stay right here, rocketeer
chapter three
After the unbearable pain Bella inflicted on me during Biology, I went home, rather sore and rather pathetic, and decided to talk to Carlisle about it. He still insisted she was a human, but I pointed out that no human can touch a vampire and make him want to scream for bloody mercy.
In the end, the argument went nowhere. Carlisle was convinced Bella is as normal as can be, I was convinced she most definitely was not, and everyone else in the family can agree that there was something fishy about Bella Swan.
"So when you touched her, it was like your body was on fire?" Rosalie asked skeptically, later that evening.
"If you don't believe me, why don't you give her a hug tomorrow and see for yourself?" I retorted. I swear the tips of my fingers still haven't recovered their feelings completely.
"Why do you think Carlisle is so stubborn about it?" Emmett questioned. "He's always been open-minded before."
The image of the old book with golden borders can to my mind again. Carlisle thought about that mysterious book more and more these days, yet he refuses to clue us in. He's never hidden anything from us before, so what constitutes this sudden secrecy?
The next morning, there was a solid layer of ice on the parking lot, causing much anxiety to the teenage drivers around me. Meanwhile, I expertly swerved into our usual parking spot with ease. (It doesn't hurt to be ostentatious every now and then, you know.)
"What are you going to do about Bella, then?" Alice asked after we exited the car, leaning against the side of the Volvo beside me.
"Ask Mr. Banner to change my seat. If that doesn't work, I'm going to the office and getting my schedule changed."
"No, I meant, what are you going to do about Bella?" she repeated. How can you two ever be together if her touch makes you want to crawl into a hole and die?
I gave her a look. "Really, Alice? You still haven't let that go? Maybe the joke was funny the first time but…"
Her bronze eyes focused in on mine, a look of genuine concern. But it's not a joke, Edward. You really do love her.
"It's like you said, how could I possibly be in love with a girl who will be the slow and agonizing death of me?"
"She's the only one whose thoughts you can't read. She's the only one who can make you feel pain. She's the only one who is able to make you feel remotely human again." You love her. I know.
Even though Alice has never been wrong in the past, I was willing to bet my left limb that she could not be more wrong about this.
A big red truck pulled into the lot. After parking a few rows away, Bella exited her historic vehicle. She was dressed in a black t-shirt, a brown jacket, dark skinny jeans, Ugg boots, and a forest green scarf. Such a harmless appearance.
"Is she..." Alice listened in Bella's direction, "…is she listening to Backseat Goodbye?"
Bella was currently waving at Angela and Eric a few cars down and listening to her iPod. And sure enough, blasting through her headphones was none other than my favorite song from my favorite band of the week.
"Well isn't that adorable? Both of you enjoy the same weird, country hipster music." Alice beamed as if Bella and me sharing the same taste in indie music was an almighty reason we were destined to be together forever.
Which it's not.
Nevertheless, at least the girl knows good music.
Most days, I hate the rain.
Sometimes I don't.
It's a damn shame that you still hate change,
One day you'll learn everything everywhere is all the same
With your eyes closed.
"LOOK OUT!"
Everyone turned at the shriek from the other end of the parking lot. A van had pulled in about five miles per hour too fast. It swerved and no amount of turning the steering wheel or pumping the brakes could stop it. Many people ran out of the way and saved their own sorry lives. The van continued to spin, and it was tragedy on a Wednesday morning, waiting to happen.
The angle of the car and the speed it was sliding…I did the calculations in my head. That would leave the van launching right in Bella's direction.
Oh dear God.
Not. Her.
Bella had missed this commotion since she was listening to her iPod. Jessica Stanley frantically yelled her name which finally made Bella turn around and notice her impending doom. All the students in the parking lot held their breath as they watched the scene unfold, helplessly unable to prevent it. But I could.
Don't do it, Edward! Alice warned. This could end badly.
But Alice didn't know for sure, because she didn't see the outcome, because she can't see Bella in her visions. I decided to take the risk. Sprinting towards Bella, too fast for any human to see, I hoped I could save her without revealing my vampire nature and, more difficult yet, without touching Bella.
As the van got closer and closer, I realized Bella wasn't squeezing her eyes shut in fear. Or trying to move out of the way. Or screaming. Or any other rational response to seeing a swerving van coming fast in your direction. Instead, her eyebrows were scrunched in concentration and her hands were in front of her, doing a weird, jazz fingers twisting doorknobs gesture. Her lips were moving at a rapid pace, chanting nonsensical words. "Oighear oighear cabhraim mé teacht chun solais."
I stared at her incredulously. A van is about to crush her into a puddle of mush and she's standing at ease doing some odd ritual? Reason number 7 billion Bella Swan is not normal.
My left foot stepped off the sidewalk. I prepared to launch myself between Bella and Tyler's van because Bella is not allowed to die. Not before she answers my questions. And because she might be the only person in this dreary town who would listen to Backseat Goodbye with me.
But suddenly, the ice right in front of Bella seemed to melt and as the front wheels of the van hit the puddle, it spun more to the left, missing Bella and her truck altogether. In its new course down the parking lot, the van amazingly came to a stop right in the middle of three empty parking spaces, harming…absolutely no one.
The entire parking lot was silent. What the hell just happened?
Then everyone erupted in cheers at the miracle. They all rushed towards Tyler Crowley to ensure his well-being. I took a few more steps to slow my momentum. That put me right next to Bella. Surprisingly, the stinging I get from being close to her wasn't so bad out in the cold air.
I stared at the puddle that formed right before my eyes. That puddle was not there, Bella performed her strange hand dance chant, and then the ice melted and the van was conveniently sent hurtling into a safe direction. I shifted my gaze to Bella, who wore a grin ear to ear and was bursting with elation.
"How did you do that?" I asked.
Apparently she wasn't aware of my presence so at the sound of my voice, she jumped back in shock and hit her head on the door of her car.
"…ouch."
I chuckled. "So you phenomenally saved yourself from certain disaster but you end up injuring yourself out of clumsiness."
"That wasn't clumsiness. That was being startled because you snuck up on me without warning," she replied, rubbing the back of her head. "Wait, how did you even get here?"
"Um, I have legs," I stated.
"No, you were standing all the way over there with your family. How did you get here next to me so fast?"
Oh shit. She noticed.
"You hit your head, Bella. I was always standing next to you." I didn't sound very convincing, if I say so myself.
Her eyes narrowed. "Liar."
"Hey, don't go changing the subject. I asked you first."
"Asked me what?"
"How did you do that? How did you make the car turn away?"
Alarm flashed quickly through her eyes before she faked a look of disbelief. "What do you mean I made the car turn away? The car missed me by an inch. I'm the luckiest girl alive."
I narrowed my eyes to mock her previous actions. "Liar."
We both stood our ground, staring at each other. Obviously she didn't know what she got herself into because vampires always win staring contests.
"You melted the ice and moved the car," I said in all seriousness.
"You ran here faster than humanly possible," she replied in a deadpan voice.
"Oh Bella! Are you alright?" Jessica and Angela ran towards Bella and our conversation ended for the moment.
As I walked away I looked over my shoulder once more. Bella was still reassuring everyone that she was fine. She caught my eye and gave me a one-eyebrow-raised, this-conversation-is-not-over look before returning her attention to her friends. I turned back and headed to my first class.
I know what I saw. The van did not spontaneously decide to shift its inertia and slide in a new direction. Bella did that.
I forced myself to enter the cafeteria, buy my food, and sit down before I even glanced at Bella. She was, as expected, blatantly glaring back. I couldn't read her thoughts, but I'm getting better at guessing what she might be thinking. In this case, she was mentally saying something along the lines of I know what I saw, idiot.
I did my best to come up with an expression that said Right back at 'cha.
"I told you not to do it, Edward," Alice said in singsong.
"What were you thinking?" Rosalie scolded. "If the van had hit Bella—"
"If the van had hit her, I would have saved her," I said.
"No, you would have put all of us in jeopardy," Rosalie said. She leaned back and crossed her arms. "I'd rather you not blow our secret. I'm finally a senior now. I don't want to move again."
"I'm sorry, Rose," I replied. "I didn't realize this was all about you."
Jasper hissed and I felt myself relax. Rosalie appeared to too.
I sighed. "I'm just frustrated with Bella. She makes no sense."
"Maybe it really was a coincidence and all luck," Emmett quipped.
I shook my head and looked in Bella's direction once more. She was still staring a hole in my head. "You don't understand. I saw what I saw." I had explained the events of the van and the ice to my brothers and sisters before first period, but they all seemed skeptical.
"Come on guys. The clues all add up," I said.
"To what?" Rosalie asked. "What is your conclusion, Edward? That she's a witch?"
I looked from Rosalie to Emmett to Jasper to Alice to the table to the window to the wall to Bella back to Rosalie.
"I don't know."
"I think Bella wants you," Jasper said, nodding towards Bella's table.
I whipped my head in that direction to see that Bella had stood up. She moved her head towards the door and I reluctantly followed.
Outside, the clouds were thick and grey, giving the entire town of Forks a dark, gloomy shade. The wind had picked up again and Bella wrapped her jacket tight around her. She walked ten paces before stopping abruptly and turning to face me. I stayed a safe distance away.
"Why did you run to me this morning?" she asked. Her eyes looked grey in the light.
"Bella, I—"
"I didn't ask whether or not you ran all the way over to me," she interrupted. "I know you were standing by your car on the other side of the parking lot and then less than a second later you were by my side. I know, Edward. I just want to know why."
She spoke with such conviction, I was certain that she already knew what I was. What my whole family was. And that scared me.
"Did you push the van at me? Did you run over to make sure I was crushed?" she asked in harsh whisper.
My eyes widened at her accusations. "Are you insane? Why on earth would I want to do that? I would never try to hurt you, Bella."
She seemed shocked at my response, which in turn shocked me. What did she think I was?
"Then why did you run over?" she asked again. A breeze whipped passed us. With one hand fastening her hair and the other holding her scarf in place, she shivered in her boots. According to Alice, it was going to be cold later today with a small drizzle and Bella already looked half-way to an icicle.
I shrugged off my grey jacket and handed it to her. She stared at it like I was handing her a poisonous snake. I grinned and tossed the jacket at her; she caught it with a cautious glance.
"Did you ever think that maybe I ran over so I could save you?" I asked. With that, I turned and walked back inside, pretty positive that I left her shivering speechless.
By the time I made it to the table, the bell had already rung. I picked up my bag and was about to head for Biology when Alice grabbed my arm and stopped me. "Where's your jacket, Edward?"
My eyes flicked over to Bella—adorned in my jacket—who was now entering the cafeteria quite baffled indeed. Alice followed my glance and squealed into my ear. She was so loud with uncalled for excitement that Jasper had to put a hand over her mouth and half-drag her to their next class.
A few seconds after I sat down in my seat did Bella enter, slightly out of breath. She usually didn't get here for another few minutes. Seeing her in my jacket was quite amusing. It was far too large on her, the ends going almost to her knees. The sleeves were so long that only the tips of her fingers showed through. Still, there was certain feeling I got knowing my jacket was now on her body.
Oh. And it probably smelled like her too. I was not looking forward to getting that jacket back, no sir.
She quickly made her way over to me and sat down in the chair beside me. Her eyes were expectant upon me, as if waiting for a response to an unasked question.
"Thanks. For the jacket," she said.
I nodded. "No problem."
"But aren't you cold?" she asked.
I looked down. I was now only wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt made from this fancy cotton blend Rosalie had ordered for me. I guess this wasn't exactly your typical winter attire. "Um, not really."
Her eyes were inquisitive.
There was still two minutes left before class started so I took the opportunity. "Alright, you asked your question, now it's my turn. You still haven't told me how you did that."
"Did what?"
"The puddle thing."
"What puddle thing?"
"Stop it."
"Stop what?"
"Bella."
"Who's Bella?"
I went to glare at her but couldn't help chuckling at her last comment. "Are you going to tell me?"
She looked at me long and hard, trying to analyze every minute facial movement before coming to some conclusion. "You mean, you really don't know?"
"No, I'm only bugging you for my personal amusement and I haven't been obsessed all day trying to figure you out," I exclaimed in deep sarcasm.
She raised her arm to rest her elbow on the lab table and put her head on her hand. She bit her lower lip in contemplation. I watched the freckles at the corner of her eyes twinkle from light to dark. I made a note to myself to ask about that sometime.
"So are you going to tell me or not?" I asked again.
"Nope."
"If I guess correctly will you say so?"
"Nope."
I sighed. This girl was downright stubborn. I was getting nowhere.
She leaned forward and I instinctively leaned back. "But I'd love to hear your theories," she said with a small smile.
I blinked a few times, trying to get over the effect of her face being that close to mine. It was an explosion of that smell I love to hate.
"Um," I said, testing to make sure my cheek muscles hadn't gone numb, "telekinesis?"
"How unoriginal."
"Or a spell? I think you cast a spell or something and then that puddle formed," I said.
Mr. Banner called the class to begin. Bella scooted closer to me, much to my dismay, and whispered, "So what are you saying, Edward? That I'm have magic?"
I thought about it. "Yeah?"
She smiled even wider. "Really, now?"
She was right. What was I thinking? There must be a perfectly sensible explanation to everything. There always is
Yet as she turned to head towards the front of the room, her hair flipped and I was once again overwhelmed by her unique stench. It was a punch in the face and reminded me what I was arguing for.
"Hey Bella?" I said, my voice a coarse whisper.
She turned back. "What?"
I allowed myself to regain my composure before speaking again. It seemed the more I was with Bella, the quicker I could overcome each attack of her smell. "I may not know what you are, but I do know you're not…like everyone else."
"Yeah?" Her smirk was unmistakable. "Well that makes two of us."
I ravaged through my CD library, going through every single disc and then going through them all again. I always keep it in alphabetical order by artist name, but the CD in search was nowhere to be found. Thinking I misplaced it the last time I listened to it, I searched everywhere in my wall-length bookshelves. Then I looked in my stereo, then around my semi-clustered room. The last time I listened to it was a few days ago, so it really shouldn't be MIA. Unless…
I dropped the empty cases I was holding and marched right to Alice's room.
She opened the door before I reached her with my CD in hand. "Here you go."
"When did you take this?" I asked. "And why?"
Alice shrugged. "Well, if Bella and I are going to be best friends, I figured I should get to know a little about her, like her favorite music. It gives us some common ground, something to talk about when I meet her."
"Wait…you and Bella are going to be best friends?" I asked. "You can't see any future that involves her, though."
"I didn't see it in a vision, Edward. I just want to be her friend."
Walking back to my room, I was slightly embarrassed that Alice now knew I was frantically looking for this CD. That means she knew why I wanted to listen to it. The Wonder by Backseat Goodbye.
I inserted the disc and pressed play on the stereo. I skipped until I was met with soft guitar strumming. "Kilo Riley", the song Bella was listening to this morning when the whole van phenomenon occurred. I still couldn't shake the memory from my mind. It didn't help that I was now the boy who cried wolf since no one else in my family witnessed it.
I sat down on the couch and closed my eyes, letting myself be enveloped by the music. In my mind, I replayed the scene at the parking lot ad nauseum. I remembered it all clearly, there is no room for misunderstanding. The van was going to hit her. She did her weird hand/chant thing. The van did not hit her. The logic was so clear an elephant could see it.
Does that make her a sorceress then? A witch? A water-bender? An alien? I pondered Googling it, but I figured that was useless. When I didn't know an answer, I usually went to Carlisle. Of course, Carlisle is being all secretive in the subject matter of Bella. He knows something, I'm positive, and if only I could figure out what that ancient gold-rimmed book is…
A soft clack from behind woke me from my reverie.
Now, I really must be going insane, because for a second, I thought I saw Bella's face outside my two-story window.