This isn't beta'd. Any mistakes are my own.
Bella hid inside of the girls bathroom for the rest of lunch.
The ringing bell finally forced her out of her hiding spot. She glanced down at her class schedule and then made her way to biology with Mr. Molina. She kept her head down; dragging her feet. She was deep in thought when she crashed into another student.
"Shit! Are you okay?" The male student helped her to her feet and then pointed to her, "Hey, you're Isabella, right?" He asked.
Bella took him in and came to the conclusion that he must been one of the popular guys. He was tall; athletic with blue eyes and blonde spiked hair. He had a round baby face but was overall attractive.
"Bella," She corrected as she bent down to collect her scattered books.
"Right, I'm Mike Newton, what class do you have?" He asked and then snatched her schedule out of her hands before she could answer.
Bella held back her annoyance and allowed him to scan the paper.
After a second, he grinned, "Cool! We have biology together! Come on, I'll walk you," He told her.
They walked together silently down the emptying hall before reaching the classroom.
He more or less pushed Bella towards their teacher.
"Fresh meat, Mr. M," Mike said jokingly.
Mr. Molina didn't seem to like the joke and Bella refrained from laughing when the teacher shooed Mike away.
He turned to Bella with a warm smile, "Hi! You must be Bella Swan, I'm happy to meet you, I won't make you introduce yourself again, there's only one seat left and it's next to Edward," He told her and pointed over her shoulder.
Bella's body tensed as she turned to look. There he was, in his greek god glory, Edward Cullen. Fuck, she was going to throw up. Instead, she took a deep breath in and made her way toward's the empty seat. Without looking at him, she sank down in her chair and stared forward.
"You're not even going to look at me?" A voice asked.
And god, even his voice was perfect. Beautiful. It sounded almost musical. It sounded soft like velvet.
She was afraid if she looked at him again she would be trapped in his gaze and she didn't think she could handle it a second time.
"Bella," He said her name.
It caused her to look at him and the second she did, she was trapped. It was as if she were his prey. She was like a deer caught in the gaze of a lion. She couldn't breathe. Her brain told her to run, to get away but her body was frozen.
"What's happening?" She demanded, scared she had no control of her own body.
"You need to breathe," He told her roughly, almost angry.
She blinked, snapping out of her trance, "That was weird," She murmured; her voice sounded breathy.
He licked his lower lip and her heart pounded in her chest. He chuckled and she felt her face grow warm.
"I'm Edward Cullen," He finally said.
She shook her head slowly, still dazed, "Nice to meet you?" She said but it came out like a question.
"It's a pleasure," He replied, his eyes were still watching her with intensity.
"I can't think when you look at me like that," She admitted, embarrassed.
"Neither can I," He countered with a grin and a raised brow.
Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears and she felt lightheaded, "I thought that blonde girl said you were to good to talk to anyone here?" She blurted and then cringed at herself.
She had no filter when his eyes were staring directly into her soul. And man, were they nice eyes. Gold like melted honey. So warm, with layers of gold. If she let herself, she could stare into them for an eternity she thought.
He chuckled again, "Jessica Stanley? Because I rebutted her come on that makes me stuck up?" He wondered.
She didn't realize that she was leaning closer to him until he leaned away slightly. She snapped out of it and sat back.
She laughed awkwardly, "Well, apparently you're to good for any of the girls here," She told him.
"Not anymore it seems," He murmured, staring into her eyes.
Her mouth felt dry and if he wanted to take her into the woods behind the school she would follow him.
Mr. Molina interrupted thankfully; calling the class to order.
"We're going to be talking about mitosis today, Miss Swan if you haven't covered this yet in your previous school just follow along as best as you can," He said and then instructed several of the students to help him put microscopes on their tables.
She exhaled heavily as she broke eye contact to look at the microscope in front of her. She studied it for a long moment, trying to get her barrings.
"I can bribe the teacher if want me to," Edward teased her.
She rolled her eyes, smirking at him, "You don't think I'm smart enough to do this assignment?" She questioned.
"I think you're very intelligent, Bella, I just couldn't read your expression, are you worried about failing this assignment?" He asked her.
She shook her head and her brown curls swished over her shoulders. She watched as Edward inhaled deeply and then his gaze went black on her. She once again felt like prey. She swallowed hard, ignoring the feeling of escaping inside of her.
"I've done this in my old school, I was just trying to clear my head because currently you are distracting me," She whispered honestly.
It was his turn to smirk at her now, "Am I? I like that," He admitted.
"Yeah, I bet you do," She said, chuckling.
"What? I do," He pretended to be coy.
Bella leaned closer to Edward, "There's something about you, Edward Cullen, and I'm going to figure out what it is," She warned him.
He locked her eyes again, "I'll be ready when you do," He promised.
After the bell rang, Edward walked Bella to her locker.
"So, can I take you out?" Edward asked her as he leaned casually against her locker.
She blinked at him several times, "Um, okay," She answered, wincing at herself for being so awkward.
She couldn't help herself though, something about him unnerved her and she couldn't figure it out.
He chuckled, dazzling her with his boyish grin, and nodded, "So, how about Saturday? Should we do the old dinner and a movie? Or do you want something different?" He questioned.
"Something different, you could take me night fishing and I'd be okay with it, I'm not picky, I'm down to do just about anything," She told him easily.
He moved so she could get into her locker, "Should I grab your number then?" He asked smoothly.
Bella giggled, "Smooth, yeah, give me your phone and I'll put it in," She said and then put out her hand.
He handed her his phone and she stared at it for a long silent second. He laughed at her again. She turned it over in her hands and there was a camera on the back!
"What the hell kind of phone is this?" She asked aloud.
"It's a Sony Ericsson K750i," He told her as if she knew what that was.
"It's pretty cool! Do you take a lot of selfies?" She teased.
"Definitely not but we should take one together for your contact picture," He suggested.
She had walked right into that one. She opened her locker and looked into the mirror she had stuck there and fluffed out her hair.
"You look beautiful, Bella," He assured her and pulled her closer to him.
His long arm held up the phone and she immediately smiled brightly. The closeness of his body to hers made her heart race. She could smell him and he smelled like honey, lavender and sunshine. She inhaled him deeply, memorizing the scent.
He must have taken the picture because he leaned in to whisper into Bella's ear, "You smell amazing to me, the most beautiful scent I have ever smelled."
Bella shivered, "You smell like a happy summer day," She said and then realized she sounded ridiculous.
"Is that right?" He replied, seemingly happy he smelled good to her.
"Like honey, lavender and sunshine," She described with her eyes closed.
"You smell like freesia, like the sweetest thing I've ever smelt," He said roughly, his face near her hair.
When she opened her eyes again, he was gone. She looked around, perplexed; wondering what happened.
"What the hell?" She muttered to herself before closing her locker roughly.
With a shake of her head, she ventured off to find Coach Clapp to ask about joining the track team. She found him in the gym setting up for the next class. He was lining up basketballs along the wall. The huge man was muttering to himself as Bella approached him.
She cleared her throat to announce herself before speaking, "Um, excuse me, Coach Clapp?"
He turned to face her before standing at his full height, "Yeah?" He wondered; crossing his arms.
She smiled at him brightly and saw his posture soften, "I'm Bella Swan, the new student," She introduced herself.
He nodded, "Chief Swan's kid," He agreed.
"That's me! I was wondering if I could join the track team? If it's not already filled up of course," She said and flipped her hair over her shoulder nervously.
He looked shocked at her words, "Really? That would be great! We don't have many students who want to do track," He told her.
"Oh wow! I'm surprised! I love running!" She replied.
"What is your current time?" He questioned.
"Eleven minutes for the two miles," She beamed proudly at him.
He grinned at her, "Well, damn! Track meets up Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the gym after school until 8pm," He told her eagerly.
"That sounds great! I'll be there!" She said and then bounced away happily.
Later, after she returned home from school, she started dinner.
When her dad got home, he inhaled deeply.
"Is that steak I smell?" He asked peering around the door frame.
Bella giggled as she checked on her baked potatoes, "It sure is, dad!" She answered.
She could hear the jiggling of his keys as he put everything away.
"Well I am starved," He announced as he came into the room.
He dropped heavily onto one of the kitchen's chairs and rubbed his temples.
Bella fixed his plate up quickly, along with a side salad, and placed it in front of him.
He looked up at her gratefully, "Thanks, Bells!" He said and began scarfing down his meal.
She sat beside him gently and started to cut up her meat, "Well, I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you going out and working everyday," She said.
His cheeks flushed, "Of course, you know I will always take care of you," He promised.
She smiled at him, "I know but I like to help out around here to, we're a team," She told him.
He grinned back at her, "A team, I like that," He nodded in agreement.
After they finished their meals, Bella did the dishes quickly and then went to do her homework. She did her nightly stuff before climbing into bed after calling a goodnight to her dad. Before she could fall asleep, though, her phone vibrated. She sat up quickly and snatched it up. She stared at the vibrating phone as the screen lit up an unfamiliar phone number.
"Hello?" She answered quietly.
"Bella," Edward's voice was just as soft.
She exhaled loudly, "Why'd you run away earlier?" She wondered as she fell back onto her pillows.
"I was overwhelmed," He admitted.
"I can relate," She replied as she stared up her ceiling.
"I want to take you out," He told her.
She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, "Saturday?" She asked.
"Saturday is good for me if it's good for you," He said, his voice had a teasing hint to it.
"Okay," She agreed in a whisper.
"Okay," He echoed.
"What are you doing up so late?" She asked him.
"I don't sleep," He responded quickly.
She giggled and he moaned into her ear. If she closed her eyes, it was if he was there besides her.
"I love that sound," He said gruffly.
"I love your voice," She told him honestly.
"I'm glad," He told her.
"So," Her voice trailed, "What's your favorite color?"
He laughed, surprised, but told her it was brown.
They continued like that for another two hours before Bella yawned into his ear.
"Go to sleep, beautiful girl, I will see you in a few hours anyway," He assured her.
She giggled again, drowsy, "Okay."
He chuckled, "Okay," He copied her.
"Goodnight, Edward," She slurred, her eyes half open.
"Goodnight, Bella, sweet dreams."
Around four in the morning, Charlie's cell phone began to blare it's ringtone.
He sat up, pulled from a deep sleep, and looked around disoriented. When he finally processed what was happening, he grabbed it from his bedside table.
"Hello?" He answered, his voice raspy with sleep.
"Charlie, I'm so sorry to bother you this early in the morning but we have a situation here," Deputy Mark Allen said apologetically.
"It's alright, Mark, what's going on?" Charlie asked as he rubbed his blurry eyes.
"There's a kid gone missing out in the woods, Riley Biers, he's fifteen, he and his friends went out hiking, the friends came back and said something attacked Riley," Mark explained.
"Shit, okay, I'll meet you at the station in about fifteen minutes," Charlie said before hanging up.
He got up, ran his hands through his hair, before padding off to the bathroom. When he was finished getting ready, he left a note for Bella. He didn't want to wake her so he wrote out that he was going to work early on a missing child case and he didn't know when he would be back. He left the note on the kitchen table; ensuring she would find it. Then, he climbed into his cruiser and headed off to work.
When he arrived at the station, it was still dark out. He went inside to find Mark sitting at his desk already.
"Morning," Mark greeted as he stood.
"Mornin', so, tell me everything we know right now," Charlie instructed as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
Mark opened the file that was on his desk and began telling Charlie everything that he knew.
"The boys were out hiking and goofing around, it started to get dark so they decided to head back but as they were making their way back, something attacked them, they claim they didn't get a good look at it, all they say was it was very pale and fast, they were able to get away but they said it got Riley and dragged him away screaming," Mark said.
Charlie sighed heavily, "Pale, huh? Could be a wolf," He speculated.
"That's what I thought," Mark agreed.
Charlie shook his head, "Why were they out there at night? They know better!" He said angrily.
"I know, man, I chewed them out, they probably got their poor friend killed; he didn't even want to go according to the friends," Mark said.
Charlie drained his cup and stood with a grunt, "Well, we better head out there and see what we're dealing with," He said.
"Should we wake up Steve or Glenn?" Mark wondered as he stood as well.
Charlie shook his head, "You know what we're finding when we go out there, better not subject the other deputies to that," He said roughly.
"Agreed," Mark said and followed Charlie out.
They rode together silently as they drove out to the woods.
Charlie shut the driver door loudly in the quiet early morning, "How far out were they?" He asked.
Mark huffed, "About ten miles on the trail," He replied.
Charlie groaned, "Well, we better get on it, it's going to take us a couple hours," He said.
As they stepped into the woods, Charlie turned back and the trees ominously seemed to watch them descend.