Part II,
If you haven't read Part I, go back and read the previous chapter.
Bella couldn't help but be a bit envious as she watched her friends swimming. Still, she wasn't the only one not splashing around in the water. There were a few people who stayed with her on land, Kacy and Emily (who were now talking to each other again, Bella noticed) and Kevin came by every now and again to check on 'his ladies.' She was having a good time. Or at least that's what she told herself. She felt so entirely fake around everyone, that she was pretending all the time to be this Izzy that didn't exist. Well, she did exist, or had at one point. She wanted a fresh start, she wanted to be happy. She figured the best way to do that was to start doing fun things with fun people, like taking trips to the beach with a bunch of her classmates.
But if she wanted to be honest with herself, she wasn't ready to be happy, and all this denial was only making things harder on her. Keeping up the facade of a fun and flirtatious Iz was exhausting. Being alone in her father's house was exhausting. Everything was exhausting except...
She couldn't think of anything. Except for perhaps sitting outside at lunch, reading, knowing that Edward was nearby. She wondered what he was hiding, but didn't dare ask. The only reason he seemed to tolerate her was because she didn't pry, and didn't ask anything of him. The same reason she could be around him.
If there was anyone with whom it was possible to be both with them and yet by yourself at the same time, it was Edward Cullen. It was as if he almost wasn't there... unless you were lonely, and suddenly there is someone else with you. She was deeply appreciative of that. There was no intimacy, no closeness, no deep discussions. Just companionable silences or easy conversation. She could never tell him that, of course. What was more, she didn't even want to admit it to herself.
Even now she wished he was there, skulking over by the trees away from everyone else. Safely tucked away in the background. A reassuring silence.
But he wasn't.
"Um, Iz?"
"Yeah, what's up Kace?" she asked, turning towards the girl.
"Look, I wanted to say sorry."
"For what?"
"I um... It was me. I keyed your car but Iz I'm really really sorry. I have no idea what I was thinking or even why I did it. I promise I'll pay for it."
"No, it's okay. It's a piece of junk anyway." Bella was confused, surprised, and even a bit relieved.
"I really am sorry," she said again so earnestly Bella couldn't help but believe her.
"Hey, don't worry about it. It's forgotten."
Kacy looked skeptical. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. No big deal." Then, before she could stop herself she asked. "Why did you, though?"
She sighed. "I honestly don't know. I just... You are going to think I'm such a bitch."
"I don't think you're a bitch." If she was, she wouldn't feel bad and apologize.
"Well, you'll think I'm stupid."
"We all do stupid things."
"Well, it's just that I've like Edward for so long, and he never so much as looks at me. And then you come here and already he was giving you a ride to school I just... I was frustrated, that's all."
"You know that was pure coincidence, right? It was just bad luck."
"Bad luck? You think that having Edward Cullen drive you home and to school is bad luck?"
"Well, for him, anyway. And fainting in school was nothing short of embarrassing."
"I wet myself in the first grade, and I still hear about it," Kacey admitted with a chuckle, as if the memory was no longer shameful, but humorous.
Bella smiled. These kids had known each other their whole lives, and she was just a newcomer. There was no way she could get as close as they already were with themselves. They must have lots of memories of being kids together, growing up together. There's probably nothing they don't know about each other. Which made her more interesting to them then she really was. Her novelty was already wearing off, and most of the guys who had shown so much interest in the first few weeks had let it go.
She'd never truly be one of them, but it was nice of them to include her as if she were. Everyone was so welcoming and nice, despite what this girl had done to her car. She'd seen much nastier things at her old school in Phoenix, even in her private school in the next town over. These kids were a good bunch, she decided. Small town kids, good families, wholesome community. Not a bad place for her to sort herself out. Quiet and peaceful, this small town had almost no crime, there was nothing for her to worry about now but her grades and paying bills. That was enough for her. For the next month at least she wouldn't be able to work so she'd have to dip into the insurance money she'd received after her father died. Soon however, it would be summer and she could work full time.
"So... is there anyone here you like?"
"Sorry, what? I fazed out there for a minute."
Kacy grinned at her. "Is there anyone here you do like?"
"Oh. I'm not allowed to date until I'm 18."
"That's nice, but still doesn't answer the question."
"I uh... don't really know anyone well enough yet."
"You've been here for three months, Iz."
"I'm the kind of girl who uh, looks before she leaps."
"Okay..." said Kacey, clearly unconvinced but ceased questioning anyway.
.
Oh, she smelled nice, delicious, divine, even. If he were a god, that girl's blood would be ambrosia. She smelled sweeter than anything he'd ever smelled before. He didn't even know where she was, only that she had passed by in the last hour. He swallowed vast amount of venom that instantly gushed into his mouth in anticipation.
Edward had chosen to hunt in Seattle that night, and was on the scent of what promised to be the most delectable meal of his existence. He sniffed the air, trying to track her but the rain wasn't helping him any, it kept washing away the lingering essence. He thought he caught her trail once again and was off. He was jumping from building top to building top á la SpiderMan so as to avoid having to weave through the pedestrians below.
It was to his indescribable astonishment to find himself not alone. Someone else landed next to him, and looked at him with equal surprise. This had happened before, but it was never a very friendly occasion. Vampires weren't known for being gregarious, even, or perhaps especially, among themselves. He immediately took a strong defensive stance.
The sharer of his rooftop just closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Smell that?" he asked. "Unbelievable."
"I suppose we're after the same kill."
Perceiving that he wasn't a threat, Edward took time to observe his roof-mate. Smallish, the skin that he could see was covered in scars. His change must have been a fierce one. The stranger extended his hand and said, "May the best man win."
Grinning at the challenge, Edward clasped the man's hand in his own, and after a moment of appraising the competition, they disappeared with a whoosh.
Edward was faster, stronger too probably, but he had no idea how keen his opponent's sense of smell was. Thoughts of the scarred vampire vanished as he caught another whiff. Suddenly nothing existed but that girl and her blood. Every point he passed he noticed another scent with it. It smelled similar, a relative no doubt. In his haste he darted through an intersection, avoiding traffic as easily as he maneuvered through his own apartment furniture. He was getting closer. Very close. Tantalizingly close. He was about to go mad with the thirst when he saw her.
A child with her mother. Not enough at all to fill him. Pity. Edward thought briefly it would almost be worth it to let the girl grow to adulthood, so that there would be more blood to drink but he discarded the notion as impossible. He caught a particularly strong whiff and he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself now. He swooped in and tore the child from her mother's arms, bounding away to enjoy his meal in peace on the nearest rooftop. He was snarling, growling instinctively; warning others to stay away from his kill.
He didn't bother waiting for the scream, he didn't need it, the blood would be good enough he didn't need the other pleasures. He didn't, couldn't, wait for anything and had guzzled half of the blood before he was even aware he was being watched. He yowled at the intruder, hunching over his kill protectively. The scarred vampire made no move to steal the girl, he just watched.
Edward continued drinking but kept his eyes locked on the other guy until he was finished. It had been everything he had hoped for and more. Truly the most delicious blood he'd ever tasted. Pity there had been so little of it. He finally let go his hold and rolled off, both appeased and frustrated. That had only whet his appetite, his hunger was still in full force but that hors d'œuvre had been so satisfying he wanted to take a moment to appreciate it, let the taste linger for as long as he could stand before he quenched the rest of his thirst.
"Are you finished?"
The other vampire was almost shaking with the suppressed urge to pounce on the carcass.
"Be my guest," he told him.
As humbling as it might be to jump on the leftovers, his companion didn't seem to be complaining. Never had Edward seen food sucked so entirely dry. The skin was puckered, the man even ripped off the legs and sucked out the marrow. Edward only wished he'd thought of it. He was sure he could have gotten more out of it as he tried, but he was too content to just sit there and lick the remaining blood off his face and hands. He hadn't been that messy in years. Not since he was newly changed.
When the other guy was finished he stood and said, "It's a miracle she'd stayed alive this long. I'm surprised no one got to her before this."
Edward nodded in agreement.
"You know what we have to do now, right?" the stranger said.
"What?"
"Kill the rest of the family, it's only polite."
He skimmed the man's mind. He'd never thought about it that way before. Yes, the fellow was right, it was the decent thing to do.
"Not fair to rid a mother of her child, so one should kill the mother. But that would leave the husband without his wife and kid, which means the father would have to go. If there were any other offspring you couldn't very well render them orphans, now could you?"
"Not in all good conscience, no."
They looked at each other for a moment, before bursting into laughter.
They hunted down and polished off the rest of the family leaving Edward fully and entirely sated. "Well, there's my good deed for the day," he said chuckling. The rest of them, while not as perfect as the girl, was still more delicious than average. It was a very satisfying night, withal.
"Well," said his friend for the evening. "It's been a pleasure. But I have to get back to the Mrs."
"You're married?" he asked incredulously.
He chuckled. "Well, I don't suppose our kind is one for holy matrimony, no. But she's my mate all the same and she's already told me what time I'm going to be home, and she's usually right about these things."
He extended his hand the second time that evening, and once again Edward shook it.
The man was gone a moment later and he couldn't help but feel a certain sense of... something. He couldn't put his finger on it. Loss? He'd never felt kinship before, and so he'd never suffered for its absence.
.
He was glad, in retrospect, that he hadn't taken his car to Seattle, for running off that high was particularly exhilarating. He stuck to the coastline, instead of going through the forest. It wasn't too late, only midnight, and he passed several humans on his way down, not that they noticed him. It was when he was approaching home when he caught a familiar scent and stopped. Ten or so of his classmates were out camping, he remembered. Bella had even invited him to go with her. He was still a good several miles off, but from what he could hear they were all enjoying themselves.
He drew closer, close enough to see with his own eyes. See them sitting around the campfire talking and laughing together. Perhaps it was because he was fresh from feasting with someone else for the first time, but he felt like an outsider now, and he never had before. He skimmed through their thoughts, perused their minds and knew he didn't belong there either.
Bella was in her sleeping bag, feigning slumber as she listened to the others. Surprisingly, her thoughts quite reflected his own. 'I don't belong here. I wish I could give something to the conversation, wish I could laugh at their stories, recall how fun it was 'that one time,' but I wasn't there. We have nothing in common but a few classes the past 3 months. If this were a Venn Diagram, with them as once circle, and me as another, the overlapping area would be so small, so negligible. They are so close to each other. There's a kinship there that I'll never have.'
Kinship. Hadn't that been the same word he'd just used?
.
"You know we never decided what kind of criminals we'd be," was the first thing Edward said when he picked Bella up Monday morning.
"Oh right." She gave the matter a moment's thought. "I can't decide. What do you think?"
"I don't see why we can't do them all. Money laundering Mondays, thieving Thursdays."
"Trafficking Tuesdays?"
"Exactly."
"I like it. Sound very professional."
"Well, we are posing as professional criminals."
"True."
"So how was the camping trip?"
"Good."
"First time?"
"Oh no not at all. Charlie was a real outdoors-y type."
"Charlie?"
Her gaze fell and she looked at her interlocking fingers as she said, "My dad."
She didn't want to talk about it, which was fine, because he didn't want to hear about it.
"That's cool. So I take it you didn't do any surfing?"
She let out the breath she'd been holding in a sort of chuckle. "No, but there was whale watching too."
"Did you see any?"
"Well... no, but that's not the point."
"So it's the watching that's the important bit, not the whales?"
"Exactly."
"Well," he said a few minutes later pulling into the school parking lot. "I'll see you later."
"Right."
"Try not to get hit by any cars while I'm gone."
"I'll do my best."
.
It was three weeks to exams, and four weeks to prom, so of course one can easily guess what was foremost on everyone's minds...
"Hey, Iz, wanna come with us into town next Saturday to shop for dresses?" The girls were getting ready for gym, save Bella who sat there in her normal clothes talking to the girls she was hesitant to call friends. Edward sat in his car, eavesdropping again.
"Actually, I don't think I'm going to go," Bella replied.
"You already have yours?"
"No, I meant prom. I don't think I'll go."
"What? Why not?"
"You have to go, it's prom," added Mary-Anne
"Yeah, I know," Bella said. "But I can always go next year. You know, when I don't have this." She indicated her brace.
"You'll still go with us Saturday though, right?" asked Emily.
"Of course. Wouldn't miss it." 'Why did I just agree to that?' she thought sadly to herself.
She had only herself to blame, Edward thought. It was her own fault for being a pushover. If she'd stop thinking of what other people and did what she wanted to do then she wouldn't find herself in those situations.
"Hey what's that you're reading?" Bella asked curiously. Her gaze was rested on... Oh spare me, no. The Book.
"This?" Kacey asked, lifting up the waste of paper even closer for Bella to see. Edward groaned as the girl hurried over to sit next to Bella conspiratorially. "It's my favourite book in the whole world."
"Oh yeah? I haven't read it."
"Oh my god, you have to. It'll change your life."
"Really? What's it about?"
"Vampires," Kacey whispered.
"Oh." Edward was relieved in the extreme to feel Bella's enthusiasm plummet. "I don't really like horror very much. I mean, I read Dracula last year but it's not really my-"
"No but it's so good!"
"Why?"
"Because, it feels like it could actually happen to you."
Bella's brows furrowed confusedly. "But I don't want to meet a vampire."
Edward sat in his car, laughing like a mad man, pounding his thighs in mirth so that he could spare the steering wheel. Too late for that, Bella dear. The fact that the idea repulsed her so made the entire situation that much more delicious. How brilliant! How perverse! How wonderfully satisfying it will be in the end, that very last moment when she learns the truth, but is powerless to do anything about it. The idea was so gratifying that Edward was more determined than ever to lure her in.
That is, if she didn't read that book and get ideas that would push her away from him, or worse, turn her into yet another infatuated girl with the chimerical romance of vampirism.
"But it's not scary at all, it's really romantic. It's completely perfect."
"Oh, well I'm not too much into romance either," Bella admitted. 'Vampire romance? What's next? Alien romance?' She shuddered at the thought.
"Actually, it's why I started liking Edward. He's so much like the hero it's scary. They even have the same name, same appearance, everything."
"Same personality?"
"Oh um... I don't know. I mean, they're both kind of stand-offish."
Bella laughed in her head. 'Edward? Stand-offish? Never,' she thought sarcastically. "So you like that he doesn't talk to you?"
"No, I mean, I wish he would talk to me. Because the Edward in the book is so romantic and so perfect."
"So you like this Edward," she said, pointing to the cover. "Not the real Edward." She said it so inoffensively, almost questioningly, as if she were trying to understand the logic (that of course wasn't there.)
Kacy sighed. "I want them both."
Bella shook her head, trying to clear away the confusion. 'You can choose to love a fictitious character, and lovingly stroke the ink on the pages every night, or you can have a real person who isn't the paragon of the romantic hero. You can't mush the two together and create your perfect man.'
Edward frowned, wishing that Bella had said that aloud.
The girls trooped out together, Bella followed behind, still holding the book in her hand.
Just put it down, Edward commanded, to absolutely no effect. It was a consolation that she didn't start reading it either. She simply sat in the stands and watched her classmates play badminton...
.
"Edward slow down!" Bella shrieked.
He laughed, laughed at her wide eyed fear, her genuine terror. He laughed at how ignorant she was that his driving was much safer than he was. Still, humans would be afraid of going too fast, their reactions are so slow and their bodies so breakable. He could hear her heart hammering away in her chest, pumping delicious blood through her body with every panicked beat. He almost let his eyes roll back in his head with the idea of just leaning over right then and taking her. How fast it would gush, with her pulse that high.
"Oh my god we're going to die," she moaned.
"I'm certainly not," he said confidently.
"Edward please, I'm begging you, slow down. And you just passed my house!"
"We aren't going to your house," he told her.
"What? Where are we going?"
"To the city. We'll catch a movie or something."
"Edward!"
"Really, Bella, you need to get out and have fun. Tell me truthfully, when's the last time you honestly enjoyed yourself."
"I was enjoying myself when you were going the speed limit!"
He studied her for a moment and found that it was true. She had been enjoying herself until he'd decided to pick up their sluggish pace. Chuckling, he slowed down. Her heart seemed to decelerate proportionally with the speedometer.
"Just breathe," he told her.
"I am breathing. It's lucky you weren't pulled over. I'm never riding with you again."
"That's not true."
"So now you're abducting me."
He rolled his eyes. "If you want, I'll turn around and take you home. I just thought that it was Friday and you might want to get out a bit." He pulled into the shoulder and stopped, putting on his emergency lights. He turned to look at her. "Well?"
Her gaze dropped to her hands again. 'What do I say? What do I say?'
"Bella?"
She looked up. Still she didn't answer, nor could he reach into her mind. It was very frustrating but he tried not to let it show.
"Or we could just sit on the side of the road all evening," he said, reclining his seat and leaning back with his hands behind his head in a show of getting comfortable for a long wait. Without the conversation, Schubert's Gute Nacht seemed even louder. It was his favourite recording of the piece.
"Do you play any musical instruments?" he asked curiously after several moments.
"I had violin lessons as a girl, but I haven't played in years. You?"
"Piano. But I fiddle around with the viola."
"Was that a pun?"
"Not an intentional one, I promise."
She laughed. "I should hope not."
And just like that they were talking peaceably again. It wasn't until twenty minutes later that a patrol car pulled in behind them. He instantly erected his seat before the policeman came to the driver side. Edward rolled down the window. "Yes sir?"
"I just saw your blinkers on. Car trouble?"
"No sir, we're just trying to sort out where we're going. Thank you."
"Alright, you have a nice day."
"You too, sir."
The officer walked back to his patrol car as Bella smiled embarrassedly.
"I suppose we ought to decide something now," he said.
"You're the kidnapper, it's your decision."
"In that case..."
He put the car into gear and zoomed towards the city, only 15 miles above the speed limit.
A/N: Is the 'high schooler' speak really annoying to anyone else? I tried to go by the movie and the book but I don't know if it's working for me.
I do feel it necessary to say that I don't think that all high school students are this shallow and short sighted. This is how it was in Midnight Sun. And I might as well admit it, it's easier to write shallow characters than giving everyone depth. Sorry if the other characters lack depth and believability. But I think it's rather in keeping the Meyerverse, not that this story isn't already AU and OOC.