Chapter 2 – Meeting

As much as I'd love to be a coward and avoid Edward like the plague, I knew that wasn't an option for me, so I decided to do the mature thing and face my fears…

"Hi. We haven't met yet, I'm Bella," I said to him while holding out my hand. Why I was trying to shake his hand, I had no idea. People in high school never shook hands when they met someone, in fact, I couldn't even remember the last time I shook anyone's hand. But it was already out there, so I couldn't just take it back without looking like an even bigger moron.

"Uh…" He looked at me like the idiot I was, and then he awkwardly shook my hand. "Edward," he introduced himself.

"Oh, I know what your name is. I mean, everyone does. Not that we've all been talking about you or anything, but you know how small towns can be. Or maybe you don't if you've never lived in one before. It's just, people around here don't have anything better to do than making it a point to know everything about everyone. It can be quite frustrating." - Did I just say that? I was rambling nervously, which was odd for me and almost disorienting in a way.

"Um…okay," he said, obviously not knowing how else to respond.

"So…how do you like Forks so far?" I asked, but before he even had a chance to answer me, I was already moving the embarrassing conversation forward. "I just want to reassure you of how great Dr. Cullen is….I mean, in case you didn't actually know already. One time I had a really bad infection in my knee after I fell on some glass, and he fixed it all up for me…you know, because he's a doctor and all… But he was really nice about it and made me feel really comfortable….And I'm sure you're probably wondering why I told you that, right? Like I said, I just want to reassure you of how great Dr. Cullen is. I'm sure you're going to be really happy in his family."

When I finished talking, he just stared at me blankly as if he had zoned out and hadn't realized I was done, but then he shook his head and blinked. "Uh…everything has been fine."

"Well, that's good to hear. Because if you weren't happy with the Cullens you probably wouldn't stay with them very long and we'd never get the chance to ever get to know each other," I told him with a grin while twirling my hair between my fingers. What the hell was wrong with me?

"Right..." he said indifferently, and then he looked around the room as if he was trying to figure out a way to escape. I knew exactly how he felt; if there was a way to escape myself, I would. "I suppose there's no polite way of saying this, but I'm going over there now and I'd appreciate it if you didn't follow me," he said bluntly before moving to the opposite side of the room.

It was utterly humiliating, and I had no idea what came over me. I thought about our conversation for the rest of the period, and the more I thought about it, the more perturbed with myself I became. But when I was walking to my truck after school, I just happened to pass Jessica flirting with some guy, and I realized exactly what my issue was with Edward. I was acting like her. Every ramble, every batting of my eyes, every hair twirl…it was all stuff I had seen her do over and over again whenever she talked to a boy she liked. It was disgusting.

I was not like Jessica. I didn't go around flirting with boys - although, come to think of it, I had been with Jake for so long that I suppose flirting wasn't something I really knew how to do, and since Jessica was my only role-model in that arena, it would make sense that I unconsciously emulated her. But was I really flirting with Edward? I chose to believe my awkward meeting was a result of me not really knowing how to meet anyone new. Forks didn't offer new people to meet very often; I had known everyone in town all my life, and had no idea how to properly get to know anyone different. What the hell was I going to do when I left for college?

But now that I had a pretty good idea about what my issue with Edward was, I became even more horrified than I had been previously; the last thing I wanted was for him to think I was flirting purposely. Flirting was something people like Jessica did, not me. I had no desire to date Edward; in fact, the idea of it was almost sickening. I just wanted him to feel comfortable, and unfortunately, my "Jessica" act seemed to have had the opposite effect on him.

I probably should have just left it alone, but I couldn't. I needed him to know that I wasn't that girl, so the next day in class I approached him again. I only wished he gave me the chance to speak first…

"Look, whatever it is that you're going to say to me, I just don't care so it's nothing more than a waste of your breath and my time," he said rudely, which of course made my blood boil, and my temper got the best of me.

"No, you look!" I snapped at him. "I came over here to apologize for being an idiot yesterday, but now I see you're too pompous to even listen. And here I thought I didn't know how to make new friends, but obviously you're the one with the problem. So please, forgive me for even trying," I said before turning and walking away.

I was so angry that I spent the next hour fuming about it - really, who the hell did he think he was? - but in actuality, I was much angrier with myself for overreacting and losing my cool. I was better than that, and I honestly had no idea why I kept acting so stupid around him. But just when I thought perhaps I should attempt to apologize again, I caught him staring at me from across the quad area, and that wasn't the only time. For the rest of the week I could feel his eyes on me anytime we crossed paths, and I wasn't sure what that meant. Did he think I was some kind of crazed bitch that he needed to be wary of, or did he see through my façade and know what an utter coward I really was? Perhaps he just enjoyed taunting me with his stares. Whatever the case, it was making me extremely uncomfortable….