Chapter 2

I was grateful that the next day was Tuesday. Even though I would have to endure seeing Edward at school, at least I didn't have to worry about trying to avoid him at work. This is absurd, I kept thinking.

I met up with Alice after my last class, and we walked around town a little to enjoy the rare nice weather that Forks was having. I had already told Renee that I would be eating dinner at Alice's so that we could work on homework together.

"Alice, can I tell you something, and will you promise you won't have me committed?" I asked. I couldn't hold it in any longer; I had to tell someone about what was going on with me. Just in case I really was crazy.

"Hmmm…well, I suppose so, Bella. I mean, you can certainly tell me anything, you know that. And since you haven't recommended me for the loony bin yet, I guess I could extend the same courtesy to you."

"Gee, thanks, Alice." I rolled my eyes at her.

"So what's up?" After that lead in, I certainly had her curiosity piqued.

"Well," I started, not knowing how I was going to explain this properly. "Have you seen Edward Cullen at school?"

"Yeah, why?" she asked.

"I keep seeing him in the hallways, and I can't seem to keep myself from staring at him. I mean I literally have to make an effort NOT to look at him. It's starting to freak me out a little."

"Really? Well, he is cute, so I can't blame you there. So, what's the big deal? I'm sure lots of the girls in Forks are thrilled to have something new and shiny to stare at." She looked at me curiously then, obviously not understanding my request for avoiding any psychiatric evaluations.

"Well, I've managed to keep it somewhat under control at school, but then Charlie went and hired him to work part time at the police station, and I'll have to see him there, too," I said, hoping not to sound like some kind of idiot.

"Okay, so you're concerned because you have to keep seeing a cute guy? Sorry, I'm not seeing the issue here yet," Alice said, shaking her head.

"Alice, I don't get it. I've never been like this before, and it's bugging me. Why him? Why am I reacting this way?"

"Do you like him?" she asked, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, of course not! That's ridiculous." That response was even a little too quick of an answer to convince me, though.

"I mean, I don't even know him, Al. But what's making me crazy is that I can't explain any of it. It doesn't matter, anyway. Just forget I brought it up."

Alice gave me one of those all-knowing looks, with a smug smile.

"Uh-huh. Okay, my friend. I think you have a little crush going on here. And I don't think forgetting that you brought it up is in the cards for either of us." She was giggling now, which I thought was a little strange.

"What's going on, Alice?" I asked, suspiciously.

"Nothing bad, Bella, I promise. You'll see."

"Then why am I suddenly scared?" And for some reason I was as we started heading back to Alice's house so that we wouldn't be late for dinner

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Hales lived in a nice yellow Victorian house near the town center that their family had owned since they moved to Forks a couple of generations ago. We walked up the driveway and into the house through the side door, then into the brightly decorated kitchen. Dinner wasn't quite ready yet, so we headed for Alice's room on the second floor. We took three steps down the hallway, and that's where I froze.

I was in front of Emmett's room, the door was open, and some music was playing that I didn't recognize. What I did recognize, however, were the three people sitting around Emmett's room; Emmett, his best friend Jasper, and Edward Cullen. All three of them looked up when they noticed Alice and me standing in front of the door, and Emmett smiled and nodded his head at us.

"Hey Bells, what's up?" he asked me.

"Hey, Alice," Jasper added.

Edward smiled, looking at both of us.

"Hello," he said.

I couldn't speak. I mean, I did try, but no sound would leave my mouth. Alice picked up on my helplessness, and thankfully came to my rescue.

"Bella, you know Emmett's friend, Jasper, and this is Edward." She pointed to him as though our earlier conversation about him hadn't taken place. "Edward just moved here from Port Angeles," she continued, allowing me enough time to somewhat compose myself.

"Um, hi," I managed to squeak out, and gave a general wave to all of them. Then the unthinkable happened – he spoke directly to me.

"You're Chief Swan's daughter, aren't you? I think I saw you at the police station yesterday when I started work." His voice had almost the same affect on me that his eyes seemed to.

"Right," I said, nodding. "I remember my Dad telling me you were working there."

Alice grabbed my sleeve then and said "C'mon Bella, I want to show you that jacket I bought."

I managed another quick glance at Edward as Alice pulled me down towards her room, and the guys went back to discussing whatever they were planning to do that night. Once we were safely in Alice's room, I unleashed my fury on her.

"You knew! You knew the whole time that he was going to be here, didn't you? And you let me just be blindsided like that? Alice Hale, how could you?!"

"Calm down, Bella. I just did you a very big favor," she said with a triumphant smirk. I raised my eyebrow at her and decided to allow her to expand on that before killing her.

"OK, Alice, you're going to have to explain that one for me."

"I had a feeling about what your reaction would be when you saw him, and I was right, of course. And from what I predicted, I knew that your first time actually speaking to him would be uncomfortable, possibly even incoherent. Of course, I was right again. I was there to prevent you from making a fool of yourself, wasn't I?"

"That's beside the point, don't you think?" Evil, fortune-telling pixie…

"Hardly," she said, pleasantly. "Now I know exactly what your feelings are where Edward Cullen is concerned, and I can help you with them."

"And, what exactly are my feelings?"

"I believe we could classify you as smitten." She had a smile like a Cheshire cat as she said this.

"No," I stated plainly. "You're totally wrong on this one, Al. I am just…just.."

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as I tried to figure out exactly what I was 'just.' Alice waited patiently for the rest of my response, sitting on her bed with that all-knowing look back on her face.

"I don't know, maybe I am, slightly. But, like I said, it doesn't matter. He's a senior and I'm a sophomore. Those relationships just don't work."

"Well, I hope you're wrong on that point." Alice looked down at her feet with a solemn look on her face then, and I suddenly remembered that the object of her affection, Jasper, was also a senior. Alice had been 'smitten,' as she put it, with him for almost six months now. And the fact that he was Emmett's best friend only made things more awkward if they ever did date.

"Oh, Al, I'm sorry. I just don't think it would work for me. But you should stay optimistic about Jasper, he's really nice."

"Yeah, but unfortunately he still sees me as Emmett's little sister – nothing more. I'm hoping that after he graduates it might make things easier. Of course, that's only if he doesn't travel too far to go to college. At least now I get to see him here once or twice a week."

As I sat there thinking about Alice's situation, I felt as though someone had flicked a switch inside of me. I was forced to admit to myself, with a mild sense of shock, that I did like Edward. Even if that feeling was based solely on some unexplainable attraction, it was still there. I supposed I could console myself with the knowledge that a crush based solely on attraction was bound to be short-lived, right?

"Hang on, I'll be right back," Alice said as she flitted out of her bedroom and down the hall.

She returned a moment later.

"The coast is clear. The guys all went somewhere, so let's go eat."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day I found myself feeling less anxious than I would have expected, knowing that I would see Edward at work. Alice would tell me it was because of her brilliant idea of surprising me with his presence yesterday at her house, but I wasn't so sure of that. Thankfully, I only saw Edward once in the halls at school today. The rest of the student body were all moving like cattle around us, so I didn't get more than a second's glance. But being in the police station, with only six other people at any given time, was another matter altogether. The thought of having to speak coherently to him was terrifying, but if I was lucky, I would manage to avoid him completely.

As I suspected, my luck had decided to take the day off.

I walked into the station and picked up the pile of mail that had been delivered. Once my things were properly stowed away, I started to deliver the various envelopes to their rightful owners. As I walked into my Dad's office, he gave me a wave and glanced up at me, looking wary, as if he wasn't sure if I was going to freak out like I did on Monday or not.

"Hi Dad." I gave him a smile, and dropped his mail on his desk.

"Hey, Bella. Everything okay?" Yep. He was worried.

"Yeah, great. School was good; I got a B plus on my Biology project."

"Oh. Well, that's good." He seemed satisfied with that answer, and went back to signing off on the traffic court papers he had in front of him.

I was apt to find anything on my desk when I arrived at work. Since I was considered 'unskilled labor,' everyone had me doing the things they didn't want to be bothered with. So, I decided to dive into categorizing the parking and speeding tickets by date and number. I was heavily engrossed in this task and thinking that I might do some Christmas decorating in the station, when a familiar voice made me practically jump out of my seat.

"Hi, Bella."

I turned to see the object of my obsession, a bronze-haired Adonis with a crooked smile, behind me making his way over to Charlie's office. It took me a second to find my voice, but I managed to at least sound human.

"Hi…um...Edward." He was almost to Charlie's office by the time I spoke, and probably didn't even hear me. Probably for the best, since he also couldn't see the bright shade of crimson I had turned.

I pretended to be very busy with my parking tickets, but couldn't help myself from eavesdropping on his conversation with Charlie. They weren't discussing anything exciting, just which car needed to be taken care of next, but I needed to know when he would be walking back this way. I didn't want to be caught by surprise again. A moment later Charlie had answered his questions, and he was making his way towards the corridor that led to the garage, past where I was sitting. I pretended to be very busy as if I didn't notice him, but I was completely aware of every footstep, every movement that he made. He walked past me and back down to where I had first seen him on Monday. Part of me was….disappointed? Let down? Was I expecting him to stop and have a conversation with me? What in the world would we talk about, anyway?

God, Bella, get a grip!

A couple of hours later I was finished with everything on my desk, and Charlie was almost ready to go home. I could see out of the window that Edward's car was still here, and temporary insanity took over. I slowly made my way down the corridor, unsure of where this sudden courage had come from, and looked through the window. So much for the twelve step program.

He was just finishing vacuuming one of the cruisers, wrapping up the long cord around the shop-vac, and checking under the seats to make sure he hadn't missed anything. I couldn't help but stare at the way his coveralls fit him. I didn't even bother to try to convince myself that I didn't feel an attraction towards this infuriating newcomer to Forks. It just wasn't worth it. Just then, he turned and caught me watching him. He smiled again, and waved at me through the door. Of course, I did the mature thing and immediately turned around, hyperventilating.

What should I do now? I thought.

At that point I found my sense of reason, and decided that if I didn't at least say something to him, that I would look like a complete idiot. Yes, that was it! I would just casually say goodnight, like any other polite co-worker would do. That was a completely normal action, right? So, I opened the door just enough to stick my head in and saw him looking at me, probably wondering why I had just reacted that way. As I positioned myself halfway into the doorway and tried to manage a polite smile, it happened.

My feet somehow managed to become entangled in each other, and I went flying forward into the garage. A split second before I could land on my face, though, Edward was at my side grabbing both of my arms and helping me back up. I felt an electric current run through me where his hands touched the fabric of my sweater,

"Whoa. Are you okay, Bella?" he asked, his face now filled with concern. He looked curiously down to the ground to try to figure out what I had tripped on. This was going to be embarrassing.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just tripped over my own two feet, that's all. I, uh…I do that sometimes." Might as well be honest.

"Well, I'm glad I was here, then. You really could have hurt yourself." He had an amused smile on his face now, which only made me feel worse.

"Thanks," I said, trying not to look at him directly. I could only imagine the blush that I was wearing now.

"It was no problem, really."

Against my better judgment I looked up into his green eyes. They really were dazzling. Why was I here again? Oh, yeah –

"I was just coming in to say goodnight. I'm going home."

Not that Edward Cullen was going to care where I was, but as soon as I told him I was going home, I felt like it was too much information. Like I was just confirming the fact that I was a kid who wasn't old enough to have any kind of a social life.

"Okay, well have a good night then, and I guess I'll see you tomorrow," he said, and I managed to nod and smile as I turned and walked quickly out of the garage.

Charlie was waiting for me in his cruiser, but didn't seem to notice my ragged breathing or the color in my cheeks after my brief encounter with Edward. We drove home mostly in silence, which wasn't unusual. My father was not known for being a chatterbox, unlike the love of his life, my mother. Renee could carry on a conversation with a complete stranger and turn them into a close friend within an hour. I admired her lack of social anxieties, and knew that I would never be in her league when it came to being outgoing, but I was rather proud of my accomplishment tonight in approaching Edward to say goodnight.

I could imagine Alice squealing with excitement when I told her about this.