3About three things I was absolutely positive.
First, Edward was a vampire. Second, He was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with me. And third, I was going to use these revelations to my full advantage.
Chapter 1
I walked into the biology classroom with a mission to avoid any more attention than what I'd already received on my first day, and a pessimistic prediction of how that would work out for me.
Head down.
Minimal eye contact.
Be aware of any dangerous feet placement.
I dutifully introduced myself to the teacher, Mr. Banner, who gave me an encouraging grin and my new (to me) Biology II textbook.
"I'm afraid there's only one seat left," he said, his eyes scanning the room quickly before meeting mine again. "You'll be sitting next to Edward, over on the right." I respond with a tight-lipped smile as he gestures to a spot in the room behind me. I don't need the clarification, of course I already knew who Edward was, since Jessica gave me the run down of the entire Cullen-Hale family at lunch. It was hard to forget the strange, extreme beauty all of the adopted siblings possessed, much less the confused expression I'd caught on Edward's face for just a moment. My thoughts spent most of the lunch period trying to make sense of it all. Maybe it was the flourescents casting a particularly flattering light on their table. Regardless, I was well aware of where I was headed in the class room now. I turned from Mr. Banner's desk, trying to figure out how I was going to navigate the next 45 minutes when the heater kicked on. I looked to my newly assigned seat, and was shocked to see Edward Cullen staring at me.
Except he wasn't staring at me.
He was glaring at me.
He was glaring at me so intensely that I stepped back for a moment before convincing myself that there was no way he was actually looking at me, not with an almost visceral hatred. I set my jaw and set my gaze on the floor, and carefully, determinedly walked to my seat. It was mine after all. As I sat, there was the faintest sound of a scrape of chair legs on linoleum from the seat next to me. I braved a sideways glance at my new table mate, and instantly decided that it was the worst decision I'd ever made. Edward was looking at me. Closer, I suddenly was very aware of the accuracy of the term "staring daggers." His black eyes seemed less like the color, and more like two perfectly round absences of light settled perfectly into the surrounding white.
He'd caught me looking. He quickly looked down at the table top in front of him, his mouth twisting into a grimace.
Is he in pain? So much pain he can't even speak? I frantically searched for Mr. Banner in case the guy showed any more signs of an impending medical episode. That's when I noticed the odd quiet. He hadn't said anything, obviously, but something was unsettling about the stillness. I risked the another side-eyed look, searching for a more positive sign of life.
A sign of life. Is...he breathing? Is he HOLDING his breath? My mouth falls slightly open at the shock of this realization. Do I STINK? I turned my head in the other direction, letting my hair fall off my shoulders to shield him from seeing me smell it. Strawberry shampoo. Okay, so, I was correct in the last time I showered. I didn't think I was putting off a particularly offensive odor. I pushed my hair back out of my face, and Edward stiffened even more, if that were possible. Now I was offended. So offended, in fact, I looked at him head on.
"Hey..I'm sorry? Did I offend you?" I asked, trying my best to avoid the shakiness that was taking over my voice. I inhaled a sharp breath as we were suddenly eye to eye, his hands clenched tight to accompany the seemingly reinforced glare in his gaze. He forcefully pushes up from his seat, and suddenly he's in front of Mr. Banner. I feel my eyebrows knit together in confusion at how quickly he made it to the whiteboard. The teacher jumps slightly when he turns to see Edward, who is mumbling something quickly about being excused and seemingly disappears from the room. and I are not the only ones that stare after him, although I'm sure the only one with a bewildered expression. I pulled my lip between my teeth, contemplating the majorly punctuated oddness of the entire day.
That night, and for the two weeks that followed, i'm distracted by Edward's absence. In his place, my thoughts are preoccupied with memories of the way he moves, the inhuman stillness, his black eyes, and the extra terrestrial appearance of him and his family.