Chapter 9: Calculus

BPOV

That stupid blush again! I walked to my desk and put my stuff on the desk and sat down. In an attempt to be indifferent to the Adonis sitting next to me, I held my hand out and said "Hi, I am Bella Noris." My dull brown eyes clashed with the pools of liquid gold once again and my breathing hitched! Slowly, without breaking eye-contact he took my hand and said " Edward Cullen. It's a pleasure to meet you finally, Bella!" I wanted to pull my hand away from the extremely cold ones that held mine but felt my eyes glaze over when I heard his smooth silky voice. It was music to my ears! The rate at which emotions flickered past his eyes was mind-boggling. I thought I caught a glimpse of pain, suffering, care, passion, sorrow and…love? No, not possible. It must be the clouded mind of mine. Once out of my reverie, I realized I was still holding his hand and blushed furiously before I turned back to face the teacher who was just starting off with the class. I felt so self-conscious that I let my straight boring hair fall as a curtain between us. We were doing Calculus this semester. I groaned when the teacher started the class.

A soft musical voice whispered to me "Not your favorite subject, I guess?" I looked up just to be met with those smoldering golden eyes. I lost my stream of thought. Just when I was thinking up a logical response, the teacher called to me for an answer. I had not even heard the question. Before I could stutter my ignorant response, Edward pushed a sheet in front of me with some variables written out. I do not know from where I got the urge to trust this strange beautiful guy but read out the answer to the teacher. The scowl on the teacher's face was replaced by a smile and he said "Excellent Ms. Noris!" and continued with what ever he was saying. Once I gathered my thoughts, I turned towards Edward and said "Thank you for saving my neck! It would have been too embarrassing to have answered him incorrectly, considering the fact that I did not even hear the question. I owe you one. And answering to your earlier question, yes, I am horrible at math!" I blushed furiously once again.

He let out a small chuckle, "I could tutor you if you would like. Math is one of my strong subjects! And you are welcome, anytime!" He gave me a bright smile and I was dazzled. I forgot my name!

"T…Th..Thanks. I would really appreciate your help" I stammered and stuttered before I finished the sentence. Even with my limited experience with men, I had never been at a loss of words. This guy was driving me insane but I was, to say the least, pleased to have his company.

My over-powering shyness took over and I blushed and hid behind my hair and waited for the class to finish. I still had just one more class for the day and I would be heading home, to my sanctuary. But I must say that my first day in the new school was not as traumatic as I had expected it to be. Milo had told me that it was a tradition in the school to hold a spring dance, but unlike earlier where the date was the girl's choice, this year it would be the guy's choice and the turns would be every alternate year. I realized that I was unintentionally hoping that my date would be the guy who was sitting next to me, leaving me breathless. I smacked myself for letting my thoughts run haphazardly. I knew that I was quite okay looking but this guy was way out of my league.

EPOV

I was almost bouncing in my seat, yes, bouncing. Alice would have been proud of me. I could not contain the excitement flowing through me. I heard Jasper's thoughts from the next room as my excitement hit him … Whoa Eddie boy (if you are interested in knowing…right now, I am smirking at you!)…Control. You are putting Alice to shame… Excited are we?...

I tried to mask my feeling as best as I could and waited for her to enter the room. I knew that Mr. Randy, the math teacher would assign her to the desk next to mine because that was the only empty bench in the class. She entered the class, looking flushed, probably from her gym class. For some reason, she looked nervous as hell. For a moment, it looked as if she was deliberating on whether she should just turn around and walk out. But she squared her shoulders as if determined at making through the hour and proceeded to get her sheet signed. All this body language would have been almost imperceptible to the human eye was quite obvious to my vampire sight. Then it struck me…I had not even tried listening to her thoughts. I had just assumed that her mind would be protected from my powers, like my Bella's had been…why was I trying to interpret her body language when I could pull out her thoughts! With sudden anticipation I tried to tune out the unnecessary thoughts around me as I tried to focus on where she stood, to find her voice. But I could not hear anything and I was not surprised. I laughed to myself at my realization.

I watched her reaction eagerly as the Mr. Randy told her to take a seat next to me. She looked up and blushed a beautiful shade of rose and her eyes went wide when they met mine. I could spend my eternity swimming in the pools of those warm brown orbs.

She tried to sound confident and indifferent as she held her hand out to me and introduced herself "Hi, I am Bella Noris" but I could clearly hear her heart beat pick up the pace. The rhythmic beating of her heart was like music, what I had heard only in my mind for the past century. Slowly, without breaking eye-contact I took her hand in mine, feeling how fragile she was, how warm, how soft and inviting she was… "Edward Cullen. It's a pleasure to meet you finally, Bella!" I had dazzled her, I realized as I saw her eyes glaze over. In that moment, I found myself experiencing a assortment of emotions- guilt, passion, love, sorrow, anxiety, concern, anger towards the monster that I was… It felt like I had lost a piece of myself when she retrieved her hand from mine and I felt a stab of pain in my non-beating heart when she hid behind her hair. I heard her groan softly when the teacher started off with differential calculus.

I figured out from her earlier body language and her groan that she was not fond of this subject. I could not help but chuckle to myself and find out if I was right in my guessing. "Not your favorite subject, I guess?"

She turned her dove-like eyes towards me and looked up to me through her long eyelashes, my breathing hitched. This girl was seducing me even with out knowing it… Is your little man going out of control my man (Jasper's thoughts came to me from the next room)… She looked like she was confused about something and we were having a beautiful peaceful moment when the Mr. Randy called her for an answer. Her heart beat picked up and I could tell that she had been dazzled once again by me. I smiled to myself and wrote down the answer for her on a piece of paper, having heard it in the teacher's mind. I pushed the sheet towards her, hoping she would trust me enough to read out the answer from the paper. Pleased with his teaching abilities, Mr. Randy appreciated her and got back to where he had left off. I was still looking at when she took a deep breath and spoke to me.

"Thank you for saving my neck! It would have been too embarrassing to have answered him incorrectly, considering the fact that I did not even hear the question. I owe you one. And answering to your earlier question, yes, I am horrible at math!" Warm inviting blood pooled on her cheeks and I swallowed the venom that pooled in my mouth.

…Edward…why do I see you teaching her calculus in you room? (Alice)…

I had unintentionally made a decision to help Bella and Alice was trying to get it out of my mouth. "I could tutor you if you would like. Math is one of my strong subjects! And you are welcome, anytime!" I gave her my best smile and her eyes glazed over and I realized I had dazzled her once again.

"T…Th..Thanks. I would really appreciate your help." I did a happy dance in my mind while I could hear Alice squeal in her mind!

To my dismay the class ended too quickly and I decided to skip the next class and run home. I left the car keys in the ignition…Alice would see it. Checking the no one was watching me, I took off into the woods.

After a century, running felt exhilarating and I reached home in a couple of minutes and a thought struck me...