Chapter Seven
Mr. Banner approached our table. I breathed in the fresh air he had given me as he walked over. I had to breathe in as much before it could mix in with her scent. "So, Edward." He looked over our answers. "Don't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?" He asked.
"Bella," I corrected him by accident, "Actually, she identified three of the five." I said. Mr. Banner's thoughts were skeptical and surprised at this. He had thought that I would have hogged the microscope to myself and not let her do anything. But also he didn't want to believe we did it so fast and she was one of the reasons why.
"Have you done this lab before?" He asked Bella. I watched them too see what I could fish out.
"Not with onion root…" She blushed in embarrassment.
"Whitefish Blastula?" He asked.
"Yeah.". This had surprised him. He had gotten this practical from an advanced set in Biology and she had done this before but with something different. He nodded thoughtfully at the girl.
"Were you in the advanced placement in Phoenix?" He asked.
"Yes.".
She was advanced then, intelligent for a human. This didn't surprise me because she didn't take long to figure out the differences in me or the answers for today's practical.
"Well," He pressed his lips together, "I guess it's good you two are lab partners.". He then turned away and mumbled, "Now my top student will be tied with another and the others will get a chance to learn!". I doubted that Bella could hear what he had just mumbled to himself. Two mistakes in one hour. I wished I could read her mind because I just had to know what she thought of me. Just how much was she afraid of me? How much did she suspect? I needed to put better effort in so thought of me better.
"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" I asked her to try for another conversation. A boring topic would be safe so she wouldn't run away or scream. She looked at me and doubt flashed in her eyes. I didn't have to read her mind to know that.
"Not really," She answered.
She was so far away from a bright place, she seemed so much like a vampire but human reeked out of her. The cold must be uncomfortable for her. Living near the woods must be even worse with the drafts coming through every crack and making her shiver at night. My icy touch must have made it worse…
"You don't like the cold," I guessed.
"Or the wet," She agreed.
"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live." Maybe you should go back to where you belong! You should have never come here! I wanted to add but these ill feelings were because of her scent and the irritation of not being able to read her mind. If she had left when I said this, was there any guarantee that I wouldn't go after her? And if she left her mind will be forever left a mystery! A constant, nagging puzzle!
"You have no idea," I hadn't expected that. But whatever she had said fascinated me even more and brought even more questions.
"Why did you come here, then?" I demanded. My tone was as if I was accusing her of theft and it was not the tone you use in a normal conversation. It sounded utterly rude and unwelcoming. I would expect her not to answer after such an outburst.
" It's… complicated." She found the right words. She wanted to leave it at that but that made me even more curious. The curiosity burned throughout me. It had flushed out the feeling of drinking her blood and the agony of breathing near her. The agony became bearable the more I breathed it in.
"I think I can keep up," I think common courtesy would press her to go on. She stared down at her hands silently and her silence infuriated me. I wanted so badly to move her head so I can read her eyes. It was a relief when she looked up and spoke the words, "My mother got remarried." She was rushing the words. This was human enough to understand, this had happened many times in the past. Sadness passed through her eyes and kept washing back up.
"That doesn't sound so complex." I said. My voice was gentle because this topic was also. Her sadness made me feel helpless, I wanted to comfort her. Rub her back like a normal human but my temperature would strike her. "When did it happen?".
"Last September." She exhaled heavily. I held my breath as her hot breath washed over me. It was warm and it made me feel human again for a brief second.
"And you like don't like him," I guessed. Guessing seemed to work more than asking question.
"No, Phil is fine." She corrected me. There was a hint of a smile on her lips, a sad one. Perhaps she was remembering her days back home. "Too young, maybe, but nice enough.". It hadn't quite fit with the scenario I had thought of. I had thought something like her father being utterly rude to her or shouting and her mother wouldn't even notice because of how in love she was.
"Why didn't you stay with them?" I sounded nosey and curious. I was naturally curious but the nosey bit was new. I hadn't been so engrossed and interested in a human's past.
"Phil travels a lot. He plays ball for a living." She smiled. This choice of career had amused her. Her smiled made me want to smile as well. It was out of my control and I had smiled.
"Have I heard of him?" I ran through every living baseball player I knew to try and find which one was hers…
"Probably not. He doesn't play well." Another beautiful smile-wait what? "Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot.".
I was trying to imagine the new scenario in my head as well as figuring out what I had just thought. "And your mother sent you here so that she can travel with him." I said. Her expression had turned stubborn.
"No, she did not send me here," She had gotten upset. My assumption had made her like this. I couldn't see how, though. "I sent myself.".
I could not guess what that had meant because she didn't like the environment but came here. I was lost from there. I had to give up. There was no making sense of this girl for her answers would lead to frustration and insanity. Maybe her thoughts and scents weren't the only unusual thing about her.
"I don't understand." I admitted, the hardest thing to do in my life was admitting my weaknesses. My family knew that too well but this girl didn't. She sighed and stared into my eyes, longer than any normal human.
"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him." She explained slowly. Her voice was covered with guilt.
"It made her unhappy… so I decided it was time to spend quality time with Charlie.". The sadness in her eyes had deepened as well as the feeling of happiness.
"But now you're unhappy." This didn't seem off the mark. Her disliking of the cold and wet things was obvious, sitting next to me, a distrusting friend and attention. I couldn't help but say my polyposis outloud.
"And?" She asked as if it didn't matter. I stared into her eyes, feeling I had finally gotten through to her and her soul. Unlike most humans, her own needs were far down the list.
She was selfless.
She was the opposite of me, my own demon was complimentary to me. That doesn't seem fair," I said. I had to shrug to seem normal and not curious.
She had laughed but there was no amusement in it, "Hasn't anyone told you? Life isn't fair.". I laughed at her words, I knew the unfairness of life all too well.
"I believe I have heard that somewhere before.". Her eyes bore into mine and flickered away and back.
"So that's all," I didn't want to leave the conversation like that. Her sorrow bothered me in more ways than one.
"You put up a good show." I spoke slowly knowing my next hypothesis might me wrong, "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see.". She made a face, furrowing her eyebrows and a scowl covered her face. She hadn't like that I guessed. She didn't like people looking at her in pain. "Am I wrong?" I asked. She flinched slightly but pretended I wasn't there. It made me smile, "I didn't think so.".
"Why does it matter to you?" She asked as she stared away from me.
"That's a very good question…" I said to myself. The details of her life shouldn't bother me one bit but it did. I wanted to know more but I didn't want to push it. It was wrong for me to care what she thought. She was like the other humans but just a little more fragile than others. My family would look at me weird knowing that I actually cared for her and it would ruin our family reputation here. I relied on extra hearing so much that I had to stoop so low to know her to read her. The girl sighed and glared at the front of the classroom. Her expression was somewhat humorous but this whole this was humorous. No one had been in more danger of me than she is right now. She was irritated because I hadn't given her a real answer yet. "Am I annoying you?" I asked and smiled at myself. She looked at me and her eyes, unwillingly, locked into mine.
"Not exactly," She told me, " I'm annoyed at myself. My face is so easy to read-my mother always calls me her open book." She frowned. I stared at her in surprise. She was upset not because I didn't answer her but because I could read her too easily.
"On the contrary," I disagreed. I had a strange feeling… scared. There was some danger that I couldn't see. "I find you very difficult to read.".
"You must be a good reader, then." She guessed. She was assuming like me but right on target.
"Usually," I agreed. I smiled and somehow my razor sharp teeth had found it's way to be shown. It was a stupid thing to do. I expected some kind of response from her but nothing. Her body was a little closer to me because of her uncomfortable shuffling during our conversation.
All the little things that triggered fear in humans didn't seem to work on her. She didn't cringe away in horror or flinch at the right things. Surely she should have seen enough of my darker side to realise the danger.
