Chapter 21
Edward's POV
As I sat in the willow tree, carefully hidden by the branches, I couldn't help but wonder what the episode I just been witness to had meant. She'd grabbed a piece of clothing from one of her drawers, then stood completely still for what seemed like an eternity. She had her back to the window so I wasn't able to observe her facial expression, but she was unmistakably pondering some heavy stuff seeing as she'd turned around looking furious and ended up tossing the piece of clothing across the room. But after tossing it she quickly regained her calm and proceeded to continue her search in her drawer. Her behavior puzzled me, beyond the fact that I couldn't read her mind. I got the whole part about her being sad about ending up in Forks with Charlie, a father she barely knew, but I still got a feeling that that wasn't all of it.
I must admit that what Rosalie had said to me about unfinished business back in Phoenix had stuck with me. I'm not saying that if she was a girl without a troubled past (or a broken heart?) she'd be throwing herself at my feet, but I wasn't totally unaware of the effect I had on most girls. Then the speech she had made after we'd gone to the movies, making it pretty clear to me that she was off the dating market, made my suspicions about a special someone back in Phoenix grow even stronger. But I hadn't seen or heard anything that indicated there was someone back home waiting for her all the times I'd been hanging out outside her window (okay, I'm a creep). She'd talk to her mom on the phone ever so often and even though the conversation at times seemed a bit strained I didn't catch anything out of the ordinary. I still hadn't gone as far as to search her computer, and I wasn't about to go that far (or was I?), but seeing as she practically never used her computer I wasn't going to find anything there either. It was a funny thing, being slightly obsessed with someone. Before Isabella Swan stumbled into my life I was rarely very interested in getting to know anyone (you can go a long way just by reading people's minds), but since I'd gotten to know her a thousand questions marks bounced around in my head on a daily basis. Everything she did was a mystery.
I still couldn't quite figure out if I had fallen for Bella but my reaction to her bringing Jacob Black along on the camping trip this weekend at least indicated that I wasn't in the business of trading friendship bracelets with her anytime soon. Jacob Black was nice and all, and I was pretty sure Bella wasn't interested in more than being his friend, but he would still get in the way of me getting some alone time with Bella. At least I'd get to spend this weekend with her, that's gotta count for something.
I watched her gather up her things on the bed and starting to pack her backpack. She looked as if she was preparing for the apocalypse, packing ridiculous amounts of clothes. But it probably wasn't a bad thing, seeing as she was a bit clumsy. She'd probably manage to ruin at least one set of clothes by falling or spilling something, I thought to myself and snickered. I'd never met anyone as butterfingered as Isabella Swan, and I'd met some pretty clumsy people during my long existence. Just as soon as I'd thought it, Bella managed to flip her backpack off her bed and spilling its contents out on the floor. I held back my laughter and started climbing down the tree. I threw one last look at her window and then started making my way back to the Cullen residency.
