Bella's Point of View

It's been a week now and Edward Cullen hadn't returned to school. I had mixed emotions on how I felt about that. I was becoming accustomed to the empty desk at Biology, so on Friday when I entered the classroom and saw him sitting there I felt my jaw drop open.

I froze at the door; I didn't even realize that my abrupt stop caused Angela to bump into me.

Mike let out a heavy sigh at my side. "Cullen is back, great." His tone was thick with sarcasm. He walked; appearing disappointed as he went to his seat.

"Are you alright Bella?" Angela spoke to me quiet, in her usual shy voice.

I couldn't help but let a frown come to my face. "Yeah, perfectly fine." I said not meeting her gaze. She let the conversation drop as we went our separate ways. She went to her seat and I cautiously went to mine.

The moment I got within reach of Edward, his entire body tensed, but his expression stayed surprisingly light.

So he wasn't acting like a mad man today? Was Elijah right, had he only been acting that way to scare me off. As if I was like the other girls, pinning for his attention. I wasn't sure.

"Hello," I almost jumped at his smooth voice. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. My name is Edward Cullen, ." His tone was stiff; almost awkward. Was he straining himself… just to make small talk with me?

"Yes," I replied lamely, pretending to turn my attention to Mr. Banner; who was about to begin his lecture. But I felt words begin to tumble off my lips. "I see you have finally returned."

He paused, long enough for me to peak at him. Waiting for any indication that he was listening. His eyes gazed into mine; it was now clear that his eyes had changed. The day we met, his eyes had been as black as coal. Today his eyes swam a pure light golden brown. What had caused such a change? Was it even remotely possible?

"Yeah, I took some time off, personal reasons." His lips twitched, only one side of them curling upward - As if listening to his own private joke.

Mr. Banner began to pass out the assignment, he briefly explained the procedure and when everyone had their equipment and everyone had their questions answered, he commanded us to begin.

"Ladies first," Edward offered, cautiously moving the microscope towards me. The microscope was battered; looking ancient. And the box of slides that came with it; didn't appear in the best shape either.

I looked through the scope; recognizing it quickly. I had done this lab before.

"Prophase," I spoke with a confident nod.

"Do you mind if I check it?"

I shrugged my shoulders. It was slightly annoying that he thought I had made a mistake in my observation. As if it was his intellect alone, that held all the true answers.

He slide the microscope back over in front of himself; only to look at it for mere seconds. He nodded. "Prophase," He agreed.

Without a thought I went to pick up the next slide, the same time that his hand went out to do the same. When our hands made contact I felt an electric pulse bit my finger tips and sprint up my arm.

I jerked my hand away, looking to see his reaction.

Had he felt that to?

His expression didn't give anything away. He only muttered an apology and continued to take the next slide and put it into place under the microscope.

Maybe I was the only one to have felt that?

"Anaphase," He spoke, not bothering to wait pause, he wrote the answer done on our assignment sheet.

"May I?" I said holding my hand out to retrieve the microscope. I couldn't pass up the chance of possibly correcting him, if he had made a mistake. He had such confidence in himself, so much so that I just wanted to show him, I wasn't dumb either.

His eyes flashed to mine; mildly surprised and with a crooked smile, he slid the microscope over to me - this time careful not to let our skin make contact.

Eagerly I looked into the eye piece only to get hit with disappointment.

He was correct.

"Slide three?" I muttered, not bothering to take my eyes off the microscope. I didn't want him to take it from me and decide to do this assignment all on his own. No doubt he believed that he held all the answers. I would take part in it and show him that he wasn't the only one who was good at Biology.

To be completely honest science had always been my favorite subject of study. I had been in the advanced science class in phoenix. Biology and Literature. I had a passion for both.

I played with the idea of college for a while. What would I choose a degree in and what would the end result be? If I was to follow a Biology degree, I'd be interested in… nursing maybe. However if I chose an English degree, I could become a writer or a journalist. I was very undecided at the very moment.

Edward and I continued the assignment until we had finished. We were the first ones to get done completely. Everyone else in the class seemed to be struggling slightly.

Mr. Banner checked over our paper and allowed us the rest of class to have free time. This gave me the chance to return to our previous conversation.

I turned to Edward, taking a deep breath of courage. "Did you get contacts?"

He turned with something like amusement on his face. "No,"

"Oh," I frowned. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."

My words appeared to have bothered him. His body tensed, turning more away from me. A glare coming to his face as he looked straight ahead of the class.

Was I getting to close? Was my personal questions making him feel uncomfortable. Like Elijah had said, Edward wasn't one for close and personal relationships. He wasn't interested in friendship.

If that was the case, why had he spoken to me first? Why did he humor our conversation? He didn't act like he was trying to push me away. He wasn't trying to scare me away. Why the sudden change?

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward asked. I had the feeling that he was forcing himself to make small talk with me.

"Not really," I answered honestly, instead of pretending to be normal like everyone else. I was still trying to dislodge the stupid feeling of suspicion, and I couldn't concentrate.

"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.

"Or the wet."

"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.

"You have no idea," I muttered darkly.

He looked fascinated by what I said, for some reason I couldn't imagine. His face was such a distraction that I tried not to look at it any more than courtesy absolutely demanded.

"Why did you come here, then?"

No one had asked me that — not straight out like he did, demanding.

"It's… complicated."

"I think I can keep up," he pressed.

I paused for a long moment, and then made the mistake of meeting his gaze. His dark gold eyes confused me, and I answered without thinking.

"My mother got remarried," I said.

"That doesn't sound so complex," he disagreed, but he was suddenly sympathetic. "When did that happen?"

"Last September." My voice sounded sad, even to me.

"And you don't like him," Edward surmised, his tone still kind.

"No, Phil is fine. Too young, maybe, but nice enough."

"Why didn't you stay with them?"

I couldn't fathom his interest, but he continued to stare at me with penetrating eyes, as if my dull life'sstory was somehow vitally important.

"Phil travels a lot. He plays ball for a living." I half-smiled.

"Have I heard of him?" he asked, smiling in response.

"Probably not. He doesn't play well. Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot."

"And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him." He said it as an assumption again, not a question.

My chin raised a fraction. "No, she did not send me here. I sent myself."

His eyebrows knit together. "I don't understand," he admitted, and he seemed unnecessarily frustrated by that fact.

I sighed. Why was I explaining this to him? He continued to stare at me with obvious curiosity.

"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy… so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie." My voice was glum by the time I finished.

"But now you're unhappy," he pointed out.

"And?" I challenged.

"That doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, but his eyes were still intense.

I laughed without humor. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."

"I believe I have heard that somewhere before," he agreed dryly.

"So that's all," I insisted, wondering why he was still staring at me that way.

His gaze became appraising. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."

I grimaced at him, resisting the impulse to stick out my tongue like a five-year-old, and looked away.

"Am I wrong?"

I tried to ignore him.

"I didn't think so," he murmured smugly.

"Why does it matter to you?" I asked, irritated. I kept my eyes away, watching the teacher make his rounds.

"That's a very good question," he muttered, so quietly that I wondered if he was talking to himself. However, after a few seconds of silence, I decided that was the only answer I was going to get.

I sighed, scowling at the blackboard.

Thankfully the bell rung, allowing class to end. I had set out to ask Edward about himself and his family. And all we ended up doing was talking about me. How had that happened?

Edward Cullen was the first one to get up; gathering his things and flying out of the room before anyone could even shift in their seats to get up. I sucked in another big breath.

Why was Edward so normal now… I mean almost normal. He still had very strange tendencies. The way he would get tense and start getting angry. I could almost sense his control over his emotions slipping. And I didn't understand that at all.

Who are you Edward Cullen?

Thoughts?