Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Chapter 4

My siblings and I arrived the next morning, and I couldn't help but feel anxious to see Bella in my first period class and have another opportunity to speak with her. The idea of making a friend outside of my family members was strange, and yet a part of me was actually excited by it.

Once again, we arrived earlier then was really necessary and I sat in my economics class waiting for the other students to arrive. Unfortunately both Mike and Jessica arrived long before Bella did and both quickly flanked my desk.

"Come on, Edward! You should totally sit with us at lunch today," Jessica whined in an obnoxiously nasally voice.

"No thanks, Jessica," I grumbled looking at my open textbook laying on the desk in front of me, hoping that she'd take that as a sign that I was busy and didn't want to talk.

It wasn't working.

"But there are so many people I want to introduce you to!" She continued to whine.

However, I could tell from her thoughts that the only reason she wanted to 'introduce me' to people, was to show me off to her friends. She thought it would make herself look good, sitting next to me. I fought to keep from rolling my eyes at her.

"Yeah, Edward. Me and the guys from the team sit with Jess and her friends. You should totally join us," Mike added.

I heaved a sigh. Only the second day and this was already getting insanely old. The brief reprieve from my pounding headache that I'd gotten from my night's sleep was already gone. First period hadn't even started yet and my head was already throbbing.

It was a legitimate effort to keep my eyes open. It was one of my few senses that I could shut off, so closing them provided a minute reprieve from the sensory overload I was currently enduring.

"No, Mike. I'll be sitting with my family again today."

"I'm sure we could make room for your brothers to join us," Mike said, thinking that he could kick Eric Yorkie out and tell him to sit with his friends from the school newspaper instead.

"No, that's quite alright."

"Your loss man." Mike said, shrugging.

I couldn't help but glare at him. My loss? Pfft.

"So did you talk to your brothers to see if either of them is interested in trying out for the team?"

I hadn't, but that was because I knew the answer, already.

"Yes, Mike. They're not interested either," I said flatly, not bothering to look at him and keeping my eyes glued to the open page of my book.

"Seriously? Even the big guy? What's his name?"

"Emmett. And he's not interested."

"That's hard to believe. He looks like the type who would love to get on the football team."

By type, he means, large and muscled. Emmett was enormous, but it was true that football wasn't really his sport – not to play anyway, because he did enjoy watching it from time to time, but when his participation was involved, he was actually much more of a wrestling man.

I didn't bother to actually justify his remarks with a verbal response.

"Did any of you guys participate in any sports back at your last school?" Mike asked, continuing to prod despite my cold behavior.

"No." I sad, flatly.

"You guys are so built; it's hard to believe you don't play any sports." Jessica said jumping back into the conversation.

"We go hiking and camping a lot." I said still not bothering to look at either of them.

"Hiking?" Surely there's more to it than that? Like wha–"Jessica continued, but I stopped listening because I was suddenly hit with a familiar scent. It was the scent of Bella. My head popped up just as she walked past me and I couldn't help but smile. But her head was down low and she wasn't making eye contact with anyone, me included. I watched as she shifted awkwardly around Jessica, who was still talking animatedly, and completely oblivious to Bella trying to circumnavigate her as Bella made her way to her seat.

"Jessica, can you move?" I said cutting off whatever it was she was saying.

"Huh?" She started at me blankly, confused and startled by my sudden interruption.

I nodded my head towards Bella who was standing just to the side of Jessica, as she tried to squeeze past her.

"Oh, sure-" Jessica looked startled, as she shifted to the side and Bella scurried past and quickly settled into her seat.

Bella began to pull items out of her backpack, still not looking at me or making any kind of eye contact. I wondered suddenly if she had perhaps not enjoyed our conversation the day before as much as I had.

Had I read too much into it? I suppose we hadn't actually talked for very long, but she seemed to respond kindly at the time. It had certainly appeared that she enjoyed talking with me, but I'm not exactly terribly experienced with human social interactions, so perhaps I misread the situation.

A small pang hit my chest and the squeezing sensation there in the center under my sternum was miserably uncomfortable.

Had I let myself get excited over nothing? Should I continue to try and speak with her? I was still terribly curious about her, but not just because her mind was hidden from me. Our conversation the day before had given me a brief peak into who she was, and I had liked it. I had enjoyed having a like-minded person to talk to. I so often spoke with other people on subject matter that they were enthusiastic about, but so rarely on topics that I was passionate about.

Jessica had resumed talking and was rambling on about the benefits of school-sponsored sports teams, and their value as a social networking tool for future endeavors in life, but I wasn't paying the least bit attention. I turned in my seat to face Bella.

"Good morning Bella." I said, my voice coming out smooth and soft without even the slightest amount of effort.

Bella's head popped up and she stared at me wide-eyed in surprise, her mouth open slightly. Her eyes darted from my face and then back to mine. She seemed completely shocked that I was speaking to her.

She shut her mouth suddenly, with a pop and blinked twice, seemingly trying to gather herself. "Morning." She squeaked.

I chuckled.

"How was aerobics yesterday? Better then a gym class?" I smirked.

Bella laughed nervously and ducked her head. I saw the corners of her mouth turn up in a small smile and grinned, knowing I'd put it there.

"Yeah, I didn't hurt a single person," She said, chuckling weakly. "No rackets or balls or projectiles of any kind. It's great."

I laughed, leaning my chin on my hand; my elbow propped up on the desk.

"What the hell is he doing? Why is he talking to her? He's so much better than her. Why is he wasting his time talking to that bookworm?" Jessica's thoughts screamed at me.

I leaned over my desk and dipped my hand into my backpack pulling out a worn paperback copy of a book and handed it off to a confused looking Bella.

"I brought that for you," I said, grinning.

She picked up the book and looked at the cover. "From Socrates to Sartre: the Philosophic Quest, by T. Z. Levine! Oh my god! I loved that show!"

I grinned. "I thought you'd like it. You've actually seen the show, then? How'd you manage that?"

"Show?" Mike said, looking at the book with total confusion on his face. His thoughts were completely bewildered by our interactions and he was also wondering why I was being so friendly with Bella.

"From Socrates to Sartre was a show on Maryland's PBS station."

"Maryland?" Mike repeated, even more confused.

"T. Z. Levine was a professor at the University of Maryland and he created the show," Bella explained.

"So, how'd you see it? Did you live in Maryland?" Mike asked, still bewildered. Jessica was beginning to fume now. Not only was I paying attention to Bella, but now even Mike was speaking to her. Although I could tell from his thoughts he had no actual interest in any of this, he was just confused.

"No, I've only ever lived in California and Arizona... well, that and Forks. I had a friend in Arizona who moved from Maryland and she had the whole series recorded on tape and she lent it to me when she found out I was a big Sartre buff." Her enthusiasm died and she grew quiet again, as she registered Jessica's death glare, and Mike's totally bewildered expression. It was obvious that neither of them understood or really even cared what she was talking about, but they didn't matter to me, so I tried to pull her back from them.

"So have you read the book then?" I asked nudging the book I'd placed before her on the desk. She looked back down at it and her eyes lit up again.

"No, I'd never actually gotten the chance."

She picked it up again and turned it over in her hands, examining the worn frayed edges.

"You can have it, if you want," I said, "I've read it front to back several times. I've practically got the thing memorized." I laughed. The truth of the matter was that I did have it memorized, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

"Oh no! I couldn't. You obviously love this book. I couldn't take it."

"Bella, I told you. I've read it. I'd like you to have it."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely." I smiled widely at her. She was still hesitant, but I could see a sparkle in her eyes as she looked at the book.

"Alright," she whispered sheepishly before looking up at me through her eyelashes and grinning.

Jessica was glaring at Bella as she registered my warm smile and attitude towards her. She was wondering what the hell a 'Sartre' was, trying to remember who Socrates was, because she honestly didn't know, and was wondering why the hell anyone would even care about any of it. She was trying to think of something to say to pull my attention away from Bella when the bell range and the teacher told everyone to get to their seats.

She huffed in frustration and reluctantly made her way to her desk on the other side of the room.

The teacher kept us busy the entire class period and I didn't have any opportunity to speak with Bella until two minutes before the bell was to ring. Jessica's thoughts told me that she was planning to pounce on me the moment she got out of her seat, so she could walk me to our next class. I leaned over and nudged Bella's foot with mine to get her attention.

She startled and looked up at me, confused.

"Save me from Jessica," I whispered, urgently.

"Huh?" she asked, bewildered.

"She's going to try and drag me with her to Global Issues once class is over. There's only a minute until the bell rings. Pack up your stuff. Once the bell rings, you and I can bolt before she gets a chance to sink her claws into me," I whispered in a rush.

Bella giggled and glanced sympathetically between me and Jessica's seat across the room. She was currently talking with Mike about something, and hadn't yet realized how soon the bell would ring, so none of her things were packed up yet. It would give me a few extra seconds to get away and I intended to take advantage of that.

"Okay," Bella whispered back, as she began putting her things away in her backpack.

We were both ready and the second the bell rang we both sprang from our seats and darted out the door before Jessica even had a chance to look my way. We raced down the hallway, Bella giggling as she tried to keep up with my long strides. We slowed after we exited the building and started to make our way down the sidewalk towards the next building where our class was located.

It was just barely misting at this point, and Bella seemed to be accustomed to the drizzle because she didn't even bother pulling the hood from her light jacket up over her head as we walked. She was still chuckling when she turned to me.

"So am I to assume that you aren't fond of Jessica Stanley?" She asked, cocking a single eyebrow my way.

I scoffed. "Are you kidding? Dear lord, I can't stand that girl. And it's like she's already made it her personal duty in life to rope me in. That girl cannot take a hint."

"Well, you aren't really being very obvious. I think you're being way too kind if you want someone as thick-headed as Jess to 'take a hint'."

I groaned. I knew she was right. "I just hope it doesn't take too long for her to finally get it through her thick skull that I'm not interested. I can't believe it's only the second day of classes. It already feels like it's been a week... which is just crazy."

Bella laughed. "Time dragging on for you?" She smirked.

"It's never felt slower." I whined. "I hate high school."

"Doesn't everyone?"

We entered the next building and made our way down the hallway to our Global Issues class where we took our seats, beside each other.

After a moment passed where Bella dug out her textbook and a notepad and pencil, I turned to her, curious about something.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"What the heck does Jessica Stanley have against you?"

"Huh?"

"Well, she's always scowling at you... is it just because I'm speaking to you, or is there something more to it?"

"Oh... nothing really to it. I'm just a social retard, and she's destined to be prom queen. It's just high school pecking order." She shrugged as if it was nothing.

I shook my head, irritated. "That's one of the biggest reasons that I hate high school." I growled.

"Why? You seem pretty well off. No one is shunning you."

"But why not? I'm certainly no less socially awkward than anyone else. What's the difference between you and me? Why do they arbitrarily choose to shun you, but they flock to me? It's ridiculous."

She looked at me as if I were crazy.

She coughed a disbelieving laugh and rolled her eyes. "What's the difference between me and you? Do you seriously have to ask that? Oh! This explains things! Are you legally blind? So that's why you're talking to me!" She said this as if she had just had an epiphany that explained a great mystery she had been pondering.

"Bella!" I chided, "I'm serious."

"So am I! Edward... I'm sure you don't really need to be told this, but you're absolutely gorgeous, while you couldn't find a much more Plain-Jane than me. Honestly, the biggest reason that Jess and Mike and them are staring at me, is because they're confused as to why the hell you're even talking to me – which I can't blame them for, because I'm pretty confused on that point, myself."

Was she serious? She thought she was plain?

"What are you talking about? I think you're way more attractive then Jessica Stanley," I said, sneering the name. "And you've actually got a brain in your head. You're the first person I've ever encountered in a public school setting with whom I could carry on an interesting conversation! Jessica Stanley is only concerned with her hair, one-upping her so-called friends with newer, juicer gossip, gaining attention by flaunting her body." Which isn't even very good. "And finding ways to improve her already over-inflated ego by degrading those around her.

"Not only are you a much better person than someone like her, but personally, I think you look much better too. She wears way too much makeup and it's made her pores disgusting." It was probably a weird observation, but when your eyesight is as good as mine is, you notice things like that. And they really were disgusting.

Bella was staring at me, wide-eyed with a stunned expression on her face. I realized suddenly that I'd been ranting fairly loudly and felt a little awkward. I glanced around the room and was a bit relieved to find that the classroom was still mostly empty, except for a couple students.

"Wow... that was awesome." One girl mentally remarked. I glanced at her and she was grinning widely. She was standing next to her desk and she was really quite tall with mousy brown hair. She quickly looked away and chuckled to herself. Apparently she agreed with my assessment of Jessica.

I turned back to Bella, who was still looking quite dumbfounded.

"Honestly Bella, if anyone is plain it's Jessica. What is she interested in? Nothing actually worth thinking about; boring, mundane, irrelevant and stupid day-to-day high school blather. She doesn't have a single deep thought in her head; or I would imagine she doesn't, at least." I faltered, catching my slip. "It's far more important to me to actually be able to carry on an interesting conversation with a person. What the hell could I talk about with someone like Jessica? You know, she and her friends who spent all yesterday swooning over me didn't bother to ask me a single question about myself? The closest they got was asking me if I was interested in football, to which I promptly informed them that I wasn't. Did they care? No, they kept talking about it anyway."

I huffed in irritation. My headache was still throbbing, and would likely continue to do so until the day finally drew to an end and I could get the hell away from this damn school.

"Wow, they really bother you, don't they?" she said, her voice more sympathetic now.

"I'm sorry. I've got a nasty migraine. Things get on my nerves easily when I get headaches like this." I smiled apologetically and she simply smiled back.

We were quiet for a moment as more students began to file into the classroom.

"Thank you, by the way," she said, suddenly, in a very quiet, timid voice.

I looked at her confused.

"For what you said about me. Thanks. That was really sweet of you," she blushed and ducked her head, looking at her desk.

I grinned. "I only said it because it was true."

When Jessica arrived in the classroom she was rather cross that I had disappeared so quickly after our economics class, and even more upset that it appeared I had left with Bella. She made her way over to my desk to make small talk but I refused to make eye contact, or interrupt my conversation with Bella. Finally she grumbled in frustration and walked over to her own desk, hoping to catch the attention of my brother Jasper.

Before she could get very far, the bell rang and the teacher started class.

Once again, the teacher had only prepared enough lecture to last a little over half the class period, and left the remaining 20 minutes to read the text book; which everyone in the class took to mean 'go and chat amongst yourselves but stay in your seats while doing it.'

Jessica quickly laid into Jasper trying to tell him all sorts of pointless social gossip that he didn't care about at all. She was giving him a history of the school's sports teams and the teams that they had rivalries with from neighboring towns. She told him which championships Forks High had won, and how incredible it would be for the football team to win this year, since most of the members were seniors and that would make a great end to their high school careers. Of course, she also prattled on about her being the head cheerleader and how much she enjoyed encouraging school spirit.

Jasper was wondering if she would taste any good and whether or not anyone would actually miss Jessica if he ate her.

I chuckled at his thoughts and he smirked at me.

"I wouldn't do it, Jazz. I'm sure she tastes foul." I said projecting my thoughts silently into his mind. He laughed and shrugged. She thought he was laughing at something she'd said.

Bella remembered my mentioning my interest in classical piano from the previous day and we started a conversation on that topic. Apparently her mother had a habit of going through random phases of interest and at one point in Bella's youth her mother had become interested in classical music and purchased a small library of it.

Bella had inherited most of the CDs once her mom had lost interest in it and moved onto the next new and interesting thing but Bella's interest in it had lingered. She didn't have an extensive collection but from what she had heard her favorite composer was Debussy. The discussion sparked an idea and I knew right away what I wanted to bring for her tomorrow. It was one of my favorite Debussy performances and I knew she would appreciate it.

We walked together from our Global Issues class to Literature still talking about classical composers. Once we settled into our seats in our next class our conversation continued effortlessly up until the bell rang and the teacher brought the class to attention.

We talked occasionally when breaks in the work allowed, discussing the books assigned in the class. The teacher didn't actually mind our quiet chatting. In fact, when she heard our discussion she was quite thrilled that she actually had a couple students who were interested in the course work.

Bella and I had both already read every book that would be assigned for the class. Bella was actually enthusiastic about re-reading several of them; stating that she'd only read them once and had always looked for a good excuse to go back and re-read them.

The class drew to a close and I reluctantly parted ways with Bella as I went to Spanish and she left to attend aerobics.

Lunch was a repeat of the day before. My siblings each filled a tray with food I was somewhat willing to nibble at and the group of us sat at the same round table by the wall. I looked around the cafeteria again hoping to find Bella today.

I wasn't sure why. I didn't think I could very well invite her to join our table. She'd undoubtedly notice how I was the only one actually eating anything, not to mention how uncomfortable having her there would make Jasper; but I looked for her just the same.

She was nowhere to be seen. I scanned the thoughts of everyone in the room, looking for some sign of her, but there was nothing.

Where could she be?

Maybe I wasn't sure what other locations were allowed for students to go during the lunch period. I knew the school had a closed campus and students were required to have hall passes if they wanted to wander to areas outside of the main building and cafeteria area during lunch. So where was she, if not here?

I ate four whole apples before I finally forced myself to eat the chicken from a grilled chicken sandwich Alice had picked up. I wouldn't touch the bread or the lettuce, but the chicken breast was at least half-way decent once I scraped off all of the mayo.

Once again, Rosalie had picked up a salad, but this time she hadn't put any dressing on it, so I was a little less reluctant to pick at it while still avoiding the lettuce.

Conversation was light through most of lunch. Rosalie was planning on buying a new car this year, and was debating between sticking with a European auto maker and going with a Japanese ricer for a change of pace.

I was actually considering getting a new vehicle in the next year or two as well. My Volvo was several years old at this point and I was interested in getting something new. She and I began talking about the different Japanese vehicles she had been eying. They were all as ostentatious as ever. Rosalie was never one for being subtle.

Emmett asked me what ricer I'd get if I went Japanese for a change. I told him I'd probably go for an Evo since it was 4-door, roomy, and if you remove the tail wing, it can easily pass for an every-day boring sedan, while still having incredible cornering at high speeds and a real power house under the hood.

Rosalie remarked that Evos are 'ugly as shit' when they have their tail wings removed and thought I was stupid for even considering it.

Lunch drew to a close and I parted with my siblings, making my way to Anatomy, looking forward to seeing Bella again. I wanted to ask her more about herself. Our discussions up to this point had proven that we shared a number of interests, which was thrilling, but now I wanted to learn more about her.

Unfortunately, she didn't make it to class until moments before the bell rang, and the teacher immediately got class started with a long-winded lecture that lasted all the way to the bell at the end of the hour.

It was strange how disappointed I felt, having gotten no real opportunity to speak with her. I wished her a pleasant afternoon and made my way to gym.

On the drive home after school Jasper silently remarked that Bella and I had seemed quite friendly during Global Issues today.

"Hmm?" I projected into his mind absently.

"I just couldn't help but notice how chatty the two of you were, that's all." Jasper thought. I glanced at him, in the passenger seat, out of the corner of my eye and raised a single eyebrow.

"So? Is it a crime to have a conversation with a human now?"

"No, certainly not a crime. It's just sort of odd. You've never made an effort to be friendly with any of them before. What's special about this one?"

"I can't hear her. I'm curious." I shrugged as if it was nothing.

"So it's just curiosity?" he asked, his thoughts colored by humor and skepticism.

"Yes," I insisted stubbornly. "It's just curiosity."

He chuckled. "Okay, whatever you say."