Twilight does not belong to me, but to Stephenie Meyer.

WARNING: kidnapping, mentions of child abuse, and antagonistic Carlisle (to an extent)

Edward Masen Jr.

By BriiDream

Chapter Three: Mind Games

Bella was suspicious when none of the Cullens came to school the next day. Angela told her that Dr. Cullen pulled the kids out on sunny days to go on hikes and camping trips. Bella let her suspicion go for the first two, sunny days, but when Friday came around with thunderclouds, she was certain the family were MIA because of what she had said to Edward.

She doubted this recent assumption when she pulled into the parking lot Monday morning. The Cullens' Volvo was parked in its usual position. She looked forward to lunch to see if Edward was still defensive over her comment.

Edward stared at her for the first half of lunch so much that Bella started to feel self-conscious. She peeked over her lemonade and was thankful to see that Edward had been distracted by one of the blond twins, Rosalie. When they glanced at her, Bella blushed and stared at the table. She had a very strong feeling that the argument was about her.

"Look like there's trouble in Cullen Paradise," Mike suggested in a low tone. Everyone at their table glanced over at the Cullens. Bella looked up just in time to see Edward stalking out the cafeteria. "I wonder what that's about."

Mike barely had the words out before all four remaining Cullens glanced over at Bella for five noticeable seconds. Bella didn't pay attention to when everyone around her turned to stare at her in surprise. She noticed that most of the Cullens' glares had been hostile, especially that of Rosalie Hale. Bella felt her stomach drop to the floor. His siblings knew that she knew and were far from happy with it.

Bella took her time going to Biology class. She arrived just as the bell rang. Edward was writing furiously in a notebook even though it wasn't a note-taking lesson. Bella sat beside him and opened her own notebook to doodle in. Thankfully, Mr. Banner was out sick and the sub handed out worksheets to complete instead of an activity that would involve Bella interacting with Edward. The sub did allowed them to talk once they completed the pretty simple assignments.

"Good evening, Bella." Bella looked up in disbelief at Edward who smiled crookedly at her. His face held none of the brooding anger it had at the beginning of class. "How was your weekend?"

"Fine," she replied reluctantly, staring at him distrustfully. He couldn't seriously have shrugged off her accusation so easily; not with his reaction last week and his siblings' reaction at lunch. "And yours?"

"Splendid," Edward smiled broadly as if he was pleased that she had decided to play along with his game. "My family went on an extended camping trip. It was great to be up in the mountains. The snow wasn't as deep as the weatherman had predicted, so we were able to go along our favorite hiking trails."

"Huh," Bella narrowed her eyes. He smiled innocently back at her. "My weekend wasn't as big as yours. I finished up a couple of assignments for my Sociology class and did other research."

"You're taking college courses," Edward asked, his emerald eyes burned with a sincere interest. "Are you planning to follow a social worker's career? Sociology is important, and I think you need to take Psychology as well."

"I'm not sure exactly what I want to pursue yet," Bella confessed. "I'm only taking Sociology because I think it will prove beneficiary towards anything I choose."

"Well, what was your childhood dream to be as an adult," Edward smiled encouragingly. "You should also look at your strengths."

"I'm not sure," Bella replied slowly as she thought about it. "I always loved books, so maybe I could be a librarian or an English teacher."

"What about a writer?"

"No way," Bella laughed lightly. She shook her head at him. "I am the most unoriginal person out there. I can't be creative to save my life."

"You have a very beautiful laugh," Edward complimented. Bella flushed red. He laughed at her. "You're very nice in general actually."

The bell rang and Bella hurried out the classroom. Edward caught her arm outside the classroom. She looked back, still pink in the cheeks from her embarrassment, and was surprised that he looked slightly flushed.

"Do you want to go to the movies with me," he asked in one breath. He ducked his head as he added, "I can buy you dinner afterwards."

"Uh, s-sure," Bella stammered in shock. Edward flashed her all of his white teeth in a wide grin before hurrying off to his next class. Bella walked off to Gym in a daze.

It wasn't until she was at home and cooking dinner, that a thought occurred to her; while she had been talking to Edward, the fact that his family was possible hiding a dark secret had almost been chased completely out of her mind. She wondered if that had been done on purpose. She wondered if the date was just another way to make her completely forget about what she had discovered.

Or the date could be for an entirely different reason. If she knew his family's secret, he could possibly be willing to do anything to make certain she didn't tell anyone. He could attempt to silence her forever to keep his family's secret hidden. So the question now was: should she go on a date with Edward Cullen or not?

Sorry for the delay!

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