Chapter | Aberrations and Revelations | Five

My head slammed down on the desk with a resounding smack. A groan quietly passed my lips as I closed my eyes in dread. This couldn't be happening.

"Yup, I heard him talking to Mr. Cole about it a few minutes ago. He's giving us a pop quiz on the book when class starts," Eric clarified.

I looked up at the clock, wishing I was more of a morning person so I would've gotten to school earlier. Two minutes isn't nearly enough time to retain any information about the book. If only I read the last assigned chapter like I was supposed to instead of assuming I'd remember it from sophomore year, I wouldn't be too worried about the pop quiz… But Wuthering Heights is a hard book for me to get interested in. I feel reading it a second time will make my brain explode.

Mr. Mason walked into the room as soon as the bell rang, carrying a stack of freshly copied papers. He announced we were having a pop quiz and told us to clear off our desks before passing them out with a smile I could almost describe as sadistic.

"Good luck," Eric whispered, sounding sympathetic and amused at the same time.

I sighed, hoping I wouldn't actually need it.

"It wasn't that hard, Bella."

"Says the guy that actually likes the book," Mike said, needlessly coming to my defense.

I rolled my eyes as the two boys got into a little dispute over the quiz. Deciding to interrupt them, I spoke up. "It didn't help that we had to sit listening to him read the book for the rest of the period," I explained to Eric. "I almost fell asleep twice."

Throwing my school bag over my shoulder, I followed them out the door. Both boys halted their movement outside, forcing me to stop behind them. I stood on my toes, trying to glance over their shoulders at whatever seemed to catch their interest.

"Awesome." Mike grinned.

I gently pushed my way passed them, holding out my hand to watch the snow fall softly on it and immediately melt into water. I'd never seen it snow in Forks since I only visited Grams in the summer. It was a lot slushier than I was used to, I noticed. By the end of the day I'll probably be just as soaked as if it had rained instead.

Eric nodded. "I didn't even know it was going to snow today."

Mike turned towards me, his grin growing even bigger. "What do you say to a snowball fight after school, Bella? We can round some more people up and create teams."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Why not? Better now than later. Chances are the snow won't stick for very long."

"Aww, don't say stuff like that. We barely get any good snow around here. It either melts or freezes over. Don't jinx it."

"There's no jinxing to it," I stated, rolling my eyes at the notion. "Some snow is better than no snow at least."

He laughed. "You'd believe that more than anyone else, huh Arizona? Is this your first time seeing snow then?"

I nodded, faking a smile because I didn't necessarily want to agree out loud. I'm from Chicago were it snows and not hot and sunny Arizona.

"Hey, what about me? I wanna get in on the fight!" complained Eric.

I began to speak, about to tell him that of course he was invited, but Mike interrupted me first.

"As if you can keep up," he replied playfully with a cocky smirk, turning his back on a now glaring Eric.

"I'll show you how to keep up."

I rolled my eyes at the dark haired boy's horrible comeback, watching as he bent down and grabbed a handful of snow, tossing it at the back of Mike's head.

Mike swirled around, laughing good naturedly at Eric. I could the see the competitive look in his eyes and could tell a full out fight was about to start.

"Now you asked for it!"

I slowly backed away from them, having the sense to realize we were going to be late for class if this kept up.

"Save it for after school, boys. Don't want to be late for your next class, do you?"

Mike lowered his hand full of slushy snow, looking disappointed.

"Fine…" they whined in unison.

We each went off in the direction of our next classes, promising to continue this later. But not before I smashed a handful of sloshy snow on top of their heads and ran away with a cackling laugh. They stood there dumbfounded, unable to retaliate.

By lunchtime I almost believed I evaded all the stray, and directed, snowballs. Sadly, my dodging skills weren't that good. Jennifer was able to nag a well-aimed-shot directly at my forehead when I wasn't looking.

I wiped off the wet slush with my sleeve and slowly turned to a smirking Jennifer leaning casually against the cafeteria door.

"You know, if I wasn't absolutely starving right now, I'd wage full out war against you," I said, trying to sound as serious as possible.

Jennifer snorted. "Yeah right." She slapped me across the back and led me through the glass doors. "You know no one stands a chance against me." Right as the door was about to close behind us, Jennifer stumbled with a grunt, a snowball lodged at the back of her head. She whipped her head around, searching for the culprit, but couldn't figure out who did it.

"That's what happens when you act too cocky," I finally got out after laughing so hard.

She simply stuck her tongue out at me.

I shook my head, smiling. Thanks to Jennifer, I've started feeling a sense of relief with the situation I've been put in.

Sunday afternoon I received a call from Jennifer, who invited me to hang out with her and a group of friends from school. Originally, I wasn't planning on accepting the invite, but Charlie had overheard the conversation and convinced me to go, even offering some money. I suppose he was happy his daughter was making friends and I didn't want to disappoint him.

It had only been a week knowing Charlie and I already didn't want to disappoint my fake father more than my real parents.

Anyway, we didn't do much except go out to the diner Charlie took me to a few days ago. It wasn't the most exciting outing; on the other hand, I was glad I had gone.

Jen introduced me to a few of her friends, most who I had seen in class or during our lunch period. I got along well with Katie, who I found out was in my Trig class even though she's a sophomore, and immediately asked her to help me with it when I found out she was actually really good at math. Another girl, Heather, seemed pretty cool. She was on the volleyball team with Jen this year and much of the conversations with her revolved around the games they played back in the fall. More than once, the two ganged up on me to try out for the team next year. I didn't plan on being stuck like this long enough to try out, but I told them I would consider it so they'd stop badgering me.

Eric was there as well, along with two other guys, Austin and Ben. I got along famously with those two, especially Austin. We had the same taste in indie rock music and spend quite a while introducing new bands to one another. I also found out he was in my sketching class. Austin had a love for comics and graphic novels along with Ben, but unlike his friend, Austin actually created his own comics. I spent all of art class today looking at a few of his characters and plot ideas, extremely impressed with his illustrations.

At some point in time, Mike and his jock friends randomly showed up at the diner. Jen waved them over and they pulled up some seats. Mike easily started up a new conversation, getting everyone to laugh and join in.

It was a good day. I couldn't believe how quickly I had been accepted by so many people in only a week.

I've been to a total of three schools in my life and not once was I this easily accepted.

The only lasting friendship I've made is with Sydney Anderson. Jen and Syd are lot alike, which might have been the reason I got along so well with her this fast. The only differences I noticed off the bat are the facts that Syd hates competition and has an immense interest in the male population. Despite the fun time I had with everyone, it put a damper on my mood when I realized how much I missed her already.

"I am so going to get back at whoever threw that at me," Jen hissed out, drawing back my attention as she wiggled around to get the snow out of her jacket.

"You don't even know who did it."

"Oh, I'll find out. Mark my words," she replied in an ominous tone.

I rolled my eyes, easily imagining her attacking the entire student body to find the culprit.

We made our way through the lunch line, grabbing the hot dogs on the menu for today, and sat down at one of the tables near the windows.

The seats gradually started to fill up as Jen's friends finally took a break from the snow. I noticed Angela sat at the table behind us today, conversing with Jessica, Lauren, and a few other girls that usually sit with those two. I was somewhat disappointed she didn't sit with me today, but was glad to know Angela wasn't going to start shunning her longtime friends just because I had a little dispute with Jessica.

Our eyes meet and Angela waved. I smiled and waved back, overlooking the way Lauren (I still have no idea what I did to her) glared at me in disgust. Jessica didn't so much as glance at me and instead drew Angela back into the conversation. I shook my head in amusement, but was glad Jessica wasn't being her usual trifling self and wisely chose to ignore me just as I always do with her.

Eventually Mike showed up, his hair glisten with wet droplets, and sat down with his friends at the end of the table. Our eyes met and he sent me a friendly glare, having not forgotten about this morning.

Mike brought up his idea of the snow fight in the parking lot after school, trying to encourage everyone to join. They loved the idea, each chiming in with how many teams to create and who would be on them. Mike already declared me apart of one of the other teams so he could pay me back for earlier. I only flashed him a grin, silently telling him to bring it on.

Laughter came from a few tables down, catching my attention. I turned my head towards the corner of the room, taking in the five students.

Edward was back, sitting casually with his family as if his week long absence didn't even happen. A big part of me was upset he was here, remembering how he had acted in Biology. For a short while, I held the notion that maybe he was just feeling sick. I often became easily irritated myself when I'm horribly ill. If it wasn't for Alice still ignoring me in art, even earlier today, and the other Cullen's giving me looks, I might have kept on believing that too.

But a very, very small part of me, one I was still extremely reluctant to admit, was happy he was back. I hoped his fury that day wasn't a one time thing. I wanted to get angry again, I wanted to forget my problems and focus on that petty emotion instead. And though I knew it was stupid to want to get angry, even if it was at someone that was a complete jerk to me, I needed that hour out of the day to take a break from all the stress.

I let out a humorless laugh, recognizing that, out of every emotion there is, anger was the one that seemed to relieve my stress.

His head suddenly turned towards my table, our eyes meeting. Without much thought, I directed a glare at him, despite not feeling any real hostility. Edward slowly faced back towards his family, as if he didn't notice me at all and only casually glanced around the cafeteria. I shook my head with a snort.

Jennifer nudged me. "What's the matter?"

I turned my focus back on my own table. "Not much. Just thinking about the pop quiz in English I probably failed."

And about the boy who seems to have an irrational dislike of me.

She gave me a skeptical look, but accepted my answer.

I ended up laughing at Mike all the way to Biology as he dramatically complained about the rain washing all the snow away. Mainly because he no longer has the chance to enact any revenge on me.

Mike proceeded to pout dramatically.

"Oh, don't be a baby. I'm sure it will snow again."

"Yeah, well, who knows how long that will be?"

"Eh, you're right," I said nonchalantly with a shrug.

He flashed me an incredulous look. "Don't say that!"

I held my hands up in defense, grinning. "I was only agreeing with you."

He started pouting again.

We split up when reaching the building, moving to sit at our respective tables. I looked at the contents laid out across them, dreading the assignment I knew was coming. I was horrible at identifying cells with a microscope.

A few short minutes later, Edward Cullen came waltzing into the room. I turned my gaze away, ignoring him as he sat down as far from me as possible, and stared longingly at Angela's table. Why couldn't I just keep partnering up with her? As if hearing my thoughts, Angela looked up at me. Her eyes landed on Edward for a short second and came back to settle on me. Angela offered me a sympathetic, but encouraging smile. My eyes widen slightly as I wondered when she could have possibly picked up on my attitude towards the Cullen. I didn't think I had been that obvious. I shook my head, deciding to give Angela a bit more credit from now on.

Busying myself with pulling out the materials for class, I was surprised to hear Edward suddenly speak up.

"Hello. My name is Edward Cullen. I apologize for not introducing myself last week" he said, smiling a smile that seemed more out of politeness than a sincere greeting. "You must be Bella Swan-"

I interrupted- rather rudely I must say. "How'd you know I liked to be called Bella?" I didn't really care, he probably heard some other students calling me that, but I wasn't willing to play nice after the way he treated me last week and was going to use every chance I had to show it. And, I reluctantly admit, I was a little bitter over the fact I had to be introduced as Bella again when I should have been done with it a week ago. If this kept up, I wouldn't be surprised if I forgot my real name.

He appeared shocked, seemingly taking a second to think, but easily answered as if I didn't just interrupt him. "My sister Alice told me you go by Bella."

I decided to let it slide, afraid my answer might alert him to how upset I was about Alice flat out ignoring me.

I opened my textbook to the stages of mitosis, quickly refreshing my memory while waiting for Mr. Banner to start the class.

The lab for today sounded simple, but I distinctly remember doing this last year and making a fool out of myself, for I had broken the glass slides by accidentally brushing it off the high table tops with my arm. It definitely got a laugh out of the frustrated students who needed a break from figuring out the cells into the phases of mitosis. Needless to say though, the teacher was upset over having to clean up all the tiny pieces of glass.

Mr. Banner finally instructed us to get started.

"Ladies first, partner?" Edward offered. I noticed his expression imperceptibly contort into one similar to what he wore last week, though slightly less noticeable. I couldn't identify if he was upset or in pain, just as I had wondered last time.

"Alrighty then. Go ahead." I pushed the microscope towards him, holding back a grin.

Edward frowned, obviously not amused, but also not taking the bait as he turned to look briefly into the microscope.

"Prophase."

I took his word for it, watching enviously as he wrote down the answer in an elegant script. My own handwriting is atrocious. Grams used to say it's because I'm left-handed, the only one in the family, and also claimed it attributed to my skill in art.

It was my turn. I gazed into the microscope slightly longer than Edward, but was fairly certain it was Anaphase, declaring so out loud.

"May I?" Apparently I took too long, as Edward seemed unsure of my answer- the jerk- and check it himself. He nodded. "Anaphase."

I tried not to glare at him. Yeah, that's what I thought, buddy.

We finished up shortly after. Luckily, we took turns in a succession were I only had to identify two slides, giving me a better chance of not getting the wrong answer. In order to waste time, I started doodling in my floral sketchbook.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?"

I held back a groan. Really? He was going to use small talk on me?

I decided to be civil and go along with it despite my thoughts during lunch, knowing it would be stupid to make a scene and talk about his attitude last week when he's apparently pretending it never happened.

"Yup. But I'm glad it didn't stick around long enough for the drive home," I replied, cringing at the idea of driving in the snow after the accident and all the nightmares I've been having of it.

"You don't like driving in the snow."

I nodded. "Or the rain really."

"It's difficult to avoid those types of weather conditions here," he stated. "You must be having a hard time living in Forks."

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. I love Forks, but there's obviously one big problem to my situation that does make living here pretty difficult.

Done talking now, I focused back on my paper. Edward, however, didn't seem to be finished.

"What made you decided to move here, then?" My head snapped towards him at the mildly rude and accusing tone he used, wondering if I had just been imaging it as his expression appeared to only be of polite curiosity.

"I'm sorry, but I'd rather not talk about it." I said firmly, mainly because I didn't even know Bella's reason for moving to Forks in the first place and therefore didn't have anything to tell him. No one else had really bothered asking before and I didn't want to trouble myself with coming up with a lie I might forget later.

Edward didn't seem to be satisfied with that.

"Were you having troubles back at home?"

I hadn't given much thought to it. Was Bella having problems? Is that why she left?

"You lived with your mother back in Arizona, correct? Did you two not get along?"

"No, that's not it," I said automatically, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. I haven't meet Renee in person, but she seems very caring, worrying about how Bella is doing all the time. No, that couldn't be the reason she left.

I wondered often in the past few days why Bella decided to move to Forks. Was our destination really just a coincidence when I took over her body? Or is there more to it? Do we somehow have a connection through our own experiences as well? Could her life really be as rough as mine?

I thought back to a conversation with Renee, remembering how she mentioned going to Florida with a man named Phil. Is that why Bella came to Forks? Because her mother, and who I can only assume is Bella's stepfather, were leaving to another state? Were they moving, going on vacation, traveling…?

"Stepfather? So your mother remarried then?"

I froze for a second, wondering how he knew I was thinking that, before I realized I was so lost in thought that I must have started mumbling quietly to myself at some point. My cheeks heated up in embarrassment. Why do I always let my mouth slip up like this…?

"Yeah, she remarried," I said, deciding to go along with that. For all I know they could be, especially with how long Charlie and Renee have been divorced. I'm sure they've been separated for most of Bella's life and that's definitely enough time to move on. Though I have my suspicions Charlie hasn't quite done so yet.

"So your stepfather is the reason you left."

I glared at him, using the safest answer I could think of since I didn't really know for sure if that was true. "I don't have anything against him." I don't even know him.

He clearly didn't expect my answer, probably having already come to an obvious scenario. Mother gets remarried, daughter hates stepfather, daughter moves in with father. Pretty typical, I could have just gone along with it, but I didn't want to give the impression that Bella was having a hard time at home. It seemed a little too close to my own situation.

"I don't understand what brought you here." Edward's eyebrows furrowed. "If it's not your mother or stepfather, then maybe-"

"Stop." I held up my hand to interrupt him before he started coming up with more ideas. Why he's becoming so frustrated trying to analyze my life is a mystery.

I shook my head, annoyed Edward keeps coming up with all of these assumptions. It took me awhile, but I quickly realized what Edward was doing. My father used the same technique on me all the time as a kid. I liked to call these types of people "Manipulative Listeners".

As a child I had trouble opening up to people, never telling them how I felt or if I needed something. My parents were concerned over such behavior, so eventually my father started talking to me in a specific manner. Every time he would ask me a question and I gave a vague answer, Dad would rephrase what I said in an assuming manner. Because of this, I knew he was paying attention to what I had to say and cared about my answer, therefore making me comfortable enough to speak. But because of his assuming tone, I would get riled up and in turn, explain my answer in more detail, furthering the conversation.

It wasn't until I turned thirteen that I caught on to what he was doing and started preventing it. I had to give my dad props though; he really does have a way with words. If he didn't, there's no possible way he would have ended up marrying a stubborn woman such as my mother.

This Edward guy was definitely charismatic, but I had caught on quick enough to not start giving out any detailed answers. If this had kept up, I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow got me talking about my real life. He's not going to get anymore from me.

This time I turned away from him, angling myself more towards the aisle. I pulled my hair over to one side, using it as a curtain while I went back to my drawing. It ended up looking somewhat like the mitosis stages so I went along with the theme and started sketching out the microscope on the desk.

Edward finally seemed to get the hint, realizing I had caught on to his method. "You don't like me, do you?" I had a hard time deciding whether his tone sounded amused or simply frustrated.

"I just don't like to be interrogated."

Just leave it at that Scar, don't saying anything more. Don't go any further.

But I couldn't help myself.

"You know what, not only that, but it's also considered rude to treat people like total crap for no reason the first time they meet and then pretend it never happened later while continuously trying to bud into their business," I let out in a huff. I literally had to bite down on my tongue to prevent myself from going on to talk about his family. That's just not something you do.

Edward was shocked, not excepting me to say that much. I barely caught him sweep his eyes across the room, trying to see if anyone noticed my outburst. I knew no one had. I intentionally kept my voice down in order to not attract anyone's attention, despite my anger.

When he saw everyone was still focusing on their own work, he slowly turned back to me, his jaw now locked tight.

Edward leaned forward to look me clearly in the eyes with a gaze that seemed overly intense for this setting. It was then that I noticed something was off with his gaze; it wasn't as dark and threatening as it was last week. His eyes weren't the same black; instead they were a deep amber color. That was certainly unusual.

He spoke softly even though I knew he was more upset than he let on. "I'm sorry if you received that impression from me, Bella. I was feeling ill last week and needed to take a few days off. As for "interrogating", I'm only trying to be kind and learn more about you. I was a new student here myself two years ago, I know how hard it is to adjust."

I turned my head towards him in disbelief, my hair whipping over my shoulder with the movement.

To an outsider, I'm sure it looks like Edward is the victim here, only trying to be nice to the new girl who keeps shooting him down. I know I did nothing wrong. I mean sure, there's always a better, more mature way to go about a situation like this, but I've already gone through this route. He's not going to make me the enemy here. I won't let him.

I closed my eyes for a second, taking in a deep breathe. "That did come across my mind actually. And for a while I even believed that to be the reason. In spite of all the death glares, I could tell you were tense and not really breathing well." My voice turned harsh and though I didn't want to admit it, somewhat hurt. "But then I caught you in the office trying to change your 5th period class. Why the sudden need to do that, huh Edward? I highly doubt it was just a coincidence I happened to sit next to you in this class for the first time, having to deal with your obvious irrational hatred of me, the very same day you try and change your schedule. And you know what makes this all even worse? Your sister, Alice, suddenly started giving me the cold shoulder after I thought we got along pretty well in Sketching. Then throughout the week your entire family kept giving me strange looks, as if I've done some horrible misdeed to the lot of you."

Edward spoke through tight lips. "I have no idea what you're-"

I exhaled in frustrations. "Don't even. And don't you say I just got the wrong impression or I was only imagining it either," I spat out before he could continue. "I wouldn't be mentioning this if I wasn't absolutely sure."

I watched his reaction, becoming mildly alarmed when his posture seemed to stiffen impossibly further. His hands clenched so painfully onto the edge of the desk I was afraid it would break into tiny pieces. Looking into his hardened eyes, I could have sworn they changed a shade darker.

Just when I thought I was over it, the fear I felt last week came over me. And just like last time I forced it down, knowing how stupid it is to feel this way during school, in the middle of Biology class, where he can't act on that anger. Instead, I faced away from his fierce appearance, quickly sorting through what I said to figure out what I did to make him so irate. Then it occurred to me I spoke about his family. I cringed. Ugh, I really didn't mean to bring them up. Stupid mouth… But it's not like I was actually bashing on them, more like mentioning…

Exhaling, I ran my fingers back through my hair. This is getting pathetic. What was I thinking acting like this? I should have just ignored him.

"Look, I didn't mean-"

Mr. Banner interrupted, calling the students' attention to the whiteboard. I closed my mouth, deciding to listen and wait to apologize- well, somewhat apologize- after class when we could have time to discuss this in a more mature fashion.

But it seems I wouldn't have the chance as not even five minutes into the teacher's lecture a loud screech came from the chair beside me. I stared in disbelief as Edward rushed passed me and out the door.

A few whispers erupted throughout the room. Mr. Banner silenced the class and then looked at me questioningly.

"He, uh, he's not feeling too good," I said nervously, hoping that was the case after all. But once again, I was almost sure it wasn't.

Mr. Banner nodded, easily believing my excuse.

As everyone focused back on the lesson, I dropped my head on the table heavily, staring out at the rain.

You really should have just held it back, Scar…

I dragged my way out to the parking lot after a tough game in gym, still feeling guilty for the way I acted in Biology. I can't believe I let myself stoop to that level. Why did I let myself behave that way? I've had people hate me before and found it easy to ignore them and let it be. I mean, I've even been doing it with Lauren and Jessica for days now. Why couldn't I do the same with Edward?

A part of me wanted to blame it on lack of sleep and all the stress I've been under, but I knew it was ridiculous to use excuses; especially since the way I tried to relieve my stress was through anger. If only I used a cool head and politely asked him up front if I'd done something wrong, maybe I could've made it better somehow. Instead of getting so annoyed by his snooping and kind of blow up at him like I did, that is.

Ugh… Either way, I'm going to apologize. It would have been a lot easier if he hadn't run out of class like that though. The longer I wait, the harder it might be to fix this and at least become civil with one another. No reason to make things harder for myself here by making enemies.

As soon as I stepped foot outside, I skimmed the parking lot for Edward, hoping I could talk to him now and not go to sleep with a guilty conscience tonight. When I made it to my truck, I finally spotted him.

Edward was standing by his car with Alice. He appeared to still be angry while talking to her, but I couldn't hear any yelling. I looked at Alice, surprised to see her expression was as guilty as I felt at the moment.

I thought about confronting him now, but the rest of his family showed up and ruined my chance. I wasn't going to risked being ganged up on.

Rosalie strutted up to Edward, looking furious and especially threatening with the muscular one towering over her. Her twin walked up to Alice, wrapping his arm around her protectively while he stared hard at Edward.

Huh, I wonder what's going on. Did Edward do something wrong? I chuckled, realizing I wasn't the one that needed to be worried about being ganged up on after all.

I opened the driver's door and stepped up into my seat, not wanting to get caught staring, but ended up becoming the center of their attention anyway when I turned the key and the engine began to rumble loudly. I froze, startled by the five heads that suddenly snapped in my direction. Hurriedly backing out of my parking space, I raced home, feeling mildly creeped out by their synchronized looks.

Wow, this is really late! But on the plus side, the semester is over and so is my freshman year in college. Yay! I'm not taking any summer classes so except for work I'll hopefully have more time to write.

The conversation with Edward took a while to type up because I kept constantly changing the dialogue, but I suppose in the end I'm satisfied with it because this is where one of the biggest differences between Scar and Bella start to show.

A big thanks goes out to PathofAldebourne! Your review really helped me get out the rest of this chapter.

So, any thoughts on what happened between Scar and Edward? What do you guys think might happen next? Opinions and ideas always appreciated!