Normal

When I march out of the classroom Masen is hot on my heels.

"Really?" he hisses, and I don't like the way it sounds.

I feel like . . . I'm being scolded.

And that it's having the desired effect of making me feel disappointed in myself.

And I've never felt that way before.

"You just got me, not only a detention, but thrown out of class!" he states the obvious.

"Yeah like you've never received a detention before . . ." I trail off at the look on his face. "Really? Never?"

"Not all of us disrespect teachers. Or our peers. Or everything we set our eyes on."

Way to make me feel like an asshole.

You kind of are - shut up.

"I'm was just trying to have a normal conversation with you," he tries to reason.

I'm beyond reason at this point.

"I don't want to have a normal conversation with you - and nothing about this situation is normal!"

He scoffs, "Everybody goes through this, Bella," he says, and I ignore the fluttering in my chest when he says my name, "This is nothing out of the ordinary."

"I never wanted this. I never wanted you," I say with disgust.

It doesn't effect him as I'd wanted it to.

He just rolls his eyes, "Believe me, Swan, you're not the greatest prize either," I also ignore the pain in my chest when he says this, "But, unlike you, I'm not going to ignore the feelings that I have for you."

"Well . . . it's one-sided."

"Can you please stop lying to yourself - I know that I don't have to convince you of your feelings for me."

Something in me snaps, and my hand connects with his cheek.

And then mine starts to burn. And then it stings.

And then I wonder if I'd accidentally slapped myself, but the redness on his face - an imprint of my hand - tells me that I didn't.

"I told you that you didn't want to hurt me," he says, but it doesn't hold the arrogance, the self-righteousness that I've grown accustomed to.

It's sad.

"Look," he starts, pulling at his already messy hair, "I'm not going to sit here and argue with you all day, and I don't want you to be angry with me. But . . . Bella," this time I can't ignore the fluttering in my chest . . . or the regret I feel from hurting him, "There's no reason for you to fight me on this. I don't know what you're afraid of, but . . . I'll never hurt you, Bella."

I sigh, "That's not what this is."

"Then what is it; why are you so resistant to this, to us?"

He really doesn't know.

"I don't want to lose myself."

"How could you possibly lose yourself?"

He just doesn't get it.

"You wouldn't understand."

"And why not?" he's exasperated now, "Why wouldn't I understand?"

"Because you're not the one who is going to have to giving everything up."

A/N: You'll have to wait until the next update to figure out what that means.

There's something that I have to say - some of you have commented and sent me PMs with complaints about the shortness of the chapters, as well as me urging reviews and favorites, and I just have to make sure that you guys all understand the following:

1. This is a Drabble fic (which is stated in the summary), so the chapters will always be short.

I try to make up for this by posting multiple times a day though, as you might have noticed.

2. If you don't complete whatever challenge I set . . . I'll still update eventually.

I'm not just going to quit the story because I don't get 10 reviews or favorites right away. Those challenges are just so that you, the readers, can urge me to update more quickly (you'll notice that I've always used the word tonight).

I just had to make sure that you all understood that.

Now . . . most importantly:

If you like Batman, Sherlock or Hunger Games fics, be sure to check out my bubs, strixx (who can be found in my favorite authors).

Her writing is flawless, her plots are well thought out, and she's really the one who keeps me enthusiastic to write.

Being a writer is similar to being a chef in that you never enjoy what you've made as much as others do.

She keeps me confident.

Oh, and don't forget to review ;)

Love you!

~ Madison ~