CHAPTER THREE: English

Chapter Notes: We all know what has to happen next…

I made my entrance into English one minute late, although it may as well have been one hour, judging by the way everyone stared as I stumbled into the room. I tried to cover the wet spot on my jeans where I had desperately scrubbed to remove any potential Coke-induced stains. I would have wallowed more in my embarrassment had I not noticed that only one vacant seat remained. Toward the back of the classroom, Edward Cullen sat alone in the corner next to a single empty desk.

Thankfully, Edward seemed oblivious to my presence. With Mr. Berty and half the class staring at me, I nervously made my way to the desk to his right. The door swung shut behind me, resulting in a gust of wind that propelled me to my seat. Only in Forks could I get the chills in late August.

"Glad you could join us, Miss Swan," Mr. Berty mused. There had to be a manual that required teachers to say that whenever a student walked in late.

My hands shook as I removed my backpack and settled onto the uncomfortable plastic chair. Against my better judgment, I snuck a glance at Edward. His body language had completely changed. No longer the portrait of indifference, he leaned as far away from me as possible without falling out of his seat. The skin over his knuckles was stretched so tight that it was practically transparent as he gripped the edges of his desk. However, the worst of his disgust was evident in his face. His nostrils were flared, and his eyes narrowed as we made eye contact. He looked away in the flash of a millisecond. I felt like I physically repulsed him.

I wondered if the generic soap from the bathroom had left its scent on me, that somehow the smell was bothering him. I made what I hoped was a subtle attempt to sniff myself. I smelled like strawberry shampoo, just like always. Mr. Berty droned on about the syllabus, but I couldn't process a single sentence. Instead, I focused on creating a barrier between Edward and myself by turning my chair away from him and hiding behind a veil of my hair. I felt claustrophobic in the classroom, by far the tiniest at the school. My face remained hot, and my eyes began to sting as I came to the conclusion that this gorgeous stranger inexplicably loathed me.

The hour wore on, yet Edward's severe posture remained unchanged. Not once did his eyes fall upon me, not that I made a habit of looking at anything but the edge of my notebook. I speculated as to whether every ounce of his concentration was focused on pressing his long white finger tips against the underside of his desk. As the bell rang, springs appeared to launch Edward out of his seat, and he vanished before the high pitched ring of the bell faded from my ears.

Angela rushed to my side immediately. She looked concerned. "What was that about?"

Unsure of my voice, I just shook my head.

"Maybe he's just got social problems." Her eyes flickered as she gauged my expression. "I'm sure it had nothing to do with you. I mean, you don't even know him."

For the first time, I realized Mike was also in the class. "It's my fault really, Bella. I tried to save you a seat, but Connor was all weird about sitting next to Edward Cullen, so he took your spot at the last second."

"Don't worry about it." My voice was uneven despite my best efforts to hide the lasting affect Edward's behavior had on me. "Anyway, I like sitting in the back."

"But now you're stuck back there with him for the rest of the year. Maybe you could tell Mr. Berty you can't see and need to sit somewhere else. He can make Connor switch with you."

"Yeah, because Mr. Berty is just so accommodating." I forced a smile. As excruciating as my fifty minutes next to Edward had been, I refused to run and hide. Trying to convince myself, I continued, "It's cool, Mike. I'll survive."

"Well, the offer still stands, if you change your mind," he said, heading off to his locker.

Angela walked with me down the hall. She stopped me shortly before we parted ways for our last class of the day. "Hey, are you sure you're okay?" she asked me in a low voice.

I couldn't help but feel touched at her concern. "Um, not really… but I just need some time to calm down. I'm just overreacting; I'll be fine."

She smiled at me and offered to call me later. I shrugged off her compassion, knowing that I'd be off in La Push for the night. Angela and I had never been especially close, but we had developed an unspoken pact to help each other survive the politics of high school. She made the time I was forced to spend in Forks bearable.

I entered American History and sunk down as deep as possible into in a seat against the wall. I tried to tune into the impact of the Ice Age on North America, but my hands were still shaking from my bizarre experience with Edward. Even though I had suffered through the social nightmare of being one of the poorer students at my wealthy junior high school in Arizona, never had anyone been so inexplicably mean to me.

To comfort myself, my thoughts turned to Jacob. If anything, he would lift me out of my anxiety and take me to a place where only he and I mattered. It was then that I remembered that I promised to go with him to a bonfire on First Beach this evening. Although his friends were nice enough, my afternoon had left me drained and desperate to be alone with Jacob, with nothing but the familiar scent of the garage to keep us company.

Glaciers seemed to pass before three o'clock arrived. Relieved to leave school behind for La Push, I quickly gathered my things and rushed out of the classroom. Originally, I planned to head to my locker to drop off my unneeded textbooks, but I skidded to a stop as I spotted a now-infamous head of bronze hair engaged in a heated exchange with his sister mere feet away from my destination. Their stances gave off the impression of an argument, yet neither was speaking. Suddenly, his body stiffened. I felt the panic rise yet again in my chest.

I reminded myself that it was him, not me, who was acting ridiculous. What I should have done was walk directly by him with my head held high, to show him that he didn't intimidate me. In reality, I frantically spun around, nearly crashing into an unsuspecting freshman, and staggered off in the opposite direction. Thankfully, today I kept my car keys in my bag instead of on the top shelf of my locker. I flew through the parking lot to my truck with only minimal stumbling and jammed my keys into the ignition.

My flight from the building hadn't been as fast as I thought, as I couldn't help but notice the silver Volvo had already disappeared. I berated myself for the observation. Still, I had to admit I was incapable of distraction. I had no idea why Edward Cullen despised me, and I wished for nothing more than to never see his stupid, perfect face ever again.

Chapter End Notes: This is moving slower than I'd anticipated, but I am enjoying writing it. I know some of you may question why Edward remained at school for the last class when Bella's scent tempted him so, but without going into much detail from his point of view, remember that he goes to the office to attempt to persuade Ms. Cope to change his class schedule. It took more time than expected this time around (I'd explain more, but I'm toying with the idea of doing an Edward POV on this story when I'm finished with this one… if that day ever comes :) Also, I am looking forward to moving this story beyond the "necessary" events from Twilight that need to happen for the story to get rolling. I promise you, it's not just going to be Twilight 2: Senior Year.