Chapter Eleven: Fascination

Mike walked me to our next class which we had together, the teacher's name was Mr. Molina. He had a very warm face, and looked as if he loved his work. The type of teacher who tried his hardest to reach each one of his students, and would do anything for them. I could tell I would be able to tolerate this class. A COMPLETE upgrade from Ms. Marbrooks.

Mr. Molina was already talking to another student when we arrived, but he focused on me when he realized who I was. His face lit up, there goes that town-wide excitement shining through again.

He started looking around on his desk for some handouts and rambling on as Mike and I stepped into the room. Mike when directly to his seat, and I walked over to Mr. Molina's desk. I stopped in front of this fan at the front of the class as I waited for him to turn around. This also gave me a chance to look around at the faces that made it up.

A few familiar faces again, but only one stood out from the rest. One completely stuck out like the sorest thumb in the bunch, looking entirely misplaced in this group of pubescent teenagers. A face that was perfectly angular—high cheekbones, strong jaw-line, a straight nose, and full lips. His messy yet perfect hair was an unusual bronze color, a look I believe only he could pull off. He looked hypnotizing. And as I realized I was staring at Edward Cullen, I also realized through his eyes that he had been well aware of my presence from the first second I took step in this classroom. He was already staring at me.

I tried to read his facial expressions again, but picked up on nothing. He was a mirror of no emotion. During this intense gaze I felt the wind from the fan blow through my hair in his direction, blowing all of his papers off the table in front of him. Normal reaction to this would've been to pick them up from the ground, but his was none of the sort. Instead, he inhaled slightly then tensed up sharply, covering his mouth and nose painfully as if a foul smell had met his senses. I could hardly blink as I witnessed this strange event.

I was suddenly drawn back into Mr. Molina when he shoved some handouts in my chest, and looked around for a place for me to be seated. He sat me right next to Edward, who had yet to remove his hand from his face. Still protecting it from some God-awful smell. A smell in which I, nor apparently any other student or adult in the room, was even aware of. A smell which I know I, of all people, would've picked up on before anyone in the vicinity. No odors, perfumes, scents that could even be categorized as unbearable were identifiable around us. What was his problem?

I looked at him as he acted so strangely, and he refused to look me in my face. He concentrated his eyes on my hands resting in front of me on the table. I smelled myself, maybe I had smelled foul or something I acquired from the lunchroom. Nope, nothing. I would've picked up on it.

He slowly slid the Petri dish in front of me, still stubbornly refusing to look at me. But he had his head tilted towards me, eyes still focused……..as if he wanted to but just couldn't. As if he wouldn't allow himself. After a while he removed his hand and sat there silently, as Mr. Molina started the lesson.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I hid my face by putting a wall of my hair between us. If I did repulse this strange individual, there was no reason to make him hate me. Although I felt the strongest urge to just look him in the face, I fought and suppressed it. Beside of myself, I couldn't hold my curiosity any longer and about halfway through the period I looked up at him.

His eyes were a deep black. They had so much depth in them, in fact, if I hadn't been so speechless…or hypnotized by him….I would've surely got lost in them. His eyes were as empty as mine were becoming, nothing but darkness. I got to take a really good look at his facial features up close. His skin was smooth, paler as anyone else that lived here, pale like mine. But way smoother, hands down. Not a single blemish or imperfection. He had sparse freckles sprinkled across the top of his cheeks, his face so masculine and beautiful. As if it were carved by the Gods. He was amazingly gorgeous. But even with all of these birth-given blessings, his face gave a look of utter turmoil and entrapping confusion. A mood of the highest level of uncomfortable ness, as if he wanted to do something he knew he sorely couldn't.

But most of all, there was one thing that was the most noticeable about this encounter. One thing that stood out the most, something I hadn't experienced till we were so close to each other. His scent.

It was the most beautiful, tempting scent I'd ever smelled in my lifetime. It was perfect, addictive, and colorful. It made my imagination run wild, run wild with millions of possibilities to…well I wasn't quite sure yet. It started off as the sweetest thing, I felt all of my senses take a joyride on this express to heaven. The high was unexplainable, and it made my entire body feel like it was floating. I closed my eyes and enjoyed this moment.

But what goes up must come down, and my joyride did come crashing down into the earth, only to retire to the hottest pits of hell. The scent that was once heavenly to me was now a wrecking ball, it sent me flying into a dark place. It burned the back of my throat horribly, making breathing much like trying to breathe fire. There was no image violent enough to encapsulate the force of what happened to me in that moment.

Even with this amazing catastrophe happening to me, he acted as if nothing was occurring. All of the sudden he broke our intense stare, thank the stars for that, and was back to focusing on the work in front of him. Or at least, attempting to. The entire period I really couldn't focus either, I couldn't stop being curious about him and what exactly just happened. Every now and then out of the corner of my eye, I would catch his body tense up a bit, and his face looked as if he was pained.

Maybe he was pained. Maybe he had a killer headache, or stomach ache or something. Much like I had earlier. Unable to resist looking at him again to check my assumptions, I held my breath as I looked up through my hair one final time. Repeating the pain of what happened the first time would not be an option, as long as I could avoid it. He looked as if he didn't want to be here, and as if my presence was an annoyance to him. He made nauseated faces as if I made him ill, he found me disgusting. I had done absolutely nothing wrong, especially nothing to him. I was beginning to understand why the people of this town reacted the way that they did to his family. The awkwardness of being so close to their person was not worth it to any other person, and the discomfort from the trouble it caused was a waste to everyone. Everyone, apart from me. I had nothing to fear but fear itself, along with the fear I could inflict on them. Anything else was absurd.

Something inside of me was telling me to end these investigations here, and that further inquiring would lead to nothing but destruction and devastation. But for me, I think the part of me that was filled with curiosity over this mysterious boy weighed the grander scale of my being in it's favor. I was completely overtook with fascination over him now, and there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing could change it or stop it.

And for a change, towards the very end of class…I felt him staring at me. Just…staring. A complete role reversal. All of the sudden out of nowhere, that defensive edge inside me flared up again, I felt my body solidify when I sensed his eyes on me. I would want to react, but my fibers were frozen. What had been different from the other times we'd look at each other? What was this feeling? Why did it show up now, and why had it shown up when his family first entered the cafeteria? And why did I confuse, disgust, and anger Edward Cullen so much?

I knew he felt like running away from me, was my change nearing completion? I mean, everyone else wouldn't be smart enough to know to fear me, but their basic survival instincts would be enough to keep them away. Was it finally happening? As I was expecting, even 3 seconds before the bell ring he hopped up with the utmost celerity, almost running out of the class. I just watched with amazement and befuddlement as he left with abruptness in his step. Maybe he was right for running. Maybe it was cutting close to that time. Even if it was, which I was almost certain it was, it would be nothing I could do about it but accept it.

Things would change, everything would be different. No more sunlight, no more friends, no more family, no more society at all really. All of the simple things in everyday life would be nothing but faint memories for me. Things like sleeping, eating, breathing…breathing. I exhaled, then gasped really loud. I remembered with my eyes as wide as a deer caught in headlights, I had been holding my breath all of that time. That had to be close to 45 minutes, how had that been possible. And I didn't feel close to fainting, not even the least bit weary. This was a new feat that scared me more than it amazed me. How long could I actually do that?

Hi!! I just want to say thank you guys for reading my story, and a special thanks to those who comment. They're better motivation than you can imagine.

Alison94 asked a question, and I'm sure she's not the only one thinking it.

Bella is a vampire, but she's a different kind of vampire. She's a vampire by blood, something that doesn't exist anymore. So contrasting to the 3 days it takes regular transformations for vampires, hers takes much, much longer. She's slowly becoming one, and it takes her a few months. So she's slowly gaining all these new senses and abilities, but she still has a dominantly human quality about her at the moment. That's why she's having a problem with them, but they haven't detected her. That will happen later in the story. Does that make sense? I sure hope so…it did in my head. If it doesn't please feel free to ask more questions!

Also, I hope I'm making the chapters longer. Hopefully they'll get longer as the story goes on.