Soleil

2. REDDISH BROWN

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all together though – Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live together."

Bella had seemed to catch a lucky break. Finally, she had learned their names. Emmett. Rosalie. Jasper. Alice. And…Mike.

Strange, unpopular names, she thought. The kinds of name grandparents had.

Bella raised her right hand, clenched into a tight fist, and rapped it on the base of her skull. Her thought had applied to every name but Mike's name. That was a common day name. Why on earth was she lumping it in as being out of place with the others? Her attention to this blinded her to think on the juicy part of the gossip that…Jessica!...had just revealed. Bella exhaled an audible sigh of relief, recalling the gossip sharer was Jessica, a perfectly common name as well. There were two girls named Jessica in her History class back home. And if Bella was being honest with herself, this Mike in the cafeteria was the third Mike she had heard of today. The other two were both in her Spanish class. Senor Chavez, however, called one Miguel (despite his continuous protests) and the other was just Mike.

Bella was set on mulling this over further until she found herself asking Jessica, "Which ones are the Cullens?" She paused, biting her bottom lip. More was about to come out despite not wanting to speak on the Cullen topic now. "They don't look related…" She strained to comment.

Bella indulged Jessica's need to crudely comment on the Cullen family at the lunch table and used every ounce of will power in her body to resist looking over to where the strange family sat.

Jessica revealed something. Bella would reply, like a pilot mode she had no control over. In this conversation, she had one slip up after another. If her concentration broke, her eyes would flick over to the pale family and her gaze would unfailingly be drawn to the out of place member. She hated herself for agreeing with this, but she needed to confirm he was in fact Mike, "Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?"

Bella did not peek and forced herself to brazenly stare at the group. Who on earth had reddish brown hair in the bunch? Of the boys? The answer? None of them did. Yet the spiked, pale blond hair boy (presumably Mike) was staring at her. He appeared to be slightly frustrated, and she would not blame him if he could have just heard what she had asked.

"That's Mike. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him."

Gorgeous? Maybe the small-town effect skewed opinions of physical beauty. Not that it should matter. But Mike was…a cute, baby-faced boy in Bella's own humble opinion.

Bella clenched her eyes tight, with fierce desperation. She was closing herself off to outside distractions. She had undoubtedly asked about a boy with 'reddish brown' hair. Which none of the Cullens had. Jessica should have called her out on this. Instead…she acted as if Bella had been referring to Mike with the pale blond hair.

Maybe though…maybe Jessica had misheard her. Leaning towards that possibility, Bella relaxed her eyes and opened them again. Only to watch the Cullens make their exit. The one named Mike did not look at her again, and relief rushed through her.

The relief was short lived before she found herself in Biology class, forced to sit in the only open seat next to Mike Cullen. Unlike before, this time a hostile stare was directed at her with black - coal black- eyes. At first, she looked away quickly, shocked, going red in the face. Then…she caught herself mid shyness attack. His eyes were coal FRICKEN black. Was that normal?

Normally, she would have not looked up as she set her book on the table and took her seat. But given the opportunity to reassure her sanity, bravery, or stupidity, motivated her to study Mike. He was leaning away from her, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, Bella sniffed her hair to confirm it was not her. Her nose scrunched up, weary of her need to assure herself she was not the cause of Mike's strange behavior.

Luckily the lecture today was on cellular anatomy, something she already studied. The next 45 minutes in class were open for her to solve the mystery sitting right next to her. She peeked at him every minute or so to confirm he had not released himself from his awkward sitting position. She wished the class would drag on, but time seemed to pass too quickly after she finished assessing his appearance in their close proximity. Right before the bell rung, she had snuck in one last peek. Mike glared down at her, black eyes full of revulsion. For the second time this day, relief consumed Bella. Even despite the phrase if looks could kill running through her mind.

Mike was out of his seat and out the door before anyone else in the classroom. Bella remained still in her seat, staring down at her notebook, void of any notes on today's lesson. She was baffled. Everything since Trigonometry that transpired today had been like a trip to an episode of the Twilight Zone.

"Aren't you Isabella Swan," a quiet, musical voice asked.

Bella looked up to see a gorgeous boy with golden eyes, darker than butterscotch. His pale skin and auburn hair-

Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?

Bella swallowed. In one day, Forks was making her crazy in the literal sense of the word. The boy's smile was disarming.

"Bella," she corrected him, unsure of herself.

"I'm Edward."

"Hi, Edward."

"Do you need any help finding your next class?" She did not need the help. She wanted it. From him. For some unexplainable reason.

"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it." Bella screamed at herself internally. What she had said was not right. Those words were not of her own volition. Her words should have acknowledged accepting his help.

To her relief he responded, "That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled. But to Bella, his response lacked a sincerity to it. The words from his mouth were expected, just like hers were. Did he actually want to walk her to gym? His gaze on her face held indifference, lacked warmth despite his joyous words as he chatted away. Dominating most of their conversation. The only important aspect of their conversation was her learning Edward was also in her English class.

Disappointment cut into Bella as they were entering the gym, signaling their time spent together was coming to an end. Edward asked, "So, did you stab Mike Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that." He…smirked. Countering his concerning tone.

Bella did not care about Mike. She also didn't want to give Edward that impression. So, she decided to play dumb.

"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" she asked artlessly.

"Yes," he said. "He looked like he was in pain or something." Edward's smirk widened, if that was even possible.

"I don't know," she responded. "I never spoke to him."

"He's a weird guy." Bella chuckled in agreement. But it came out sounding like a cough, smothering her amusement. Edward lingered and Bella was hopeful. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you." Bella's heart skipped a beat despite the hollowness in his words. She smiled at him, a wistful smile, before walking through the girl's locker room door. If he had sounded friendlier despite his words and actions, she would have felt admired. It would have wiped the slate clean of the bizarre day she was stumbling around in.

The rest of the day played on and Bella submitted to her instincts instead of fighting them. She endured watching volleyball in gym class. She witnessed Mike argue to change out of their shared Biology class- good riddance! She got to her truck when the school day was over. She sat for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. As she headed back to Charlie's house, she fought tears the whole way there.