Chapter 9 – Expelling Irrational Thoughts

Ilina –

Suddenly, as he stood in front of me, I realized that Sarah couldn't have been right. How could this man, standing right in front of me, be capable of a crime? I smiled at him, taking in his amber eyes again, his caramel-colored hair slightly tousled from his hand as he ran his pale hand through it, and his slightly reticent look. I tilted my head slightly, confused. "Is everything alright?"

The aloof look vanished from his face to be replaced by one that was even more confusing – relief. God, he was confusing me! "Yes, I'm fine." He pointed at the teacher, who had just come in. "Is that Mr. Diaz?"

I glanced over. "Yes. That's Diaz . . ." My voice trailed off, knowing that he'd probably want to speak to Diaz, since he was a new student and all, and I should probably be getting to my seat behind Karina and her very curly, bouncy hair. Almost mechanically, I bowed to him before taking my seat.

Edward looked a little shocked – I was abandoning him - but he went over to Diaz of his own prerogative and started chatting amicably with the teacher. It looked like he got along with my least favorite teacher better than I did. Lazily, I got my pencils and paper out of my bag, knowing that he'd have at least one stupid warm-up to do.

Mr. Diaz finally moved the remote from the way of the projector, allowing me to start the warm-up early. Needless to say, I finished in a matter of seconds. His warm-ups were usually nothing more than a personal question about our preferences on religion. After all, this was Values and Beliefs.

Edward took an empty seat on the other side of the classroom again, much to my annoyance, and immediately went to scribbling something down on a piece of paper that he'd gotten from his bag. The more I stared at him, the more I realized that there was something different about him. He seemed much too quiet, and barely out-of-place in the classroom, as if he'd rather be outside, despite the fact that it was a dreary, overcast day. He seemed not to notice the stares of the girls in the class as he nonchalantly wrote on the paper. His handwriting was so fast – even faster than mine was, and it tended to look like an untidy scrawl in response. I'd seen his handwriting in Spanish – it was flawless, like he'd taken calligraphy classes. I had to admit, there was something odd about Edward Cullen.

Like normal, I barely paid attention in class, wandering off in my own thoughts and feeling chagrined when Diaz asked everyone to turn in their notes. Karina took pity on me, showing me hers to copy before I handed them both into the basket. The bell rang after what seemed like hours in my head, and I jumped up excitedly. Finally, a not-quite-so-boring class, but only because I sat next to Beki, and we'd pass notes in there.

I glanced over at Edward. His belongings were already neatly stored in his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and walking over to me. I put on a smile as I packed my folder in my backpack. "How'd you like Diaz's class?" I asked warmly. His mouth formed something between a frown and a grin, and I laughed at the ridiculous expression. "Don't worry; we all think that about the class. We're all doomed when Finals come around." Luckily, that wasn't for another eight months.

Edward chuckled, a warm, low noise deep in his throat. "I bet. Do you know where Mr. Rosenberg's class is now?" His pronunciation was excellent – not a stumble over the name. I shoved that to the back of my brain.

"Mhmm . . . Yeah, it's down in the Arts hallway . . ." I paused for a second, thinking about who could possibly take him there. My class was just across the hall – his was halfway across the school. We walked out of the classroom together before I finally caught sight of April and Erica, chatting happily. They were Arts students – they knew where Rosenberg's class was. I even thought that Erica had him this period. "Hey! Guys!" I called out.

Erica turned around. "Ilina? What's up? Isn't Chylek's . . ." She pointed down the hall.

I nodded. "Edward's a new student here – could you show him to Rosenberg's? I don't think I have enough time to run all the way there and still make it back." I smiled when Erica nodded enthusiastically. "Thanks." I pecked her cheek, throwing an arm around my cousin, April, and stepped back to introduce them. "Edward, this is Erica and April. They'll show you around."

He nodded slowly. "Right. And . . . thanks again, Ilina." His eyes were liquid gold as he said this, almost making my bones melt. Maybe Sarah was right – maybe I was developing a small crush on him. I didn't quite know. Biting my lip, I smiled.

"Not a problem. I'll . . . see you around."

He nodded and smiled as he departed with my cousin and friend, making me more confused than ever. What was going on with me?

I stepped into Ms. Chylek's classroom, taking my seat across the room next to Beki. She engulfed me in a hug before backing away. "How was V and B?"

I wrinkled my nose. "As boring as ever. Well, sort of. I don't know. I thought about Edward the entire time," I admitted, knowing that I was probably flushed. "But . . . he's so different. It's like . . . he's got all of these things inside of him, and nothing comes out. He's like . . . a black, anti-social abyss." Actually, he was much more attractive than a black, anti-social abyss, but we weren't going there.

"I thought he spoke to you?" Beki's eyebrows were furrowed as she got out notepaper. The bell would be ringing anytime now, and we wouldn't be able to talk aloud when it did. She passed it to me, and I scrawled messily on it.

'He does. But . . . he seems sort of . . . out of place. You know? Like he's usually ignored and such? And he ignores all of the girls, even though they stare at him.'

Beki pursed her lips, looking at me. 'Maybe he's got a girlfriend back in Washington. That's where he's from, right? I didn't really listen well when he was introducing himself in Lit.' Her neat handwriting put mine to shame as I read the note.

'That's what I thought, until I realized that he was ignoring everyone. The only people I've seen him talk to are the teachers and us.' He wasn't differing between guys and girls or anything.

'Ah, Edward Cullen, the new mystery. And Inspector Ilina's on the case. This'll be cracked in no time,' she teased. I laughed.

'You bet. His secret will be my knowledge pretty soon. Just you watch.'

Beki looked a little troubled with that statement. 'Just . . . don't get too nosy. Sam said to stay away – and he cares about us like he cares about Sarah. Don't get hurt because of this, Ilina.'

I nodded. 'Got it, Beki-chan.' I skipped a line before I went back onto our regularly-cheerful notes. 'おげんきですか?' [Translation – How are you?]

She grinned, impressed with how quickly I was learning from her, and quickly scribbled back until class was over.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I was waiting for three comments, only obtained two, and was sort of disappointed by that, so I didn't write any more. So, you can thank those two people for saving the fanfic. I love you both. xD

Yes, this is the last filler-chapter for a little bit. Next one is real plot. It makes me happy.

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