The sun retreated by Monday but the Cullens were apparently still on their camping trip as none of them were at school. The most interesting thing that happened was Eric nearly passing out as they were blood typing in Biology. Tyler had to bring him to the school nurse but he was back to his usual cheery self by lunch time. And this was proven as he was talking to his camcorder, ranting about blood types.
"When will we ever need to know our blood types anyway?" Eric said. "Does all this information go to a secret government data base so they can know which humans will need to be harvested for nefarious purposes?"
"Someone's been marathoning The X-Files again," Jessica rolled her eyes when Eric pointed the camera at her. "It's important to know blood types in case of an accident and you will need a blood transfusion or so you can donate blood."
Eric turned the camera to the rest of the table and asked, "Do any of us donate blood?"
Angela, Tyler, and Mike all raised their hands.
"Even if we're underage?"
"Parental consent," Tyler explained. "And my mom's a nurse. She usually helps with the blood drives."
"Well, it's nice to know that if Dracula ever comes to Forks that he'll have willing victims," Eric flipped the camera back to himself. "Hope you like Type O, Big D."
Dinner at the Weber household was always spent as the time to catch up on each other's day. Her mother talked about her Book Club and this murder mystery novel by an upcoming new writer they were all engrossed with. Her father discussed getting a new teacher for their church's Sunday school. The twins talked about their classmates. And Angela gave them a summary of lunch time with her friends.
All of it was ordinary. Angela helped clean up as her mother got the twins ready for bed. She just finished with the dishes when the house phone rang. Pulling off the gloves, she tossed them on the counter before running to get the wireless phone from its base. It showed an unknown number.
Warily, she pressed answer. "Hello?"
"Hi. Is this Angela?" The voice sounded familiar. "This is Jacob. From La Push."
"Oh hi!" She tried to push down her excitement. "How are you?"
"I'm good. How about you?"
"I'm good," She looked to see if anyone was listening but her family were all getting ready for bed. She made her way to her bedroom and shut the door quietly behind her. "I'm glad you called."
"I would've called you yesterday but I was busy with some stuff with my friends. Really boring and you don't wanna hear about that," He laughed, awkwardly. "I was hoping to see you this weekend. Are you doing anything?"
She wanted to say no and that they could run off into the sunset together but she also promised Lauren and Jessica weeks ago that they would go dress shopping at Port Angeles for Homecoming. She explained it to Jacob who sounded disappointed but understanding.
"How about Sunday?"
"I have church choir," She sighed. "I'm really sorry. I'm not trying to blow you off."
"Don't sweat it. We'll have our time, Ang," She could almost hear his smile through the phone. "Save this number and call me whenever you're free and you can make me that amazing soup again."
She closed her eyes and lied down on her bed, willing her face to stop burning. "If you're good, I'll even bake you bread."
He laughed and it was a deep, rumbly sound that did silly things to her insides. "And if I'm bad?"
The blushing in her cheeks was now travelling downwards to infect the rest of her. She felt like an overheated giant tomato, all six feet of her. Jacob's words tingled up her spine and she wanted to ask what bad meant for him and the things he would do. Probably things that would make her parents send her to a convent.
"Did I make you speechless?"
She covered her face with her spare hand. "My brain is melting."
He laughed again. She kept her eyes closed and prayed for mercy.
"This is just over the phone. What will you do when we're in person again?"
"Die?" She muttered. "Melt like a popsicle and I'll just be Angela-goop?"
"I'd put you back together again," He reassured. "I'm serious about calling me. You're worth the wait, Angela Weber."
She smiled. "How do you know that?"
"I got a feeling. Sweet dreams, Ang."
"Sweet dreams."
The line died and she dropped the phone on her bed. Turning her head, she found Mister Mozart staring at her from his cat bed, unimpressed.
"I've never flirted before," She felt the need to defend herself. "I'm trying my best here."
He meowed. It sounded very judgmental.
Crushes weren't new to Angela. All of them ended up going to nowhere. Forks was a small town and she grew up with the boys in her high school. They all knew each other. She even had a small crush on Eric back in grade school.
She never had a boyfriend. Most of the boys she knew either thought of her as a sister or just didn't see her as girlfriend material for them. Lauren, pretty and blonde, had been the one the boys chased. She and Mike even dated briefly in Freshman Year. Jessica, funny and cute, wore down boys into asking her out. And Angela was there for them for every date story and every break-up.
It was a new feeling to finally be wanted by someone. And they weren't talking to her because she was a good friend that listened or because they wanted to know more about her friends. Jacob saw her. And it made her feel giddy and like she was walking on air.
"Are you dating someone?"
She turned to Edward in surprise. The whole class was huddled together to get a view of the small TV Mr. Munroe had turned on so they could watch the film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. The famous balcony scene was showing. She'd been so preoccupied with daydreaming, she barely noticed Edward beside her.
"Why would you ask that?"
"You look heartsick."
He grimaced at the word. It made her want to smile. It was such an old-fashioned term. Edward Cullen sometimes spoke like he belonged in an earlier time.
He swallowed, brow furrowing. "But are you dating anyone?"
"No."
They weren't anything yet but she was hopeful. If only she'd known that to get a boyfriend, she just needed to look around at La Push. It would have saved her time from pining over Ben Chenney. Though she'd met Jacob before and never thought there was anything there but life could be surprising.
Edward looked annoyed. He turned back to the TV and frowned as Romeo passionately kissed Juliet. Angela studied his profile and was reminded how handsome Edward Cullen was. It had always been an easy fact since she first saw him in Freshman Year. His face was well-proportioned with high cheek bones and a strong jaw and he could've been a movie star. It was fitting that he reminded her of the marble statues in museums because he'd always been so untouchable.
His golden eyes met hers and he looked like he wanted to say something. She wondered again at his impossible eyes and their similarity to Mr. Mozart's. Her cat hated people except for her. She adopted him from a shelter as a kitten when she was the only person he didn't scratch. Maybe Edward was the same way and he liked very few people in the world.
He exhaled through his nose, a noise between exasperation and amusement. He closed his eyes as his shoulders began shaking. He was laughing as quietly as he could, his entire body straining from the effort from keeping it in. The moment he gave in was with a loud peal of laughter, he sounded like a hyena.
Mr. Munroe paused the movie, looking very annoyed. "Yes, Mr. Cullen? What is so funny?"
"Nothing," He shook his head and his smile made him more handsome than she could've ever imagined. "And everything. It's complicated."
Mr. Munroe looked like he couldn't be bothered trying to figure that out and told him to keep it down and pay attention to the film. He played the film again and Angela stared at Edward in disbelief. He still looked in good spirits. On the screen, Romeo and Juliet killed themselves.
Her ankle was feeling better but she was reluctant to go back to volleyball practice. Her week-long reprieve from it further emphasized to her that she didn't really care for the sport. The only reason she didn't quit was because she didn't want to let her team down. The indecision gnawed her as having to tell Coach she wanted to quit scared the living daylights out of her.
She was on her way to the gym to talk to Coach but ended up going pass the doors and went straight to the library. It would still be open for another hour and was empty of students. The library was just a small room. Shelves were packed together, giving little hallways in between that a person could only move sideways in. The middle of the library had a few tables squished together and by the door was the librarian's desk where the aged librarian, Ms. Wallis, was reading a magazine.
She placed her backpack on one of the tables and took a seat, contemplating her life choices and trying to find the courage to leave the library and go to the gym. She could hear the sounds from the gym and Coach must've already had them doing drills. She sighed and tried to calm her fast beating heart. It shouldn't have been such a big deal. All she needed to do was walk one from the other, get the words out, and it would be over soon.
Edward Cullen walked out from behind a book shelf holding a book. "Hello, Angela."
"Hi," She replied, trying to hide how lightheaded she was becoming. "Why are you still here?"
"I like libraries," He stated glibly, taking the seat beside her. He placed the book he was holding down and opened it, flipping through the pages. "Shouldn't you be at volleyball practice?"
"Yes," She sighed. "But I don't wanna be."
"Why not?"
"Honestly? I hate volleyball."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh?"
"I don't like sports which I know is such a waste with my height," She confessed, the words spilling out despite herself. "I wished I liked basketball or volleyball but I really, really hate it. I only stayed on the team because of my friends."
"Do your friends know you despise volleyball?"
She opened and closed her mouth like a fish, realizing he was right. She'd never hinted to her friends that volleyball made her miserable. And she knew they wouldn't have been upset if she did since they were okay with her disliking surfing. Did it just take a little honesty to fix her dilemma?
"People can't read minds," Edward said. "As you said, wouldn't life just be easier if we just said what we really thought?"
She remembered their conversation in his car over a week ago and him being able to quote her word for word. He was right. She needed to get up, go to the gym, and be honest with coach. If only she could summon the courage to do so.
"Angela…"
She looked back to Edward who moved closer until she could see the amber flecks in his golden eyes.
"When you're up against a trouble, meet it squarely, face to face. Lift your chin and set your shoulders, plant your feet and take a brace," He recited. "When it's vain to try to dodge it, do the best that you can do. You may fail, but you may conquer, see it through."
"Who wrote that?"
"Edgar Guest," He slid the book over to her and she could see the poem written on it, the very same one he just recited. "Did that bolster your courage?"
She stared at him, trying to understand who this mysterious boy was. She could never make him out. He kept people at a distance except for his family. He didn't want to be friends with her but here he was trying to help her. He effortlessly quoted poems and played piano beautifully and he kept laughing around her.
"Why are you helping me?" She asked. "I thought you said you don't want to be friends."
"We shouldn't be friends," He clarified. "But that doesn't mean I don't want us to be."
"What does that even mean?"
"It means I'm giving in," Weary, he still smiled. "You win, Angela Weber."
She would've asked more about that but he got to his feet and offered her his hand. She stared up at him and he nodded at her encouragingly. She reluctantly took his hand and was startled by how cold his palm was.
"Enough stalling," He said. "We'll go to the gym, you quit the team, and I'll take you home."
"But-"
"No more distractions," He pulled her to her feet and directed her to grab her back pack and walk out of the library. "If you had it your way we'd never leave this library."
He was only a few inches taller than her so it wasn't hard to keep up with his pace. The library doors swung close behind them as they turned left and headed for the gym. Edward hadn't dropped her hand and his skin was still very cold like he'd been standing outside for hours. It would've worried her if they hadn't just reached the gym doors.
It was now or never.
It was anti-climactic. She told Coach she wanted to quit the team. Coach was disappointed but understanding. She briefly explained it to her friends who looked sad at no longer having her on the team but were also very encouraging. It was over in less than ten minutes. She left the gym and Edward was leaning on the wall where he'd been waiting for her.
He gave her a knowing, smug smile. It almost made her roll her eyes. They made their way to his car and they spent the drive home in comfortable silence. She asked him to turn up the heat.
"You're really cold," She explained. "And I get it. I'm always cold too."
"And yet you're living in Forks," He pointed out as he turned up the heater. It quickly began to get warmer in the car. "Rainiest city in America."
"I was born here. I didn't have a choice."
"Where would you go then if you had the chance?" His fingers thumped on the steering wheel in a rhythm. "If you had the means, where on this earth would you want to see?"
"Italy," She answered, easily. "I'm Italian. I'd love to see the motherland. I'd go to Venice first then Florence, Rome, and all the other cities."
"Good choice," He smiled. "It's beautiful there."
Her eyes widened. "You've been?"
"Some time ago," They arrived at her house and he stopped the car. "But that's another story for another day."
Reluctantly, she unbuckled her seatbelt. Grabbing her backpack from the backseat and exited the car. She tapped on the window of the car door and he rolled it down. Leaning on the door, she smiled at him one last time.
"Thank you for today."
She really meant it. Edward Cullen surprised her in more ways than one. And he'd directly said he wanted to be friends. Maybe he wasn't so untouchable.
He gave her that soft smile of his, the same one as the first smile he ever gave her. "You're welcome, Angela."
He drove away and she watched his shiny Volvo disappear.
References:
1. The X-Files is an American science fiction TV show which dealt with supernatural and mysterious events.
2. Dracula is the titular character of Bram Stoker's novel. He's one of the most famous vampires in literature.
3. The poem Edward recited is 'See It Through' by Edgar Guest and is also the chapter title.
4. I did look up that in Washington, 16-17 years olds can donate blood as long as they have parental/guardian consent.
