This is going to be a series of (mostly) canon-friendly one-shots portraying Edward's perspective on what happened during the weeks when he refused to talk to Bella. My goal is to do around 30 days, which would have been six weeks of school.
1. A Wednesday
My siblings may claim that I have a penchant for melodrama, but I swear to you- no hyperbole intended- that Bella Swan is going to be the death of me. And that's saying something for an immortal.
I don't know why I care about her at all, to be honest.
The Crowley incident put us in a bad place. She had tried to smooth things over with me when we saw each other the day after I had stopped a van from ending her life. The second day, however, she didn't even glance my way. I couldn't blame her. My cruelty was inexcusable, and, honestly, I was relieved. My resolve had somehow lessened on that second day, and if she would have spoken to me again, it would have been harder to resist.
So we sat next to each other in staunch silence, both refusing to speak, both refusing to acknowledge the other for the entire period. It was torture.
The irrefutably worst part of the entire ordeal was that Bella continued to uphold her end of our promise. Over and over again, I heard her lie echoed in the minds around me. "I'm lucky Edward was there, and that he had the sense to push me out of the way-"
Even the ever-skeptical Mike Newton ate it up. He asked Bella about it as they stood by the door at the end of Biology, waiting for the bell to release us to seventh period.
"He must be fast," he murmured to Bella with a nod in my direction. "Quick reflexes."
I kept my head pointed towards the window.
Bella hugged her textbook tight to her chest. "I barely had time to register what was happening, but Edward said that he heard the screech before he saw it."
Mike frowned. "I heard that's what happened to his real parents. Car accident. Maybe he realized what was happening faster than the rest of us."
Even across the room, I could hear Bella's wet little heart thrum faster. And what emotion was written on her face? Guilt? Shame? Mike was useless- he couldn't interpret it either.
"Oh, no," she breathed. "That must have been horrifying for him to- to relive that."
Her voice definitely held a note of guilt. For what? For my false cover story? This time around I was claiming that my parents died when I was five.
Did she even believe that now? I had seen the look on her face when she met Carlisle. She had definitely noticed our resemblance, and she had witnessed my supernatural strength first-hand. Surely she could see through my orphan sob-story.
"Yeah, like PTSD or something," Mike muttered. He didn't like Bella's sympathetic reaction, and he was eager to shift the focus of the conversation away from my pain. "What was he doing with you, anyway?"
"What?" She looked at him like he was a slug, and I had to cover my smirk with my hand. She could give Rose a run for her money with a look like that.
"The way he stares at you sometimes, Bella- I swear he has some strange obsession with you."
"Don't be ridiculous, Mike," Bella said scathingly. "We were just talking. Good thing, too, or else I'd be dead."
That shut Mike up pretty effectively, though his mind had wandered off in a new direction. He was wishing he had been the one to push Bella out of Tyler's way. His mind lingered on the various degrading ways he thought she could thank him, and I had to shut my eyes to keep from killing him.
I tried to distract myself by mentally transcribing all the lines from Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 for a single pianist. It was challenging. There were too many parts to be played all at once. To cut even one would be a gross insult to such a great work of art, but I just didn't have enough hands. It would be easier as a duet. Perhaps I could convince Rose to learn it with me. When the bell rang a moment later, I realized that my fingers had been twitching where they rested on the tabletop, dancing across my invisible keyboard.
I looked up. A pair of beguiling brown eyes watched me from the crowd by the doorway. Our gazes locked for the briefest of moments, but then she turned back to Mike with her dainty little nose in the air. Pink bloomed across her skin, all the way down to her throat. Not that I was looking or anything.
Day 1 down. Let's see if he's any better on day 2?