Chapter Ten: Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered

"Bella, it's time to get ready for school." I heard a soft voice purr against my ear thinking it must have been a lingering dream that was clouding my brain. Once the sleep was wiped from my eyes I realized I was in fact being awoken by the same voice I had fallen asleep to. "She finally stirs." His lips curled watching me stretch out my rested limbs.

"Good morning," I mumbled in response not moving my head from its spot against his granite-like chest.

"How did you sleep?"

"I don't know, you tell me?" I asked finally managing to rise.

"Very peacefully." His hand gently tucked any stray hairs behind my ear. "Charlie left already. You should get ready. I'll meet you there?" I nodded silently realizing I probably looked very disheveled. His body rose effortlessly grabbing his jacket from its spot on my desk chair. "Alright then. I'll see you soon." His head bent down placing a quick kiss on my forehead before he made his way towards the window and was gone.

When I finally managed to get up and get ready for the day, the events of the past month began to sink in. Not only had I met someone, I was pretty sure I had met the only person in the world that could handle me for the rest of my life. One month ago my biggest worry was safety, and now I was on a completely different path. It seemed so selfish to be thinking of myself so often. One of my least favorite literary masterworks was Romeo and Juliet, and unfortunately the more I thought about it, my current starry-eyed situation seemed to mirror the piece. At the time it seemed absurd for two teenagers to feel so strongly for each other, stupid even. They were two star-crossed lovers who were perfectly imperfect together. I now knew what it was like to wake up and feel so strongly for someone that it pained me to think about for too long. The only thing that troubled me when I was younger was their demise. It seemed utterly impossible to me at fourteen to die for someone you've only known for such a short period of time. Although it was unnecessary for us, I would die for Edward Cullen.

This filled my mind until I finally parked my truck, and I noticed Edward waiting patiently leaning against his car with his hands stowed safely in the pockets of his jacket. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I saw a hint of a smile creep up on his lips when he noticed I arrived. Rosalie on the other hand did not seemed too pleased by his reaction. Her eyes followed his until they reached my face staring harshly chilling me to my core. She turned quickly on her heels and turned to walk with Emmet, Jasper, and Alice towards their respective buildings. I began to wonder if Edward's parents were as disapproving as his siblings. It would just be another comparison to add to the ever-increasing list between our own story and the one crafted by Shakespeare. It was at times like these I was glad Edward could not read my mind. It would have been much to embarrassing and juvenile to explain my current thought process. I wasn't positive, but I was pretty sure all boys, including vampires, did not enjoy sappy comparisons.

"Can I walk you to class?" His hand was already reaching to take my backpack from my shoulder. I wasn't exactly used to his innate chivalry, but I still found him charming nonetheless. I could feel the eyes of others burning through us as we walked along the sidewalk towards my building. I felt completely ordinary strolling next to him. What he happened to see in me kept me baffled. There was no doubt he could have any girl he wanted. To think he chose me only made it more unbelievable. He sensed my worry as I crossed my arms over my chest keeping my head down. "What's the matter?" His voice was lined with worry.

"Everybody's staring at us." I managed to whisper as we approached my classroom.

"You are so self conscious for being so beautiful," His spoke smoothly as he returned my bag, his fingers brushing against mine. His arm rested against the doorway causally as he moved closer toward me. When his lips were just inches from my ear he spoke again. "Let them." All I managed to do was blush incessantly. Just then the warning bell rang sending the final waves of students into their classes including Angela and Jess. Edward chuckled slightly giving my hand one final sweep with his fingers. "Jessica's going to want an explanation though. I'll see you soon." He turned quickly and walked down the hall toward his class. There was no doubt in my mind he was grinning from ear to ear at my shock. I had no idea how I was supposed to explain this to anyone let alone with Edward listening in. Stunned, I took my seat and retrieved my notebook.

"Oh my god! Don't just sit there and not address that!" Jessica's voice squealed as her hands clutched the edges of her desk.

"What?" I feigned confusion.

"Edward Cullen?" Angela jumped in. "Bella, that's so amazing. I'm so happy for you. You guys look so cute together." A genuine smile crossed her face. Jessica on the other hand did not seem as pleased.

"Yeah…so cute. How did that happen?" Her voice tried to maintain fake intrigue.

"I don't know. We're lab partners in Bio. I guess we just got to talking…" My mind raced to make something up that sounded believe able. "He's been helping me adjust to Forks." My dry throat cracked slightly hoping they'd buy my alibi.

"Looks like you're adjusting quite well to me," Jessica mumbled under her breath. Before they could grill me anymore, class started and I was relieved that that conversation was over. The rest of the day was relatively quiet until lunch.

"Has he asked you yet?" Angela questioned tucking her textbook in her bag.

"Asked me what?" It was never really spoken out loud between us, but I think both Edward and I knew we didn't want to be apart.

"To prom! You have to go! Jessica's going with Mike, and I'm pretty sure Eric's going to ask me any day now. We could all go together. It's so much cheaper splitting a limo between more people anyway. We can go to Port Angeles this weekend to look for dresses!" Her words made my head spin and my grip tightened on my bag. Prom.

"U-uh n-no. Not yet. You know, everything's happening so fast I don't really want to rush anything. I'll definitely go with you to look at dresses, there's a bookstore I've been meaning to check out." I was going to have one hell of a time explaining this conversation to him. I prayed he wouldn't have eavesdropped at this point in time, that the previous conversation would have been enough for him to know how much I cared for him. "I'll see you later Angela," I murmured as I slowly made my way over to Edward at lone table. I did my best to ignore his smug look and pretend like the crimson lining my cheeks did not exist. I focused solely on pushing my salad across my plate with my fork.

"Prom is a very important right of passage," He spoke just as I was about to take a bite halting my actions entirely. He had been listening. I dropped my fork and glared directly at him.

"Listening in on other people's conversations is very rude, you know. Especially considering how you went about doing it." I fought hard to control my pending anger. It enraged me more to see him smiling at my furry.

"We're going whether you like it or not." His body leaned forward with his palms against the table. "And there's nothing you can do about it. People will get suspicious if we don't attend. I'm merely trying to help you blend in." Oddly enough, he did manage to find a point.

"Right. Blend in by dating the most handsome boy in school." My mouth dropped as the words flew from my mouth, and there was nothing I could do to take them back. My flushed face grew even darker as I tried to back track.

"So we are dating then?" His hand moved to rest overtop of mine instantly cooling my overheated form.

"O-only if you want," I spoke more evenly. "Unless you just sneak into every girls window to watch her sleep?" I teased softly.

"You're the only one that's worth getting caught for." He grinned.

"But you never get caught," I reminded him.

"Exactly." His thumb brushed over my knuckles smoothly tingling my skin. "What's this about going to Port Angeles?" His face had gone from light to concern so quickly even I had to stop and do a double take.

"There's a book I've been meaning to get about evolution. I think it might be able to answer some of my questions about…" I knew that I didn't have to finish my statement.

"Why don't I take you?" Instinctively his eyes flashed over to Jessica and Angela. He was no doubt thinking back to Jessica's thoughts. I didn't need to read her mind to see she wasn't too thrilled with our relationship. It was still better than having no girl friends at all. Besides Angela was a sweet girl and made up for Jessica's cruder tendencies.

"Am I not allowed to have other friends?" I teased flipping our hands so mine was on top. "I'll be fine. I'll be with Jessica and Angela the whole time." No matter what amount of convincing I did, his jaw clenched tightly. "Edward…Please? I want to be normal remember?" He nodded once agreeing.

"Just be careful please." He sighed softly giving into my defenses.

"I will. What's the worst that could happen?"

****Cliffhanger much? I just wanted to add in here that this has been a really fun project so far. I've (knock on wood) never been able to write this much on one story. I'm definitely taking all your advice and ideas to heart! Thank you for your endless support. And once again since I'm shameless, reviews are appreciated. If there's something you want to see added in, it wouldn't hurt to suggest it!!!****

Jenfur Lee