Chapter Ten

It was the third Monday since I moved to Forks. Edward was waiting out by my Acura when I woke up. He drove me to school. I slipped him the change from what I had spent on the Chinese food last night. "Oh! And I made you a present," I told him, remembering the scrap book. When we pulled into the parking lot where there was a smaller chance he'd wreck my car, I handed it to him. "Thought you'd like it."

Edward smiled. The first picture was of us in the clearing after our hike. He took the picture without my knowledge. I was just staring at his beautiful face, and he was smiling at me--my favorite smile. I decorated each page. The last had the picture I drew of him in Biology and a note I wrote him when I was putting together the scrap book.

He read it quickly, his face twisted as he tried not to smile, then he put it into his bag. He carried my backpack for me, his arm around my shoulders. I glanced at him uncertainly. "Everyone's staring," I pointed out.

"No, not everyone. That guy right there... Nope, he just looked."

I laughed, burying my face into his chest. He would help me if I tripped and guide me through the crowd safely. Edward and I were the center of attention. I didn't mind it though. Edward was watching me. We walked to English together where he looked through the scrap book. "Made another for Ma too," I told him, sitting sideways on my desk. "She's crazy."

"You know I've been thinking. Maybe I should go get her approval over spring break," Edward said. I thought about it before, but he saved me the trouble of inviting him.

"Are you serious? You should! I bet Ma would be out of her mind, even more so than usual."

"Mr. Banner always gives us a load of homework for any break, but I want to meet your mother. She sounds really wonderful."

I nodded. "She is. I mean, sometimes she can be a little awkward. She doesn't know when to stop talking sometimes, but she means well."

We finished Romeo and Juliet that day. I didn't understand why someone would kill themselves for someone else before. Life was so precious to me. Suicide was never an option, even at "rock bottom". What would I miss if I killed myself? Any death--or any other death besides suicide--was meant to be the end. There would be no more after that. Someone planned death, or something. Fate planned it maybe? I don't know, but my life was one I wanted to live. No matter what happened, I would fight through whatever it was. I made that promise to myself, and I knew I could keep it.

But now I had Edward. I would keep that promise, but I understood Romeo and Juliet a little better. I didn't want to live without him. I didn't know if I could, but at the same time, I didn't have to. Edward was right next to me. He wasn't going anywhere. At least not yet.

Edward met me on the way to lunch later on that day. He bought me some water and a hot dog. Hesitantly, and a little afraid, I followed him to the table where his family usually sat. I could have raised any number of objections, but it wouldn't help me any. If I couldn't get through a twenty minute lunch period with the Cullens', I definitely wouldn't be able to get through a relationship with Edward.

Alice and Jasper arrived first. Alice and I had met before, but there was no real conversation between us. Still, she ran ahead of Jasper and hugged my shoulders from behind. Her skin was as cold as Edward's, but I didn't pull away. I smiled at her.

"I know we're going to be great friends," Alice told me, sitting across from me, and Jasper followed. His posture was perfect. Military almost, but I wasn't sure. He could have just had good posture. He sat next to Alice, who started telling me how angry she was at Edward for not doting on me more.

Rosalie and Emmett arrived then. Emmett seemed exactly like the big brother I never had. He was laughing--at me obviously. I glanced at Edward for the "translation" so to speak. I didn't know what was so funny. Edward smiled. "He thinks it's funny that you slipped and hit your head when you were already about to be smashed by a car," he explained.

As I thought back on it, I realized that it was funny when you looked at it that way. Two seconds away from death and I slipped. Emmett had every reason to laugh. Even I found it amusing.

"Yeah, I guess that is pretty funny," I mumbled, watching the huge Emmett snicker about my near-death experience. "So was that some mind reading or did he tell you before?" I asked.

Emmett stopped laughing immediately. Rosalie stiffened up. While Emmett apparently restrained Rosalie, she glared at me, then Edward. I envied Edward's ability to read minds because I knew he was listening to Rosalie's thoughts. "I didn't tell her anything!" Edward snarled at Rosalie, his look a warning. "And she was--I don't have to explain anything to you."

"Timberlee, I know it's a while away," Alice started to break the tension. But Edward and Rosalie were still glaring at each other. "But can I please, please, please, plan your graduation party?"

I frowned awkwardly. Alice was graduating with me. Why couldn't she throw herself a party or Edward? Maybe it just wouldn't be as much fun that way. "Um... My mom might want to claim my graduation. But what about spring break? You can plan a party in LA for me. Mom wants to meet Edward. You, Jasper, and Emmett can come too. Rosalie too, I guess," I mumbled in annoyance. "You can plan a party then. It's sooner than graduation."

Alice reached across the table to hug me again. She sang a chorus of a total of fourteen "thank you's" before she released me. Edward leaned in, his breath tickling my neck. "You're making a mistake. She goes overboard. And I told you that you trusted people too easily," he whispered, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

I started to turn to him to reply, but Rosalie's glare stopped me laugh way. I glanced over at Edward and frowned angrily. "Um... I think I'm gonna go, Edward," I told him. "I can tell where I'm not welcome." I stood before Edward or anyone else could say anything.

"You're alive!" Mike exclaimed when he saw me approaching his table. "I was starting to miss you, and you returned just in time. Gosh, you're perfect."

I rolled my eyes and turned towards the door to leave. There was still quite a bit of lunch left, but I decided to spend the rest of it somewhere else. On my way out, I saw Edward and Rosalie arguing furiously. Alice, Jasper, and Emmett seemed to be trying to put out the fire, but it only grew worse. I didn't get to see the ending though because I hurried out into the rain again.

I wished the snow remained and that it wasn't raining for once. Usually, I liked rain, but it made me depressed that day. All I wanted to see was a little bit of sunshine if that was allowed in Forks.

Biology was next I realized in despair. Edward was going to be there. I didn't want to listen to any apologies when it wasn't even his fault. More than that, I didn't want to explain why I had been so rude. But I had to face it. Of course, Edward was waiting when I entered building three for Biology. I smiled a little awkwardly. He was silent as he opened the door for me. Always polite. "I'm sorry if Rosalie offended you," he said once we were at our table.

"I wasn't offended," I replied quietly. "I was angry, and maybe I was a little jealous too."

"Jealous? Of what?" Edward pressed.

I smiled in embarrassment. He would never understand why I felt so threatened by Rosalie, even though she had Emmett and Edward just... I only had him for two days. I sighed, shaking my head. "It's nothing. I'm sorry if I made you angry. Can we just forget about it?"

Edward nodded. "If you want to," he told me gently. Even if he couldn't read my mind, my face told him a great deal. I appreciated his manners more than I could ever express. He smiled at me. "No mention of last night? I thought you were going to back hand me."

"No. I promised to help, Edward. But it might be a little easier to help if I knew what did help," I replied.

Edward shook his head. "Nothing. It was my fault. I should have prepared better. I should have handled it while you were asleep or getting ready. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be! I promised to help. If the best way I could help is by being understanding, I'll do it. Anyway, I had time to make your present and I called Mom again. She got more details without me blushing. Plus I got to reassure her. It was a better conversation than it would have been with you there. No offense."

"I'm glad. You should take more time to talk to her, ya know?"

I nodded thoughtfully. "So how close does a person have to be for you to hear them?" I asked, taking the lab from Mr. Banner.

Edward smiled at me. "Depends on the person and how well I know them. Like my family, I can hear them from pretty far away. People around here, I know them fairly well from what they think. I can hear them almost as well as I can hear your dad right now."

"Really? What's he thinking?" I inquired.

"About you, worry about you. And there's been some animal attacks in the area," Edward answered quietly . "He wants to know for sure who you got Mono from. Wonders how you're doing in school. Worrying about Michael too. Him and Katy. How much doe she know about their relationship?"

"Um... Nothing," I said, looking into the microscope. "Prophase," I told him. "Michael doesn't tell Ma details. He tells me them. And any details Ma knows, she tells Charlie most of the time. He gets left out a lot when it comes to Michael's dating life."

"So I see," Edward muttered. "Mind if I check?" he asked, pointing to the microscope.

I raised an eyebrow. Our lab was simple only because I already did it. WE were given five slides of onion root tip cells. WE only had to separate the phases of mitosis and label them. But I shrugged then. "How much do your parents know about us?"

"Prophase," Edward confirmed with a grin. "They know about us. Both of them, which means I'm ahead of you. You only told your mom."

"My dad's a cop! Chief of police in the town you live in. I didn't want to get you in any trouble. Like getting shot," I replied.

"How much does Michael know?"

"Nothing. I haven't talked to him yet." I elbowed him in the arm because he wasn't being fair, but I knew I would be the one with a bruise, not him. "And it's different because I don't live with my brother. Metaphase. Want to check this one too?"

Edward's grin widened. "No, I trust you."

I slid the next slide over for him to look at first. "Why did Rosalie get so mad when I brought up the whole thing?"

"Oh, remember how we agreed some secrets are better kept that way? How I said if I told my secret, it would ruin my whole family's life? She thought I told you," Edward explained and took a quick glance through the microscope. "Anaphase," he told me. "I told her everything though. She's probably got a hundred more reasons to be mad at you. Even if they're bad. Just ignore her. That's what I do."

"Lucky you," I said, pushing him the fourth slide too. "You have more than one sibling so you can afford to be angry with one of them. But you and Alice get along, right?"

"Most of the time," he replied. "It's interphase," he concluded after a quick glance.

"Mind if I check?" Edward laughed and pushed the microscope over to me. I confirmed his answer. "What about Emmett and Jasper? Does your relationship with Rosalie change your relationship with Emmett?"

"No, he understands."

"Why does Jasper seem to be in even more pain than usual when I'm around? Is there something wrong with me? And don't try to deny it because you did it too when we first met! Can't you just be honest about this?"

"All right. Remember the diet and the chocolate cake in the oven?" He waited for me to nod, then continued. "Jasper is new to the diet. It's harder for him."

"Okay." It was confusing, but I trusted him. He would tell me when the right time came. If it came. I didn't mind though. Secrets were on both sides of the situation.

"What do you plan to do during Gym instead?" Edward asked, finishing the worksheet. "Sit and watch?"

"I have to go. I need the class to graduate. Unfortunately, your father's note excused me from the activity, not the actual class," I replied. "Gym here is mandatory all four years, not just two like at home."

"So you can't miss one day of class? Not even if I asked you to come on another hike with me? I found a new place."

"Wish I could, but I've been neglecting Charlie. I need to cook him dinner, do laundry for him, and so on. Maybe tomorrow? If you want to." I didn't want to turn Edward down. After the exquisite site I saw on the last hike, I wanted to see another place like that, other places he'd found. I wanted to find our perfect place. But Dad would suspect something if I kept neglecting my work at home and avoiding any conversation involving Edward or boys.

Edward smiled. "No. Saturday. You look exhausted. Have you been sleeping?"

"No, sorry," I said. I didn't know why I was apologizing to him though. I wouldn't apologize to anyone else. But Edward looked so worried. "I was up all night making your scrap book actually," I admitted, sounding like a child afraid of their father's temper. "But between house work and making dinner, I promise I'll take a nap if it'll save me a lecture."

"Good. You look like your fever's up again too."

"Ever thought of becoming a doctor?"

"I've considered it, but I can't decide what college to go to," Edward told me quietly. "Where do you want to go? Somewhere in California?"

I shook my head. "Yale. I've always wanted to go there. Thirty-five thousand a year, across country from home, and a ten percent acceptance rate. That's the way to go, huh?"

Edward nodded with a hint of sarcasm. He picked up my bag as the bell rang. As he started to lead the way out, Mike stepped in front of him. I was suddenly afraid they would end up in a brawl. Mike was obviously jealous. I grabbed a hold of Edward's arm. His posture changed just slightly. It was defensive, protective... of me.

"Hi, Mike," I said with a smile. "What's up?"

"Well, I was going to ask you Friday, but I couldn't get a minute alone with you. I know it's months away, but do you want to go to prom with me?"

My heart must have stopped. I never met anyone so rude before. He asked me in front of Edward. How was I supposed to reply to that? I glanced at Edward, who shrugged and stepped aside, but he looked annoyed. He wanted to hear my answer as much as Mike did, which didn't help the process of trying to come up with a nice answer. I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Um... Mike, I appreciate the offer. It's... It was really nice. But I don't dance. It's not really a good idea for me. Sorry. But you should ask Jessica. She would love to go with you," I answered finally. And in a way, I was dancing around a straight out "no" and also announcing that I was with Edward.

"So you and Cullen?" Mike inquired rudely.

I cringed, feeling awful for not proudly shouting out the truth. "Yeah," I said, catching Edward's grin. Why couldn't he even be a little nice to Mike while I was wounding the kid's ego? Instead, he made it worse.

"You going to prom with him?"

"No. I don't dance. I never planned to go anyway."

"Oh, well, I'll see you in Gym then?"

I nodded and turned to Edward. He put an arm around my shoulders and he walked me to Gym. "Elbow Mike in the stomach for me," he whispered, and I laughed. But we both knew he was joking. He would have yelled at me if I agreed to since I wasn't supposed to run around. We also both knew Mike would make a game out of me chasing him around the gymnasium.

Gym passed quickly. Edward walked me to my Acura and opened the door for me. Then I set off towards home alone. Charlie was home already, but he was out getting the mail. He opened the front door for me. "How was school?"

"Fine, Dad," I sighed. "I'm gonna take a nap after I start a load of laundry. I'm pretty tired."

Dad nodded. "Okay." He was watching me as I started towards the stairs. I knew it! I was sick and he was worried sick.

"Dad, you wanna go out for a burger after I wake up?" I asked, half way up the stairs.

"A burger? After your nap? You and me? Both of us?"

I rolled my eyes so he couldn't see. "Yeah. I don't feel like cooking. I thought we could talk... unless you don't want to."

Charlie looked at me like I was completely crazy. "Okay, sure, honey," he muttered, sounding confused. "We'll go around six. That okay?"

"Fine."