AN: Right now, I have my Taylor Swift CD on shuffle mode... I love Taylor. She's awesome!
No hating country music!
Chapter 3: Phenomenon
It was official. Somebody- even though it was a future-seeing vampire- knew my secret. And although I trusted her to try not to spill the beans, how long did I have until something slipped out?
I tried on one of the sports' bras. It really wasn't uncomfortable at all, and it gave me space around my shoulder blades so my wings could come out without ripping the bra.
I put on the rest of my clothes and left the house, telling Charlie I was "out for a walk."
Soon, I was too far from the house for Charlie to follow. It was too dark for me to see, so I felt my way to a tree and jumped, grabbing a random branch and hoisting myself up. My nocturnal instincts kicked in and I scanned the forest.
I jumped off the tree branch and spread my wings. The shirt and jacket ripped clean off. I was thankful that my bra was still on.
I made sure to thank Alice in the morning. But for now, I just enjoyed the feel of my wings being spread out and feeling the wind brush along the glossy black feathers. I dipped and dived, whooping, trying to enjoy the rush of falling to the ground and lifting up at the last second.
I was out for a few hours. I began to fly back home.
Home. Was that what Charlie's house was to me now? Would I sink so low as to nest in his house? Nest. Haha, bird humor.
I found out I could cook a little while later. It was purely by instinct that I went into the kitchen and boiled some eggs, making pancakes while I waited. Right in the middle of my third or fourth bite, I just realized that I cooked something.
Charlie entered the room, sniffing.
"You cook?" he asked, putting on his jacket and gun belt.
"Yeah," I mumbled. It surprised me, too, Charlie, it surprised me, too.
"You better get ready, school starts in half an hour."
I snapped my head up to look at the clock. Damn, I need to take a shower!
"Charlie, turn off the burner in five minutes, okay?" I yelled, racing up the stairs. I tripped on the last step and slipped on the rug in front of the bathroom. I turned on the water and tore off my clothes. I "tsk"ed when I accidentally ripped the sports' bra.
I took a five-minute shower and tied my dripping hair in a ponytail, quickly putting on a pink sweater and khaki pants.
Charlie had already left by the time I was done. The eggs were sitting in the water. I snatched them out, too quickly to burn my hand, and stuck them in a plastic bag. I stuffed them in my backpack and ran outside. I slipped, once again, and fell face-first into the snow.
I made use of my multi-lingual mind and swore in Italian and English. I added a little Portuguese, too, because the captain of the ship spoke it over the loudspeakers of the cargo ship I stowed away on to get here.
I was surprised that I didn't have to calculate how to drive today, what with all the ice and snow making the road slippery. I made it to school just in time. There were a couple of minutes left before the bell rings. I inspected the tires.
I noticed the chains on the truck. Thanks, Charlie! The bell rang, so I stood up straight.
My world suddenly turned to slo-mo. Somebody was racing to school, with no chains on his van's tires. Edward Cullen was yelling for me from across the parking lot, unable to get to me without revealing himself. The van started to spin towards me.
I held my breath. I got ready to jump out of the way at the exact right time, so my secret wasn't exposed. My wings began to shred my first layer of tops. Thank goodness I put on another sports' bra.
I heard quick feet reaching me, and my wings stopped instinctively. I saw a flash of white, felt a breath cooler than the snow surrounding us.
Edward. What was he doing? Stupid vampire!
While he pushed me, I pulled him. We tumbled away from the crash site. I winced at the impact of my head on the asphalt and the sound of Tyler's van crunching into my truck.
Edward sitting up on the pavement and was breathing heavily. I could tell he was excited, but not amused by what just happened. I was downright pissed. I lifted my head and slammed my fist on the ice, cracking it a little.
"Dammit, Cullen, are you stupid, or something?" I hissed at him.
"I saved you!" he protested. "I pulled you away!"
"Correction: I pulled you away. You pushed me!"
"No, I was standing with you, Bella, and I pulled you away."
I could see the stubborness in his eyes. He was trying to drill the story into my head. Lucky for him, I wouldn't give away his secret even if I were a normal human. I tightened my jaw.
"No, I could see you from across the parking lot. I can handle myself fine!"
"Oh, that part is obvious, since you're to one who was holding her breath and staring at the van, and hit her head when she supposedly saved herself!"
I had to give it to the vampire. He had a point. I rubbed my head, and he smirked humorlessly in triumph.
"Someone call an ambulance!" somebody yelled. The humans had finally got over the shock and ran for us.
"Bella!" Mike yelled, trying to pull the van away from the truck frantically. Edward and I had to suppress our laughter.
"I'm right here, Mike..." I snickered. Mike's head snapped up.
"Bella!" he yelled, running over and hugging me tightly. I'm sure God was getting a kick out of this.
"Tyler!" Lauren screamed. "Call an ambulance! Bella's truck killed him!"
Oh, great, now it was my fault. Edward got up and inspected Tyler.
"He's still breathing," Edward said, smirking when Lauren wasn't looking. "He's just in shock."
I looked at Tyler. His eyes were wide open, with a gash on his forehead. The windows were still down, so neither Edward or I could smell the blood. His hands were gripping the steering wheel.
The ambulance came to take Tyler, Edward, and me to the hospital. Edward and I didn't have to wear a neck brace, but after Edward smiled at the female nurse, the embarrassing white thing was around my neck. I glared at him, which he effectively dodged by looking at the cruiser that just pulled up.
"Bella!"
"Charlie?"
Charlie ran up and knelt down beside me.
"Oh, God, is something wrong with your neck? Can you walk? How many fingers am I holding up?"
In the background, I could swear I saw Edward trying not to laugh. I tried not to growl at him. My head was already healed.
On the way to the hospital, I calmed down Tyler, who finally woke from his shock and tried to appologize.
"Tyler, it's fine. It's you I'm worried about."
"Bella, please, I almost hit you. Stop being modest. I'm sorry!"
"No, Tyler. I mean that gash looks pretty deep."
"Bella, worry about yourself."
Please, Lord, put me out of my misery. I heard Edward's chuckle from the front seat of the ambulance.
"Shut up, Cullen, I can hear you!" I yelled.
"Ma'am, no yelling in the ambulance," the flirty nurse half-responsible for the neck brace scolded me. I guessed she was just defending Edward instead of enforcing the rules. Edward's chuckled became more pronounced. I bit my tongue to stop myself from screaming insults at him.
In the emergency room, I took off the brace when nobody was looking and chucked it into a garbage can across the room. Nobody but Tyler noticed.
He snickered.
"Lucky, I wish I could throw like that. Does the basketball team know you exist?" he joked.
"I won't be much with the running part of the game," I admitted honestly.
"Oh, trust me, I know. Mike is my best friend."
MIKE! Ooh, I'm gonna kill him...
The doors opened to reveal a pale, flawless face. He had blond hair and golden eyes. His walk was too perfect to be human. So this was Dr. Cullen.
Edward was trailing behind him, shooting me an amused expression before it turned to puzzlement at the unexplained disappearance of the stupid neck brace. His eyes shot to the trash can. It was my turn to shoot him an amused expression.
"Good morning, Bella," Dr. Cullen smiled. He looked at the clipboard at the foot of the bed I was set on. Of course, I wasn't strapped to anything, so I sat Indian-style at the foot of the gurney.
"Dr. Cullen," I faked a smile. He noticed, and sent a glance at Edward, who was grinning.
"Edward says you hit your head hard enough to hallucinate, but the X-rays came out negative," Dr. Cullen explained. I sent a triumphant smirk in Edward's direction.
"Well, Dr. Cullen, I believe Edward is misinformed. I feel perfectly fine, and I know a lot."
Both Dr. Cullen and Edward shared a grimace for a brief second before controlling their expressions.
"Are we done here?" I asked a bit rudely, jumping off the gurney. I tripped, Edward catching me and setting me upright. Dr. Cullen sent me a worried look.
"Oh, relax, I'm not having a seizure, Doc," I laughed. Then I glared at Edward. "But you... I need a word with you."
Edward glared at me and followed me out of the room.
"What is it?" he snapped as soon as we were out of even Carlisle's hearing range. Jeez, and I thought I was rude.
"I need to know why you feel the need to drill your idiotic story in my head," I explained, crossing my arms and returning his glare.
"Because it is the truth," Edward growled.
"Oh, please," I scoffed. "We both know what really happened. Lucky for you, I have no plans on telling anybody!"
A startled expression barely had time to form before Edward scowled again.
"If you knew the damn truth already, why are you bothering me?" he hissed.
"Because I want to drill it in that thick skull of yours that I am not the kind of girl you can mess with. I have something I can hold against you, and, believe me, I will use it if I have to!"
"Nobody will believe you."
"Oh, trust me, I think I know a way to get them to believe me."
"Oh, really? Enlighten me."
"It's for human eyes only," I growled. A smirk replaced half of the scowl that used to contort his face.
"You don't know, do you?"
"I know what I am going to do, and trust me, it's not going to be pretty on my end of the deal, either."
I could see the headlines now... Birdgirl Attacks Innocent Student: Claims Vampires Exist
I grimaced. The newspapers, then the crowds of people trying to take my picture, the government on my tail feathers, and then the Volturi coming to pick me up and possibly destroying the Cullen family as well. I hoped Alice could foresee all that so she could get her crazy, psychic vampire butt out of Washington. I kind of liked her.
"Trust me, Edward, I could make your life hell," I warned.
"That's a little messed up, don't you think?"
"Oh, trust me, until you step in my shoes, you don't know the meaning of 'messed up.'"
We continued to glare at each other until somebody- a human- entered the once-empty hallway.
"There you are, Bella!" Charlie huffed, running towards us. I broke Edward's and my staredown to look at the Chief.
"Hey, Charlie," I said half-heartedly.
"Thank God you're all right. You should thank Edward here for saving you."
I froze, stiffly turning my head to glare at him. Edward pretended to be distracted by something outside to window.
"Thank. You," I said slowly, gritting my teeth. I plastered on a snarling smile. Edward smirked, still looking outside.
Eventually, after getting Charlie to at least consider my being healthy enough to sleep without waking me up every hour, we were driving home.
And I dreamt of nothing but my confusing, stubborn, and vampiric Biology lab partner, Edward Cullen, that night.
AN: I'm sure you guys can see where I had a problem. In Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, Bella had no idea what Edward was. Isabella X knows, so I tried to draw the conversation away from asking how Edward saved her to them just bickering about who's right and who's wrong.