Chapter 6

EPOV

When I drove up the long and winding drive way to our house I started to hear the nervous thoughts of Tanya.

"Where is he? Where is he? He was supposed to be home hours ago, what if he's in trouble? What if he's hurt?"

Realization hit me like a boulder; she really cared for me and was worrying about me, and I was out kissing Bella and enjoying it. I had always been faithful to her, and now...

But then the scene where Bella dies started playing in my head. How could someone that cared for me so much for me, kill the only thing I couldn't live without.

I loved Bella more than anything in the world. I knew she would never love me like I love her, but it didn't change how I felt about her.

Once I stepped out of the car, I turned to see Tanya leaning sexily on the wall.

"Hey Baby" she whispered.

"Hi" I muttered unenthusiastically. Her mind was running a mile a minute

"Where has he been? What's wrong with him? Could it be the same reason as when he came home smelling of that student" she thought.

"So...I was wondering if you would take a quick hunt with me?" she asked, fluttering her insanely long eyelashes.

"Sure, I just need to get changed" I said, remembering that I would have Bella's scent all over me.

"Why? What's wrong with the clothes you are wearing?" she said, stepping forward as I stepped back.

"Umm...I just want to slip into something a little more...casual" I replied, I was shocked that she hadn't already smelt Bella on me.

"Okay, darling. I'll wait for you down here" she said, leaning casually on the wall

I ran upstairs and quickly changed out of those clothes, and in to a dark blue T-shirt and black khakis. Then I washed the Bella smelling clothes until I couldn't smell her delectable scent on them anymore.

I ran quickly downstairs and out onto the lawn where Tanya was sitting and playing with a strand of grass in her hand. When she saw me she jumped up, grabbed my hand and started running into the trees.

She let go of my hand as we jumped across the river and into the vegetation on the other side. From there, we slowed down to a walk and she slipped her hand into mine.

"You've been acting different lately" she stated.

"Umm...yeah...I've been a bit stressed out about all the work at the school. Teenage kids can be quite a handful" I lied easily, that was one of my many talents that I had gained over the years of being a vampire.

"Oh, poor baby" she whispered, stroking my face "Maybe you should find another job that's less stressful?"

"No!" I blurted out, startling her. Even thinking of leaving Forks High School and not seeing Bella almost every day made me feel sick to the core.

I noticed that we had stopped walking.

Tanya's face became serious "What's wrong with you? I've never seen you this keyed up before. You can't be like this just because of work?" she questioned.

"Umm...well" I racked my brain for an excuse "Alice saw something bad that might happen". As soon as I said the words I regretted them thoroughly.

"And what did Alice see?" she asked.

"Ummm...well...she saw me getting in a fight with the principal and getting fired" I quickly lied, thank god for vampire thinking speed.

"Oh, okay then, I can see why you might be keyed up" she said, starting to walk again.

I let out a sigh of relief that was a close one.

"Let's go hunting" she said enthusiastically.

BPOV

I walked in to the house still daydreaming about Edward, when the ring of my phone interrupted my thoughts.

"Hello" I answered.

"Hey Bella, It's me Angela" she said.

"Oh, Hey Angela. What's up?" I asked.

"Jessica and I were going to go shopping in Port Angles tonight, you want to come?"

"Yeah sure" I said in a surprised voice.

No one had wanted to be around me much because I had been so grumpy, but I guess they've noticed my lighter attitude lately.

"Cool, we'll swing by and pick you up in about 15 minutes, that okay?" she said chirpily.

"Sure, sure, see you then"

"See you soon" she added before hanging up.

I went up to my room to fetch my coat and handbag and decided to quickly google something.

I went on to goggle and typed in 'Hard, Cold, Live long'

I clicked on the first link that said 'Frostbite: the cold hard facts'

I read the part that said 'How do I know if I have frostbite?'

'You might not, in some cases.

But normally, the first sign of frostbite is a stinging or burning sensation in skin that has been exposed to the cold for too long. The length of time depends on how cold it is — or how bad the wind chill.

Exposed skin will become red and swollen before the stinging or burning sensation kicks in. If it remains exposed, the skin will feel like it is tingling and it will turn white and waxy as the frostbite progresses.

These sensations occur because less blood is flowing to the body's extremities. With a loss of warming blood flow, the fluid within your cells and tissues start to freeze, forming ice crystals and causing physical damage and permanent changes in cell chemistry.

Skin could become blistered or turn black if not treated promptly.'

It will turn white and waxy as the frostbite progresses?

Is it possible to have frostbite all over?

I went back to goggle and clicked on the next link that said 'Cold Weather Tips'

Frostbite:

Symptoms:

First Degree (Frostnip)

Redness, pain, burning, stinging or prickly sensation.

Pain disappears and there is a sudden blanching of the skin.

The skin may look mottled.

Skin is firm to the touch, but resilient underneath.

On thawing, there is aching pain or brownness. The skin may peel off, and the part may remain cold for some time.

Second Degree (Superficial Frostbite, Frostbite)

No pain, the part may feel dead.

Numbness, hard to move the part.

Tissue and layers underneath are hard to the touch.

After thawing (takes 3 to 20 days) pain, large blisters, sweating.

Black or discolored skin sloughs off, leaving tender new skin.

Third degree (Severe Frostbite)

Full thickness of the skin is involved.

After thawing, pain continues for 2 to 5 weeks.

Fourth degree (Severe Frostbite)

Skin and bone are frozen.

Swelling and sweating occur.

Gangrene may develop, amputation may be necessary.

Nothing matches up to him…my trail of thought was interrupted by a car beeping outside.

"Bella Come on!" yelled Jessica from the car.

I quickly scrawled a note to Charlie explaining where I was and where the frozen lasagne was. I ran outside and jumped into the back of Angela's car.

"Hey Bella" Jessica said, turning around from the passenger seat to look at me.

"Hey Jess" I said, smiling at her.

She smiled back and then turned back to the front.

"So what are we shopping for?" I asked making conversation.

It was Angela who replied "Oh, this and that…we mostly wanted just some girl time; we haven't gone out in such a long time"

"Yeah…" I said staring out the window.

What could be wrong with Edward? Why was he so cold and hard? It defiantly wasn't frostbite, nothing fitted.

But what else could he have?

"Bella? Bella!" called Jessica.

"Oh, what?" I asked feeling a bit embarrassed that I hadn't noticed her earlier.

"We're here" she said, rolling her eyes at my stupidity.

"Oh, sorry" I mumbled, getting out of the car.

I mostly followed them around, not looking at anything in particular. My mind was still elsewhere, trying to figure out what could be wrong with Edward.

When I was alone with Angela I decided to ask her something "Angela?"

"Yeah" she answered looking up from the pair of shoes she was examining.

"Have you ever been kissed?" I asked, looking at the floor.

"Yeah, of course" she said in a care free manner, I was right to ask Angela, with Jessica that would have triggered a whole round of questions.

"What does it feel like? I mean, is it soft and warm or hard and cold?" I said, still feeling embarrassed that I was asking such things.

"Soft and warm of course. If it was hard and cold I would think there was something wrong with the guy" she said, laughing at the last bit.

"What could be wrong with the guy?" I asked looking up from the floor.

"You mean if he was hard and cold? I don't really know…he could have some sort of disease or he could be dead inside like a…zombie or vampire" she said giggling to herself.

"Zombie or Vampire?" I said with a horrified look on my face.

What if I kissed a vampire or zombie?!

"Oh Bella, you don't actually believe that stuff, do you?"

"No no, of course not…" I trailed off.

"That's good, for one moment I thought you really believed that someone was a vampire or zombie" she said, looking back at the shoes she had in her hand.

One question bugged me the whole night: Could Edward Cullen not be human?

****

Uh oh, Tanya's getting suspicious and Bella is figuring it out!!!

And all those sites that I put in are actually real

I'll try to get the next chapter up as fast as I can :D

Please review and tell me what you thought!!! :D :D :D