Chapter 13

Bella was not having the best time. After meeting with Mike, she came home with a message from Dr. Cullen, to see him after school. Apparently someone had finally noticed that she skipped the blood draw during her physical due to low blood pressure, and so after gym her BP should be high enough. So she went, and of course, got woozy despite hiding her face while they poked her. She just couldn't help it, the smell made her sick. They made her eat a cookie before she left, so she went ahead and called the store to let Mike know she couldn't hang out that night.

He remembered, of course, the day last year in Bio where they did blood type testing, and he had to drag her outside for fresh air. Unfortunately, Saturday was a wash, since basketball practice was starting that very day, and Mike was trying to get in to Princeton. He figured their basketball team needed fresh blood, so even if he couldn't win a sports scholarship, it would help his admission prospects - as did the fact his grandfather went. They chatted about college for a while, finally deciding to get lunch on Sunday if it was ok with Bella's dad.

It was not. The prospect of her possibly going on a date made him say immediately, "When was the last time you saw the Blacks? You're coming fishing." Which sucked on all levels, but the worst was that Jake was too sick to come. Bella brought a couple of books at least, and it didn't rain much, but she still had to get up at five in the morning, and was so exhausted that she burned herself frying up the fish for dinner. At least she had finished her homework Saturday - she ended up passing out around 9pm Sunday night.

Mike didn't bring it up during lunch, thank God, just let her complain about the fishing trip. He likewise countered with what a hardass the coach was on Saturday, since they were out of practice. Basketball was one of the few sports Bella actually understood and therefore enjoyed watching - last year, when Mike and Jess had been together, she went to almost all the games with Jessica - so she let him rant about running "suicides" and free throw practice and such. But she was starting to realize that being cute and having a sense of humor might not be enough to really interest her. Just because he really liked her, it didn't mean they had to go out.

Part of the problem, she thought, was that he laughed at her jokes, but she only smiled at his. Whereas with, say, Jacob, they laughed equally. She hadn't thought of Jacob that way, since he was younger, but if she had to swear to the truth, she found Jacob more interesting than Mike.

She thought of this all through her yoga class, and almost thought she saw him hanging out by her car. But, no, it was some other tall guy who looked nothing like Jake.

"Edward?" she said in amazement. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you remember me. I wasn't sure," he said, not trying to shake her hand or anything. In fact, he seemed to have a personal bubble that was larger than hers.

"Of course I remember you. We came to see you and, uh, Jasper. Except you were pretty quiet."

"Jasper is a little more friendly than I am, one might say. I uh, well, you could say I'm not exactly neurotypical." He gave her a crooked smile that almost made her gasp. Wow, he is so good-looking. Too bad he's gay.

"You mean, like, Asperger's or something?"

"Something like that." His smile was a little tighter now; she supposed it was a sensitive subject. Fortunately he changed it before she could. "I understand we have an acquaintance in common. Dr. Carlisle Cullen?"

She laughed a little. "He's practically my best friend. No, not really. I was in a really bad accident last year though, he pretty much saved my life."

"You - what? Really?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks to lots of yoga and Dr. Cullen. But how do you know him?"

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "He was my parents' doctor when they died. You could say he saved my life as well."

"Oh - Oh God, I'm so sorry!"

Shrugging, he said, "It was ages ago, I barely remember them. But he took me in afterwards."

"Oh! Like uh, Emmett and Rosalie?"

"Exactly. Although I was adopted first. Left home early though." He smiled that smile again, and Bella felt herself blush.

"So you went to school in Montreal and met Jasper there?"

"We met before that. You could say we were recruited at the same time. I'd tell you more, but I'd have to kill you," he said in a silly voice to indicate a joke.

"Wait, you mean you work together too? I guess that makes sense..."

He shook his head. "We only work together. I'm not interested in him that way, you see. I hope you get to spread that gossip faster than the other rumor."

Bella stared at him. "You - you aren't - a couple?"

He gritted his teeth. "Only in the sense that there are two of us. Work partners only, I promise."

"Oh God," she laughed nervously. "Did the silly town gossip tick you off?"

"Not especially, it isn't the first time it's happened, but of course I prefer the truth."

"Right. I went fishing Sunday," she suddenly blurted out.

He looked puzzled, but asked, "Did you have a nice time?"

"Oh, no, I hate going fishing, but my dad and his friends are crazy into it." She took a deep breath. "I mean, we have a lot of fish left, would you want some?"

"Ah, I'm sorry, but Jasper is allergic."

"Do you two always eat the same thing?"

"Well, mostly. It's simpler that way. Except when dining out." Once again the crooked smile came out, and Bella couldn't believe she was talking to one of the most beautiful men in Forks, and he was smiling at her. A lot.

"Then you should come to dinner maybe." Oh no, she actually said that out loud.

"Uh. I don't mean to be rude, but -"

"No, no, nevermind! It's just that we have all this frozen fish, and if you like it and Jasper doesn't, then why not have some? But then I realized I was an idiot."

"I don't think you're an idiot," he said quietly, then smiled at her again, a bigger smile this time, showing teeth, perfect white teeth. "Perhaps your father wouldn't like you inviting strange men to dinner, is what I was going to say."

She swallowed. "Yeah, probably not."

He turned to her truck. "This is yours, is it not? I thought I'd seen it driving past our place."

"Oh, yeah, my dad gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday. It was his friend Billy Black's, but he has to use a wheelchair and prefers automatics now." Babbling, she was babbling. Stupid sexy Edward.

"Jasper's rather obsessed with classic American automobiles, if you want to sell it."

"Why would I want to sell it?" she asked, baffled.

He frowned at her. "You just told me you were in a really bad accident, I just assumed -"

"The truck is perfect," she cut him off. "It was icy, I wasn't even in the truck when the van hit me. And then it hit my truck too, and you can't even tell."

He looked the truck over. "In the back, right?"

"You can tell?"

Crooked smile. "Just because I was looking. Well, I suppose it makes you feel safe, but a modern car with ABS and power steering would probably be far more maneuverable in traffic. We could even do a trade, Jasper really wouldn't mind."

"I'll - I'll talk to my dad," she said, breathless, hating the fact that she was giving in at all.

"I'm sure he'll agree with me. How fast can you even go in this thing?"

"Hey, I happen to enjoy maxing out at fifty-five."

At that, he laughed. "All right, Bella. It was nice chatting with you, I'll see you around." Still no handshake, but a bit of a bow instead. A bow? Weird.

"Um, yeah, you too, Edward. I better get home before my dad calls me."

As she started the truck, she wondered exactly why he waited in the parking lot at school instead of say, dropping by her house, but when she turned to roll the window down, he was already gone. She didn't see his car or Jasper's, though. Where had he parked? Had he actually walked there? It wasn't terribly far, but in that case, why couldn't she see him now?