Authors' Note: This was originally going to be part of the last chapter, but we found that these events shouldn't just be tacked on to something. The penny experiment is true as well (with a US penny) if you ever feel like having some fun spinning pennies.

Disclaimer: Sadly we are no closer to owning Twilight or The Shop Around the Corner. Shades of Pride and Prejudice in this one too (not surprising since Stephenie Meyer claimed it as an influence for Twilight

Bella breathed a sigh of relief when she looked down at her schedule, searching for her afternoon classes. Computer Science and Statistics, probably her two favorite subjects. She was excited to head to computer science first, and could hardly wait to hear what they would be covering this year.

She had loved programming for almost as long as she could remember. With at least the basics of several coding languages under her belt, and often knowing more complex sequences, Bella was more than competent enough to take the AP class. She had a passion for the subject that surprisingly few others shared, able to use it as a stress-reliever or a concentration device. As she made her way to class, she found herself hoping that they might learn a little more html since she wanted to hone her skills in that area.

The AP Computer Science class had the run of two rooms: a small, clean room where the desks were set up in pairs, and, through an adjoining doorway, a mini-computer lab. Since it was only the first day, everyone filed into the first of the rooms, setting up their books and choosing desks that would be theirs for the rest of the year.

Upon entering the classroom, Bella was excited (and a little embarrassed) to see that Edward Cullen was already there, seated at a desk a little off to the side. Remembering that she had fallen on him at lunch (well, she wasn't likely to forget it soon) she wasn't sure that she felt up to actually saying much to him. There was an empty seat near his just beckoning, however, which she took as she steeled herself to try to make decent conversation.

Mr. Phelan, their teacher, walked into the room at that moment. A short man with a hooked nose and formal clothing, he surveyed the class with an air of detachment as the class were working to slowly quiet. Spying Bella, the teacher broke into a short, swift smile and walked over.

"Ms. Swan, so pleasant to have you here with us," he said, shaking her hand. Noticing who she was sitting next to, his grin became much more sincere. "You are lucky to be in a class with Mr. Cullen. His expertise in this area will, I'm sure, be very beneficial to you. When you find yourself struggling I'm sure he will be able to set you straight."

Bella couldn't help being a little affronted. The way Mr. Phelan had phrased that made it seem like it was inevitable that she need help.

"Don't worry Mr. Phelan, I have quite a lot of experience with programming myself. I don't imagine that I will need constant assistance." She was surprised at how angry she was to think that her teacher might believe she couldn't understand the subject.

The teacher just kept going on and on, turning to Edward to look down on him like a stern grandfather looks down on the only grandchild he is fond of. "We were all very impressed with your test results last year, Mr. Cullen. If I didn't have restrictions by age, I'd have tried to get you to skip a grade. But of course, I'm sure you'd object to that. After all," he said, remembering to turn back to Bella, "Edward is very thorough in his studies and I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss anything."

Why don't you build him a shrine for heaven's sake? Bella glanced over at Edward, who remained silent, and wondered about Jessica's comments from lunch. Did he really enjoy this hero worship? Was he sitting their silently expecting her to feel the same way about him?

Upon the end of class, she checked her map and headed to Statistics, feeling ruffled and not at all as she had been expecting to feel after a subject she enjoyed so much.

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As soon as he could leave, Edward burst out of the Computer Science room, breathing heavily. Waiting for a moment as the others left, he braced his hands against the wall.

He could feel the blush burning in his cheeks and groaned as he thought back on the class, knowing that he would file it away as one of those embarrassing moments you can't laugh at no matter how much time had passed. How could Mr. Phelan do that to him? What was he, crazy?

And Edward had just sat there like an idiot, no idea how to respond and feeling the new kid stare a hole into the side of his head. Mr. Phelan dragged the torture on and on... not even noticing for a bit as the bell rang for class to begin, so caught up was he in his moronic rant in Edward's praise...

It had to be fine, though. It was Computer Science; not many people cared what happened in Computer Science. He would be okay. Everyone would forget.

Keeping his thoughts strictly on that train, Edward gathered his strength and, picking up his books, headed off to Statistics.

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Bella had just noticed Edward again, purposefully walking into the classroom ahead of her. This time she wasn't sitting near him. She didn't want to have to worry about trying to make conversation. Choosing a seat on the opposite side of the room (he seemed to have a preference for always sitting on the left), she took a deep breath and tried to bring back her concentration.

Ms. Emmons began the class with a little talk about probability, expertly rallying the Summer-struck students to attention. "Now, just because something has two possible outcomes doesn't mean that they are equally likely," she was lecturing them energetically. "Can someone give me an example where the chances are indeed 50-50?"

"A coin," Edward said quickly. The textbook case.

"Actually," Bella volunteered "that's only true when you flip the coin, ignoring the negligible chance of it landing on its side of course. With a penny, if you set it on its side and spin it with your finger you'll end up with it being tail side up 70 percent of the time."

"Well, it sounds like we have an experiment to run," enthused Ms. Emmons, glad to have such an excellent opportunity on the first day of school.

At that point, the entire class looked for pennies to begin spinning on their desks. After their first round, 14 of the 20 students had ended up tails.

"Of course, this is just our first sampling. We need to replicate this experiment a few times," continued the teacher.

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Everyone was enjoying themselves with the little experiment and some of them began thanking Bella for her suggestion. Edward was spinning the penny he had dug up out of his pocket quietly. Examining it, he realized that -- of course -- the head side of the penny had more weight on it, the metal of the image on that side more pronounced. He was interestedly contemplating what other factors might get in the way of expected results in cases such as this when the mumbling of a boy sitting nearby broke into his thoughts.

"About time someone put Cullen in his place. Everyone thinks he's such an expert on everything."

Put him in his place? Was that what she was doing? It had seemed like such a fun little diversion, spinning pennies. Maybe she thought that he couldn't understand probability at all. Maybe she was claiming that he couldn't see things from another perspective and could only recite things from a book.

The bell rang and he quickly gathered his books while Bella quietly came up to him. "It only works with pennies though, thanks to the weight of Mr. Lincoln's head," she laughed shyly.

"Thanks. I was able to figure that out myself," he said curtly as he walked out the door.

Bella was stunned by his reaction. She had been trying to have a gentle conversation with him after the debacle that was lunch. Maybe Jessica was right about him after all.

By this time Edward was already down the hall and wondering if Bella really had taken an instant dislike to him.

Seriously, who thought about spinning the coin when someone mentioned the coin case anyway? Maybe it wasn't just a fun tidbit. Maybe she'd thought that up specifically to prove him wrong. Maybe she could be spiteful even though it was her first day.

Maybe he'd been wrong to think that she had interesting eyes.