3
I groaned as I rolled over from my side onto my back the next morning. I wasn't ready to get up and I really wasn't excited about going to school with the mindless morons. Well, except for Bella. For some reason, I wanted to see her again. I wanted to talk to her and get to know her but I had a feeling that would easier said than done.
I climbed off my bed and went into my bathroom. I took a quick shower and got dressed, choosing to wear my Black Sabbath t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I brushed my teeth and joined Esme in the kitchen.
"Morning," I said. I went over and poured myself a bowl of cereal.
"Hey, I was looking online last night for a gym, and I found one here in Forks," smiled Esme. "I thought we could check it out after school."
"What kind of gym is it?" I asked, sitting down. "I mean is it just one of those places where people come in and run on a tread mill for half an hour and spend the rest of their time admiring how good their asses look in the mirror? Or is it a real gym where I can actually train without having to deal with a fan club?"
"It's a real gym, smartass," laughed Esme. "For the record it was funny as hell when all those cougars started shaking their asses for you at that gym in DC."
"Funny to you," I scoffed. "I thought it was disgusting. They were all old…like you."
"Fucking brat," laughed Esme, punching me on the arm.
"Abuse, abuse," I teased. "Someone help me. My sister is abusing me."
"Shut up, you big baby," she laughed as she took her coffee cup to the sink. "Seriously, I think we should check out this gym. It would be good for you to have something to do."
"Ok, Esme," I said, seriously. "We can check it out."
"Good," she smiled. "Now, let's get to school."
"Yay!" I mumbled under my breath as I took my bowl over to the sink.
I grabbed my backpack and followed Esme down to her car. A few minutes later, she pulled up in the school parking lot. I looked over and saw Bella's motorcycle a few spaces down from ours. I climbed out and made my way inside and down to my locker. I saw Bella standing in front of her locker. She reached up to put her books in her locker and the sleeve of her shirt came down. My eyes widened when I saw the cuts on her arm.
"What the hell happened to your arm?" I asked, going over to her. She pulled her sleeve down but didn't look at me.
"None of your fucking business," she muttered.
She slammed her locker shut and took off down the hall. I watched her until she rounded the corner. What had happened to her last night? I went over to my locker and grabbed my books and headed down to my first class. I nearly rolled my eyes when Jessica started bouncing in her seat.
"Hi, Edward," she giggled. Again with the annoying giggling.
"Hey, Jessica," I said.
"What did you do last night?" she asked, eagerly.
"Um, just unpacked," I said.
"Oh," she smiled. "Are you done unpacking?"
"Not yet," I lied. "I still have a ton of stuff to unpack."
"Well, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go to the movies after school?" she asked.
"Sorry, I can't," I said, inwardly relieved. "I have plans with my sister."
"Maybe another time," smiled Jessica. I could see the disappointment in her eyes.
"Maybe," I muttered, inwardly praying that she would get the hint that I wasn't interested in her.
Mrs. Owens came in just then and started her class. I was never as relieved to listen to someone babble on about Shakespeare as I was in that moment. I tried to ignore the sideway glances from Jessica. I was going to have to man up soon and tell her straight out that I wasn't interested in her but I didn't want to be a jerk.
Once the bell rang, she followed me back down the hall, just as she did the say before, to my history class. She talked the entire way. I had such a headache already. She watched from the doorway until I took my seat in the back of the classroom, almost like a stalker.
"I see you've become Jessica's latest victim," chuckled a boy next to me. He was about as tall as I was with shaggy black hair and black eyes. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a Poison t-shirt. "Nice shirt."
"Thanks," I said. "Yours is pretty cool, too."
"Thanks," he snorted. "I stole it from my dad. I'm Ben Cheney."
"Edward Masen," I said.
"Oh, I know," he chuckled. "The whole school is talking about the new warden and her baby brother."
"Great," I muttered.
"Don't worry about it, man," said Ben. "They are all just sheep, anyway."
"Oh, trust me, I know," I said. "It never changes."
"Sounds like you know a thing or two about being the new kid," he said, cocking an eyebrow.
"Army brat," I stated.
"Ah, of course," he laughed. "Makes perfect sense now."
"I suppose," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
Mr. Taylor, our history teacher, came in and started class. His lesson was almost as boring as Mrs. Owens' lesson. I zoned out through most of it. I had already learned all of this shit at the last three schools I was in. Maybe I should point that out to Esme. Finally, the bell rang. Ben and I stood up and gathered our stuff.
"Listen, I noticed yesterday you ate lunch with the stepford bitches-"
"Language, Mr. Cheney," said Mr. Taylor
"If you don't want to sit through another round of hearing about who's who and who's not, you can join me and my friends. We usually hang outside by the wall," said Ben, turning and looking at me while completely ignoring Mr. Taylor's reprimand.
"Cool," I said. "Thanks, man."
Ben just nodded his head before he turned and walked out of our classroom. I finished packing up my backpack and headed out into the hall. Thankfully, Jessica wasn't standing out there waiting for me. I quickly made my way down to my next class. My last two classed of the morning, Spanish and Trig, flew by.
I made my way down to the cafeteria and grabbed a slice of overcooked pizza and went outside, ignoring the waves from Lauren and Jessica. I found Ben sitting at a big table with three other people. The first was a tall, thin girl with long black and green hair and stylish black glasses. The other girl had long blond hair and blue eyes. Both girls had on dark eyeliner and shadow. The blond girl was sitting in the lap of a sandy haired boy with steely grey eyes.
"Hey, Edward," said Ben. "This is my girl, Angela Weber. This is Garrett Mitchell and his girl, Kate Denali. Guys, this is Edward Masen. He needs rescuing from the stepford bitches."
"Pull up a chair, Eddie," snickered Garrett.
"Thanks but call me Eddie again and I will have to kick your ass," I said.
"Oh, really?" he smirked.
"Yep," I said.
"Ok, so I won't call you Eddie," he laughed. "I like you. You have balls."
"Last time I checked," I muttered, causing all of them to laugh.
"Ignore Garrett, Edward," laughed Kate. "He's just shitting with you. We've been seriously lacking anyone halfway interesting in this god forsaken town for awhile now."
"Glad I could help keep you all entertained," I smiled.
"So where are you from, Edward?" asked Angela.
"DC," I said.
"Forks must be like moving to hell," she said, smiling.
"Yep," I muttered.
I tuned them all out as they started talking about some party this weekend. Honestly, I wasn't that interested in any parties. I looked around a few times for Bella but she never showed up. I almost asked Ben about her but decided not to. The bell rang ending lunch and I gathered my stuff and headed off to my biology class.
I figured Bella would have to be in class at least but she wasn't. In the back of my mind was the nagging feeling that she wasn't here because of me. After Biology went by at a snails pace, I headed down to the gym. I changed into my gym clothes and headed into the gym.
"Hey, Edward," smiled Lauren, looping her arm in with mine. I rolled my eyes and pulled my arm away.
"Lauren," I said.
"Why didn't you come sit with us at lunch?" asked Lauren.
"Ben Cheney asked if I would sit with them, so I did," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
"Edward, I'm only telling you this because you're new and I like you," smiled Lauren. A creepy, stalker smile. "But you don't want to get mixed up with Ben Cheney and his group of misfits. They are all just a bunch of stoners who talk about giving to the man but in reality, they just don't fit in. Now you, on the other hand, have the chance to be someone at this school, if you make the right choices."
"Let me guess. You and your friends are the right type of friends for me?" I asked.
"Yes," she smiled, leaning closer to me. "We can make sure that you are happy here with us, in every way."
"You know what, Lauren," I said, stepping away from her. "I don't think so. I think I would rather hang out with the so called group of misfits."
"You don't mean that, Eddie. I promise that I can make you very happy, if you know what I mean," she giggled, running her hand down my chest. I grabbed her hand and threw it off of me.
"Oh, but I do mean it, Lauren," I snapped, harshly. "And don't call me Eddie."
I turned and joined the others in the middle of the gym, leaving Lauren looking shocked and flabbergasted. I'm guessing nobody really refuses her offer to be in the 'in' crowd. She spent nearly all of gym on her cell phone, texting. I had a feeling nearly the entire school knew by now that I had rejected the Lauren Mallory.
As soon as gym was over, I quickly changed and headed down to my locker. Everyone was staring at me like I had leprosy. I rolled my eyes as I grabbed what I needed from my locker and headed out to Esme's car. I tossed my stuff into the backseat and stood next to the car and waited.
"Hey, Edward, I heard you informed the head stepford bitch that you are not going to let her you as her evil pawn," chuckled Angela as she, Ben, Kate, and Garrett walked by.
"Yep," I said.
"Welcome to the misfits club," snickered Garrett. "I hope you are ready for a bumpy year."
"I'm sure I can handle it," I said.
"I hope so," muttered Kate.
They headed down and climbed into their car. A few minutes later, Esme came rushing out of the school. She looked tired. I'm guessing day two didn't go quite as well as day one.
"You ok, Es?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said, smiling. "Just a long day."
"We don't have to check out this gym today. We can wait until tomorrow," I suggested.
"Nope," she chuckled. "I'm fine, Edward. Just a lot of paper work to deal with when school starts."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"I'm sure," she smiled. "Let's go."
I just nodded as I climbed into the car. I knew better than to argue with Esme. Once she set her mind to something, there was no changing it. A few minutes later, Esme pulled her car up in front a large but shabby looking gym called Eclipse Gym. I didn't say anything as I climbed out of the car with Esme but this didn't look very promising to me.
We walked in and I looked around. It was much nicer on the inside. There was a large ring in the middle of the gym where a large, bear like of a man was sparring with a much smaller boxer. The sides were lined with punching bags and speed bags. There were a handful of weight benches on the other side of the large room. I turned my attention back to the two people sparing in the ring. They stopped fighting as they looked over at me and Esme. The smaller of the two, pulled off their headgear. My mouth fell open when I saw Bella Cullen standing in the middle of the ring.
