Too Much Attention

I quickly ducked into the girl's washroom, hurrying into a stall and dropping my book bag to the floor with a heavy sigh of relief. Would they never leave me alone? From the moment I'd gotten out of my truck after parking in the lot at Fork's High School, I'd been the topic of conversation and the focus of attention by everyone who saw me. Would it never end?

I took several deep breaths as I tried to calm the blush from my cheeks. I'd always been quick to blush, but this was getting ridiculous. I felt like I'd had one permanent blush on my face for the last several hours. You'd think these people had never seen a newcomer to town before. Geez!

I tried to console myself with the fact that it would have been worse had I been a lowly Freshman, but thank God I was a Junior and past that stage. Starting halfway through the year was rough, though. All the cliques had already formed and leveraging myself into one would be difficult, even with the 'focus of all curiosity' status I currently held.

And the boys! Ugh! They were lining up to get my attention and I had no idea why. Sure, I wasn't 'need to wear a paper bag over my head' ugly, but I certainly wasn't what anyone would consider a looker, either. My hair was long and curly, falling past my shoulders and dark as a raven's wing, though it did have some rather nice auburn highlights that came out in the sun. Not that they'd come out at all here. Rain and more rain was all Forks held in terms of weather.

My eyes were big and brown, too big in my opinion, and the best I could say about the color was that it sometimes looked like melted chocolate. My upper lip wasn't quite wide enough to properly match my lower one, and I thought it gave my mouth a slightly odd look when I smiled. As for my figure, well, I'd never be a model, that's for sure. I was slender, but my hips were too wide and my legs too long for me to be satisfied, and I wouldn't be caught dead in a bathing suit. What was it with the boys?

Shaking my head at the oddities of teenage males and their hormones, I sighed once more and picked up my bag to head to lunch. Unfortunately, I couldn't hide in the washroom all day, much as the thought appealed to me. I opened the door, looked out to make sure the coast was clear, and then made a break for the cafeteria.

I would have run, but running and my feet don't work well at all. To say I'm clumsy would be a vast, vast understatement. On a perfectly flat surface with nothing between me and my goal, I would still find some way to trip along the way. It was a fact of my life that I simply accepted, along with the regularity of my trips to the emergency room afterward. I could never just trip, or just fall, or just be clumsy as I did something. No. I always had to injure myself in the process.

God obviously has a weird sense of humor sometimes, and he must have created me on one of his more humorous days. Figures.

I ducked my head as I entered the cafeteria, heading straight for the lunch line without drawing any attention to myself. My fingers nervously twisted the hem of my sweater as I worked my way down the line, absently grabbing a sandwich and milk as I passed. After paying, I looked around for a quiet table, and found one in an empty corner, quickly moving over and settling myself on the chair with a soft sigh of relief.

I tipped my head forward, allowing my hair to swing forward and hide my face as I unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. Ham and cheese. Great. I really had to learn to pay more attention to things. I hated ham, but I was stuck with it now. Rolling my eyes at myself, I hastily swallowed, and had just taken another forced bite when I heard someone clear their throat right beside me.

Startled, I choked of course, and spent the next minute trying to swallow the wad of ham, cheese, and bread that was stubbornly refusing to make its way down my throat. All of this was accompanied by a hard hand patting the center of my back none-too-gently, as if to add its effort to my own against the recalcitrant bite of sandwich. Finally, I managed to swallow, taking but a moment to enjoy my victory before I was forced to turn and confront the stranger standing beside me.

I turned my head only to find myself staring at a sweater, a beautifully-made emerald green cashmere sweater to be precise. Strange how the mind notices odd things, considering I have no fashion sense whatsoever and owned not a single item made of cashmere. That thought quickly became secondary, however, when I noticed the chest inside the sweater. I stared at the wide, heavily-muscled piece of masculine anatomy currently in front of my nose and couldn't help but have a moment of feminine appreciation.

God only knows how long I would have stared at that perfection if I hadn't heard another discreet clearing of the throat from above me. I reluctantly tore my eyes away from the chest, raising them to meet the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. Then I forgot to breathe.

They were the most wondrous shade of honey gold, their expression a mixture of amusement and curiosity as I continued to stare into their depths. I idly wondered if I was drooling, but didn't really care if I was; I couldn't take my eyes away from his, and to be honest, I had no desire to. It felt like I could happily drown in them forever, examine all the mysteries of the universe and perhaps find the answers to them as well.

I felt my chest grow tight, and another random thought popped into my head. Is breathing a voluntary or involuntary reaction? Hmmm, perhaps I should try. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with air and inhaling a scent unlike anything I'd ever smelled before. Lilac and sunshine and so many other things combined, I'd never get it exactly right no matter how long I tried.

I vaguely noticed his lips quirk up into a crooked smile as I felt a finger tap lightly against the top of my head. Intent as I was on figuring out what that scent was, I likely would have ignored both if he hadn't chosen that moment to speak to me.

"Forks to Bella. Anybody home?" he asked, his eyes taking on a faintly teasing glimmer.

Bella... Bella... Oh, that's me! I thought, and blinked a few times as I struggled to get my thoughts ordered into some sort of coherency. I felt the ever-ready blush rise to stain my cheeks as I forced myself to break eye contact so I could think. My eyes dropped to his chest, then hastily moved back to my sandwich. If I wanted coherency, looking at his chest wasn't the smartest move.

"Um, yeah," I managed, the blush deepening as I realized how utterly inane I sounded. Great, he's really going to think I'm a moron, now. I sighed as I heard him chuckle faintly beneath his breath, and then continued, "And you are...?"

"Edward. Edward Cullen," he replied in a voice like velvet-wrapped steel. It was smooth and almost liquid in its flow, yet strong and masculine at the same time, and I felt myself shiver lightly as it washed over me. I could happily do nothing but listen to him talk for hours.

Just as I was about to go into another dreamy moronic spell, he continued speaking, and I was thankful for the reality check. Acting like an idiot once in five minutes was more than enough; I didn't need to set any records on idiocy, not today.

"Might I join you?" he asked, setting his tray on the table across from mine without waiting for my reply, sinuously sliding into his chair before folding his hands beneath his chin as he watched my face carefully.

I absently noticed how silent the cafeteria had suddenly become, and was vaguely aware that everyone in it was staring at us with the exception of four people sitting alone at a table not far from ours. They seemed to be studiously avoiding looking at us, though their backs were stiff as if with disapproval. I took a moment to wonder why I'd gotten that impression, then shrugged off the question as I turned to face Edward, who was still patiently waiting for my response to his query.

"Sure," I whispered, and I could feel the blush deepening further as I forced my gaze to his once more.

I wanted badly to have some task for my hands, they were fidgeting nervously on the table in front of me, but I didn't dare pick up my sandwich and try another bite. Not with him sitting right there and watching me so closely. I'd choke for certain, and I didn't need to appear any more foolish to him than I already must.

He smiled again, another of those crooked half-smiles, and I could feel my heart stutter a beat. The smile widened, as if he'd heard my heart's little dance, but there was no way he could have, despite how loud my heartbeat seemed to be in my own ears. I struggled to pull myself together, utterly confused as to why I was reacting this way to a boy I'd just met. I never had before, and it was embarrassing to be doing so now.

"How do you like Forks?" he asked, his fingers lowering from beneath his chin to casually tear little pieces off of the pizza on his tray, though he ate none of them.

I shrugged, moving my own hands beneath the table so they could latch onto the hem of my shirt and keep themselves busy for awhile. "It's not too bad, there are worse places," I answered. "Have you always lived here?"

"No," he replied, "My family and I moved here a few years ago. We have that in common, you and I. We're both newcomers, really."

He looked at me more intensely for a moment, and a brief look of frustration came and went in his eyes so quickly I couldn't truly be certain I'd seen it at all. My eyes automatically dropped to his hands, still busily at work on the pizza, and I noticed his skin was paler even than mine, and that was saying something. Being from Phoenix, you'd think I'd have a beautiful tan, but I don't. My skin is quite pale, almost too pale in contrast with my dark hair. It's one of the banes of my existence. Yet his was white, a beautiful shade, almost pearl and slightly luminous in the low lighting of the cafeteria. Curious.

Everything about him aroused my curiosity, as did the stares of the other kids, though that was only a minor oddity to be left for consideration at a later time. I felt a need to know everything about him, another first for me. For Pete's sake, I'd just met the guy. Get a grip, Bella, I told myself. You're starting to lose it.

I searched through my scattered thoughts for something to say, but found myself even more tongue-tied than usual. As Edward opened his mouth to speak once more, I quickly blurted out the first thing I thought of, then almost cringed when I heard the words come out of my mouth. "Your eyes are beautiful."

I quickly raised my hands, rubbing them hard down my face as I hurriedly whispered, "Please ignore that." I risked a peek at his face, and gave serious consideration to crawling under the table as I saw the grin that widened his lips.

"Thank you," he murmured, his voice a velvety caress that I would swear I could physically feel moving over me. I shivered once more, feeling the instinctive urge to flee this disaster as quickly as possible, and stood up dangerously fast.

Of course, I tripped over the chair as it caught my legs, tangling them when I tried to move. I saw the hard floor rising up to meet my face and out of long habit, I threw out my arms to try to break the fall. I never hit.

Strong arms were suddenly around me, arresting my fall, and I was lifted up into Edward's embrace as easily as if I weighed no more than a small child. My breath left me in shock, and I found myself staring into his beautiful face once more, no air in my lungs as I dangled there in his arms.

His face slowly lowered to mine, and I could feel my eyes widening. Was he going to kiss me? Then his whisper floated softly to my ears. "Breathe, Bella," he murmured, amusement returning once more to his eyes as his words were followed by another soft chuckle.

I turned beet red, I could feel the heat suffuse my entire face this time as I drew in a deep breath, only to find myself becoming dizzy as his scent once again filled my lungs. This had to stop before I ended up a total wreck.

Very gently, as if I were made of something precious and infinitely fragile, he set me on my feet and released me from his grasp. I swayed for a moment, then caught my balance, and took a step back from him. A very careful step. No more tripping for me.

I could feel the stares of the other kids burning into me as if they were brands, and I knew I had to get out of there immediately. I'd once more become the focus of attention, and made a fool of myself in the process. I silently groaned at the thought, then turned to hurriedly collect my tray and bag as I murmured a soft thank you to Edward. I was nothing if not polite.

Before he could say anything else, I was moving quickly toward the door, stopping only briefly to empty my tray into the trash and place it with the other dirty ones. I hit the door almost running, clumsiness be damned, and retreated to the washroom once more. My bag went flying under the sink as I leaned over it, breathing heavily, though it wasn't the short run that had winded me.

Leaning down, I splashed some cold water on my face, though it did nothing to stem the heat of my cheeks, and then I slowly raised my eyes to peek at my reflection in the mirror. Water dripped unnoticed down my chin, dropping to soak into my sweater as I stared at the shocked face looking back at me from the glass. What the hell had just happened back there?