"Bella, are you angry at me?" Edward asked.
What could have given him that idea? Maybe it was when she slammed his hand in her locker door before English.
"Please just talk to me," Edward begged."We can work this out."
Bella doubted that. She'd never been more humiliated which given her history of ridiculous injuries was really saying something.
Edward inched his desk closer to Bella's. "Please talk to me. Tell me what I did wrong."
Bella eyed a desk at the back of the room. It was covered in graffiti and looked one breeze away from collapsing, but at least it was far away from Edward.
"Please don't go," Edward cried as Bella gathered her things and moved to the back of the room. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"Hey Bella," Mike said, winking.
Bella pivoted and returned to the front of the room. Lucky for Edward he was the lesser of two great evils.
Jasper entered the room and set a stack of dog-eared books on Edward's desk. "Here are those books you asked for."
"Thank you," Edward said, offering Jasper a joyless smile.
"Is there something wrong?"
Edward sighed and laid his head down on his desk. "Bella is angry at me and she won't tell me why."
Bella rolled her eyes. Edward should consider joining the drama club when he was done saving Forks.
"Isn't it obvious?" Jasper said. "She's upset about what happened during art class."
"You didn't like my drawing?" Edward asked Bella. "It's okay if you didn't. I'd be glad to make you a hundred more."
How could she not like Edward's drawing? Those stunning lines and graceful curves belonged in a museum not a high school classroom. Looking at that work of art made her wonder if a walking disaster like her could be someone's soulmate after all.
"I don't think your drawing was the problem," Jasper said.
"Then what is the problem?" Edward asked.
Jasper handed Edward a crumpled ball of paper. "This."
Bella's cheeks turned crimson. She tried to snatch the drawing away, but Edward was too quick.
"What could be so upsetting about a piece of paper. It's not like..," Edward trailed off when he realized how upsetting a piece of paper could be. Unlike Edward, several of their classmates had elected not to stop at Bella's shoulders. She'd already found three taped to her locker and suspected there were more being passed around the school. Why did Edward have to use her as a model? Would it have killed him to stick to fruit like Mr. Green?"
"Who drew this," Edward snarled.
Gone was the boy who'd been trying to win her over with puppy dog eyes and crooked smiles. In his place sat a man ready for war.
"I'll give you a hint," Jasper says. "His name rhymes with pike."
Edward looked over his shoulder with fire in his eyes. Mike was getting cozy with Jessica in the back of the room, unaware of the fury heading his way.
"Mike," Edward snapped, rising from his seat. "I need to have a word with you!"
Mike smirked. "Sure proff."
"Don't," Bella hissed, grabbing Edward's hand.
Bella had never seen someone look so conflicted. Edward's eyes darted back and forth between Mike and Bella's hand holding his. Before he could choose between love and revenge, the bell rang signaling the start of class. Mike would live to see another 42 minutes.
"Happy Monday, fellow history lovers," Mrs. Lee said. "Today you'll be starting your research projects. Remember, this project is worth 20% of your final grade. I hope you picked your partners wisely."
Bella looked at Jasper and nodded. With her writing skills and his love of research, they were all but guaranteed an A.
"Are you sure you want to partner with me?" Jasper asked, smirking.
"Of course," Bella said. "Who else would I partner with?"
"Maybe the guy whose hand you're holding?"
Bella blushed and released Edward's hand. For reasons that escaped her, letting go made a pit form in her stomach.
"Does everyone have a partner?" Mrs. Lee asked.
"Edward doesn't," Jasper said, the corner of his mouth twitching. "But he can join us."
Bella glared at Jasper. Maybe Rose wasn't the evil twin after all.
"Is that alright with you, Edward?" Mrs. Lee said.
Edward, who'd slouched down in his seat when Bella let go of his hand, shrugged. "I guess so."
Bella bit her lip. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss him as a partner.
"Have you picked a topic?"
Jasper looked at the stack of books on Edward's desk. "The Masen family."
Bella paled. The Masen family? When she let Jasper choose their topic she assumed he'd pick some long-ago war not the focus of Edward's delusions.
Edward perked up. "An excellent choice."
No. An awful choice with the potential to ruin their lives.
"I agree," Mrs. Lee said. "Forks may be small but that doesn't make our history any less significant. I look forward to reading your report."
"Don't I get a say in this?" Bella asked.
"Sorry, Bella," Jasper said. "Two versus one. You lose."
Bella slouched down in her chair. Life 5000, Bella 0.
Lunch
"Did you know there are over 500 birds carved into the walls of the castle?" Jasper asked Edward.
"Actually, there's 602," Edward said. "Most people don't know it, but there are two additional crows located in the west wing bedrooms where the royal children slept. The king believed they would watch over grandchildren after his passing."
Bella shuttered. She'd always found those stone birds to be creepy. It felt like no matter where she went in the castle, someone was watching. She couldn't imagine sleeping with one in her bedroom.
Really?" Jasper said. "I'd never noticed that. We should go to Forks Castle this weekend. I need to study architecture in closer detail."
Bella suppressed a moan. Hadn't she suffered enough? They had books. There was no reason why they needed to go poking around in a musty old castle.
"We should leave at dawn," Edward said. "We'll need all the time we can get for our research."
"There's no way we're leaving at dawn," Bella said, glaring at Edward.
Had he forgotten what happened last time? There was no way she was setting foot on castle grounds in anything but full sunlight.
"Bella's right," Jasper said. "We shouldn't leave at dawn."
Thank goodness at least one other person had some sense. Between Edward, Emmett, and whatever was going on with Jacob Bella was starting to think she was the one going crazy.
"Starting at dawn wouldn't give us enough time," Jasper said. "We should leave right after school on Friday. I've heard the guards are willing to let people camp out in the cemetery for $50."
"No way," Bella said.
Jasper could give her his allowance for a year and she still wouldn't agree to sleep anywhere but her warm, safe bed.
"Why not?" Jasper asked. "Are you afraid of ghosts?"
"No."
She didn't believe in ghosts, werewolves, or princes that came back from the dead. She just didn't want to spend the night freezing to death in a tent over a stupid school project.
"There's nothing to be afraid of," Edward said. "We'll explore the castle and I'll tell you guys some of my Grandfather's old campfire stories. Midnight and the rest of your siblings can come too. It will be fun."
Fun? Edward's plan would end in anything but fun. Knowing her luck, she'd either fall face-first into the fire or discover a serial killer lurking among the tombstones.
"We're not going camping," Bella said firmly. "If you want to go to the castle, that's fine but we're going in the daytime like normal people."
"But!" Edward and Jasper protested.
"But nothing. We're not going camping. End of discussion."
With that, Bella left the guys behind and went to the cafeteria to find the others. There had to be at least one other person with an ounce of sense.
Bella found Emmett and Alice waiting in line for food.
"Pizza day. Pizza day," Emmett sang, vibrating with excitement. "There's no better day than pizza day!"
Bella wrinkled her nose. Saying the pizza at Fork's High tasted like wet cardboard was an insult to cardboard. Why everyone loved it so much she'd never know.
"Pizza day!" Jasper shouted, Edward trailing behind him.
"There's no better day than pizza day!" Emmett and Jasper shouted, causing several heads to turn.
"Why are you so excited?" Bella asked. " You aren't even allowed to have pizza anymore."
"What can I say," Jasper said, grinning. "Emmett's enthusiasm is contagious."
"What's pizza?" Edward whispered to Bella.
Thank goodness Rose had been suspended.
"What do you mean, what's pizza?" Bella said, keeping her voice low.
"Whatever 'pizza' is, we didn't have it in the 1600s."
"For the last time, you're not..." Bella changed course when she remembered they were in a cafeteria full of witnesses. "Pizza is bread covered in tomato sauce and cheese."
"That sounds..interesting."
"Next," Mrs. Dorris, the lunch lady, called.
Their group stepped up to the counter just in time to see Mike walk away with the last slice of cheese pizza.
"I'll take three slices!" Jasper exclaimed.
"No you won't," Mrs. Dorris said.
Jasper gave her puppy dog eyes that would melt even the coldest heart. "Why not?"
Unfortunately for Jasper, Mrs. Dorris had no heart. "You know why."
"Just eat the lunch I made for you," Emmett said.
Bella shuttered. A lunch made by Emmett was a far worse fate than anything Mrs. Dorris served up.
"I forgot it," Jasper said, shrugging.
Alice pulled a paper bag out of her backpack. "I didn't."
"But I want pizza!"
"And I want to spend fall break in Paris. Sometimes we have to deal with not getting things we want."
Knowing he was fighting a losing battle, Jasper pouted and took his lunch from Alice.
"Is that meat?" Edward asked, pointing to the topping on a sausage pizza.
"Oh yeah," Jasper said.
"It's sausage." Mrs. Dorries said.
Bella cursed herself for not thinking to pack Edward a lunch. The poor guy was probably starving after missing breakfast.
Edward's eyes widened. "Isn't there anything else? Maybe vegetable soup?"
Mrs. Dorris pointed to the sign above her head that read. "Today's menu is take it or leave it."
"Why don't you and Jasper go find us a table," Emmett said to Alice.
Alice nodded. She grabbed a slice of pizza and pulled Jasper away before he could do the same.
Emmett took Edward off to the side and lowered his voice to a whisper. "You trust me, right?"
Edward nodded. "With my life."
"Then believe me when I say pizza won't hurt you."
"But what about the meat?"
"I don't know what that pizza is made of, but I can promise you there's no meat involved. Just try it. You'll like it."
"Okay."
"They'll each take two slices and I'll take my usual," Emmett said to Mrs. Dorris.
Eager to get them out of her hair, Mrs. Dorris handed Edward and Bella two slices and Emmett a pizza of his own.
Edward sniffed his pizza. Emmett smiled at him and nodded. Edward took a deep breath and took the tiniest bite possible.
"This is the best thing I've ever tasted," Edward whispered, tears forming in his eyes.
Bella wiped her eyes. Why was she getting misty-eyed? It was just a guy having pizza for the first time, not a baby being born.
Edward shook Mrs. Dorris's hand. "Any castle would be lucky to have a chef like you."
Something Bella never thought possible happened.
Mrs. Dorris smiled. "You're welcome, sweetheart. Let me know if you want seconds."
Edward went back for seconds and thirds. Bella didn't even protest when he stole one of her slices. She couldn't possibly have eaten with her stomach doing flip flops every time he smiled.
