Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters, however much I'd like to own Edward…mm mmm. Unfortunately all these characters belong to Stephanie Meyer not me.
Genre: Angst/Romance. I'll try and tone down the angst but we'll see how it pans out...
Rating: M for reasons that the later chapters will unfold.
Reviews mean more chapters of course. You will have to hound me for more as I'm pretty bad with updating (sorry!)
So I figured it all out. The fight and stuff...it wasn't too difficult. First there was the thing I heard in the bathroom about Edward being very overprotective over his sister. Then there was the look on Alice's face when she tried desperately to tear the boys apart followed by the pain on her face that got even worse when Edward knocked Jasper down. And then there was the sly comment from Edward about me not having any siblings as if saying I wouldn't understand. And then the pièce de résistance, well that was when I came into school on Monday and saw Edward park alongside Rosalie as usual, getting out the car and walking straight past Jasper completely ignoring him. While Alice ran straight towards him as he enveloped her in a loving hug.
I was not the most apt person when it came to personal feelings and human contact but there was no denying that there was something big going on with Alice and Jasper, which Edward obviously did not like. I couldn't really understand it. They seemed like a pretty good match to me. But then again, I knew nothing!
I'd spent the entire weekend, locked away in my room just doing any bit of work I could find. I called Renée to attempt some form of a conversation to tell her I was fine but it lasted two minutes before she had to "dash" because Phil had just gotten home. And then to add to the general disappointment of the weekend I shamefully cleaned the entire house, most importantly my room. It doesn't seem that bad, but my purpose for it was just sad. It was only done because I knew Edward was coming round today.
Yes, Tuesday had arrived already. And yes, I hadn't stopped thinking about what would happen today. I'd barely had time to recover from my last encounter with him and now all of sudden he was going to be sitting in my lounge, possibly my bedroom and just the thought of that sent tingles down my spine and caused the blush to extend all the way to my toes. I was so confused by the way he made me feel. I had never ever wanted to be close to someone before but there was something about him that just drew me in. And I knew he didn't want me drawn in. I'm sure he'd prefer for me to stay as far away as possible. But it wasn't like anything could ever happen. We were working on a project together, what did I expect? He was big time jock, I was small time loser. If anything, I shouldn't even want any contact with him at all...I shouldn't...
No. I was going to carry on the way I always did. Talk as little as possible, refrain from any form of touching and then I could just move on after all this was over. I wouldn't give him a second thought. Not like how I was thinking about him right now...in my Geography class...no definitely wouldn't think about him again.
Luckily I was brought out of my thoughts by a tapping next to me. I turned to my right to see some boy leaning on my table tapping a pencil on the side. Not only was the noise incredibly annoying but the smile plastered on his face was enough to creep even a normal person out. As he saw he'd gotten my attention he stood up and ran a hand through his blond hair. Oh I recognised him. He was the guy in the parking lot praising Edward for the good football practice. Mike, that was it.
"Well hi there. You're Isabella right?" He asked. Oh good, so now he was going to start chatting to me? Fantastic.
As per usual, my head nodded away. It was my only form of communication that didn't involve actual sounds. If I could sign, I would. And I would tell him how my name wasn't Isabella, it was Bella. I hated my full name, it made me sound exotic and Italian, which I clearly was not.
"New girl Isabella. Yeah, I've heard all about you. Tough one to crack aren't you? I'm Mike by the way." He smiled widely and extended his hand. He obviously hadn't heard about me correctly. Me + touching = embarrassing panic attack. I just ignored his outstretched hand like I had with Jessica my first day. He then smiled knowingly nodding his head.
"Oh right, the touching thing. So anyway I thought I'd come and introduce myself. I like feisty girls and I have to say you have the potential to be rather attractive." He attempted to say in a suave voice, though the content of his flirtation was just a little bit wounding. I knew I wasn't really pretty, but no one wants to be told that they only had 'potential'. Not even cold-hearted little me.
Thankfully the bell rang for class to begin so he grudgingly walked back to his seat, but not before saying goodbye, "I'll catch you after class...Izzy". He couldn't have given me a worse nickname. Izzy? Was I 4 years old, really?
I could see Mike trying to get my attention through the corner of my eye during the entire period. The whole coughing loudly and eyebrow raising was just not working for me. I knew I had to make a run for it at the end of class if I was to avoid a second encounter. Normally I had to wait until after everyone had gone to leave but today I just decided to make a run for it, betting on everyone else's slowness. I succeeded an escape out the door but sadly for me, my escape ran straight into someone's chest.
Looking up from my sprawled position on the floor it was my lucky day (NOT). Edward stood over me, with a smirk on his face which grew wider as he watched me fumble for my books. This seemed to be a regular occurrence with him, me fall over and him watch in amusement, no help at all. But then again, would I have really accepted his hand if he'd offered it?
In my own little world, I hadn't realised I was standing upright again, books in hand, just staring at him until he waved his hand in my face.
"I really hope your biology skill is a lot better than your ability to walk. Did your parents not worry when you never learnt to walk or talk properly as a kid?" He mocked, his smirk still plastered cockily on his face. Just as I was thinking about a sensible reply, the person I was trying to escape caught up with me.
"Edward! I see you've met my new friend Izzy, delicate little one isn't she?" Mike sneered. The way he said 'new' and 'delicate' just gave me the shivers and I cringed as he repeated my 'nickname'. I had to duck my head to avoid his arm which was getting dangerously close to landing on my shoulders. Edward looked a little stunned at the scene but remained relentless with the superior look he'd so wonderfully mastered.
"Izzy?" He questioned. Laughing, he just walked away. How does he do that? With barely any words, he can just walk away with such a style of arrogance that just makes you feel that small inside.
This afternoon was going to be fantastic, I thought sarcastically. I'm bound to end up saying something stupid or nothing at all or even just falling over on the spot and he'll laugh, make a snarky comment and walk away the victor…yep, seems about right.
I managed to dart away from Mike as soon as Edward had left. It was going to start getting more difficult around here if I had someone constantly popping up, wanting to touch me.
The end of school came around too soon. I hadn't recovered from my last run in with Edward, nor from the one before that or even the one before that. Somehow I didn't think I was ever going to get over what he did to me. Whatever it was that he did to me…
I realised when I reached my car that I hadn't told Edward where my house was let alone what time he was actually going to be there. I scanned the car park for his face or his car and found neither. I was disappointed. Somehow, even after our small ridiculous encounters, I had been looking forward to today and maybe getting to know Edward more. But don't get me wrong, it was just a fascination with him from the view of an observer. Not the want of someone to be involved in anything personal. I don't think I even know how to be personal with anyone again. With this depressing thought, I climbed into my truck and made my way home.
I pulled into my drive and slid out of my car, of course as I was trying to search for my keys as well as balancing the stack of books in my hand I ended up dropping everything into the muddy puddle at my feet.
"Fuck! Shit! Bollocks! Can I not manage a single day without dropping something or falling over? I mean come on!" I groaned as I leant down to pick up an important biology book I'd gotten out of the library that day which was now dripping. "Argh! Just my luck."
"So she can speak!" A voice behind me acclaimed. I snapped my head to see Edward strolling casually towards me until he was once again towering over me. "And what a filthy mouth she has…"
I was really not in the mood to be laughed at again. Putting my utter embarrassment aside, I gathered up my muddy books, dug for my keys and paced it to the door.
"Oh hey, don't shut up on my account. I was rather enjoying the show." Edward drawled as I could hear him follow me to the door. Once I got it open I dropped everything on the floor, purposefully this time, so I could go to the kitchen and wash the mud off my hands. I stood over the sink and took a deep breath.
It's OK, I thought to myself. He's just a boy and he's just here to work on a science project. No big deal. When it comes to work and science, you can talk forever; it's the only thing you actually can talk about. So stop being a suck freakin' dork and go face him.
As I walked back in I expected to see him sitting on the sofa or laughing at my baby photos or something, but I was surprised not to see him anywhere. My attention was brought to the door by a cough and I saw Edward leaning against the door frame.
I obviously had a questioning look on my face as he answered, "My mother taught me never to force myself on anyone. I had to be invited in." He sheepishly looked at his feet and it suddenly made me warm to him. Who knew the arrogant prick could be a gentleman and a momma's boy too?
"You can come in." I muttered as I went to go pick up my bag of books. He stalked past me and dropped to the couch. I bumbled over to him and laid my books on the table, wiping the mud off each of them. I didn't want a stupid small talk conversation to start because I knew that he didn't really want to be here and I just didn't trust my capability to talk normally. So I got straight to it.
"So I think we should do our project on pond organisms. We can locate the organisms in the pond water and then identify the organisms in different regions of the pond water. Looking at the top layers and the bottom layers we will thus be able to record any similarities or differences in the organisms. Overall the study will produce a–"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down there. First of all, you said organisms like fifty times without taking a breath. Second of all that idea stinks." Edward stated simply.
"I think it could be a very intellectual study of–"
"I'm not denying it won't be intellectual, I'm saying it will be downright boring. And there is no way you are having me trudging around in pond water thank you." He said adamantly. I sat there baffled and needless to say shot down. This was supposed to be the one thing I was good at.
"Look, there's a reason why I'm so good at biology. Mr. Banner loves my creativeness and my imagination. And pond water investigations is definitely not creative let alone imaginative. So here's my idea: the effects of music on plants and humans. We can first look at plants and whether or not music has an effect on plant growth. We will then need to compare this with how music effects the shaping of humans and on their emotions. It will be intellectually sufficient for you and fun for me. Win-win."
I was baffled again. Not only had he blown me away but he'd actually gotten me to think that my idea was indeed a shoddy attempt at being somewhat thought-provoking. And this all just came out of a high school football player?
I smiled and nodded and hurriedly opened one of my books to look for anything about music in science. This caused Edward to scoff as he leant back on the couch, looking down on me again.
"Why Edward, what a wonderful idea that is! Oh Edward thank you so much for sorting out our project for us, you're so talented and so smart!" He mocked in a girly voice. I looked up at him briefly and then back down at my book. Is that what he always expected? Praise and awe from everyone? Well that does make the whole arrogant attitude make sense. My lack of a reaction, seemed to fuel him more.
"Seriously, a thank you for your impressive idea would be nice. Just because you don't want to speak doesn't mean you can't occasionally have manners."
It sounded like I'd offended him but when I looked at his face and his raised eyebrow it was clear that all he wanted was an ego boost. And my little sappy self was more than happy to give it to him. How could I deny those beautiful eyes anything…oh crap I'm off again.
"Thank you, Edward." I practically whispered, staring into his eyes for as long as I could before dropping my head back into my book. There was safety behind books.
The rest of our study session went along the same lines. Both absorbed in our work, with Edward talking to himself as if he'd realised he wasn't going to get much more out of me. I wanted to speak to him; I wanted to have a normal conversation. But every time I attempted some sort of a reply my heart rate would dramatically pick up, causing my words to catch in my throat and then choke on a cough which resulted in Edward once again looking at me strangely. But maybe it was for the best, I didn't really know what to say anyway. Last time I'd attempted some sort of a discussion was in detention when I asked a stupid question about his sister's situation and he yelled at me for getting too personal. After all this time of not talking to anyone, the one time I really wanted to I had actually just forgotten how to talk like a normal person.
After an excruciatingly long couple of hours, Edward yawned and started to pack his stuff away. I took that as my queue to stand up with him. I hadn't said much to him all afternoon so I figured now was really my only chance to at least show that I have a voice somewhere.
"So...Thursday?" Was all I could splutter out as he was opening the door, the blush rose from my neck across my cheeks. He turned to eye me and then took a step back inside, closer to me.
"Asking me on a date Bella? Bit forward of you isn't it?" He got closer to me. So close that I could see the fine stubble on his chin. So close that I had to take a step back through genuine embarrassment and fear. He laughed as he saw me struggle for the words, "Yes Bella, Thursday study session. Same time, same place."
And with that he strode off to his shiny Volvo which just made my truck look pathetic in comparison. It was kind of the way Edward made me feel. I think he took some sort of pleasure out of embarrassing me and I was powerless to do anything about it. I walked back inside and collapsed on the couch. Edward's overwhelmingly exquisite smell surrounded me as I lay down and I sighed.
This was going to be the longest and most painful project I had ever worked on and I had the feeling it was only going to get worse from here.
A/N: Sorry, I know it has been a very, very, very long time since I last updated. I told you I was bad! Please get on my case if you want more chapters though because apart from being busy I often just forget. And reviews mean more chapters of course!