Let the Games Begin
A/N: Hey, guys, sorry this is late. I got my wisdom teeth out on Wednesday and was completely out of it for a couple of days. And now, I'm essentially writing this chapter while high on pain pills, if it shows, I apologize... unless it's funny, then I don't. Haha. Alright, read on.
Chapter 6
Who Wants to Be Normal When You Can Be a Total Spaz Instead?
(BPOV)
When I woke up the next day, I wasn't expecting this day to be any better than the day before. I still had the wear that heinous uniform, be around all of the carbon copies that were my peers, and Edward Masen was still kicking around in my mind like the demon spawn that he was.
Very hot demon spawn- Gah!
I groaned and climbed out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom to find Alice in there fixing her hair. "Good morning, Bella," she chirped. She was way too happy for this early in the morning.
"There is nothing 'good' about the morning," I grumbled. She just snickered and went back to fixing her hair.
"Were you feeling okay yesterday? When I came back you were practically comatose," she said, concern coloring her tone.
"Yeah, I was fine. Just tired." Tired of your fuckhot cousin messing with my head.
"Okay," she said, accepting my answer. She left me to myself then, finishing up her hair. I brushed my teeth and my hair, throwing up into a messy ponytail again (What? It's fucking hot out there.) I bitched under my breath about the damn uniform as I threw it on before grabbing my bag and following Alice out the door.
When we walked into the cafeteria, everyone stared at me like I had gone completely mental. News travels fast around here. Apparently it's frowned upon to have shouting matches with Mr. Popular during Lit class. Who knew? I sighed, focusing on the line in front of me. It was way too fucking early for this kind of shit and I was seriously lacking any sort of caffeine.
When Alice and I reached our table, Jasper greeted Alice with a kiss to the cheek and gave me a head nod. I gave him one back. He was becoming one of my favorite people here. He knew when it was alright to talk to me and when it wasn't. Smart man. Rose and Emmett gave me quiet greetings (well, Rose was quiet. Emmett was loud as all hell, but I contained the cringe that nearly escaped me.) as well and they both got a nod and a grunt. It was the best I could do at the moment.
I sighed into my cup of coffee, attempting to wake up, when I felt someone looking at me. Well, everyone was looking at me, but this gaze felt different, like they were trying to bore a hole in the middle of my forehead. I looked up to find Edward Masen staring at me, his expression a mix of annoyance, confusion, and... regret, maybe, I don't know. I suppose I understood the annoyance. I did basically go off on him with no explanation whatsoever yesterday. And I could understand the confusion. He's probably mindfucked beyond recognition with trying to figure me out. But the regret I didn't understand. What did he do, or was it something I did, that he regretted?
I stared back for a second before ripping my eyes away. Looking into his eyes was only going to get me in trouble again and I honestly did not need that shit right now.
The fifteen minute bell rang out and everyone started to gather their belongings and trash to start to head to class.
I grunted a goodbye to everyone before heading to class. History and pre-cal were both complete snoozefests and I was struggling to stay awake and keeping a certain pair of emerald green eyes out of my head. Thinking about him only made my stomach churn and my blood pressure rise.
When the bell rang signaling for second period to end, I sighed and gathered my books and trudged slowly to Lit, trying to convince myself that I shouldn't say "to hell with it all" and go back to bed for the rest of the day, effectively avoiding Edward for the rest of the day.
He had come after me yesterday for a reason and he didn't strike me as the kind of guy that gave up easily, so I knew that he would be looking for me again. The look he was giving me earlier at breakfast only solidified my hypothesis.
But skipping on the second day of school was only going to get me into trouble and I didn't want to have to deal with any sort of administrative type person at the moment. All of them seemed to find joy in lecturing teenagers with what they thought was the "right" path to follow. Well, I knew they were all wrong and I wasn't going to deal with them today. I was choosing my battles, so I sucked it up and walked into the English building and towards my Lit class.
I cursed under my breath when I saw Edward already sitting at his seat at the rear of the class. I scowled at him and trudged towards my seat.
I placed my stuff down on the ground, making sure that I didn't make eye contact with him and hoping it would keep him from trying to talk to me.
"Bella." No such luck.
I ignored him, praying that the bell would ring soon and Mrs. Young would enter the room.
"Bella," he tried again. A hint of frustration was starting to build up in his voice. Once again, I ignored him. He would give up eventually.
"Bella."
"Leave me alone," I finally snapped at him, turning my glare onto him.
"Not until you fucking explain what the hell happened yesterday," he ground out. Again with the potty mouth. He was going to be the death of me with his soul-searching stares and his trucker's mouth.
"You annoyed me. End of story," I said, grinding my teeth together to keep from shouting at him again. I didn't want anymore attention than I was already getting.
"What? I-" Edward was cut off by the bell ringing and Mrs. Young walking through the door, stopping all conversations.
Thank you, Lord. I don't think I could have gotten through that conversation without blowing up at him again or jumping him. Considering the former would only bring more attention to me and only piss me off more, that option was a no-go. And the latter would have been oh so very wonderful, but it would also make me look like a hypocrite, something else that I didn't want to be classified as. Bitch? Sure. Emo loner chick? Why not? Hypocrite? Not gonna happen.
Edward growled (God, so damn sexy... Stop!) and huffed in frustration, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the front of the room.
Mrs. Young started her lecture about something that I honestly couldn't tell you about even if I had listened because Edward kept sending looks over at me and he was starting to put me on edge. After about twenty minutes of the constant staring, I gave up and raised my hand. "Mrs. Young?" I asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.
"Yes, Isabella?" she asked. I cringed a little at the name, but ignored it. She was my only way out of here.
"I was wondering if I could go to the nurse's office. I'm starting to get a headache," I lied. I really needed to get out of here and away from Edward, immediately, for the sake of my sanity and the health of my respiratory system. The looks he was giving me were making it hard for me to breathe.
"Of course," Mrs. Young said. I was about to give a internal cheer of triumph when she turned to the class and asked, "Who would be willing to escort Isabella to the nurse's office?"
Edward raised his hand as soon as she asked. "I will, Mrs. Young," he said, pulling out the teacher's pet voice that I should have assumed that he'd have already mastered and the smile that could get him anything.
"Thank you, Edward. That's very sweet of you," Mrs. Young cooed. Yeah, cooed. He had everyone wrapped around his perfect little finger. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes when he smiled again and started gathering his belongings. I sighed and started gathering my stuff as well, seeing as there was no way for me to get out of this now.
Mrs. Young handed us a pass and then we both headed out the door. We were both silent as we exited the English building. That is, until Edward broke the silence.
"Look, Bella, I'm sorry if I did something to offend you yesterday, but I'm not really sure what I did," he said.
He apologized. Seriously? Now he's making me feel bad about what I did. I held in a sigh. I couldn't tell him the truth without him thinking that I'm a complete spazoid, so I did the same thing I did yesterday, deflect.
"As I said yesterday, I can take care of myself. I don't need people looking out for me. I can do that myself. I don't need some guy with outdated views on how women should be handled to start watching over me like I'm some sort of damsel in distress," I growled out.
I glanced over at him to find him glaring at me, a seemingly genuine look of hurt on his face. "Well, I'm sorry for stepping in yesterday then. I was raised to treat women with respect, so excuse me for doing what I had been taught to do." He sighed, looking away from me. "The nurse's office is in the main office building. It's the first door on the left. I won't bother you anymore."
And then he turned away and headed in the opposite direction, leaving me standing there in shock. That was it? That's all he was going to do? He was just going to give up, just like that? I knew that Edward wasn't the sort to give up without a fight. He definitely wasn't the type. I could have sworn that he would have tried a little harder than that.
Now I really felt like a pile of shit. He had apologized for yesterday and I went and threw it back in his face like a complete bitch. There was just something about him that threw me off in so many ways that I had no idea how to fucking handle him.
I sighed and started to head to the nurse's office. Now I really did have a headache.
(EPOV)
I apologized to her and it got me nowhere. I still didn't know what I did and now she's even more pissed off at me.
I sighed and headed into my dorm building. There wasn't any point in going back to Lit and I definitely didn't want to be questioned by anyone. I threw myself down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling.
I guess her reaction gave me my answer. She didn't want anything to do with me and I wasn't going to pressure her into anything, so I guess I was just going to have to forget about her.
And that definitely was going to suck ass because even if she had completely dismissed me, I couldn't get her out of my head.
Two weeks later...
The past two weeks have been... awkward, to say the least. And I swear I'm having more mood swings than a women on the rag.
It was exactly six days before our first game of the season against Oceanic Prep and I'm about to lose my fucking mind all because of a girl. A girl that wants abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with me.
Or so I thought.
There were times throughout the past two weeks where I've caught her looking at me. I would feel someone's gaze on me and I would look around only to find Bella Swan staring at me with a look of confusion on her face. And I had no earthly fucking idea why she was confused. She made her point pretty freaking clear the last time we spoke.
That's right. I haven't spoken to her in two weeks ever since that day in Lit. And it's been driving me insane ever since. She was always sitting with my family too, so I couldn't exactly go over there to talk to them without it being so tense between the two of us that not even a friggin' chain saw could cut through it.
Today, Coach pulled me out of Lit to ask me what the hell was going on with me. Apparently I wasn't doing a good enough job of covering up my mood swings. I've been up and down for the past couple of weeks and it's seriously throwing me off. I couldn't focus. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. There was just something about Bella Swan that threw me the fuck off and I had no idea how to fix it.
"Masen, what the hell is going on with you lately?" Coach asked after I slouched down into one of the seats that sat on the opposite side of his desk.
"Nothing, sir," I said, trying to keep my voice level.
He just kept staring at me. I finally just gave up and sighed, running my hand through my hair and resting my forearms on my knees. "Okay, there might be something."
He was quiet for a moment. "Who is she?"
I looked up at him in shock. How did he know this shit? "What? She who?" I stuttered.
"Don't give me that BS," he said. "Tell me who she is because she's obviously got you all messed up. What's her name?"
Well, there was no way I was getting out of this conversation. I sighed. "Bella."
He gave a calculating nod and pursed his lips. "And this Bella... is she pretty?"
"Gorgeous," I said, sighing and leaning back in the chair again.
"And do you like this Bella?"
"Yes," I finally admitted. There, I said it. I like Bella Swan. Only one small problem with that. She hates me. "But she wants nothing to do with me."
"Ah," Coach said, pressing his fingertips together. "I see. So, you've got girl on the brain and she's throwing you off. I can understand that. Women were put on this earth to fuck with the minds of men everywhere. That is a statement of fact, but every woman has a weakness. Whether it be chocolate or teddy bears or something entirely different, they all have one. And the only way that you are going to straighten yourself out is to find that weakness and use it. Now don't think that I'm saying that you should exploit that weakness to no end, but use it to soften her up a bit. Get the answers you need to fix yourself and do it quickly. I can't have my captain having a bout of PMS on the field against Oceanic Prep."
"Yes, sir," I said, staring at him in shock.
"Good, now get out of here and pull yourself together," he said, turning back to his computer.
I got up, throwing my bag over my shoulder. "Um, sir?" He looked over at me. "Can we, um, keep this conversation between us?"
"No problem, Masen," he said before turning back to his computer again. I gave him a nod and headed out of the office.
I chuckled when I hear his sigh. "Teenagers."
I pretended to pay attention in Pre-Cal and bolted out of the room as soon as the bell rang. I needed some time to think about what Coach said to me.
It seemed almost impossible to even fathom that Bella Swan had a weakness. She was one of the toughest girls I had ever come in contact with, so I had nowhere to start.
I trudged through the lunch line, but only picked up a Gatorade. I couldn't stomach anything else at the moment.
I fell into my usual seat next to Seth, throwing my stuff down on the ground.
They all gave me weird looks. "Dude, are you feeling alright? You've been acting weird lately," Seth asked tentatively, like he was afraid he would set me off on one of my mood swings. Unfortunately, it happened more than once over the past couple of weeks, so I couldn't really blame him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I muttered, my voice sounding really fuzzy in my own ears.
"You sure? You've been off ever since that day in Lit. You never did tell us what happened when you took Bella to the nurse," Jared piped up.
I sighed. God, I've been sighing way too fucking much. I really need to make sure I haven't grown a vagina. Only chicks sigh this much. "I took Bella to the nurse. I asked her what I did to her to make her flip out on me and then she flipped out on me for asking what I did to make her flip out. It pissed me off and I didn't feel like yelling at the girl again, so I told her where the nurse's office was and skipped the rest of Lit. She hasn't tried to talk to me since then. End of story," I rambled.
They all stared at me in wide-eyed shock. "Dude, you got it bad," Sam said after a moment.
I groaned and banged my head against the table. And fuck, if that didn't hurt.
"She doesn't want anything to do with me and I can't get her out." Thud. "Of." Thud. "My." Thud. "Fucking." Thud. "Head." Thud.
"Okay, Edward. Jesus Christ, don't give yourself a concussion," Seth said, pulling my shoulders back so I couldn't inflict anymore pain on myself.
I groaned again. "I don't know what to do. She's distracting me and I can't focus on anything."
"Did you try to apologize to her?" Ian piped up.
"Yes, and she flipped out on me," I ground out. I pressed the balls of my hands into my eyes, trying to work some frustration out.
"Maybe you should woo her," Seth said, his mouth turning up into a smirk.
"Does Bella Swan seem like the kind of girl that can be wooed?" I asked him, my eyebrow cocked.
"Not really," he said after a moment of thought.
"Exactly."
"Have you ever considered just talking to her?" Sam suggested. I looked up at him. "Most girls like it when guys just talk to them and listen. Maybe you could start off small. A 'hey' here and there or something."
"That could work... if she was talking to me," I said, really considering the whole concussion thing again. Maybe she likes the whole wounded guy thing.
"You just need something for the two of you to talk about. Maybe get together for a study date."
"A study date? And how exactly am I going to get her to agree to one of those when she hasn't said a word to me in two weeks?" I asked.
They were all quiet then. Ah, now the fountains of wisdom have finally trickled out.
Someone cleared their throat from behind me. I turned around and nearly swallowed my own tongue. Bella Swan was standing there, her fingers playing with the strap of her messenger bag.
"Edward, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked. She seemed uncomfortable, like the multiple pairs of eyes that were on her made her uneasy.
"Uh, sure," I stuttered out. Really, dude, could you sound even more like a total loser?
"Okay," she said quickly before walking out the doors of the cafeteria.
I stared after her for a second. Well, if she wasn't fucking with my mind yet, she was now.
"Dude, go after her," Seth said, shoving my shoulder. "This is your chance."
I shook myself from my stupor and got up and followed her out of the cafeteria. She was leaning against the wall of the building, her eyes trained on the ground. She looked amazing today. Her hair was down for once, so I could see that her brilliant blue highlights stood out against her dark brunette waves that stopped just below her shoulder blades. Her uniform had morphed into its own entity over the past couple of weeks. The customary skirt (held there by a belt with a seatbelt looking belt buckle) and shirt (unbuttoned at the top to showcase a bright purple t-shirt underneath that may or may not have had a monster eating a cupcake displayed upon it) were still there, but the tie had been replaced by multiple strands of beaded necklaces. Her arms were covered in bracelets that she kept pushing up and down her arms. Her knee socks were now multicolored zebra print and her beat-up Chucks still adorned her feet. She looked freakin' adorable.
"You needed to talk to me?" I asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, yeah, um, look. Today in Lit, Mrs. Young gave us an assignment and she said we had to work in partners and seeing as you weren't in class today to pick out a partner and I don't really know anybody that well yet, Mrs. Young put us together," she rambled out.
"O...kay," I said. "So we're partners?"
"That's what it looks like," she muttered.
"And what's the assignment?" I asked.
"We have to perform a scene from a Shakespearean play."
"Alright, did she assign scenes or something?"
"Oh, yeah," she said before digging around in her bag for something. "We've got to do Act I, scene i of Much Ado About Nothing. You know the dialogue between Benedick and Beatrice?"
"Yeah, I know it," I said. Yeah, I fucking knew it. It was the scene where Benedick and Beatrice fought like dogs. Great, just what we need, another fight scene.
"Okay, good, um, I guess we'll have to get together sometime to work on it," she said.
"Yeah, we can work that out later, if you want," I said, thanking the Lord that I wasn't stuttering like a prepubescent little boy at the moment.
"Yeah," she said, trailing off. "Well, we'll work on the details later then."
"Yeah," I said. She gave me a little nod before whirling around and heading in the opposite direction.
I stood there dumbstruck for a second. Did that really just happen? Did I really get partnered up with Bella Swan?
Yes. Yes, I did and it was exactly the in that I needed. The smile that spread across my face right then should have split my face in half.
I walked back into the cafeteria and then was pounced on by my friends.
"Dude, what was that about?"
"What happened?"
"What did she want?"
"Whoa, guys, chill out," I said, holding up my hands to keep them at bay. "Apparently, Mrs. Young partnered us up for some assignment in Lit that someone" I eyed Jared and Seth. "forgot to mention to me."
Seth and Jared shrugged. "Oops."
"Oops? Did you not see me having a small panic attack not ten minutes ago about this girl and all you can say is 'oops'? Jesus Christ." Fuckers. "Anyway, we've got to do this scene for the class and now we have to get together to work on it."
"See, I told you, study dates. They always work," Sam said, looking rather proud of himself.
I chuckled. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see."
(BPOV)
I bolted away from Edward as soon as I got out exactly what I needed to say to him. Being around him was driving me up a motherfucking wall and I had no idea what to do about it.
Ever since that day a couple weeks ago, he hasn't said a word to me. And I guess that was my fault. I flipped out on him again, but seriously, it was for the best. Being near him was only a distraction that I couldn't afford at the moment.
But the world apparently has it out for me, so today in Lit, Mrs. Young stated to the class that we would be starting our first project as a group assignment. With partners to be exact. She let everyone pick their partners, so me being the new girl, I only knew a few people in the class. Alice, Jasper, and... Edward. The latter of the three wasn't even in class today for reasons unbeknownst to me.
Alice and Jasper were already partnered up, so that left me alone.
"Does everyone have a partner?" Mrs. Young asked the class.
I raised my hand to let her know that I was the loner freak who didn't have a partner. "It's alright, dear. Edward isn't here today, so you can just partner with him."
"Okay," I said, agreeing because I knew that it was either be his partner or fail. And failing definitely wasn't an option, so I guess I was stuck with him. Not that you mind at all. It'll just give you more time to stare at him like the pseudo-stalker that you're turning into. Gah!
Alright, I admit it. Ever since the "nurse" incident, I've been watching Edward. I mean, how could I not. He was in half of my classes and for some reason ever time he was around, I could feel this sort of buzzing sensation moving through my body. He caught me looking at him a few times and I quickly looked away, embarrassed that the boy that I've freaked out on twice now caught me staring at him like some freak.
He had to think that I'm some sort of mental patient that escaped the ward somehow. I don't know what I'm doing around him at all, and now I have to actually work with him without me having another irrational breakdown in front of him.
Mrs. Young gave me two copies of the assignment sheet, one for me and one for me to give to Edward.
After Lit, I muddled my way through my next class and then headed off to lunch, nervous butterflies (more like hawks) tearing around in my stomach. I barely managed to suck down some Dr. Pepper during lunch and everyone else at the table noticed.
"Are you alright, Bella?" Alice asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, focusing on the top of the table and avoiding everyone's gaze. Over the past couple of weeks, I had gotten closer to Alice, Rose, Emmett, and Jasper. They were the closest things I've ever had to be considered friends and they could already see right through me.
They didn't push me for any other information, but I knew that they really wanted to. I lifted my eyes to the other side of the cafeteria and saw him there, sitting with his friends. He looked amazing, as always. His uniform was neat and tidy, but not so much so that you would think that he was uptight or anything. His blazer was unbuttoned. His tie was loose around his neck. His Chucks were still there. His hair still had that just-woke-up-from-the-best-sex-of-his-young-life look. My God, he was just glorious.
And those thoughts right there are the reason that you should be avoiding him. Perfect people like him do not need to be around mentally unstable people like me. My kind of people only screw up the perfect people's lives.
But seeing as he was my partner for this project, he was going to have to deal with my brand of crazy for a little while.
After I bolted away from him, I realized that I forgot to give him the assignment sheet. Oh, well, I'll just give it to him in... bio. Shit! I completely forgot that I have to sit next to him in bio. Great, just great. Today cannot get any worse.
I slowly make my way to bio, as if moving slower will make my fucked-up situation any better.
I flopped into my seat, thankful that Edward wasn't there to see my freaked-out self just yet. I really needed to calm down before he saw me again, or else he'll be ready to call the dudes that carried away people in those lovely white straight-jackets as soon as he sees me.
By the time Edward showed up to class, I've calmed myself down enough to be able to speak to him coherently for at least a minute. He placed his stuff down and pulled out his notebook. He sat back up and then turned to me, sending me a small smile. So freaking cute... Facepalm. Get it together, woman.
I dug around in my bag until I pulled out my Lit notebook. I pulled out the assignment sheet that I was supposed to give him. "I forgot to give you this. It's the assignment sheet for the project," I explained. Wow, did I actually manage to get that out without stuttering. Yes, I did. Thank God for that.
I handed it to him and he took it from me, his fingers brushing mine slightly. A shock ran through my body when he touched me and I gasped. He jerked his hand back like he had been burned and looked up at me in surprise. "Um, thanks," he said, rubbing his hand a little.
"You're welcome," I muttered.
He was quiet for a second before he spoke again. "When exactly did you want to get together to work on this?"
"Oh, um, well, I've got nothing after classes, so anytime would be fine," I muttered.
"Okay, I've got practice right after school until about five everyday, so how about six, on Tuesday? Will that work?" he asked tentatively, like he was afraid I would snap at him. You haven't done anything to make him think otherwise, you spastic loon.
"That would be fine," I said, looking down at the table and shifting my hair over my shoulder, hoping to use it as a shield so that he wouldn't see my flaming face right now.
"Okay, sounds good," he said, his voice hitching a little. I gave him a little nod before he turned back to the front of the room.
Awesome, Bella, just awesome. Why in the world can't I just talk to him like a normal fucking person? I'm either muttering at him like I'm some sort of anti-social hermit or flipping out on him like a total spaz.
God, why can't anything be easy anymore?
(EPOV)
I've got a date with Bella. I've got a date with Bella. I've got a -
Alright, it's not a real date, it's just a study date, but still. She's talking to me now, sort of. She's just kind of muttering at me now. But still, it's the longest conversation we've ever had, so I'm going to take that as a good sign for now.
And we're going to see each other outside of school, which according to my friends, is a good way to get to know the real Bella. And to get to know the real Bella, I have to get her away from school and let her be herself. And once I see that, I can find that "weakness" that Coach was talking about. And once I find out what that is then... we'll see where it goes from there.
She was quiet in bio, just listening and writing her notes. She wasn't doodling like she usually did. Yeah, so I may have watched her a little bit. She was just writing, her hair pushed back behind her shoulder, her cheek resting on the palm of her hand.
My God, she was just beautiful. It took almost all of my will power not to just say fuck it and jump her right then and there. I mean, I know what it's like to kiss her, so staying away from her was even harder than it would have been even if I hadn't known. And I could have sworn that she enjoyed that kiss just as much as I did. In fact, I know she did. The look she gave me afterwards only solidified that fact, but why was it so difficult to get her to even speak to me when we had already kissed?
It must be a chick thing because there is no way that I'm even remotely close to figuring out how Bella Swan's mind worked.
Only time could tell me that.
A/N: Edward and Bella have a date. Edward and Bella have a date. Edward and Bella have- alright, so it's not really a date, but whatever, they're finally getting together. Woot woot! Anyway, sorry again for the wait. Wisdom teeth are the demon spawn of all molars. Le sigh. Hope you enjoyed that.
Reviews are awesome. Leave me one please.
I've also made a Polyvore account for this story, so if you want to check that out, feel free. The link is at the bottom of my profile page.
You guys rock. Next week... the study date. Duh, duh, duh!
Laters,
Cat :)