A/N: Hello again! It's the beginning of a new week and here's the first of this week's three uploads! This one is another Edward POV, and will be the last one for a while. There is no 'Previously...' because it isn't a direct follow on from that very moment - it's the next day. This is my shortest chapter yet. Anyway, thanks for the reviews you've given me so far! Keep 'em coming! :D

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all connected to it. I only own this story line and any characters not included in her original saga!

I'll Always Find Peace In The Meadow

Chapter Seven: 'One more try' (Edward POV)

Tuesday 18 April 2017

Thanks to how yesterday played out, I'm not too enthused about going to school today. I can feel it in my bones, in my gut. It's heavy, and unsettling. I want to be excited for it, but I just can't find any. If there is any excitement, any at all, for school, it's buried deep into my emotions, hidden by strong feelings of dread and loathing.

I have no energy today. Not one ounce of me wants to get out of bed. I'm dreading facing another day at that place. More specifically, another day of upsetting Bella, even though I don't see how I did so yesterday. She hates me nonetheless. I'm feaful for another day of insistent flirting from Lauren and Jessica. Another day of scrutinizing stares from Rosalie and judgemental eye rolls from my sister. Another day of rude remarks about my sister from Jasper, and almost unbelievably incorrect calculus answers from Tyler.

Emmett isn't so bad. I haven't spent a lot of time with him, but so far he hasn't given me a reason to be wary of him. He's just really clueless when it comes to his girlfriend.

I reluctantly get out of bed and quickly throw myself through the shower. I get dressed in some dark denim jeans and a grey t-shirt, before shuffling up the stairs. I go to the kitchen and can already hear my mom and Alice chattering away happily.

It is not normal for people to have that much energy so early in the morning.

They have always been like this. My whole family have, even my dad. They are all morning people, whereas I'm one of those that you should leave well alone in the morning. It's like poking a beehive, and awakening all the once peaceful slumbering bees - it's deadly.

I silently walk around the kitchen, trying to find the things I need in this new layout (the fact that most of it remains unpacked makes it that much harder) and fix myself a bowl of cereal. After pouring a cup of coffee, I walk out of the rear kitchen door and turn left, to get to the informal dining area.

This dining area is very open. It's a six-sided bay that has a window on every wall of that bay, exposing all occupants to the wonderful views. The view of the large expanse of wilderness behind our house has me wanting to grab my camera and snap some photos. A big, circular table sits in the center of the once empty room, surrounded by five chairs. It's a lot more suitable for us than the formal dining area, which has ten seats.

Alice and my mom are sat at the table, next to each other. I sit opposite them, with my back to the entrance.

"Morning, Edward," my mom says.

"Morning," I grumble, as I shovel a spoonful into my mouth. I barely aim right, resulting in most of the milk dripping down my chin. My mom's nose wrinkles at the sight, and she offers me a tight-lipped smile before turning back to Alice.

They both have waffles and strawberries for breakfast, which they nibble at as they look through a chunky catalog that is laid between them on top of the table. It's probably a clothing catalog, knowing them.

I'm about to put another spoonful into my mouth, when the joyful, loud voice of my father startles me. "Good morning, everybody!"

I end up spilling some more milk down my chin. For fucks sake! I wipe at it with a napkin, and try to ignore my mother's second look of disdain at my clumsy eating habits. I'm not usually this clumsy, but it is early and I'm not in the best of moods. I'm going to take them as my reasons.

"Edward, be careful when you eat," my dad instructs as he pulls out the chair to my right and sits down. My first reprimand of the day is from... drum roll, please... Carlisle Cullen. That's usually the starting point of my day… I wonder who will be next!

"Sorry," I mumble, still in a bad mood, but for additional reasons now. You know what I'd love? For my father to wake up in the morning and pleasantly greet me when he sees me for the first time. Instead, I get an instruction or correction from him. Nothing more than that. I am normally the first to say 'hello' to him, or 'how are you?'.

"I'll go fetch your breakfast, Dear," my mom says, as she stands and leaves the room. She's back a couple of minutes later, placing a plate piled with food in front of my dad. I look to my bowl of cereal and then at the three plates surrounding me. Their breakfasts sure look appetizing. I sigh as I consume another mouthful of boring, soggy cereal.

"Thank you, love. I won't be able to eat all of this though; I must be leaving soon," my father says, tucking into his food. He scoffs down as much as he can in a few minutes, before gulping down his boiling coffee and standing. "I'm sorry to leave so soon, but I was called into a last minute meeting at the hospital. There seems to be a problem," he says.

"Oh, don't worry. You best be off then," my mother says as she stands. He hugs her, and kisses her cheek delicately, before wishing her a good day. He then leans down to kiss Alice's cheek.

"See you later, Princess. Good luck with that test today," he says.

"Thank you, Daddy!" she replies, a large grin stretched across her face.

He then turns for the door. "Bye, Edward," he says as he walks past me. He offers me a lazy wave. That's it.

"Bye," I answer, but he's already out of the room. Good luck to you too, Edward. - Oh thank you, Father, I think to myself, sarcastically. I overheard Alice telling our parents, last night during dinner, about the cross-curriculum test that's taking place today. It'll only be us taking it, and it's for our teachers to see what level we're working at, seeing as we've been in a completely different State for most of the academic year. Why they can't converse with our previous school, I'll never know. Would make things much easier.

I stand from the table and collect my dishes, before making my way to the kitchen. After tidying away what I need to, I head downstairs to get my last items for school. Now all I have to do is wait.

Alice leaves it until the last minute to be ready to leave. I hate relying on her. I can't wait until I can drive.

~I*A*F*P*I*T*M~

That was extremely painful.

I don't see why Mr. Potter feels the need to force Tyler to answer the questions. He'll never get them right. It's a lost cause. He didn't get a single one correct today... just like yesterday. I was starting to feel sorry for him. I'm glad to be done with that lesson, and that's the first time I've said that about maths of any kind.

Now time for Biology. I take a deep breath in before I enter the classroom. It's mostly empty, seeing as I practically sprinted out of Calculus. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Almost all of the chairs are empty. Only a handful of students are huddled around a desk along the right of the room, and then there is Bella, sat in the same space as yesterday. I contemplate sitting as far from her as possible, but then decide against it.

It couldn't hurt to try approaching her again, right?

She's sat with her head buried in a notebook, where she's doodling, again. Without thinking about it any further, and before I can talk myself out of it, I stride to the back of the room, and sit myself on the stool beside her.

"Hi," I say as cheerily as I can. I see her look to me out the corner of her eye, before she bends her head further to the page and carries on drawing.

I sigh. What is her problem? Feeling defeated, I huff like a petulant child and cross my arms across my chest, turning to face the still somewhat empty classroom. I try to ignore her presence, just as she is doing to me, but I can't. I don't know what my deal is. I just can't seem to give up.

Maybe it's the challenge she is practically offering me on a platter. It's like coming across a big red button that has 'DO NOT PRESS' written on it. Of course you are going to press the damn button! It's too tempting! This situation is a lot like that. Bella is proposing a challenge; one where I have to coerce her into a conversation with me, even if it's strictly civil. I need something from her. Any kind of positive reaction, at all. The more she refuses, the more I want to make her like me. Even for a second.

But first, I need to get her to look at me. How am I-

Aha! There is only one way I accomplished that yesterday. The first time she looked at me in class was when I looked her up and down. It can't hurt to try.

So, I do just that. I look her up and down, but afterwards, when I look up to her face, I see she has only sunk herself lower to her desk. Is she trying to become a part of the table? I don't think she can get any closer, and still manage to do whatever it is she is doing.

I sigh once more, and decide to go for a different approach. I start thinking... and look at her again. I hope she realises it's Spring. I know it's not exactly tank top weather outside, but it's definitely not cold enough for a thick, black hoodie, which is precisely what she is currently wearing - along with a pair of light denim boyfriend jeans and the same scruffy black Converse high tops as yesterday.

"Do you only ever wear Converse?" I ask her, just deciding to go for it. The silent creepy approach obviously isn't working.

I am met with silence. A cold, dead silence.

And an equally cold, dead stare.

"What?" she demands after a few moments.

"I said, do you onl-"

"I know what you said!" she interrupts, biting the words at me.

"Oh, um, okay. Sorry," I reply, feeling chastised. I feel my shoulders slump involuntarily. Bella continues to stare at me. Her eyes are still closed off from me; a chocolate brown with no emotion - well, except anger. Anger for me, and my stupid, yet innocent question. "Well?" I finally ask, raising both my eyebrows. Technically, she still hasn't answered me.

"Yes, I do only ever wear Converse. Problem?" she asks shortly. I can feel myself becoming flustered, and nervous. What is it with this girl? I can't seem to do anything right.

"No. No problem at all. I was just... curious," I tell her, shrugging.

"Yeah, well curiosity killed the cat. Ever heard of that saying?" she asks rhetorically. I know it's rhetorical, because she turns back to her notebook before I can give her an answer.

Even if she doesn't wish for an answer, I decide to give her one anyway. But before I can, Mr. Banner calls for the class' attention. I didn't even realise everyone had entered, or that our teacher had arrived.

I sigh and turn to the front, disheartened at how our conversation turned out.

~I*A*F*P*I*T*M~

Biology goes by at an unbelievably slow pace, but I know the reason for that: Bella. She continues to ignore me for the entire fifty minutes, and I can't comprehend why it bothers me so much. Much like yesterday, Bella packs up slower than necessary, and I'm out of the classroom before she has even packed up half of her stuff.

~I*A*F*P*I*T*M~

I try and forget about the whole situation for the rest of the day. But I don't succeed. As time passes by, my anger builds. Why do I feel bad about the fact that Bella is cold towards me? Who is she to me? I haven't done anything wrong, and I sure as hell haven't made this much effort with anyone else. Why am I chasing her? It's not my job to make her like me.

When lunch comes around, I've made up my mind. I'll give it one more try. I tell myself that there must be a reason I'm so hooked on getting her to talk to me, in another way besides hostile. I don't know that reason, but I do know that there is one. I hope the chance to speak to her will come sooner than later, and as luck would have it, it does.

I've chosen to try some of the school food today, instead of bringing my own. I head for the line before going to my table. Everyone is already sat there, but I don't feel like going over to them straight away.

I don't see her at first. I keep my eyes locked on the front of the line, disbelieving of how slow it's moving. I huff and look down to retrieve my phone from my pocket, wanting to find something to do while I stand here. That's when I realise who is stood in front of me.

I see Converse. Black Converse, to be more specific. I slowly raise my eyes... light blue jeans, black hoodie, brown hair - which she has piled messily on top of her head today. Bella!

This is my chance. One more try. That's all I'm giving now. After this, I'll forget that I ever attempted to talk to her, that I ever tried to be friendly.

I clear my throat first. Due to the fact that it's pretty loud in here, I put her lack of response down to inability to hear me. Guess I'll have to get her attention some other way.

With only a slight hesitation, I raise my hand and tap her shoulder. She whips around so fast that she stumbles, bumping into the person in front of her. She winces. Seriously? She has a really weak pain tolerance. She hardly touched the guy. The person in front of her turns to give her a glare, but she's oblivious to this. Her murderous gaze is set on me.

I feel nervous all of a sudden, and begin shuffling from one foot to the other. Shit! This hasn't gone how I wanted it to. Say something, you moron. I open my mouth to do just that, but no words come out.

Bella raises her eyebrows expectantly, but still, no sound leaves my mouth. "Can I help you?" she asks. Her voice isn't as harsh as I expected, but I think that's because we are surrounded by people, so she is trying to keep her voice down.

"Um, I just wanted to say... uhh... sorry?" I say, though it comes out as more of a question. It's the first thing that came to mind. Why would I need to apologise? I am so fucking stupid.

Bella sighs. "This again? Really? What are you apologising for this time?" she questions, arching a single eyebrow.

Just say what you need to say. I take in a deep breath, and release it slowly before answering her. "I just feel like I have done something to upset you. I don't know what... the way we met yesterday, my question about your shoes today... I... I don't know, but whatever it is, I am sorry."

I wait with bated breath for her to respond. She stares at me blankly for a second. I search her eyes for any tell of what she is feeling, but as usual, they show nothing.

"You..." she begins, but stops short, seeming to rethink her answer. "There's nothing for you to apologise for," she says. Then she turns her back to me.

Okay... I think I've just been dismissed. I can't help but feel like she's wrong. I must have done something to warrant this treatment. No one treats someone this way, unless they deserve it. And I don't, do I?

I lean down, seeing as she's smaller than me, so my head is hovering over her shoulder and close to her ear - but not inappropriately close. "I beg to differ... Could you please tell me what I've done wrong?" I ask, my voice as soft as I can make it go. Inside, I'm starting to feel angry. And defeated. But my voice doesn't reflect any of this, thankfully.

She turns, but hasn't realised how close I am, so her head bumps into mine. Luckily I had began to pull back already, so the knock wasn't too harsh. I expect her to wince or show any sign of pain, like she has in the past, but she doesn't. Her cheeks flood with colour, and she suddenly steps back, so there is more distance between us.

"What is your problem?! I told you, you've done nothing wrong. Now just leave me alone. Got it?" Her voice has risen slightly, but it's still not loud enough to gain too much attention. One or two people around us have started looking, and I know that I need to wrap this up. I've obviously made a mistake in ever trying to be nice to this girl.

"I'm not the one with a problem," I retort. Maybe that was a bit harsh-

No! It wasn't harsh at all. It's exactly what she deserves.

I watch her face for a reaction, but she just turns to face away from me again, completely unfazed by what I said. It's either that, or she's great at masking her emotions.

That's it. The final straw has been drawn. I've made my final attempt, and it was an utter fail. I won't try again now. She's obviously got issues. I haven't understood why the others spoke about her the way they did, but I am starting to see it now. She's completely unapproachable. Maybe she is the reason she has no friends. It would make sense.

There was something about this girl that intrigued me at first. I wanted to know why she sits alone, why she is so quiet, why she wears dark, baggy clothes. I wanted to know why she is different. There's a reason for every life choice, and for some reason, I wanted to know her reasoning for these choices.

But now? Now, I couldn't care less. Rudeness is a bad quality to have. It's an ugly trait to possess.

It's surprising, how fast you can go off of someone. How fast you can become uninterested in them

.

A/N: Please don't hate me! And don't lose faith! Bella has been alone for a long time. Closeness and companionship is alien to her, so this relationship is going to be a slow builder. I hope you're all up for that!

Next upload will be Bella's POV... her thoughts on the events of the past couple chapters (don't worry, there won't be much overlapping and repetition - I know I hate when there's too much of that) and more of her home life. There are quite a few Bella POV's coming up next. I hope you're ready... and as excited as I am!

Thank you once again for reading! Leave me your thoughts and perhaps some predictions? How do you think this Bella and Edward's friendship/relationship will progress? What do you think the next step in it will be? Let me know!

See you on WEDNESDAY!