I tell Jess she's crazy. Mr. Cullen is married. The end. My fantasies are rich with his betrayal. His aren't. He's dedicated to his wife. I know. I heard them on the bus. Jess doesn't understand. She sees what she wants. That's all.
She says she'll prove it to me. Giggles excessively. Smiles more than me.
Ang turns up her lips again, and says once more, "He's married Jess."
"Just because someone's married doesn't mean they can't have a crush."
My curiosity heightens. "Why do you think he does?"
Her eyes are serious, no longer a little girl, but a woman who can decipher meaning, who's seen a thousand relationships. "He came over here to ask you a question he already knew the answer to."
We stare.
"I mean, he knows you'll be at the away game. I heard it in his voice. And the pointless talk about practice this afternoon? He's grasping for excuses, Bella. He likes you. When boys like girls, that's what they do. The grasp."
"Yeah...for boobs," Ang says.
"I'm not his type," I plead. "He's married. He wouldn't."
"I didn't say he would. I simply said he likes you. At practice today, I'll show you. I'll come sit in the bleachers and watch."
"You won't be able to hear what he's saying to me."
"I don't have to hear what he's saying. It's all about body language." Jess sticks her plastic spork in her lettuce.
She does what she says she's going to do. She sits in the bleachers at practice along with Angela. They watch as I haul equipment. Emmett carries the water. He pulls at his ball cap and smiles at me when I say thank you.
Edward claps at him, tells him to get on the field. He tells them what to practice, who needs to be where and do what. I sit and watch, holding my chemistry book in my lap and going over material for our quiz tomorrow.
Edward looks back and steps into the dug-out, sitting next to me. I feel him on my skin, his eyes. They glance back and forth between the players and me. "You know you're going to pass."
"Only if I study," I say, chicken-scratching a note on an index card.
"Regardless."
"Going to give me an A even if I bomb?"
He smiles. "I just might."
I'm really glad Jess didn't hear that.