Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the new character.

Previously on destroying typecasts:

She gazed at my eyes apprehensively and brought herself closer to me. The vehemence caused by our proximity we was compelling. I could barely control myself from closing the little space left between us. Her next words brought me back to reality.

"At school… Why were you avoiding me?"

Chapter 8: Certain Mystery

I raised my eyebrows at her and widened my eyes innocently. I was not going to be the first to cave in. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Bella's eyes narrowed as she took another step towards me. "You know very well what I'm talking about."

I smirked at her. I was surprised that I had this kind of courage to act so impish with the school's Ms. Popular. "Do I?"

"Would it be better if I enlighten you then?" her expression turned sarcastic as she tilted her head to the side.

I pretended to consider her offer, eyeing her speculatively. She was growing more annoyed as the seconds ticked by. I had to admit to myself, it was quite enjoyable to see.

"Go ahead." I answered, giving her a crooked smile.

She smiled politely as she crossed her arms around her chest but her eyes were mocking. "Let's recount the week's events shall we?"

She brought a hand to her chin and stroked it, acting as if she was trying very hard to recall something. She twisted her head back to face me and her eyes were aflame as she let her hands drop to her side.

"Oh, wait. We can't do that because nothing even happened in the first place! You didn't talk to me and you barely even looked at me. The most you could have done was to hang a sign around your neck saying 'Bella doesn't exist'."

My lips twitched as I tried my best to repress a smile. "You've got a bit of a temper, don't you?"

She narrowed her eyes, waiting for a response.

"Look, I'm not the only one at fault here." I mimicked her, crossing my arms against my chest as I spoke. "If I remember correctly, you were avoiding me too."

"That's not the point at the moment." She snapped at me.

"Then what is 'the point' then, your highness?" I said, faint venom seeped into my tone.

We stood there glaring at each other for who knows how long. It was good though, because I was able to compose myself better. After quite some time though, she broke her gaze and looked down.

"I'm still waiting for your answer." She pointed out.

I felt my restrain over my temper fly off. My anger flared up completely. "Oh, so you can go asking me anything you want and expect an answer in return and I can't? Well, that's evidently fair."

I saw from the corner of my eyes that her hands had rolled into fists and she was tapping her feet impatiently.

I narrowed my eyes at her and huffed angrily. "What is it to you if I was avoiding you? If you are eligible to do so to me, then I can do it to you regardless of what you are."

Confusion made its way to Bella's breathtaking face. "Regardless of what I…" She paused as her face lit up. Her expression became triumphant. "So you admit it then?"

My eyes tightened and my lips were set defensively. "I didn't admit anything. I was merely stating a fact."

She let out an exasperated sigh and unconsciously took another step that would close what little space we had between us. I abruptly took a step back, away from her, not wanting more physical contact than necessary. My sudden movement distracted her from what she was about to say. Bewilderment crossed her features and then a small smile made its way to Bella's full lips as understanding came to her. The smile turned mocking as she slowly approached me again. My feet instinctively scrambled backward, not allowing the non-contact space we had to diminish even the slightest. This action caused her smile to grow even bigger, allowing me to see a perfect set of brilliant white teeth. Was there any part of her that wasn't perfect?

"Edward…" she trailed off as she took another step forward.

I started to saunter backwards but my back collided with the wall behind me. A devilish look made its way to Bella's topaz eyes— it seemed darker than usual. She leaned forward, finally closing the void between us. Even under the shadows, I could see clearly how her earlier bright smile had turned into a smirk.

"Edward, are you afraid of me touching you?" she asked in a soft, alluring tone. If it was her intention to make it sound so enticing, I had no idea.

I struggled to breathe evenly. I could feel my heart thumping hard against my chest and with the way Bella had crushed her body against mine, it was inevitable that she could feel it too.

"Why would I be?" I answered in an unfavorable rough voice.

"I don't know… It's not like I can read minds." She grinned. I didn't know why, but I felt as if I was missing some inside joke.

The amusement in her eyes grew as she pressed herself harder against me. Her smirk was back in place. It didn't take a genius to see that she was teasing me, testing my control knowing that it would eventually crumble because of her tempt actions.

Well, I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she could easily manipulate my restraint. But as I was about to bring my hands up to lightly push her away, she placed her hands on my chest. Through my shirt, I could still feel the coldness of her skin. Her fingers started to trace teasing patterns on it, causing me to let out a jagged breath. My hands balled into fists as I twisted my head to the side, letting my eyes rest on anything but her.

She giggled as she saw the effect her actions had on me. Bella snaked her arms around my neck and brought her head beside mine so that our cheeks almost touched. She twisted her head and brushed her cool lips against my ear.

"No one's self-control is perfect Edward…" she trailed off.

Her cold, sweet breath caused a shiver to ripple through my spine. Her intoxicating scent filled my senses and completely obscured my capability to think straight. My brain was useless now, as was every part of my body as I stood there, once again immobilized by Bella.

Her lips started to trace my jaw and my head inherently tilted upward to give her more access. My hands, moving on their own accord, made their way to the small of her back and held on to her tightly. A small, unaffected part of my brain was yelling at me to stop at this instant. But that part was miniscule compared to the part that wanted the perfect creature in front of me… wanted nothing less than Bella.

My grip on her waist tightened. I was vaguely aware of how her fingers entangled my hair, of how she seemed to inhale the scent coming off my neck. I didn't stop to think of why my body was suddenly filled with goose bumps as I felt her lips slightly part against my neck… until I felt her ice- cold teeth coming in contact with my skin.

I did not know why, but an instinct embedded in my system since the dawn of time was fervently telling me to get away. Get away as quickly as possible. But there was a slight problem with that. I didn't want to follow that pre-born instinct. Not when Bella was in such close proximity with me, not when this felt so natural to such an unfathomable degree. It was inconceivable on how my brain contested what I desired… to be absolutely hers. And somehow, a part of me understood that she wanted the same— make me belong to her and in return, to be mine. But no matter how much we wanted it, the logical part of my brain (that now seemed illogical to me) was saying that this was against all right reasoning.

My hands clenched back into fists as I abruptly dropped my hands from her waist and grabbed her arms, trying to push her away from me. I nudged her at first, but to no avail. I exerted more effort until I was using all of my strength— but she was unmoving. It was like trying to push a huge boulder. I didn't understand. All the while, she continued to very slowly bar her teeth against my neck and I could feel the atmosphere changing drastically around me. My mind was screaming at me now to go. I tried once more, putting all my strength into one big heave as I told her to stop. I sighed in relief as she gasped against my neck in surprise. She sauntered backward quickly until an acceptable distance bordered the two of us.

I stared at her, mesmerized as I tried to understand… to comprehend. My brow furrowed as I thought deeply, trying to understand the mystery this inhumanly beautiful, breathtaking creature brought on. Her eyes, her strength, the aura of danger that surrounded me a mere few seconds ago… the intensity of the emotions she stirred up inside me that somehow overrode all else.

My mind started to work at a new pace, trying to put together different pieces into one big puzzle.

I could not be mistaken with her eye color, I knew better than anyone how they smoldered in molten gold. But now, I was looking into fiery pit of blackness. My inability to push her off as she stood as if glued to the ground— her entire frame not being moved once amidst all the strength I put in. And those teeth… the ice cold and seemingly rock hard teeth that I felt would tear into my skin if I had not successfully put Bella into her proper senses.

\My heart started to beat frantically in my chest, I felt beads of sweat starting to form on my forehead. For the first time in Bella's presence, I was irrationally afraid.

My brain was going into overdrive, processing all the information that it had gathered. As it did so, I watched how her now onyx eyes slowly transform back into a dark butterscotch color. I saw how she struggled to breathe evenly, how she rolled her fists once again and locked her jaw tightly as if doing her best to control herself. Even with these, I was mystified… and all the more enthralled.

"I apologize." She murmured, snapping me back to reality. "That kind of behavior was awfully inappropriate… unacceptable." She whispered the last word, more likely to herself than to me. Bella's face was wiped clean of any emotion.

I did not answer. I could not answer. I simply watched as she gracefully walked away from me, her hair bouncing in the absent wind. It was so simple to just let her leave like that. Easy. Effortless. What was so hard was to keep my feet firmly on the ground… to keep myself from running after her. I did my best to convince myself that right now, I had to. She needed me to (how I knew that, I had no idea)— no matter how much my heart screamed from the anguish of just watching her retreating back, unable to do anything to console the agony I saw beneath her distraught eyes.

A/N: How was it? I hope it was worth the wait. Or even half of that… It was really hard to think of what to right and to find time to actually type it in. So please, I would really appreciate it if you guys would review. It would surely bring a smile to my lips.