TWO

Friday afternoon

At lunch, Edward sits with his friends and Isabella sits alone, reading a book at a table next to the window. Her skin almost looks translucent in the sunlight. The common room is buzzing with conversation and he wonders how she is able to concentrate.

"What do you think, Ed?" Jess's shrill voice pulls him out of his thoughts.

"About what?"

"Bounce Night at Reid's after leavers? You down?"

"Sure."

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just tired. TGIF and all that."

Edward notices Jess run her eyes all over his face and he lets her without turning away. He is aware of her crush on him, she makes it very obvious, and his boyish intrigue plays along. He doesn't always reciprocate her feelings. She's just easy to get with on a night out.

"Still coming to training tonight?" Edward is grateful for Jasper's interruption and he shakes his head in response. "Carlisle said you weren't sure."

"Nah, I've gotta pick Mum up from work. I'm playing tomorrow though."

"Have you actually washed your kit this week?"

Edward throws his half-eaten apple at him. "Fuck off. I told you our washer was broken."

"Thank God, don't think I'll ever forget that stench."

Edward chuckles and Jasper begins talking to Mike about how nice Alice's legs are today. Edward sees this as an opportunity to turn his attention back to the Swan girl.

She is reading Wuthering Heights and he watches her for a few long moments. The spine of the book of the missing. He recognises it as belonging to the town's library. That is where his mum works part-time, three days a week, and he's helped her stack books away before on busy days.

The bell rings ricochets around the large room, signifying the end of the lunch break and Edward mimics his friends. They each grab their used lunch trays and head towards the bin, which is coincidently next to Isabella's table.

Edward grimaces. He knows what's about to happen.

Emmett appears to have nominated Isabella as his yearly target. A big, burly boy who went through puberty long before everyone else, it was easy for Emmett to establish himself as the popular kid. Edward met him at football practice. He was glad that he was the boy's good side. Emmett was known for bullying people he didn't like.

"Ever thought of being normal, Swan?" Emmett sneers as he approaches her; Isabella frowns at him.

"Ever thought of minding your own business?" She retorts. Edward stifles a laugh.

His amusement disappears when Emmett pours the remainder of his milk carton over Isabella's head. It splatters up the window and saturates her uniform. White liquid trickles down her cheeks from her scalp. Rose slaps a hand across Emmett's bicep.

"Em, that's not funny."

"I thought it was hilarious. Keep your mouth shut next time, Swan."

The group heads off in different directions and Edward debates staying to help Isabella clean up. After a few moments, he heads towards the biology building, wishing the Swan girl had a friend.

Thank you to holliroo92 and Sean2015 for your reviews, and to all those who have followed/favourited!

This story seems to be pouring out of me so it looks like it's possibly going to be daily updates for the foreseeable future :)

Also, "leavers" is slang for leaving party in the UK - it occurs when you leave secondary school or sixth form!

Hope you're liking this!