Soleil
3. TWO-FACED
The next day was better…much better.
Edward had come to sit by Bella in English and walked her to her next class. At lunch she sat with several people, an unwanted popularity for her new status at the school. Edward was amongst the group and Bella was elated by this. Edward had even steered her and Jessica to the table she found herself sitting at. Bella was discrete with her observations of Edward. He didn't seem to fit the mold of the other students surrounding him. The conversation was light and fun amongst all. Edward appeared to have a tightness to his eyes as he spoke fluidly with the others. As if he did not believe he belonged either. His face betrayed his act, but Bella was floundered she was the only one at the lunch table who noticed.
As time passed during lunch, she grew more and more tense as she watched the spectacle around her.
What made the day much better was Mike's absence at school. That was the silver lining that prevented her from acting out on her tension.
Bella blinked, and she was walking to Biology with Edward. Lunch was over. Edward's actions could almost liken him to the qualities of a golden retriever, walking faithfully by her side. She was not crazy. He did not want to be there. So why was he acting like this? Did he sense her interest in him and was playing with her?
She held her breath at the door outside of Biology, willing to make herself pass out if she could not force herself to confront him. The words would not form. Edward raised a brow in question, but did not call out her weird display.
Why?
Why?
Why?
Giving up and determined to come up with a more promising plan, Bella exhaled and went to her seat. Edward followed her, talking about the upcoming trip to the beach. He lingered by Bella's desk till the bell rang. Then he offered her a vague smile and went to his seat.
It looked like I was going to have to do something about Edward, and it wouldn't be easy.
Bella was perturbed by Edward's mixed signals. His insincerity. Mike's absence in Biology was a welcomed reprieve as she focused on how to confront Edward.
When the school day was over and Bella was swiftly walking through the parking lot to her truck… an alarming thought stopped her dead in her tracks.
What had happened the rest of the school day? Or last night when she drove home after her first day of school? The memory was foggy, and a sense of unease pitted in her stomach. Perhaps she had boarded the train to Crazyville without noticing.
Time sped up or was blanking out. Something was wrong, as was her unhealthy focus on Edward Newton.
But these revelations did not prevent her foot from pressing on the gas pedal and heading to Thriftway. Cooking dinner for her and Charlie when she got home. Responding to her mom's email. Reading Wuthering Heights. Eating dinner with Charlie. Inquiring about the Cullen family to Charlie over dinner.
It was an uneventful night only to lead to an uneventful week by anyone else's standards. Because Bella never confronted Edward. Mike remained absent from school. It was just a week of a regular high school student. Unless you dissected Bella's time. As she did often. Time seemed to skip. Her weekend slipped by with small recognition of moments where she drove to the library, cleaned the house, worked on homework and returned her mom's emails. But other then that, memories between those moments seemed to slip away through the fabric of time.
Monday was a relief. Time seemed to stick. Edward sat next to her in English. The scene flashed by her before she could confront him as she intended to last week. Bella was uncomfortable with her reality but focusing on Edward appeared to offer her some form of sanity. To make the most of her time during the Weathering Heights quiz during class, she wrote in the blank space reserved for the answer of the first question, "Why are you being two-faced?" She kept it short and concise, unsure of the time she could afford to elaborate.
Next thing she knew, she was walking out of class into a snowy scenery. The wind bit at her cheeks and nose. A welcomed frosty pain to ensure this was all real.
"Wow," Edward said. "It's snowing."
Bella grabbed his pale hand and shoved the folded-up quiz paper into his hand. "Ew." She did not mean to rebuke the snow. She praised its appearance internally. The cold reminded her this was reality.
Edward looked confused. "Don't you like snow?" He asked cautiously while unfurling the note.
"No. It means it's too cold for rain." Bella waved a hand, gesturing for him to hurry up. "Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes – you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips." She did NOT care about the weather or snowflakes. She yearned for Edward's response. His real response.
"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked, annoyance tinging his question. He had read her note at this point.
"Sure I have." She paused. Forcing back the words aching to come out until he answered her. Answer me, she silently demanded in her stare at his puzzled face. Instead, Edward ripped up the note and tossed the pieces into the air, to blend in with the falling snow. "On Tv," Bella gritted out through her teeth.
Edward laughed. Though the laugh rang with an edge of mockery to it. And then a big, fat snowball pummeled into the back of his head and his expression flashed with annoyance. Not in line with his character around school. He bent over, reluctance clearly on his face, to begin scraping together his own pile of snow for the ensuing snowball fight.
"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" Bella sighed, understanding her trajectory was leading her somewhere else whether she wished it to or not. She was walking away as she spoke. "Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside." It was true, but she wanted to force Edward to respond to her question. Edward just nodded, his eyes vacant to any reaction to her written question.