SONGS: Linkin Park - Crawling, Muse - Hysteria

Chapter 12

Suffocation

EPOV

It had been one date.

Just one.

So how the hell did Tanya get it in her head that we were now officially dating? I had called her later that Saturday evening, after I had received her text, and asked her if she wanted to go out with me on Sunday and, of course, she had said yes.

I had asked her out because, to be honest, I felt bad for sleeping with her when I didn't want her for anything more. I'd never had one night stands because of that very reason. I had also never been that drunk before, and promised myself that it would never happen again.

So I had called her, after my headache had subsided a bit, and asked her to lunch and an afternoon movie because it was a Sunday. It was also because night always made things a little more romantic even if they weren't intended to be, and I didn't want to lead her on more than I already had. I even picked out an action flick and thought about inviting Emmett and Rose along so it would seem more casual, but decided against it.

My plan obviously didn't work.

The 'date' had been ok. We had had lunch at a Thai restaurant in Port Angeles, making slightly strained conversation, but it wasn't too bad. Still, I was relieved when we made our way to the movie theatre because at least we didn't have to make conversation there. The movie was pretty good, and I was quite enjoying it, though Tanya seemed bored. Again, I felt guilty, so I had put my arm around her shoulder, just casually, you know, in a friendly way. That was obviously a mistake because she had cheered up immediately, and started leaning in closer to me. She then held my hand on the way back to my car after the movie, and when I dropped her off at her house, she had grabbed my face and pressed her lips to mine, saying she'd had a wonderful time, before leaving my car and going into her house.

I was thinking through every minute detail of the date, seeing if I had led her to believe that we were going to be officially dating in any way, and I couldn't find anything that I did which indicated that. The only encouraging thing I had done was put my arm around her shoulder, apart from that I had barely touched her at all. And she had kissed me afterwards; I didn't instigate it or kiss her back.

I was baffled.

Monday morning she had been waiting for me at my usual spot in the parking lot, with Jessica, and she hugged me tightly and pressed her lips to mine again when I stepped out of the car. Jazz exchanged a puzzled look with me and I shrugged, equally confused. I had told him how the date went and even he had said that it didn't seem like I was leading her on.

She walked with me to the first lesson, her arm around my waist and everyone we passed in the halls gawked at us, whispering intently. I internally cursed; it was like the first day all over again. She'd sat with me as well, instead of sitting with Rose and Jessica like she usually did.

I was already starting to feel suffocated.

She also walked with me to biology and I was relieved that she couldn't sit next to me in that lesson. I sat down and wanted to give my usual smile and nod to Bella but she didn't look at me. She had her hair in a high ponytail so I could clearly see her face for once.

She looked even more stunning today than usual, her doe eyes outlined in black so they stood out, she had silver make-up on her eyelids which accentuated her lashes, sparkly silver earrings in her ears and was wearing a tight fitting white sweater.

She also looked kind of....mad? Her lips were pushed out slightly in a pout and her forehead had a tiny crease. I kept looking over at her, but she didn't turn in my direction once – she just stared fixatedly at the board – ignoring my presence completely. I felt annoyed. What was up with her? Why was she being so rude? I mean, I'd never ignored her. After a while, I started ignoring her back – though I doubt she noticed.

Maybe she was in a bad mood. Her time of the month or some shit.

At lunch, she gave Mike Newton a good telling off; he was apologizing to her for something and she just basically told him where to stick it.

I grinned.

I realised I had never actually heard her voice before. She didn't speak to me in biology and she barely spoke at lunch, and when she did, it was to Alice and so low I couldn't really hear her. Her voice was pretty high pitched, in a cute way though, and it kind of sounded a little like she was singing when she spoke.

Hearing her speak had made me smile my first genuine smile today. I was feeling very suffocated and frustrated. The school was gossiping nonstop about me and Tanya being a 'couple', and I could confidently bet that Jessica Stanley had been blabbering again. Tanya couldn't keep her hands to her fucking self and was touching me every minute and to top it off, Jazz and Emmett were teasing me, making stupid jokes and obviously finding my situation hilarious.

I didn't find it funny at all.

After school ended I walked to the parking lot quickly – Tanya had drama rehearsal, thank goodness – eager to get home and away from Tanya.

I noticed Bella talking to some guy with a motorcycle; he probably thought he was a badass, wearing a leather jacket and heavy black boots that were kind of similar to my own. He looked to be older, maybe in College. His motorcycle was a Honda DN-01 Sports Cruiser, I couldn't tell what year it was but it looked fairly new.

I watched as he touched Bella's hand.

The way he was smiling and gazing at her was pathetic really, he was so obvious. It irritated me. I wondered who this guy was. Eventually, he drove off on his motorcycle and Bella got into Alice's car – the yellow Porsche – and I caught a glimpse of her face. She was bright red.

When Jazz and I got home, Esme and Carlisle still weren't back yet. Rose was also at the drama rehearsal so it was just me and Jazz. I was just about to ask him to play a round of Pro Evolution Soccer on the PS3 when I saw the answering machine light blinking. People hardly ever left messages; they just usually called back if no one was home, so this was strange. Maybe it was Esme and Carlisle letting us know that they were going to be late back or something. I pressed play and listened for the message.

"Good Morning, this is Dr Goldfine from the Springwater Clinic; I would like to speak to a Dr Carlisle Cullen concerning his sister Elizabeth Cullen-Masen. Could you please give me a call back on my office number as soon as you get this message? Thank you."

I froze as my brain slowly registered what I had just heard.

There was news concerning Elizabeth Cullen-Masen.

My mom.