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There was only one word going through my mind when I saw Angela's mangled corpse: OH MY FUCKING GOD.
'OH MY FUCKING GOD.' I screamed, and crawled away as quickly as possible, heart feeling like it was going to rip itself out of my ribcage.
There was a split second's pause as the rest of the class tried to process what they were seeing. I'm guessing corpses without their heads is something the students of Forks High don't exactly see everyday.
Then, several things happened at once:
First, Angela snapped out of her feverish reverie and squealed. In happiness. 'My body! Yay!' Angela floated over and clapped her hands, looking down at her body. She then proceeded to grimace. 'Damn, I look really horrible. I really should have thrown that skirt away before I died. Ugh.' I glanced at the aforementioned skirt. To be honest, it really didn't look very flattering on Angela's alabaster to-die-for thighs. Even if said thighs were currently a mottled blue color.
Second, Jessica promptly turned over to her side and puked up a delightful medley of the spaghetti she had earlier and some chunks of what looked like half-digested, congealed brown noodles (I'm thinking she had some Chinese takeout yesterday).
Third, Rosalie and Alice both broke into disgusted choruses of, 'Ew! That's just nasty.'
Fourth, half the class immediately stood up and ran outside, shrieking their panicked heads off, whilst the other class were too scared to move, shrieking their panicked heads off. As you can imagine, there was a lot of shrieking.
Fifth, my teacher - I'd already forgotten what her name was - went into a dead faint.
'Ew ew ew ew…' I chanted under my breath, unable to tear my eyes away from Angela's body. I stared at it with a kind of horrified fascination. Her skin was already starting to peel away, and the stench of her decomposing corpse hit me like a tow truck.
'Ugh, you stink.' I held my nose, forcing out a weak, albeit nauseated grin.
'I know!' Angela took two steps away, peering at her own body. 'Jesus, I look pretty battered, don't I? That killer guy sure bashed me up properly.'
'A BODY!' a hysterical girl screamed, eyes open wide and completely frozen on the spot.
Rosalie and Alice started laughing. 'A BODY!' Alice mimicked, clutching her sides.
'It ain't funny.' I admonished.
At that very moment, several more teachers rushed in.
'Oh Lord.' an overweight middle-aged man gasped, stopping a few metres before Angela's stationary body.
I immediately pretended to shake and shiver, putting on an expression of sheer terror. People generally think it's strange when you act perfectly normal when you find someone's dead body.
'I'm so scared.' I whispered, forcing out a few tears. Rosalie and Alice convulsed with laughter. Another female teacher quickly led me out of the classroom, sealing it off.
Phew, what a day.
--
Rest of Body Found
The rest of Angela Weber's, 17, body has been found in the school compound of Forks High. Police are currently withholding where and when the body was found.
Local student Bella Swan, 17, the very same student who found Weber's head four days ago in a toilet bowl, was the one who found her body. "I was just looking for some books and extra paper when the body just came tumbling out." an uncomfortable Swan says. "I'm glad they found the rest of her body, though."
Students were, once again, allowed the rest of the day off after Weber's body was discovered.
Forks High has been closed for a further three days.
End Newspaper Article
--
It's been two days after I found Angela's body and I'm bored to death.
There's absolutely nothing to do in Forks. This is made worse with the fact that my mother goes into hysterics if I'm out of her sight for more than five seconds, so I'm a prison in my own home.
Rosalie, Alice and Angela have been popping in and out existence for these past few days, never staying for more than a few minutes. I'm not very happy with this. Even the company of undead beings would be a far cry better than just moping about in my room alone, bored out of my wits.
Another thing to make matters worse: it. Is. So. Freaking. Hot.
I cannot understand what's happening. Isn't Forks supposed to be twenty-four-seven rainy and gloomy? What's up with this sudden sunshine?
I've opened every conceivable window and turned up the air-conditioner in my room but I'm still sweating like some pedophile in a playground.
I peeled off my jeans my changed into a pair of much more comfortable shorts, tying my hair up into a horrendously messy ponytail. I sat down on the bay window seat, panting. Yes, panting. My tongue is lolling out of my mouth and I'm making these grotesque grunting sounds with my mouth, so I guess I'm literally panting. Rivulets of sweat are running down my brow. I'm sweating in places I never knew I could sweat.
Pop.
And there he is, in all his ruffled-shirt splendor, standing there.
'Hi.' I greeted, rather glad for the company.
Edward simply nodded to acknowledge my presence and stared out the window. There is a lot of sunshine pouring through so I don't know how he can manage looking out without burning his retinas to a crisp. Maybe it's a dead guy thing.
'Hot, isn't it?' I said conversationally, uncomfortable with the awkward silence that ensued.
'I wouldn't know.' Edward shrugged.
'You can't feel heat?' I asked, surprised and slightly embarrassed.
'No.' he turned around to look down at me, perfectly sculpted lips curving up in a delectable smile.
'Huh.' I wondered how I could've missed that in my seventeen years of ghost whispering.
'Though I'm guessing you're feeling the heat very intensely.' Edward gave my outfit a once over, then looked away, that smile still on his pale face. I squirmed, flushing. My thighs and shoulders suddenly seemed horribly bare.
'Oh.' I piped up, not particularly caring if Edward found my small talk interesting. 'Have you heard? I found the rest of Angela's body.'
A spark of interest.
'Really?' he swiftly and fluidly sat down opposite of me on the bay window seat. I was suddenly very, very aware of his presence.
Damnit, Bella! He's dead.
But that doesn't make him any less attractive.
I suddenly have this bizarre mental image. If - if -by some freakish turn of events I somehow end up with Edward (highly unlikely), and I'm making out on the bed with him (blush), I picture my mum bursting in on us, only to see me, just me, rolling around on the bed, writhing in pleasure, with absolutely no one else with me. Freaky.
I blushed furiously, hating myself.
'Yeah, I found it two days ago.' I said, looking directly at his face and drinking him in leisurely. Mmm, he's delicious. 'It was already decomposed, but the weird thing was, no one smelt if before I opened the cupboard. It was as if the stench was, sort of, locked inside the cupboard, or something. Is that possible?'
'I don't see how.' Edward said, crinkling his nose. 'Does Angela know?'
'Yeah, she was the one who kind of went into this kind of trance when she sensed her body was close, I think. She kept wanting to open the cupboard, so I did it for her. And her body came tumbling out.'
'So the entire class saw you opening the cupboard with the body in it?' Edward mused, staring out again. Even the strong line of his stubble-y jaw was kind of distracting.
'Yup. Then, when the police came, they asked me all sorts of questions.'
'Don't you think involving yourself in this kind of business is…' Edward hesitated. 'dangerous?'
There's nothing I abhor more than ghosts thinking I'm not eligible enough for this rough profession.
'I'm just doing my job.' I snapped, suddenly irritable. 'I'm only helping Rosalie, Alice and Angela. I'm not doing much, anyway, they only wanted me to convey anything they remembered to the police.'
'Sorry, sorry.' Edward held up his hands defensively. 'I just want to tell you that… not everything is what it seems.'
I stared. 'Are you saying that you know something about their murders?'
Edward shuffled in his seat, focusing on me. I raised an eyebrow. 'I'm just telling you to be careful. Bella.' his hand slowly rested on the window panes of the bay window. The ring I noticed a week earlier glinted cheerily in the sun.
Without really knowing what I was doing, I gently took his hand in mine and touched the ring. Edward didn't stop me. I didn't look up to see what his expression was, he probably thought I was just some really, really strange girl.
There were three small diamonds embedded in the simple gold band, and I ran my finger over it, feeling the hard bumps. 'It's a beautiful ring.' I murmured. I let his hand go, and it fell down with a gentle thump.
I looked up. Edward was staring at me, his gaze electric. I blushed for the umpteenth time that afternoon. 'Sorry for touching you.' I cringed, regretting it instantly. Urgh, how mortifying.
'No, don't apologize.' Edward murmured quietly, body tensed, flexing his hand tentatively. 'It's… it's been very long since someone touched me.'
The back of my neck burned in extreme humiliation.
I opened my dry mouth to say something stupid, and then, right on cue, the three girls materialized, chatting their heads off. In that instant, Edward vanished, leaving me feeling like a dunce.
'What was that?' Alice's eyes were opened to the max, and she hurried over. 'What were you doing with that other ghost?'
'What other ghost?' I played dumb, still feeling like I'd just run a mile - my heart was beating that fast.
'I saw! You were both looking touchy feely in that seat right there.' Alice said in a wink-wink-nudge-nudge way.
'Nothing happened!' I exclaimed exasperatedly, flopping down on my bed.
'Then why're you blushing like you painted your face red?' Alice challenged.
'Alice! Remember what we came here for?' a much more frustrated looking Rosalie tapped Alice on her shoulder.
'Oh, yeah.' Alice sat down on the bed beside me. 'Bells, we have something to ask from you!'
'Fantastic.' I groaned into my bedspread, fisting the sheets. I was still replaying that hand thing in my head, overanalyzing everything. I don't know what the hell came over me. I'm not usually one of those girls that come on too strong. And it wasn't like I wanted to be all over Edward! He's a ghost! Why is everything so muddled and confusing?
'We want you…' Rosalie paused for dramatic effect.
'Get on with it, you.' Angela poked her.
'Okay, okay. Bella, we want you to visit Lauren!'
I lifted my head up, bewildered. 'Why?'
'Angela, Alice and I --'
'Leave me out of this! I had nothing to do with it.'
'Okay, fine! Alice and I had this idea that if we visited the exact spot we were killed we might just remember something about our deaths. For now it's just a huge big blank in our memory.' Rosalie announced.
'Lauren's house? What makes you think she'll let me in?' I asked incredulously. 'I don't even know her.'
'She'll let you in.' Alice said confidently. 'Just mention our names!'
'Oh sure, that'll go over well.' I said sarcastically. '"Hey, Lauren, your dead friends Alice and Rosalie told me to come visit you! They say hi!"'
'We'll figure something out.' Rosalie shrugged, supremely confident.
I let my head flop down again, completely spent. Ugh, this is going to turn out disastrous.
