Hello everyone! Thank you for continuing to read my story. I'm sorry I haven't posted in quite a few months but my heart wasn't in my writing. I'm still living the dream in Japan and hope to slowly come back to this story. Thanks for your patience. :)
Tutor
Edward's POV
I sat in my bedroom, calming my nerves and staring at my Biology textbook. Bella would be here any minute for our first tutoring session. It was about two weeks ago when I first had the idea.
I had been pretending to take the Biology test. I could have finished it in seconds but had to slow down to keep up with appearances. I sat bent over a scantron, as did Bella beside me, a wall of her hair in between us.
I listened to her pencil scratch against her paper. I focused on her rhythmic breathing, ignoring the beat of her heart that tempted me. Occasionally, she would make the quietest "hmm" sound, when she was unsure about an answer. I couldn't stop myself from smiling when she did. However, she didn't make it often.
She was very smart for a human. Probably the smartest in the class after me. She aced most of her tests and glided through the labs with ease. That's when the idea came to me. I looked down at my own test with more interest now, deciding to change a few of my answers.
When the graded tests were handed back a week later, I put my plan into action.
"Not your best work," Mr. Banner said as he handed back my test with a big red "D" on the front. Strange, he thought, he has never gotten below a "B" before. I hope having a lab partner isn't a distraction.
I sighed as I set it visibly down at our shared table, peeking at Bella's grade. She, of course, aced it. "You're really good at this," I told her.
Her brows slanted in sympathy as she looked down at my grade. "I'm sure you'll do better next time." She smiled at me hopefully.
I considered my next words carefully. "I bet I would do much better if I had someone who could tutor me." I held her stare, pleading with my eyes for her to take the hint.
"Uh," she said. Her jaw loose and mouth ajar as she stared blankly back at me.
"You know, if you help me I'll consider us even about you hitting my car." She jerked her head slightly, taken aback. She pursed her lips and then looked up at me from her down cast expression.
I felt like a monster, playing on her guilt like this. I hadn't wanted to do it. When had I become so selfish?
In the end, she had agreed. Now, the day had come, and I sat in my room with a newly delivered bed. Jasper and Rosalie were out of the house, not wanting to be here. Emmett and Alice, on the other hand, were excited about her visit. After a long debate, I had agreed to introduce them but nothing more.
For the 100th time I questioned myself, I didn't understand why I was doing this. Hadn't she made it clear that she wasn't interested? Not only were there her outbursts about the car, but in addition she had canceled our Seattle trip.
Her heart had been beating erratically as her half dazed eyes gazed off at the school parking lot behind me. She spoke, "I really appreciate the offer and everything, but my dad and I are going to go to Seattle together instead."
"Oh," I replied, trying to mask my disappointment. Did he not want her to go with me? Had she asked him to take her?
"Maybe another time," I offered calmly.
With a quick passing glance she strolled off towards her class muttering, "Yeah, maybe."
As if her feign of disinterest wasn't enough, by the time the day of the dance came, she was nowhere near Seattle. I had lingered in the woods behind her house, listening curiously to how the day would play out; if she might change her mind. Her father went fishing and she stayed home doing laundry and reading a book from Fork High School's small library collection.
If that answer wasn't clear enough, then I didn't know what was. She did not want to be around me. I wasn't human, we couldn't have a relationship.
My internal monologue ceased as I heard the roar of her truck turning onto our driveway. My dead heart leapt, thumping to the rhythm of her tires. I did not know about right or wrong, only need.
I sprung down the steps to open the door, but Esme stopped me. "Let me get it," she said, "Go back upstairs." You don't want to seem too eager.
I obeyed and waited for my cue. Bella was warmly greeted by Esme. Thankfully, introductions extended to an overexcited Alice and Emmett went smoothly. I gave her a short tour of the house, stopping in the library.
Bookshelves stood from floor to ceiling, overflowing with the collection we had built over the years. Of course, we had read much more, but this room held our favorites.
She scanned the books enthusiastically, fingering the spines as she went and giving brief commentary on the one's she knew. "Wuthering Heights is great. Pride and Prejudice, nice." She enjoyed the classics.
"Oo Middle March, that's an excellent read," She mumbled.
"Well if you like George Eliot –" I reached over her, grabbing The Lifted Veil off the shelf above her, "—then you'll like this one."
She turned around, brushing against me, not realizing I was so close. Her face mere inches from my own, our eyes locking. She sucked in a sharp breath, pressing her back into the bookshelf.
I stood paralyzed with my arm still raised, gazing into her wide earthy irises. Their brown hue glistening like sap on a forest tree as the sunlight hit it. The color ran deep within her soul like roots running deep into the dirt, grounding it in place just as she was grounding me.
Her sweet scent intoxicated me. The heat of her blood emanated off of her like burning flames and her heartbeat quickened. I held my breath, focusing on her eyes and ignoring the pain in my throat. She was holding her breath too.
Her soft pink lips were slightly parted, the delicate skin frozen in the position of her last inhale. I licked my own involuntarily.
I took a step back, breaking the link and finally lowering my arm. She exhaled, blood rushing into her face as she looked down embarrassed. The tension in the room pressing down on us.
I pushed the book into her hands and made my way towards the door. "We should get started," I exclaimed.