Wasted Time

I know all about the little games you play
Shakin' your apple right in front of my face
Only when you know that I'm beggin'
For a bite...

Arriving at school on Monday, I felt the stares at my exaggerated alternative look. Taking Emmett's advice, I decided to have some fun and revisit my previous persona; re-dying my hair (black cherry, this time). Dressed entirely in black and looking extra pale, the smudged kohl Alice had applied made my golden eyes stand out. I'd made certain my thirst wouldn't be an issue as I prepared myself to make a human my personal pet. My intent was to kill the boredom, not a classmate.

I smirked as I crossed the parking lot, making note of the internal comments made as I passed by each group of otherwise braindead kids. A freak walks among them, and suddenly their minds go into overdrive. Emmett was right; this exercise would be quite amusing for me. My pet would definitely be a female. Their thoughts were more to my liking. The guys' were predominantly fear mixed with envy. I gave an extra charming grin to a few girls as I passed, but none held my gaze. They were too intimidated. This may not be as easy as I figured it would be.

It wasn't until Sociology that my choice became clear. She selected me, as every thought she had was focused on me from the moment I walked in. It was so distracting I could barely focus on what Mr Willis was telling us about the new unit of study. It had something to do with charitable efforts.

"Partner up and work out a presentation arguing the validity of popular charities." Mr Willis caused a flurry of activity with his announcement. No on wanted to be stuck with a loser. Or me.

I did catch that; opportunity. Now if only I could remember her name...

No matter, I glanced over at her, smile in place. She was already staring in my direction.

'Oh my god! He's looking at me! Maybe he's not a snob after all. Just shy maybe? Definitely different. And hot. Soooo fucking hot! Ewww! That dweeb with the overactive sweat glands is headed over to me...no no no! I can't...I WON'T work with him... don't ask me, don't ask me...'

"I didn't really catch what we're supposed to do, can you help me out?" I asked as I left my desk and approached her's. "I was kinda distracted." Leaning over her desk, smile in place, eyes locked on hers... I heard her pulse racing. Her thoughts were an incoherent jumble. I snickered as I bent lower, leaning on my elbows and bringing our faces nearer. "So you want to work on this together or what?"

She babbled some nonsense that seemed like an agreement, so I motioned for her to join me at my desk. As we worked through the period together, I began doubting my choice. Sure, she was game for whatever I had in mind, and she was fucking hot herself, but she annoyed the shit out of me. And it almost seemed too easy. I had wanted a challenge, that was the whole point, right? Still, I was stuck with my choice as she asked me to join her for lunch. I couldn't help but snicker at the irony - this was the girl in the other car last week. Oh yeah, baby. I'll do lunch.

It was weird, having this girl in my car. She didn't eat either, which let me off trying to explain why I wasn't eating anything, but her mouth never stopped. And her annoying thoughts were even worse. She went through several different scenarios for everything that she actually said. It took all my energy to not scream 'shut the fuck up!' and toss her out on her sexy ass. That said, she wore a very low-cut top and at the very least, I had a good visual to distract me from her nonsense. She smelled great as well.

Damn. Suddenly that became my focal point; her scent. I shifted in my seat to get a better look at her cleavage in an attempt to distract myself from the desire to sniff her. As I did, she did as well, bringing her scent nearer to me. Fuck...

"Do you want some music on?" I quickly reached for the stereo to put myself out of biting range. I didn't want to bite her...maybe just a nip. A nibble. A little taste. Fuck! Why did she have to smell so good? And why did she have to lean in such a way that I had almost full view of her tits? Was she even wearing a bra? "What do you listen to?"

"Umm, normal stuff. Got Lady Gaga?"

I cringed. "Um, no. Sorry. Why don't you find something you like besides that." I quickly moved back while she moved forward. And then she made a sudden turn towards me.

"Nah. Forget it. We probably listen to different stuff anyway."

Duh. Ya think?

"I love your piercings. The lip one especially. Did it hurt?"

I chuckled softly. "Not a bit."

"It's totally sexy. Does it get in the way?"

"In the way...of...?"

"You know, kissing and stuff."

Hmm. How the fuck would I know? I had other issues that got in the way of me even finding out what a kiss was like! Couldn't exactly relate that to her though, so instead, I put my crooked grin on and avoided a direct answer.

She took it as encouragement, her heart racing and cheeks reddening as she inched closer. Her hand rested on my chest and her eyes widened. "Wow! You're like, rock hard! You don't look really ripped, but you must work out a lot!"

Don't have to when you're built like granite, I thought before becoming caught up on the scent once more. She had pulled all of her hair over to one shoulder; the shoulder furthest away from me, leaving her neck fully exposed. Open and inviting. I looked around briefly. There was no one lurking about in the rain to hear her if she got startled and the windows had fogged up so we couldn't be seen easily. I put a hand on her waist, over her jacket so she wouldn't get the full shock of my cold hand and drew her in. Tilting my head, I sniffed up and down her neck. That alone caused her to shiver. She was tense, but in a sexual anticipation way rather than fear. She wanted me to kiss her. Instead, beginning at her collarbone, I trailed the tip of my tongue slowly up her craned neck, ending at her ear.

"Did it get it the way?" I whispered.

"Huh? What?" she mumbled, eyes closed, chest heaving.

I let out a loud laugh that did startle her. "The piercing...you were asking..."

"Oh! No! It...no...that was like...uh...you're cold."

Ah, so she did notice.

"But still hot, ya know?" She giggled to cover up her anxiety. She wanted more but was more than a little weirded out.

I got out of it by pointing out the time. Lunch period was over. And so was my seduction of...what was her name? I could get her to do anything I wanted now. No need to make myself uncomfortable any longer than I had to.

Running towards the school door to get out of the rain, a friend called out to her. "Jess! I've been looking all over for you! Come on, we're going to be late!"

Yes, that was her name...Jessica. Only her tits were memorable. And now her scent. I smiled easily at her as she glanced over at me shyly. "See you," I drawled, nibbling at the ring in my lip. It was a habit I'd picked up that seemed appropriate now that I knew it fascinated my pet.

She smiled in return, cheeks glowing red as she raced away with her friend.

"Oh my god Jess! Did you go somewhere with Cullen? He actually spoke to you?"

"Yeah!" Jessica squealed, glancing back at me once more, biting her lip. "I'll tell you all the details in Chem!"

My pet was waiting by my car after school. Alice and Jasper exchanged a look when I smirked.

"Emmett," they both called out to me.

Laughing, I nodded at them as I approached Jessica. "You're getting wet," I commented coyly. It was more than a drizzle and she looked as though she'd been waiting for some time.

'I'm fucking soaked! Not just from the rain... God, I want that tongue on me again...' "That's okay! So, we didn't finish in class and we're presenting tomorrow...we should get together...?"

"Can't," I replied bluntly. "But hey, you can do the report and I'll present? Good for you?"

She nodded dumbly. Of course it was good for her. She'd be the one to present too. No chance in hell I'd get up there and recite her drivel. I'd sooner take an incomplete for the assignment.

"So where was your girlfriend today while you were off playing with the kitten?"

I shot Alice a glare in the car. "She's not my girlfriend and I have no idea where she is. I'm just trying to have a little fun, Alice. You didn't object in the last town. In fact, you participated!" I reminded her.

"Yeah, well you didn't have a girlfriend there," she snapped at me.

"I don't here either!"

"Jesus Alice, lay off him," Jasper came to my defence. "You know how quickly things can change in your visions. If it's not something he wants to pursue, let it be."

And so she did, thanks to Jasper. While I could read minds and Alice could see the future, Jasper had a gift for mood control. He often came to my rescue. Unfortunately, he worked her and not me. I was left with an unspoken wonder about where that interesting little human was today.

She was there the following day, sitting in complete silence in her back corner. If she even glanced towards me or had a thought about Jessica's pawing of me as we went over our notes that she had written, I wouldn't know. She was utterly silent. The silence was even more distracting for me than enduring constant chatter. I got annoyed with Jessica's chattering several times while I focused on 'hearing' something from the back corner. Anything at all. The silence continued.

I avoided another lunch date, claiming I had to go over my English assignment with my sister. Jessica's eyes were glued to me and mine to Isabella/Grey, whatever I was supposed to think of her as.

"Why can't you hear her?" Alice asked, as baffled as I was when I explained my distraction.

"I've no idea. But it's annoying."

"You could last week though?"

"Yeah yeah...everything. Just like normal." Normal for me.

"Weird."

"Extremely."

In English class, she arrived late. Rushing past me to her desk, her eyes didn't even drift my way. And still silence. Mid-way through class, during our work time, I turned around to address her. Maybe if we spoke directly, I'd pick her up again.

"Who's your partner for the Sociology project? Since you missed yesterday, did you get stuck with someone horrible?"

Her eyes flashed up at my voice. "No. I'm working alone." Her voice was quiet and monotone. And I got nothing more from inside.

"Seriously? That sucks! You're presenting by yourself?"

She stared at me blankly as she nodded.

"Mr Cullen! You've suddenly become chatty with your new look?" Mr Hews called out. "Eyes to the front please, and conversation after class!"

"Yes sir," I muttered and turned back to chat quietly with Alice, as we did all period, every class, undetected.

Completely unable to think about anything aside from the silence of Grey and why she avoided me when I tried to speak with her again after class, and yet again after school. It was one thing to snub me, I was used to that, but blocking me from her thoughts? How the hell did she manage that? I refused to be ignored...this was my new challenge. I went by her house after dark. There were muffled voices coming from the window that was cracked open a bit. I listened in at voices I was unfamiliar with.

"She hates it Phil. I can't make her do it anymore...look at how she is! She doesn't even speak to us!"

"Better than her lip. Look, would you rather go down the same road we've already been down? I thought you moved here with me to get her away from that shit? And so, she starts up again here and you're fine with it? You want to let her get out of control again?"

Out of control? Isabella? She seemed strong-willed and unique for sure, but nothing about her struck me as a problem child.

"I know...but she was doing better..."

"Until she finds the one freak in town...I don't even know where that kid came from!"

"She said he just gave her a drive, because it was raining. Maybe he's a nice kid."

Shit! They were talking about me! I'd gotten her in trouble? For what?

"We were right to cut it off before it's an issue. Renee...you know where this could lead. I'm not dealing with that again!"

I stepped away as I saw a light flick on in an upstairs room. In the shadow of a giant oak, I watched Grey in her window, staring out silently at the night sky. She looked void. Void of energy, thought and spirit. She seemed a mirror image of how I felt when I went into stone mode; when I forced myself not to feel. There was so much more to this human than I'd ever imagined.

Yes, this little human was vastly more interesting than the one with big tits and no brain. Much more of a challenge. She wouldn't be ignoring me for long.

Show your face
Living in the shadows like you got no name
Enough to make a little girly go insane
Be my guest to let it out tonight

Time on me is wasted time
Time on me is wasted...

(Kings of Leon)

A/N ~ Tortured, brooding Edward and I appreciate your encouraging comments. :) He's about to become very focused. Keep reading! ~ SR