Hey guys! Sorry it ook so long to update. I hope this makes up for it!
BTW, there was a review asking when Bella's 'burden' would be know and all i can say is that 1. You'll never guess correctly and 2. to look at how she talks about herself. There are hints od 'Old' and 'New'. Also, this chapter reveals a little bit more about Bella, both 'O' and 'N'.
Disclaimer: ME: I don't Twilight, Learning to Fall, To Kill a Mockingbird, nor the quote from Dane Cook's Vicious Circle.
EDWARD: So...what do you own?
ME: You?
EDWARD: I don't think so.
I sprinted to the car- oops, sorry, truck- and quickly climbed inside. Putting the key in the ignition, I drove away, still tempted to touch the arrogant Edward. I mean his CAR, not- never mind.
As I pulled over near the house, I thought of Edward's penetrating glares. Again. Why would he look at me like that when I hadn't done anything?
Not, I thought as I opened the front door and shed my coat and shoes, that I should care. I had learned to ignore things like jealously and anger. I'd had to.
As I walked into the kitchen to get dinner started, I felt my heart sinking as I opened the fringe and saw that we only had milk, eggs, sausage, bacon, and fish. Once upon a time, I liked all of these things- well, not the fish-and would have eaten them without hesitation. But things were different now; I was different.
I sighed and put the fish out on the counter. The new me likes fish apparently. Luckily, I found some Mac n Cheese in a cupboard and set that out too.
Satisfied with the dinner plans, I ran up the stairs with my bag to get a start on my homework. I was still reading To Kill a Mockingbird, when Charlie came home.
"Hey," I had just gotten to the top of the stairs when he appeared in the hallway. "Fish and Mac n Cheese okay?"
He gave me a relieved smiled and said, "Sure, I'll just go get cleaned up; call me when dinner's ready."
True to my word, we had fish (which so did NOT taste like chicken as everyone says) and when we were done, I raced back upstairs and got a shower.
When I came back downstairs, Charlie was in the entertainment room with a football game on, but the volume off.
Uh oh, I thought as I automatically took a seat across from him. The TV on but the volume off is always a bad sign with Charlie. He wants to talk.
"Bells," Charlie cleared his throat as he began. "I know that it took a while to get you here, and I'm sorry Renee and I couldn't have gotten to you sooner."
"Its fine-" I began but he cut me off.
"No, Isabella, it's not," Charlie ran his hand through his hair as he called me Isabella; another bad sign. "We should have been ready; you shouldn't have had to-to… Just know that if you ever want to talk, I'm right here."
I tried to hold back the overwhelming urge to let something slip, but I kept quiet and nodded while looking at my hands. It made me look like I was trying not to cry.
"Okay," He breathed a sigh of relief and turned the sound back on.
""G'night," I mumbled and walked up the stairs. I'm not ready; not yet.
He wasn't here.
Not that I expected him to be; I could feel it in my bones as I got dressed this morning. After yesterday's show, I figured he would be out of school for at least a week if not more.
Still, when I got to the cafeteria, my gaze would casually sweep the entire perimeter, not staying on the Cullen table longer than the others.
Biology was nice too. I took a quick liking to Mr. Banner and soon, I was getting to class early so we could talk. I wasn't crushing or anything, but a friendship there.
I told him of every hormonal girl's crush on him and he laughed saying that he had purposefully shown the class his wedding ring and he could still hear half the girls muttering about it.
Still, I wasn't stupid; I wouldn't be telling him anything important. Just science and books and, sometimes, how his kid and wife were doing.
I wasn't relaxed here, but I could survive.
Then, Monday rolled around and just knew Edward would be at school. So, that morning, I chose my outfit with care, going for the 'I don't really care' look. (Not that I couldn't managed that in my sleep.)
By the time I left the house, I was wearing jeans, a thin purple jacket (even though it was snowing), a beanie, sunglasses, and one of my favorite tees that said, "There are three things we're all gonna do: we're all gonna cry we're all gonna lie, and…(on the back) we're all gonna take painful shits". Ahh humor: it sooths my soul.
When I pulled into the school parking lot, I saw the Cullen's disappearing under an awning. All five of them.
I parked my car and ran to class, contemplating lunch.
"…So then, she gives me a 'D' on my paper. Can you believe that?!" Jessica was ranting to me about her (terrible) English essay on World Literature.
"Nope," I was scrolling through the songs on my iPod as she talked. I was used to pretending to listen to constant blabbering. I do it all the time.
I had just settled on 'Learning to Fall' by Boys like Girls when we walked in the caf and I did my habitual sweep of the place. I saw with satisfaction that Edward was indeed here.
The Cullen's were all laughing as Emmett shook his snow-filled hair out all over the place. I studied Edward's face carefully and decided that something was different. I dropped it for now; figuring that I would get a closer look in class.
"Bella, what do you want?" Jessica asked as we passed through the lunch line.
Keeping an eye on Edward through my curtain of hair, I grabbed a Pepsi and an apple as we got up the register. Through my peripheral vision, I thought I saw Edward frown slightly.
Hmm, he's obviously not happy with my food choices.
As I sat down, I saw Edward still looking. So, just to tease him, I opened my bottle of Pepsi and drank a little, but left the apple sitting in front of me. That was okay, I never liked apples anyway.
After a half-hour of nodding and agreeing with everything everyone says, I got up and started walking to Mr. Banner's class.
It started raining as soon as I walked outside. Even though I liked rain, I liked snow better. Still, halfway to class, I stopped in an open area and turned my face upward. The rain felt good on my face. I raised my arms and, as a familiar song came on my iPod, I started dancing.
Just dancing, nothing special. Except I shouldn't be able to dance like this. New Bella was clumsy and couldn't do what I was doing now. But still, it felt good to let the Old me out.
I held me arms in such a way that, it looked like I should have a partner, and twirled around. I did an old, elegant ballroom dance and then, as I came in to a spin, I felt a hand grab mine and spin me close to him.
Edward. (I was going to stop here, but figured that that would be to cruel)
Or at least, an Edward of my imagination. Because when I blinked (and I rubbed my eyes a little) he was gone.
I looked around and, seeing on one, quickly walked to class. The whole way, I thought about my small vision.
But maybe it wasn't. His hand felt real enough, even though it was slightly cold and hard. Then again, maybe I was letting my imagination run away with me.
As I walked in the door, Mr. Banner gave me a smile.
"So," I asked as I sat down. "What's on the agenda today? Dissecting cats maybe?"
He smiled as he set up the microscopes and slides on each table.
"Not exactly," He told me what we were doing and I raised my eyebrows.
"Really? Are you sure the students can handle that degree of academics?" I asked.
"Well," He admitted sheepishly. "I did put you and Mr. Cullen together so that no one could cheat. You two are the smartest in the class."
The bell rang then and, after taking out my notebook to write my annual letters, I heard a voice say, "Hello, I'm Edward Cullen."
Let the inspection begin.
Well? What did you guys think? If you're a little confused about the annual letters part, PM me and I MIGHT just tell you. Or leave a review telling me what you think it means.
I'm pushing for at least ten reviews before i update the next chapter, so REVIEW PLEASE!
