All recognized characters belong to Stephenie Meyer!
The house was silent again. Everyone had left to fulfill his or her responsibilities for the day. I went to my wardrobe to change my clothes and found it was twice as full! Alice must have gone shopping I thought. I glanced through the clothing slowly finding everything to my liking. There were even a few formal dresses. I scoffed as I looked them over, as If I will ever have an occasion to wear them! I finally decided on a black ¾ sleeve v-neck sweater and a simply pair of jeans.
As soon as I was dressed I heard a soft knock at my door. I became inwardly excited knowing who it would be. I skipped to the door smiling, quickly opening the door. Edward was standing there leaning against the door jam patiently waiting. I could feel his eyes raking over my body and I started to feel uncomfortable.
"Is that what you're wearing today?" He asked furrowing his brow.
"Yes. Why is there something wrong?" I was a little offended by his question. I thought I looked nice.
"It will do for now, but you will have to change tonight." He said grinning at me.
"Why? What are we doing tonight?" I asked genuinely curious.
"You'll see." He speedily grabbed my hand leading me down stairs. He was acting so strange. I wondered what he was up to. It felt good to hold his hand again, more than just good.
"Edward what are you doing?" I asked once we were outside pulling hard against him.
"Bella don't worry." Edward soothed as we proceeded to wonder in the trees surrounding his house.
I stopped dead in my tracks refusing to take another step, "Edward Cullen I refuse to go any further until you tell me what is going on!" I tried to release my hand from his grasp but he held on tighter.
"Bella stop being so difficult. Trust me." He pulled hard on my hand forcing me to follow again. It seemed as though I couldn't resist him in anything. I followed silently without complaint wondering what he had planned. We came to a small stream surrounded my moss covered rocks and trees. There appeared to be a small trail just off to the right. The canopy of branches was so think up above that you couldn't tell what time of day it was. Edward gently pulled me to a large rock and sat me down. I looked up at him quizzically waiting for an explanation.
"Today you are going to practice controlling some of your abilities." He explained smugly.
"What do you mean?" I asked raising my eyebrows in confusion.
"Bella If you ever want to be around humans again you need to learn to control your strength and speed for starters. Today I thought we would work on speed." He clarified.
"What's wrong with the way I walk? I don't walk that fast." I complained.
Edward chuckled, "No you don't walk that fast for a vampire, but for a human you tend to walk faster than most run."
"What do I need to do?" I asked. He said nothing taking my hand and leading me to the opening of the trail.
"I want you to walk at what you would consider to be a human pace up this trail a few feet and back again." He explained smiling.
I glared at him before turning my attention back to the trail. He was setting me up to fail. I would show him. I moved as slow as I possibly could manage to prove to him that I was capable of not walking fast all the time. On my return trip I looked at him triumphantly to find his eyes filled with amusement. His lips were twitching and I could see his shoulders starting to shake. He was trying not to laugh, but was fighting a losing battle. I could feel the anger rising in me. I clenched my fists and narrowed my eyes at him. My reaction seemed to push him over the edge and he burst out laughing. I stomped the rest of the way down the trail contemplating running home without him. I was so insulted! I quickly made my way over to a rock and sat down with my back to him crossing my arms across my chest fuming. He slowly calmed himself down and made his way over to where I was sitting. He stood in front of me but I turned the other way so that he could not face me.
"Edward Cullen I do not wish to see you right now!" I spat furiously at him.
"Bella," he soothed "please don't be angry with me." He tried to position himself in front of me again but I was faster than him and moved to the other side of the stream facing away.
"If you know what's good for you, you will stay where you are!" I called out to him from across the small stream. I heard him sigh deeply and sit down.
"Bella please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, honestly." He pleaded. I ignored him still to mad for reason.
"Please Bella. I promise to be on my best behavior from now on." I relaxed my stance a little. He was begging and so hard to resist. I dropped my arms to my side but did not turn around. Edward took this as a good sign and quickly appeared before me. He lowed his head so that our eyes were on the same level. I tried to look away but his eyes locked mine in place.
"I truly am sorry for upsetting you. Now," he said with a grin, "let's try this again. This time we will walk together side by side." He reached for my hand and I willingly gave it to him. He smiled reassuringly at me as he started to walk towards the trail. After walking for a few minutes I understood why he was laughing so hard, a snail could have walked faster than me. I had gone over board. I shook my head sighing. I felt like an idiot. I looked up at Edward to see him eyeing me suspiciously.
"What's wrong Bella? What are you thinking?"
I didn't want to tell him. I was embarrassed. I finally took a deep breath and said hurriedly, "I know why you were laughing before." I ducked my head preparing myself for the humiliation. I waited patiently and when he remained silent I glanced up to see him smiling down at me.
"What?" I asked perturbed. His smile widened but he still said nothing. I sighed rolling my eyes.
"So is this a human pace then?" I asked eager to change the subject.
"Yes." He replied simply smiling. It actually wasn't that hard to walk at a human pace. I just had to keep reminding myself to not speed up.
We walked in silence following the trail for a few more minutes. I was enjoying the forests taking in all the sights and smells when Edward turned to me, "You know I was thinking. You have had the opportunity to question me, but I have not had the same pleasure."
"It's your job. I was put in your charge if you remember correctly." I said smugly.
"Still I think I should be granted the same courtesy. Today should be my day to ask the questions." He muttered raising his eyebrows at me. I didn't sound like a good idea, but I decided to appease him.
"I'm not really that interesting. What do you want to know?" I asked bewildered with his interest.
"What's your middle name?" He asked seriously.
"Marie." I replied simply.
He nodded leisurely seeming deep in thought. "I like it. Isabella Marie Swan." He said decidedly.
He continued down this road for what seemed like hours. He never let up! I never knew one person could ask so many questions, and be curious about so many random things. He wanted to know everything from who my teacher had been in first grade to what my favorite flower was. Most of his question were simple and required little thought. He caught me off guard with his next question though.
"Have you ever been in love?" He asked solemnly.
I couldn't say anything at first. I was too stunned by the boldness of his question. He waited patiently for me to compose myself.
"Have you?" I managed to choke out. Truthfully I had never even had a boyfriend as a human let alone been in love.
He shook his head quickly grinning, "It's my turn to ask not yours. Your answer please."
"That's not fair." I said sternly.
He chuckled, "You didn't qualify. You simply agreed that I could ask questions of you. I'm waiting." He said smugly.
I sighed in defeat. "Fine. No."
He nodded his head considering my response. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye and said, "No."
"No what?" I asked mystified.
"I also have never been in love." He explained. He had never been in love? I couldn't believe it. I knew he wasn't lying to me, but he had to have dated. He was too amazing to have been alone his entire life.
"We should get back soon. Alice will be home from school shortly, and she is dying to get her hands on you." He muttered.
"What do you mean?" Why would Alice want with me, I wondered.
"You'll find out soon. If we're going to be walking back at a human pace we need to leave now." He quickly added as we turned around on the trail for the house.