I started to follow Edward, but he disappeared so quickly I knew I had no chance of catching up. I let the last stream of students carry me the rest of the way into the classroom. I sat down, feeling numb and replaying the disastrous scene in the hall in my mind. It wasn't until someone turned off the lights that I remembered we were going to watch a movie.

The opening credits began with the date of the film, 1922. The picture quality was halting and grainy. In keeping with the silent movie style of that era, some of the actors' expressions were grossly exaggerated, often to the point of being ridiculous. One student named Brad did a dead-on imitation that brought howls of laughter from some of the students and a stern warning from our teacher.

When the vampire, Count Orlock, finally appeared, I understood Angela's comment about being creepy. I had expected him to look elegant and refined like Bela Lugosi. Instead he had dark sunken eyes, pointed ears, snarled teeth and spidery fingers. His every move was sinister, his every look pure evil.

Some of the other students must have thought Count Orlock was pretty creepy, too. Every time he appeared on screen they reacted raucously.

"Ew."

"Gross!"

"Drive a stake through his heart!"

Other students found the whole thing simply funny. They laughed so much that our teacher threatened to turn off the movie.

The whole school probably could hear all the shouts and laughter from our classroom. Undoubtedly, Edward could, too. Even if he couldn't hear the exact words, the general tone of derision would be unmistakable. In the past Edward had expressed how he viewed himself as a monster. Was the monster on the screen how he saw himself? All of a sudden I had a sickening feeling. What if Edward thought I was joining in the laughter and ridicule? What if he thought I was jeering along with the other students?

The movie ended when Count Orlock, caught in a beam of sunlight, vanished. All of the students cheered and clapped.

I felt terrible. I had to talk to Edward. I knew he already had a mistaken idea about my haircut and now this awful movie. As soon as the teacher dismissed class, I bolted out the door and ran to find him. His teacher must have let his class out early because by the time I got to the room everyone had left. I dashed to his next class. He wasn't there. I checked the cafeteria and even the gym but saw no sign of him. Where could he be? Had he gone home early? I jogged out to the parking lot. Thankfully Edward's car was still there. Even though there were two periods left in the day, I decided to stand right by his car until he came out. By staking my claim at the driver's side I knew there would be no chance of missing him.

I stood leaning against his car watching ever-darkening clouds gather. Soon I could feel rain starting to fall. At first it was only a light mist. But not long after that, it turned into honest-to-goodness rain. I thought about running inside and getting my coat, but worried that it would be just my luck to miss Edward during the few minutes I was gone. I could sit in my truck but it was at the other end of the lot. He could be in his car and out of the parking lot even before I would be able to get my door open. Every so often there would be a little break in the clouds and I thought it was starting to clear. But each time, the rain would renew itself with even more intensity. The longer I stood there the more foolish I felt. But I had already stood there so long and was already completely soaked. What could I do? Go back to class looking like a drowned rat?

At last the doors opened and students started coming out of the building. As soon as they realized how hard it was raining they began running toward their cars. Thankfully, none of them seemed to notice me. I kept brushing the water from my eyes while looking for Edward. Perhaps he was lingering in the building, hoping not to see me.

Eventually, all the students were gone. Only my truck and Edward's car remained in the parking lot. Maybe he had taken off running after he had spoken to me earlier. Perhaps he had left with his siblings in the middle of the afternoon and I had been standing in the rain for two hours like an idiot.

I saw the front door of the school open again and Edward quickly walked out. About halfway to his car he suddenly noticed me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, "It's pouring rain."

"I n-n-need to talk to y-y-you," I said. I hadn't realized how cold I was until heard myself stuttering.

"You're completely soaked. How long have you been out here?"

"S-s-since after English,"

"Get inside," he ordered as he unlocked the door to his car.

"N-n-no, I'll get your car all w-w-wet," I managed to say. I took the keys to my truck out of my backpack but my hands were so cold I dropped them immediately. Edward grabbed them and steered me towards my truck. He quickly ushered me into the passenger seat and ran to get inside and turned on the engine.

"What were you thinking standing out there for hours in the rain?" he asked.

"I need to t-t-talk to you," I stammered as he put his coat around my shoulders. "I was afraid I would m-m-miss you."

"What did you want to tell me?" he asked with a worried look.

"I hated that movie," I said again. "I thought maybe you heard everyone laughing. I didn't want you to think I was laughing, too."

"No, I didn't think you were," he said softly. He turned the heater on and we waited a few minutes for the truck to warm up.

"Did you hear what Lauren said in the hall?" I finally asked.

Edward nodded.

"It's not true. I didn't cut my hair as a way to break up with you. I didn't do it to spite you or anything like that. I just wanted to look different. I didn't want to look like I was still in third grade."

"I never thought you looked like you were in third grade."

"I just needed a change. Something more grown up, more sophisticated."

Edward smiled. Then he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

He turned the rearview mirror so I could see myself. My new, sophisticated haircut was plastered flat against my head, dripping water everywhere. My face flushed with embarrassment while Edward continued laughing.

"Stop laughing!" I begged. I took another look at myself and started laughing, too.

After a while I was able to catch my breath. We sat there awkwardly for a few moments.

"Are you still angry with me?" Edward finally asked.

"Sort of."

"Can you tell me about it?"

I thought for a moment.

"You never talked to me about leaving."

"Yes, I did," Edward said, looking confused. "I came to your house and told you right before I left."

"That's just it. You told me, you didn't talk to me."

"What's the difference?"

"There's a whole world of difference," I said, starting to get frustrated. "You just told me, you never talked to me about what you were thinking, about what you were planning to do. You never asked me what I thought."

"You wouldn't have agreed to it even if I had talked to you."

"How do you know that? You are always complaining you never know what I am thinking!"

"Would you have agreed?"

"No."

"Well?" he demanded.

"But that's not the point!"

"So what is the point?"

"You just decided without saying anything to me about it first! You treated me like a child." I paused for a moment. "Or a pet."

"What did you say?" Edward asked angrily.

"That's what Laurent thought," I answered quietly, knowing full well he had heard me.

"What?"

"Remember I told you I saw Laurent in the meadow?"

"Yes."

"He said something about me being your pet."

"That's utterly ridiculous!" Edward looked as angry as he sounded.

I continued softly, "I think maybe he saw something about us. Something we can't see."

"Bella, I can't believe you are saying this."

"I'm not saying he was completely right. But I don't think he was completely wrong either."

"You think I treat you like someone would treat their pet?"

"I just think there's some truth in what he said," I said quietly.

Edward sat looking as furious as I had ever seen him.

"You'd better get home. Charlie will be wondering what happened to you." He reached for his coat and quickly opened the door and left. Within seconds he was in his car and driving out of the parking lot.

I sat with the rain steadily drumming on the roof of my truck. I slowly moved over to the driver's side and started for home.