Chapter 7: Edward Masen's secret lake


~The best way to have a friend is to be one~


"Let's go crazy, crazy, crazy 'til we see the sun. I know we only met but let's pretend it's love. And never, never, never stop for anyone. Tonight let's get some and live while we're young..."

The vibrant sound of One Direction's 'Live while we're young' pounded through my earphone as I walked side by side with Jane and Alec Volturi. They were leaning in, whispering about the party they were planning to throw on Friday night. So I tuned them out.

But I paused the song and eyed Alec weirdly. "Why are you bring your guitar for the trip?"

"To play, of course. Incase we get bored." He grinned, bumping my shoulder with his.

We reached the auditorium just in time and spotted the rest of our friends already seated on the left. I walked quickly, throwing my Louis Vuitton duffle bag in first before I climbed into seat with a sigh.

Mr Hale's history students were all present in their own seats, and I was kind of glad that we were the only ones leaving for the forest and not the entire school. Mr Greene got on the stage and gave a small speech about being safe and to follow Mr Hale's instructions under all circumstances.

He then gave the microphone to Mr Hale and left.

"I hope you all packed enough for the trip..."

I drowned him out and instead searched the small crowd for Edward and his family.

"Hey," Someone flicked my ponytail from behind.

I yelped and turned around to get a view of who that daring person was. Randall grinned widely, revealing his oh-so-adorable dimples. While I was searching everywhere, the Cullens had been just behind me!

"You scared me." I admitted, clutching my chest.

"I'm sure he didn't intend to, it's just a part of his charm." Edward spoke next to him, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

I let out a whispery laugh, hoping Mr Hale wouldn't catch us again.

"I see you're all packed up," I said, leaning forward when I got a sight of his medium sized army-green duffel bag.

He saluted playfully. "Ready to face anything."

"You said the same thing before you accepted to fight in the -" Randall stopped abruptly, looking sober.

They fell silent and a haunting expression appeared on Edward's face. Rosalie, who was sitting next to him, leaned and squeezed his arm. Emmett was oblivious to what had happened and his gaze remained fixed on Mr Hale.

I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong when Alec pinched my elbow.

"Ow," I turned in my seat to face him. "What?"

"Mr Hale keeps giving you the evil eye. It's better if you don't talk now, Bel." Alec replied through his teeth, without glancing at me.

What he said was true. Mr Hale was indeed giving me impatient looks, as I was not listening to his lecture about the camping.

You said the same thing before you accepted to fight in the -

Randall's peculiar sentence ran through my mind repeatedly. What did he mean by that? Why did Edward get upset? I fidgeted in my seat when the picture of Rosalie touching Edward's arm flickered before my eyes.

I was not supposed to feel that way. She touched him so casually yet I couldn't even talk to him properly.

I was jealous.

I was insanely jealous.

I sank down in my seat, my stomach churning violently. I took a deep yoga breath and tried to calm myself. Mr Hale ended his speech soon and asked us to follow him to the bus.

"You okay?" Alec frowned as we walked behind Mr Hale.

I nodded weakly and clutched his arm so I would not fall down. It was too much for me, realizing that I was jealous of whatever relationship Edward and Rosalie shared. However, the most horrible thing was, I had developed an infatuation.

A crush. I was crushing on Edward.

I wanted to crush myself for crushing on Edward. Since when did things get so complicated?

Half of me felt glad and the other half of me felt disappointed when I found out that I did not share the same bus as Edward.

I was silent during the ride and gave one-word answers to my friends' questions. I saw the alert look in their eyes but they did not say anything about it. We stopped in the beginning of the forest and everyone unloaded.

Alec offered to carry my bag, as I stood watching the forest extend endlessly before me. The local folks called it 'The Dark forest'. I always secretly wondered if they were Harry Potter's fans. I mean, who would name the forest in such an unpleasant way?

"Okay, students, we are going to enter the forest. No running here and there, and most importantly: stick to your friends. Do not wander alone. I'm sure you all heard about the recent murder and even though it didn't happen in this forest, I want everyone to be alert at all times." Mr Hale instructed.

Everybody shuffled his or her feet uneasily at the mention of the murder.

"Alright, let's move then."

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" Sasha appeared next to me. She unbraided her golden hair and tried to finger comb it.

I opened my mouth and closed it again. I did not know how to reply her.

"What, did you realize that Jasper is totally hot and you want to bonk him?" She assumed with a smirk. "We already know that, sweetie."

"No!" I hissed appalled. I tried to avoid the roots sticking out on the ground. Thank God, I was wearing knee high black leather boots.

"What is it then?" she insisted.

"Nothing,"

"Here," Jane pressed her compact on my palm. "Look at your eyes."

I opened it reluctantly and got a glance of my face. I gasped disgusted and snapped the compact shut. My eyes looked haunted, just like Edward had looked when Randall said that confusing remark.

"I look horrible." I moaned, leaning on Jane for support.

We continued walking for some more time before the trees around us thickened and everything was a bright green. All we could hear was the occasional chirps of birds and the rustle of the leaves when we stepped on them.

The Cullens walked behind everyone else, huddled closer as they murmured secretly. I averted my eyes in order to distract myself and my gaze lingered on Heidi's cute blue leather jacket.

It reminded me of the strange spell book we had found at the Eternal cemetery. It was safe in my room, hidden deep below my stacks of romance and horror novels. I never touched it again, since I was excessively scared.

We stopped for a few minutes before we resumed walking again. A few more hours passed. The sun began to sink down the sky and Mr Hale stopped in front of a wide clearing.

"We are going to set up our tents here tonight," he said with a boyish smile. "Tomorrow morning, I will take you for the historical sightseeing."

All thirty of us started to talk as we set out bags down but Mr Hale wasn't finished yet.

"Now, now, I know that you will do all sorts of mischief and rule breaking when you are with your friends, so I had prepared a list which contains the names of the two people I had partnered together. Here we go..."

Groans and protests filled the forest. What fun was it when we were made to share the tent with someone else?

"Angela Webber and Lauren..."

"Emmett Cullen and Rosalie Cullen..."

"Sasha Denali and Zafrina Turner..."

"Heidi Carter and Randall Cullen.."

The look on Heidi's face was unbelievable. She grabbed her bag and almost danced to where Randall stood. I watched, defeated as all of my friends got paired up.

"Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan..."

All I heard was the name Edward Cullen. It pounded in my ears like a Church bell ringing. Alec offered me my bag and waved half heartedly as I trudged my way to Edward with a stunned mind.

"I cannot believe this," I slapped my forehead with my palm.

"Yeah, it would have been better if we were paired with our friends or...siblings." Edward agreed.

"Finally, you know what I'm thinking!" I cried then paused. "Hey - then what am I? Not a friend?"

"Friend..." Edward sounded dubious.

"Whatever." I stomped my leg and turned away.

"Your lover boy seems very sad." He changed the topic, pointing at Alec, who looked dejected. An unfamiliar girl stood next to him.

"Your lover girl also looks sad." I shot back, pointing my finger sharply at Rosalie.

We silently set our tent, I noted that Edward was at complete ease like he had done it a plenty of times before. I wanted to ask him but kept my mouth shut.

We ate the food, which our parents had packed for us after some time and went back to our tents to sleep. The long walk had made me very tired and I entered the tent with a weary sigh. Edward was already asleep in his dark blue sleeping bag at the corner of the tent.

I glanced at my sleeping bag, which was rolled on the other side of the tent. It was a perfect pink with mauve lining. Sasha, Heidi and Jane also had identical ones like mine. We bought it as soon as Jasper, I mean, Mr Hale announced the camping.

I pulled my hair into a ponytail, said a silent prayer and collapsed in my sleeping bag.


I had a horrible dream that night.

Edward and Rosalie were strolling in a park, their arms hooked together. Both of them were dressed in last century's attire. Suddenly they stopped and gazed at a small lake before them.

"It's beautiful." Rosalie commented, her voice softer than I had ever heard.

"It pales in comparison with you," Edward replied, charmingly.

They stared at each for a long time and then both of them leaned in for a kiss.

"Bella...Bella..."

I gasped and my eyes flew open. Edward's face appeared before my vision. His green eyes were sparkling as he called my name again.

"Everybody is assembling outside." He explained.

I was still in my sleeping bag and he was leaning towards me, balancing on one leg. I blinked sleepily and tried to sit up. Edward hesitated before he pushed the hair out of my face softly. I blushed and resisted a grin.

"Um," he turned pink too. "You can dress here, I'll leave."

He got up - he had already changed - and left the tent with one last look at me. I brushed my teeth, slapped cold water on my face, dressed and went out of the tent. All were there and so was Mr Hale.

"I hope you're ready for trekking." He commented, pulling at his khaki sleeves.

He looked satisfied at our nods and ordered us to follow him.

"Look at her, she dresses and appears like a supermodel even when she's mountain trekking." I heard a girl whisper to her friend jealously.

Sasha giggled and stared up and down at me. "You do look extremely good. You fit in the Discovery Channel - maybe a reporter."

I rolled my eyes and shrugged modestly. I wore a dark red turtleneck underneath my black leather jacket and matching black washed out jeans. My favorite knee-high boots adorned my legs. I had my hair in a single braid.

Not a single hair was out of place.

Atleast I hoped so. I refused to admit to myself that I had dressed better to get more of Edward's attention. I mean, I already had his attention, but in the wrong way. We always ended up having a fight.

I kept stealing glances at Edward and my heart jumped in my throat whenever I caught him doing the same.

We reached an area where the trees were so thick that we found it difficult in even walking. I didn't know how I even made it through. Then the trees lessened in number and we found a large lake in front of us.

The lake sparkled like swaroosky crystals under the winter sun. Beautiful flowers and plants grew wildly around it. We had found the sanctuary of the fairies, I thought amused.

Mr Hale left us to wander around to see if we could find anything. I needed a desperate moment to myself, so I turned and followed the path where no one was there. It was the other side of the lake, with huge rocks scattered all over.

I came across a rock that was very tall and had a small space under it, just enough for a person or two to fit in.

"You found it," said a surprised voice.

I blushed when Edward walked slowly towards me, his hands buried deep inside his pockets.

"Found what?" I asked, running my hand over the rough surface of the rock.

"Nothing." He shook his head, but continued to regard me curiously.

I averted my gaze and walked around the rock instead, with Edward hovering behind me. Suddenly, my hand met with something deep and scratchy. They were words! There were words etched on the lower surface of the rock.

I knelt down and wiped away the green sticky moss.

"Bella," Edward called, kneeling down by my side. "What is it?"

When I had finished wiping it clearly, I read it in shock and awe. I looked at Edward who I thought would share the same excitement; instead he had his eyes lowered down. Like he was embarrassed about something. I turned back to the rock as a wide grin split across my face. Mr Hale would love this.

Edward Masen ~Found this lake on 20th June, 1917~


Hey guys,

Review and tell me what you think about this chapter. I hope you like how the story line is going. I have also decided to bring in Jacob and Tanya, but they won't be holding any romantic interests.

-BellaEdwardJacobLove