Chapter Three: Trouble

He had dark stormy eyes was the first thing I saw. They were the colour of thunderclouds and as his furious glare found me I fidgeted and swung my hair round so that it covered my face, like a protective curtain against the lightning bolts that I could almost feel arcing out of his eyes.

I finally looked up to see that his eyes were focused again on the unconscious figure on the floor. Oh my god. There was an unconscious guy on the floor. Hear that? UNCONSCIOUS. My eyes were inevitably drawn back to the stormy eyed guy.

He had sandy brown hair that was cropped short, his eyebrows were thick over those dark, dangerous eyes, his face was pale and taut with anger, he was intimidating and tall, and he emanated danger. Maybe it was the fact that his hands were balled into shaking fists, maybe it was that he glared so murderously down at the unconscious guy on the floor, or maybe it was that he was handsome in a devilish, avenging death angel kind of way. But whatever it was, I was getting a stay-away-from-him-he's-trouble vibe from him. A very strong one.

There was a huge crowd gathered around the unconscious guy and the stormy eyed guy. There were hushed whispers running through the masses of huddled, watching students. But no one moved. No one stepped forward. No one attempted to calm the angry guy down. No one even moved to help the unconscious guy, though several people were darting anxious glances at him. I think everyone was getting the same vibe off the angry guy as I was. Well, when a guy is staring down at an already unconscious victim like he wants to kill him, then the message is pretty explicit: don't mess with me.

"Jason! I have been searching the entire campus for you!" A reproachful voice exclaimed.

Every human present looked up-well, every conscious human did- to look at the intruder. My heart hiccupped when I saw Edward striding into the hall, wearing an extremely annoyed frown.

"I told you I'd meet you at the dorm, why-" Edward suddenly stopped, appearing to finally have noticed the silent students gathered around him and his apparent friend.

He slowly looked down with stiff shoulders and a face tight with dread, almost as if he knew what to expect but was hoping that he would turn out wrong anyway. He stared at the unconscious guy at his feet and his shoulders sagged. He shook his head and said as if he were bearing a weight greater than that of Atlas "Jason, you need to get back to the dorm."

The other guy didn't move and Edward finally looked up at him again and his expression was…it was something. It was as hard as rock. "You need to go. Now." If his expression was rock, then his voice was something much more than steel. He was giving a command. One that left no room for argument. He was in charge here. That much was clear. He was in control and he was going to control.

The other guy, the angry one, the one with the scary, stormy eyes looked at Edward, the anger not yet gone and for a moment I was afraid for Edward. This guy was not a force to be reckoned with. He made me think of hurricanes, lightning, collapsing buildings. Destruction. And for a moment…just for a moment, when he was staring at Edward with that concentrated fury I was afraid that he might destroy Edward. But then he gave one terse nod, his mouth tight and then turned around and walked down the hallway, down the direction from which Edward had come. He walked away, shoulders and back stiff with lingering anger.

I watched him walk away and I let out a breath of relief. I heard my relief echoed when Edward also let out a breath in a sigh. He, like me, had been watching the other guy walk away and now that he was gone he looked down at the still unconscious guy on the floor, then he looked around at all the witnesses. Everyone was watching him intently, like he was the world cup match on TV.

Edward cleared his throat. "Uh…I'm sorry for whatever happened here. I'll gladly make it up to you all and to start with, I'll make sure myself that this person here will get to the school nurse."

No one moved. No one said anything. Edward looked around again and then continued "My friend, whom you have all just met, has a few problems and issues that he would like to put behind him. He and I both hope to make a fresh start here at Oceanside." When everyone just stared at him, I could see him beginning to get agitated. "My friend, Jason, has a really bad temper and…he gets carried away sometimes." I could see that he was weighing each word he said carefully. "It won't happen again." He promised, quite sincerely.

It was obvious that there was nothing more he could say so he bent down by the unconscious guy and began to check his pulse. He was wearing an expression of focused concentration and he looked like he knew exactly what he was doing. This was probably what finally got everyone to move away. They thought he knew what he was doing. He looked confident and sure of himself and that reassured everyone. It made everyone think that this unconscious student was in responsible hands and that they didn't need to worry. To them, Edward was reassurance. But I recognised him for what he was. Damage control.

He had said whatever he had needed to say to get any witnesses out of here. He had assured them that they could put this behind them and forget about it. He had wanted his friend, Jason, out of here so no one could start playing the blame game. Now he was pretending to check Jason's victim over for any serious injuries as if he knew what he was doing. He was clearing up the mess. I don't know how I knew this but I did.

I felt a tugging and at first I thought it was my excited heart urging me to go and talk to Edward. But then I realised it was just an excited Alice pulling at my sleeve to get my attention.

"Bella!" She whispered so that Edward wouldn't hear us. At least, I think that's why she was whispering. "We need to go!"

I guess I could see why she was so desperate to flee. None of us knew exactly what had happened here, except that it had ended with an unconscious body. Whatever had happened, it was clear that it hadn't been harmless or forgettable. But if we weren't here, then we could forget about it. But strangely enough, I didn't share Alice's and Rosalie's need to escape from this. At the moment, I could only feel the need to go and talk to Edward. I guess I was afraid that he and the angry guy were as thick as thieves and would need to transfer out of the school as an escape from some sinister plot. Or maybe my attraction to him was more pathetic than I thought. I think the latter is more likely.

"You guys go on ahead." I told Alice and Rosalie. "I'll catch up."

"Bella." Rosalie said, looking concerned. "What are you up to?"

I stared at her. "What could possibly make you think that I'm up to anything?"

"Bella, it's your first day at Oceanside. What could you possibly have to do here on your first day other than unpack?" Rosalie enquired shrewdly and worriedly.

"I…want to go find the library and find a book to read." I lied, hoping that it was still too soon for them to pick up on my bad lying skills.

"But you might get lost. I could come with you." Alice offered generously.

I darted a quick glance at Edward to make he was still there. He was but he was starting to stand up. I had to be quick. "No, no! It's fine. I can ask for directions. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

They looked doubtful but they seemed to take my word for it and thankfully left.

"Do you want me to go run for the school nurse?" I quickly blurted out in a desperate attempt to stop him from leaving.

He went still. He slowly turned his head to look at me. I had expected the stiff set of his shoulders to relax when he saw it was me, relieved to see a familiar face rather than a returned witness. But I was disappointed. The tension did not leave him and there was no change in his expression and for a moment I was scared that he didn't recognise me and that hurt more than anything. The thought that he could forget me within one afternoon. But then his expression did change, the tension did not fade at all but there was a flicker of recognition that set my panicking heart at ease.

"Bella, this isn't exactly a good time." He said, sounding extremely stressed.

"I can see that. That's why I'm asking if you want me to get the nurse for you." I told him, feeling awkward as his hard face remained unmoving.

But then as I watched, I saw his lips twitch with the beginnings of a smile. "But you don't know your way around yet."

I smiled tentatively at him. "It's called embarking on an adventure, Edward."

He laughed and I felt relieved that the tension had finally left him.

"An adventure you might not come back from." He told me when he had stopped laughing. "I don't want you to get lost."

"But if you went looking for the nurse, then you would get lost too." I told him.

He smiled ruefully. "I know. I was trying to think of a way around that but I couldn't so I guess that's just a risk I'll have to take."

"Yeah but you might end up wandering around the school for hours and hours and while you're doing that a lot of other people will come down here and see your friend's victim, and that's not good for damage control."

Edward's smile vanished. "My friend's victim? Damage control? What do you mean?" Edward's voice was threaded with a string of danger and his face was thunderous. I felt frightened but I tried not to show it. Unfortunately, I had unconsciously taken a step back and Edward had evidently noticed for his face immediately softened and he lowered his voice as he said gently "I think you've misunderstood the situation here, Bella."

I guess I should tell you all now. I'm a stubborn creature and when I'm convinced I'm right, then… I'm right. I could see that Edward was trying to talk me out of seeing the truth and I refused to give in. But resistance was becoming increasingly harder with those emerald eyes staring down at me so beseechingly. "I haven't misunderstood anything. Here's what I know: your friend is not someone whose bad side I'd like to get on and you are trying to cover up this whole incident."

"Bella-" He began but I cut him off.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to make things difficult for you. In fact, I'd like to help you. If you'd let me." I told him.

He seemed surprised but he quickly hid it as he replied politely "That's very kind of you, Bella. But I don't think it's necessary."

I was just about to respond when a loud groan drew our gazes downwards. The unconscious guy was starting to stir. Fast as lightning, Edward swiftly knelt down beside him.

"Are you okay?" Edward demanded, more like he was conducting an interrogation than as if he was actually concerned.

The guy tried to sit up but then he groaned and flopped back down to the floor like an uprooted fish. I felt sorry for him. He looked quite pathetic. There was a huge bump on his head and all his stuff was still scattered about everywhere. I decided to help him out and began to hurry about the place, picking up various items.

"What's your name?" I heard Edward ask in that sharp, intrusive voice. Another groan was the only reply he got.

Edward fired another question at him. "What happened?"

Yet another groan. I rolled my eyes, picking up something as I did. I hastily dropped it when I saw it was some underwear. I wiped my hand on my jeans and walked back to Edward and the guy. Edward was staring at him intensely as if he thought he could stare the answers to his questions out of the guy.

I crouched next to the guy. "Do you need us to take you to the nurse?"

"I'll do it. You can go back to your room, Bella." Edward said quickly.

I looked at him sharply. "You're just trying to get rid of me."

"I don't need your help." He told me, not denying it.

"Aspirin. I need aspirin." The previously unconscious guy moaned before I could say anything.

"I'll get you some." I assured him.

"No I'll do it." Edward snapped.

I glared at him. "I'm only trying to help."

"I don't need your help." He said again from between gritted teeth.

Edward's friend's victim suddenly got up and ignoring us both began to walk down the hall, away from us, clutching his head whilst moaning "Aspirin" over and over again.

"Well, not anymore you don't." I say to Edward.

"I never needed it." Edward stated rudely, standing up.

"Where is all this hostility coming from?" I demanded. "I don't see how I deserve any of it. All I've ever done is tried to help you."

Edward closed his eyes and then opened them and sighed as he ran his hand through his bronze hair, mussing it up further. "You're right. I'm being a real bastard. I'm really sorry, Bella. You're a nice girl and I shouldn't have treated you so badly. I'm just stressed because it's only my first day here and already I have to deal with Jason's mess-ups."

"You make it sound like you have to deal with these kinds of things all the time." I observed.

"Let's just say that Jason has a certain talent for getting into trouble." Edward said evasively.

"Okay, but why do you have to be the one to get him out of trouble?" I queried.

There was a long pause before he finally answered "Because he's my friend."

"Okay. But why can't he get himself out of trouble? Or better yet, stay out of it?" I asked.

Edward looked uncomfortable and he seemed to be searching for words but then he sighed and replied "It's complicated."

"Well, isn't there a way to simplify it?" I pressed, refusing to let the subject drop.

He smiled that crooked smile that always put me in a daze where I couldn't say or do anything but stare at him. "It isn't an algebra problem, Bella. Life isn't that simple."

"Says you." I huffed.

He grinned. "Yes. Says me."

We stood silently for a moment, just staring at one another. The hall was completely empty apart from us and personally, I liked it that way. It was both a joy and a thrill ride to be alone with Edward. My heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's wings beat the air and I was feeling light headed as if I might faint at any minute but in a good way, if that's even possible.

"Well, I should get going now." Edward told me.

"Well, bye then." I said, trying to hide my disappointment.

But he must have heard it anyway because he smiled gently and told me "I'm sure we'll run into each other again."

"Yeah." I agreed in a downcast voice as I looked down at my shoes so as to avoid looking at those sparkling green pools he calls eyes, no longer caring if he heard in my voice how the prospect of not seeing him again blocked out all the colour in my mood so that I was feeling a black void where my heart was as heavy as a stone.

"But in case we don't" He said "Can I have your number?"

My head popped up at that and I stared at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"Can I have your number?" He asked again, smiling.

"But- I-you…" I spluttered, trying to get my head around the fact that he was asking me for my number as if he actually wanted to hear my voice and talk to me again.

"Well, until you remember how to use speech again…" He took out a pen from his jeans pocket and then gently took my hand. My heart practically exploded at his warm touch and electricity sparked all over my body. I wasn't even aware of what he was doing with my hand. I was just too engrossed in the sensations I felt at his touch. I was staring at the side of his face as he bent over my hand. I could see a tiny, almost minuscule thin white scar on his jaw as if he had been nicked by a knife. Weirdly enough, this little imperfection only seemed to add to his magnetic beauty.

"There. My number." He released my hand and I saw that he had scrawled his number on my hand in black ink. "Call whenever you want." He told me with a wink, almost like he was flirting with me.

I felt my cheeks warm and I looked down at my feet again.

I heard rather than saw him laugh. "I was wondering when I would get to see that blush of yours again."

I mumbled something incoherently.

"Well, like I said, call whenever you remeber how to use speech again." Edward told me as he began to walk down the hall away from me.

"Wait! I thought you said I could call you whenever I want." I called after him.

The only response I got was a musical laugh that sent my heart soaring. I watched his departing back, until I could no longer see him. And even then the euphoric joy that I had felt upon receiving his number didn't fade. At that moment, I was certain that I had found everlasting happiness in Edward Cullen and that things could only go uphill from there. But as with everything else, I turned out wrong.

I have just one word: REVIEW. Please? Okay, maybe that was two words. I'M HUMAN. I MAKE MISTAKES. And besides, I never said I was a maths whiz.