Chapter 2 – When I first saw her

Present Day

Edward's POV

Never again, I thought as I made my way to school's administrative office. The halls deserted with only the sounds of voices in midst of mind numbing lectures and their purposeful chalk hitting the boards with each classroom I passed. My pace was fast and determined. I could hear the rubber on the bottom of my shoes squeak against the linoleum floors. I, thankfully, had independent study first hour. So instead of working on my latest endeavor at my favorite corner desk cube in the library, I spent the first half hour coming to the decision that there was a high probability that I could very well kill myself by the end of this week if I should stay in this wretched high school any longer.

Forks High School is like any typical high school that you can imagine. It has its cliques and its fair share of after school special dramas. Up until last weekend, I had been on the outside of their petty affairs and gossip. Always hoping in some way I could be included and blend in with the supposed in crowed. But unfortunately for me being a genius doesn't give you instant popularity points. It seemed that the students with more athletic talent, more socially outgoing and more sexual conquests, deemed more desirable characteristics. Though, I've learned how to get by and make do with the traits that I do have. I tend to be more quiet than most. My mind is always working…thinking of new ideas or new problems to solve. My ideas are so far fetched that I would be embarrassed if anyone really saw what goes on in my head. My love for biology, medicine and comic book super heroes are hardly swoon worthy qualities to the opposite sex. Though, my mom said that when I finally become a doctor (which is a life goal for me), then the girls will come running. My body cringing as I remember the embarrassment when she told me this. Even she recognized how deplorable my social skills were. But I considered what she said, only to find that it considering it would take me a good 5-8 years before I'd get my doctrine, which would mean it would be 5-8 years till I could get a date. That fact alone was horribly depressing. Would I be able to wait that long? Is it physically possible or are there any reported cases where men reach a mental breaking point into crazy from lack of intimate female interaction? I don't want to find out.

So why not just try to be a bit more outgoing? I find it hard to relate to my peers, so instead of putting the effort in doing so, I just don't. I have a few close friends, enough to count on one hand and I'm happy with that. My best friend since kindergarten, Jasper, friend by association and Jasper's girlfriend, Alice and Ben who I have shared several AP classes with. While most cliques were easily defined as the jocks, the band geeks or the drama nerds, ours just existed, with no label at all. I would feel bad for leaving my small group of friends in this school taking our group number to a lonely count of 3 but I'm sure that they would understand my motives. They never understood why I stayed here for so long to begin with.

I walked with determination in my step as the thoughts of: I can't believe I wasted three years of my life in this high school, chanted in my head. I should have listened to my parents and never come to this school to begin with. But I had adamant about wanting to go to a normal high school, convincing them I needed a normal life and do the normal things that teenagers do, like spirit week and going to football games. Normal was now sounding stifling, boring and utterly wrong for me. Within 48 hours, I have grown to completely despise this school. It was common knowledge amongst the administrative staff as well as all of my teachers that I was bored and unchallenged by the curriculum. I should have gone to that gifted school that my parents were pushing. My only hope now was to just finish my high school career as soon as possible and head into college full time. I was already taking collage courses on the side, so I'd finish early. Maybe my 5-8 years till I finally lose my virginity could really be 4-6 years. That made me hopeful.

So what made me stay here for three long years? Tanya Denali. I had been spellbound with her ever since she moved across the street from me, the summer before my freshman year of high school. All those years, I had faithfully crushed on her from afar, building this imaginary girl, as I tried to fantasize what she was really like. In my head, she was daring, witty and above all smart. She was absolutely perfect. Regrettably for me, I had been too shy to ask her out and by the beginning of the school year she had started dating a sophomore, Marcus Stone, the football superstar of our high school. For three years they dated, which is basically forever in high school years, and I patiently waited for my opportunity to arise again. And as I predicted, I was ecstatic to find that when Marcus graduated and went to east coast college on a football scholarship, he decided to break up with her. So here was my chance, finally. I coached myself, convincing that I need to just suck it up and ask her out. I couldn't miss my opportunity again. By Wednesday, I got the courage to go to her house, knock on her door and ask her out. To my surprise she said yes. I couldn't believe my luck. For the rest of the week, I was on cloud nine, just waiting for Saturday to come. Too bad I would later find out that Saturday would rank as the number one let down of my life; along side when I found out Kristen Dunst was playing Mary Jane in Spiderman.

This girl who I built so far up in my mind, didn't come anywhere near what I had imagined her out to be. She was the complete opposite of who I thought she was. The disappointment was more than I could describe. In the history of worst first dates, this probably topped them all. Conversation at dinner was torture in itself. I tried hard to think of anything in common ground with this girl, but came up with nothing. The only time she spoke was to update me on the latest petty gossip , which I held no interest in. By the time the main course came out, we were eating in uncomfortable silence. I was shifting through ideas on how to end the night quickly. I had planned on taking her to a movie after, but I just wanted the night to be over as soon as possible. Halfway through dinner she had excused herself to the ladies room. I sat there thinking of possible excuses to take her home early. As I looked at my watch, I hadn't realized how long she had been in the bathroom. I let myself hope that maybe she just took off on her own and ditched me. Surely, even she could tell that this date was a disaster. I should have been upset but I couldn't help but be relieved and somewhat thrilled. Before I could stand up to see if my theory was true, she came sauntering back over the table, stumbling over a few other patrons in the restaurant looking at me with a sloppy grin as she made her way.

"Are you okay?" I asked her as she slumped down in her chair.

"I am…..wonderful!" she said with a huge grin on her face, giggling nonstop.

Just when I thought this date could not get any worse, I was proven wrong. I wanted to take her home immediately but she insisted on having dessert. I tried to argue, but she was starting to make a scene.

"I want cheese cake, Edward. Please?" she practically moaned as she licked her lips.

The waiter brought out the cheese cake as fast as he could, as I am sure he was just as ready for us to leave as I was. When dinner was finally over, I decided to drive straight back to her house. Just five minutes away from her house, she began to cough and keeled over to puke all over the floor of my car.

"Sorry," she whispered as she lay her head back on the seat, whipping her mouth with her arm and instantly started to snore.

I sighed and rolled down the windows.

The rest of the weekend I spent meticulously cleaning out my car and becoming furious at myself for wasting three years of my life for a girl who turned out to be such a big disappointment. Never again would I allow myself to be influenced by my stupid teenage hormones. I would focus solely on myself and my studies. So this Monday morning, on the first day of school, I decided to let my academic counselor know that I would be finishing the rest of my studies at home. I knew that they would not fight me on this as they already did not know why I insisted on staying here on the first place.

Never again….never ever, ever again I chanted over and over in my head as I rounded the corner. I abruptly stopped as I wasn't paying attention and almost bumped into something or some ones.

"Sorry," I said as I looked up to see who I almost bumped into. As irony would have it, it was Tanya making out with Mike Newton, the same Mike Newton who asked me if it was true that pickles really did come from cucumbers. Instantly I felt nauseous to have fallen for a girl who thought Mike Newton was worth kissing. As I tried to step on by, I caught Tanya's eye. Before I could shift my gaze quickly from this vulgar make out session, I watched the scene become even more obscene as she shoved her tongue further down his throat while glaring back at me. She stared at me with such determination as if she was telling me that she was no longer interested in me or to demonstrate that she had moved on. Ditto, I thought as I rolled my eyes. With even more determination, I headed to the office.

I was now more than ever resolved by the time I nearly reached the door to the office. I forbade myself to no longer make decisions based on my hormones. And as I reached for the doorknob to the office door, the doorknob escaped my hand, swinging open, I laid eyes on her and all conclusions and resolutions I had come up with went completely out the window. Obviously new to the school, as I noted her holding on to a school map, I looked at her in such shock that I must have made her very uncomfortable. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

She smiled in recognition, as if she already knew who I was. If I had thought Tanya Denali was a 10, this girl was clearly not even on the same chart. She made Tanya look like a negative 10.

"Excuse me," she said shyly.

I was completely taken aback by this girl and completely blocking her path. I decided right then and there, that a couple more years of this high school wouldn't be so bad, especially if it involved getting to see her everyday at school. Everything about her was perfect, almost erringly so. She looked like an angel. Her beauty was so unique…one of a kind. But there was something more and I couldn't place my finger on it just yet. I watched as she pushed her choppy bangs out her eyes and then readjusting her backpack.

"Uhm…" she started again, her eyes looking at me in confusion. Suddenly I realized I was still blocking her path.

"Sorry…excuse me," I mumbled, stepping aside as quickly as I could.

"Thank you," she said with a small smile and carried on her way down the hall. I stood there watching her till she rounded the corner. Stalker much?, I chased myself.

With that, I immediately turned right around and walked back to the library with a little bounce to my step. I had to know who she was, why she moved here and most importantly what her name was. I flopped down in my seat back in my favorite corner desk cube. My books and stuff were still there, sprawled out all over the desk. I tried to wipe that stupid smile off my face as I tapped my pencil against my book. Trying to focus but only finding difficult to do so, my thoughts kept going back to the new girl.

I saw my friend Jasper make his way through the book shelves heading over to me.

"Hey man," he said as he took a seat next to me.

"Skipping already?"

"It would appear so."

"You're skipping your first hour class, on the first day of school?" I questioned again my eyebrow quirked up.

He simply nodded, taking a mountain dew out of his back pack and proceeded to lean against his chair to prop his feet up on the desk. Jasper was really smart, something I and Alice seemed to only know. He was a passionate person. He never just liked some thing; it was either an obsessed love for it or utter hate. There was rarely a middle ground for him. When there was something he was into, he obsessed over it, wanting to learn every aspect of it that there is possible to know. His girlfriend since freshman year fell underneath the love, well more like obsessed with category, along with the history channel and anything war related. Unfortunately, our high school education system didn't fall under one his greatest loves. The school managed to look the other way with his shady attendance record, due to the fact that he pulled straight Bs by barely attending class and our friend Ben, being a proficient hacker, made a few changes on his attendance record before he had too many absences to get kick out.

He snapped his pop open and pulled out his iphone to play around with it.

"So…I'm surprised to see you here," he said tapping away on his phone. "I figured you would have been already packed up and running from this hell hole."

"Yeah, there was a changed in plans."

I turned back to my book, running my hand through my hair nervously. I heard the tapping on his phone immediately stopped.

"So you're going to stay?" he asked his eyebrow rose at me suspiciously.

"Uh…yeah. I mean, I figured what's one more year, right?"

He took his feet off the desk and leaned towards me.

"I know you Edward. You hardly waver over things and this morning you seemed pretty decided. Something changed your mind."

The way he looked at me, his eyes intensely scrutinizing me, making me very uncomfortable. Jasper had this way of always getting you to tell him what he wanted to know. He was always good at messing with your head. I watched him tap his lips in thought and I tried to look away.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Just please tell me it's not about a girl this time."

I felt my body tense and I knew immediately he could feel the tension roll off of me.

"Are you kidding me? Seriously, Edward." He put Iphone on the desk as if he meant business now. I looked at him trying to convey that he really needed to let this go.

"As your best friend, I feel it is my duty to tell you when you are being an idiot and Edward, you are being an idiot. For the past three years, I have watched you obsess over Tanya and over these past three years I've tried to convince you that she is a complete bitch. But somehow you managed to put her on this imaginary pedestal and created this perfect girl in your head that just does not exist. Wasn't last Saturday proof enough to you that the imaginary Tanya you created in your head isn't real? Can't you see that a relationship between you and her is wrong on so many levels? I can't believe you are going to torture yourself here for this imaginary girl that you created."

He took a deep breath from his rant and took a sip of his mountain dew.

"Thanks for the insight, Jasper."

"I'm sorry, man. I'm just looking out for your best interests. The girl puked in your car. That should be a big enough sign that you guys aren't meant to be. I mean really, you won't even let me have a snickers bar in that car."

I sighed as I closed my book and turned my whole body towards him.

"It has nothing to do with Tanya. Trust me. I was over it 5 minutes into the date."

His brows furrowed together.

"So then what's keeping you here?" He leaned into me.

I looked at him with a blank face. How was I going to tell him that it was a different girl, one that I sort of met just 5 minutes ago, is what held me here without looking like a complete immature teenage boy who only thinks with the lower half of his body?

"Please tell me it's not about a girl again," he said almost pleading with me.

I gave him an uneasy smile.

"Seriously? " he spoke exasperatedly. "You're fucking kidding me"

I shrugged my shoulders and opened my book back up. I flipped through a few pages trying to put on an act that I suddenly had an interest in it. The minute of silence had me hoping that he was willing to drop the subject but then I heard his fingers drum on the desk. I looked at him, to find him looking back at me with an annoyed face.

"Well, are you going to tell me who she is?" he asked.

"I'd rather not."

"This is a massive mistake. You're just going to be deeply disappointed when she doesn't live up to your expectations. Trust me, there is no one in this hell we call high school and of the female persuasion that is worth rotting away here for another year. They are all bitches and sluts. Well….except Alice of course. But that goes without saying."

"Really? Does your sister fall in that category as well?"

"Yep. Rosalie is the queen of them all."

I snorted at this. Jasper's sister fell underneath things he absolutely loathed, along with Alice's brother Emmett. Ironically, the only two sets of fraternal twins in this high school were dating each other. Emmett took it upon himself to take the older (by 2 minutes) brother protective role just a bit too far, unluckily for Jasper. Coincidentally, Rose and Alice managed to remain civil to one another.

"You know, I didn't notice how perfect Rose and Emmet are for each other. Rose, queen of the bitches and Emmett is king of the tools."

"Since when did Emmett become king of the tools?" I asked.

"Since Marcus Stone graduated. He handed the torch to him."

I looked back at him waiting for him to go off on one of his 'why Emmett is a dick' rants but saw Jasper pause as though he was thinking deeply about something.

"Edward, just make sure that you know what you're doing," he said. "I'd hate to see you waste another year on a stupid girl."

The bell rang fortunately and I got up to pack my stuff in my backpack.

"See you at lunch?" he asked as he walked toward the double doors, not waiting for a response and giving me a slight wave.

"Yeah," I said even though I knew he couldn't hear.

A/N: Thanks again for your interest in my new story. Follow me on Twitter: Ellarose00 It's the best way to get a hold of me if you have any questions, rather than PMs and I generally put status of where I am in my stories.