Chapter 7

It seemed like I'd only been asleep for a for a few minutes, but when I looked at the clock it said it was six o'clock. I had been asleep for almost seven hours having that crazy dream.

What intrigued me most about the dream wasn't the fact that the Weres were there attacking me, it was that I was with Edward. The way I had said 'Edward and I' so many times was disconcerting. If it was somehow the future, did Edward know what I was? Were we together? And when does it happen? I asked myself.

I pushed that away and decided I'd think about it tomorrow. I'd planned to ask Charlie at dinner if I could stay home tomorrow anyway. No matter how much I wanted to see Edward, I had to let him cool down before I talked to him again, if I talked to him again.

Charlie was already downstairs, paying the pizza man when I went down there.

"You were asleep when I came home, I didn't want to wake you." he said as we sat down to eat.

We lapsed into silence after that. Which was good, because it left me time to think about how I was going to ask him if I could stay home.

"Daddy," I said in I little kid voice, with a puppy dog face. "Can I stay home tomorrow."

He stared at me for a second deliberating.

"Please." I said with an even bigger puppy dog face, it was a little rusty, I hadn't pulled that one out of the bag in years.

"The doctor did say to take it easy." he mused. "Okay, but you're going on Friday."

"Thank you, daddy!" I said as I got up to throw away my paper plate.

I went to bed early, not well rested at all from my little nap. That night's sleep didn't help either. I had the same exact dream, but in better clarity and I was in the meadow longer with Edward. We were together, very recently though, which made me smile and frown at the same time. It was very confusing. He was almost testing me, he knew I was attracted to his scent and he was seeing how long I could withstand it around him.

I woke up at noon the next day, despite the fact that I had gone to bed a nine. It was sunny again, sunny enough that I could have gone to school and not have to worry about Edward being there. I wondered where he went when it was sunny. He, of course couldn't stay in town. Maybe he went to that meadow in my dream, banking on the fact that that dream was real, therefore the meadow would be too.

I stayed in bed most of the day, thinking those thoughts over and over again. There wasn't anything else to do, I did take a shower and clean my room a bit. I still had boxes of books to unpack. It was too cold and wet to go outside.

I made steak and potatoes for dinner. Charlie came home at about six and then just had to watch the sports net work after we ate. Again, I went to bed early. And again, I had the same dream. What bothered me was that I didn't get to find out what happened after they attacked. The dream ended at the same part each time I had it.

The clouds were back the next morning when I awoke, I had looked on the weather channel the day before to make sure it wasn't going to rain too much that night. I hate it when it rains on the full moon. Like most cats, I can't stand water, it's not an old wives tale at all. Water makes me all cold, and in Forks, during winter I do not want to be wet.

School went by as usual, even lunch was the same. Edward didn't look at or say anything to me. I stared at him sometimes, which made Mike and Eric so mad you wouldn't believe it.

I was so worried on the way to biology I hardly notice that people were trying to talk to me. Pretty much the entire school came up to me that day asking why I was out the day before and if I was okay. And each time I replied, I'm fine, I was just tired and sore yesterday. Was I ever not going to be the center of attention at this school?

I took my seat by Edward, and leaned as far away from him as possible. I clenched my fists and tried to breath as little as possible. He never said anything to me and I, of course wasn't going to be the first to crack the silent treatment so I kept quiet too.

The rest of the day went by just as the first. People coming up to me hoping I was okay. 'Yes, I'm fine' I would reply.

We were starting something new in gym, but I couldn't tell you what it was. I was day dreaming about my dreams.

I was excited when the final bell rang though, I couldn't wait to get home and get ready for the full moon. I had a little routine that I did every month, although I was going to have to change it up this time.

I called Charlie when I got home and said I was studying at Angela's for an English test on Monday. One of the girls from that class would be picking me up to go over there. That would explain well enough why I was not home and wouldn't be home. I told him not to wait up and hoped that he wouldn't.

When it was almost six o'clock and time for the sunset, I stripped down. Sometimes shifting can be messy and there is no point in ripping perfectly good clothes. I cracked my window and closed my curtains. I was ready for it to happen. When the sun started to set I immediately began to shift, I smelt the magic and saw the smoke and then I was a kitten.

I was well rested when I woke the next morning, I only hunted for about an hour the night before because it was so cold. So I slept on the foot of my bed quite soundly. Charlie didn't suspect a thing, he really believed I was studying. My weekend was very boring, I did nothing but unpack my boxes of books and CDs.

The next month was exactly the same. Edward wouldn't speak to me and I didn't speak to him. It was the most boring month of my life. The only thing that was different was that Tyler Crowley was back on Monday and followed me around constantly, obsessed with apologizing to me. I tried to convince him as much as I could that it was okay. He just wouldn't listen. He followed me around between classes and tried his hardest to snag a seat next to me at lunch. These things made Mike and Eric like him even less, it seemed I had gained another unwelcome fan.

No one was concerned about Edward's wellbeing, they all just clustered around me, never giving him a second glance. I didn't talk about him being there when the accident had happened, I didn't want to make him even more mad.

When I sat next to him in class, as far away from him as possible, he seemed totally unaware that I was there. I figured my conclusion about him wishing he hadn't pulled me out of the way was true, and it made me terribly sad.

When it was almost the full moon again, I decided I had to talk to him. But I couldn't make myself do it. I waited until after the full moon. That Monday, during fourth hour I took my seat and made myself turn to him. He showed no signs of noticing me.

"Hello, Edward," I said as pleasantly as I could. The heater was running and blowing his scent around the room. He barely turned his head, nodded and then turned back the other way. Well, if that's the way you want to be then fine. I mentally told him. See how he likes it getting the silent treatment for another month. Oh, who am I kidding? He probably wouldn't even notice.

I was down right bummed, Edward wasn't talking to me, the weather was still cold and rainy, although it never snowed again, and the dreams continued. Something in my e-mails alerted my mother that I wasn't exactly happy. In many of her e-mails she asked if I was depressed. Each time I said it was just the weather.

Though Mike was happy about the obvious stand-off-ness between my lab partner and I. It seemed, at first, that he was very worried that I was attracted to Edward. Pshaw, me? Like Edward? Never. He became more and more confident and on most days sat on the edge of my lab table to talk to me.

Jessica was the one that was the one who had warned me about the girls' choice dance coming up the weekend after next. She called me to ask if I cared if she invited Mike. Of course, I told her no. I had no feelings for Mike except friendly ones, and those were few and far between.

"Are you sure you weren't going to ask him?" she kept asking me.

"No, Jess, I'm not even going." I told her.

She didn't even try to convince me to go, she wanted Mike all to herself.

The next day she wasn't at school though, so I didn't know how it had gone. She was on some sort of field trip, I was planning on calling her when I got home. If Mike turned her down, I was going to beat him to a pulp.

"So," Mike said, as he sat awkwardly on the side of my lab table. "Jessica asked me to the dance."

"That's great, you two will have a lot of fun." I said, faking enthusiasm, it just wasn't in me anymore.

He saddened when I said that. "Well," he began, "I was kind of hoping you were going to ask me so I told her I'd think about it."

"Mike," I said, a little embarrassed, "you should tell Jessica yes. She really likes you."

"You already asked someone else?" I caught him take a peek at Edward when he said this.

"No, I'm not going at all." I told him.

"Why not?" he demanded.

I quickly made up an excuse, I hadn't been planning on someone asking me to the girls' choice dance. "I'm going to Seattle that Saturday."

"Can't you go some other weekend?"

"No, sorry. So, you shouldn't make Jess wait any longer."

"Yea, okay." he mumbled as he walked back to his own desk.

When I turned back around, Edward was staring at me. His usual stare that I hadn't seen in over two month.

I stared at him, very confused. I had expected him to look away once he caught my eye, but he just kept looking. I couldn't look away, after so many weeks of his absence in my life, how could I not stare back?

"Mr. Cullen?" the teacher called, looking for an answer to a question I hadn't heard.

"The Krebs Cycle," Edward responded, reluctantly turning to the front of the class to do so.

When he dropped my gaze, I was free. I could look around the room again, I wasn't held captive by his stare anymore. What I was held captive by was worse though.

He scent no longer hurt, it was more pleasurable than that. It made me happy, it still made my senses go wild, but I was okay with it.

For the rest of the period, I tried to be attentive to whatever Mr. Banner was yammering on about. It was a failure, no matter how much I wanted to be unaware of Edward's presence I couldn't.

"Bella?" he said, as I gathered my things to go to the next class.

"Are you speaking to me again?" I asked, it didn't help that my voice held a certain note of petulance.

His lips twitched in an involuntary smile. "No, not really." he admitted.

I closed my eyes and inhaled through my mouth. I was too ticked off to even smell him at that moment.

"Then what do you want?"

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely. My eyes popped open, I hadn't expected him to say that. "I know I'm being rude, but it's probably better this way."

"I'm not following."

"It's better if we're not friends. Trust me." he said, I rolled my eyes.

"I've told you before. You have to trust me too." I told him. "You know, you shouldn't have even bothered, it would have saved you so much trouble."

"Now I'm not following." he said. He was caught a little off guard by what I had said, but he hid it well.

"You should have just saved yourself the trouble and not saved me."

He didn't speak for a while after that, but when he did speak, he sounded mad. "You think I regret saving your life?"

"I know you do," I snapped.

"You know nothing."

"Right, of course. Nothing at all." I knew more than he did and he was the arrogant one.

I walked furiously out of the room, ready to be away from that stupid, supercilious, egg-head. He made me so mad that I couldn't even put it into words.

I didn't talk to anyone or even look at anyone during art. I was still fuming. He didn't get to make the decision of whether we talked or not. Even if he didn't want to be my friend, he should be courteous enough to say hello back. Obviously, I was hung up on this guy and that was why I had been having those dreams. They could not be the future, I couldn't love that egotistical, conceited, butt-head. It wasn't possible.

Gym was boring. We were playing basketball, the game you play every year and it never gets anymore interesting. I'm pretty good, but today my mind was surrounded by Edward. I kept falling over myself and nothing could help me. My team quickly figured this out and stopped passing me the ball.

It was a relief to leave. I almost ran to my car, which now had a new bumper and paint job. Tyler's van wasn't as lucky as mine. His family had to sell it for parts, he now drove an old Sentra. All the happiness was deflated from me when I saw Eric leaning against the passenger side of my car, waiting for me.

"Hey, Eric," I called.

"Hi, Bella."

I had too many distractions (i.e. Edward) to notice the uncomfortable note his tone had taken on. Because of this I was surprised by what he said next.

"Uh, I was just wondering… if you would go with me to the spring dance?" Another invite to a dance that was girls' choice?

"Thanks for asking me and everything, but I'm not going to be in town."

"Oh, maybe next time."

"Sure," I agreed, then bit my tongue. I hoped I hadn't sounded too promising.

As Eric slouched off to his car, I heard a small chuckle behind me.

Edward was walking passed me, not looking at me, but he had his lips tightly pressed together. I yanked my car door open and slammed it behind me. I had to wait in line to get out of the parking lot, but just as I got to Edward, he pulled out in front of me. He sat there, waiting for his family; they were on there way over, but still by the cafeteria. I considered ramming the back of his shiny silver Volvo, but decided Sheila had been through enough.

As I sat there, staring at everything but what was in front of me, someone knocked on my window. Tyler was standing there, wanting to talk to me. He had left his car, which was behind me, still running with the door wide open. I rolled the window down to see what he wanted.

"I'm sorry, Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen." I was seriously piqued - the hold up wasn't my fault.

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

Oh, God. Please, no. Please, don't let this be happening.

"Will you ask me to the spring dance?"

"I won't be here that day, I'll be in Seattle." My voice sounded a little sharp. I had to remind myself that it wasn't his fault that Mike and Eric had already asked me.

"Yea, Mike did say something like that," he admitted.

"Why are you-"

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

Okay, it was entirely his fault.

"Nope," I said, exasperated. "I'm really going to be out of town that day."

"That's cool, there's still prom."

He walked away before I could say 'Hell no, buddy.'. I turned back around still astonished. Edward was staring at me in his rear view mirror, as his siblings got into the car. He was shaking uncontrollably with laughter, he had been listen to the whole thing! What a pompous jerk.

I was ready to ram him, but before I could even rev my engine, he was off. He drove like a maniac out of the parking.