I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT.
I ran like a bat out of hell through the parking lot of Forks High. I double check the schedule in my hand and race into my first class. Calculus. I wasn't that late, only a few minutes, but late enough to draw attention to myself.
"Ms. Swan, I presume?" The teacher, some balding guy wearing a pastel yellow dress shirt, asks. I nod because I'm out of breath. I can imagine what I look like right now, panting and damp from the rain. "Glad you could fit us into your busy schedule" he sneers.
"No prob" I reply. Some of the kids in the class laugh. I smile and slide into and empty seat near the door. I hear Mr. Teacher Guy mutter "Don't make a habit of it" and I laugh.
I do alright in school, average. I try to keep under the radar for the most part. I figure the more attention I get, the more attention Matt gets. He already gets more than he can usually handle so why add to it?
I'm more mature than most of the people here and I don't really buy into the typical high school drama. Plus, the kids here would never understand my brother. I can't have parties or sleepovers or do any of that girly stuff at home, and I can't just up and leave him alone to do it elsewhere.
At lunch, I sit with Alice, Angela and Ben. Every once in a while, Jasper, Alice's boy friend, sits here too. Alice and Angela are the only people that I trust with my brother. They love him. When they look at him, they see what I see. That's all I can really ask for.
My last class of the day is biology. I'm one of the first people in the class so I choose an empty desk by the door.
While I wait for the bell, I draw absently in a notebook. When it rings, I automatically look up to the teacher.
Just as Mr. Banner opens his mouth, the door next to me slams open. In walks Edward Cullen, like he doesn't have a care in the world. Maybe that's why he gets to my nerves… because he's so freakin carefree and happy all the time. He's like Alice on steroids.
I roll my eyes and go back to doodling on the paper until I hear the chair next to mine move out with a loud screech. I look up, eyes wide, as Edward flops into the seat next to me.
The teacher is droning on about classroom rules and passing out a syllabus, just like every other teacher has today. Edward turns to me.
"Hey" he says. He doesn't say anything else, just lifts up his arm for a hand shake. I look at him with a smirk. A handshake? Okaaaaay.
Edward has an older brother, Emmett, who graduated last year and younger sister who is in Matt's year. I've only spoken to him once or twice, but who hasn't? Edward talks to everyone.
"So, Bella" the way he says my name gives me chills. I feel my face heat up and bend my head so my hair falls in front of it. Edward laughs "How's your first day back?"
"Average" I say, monotone. I don't smile or even look at him. I know it's bitchy but he is the last person I need to associate myself with.
"My names Edward, if you care" I can almost hear him pout. I steal a look at him. His eyes are the color of the plastic emeralds in a necklace my mom bought me before she left.
"Do you enjoy being a walking billboard for Nike?" I ask, eyeing his shirt. He looks down at his shirt, too, and laughs.
"Its laundry day" he smirks, which almost makes me gasp aloud. I hide it with a cough as my face gets hotter.
I sigh and look back to the teacher. Edward doesn't say anything for the rest of the class, but I can feel him looking at me from time to time. I'm not quite sure what to make of that.
On the way back to Matthew's school, I wonder what was going on with Edward. I know I shouldn't risk it, but would it be so bad to have one friend? Only during school, because surely he had more important things to do then sit around at home with me. Maybe it'd be nice to have a friend who had no idea who my brother was or that he was autistic.
When I got there, the first thing I saw was Matt sitting on a step with his head in his hands. I roll down the passenger seat window.
"Matt" I call out to him. He looks up and stands. As he walks, he looks everywhere but the car. "How was your day?" I ask when he gets into his seat.
"Good" But I can tell he's lying
"Matthew" I scold him. I start to pull out of the school.
"The lights were too bright" He confesses. "I had to take three sensory breaks. I hate that room. I makes me feel like a- like a… a retard" His eyebrows crease when he says this. I sigh.
"Matty, you're not retarded"
"I know, that's what you always say" he says, looking out the window. He doesn't say anything else for the whole ride home.
When we get home, Matt goes to his room and I start trying to throw things together to make a blue dinner. Once it's finished I call to him and hand him a plate.
We sit together and eat but Matt is silent. This isn't all that weird but I can't help but think something's still on his mind.
"Did you do your homework?" I ask him, trying to make some conversation.
"Didn't have much. It's only the first day" He doesn't look up from him plate.
"Well…" I tail off because he hasn't answered my question. He does this a lot, because he can't straight out lie to me, he often avoids the question or doesn't tell the whole truth.
"I got assigned a project in science class. We have to do it all at home. I'm supposed to work with someone but I'm gonna ask Mr. Anders if I can work alone" he bites his lip.
"And why would you do that?" I ask him, setting my fork down. There must be something bad because Matt doesn't usually attract extra attention to himself unless he has absolutely no other choice.
"You know why" When he says this I look at him and raise an eyebrow "The girl I'm supposed to do the project with… she's what you would call a Barbie"
This makes me laugh. On Saturdays, Matt and I go to the park up the street. He doesn't usually want to play sports or anything with other kids so we just play this game where we look at people and make up their life story. I think it helps him interpret people.
"Well, it can't be that bad" I say with a small smile "Who is this girl?"
Matthew reaches into the pocket of his shorts and pulls out a half-sheet of paper folded up and slides it across the table. As I open it up, I look at Matt.
Rosalie Cullen.
Cullen? Oh man… this ought to be interesting.
"She doesn't want to work with me. And her and her friends are really just mean and I don't think I want to work with her either" He rambles and puts his head in his hands.
"Matt, you're gonna meet people your whole life that are gonna be mean. You can't just give in. You gotta show her that you won't let it bother you, okay? Maybe you guys can even be frien-" Before I can finish, the lock on the front door clicks and our dad walks in.
"Bella?" I hear in the doorway.
"In the kitchen!" I call back and then look to see that Matt has gone back to eating. As our dad walks in, I turn toward him. "There's some food left" I say.
Charlie looks at the all-blue dinner on my plate and scoffs, showing me a McDonald's bag.
"Hi dad" Matt says, but he's looking at his plate. Charlie walks over and claps him on the shoulder. This makes Matt cringe and coil into his chair, taking deep breaths out of his mouth. Dad hardly notices.
"Hey, kid" he says, then comes and kissed my forehead. "Later Bells"
And then he walks out. I hear the steps creep and then his door click shut.
It's not until later that night that I resolve to calling Rosalie Cullens parents.
I'm pacing as I enter the number that was on the paper that Matthew abandoned, along with his dinner, after dad left.
Ring, ring, ring-
"Uhm Hello?" I am pretty sure this voice is Edward's. There is a commotion on the other side of the phone and I hear him chuckle.
"Edward?" I ask, all business.
"Yeah. Who's this?" he sounds skeptical. I can imagine his eyebrows furrowed and a little crease between his eyes. I clear my throat.
"This is Bella" I answer, automatically "Bella Swan" I add quickly.
He doesn't pretend to hide his surprise. "Bella Swan?" his voice seems higher "To what do I owe the honor"
"Can I talk to your parents?"
"Huh? Oh, Uhm… well they're out of town this week for a medical conference" He still seems surprised, but his voice is back to normal. "Uhm, can I ask why?"
"Your sister?" I wait until I hear him grunt in agreement "and my little brother are supposed to work on a project together"
"Your… wait. Hold on" He stammers then I hear him yell "Rose!"
I heard foot steps and then the sounds were muddled. But I caught the gist…
"You have to do a school project?"
"Uh… yeah? I'm supposed to work with this kid…"
"Yeah I got that. So, what really up?"
"He's weird… He's like… retarded or something"
"Rosalie!"
"What! It's true… I don't know…"
I decide to cut in. "Matthew is not retarded. He's autistic" My voice wavers a bit, because I've never really heard first hand how kids his age see him.
"Oh… man. I'm so sorry. I didn't think-" Edward is obviously nervous and his voice changes.
"Yeah. Whatever" I mutter. "Well, I'm not gonna let Matt back out of this, no matter how bad he wants to, so can we try to figure something out?"
"Uhm… sure. Yeah, sure" I can't help but think how cute he sounds with his words all tied up in knots like that… I don't think there's ever been a time when Edward Cullen didn't know what to say.
"It'd be best if she came over here" I say "Matt would be more comfortable that way. Understand something, okay? My brother has Aspergers. What comes to your mind when you think of autism? Matthew is not like that. I don't have to explain anything to you, but I don't want you to go straight to judging him, like everyone else"
"Of course, Bella. Look, I'm really sorry about my sister-"
"No, it's alright" Not. "So, what do you wanna do?"
"I could bring her over on Thursday?" He offers weakly.
"Yeah okay, that works. I'll talk to you at school" I say "Oh, and Edward?" I start but I stop myself. What was I about to say? I didn't want to admit it to myself… I definitely couldn't bring myself to say it.
"Yeah?" He answers. I don't say anything. "Bella…?"
Please don't talk about my brother with anyone at school "Nothing… never mind" How could I think that? I'm not ashamed of my brother. I'm only looking out for him, always looking out for him.
"Oh, okay" Edward says. There's an awkward silence as we both try to come up with something to say.
"Well…Bye" I hang up before he can say anything else. I set down the phone, my hands shaking.