Chapter 5 – Foot in Mouth Disease

EDWARD

Just like I thought, the guys were missing from school the next day. Emmett, the big guy, seemed kind of lost without them, and he surprised me when he nodded in my direction and asked me what was up.

Before I could answer, Alice was bouncing over, and I could see bad things in my future. "He's going to ask Bella Swan to the spring dance," she said smirking.

Emmett looked at me confused. "I thought you weren't fucking bunny girl?"

"I'm not!" I snapped.

"Not fucking or not taking her to the dance?" he asked again.

"I'm not fucking her, man."

"Then why are you taking her?"

"Geez, I don't know, Alice thinks I should," I shrugged. "Somebody's got to."

I heard a gasp from behind me and saw the dark-haired girl in question. Her crooked glasses were taped and tipping to the side. Her eyes were watering, and she pulled them off her face, leaving her glorious brown eyes unsheltered. Her ivory pale face was blushed a beautiful crimson, her lashes dark and thick around those chocolate orbs. I was mesmerized, until she snapped. "Don't do me anymore favors, asshole!" she said and pushed past us.

"Damn, she's a bit ungrateful," Emmett said.

"No, she's not," I said shaking my head, feeling like a complete jackass. I guess I was not going to the dance after all.

Needless to say, by the time we got to biology, things were messed up. Dr. Banner announced a lab and told us to get with our partners. Everyone had one but me, being the new kid, and I guessed no one wanted to be with Bella, either. I didn't know why. She was obviously smart. Brain size was more important than cup size when it came to lab partners. It just so happened that Bella wasn't lacking in either. It was just hard to tell with the baggy old flannel shirt she was wearing. I wanted her to hang her glasses in her shirt again, so it would pull it tight against her breasts.

I heard her let out a huff when I sat down. She pulled off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. The thick lenses must have been heavy on her little button nose. "Why do you wear glasses?" I blurted out.

She glared at me before she slammed them back on her face, looking annoyed as hell. "Because I'm virtually blind without them, why don't you walk without your legs?" she snapped.

"Uh, because I can't." This girl was quick. I think I liked it.

She rolled her eyes at me and pulled the lab paper over in front of her. She started going through the slides, not even looking at me, filling out the answers without talking to me. It was only ten minutes in that she finished and pulled out a book.

I grabbed the paper and started double checking her answers.

"What are you doing?" she snapped.

"The lab," I said in a duh voice.

"It's already done." She was still annoyed and tried to take the paper from me.

"You did it. Not me, I'm just looking over the answers."

"Well, they're all right."

"Are you sure?" I asked, an evil plan forming in my head.

"Of course I'm sure."

"Alright, if I find one wrong answer, then you have to go to the spring dance with me."

"No," she said flatly.

To say I was a little shocked was an understatement. Why wouldn't she want to go with me? "Why not?"

"Look, I don't know what you have planned, but I'm not going to be a part of it," she said waving her pencil at me like a sword.

"Come on, Bella, what do you have to lose?" I asked and gave her my best puppy begging eyes. I could see her cracking. At least I thought she was cracking. She closed her eyes and pulled off her glasses again. I thought she probably needed a new prescription or something.

She looked up at me with her glasses off and took a deep breath. "No," she said again.

"Holy shit, you just used your blindness to your advantage. No one can resist my puppy pout," I said. She rolled her blind eyes at me and looked forward into what I was guessing was just fuzz, since she couldn't even see me sitting next to her. "Bella," I pleaded, "Alice is making me go. I don't want to go with a whore. You're the only chick in Forks who I'm sure has no STD's."

"How would you know?" she snapped. My brows furrowed, but she couldn't see it. "Look, I may not be a whore, but I'm just as sexually viable as the next girl."

What the hell? "You want to fuck?" I asked, and her face turned pink. It was cute.

She slammed her book shut and stomped up to the front desk where Dr. Banner was. "I'm done, Dr. Banner. The usual homework?" she asked.

"Yes, Ms. Swan," he answered.

"Mind if I finish the hour in the library?"

"That's fine," he said. I noticed she stumbled to the door, and I realized she had left her glasses. I grabbed them, my book bag, and our lab paper. I handed the paper over. "Do you mind if I join Ms. Swan? She forgot her glasses," I said holding them up.

He eyed me for a moment, as if he was trying to decide if I was trustworthy, which I wasn't, but I hoped he hadn't heard that yet. "Fine," he finally decided, and I hurried out of the room before he could change his mind.

I looked down the hall and saw Bella leaning with her head against the wall. She was crying softly, and I felt like an ass for chasing her out of class. Of course, I couldn't help but check her out as she stood there. Her clothes were all baggy, ratty and old, but I could see by the way her pants were cinched on her hips that she had a really nice figure under them. I kind of wanted to grab her ass to feel if it was as firm as it looked. I found myself standing a little too close to her and leaned in whispering, "Hey, pretty girl, what are you doing?" I asked.

Yeah, not as smooth as I thought, because she turned around and smacked me in the neck. I think she was aiming for my head, but she was really blind. I grabbed her hands, trying to save myself, only leaving myself open to being kneed. "Fuck," I squealed like a girl as I hit the floor. I saw her getting ready to kick me, but I grabbed her foot and pulled her down. I pinned her under me so she couldn't move and smashed her glasses onto her face. "Jesus, woman, please. I was just bringing you your glasses."

It was then I realized she was full-out crying. I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." I suddenly realized I'd just about attacked a blind girl, who was stuck alone in a deserted hallway.

To my surprise, she sobbed out, "I'm sorry," but I shushed her and pulled her into my lap.

"Hey, you should fight a stranger you don't know. You were doing pretty good. Why don't you fight off Tyler and those assholes?" I asked.

She looked away ashamed. "It's easier to just take it. Besides, they aren't really hurting me."

I picked up her scratched hand and turned her palm up. "I beg to differ."

"Did you really beat them up?"

"Fuck yeah! Assholes shouldn't touch girls like that," I said.

She looked away, and I didn't like it. "There were no wrong answers; you wouldn't have been able to trick me into going to the dance with you," she said out of the blue, referring to the bet I had tried to make on the lab work.

"I planned on changing one so you would," I confessed.

She looked at me confused and shook her head. "Why are you talking to me? Don't you know it's not good for your reputation?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Fuck that. I'll talk to whoever I want. So, will you go with me? I really don't want to get stuck with that bitch, Lauren, and it'll kind of piss off my folks if I take you and have a good time. Do you mind?" I asked again.

She looked at me confused. "You really want to go with me?"

"Yeah, as I said, you're the only girl I've seen around here who isn't a fucking whore. You were my first choice, since Alice insisted I had to go to this thing."

Tears started dripping down her face, and she took her glasses off again. I wiped them before she could. "Please don't cry. Just let me take you. I'm not really a spring dance kind of guy, but my sister has me by the balls. I have to keep an eye on her, so I have to go. I really would like to go with you."

She sniffled and nodded yes. I pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you. I promise we'll have fun. I'll find a way to make it fun for you."

She giggled into my neck, and it made my insides warm up. I already really liked Bella Swan. Probably more than I should have.