Humiliation

By fourth period, the period of his presentation, Edward was quite himself again. He was confident in his presentation, in his execution of it, his poise. He was going to get the mark he needed. He had arrived with his usually group of friends; Jasper and Garrett and had checked that the PowerPoint he had constructed specifically for his point worked on Mr Banner's computer and showed up on the Smartboard. He sat languidly at the back, quite relaxed as he talked and waited with his friends for everyone to arrive. He was startled to realise that Bella was in the same theory of knowledge class as him. How had he not noticed? Surely she had been more vocal in their classes? Surely he would have noticed?

She hardly spared him a glance, sitting herself next to that fellow -what's his name?- allowing her books to splurge across the table. Edward glanced away from her, seeing that Mr Banner was already setting himself up to judge the presentations. Edward rose from his seat, a winning smile on his lips as he began to talk. For ten minutes, he talked on the knowledge issue of medical research and it's virtues and vices. He was confident and clear in diction, drawing out a chuckle here and there from his classmates in some moments and having them frown in thought in others. Every now and then, his eyes would slide to Bella, who sat, face blank, as he spoke. He was vaguely puzzled at this; surely she should show more interest, more thought? Maybe his earlier estimation of her had been inaccurate.

He was thus unprepared for the aftermath.

When he had finished with the conclusion that scientific discovery must endeavour through the cool examination of scientists unrelated to the test subjects and asked for questions, Bella's hand was the first to rise. Surprised, yet again, he said, "Yes, Swan?"

"What about the Stanford Case?"

He paused, gazing evenly into this intense brown eyes as he tried to work out what she was talking about, "the Stanford Case?"

She smirked, as if she had him in a trap, "yes, where a psychiatrist created an assimilation of prison, with himself as the warden and a series of university students as the guards and the inmates."

Relief flooded his system; he had heard of it before, "yes. What about it?"

Bella's smirk did not go away, "the psychiatrist became so much a part of the assimilation so he could not stop it when it went too far. He'd slipped into his role as the warden so well. It was only through the intrusion of his fiancé did he actually realise that the mental torture he was putting the inmates through was barbaric. Thus, scientists themselves cannot be the 'cool intellectuals'" she put quotation marks around his words, a spark of mockery in her gaze, "even when they are supposed to be the experimenter. Emotions are intrinsic to any person, no exceptions. How do you counter that?"

Edward was speechless. He stood, gaping at her, his brain scrambling for a solution but finding none. It was Mr Banner who eventually saved him, quietly admonishing Bella for such an outburst, reminding her that her questions were supposed to help the speaker, not hinder them. A hot blush tickled Edward's cheeks, heating his brow. He didn't like the feeling, even if Mr Banner assured him that his presentation was still exceptional.

He couldn't get over the fact that Bella had managed to tear down his entire presentation in one question. He sat at the back of the class, hardly paying attention to the other presentations after his. Bella continued to ask questions, but none of them nearly as pertinent as the one he'd been asked. As soon as the lesson was finished, she was up and out of her seat, leaving the yet unnamed boy to scramble in her wake. Edward frowned his way to lunch, irritating Jessica, his on and off girlfriend, whom he had promised to meet for lunch.

"What's with you?" she asked exasperatedly, as they sat by one of the many full-length windows.

"Nothing. Swan just being…" he trailed off, forcing himself not to look for her in the large dining room.

Jessica arched her eyebrow, her lip curling in a sneer, "What, the female NED?"

He winced internally at the cruel nickname but said smoothly, "she bumped into me this morning and completely fucked up my presentation for me."

Jessica scoffed, righteous irritation in her eyes, "Bitch is such a know-it-all. Thinks it makes up for the fact that she's bumming off the school, off our parents' money."

He nodded silently in assent, staring at the water in his plastic cup. Even with Jessica's estimation of Bella Swan, he still felt like something had not been solved. Bella was still an enigma in his mind, another thing to solve. He had solved many people, most of them his friends. Jessica, for example, he knew would never amount to much, poor girl. Not particularly intelligent or athletic, she was just another girl who went to this school with the merit of her parent's money and her patrician good looks. She will no doubt go to an adequate university somewhere, study a degree that will amount to nothing and marry some rich lord who she would be entirely dependent on. And she was completely content with this future.

But she would have preferred that Edward was this rich gentlemen to pick her up. He came Old Money, his family based in St. Andrews for nearly 3 centuries. He had the intelligence and looks that would get him fair in any field he wished to go into.

That, and he was a good lover.

Her eyes followed the line of his mouth as it frowned in thought, the yellow flecks in the deep green of his eyes, the strong jaw and chiselled cheekbones, the way his hair burned gold, brown, red.

She'd spent this last summer in his house in Elie in Fife, while his parents were in Dubai.

She remembered with a shiver the hushes of breath against her navel, the quick work of fingers against her skin, the slide of hair on her shoulder.

Yes, he was perfect.

And hers.