A/N – Sorry for the long pause between updates. Shouldn't happen again! I'm back in action.
The boy who I had previously been sarcastic to – Mike I think – caught up to us and smiled goofily at me, and since he seemed nice enough, I tried to respond with an equally friendly smile. I looked quickly around the classroom we had just entered while I handed the teacher the slip. He also had a louder voice and a clean-shaven face which would make it easy to read if he did mutter anything. I was about to depart, towards the one empty seat, beside Edward, when someone else opened the door and let in a rush of air. It blew my hair into my face and I tried to sweep it back hurriedly. Edward suddenly reacted as if I'd shot him. He looked furious, recoiling back into his seat. Even the muscles in his neck strained as he sat bolt upright. His coal black eyes bore angry welts into mine and I quickly looked around. What had I missed? Had someone said something? No one seemed even the slightest bit phased. I walked carefully and solemnly to my new seat, feeling the sting of tears, and the warm of a blush. His reaction seemed to be to my presence. What had I done?
Mr Banner began class loudly and enthusiastically. I kept my eyes focused on his lips. It didn't stop me from seeing Edward lean as far as he possibly could away from me, turning his head towards the window and clamping his hand to his mouth. I couldn't smell bad could I? I inhaled a little harder than normal. I just smelled strawberry shampoo. I tried my best to ignore him, and focus on the cellular anatomy lecture. I took avid notes and tried to copy almost word for word, what I could anyway.
"… And the golgi apparatus is where - " Banner had turned away to draw a quick approximation on the whiteboard, I caught the occasional words as he turned back to check the class was watching. "Package... Cell…. Protein construction." I would have been frustrated, but I was honestly the tiniest bit scared. Edward had barely moved. I was positive he wasn't breathing. I wanted to close my eyes and hide for the rest of the hour. I kept my eyes on Banner instead. I knew when the bell eventually rung thanks to two indicators. Banner's head flicked towards the bell suddenly, as he was in the middle of explaining the function of vacuoles. And Edward Cullen shot out of his seat as if it were electrified. He had made it to the door before most people had even closed their notebooks.
I breathed and tried to relax. It wasn't working. My head was pounding. My ears started to ring as my blood pressure dropped from the high it had worked itself up to over the hour. I gathered up my things slowly, and looked towards Angela and Mike. I was still pretty sure it was Mike. Angela looked at me smiling, while Mike started talking about gym class. I thought about my schedule. It was definitely what I had next. He seemed thrilled that we had class together. He was a chatterer and supplied most of the conversation for me. I stumbled twice on my way to the gym, as I was too busy watching his lips to make sure I didn't miss any of his quick tirade of conversation. I was just starting to relax.
"So did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."
Shit. It wasn't normal. Something about me had set him off. Apparently he wasn't normally a scary jerk after all. I decided to play dumb.
"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" I asked, hoping my voice didn't waver in my feigned nonchalance. Mike seemed unfazed by his behaviour, just curious. Maybe the Cullens were outcasts because of their behaviour rather than their strangeness. Maybe they stuck to themselves because they were all a little crazy. I could hope anyway. Mike seemed really friendly and admiring, and even volunteered to be my unofficial partner in the rest of the year's gym classes. I was sure he'd change his mind as soon as he saw how badly coordinated, stiff, and scared of flying objects I was. Still, for the moment it was nice to think about. The gym was particularly hard to hear in. The only things I kept picking up were the squeaking gym shoes. I sat, watching and dreading my forced participation in gym for the next two years. Sigh. If we had a pool it wouldn't be as bad. Phoenix's high school had a decently sized pool. I was no professional by any means, but it was a good part of my physical therapy and I found that I had enjoyed it. I wondered idly if there were any pools in Port Angeles when an errant volleyball bounced dangerously close to my head. I jumped so violently I pulled a muscle in my neck and fell off the bench. Thankfully no one had noticed. I dusted off quickly, easing myself back onto the bench and keeping my thoughts on the games in front of me. The world was terrifying sometimes.
The rest of the class passed quickly. I excused myself slightly early to get to the office to hand in my slip to sign. It was raining more heavily now and I sighed. The splattering background noise was not going to help me filter sounds out. I recognized the tall, bronze-haired figure arching over the desk in front of Mrs Cope. I tried to back unobtrusively into the wall, to wait for her to be free. She looked confused and concerned, and also slightly afraid as she spoke to Edward Cullen. Maybe this was his manner then and I'd just happened to be the latest victim in a string of bad mood and bad manners. I couldn't hear his voice at all, but her response I could read.
"I'm sorry Edward, but there isn't any way you can switch from 6th period biology."
This was about sitting next to me? What? Impossible. I hadn't said a single word to him. I tried to push the worry out of my mind, and then the door behind me opened, flushing a gust of wind into the room. Edward turned sharply, stiffening, and glared at me. For an instant, I felt a thrill of fear. He glared at me.
"Never mind then. I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help."
I hurried to put my slip in the open basket, and barely caught the sound of a question from Mrs Cope.
"I'm sorry?" I asked.
"I asked how your first day went, dear." She repeated with a smile.
"It was fine. Thank you."
I hurried back to my truck. I turned the truck on, feeling the epic vibrations, and hearing the low rumble, which – from the concerned look of the students around me – was not a low rumble at all. I drove home carefully. I focused my efforts on further neatening, cleaning and reorganizing of my room to try and distract myself from thinking about the boy who obviously hated me so much.
The next day was better – it wasn't raining, just overcast, and it was easier because I knew what to expect of my day, less people were introducing themselves, and I was able to assimilate and reaffirm a few of the names I had missed previously – and worse; I was still tired, I'd had a nightmare that woke me a few times in the night, Mr Varner called on me in trig, while I was desperately trying to figure out what he'd even asked and I had the wrong answer as a response, I also managed to cringe away from the volleyball enough that I backed into the coach by accident, and finally, Edward Cullen wasn't at school.
I noticed at lunch that his four siblings where there at lunch. I had been steered towards Mike's table with Jessica and Angela, and they were enjoying an animated conversation about a beach, I think. But I also had the perfect view of the Cullen's table. I kept a ginger eye out. Waiting for him to prance in and glare at me. I kept looking at Angela to follow the conversation as best as I could, and then my eyes would flicker back to the other table. As time passed, I realised that he wasn't going to show. He wasn't in biology either, which made it both easier and harder to focus on the biology lesson. I was busy worrying if it was me that had driven him away. Then busy reassuring myself that I didn't need to worry. Then worried that I'd missed parts of the lesson. It was an awful cycle. I'd need to talk to people about notes.
When the school day was finally done, I grabbed Angela's cell number, and Jessica's since she was within earshot when I asked for Angela's. I had spent two days watching her now. She was patient, and kind, and quick to smile, and always willing to repeat herself if I looked spacey when she talked to me. The perfect kind of person to let in on my secret.