The fateful day had come. After a long and agonizing wait, it was finally Wednesday afternoon, and the results would be published soon. I could barely contain my anxiety. I had been distracted all day, so much so that I hadn't taken any notes during any of my classes. Fortunately, I had made a new friend: Angela Weber. We took almost all the same classes, including Edward's seminar, and we got along pretty well. Like me, she was rather shy, discreet, and I had to admit someone like her was like a breath of fresh air in my daily life. She managed to soothe me, unlike Rose and Alice who drove me completely crazy at times.

When she and I went to check the bulletin board, joined by Alice and Rosalie, I truly felt as though I was walking through the valley of the shadow of death. I was barely exaggerating. I was simply put… unnerved. Too many thoughts were flowing through my head, and I had to admit I had no idea what I actually wanted.

Rose single handedly moved us to the front of the bulletin board after having pushed away a group of shop-girls and started to look through the list for my name. She enumerated the names of the students selected by Edward one by one.

"Shirley Gordon

Shiry Appelgate

Victoria Fletcher

Mary Northstone

Antonia Della Torre Casallas

Suzi Wang

Angela Weber

Angela had been accepted, but unlike many of the other girls who were literally screaming out their joy, she simply squeezed my hand real tight and gave me a reassuring smile that meant "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be selected too!" I thanked her internally.

Rose went on.

Nina Aston

Tara Benningfield

Sasha Cohen

I sighed. Edward could have at least ordered the students in alphabetical order. It would have spared us this torment!

Alison Parker

Prue Deaver

Jamila El-Saoud

Liz Fisher

Manuela Irving

Jessica Stanley

Ugh! Unbelievable. That Stanley queen bee had been selected! What had she done? Asked Mommy dearest to write her homework for her?

Oh, don't wag your spiteful tongue, Bella! If Edward chose her and not you, it's because he found her story better than yours, end of story. What did you expect?

Helen Le Boeuf

Marilyn Rogues

Hillary Turner

Yeah, ok. I got it. All hope was lost. Why hadn't I simply turned in a real assignment instead of coming up with the craziest, stupidest plan ever? No, of course not! Bella Swan never did anything like everyone else! Bella Swan always had to get in trouble! Bella Swan was such a...

Isabella Swan"

Huh?

"Bella, Bella! You were selected, can you believe it? You were one of the top 20 authors!"

Rosalie was screaming in my ears, shaking me fervently, while Alice was doing a happy dance around me, all before Angela's astonished eyes. The poor girl was certainly wondering if she had picked the right crowd…

As for me, I had the goofiest grin smothered on my face. I had been selected to participate in Edward's seminar even though my short story was nothing but a vulgar fanfiction of my wildest fantasies (in a slightly more exaggerated version, once again).

Yeah, just slightly.

Alice and Rose started hypothesizing about what this decision likely meant, and I decided to stop them at once. I was confused enough as it was. No more. I would be able to assess Edward's reaction to my assignment soon enough.

This bit of news put me in a good mood, and I felt like celebrating...

We chose to head for the movie theater, excited about the new releases. We then grabbed a couple of drinks (non-alcoholic for me) downtown of Seattle, and it is with a lighter heart that I went to bed that night and all the subsequent nights until Monday.

Emboldened by their small success for Edward's class last Monday, Alice and Rose decided to play doll with me again, and for some obscure reason, I let them. By 10:00 AM sharp, I was seated at my desk in class, patiently waiting for Edward to walk into the lecture hall… which he did 10 minutes later when we all thought he wouldn't show up anymore, earning a sigh of relief from all of his enchanted students who had been fortunate enough to be selected to take the class.

"Good morning, ladies, and my apologies for the tardiness!" He said as he walked, a small apologetic smile at the corner of his lips.

Aww, he was so darn cute.

I noticed his hair was a little wet. He probably hadn't had the time to dry it off after his shower…

From where I was seated, I could see a small drop in his hair slowly make its way along his neck before landing on his shirt.

Urrgh.

"First of all, ladies, allow me to congratulate you! If you are here today, that means you wrote high quality stories. I was really impressed by some. Perhaps a few of you are future novelists, who knows? Any case, I'm glad I suggested this exercise. I believe a person's writing style says a lot about their personality, their character, their inspirations…"

That is certainly true, Professor.

"I hadn't originally planned on this, but after much consideration, I would like to share some of the stories that I enjoyed the most with you… those that… left an impression, shall we say." He declared. "Someone in this room wrote something quite… uh… original, shall we say, And I think it will be interesting to discuss and perhaps even dissect it today, at least during the first hour of class."

I hoped with every atom in my body that he was not talking about me...

Edward took out a large stack of papers from his leather briefcase and set it on his desk. I felt dizzy when I saw the volume of the piece of writing, and I had to hold my desk so as to not fall from my chair.

Damn it, damn it, dammitttt!

Of course he was talking about me! Why would he spare me when I had written such a thing? He probably thought I had been making fun of him and wanted to get back at me in front of everyone to give me a lesson!

Now this is the actual reason you were selected to be a part of this class…

He couldn't do this to me!

Slowly, Edward stepped down from his rostrum with the bloody story in his hands.

"The first story I would like to talk about is called 'The Submissive.' I won't reveal the author's name because I'm not sure she would appreciate that, which is a shame by the way because this story is remarkably well written..."

And to make matters worse, he was being ironic. God, I wanted to puke... A desire that only intensified when he started to read what I'd had the audacity to write.

"Miss Stewart… Mr. Pattinson will see you now." The receptionist announced.

I stood up, wondering for the umpteenth time what I was about to do, all the while walking towards the office I had been dreaming of entering. The object of my greatest fantasies rested on the other side of that door, and by opening it, I would be making my fantasy a reality. I was proud of the fact that my hands weren't shaking when the door opened and I walked in.

Step one – Completed

Seated at his desk, Robert Pattinson was working on his laptop. He didn't raise his gaze or slow down his typing. It was as though I wasn't standing there. I still lowered my gaze just in case.

I stayed rooted to my spot and waited. My eyes staring at the floor, my arms hanging at my sides, my feet shoulder width apart. Had it been 10 minutes? 20? Outside, the sun had set, and the lamp on Robert's desk was giving the room a subdued lighting.

He was still working.

I started counting my breaths, noticing that my heart's rhythm was finally settling down compared to what it was when I had first entered the office. 10 minutes went by.

Or maybe 30.

He stopped working.

"Kristen Stewart," he spoke.

I started but kept staring at the floor.

Step two – Completed

I heard him grab a stack of papers and place them in a pile. From what I knew of Robert Pattinson, those papers were already in a neat pile. It was another test.

He slowly pushed his chair back, the wheels resonating in the otherwise silent office. I heard him stand up. He walked slowly and I finally felt his warmth behind me. He was close enough that I could breathe in the spicy musk of his cologne.

One hand came up to my hair and moved it behind my shoulder, exposing my neck. I felt his warm breath skirting over my cheek as he whispered in my ear, "You have no reference."

As I took a look around me, I noticed the whole class was hanging to Edward's every word. The sensual voice he was narrating with likely had something to do with that... To hear him other the words that I had written was provoking a peculiar sensation in me. It was equal parts sensual and painful. Too painful. He had no right to share this story with everyone. It was mine, and only he had the right to read it. By exposing my writing like this, I felt as though he was nailing me on a cross suspended before all. I wanted to scream at him to stop, but if I did, everyone would know that I was the author of the story, and I would never hear the end of it. I would be the laughingstock of the school for the rest of the semester at least. "Bella Swan, the student with S&M tendencies". I could already hear them. I had to hold myself back. I had to...

No, I had none. Just a crazy fantasy. Should I tell him? No. It was better to remain silent. My heart began to beat more erratically.

"I must tell you…" He started. "I am not interested in training a submissive. All my submissives have always been fully trained when they came to me."

Insane. I was completely insane to be standing here. But this is where I wanted to be. To be dominated by a man. No. Not any man. This man only.

He wrapped my hair around his fist and pulled slightly. "Are you sure this is what you want, Kristen?"

My mouth was completely dry, and I was positive he could hear my heart racing. Still, I tried to keep my expression as impassive as possible.

He chuckled slightly and went back to his desk.

"Look at me, Kristen."

I had already seen his photograph. Everyone in Chicago knew Robert Pattinson, owner and CEO of Mason Industries.

I was very happy to acknowledge that the pictures I'd seen of him did not do him justice. His skin was pale but not to the point of making him look sick, just pale enough to bring out the deep green of his eyes and the magnificent color of his hair. His hair that I was dying to run my fingers through. His hair that I wanted to stroke as I drew my lips to his. And his fingers that were tapping methodically on his desk. Long and strong fingers. I felt my knees go weak as I thought of the pleasure his fingers could certainly provide.

I forced myself to remember where I was. And why.

Before me, Robert smiled slightly. Could he read my thoughts?

He spoke again. "I am not interested in the reasons that brought you here or in your past. If I choose you and if you accept my conditions, your past will not matter." He picked up a stack of papers again. "I know all that I need to from this."

We remained silent during several minutes.

"No training. No experience." He said. "But you are very gifted."

I felt myself blush.

"Ah" he commented. "The one response you cannot hide. I think I like it a lot."

It was too much. If Edward wanted to play this game, he would have to do it without me. He was ridiculing me and I was disappointed that he was that type of person. I had exposed myself, damn it! And he was ruining everything… and having fun doing so. I had to get out of here. I couldn't stay. My decision was made: I would leave at the end of first period and I would never set foot in this class again. Edward may have been drop dead gorgeous, but that did not give him the right to humiliate me like this… Just a few more minutes...

We fell back in silence as he walked to the window behind his desk. It was completely dark now and I could see his reflection in the glass. Our eyes met, and I instantly lowered my gaze.

The bell rang at the exact right moment. I could no longer contain the tears that were threatening to blur my vision… I had to leave the room without allowing them to fall. I would not allow myself to break down in front of him. I quickly stood up and started to walk towards the exit. When Edward saw me with my backpack on my shoulder, he asked me where I was going and I decided to ignore him. He disgusted me and I never wanted to see him again. Once I was at his level, he grabbed my arm, forcing me to look up at him. His eyes were marked with rage. But when he noticed mine was filled with tears, his rage evaporated and was replaced by incomprehension. Taking advantage of the fact that he had lowered his guard, I broke out of his grasp and ran out of the room back toward my dorm. I was far gone when I heard him scream out my name.

He knew I would not return.

Author's Note: The excerpt from Bella's story was taken from a twilight fanfiction "The Submissive" by Tara Sue Me which has since then taken down the story. Just giving credit where it is due. The author whose story I am translating previously obtained Tara's consent to use some of her writing. Voilà.

Next chapter: The much awaited confrontation between our 2 protagonists. Raise your hand if you want the next update NOW.