Edward motioned toward me and she turned waving me over excitedly. I walked over, feeling my face turn red.
"Hi guys." I said, surprised that my voice wasn't utterly quivering. Mostly because of the way Edward was looking at me; his eyes were smoldering and that was the only way to describe what they were doing. "What's up?" Delta laughed at my reaction and pulled me down to the seat beside her.
"You two are going to sit here and talk while I go get my lunch." She smiled happily at me and rushed away, giggling slightly. I looked at Edward who smiled at me, like he'd just heard some private joke that I wasn't in on.
"What's so funny?" I frowned at him slightly, dropping my bag to the floor. He shook his head slightly, as if I were being oblivious to something obvious.
"Nothing, it's just that, you smell like paint." I quirked an eyebrow at his statement and then rolled my eyes a bit, then smelling the sleeve of my jacket.
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." He shook his head again and smiled.
"So, I guess we're supposed to talk… Oh!" He stuck his hand out toward me suddenly. "I'm Edward Cullen, though I'm sure you've already heard my name and all that. I do appreciate your introduction yesterday and sorry for being like that in biology." I rolled my eyes, shaking his hand.
"It's not like you can help being sick… probably the stupid rain." He laughed a bit, grinning crookedly. So of course it wasn't much of a surprise when I found myself dazing off, dazzled, until he spoke again and I realized that I'd completely missed what he'd said. "Sorry, what?" I asked, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
"You don't like the rain." He'd said it more as a statement than a question and I smiled stupidly.
"No, me and wet just don't mix very well." He tilted his head slightly, almost as though staring at a puzzle he couldn't solve.
"Why move to the wettest place on earth, then?" I laughed a bit myself, falling into an explanation that I was sure he'd find sufficient.
"My mom and her husband wanted to move to Florida, and I really didn't want to deal with moving clear across the country and into a new time zone." He laughed at this and I smiled back, trying to hide my cheeks as they flushed again. I looked around without being obvious; Delta was taking an awfully long time to get her food. "Besides, I've done enough for that jerk…" I added the last just under my breath, nowhere near loud enough for anyone within a foot would be able to hear with all the commotion in the lunch room, yet he frowned slightly, his brows furrowing the tiniest bit before he seemed to catch himself and smiled again, his crooked grin returning. I smiled slightly and watched, his butterscotch eyes staring back at me. I paused, catching my thoughts and my mouth fell slightly opened. "Umm… did you get contacts?" He looked at me like I was insane for a moment before he responded.
"No." He looked thoroughly confused and I started explaining, talking much too fast to hide my embarrassment.
"Well, see, yesterday, your eyes… they were really dark, but now... they're not." He frowned then, his eyes hardening again, from honey to stone in a matter of seconds. I stopped short and shut my mouth, worried that I had angered him in some manner… or worried him. "Hey, I'm sorry," I stood suddenly, pulling my bag over my shoulder. "I'll see you next period." I said before walking from the lunchroom, his eyes watching my back as I left.
Delta found me outside, sitting on a bench, nearly hyperventilating. She frantically tried to calm me, eventually succeeding. When she asked what had happened however, I just shook my head and shrugged, because I didn't really know. I had spoken to Edward Cullen, and he seemed like a decent human being, but I'd said something about his eyes, and angered him. She walked me to class when the bell rang and I sat in my seat in Mr. Banner's class, scratching shaped onto my paper as I waited for class to start.
Edward half fell into the seat next to me, throwing his books on the table before turning to me and smiling. I looked up at him out of the corner of my eye and smiled back just slightly, barely a lift in the corner of my mouth.
"So how come you ran off earlier?" I looked down at my paper as the smile left my lips.
"You were mad, or at least very upset. I didn't want to make you stay around someone who'd made you upset." I scribbled another circle on my paper and he watched, the puzzled look returning to his face.
"How can you say that with any certainty? Can you read my mind? Or maybe my emotions?" I frowned slightly, taking his comments as ridicule.
"Forget about it." I sighed slightly and scribbled a triangle on my paper.
"No, really, tell me." I looked up to find his expression to be earnest and interested, and was slightly taken aback by the sincerity of the emotion.
"Well, your eyes made it plainly obvious that you were upset." I glanced back at my paper again, and then up as Mr. Banner began speaking. Edward frowned slightly, taking a slow but deep breath as he leaned toward me.
"Tell me about your stepfather." Edward whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, though no one beyond a one foot radius around us would be able to clearly hear what he said. I frowned slightly, my eyes falling at the question, setting my mind racing. How much would I be willing to tell him, why did he care, and what would he think? Would he be the same as so many of my friends were? Laughing off my bruises and scrapes as my being clumsy, or telling me that everyone hated their parents to some degree. I glanced up at him, my doubt more than likely obvious on my face. I knew it was when his eyes betrayed his shock at the fear that was suddenly present, a fear that he wouldn't accept me, and I had no idea why I was afraid, especially since I'd basically just met him. I glanced quickly away, back to my paper again, trying to focus on Mr. Banner, who was lecturing on cell reproduction, another item we'd already covered back in Riverside. I sighed as I lost my focus on him again, returning my eyes to Edward who still looked worried. I took another deep breath before I began speaking.
"He has a son, had one when he married my mom, they married not long after Charlie and my mom divorced. Anyways, he never really liked me all that much… I was just extra baggage really, just someone to do chores and take care of his kid when he didn't want to." I trailed off, not wanting to elaborate further, but Edward pushed almost immediately.
"What aren't you saying?" He was almost fully turned toward me and Mr. Banner noticed, asking Edward suddenly for the phases of mitosis, which he listed perfectly, never moving his eyes form me. Mr. Banner looked frustrated for a moment and then went back to lecturing; our conversation still hadn't been heard. "Tell me." He spoke again, still gazing intensely at me. I dropped my eyes again, closing them now as I searched for the words.
"He used to beat me… not badly or anything… but enough that he left bruises, he'd knock me down and I'd get scrapes, and then… I felt like I deserved it, he always explained the punishments away, made me feel like I needed the punishment." I stopped again, tears beginning to well up in my eyes. I brushed fiercely at my eyes; I hated crying, absolutely hated it and it usually wasn't so easy for me to do. The bell rang then, and I rushed out of the classroom, nearly tripping several times over the ten foot distance. I could feel his eyes on my back the entire way; making my face burn with embarrassment.
I rushed to the girls' locker room then immediately into one of the bathroom stalls within. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and then left the stall, washing my face at the sink before I headed to my locker to change. Gym was hell as usual; I nearly killed half the team the one time I tried to participate, so I ended up at the back of the court and I was still there when Coach Clapp walked up to me.
"Why aren't you participating, Ms. Swan?" I shrugged slightly and one of the girls on my team piped up.
"She's going to hurt someone if she tries to play." Coach Clapp looked at me again.
"That true?" I nodded meekly, my face flushing again. "Alright, walk the gym then." I looked up at him suddenly and he frowned a bit. "Well, get going." I walked slowly away and walked the gym through the whole period, much more comfortable with doing this than even trying to hit a ball of any type with anything. After gym I changed and when I walked out of the gym, Edward was waiting for me. I blushed and my eyes fell to the ground as I began walking toward the parking lot.
"So you're just going to walk away form me then?" I looked back at him and half smiled.
"You can walk can't you?" I waved him toward me a bit and started walking again. He followed after me and paced himself evenly with me. "Sorry about earlier." I said, not really sure what else to say.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, it wasn't your fault; I was the one prying and asking stupid questions." I shook my head at that and he looked at me out of the corner of his eye, his brow rising slightly in what I assumed was amusement.
"No, they're normal questions, anybody would be curious, and I usually don't cry so easily, so I was mostly caught off guard." He grinned crookedly again, my mind focused on his lips and I almost tripped over a crack in the cement. He reached out and easily caught me by my elbow; I tensed the slightest bit in response to this, because his hand was unusually cold even through my jacket sleeve, and I wasn't one of the warmest people myself, so it was a bit of a feat to be colder than me. He noticed my tensing and I smiled immediately in apology. "Sorry; you hit a weird nerve there." I laughed a bit and smiled at him before returning my eyes to the ground in front of me, trying not to trip again. He walked me out to my truck and then leaned against my door as the sky darkened ominously from a light grey to a near black. I frowned slightly at the sky and Edward laughed his crooked smile returning, at which I couldn't help but smile.
"What are you thinking?" I raised an eyebrow at him, noticing suddenly how he was tensed, like he was a mountain lion about to pounce.
"Like it's that hard to figure out; didn't I tell you? I don't mix well with wet… or ice." I added as I noticed a stray patch on the ground, sending a glare straight at it. He laughed stiffly and I rolled my eyes.
"Well," He glanced over at his car, where his family was beginning to gather; Rosalie looking unusually angry. "I should probably go." I half frowned in mock worry.
"Rosalie's looking particularly scary today…" I forced a smile down, failing as I broke into a grin. Edward laughed and I glanced back to Rosalie who seemed to now glare at me.
"She's just jealous." He winked and pushed away from my car, his muscles loosening as he moved away. I frowned slightly and shook my head a bit, my mind wandering to homework as I pulled carefully from my parking space then onto the road and back toward Charlie's… Home.
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Disclaimer: I still don't own Twilight (… only Delta xD)
So anyways, it's been a while here... but that's what school does to a person; lack of time, lack of sleep, and lack of stuff in general. The last few chapters have just kinda rolled of my tongue (metaphorically speaking?) so I didn't write any kind of comments, and for clarification upon the point of Bella's drawing; yes, that was in fact Delta with blood all over her. Why? Well, you'll just have to wait and see, because the picture will come back into play again. I feel like I'm babbling... so I'll stop soon. I'm starting to work on the next chapter while I have the story line fresh in my head (and I have time), so the next chapter should be up within the next couple days or so :)
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