When I walked into the school, I was instantly bombarded by Mike Newton, a fellow teacher. He was a nice guy, but he definitely was not my type. And, he was way too persistent. Even when James and I were dating, he would try and get me to go on a date with him.
"Hey, Bella," he said.
"Hi, Mike. How are you?" I didn't exactly want to talk to him, but I didn't want to be rude either. Class was going to start soon, so I wouldn't have to speak to him for that long.
"I'm okay. You know, Monday blues," he laughed loudly, causing some people passing to give him a look like he was insane.
"Yeah," I replied softly. I looked up at the clock in the hallway and saw that there was only five minutes until class. Thank god. "Well, I guess I'll talk to you later," I said quickly. I barely heard him reply as I went into my classroom and shut the door. My class was one-of-a-kind. We didn't only read and write, but we had discussions about things that would easily have many different opinions. I liked to let my students say what they felt without feeling judged or afraid. Outside of class, they may act completely different, but once they were inside, they were some of the brightest kids I had ever met. Today's discussion was going to be about the meaning of love. I figured it was appropriate due to the feeling that I had been having the last couple of days, though I was almost positive it hadn't progressed that much. I had only known Edward for about two days. It would be insane to say that I loved him.
The first student to walk into class was Jessica Stanley. She was an extremely intelligent girl, but she often made herself look stupid on purpose. I could only assume that she thought that the boys that she had her eye on liked that sort of thing, but I don't know why they would.
"Hey, Ms. Swan. How was your weekend?" Jessica asked in an abnormally high voice.
"Hello, Jessica. It was good," I could feel myself blushing when I started thinking of how good it really was. "What about you?"
"It was great! I went on a date with this boy named, Jacob Black. He's new here. I think he might even be in this class. But, anyways, I went to La Push with Lauren and he and his friends were there. You know, if you were younger, you would so like him. Anywho, he was supposed to go to school in La Push, but he got kicked out. Totally stupid. I actually forget why. I think it is because he got in a fight. Why someone would mess with him, I have no idea." Jessica kept babbling, and I wasn't paying any attention. She lost me at "You know, if you were younger, you would so like him." Sometimes, she could say some of the weirdest things. As she kept talking, the rest of the class showed up. Luckily, she was silenced with the second bell. Once everyone was seated, I began to talk.
"Hey guys," I said as I walked to the white board to start writing some of the things for today's discussion.
"What's up, Ms. Swan?" Tyler said. Everyone else had responded to the question, but he decided to be louder than the rest of the class.
"Not much, Tyler. And you?"
"Eh. You know. Same old shit, different day," he replied. I allowed cussing in my class, and he used that to it's full advantage. Cussing didn't bother me, and it was such a normalcy in today's language.
"I see," I smiled. "So," I said in a louder voice so I could get the class' attention, "today we are going to be having a discussion about what you guys think is the meaning of love." I didn't hear any grunts from the students, so I was assuming that this was an okay topic.
Just when I was about to continue talking, a tall, muscular boy walked into the classroom. He had dark, tan skin and his hair and eyes were both dark. "Sorry. My name is Jacob Black. I was in the office getting all my shit taken care of." He handed me his tardy slip and looked around the room for a open seat.
"Well, I'm glad you are in this class, Jacob. You can have a seat next to Jessica." I could see the huge smile on her face, and I knew I made her happy. Hopefully she would actually be paying attention.
"Anyways, as I was saying, I want you guys to tell me what you think love really is. After talking, I want you guys to start an essay telling me what you think it is, and what has influenced you to think this way." I heard a few grunts when I mentioned the essay, but I was expecting that.
"I don't get what you're saying," Tyler said.
"Okay. All I want you to do today is tell me what you think love is. I'm going to write in on the board and we are going to see how many different views there are. Then, after today, I want you to start an essay telling me your views on it, and why you think this way." He nodded in understanding and I asked if anyone else had anymore questions. Nobody answered, so I started the discussion by picking a random person. I decided to pick Jacob. He was new, so I was interested in the way he thought. I knew everyone else pretty well.
"I think love is a load of crap," he said, simply. He said it with no emotion, and I could tell that he wasn't going to give me a reason. But, when he did say it, I saw a look of hurt on Jessica's face. I didn't bother asking him any more questions because I knew he wasn't going to participate. I continued to ask the other students, and I found that there were more opinions than I had expected. After both of my classes I packed up my things and was about to go home when I realized, for the second time that day, that I didn't have a ride. This was getting really frustrating. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to call Alice and I noticed I had one unread text message. I saw it was from Edward and there was no stopping my smile.
Call me when you need a ride home.
It was so simple, but it still made my heart beat way too fast. I wanted to see him really bad, so I dialed his number and called him.
"Bella," he said on the second ring.
"Hello, Edward," I replied sweetly.
"I miss you. Do you need a ride?" I could sense that he was smiling on the other line, and it made my knees weak just thinking about it.
"I miss you too. Do you mind giving me one?" I knew I didn't have to ask, but I didn't want him to feel like he was expected to help me like that. I mean, we weren't even dating. Were we? That was something that had been bothering me all day, so I knew I had to ask him soon.
"Of course not. I'll be there soon." And then he hung up. With his crazy driving, he should have been arriving around 5 minutes. 10 minutes tops. While I was waiting, I sat on the bench in front of the school and just people watched. There was so many different types of people, it was amazing. But, then I told myself that that was only their appearance. People that would come across as two total opposites, could end up having more in common than most people. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even see Edward come up and sit next to me.
"Hey, beautiful," he whispered in my ear, causing me to jump.
"Oh! Hello. I didn't even see you." I was embarrassed, and I knew he could tell by the look on his face.
"It's okay. You're cute when you're thinking," he joked.
"Why thank you," I replied as I got up from the bench. I reached out my hand and he happily took it. His touch sent a shock through my body. It felt so good.
The car ride home was fairly silent, but it was a comfortable silence. He held my hand the whole way, which was enough for me.
When we got to Alice's house I noticed that Alice wasn't home. She had mentioned possibly going out with someone, so that was probably where she was. "Alice isn't here," I stated. I looked over at Edward and saw that he had a sneaky yet totally sexy grin on his face. I couldn't help but lean over the center console and kiss him.
"Let's go inside," I managed to say when his lips left mine, only to kiss my neck.
"Yeah." Edward broke us apart and ran over to the passenger side and opened my door. His lips were on mine before I even had a chance to stand up. He carried me into the house and set me down on the couch lightly. He was lying on top of me so that I somehow felt every inch of his body on mine, but he wasn't crushing me. We continued to kiss until we couldn't breath anymore. I reluctantly pulled away and Edward readjusted himself so he was lying on his side next to me. He lightly draped his arm over my waist and pulled me against his chest. I was so content in his arms. I felt safe from everyone and everything. It was a feeling that made me never want to leave.
"Bella, can I ask you something?" he whispered against my neck.
"Of course," I replied.
"Will you be my girlfriend? I'm sorry I couldn't find a better way of asking or anything, but its been killing me that you aren't. But, I understand if you say no. I mean, you and your boyfriend just broke up two days ago." He was so adorable when he was babbling, but I silenced him with a kiss.
"I know that it would seem weird if I said yes even though James and I just broke up, but I can't deny the feelings that I have for you. I can't promise that I will always been emotionally together, if you know what I mean, but if you can deal with that, then yes. I would love to be your girlfriend," I replied. I felt so weird saying yes, only because of the little amount of time that James and I had been broken up. But, Edward seemed to make getting over him go by way faster than I could have ever imagined.
"Thank you, Bella," he said before giving me one last kiss. He pulled my closer to his chest and we just laid there. On the outside, I seemed calm. But, on the inside I was jumping with joy. I, Isabella Swan, was dating Edward Cullen. I closed my eyes, drifting