Disclaimer: The whole wonderfully amazing Twilight Saga belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me. :(

Thanks again for the fantastic reviews! I'm glad you all are so anxious for the secrets to come out!! Too bad we're only on chapter 6!! And Jacob will be included later on, for all of you who are wondering! ;)

Bella POV

When Friday morning rolled around, I was so happy to go back to school that I had almost forgotten the note Edward left me. But I remembered it as soon as I pulled in the parking lot and parked two cars down from him. He was lounging against his stupidly nice car, chatting with his swimsuit model sister, the blond bitchy one. Actually, he was glaring at her while she was yelling at him. I made sure my door slammed extra loud as I walked straight for him. I wasn't even two feet behind her when the girls back stiffened and she turned. I'd never been more scared of a look in my life.

"Do you mind?" She hissed. I fought back to urge to gulp.

"No, I don't mind actually."

Her upper lip twitched, like she was about to bare her teeth at me. I shivered.

"Okay, calm down Rosalie."

Edward came between us and smirked at me. "You're looking better today. How's the head?"

Why was I so obsessed with this ass? He was so rude, but there was something beneath the surface, something just drew me in. I had to know him. It was like I was being pulled to him, and no matter how hard I tried, the wires holding me couldn't break.

Rosalie daintily stomped on his foot with her stiletto and walked away.

"What do you want?" he asked, suddenly serious and displeased with my coming up to him in public.

I tightened my grip on my bag. "Nothing, I just want to talk. That's it."

Edward stared me down, clearly questioning my motives. "Really?"

I sighed. Why was he so difficult, all the time! Apparently my bad mood amused him. He started laughing.

"What?"

The acid in my voice stopped him short. "Sorry, you're just kind of hilarious when you're frustrated."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh spare me. Can we just talk, at lunch today? Or is that asking too much?"

But he didn't get to answer me. Shrieking voices entered our ears and I turned to see Jessica hurrying towards me, her pack of minions following close behind.

"Oh Bella! We were so worried about you!" she gushed, throwing her arms around me and cutting off my air supply. I peeked at Edward over her shoulder, he smirked again and then walked off. Great.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's okay," I whispered with no emotion. She finally let go and dozens of arms were patting me and smoothing my hair. Voices from all around cooed and talked about how much they missed me. Only Angela stood awkwardly off to the side, looking like they were all idiots. Bless her.

"Come on, we simply must walk to class together! Have you finished reading Romeo and Juliet? Such a snooze fest, I know...."

I tuned her out as she looped her arm in mine and walked me to English.

~.~

English seemed to drag on for hours. I don't think two minutes went by without my eyes constantly checking the clock, willing it to be lunchtime. Jessica kept whispering to me, trying to get me to laugh at some stupid joke Mike told her.

"Pssst! Psssssssssst! BELLA!"

But I ignored her and continued digging my blue pen deeper into the paper of my notebook until I had a hole that went through every sheet. And during lonley times like these, I thought about my mother. I knew I should have been trying to accept it and move on, but I couldn't. Accepting the fact that my mother was dead was like accepting the sky to be purple. She was always on my thoughts, constantly everyday...except when I was with Edward. And that worried me. The thought of going blank everytime I saw him scared me to death. It wasn't the kind of scared like he would hurt me, but the scared that I was falling into something I had no idea about.

A strange idea played at the edge of my mind that I might like him, but I tried very hard to not think of that. There was something about him I didn't know, and I needed to know.

"Miss Swan? Perhaps you'd share your insight with us?"

I looked up at my teacher, Mr. Charleston, as he sat on the edge of his desk with his arms folded and his eyes on me. The whole room shifted so that I was center of attention. This whole assignment on Romeo and Juliet was ridiculous, I read the play back in ninth grade.

"What was the question again?" I asked, biting my lip. I could only guess...

What is the main theme of the play?

How did Shakespeare portray the infatuation of Rosalind and Romeo?

Blah blah blah.

"How do you think Juliet's mother affected her, especially during the scene where she is in her room with her Nurse?"

I stopped cold. What the hell did this have to do with the play?

"She was her mother, she affected her in every way," I said indifferently with an annoyed shrug. Mr. Charleston seemed disappointed.

"That's it? I must say, I was expecting more from you."

He was not saying that to me. I cleared my throat. I'd show him.

"Her mother must have had little effect on her. Juliet ran off with Romeo, completely disregarding her parents wishes and acted selfishly for her own immediate gratification. Her mother should have been there for her, someone Juliet could have talked to. Her mother was supposed to always take care of her and make sure nothing bad happened to her. She was supposed to never leave her side and she promised her!" I could feel myself veering away from the actual topic, but I couldn't stop myself. My eyes filled with tears as my voice grew higher, but I couldn't stop. "Her mother let her down in every way possible! And then she died! How do you think she felt then! The one person she always looked out for was dead! Her life was useless! She had no reason for living!"

I stopped suddenly with a sharp intake of breath. I was ten seconds from sobbing and losing control. I went too far. The whole class was staring at me. Some had looks of sympathy, others thought I was a freak of nature. But what got me was Edward Cullen standing in the doorway, a stack of papers in his hands. His topaz eyes were wide and his face was covered with empathy. He looked like he just wanted to hold me. And I wanted to run to him suddenly, and let him hold me. I looked down, embarrassed. Edward handed some slips of paper to Mr. Charleston and walked swiftly out without looking back. Mr. Charleston cleared his throat.

"Bella...do you need a moment?"

I nodded and quickly gathered my things before hurrying outside. I let the cool mist of the rain wash my face clean of tears. The books slid from my fingertips to the ground as I sat down, back against the wall. I closed my eyes and let the tears roll down my face.

"That was quite a speech."

I gasped and let my eyes shoot open. Edward was standing in front of me, but he wasn't amused. His face was completely blank. But I didn't say anything. Instead, he sat down beside me.

"I try, everyday I try, but I can't forget it. It's in my essence now, my mother is."

He nodded. "When my parents died, it was the worst day of my life. To be sick in the hospital with them and having a nurse come in to tell my they were dead...I almost begged her to just kill me. But it was so long ago, like in a past lifetime. I hardly remember them now, Carlisle and Esme have been my parents now longer than they were, and in a way that is how I think of them. Of course I'll never forget my parents, but it's just something I've had to live with."

I looked over at him, rain sparkling in his hair. He was so beautiful. "Why don't you want to be friends? What was with that note?"

Edward almost looked ashamed now. "I just....I don't know. I thought it would be better, but I just can't stay away from you Bella. It's like I'm drawn to you."

I thought he was joking, because that's how I felt. I'd only been in Forks a week, and it felt like I'd known this strange boy for years. But as I looked in his eyes, they were dead serious. "Why would you think being friends was bad?"

His thoughtful, golden eyes darkened suddenly and his lip quivered. I could see that his hands had been fists the whole time, white skin pulled over thin bone.

"Just, because it's a bad idea."

The beating of my heart increased. I felt that sudden danger like that first night in the woods. My hair prickled on my spine. But I swallowed.

"Why? Does your family not like me? They don't even know me," I said.

Edward laughed painfully. "No...I'm just not..." He seemed to struggle for words, and then he found one. "Good. I'm just not good."

I instantly wanted to put my hand over his, he seemed so upset by this. But I stopped myself, reminded by the close distance he always kept with me. "You are good, it's impossible any other way. You saved my life, despite the fact that I don't know how."

He laughed. "You would have died."

I scratched my neck uncomfortably, realizing how I'd wished for death over and over, and then I was rescued out of my chance.

"I wasn't grateful that you saved me, you know," I whispered, and then wondered if that sounded weird. Edward lifted his eyes to mine, and they were filled with pain again. "I wanted to die, and when the cars hit, it was almost peaceful, like a weight was lifted off me. And then I woke up and I was in this room...and I was so angry, especially at you. And then I realized that I was glad you saved me."

He seemed to stare at me for an eternity. His perfect marble lips were parted ever so slightly, and all I wanted to do was touch my lips to his. To feel that smoothness on me.

"Who do I remind you of?"

Edward jumped as I broke his trance. "What?"

"Who do I remind you of? You said I looked like a girl you knew once," I asked.

He sighed. "Oh yes. It just a girl I knew and I became very close with, but that was ages ago."

I bit my lip carefully. "What happened to her?" I whispered.

He looked down and rolled a thread from his shirt in his fingers.

"She died."

Ooo...getting intimate here! And yes, I know this sounds kind of like Vampire Diaries, I just realized that, but it's nothing close to it so don't worry! Leave some love :)