Disclaimer: See previous chapter…XD

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Chapter Four: Faking It

After my revelation I couldn't think about anything else. That was not a good thing considering that I had gym next period. I think that some time after the teacher had put us into teams for us to play basketball reality sort of came back into focus. Of course, it wasn't enough focus to save me from getting hit in the head with the ball and utter embarrassment. It was stupid. These people should know by now that it would bring nothing but peril if the ball came anywhere near me. Apparently, knowing me since I was born didn't have any affect on the rest of the class's common sense levels. Sometimes I wondered if people could see me at all.

I was hit in some way exactly six more times, and gym showed mercy by ending. I took a quick, cold shower to rinse myself of sticky perspiration, and changed back into the day's clothes.

Biology was up next. I faintly remember the teacher telling us yesterday that we were doing some kind of cellular anatomy lab today as we were all heading out the door. Great. So I'd actually have to pay attention.

Sitting in my seat I awaited the materials and directions from the teacher.

I spent the rest of the class figuring out the lab. I thanked God that it was Lila's and my last class, because we, as partners, still couldn't figure it out until about ten minutes after the dismissal bell. The teacher didn't mind us staying after, so it didn't matter that we turned it in kind of late. I thought about how, last year, my science teacher was way too strict on due dates. If it wasn't turned in exactly on time you got about ten points taken off. I suspected that she wasn't a very happy person.

The rest of the day was routine. I went home, did my homework, fixed dinner, did the dishes, and went to bed.

I dreamt about Edward Cullen again. I had that same dream I had had the first night after I had met him. The only difference being that I wasn't afraid; I was anxious to see his face again in the morning. When I woke to the piercing sound of my alarm clock I started rushing through the morning proceedings.

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I was anxious to arrive at school even though I wouldn't be seeing Edward until next hour. I'll admit that I was a little nervous that he would have those same glares full of hatred shooting at me when I saw him, but I didn't care. Maybe, just maybe, I could change his mind about me. That little hope is what got me through first period. At the end of the class I had a completed worksheet in front of me, and I didn't even remember getting one to start with. I didn't care though.

Alice walked with me, as usual. I had a lot on my mind, so I wasn't exactly being talkative. Alice, being the incredibly perceptive person that she was, caught on quickly.

"What are you planning?" she asked suggestively.

"Huh?"

"You've got one of those looks on your face," she clarified, "Looks like you're planning to do something that you're not so sure you should do…" She gave me a questioning look and I played dumb.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I told her. Of course, I knew exactly what she was talking about, but I was too embarrassed to fess up. I mean, how could I tell someone, who just moved here not a week or two ago, that I was practicallyin love with their brother? I was surprised at myself for saying that, even if I was just in my head. I was most certainly not in love with this Edward Cullen. I just found him extremely fascinating was all.

"Sure you don't," was all she said. She wasn't looking for an explanation and she was dropping it. I always knew that we'd get along great.

We spent the rest of the walk in silence.

My heart rate increased radically as I came within ten feet of my Language Arts classroom. I wondered if he was already in there or if he hadn't quite made it yet. We walked closer and I could here my heart pounding in my ears. Alice looked at me worriedly, and I wondered if my face gave away everything. "It's nothing," I told her and pushed open the classroom door.

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That had to be at least the millionth time my eyes had involuntarily peeked at the side of his face. That meant that that had to be about the millionth time that I had caught him steeling glances in my direction. He didn't look mad or anything, but his expression was not exactly easy to read either. It looked like there was a hint of intrigue and a bit of curiosity, too. I was going mad trying to figure out what he was so curious about. I'm not a very interesting person, really; not compared with someone like him or his sister, Alice.

Alice was looking a little nervous herself. Her eyes kept flickering from me to Edward and back again. The Cullens had to have been the oddest people I'd ever met. They made it extremely hard to concentrate on the grammar practice test we were taking at the moment. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be getting an A on this thing. The bell couldn't have rung fast enough. When the clock finally hit 10:20 I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Well, more like two pairs of eyes staring at me so much that I could practically feel them on me. I felt those same stares continuing as I made my way out of the classroom. I knew that Alice could tell something was wrong, because I usually walked with her to her class since it was in the same direction as my next hour.

I went to my locker, got my things, and fast walked to Spanish.

"Hola señorita Bella," Lila joked at me with a small courtesy and a huge grin.

"Yeah, yeah." I wasn't in the mood for jokes. I was still analyzing the class previous.

Spanish went by in a blur and I was barely aware of myself doing the worksheet on my desk. I some how managed to loose myself in thought, and write down my homework assignment. I walked with Lila to lunch and vaguely remembered listening to her prattle on about the pros and cons of wooden and mechanical pencils. I swear that girl could talk about anything. At least this gave me the option of only having to nod and "uh huh" in the right places.

I went through the lunch line and bought a slice of pizza, some little carrots, and a carton of milk. I went to sit at the usual table and took my usual peek at the Cullens and Hales. The only difference was that Edward Cullen was there, and he was looking in the same direction as our table. As soon as our eyes met he immediately turned towards the opposite wall. He was starting to irritate me. My God! What was his deal? I found myself even more intrigued than the first time I'd seen him. We spent the rest of lunch playing the same game. I'd catch him looking at me, he'd catch me staring at him, and so the process continued.

It wasn't until I had only five minutes that I realized that next period would be just Edward and me. Alone. In History. I found myself suddenly nervous to no end. What would happen? Would he be angry? Would he ignore me? There were too many questions looming on the horizon for me to concentrate on the fact that Mike and Jessica were talking to me about what we would do, on Saturday, besides the movie. At least they didn't seem to notice how spaced I was from the conversation.

I watched as the strange, new family got up and left before the bell even had a chance to dismiss them. I, myself, waited until the last possible moment before I set off on my way. I felt as if I were on death row, walking the hall to my execution. I could almost here the morose music playing in the background: dum dum dumdum dum dada dadum da dum…

But when I got into the classroom Edward had a look of calm and peace about him. He was actually…smiling. Well, I wouldn't really call it a smile. It was more of a impish grin, but what came afterwards was definitely the most amazing smile I had ever seen in my life. He had looked up and spotted me coming through the door when one half of his perfect lips pulled up into a crooked-yet-dazzling smile. It took my breath away.

"Good afternoon," he greeted me. I was so taken aback that I just stared like an idiot. His smile faded a bit as he continued, "I don't think we've ever had the pleasure of speaking. I'm Edward Cullen, I'm new here. I believe that you've met my sister, Alice. She thinks that you're just wonderful, you know."

"I'm Bella," I said, "Um…Yes, I've met Alice. She's great." I didn't know what else to say. I was completely dumbfounded.

"Are you contemplating making a run for it?" he asked teasingly. It was only then did I realize I hadn't sat down yet. As soon as I took my seat his eyes met mine and seemed to be searching for something.

"So…how do you like Forks?" I asked for the sake of saying something. I didn't want to just stare at him without having some sort of a reason.

"Well, it's pretty wet and cold, but that's how it was in the last place we lived. How do you like being the police chief's daughter?" That same look of intense curiosity crossed his face, and a look of confusion and amazement crossed mine.

"How did you know I was the police chief's daughter?"

"Because I'm psychic, of course," I was so sure there was something strange about him and his family that I almost believed him, but a small smile was playing around the edges of his mouth so I threw him a disbelieving look, "Okay, fine. So I met your dad last week, and he told us all about you." My mouth fell open in shock. Why was my dad just throwing out information about me to the nearest listening ear. He was never any good at the whole privacy thing.

"What else did he tell you about me?" His face got serious and he stared at me with complete sincerity.

"He said that you were tremendously bright, terribly kind, and the most responsible person he'd ever met in his entire life."

I raised an eyebrow to try and cover up my embarrassment, but I could feel the heat in my cheeks and I knew that he could tell. "I'd believe you, but Charlie Swan doesn't use words like tremendously and terribly."

"I may have improvised a bit," he shrugged, "but the concept was still the same."

"What about you? You're the new kid. Shouldn't you be telling me something about yourself?"

"What do you want to know?" he said in a guarded tone. I was confused, but I didn't point it out to him. I just continued on with some questions.

"Hmm. Let's see. How about…How old are you?"

"Fifteen." He answered without a second thought.

"You seem much older than fifteen. You could probably pass for seventeen or eighteen."

"I'm fifteen," he said more finally.

I was about to continue, but I heard the final bell ring and the teacher walked in.

"Good afternoon, students," she said all smiley. She didn't get much of a reply, so she proceeded in passing out the warm ups. Throughout the whole first twenty minutes of class I couldn't think of anything besides Edward Cullen and all the mysterious comments he seemed to make. The next thirty minutes were used to complete the daily tasks like a good little student. The last ten minutes were used to steel glances at the strange, bronze-haired boy across from me. I couldn't help myself. I was basically having withdrawal symptoms. I had to talk to him before the bell rang.

"So…How was your last school?" I asked casually.

"Excuse me?"

"The school you went to before you moved here. Do you miss it?"

"Well," he looked guarded, like he was trying not to give something away, "I didn't like it very much, so I really don't miss it."

"Don't you miss your friends?" I asked. If I had of moved from here to a totally different school right before I started high school I think I would have flipped! I'm already shy enough as it is, "I mean, I don't think I would have been able to manage starting over after I've lived here my entire life."

"We moved a lot. I didn't really have friends. I never really fit in anywhere there…But how about you?" he had that quizzical look on his face again, "You don't seem to fit in with the kids around here, either. I wonder why that is."

"What do you mean, I don't fit in?" I knew exactly what he meant, though. I was never on the same page as the kids my age, or any other age really. Not even Jacob or Lila, who I was closer to than any other people on the planet, weren't in sync with me exactly. But just because it was true didn't mean I wanted it pointed out. Especially not by some new kid that may or may not despise me. He didn't know me.

"You just seem to be more, I don't know, original than most of the people around here," he pointed out. That surprised me. I may have been hallucinating, but that sounded kind of like a compliment.

"In what way?" I had never thought of myself as special. I wanted to know what it was he saw that I couldn't see.

"You work differently than everyone else. I…I haven't exactly put my finger how so yet, but I plan on figuring it out," he said cryptically.

I just sat and studied him. What an odd answer.

"Wha—," I began, but I was cut off by the dismissal bell. And with that, he was gone. He rushed out the door like the place was on fire. I got up my things and walked out of the classroom with a pretty confused look on my face.

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I was about as on it as my clumsiness would allow in gym. I didn't get hit in the head and I only tripped twice. I was proud of my self. That had to have been a record for me. I could tell that Lila noticed, too. She kept giving me high fives every time I caught the basketball. Of course, like I said, my clumsiness only laid off to a certain point, so, when I tried to throw the ball so someone other than my self was carrying it, I did accidentally hit Mike Newton in the back and Samantha Price in the arm. Hey, they knew the risks of standing near me when I had something that I was supposed to throw or hit in my possession. They, along with most everyone else had been warned multiple times.

"I am impressed, Ms. Swan," Lila complimented on the way out of the locker rooms, "I didn't know you had it in you."

"What, the fact that I can somewhat control myself, or that I'm practically disabled when it comes to anything involving hand-eye coordination, yet I was about a half step above that today?"

"Honestly?" she asked and I nodded with a grin, "Both." We both laughed so hard that plenty of looks got tossed in our direction. Plenty of looks…including that of Edward and Alice's siblings: Rosalie Hale and Emmett Cullen. Emmett just stared while it looked like Rosalie was staring daggers. It was strange. I didn't even know her…

I had a suspicion that all the Cullens hated me, with the exception of Alice. I wondered what I had done to them, but couldn't come up with anything that made sense.

When I walked into biology I almost walked back out. We were dissecting frogs today. Oh, joy! I could barely stand the sight of my blood, let alone the sight of a bunch of frogs' blood. I already knew that I wouldn't make it through this little experiment, and so did Lila.

"Just go tell the teacher," she sighed. Lila had been in almost all of my science classes. She had been doing experiments like this alone for years, and it made me feel bad for her. She was stuck with a wimp for a best friend which meant she was alone when it came to things that her wimpy best friend's stomach couldn't handle. I looked at her apologetically and made my way to Professor Dill's desk.

"Excuse me, um, Professor?" I asked shyly.

"Yes, Bella?"

"I'm willing to bet one hundred dollars that I'm not going to make it through this class without a trip to the nurse's office." He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I have a very weak stomach."

"Well, we will just have to cross that bridge when we get to it." I couldn't believe my ears. Did he want me to throw up all over his classroom?

"What?" I asked, horrified.

"I'm sorry, Bella, but this is a major part of your grade. If you don't do this experiment then you could be in danger of failing. If you do get sick I'll send you to the nurse's office and give you another assignment. Please take your seat."

Great. I'd have to get sick in front of everyone. This was ridiculous! I went back to the black, two person tables where Lila and I say. When I lowered myself into my chair I knew that the look on my face was not a pretty one.

"What happened?" Lila asked. She was sympathetic, I could tell, but her real question was probably more along the lines of "How stupid is that teacher to send you back here to do this experiment. Now I'm going to have to get thrown up on. Great." This in turn made me feel even worse.

"He said that I had to do it because it was a major part of my grade." I felt like crying. Today was not going to have a happy ending.