The Tutor

Chapter 11 – Learning to Inhale

Bella tested the Raisin Bran in the bowl in front of her, making sure it was soggy enough to be void of all crunchiness before she brought it to her mouth. Her father appeared from the hallway at that moment and took a seat across from her at the kitchen table.

"I'm over at Black's house tonight. You want to come by after school?" her father asked.

Bella shook her head adamantly. The last time she'd agreed to an outing at the Black's, she'd been bored beyond reason. She remembers watching the minute hand move with the tick of each second on their living room clock.

"No. I have stuff to do around here anyway. I have a test to study for." Bella stated.

"On a Friday night?" Charlie Swan looked at his daughter disapprovingly. Not that every father didn't love the idea of his daughter being safe at home, rather than at some loud and obnoxious party, but Charlie also wanted Bella to be well-rounded, socially. The thought of her at home, all by her lonesome, while he was out with friends kind of made him feel guilty.

"Well…I guess I could go up to Peak Point and get drunk afterwards, if that'll make you feel better." Bella joked.

Charlie rolled his eyes at her sarcasm. "And was I dreaming, or did I hear the phone ring last night?"

"Oh, yeah. That was for me."

"Who was it, your mom?" Charlie asked, sure of her answer. He was only half listening as he used a shoehorn to get his boot on.

"No, it was a … friend from school."

Charlie noticed the hesitation in Bella's voice and it caused him to sit up and take notice. "A female friend, or a male friend?"

"Actually, it was Edward. You know, the guy I've been tutoring in English?"

"What'd he want?"

"To talk about an upcoming English test. He's a little worried about it." It wasn't a complete lie.

Charlie looked Bella up and down, as if he were trying to decide whether or not he should believe her. Finally he shrugged and finished putting on his shoes. "You sure you don't want to meet me out at La Push? Sue is grilling up trout."

"As tempting as that sounds, I still think I'll pass," Bella stated as she stood up to put her cereal bowl in the sink. The mention of dinner caused her to check in the refrigerator to see what her options were for the last meal of the day. The contents were scarce. Well at least she now had something to do on a Friday night in a freakishly boring town: grocery shop.

********

Alice was so tired that she'd considered staying home from school, but as the rules stood, if a cheerleader missed school on a game day, they couldn't cheer at the game – and Alice had worked way too hard on the routine to skip it now. So even though she was dead on her legs, she drug herself up to Jasper before her first class.

"I'm not going to make it," she said dramatically.

Jasper smirked at her exaggeration and kissed her on the forehead. "I can sneak coffee for you out of the teacher's lounge," he offered.

Alice made a face. "No thanks. That stuff tastes and smells like road kill."

"So, I guess you're not going to want to go out tonight after the game." Jasper hinted.

"I don't know. I'm tired. But what's going on?"

"I haven't heard about anything much. So far, just some lame party that Newton's trying to pimp."

"Ugh. Not even." Alice rolled her eyes. "We could go to the drive-in. I'm up for that. Maybe we could double with…" Alice thought pensively. "Jasper, our friends seriously need better social lives. There's no one to double date with!"

"We could ask my brother-"

"Hell no! Last time we went to that concert in the park, his date gave him a blowjob right there on the lawn. That was so gross, not to mention embarrassing."

"She was under a blanket."

"So. It's not like everyone didn't know what they were doing."

"How's that any different from when we went to the sculpture park?"

"Sssh!" Alice looked around frantically. "I thought we agreed never to bring that up in public," she hissed.

Jasper stared at her before a dark grin overtook his face. "But it was hot, wasn't it?"

Alice giggled as she nodded.

"So, I guess we can ask Rosalie if she wants to go to the drive-in. Who will she bring?"

"Who will she bring, or who will she ask? Because she's going to ask Edward."

"And he's not gonna go."

"I know. I wish she'd let it go already. It's getting tiresome watching her throw herself at him."

"Okay, so don't ask her. Who else?"

"Well, not Edward. Because if he brings anyone then Rosalie will make me spend the next ten years giving her every little detail."

"He wouldn't go anyway. He doesn't go on dates."

"That's because he's a mut."

"A mut?"

"You know…dog, male slut…"

"Alice, stop inventing words that no one else uses."

Just then Edward appeared and Jasper and Alice had to cut their conversation short, lest Edward heard them.

Jasper situated himself so that he could talk to Edward, while still holding Alice against his torso.

"What're you up to tonight?" Jasper asked. Alice listened, half interested.

Edward shrugged. Alice noticed the way he never really looked at them. Instead his eyes panned the campus in search of something else.

"We might go to a movie," Jasper offered, watching Edward for a reaction.

The only evidence that Edward heard what Jasper said was that he frowned and shook his head.

As Edward and Jasper interacted, Alice followed Edward's gaze to see what he was looking at. Her eyes landed upon Bella Swan, who had been at Forks High long enough for the term 'new girl' to no longer apply.

Alice had though Rosalie's musings were unwarranted and paranoid. But now, seeing the way Edward was watching her, Alice was almost persuaded to agree with Rosalie. Maybe Edward's interest was peaked with the not-so-new-anymore girl, Bella.

********

En route to her second class, Bella passed the picnic table that Edward was often perched upon with his friends. Today was no exception, however, this time, Edward was alone. Because of this, Bella looked up at him, and when they made eye contact, she didn't look away. Neither did he.

After a short eternity, Edward raked his fingers through his hair before gesturing for her to approach him with a slight jerk of his head.

"Hey," Bella greeted him when she was close enough for him to hear her. Internally, she rejoiced that none of his friends were around. Even though she didn't know them, they were intimidating – especially Rosalie, who seemed determined to be her next BFF.

"How come you're always alone every time I see you?" Edward asked directly.

"I don't really know anyone here." Bella answered.

Edward's gaze was prolonged and intense, as if he were willing her to say something else. Finally he surrendered with a simple mumble that simply implied that he'd heard her.

As Bella was wondering why Edward had motioned her over to him, Edward was clearing his throat to speak again.

"So…you goin' to that party tonight?" he asked.

"Mike Newton's? Nah." Bella stated. She knew her antisocial behavior was the main reason she was often alone, but Mike Newton and his lemmings were not people she wanted to spend any amount of time with. Now, if someone else were to ask her out…say, a certain young man with rust-colored hair and a penchant for trouble…

Bella felt betrayed by her subconscious as that thought entered her mind. What was that? But it was too late. Her body reacted and her face took on a reddish hue as she blushed.

"So, what are you doin'?" Edward asked. He'd noticed her flushed coloring. He appeared amused.

"Grocery shopping," Bella blurted out. Okay, it's official. .'.dork. Seriously. It takes skills to be this pathetic.

Edward raised his eyebrows, as if he wasn't sure Bella was kidding. She could tell he was about to say something caustic, but she beat him to it.

"I know, it's lame." She said.

"Lame doesn't even begin to describe it," Edward laughed.

The bell rang, putting an end to Bella's anguish and torture. "You comin'?" Bella asked as she pointed toward the class.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Bella realized she'd paved a way for rejection. Maybe he didn't want to walk to class with her. After all, he had previously made it known that he didn't want to be seen with her at school…hadn't he? But he had called her over to him just now so…

Edward's next action ended Bella's enter dialogue. He simply slid off the tabletop and stood next to her with his hands deep in his jacket pockets.

"I need a cigarette," He murmured as they ambled towards the class they shared.

Bella noticed the curious glances of her peers as she and Edward walked side-by-side. Nobody really stood out; it was simply a sea of faces as they walked in silence. Except for one. One face demanded to be acknowledged as Edward and Bella sauntered by. Acknowledged by Bella, that is. Edward seemed none the wiser as Rosalie eyeballed them as they sauntered by. But Bella noticed. And even though Rosalie's features morphed into a forced smile, Bella saw something else hidden there, and though she couldn't quite identify it, her body knew exactly how to react. Bella shuddered.

********

Miss Teale's class had reminded Bella of her promise to Edward that she'd make sure he passed the upcoming test. It wasn't that she'd really forgotten about it, she just had to put some thought into how she was going to make good on that promise.

Ever since Edward had laid her suspicions to rest about his reading ability, or rather, lack thereof, Bella had been pondering the best way to help him without making him feel like a "project".

Despite her best intentions, Bella could only come up with one idea in regards to how to help Edward. And she wasn't sure it was something he would appreciate, but it was all she had. So, trading in her free period for her last class of the day, Bella left the school campus early and headed to her truck, praying all the way that she wasn't making a mistake.

********

Esme had just tied the knot on her garden apron when she heard a soft rapping on her front door. She glanced at the clock and figured it was probably the mail delivery service. Carlisle had been receiving lots of packages since he signed on to do pharmaceutical research.

"Bella?" Esme questioned as she glanced out the window before opening the door. "Why aren't you in school?" Esme questioned.

"I had a free period. I hope it's okay that I just dropped by," Bella lowered her eyes as she spoke.

"Of course. But Edward isn't here. He's at school…" Esme frowned, knowing she'd stated the obvious.

"I know. That's why I came now. I wanted to talk to you…alone." Bella shifted her weight from one foot to the other in nervous anticipation.

"Sure, sure. Come on in," Esme stepped aside and allowed Bella to enter into the grand foyer. "Is everything alright? Has Edward done something?"

"No, everything's fine," Bella stammered as she followed Esme to the living room and took the seat that Esme guided her towards.

Esme's anxiety level peaked as she waited for Bella to explain her presence. It was nerve-wracking to have patience at this moment. She leaned forward to glean all that Bella had to say. "What is it?" she asked with concern.

"Well…Edward and I have been working hard at his English and he's doing well…" Bella paused to smile at Esme.

Esme felt herself relax infinitesimally. "Yes, I've been meaning to call you and let you know how much Dr. Cullen and I appreciate what you're doing for Edward. His teacher sent a note home saying how much he's improving. We really are thankful."

Bella nodded. After the accolades, her words seemed to come easier. "We've found a system that works well for us…to study, but there's a test coming up," Bella faltered, "and since Edward doesn't read –"

"Well," Esme interjected. "Edward doesn't read well, but he can read."

Again, Bella nodded. Edward had also insisted he could read, but Bella had never witnessed it herself, so she wasn't certain of his skill level. However, one thing was for certain: he wasn't going to be able to pass Miss Teale's test on his own.

"He has trouble reading the sonnets and passages in our English books," Bella restated. "He has no problem comprehending the material once he's heard it –"

"It's because he's very bright," Esme interrupted again. "He might have a hard time with some of the text, but he's not a dumb kid."

"I totally agree," Bella said quickly. "Edward's extremely smart. I saw it in our very first tutoring session. He's very quick-witted."

Esme seemed confused. At first she'd thought Bella was here to say that she could no longer help Edward, that his deficiency was beyond her, but now it seemed as if she was in agreement with Esme that Edward was smart. So what was the problem? She asked her as much and Bella was quick to respond.

"I promised Edward that I would make sure he passed the test in English, but the only way I can think of to do that is to have the test read to him and there's no way the teacher is going to let me do that since I'm taking the same test." Bella summed up the reason for her visit.

Esme's features softened as she took in the concern of the young girl before her. Bella's desire for Edward to succeed obviously had nothing to do with simply being seen as a successful tutor. She appeared to have Edward's best interests at heart. It was for this reason alone that Esme let her guard down and freely shared a little bit about her intentions where Edward was concerned.

"Did Edward tell you he's adopted?" Esme asked.

"He hinted," Bella stated.

Esme nodded as she went on, "Yes, well he's been with us for a little over three years now. He lived in a foster home for awhile where the family decided to homeschool him," Esme made finger-quotations around the word homeschool. "Which, in and of itself, isn't bad. But the woman was not proficient enough to teach Edward and he just got passed through the system. Now, in order to get him the help that he needs, I'd have to put him in special education, and you know Edward – he's not going to go along with that. The minute he turned eighteen, he'd drop out of school. So, his father and I decided to have him work with you, since you know his specific coursework, and once he's a little more comfortable, we're going to hire a literacy coach for him." Esme looked as if she'd uncovered a family secret. "Can you not mention the literacy coach to him? He doesn't know about it yet. I want to wait until he has a success under his belt before I put something else on him."

"I won't mention it," Bella assured her.

"You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all of this," Esme laughed. "But, I just wanted to make sure that even if it looks like we're not helping Edward, we are doing everything we can to make sure he succeeds."

"No, I can tell. Edward's really lucky."

"And the school does know about Edward's reading level, I just suspect they aren't paying that close attention and I'm not broadcasting anything. So asking them to allow him to have a reader for a test could be a tricky move…" Esme trailed off as she pondered.

"How's Edward's vision?" Bella asked.

A sly grin slowly spread across Esme's face as she realized what Bella was insinuating. "I like how you think, Bella Swan."

********

"Why are we here?" Alice whined as she put her sneakered-feet on the dashboard of Jasper's car. "I'm tired. I want to go home!"

Jasper hated this place. Location? Right between his best friend and his girlfriend.

Edward had been distant for several weeks, and Jasper was starting to feel the void of their friendship. Then, suddenly, it looked as if Edward was coming around again and Jasper didn't want to squander the opportunity to spend time with his friend. But he also wanted to be there for Alice. So, after spending three hours watching Alice cheerlead for a defeated Forks High, Jasper offered to take Edward to the store, when Edward had mentioned that he needed to go. Thinking it was going to be a short trip, Jasper had brought Alice along. However, upon arrival at Thriftway, it became apparent that Edward was planning on staying awhile.

On any other day, it wouldn't have been a big deal. On Friday nights, a lot of the kids from school hung out in the Thriftway parking lot because there wasn't much else to do. But on this night in particular, Alice had had her fill of the "popular" crowd, who wanted so badly to enthrone her; she didn't want to spend another second around them. That night's sporting event had been more than enough.

Edward got out of Jasper's car and slammed the door. He walked over to the edge of the store before lighting a cigarette and taking a drag.

With the promise of a prompt return to Alice, Jasper got out of the car and followed after Edward.

"Man, you need to shut your girl up," Edward said casually. "She's getting on my fuckin' nerves."

"She's just tired." Jasper stuck up Alice.

"Then take her ass home," Edward suggested.

"You ready to go?" Jasper asked.

Edward shook his head. "Nah, just leave me here."

"Leave you here?" Jasper asked. "Why?"

"Because." It was the only explanation Edward offered.

Jasper knew at that moment that something was going on, but he also knew that Edward wouldn't answer a direct question about it, so he simply shrugged and looked over his shoulder, at Alice, who was impatiently waiting in the front seat of his car.

"Okay, well, I'll drop off Alice and then I'll come back and get you." Jasper offered.

Edward shook his head. "Just leave me here. I'll call you if I need you." Edward turned his head and exhaled a plume of smoke.

Jasper resigned and walked back to his car to give Alice the good news that she was going home. Just as he put the key into the ignition, he looked up in time to see a girl exit the store. Her plastic grocery bag split at the seam and all of its contents crashed onto the storefront sidewalk. Jasper laughed and hurriedly looked over at Edward to see if he had witnessed the girl's misfortune as well.

Not only had Edward seen it, but he had moved from his location against the walk and was kneeling down before the girl, picking up the contents of the bag.

Straining closer, Jasper saw that it wasn't just a girl, it was the girl.

The girl who Rosalie had been talking about nonstop for almost two weeks.

The girl who Alice had mentioned in passing on more than one occasion.

The girl who Edward had admonished Jasper for – simply because Jasper had unknowingly spoken to her the day he'd tried to make Alice jealous.

Edward's gesture of picking up the groceries was small enough to go unnoticed by others, but it was large enough for Jasper to know that this, the girl – this was Edward's "because".

********

Mortification was not a strong enough word to describe how Bella felt when her bag broke and all of its contents spilled out for the world to see. And then, as if to make matters worse, Edward (Edward!) was the one who came over to help her retrieve them.

"I told that lady this needed to be double-bagged," Bella mumbled as she tried to scrape up her dignity, along with the cans of chili that had rolled to the curb.

Please don't let this be the bag with the tampons in it.

"Here," Edward offered her a bag of tortilla chips.

Bella quickly stuffed it into one of the other intact bags and headed over to her truck. Edward picked up the remaining bags that were still sitting on the sidewalk and followed after her, depositing them into the back of her truck.

"What are you doing here?" Bella asked Edward once the bags were secured.

"Just hangin' out," Edward stated.

Bella took in the crowd of people and crinkled her nose. They didn't look like people Edward would rub shoulders with.

"Really?" she asked skeptically.

An uneven smile faintly appeared on Edwards mouth. "My ride bailed." He said.

"Oh," Bella fleetingly glanced towards the cab of her truck. It was clean enough. "Do you want a ride?"

Edward shrugged. "Sure."

Bella unlocked her truck and they both climbed in. Bella watched out of the corner of her eye as Edward left his door open while he took a final drag off his cigarette and exhaled before flicking it out into the parking lot and shutting his door.

"Where to?" she asked.

Edward glanced back at the groceries in the truck bed and motioned towards them. "Do you want to drop that stuff off first?"

Bella remembered the half-gallon of ice cream and nodded. "Okay."

As she took off in the direction of her house, Bella got nervous. She was taking someone to her house. A boy. And not just any boy – it was Edward freakin' Cullen.

It was a short distance to the Swan home from Thriftway, so in a matter of moments Bella and Edward were once again handling her groceries as they removed them from the back of the truck.

Fumbling with her keys at the front door, Bella's mind raced to remember what the state of the house was on the other side of the door. Were there dishes in the kitchen sink? Had her dad left dishes in the living room from when he'd watched the game? What did her house smell like? Every house had its own smell…was her's good or bad?

The answers to those questions became a moot point as Edward entered right on her heels. He followed her to the kitchen and set the bags down on the small table.

"Who's here?" he asked quietly.

"Just us," Bella answered.

In response, Edward took a cigarette and lighter out from his jacket pocket.

"You can't smoke in here," Bella said in alarm.

Edward grinned. "I wasn't going to." He pointed toward the small interior door in the kitchen, indicating where he was headed.

"Oh."

The door led to the backyard. Once Bella had put away her groceries, she joined him outside.

Edward was leaned up against the back of her house, blowing smoke towards the trees. The fact that he was even there seemed surreal, and Bella quickly ran back over the events that had transpired to get them to this moment. Each time she glanced over at him, he was watching her.

Suddenly he lifted his hand and offered her his cigarette. "Do you smoke?"

"No," Bella shook her head.

"Have you ever tried it?" Edward asked.

Again Bella answered, "No."

Edward neared her, still with the cigarette extended. "It's not really a decision until you've had a chance to make a choice," he said.

Bella stared at the cigarette for a long time. When her eyes darted around to make sure no one else was watching, she knew she was going to give in to him. He knew it, too.

Bella leaned forward just as Edward brought the cigarette he held between two fingers to Bella's lips.

Edward made no attempt to let go of the cigarette, and Bella made no attempt to hold it on her own. Instead, ever so softly, Edward pressed his two fingers against her full lips and she inhaled the nicotine slowly through her mouth.

The act seemed so sensual that Bella closed her eyes to keep her mind from being over stimulated by all that the moment entailed. Edward's fingers momentarily caressed her lips as he slowly removed the cigarette.

Bella exhaled.

She opened her eyes to see Edward staring down at her. Immediately she blushed, realizing how silly she must have looked, closing her eyes to smoke a cigarette.

"No choking or sputtering…are you sure this is your first time…with a cigarette?" Edward didn't try hard to conceal in innuendo.

If she hadn't already been cloaked in crimson from her earlier humiliation, she definitely would be now.

"First time," She smiled up at him. She considered reiterating that, now that she'd tried it, she knew without a doubt that she didn't smoke. However, there was no way that she could coherently string those words together. Because at that moment, Edward's face was slowly descending towards hers.

With her eyes on his lips, she watched as they came closer…closer…closer…

And then she closed her eyes, awaiting the instant when she'd feel his mouth on hers.

It never came.

Instead, she felt his hot breath on her ear as he whispered, "I guess you're a natural."

The sound of a door slamming eclipsed Bella's shame at the misunderstanding of the preceding minutes.

"Bella?" her father's booming voice reverberated off the windows.

Bella's eyes grew wide with worry.

"Put it out! Put it out!" she whispered in urgency to Edward regarding his cigarette.

Calmly, Edward squashed the cigarette with his shoe before kicking it into the grass where it was hidden from sight.

Bella heard the back door open and Charlie Swan, Father, appeared before her. As soon as he saw Edward, however, Father disappeared and was replaced by Retired Police Chief.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Uh…um…" Bella stammered.

"My ride bailed on me and Bella was giving me a ride home, but she had to unload some groceries first. She said she's not allowed to have anyone in the house when you're not here, so I was waiting out here for her." Edward explained. His calm demeanor never faltered.

Charlie looked from Bella to Edward and then back to Bella.

"Oh," he conceded.

"Dad, this is Edward. Edward…this is my dad," Bella introduced.

Bella noted that Charlie offered Edward an evasive head nod, in some Alpha male ritualistic sort of way. Edward received it and nodded in return. The word awkward didn't even begin to cover it.

"Okay, well I'm gonna run Edward home now," Bella broke through the silence. "See ya in a few."

"You're coming straight back here?" Charlie suggested rather than asked.

"Yeah. I'll be right back." Bella said as she and Edward disappeared through the side gate.

********

Charlie sat in his recliner listening to Bella profusely explain that Edward was nothing more than a friend. She corroborated his story over and over that she had merely stopped in to put away groceries before taking him home. And sure, there was enough evidence to support the story – there were groceries in the house and the time-stamped receipt indicated that she hadn't been home long before Charlie had arrived home.

But there was something there. Something his years of police training had qualified him to take notice of. The eyes. The emotion in Edward's eyes defied the overabundance of Bella's use of the word friend.

Charlie wouldn't be unnerved by the lusty adoration of a teenaged boy. That was normal and to be expected. But this…what he saw…it was something more…something terrifying. But perhaps what made matters worse, almost unbearable to acknowledge, was that Charlie had seen the same emotion in Bella's eyes.

Suddenly he wanted to take it all back – his comments about her social behavior. His wanting her to go out and mingle with kids her own age. He had gotten what he'd asked for and now his daughter was being lost to something outside of his control.