Feed The Devil And It Shall Follow
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Chapter 2 — It's called disappointment.
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She woke with the sun on her closed eyes. It was frustrating and annoying. She thought last night she had closed her curtain to have a more deep sleep. She groaned, apparently she didn't.
Her eyelids seemed to be glued to one another. She screwed her face and tried to open her heavy eyelids, preventing to be struck by the bright lightning from the sun reflecting through her window.
"Hey honey, are you awake?"
"Mmm…" she mumbled.
Charlie chuckled through her door. "I'm leaving now, Bells. You better get ready for school. I'll see you at night."
"Sure…" Her voice sounded incoherent and dizzy, dull.
- - -
She sighed tiredly at the written problems on the blackboard, her hand making silly drawings on her notebook, her heavy eyelids sometimes giving out, but quickly snapping open again. She was too tired today. One more hour of class and she could at least get something to eat. She hated herself now for not having the conscience to eat, for most, a simple bowl of cereal in the morning at her house. Her stomach was growling, she yawned again.
"Isabella, I know you are new, but you have to get used to our program here. Sleeping and yawning in class is not the best way to learn, miss."
Bella's head automatically yanked straight and her eyes snapped open, nodding harshly and blushing in embarrassment.
"S-sorry," she stuttered.
The teacher gave her a warning stare and resumed giving her class.
Ugh, bad impressions are no good at the beginning of the semester.
She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands and turned to her side. Bella noticed that a girl was watching her with preoccupied eyes. Bella remembered that her name was Alice Brandon. Charlie probably had mentioned her parents. She couldn't remember quite well.
Alice gave her a warming smile and turned to the blackboard, Bella did too.
The bell rang after an immeasurable period of time and Bella quickly darted out of the room, heading to the cafeteria.
She felt a little amount of air leave her lungs as she remembered a very specific table... and person.
Would she find him with someone else this time? Could she be wrong about why was he alone yesterday?
Hesitantly, she opened the big doors of the cafeteria.
She could have been all wrong; he could have been laughing with a friend that didn't come yesterday. She could have been too obsessed with the mindless and stupid idea of someone that could spent time with her; he could have been smiling and eating with some girl…
She could have been…
But she wasn't.
The distant table on the corner had one occupant; one single, lonely occupant, with no friend beside him, no food in front of him, just the same lost, faceless stare at the table like yesterday.
Bella blinked rapidly and the churning in her stomach wasn't just because she was starving anymore. The same timid smile slightly took place on her lips.
Excitedly, a weird sensation she was used to, she made her way to the line of the cafeteria. Her small size was towered by the other students; she hunched her shoulders together and lowered her head, trying to not get shoved by the cramped line of people. The heat from her face never left her cheeks.
Like yesterday, she stood in front of the cafeteria, with her meaningless tray of food on her grasp. Few people took notice of her and secretly began to talk about the Chief of Police's peculiar daughter.
But her eyes weren't on them, nor her thoughts.
She bit the inside of her lip and like before, walked slowly towards his table.
Why are you getting fascinated by some lonesome boy?
She didn't listen to her thoughts; the curiosity arousing on her body beckoned her to continue, leading her steps toward him.
Her heart thumped furiously inside her ribcage. Maybe this is a very bad idea… You've never approached someone… why him… you haven't seen his face… you haven't seen how he is… why him?
It was like a wire, an invisible, powerful wire pulling her to him. Perhaps she didn't notice the force in which they were being joined together. Perhaps she didn't see the resemblances on both of their graces; light and darkness.
They say that opposite poles attract together.
And when they do, it's almost impossible to stop.
Before she knew, her tray of food slid against his table. She noticed that he didn't seem to listen her intrusion. Was he that lost into his thoughts? He pretty much held the same posture as she had seen him yesterday. His body bent to the table, his long pale arms folded tightly, the muscles of his forearms perfectly viewable through his sleeved black shirt.
Bella was newly hit by fear as she began to sit on the chair in front of the boy. She darted her eyes around the cafeteria nervously before she began to take place ahead of him. As she lowered herself to sit on the plastic blue chair, she suddenly could hear his calmed breathing, like if he was having the deepest sleep. His golden-brown messy hair greeted her eye-level, but only that.
Her breathing instead, was shallow and accelerated while she insecurely accommodated herself on her seat… and that apparently didn't come unnoticed.
His rapid movement left her frozen on her seat. Instantaneously, he stiffened and his eyes snapped to meet hers.
Bella felt a violent shiver cross through her spine, making her stomach churn painfully until the tingling reached her toes. The gasp her body wanted to let out because of reaction, stuck inside her dry throat as she stared at the once unfathomable face of the boy. She blinked as she took in his piercing beautiful emerald eyes.
Her brain yelled at her to desperately look away. She wanted to look away, so badly. Just like she always did to every single person who made eye contact with her, she simply couldn't stand someone staring directly into her eyes, like if they were accusing her of something.
But this was alarmingly different.
She really couldn't look away.
No one she had ever known in her entire life was staring at her—glaring at her—with the intensity he was doing now.
When the shock of his angry stare faded within her body, she blinked while observing his strangely gorgeous and hard features. His eyes were wild, penetrating her soul.
She noticed that inside the little space his forearms had left, his fists were clenched.
She quickly hesitated to say something. But she found her voice soon cut by his harsh velvety-like one.
"I —"
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
She couldn't help but flinch, a bit too violent because she felt her chair move the slightest backwards. Flinch from his hostile words and the rough way he had spat them.
You should have stayed away, you stupid.
Her throat began to close, making it hard to swallow. She sensed the moisture accumulating in the surface of her wide open eyes.
How humiliating. You should have stayed away…
She tried to use her voice again, but she feared it might break.
"I —" she nearly choked as the treacherous tears began to wield. She closed her eyes and tilted her head down, swallowing another dry hollow of nothing in her mouth, trying to make her voice sound firmer. "T-there were no seats l-left," she managed to say, her futile attempts to make her voice louder failing miserably.
She met his furious gaze again, wishing instantly that she hadn't.
His jaw tightened and he quirked a fine thick eyebrow knowingly. His eyes left her face and directly stared above her shoulder, his eyebrow lifting more.
She grimaced, closing her eyes.
Of course, even when she didn't look above her shoulder and prove his point, she perfectly knew there were seats left, but no empty tables. Why would she sit with other strangers?
She flew her eyes open once again at her own incredulity… He is a stranger too. He makes no difference.
Once the silence turned uncomfortable for her, she unwillingly lifted her eyes again to stare at his, pleading with them…
There's no place for me… Please, let me stay here…
But his eyes were like concrete, cold strong concrete that would never allow such emotions like hers slip through them.
She spoke again, stammering, "I really— I'm sorry. I-I don't—didn't mean to be a burden for you. I-I won't bother you, I swear. I don't—" She stopped for a second or so, feeling the blush creeping through her cheeks. What a perfect timing, "—I don't like to eat on a place like t-the bathroom…" She scoffed with a smile, "I mean, if… if you know what I—"
Her quiet voice had no comparison to his harsh one.
"It's not my fucking problem,"
She stared blankly at him, blinking. That was it. She had enough. She didn't know where a sudden defiance rode into her, which she would regret later.
"It's not your table either," Just like that, the words left her mouth, sounding stronger than she had expected.
W-where did that come from?
She did regret the words as they passed her lips. She wanted to grab each and one of them, suck them in and never open her mouth again.
But she had said them anyway, and she was sure he didn't like it.
Anger was notable on his physical features; face and posture. Bella's teeth locked together. She had suffered a lot. She had thought of him in a different way. She would stand her ground now.
Though, the menace enveloping his emerald dark eyes showed the contrary.
He sighed and looked down at the table, "You should go,"
She almost missed his whisper. His whisper abandoned his mouth through gritted teeth, his voice and the edge of his words sounded more like a warning, for her own sake.
The defiance ran along her veins again. She hated it. She loathed it with a staggering passion. She wanted to cover her mouth with both of her hands so she couldn't say a word. They were inevitable now.
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!
"B-but it's not your table. You are with no one. I swear I will not bother you. I just want a place to sit," she demanded to him, her breaths coming rapidly, her heart beating furiously inside her heaving chest; waiting for his reaction.
She watched helplessly as his face leaned in further towards her, an incredulous chuckle passing his mouth, with no humor on it for sure. She couldn't move when his eyes were intently trained on her brown ones. His humorless smile began to fade and was slowly replaced by a sneer. A very daunting, hostile face adorned his flawless features.
"Don't stare directly at the eyes of the snake… it will bite you if it sees you as a threat. You must quickly look away, honey…" His eyes reminded her immediately to the first time she had encountered a rattlesnake in Phoenix. The advice of her mother was echoing inside her frozen brain.
He kept approaching, so close that she could smell his breath, tickling her cheeks, so close that she could define the olive irises of his dark eyes.
Look away.
His next words were venom to her ears, a beautiful, yet terrifying sound, penetrating mercilessly through her naïve core.
"Fuck off."
So easy it was to destroy and crash her assumptions of this boy. She gulped, her throat raspier than before, burning achingly as she swallowed. His eyes held her watery ones for a very disturbingly matter of time.
Can't you see me? Do I need to look more pathetic to you so you could smile in victory?
She was too tired to turn and unlock her gaze with his. She was too tired to treat disappointment properly as she felt it coming closer into her. She'd promised herself she would never let it come nearby her, in any way. She tried to prevent that awful sensation she knew so well. But here it was, mocking her again, the source a mere human-being.
Failure.
She was too exhausted, exhausted enough that she even missed the screeching of the bell, that she even did not perceive him as he stood up. Her brown humid eyes did not looked at any other place or thing, did not react to any sound or movement. She only stared at the place where those brilliant, wild eyes once taunted her.
One breathy, broken, humorless laugh slipped through her dry mouth.
Stupid, I told you.
- - -
"Isabella Swan?"
She sighed and stopped her steps at the middle of the hallway. Her body turned around to see the source of her name being called.
"Yeah?" she asked tiredly. Her eyes met the warm face of one of the few faces she was able to recognize; Alice Brandon.
"Umm, hi! You probably don't know me, though we are together in almost every class. I'm Alice." She brightly smiled as she introduced herself.
Bella returned the smile, "No, I've heard about you. In your case you must already know everything about me," she laughed quietly. "I bet Char— I mean, my dad, has told everyone about me… Oh, and please call me Bella."
"Sure, sure! And he has!" Alice grinned wider. "You are heading to Biology, I suppose?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Do you mind if I come with you then? My next class is close to yours."
"Oh sure, it's not a problem at all." Bella shrugged.
It was a problem. She wasn't a good talkative person. And Bella, now seeing Alice's enthusiasm, was absolutely intimidated at how she was going to communicate with her like a normal person would.
They both made their way to their next class.
"I was just wondering," Alice started, shaking her head, "I should have talked to you the first day you came here and give you the generic talk about this High School."
Bella was a little confused when Alice changed her jovial features to a more serious one.
"I guess I could have at least warned you about… well… Edward Masen, but I think that's ruined now that you sort of met him,"
Bella stopped immediately, memories of the burning green-eyed gaze hitting her. Bella saw the worried Alice who had also stopped just beside her. She didn't know how to start to talk about their encounter.
"W-was that the boy… from…"
"I didn't believe my eyes when you started to approach him! What were you thinking?!" Alice stared at Bella with unbelief. "I mean, you had to go straight for the person that had an invisible vibe that said, 'Do not come any closer'?"
Bella stared at the ground, of course I saw that… I'm just stupid.
"If you weren't the new girl who practically didn't know anything about him, I'd absolutely called you the bravest girl on this planet," The smile returned in Alice's features.
"Just be more careful. Do not pass his way. Not even accidentally." Alice resumed her walking, "Come on, we should go to class, almost-bravest-girl-on-the-planet."
…But why?
"I—" Bella tried to catch Alice's attention, for her to just simply give her a justification of why this Edward had this kind of reputation, but she was in the middle of the hallway now. The bell rang loudly and she found herself alone and with her own thoughts, and that cruel voice ringing in her ears.
She should hurry up to class.
Of course, she couldn't help her bad luck.
As she entered the classroom she immediately noticed that she wasn't going to be alone in her desk anymore.
Messy golden-brown hair greeted her eyes.
Oh no…
Those dark green eyes seemed to follow her everywhere after seeing them not so long ago.
A/N's: Liked it? Hated it? Please let us know. Thanks for the ones who had favorite this story and for the story alerts too! Means a lot to us. Too harsh wasn't it? :s Oh, more is coming… *smirks*