Ta-daa, chapter 4! Forward ho, faithful readers!
Disclaimer: No owns. Makes me cry ;-;
(BPOV)
I was dreading the second day of school. Not only would people stare because I was new, but now that I had succeeded in fainting and going to hospital on the first day, I would be even more of a spectacle.
I did my morning routine, shower, dressed, and ate. I dressed in blue jeans and a long sleeved black shirt and left for school.
When I arrived, I was one of the few people still in the car park. As I walked around the back of my car, Mike jumped out of nowhere, giving me a fright.
"Hey, Bella!" he chirped.
"Fuckin' Oath! Don't scare me like that, Mike!" I replied, walking around him. This guy was already on my nerves. He didn't seem fazed. Although, there was a flash of confusion on his face when I busted out my Aussie slang. He shook it off and followed me into English like an effing Golden Retriever!
Speaking of English, when I stepped inside, all the kids turned and stared at me. I took a picture of them with my camera. They continued to stare.
"You right there?" I asked, moving to my desk. My off-handed comment seemed to put them back in their places. Everyone, that is except for Mike. He followed me to my desk, seating himself on the table top.
See, I've always had a problem with people being too close, proximity wise, to me, and Mike at that moment was far too close.
"Get off the desk, Mike." I told him, poking him with my ruler. He seemed confused.
"Why?" he asked, still sitting on the table.
"Because I can't have anyone be closer than 30cm to me and my ruler is telling me that you are in fact, too close. So I'd appreciate it if you'd move." My tone was annoyed and slightly sarcastic. I wanted him away from me.
The bugger shrugged, hopping off the table. Mercifully, the bell went as his feet touched the floor, Mr Mason calling the class to order.
After class, having spent the whole time ignoring the pieces of rolled up paper Mike kept throwing at me and the evil stares from who I could only guess was Lauren or Jessica boring into the back of my skull, as I was gathering my books from my locker, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
"Mike, if that's you, I'm gonna hit you with a book." I sighed. A familiar tinkling laugh rang behind me, and I turned to see the tiny, perfect figure of Alice Cullen standing before me. I instantly felt my face flush. Did I just call her Mike and threaten her with book-bashings? Ugh. This day was gonna turn out great.
"Hey Alice. Sorry for threatening you. I, uh, thought you were Mike." I admitted sheepishly. She giggled again, looking up at me with sparking golden eyes. The sound was like silver bells.
"It's fine Bella. Mike can be a bit clingy sometimes." She said, smiling. I wondered vaguely how she kept her spiky hair from flopping. I barked a nervous laugh, feeling extremely self-conscious.
"Yes, I think clingy is an understatement." Alice laughed again. Wow, when did I suddenly get so funny?
"Anyway Bella," she said when the laughing had stopped. "I just came over to say thank you for what you did yesterday. No one has ever stood up to Lauren Mallory, and for you to do that for my brother when you don't even know him, was, well, in my opinion it was pretty cool." I was flabbergasted.
"You're welcome Alice." She smiled, turning on her heel with no effort at all, just as the bell rang.
I walked to my next class silently, lost in my thoughts. Thankfully, Mike wasn't in my next few classes, though I did endure the usual curious stares and hateful glares from people who'd only talked to me for five minutes i.e. Jessica and Lauren, while occasionally taking a random photo.
When the bell rang for lunch, I felt a strange fluttering in my stomach. Where would I sit today? The Hater Brigade had obviously rejected me and I didn't have any other real friends. I decided to sit outside again, since the rain had briefly let up.
As I sat under a large pine tree eating a homemade lunch, my jacket under my butt and my iPod blasting Green Day in my ears, I began to wonder what had made Edward so damn angry. Alice seemed to be okay, but I stood up for him when no one else would. Didn't that mean anything? Obviously not, since he seemed to hate me.
I faintly heard the bell sound through the noise in my ears. Packing up my lunch and my iPod, I cleaned the wet grass from my jacket, pulled it on under my backpack; my camera safely stowed away inside and headed for Biology. I knew Edward couldn't avoid me there, since the only empty desk was right next to me. Hopefully I would be able to find out what I had done to offend him so much. I shuddered slightly, thinking about having to deal with Mike for another two hours. Ugh.
As I walked through the door, hanging my jacket up on a peg next to everyone else's, I did a quick scan of the classroom. I grimaced at Mike when he waved at me, which he probably took as a smile from the giant, self-satisfied grin on his face. I moved my eyes quickly away before he could interpret something that wasn't there.
Edward wasn't here yet. No biggie, we still had five minutes before class started and from the things I'd heard about the Cullens, they weren't ones to be late. So I sat down at the table and waited, perhaps a bit too eagerly, for him to arrive.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
After twenty minutes, I resigned myself to that fact that he wasn't coming to class, my heart sinking into my shoes. What had I done to make him ditch school?
When the bell rang for the final hour of the day, I gathered my things slowly. Mike came to stand at my side, blabbering on about some stupid beach trip he was trying to plan. Bleh, whatever.
I walked to PE with him yammering in my ear. As we entered the Gym, Mike wandered off to the change room and I saw Coach Clapp flipping through some papers, standing near the entrance to his office. Pulling my medical certificate and my new puffer out of my pocket, I rushed over and explained my current asthma situation. He took the certificate and told me to take a seat on the bleachers.
Half way across the Basketball courts, I heard Mike calling me.
"Bella, where are you going?" I turned, grinning, and flashed him my puffer.
"It's my Get-Out-Of-Phys-Ed Free Card, mate!" I replied climbing the steps, not waiting for a response, though I did hear a moan of annoyance. I sat on the third row, not to high to take a photo and not to low as to get stepped on. Action shots were my forte, though the flash did make a few people trip over or crash into someone.
It was a relief to get home. My Playstation 2 and all my games had arrived, sent a little later because Renee thought I would concentrate on my first day better without video games. I got my homework out of the way and ordered some Chinese food for dinner, spending the time before Charlie got home playing Kingdome Hearts II, trying to distract myself from spiralling into a pile of guilt over Edward not being at school. The fact that I couldn't have done anything to make him hate me since we had never spoken was beside the point. Even so, beating the crap out of Heartless and Nobodies did make me feel a little better.
When Charlie came home, I reheated some of the Chinese food and grabbed a fizzy drink and a beer out of the fridge while he set up a movie for us to watch. I could see a routine in the making.
"You know, we should probably eat something other than take-away's sometime." I commented when we finished. Charlie grunted a laugh, too full to properly respond. I bid him goodnight and headed for bed, one again thinking of Edward before I slept.
The next day, Edward wasn't at school. In fact he wasn't there for over a week. Occasionally I would see Alice in the halls or at lunch and she would smile and wave at me. It made me feel as though Edward being away really wasn't my fault. I still felt guilty. As the days went by, I seemed to be stared at by less and less people. The effect of a shiny new student was wearing off. Only Mike still followed me around, though I did see the occasional jealous glare from Eric directed his way.
When I entered the cafeteria that Monday on the second week of school, I almost walked straight back out.
Edward was back.
Before I could bolt, Alice caught my eye and beckoned me over. Oh. Frick. What was I supposed to do? Ignore the only real chance at a friend I had in this place, or walk over and face Edward for the first time since the hospital? I decided to go against my better judgement and go with the latter. I wasn't in any position to give up friends.
I walked clumsily to the other side of the lunch room, feeling like a complete and utter moron as every person's eyes followed my movement.
"Hey, Bella," Alice smiled at me, patting the empty seat next to her, "Why don't you sit with us today?"
I tried to sit as gracefully as possible, but I tripped over my shoelaces and sort of flopped. I could hear someone trying to repress laughter. It sounded like a bear was choking. I sat up, my face burning, tugging at the hem of my black Mercury Phoenix Trust, the AIDS foundation founded by Freddie Mercury, t-shirt.
"Bella, I'd like you to meet my family," Alice gestured around the table, "this is Rosalie," the blonde goddess gave me what could be interpreted as a glare and went back inspecting her perfect nails, "Emmett," he smiled at me, his cheeks dimpling,
"It's nice to meet you Bella." He said politely. I smiled nervously back, my gaze fixed on the table.
"This is my boyfriend Jasper," she put her hand on Jasper's arm, as he returned my tentative smile, "and this is Edward."
I glanced up, expecting to see Edward glaring at me like he had at the hospital, but his face held only frustrated curiosity. I was struck by the colour of his eyes. They were the same as Alice's, a deep, molten topaz that seemed to burn right into my soul. I couldn't look away. Someone cleared their throat, and Edward looked away.
"So, Bella, you're from Australia?" I heard Emmett ask. I stopped playing with my shirt and looked up.
"Yeah. I was born here in Forks but my mum, Renee, and I have lived there since I was about six months old." I replied.
"Did you live in Sydney or Melbourne?" Alice asked leaning her elbows on the table. Of course they would ask that.
"Actually, I lived in Perth, in Western Australia. The biggest state." I was proud of living in the west. In my opinion, it was so much better than being a stuck up brat from the eastern states. The Cullen's laughed. I decided to capture the moment and took a picture of their smiling faces, blushing.
I took a bite of my sandwich, chewing quietly. This was strange. The Cullen's started a playful banter, while Edward sat across from me, suddenly tense and frowning. I felt the guilt swirl in my gut. Thankfully, the bell rang not too long after, cutting the thick tension. I packed up my lunch, looking up to say goodbye to the Cullens. Edward was already halfway through the cafeteria. Waving tentatively at the other Cullens, I walked after him.
Edward wasn't there when I arrived at class, Mike tailing me again. God, that boy needs a hobby.
I sat at the desk quietly, placing my bag on the floor. After about five minutes, I heard the chair pull out next to me.
"Hello." I peeked out of the corner of my eye. It was Edward.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I replied roughly, pushing my hair behind my ear.
"Excuse me?" he looked shocked, as if I'd said the complete opposite of what he'd expected.
"You heard me. I defended you last week, and then after I suffer my first asthma attack you look at me like I'm some kind of demon spawn. Now you want to be civil?" I was being bratty and petty, but this guy had slowly worked his way onto my List, and he was due to be knocked down a few pegs.
I saw the anger flare in his eyes, then it settled, and he smiled. "I'm sorry for the way I acted. It was unkind of me to do so. Forgive me?" I huffed, blowing my hair from my eyes.
"Fine, you're forgiven." I replied curtly. Stupid, handsome, rude stranger.
For the next ten minutes, we sat in an awkward, uncomfortable silence. It seemed both of us were too stubborn to break it. I looked him up and down, and something struck me.
"Are you gay?" He looked utterly shocked, "What? Come, on no straight guy ever dresses that well! You do dress yourself right, or does someone have to help you with that?" Edwards's eyes were wide and manic.
"I was straight the last time I checked and yes I do dress myself!" I raised my eyebrow in disbelief, "Alice insists on buying everyone's clothes. If I had my way I'd wear jeans and band t-shirts every day." He looked at my shirt, "Like that for example."
I was stunned. None of the boys in Australia could be told about the band Queen without laughing and making dirty jokes. They all liked rap and hip-hop. "You like Queen?" I asked, shell shocked.
"Like? I love them. Freddie Mercury is one of my favourite performers."
"Me too!" I exclaimed, smiling. Edward crooked smile almost stopped my heart. "What's your favourite song? Please don't say Bohemian Rhapsody, everybody says that." He laughed. I was entranced by the sound of it.
"Actually my favourite song is I Want it All."
"Mine too! Well, after Don't Stop Me Now, of course." How did I go from being angry at this guy to gushing over my favourite band with him?
"Of course." He replied, smiling. Mr Banner called the class to order after that. After a few minutes, I looked out of the corner of my eye. Edward's hand was clenched into a fist, the tendons sticking out against his bone white skin.
When the bell went, Edward was gone before I could even rise from my seat.
Once again I spent gym on the bleachers, watching the cretins run back and forth like headless chickens. Asthma seemed to have its pluses.
When I entered the parking lot, I saw the Cullen's all climbing into the Volvo. Edward stood at the door and glanced at me, his eyes frustrated and curious again. He quickly climbed into the car and before I could blink, they were speeding out of the parking lot, leaving me more confused than ever.
Finished! Chapter 5 will be up as soon as I can. Please review, it makes me happy and gives me Muse-power!