Chapter Seven
Willow's POV
The entire ride to school, he barrades me with questions about very simple things, like my favorite color, my childhood, about Bella and my parents and what I like to do. He pulls into the parking lot next to a bright red BMW.
"I guess I didn't think about your siblings," I say, and he gets out, smirking at the car.
"Yes, Rose's car is a bit...ostentatious."
"She's the blonde one, right?" I ask, still confused with all his siblings' names. He nods. We walk up to the doors, where Bella and Jessica are standing, whispering. A smile crosses his face, and I realize they must be talking about us.
They stop talking as soon as we walk up. "I'll see you at lunch, Bella," says Jess, and goes inside, her eyes still glued on me as she walks in the door.
Bella watches her go, and then turns back to us. "Uh, here's your jacket, Willow," she says. "See you in class."
"Yeah, see you," I say, taking it. "What's she thinking about?" I ask.
"She's thinking about something you said this weekend," he says. I rack my brain, thinking about the things that I had said this weekend, but I can't remember anything specific.
"What?"
"You honestly believe that you care more for me than I care for you?" he says, and I can tell I've genuinely offended him.
"Yes. No. I don't know, I was just mad at Bella, and…" I trail off as we walk up to the classroom. "I don't know what to think," I say. "You think I'm hard to read? You're a locked box."
He smirks. "See you at lunch, Willow," he says, and walks off down the hallway.
At lunch, we sit at the same table as the previous week. He gets an insane amount of food, and pushes it all towards me. I take an apple and a soda, not feeling very hungry.
"Let's see, next question," he says. "Favorite book?"
I chew and swallow, thinking. "I like old fantasy. Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, that stuff. But my all-time favorite has to be the Lord of the Rings."
"Why's that?"
"It was my escape. I hate reality, I hated realistic fiction, because they all had a better reality than me. My mom always said that I spent more time in Middle Earth than here," I say bitterly. "I just...wished for a friend. With those books, I felt like I had one."
"You didn't have any friends?" he asks.
"No, I mean, look at me. I'm the nerdy kid. I had glasses and read a lot. I know it's stereotypical, but these kids actually hated me," I say, laughing.
"I'm sorry," he says. "Favorite movie?"
I think about that for a moment. "Lilo and Stitch. The only thing Bella and I have in common is that we are big Disney nuts, and whenever our mom wouldn't want to deal with us anymore, she'd drop us in front of the TV and Bella would play Lilo and Stitch, because it was both of our favorites. I guess it brings back the few good memories I have of spending time with her."
"That's nice," he says.
"What about you? What's your favorite book?" I ask, polishing off the apple.
"No, it's my turn today," he says. "And I've read a lot of books in the last hundred or so years, I don't really have a favorite."
The bell rings, and he walks with me to Biology. The teacher is playing some kind of video, and he turns the lights off and retreats to his desk. It feels as though there is some sort of electricity between Edward and I, and it's almost unbearable. I shift, sitting on my hands. I've never really felt this way around someone else before, and it's strange and wonderful at the same time.
As we're walking out to his car later, he asks "Do you like to draw?"
"Yes, why?" I ask suspiciously.
"I guess I have a confession to make," he says. "I watch you sleep, and was looking at some of the drawings you had on your desk, and-"
I groan. "Stay out of my room," I mumble, but I know there's nothing I can do about it. A part of me doesn't even care.
"Well, it was just your...subject matter that was the most intriguing," he says, opening the passenger side door to let me in.
"Is it creepy? I just...draw what I'm thinking about, and, well, you're all I think about."
"It's not creepy. You're all I think about as well." I feel a blush creeping its way up my cheeks.
"You draw very well," he says, pulling out of the parking lot. "We have a lot of art in our house, and it's nearly as good," he says.
"Really?" I say.
"Yes," he says, right as we pull up to Charlie's house. "You've got a real talent, and I'm not just saying that."
I start to get out when he stops me. "I have a question for you," he says.
"Isn't that all you've been doing all day?" I say, just as I hear the truck's motor turning the corner, meaning Bella is almost here.
"This weekend-"
I cut him off. "I don't want to go to that dance thing. I can't dance, and I hate dressing up," I say. "It's not that I don't want to go with you, I just hate stuff like that."
He laughs, much to my surprise. "Actually, I wasn't going to ask about that. I was wondering if you wanted to spend Saturday with me doing something else?"
My heart jumps, and I have to take a moment to calm down before I can speak. "Doing what?"
"Well, I saw you painted a meadow, and I know where one is, way out in the woods. We could be alone," he says. "Unless that makes you scared, then you don't have to," he adds.
I'm actually struck speechless. "Of course, I'd love to," I manage to choke out, just as Bella finally pulls the truck into the driveway.
"Then it's a date," he says. "See you tomorrow, Willow," he says, and drives away.
Bella walks over to me. "What was that about?"
"I think he asked me out. For real this time," I say.
"Oh, are you going to that dance thing this weekend?" she says, her voice obviously bitter.
"No, something else," I say, and walk inside, refusing to tell Bella any more.
Edward spends the remainder of the week pestering me with questions, which I answer. He drives me to school every day and walks me to every class. Every day at lunch Bella eyes us with a look of resentment, that just gets worse as the days go by.
Thursday's lunch she's giving me a particularly hateful look, and I grimace just looking back at her table. "Geez, and here I thought she would be supportive for once," I mutter.
"She just...doesn't understand, so she's choosing to resent you for this, just as she has with many things in the past," Edward says.
"Oh," is all I say. "Can I ask you one question?"
"Fine," he says, but smiles.
"Could you eat food, if someone dared you to?"
"Could you eat dirt, if dared to do it? See, you could, but you wouldn't choose to," he says, and picks up a piece of pizza, taking a bite off the end, chewing, and swallowing.
"See?"
"Yeah, except when I ate dirt it was because someone shouted it at me and shoved my face in the ground," I say, laughing at my own misfortune.
"People don't understand how valuable you are," he says.
"Yeah...no," I say. "You know, you're the only person besides my own parents to say stuff like that to me," I say.
"Well, I mean it," he says, getting up as the bell rings.
"Thank you. I mean that too," I say, and he just smiles at me.
Saturday morning, I wake up early with nervous excitement. I'm grateful we're hiking, because that means I won't have to dress up much. Charlie's out on another fishing trip. I should just be grateful that Bella hasn't decided to say anything to him. I shower and blow-dry my hair, pulling it back into a braid but leaving one blonde strand to hang free by my ear.
I put on a blue sweatshirt and jeans, and reluctantly put my glasses on. I would get contacts, but I hate touching my eyes. I wouldn't wear them if I wasn't as blind as a bat when I took them off.
I walk out of the bathroom just as Bella is walking out of her room, still in her pajamas. "It's 9:30 on a Saturday morning. What are you doing up?" she groans.
"I have a date," I say.
"Wearing that?"
"We're going hiking."
"That's weird," she mumbles. "Have fun, weirdo."
"Love you too, sis," I say sarcastically, and walk downstairs to make myself some breakfast. I've just finished cleaning up when I hear a knock at the door.
I practically run to the door to open it for him. "Good morning," I say. He smiles.
"Good morning. Are you ready?"
"Yeah," I say, grabbing my bag from the hook by the door and following him out to his car.