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Chapter 3:

"Miss Swan …?

…Miss Swan do you know the answer?" The sudden mention of my name caught my attention, and my eyes searched to meet the teacher who looked down at me disapprovingly. His large brown eyes magnified through his specs - making me feel even more on edge.

"Erm," my voice sounded so strained, probably because I'd had it hanging open for the past 20 minutes. I was still reeling from the fact that he - the guy from last night - was sitting not 5 tables away from me. "It's, the nucleus". Thankfully my knowledge of biology meant I didn't make an even bigger fool of myself in front of him, not to mention my class mates who just sat there, heads turned as they gawked at me.

"Hmmm, very good. But lets have your eyes on me shall we, and not on your new class mate" his one eyebrow cocked up to the side, as he removed his glasses from his long pointy nose.

I was mortified. I wanted to die in that very moment in time. I felt like I was naked, and I'd just been asked to stand up in front of everyone in class and expose myself. It was made worse by my fellow idiotic and immature classmates whistling or whooing under their breaths. I lowered my head to hide myself. Probably not the best reaction to make, no doubt it only proved to make me look completely guilty of the crime, but I was far too embarrassed to look them in the eye. Especially considering my face was probably as red as a beetroot.

Ugh! And I could just imagine that sly grin of accomplishment spread across his face. What was his name again? … Not that I even cared.

I frowned in distress, relieved when Mr Kayles finally silenced them and continued on with the lecture. The class ended not so long after that, and my moment of public humiliation remained on the forefront of my mind.

"Are you alright?" Alice asked me with concern, as she packed her books away into her bag. "You look kinda … pissed off."

"Well yes of course I'm pissed off!" my voice was growing high through irritation; but I made damn sure to keep my volume at a restricted level. I didn't want to draw anymore unwanted attention towards us. Or, me, to be precise.

"Why? What's wrong?" she tentatively touched my arm, but I was far too flustered to appreciate it.

"Erm, can you say, public humiliation!?" I glared at her, whilst everyone around us gathered their belongings.

"What? That little thing with the new guy? Come on, you know Mr Kayles was only teasing! … Who'd have thought he had it in him hey" she smirked, giving me a nudge. But I failed to see the funny side.

And then she said something I couldn't quite believe. "Let's go say hi to him".

My eyes almost popped out of my skull. "What are you kidding me!?" I retorted.

"Come on Bella, don't be like that. He's new, he doesn't have any friends".

"Yeah well, that's not my problem" I shrugged as I rose to my feet.

"Well, it's about to be" she grinned at me, before her face fell scarily straight, and she strutted off towards him.

"Wait.. Alice!" I attempted to call her back, but she'd already made her way over to him. A little too eager for my liking; I would be sure to snap her favourite eyeliner in two for this!

"Hi!" the pixie-like brunette beamed up at him, and I could see his mouth twitch in amusement. I also didn't fail to notice his double glance as he looked over to me. I suppose it was stupid to hope he may not have recognised me. Figures he'd remember the uncoordinated klutz who practically threw herself at him yesterday. I groaned inwardly at my lack of luck.

"Hey, how's it going?" he was packing his books away, before he swung his side-bag over his head; just skimming the spikes of his messy auburn hair.

"Good thanks, I'm Alice, and this is my friend Bella" she pointed behind her, before turning around to see me lingering several desks away, her eyes then opened wide at me, and although she remained silent, I could literally hear her say, "What are you doing Bella!? Get your butt over here!" in that extra whiney tone she sometimes had.

With a huff and the roll of her eyes she started towards me, grabbing me by the hand as if she was my mother and I was some out of control child, and pulling me towards him.

"Watch your feet Bella" she muttered to me, as I stumbled over my feet to follow her.

"Bella Swan, this is Edward…?" she motioned in question for his last name.

"Cullen" he added, "Actually, we've met before" he grinned as he stared me in the eye. I chose to look away, finding the tree outside much more interesting. At least, that was the impression I was trying to give off… I probably didn't succeed however.

"Huh… since when?" Alice looked at me questioningly, her brow knitting together, like I'd betrayed our friendship or something.

"Since last night. In fact she created quite an impression as she practically flung her melons in my face" he smirked. And my entire body almost spasmed out of control. The temperature in the room seemed to reach 80 degrees, with the clothes on my back sticking to my skin, and my hair feeling like a hot wet rag just plonked on top of my head.

"You did what!?" gasped Alice, lowering her voice a little as she continued, "Look Bella, I know I said you should start being more forward with guys, but I didn't mean for you to go around flashing your…"

"Alice!" I cut her off in a fuming whisper, "it wasn't even like that!" I tried my best to remain as muted as possible, but I knew he could hear my every word. "I was grocery shopping, ok! … I tripped." I informed my friend, before turning back to Edward to glower.

"Oh sorry, I thought you meant…" before she went into an awkward silence.

"My bad. I guess I should've been more specific" he laughed. To which Alice also giggled, much to my annoyance.

"Well" I swallowed hard and tried to regain my composure, "this has been really fun" I smiled in sarcasm. "But sadly I have to get going. I have a mountain of work to do and its not going to get done just standing here …" I zipped up the final compartment of my bag, placing the loose strands of hair behind my ears, before flinging the bag over my shoulder with one almighty heave. "I'll catch you later Alice".

"Er, sure. Ok" she spoke with caution. We usually spent every second of the school day together, but since Alice was obviously intent on getting to know this Edward Cullen, then I certainly wasn't going to stick around for further humiliation.

Without waiting another moment, out of fear of Alice objecting, I spun on my heel so fast I accidently bumped into the table in front of me. I inwardly cursed myself for my distinct lack of grace, before focusing my vision solely on the wooden door in front of me. I felt like all eyes were on me as I took my first shaky baby step towards freedom. In fact I could almost feel the intensity of his gaze piercing my back, as I awkwardly crossed the classroom. For all I knew, he wasn't even watching me walk away, but I was so overly preoccupied with making a good impression, that I did my utter most to ensure my walk was stable.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I entered the hallway, relaxing a little at the knowledge that Edward wasn't in eye sight. I didn't know why I cared so much. I'd only known him less than 24 hours, and for the majority of the time he'd infuriated me. Correction, every single second of it infuriated me. Sure, he was pretty easy on the eyes, but that was completely overshadowed by his bigheadedness. Not to mention Mr Kayles! Well, he certainly wasn't getting a Christmas card from me now! How dare he embarrass me like that!

Ok, so maybe I was staring, but it's not like it wasn't justified! I had every right to stare at the new guy! And if he'd experienced what I had yesterday, he would've done it too!

I made my way towards the restrooms; it was probably my only chance of escaping him for now. Combined with Alice's questions! Which were definitely something I could do without. Entering the cubicle I went over to the sink, placing my bag down at my feet, before turning on the taps. Running the water over my hands I cupped the liquid, dowsing my face with its coolness.

……………………

So maybe I prefer to shy away from things that get to me, but hanging around the computer lab for the rest of the day does not mean I'm a wuss! I'd just sooner take the time to gather my thoughts and come to terms with the situation. I can deal with everything tomorrow! … Or, maybe the next day.

Yes, ignorance is bliss in my book! Still, ignorance becomes pretty hard to maintain when you have Alice texting you every 5 minutes demanding to know what was going on. Thank god for the off switch!

It was pitch black outside by the time I'd logged myself out of the computer, walked down the school corridors and out onto the car park. There, alone and looking severely unwanted, sat my truck in the centre of the parking lot.

Quickly scurrying across the tarmac, I approached the vehicle. I almost felt sorry for leaving her for so long; poor Betsy. I gave her a little tap on the bonnet as I headed for the driver-side door.

Jumping inside I threw my bag onto the back seat, turning the heater onto max, before inserting the key into the ignition. I couldn't wait to get home, the events of the day proved far too stressful for my liking. I needed to be home, sat curled up and snug within the comfort of my duvet. All problems seemed of a lesser evil when the mood and the setting were just right. And I aimed to create that mood ASAP!

Trundling across the car park, I made my way back home...

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