Detention is hell, Jessica thinks, idly staring at the clock.
There's nothing to occupy her except the constant tick tick tick and Mr. Molina's off-key humming. Normally, there would be at least two people in here. Mr. Molina even mentioned that they were expecting a second troublemaker to arrive.
Jessica looks at the clock again, wishing she had company. The results haven't changed.
At least there's only half an hour left, then she can finally join the rest of the junior varsity team for volleyball practice. Jessica shifts in her seat. Well, Edward's seat, actually.
She thinks she can smell the expensive cologne he wears. The breezy musk, like palm trees or lumber or something else sufficiently manly and expensive, penetrates her nostrils.
It kind of burns, actually.
"Achoo!"
Jessica smothers a sneeze in the crook of her elbow.
It's just a cold. For fucks sake, I'm not allergic to Edward's cologne, she thinks.
The imaginary Lauren on her shoulder (her version of the devil and the angel, except it's all contained in one hallucination instead of two) smirks and gives her a nod full of faux sympathy.
"Oh shut up," Jessica grouses.
She slams shut her stuffy old textbook from the mid 80s to punctuate her point.
Suddenly, the little Lauren disappears in a pink puff of smoke. Mr. Molina stands in her place, with imaginary-Lauren's pink velour tracksuit being replaced by wiry glasses and a dark hair.
Jessica looks up at him, meets his unhappy gaze with a wince, and smiles.
"Sorry, I just meant, uh..." She's usually better than this at talking herself out of trouble, but something has been troubling her lately.
The Cullens have been the talk of the town, even though they've now settled down in Forks. Jessica heard from Lauren's mom that Carlisle is pretty popular at the hospital and she's seen Esme - or Esmi or whatever her name is - grocery shopping once or twice.
But she can't get Edward out of her head no matter how hard she tries. Something about him is...magnetic. Half the school thinks so too, so Jessica knows she's not alone. She heard Jasmine ask someone if Edward had a girlfriend during PE yesterday, and even Lauren, the most conceited person Jessica knows, is wiling to concede that Edward is prettier than her from a certain angle.
Still, it's something more than that. Lauren keeps teasing her, insisting that her little girl is finally growing up.
"You should ask him out," Lauren cackles out with mirth in her eyes.
Jessica groans.
"You just want to see me fail."
In three weeks, Edward's presence has infected her mind and nothing Jessica does can get rid of the mental image of his profile - the pale skin stretched taught against his high cheekbones, adam's apple, and sharper-than-glass jawline combine to form a very tempting, very pretty picture.
Jessica thumps her head down on the cool desk to fight against her burning cheeks. Then the door creaks open.