Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.
Comma splices are all mine.
~*~ pc ~*~
Abyssal zone – The deepest part of the ocean where there is no light.
"Bella? Bella?"
Fingers snapped in my field of vision. I blinked, and my eyes focused on a puzzled Angela.
"Bella, are you okay? You went all zombie for a minute."
"I'm fine," I mumbled, and focused my gaze away from the scene being played out across the room and down at my notes.
My life had gone to hell.
In the two weeks since our date, Edward had been very ... friendly. He said good morning every day, goodbye in the afternoon, and at lunch, he asked me how my day was going. With each exchange, I was struck by the contrast between the shy warmth of his smile and hesitant eyes I saw when he looked at me, and the genuine grin that emerged as he joked with Alice over his tuna salad and crackers. Once she got past the poor evaluation he gave her, they discovered an odd super-genius camaraderie that often manifested itself with the two of them giggling over jokes that no one else understood. I could only assume that was the case at the moment, as she cackled loud enough to draw the attention of the entire faculty meeting.
To add to my discomfort, I had begun to feel an odd twisting in my gut every time I saw the two of them laughing together, or when I heard him speak one of his three daily greetings. I was researching exotic parasites as a possible cause. I found it a little odd that the phenomenon only occurred in his presence, but I was certain that was just happenstance correlation.
"Bella!"
Once again I looked into Angela's bemused face.
"You are a real space cadet today. Have you come up with anything yet?" She blew a quick puff of air up toward her face, making her bangs jump. "It's four thousand degrees in here, and I would like to go home eventually."
I shook my head. "Remind me what we're doing?"
She groaned. "Beeel-laaaa, where have you been? We're supposed to be brainstorming ways to incorporate 'creative movement' and 'artistic expression' into multiple-choice testing in math and science." Her fingers came up into air quotes around both "creative movement" and "artistic expression."
"Oh, yeah. That." I felt as if my sigh came all the way from my toes. "Why, again?"
She giggled. "Because that guy -" she indicated the tiny, gray-haired, tweed-clad man moving around the room "-says we should. He even wrote a book about it. I suspect they are going to make us read it."
A shriek of laughter from Alice once again derailed my train of thought. Angela followed my gaze across the library.
"It seems he's funny. Who would have guessed it?"
"MmmHmm," was my oh-so brilliant response. From his seat, Edward caught my eye and smiled - a genuine smile - and he winked.
He winked!
Before I could react, Carlisle stood and called the room to attention.
"Let's all thank Doctor Evans for coming to speak with us today," he said. Professor Tweed bobbed his head and waved like a Miss America contestant in response to our perfunctory applause. I suppressed a giggle as he shuffled out of the room.
"I know you all have work to do, but we have one more matter to discuss before we dismiss," Carlisle continued. "I would like to introduce a new addition to our team. Tanya, would you please stand?" A young blond woman rose and waved to the room with a shy smile. "Everyone, this is Tanya Denali. She will be joining us as an intern in the counseling department. You'll be seeing her around, as she will be doing observations of some of our high-risk students. I'm sure you will all make her feel very welcome."
As Carlisle finished his introduction, I surreptitiously glanced over at Edward. He was gazing with rapt attention at the new girl. I directed my attention back to her. She was not only young, but very beautiful, with a heart shaped face and cascading golden curls. She was impeccably dressed in a soft wrap dress in a muted shade of sea green with a coordinated scarf and jewelry. I looked down into my lap and noticed, for the first time, a sizable ink stain on the leg of my well-worn khakis. I looked up to see him still fixated on her, and felt that odd wriggling sensation in my gut return.
How on earth could I have picked up a tapeworm?
~*~ pc ~*~
The next morning, when I arrived late, breathless, and sweating, I found none other than Edward Masen waiting outside my door.
"Good morning, Bella." He reached out and took my keys, just as the straps of my bags slipped off my shoulder and pinned my arm. "Having a difficult morning?" He easily unlocked and opened my door, then followed me into the classroom.
I blinked hard to contain the sudden moisture that filled my eyes - a result of the dry air in the building, of course - and wrestled for a moment with my bags before he reached out and took them as well.
"I'm fine, just overslept a little." I swept my hand across my forehead in an attempt to dislodge the hair I knew was stuck there, and hissed when I accidentally hit a tender patch of skin.
"Bella, are you all right? Are you injured?" Edward dropped my bags in my chair and came to where I stood, seemingly paralyzed by his presence in my classroom. I closed my eyes as gentle fingers lifted my hair to reveal the ugly mark on my forehead.
"This looks like a burn. What happened, Bella?"
"Nothing," I replied, turning my face away. "It's nothing."
"I'll be right back," he said, and quickly exited the room. I was logging into my computer when he returned and came to stand beside me again, trapping us in the small space behind my desk.
"Do you have any adverse reactions to dicyclomine?" he asked, holding up a small tube of burn ointment. I shook my head, and he once again lifted my bangs to reveal the burned skin on my forehead.
"How did you manage to burn yourself here, Bella? It doesn't look like any of your hair was damaged." He applied the ointment with butterfly-soft strokes of his fingers, and I felt gooseflesh prickle all over my body in response.
"Curling iron," I mumbled.
"What was that?" He blew on my forehead for a few seconds before releasing my hair and stepping back. "I could not understand you."
I sighed. "It's a curling iron burn, Edward."
He looked thoughtful for a moment before he replied. "I have no experience with those, but I suppose a burn is a burn, no matter the source. I hope this will be helpful." Once again he showed me the tube of ointment. "I have found that it is always a good idea to have burn medicine available in a laboratory setting."
"Yes, that's true," I replied.
He stepped away from me, but I could still feel his presence surrounding me. "You look very nice today, Bella. Is that dress new?"
My face flamed, and I blinked back moisture again. This time it had nothing to do with that morning's unfortunate encounter with the devil's hair wand. I didn't look nice - I looked like someone who tried desperately but failed to look nice. That morning, faced with an inexplicable urge, I pulled a long-forgotten dress out of my closet and blew the dust off my ancient heatstick of death. By the time I realized the dress didn't fit, it was too late to find something else to wear, and there were three other spots that needed an application of Edward's burn ointment. I gave up on mascara after realizing that raccoons weren't exactly sexy, and I was certain that perspiration had effectively removed all of my other makeup.
"Did I say something wrong?" He was once again close, too close. I couldn't look at him.
"No, it's fine, everything's fine. Just a rough morning, like you said." I pushed past him and began to set out equipment, not really paying attention to what I was doing.
"Are you doing a lab today? Can I help?" He reached over me to pick up a graduated cylinder from the open cabinet, and I jumped away, dropping a beaker in the process.
"Shit, shit, shit!" For the third time in less than ten minutes, tears filled my eyes as I surveyed the scene in my classroom. Sparkles of broken glass winked from half the floor. I fought desperately, blinking and gulping for air, but I lost the battle. A sob escaped, and then another, and another. I couldn't stop.
"Bella?" He squatted and frantically began to examine my feet and legs. "Are you hurt? Did you get cut?"
"I'm f-f-f-f-fiiiiiine," I wailed. I j-j-j-just h-h-h-have t-t-tooooo..." Another wave overtook me before I could finish the sentence. The first bell screamed, and I sobbed harder.
He gave me a helpless look before picking his way gingerly across the floor and picking up the black phone hanging next to the door. His words were barely audible over then sound of my hysteria and the rushing in my ears.
"Ms. Swan's classroom ... accident ... custodian ... Alice Brandon ... thank you." He minced his way back to me. "Don't move, Bella, help is on the way.
As if I could move. Every part of my brain had succumbed to my tears, and they had taken over like Napoleon.
I became vaguely aware of a flurry of people in the room. Edward lifted me gently and set me down in a wheelchair, where Mrs. Cope, the school nurse, began fussing over me, checking for injuries I knew weren't there. Carlisle stood in the hallway, herding a horde of curious students away from my door and into Edward's classroom. Alice appeared with a box of tissues and a wet cloth. She handed me both, and I pressed the cloth over my eyes, desperately trying to calm myself. I removed the cloth to find Carlisle crouched in front of me, his expression calm but concerned.
"Bella, can you tell me what happened? Are you injured?"
Slow, deep breaths. In, out. In, out. Do not make your boss think you are a psychopath.
"No, I don't think I am." In, out. "I was already having a stressful morning, and when I dropped the beaker, I think it scared me." In, out. "I apologize for the disturbance, but I'm fine. I was just one of those perfect storm sort of moments, you know?" I mustered a watery smile. In, out. "I'll be fine, I'm sure."
He studied me for a moment before rising to his feet. "Your reassurances notwithstanding," he smiled sympathetically down at me, "I think it's best for everyone if you get some rest. Take today off and come back ready to go tomorrow, what do you say?" It was clearly not a request, but an order, and I was glad to have the easy out. Despite my brave words, the thought of facing students was enough to push me back to the edge. "Mrs. Brandon is going to take you home. A sub is on the way. We'll use your emergency lesson plans." He crouched down again and looked me in the eye. "Get some rest, Bella. Take a little down time. I need you happy and healthy, okay?"
I flushed and nodded, looking down at my lap in embarrassment.
"Bella, can you walk?" Alice's chirp interrupted my moment of humiliation. "I don't think I can carry you to my car." She giggled. "I bet Edward could, though."
"I'm fine." I pushed slowly up from the wheelchair and swayed in place, overcome by a wave of dizziness. "Sorry, head rush," I assured Alice. "Just let me get my -"
"Already got them," she said, gesturing to my bags. Let's go before the room catches on fire or something."
The drive home felt shorter than normal, and when Alice pulled up in front of the building, I sighed at the thought of hauling myself up the two flights of stairs to my apartment. I was startled by a tapping on my window.
"Come on, boss, let's get you inside." Jasper had opened the passenger door and pulled me up and out of Alice's low-slung car.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, puzzled at his appearance.
He chuckled. "We'll talk in the house. Come on."
Momentarily, I was in my apartment and settled on the sofa, Rufus snuggled around my body. Alice and Jasper perched on the chairs across from me with expectant looks on their faces.
"Spill, Swan," Jasper said with a slow grin.
"Yeah, Bella, what's the what?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," I replied, stroking Rufus. "I just had a bad morning, like I told Carlisle."
"Bullshit." Profanity sounded so foreign coming from Alice that my head snapped up in surprise. "You don't freak out over broken beakers. You don't freak out, period. Plus ... what are you wearing?"
"It's nothing. I told you. I'm f-f-f-fiiiiiiine."
Within seconds, Rufus was back in his terrarium and I was engulfed by my best friends.
"I know you adore that snake, but it seems you need a little people-style love," Jasper said, as he wrapped his arms around his wife and me.
After a few minutes of cuddling, they both pulled back and turned to face me, effectively hemming me in on the sofa.
"Talk, Bella," Alice commanded. "Something is wrong. You're dressed strangely, your hair is ... odd, and you lost it over one little broken beaker. What the heck is going on?"
"Don't you have to get back? And Jasper, you do have a job, yes?" I couldn't deal with their questions. All I wanted was to crawl back into bed and forget the day ever happened.
"No avoiding the question, Swan," Alice replied. "Carlisle told me to make sure you were settled and okay. My morning classes are all gone on the field trip for English Eleven, so I have lots of time to accomplish that goal."
"What about you? Don't you have an elsewhere to be?" I asked, turning to Jasper.
"Nope. Wherever my little butterbean asks me to be, that's where I belong. She called, and here I am."
Alice grinned over my head at her husband. "I thought we might need a male perspective, plus there was no way I could get you up those stairs if you got dizzy again."
"No more excuses, Swan." Jasper fixed me with his blue gaze. "Talk."
"I don't know what to say." I sighed. "I don't even know what's wrong. I've been all crazy lately. My face flushes at odd times, I've started stuttering, I've got this bizarre twisting feeling in my stomach, and this morning I woke up with the strangest desire to wear a dress and curl my hair. All I managed to do was make myself late and burned. I've researched rosacea, parasites, speech disorders, even lupus, but nothing fits. Now I have to add loss of emotional control to my list of symptoms." I pulled away and looked into Alice's face. "I'm really starting to get scared. What the hell is wrong with me?"
Her expression went from puzzled to amused, and I saw her gaze flick up to look at Jasper. He stood and shifted to the chair that faced the sofa.
"Bella, sweetie," he said, leaning his elbows on his knees and searching my face, "when is all this happening?"
"Um," I considered his question, searching for a pattern. "At school, mostly. First thing in the morning, later afternoon, and at lunch."
"Any other times?"
"Well ... it happened at Angela's a few weeks ago, and the other weekend when I was at dinner ..." I trailed off at the sight of Jasper's smirk. "What's that face for?"
Alice answered my question after exchanging a telling look with her husband. "Don't take this the wrong way, Bella, but what you're saying sounds like, well ... is all of this happening when you see Edward?"
"I suppose so, but I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with him. We did have dinner a couple of weeks ago, but I've been showing symptoms since long before that. Do you think he could have given me something at school?"
"Bella, this may be hard for you to hear, but -" Alice paused and exchanged another glance with Jasper "-have you thought that maybe you are just reacting to him?"
"You mean, like I'm allergic to him or something? I haven't noticed any cologne or anything, but-"
"No, Bella. For someone so smart, you can be awfully clueless. I mean, you like him."
"No way!" I sprang up from the sofa and began to pace. "I mean, he's so- but he's all- and he- but I- and he -"
I collapsed into the empty chair. "Oh, crap."
"This is going to be very interesting," said Jasper.
"Indeed," giggled Alice.
In, out.
~*~ pc ~*~
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