AN: You know when you find a story that sounds really interesting, and you start reading and it's pretty good, and you want to know what happens, and then the story just stops, right before it gets to the really interesting parts, and you're like, no way, why hasn't this story been updated in months and months? Yeah, I hate it when that happens. Sorry.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If you recognize some things, yes, that's because they are basically taken right out of the book. I thought that would be easier to keep it with the right feel. Soon it won't be possible for me to do that, as the storyline is a bit different from Stephenie Meyer's.
Last time: His dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful.
"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Blake Swan."
Confusion at Edward's demeanor rushed through me, almost causing me to deny his assumption and blurt out my real name. "Uh, yeah, that's me." Intelligent, Bella! "How'd you know?"
"The whole school's been buzzing ever since you got here. We don't get many transfers, especially not in the middle of the school year." He paused, looking momentarily chagrined. "Sorry I wasn't here to greet you properly."
More confusion. "What?"
Edward pulled his hand through his hair roughly, almost looking nervous, if that was possible. "I mean, we're roommates, right? I was probably supposed to give you a tour or something."
Oh. "No worries, that's already been taken care of." Mike the overeager had seen to it. I frowned slightly; what was I supposed to say now?
The silence was about to get awkward when Mr. Banner interrupted by starting class. As he handed out our supplies, he explained that we would be identifying the phases of mitosis from the slides of onion root tip cells the boxes contained, but without using our books.
"Get started," Mr. Banner commanded.
"You first, partner?" Edward asked. I glanced up to see him with a crooked smile so beautiful it was all I could do to keep from staring at him like an idiot.
His smile faded slightly. Edward was obviously having doubts about my mental competence. At the quirk of his eyebrow, I flushed. "Right."
I grabbed the first slide and snapped it into place. I'd done this lab before, should be no problem.
It was as easy as I'd hoped. "Prophase."
"Mind if I look?" he asked as I began to remove the slide. His hand caught mine, to stop me, as he asked. His fingers were ice-cold, but that wasn't why I jerked my hand away so quickly. When he touched me, it stung my hand as if an electrical current had passed through us.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand back immediately. However, he continued to reach for the microscope. I watched, still staggered, as he took even less time with the slide than I had.
"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on our worksheet. He swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, glancing at it cursorily.
"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.
I fought to keep my voice indifferent. "May I?"
He pushed the microscope to me with a shrug.
I was disappointed when I looked through the eyepiece. Dang it, he was right!
"Slide three?" I held out my hand without looking.
He handed it to me; it felt like he was being careful not to touch my skin again.
I took the most fleeting look I could manage. "Interphase." I passed him the microscope before he could ask for it.
He eyed it briefly before writing it down, a task I left to him since I felt my clumsy script would look awkward next to his elegant handwriting.
We were finished before anyone else was close, leaving me with nothing to do but try not to look at him… unsuccessfully. When I glanced up, he was staring at me with that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes. Suddenly I identified the subtle difference in his face.
"Did you get contacts?" My mouth moved before my brain was finished thinking about it.
He seemed puzzled by my unexpected question. "No."
"Oh. … I thought there was something different about your eyes."
He shrugged and looked away.
I was positive there was something different. The flat black color of his eyes the last time he'd glared at me had been striking against the background of his pale skin and auburn hair. His eyes were a completely different color today: a strange ocher, darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone. Edward had to be lying about the contacts for some reason, or maybe this school was just making me crazy in the literal sense of the word.
When I looked down, his hands were clenched into hard fists again.
Mr. Banner stopped at our table to see why we weren't working. He glanced at our worksheet, and then looked closer at the answers.
"So, Edward, didn't you think Blake should get a turn with the microscope?"
"He actually identified three of the five."
Mr. Banner looked at me with a skeptical expression. "Have you done this lab before?"
"Not with onion root." I smiled sheepishly.
"Whitefish blastula?"
"Yeah."
Mr. Banner nodded. "Were you in an advanced placement program in Phoenix?"
"Yes."
"Well," he said after a moment, "I guess it's good you two are lab partners." He mumbled something else as he walked away. After he left, I began doodling on my notebook again.
"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward seemed to be forcing himself to make small talk with me. It was like he heard me talking to Mike at lunch and was trying to prove me wrong.
"Not really." I failed to edit my response for normality, the stupid feeling of suspicion making me lose my concentration.
"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.
"Or the wet."
"Washington must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.
"You have no idea."
For some reason I couldn't fathom, he looked fascinated by what I said. His face was such a distraction that I tried not to look at it any more than courtesy absolutely demanded. A guy mooning over some other guy would definitely draw some unwanted attention.
"Why did you move away from Phoenix, then?
He was the first one to ask me that straight out, practically demanding it.
"It's… complicated."
"I think I can keep up."
I paused, unsure of how deep I should go into my backstory. Then I made the mistake of meeting his gaze, and his dark gold eyes confused me into spilling everything. I told Edward about Renee and Phil, how I'd practically exiled myself so that my mom would be able to travel with her ballplayer husband without worrying about me.
Edward listened without much comment, but somehow managed to deduce that I wasn't thrilled with my situation. "You put on a good show," he said slowly, gaze appraising, "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."
I grimaced and looked away, resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at him like a five-year-old.
"Am I wrong?"
I didn't respond.
"Didn't think so." His voice was smug.
"Why do you care?" Irritation seeped into my voice, but I kept my eyes on the teacher making his rounds.
"That's a very good question. … Getting to know my roommate, maybe?" I was certain he would elaborate, but after a few seconds of silence I decided that was the only answer I was going to get.
I sighed, scowling at the blackboard.
"Am I annoying you?" He sounded amused.
I glanced at him without thinking … and told the truth again. "Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself; my face is so easy to read, my mom always calls me her open book." I frowned.
"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." Despite everything he'd guessed from what little I'd said, he sounded like he meant it.
"You must be a good reader then."
"Usually." He smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultrawhite teeth.
Mr. Banner called the class to order and I turned with relief to listen. Had I really just explained my dreary life to this bizarre, beautiful boy, my roommate, who may or may not despise me? He'd seemed interested in our conversation, but I could see from the corner of my eye that he was leaning away from me again, his hands gripping the edge of the table with unmistakable tension.
I tried to appear attentive as Mr. Banner illustrated, with transparencies on the overhead projector, what I had seen without difficulty through the microscope. But my thoughts were unmanageable.
When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, I stared after him in amazement.
Mike came over to me shaking his head. "That was awful! They all looked exactly the same. You're luck you had Cullen for a partner."
"I didn't have any trouble with it," I said, stung by his assumption. I regretted the snub instantly. "I've done the lab before, though." Hopefully that would spare his feelings.
"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," he commented as we shrugged into our raincoats. He seemed curious about it.
I tried to sound indifferent. "I wonder what was with him last Monday."
I couldn't concentrate on Mike's chatter as we walked to Gym, and P.E. didn't do much to hold my attention, either. Mike was on my team today and wisely covered my position as well as his own. My absent-mindedness was obvious in the way my team ducked warily out of the way every time I was up to serve.
The rain was just a mist as I walked outside, but I was happier once I got to the dorms. I barely had time to dump my books, crank up the heater in my room, and change into jeans when somebody pounded on the door. My heart leaped before I realized that Edward would simply walk into his room, having no need to knock.
I opened the door to see Mike standing there with a soccer ball in his hands. "What's up, Mike?"
"It stopped raining! Come out and kick a ball around with me for a while, man. It'll be fun!" Mike looked so eager I hated to disappoint him.
"You know I'm no good at sports. Totally uncoordinated, remember?"
"No big deal, it's not like we're actually playing a game. Just kicking the ball around. It'd be good for you to get outside, Casper." Mike grinned, apparently pleased with his own cleverness.
I groaned. "Fine." Mike whooped as I grabbed a jacket, almost sprinting down the hall after I closed my door. I trudged after him, muttering to myself. "So not a good idea, Swan."
I grimaced when we reached the empty soccer field. It was still way too damp for my taste, but Mike was unreasonably excited about the whole thing, so I put on my game face.
Mike motioned for me to join him in the middle of the field, and as I jogged out he kicked the ball toward me. I managed to somehow intersect it with my foot and send it back in his general direction. "Not bad, dude!" He grinned. "Next time try to keep it away from me."
He dribbled it back and forth a couple times before shooting it my way. I stopped it but got distracted by something in the stands. I looked up to see Edward Cullen standing at the top of the bleachers watching. Why was he there? I thought he disliked me.
Suddenly I saw Edward's eyes go wide, then something hard collided with my head, and darkness rushed toward me.