EDIT: Sorry everyone, if you got like, 3 alerts in your inbox for this chapter. I forgot a few things to correct when I posted and had to go back and fix them a couple times. :/ Continue on...
Disclaimer: Just about everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Don't get why I have to keep putting these, we all know that I'm not her, but you know... Whatever.
Bella's POV
I cracked one eye open as I heard the most annoying and hated sound in the world. Beep. Beep, beep. It took me a minute to realize where I was, and once I did, I rolled back over and closed my eyes. I did not want to go to school today. Unfortunately, I had to. I sat up with a sigh, and switched off my alarm clock with my eyes still closed. I yawned as the beeping stopped, and just sat there. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes, and sighed again.
I stood up, stretched, and walked to my door. Charlie was already gone; he leaves half an hour before I wake up to go to work. I drowsily walked down the hall to our bathroom, where I proceeded to look at my disheveled and tangled hair. Jeez, that'll take a while to brush out. Maybe I can just skip school altogether today… My thoughts trailed off as I remembered it was only my second day of school. Dang! I can't miss school this early being there!
I sighed, and continued on with my morning routine, afterwards throwing on a pair of jeans and a cute red sweater. It fit pretty nicely, and was one of my favorites. After meeting everyone, I wanted to give some good impressions. Meaning Mike. I honestly couldn't care less about Edward. I remembered my promise last night. I would have nothing to do with him.
After shoving my homework in my backpack, I headed downstairs. As I grabbed a granola bar on my way out the door, I tripped. Recovering a few seconds later, I carefully made my way down the front steps and jogged to my truck. I hurried and got in; the cold, damp air was bothering me.
The peppermint and leather smell surrounded me, and made me smile. It reminded me of when I was younger, and would hang out with Charlie and his friend, Billy. I was friends with his son, Jacob. I wonder how he is… I began thinking, but the deafening roar of the engine soon drowned all thoughts out.
I arrived to school a couple minutes early, and parked as quickly as possible. As much as I loved my truck, I didn't love the attention the noise drew to me. As I got out, I noticed Mike and his group standing in the courtyard. I debated whether to go over there or not, but my worries were soon dismissed when he waved me over. Smiling, I walked towards them, and greeted everyone. They kindly reminded me of their name, most of which I had forgotten. I remembered Angela, Jessica, Lauren, and Eric. And, of course, Mike. The other kids were Tyler, Ben, Michelle, Katie, and Justin. I smiled wider as I noticed Angela looking at Ben. When she looked away, she met my eyes and blushed. She knew I caught her. I just laughed and started talking to someone else, showing her that I wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. She looked grateful, when I snuck a peek out of the corner of my eye.
The bell rang shortly thereafter, and I headed off to English with Mike and Eric. Jessica had that class too, so she walked with us. We talked, and it turns out that she's pretty nice. When we arrived at the classroom, I took my seat, and Jessica was next to me. She was telling me about the nearest movie theatre kids went to on a Friday night when I saw a streak of copper behind her head.
My eyes automatically focused without my permission to the door just in time to see Edward walk by outside the classroom, presumably on his way to his own first period. I scowled at myself. Why do you care? You promised yourself last night that you would have nothing to do with him. You made a decision, now stick to it! I kept griping to myself about my lack of self-control. I suddenly realized that I hadn't answered Jessica, so I looked at her concerned face, and apologized.
"Oh my goodness, Jess. I'm so sorry! I totally zoned out on you, didn't I?" I rushed, my face heating up in embarrassment. I did not need to be caught staring at Edward, but turns out she already did.
"It's okay Bella. I totally understand. I mean, you just got here yesterday. Trust me, it takes weeks for people to start ignoring the Cullens. And even then we still catch ourselves staring sometimes." She giggled. I rolled my eyes.
"Um, actually, I wasn't staring. I was really glaring. I can't stand Edward. I've only met him and Alice, and they are polar opposites. Alice is really nice. But Edward is just… Gosh, I can't even explain how much he annoys me." I admitted. Her eyes went wide and her mouth gaped slightly. When she recovered she started stammering,
"Y-y-you mean, you don't like Edward. W…What the heck Bella? He is a freaking God. A Greek god. How is this even possible?" She was droning on, and I had to catch myself from scoffing. I mean, seriously? He's hot and all, I'll admit. Heck, he even deserves the comparison of a Greek god, with all of his gorgeousness. But he was mean! Obviously she had to see that, right?
"Well, yeah, he is absolutely gorgeous, but not everyone deserves to be treated like a god for their looks. Has he ever even spoken to you?"
"Well…Um, see… Uh… No. He hasn't." She finally admitted. I gave her a reproving look.
"How can you go to a school with three hundred kids, and not talk to them? It's insane. I think I've talked to half the kids here, and this is my second day. Besides, it's not just that he hasn't talked to me, but yesterday in Bio, he was like, glaring at me. As if he hated me. And there was just something about him that made me want to stay away. Have you ever noticed that?" I asked, mostly talking to myself at this point. I also vaguely noticed that the bell rang a minute ago, but the teacher wasn't in the room yet, so everyone was still in their own conversations.
"Yeah, we all have. Why do you think that no one has gone up and tried to be their friend? We get all… Scared, I guess that's the best word for it, and don't know why. It's really weird." She said. Huh. I wasn't necessarily scared per se, but I wasn't all happy and friendly feeling either.
"Class! I'm sorry I'm late. You've all had a extra couple of minutes to talk, so I now expect you to zip it and let me talk, understood?" The teacher announced, as he came into the class.
"Yeah, I feel kind of the same way." I whispered to Jessica, before the teacher could yell at us. Mr. Mason didn't seem to be in the greatest mood today. Maybe he didn't have his coffee yet. I thought.
The class passed quickly, and I said goodbye to Jessica. As I walked out of the class, Eric walked up to me again, with Mike. We walked to Government, just like yesterday.
That class was slightly more interesting. Alice was in it. As soon as she saw me, her mouth spread into a huge smile. Whoa. Shiny teeth. As it turned out, my seat was next to her. Figures. But I did kind of like Alice. She was one of those people that had a ton of friends, and drew you in. I could tell, even after only one short conversation with her. That's saying a lot. But from what I've heard, the Cullens kept to themselves. And had no friends besides their siblings.
"Bella! You're in this class! I wasn't in this one yesterday, so I didn't know. How are you?" She was doing that vibrating-with-excitement thing again.
"Um, hi. Good to see you again? I'm uh… doing okay for the second day here. Still pretty awkward though." I was truthful, but didn't mention that her brother was the thing making my day awkward. I was dreading fourth period already.
"That's good. At least you're not totally miserable. I know I would be if I had to move to a new school. So, I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping this weekend?" At the mention of shopping, I totally forgot my thoughts about her not having any friends to miss if she moved. But how could I get out of it? She had this puppy dog face, and looked so dang hopeful. I couldn't say no. Crap. Shopping it is…
"Um, that's fine, I guess. I just have to warn you though, shopping isn't really my thing, so go easy on me."
"Yay! I knew you'd say yes!" She laughed, with a delighted smile on her face. Which also looked slightly devious. Hmm, what's that all about? "Ooh, the bell's about to ring. After class I'll give you the details." As soon as the last word left her mouth, the bell rang.
"Okay." Jeez. Alice was so… full of energy. You could tell even by the way she talked, jumping from one subject or thought to another. Rapidly. Shopping was not going to be fun. I sighed.
Class ended much quicker than I wanted, but I couldn't do anything about it. As soon as the bell rang, Alice turned to me and started talking, even though the teacher wasn't done yet. Talk about eagerness.
"Okay, how late do you usually sleep in on Saturdays?"
"Um, about ten-ish?" I actually woke up between eight-thirty and nine, but I wanted to put off shopping as much as possible.
"Me too. So I guess I can pick you up around eleven o'clock? Or do you need longer to get ready? Me and Rose need a while." She giggled.
"Um, eleven sounds fine. I'll give you my address." I started to rip a sheet of paper from my notebook, but Alice stopped me.
"Oh, I already know where you live. I'm not a stalker or anything," She quickly corrected herself with a laugh. "it's just that in a town this small, we know where everyone lives. Especially the chief of police." Oh, good. For a second there, I was a little weirded out.
"Oh. Okay, cool. I guess I'll see you then." I put on my backpack, and headed out the door with her, where Mike was waiting. "Bye!"
"Bye, Bella!" She said, and literally skipped away. Weird. But I really did like her. She reminded me of the little sister I wanted, even though we were the same age.
"Hey, Bella." Mike said, as I turned away from Alice to face him. "You know Alice? She never talks to anyone." He remarked with a furrowed brow, looking confused.
"Um, yeah. We're going shopping Saturday. She never talks to anyone? She certainly is friendly." That's an understatement. I thought as we walked towards Mr. Hendrix's class.
"Seriously? Wow. That's…big. As far as I know, none of the Cullens have ever even talked to another student, let alone make plans to hang out outside of school." He said, sounding surprised. I was too. As if I needed any more attention drawn to myself.
We reached the class, said goodbye, and took our seats. Class passed slowly, and I was grateful. Lunch was next. Wonderful.
Edward's POV
When I got to school, I tried not to immediately look for her in others' thoughts. And failed completely. I found her in Mike's thoughts walking up to the group he was standing in. He soon began thinking about her in other than just friends-ly ways, so I moved to Angela's head. She was thinking of some Ben character. I caught onto what happened a few seconds in listening. She was staring at Ben, whom she obviously liked. Bella had caught her and, instead of calling her out on it, just giggled and started talking to another girl named Katie. Angela was very grateful, as I was impressed. Another thing to add to my list of Bella's Qualities. She is kind and understanding.
After getting home last night, I thought about Bella a lot more. More than I had any other human. I found myself caught up in her secrets and mysteries. I wanted to know everything about her. It was weird, but I didn't care. Alice knew, obviously, as did Jasper. He felt the curiosity in my emotions. But the rest of my family was in the dark. Alice had told Jasper to keep quiet.
The sound of the bell interrupted my thoughts. Before I knew what I was doing, I headed off to Bella's first period class. It was too late to turn around, so I held my breath, and found Bella in Jessica Stanley's thoughts. I caught on to the end of their discussion, which I could also hear coming from the classroom, what with my super-hearing.
"There's this new one coming out soon, about zombies. I want to see it really bad." Wait, is she even listening? "Bella? Beeelllllaa?" Oh. Edward.
By now I realized I had already walked past Mr. Mason's classroom. I saw Bella's blank stare at the door I had just passed in Jessica's mind. I smiled at the fact that she had stopped listening just to look at me. And I didn't even know why.
"Oh my goodness, Jess. I'm so sorry! I totally zoned out on you, didn't I?" Ha. She was totally drooling over Edward. Caught ya.
"It's okay Bella. I totally understand. I mean, you just got here yesterday. Trust me, it takes weeks for people to start ignoring the Cullens. And even then we still catch ourselves staring sometimes." Look at that blush. Haha. She's embarrassed, but I don't know why. We all did the same things. Even Eric, Tyler, and Mike.
Well that was new information. I did not need to know that the guys were drooling over me too. Bella, I didn't mind but…
"Um, actually, I wasn't staring. I was really glaring. I can't stand Edward. I've only met him and Alice, and they are polar opposites. Alice is really nice. But Edward is just… Gosh, I can't even explain how much he annoys me." Are. You. Serious?!? But… What?
Jessica's thoughts were temporarily in a jumble, and mine were close to the same. The smile slid off my face in a heartbeat.
I just made it to my class, and sat down. I started thinking furiously. How? It takes weeks for people to get over their infatuation with us, at best. Bella was over it in a day? That's… unheard of. I know I hadn't been all that friendly yesterday, but I hadn't been that hostile. Right?
Not only was I surprised, I was disappointed. Again, I didn't know why. It hurt me to think that she didn't like me the way the other girls did. How was she different? Why was she different?
By now, Jessica had regained her composure.
"Y-y-you mean, you don't like Edward. W…What the heck Bella? He is a freaking God. A Greek god. How is this even possible?" She… But it's Edward. Seriously?
I thought I saw a slight smirk on Bella's lips, and the disbelief in her eyes added to that theory.
"Well, yeah, he is absolutely gorgeous, but not everyone deserves to be treated like a god for their looks. Has he ever even spoken to you?" Oh, shoot. Um, no... But at least she can admit the obvious. That's a start…
Whoa. Did Bella just say that? I couldn't agree more, but still… That was one of the most mature things I've ever heard someone say.
Hold up! My insides fluttered as I caught on to the last part of her dialogue. Well, yeah, he is absolutely gorgeous.
So she… does… think of me that way? My mood soared, and I faintly acknowledged Jasper's confused thoughts at my sudden mood changes recently. I ignored them, and intently focused on the rest of the conversation. My inner monologue had only lasted a second, and Jessica hadn't answered yet.
"Well…Um, see… Uh… No. He hasn't." Shoot. She totally has me there. I've never noticed it before though…
"How can you go to a school with three hundred kids, and not talk to them? It's insane. I think I've talked to half the kids here, and this is my second day. Besides, it's not just that he hasn't talked to me, but yesterday in Bio, he was like, glaring at me. As if he hated me. And there was just something about him that made me want to stay away. Have you ever noticed that?" That is so true. Oh, my gosh. I feel like an idiot.
Huh. I never noticed it that way. But Bella was right. I, or my family, had never talked to anyone at school. Besides my brothers and sisters. Again, it took a bit for the second part of her rant to register. Had I really looked like I hated the girl? I felt the total opposite. Yet again, there was another thing to add to Bella's Qualities. She was observant. There was something that made humans want to stay away. Their subconscious told them that we were dangerous. But Bella was the first person to consciously recognize that. Wow.
"Yeah, we all have. Why do you think that no one has gone up and tried to be their friend? We get all scared and stuff, and don't know why. It's really weird." Jeez, had I never really noticed this before? Huh.
"Class! I'm sorry I'm late. You've all had a extra couple of minutes to talk, so I now expect you to zip it and let me talk, understood?"
Well at least Jessica recognized it also. Maybe now she won't be so obsessed with me. She does a good job of hiding it, but with my advantages, I knew better.
"Yeah, I feel kind of the same way."
Bella's last sentence before their conversation was over. Shoot. So, I had learned, Bella thinks I hate her, thinks I'm the hottest guy on the earth, and is comparable to a Greek God. Also, I annoy the crap out of her, and she knows to stay away. Huh. Talk about some mixed signals.
Well, getting her to like me isn't going to be a matter of just dazzling after all. I'll actually have to work for something. And I'll have no idea if it's going well or not. It's time to get to work. And I couldn't be more excited.
Bella's POV
Lunch. This is going to suck. I made my way to the cafeteria with Mike, whom I was starting to like more and more, by the way. I did my best not to look for the Cullens. At first. I lasted through getting my lunch, a turkey sub and some lemonade, and five minutes of talking with Jessica and Mike. Finally, when Mike mentioned my plans with Alice, I accidentally glanced up at their table. Only to find them all looking at me. I flushed a bright red and looked down.
"Holy crap Bella! Really? You're going shopping with Alice Cullen?" Jessica gushed. I looked up to answer her, again only to find everyone looking at me. But this time it was the people at our table.
"Um, yeah, sure. Saturday." I offered, my face still heated. If I knew I would be even more the center of attention, I wouldn't have agreed to go with Alice. Shoot.
"Wow, Bella!" Lauren sneered. "I didn't know you knew the Cullens. How special you must be if they talked to you, and no one else." She looked hateful.
"I guess I don't really know them."
"Well then how come you're going shopping with them?"
"I don't know…"
"Well, I don't believe you. You're just trying to get attention." Lauren was really getting on my nerves. And that comment just jumped up and down on them.
"Look, Lauren. I don't know them, and I don't know you. You have no right to be saying that stuff about me. In fact, I hate attention, just so you know. Alice asked me to go shopping with her on Saturday after a class earlier today. And I said yes. Should I be blamed for that? Because I can walk over to their table right now and cancel, if you'd like. Anything to make Your Highness happy." I was getting madder and madder by the second, and after that, I got up and walked away. Surprisingly, I didn't trip. I smiled to myself. A pretty good exit if I say so myself.
After wandering, I ended up at my locker. I took my time getting my stuff, and headed off to class. I was the first one there obviously. I liked the idea of being by myself for the next twenty minutes.
I started thinking about my outburst at lunch. I knew I had a temper, I just didn't think I'd go off on someone I barely knew. She really hadn't been that mean. It was probably just pent up frustration of yesterday and today coming out. Not that I minded. Lauren wasn't that nice. I didn't like her at all actually. So I didn't regret what I'd said one bit.
Unfortunately, I didn't get my wish of being by myself. I heard someone walk in the door. As I glanced up, I figured it would be Mike or even Lauren. Nothing prepared me for who really walked in.
"Hello. I guess I was a bit rude yesterday. Sorry about that. My name is Edward Cullen." He said as he took the seat next to me.
Are. You. Kidding. Me? I have to spend the next fifteen minutes alone with Edward?! It doesn't sound like a long time, but if it's the amount of time you have to spend with someone you hate alone, it seems like it's years, not minutes. Could my day get any worse? But I didn't want to seem rude by not talking. That was his job. So I said the only two words called for in this situation.
"I know." I didn't look at him. I was thinking about my promise of not having anything to do with him, or talking to him. I have to modify that. If I'll be spending time with Alice, I might see Edward. So… I just won't have as much to do with him as I can. And I won't talk to him if I can help it.
"Look, I am sorry about yesterday. I was having a bad day, I suppose you could say, and kind of took it out on you. Can we perhaps start over? Forget my awful behavior yesterday?" I spared a tiny glance in his direction, and what I saw caught me off guard.
His eyes weren't black, like yesterday. They were a light gold. Now that I think about it, the same color as Alice's were earlier today. How the heck does someone's eyes change color, unless they have colored contacts. Wait… Did he say he wanted to start over? And forget that he was a complete and total jerk yesterday? I don't think so.
"No. I don't think we can start over. But I have a question." His eyes looked sad for a minute, and then somewhat cautious.
"Um, sure, but I don't know if I'll be able to answer." Good. At least he's being honest.
"Do you have contacts? Like, gold or black ones? Because there is no way people's eyes change color, and yesterday yours were black." his eyes widened slightly at my words. Enough that I could clearly see that today he wasn't wearing contacts. So if he had any, they would be black.
"Yes. It was a practical joke from Emmett. He snuck online and ordered these for me a year ago. The color kind of grew on me. I forgot to put them in yesterday. My eyes are originally black." LIAR!! He's not wearing contacts today. Well, now I have a reason to trust him even less.
"Oh? Well… I guess the prank backfired on Emmett." I said curtly and turned back to the front of the class. Stupid, lying, gorgeous, bronze-haired boy…
"I suppose it did." I didn't acknowledge his comment, and started doodling on the back cover of my notebook.
"It took a lot of guts to say what you did to Lauren back there. I'm impressed. Though Alice is worried that you'll cancel on her." He said quietly after a few minutes of silence. My eyes widened and I shot my head up to look at him.
"How did you hear that? I wasn't yelling, and you were across the cafeteria!" My eyes widened. They weren't supposed to hear that. They shouldn't have been able to hear it. His eyes widened to match mine for a second, before he spoke again.
"Emmett has pretty good hearing. He was cracking up and told us what happened." Pretty good hearing? I'll say…
"Oh. Yeah, well I sort of lost my temper. I shouldn't have gone off on her like that." Not that I feel bad about it. Apparently Edward felt the same way.
"No, you should have. She needs to be put in place every once in a while. And I'm sure it gave everyone a good laugh to see her get told off."
"Good." I didn't need to talk to him anymore. I have to keep my promise, even if he is sort of amusing to talk to. And that voice… God, I could hear him talk all day. Musical and velvet… No! This is why you shouldn't talk to him. Just because he's being nice now, doesn't mean anything. He is still a jerk. I tried to convince myself. Luckily, he didn't talk for the last five minutes, and the students started coming in before he could.
We didn't talk at all, and I didn't look at him the whole class. I felt his eyes on me, but I resisted the urge to look back. I was quite proud of myself. I thought maybe he could be nice. But class ended just like yesterday. He got up and ran out of the room. Away from me.
Sooo... I'm super sorry it's been months! But, I'm hoping to make a peace offering! This chapter is longer than others, and Chapter 7 is almost done(and it'll be the longest ever). It should be up in the next couple days. Plus, it includes the shopping scene. Hope this chapter and the next doesn't disappoint. Thanks for reading, and PLEASE REVIEW!!!
Kate!!
(I would put the initials of my penname, but BO just doesn't work... Don't you think? ;P Haha. Any suggestions? Or does just putting Kate work? Ahh, I hate making decisions...)