AN- This chapter is dedicated to Princess Alara because she had her birthday last week- my belated wishes for a very happy birthday! I really did try to write this chapter sooner, but the past few days were insanely busy for me… sorry!
CHAPTER 8
"Wow, that's one hot guy," Rose said, while I stood, frozen to the spot.
"Bella? Bella are you okay?"
No. No, I wasn't okay. Was this Tobias? But then, why was he smiling at me? Could this- could this really be my Edward? And now he was walking towards me. It had to be my Edward, but how did this happen? But my heart, fluttering like a bird's wing in my chest, told me that something was off.
"Bella, talk to me! Are you sick? You're as white as a sheet!"
But I couldn't talk to Rose, I couldn't find my voice. Edward was walking towards me, and he looked concerned. After what seemed like an eternity, he was standing in front of me.
"Are you okay?" his velvety voice was like music to my ears, and I felt like bursting into tears for sheer joy. He was out of the mirror! But still my heart kept feeling that something was off. I nodded mutely in answer to his question.
"You're Bella Swan, right?" he asked, smiling. My heart dropped to my shoes. This wasn't Edward, this was Tobias. I couldn't decide whether to lie to him about my name or not, but I needn't have worried, as he spoke again.
"Your Mom showed me tons of photos of you, other than the ones I saw in facebook, of course. I'm hoping you remember me… I'm Edward Masen. Call me Eddie."
Confused didn't even begin to cover what I was feeling. And that was when the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the next period.
"We have to get to class, Bella," Rose reminded me.
"You go, I'll come later," I told her. Class was the least of my concerns right now. Rose looked at Edward- or Tobias, or Eddie, or whoever he was- like she wondered whether he was going to ditch, too, but when he didn't say anything, she gave me a tiny parting smile and left. I discreetly looked at his left wrist. If he was, by any chance, my Edward, he would have the scar from cutting himself. But he didn't have that scar.
"Come here," I said, leading him to an empty class room. Only once we were inside did I realize that this wasn't a smart move, if he was Tobias. And who else could he be? He wasn't my Edward, and him being Tobias was the only other possibility. But now I was inside, and there really was nowhere else to go- the library would make it even easier for him if he was planning to kill me- so I crossed my arms in front of my chest, and asked him the first question that came to my mind- "How do you know my mother?"
"You don't realize who I am, do you," he said, groaning.
"Oh, I know exactly who you are. Now answer my question."
He gave me an odd look.
"Well, if you know who I am then why wouldn't you know how I know your Mom? We used to be her neighbors, till we moved to Forks two days ago. When I told Renee that I'm going to go to Forks High, she said she'll tell you, so there'll be someone I know."
"She did mention something about a family moving here…"
"She didn't mention anything about us? I mean, me, Alice, and Emmett?"
I just stared at him. "Who's Alice? Who's Emmett?"
"My brother and sister. We're all the same age."
"What are you, triplets?"
He grinned. "No, we were all adopted."
"Ah, adopted. That explains a lot," I muttered, more to myself than him, but he heard me.
"What does it explain?" he was looking confused now. He was pretending, of course. This was Tobias. And I couldn't let him know that I knew- if he didn't know that already. I felt sure he did, because if he didn't, why would he be talking to me right now?
"No- I- nothing. Well, my Mom might have mentioned it, and I might have forgotten," I said, trying to look friendly, and failing.
"So… shall we hang out today? I want to introduce you to Alice and Emmett… Alice is dying to meet you…"
"No, I've… got plans."
"Oh," he said, looking disappointed.
"Well, I… I've got to go to the library, so… bye…"
He nodded, saying bye, and looking still more disappointed. It was strange how he looked exactly like my Edward, strange how handsome and sweet he looked. I needed to stay away from him. I headed towards the library quickly, checking over my shoulder from time to time to see if he was following me. He wasn't.
I ran up to the attic as soon as I went home- I had the eerie fear that Edward might not be there. My heart in my throat, I opened the attic door, and was beyond relieved to see Edward's familiar face looking at me through the mirror. As soon as I was inside the mirror, I threw my arms around him, and buried my face in his chest.
"Bella? What's wrong?"
"It's Tobias. He's moved here, he's coming to my school, he talked to me-"
"What? What- calm down, and explain everything, starting from the beginning."
So that was what I did, though I never really calmed down. How could I, when Edward was in danger?
Once I finished telling him everything, he paced up and down, his face pale and worried.
"Whatever you do," Edward told me, "don't let him realize that you know who he is, he might hurt you."
"But don't you think he already-"
"I don't think he really knows. He knows that someone has seen me because of the spell, but he doesn't really know it's you, even though he probably suspects you because you live here. It could be anyone- Charlie, or Renee, or even a friend who came to this house. What really amazes me, is how he got such a good cover- he even knows your Mom!"
"Maybe he was lying," I suggested lamely, even though I knew he wasn't, and Edward pointed it out as soon as I said it.
Then the two of us discussed Rose and James. Edward thought Rose was being stupid and that I should somehow convince her to tell everyone the truth. He said that it might not get James behind bars as we don't have sufficient proof, but that it would make everyone at school believe me.
I really didn't care about what the people at school thought about me anymore, but I did want everyone in school to know, because it would prevent the same thing happening to another innocent girl. But I also knew that Rose was very stubborn and that I wouldn't be able to convince her.
After discussing all there was to discuss, we both sat down, him pulling me up to his lap, and playing with my hair. I traced the lines on his hand and the scar on his wrist.
"I'm scared, Edward," I told him softly.
"I'm scared too, my love. But whatever happens, we'll get through it, okay? I know I can face anything if I have you."
I smiled, because I had thought something along those lines today morning, about him. He kissed the top of my head, burying his face in my hair, and I kissed his hand.
"I love you."
"I love you, my Bella," he said, kissing my neck.
We stayed that way a long time, till I realized that it was quite dark outside, and that Charlie must have come home long ago.
"I've got to go," I told him regretfully, standing up quickly. I couldn't help stopping for another second to kiss him after seeing the adorable pout his lips had turned into.
What I had thought would be a chaste kiss turned into something much, much better and I had to force myself to break away from Edward.
Once I was back in my real body, I gave Edward one lingering glance, then turned and opened the attic door to leave. Who I saw outside nearly made my heart stop. It was Tobias, aka Edward Masen.
AN- I know, I know, the chapter is too short and it's yet another cliffie, but I'll write the next chapter as soon as possible…
The people who guessed that it was Tobias who showed up at Bella's school- sprazinko, AlleyjandroJacobie, disney-movie-lover, monkeejunkee, Princess Alara, matena… in other words, almost everyone. Thank you all for guessing! But will anyone be able to guess why he came to Bella's house, and if he will hurt Bella?
Robsten Lover 223, thank you for telling it's a great story…
Princess Alara, even I'm glad Bella finally has a friend… I actually like Rose. Doesn't anyone else?
You could never sound like a brat… sorry again that I couldn't update sooner… I'll definitely check your new fic out…
monkeejunkee, Edward agrees with you that Rose is being stupid… actually, I wrote this after reading your review and that was in my mind, so you're probably the reason Edward thinks she's stupid. I love the fact that you knew it the minute Bella saw Rose- yeah, James is a real S.O.B. By the way, you're really good at guessing! All your guesses were right so far J
TheAngelOfHope- yay, a new reviewer! (I love my old reviewers too, but the more the better!) thank you for telling me I'm a good writer, and for what you said about the rejection letters…
disney-movie-lover, more drama for you in this chapter…
MissVampireCullen, (yay, another new reviewer!) thank you for saying I wrote a wonderful story!
hannah9page, thank you for loving it!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I love you all, you're my inspiration… please review this one too! And to everyone else, too, please review!
