Chapter 13: A doomed friendship
~Never judge a book by it's cover~
"Was it a gift?" I inquired, taking the locked gingerly from Edward.
Edward nodded. "It was my Christmas gift when I was six."
"Do you miss your parents?" I bit my lip tentatively.
"I do...so much," he averted his gaze to the large window. "My memories of them are blurry now, like I had lived them in a completely different life."
"Why is that?" I couldn't stop the questions anymore.
"I don't know, maybe it has something to do with me rising from the grave." He teased but his eyes seemed tensed.
"I'm sorry. This must be really hard for you and I keep on asking you questions. I'll leave now." I apologized and stood up from his comfortable bed.
Edward sighed. "Give me some time, Bella, I'll tell you everything eventually. I promise."
"It's alright." I gave him an understanding smile. "I need to ask you one more thing. It's the last one."
He nodded, encouraging me to go on.
"The last day at the forest..." I began reluctantly. "The night I told you that Alec kissed me, I found out that you had given him...a bruise. Why did...is there a reason?"
"A gentleman should never force his company on a lady," Edward shifted uncomfortably. "I confronted him and he refused to apologize to you...I lost my temper. I'm sorry, Bella. I apologized to Alec yesterday at your house and he forgave me. I promise not to repeat it."
I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, disbelief evident on my face.
Edward's eyes twitched. "We are friends, remember? As a dutiful friend, I was merely protecting you."
I believed him. I had to give him the benefit of the doubt, though something about the way he turned away made me wonder.
I bounded down the stairs and Edward opened the door for me. We shared a smile for two seconds and he bid me goodbye.
Monday morning was thick and cold with the fog that hung around Forks.
I stretched and got up from my bed with a sigh. I opened my window and squealed in horror when I saw snow covering the road and all the houses' rooftops. Everywhere I looked, it was a sparkling white.
My cell phone ringtone formed the accompaniment for the snowy scene reminiscent of a horror film. I picked the cell from the drawer and pressed the answer button.
"What?" I barked into the cell when I saw 'Heidi' flash against the screen.
"Well, someone's cheerful today," Heidi barked back, "get your lazy butt down in five minutes if you want a ride to school."
She hung up before I could respond. I rolled my eyes and ran to my bathroom. Few minutes later, I stood in front of the shelf where all my novels were arranged in an alphabetical order. I dug inside and found the badly tattered spell book.
After I had stuffed the book in my school brown tote and was dressed, I drank a glass of juice mom had made for me and bolted out of the house and straight into Heidi's car which she had borrowed from her mom.
In our circle, no one owned a car except Sasha.
"Mom wants me to get the car washed after school." Heidi grumbled, wounding the red woolen scarf tightly around her neck.
"Is that why she let you borrow it?" I cackled while she shot me a dark glare.
We arrived at the school in eight minutes and I got out, shivering wildly at the snow that sparkled from everywhere it laid. Thankfully, we were not late and I took my leisure time in walking inside the school and straight to my first class - English.
I removed my favorite grey trench coat and sat down on my usual chair with a bored sigh. Heidi dropped her canvas tote on the desk that had a photo of a sun-soaked surfer careening down a sapphire-colored wave.
"Is that vintage Chloe?" I widened my chocolate brown eyes and dropped my own tote on the floor beside my chair.
"It is," Heidi admired the photo. "Mum bought me this when she went for shopping yesterday."
"Mum?" I wrinkled my nose. "Since when did you start talking in British accent?"
"Since Randall started talking to me." She blush-giggled and sat down.
"Randall has a British accent?" I tried to remember how his voice sounded but I couldn't detect any kind of accent.
"Sometimes he imitates," she corrected with a smile. "It's really funny."
"Sounds like you guys are spending a lot of time together." I grinned at her.
She opened her mouth to respond when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up sharply and tensed in confusion.
"Hi," Alice smiled, her white teeth gleaming.
"Hi." I said in surprise. Heidi straightened and narrowed her eyes at her.
Alice bent down and picked my tote up. "Don't keep it on the way, please. Everyone will trip on it."
"Oh, sorry." I took my tote from her and placed it next to me on the chair.
She shot me a weird smile again and left to take her usual seat. Mr Varner started the class but I was distracted when I saw Alice still staring at me.
A few hours later, I trudged into study hall, my fourth period of the day. It was held in the music room, which had various music instruments stacked at both the corners of the room neatly. Posters of great musical icons covered the walls.
I took my trig book out and spent the first ten minutes trying to solve a problem. Suddenly, the chair next to me creaked as someone sat on it.
"What's up, Bella?" Edward grinned smugly.
"Where did you learn to speak like that?" I laughed, closing my book.
Edward always spoke in old-fashioned English. Who could blame him? He was from 1918.
"Emmett," he chuckled at himself. "He went through a website and learnt a few lines suited to this era."
"So...you know how to use internet? Cell phone?" I leaned forward, eager for his response.
"Slow down. Carlisle taught me how to, er, surf the net. Esme showed me how to use her cell phone and she promised to buy me one. I have so much to learn, it is tiring, honestly!" He pretended to wipe a sweat from his eyebrow.
I tittered loudly and some sitting nearby whirled around to stare at us. Guessing from the constant looks they threw us, I was pretty sure they envied us. Euphoria washed over me. Everyone wanted to be in my shoes. They wanted to sit next to Edward and talk to him and make him laugh.
I was the chosen one.
"Did you learn to drive a car?" I continued with my questions, glad that he was finally answering all the questions I ever wanted to ask.
"No. Bella, I'm not a robot. I'm only hu..." Edward paused and looked down.
"You're only..." I swallowed. Suddenly, the difference between us felt very huge and unavoidable.
"I don't even know what I am." He shrugged helplessly, as if he was sorry for what he was.
I leaned forward and touched his hand, which was resting on the desk. His green eyes widened and his lips curled into a smile.
"We'll figure it out," I assured him. "I have the spell book, remember? Maybe it'll tell something about you."
"Spell book," he repeated. "Do you have it now?"
"Yes," I nodded with a wide grin. Edward's face split into a grin too.
I rummaged through my tote and opened the zip in which I had kept the book. But there was nothing. I kept expecting my hand to meet with something tattered and rough but all I could find were my school texts, Hard Candy lip-gloss and my cell phone.
"It's not there!" I cried in shock.
"What?" Edward stuttered, his eyes cooling with fear.
"See for yourself," I shoved the tote towards him. "I remember keeping it inside this morning."
He searched and met my frightened eyes. "It's gone."
"What are we go-"
"Hey guys," A bubbly cheerful voice interrupted me.
We both looked up simultaneously. A pretty girl stood in front of our desk with a smirk. Her hair was a short blonde crop, with chin length side swept fringe. She was dressed in the school's colorful cheerleader uniform.
"Tanya," I sighed. "Hey."
"Bella, Edward," Tanya nodded with the same sexy smirk and placed a notice before us.
"What is this?" Edward asked, leaning forward to examine it. We were shortly distracted from our fear of the lost spell book.
"Invitation for the winter dance, of course!" Tanya cried gleefully. "I guess I'll see you together at the dance!"
She skipped to the next bench, leaving a cloud of her spicy perfume behind.
"Ughhh!" I waved the air and hoped the smell would vanish. All the cheerleaders wore the same perfume except for Alice, of course.
"This is new. I have never been to a high school dance before." Edward said in wonder.
"That is because your old school did not have any!" I stuffed the notice in my tote.
Edward raised an eyebrow.
"For my friends." I explained with a shrug.
"So...are you going to the dance?" He asked curiously.
"Yeah. Our friends go as a group, usually."
"Do you...want to go to the dance with me...as friends?. I have never been to one before and it would be nice if you could teach me some dance moves." Edward peeked at me shyly.
I opened my mouth and closed it. Did Edward Cullen just ask me to the dance? Even as friends, it was unbelievable.
"That will be cool," I finally found my voice and tried not to smile widely. "You can find another person to punch there."
He rolled his stunning green eyes. "I have my fingers crossed."
I shot him a saucy grin but my mood soared when I was reminded of the spell book. Where did it go? Did I take it and keep it somewhere else? Or did someone steal it?
Edward also seemed to share my thoughts for his face clouded and he let out a huge sigh.
"Is Alice Brandon your friend?" He asked suddenly, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
"She was," I said absently. "Why?"
"She's coming to our table." Edward whispered and ducked his head.
I straightened in my seat and right on cue, I felt her presence behind me.
"Hey," Alice greeted us. "Can I sit here?" She nodded towards the empty seat on the other side of me.
I raised a disbelieving eyebrow but managed to mumble "yes," without frowning.
Edward pulled out a black colored notepad and started flicking through the pages. I reopened my trig book and pretended to solve the next problem but I was actually watching Alice who had her arms folded across the chest and was staring at me.
"What?" I finally asked, twirling the pen.
"You haven't changed over the years," she answered, "I mean, you still have the same look on your face when you pretend to be uninterested in something...or someone."
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.
"You look like a shocked emoticon." Alice giggled and Edward frowned in confusion. He was probably wondering what the hell was a emoticon.
"You have changed," I leaned forward. "You don't brag about witchcraft anymore."
She didn't look a least bit offended. "I don't have anyone to talk to about that."
"Or maybe you don't have someone who is okay with you talking about something that doesn't even exist." I challenged her to continue.
"That's funny, coming from you." Alice narrowed her ice blue eyes but a teasing grin tugged at the corner of her lips.
I froze, my body paralyzing with shock and suspicion. Her knowing eyes made me feel nauseous and I leaned back in my chair dizzily. I side-peeked at Edward and saw him doing the same, his face blank and emotionless.
But I knew better.
The bell rang, signaling the end of the action-packed period. Alice gave me a finger wave and skipped out of the music room with jittery moves, like she was nervous that she revealed too much.
"I know who stole the spell book," I whirled around to face Edward.
Both of us said at the same time. "Alice."
She was soo done.
Happy new year guys! Hope you liked this chapter :)
