Chapter 4
Grade 9
It was a week into classes. The excitement of freshman year and first year of high school had finally died down, and all the new students were finally beginning to understand how much more difficult classes were going to be. Already, Bella Swan had to spend more time on homework in one evening then she had to in one week of grade 8. That was most likely because Bella took all the harder classes, but granted, it was still very different from middle school.
Talk had begun of a new boy coming to grade 9. The Cullens had just moved from Seattle, and they were late in registering their children for school. Two boys, Edward and Emmett, were both being enrolled in Forks High school. Emmett would be a senior. Edward would join her class as a freshman.
She hadn't yet caught a glimpse of the new boy yet but she had heard quite a bit about it. Still, Bella never liked gossiping, so she never openly discussed him, even when her best friend Angela was chatting about how cute the boy was. Angela thought everyone was cute, so Bella didn't think too much of it.
So she was surprised when she walked into her honors science class at the end of the day, and the seat besides her at her table was taken by a skinny, bronzed hair boy. She knew it was the new kid immediately because he was the only face she didn't recognize from preschool. Also, he was garnering a lot of attention. All the kids kept stealing glances in his direction, but they were too scared to approach him. His discomfort was all too apparent from his face.
Bella considered finding a different spot, but most of the kids had already paired up, and the ones that were left were not exactly people she wanted to sit next to all year long. That's why she'd chosen her own table. With a sigh, she walked over to the new stranger.
Edward glanced up at her walking towards him, and looked immediately worried. "I'm sorry, did I take your spot? I didn't know where else to sit." He apologized. Bella shook her head at him.
"It's no problem. There isn't anyone sitting next to me. You won't be causing any seat wars." She cracked a comforting smile as she sat down. Edward seemed to relax a little bit.
"I'm Edward, by the way." He said shyly. Bella replied internally, I know, but she thought better to say it out loud.
"It's nice to meet you Edward." Bella smiled again, and bent down to grab her books from her backpack.
"And, uh, you are...?" Edward asked nervously. Bella looked back at him blankly for a second, and then common sense flickered in her head.
"Oh, of course, silly me. I'm Bella. Bella Swan." She shook her head at her own idiocy. "I'm sorry, I can't even remember the last time I had to introduce myself to anyone. Maybe first day of kindergarten." Edward laughed shyly, his pink lips revealing braces covered teeth. He really was cute.
"If it makes you feel better, you're only like the third person I had to introduce myself to. Everyone else just knew my name." A glance at Bella's guilty face let Edward know Bella was one of those people. He sighed.
"In our defense, not many exciting things happen in Forks." Bella tried to explain.
"And this is supposed to be exciting?" Edward asked miserably.
"You have no idea. New people are like snow in June. Unless you live in Australia. Or New Zealand." Bella blurted. "Wait, no, my point is, it never happens. You are the Messiah."
Edward gave her a sad smile. "Yeah, well, I don't want to be. I don't even want to live here."
Bella's tried to give him some comfort, tiny as she could muster. "It's actually not that bad. You just have to get used to it." She gave him a reassuring smile. "You'll grow to love it, I promise."
Edward held her gaze for a moment. Then he looked away, his cheeks reddening just the tiniest bit. "Maybe it won't be that bad." The teacher began their lecture, effectively cutting of their conversation.
The next few days, Edward and Bella remained paired up for science. They talked often, and things never seemed awkward between them. Edward was sweet and funny, and Bella was glad she had decided to sit next to him. But she wasn't the only person who noticed. The whole class seemed to like Edward, and three days in, he was already seated with the popular kids. Bella always saw him surrounded by other people in the halls, so she never tried to approach him. In class though, they got on really well.
"What do you usually do at lunch?" Edward asked one day.
"I hang out with my friend Angela in library." Bella could hear how lame she sounded as she said it.
"Huh." Edward replied. "Maybe I'll come find you one day."
The next day, however, Bella had some terrible food poisoning from dinner at Billy's, something to do with the fish, and she was very ill. Charlie took work off to take care of her, and everyday after school, Angela came over with notes and assignments from school. Bella stayed home for four days. When she finally went back to school on Friday, more than a little excited to see Edward again, she was met by the worst sight.
Tanya Denali was now seated next to Edward. Her chair was too close to his, and even though he was leaning away from her, he was still smiling. Bella's heart hurt. When Edward caught her eye, he looked apologetic. "Bella, hey, how are you feeling?"
"I'm here, so I must be feeling better." She realized how mean she sounded, and tried again. "I'm feeling much better, Edward. Thanks for asking." Tanya was eyeing Bella like she just farted in her face, so Bella decided to find a new spot, and started to look around.
"I'm sure Tanya wouldn't mind if you wanted your old spot back." Edward said hopefully. But Tanya's face screamed that she would sure as hell mind, and Bella couldn't be bothered to upset her.
"No, it's okay, Edward. I'll just go sit next to Eric."
After class, Edward approached her. "Hey, I'm sorry about your seat. Tanya came up to me one day and just sat down, and I didn't want to be rude." Bella was shaking her head before he was done speaking.
"It's no problem. It's just a spot. And we'll still see each other in class, right?" Bella asked. Edward didn't look satisfied, but he let it go.
They didn't talk much after that. Bella got on better than she expected with Eric, and she barely glanced at Edward, even though she could sometimes feel his gaze on her. Tanya never left his side, however, and slowly, Edward became more and more popular. After he joined the football team, he was unreachable. Never mean, or cocky, but always distant. Over the years, they would glance at each other, sometimes smile, but they hadn't had a conversation since that fateful day in grade nine.
That was four years ago.
Weird was an understatement of how Bella felt when she walked into Mr Banner's room. She felt entirely uncomfortable, and cursed herself for not offering to pick up and drop off Mr Banner's kid instead of agreeing to this. This was humiliating. Regardless, she had given her word, and so she must follow through.
The room was empty besides Edward. He sat in the front row, with his head in both hands, his knuckles now gauzed up. His hair was wilder than normal, and he was hunched over his desk. He looked up when Bella walked in.
"Bella," he murmured her name. "What are you doing here? Where's Banner?"
"Um, he asked me to babysit you for a few minutes. He had a family emergency." Edward's eyebrows scrunched up together. He looked worried for the teacher, but he was also amused. Bella continued. "And I know you could just get up and leave, and I wouldn't be able to stop you, but please don't. I really need his recommendation."
This caused Edward to let out a quiet laugh. The sound caught her breath.
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." His face became more somber then, and he looked at the floor. Bella stole a glance at his knuckles. They seemed fine, but she could see some dried up blood on his long sleeves. He caught her staring, and she looked away.
"You're not gonna ask me? Why I did it?" Edward seemed surprised. Bella shook her head. Edward pursed his lips, waiting for her to say something.
"It's none of my business" Bella spoke quietly. Edward looked at her gratefully. Then he let out a sigh.
"That didn't stop anybody else." He muttered angrily. He didn't say anything after. Bella realized he was waiting for her to reply again.
"I'm sure you had your reasons." Bella responded. Edward nodded, and Bella thought that the conversation was over. He was relieved he didn't need to explain himself, and that was the end of it, she thought to herself. He surprised her when he spoke again.
"He had been talking to Alice. He was trying to get with her." Edward growled quietly. "He was going to...sleep with her, and send her pictures to everyone on campus." Bells could feel the flames of fury licking Edward's every word.
"Why?" She couldn't help but whisper.
"Because he hates me. And I made team captain, though he's played longer. He thinks I stole it from him."
She felt a hint of Edward's rage then. No wonder Edward lost it. James Hunter was a sick, sick bastard.
"He deserved it then." She stated. Edward gave her a dangerous smile.
"I think so too." But then he sighed, and he was sad again. "Except that I fucked up too much, and now I'm stuck here." He was playing his role of misery well, but she knew his hand. Edward had gotten laid off so easy, and Bella had been there to see it.
"Oh I'm sure it's not going to be that bad. I think you'll be just fine." The challenge in the tone of her voice caught his attention. His slightly raised eyebrow let her know that he suspected something, but his smile knew she wasn't a threat. She wasn't going to give up his secret.
"It already doesn't seem that bad. I think I lucked out." He said, smirking at her. She ducked her head, and felt the rush of heat engulfing her cheeks. He just meant that it better to be talking to another student his age than being stuck with a teacher, she told herself.
"Must be nice. I must have the worst luck, or else I wouldn't be stuck here supervising the most troubled teen in all of Forks. I should be fearing for my life." This made Edward laugh loudly, and Bella noticed how white and straight his teeth were now.
"I can't believe I did that." Edward admitted. "I must be losing my mind."
"Maybe you are." Bella laughed and shook her head. It had only been five minutes. Realizing that Bella was going to be here or another fifteen minutes, and plopped herself up on Mr Banner's desk, a few feet away from Edward. "You must be the only guy in the last three years to have had detention, so clearly something is up."
Edward seemed to enjoy the playfulness in her tone, and teased back. "Hey now, you've seen the breakfast club. Detention is the rite of passage to a fulfilling high school experience. Maybe I orchestrated this whole thing so I could land in here. Find my own group of misfits."
"Seems like your masterful plan worked. All these people here are dying to be part of your squad." She remarked sarcastically, gesturing to the empty classroom.
"You're here. That's one. And you gotta start somewhere." Edward shrugged his shoulders.
Bella scoffed. "No thanks. I'm good right where I am, safe and sound. I don't need to be tainted with the likes of you."
"C'mon, Bella. Live a little. Join the dark side. It's brilliant from where I'm standing." Edward pleaded, his eyes shining with mirth. Bella shook her head made a show of looking at him with pity.
"Oh Edward! You used to be so good. So pure. What went wrong? Was it your rapid rise to fame that got to your head? Or was it the drugs?" Bella feigned concern. Edward's lips trembled behind a hidden laugh, but he stayed in character.
"I've been the victim of the worst sin of all." He said miserably. "Love." Bella shook with laughter, but quickly reigned her amusement meant and shook her head in understanding.
"Love." She spat out. "It gets even best. Even Shakespeare didn't stand a chance against its wrath."
"Poor Willy." Edward said in the most dramatic way, wiping fake tears out of his eyes.
Bella couldn't hold it in any longer. The absurdity and improvisation of their entire conversation had her laughing very hard. Edward joined her, throwing his head back and letting out a guffaw. He clutched his stomach, forgetting for a moment his bruised knuckles, and winced immediately when pain shot up his arm.
Bella leaned toward him instantly before she caught herself. "Does it hurt really badly?"
Edward shook his head. "Not really. It stings, but it also makes me feel hella badass, so I guess it's worth it."
"Worth the week of detention?" Bella jokingly asked.
"From what I've experienced of detention so far, it's embarrassing how far away from miserable I feel right now. So yes." Edward stared right at her face. Bella looked away.
"That's just for today, though. Fortunately, it's just you and Banner for the rest of the week." Edward groaned. "Hey, who knows? Maybe you'll find Mr Banner is a narc or maybe an ex marine and it'll be the most exciting week of your life?" Bella offered.
Edward ignored her. He said instead, "Are you sure I can't convince you to spend the rest of the week in detention with me? I'll make it worth your time. Give you the whole 'Breakfast Club' experience."
"As tempting as that offer sounds, and you had me for a minute there, but after I graduate, I'd actually like to go to college, and detention doesn't look good on any application. Besides, there's not much I can do that can land me here." Bella said smugly. Her record was perfect. No way was she ever going to be in here for something she did.
Edward kept his face indifferent, but his eyes were daring. They screamed 'we'll see about that.'
"I guess I'll just have to try harder to convince you." It sounded as much as flirting as it did threatening. The whole conversation was exhilarating.
"I wouldn't hold my breath." Bella teased back, playing coy. Edward contemplated on something for a moment.
"You really shouldn't have said that." Edward said finally, thoughtfully. Bella's face crinkled in confusion. What?
"What's that supposed to-"
The door flew open, and in walked Mr Banner. "Oh Bella, it's good that you're still both here. Told you I wouldn't be longer than twenty."
It took a moment for Bella to look away from Edward's smug face, and then she spoke. "Of course, Mr Banner. You brought your daughter to her grandma's okay?"
"Yes, Bella, thank you for asking. And thank you for filling in for me. Edward didn't give you a hard time?" He looked between the two teenagers. Edward shook his head and zipped his lips. Bella was reluctant, but shook her head as well.
"Okay, so you are free to go." He said, addressing Bella. "And, Bella, I'd appreciate your discretion. I'm sure Mr Berty would not be pleased with me, and I'd like to keep this job."
"Yes, of course, Mr Banner." Bella responded immediately, "You'll have no trouble from me."
"Good!" Mr Banner exclaimed. "Well, I don't want to keep you any longer. I'm sure you have stuff to do." Bella nodded, and turned to leave, until a thought popped into her head.
"Mr Banner, I forgot to tell you. Berty okayed the dance. We have permission to do it."
Banner looked ecstatic. "That's great news! You and Angela will do a great job, I'm sure of it."
"Um, thank you…" Bella replied awkwardly. She never knew how to take compliments. "I should go now…" She turned to leave, until another voice grabbed her attention,
"Bye, Bella" Edward called out, smiling mischievously. "I'm sure I'll see you here again soon."
"Bye, Edward." Bella replied curtly, rushing out of the room with only one thought in her head.
What the fuck was that?
Things I never used to do: write long chapters (i totally stole that from the dusty outtake. Please forgive me)
So this ones a novel compared to my usual chapters, but I was having so much fun with it that I didn't want to stop. Leave me your thoughts on Edward and Bella, and grade 9 Edward and Bella. I like reviews. They keep me going.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you again very soon.
-ashley
