received a ruthless amount of teasing from my siblings.

But even though ending my first day with gym would usually have put me in a bitter mood, today I didn't care. And yes, it was because my thoughts were somewhat occupied by a copper-haired human. Anyone would have to admit that he is rather charming, especially for a mortal. If you couldn't tell by simply looking at him, you'd only have to notice the amount of attention he got from the female population of Fork's high. For a split second I honestly thought that his crooked smile would make my stone-cold heart beat again. But it did not.

And it was that thought that put me back into my dull mood. Vampires could not be with humans, in any way shape or form. After each mistake I made, after each slip-up I had, that was what Carlisle would chant. And just to confirm, when I say 'slip-up', I don't mean draining the life out of them. I mean falling in love with someone who could never love you back if you showed your true colours.

But I would at least befriend Edward Mason. Well, that was what I told myself anyway.

Edward's POV:

I was oddly cheerful on the second day back to school, and it didn't go unnoticed by my parents. I told them that I was just excited to watch the sophomore football try-outs, which wasn't untrue, but it also wasn't the reason for my good mood. It was definitely the first time I had ever looked forward to biology in my entire life.

I maneuvered out of the driveway in my Volvo, and raced to pick up Eric, Collin, Ben and Tyler. No one ever relied on Mike to pick them up, he way always late. They were all being especially irritating today, pretending to be performing a world tour to a CD of MCR. But even though I refused to join in, nothing that they did would pull me into a bad mood.

Ben and I talked (well, he talked and I listened) about the latest comics out. Every five or so minutes my eyes flitted around the parking lot, and my friend shot me a knowing look.

"What?" I asked, feigning confusion.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Dear Lord, don't tell me you're in denial as well as in love."

"Love?" I said the word as if the idea of it was foreign to me. Sure, I'd had my fair share of dates, but nothing ever turned out to be long-term.

"Well, maybe not love. But you've never been this obsessed over a girl after a mere day." He stated as a matter of fact. Ah, Ben. Always the one to observe. At times it was overwhelmingly agitating that he seemed to know some parts of me better than I did.

"I am not obsessed." My voice came out very defensively. At that exact moment, the loud, obnoxious sound of a motorcycle caught my attention. My head snapped towards the sight of Bella Cullen, and I think I heard Ben chuckle.

The muted murmurs of the student body started again. I sighed. In a way, I supposed that I was no better than the rest of them. The poor people were probably sick of the staring already. But to be fair, I only had eyes for the one of them.

I pushed down the fluttering in my stomach and marched over to where they were parked. She was swinging her toned legs off of her Harley Sprint to stand. I couldn't help but noticed how her shining hair rippled as she shook it out, and how at ease she looked after her journey.

"Bella." I greeted.

She turned around disturbingly quickly, telling me that I had taken her by surprise. Then she looked confused at herself, and took a step towards me cautiously.

"Edward," Bella replied cautiously, glancing at her family almost nervously. Maybe I had overstepped some sort of invisible boundary. The leggy blonde wore a sour expression and shook her head disapprovingly, then grumbled something to the big, dark haired guy. The small one- Alice, I remembered- smiled at me impishly, and I couldn't help but return it. The blonde male kept his mouth firmly shut, and didn't meet my eyes for more than a second. "How are you this morning?" Bella asked politely.

"Positively amazing. And you?"

"I… could be much worse." She said, her lips curving into a small smile.

"So, what's your first period?" I asked, trying to sound casual. It was hard when you knew that all eyes were on you.

"English. Mr Mason." She frowned deeply, as if this troubled her.

"Ouch. I've got him for third. Some dick started a rumour that he was my dad, same last names and all. I don't think I ever really lived that one down, especially after Mike said that we looked alike."

Bella giggled and clapped her hand over her mouth, as if she were shocked that the sound had come out of her. "Care to walk me to class, then?"

I was slightly taken aback, but tried not to show it. I held out my arm for her to take- it may have been old-fashioned, but it was a charmer. She hesitated to take it for a couple of seconds, and I raised my eyebrows. That was all the prompting Bella needed.

As soon as her nimble hand closed around my forearm, I let out an almost embarrassingly loud sigh. I prayed to God that she didn't hear it. Her skin was oddly cold, but even in the nasty weather it was soothing. It was ridiculously smooth, and somehow managed to be hard and soft at the same time. We chatted until we reached room 24, Mr Mason's English room.

"I guess this is goodbye then." Bella said in her melodic voice, squeezing my arm gently before letting go completely.

"I'll see you in bio." And before I could really comprehend what I was doing, I leaned in and quickly kissed her cheek. It was very chaste, and hopefully not too wet. It could be perceived as normal, right? I kissed Angela on the cheek, and my mother. It would have been completely meaningless if I didn't like Bella in the way that I so clearly did.

She stiffened for a minute, before rolling her shoulders backwards and looking up at me again. She took and big deep breath before shaking her head a little and smiling at me hugely. Bella pressed her fingertips up to where I had kissed her, and then disappeared into the classroom.

I grinned throughout the whole of Trig.

A/N: I'm not so happy about this chapter, hopefully the next one will not only be longer but better written. Reviews appreciated!