OMC. I AM SO, SO, SO SO SO SORRY.
I know I'm a terrible person.
I can't believe it took me so long to update. Please forgive. I am terrible. I suck. I deserve to be locked in a room and forced to listen to Hannah Montana songs, over and over and over (and trust me, for me that would be the worst type of cruel and unusual punishment).
Anyways, here's Chapter Eight in Edward's point of view. There's going to be another chapter in his perspective, then I'll get on with the story.
I promise I'll upate sooner this time.
Once again, Sorry :(
ps. I turned fourteen on April 19th :)
EPOV
After what felt like hours, the lunch bell rang. I got up slowly, still slightly numb from finding out that Bella would be sleeping in my house on Friday.
I had intended to walk to Biology alone, to get used to the idea of hating Bella Swan, but fate was not on my side – before I had even left the cafeteria, there were a horde of girls at my side.
"Hey Edward," said a short red-head whose name I had forgotten, "Are you going to the dance next Friday?"
"Er," I said, trying to think of an excuse, "No. I'm visiting my grandma."
That had to be one the lamest excuses in the book. To my amazement, every single one of the girls seemed to believe it, and began cooing over how kind I was. I shouldn't be surprised, really – they believed anything I told them.
When we arrived in Biology I managed to extricate myself from my admirers (for lack of a better word) and head inside. To my relief, Bella hadn't arrived yet – it gave me some time to prepare myself for her presence.
She arrived two minutes after I sat down. To anybody else, it would look like I was completely unaware of her presence, but I knew better. Every second was an internal struggle to keep myself from staring at her.
Damn it, Edward, I thought, you're supposed to hate her, not want to stare at her!
I managed to pull myself together slightly after that, though it was still hard; therefore the second the bell rang I sped from the room to keep myself from doing anything rash.
The relief from being away from Bella was short-lived, and was replaced with anxiety when I remembered who was in my next class – Lauren.
Lauren, who Emmett had told I was dating Bella.
When I got to the room, I peeked in through the window beside the door to see if she was already there. She was. I saw her sitting in her desk, facing the door, with the hard look on her face. Waiting for me, I realized with horror.
I hesitated outside. Would she have the guts to scream at me in front of the entire class and the teacher? Probably not. So what was the worst she could do in front of all those people? Glare at me? With that thought in mind, I burst into the class.
The lesson had already begun when I arrived. The teacher glared at me when I slammed open the door noisily.
"Take a seat, Mr. Cullen," she said curtly. I did so quickly, relieved I hadn't gotten a detention.
Other than the fact that I could feel Lauren's gaze burning a hole in my head, the lesson passed uneventfully. That is, until the bell rang.
The second it did, I leapt out of my seat, hoping to escape before Lauren had a chance to catch me. Unfortunately, when I reached the door, I found her blocking it.
"Edward Cullen!" she hissed. I recoiled, actually scared. She looked sadistic.
"Um… Yes?" I asked. Due to the fact that she was blocking the only exit, a small crowd had formed around us.
"I can't believe you kissed that TRAMP!" she screamed at me. I swore I felt some spit hit my face.
It took me a minute to realize what she was talking about. Yes, Emmett had told her I was dating Bella, but I didn't remember him saying anything about me kissing her. I decided she had probably just assumed.
"Lauren, you really need to stay out of my business," I said, trying to sound stern.
"Oh, I WILL. FROM NOW ON. But maybe you should think of that BEFORE your little skank starts parading around the school, giving details of your wonderful make-out sessions!" she screamed so loud her voice cracked.
Now I was really confused. Was she even talking about Bella? I doubted it – pigs would fly before Bella would brag about our imaginary kisses.
"Whatever, Lauren," I said coldly, deciding I really didn't give a shit. With that, I pushed past her and left the class, hurrying to my car.
Once I got home, I rushed directly up to my room, not in the mood to talk to anyone. I only left my sanctuary once to have dinner, and other than that spent the night upstairs, alone. Nobody came to bother me, for which I was relieved. I had a lot on my mind.
I soon fell asleep, images of Bella saturating my thoughts.
"Up and at 'em, Edward!" screamed a high voice in my ear. I groaned and rolled over, knowing right away who it was – only one person I knew had that much energy in the morning.
"Alice. Go away," I mumbled into my pillow. She laughed.
"Never! You have to wake up. We're gonna be late! Is it impossible for you to wake up early?" she said, still happy. I groaned again, but this time pulled myself out of bed.
"Fine! I'm up. Just let me find some clothes…" I mumbled, still half asleep.
"No need! Here, I already picked out your outfit. Now, up, up, up!" with that, she flounced out of the room.
I glanced at the end of my bed. Sure enough, Alice had laid out an entire outfit for me. I felt like a two-year-old.
Soon enough (thanks to Alice) I was in the Volvo with my family. We stopped to pick up Jasper and Rose, and then sped off to school. To my annoyance, the second I had parked Alice and Rosalie both ran off to meet Bella. Why did they have to like her?
I walked slowly with Emmett and Jasper, unwilling to meet up with the girls. Jasper seemed to notice.
"Avoiding Bella?" he guessed. I grimaced, which he took as a yes.
"Isn't she sleeping at our house tonight?" Emmett asked gruffly. My grimace became more pronounced.
"Thanks for reminding me, Emmett," I muttered. He just grinned roguishly.
The first half of the day rushed by in a blur. My horror that Bella was spending the night at my house seemed only to increase, so by lunch time I was basically a giant stress ball.
To my slight annoyance, whenever my thoughts strayed to the sleepover, I found myself forming rather explicit mental images, all containing Bella and myself, doing a wide variety of things. Watching a movie, cuddled on the couch. Forgiving each other, and then having a good laugh at how immature they had been to each other. Meeting in my room in the early hours of the morning… I mentally shook myself in an attempt to control my wild daydreams, knowing that that was all they would ever be.
I walked towards our table with Jasper and Emmett, and to my dismay, say the girls were already there. Alice, Rosalie and Bella were all huddled closely together, obviously discussing something.
Before we had reached them, they had pulled away, and Bella had taken out her cell phone. Though I knew it was wrong, I couldn't help myself eavesdropping a little. Even if we did hate each other, it didn't stop me from being curious about her.
"Next Friday," was the first thing I heard of her conversation, "Please, please tell me you guys can come."
I felt myself freeze in my seat. Guys? As in boys? I felt a sudden, inexplicable burst of rage. Who were they? Why was she talking to them? And why the hell would they come here next Friday, the day of the dance…?
Realization hit my like a sledgehammer.
Her boyfriend. It must be – why else would she invite him to the dance? It seemed a bit drastic to me – flying some one all the way from Phoenix to Forks just to attend a crappy school dance, but maybe there was more to it then that – maybe she wanted to be sure none of the Forks boys would ask her. Like me? The anger shot down my spine.
The rest of the lunch period, I was livid. I knew it was irrational – why should the fact Be- shewas talking to boys bother me? Finally the bell rang. I leapt up and practically sprinted from the cafeteria, not knowing how much longer my self-restraint would hold out.
I reached the Biology building before anyone else, in a dark mood. After a while, the classroom began to fill with students, and eventually I heard the telltale signs of Bella sitting down beside me. I scowled even more darkly, but otherwise ignored her, and focused on the teacher, who had begun the lesson.
"Today, we will be using the microscopes. I don't have enough for each individual student, so you're going to have to pair up. Everyone will be working with the person beside them," drawled the teacher.
"No way!" I hissed through my teeth. He expected me to work with her? No. Not happening. I raised my hand quickly.
"Yes, Mr. Cullen?" said the teacher upon seeing my raised hand.
"Could we pick our own partners? Or work alone? Or… anything?" I asked desperately. Hell would freeze over before I worked with Bella. Bella with her goddamned Phoenix boyfriend.
"No, I think not Mr. Cullen. It's good to broaden your horizons, work with new people," and he continued on with the lesson, not even giving my request a second thought. Bastard.
"Edward," I heard from beside me. What I felt when Bella said my name was the oddest mixture of emotions. Initially, attraction – it sounded so delicious rolling off her tongue. The attraction was quickly overruled by anger, however, when I remembered that she was so repulsed by me, she had to invite a boyfriend from half way across the country to a school dance so that I wouldn't ask her.
Like that would ever happen, anyways.
"What," I said as flatly as I could manage, determined to let neither emotions show in my voice.
"Well… maybe we should call a truce? I'm not saying we should be friends, but just not… enemies. It's really just a pain in the ass," she said, her voice shaking slightly.
At this point I turned to face her. I could tell form the look in her eye that she expected me to accept, and that everything would then be fine and dandy.
I let out a snort of laughter. Not happening.
"It's a little late for that, Bella," I said coldly, sneering her name. She looked shocked, then… livid.
"You bastard!" she screamed, more loudly than I had expected – instantly she had the whole classes attention, "I apologize to you and you laugh at me?"
I laughed coldly again, taking strange pleasure in the fact that I could piss her off.
"Bull shit. That wasn't an apology – you're embarrassed by what you said before, and too proud to say sorry for it. And even if you did, there's no way in hell I'd accept!" I snapped, thinking more of her phone conversation than of her accusing me of being a man whore.
A second later we were both out of our seats, facing each other. We were very close… only half a foot of space separated me from Bella, her chest heaving in indignation and anger. It was kind of sexy…
Shut up! I screamed at myself mentally.
"I would never apologize to you, you conceited fu-," she screamed more loudly than ever. To my surprise, she was cut off by a shrill shrieking sound. A… whistle? I glanced at the teacher, and to my surprise, saw he did indeed have a whistle in his mouth.
I wondered vaguely why on earth he had a whistle with him.
Everyone was too surprised to move. Bella and I remained standing and facing each other while the teacher (whose face had turned purple from rage) scrawled a hasty note.
"Take…To…The office…Go…Now…" he managed to stutter, to livid to form a coherent sentence. I took the note, than hastily followed his instruction, wondering idly if he was going to go into cardiac arrest.
Only when we were both outside did I realize this meant I was going to be alone with Bella?
We walked quickly, not speaking, or even looking at each other for that matter. It was so awkward I was almost glad to reach the tiny office.
My relief quickly turned to horror after I handed the secretary the note, and watched her eyes bulge as she read through it. I gulped nervously.
This most definitely wasn't the first time I had been sent to the office, but even when I had plugged every toilet in the boys washroom with toilet paper she hadn't looked this mad.
"Is this true?" she squeaked, horrified. I mentally slapped myself for not having read the note before we got here.
"No, he made it sound worse than it was. That's not actually what happened," said Bella hastily. I knew she was lying – she had no more knowledge of what our teacher had written than I did.
"So you two didn't have a screaming match in the middle of a lesson, use foul language and disrupt the class?" snapped the secretary, glaring at Bella.
"Oh…" she said, chuckling softly, "I guess that is what happened."
I almost smiled, but caught myself just in time.
"This is no laughing matter, Ms. Swan. I can see from your record that they let you run wild in Phoenix, but I assure you that will not be the case here. And as for you," she said, glaring at me now, "This is one strike too many. If I had a penny for every time you were sent to this office… You will both be serving an hour long detention after school tomorrow."
I quickly smothered my grin. An hour of detention? That was pathetic. And here I had actually been worried…
"Let me finish. As I was saying, you will both be serving hour-long detentions after school… for a month. Starting tomorrow – we have an important meeting tonight, so nobody would be able to watch you."
I felt my grin slide from my face. A month. A month of detentions. With Bella. A month…
"There's no disputing it," she said smugly, upon seeing our identical looks of horror.
We remained in the office until the bell rang for last period, when the secretary (still smiling smugly) finally let us leave.
"This is ridiculous!" I snapped, the second we exited the tiny room.
"I know! The worst I ever got back home was a three-day suspension. And this is my first 'strike' in Forks!" Bella agreed, as angry as I was.
"This is –" it was at this point I remembered who I was talking to. My throat seemed to seize up, keeping me from making another sound. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bella look at me, confused. After a moment, when I still hadn't continued speaking, she looked away, shrugging.
We didn't speak again, and soon went our separate ways to our final period class.
Final period passed quickly. Word of Bella and my screaming match had spread through the school like wildfire. Every ten seconds or so, a classmate would turn in their seat and stare at me excitedly. All they did was stare, though – they looked too frightened to actually approach me.
Finally school was over. I rushed to my Volvo, not wanting to have to explain what happened to anybody, except my family and friends. I was the first in my car, so sat silently in the front seat, waiting.
I didn't turn my head when I heard the back door open. That is, until I heard a scream and the sound of someone being thrown forcibly inside.
"What the hell are you guys – oh," Oh didn't quite cover it. Bella was splayed across the backseat; her head raised a fraction of an inch, staring at me nervously.
I had forgotten about the girl's night. Great.
Without another word, I turned back to face the front, and tuned the others out, determined to not lose control like I had in class.
With Alice sitting in his usual seat in the back of the car, Emmett was forced to slide into the passenger side. I wasn't exactly sure how Jasper was going to get home, but my car was full – he'd just have to find his own way.
I did feel bad, but I didn't know how long I would be able to last with Bella sitting behind me.
I drove faster than usual (which is saying something) and reached my house in record time.
When I had parked in front of the house, there was a burst of laughter from Alice, Rosalie and Emmett. I didn't turn to see what was so funny, just remained seated, waiting (slightly impatiently) for the girls to get out.
They did so soon enough. I had expected Emmett to get out with them, but he remained in passenger seat until they had gone inside. Only then did he speak:
"Are you gonna be okay?" he asked, concern coloring his tone. I turned to face him.
"I don't know," I said genuinely. He studied my face for an instant, but realizing he wasn't going to get any more of a reply, nodded once and followed to girls into the house.
I had no intentions of following him – I didn't want to risk running into Bella. Instead, I slid in a CD and sat in my car, leaning my head back and closing my eyes, letting the soothing music lull me to sleep.
I was awoken by a shrill beeping sound. I opened my eyes slowly, the looked around sluggishly for the source of the annoying beep. I soon found it – my cell phone. I flicked it open and looked at the screen.
New text message from: Alice. I groaned, and then read it:
Edward. Look, don't worry. I'll keep her in my room so you won't run into each other. You owe me. Go get us a pizza.
I groaned. How annoying. After a minutes deliberation, however, decided it was worth it. No run-ins with Bella in exchange for a pizza? Sure. Why not.
I sped off to the pizza shop, and picked up one of the 'hot and ready' pizzas, then returned home, wanting nothing more than to go lie down in my comfortable bed.
I arrived home and brought the pizza upstairs to Alice's room, assuming that was where they would be. I was right – I could hear them giggling behind the closed door.
I was about to knock, when I heard what they were talking about. Bella was telling Alice and Rosalie about Biology class.
I froze, and then pressed my ear against the door. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't help wanting to know Bella's take on what had happened. To my dismay, I realized she had just finished her tale.
"I knew Jessica was lying," I heard Rosalie say in mock-sadness, "she told me you and Edward got it on in the middle of the classroom." There was a burst of laughter from her and Alice.
I clenched the pizza box tightly, silently damning Jessica to the deepest pits of hell for telling such stories. What would Bella think of that? I listened more intently.
"Not funny," she said, sounding torn between amusement and annoyance. No, it most definitely was not funny.
They were silent for a full ten seconds, and then suddenly they all simultaneously burst into laughter. I frowned, annoyed I couldn't know what had made them laugh.
I decided I had eavesdropped enough, and opened the door.
They were sitting in a circle on the floor, a tub of ice cream and three spoons between them. They were still laughing.
"Here's your pizza, Alice. You owe me seven-fifty," I said, still annoyed. A second later Rosalie jumped up and took the pizza from me.
"Thank you, Mr. Cullen. Now tell me, who did you get it on with? Oops – I mean, what did you get on it? The pizza, I mean," Rosalie smiled sweetly. I grimaced, knowing exactly what she was referring to, though they had no way of knowing that. Alice and Bella both burst into laughter.
Was this funny for her? I thought she had just said it wasn't! I frowned, then turned and stalked from the room, completely confused, and annoyed. I heard their door slam behind me.
I retreated to my room, slamming the door behind me and then collapsed on my bed. As long as I stayed in here, and they stayed in there, it would be fine. I'd get through this. Even though I had slept in the car, I felt exhausted. I let my eyelids close, and before I knew it, had once again fallen asleep.
I had a strange dream.
I was lying in a bed in a stone cavern, completely alone. I tried getting up, but found myself chained down.
"Help!" I had cried, my voice echoing eerily off the stone walls, "Somebody help me!"
At that point I heard a high-pitched giggle.
"Is somebody there?" I had asked, illogically afraid. The only answer was another giggle, louder than the first.
Suddenly, the laughter and giggling became thunderous. All around me, yet I couldn't find the source of the noise.
Then I woke up.
It took me a second to realize I was no longer asleep. For a moment, my dark room became the stone cave, and my sheets became my restraints, holding me down… In fact, I could even still hear the maniacal giggling.
Soon, however, my eyes adjusted, and I recognized my familiar belongings, and that my restraints were nothing more than woven cotton.
Why then, could I still here the laughter?
There was another burst of it, louder than ever. It sounded like it was coming from down the hall, near Alice's room.
Oh. Of course. I had forgotten about the 'girls night'.
I glanced at the clock – it was three-thirty in the morning. I tried rolling over and going back to sleep, but it was too late – I was wide awake now. I groaned, silently cursing Alice and her friends, before crawling out of bed.
I stood uncertainly in the middle o my room for a moment. What could I do to pass the time? No music – that would only wake the rest of the house. I could read… but I had a feeling no book would be able to hold my interest at the moment. I needed something that would completely occupy my mind…
I walked over to my desk, and found my unfinished algebra work. Perfect.
The algebra took a good thirty minutes. I sighed, happy I had finally finished. I quickly wrote my name on the corner of my paper before I forgot, then walked over to my huge CD collection, deciding to re-organize them in a pathetic attempt to pass the time.
This kept me occupied for about half an hour. Finally, I felt my eyes begin to droop, and decided to try going back to sleep.
I was about to lie down, when I remembered that I was still in my school clothes, and that I hadn't brushed my teeth. I exited my room, leaving the light on and closing the door behind me, and quickly made my way to the bathroom. I gently closed and locked the bathroom door, before turning to the sink to brush my teeth and wash my face.
I finished up by going to the washroom. I flushed to toilet and washed my hands, hating how loud the sound seemed in the silent house. I flicked off the bathroom light, and then mad my way back to my room, eager to get to sleep.
I was just about to turn the handle, when I thought I heard the sound of footsteps from inside my room. I hesitated only a moment, then wrenched open the door, glancing around hurriedly.
Huh. No one was there.
I knew I had probably just imagined the sound, but still couldn't help myself from wandering around aimlessly, checking every corner, behind my leather couch, under my bed, in my closet. I knew I was probably acting slightly psychotically, but couldn't help myself.
Finally, after fifteen minutes of searching my room, I realized I was being silly. Who would be in my room at five in the morning? No one. I just needed to get to bed – I was probably tired and imagining things.
I made my way over to my desk, pulling my shirt off over my head as I did so. Once it was off, I dropped it on top of my homework, feeling to lazy to hang it up in my closet like I was supposed to.
I took a step back, and then continued undressing. I popped the button on my jeans, and then let the drop before kicking them in a pile beside my bed.
A second later, I heard what sounded like a gasp. And it came from under my desk.
My previous suspicions rushed back, and I squatted down to find the source of the noise, my heart beating quickly. Was it a burglar? Emmett, being an idiot? Was it a ghost? Was I losing my mind?
No. It was Bella Swan.
Bella Swan, squatting under my desk.
Bella Swan, whose face was a mere inches from mine.
I managed to muffle the cry of shock that threatened to slip through my lips, but couldn't help myself form jumping back in surprise. I lost my balance, and ended up sitting a few feet away, still staring at Bella, on my backside. I remembered I was only wearing a pair of red boxers.
We stared at each other for a while, shock mirrored in both of our faces. After a moment, I felt a new emotion bubble inside of me – anger. Hadn't Alice promised I wouldn't even have to see Bella tonight? Well, I did better than see her – I found her under my desk at five in the morning.
"Oops," I said finally, "I guess this isn't the bathroom."
No, it most certainly isn't.
Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
Sorry.
Love, 'the now fourteen-year-old' Hillroy