THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO MY AUNT DEBBIE:
03-01-1952 - 11-25-08
RIP - YOU WILL ALWAYS BE LOVED "MORE".
Hey everyone. Please read this:
So this is Chapter 3 of my first individual fanfiction. I want to say THANK YOU to anyone who has taken the time to read and review this! I truly appreciate it.
I wanted to create a story that was based on the characters of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, but kind of reverse the roles and give things a new twist. I wanted to keep the vampire/human perspective on things, but make it so Bella was the vampire and Edward was the human that was new to the school. This story is going to have a lot of twists and turns to it, so please stay tuned.
SIDENOTE - I don't have spellcheck on my program [WordPad] and cannot afford a shiny new publisher, does anyone know where I can download a full, free spellcheck program? Thanks in advance!
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Again, here's to cleaning up a few things: Yes Bella is a vampire/Edward is human. Bella does have a power but it is not the same that Edward had. Yes, the rest of the Cullen's will be in the story, but I'm not sure how I will work them in just yet... I want to keep you guessing. No, I do not plan to just mimick the original story. I plan to give it my own twists, but keep some "events" sort of similar, but changed -- if that makes sense. I also plan to keep it that Bella is the one that is infatuated with Edward, even though their roles have changed. And although she is breathtakingly beautiful, she still hasn't been able to see herself clearly.
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Currently rated T but may turn into M as time goes by.
... And again PLEASE REVIEW! Let me know if you like it because if I don't get a good response on it, I'm not going to continue and bore people. LOL!!
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Disclaimer: I own nothing that is Twilight or Stephenie Meyer related. [Though Robert is welcome at any given time to take over my life. ;)]
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For what shall it profit a man,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul.
Mark 8:36
Chapter 3: Crash Course Into Insanity
We drove down the long and winding road in silence. I couldn't figure out anything that could sound intelligent enough to spark up a conversation with him, so I stayed mute.
I had the heater on to help him dry off from the rain that soaked him down, and it was cuasing his sweet smeel to flow through the interior of my car. It overwhelmed me. I wanted to roll down the windows so I wouldn't feel so tempted by him, but I knew it freeze him. So I forced myself to endure it.
Fifteen minutes passed by, and I was starting to get nervous.
"This is an amazing car." Edward's sweet voice broke the silence softly, as he ran his fingers along the dash. "It's an M3, right?"
"Very good." I sighed, keeping my eyes on the road. I continued to sit stiff and hold my breath. I felt his eyes lock onto me and noticed that they were widened in thought. I couldn't help but smile. "What are you thinking?" I asked.
Edward beamed, his eyes taking me in. "I'm just trying to figure out how a beautiful woman like you owns an amazing car like this, and yet you live in Forks."
I shrugged, watching the dotten line on the road disappear beneath my hood as I accelerated. "Well," I began. "My father bought it for me on my last birthday. He said it would keep me out of trouble, and if I couldn't stay away from trouble, then it would at least help me get away faster."
Edward chuckled, leaning his head back against the passenger seat. He gripped the tips of his wet hair with his beautiful fingers, and tilted his head in my direction. "Wow," he spoke after a few moments. "You're something special, Bella."
I looked at him through arched brows. "No," I stiffly replied. "I am not."
Edward's eyes trailed briefly to my speedometer before returning to me. He was deep in thought. I couldn't stay away from him.
Finally he smirked, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. "You don't see yourself very clearly, do you Bella?"
I locked my eyes on him, overwhelmed by the electricity between us in the car, and the direction this conversation had taken. "Trust me," I replied quietly. "I've had a long time to get acquainted with myself... A very long time. I'm nothing special."
I pulled into the slosh wetness of Mike Newton's drive, silently hissing at Ashley Gwinn walking slowly in front of my vehicle. My car had a custom exhaust on it, so I knew she was well aware it was me behind the wheel of this car. If Edward hadn't been with me, it would have taken everything I had not to run her body over.
As I crept closer to the house, through the wind and the mud, I listened to the rain turn into a light sprinkle. I felt the ache in my chest heavily return, as I knew a goodbye was seconds away, once more.
Why, oh WHY do I torture myself this way?
"Well," the Angel beside me spoke as he sat up to stretch out. "I guess we're here."
I nodded, forcing a smile as I watched Mike and the rest of the basketball team cheering and making whistling sounds at us. Edward just smirked at them, mumbling something to himself that I couldn't comprehend.
I shook my head and looked down to my lap, biting my bottom lip nervously. "Well..." I said, unable to continue smiling. "Have fun tonight."
He paused after opening the door, and looked back at me. "Wait, you're not coming in?"
I shook my head.
"Why not?"
"I don't get invited to these type of things."
"But you're a cheerleader," Edward mused.
"Trust me. Not by choice."
"So, you should still get invited."
I shook my head again.
Edward smirked, leaning back inside my car and shutting the door. "I just invited you."
At that moment, it felt like my breath was stolen out of my chest. I couldn't remove myself from his gaze, and I felt myself sinking deeper by the moment. This wasn't good.
"B-But," I stammered. "What about your girlfriend?"
Edward looked at my suspiciously, tilting his head. "Who told you I had a girlfriend?"
Great. Now he thinks I'm a stalker.
I shrugged, unable to respond. I wanted to climb under my car, I felt so embarrassed.
He tilted his head toward Mike and the guys. "Come on," he said, opening the door again.
I shook my head, biting my lip.
Edward closed the door once more, ignoring Mike calling for him, shouting things such as "Get out of the cheerleader's car while you can, Mr Star Athlete! She bites!"
I snarled at him under my breath, and this amused Edward. "Uh oh," he prodded. "I take it you two don't get along too well."
I couldn't control the growl in my chest. "Yes," I sneered, shooting Mike a look from hell. "I refused to go out with him on a date. He's an idiot."
Edward seemed more intrigued. "Why wouldn't you go out with him? He seems like a pretty stand up guy..."
Why so Mike and I could go out on a double date with you and your supermodel girlfriend?
"Yeah," I responded shortly. "Until you hang around him for more than a few seconds. Then his true colors start to show. When I refused him, he chose to spread nasty, awful rumors about me around town and school. It even got back to my father, who's the Chief of Police, which caused me to get into trouble. My dad took Mike's side, worried that I was causing trouble for the townfolk."
Edward thought peacefully for a few moments, pulling and pushing his fingers apart. "Well," he said softly. "Anyone who spreads nasty rumors about you is an idiot. Pay no mind to them. This is just high school, you know?"
I forced a smile toward him, unable to come up with an encouraging response. All I heard was howls coming from the general direction of the crowd of guys by the hood of my car.
"Please come in with me, Bella." Edward begged. "You're the only one I've met so far that I can talk to about something other than baseball. You're very intriguing to me."
I tightened my fingers around the steering wheel and closed my eyes. This was getting carried away. I knew I should leave before I got anymore attatched to him. I knew that my very prescence was drawing him into me, and that hew as interested in the idea of me, rather than me as an actual person, or whatever I was.
Vampires draw humans in. By our voice, and our face, and our smell. It was hopeless that I should convince myself that he'd be interested in me. Anyone who even saw him would know he's better than everyone else in this world.
"Hey" he said, snapping me out of my misery as he softly tapped my shoulder. "I won't let anything happen to you, Bella. I promise."
Chills shot through my body at the minor contact he gave to me, and I released my grip from the wheel. "Okay," I gave in. "For just a few minutes, I guess."
Edward beamed, satisfied that he'd won me over. "Let's go."
I hesitated, watching him jog around my car through the misty rain and open my door. I bit my lip as I climbed out, listening to the whistles from the gathering crowd around my car. I walked behind Edward, feeling disconnected from all the power and sheilded armor I normally carried through the halls at school. I was unguarded and it frightened me.
I heard Ashley and her moronic friends whispering into each other's ears about me, saying how they bet the only way I could ever get Edward to hang out with me was if I put an evil spell on him. I couldn't help but smile at this. "Witch" and "Bella" has seemed to go hand-in-hand since I moved here and Mike became interested in me instead of Ashley. I hissed at her as we walked by, and I couldn't help but amuse my thoughts of all the things I could do to her that made "witching" sound like a gift from Heaven in comparison.
As we continued to push through the sea of people and Edward high-fived a few of his own teammates, I began to feel nauteous with a mixture of nerves and excitement. The smell of so many humans surrounding me, damp after the rain shower was beyond extrutiating. Yet, being in the mere prescence of Edward made those matters feel little in comparison.
At last, we made it. We pushed through the crowd and headed toward the house. I felt more electric shock waves pass through me as Edward's palm touched the small of my back, leading me up the steps. I jumped forward immediately and his hand flew to his side.
"Sorry," he mumbled, caught of guard.
"'S okay." I figited with my hands. "I just... you know..." I tailed off, thinking only about the sweet taste of his blood.
Edward nodded in my silence and opened the front door of Mike's house. I held my breath as he followed me inside, where we were met by more of our peers.
"Bella!" Angela shreeked in shock as she trampled down the staircase. "What are you doing here? When did you -" She cut herself off as Edward came and stood beside me. "Oh," she continued, staring at him with her jaw hanging down. "I see why... Um.. Hi, I'm Angela, Bella's best friend."
Edward shook her hand gracefully with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you Angela. Any friend of Bella's is a friend of mine. I'm Edward Cullen."
Angela couldn't peel her eyes away from him either, and I realized that he had that dazzling effect on all the girls. "So," she piped up as I gave her a light jab in her stomach. "How'd you guys hook up?"
I bit my lip as Edward let out a light chuckle. I couldn't help but wonder what he thought as he laughed, betting a million bucks with myself that he was amused by Angela's naive choice of words.
"Well," Edward began, shoving his hands in his jean pockets and glancing briefly over toward me. "Bella was gracious enough to give me a ride over here, since my family left without me."
Angela looked confused. "But," she pondered. "Didn't you drive your own car to school? I saw you, this morning. You were alone." Her eyes met mine now, but I only looked at Edward, soaking in the light red blush that formed upon his cheeks.
"No," Edward stammered, swaying back and forth on his heels. "I didn't."
"But you drive a Volvo, right?" Angela continued. "Yeah, you do. I know you do because you're the only other Junior here with a nice car, besides Bella."
Edward looked down, shaking his head. I continued to pass glances between the two of them in bewilderment.
The three of us stood in awkward silence as thunder began to roar outside and the kids came running in the house, soaking wet.
Edward opened his mouth to speak but closed it fast as Josh, one of his teammates, slapped him hard on the back, knocking him into me. I reacted quickly, jumping behind Angela, away from him before any stronger, more tempting connection could have been made between us.
"What's up, man?" Josh asked, taking in Edward's awkward expression, mixed with mine and Angela's confused ones. "What took you so long, Bro? I thought you just had to get your car keys and haul your ass over here?"
Edward kept his eyes on mine as he tried to think of a response -- or excuse, perhaps? I curled my fists into tight balls, narrowing my eyes on him.
"Oh it doesn't matter!" Josh shouted, nudging Edward forward again. "Dude, let's get a drink!"
Edward shook his head, not able to remove himself from my stare. "No, I'm here with Bella and I think that I should-"
"No," I cut him off. "I'm leaving. Have fun Edward. Bye Angela."
I stormed past him, hitting his left arm hard with my shoulder. I quickly shoved through the crowd, out the door, and into the pouring rain.
I heard laughter roar through the house as the front door swung open behind me.
"Bella!" Edward shouted, running after me down the muddy hill. He almost slipped and fell down it as he continued to call my name. "Bella! Bella, please wait. Let me explain!"
His scent flushed over me as lightening crashed, causing me to sneer and become more angry. "Go away Edward! Go back inside. I'm sure your girlfriend is waiting somewhere in there for you!"
"No!" He shouted, sloshing through the mud puddles. "Bella! I'm sorry, look I-"
He cut himself off as I turned around quickly and stared him down. "What?" I shouted through the rain as it poured harder over us.
Edward continued to stare at me with a startled expression, causing the fire inside me to boil up.
I felt a defensive hiss rumble in my chest as the armor started to build back up around me, which is where I should have left it in the first place. I watched some guys run from the house to their car on top of the hill, laughing as they kicked mud on eachother. This was exactly the kind of thing I tried to avoid.
I knew I shouldn't have came here. I knew I shouldn't have allowed myself to be around him in a situation like this. It was too overwhelming for me, and I could so easily slip up and expose myself.
"Just forget it!" I shouted, twisting back around. I ran to my car and climbed in, slamming the door so hard that I cracked the glass on the driver's side. Great.
Edward stood in front of my car, shouting for me to stop. I glanced in my rearview mirror at the big, bulky tree behind me, and growled, realizing I couldn't back up. I fastened my seat belt and revved the engine, staring at him.
"Wait!" Edward shouted, slamming his hands on my hood.
"Get out of my way!" I sneered, revving the car louder.
"NO!" He dug his feet into the muddy soil as lightning flashed around him, planting his firm stance. "Not until you let me explain! Please Bella!"
"Explain? Explain what?"
"Why I lied to you." He spoke more calm now. Determined.
I eyed him down for a long moment. I was so mad, but I couldn't turn away from him, and I couldn't run him over. I was trapped.
"Bella," he started, leaning in as his hair smeared over his forehead and the rain poured down his face. "I'm sorry that I lied to you, but-"
His voice got cut off as brakes screeched behind him. Over his right shoulder, I saw a black Ford F350 rolling irratically backward and down the hill, toward Edward's back at high speed.
Oh no. Not him. No, no, no, no.
Within a second, I had my seatbelt off, my door open, and I was out of the car. I quickly jumped behind him before he could even turn around to see what was coming at him. I shielded him with my body as I slammed my hands hard into the tailgate of the truck, denting it hard. I held the vehicle still and dug the back tires into the mud, so it wouldn't roll back any further. I turned to make sure he was alright and quickly moved us out of the way. It happened really fast.
Eric climbed out of his truck and ran to us, scared half to death. His nose was bleeding, a reaction from his face hitting the steering wheel as my hands slammed into his truck, I'm sure. I held my breath so I wouldn't smell it.
"Oh God!" He shouted, his eyes wide. "Wh-Why aren't you dead?! Oh my God, I'm so sorry! My brakes locked up and I couldn't stop! We-we were just sliding down the hill! Oh my God, I could have killed you!"
Edward was squatting down on the ground, panting, and staring up at me in shock.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
He nodded, speechless.
About nine kids ran out of the house to see what the commotion was all about, as a large crowd gathered at the frame of the house, afraid to get their hair wet due to the storm. I knew I needed to get out of there as fast I could, before questions started coming. A few guys helped Edward to his feet as Mike climbed in Eric's truck. About six other guys pushed the truck forward as Mike steered. He hit the gas hard, throwing mud on the hood of my undamaged car, which I couldn't help but notice Edward gawking at. After a couple moments and about ten tries, the mud finally gave way and the truck shuffled forward, back up the hill toward Mike's house.
Edward's girlfriend and another new guy, who was just as breathtaking as he was, surrounded him now. His beautiful girlfirend threw her arms around his neck, giving him a huge hug as she cried and told him that she was looking all over for him and then heard he was in an accident. I couldn't help but feel jealous. Even her voice was beautiful.
I looked over her shoulder, to the beautiful blonde girl I recognized as a senior. I knew her name, but couldn't pin point it. I couldn't pull away from her stare of disgust toward me.
I took in a deep breath as people continued to surround him, and quickly climbed into my car.
I made a quick exit, not looking back, and as soon as I was out of sight, I hit the gas hard, cursing at myself for the predicament I put myself in. I didn't let off the gas until I got to my house. I ignored Charlie's questions and ran up the stairs to my room. I threw myself on my bed and dug my fingers in the back of my hair, cursing to myself.
"Bella?" Charlie knocked twice on the locked door. "Are you okay?"
I shook my head, annoyed and in frustration. "I don't know, Dad. You tell me. Do I look okay?"
Charlie sighed behind the wooden door. "Bella, just because I can see you right now doesn't mean I can read your emotions."
"I'm fine Dad." I opened the door quickly and walked past him to the bathrooom. I noticed Charlie's eyes turn away from white and back to brown as he reeled in his power.
I sighed. "I just had a long night. That's all."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," I said, leaning against the bathroom door. "I just want to take a long, hot shower and forget about it."
Charlie nodded and backed away. "Okay," he mumbled, as he softly trotted down the stairs.
I took a hot shower and kept my mind blank, refusing to think about the mess I created, about he-who-won't-be-named, or about she-who-won't-be-named-who-had-her-arms-around-his-neck.
When I got back to my room, I made a solid vow to myself that I would tighten up. Build my armor back. I had to be more careful. I couldn't risk it, not after all the years it took Charlie to build us a safe environment.
I would leave Edward alone. Not only did he have a girlfriend who I was no competition with, but I was getting too far attatched to him.
So, though it would widen the large hole that took residence in my chest, I knew that I would have to ignore him. At all costs.
I had to pull back the reigns.
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So there we go, Chapter 3.
Chapter 4 will be coming in the next couple of days, if not tomorrow. I'm already half done with it.
It's about Edward's past, why he gave the speech even though he was the new guy at the pep rally earlier, and a lot, LOT more!
I hope that you guys will stay with me and wait and see what will come. Don't worry, I plan to keep the story going as long as the reviews and compliments/suggestions/positive feedback keep coming in!! I know it somehow takes awhile for beginnings like this to sink in and enjoy, but I hope that you will give this a shot and have some faith! Comments, advice, suggestions are always welcome. Please review and stay tuned!