A/N: Wow no reviews for the last two posts. Tough crowd.
Ch 9 May – Finals
A day or two later the next month had arrived. The strangle holds of finals clasped around each student's neck and once again Isabella was booked in the tutoring center. Edward seemed oddly distant in biology class. She thought he was just trying to focus for the test, but he barely returned any of her phone calls. He also claimed he was busy when she wanted to make plans. At first, Isabella really didn't notice the change in his behavior, because she was herself busy studying for finals. No longer having dance class, they drifted apart with their own distractions. Eventually she became aware Edward was always on the phone, either conversing or texting and writing things down on paper furiously. It was mid May when she realized she scarcely got any attention from him and decided to change it.
They sat across from each other in the cafeteria. "Edward," she said as she took his free hand.
He stopped his texting and looked up at her.
"Hi," she said sweetly.
He smiled gazing at her. "One minute." He continued back to the phone.
"Forget it!" She got up and walked away.
He finished his text and lifted his eyes to see she was gone. He completely missed her anger.
._.
When she went to biology class the next day, she made sure to take a seat between two other students. She hoped Edward would see she didn't save him a seat this time, but he came to class late so he took the seat closest to the exit and left as soon as class ended. He continued to behave in this manner and it made Isabella upset. Their relationship changed drastically since the night they were together, and she began to wish it never happened.
._.
Isabella was lying on her bed studying her biology notes when Angela walked over because she needed a pencil. "Whoa! What are all those 'hate Edward' scribbles? You two had a falling out?"
"He's a jerk! All this time he wanted one thing and I gave it to him! I can't believe it!"
"Whoa, whoa!" She held out her arms. "You gave him what exactly?"
Her face blanched. "Never mind."
"No, no. If it means what I think it means, holy cow! That's really big."
"And he's ignoring me now."
"Gee! That's really low." She sat on the bed comforting her friend, rubbing her arm.
"You want to know the worst part?"
"What?"
"I can't get him out of my head." Tears began to pool and Isabella wiped them away before they could fall onto her notes.
._.
As finals approached, several classes organized group study sessions in certain classrooms. The teacher posted the scheduled session for biology on the board. Both Edward and Isabella made a note to be there.
The group gathered in one of the library's study rooms and student by student conducted what they knew for certain portions of the class.
One boy asked, "Which topics are certain to be on the exam? I don't think the professor planned to include the earlier stuff."
"No," Isabella answered. "It's all from after the midterm. These three on the top of the review sheet and the professor said to skip this last one. It wasn't covered so extensively, so he's giving us a break. The rest is on the test." She handed him the sheet.
"He also said to pay close attention to cell anatomy and Mendelian genetics. There will be a diagram on those," Edward added.
Isabella turned to the voice she now loathed. He looked directly at her and her heart sped up. "Right."
When the session was over he caught her on the way out. "Hi, long time no speak. How have you been?"
"Oh you're talking to me? Don't you have somewhere to be or someone to call?" she uttered acerbically.
"Not at the moment. I have allotted the full hour and a half for this. I still have 15 minutes."
"Well you could use your 15 minutes watching me leave." She gathered her things into her bag.
"I'll do that," he smirked as his eyes tracked her out of the room. He quickly grabbed his bag and followed her out. Occasionally, he noticed as she peered behind her peeking to see if he was still there.
As she bit down on her lip, he remembered how much he missed her. He never intended to stop seeing her. He had a pattern he didn't want to repeat, so he threw himself into his work. Two new clients were signed up by Mr. Jay over the break and since these were business ventures in Phoenix, Edward had to read the portfolios and do his own leg-work to keep his investments worth it. It left little time for outside socializing and since he no longer was sexually frustrated, Isabella suffered the brunt of it. He realized by the end of April their relationship was where he wanted it to be and he somehow ruined it. When she approached her dorm, Edward turned to leave for the other direction.
The next morning Isabella almost tripped over the bouquet of blue oxeye daisies in front of her door. The note read: I'm blue without you. – Edward
Her anger seemed to boil and steam out of her ears. She picked up the flowers and tossed them at the wall in her dorm room.
"Hey! Those stems didn't do anything to you," a recognizable voice commented from a hidden location.
"You come out here Edward! You come out and face me!" she called into the corridor. He stepped out from behind the stairwell. "How dare you? How dare you show up here like nothing's happened?" she yelled. "You think you could woo me with daisies and I would forgive you?"
"I'm sorry. There were new developments at work and I let them distract me." Doors in the hall began to open and faces peeked out to see the action.
"You told me you love me," she whispered.
"I do," he responded. "That's why I panicked."
"You panicked?"
"Everything was perfect, even our trip, how everything worked out in the end. I was worried something bad was going to happen and it'll take you away from me. So I immersed myself in my job to avoid it. I worked so hard … I actually accomplished just that."
"So it's not because you lost interest in me?"
He took a step forward. "If I did, do you think I would be here? I don't think that could ever happen."
She looked around at all the girls. Most of them, she thought, were hoping she would officially cut him loose so they could move in on him. She walked over to him. "This doesn't mean I forgive you."
He nodded. "I know."
"You're an idiot." She paused. "Are the clients secured or do I still need to compete?"
"They're still up in the air, but one word from you and I'll drop them in an instant. It's always been that way. All you need to do is ask." He reached out and grazed her arm with his fingertips. Goosebumps formed as the knot in her stomach unraveled. She took deep breaths and gazed shyly at the carpeted floor. His other hand came up to her chin to lift it to his and placed his warm lips to hers. A heated sensation embraced her body.
There were cheers all around the halls. It seemed everyone heard them make-up. "All right, all right," Angela called out. "Show's over. Don't we all need to get to class?"
._.
On Memorial Day, Edward came over to study. He turned his phone off after texting Mr. Jay he was busy. She read through the material, focused on getting through the topic.
"I missed you, Isabella. Did you miss me?"
"We have a lot of material to cover so pay attention."
"I can't. Not until you tell me you missed me."
"Edward, focus. If 364 heterozygous yellow pea plants cross pollinated 524 homozygous green pea plants, which is the likely resulting numbers of yellow and green pea plants?" she read.
He took the book from her and examined the question. "What is this math? I thought we were doing biology?"
"This is biology. What is the possible outcome?"
"Um, heterozygous to homozygous? Wouldn't it be fifty percent of each?"
She smiled. "Right, and yes, I missed you."
"I knew it!" He leaned over to peck her on the mouth. She had been keeping things literally tight-lipped on the affection front and he was still trying to loosen her up.
"So after finals we should do something, you know, just you and me," he offered.
"I can't."
"Oh come on! How long is it going to take for you to forgive me?"
"It's not that. It's my dad. He planned a trip for after finals. Him and me, to make up for Christmas."
"For how long?"
"Two weeks. We're going to Disneyland."
"Shoot, I'll be gone by then."
"Gone?"
"I'm going home for the summer."
"Oh."
"Well, I might as well give this to you now." He pulled out the now very familiar grey velvet box and handed it to her. "It's to make up for the ones you threw," he said as she was opening it.
It was a gold charm of a daisy. "Oh, thank you. I'm truly sorry about that."
"That's okay."
She inched closer to give him a hug. He met his face with hers and she was caught off guard. He quickly plunged his tongue into her mouth mixing their salivary juices. His hand held the back of her head with woven fingers through her hair. The other arm held her body, pulling her closely against his. She felt her resolve crack and let herself enjoy the moment. Her heart was beating in sync with his and her tummy, no longer in knots, dropped like she was on a roller coaster. "Edward," she said in a sorrowful tone as she pushed him away, breathless.
"I know, but you can't blame me from trying."
A/N: Well I can't believe that happened. Can You?
