CHAPTER 2

They seemed to be fighting over something. Edward noticeably calmer than Mike, who was making a scene. As I drove up to them, I leaned over the seat and cranked down the passenger window just as I heard Mike say:

"Back off Cullen, leave her alone!" Edward just crossed his arms and wore a smug look on his perfect face.

"Go to class Mike, you've got no business here." He answered in a deadly calm tone.

"Like hell-" I cut him off then.

"Hey!" I shouted out the window. They both turned and looked at me. "Would you stop talking about me as if I'm not here!" Edward arched his brows and Mike was fuming. I was just about to leave then, when Edward replied.

"Bella, may I speak with you before you go?"

"No!" Why the heck did my brain just call me an idiot for saying that? I re-stated my answer. "About what?" I demanded. He didn't say anything at first, just indicated with his head that Mike was still there. I sighed.

"Mike, I'm fine, you can go now. But-" I added when he started to turn away. "Thanks for your concern. Really." He looked as if to say something else, thought better of it, and turned and headed back into the building. "Bye!" I called after him. He raised an arm up in acknowledgement but kept walking. I lowered my gaze to Edward's face. "What?" I asked icily.

"You might want to turn your engine off or your gonna run out of gas."

"It'll take that long?" I shot back. Fine. I straightened in my seat and turned the ignition off. The silence was deafening. I looked over at him. Standing there so casual.

"Well…" I hinted.

"Are you in a rush to go somewhere or are you just annoyed at me?"

"Well I'm kinda getting annoyed at you. Yeah. And I have to be somewhere." Yeah, where? I asked myself. Ok so I don't really have to go but I needed to get out of here.

"In the middle of the day?" he pointed out.

"What do you care? You skip school all the time. And were you planning o going somewhere with this little conversation or are you just keen on wasting my time?" I was really starting to get angry. Why couldn't he just leave me alone. If this guy knew who I really was underneath this skin, he'd know better than to get on my nerves. Funny thing was, my words were only a cover-up for my feelings. I would of loved to be civil and just stay and talk with this perfect boy, but something in my body told me no.

"Bella." He sighed. "I am very sorry for the way I have been acting towards you." He paused and thought for a moment. "You don't know how much you affect people do you?" OK, that was random. I snorted a laugh, Oh yeah I knew it all right. I made all the boys, except for the one that really counted, fall madly in love with me. I rested my head on the arm that was hanging out the window. After a moment I looked at him. Gorgeous, perfect, graceful Edward. Standing like a god bathing in the sunlight that made him literally glow. The wind blew his hair in the most incredible way. Too bad his insides weren't the same as his outsides.

"Edward I don't understand you. When you first met me you hated-"

"I didn't hate you." He cut in fiercely.

"Yeah, right." I rolled my eyes. "You sure had a funny way of showing friendship then…and now." I paused, then continued. A new anger growing in my voice. "why did you even bother to save my life? I know you really hate me so don't-"

"You think i hate you?" His voice was getting angry as well.

"Oh, I know you do!"

"Bella-"

"You know what Edward. Never mind. I have to go" I started the ignition back up and took off, leaving him stand there. But not like an idiot. I could of hit myself I was so pissed. Way to go Bell. He might have shown an interest in you and you blow it off. I drove out of the parking lot and headed towards Coldwind beach. I figured that the salty air would help me clear my head…either that or some Crack. I leaned foreword and looked up at the sky through the windshield. The clouds were coming in and it was growing noticeably darker quickly.

"Oh great, more rain." I muttered to myself. It would probably rain on me at the beach. Oh well, at least the weather matched my mood. My thoughts strayed back to Edward. Where did he go? As I was leaving I saw him head to his car…but did he leave?

The rain had just started coming down as I pulled my truck into the sandy parking lot. The wind whipped at my face and hair as I stepped out. Sighing, I walked to the ocean. Somehow sand managed to worm it's way into my shoes as I sat down on the beach, but like I cared about that at the moment. I was close to the water's edge, just out of reach of the largest waves pounding in. Drawing my knees up to by chin, I closed my eyes and breathed in the air.

I went into a kind of trance, staring into the gray waters. I'm not sure how long I sat there, but all of a sudden I got the sense that someone was behind me. The tingling sensation went up and down my spine, and I shivered. I stood up slowly and turned around.

I wished like hell that I could have turned and ran from what I saw there. Part of me wanted to, but another part, the slayer par told me to stay. I felt a t the current time, that I would have rather been facing a hundred demons than face him.

My ex.

Angel.

The vampire who'd lost his soul