stay right here, rocketeer
chapter five
"Hi Bella," Eric greeted shyly.
"Oh hey, Eric." Bella smiled warmly. "What's up?"
"I was…um…I was wondering…"
From where Jasper and I were standing across the hallway, I chuckled as Eric Yorkie proceeded to make a blubbering fool of himself while trying to form a coherent sentence to ask Bella to the girls' choice dance. I pity the poor guy.
Bella scratched head smiled patiently at Eric. She was wearing another scarf today, a brown plaid one to match her brown, knee-length boots. She wore boots everyday too, I realized. Perhaps fairies have abnormalities in their calves as well?
"…it's just…I don't know how to say th-this…" Eric rambled. "Do you…are you going to the dance with Edward Cullen?"
Okay, I was not expecting stutter-boy to say that. People thought Bella and I were already an item? Alright, cool story, no big deal. Trying not to be conspicuous, I straightened my back and listened more closely at the conversation.
"Wait, what?" Bella asked, just as shocked as I was. "No, I'm not. Where did you get that mad idea?"
"I don't know, that's what Mike said," Eric explained. "He said you turned him down because you had a thing for Cullen."
"That is," she hesitated, "well, that's true, but…"
Um, saywhatnow? If I was hypothetically drinking a gulp a water at that moment, I definitely would have hypothetically spit it out and sprayed the unsuspecting bystander in the face, hypothetically.
Back at the disaster that is Eric's life right now, he nodded at Bella and looked forlorn. "Oh. Just wondering." And he made a hasty retreat.
The bell rang, signifying the start of another day of school. I grabbed my bag and sprinted until I was a few feet behind Bella, then proceeded to walk in a human pace. When I passed her, I shook my head and said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's two boys' hearts you've broken already."
She opened her mouth to retort but I was long gone.
It wasn't until second period English did it dawn on me that I was a bit rusty on current traditions of courting. I mean, I know relationships are much more casual than before—this was no 1918, that's for sure—and I understand that fickle teenagers fall in and out of "love" everyday, but how does the whole thing start? How do I ask Bella to the dance without implying that I overheard her conversation with Eric and without implying that I like her?
When I think of Bella, the first thing that pops to mind is her utterly disgusting yet simultaneously appealing scent that makes me want to vomit, but in a happy way. Then I think of those three freckles at the corner of each eye and how they darken when she's mad or frustrated or confused or embarrassed. I think of her many colored scarves and I think of the interesting necklace underneath. I think of what she would possibly look like with iridescent wings attached to her back. I think of how she has to tilt her head up to talk to me because she's short as a sprite. I think of when I think I see her outside my window sometimes. I think of her laugh, her one eyebrow raised look, her glare, and her toxic touch.
And oh my God. I think I'm in love with Bella Swan and I didn't even know it.
Tyler Crowley is asking Bella to the dance right now, I can hear them in the next room over, Emmett alerted me, from halfway across the school campus. I immediately focused my ears in her direction until I picked up the conversation through Tyler's thoughts.
"Again, I'm really sorry about what happened the other day," Tyler said.
"There's no need to apologize," Bella replied, "I didn't even get hurt."
"But you could have," he argued. I still don't understand how the van managed to miss her. (Me too, bro. Me too.)
"It's fine, Tyler," she said. "Really."
"Let me take you to the dance," he said, as if going to the dance with Tyler Crowley was such a treat.
She sighed. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"I'm…uh…going with Edward Cullen."
Again, I didn't know how to react. Does that mean she wants to go with me, therefore she likes me? Or am I just a pathetic excuse to get out of going to the pathetic dance with her pathetic friends?
I looked at the image of Bella through Tyler's eye. What is that sphinx plotting in that noggin of hers? What I'd give to hear even half a thought.
Fucking Cullen, Tyler cursed in his head. "Oh, you two a couple now?"
But then the teacher shushed Tyler and the conversation ended and I focused back into my own classroom and surroundings.
On the plus side, at least she can't use the "I'm going with Edward Cullen" excuse on Edward Cullen himself.
After I purchased my lunch, I headed in the direction of my family. They were all already seated, eagerly awaiting my asking Bella to the dance. Realizing I didn't want to potentially embarrass myself into the next century right in front of their scrutinizing eyeballs, I stopped at an empty table and sat down.
Boo, you're so lame, Alice remarked. I stuck my tongue out at them. They laughed and continued to gaze in my direction like enthusiastic spectators.
Playing with the apple I had bought, I watched Bella get her lunch with Jessica and Angela, then sit down at their usual table. I failed to catch her eye, so I didn't have a means of beckoning over. Perhaps if I stared at the back of her head long enough, she'll sense it…
"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica nudged Bella. Thank you for your bluntness, Jessica.
Bella instantly turned in the direction of the normal table I sat at. To my horror, Alice waved at her with an over-excited, just plain frightening smile. Finally, Bella's eyes found me, sitting like a grade-A loner. Her eyebrow went up as she assessed my empty table. I motioned for her to join me.
Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, Edward Cullen is asking Bella to sit with him at lunch! She is so lucky! That's totally not fair. I wish I was as pretty as Bella, then I could be the one sitting with Edward at lunch. Hi Edward. Oh, oh, Edward, you're sexy. Thoughts of the sort coursed through Jessica's mind. "Well, are you going to go?" she nudged Bella.
Bella remained unmoved. My confidence in this plan began to falter.
THE Edward Cullen is inviting her to have lunch with him and she couldn't care less. Un-frickin-believable. Jessica pouted.
Right before I lost my last ounce of self-esteem, Bella told her friends she'd talk to them later and made her way over to me. She set her tray down and took the seat across from me. "Hey."
"Hello," I smiled. The familiar pain of her presence washed over me but by now, it was only a matter of seconds before the stinging subsided. Bella may be immune to my powers, but now I'm growing immune to hers. I figured leveling the playing field is always nice.
"I thought you might want to have lunch with me today," I said.
"Why?" She viciously stabbed a piece of lettuce with her plastic fork.
"Well since I'm supposed to be taking you to the dance, shouldn't we at least act the part?"
She choked on her salad and took a long gulp of lemonade before responding. "How did you know about that?"
I smirked and ignored her question. "It's funny, because I thought the whole point of Sadie Hawkins dances was for the girl has to actually ask the guy before she can go brag to her friends. Or did you just assume I would say yes?"
Her freckles turned dark and a small blush crept into her cheeks. "To be honest, I was wracking my mind to think of a way to turn down Eric without being a total bitch, and he basically handed me that excuse. Then when Tyler asked, I figured I'd better keep my stories straight, you know? Are you mad?"
"Am I mad?" I shouted, pounding the table for dramatic emphasis. She actually quivered a little in her seat. I laughed. "No, of course I'm not mad. So I'm your date then?"
"You would actually want to go with me?" she asked, flabbergasted. Note to self: flabbergasted is a good look on Bella Swan.
"I absolutely abhor school dances," I reassured her, "but I guess I can make an exception. And besides, if I don't convince you to let Alice dress you up, I'm never going to hear the end of it." For the past twenty-four hours, Alice and Rosalie have been daydreaming about which French dress should go with which Italian shoes, and which dress they own has the most revealing back so they can lend to Bella.
"It's just…don't I make you feel…uncomfortable?" Bella asked sheepishly. She reached over to put her hand over mine and I immediately drew back. "See? Like that."
"No, no, it's not you," I hastily explained. "I don't think you know what you do to me, Bella."
She smiled brightly, like she was laughing at some inside joke. "Oh, I think I do."
We sat in peaceful silence for a while, with her munching on her salad and me staring at her like a creep.
"Don't you eat?" she questioned, gesturing to my full, untouched tray.
"Not really."
She gave me an ambivalent look, like whoa-that's-weird-but-this-is-Edward-so-what-do-you-expect. Since I obviously wasn't going to eat anything, she reached over and stole my apple. I tensed as her hand came dangerously close to me.
As she cleaned the apple with a napkin, I risked asking one of my questions. "So…friends?"
Bella paused before meeting my eyes. "Yeah, I'd say we qualify as friends."
"But I swear you're bipolar sometimes. One minute we'd be getting along fine, texting in class, you taking an apple right off my tray. But then the next minute I'll have mentioned some trivial thing that apparently upsets you and then you ignore me like I'm the plague. The fluctuation is driving me insane."
"I'm sorry. The thing is I have boundaries. And right now, sitting with you, I've already crossed so many lines and broken so many rules, it's not even remotely funny." In an effort to explain her strange behavior to me, she only succeeded in confusing me further. Kudos to Bella. "We really shouldn't be friends, Edward."
"You got that right," I muttered.
"What?"
"I agree, we should not be friends," I sighed. "While I know nothing about you, I sometimes forget that you know nothing about me. I'm dangerous, Bella. And if you were smart, you would stay away."
She laughed dryly, a glint in her eyes. "You're dangerous? Okay, sure. But if you were smart, you would be the one staying away from me."
Were fairies known to be fierce? Tinker Bell never came off as dangerous.
"So even though your very existence is still an intriguing mystery to me and even though I'd like to think you know just as little about me, we can still agree that our being friends is an overall bad idea?" I said.
"Basically. With that being said, do you want to go to the dance with me?"
Look at that. Easy as pie. And I didn't even have to dazzle her.
"I thought you'd never ask."
She giggled and then bit into the apple. From that point on, there was no turning back.
"Hey, Edward," Alice called as she waltzed her way over. "Hi! You must be Be-Be-Bella…" Holy shit, you weren't kidding! She reeks!
"Bella, my sister Alice; Alice, Bella," I introduced.
"It's nice to meet you, Alice," Bella greeted politely.
Alice was doing her best not to gag or run away. Maybe I enjoyed her pain a little. If I had to suffer this, so should she. "Edward," she choked out, "I just came to remind you about Bio." Don't go to class today. They're doing blood tests.
"Thanks," I said.
Ach, I just wanted to meet Bella, I didn't know her smell was actually this intense. With a small wave to Bella, Alice quickly made her way out the cafeteria door and into the fresh air. The sight of her taking huge gulps of winter air was quite comical.
"What about Bio?" Bella asked. The bell had rung and everyone around us was scrambling to their next class.
I remained seated and smiled nonchalantly. "It's healthy to play hooky every once in a while."
"You're not coming?" There was evident confusion in her voice, but I heard a bit of disappointment. She was sad that I wasn't going to be at Biology with her. I rejoiced.
"No. But you better hurry or you'll be late."
She dumped her trash, waved goodbye and walked away. I headed to the parking lot to wait in my car. I contemplated risking it and going to Biology after all, but then I remembered the consequences. There was a high chance I would lose it and kill a bleeding human who came too close. There was also a high chance Bella's fairy blood would paralyze me.
Instead, I sat in my Volvo, cranked up Backseat Goodbye, and thought about Bella. She hadn't shown any uncertainty in going to the dance itself. Does that mean she really doesn't have wings she's afraid to reveal? Does that mean she's really not a fairy? She said something about being dangerous, more dangerous than me. What if she was actually a vampire-eating monster in disguise? What if her captivating, mysterious personality and incredible attractiveness were just ploys to draw feeble vampires in for the kill? I shuddered at the thought.
Suddenly, I caught sight of Bella exiting the science building. She walked a few steps to a picnic table and sat down, looking despondent.
Before the better judgment side of me called on my senses, I got out of my car and walked to Bella. She was sitting with her eyes closed and didn't hear me approaching until I was standing right in front of her.
"Gah!" she shrieked when she opened her eyes to see me inches away.
"Hello to you too." I sat down beside her.
"I thought you were ditching."
"I was inside my car and I saw you come out. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just a little woozy. The smell of blood makes me faint."
"Humans can't smell blood."
"I'm not—" She stopped herself but too late. I just got her to admit she was indeed not a human. Kudos to Cullen.
"Did you prick yourself?" I asked. She didn't' seem to be bleeding, since I didn't seem to be in paralysis.
"No. I couldn't. That's why I left. I exaggerated my light-headedness to go to the nurse."
"Do you want to go to the nurse then?"
"No, I'm fine right here."
I smiled.
"How did you know not to go to Bio today? How could you possibly know Mr. Banner was going to have us prick ourselves with needles—which is completely unsanitary and is screaming AIDS, by the way—when he didn't do it with any other class today?" she asked.
"I didn't know." Which was true, since Alice was the one who knew, not me.
"But how…?" Her eyebrows scrunched up in frustration and her freckles twinkled from light to dark. "You knew Eric and Tyler were going to ask me to the dance, you knew when it would get cold, and you knew what we were going to do in Biology, all before it actually happened."
Technically, the latter two were all Alice's doing, but I didn't say anything. "Lucky guesses?"
She shook her head. "Nuh uh, there are no such things as lucky guesses."
"What are you saying, Bella?" I leaned forward and stared intently into her eyes. "That I am psychic?"
Her breath hitched and her short exhale hit my face, sending shocks down throughout my body. Maybe this dazzling was having some effect on her, but it seemed quite inefficient if it counter-affected me more. I leaned back to create some space between us and waited for the feeling to return to my face.
"I…I…um…what?" she asked.
I laughed, only it sounded kind of stupid since my lips were still partially numb.
A light drizzle was coming down and it created the most miniscule puddles on the concrete. I was enthralled in this delicate dance of nature for a while. What struck me then was the absolute silence of it all. Although I could still hear the hum of voices and thoughts in the buildings surrounding me, the soft platter of the rain covered those up until it was all a blurred white noise. If I concentrated on Bella hard enough, I could almost hear pure silence. Even though the smell of her gave me the worst migraines, her empty mind was also the only thing that could clear my mind.
I looked back at Bella. She was watching me with her head slightly tilted, her eyes wide, and her bottom lip curled under her teeth.
"Your eyes are yellow again," she said.
"You're wearing a scarf again," I said.
She smiled. "Touché."
We sat in the rain for a few minutes longer. I listened to the steady rhythm of the raindrops, then the steady beating of Bella's heart, then the constant nothingness of Bella's mind. No more vampires or fairies or whatever she actually is. Just Bella and me in the rain.
She sneezed.
"Do you want a ride home?" I offered.
"Oh…"
"You have to say yes, because your father dropped you off at school today and you don't have a way to get home." I stood up and smiled in victory.
She stood up slowly. "Again, how did you know?"
I headed in the direction of my parked car. "Less talking, more walking," I called over my shoulder.
"But how did you know Charlie drove me to school? He—"
"He dropped you off at the corner because he didn't want to embarrass you by dropping you off at school in a police car, yes, I know. Your dad has been paranoid ever since the incident at the parking lot and even though you didn't get harmed at all, he's worried that you will slip on the ice like Tyler did and since today's ice was especially bad, he insisted on driving you. But he had to head into town to investigate a robbery so he can't come to pick you up and asked you to find a ride home."
She stood with her mouth open. "I never told anyone about that. I was going to ask Jessica for a ride, but I forgot."
She didn't have to tell anyone. I heard their conversation in the cruiser this morning from where I was standing a block away.
"Let me take you home," I insisted.
"But what about your brothers and sisters?" she asked. "Don't they need you to drive them home?"
Aha, so she has been observing me too! "It's okay, I'll just go back for them."
She glanced at my watch around my wrist. "But school is going to end in 20 minutes. You would probably barely make it to my house by then."
"I drive fast."
Humorously, that statement seemed to scare her more than any other sentence that's ever left my mouth.
I unlocked the Volvo and opened the passenger door for Bella. Still uncertain, she stood before the open door, half wanting to go in, half wanting to run and never come back.
"You don't have to get in if you don't want to," I said. I hoped I wasn't forcing her to get into a car with a vampire, that's bad etiquette.
She took a deep breath, gave me a warm smile, and gingerly slid into the seat.
She trusted me.
I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Once I got in the driver's seat and shut the door, I instantaneously regretted inviting Bella into my car. Now that we were alone in a closed space, her bodily fumes were confined and the more time we spent in there, the more concentrated the smell became. We just pulled out of the parking lot and I already stopped breathing. I thought about rolling down the windows, but since it's raining and 20 degrees outside, it might give off the impression that I think she stinks. Which is true, but rude regardless.
I floored the gas pedal and watched the speedometer rise. The sooner I got to Bella's house, the sooner I can get relieved of this intoxicating torture. To take my mind off it, I smacked the stereo button. That was a big mistake.
"You listen to Backseat Goodbye too?" she gasped.
Great. Just great. Now she wanted to make conversation. Conversation required responding. Responses required talking. And talking required breathing.
"Yeah, they're great." I stuck to my speak-in-as-few-words-as-possible-and-maybe-she-won't-notice tactic.
"I'm really like his lyrics, more than anything. Because the words actually mean something, you know? It's not just pointless love songs. It's poetic."
I nodded, trying to judge how many more words I could form with the air supply I had left. "Any other music you like?"
"Acoustic, heavy metal, and Celtic. That's the three I listen to."
That one word stuck out to me like no other. "Celtic?"
"Oh yes. Celtic Women, Celtic Thunder, Solas, everything. I'm half Irish, you know."
Her last five words nearly caused me to drive into a tree. I'm half Irish, you know. That spell she chanted sounded Gaelic in retrospect. She's half Irish. She's half Irish. The Otherworld. Tuatha Dé Danann.
Her house came into view and I stopped in her driveway. She blinked, surprised we arrived so quickly. Gathering her stuff, she opened the door and stepped out. "Thanks, Edward. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Actually, you won't."
"I won't?"
"Camping." I was now legitimately out of air.
When she realized I was not going to say any more, she sadly shut the door and waved goodbye.
"What the hell?" As everyone climbed into the car, they all got a personal whiff of Bella's scent.
Alice sat down in the passenger seat, then bounced right back up. "Ow! That—that stings!"
I smirked. "Pssh. What are you afraid of, Alice? Nothing's wrong with the seat. You know, except Bella sat in it."
Even that slightest touch to the leather that was previously touched by our little fairy, Alice was in tremendous pain. Jasper hissed, sensing Alice's pain. He was not very pleased with my prank. Emmett on the other hand was howling in laughter.
After Alice climbed into the back to sit on Jasper's lap, we finally set off on our way home. It was only a matter of minutes before the leftover stench of Bella really got to them.
"This is nasty!" Rosalie exclaimed. "You give Bella one ride and the car smells this bad? We need to get some Febreeze."
By the time we pulled off the main highway into the small forest road, all four of them in the back were coughing.
"This is agony!" Emmett cried. How can you stand this, Edward? Are you a madman? Do you enjoy pain?
I guess you could say that.
"Let us off, Edward. Right now," Alice demanded. She held her hand to her nose.
Chuckling, I pulled over and the four of them dashed out the car. "Just wanted to show you guys what I have to endure on a daily basis," I said.
"Good for you, Edward," Jasper said, taking deep, refreshing gulps of the fresh air. "But from now on, Rosalie can drive us in her car while you can have that stinkbug all to yourself."
They ran towards home and I drove on the road, knowing full well that they would reach the house far before I did.