Soleil
5. GOOD
She cringed. She winced. She balked. But nothing deterred Mike's amusement during their conversation in Biology as they identified the phases of mitosis under the microscope.
One thing in particular in their conversation stuck out to Bella. Mike's gaze was appraising and borderline creepy. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone else see." It was a cruel and sick, twisted joke. He hit the nail right on the head and he didn't even know it. Her only reaction was to grimace and fail to convince her body to cave into her impulse to confirm his theory. But it wasn't her turn yet as her throat writhed in pain, pushing down the words dying to escape.
"Am I wrong?"
Bella ignored Mike and let her attention drift to Edward since he rejected her response to the question he asked. "Is he?" was written below a crossed-out question of "Are you okay?" on the paper in Edward's hand.
Bella discretely flipped off Edward as Mike murmured smugly, "I didn't think so".
"Why does it matter to you?" Bella asked loudly enough to carry over to Edward's ears, the intended target of her question.
"That's a very good question." Bella heard in tandem while reading Edward's response on the notebook paper, "it doesn't". Bella sighed, scowling at the blackboard, the only thing deserving her attention in the room.
"Am I annoying you?" Mike asked, sounding amused.
Bella would have participated in volleyball willingly in the next gym class with a smile on her face if she could tell the truth. "Not exactly," she hissed through her teeth. "I'm more annoyed at myself." The lie was literally killing her, "My face is easy to read – my mother always calls me her open book." Bella wanted to slam her face into a book.
"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read."
"Good," Bella muttered. Her neck twitched and the air surrounding her grew thin. The world paused for a beat. Good. She said the word good. Good. Good! GOOD. Her own word. She had said the word good!
Before she could celebrate, her mouth corrected her mistake to reply, "You must be a good reader then." Bella still flashed a triumphant smile at the universe before erupting in a manic laughter.
"Usually." Mike smiled widely, flashing his teeth as if Bella was not coming unhinged before his very eyes. Ice blue eyes.
When the bell finally rang and Bella's reveling in her triumph was forced to come to an end, Mike swiftly disappeared from the room. Edward moseyed to her side and appeared to have the intention to pick up her books. As he bent over to collect them, Bella stomped her foot on the top of the pile. Edward was quick to react, taking a step back and raising his hands in the air, pleading innocent. Bella waggled her right index finger in a "I don't think so" gesture. Aside from the fluke of saying the word good earlier, she could not summon any other words to leave her lips. Bella snapped her fingers after picking up her books, signaling to Edward to get on with things. "That was awful," he said hesitantly. Like he did not mean it. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner." And then Bella could have sworn she heard him snicker. Bella wished, oh how she wished, she could call bullshit on him. During class, Bella had observed that Edward finished the lab at a faster rate than her and Mike, doing all the work for his partner. But he waited until Mr. Banner reviewed Mike and Bella's worksheet before he raised his own hand.
Bella scoffed. "I didn't have any trouble with it," Bella said. "I've done the lab before, though." She had the secret suspicion that the same could be said for Edward. Edward's sardonic looking smile only added to her belief.
"Cullen seems friendly enough today." His words sounded indifferent.
"I wonder what was with him last month." Bella did not have to feign her own indifference. "Like I care," Bella simpered to herself.
Edward tilted his head to the side, studying Bella's face. Bella herself was startled. She could not ask if what she had said aloud was real or in her head. Instead, she pointed to her partially opened mouth to silently ask, Did I just say that aloud?
Edward shrugged and led their way to Gym. Edward's endless chatter to her seemed to bother him more then the other days in the past. He scowled throughout his entire one-sided conversation. When they parted ways to head to their respective locker rooms, Edward slipped a folded-up note in her hand.
Note: For some additional information on what the heck is going on, last night I updated added a note at the beginning and end of 3.5, Edward's POV. Hope it clears somethings up if there is any confusion about the progress of this plot. thanks ~pixelephant
P.s. thanks to my guest reviewers, who I cannot PM a response to directly! Glad you find this story interesting and I hope you keep tuning in for updates :)