4. Requests

In my dream last night everything was pitch black, and what dim light that was present seemed to be radiating from Edward's red eyes. He would then turn his back to me and walk away leaving me in utter darkness. No matter where I went I was surrounded by this oppressive shadow that seemed to cling to my skin. Troubled, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep again for what seemed like forever. After that, he and the darkness appeared in my dreams nearly every night. It was all very disturbing.

The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing. To my dismay, I found myself as the center of attention for the rest of that week, no matter how much I tried to reassure people that I was fine. Tyler followed me around, obsessed with making amends somehow. I tried to convince him that everything was okay, but he remained insistent. He followed me between classes and sat at our usual lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other, which made me worry that I had somehow caused strife in their usual friendships. I didn't see the need for their hostility towards one another though. It was all really stupid.

No one seemed concerned about Edward, though I explained over and over that he was the hero - how he had pulled me out of the way and had nearly been crushed, too. Jessica, Mike, Eric, and everyone else always commented that they hadn't even seen him there till the van was pulled away, which just proved my point further. He was lying.

Edward was never surrounded by crowds of curious bystanders eager for his firsthand account. People avoided him as usual. The Cullens and the Hales sat at the same table as always, not eating, talking only among themselves. None of them, especially Edward, glanced my way anymore, which I found was a bit of a relief. I still glanced at them now and again at lunch, if only to scowl at the amount of food that they wasted. They even dared to waste chocolate. Bastards.

During Biology he sat as far from me as the table would allow and seemed totally unaware of my presence. Only now and then, when his fists would suddenly ball up did I wonder if he wasn't up to something.

I decided to be the bigger person and pleasantly stated, "Hello, Edward." Just because he was acting like a dick, didn't mean I had to act like one too.

He turned his head a fraction toward me without meeting my gaze, nodded once, and then looked the other way.

And that was the last contact I'd had with him, though he was there a foot away from me every day. I watched him sometimes, unable to stop my itching hunch that he had something sinister planned for me...even if he saved my life.

The creepy dreams continued and only fueled my paranoia that Edward wanted to harm me in some way. It didn't help that every time I got up, my window was always slightly ajar. It scared me shitless, but I kept telling myself that no one would dare to break in and enter the Police Chief's house. They wouldn't dare. Would they?

I texted my mom multiple times throughout the month and called her, which startled her. Calls were only for emergencies and I personally thought someone coming into my room at night was an emergency. She always sounded so wary and defeated when I mentioned the strange things that happened. It was almost as if she thought this would happen. That made no sense though, so I always dropped that line of thought. She sent me her famous sugar cookies and apple cinnamon scones with a bunch of other goodies when I called her crying about my nightmares. I sort of hoped she would offer to let me come back to Phoenix, but she never did. Something else was going on and it was driving me crazy. Even making brownies with my dad didn't help lift my mood. Forks was never like this in the summer, so I couldn't get why things had changed.

Mike, at least, was pleased by the obvious coolness between me and my lab partner. He grew more confident, sitting on the edge of my table to talk before Biology class started, ignoring Edward as completely as he ignored us. I still didn't have the nerve to let Mike down. I did my best at being platonic, but it didn't seem to be working very well. What I needed was another girl for Mike to focus on.

The snow eventually washed away for good after a while. Mike was disappointed he'd never gotten to stage his snowball fight, but pleased that a beach trip would soon be possible. Rain soon replaced the snow and continued heavily drizzling throughout the entire week. It made me feel a little better about my current situation, fertile earth always had that affect on me. I couldn't wait to garden when the weather was warmer.

Jessica made me aware of another event looming on the horizon - she texted me on the first Tuesday of January with the oddest question:

"Hey, Eliza. Do you think it would be okay to ask Mike to the girl's choice dance in two weeks?"

I raised my eyebrow at that question since I didn't quite get why it wouldn't be okay. Wasn't it girl's choice anyway? Could boys say no? I wasn't too sure on how it all went since I didn't get invited to go with anyone to any school dances. I quickly texted her back.

"Sure. Why not?"

My phone buzzed and I couldn't help, but bemusedly laugh at what she had written:

"Are you sure you don't mind... you weren't planning to ask him?"

I shook my head and sighed to myself. I certainly hoped that I didn't send anyone any mixed signals. I wasn't really interested in any of the guys here at school, to be honest. Sure, I wouldn't mind having some more friends; girls or guys, but I wasn't really ready for a relationship yet. At least not with any guys here. I still had a lot of shit I wanted to do in life first, and I didn't think a new person would know that. I quickly texted her back doing my best to assure her that it was okay:

"Nope. Not at all, Jess. Besides, I'm not going. I wanna stay in and binge watch Netflix. Maybe pig out on ice cream or something. I'm not really that fond of school dances."

She rapidly sent me a text back with a winky smiley face:

"Oh come on. It'll be really fun. Besides, there'll be free food."

I snorted out a laugh. I would not be bribed with free food just so I could embarrass myself with my dorky dance moves. No ma'am. I sent her a text with a silly emoji:

"Nah, thanks though. You go have fun with Mike and the others. If you still want to dance with me we can play one of those dancing games on my wii. What say you, friend?"

My phone buzzed again and I found that she sent me a thumbs up emoji along with her text:

"Ten four, good buddy."

I laughed out loud at that point and shook my head. I should've never told them I had wanted to be a cop like my dad. The cop jokes didn't stop coming when I least expected it.

The next day, I was surprised that Jessica wasn't her usual cheery self in Trig and Spanish. She was silent as she walked by my side between classes, and I was afraid to ask her why. She did accept my hug though, so I knew it wasn't something that I did. If Mike had turned her down, I wasn't quite sure what to say to her. The perk of me not getting asked out or asking people out for this dance was the lack of rejection.

My fears were strengthened during lunch when Jessica sat as far from Mike as possible, chatting animatedly with me and Eric. Mike was unusually quiet at lunch in comparison. It was all really depressing.

Mike was still pretty quiet as he walked me to class, the uncomfortable look on his face was a bad sign. However, he didn't broach the subject until I was in my seat and he was perched on my desk. As always, I did my best to show him that I only felt platonic feelings for him.

"So," Mike said, looking at the floor, "Jessica asked me to the spring dance."

I tilted my head at him and gave him a measuring look, "I know. She told me. What'd you do to make her sad?" A grim look slipped onto my face and I could see his face fall at my response.

"Well..." he floundered as he examined my clearly unhappy stare, "I told her I had to think about it."

"Why would you do that?" I let disapproval color my tone, "She really likes you. You shouldn't really lead people on like that. That's mean."

His face went bright red as he looked down again, "Yeah. I guess, but I was wondering if... well, if you might be planning to ask me." Okay, what?

I blinked repeatedly giving him a bewildered look before shaking my head, "Mike I don't like you like that. You're a good friend, and as your good friend, I think you should get back to Jessica. You should apologize and tell her yes."

I don't think half the conversation filtered through his head because soon after he asked, "Did you already ask someone?" Seriously?

"No," I stated giving him a stern look, "I'm not going to the dance at all."

"Why not?" Mike pouted and whined a little. I rolled my eyes at him and sighed.

I contemplated telling him the truth and decided against it. It wouldn't do if he got it into his head that he could chill with me instead of going to the dance with my friend, "I'm going to Seattle that Saturday."

"Can't you go some other weekend?" Mike cast a suspicions glance at Edward before sending me a pitiful look.

"Sorry, nope," I stated and narrowed my eyes at him, "You shouldn't make Jess wait any longer - it's rude.

"Yeah, you're right," he mumbled, and turned, dejected, to walk back to his seat. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to push the frustration out of my head. I never acted romantically with any of them and treated all of them the same. How in the world did Mike think that I liked him that way? Soon enough, Mr. Banner began talking, which prompted me to open my eyes.

I caught Edward staring at me curiously with that same familiar edge of frustration with his now black eyes. I stared back, surprised, expecting him to look quickly away. Instead he continued to gaze at me with a scarily probing intensity. My hands started to shake and my heart hammered in my chest. What did he want?

"Mr. Cullen?" Mr. Banner called, seeking an answer to what else occurs in a mitochondria.

"The Krebs Cycle," Edward answered reluctantly turning to look at Mr. Banner.

I looked down at my notebook as soon as his eyes released me, scribbling down what Mr. Banner had written on the board. I shifted my braided hair over my right shoulder and did my best to concentrate. My heart still hammered in my chest and I couldn't shake the fear that clung to me. I clutched at my pendant now and again which seemed to relieve some of my anxiety. It felt warm to touch, but I honestly thought that was just my imagination at this point.

I tried very hard not to be aware of him for the rest of the hour, and for a while it seemed to work. When the bell rang, I turned my back to him to gather my things, expecting him to leave immediately as usual.

"Eliza?" his deep tenor questioned.

I turned slowly after I had put everything away, and warily looked at him. His expression was unreadable and he didn't say anything once I had fully turned to him.

"Yes? Are you speaking to me again?" I tartly asked, heaving my backpack on and moving toward the coat hooks.

His lips twitched into a lopsided smile, "No, not really." Fucking weirdo.

I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly through my nose, aware that I was gritting my teeth as I counted down from ten. I stiffly walked away from him and took my anorak off of the hook, hugging it to my chest.

I was about to head to the door when I felt an arm grasp mine, "What do you want, Edward?" I glanced at him warily, noting that he still had an impressive grip.

"I'm sorry," he stated sincerely. He dropped my arm and sighed, "I'm being very rude, I know...but it's better this way, really." That was really cryptic.

"I really don't know what you mean," I said as I folded my arms in front of my chest. I glanced at him unable to hide my wary curiosity.

"It's better if we're not friends," he explained. He looked at me with a hollow sort of smile, "Trust me."

My eyes narrowed. I wouldn't trust him with a stick of poo at this point, "Right. Well then thank you." I sent him an icy smile. We were never friends to begin with, so this was okay with me. He didn't have to be so creepy about it though.

His eyes narrowed, "You're welcome." Man this guy was weird.

I straightened up and swiftly walked off to Gym giving Mike a parting wave as I went. Just because one person pissed me off, didn't mean I had to be a rude dick to everyone. I certainly didn't want to be an Edward.

Gym wasn't too bad since we had finally moved on from volley ball onto basketball. My team passed me the ball now and again, so that was pretty good, but I was still a pretty bad shot. Our team lost by about five points, but everyone seemed to be having fun. It was a bright spot on an otherwise pretty sucky day.

I speed walked to my truck after gym feeling someone's eyes follow my back. Before I got in, I gently rubbed the dent that was now on my truck. It had suffered only minimal damage in the accident, but we still had to replace the taillights. My dad offered to get the dent out and touch it up, but that would have to happen on a later date. I didn't really mind though since the Behemoth was still alive and kicking. Other than that, it came out the victor between the two cars. Tyler's parents had to sell their van for parts. Even though he did almost kill me, I felt bad for him. Sort of anyways.

I almost had a stroke when I rounded the corner of my car and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of my truck. I realized it was just Eric and managed to calm my racing heart.

"Hey, Eric," I called out as I walked on over to my driver's side door.

"Hi, Eliza," Eric straightened up and smiled at me cheerfully.

I returned his smile with one of my own and asked, "What's up?" I was unlocked my door and chucked my backpack into my passenger seat. I let out a happy sigh. I was going to be able to go home soon.

Eric cleared his throat and let out an awkward laugh, "Uh, I was just wondering... if you would go to the spring dance with me?" His voice broke on the last word.

"I thought it was girls' choice," I stated startled at this new development. What the hell was up with the guys?

"Well, yeah," he admitted, shamefaced. He wrung his hands and looked at me expectantly.

I recovered my composure and gave him a lopsided grin, "Thanks for asking me, but I don't like you that way, Eric. Besides, I'm going to be in Seattle that day."

His face fell as my words seemed to sink in. He pulled on a tense smile before saying,"Oh...well, maybe next time."

"Sure, as friends," I agreed giving him a pat on the shoulder.

He cast me a sad smile at me before slouching and sullenly walking back toward the school. I heard a low chuckle emanate nearby.

Edward was walking past the front of my truck, looking straight forward, his lips pressed together. I slipped into my truck, sighing at my luck before revving up my engine. I neatly reversed out into the aisle, but was cut off by Edward fucking Cullen. He then proceeded to just stop there like a total fucking knob. I considered taking out the rear of his shiny Volvo, but there were too many witnesses. I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed that a line was beginning to form behind us.

Directly behind me, Tyler Crowley in his recently acquired Sentra waved. I gave him a curt wave back, doing my best to quell my oncoming road rage.

While I was sitting there, stewing in my anger and plotting multiple ways to kill Edward, I heard a knock on my passenger side window. I looked over; it was Tyler. I glanced back in my rear view mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open.

I leaned cranked the window down and shot him an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen."

"Oh, I know - I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here," he grinned brightly at me.

I raised my brow at him and nodded at him to go on. I really hope it wasn't something stupid.

"Will you ask me to the spring dance?" he eagerly asked. Nope, it was a stupid question.

I sighed and tugged at my braid before shaking my head, "No, Tyler. I don't think of you that way. Besides, I'm not going to be in town on that day." This was turning out to be a shitty ending to what was a good school day.

"Yeah, Mike said that," he admitted rubbing the back of his neck.

I shot him a sharp look before exasperatedly asking, "Then why ask?"

He shrugged, "I was hoping you were just letting him down easy."

"Just, no Tyler. No," I stated stiffly. This guy was getting on my last nerve and the deep breathing that I was practicing wasn't helping me for once.

Tyler sent me a cheeky smile before shrugging, "That's cool. We still have prom."

Before I could respond to his weird assumption, he was already walking back to his car. I could feel my eye twitch and the tears prickle at my eyes. I looked forward and saw Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper sliding into the Volvo. In his rear view mirror, Edward's eyes were on me. He was unquestionably shaking with laughter, as if he'd heard every word Tyler had said. My foot itched toward the gas pedal... one little bump wouldn't hurt any of them, just that glossy silver paint job. I revved the engine with anger clearly blurring my rationale.

However, before I could enact my revenge, Edward was already speeding away. I drove home slowly, carefully, muttering to myself the whole way about stupid jackasses.

When I got home I looked at the chore calendar and found that it was my turn to cook dinner tonight. I sighed and pulled my braid into a bun. I decided to make chicken enchiladas for dinner. It was a long process, but it would keep me busy. While I was simmering the onions and chilies, my phone rang. I sighed and picked it up, hoping that whoever was calling had a good reason. Texting was really more my thing than calling, really.

It was Jessica, and she was jubilant; Mike had caught her after school to accept her invitation. I celebrated with her briefly while I stirred. She had to go, she wanted to call Angela and Lauren to tell them. I nodded and suggested that maybe Angela could ask Eric. While Lauren could ask Tyler since he was still available. Jess thought that was a great idea. She asked if we were still on for the wii dance off, which caused me to laugh. I told her that I was still up for it, if she was. She cheerfully said that she was and that she had to go. After I hung up, I hurriedly texted my mom about my fucking weird day. I made sure to put an emphasis on what a jerk Edward was being.

I diced the chicken with vigor and mixed them in with the rest of my ingredients. My thoughts ran away with me, and led to my odd conversation with Edward. What did he mean, it was better if we weren't friends? When were we ever friends to begin with?

My stomach grumbled and I shook my head. It wouldn't do to obsess over things I couldn't control. I finished the enchiladas and put them in the oven.

My dad came home with a tub of ice cream and another big hug for me. I took the tub of ice cream and kissed his cheek before tugging him into the kitchen. He raised an eyebrow as he caught the scent of green peppers. I couldn't blame him since we rarely had Mexican food.

"Enchiladas?" He asked as he plucked off a couple plates, cups, and utensils for us.

"Mhmm," I happily hummed and brought out a steaming casserole dish of enchiladas.

He laughed and murmured a quiet thanks as we dug into our meal. I tilted my head at him and sent him an expectant look, "Dad?"

He looked at me and gulped down some water, "I didn't catch anyone today, sweetie. The kidnappers are still at large. How was your day?"

I frowned and felt mildly worried that people still kept disappearing. I sighed and tucked that thought away in my head, "It could've been better. Boys up here are weird and annoying. There's this dance that's happening soon and I turned them all down because I didn't really feel like going. I wanna say in and just veg out."

My dad barked out a laugh and shot me curious look, "That's well and good, sweetheart. Boys are weird and annoying, don't you forget that. I do need a favor from you on that day though."

I tilted my head and munched on some of my enchilada, "What would that be?" I really hope it went with my be all lazy on that day plan.

"I need you to head up to Seattle and pick something up for me. I'd do it myself, but I have a late shift on that night. It's a package your mother sent that got waylaid there. I can trust you to do that right, sweetheart?" he sent me an expectant look and I pouted. There goes my lazy day plan.

I sighed and nodded, "Sure, dad."

He sent me a cheerful grin as he got up and served us some ice cream for dessert, "That's my girl."

The next morning at school I parked as far as possible from the silver Volvo. I didn't want to put myself in the path of too much temptation, and end up owing him a new car. Getting out of the truck, I accidentally dropped my keys into a puddle at my feet. I scowled and sighed as I bent to get it. Suddenly, a white hand flashed out in front of me and grabbed it before I could. I jerked upright and turned my scowl towards whoever did that. Edward Cullen. I should've known.

"Yes?" I waspishly asked snatching my keys away from him. He looked surprised for a moment before giving me a hungry smile. It was very disturbing.

"What?" he kept that creepy smile on his face and continued leaning against my car. What a weirdo.

"Why the traffic jam last night?" I narrowed my eyes at him and demanded.

"That was for Tyler's sake, not mine. I had to give him his chance," he snickered.

"You are a piece of work," I spat as I began to walk away from him, but he only seemed more amused at my ire.

"Maybe, but I'm also not pretending you don't exist," he stated matching my pace.

I rolled my eyes and shot him a dirty look, "So are you trying to irritate me to death then? Since Tyler's van didn't do the job?"

Anger flashed in his eyes and his lips pressed into a hard line, all signs of humor gone, "Eliza, you are utterly absurd."

I rolled my eyes at him. Did this guy not get sarcasm? I shrugged and continued walking away from him.

"Wait," he called out, but I kept on walking, sloshing through the many puddles that the recent storm had created. All too soon he was next to me, easily keeping pace.

"I'm sorry, that was rude," he said as we walked. It sure was, weirdo. I continued to ignored him to the best of my ability. "I'm not saying it isn't true," he continued, "but it was rude to say it, anyway."

"Okay. That right there? That was also rude. Just because you think a person is absurd, doesn't mean they are. Besides that, why won't you just leave me alone?" I spat glaring at him heatedly.

A smile that seemed far too wide stretched across his face, "I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me." He chuckled dryly as we continued walking.

"Do you have a multiple personality disorder?" I wryly, "Because you certainly act like you do."

Edward pouted and stated, "You're doing it again."

I took in a deep breath sighed tiredly, "Fine then. What do you want to ask?"

"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday - you know, the day of the spring dance -" he cheekily grinned at me, wiggling his eyebrows all the while.

"Are you trying to be funny?" I hissed. I was not amused at all with this weird little game he was playing.

His face was wickedly amused, "Will you please allow me to finish?"

I bit my lip and clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers, so I couldn't do anything rash. The urge to smack him was rising and I didn't know how long I could hold back on that idea now.

"I heard you say you were going to Seattle that day, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride," he searched my face for something while I took in what he had just asked.

It was unexpected and totally creepy since I didn't recall ever telling him about what I had planned to do. Or fake planned to do at first anyways.

"What?" I asked him, still creepily surprised at what he had just asked and implied.

"Do you want a ride to Seattle?" he let out a patronizing sound as though I were some sort of dumb toddler.

My face twisted into a grimace as I shook my head, "Thanks, but no thanks. Besides, my truck works just fine." I started to walk away again, and hoped that this guy would stop trailing me.

"But can your truck make it there on one tank of gas?" he matched my pace again.

I rose my eyebrow at his insinuation and snapped, "I don't see how that is any of your business."

"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business," he smugly declared.

"Honestly, Edward," I let out an exasperated sigh. I shot him a calculating look before shaking my head, "I can't keep up with your mood swings. I thought you didn't want to be my friend, but now you do?"

Edward shrugged, "I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."

"Oh, thanks, now that's all cleared up," I clapped my hands and shot him a hollow smile before rolling my eyes. We were under the shelter of the cafeteria roof now, so I didn't require my hood anymore. I shook my head and let my braid fall out of my hood. I let out a sigh.

Edward cleared his throat and muttered, "It would be more...prudent for you not to be my friend, but I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Eliza."

I snorted out a laugh and decided that this guy was clearly just crazy. I sighed, and decided if the crazy guy wanted a friend then he had one. If he did try to kill me though, I'd shot him in the head. I didn't want to end up missing like all the other people around here.

"Can I go with you to Seattle?" he asked, his eyes boring into me.

I let out a defeated whine, "Fine. Only because you really are persistent."

He smiled briefly, before seriously stating, "You really should stay away from me." His face morphed back into a smug bastard, "I'll see you in class." He turned abruptly and walked back the way we'd come.

I watched his retreating back and muttered, "Fucking weirdo."