I was at first, very nervous about Edward. He wasn't at school so, where was he? Was he telling others about me? I secretly monitored everyone I interacted with during the following week. No one seemed to be treating me differently. And everything seemed to stay that way. By Wednesday I had forgotten about him. I was completely engaged in the lives of my friends. Together we were planning a trip to the La Push Ocean Park. I was excited to go. I was curious to see what the beaches here were like. I wondered if it'd somehow be hot and dry.
By Friday I was perfectly comfortable entering my Biology class, no longer worried that Edward would be there. For all I knew he'd dropped out of school. I couldn't really bring myself to care. Though, I began to doubt whether or not he actually did know about me.
My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Charlie, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. I cleaned the house, got ahead on my homework, and wrote my mom a cheerful e-mail. I did drive to the library Saturday, but it was so poorly stocked that I didn't bother to get a card; I would have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore. I wondered idly what kind of gas mileage the truck got… yikes.
The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so I was able to sleep well.
People greeted me in the parking lot Monday morning. I didn't know all their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. In English, Kate took her accustomed seat by my side and Alia sat in the back. We had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights. It was straightforward, very easy. All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point.
When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks and my nose.
"Wow," Kate said, "It's snowing!"
"Huh." Snow. I haven't seen this in over four years.
Kate looked at me, "You don't like snow?"
"I can't remember." I mused, "I know snow means it's too cold to rain." Kate giggled.
"That's true, but haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" she asked incredulously.
"Sure, I have." I paused then added jokingly: "On TV."
Kate laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of her head. We both turned to see where it came from. Alia was standing a few feet away from us, giggling.
"Sorry!" she called, "I was aiming for Jack." I smiled. Alia was an excellent shot. If she'd wanted to hit me, she would have. That snowball was clearly meant for Kate.
"You'll ruin my hair!" Kate screeched at Alia, "You're such a jerk!"
"I'll see you at lunch, ok?" I began to walk away. I always disengaged when makeup and hairdos were the topic of conversation.
"That girl is a menace!" Kate said, her eyes on Alia's retreating form.
Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the new year. I was still on the fence about it. Sure, seeing snow made me feel nostalgic and it was drier than rain but it was cold and it melted in your socks.
I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Teddy after Spanish. Mush balls were flying everywhere. I kept a binder in my hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. Teddy thought I was hilarious and couldn't help himself from lobbing a snowball at me from behind.
"Traitor!" I cried playfully as I threw a snowball at him as well. We engaged in a full-on snowball fight with Alia joining at some point. When we finally got in line to buy food we were all wet and in giggles.
"How do you feel about the snow now?" Alia asked.
"I'm still on the fence about it." I fibbed. I think I liked snow now. This was fun.
"I can't believe you're a vegetarian." Teddy said when he saw what I ordered for lunch.
"What?" I said, "There's nothing wrong with not eating meat." Teddy shook his head.
"I'm going to convert you," he said, "You'll see!" I didn't. I doubt he'd succeed. Being a vegetarian was more of a moral choice for me than a health choice.
As we headed towards our table, something in my peripheral caught my attention. I glanced towards the table at the far end of the cafeteria, the Cullens' table, and… there were five people at the table.
They were laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair toward them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else.
"Jack, what are you staring at?" Teddy intruded, his eyes following my stare.
At that precise moment, Edward's eyes flashed and met mine. I stiffened. His expressions was less harsh and hateful than the last time I'd see him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way.
"Edward Cullen is staring at you." Teddy noted.
"Yes, he is." I said, "I don't think he likes me."
"Meh," Teddy waved his hand, "The Cullens don't like anybody. That's sort of their thing." He turned to me. "Stop glaring at him, man!" I blinked. Was I glaring? I don't know why but my anger towards him didn't seem to be there anymore.
Alia interrupted us then — she was planning another epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted us to join. Teddy agreed enthusiastically. He was always up for competition. I kept silent. I regretted injecting into my upper thigh this morning. I didn't notice it earlier but after the snowball fight my butt muscle was really sore.
For the rest of the lunch hour I subtlety shifted my weight to my left side, hoping no one would think I was passing gas.
I didn't really want to walk to class with Teddy as usual — he seemed to be a popular target for the snowball snipers — but when we went to the door, everyone besides me groaned in unison. It was raining, washing all traces of the snow away in clear, icy ribbons down the side of the walkway. I pulled my hood up, secretly pleased. I wasn't up for another snowball fight.
Once inside the classroom, I saw Mr. Banner was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slides to each table. Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. I remembered that Edward sat next to me in class and became slightly nervous. I didn't know what to make of him now. I kept my eyes away from the door, doodling idly on the cover of my notebook.
I heard very clearly the chair next to me moved, but my eyes stayed carefully focused on the pattern I was drawing.
"Hello," said a quiet voice. I knew it'd be rude not to look up at him so, I did. He was sitting as far away from me as the desk allowed, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet and disheveled. His expression was friendly, open, a slight smile playing on his lips. But his eyes were careful.
"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Jack LeFleche."
I began to feel guilty for being so angry at him last week. I supposed after experiencing trans-phobia in Phoenix, I had begun seeing it everywhere, even when it wasn't there. I tried to be casual.
"Yo." I said, "That's me." I thought about asking him if he knew what was up with me but, then I was afraid that if I did that it'd clue him in if he didn't know. He continued to awkwardly stare at me. We were both out of things to say to each other, so I turned back to my book.
Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate as he explained the lab we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order. Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. We weren't supposed to use our books. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.
"Get started," he commanded.
"Do you want to go first, partner?" Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling crookedly. This version of Edward was completely different than the person I met last week. I didn't get it.
"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile faded.
"No," I said. "I'll go ahead."
I was showing off, just a little. I'd already done this lab, and I knew what I was looking for. It should be easy. I snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied the slide briefly.
My assessment was confident. "Prophase."
"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as I began to remove the slide. His hand caught mine, to stop me, as he asked. His fingers were ice-cold, like he'd been holding them in a snowdrift before class. I jerked my hand away.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand back immediately. However, he continued to reach for the microscope. I watched him as he examined the slide for an even shorter time than I had.
"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on our worksheet. He swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily.
"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.
I kept my voice indifferent. "May I?"
He smirked and pushed the microscope to me.
I looked through the eyepiece eagerly, only to be disappointed. Dang it, he was right.
"Slide three?" I held out my hand without looking at him.
He handed it to me; it seemed like he was being careful not to touch my skin again.
I took the most fleeting look I could manage.
"Interphase." I passed him the microscope before he could ask for it. He took a swift peek, and then wrote it down. We continued like this until our pages were filled out.
We were finished before anyone else was close. I could see Kate and her partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group had their book open under the table.
Which left me with nothing to do but doodle in my book again. However, I could feel him staring at me. I glanced up, and he was, indeed, staring at me, that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes. Suddenly I identified that subtle difference in his face.
"Did you get contacts?" I blurted out.
He seemed puzzled by my unexpected question. "No."
"Oh," I mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."
He shrugged and looked away. In fact, I was sure there was something different. I vividly remembered the flat black color of his eyes the last time he'd glared at me — the color was striking against the background of his pale skin and his auburn hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different color: a strange ocher, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone. I didn't understand how that could be, unless he was lying for some reason about the contacts. I didn't mind; I had my secrets he had his. I respected that.
I looked down. His hands were clenched into hard fists again.
Mr. Banner came to our table then, to see why we weren't working. He looked over our shoulders to glance at the completed lab, and then stared more intently to check the answers.
"So, Edward, didn't you think Jack should get a chance with the microscope?" Mr. Banner asked.
Edward looked at me. "Actually, he identified three of the five."
Mr. Banner looked at me now; his expression was skeptical.
"Have you done this lab before?" he asked.
I smiled. "Not with onion root."
"Whitefish blastula?"
"Yup."
Mr. Banner nodded. "Were you in an advanced placement program in Phoenix?"
"Yes."
"Well," he said after a moment, "I guess it's good you two are lab partners." He mumbled something else as he walked away. After he left, I began doodling on my notebook again.
"It was nice that it snowed, wasn't it?" Edward asked. I had the feeling that he was forcing himself to make small talk with me. Paranoia swept over me again. How much about me did he know?
"Why do you ask?" I asked.
"You like snow." It wasn't a question.
"Not really." I said, keeping my eyes on my book.
"No?" Edward said, "Why not?"
"Because it melted in my shoes and now my feet are wet and cold." I said.
"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.
"A little bit," I said. "I guess I'm still getting used to it here."
"Why did you move here?"
So, I guess he didn't know about me? Whatever the case I did not want to open that can of worms right here, right now.
"Why do you want to know, man?" I said defensively.
"That's a very good question." he muttered, so quietly that I wondered if he was talking to himself. I sighed and turned to the blackboard. I put too much weight on my right side. I winced.
"Are you ok?" He asked.
"I'm fine." I answered quickly.
"Am I annoying you?" he asked. He sounded amused.
I glanced at him and decided to tell him the truth. "No. You're confusing me. Last week I could've sworn you hated me and now you're acting like this. I kind of think you're messing with me and that's annoying me."
"I'm not messing with you." He said.
"How much do you know about me?" I asked. He thought for a second.
"I know there was a mix up with your name last week." He said, "Some sort of prank your father pulled on you?" And just like that, the balloon of anxiety deflated. The way he looked; the way he said it; he really didn't know about me. I sighed and looked at the board again, trying to hide my relief.
"What are you thinking?" He murmured. I almost thought he was talking to himself. I leaned back in my seat.
"I'm usually pretty easy to read." I said, "I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve. When I have them."
"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." Despite everything that he'd guessed, he sounded like he meant it.
"Well, ok then." I said.
Mr. Banner called the class to order then, and I turned to listen. I still didn't really know what to make of Edward. He'd seemed engrossed in our conversation, but now I could see, from the corner of my eye, that he was leaning away from me again, his hands gripping the edge of the table with unmistakable tension.
I tried to appear attentive as Mr. Banner illustrated, with transparencies on the overhead projector, what I had seen without difficulty through the microscope. But I'd already done it, so it ended up sort of boring.
When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, I stared after him slightly confused.
Kate skipped quickly to my side and leaned on my desk.
"That was awful," she groaned. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner."
"I didn't have any trouble with it," I said, stung by her assumption. I regretted the snub instantly. "I've done the lab before, though," I added before her could get her feelings hurt.
"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," she commented as we shrugged into our raincoats. She didn't seem pleased about it.
"I wonder what was with him last Monday," I said.
I couldn't concentrate on Kate's chatter as we walked to Gym. I was eager to start proving myself in volleyball. Kate was on my team today and she was distracted today. I chivalrously covered her position as well as my own. I impressed my team mates when it was my turn to serve. It felt good.
The rain was just a mist as I walked to the parking lot, but I was happier when I was in the dry cab. I got the heater running. I unzipped my jacket, put the hood down, and fluffed my damp hair out so the heater could dry it on the way home.
I looked around me to make sure it was clear. That's when I noticed the still, white figure. Edward Cullen was leaning against the front door of the Volvo, three cars down from me, and staring intently in my direction. I accidentally hit the gas and threw the truck into reverse, almost hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla to my surprise. Lucky for the Toyota, I switched to the brake in time. It was just the sort of car that my truck would make scrap metal of. I took a deep breath, still looking out the other side of my car, and cautiously pulled out again, with greater success. I stared straight ahead as I passed the Volvo, but from a peripheral peek, I would swear I saw him laughing.