Hello, Goodbye

Teeny Tiny Twilight

Bella P.O.V.

I hurried out of my room, bagel in my mouth, gym bag over the shoulder and fumbling with my keys to get the damn door to lock.

Some time during the night, my alarm clock plug had come out of the wall and I had put my alarm to the wrong time. So, because of that, I was going to be late, hungry, sweaty, and stressed at seven O'clock in the morning.

The one upside to this was I was going to basketball practice. That would help me get my mood in order. Another upside was I would be done practice at about nine thirty and I could spend the rest of my Saturday and the entire Sunday hanging out with my friends. I just had to tell Rosalie who I met yesterday.

A door clicked softly shut down the hall from me. I turned to the sound, and groaned. Edward Cullen, the biggest jerk to ever have been dropped on his head as a child, was just sneaking out of Millie's room. I had been sure that the two of them had broken up almost two weeks ago.

He turned to me, surprise then excitement flickering across his face. He waved at me.

I looked away quickly, and glared at the lock, fighting the key desperately into the key hole. It finally gave in and clicked its lock into place. I heaved a sigh of relief and turned to get on the elevator at the end of the hall. This elevator was one of the only things I liked about boarding school so far.

"Hey," a soft voice whispered, "What are you doing up this early?"

"Basket Ball practice." I muttered back lowly. The only thing that kept me from ignoring him and running as far from this place as possible was politeness.

"They have basket ball practice at five?" he asked surprised, "And I thought football practice was early."

I rolled my eyes, "It's seven o'clock, see?" I held up my wristwatch to him. I didn't have time for this, I was going to be late, and now that I had started my morning talking to him I doubted even basket ball would put my mood in order.

"No, it's five o'clock, see?" he took my wrist, showing me my own time. 5:06.

"Five?" I stared at my watched for a second, and then sighed, "Perfect, just a perfect way to start the week end. Hey, maybe I'll get hit by a truck this week end too!" I added in a bogusly cheery voice. Edward looked like he was trying to keep from laughing, "So what are you doing up this early in the 

morning?" my voice was a little sharper then I had intended it to be. That'll show him not to tell me what time it is.

"Maria snores when she sleeps." He made a face towards the end of the hall.

"I thought that you and Millie broke up." I started walking.

"We did," he answered, completely oblivious to my correction, and matched my pace, "We just got back together for a few hours last night, and I left her a note saying we broke up again."

I lost my appetite. "So where are you going then?" I asked flatly. I wondered if I could find an alternate route to the one, he was taking. I did have two hours; I could go all the way around the campus if I needed to.

He shrugged, "Where ever you're going I guess." He grinned at me.

I stopped, "Edward look!" I gasped, "A super model!" I pointed to the end of the empty hallway. As expected, his head snapped towards the way I had pointed.

I took off running for the elevators, the shining metal doors promised salvation. I pushed the down button frantically, "Come on!"

"It doesn't matter how many times you press the button, the elevator won't come any faster." He was beside me, looking down with an amused expression.

I tried to glare at him, but his face was closer to mine then I was used to. I took a breath, and ended up inhaling him. His scent was distinctly masculine, with the barest hint of sunshine and something sweet. I swallowed, taking an uncomfortable step back from him.

On one level I could understand how the girls at this school could lose their heads so completely around him, it was a shallow understanding but an understanding all the same. He was beautiful—heartbreakingly so with his pure green eyes, no other colour mixed with it, not even a hint of brown or blue, just an endless expanse of green, like a jade forest. Then there was the strong jaw, the perfect nose, the full lips that were usually pulled into an easy crooked smile, and on top of it all, there was the head of messy red-brown hair.

However, that was the only level that I was attracted to him. In my personal opinion the cons out weighed the pros with Edward.

The elevator doors dinged open, startling me from my thoughts. I walked on and –to my great displeasure—he followed. There were stairs just to the right of the elevator, if I timed myself perfectly I could jump out in time for the doors to close Edward in, and then I could take the stairs down and waste some time before practice. I hesitated though, as I watched the intimidating thick metal doors come together, and then it was too late.



Edward was whistling cheerfully beside me, rocking on his heals as he waited for the doors to open. His cheery mood did nothing to help mine.

"You're jersey doesn't look like the other girls'" he mused, looking down at the end of my blue jersey half falling out of my bag.

I pushed it back in, "I don't play on the girls' basket ball team." I said in a normal volume, smiling smugly from old habit.

To my surprise, he snorted, "Then what team do you play on? The boys?" he chuckled, as if he could never imagine a universe where a woman did something other then fawn over the perfect colour of shirt to match their eyes and their shoes.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Yes." I had been playing on a boy's basketball team at the other school I had been at. I played well enough to be able to take on the best of the best there, and from what I had already seen; I could take these guys too.

Though I had just started here not two weeks ago, I had settled in here better then I thought I would. Alice had been in my first period class the first day, and we had been inseparable ever since.

Edward's annoyingly loud laughter pulled me from my pleasant reverie. "You?" he choked through his laughter, "Itsy bitsy little you? Do they have a name plate for you on the bench, or have you actually stepped out onto the floor?"

"I bet I could own you in basket ball, and I could probably hold my own in football too." I snapped.

He stepped closer to my 5 feet 4 inches. He was a good ten inched taller then me. He grinned down while I had to crane my neck just to see his face, "Would you like a ladder?" he asked smiling.

I gritted my teeth, "That's it Cullen, you and me. One-on-one on the court now." I saw him hesitate before the amused smile was back, "That is of course, unless you're scared of being beaten by a girl." I added slyly.

"Fine, you and me. Just don't be disappointed when you find out who is a better player. You are only a girl after all." He shrugged, his smile taunting.

The doors dinged open and I stomped out towards the outside court. The sky was still relatively dark but there was more then enough light to see. The asphalt was still wet from the morning's dew.

I grabbed one of the discarded balls on the side of the court, and put my gym bag down on the grass. I threw the half-eaten bagel into the trash and turned to see Edward grinning at me cockily.

I threw him the ball roughly, taking my position opposite to him. He laughed, bouncing the ball back to me, "I think it's only fair that you should get the ball first with your handicap." His eyes were condescending, like he was only humouring me.



"Fine," I took a step back and threw the ball over his head. He turned in time to see it swish effortlessly into the basket from the centre court.

His jaw dropped. I walked over smugly to the ball, bouncing under the net, feeling his eyes on my back the whole time, and threw the ball back to him, "Maybe you should take the ball first, with your handicap and all." I threw him the ball.

He caught it, glaring at me now. I winked.

We took our positions again; he dribbled the ball and tried to go around me. I snatched the ball from him, ducking under his arm and made another basket. Smiling I threw him the ball again, "Nice try, you almost got two feet that time."

He snorted as he caught the ball rolling his eyes. His easy smile was gone now, replaced instead by frustration, "First to ten, were only starting."

I smiled brightly at him, "Of course we are."

By the end of the game, it was one to ten. There had been one time he had fouled, walking the entire way to the net with the ball held high above his head where I could not reach it, and made a basket. I let him have the point.

I stood in front of him, dribbling the ball at an easy pace, grinning smugly as he glared at me, arms crossed. "Fine." He snapped, "So you can throw a ball into a hop, big achievement. Foot ball takes way more skill and thought then this." He scoffed at the ball in my hands.

I glared at him, "You're just jealous because you can't play worth jack."

"One more try, the first to make a basket is the champ." He took his position at centre court. I followed, taking my place across from him. He glared at me and I glared back. "And no cheep half court shots." He added.

I stopped, "How is that cheep?"

"It just is." He growled. I heaved a sigh, shaking my head at his childishness. Then I took my stance. I made to go around him, but he spread his arms, stopping me.

I turned my back on him, ready to spin and catch him off guard. He was towering over me, suffocating me with his body. Then unexpectedly, his arms came around my waist and took hold, lifting me off the ground. I lost my hold on the ball and it bounced out of reach, "That's cheating! Put me down, you fowled out!"

"Ha! Now what are you going to do?" he laughed. I struggled until he put me down, then I turned to accuse him with my eyes. He shrugged, smiling, "Oh, I guess we don't have a winner. We're tied."

I growled at him, and stalked over to grab my gym bag from the grass and walked off the court, "Stupid, childish…" I muttered. The sky was getting brighter and I was sure it was close enough to seven to be 

able to go to the gym. I checked my watch, and found it was only six fifteen. Whatever, I'd hang out at the gym for the last forty-five minutes, warm up or something.

I could distinctly hear someone following close behind me. I gritted my teeth, ignoring him.

He walked beside me in silence for a while. I revelled in it, hoping I had damaged his ego enough that he would keep his comments to himself. Maybe, if I was really lucky, he would just leave me alone for good.

"Do you mind if I watch you practice?" he asked softly after a few minutes. His eyes were rueful, his smile gentle.

"I don't know. Are you done being an idiot?"

"Yes."

"Fine." I sighed, still not looking at him. I turned to catch him smiling brilliantly at me. I rolled my eyes, and then pulled my ponytail out, choosing instead to pull it into a messy bun for practice. Not that I though anyone would take a handful of my hair to get the advantage, but accidents did happen.

As I walked into the empty gym, I had the strongest sense of déjà vu. It was like the first time I had walked into this gym, I had had to prove myself to my fellow teammates, since apparently playing with a girl was beneath them. It didn't take long for them to accept me, and then to see me as an equal. The coach, though supportive enough, still gave me the feeling he was embarrassed to have a girl seen on his team.

Mike was already there, shooting baskets from different positions, dodging imaginary arms and making the baskets…most of the time.

"Hey, Mike." I called, waving, "I didn't think anyone was here yet."

Mike turned around and smiled, waving back at me. He frowned when he caught Edward standing behind me, "Try outs ended last week."

"He's not here to try out, he's just here to watch." I said, heading for the boys change room. The girls' was on the other side of the building. It didn't bug me to change with them anymore anyways. I always had a tank top underneath my jersey.

When I came back, Edward and Mike were playing together. Edward maneuvered around Mike and made the basket.

I laughed, "How you guys doing?"

Edward grinned at me happily, "Mike actually lets me touch the ball for more then five seconds."

Mike looked at him, shocked, "You played Bella? How did you do?"



Edward grimaced, but didn't answer. Mike started to laugh, "Yea I know what you mean." —he turned to me—"how about a little two on one Bells?"

"Sure," I said easily, stealing the ball from Edward, "just don't get your hopes up."