T POV

"Mrs. Denali," Bella said by way of greeting. "You heard what happened today. You can't expect me to eat lunch with him today!"

"Bella, how are you ever going to get along if you don't try?" I asked exasperated.

"He put a turtle in my locker. A real one! A live one! He knows I'm afraid of them—they carry salmonella!" she ranted. "And now all those diseased germs are covering my books and my notes and my life! Mrs. Denali, I can't eat lunch today at all, much less sit with him."

"Bella, it was a practical joke. Tasteless, yes, but Edward didn't mean any harm," I tried to reason with her.

Just then, Edward walked in with the grin of the Cheshire cat on his youthful face.

"You'd better turn around and walk away," Bella warned lowly. She was very visibly upset.

Right in front of my eyes, that stupid boy pulled out the confiscated turtle out of his backpack and faked throwing it at the poor, shaking girl.

"Aw, Swan, c'mon. He doesn't bite," he cooed.

"Mr. Cullen," I snapped. "Do not make me—"

"Give me detention? I already have them for the rest of the week."

"Saturday school then," I said with one raised brow. "That reptile needs to be taken outside, away from Miss Swan," I stressed.

Teenage boys were such shitheads.

Edward relented and let the turtle go free. At least, that's what I chose to believe. He was back in a minute and sat down next to the pale young girl in the room.

It seemed that "progress" was not a word that had made its way into their vocabularies yet as I'd hoped.

"Edward, apologize," I demanded.

"Sorry," he muttered, not even bothering to look at Bella.

I was glad that Bella didn't deign him with a response. Even I believed he didn't deserve it.

"Edward, you knew Bella had… issues with this particular reptile, right?"

He nodded, his eyes riveted on some point on my shoulder.

"So can you tell me why you decided to put one in her locker? Phobias aren't funny, Edward."

"I didn't know she'd react that badly," he defended himself poorly.

I shook my head at him, noticeably disappointed. I then waited until he looked me in the eye and nudged my head toward Bella so that he could see what he'd caused. The girl was a mess.

"Bella, do you want to talk about it?" I asked. "Phobias usually stem from a traumatic event…"

Bella took a breath then admitted, "In Phoenix… My best friend… She died of salmonella poisoning. She and her dad went fishing one weekend, and she just… She was so sick." Her voice was just a whisper, weak and tired.

It was silent for a little while before she continued. "Her name was Maggie. She was the only friend I had, since I've never been all that good at fitting in. And when she just… It was so fast and so horrible. She was just eleven!" Bella's voice steadied and began to ring louder. I smiled encouragingly. "I researched it until I knew every possible way someone could catch it and how to prevent it. Turtles carry the disease, and you never know… She certainly didn't."

When neither Edward nor I said anything after that, she concluded wittily with, "The end."

"I'm… sorry, Bella," Edward said in a very deep tone.

When a person is about to cry, there is a telltale lump in his throat that makes the voice lower exponentially. It surprised me to hear Edward affected like that. It wasn't as if I'd never seen teenage boys cry, but Edward was different. I'd never expected to see this one tear.

It went to show that Bella's emotions played a strong role in Edward's.

Bella looked up at Edward and nodded at him, her forgiveness. Her dark eyes sparkled with her own tears and of course hers spurred on mine…

"Okay, both of you, lunch. I'll know if you don't sit together," I warned. Students aren't supposed to see counselors cry, so I had to get them out of here, or at least arguing again to distract them from myself.

But they both just stood. Bella whispered, "Okay." Edward nodded in acquiescence.

I watched them walk down the hallway together toward the cafeteria, neither saying a word. But they were standing close enough together for the sleeves of their windbreakers to scratch together. The noise of their touch could be heard until the doors closed behind them.

~jg ~ jg ~ jg ~ jg ~ jg ~

Ms. English, the school's head art teacher, informed me that Bella Swan and Edward Cullen indeed eat lunch together that day outside in a secluded corner by themselves.

And although their voices weren't heard, Ms. English said that their lips were moving. They talked and they smiled and they laughed. I almost couldn't believe it.

But progress was definitely back in action.