Chapter 4: Biology

B POV

After the first introductions to the rest of the group I was left alone. Mike asked me a couple questions about Phoenix but I was able to hold onto my sanity a little more. I would be lying if I said I didn't take anymore interest in Edward Cullen. After he made his joke at my expense I saw the strawberry blonde and him get in a disagreement about something and then she stormed off. The rest of the time he kept his eyes glued to his lunch and didn't say another word to anyone else at the table. Whatever.

I made a quick escape from lunch so I could make it to class sooner. I didn't want to be stuck at the front of the class. I liked to sit far away from the door and towards the back, where fewer people would be able to stare at me, and if they did I could see them craning.

The class was set up with lab tables in three rows of five, 2 people per table. I grabbed the one closest to the windows in the back and watched as kids filed in. I noticed a few kids from lunch that Angela had pointed out. James was one of them and his girlfriend Victoria, of course they sat at the table in the back, but on the other side of the room. A couple kids from the band group walked in too. Everyone seemed to be avoiding me. I was hoping nobody would sit next to me, but as I said the class was filling quickly and seats were running out.

The teacher walked in and began passing out the syllabus. Just then two things happened. First, the bell rang. Second, Edward Cullen walked into the class. He stood awkwardly at the door and looked around. Crap, he saw me. Actually looked right into my eyes is more like it. There were still a few spots open, one of which was next to Tanya. She smiled at him and beckoned him over. He nodded at her then walked past her. He turned at the last aisle and headed straight back, to me.

"Is it okay if I sit here?" He motioned to the chair next to me and smiled the most gorgeously sexy smile I had seen and took a seat.

"Uhhhh..." was all I could manage to say.

"Okay everyone, settle down and take a seat." The teacher announced.

I looked at the teacher, then at Edward, then at Tanya who hadn't taken her eyes off Edward. Her eyes were now bugging out as they quickly switched to him then me.

"I take that as a yes?" He smiled again, this time adding a wink.

"Ok class," the teacher stated, "I see not everyone has table partners. Tanya please go take a seat next to Marcus. Now, turn to the person next to you and introduce yourselves. This person will be your permanent lab partner for the rest of the semester."

There were some squeals of delight and some groans of despair. I turned to Edward and bit my lip.

"Hi," I managed to squeak.

"Hey there Bella," he responded, "I'm Edward Cullen. Nice to meet you."

"You too," I managed to gain some composure, "How'd you know my name?"

"Well you're the fresh meat here at Forks, everyone knows your name."

Great, he referred to me as the new bait in the jailhouse. This would be a long semester, "I didn't mean how did you know my name, I meant how did you know I liked to be called Bella?"

"Oh," he scoffed, "My sister Alice heard you tell someone in a class you have, that you corrected them that you'd rather go by Bella."

"Ah," was all I could respond with.

"Okay class, listen up!" The teacher began, "Today we are going to be learning about cellular structure."

Joy, I already knew this stuff, gotta love AP Bio in Phoenix. I saw Edward turn and look at me out of my peripheral vision. I slowly turned my head to look at him.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry, nothing." He turned back to look at the teacher.

I turned back to look at the teacher who was now passing out pictures of a cell.

Edward passed me my copy, our hands touched. His skin was warm and both tough and soft at the same time. I quickly grabbed my copy and scribbled my name at the top.

"Okay, work with your partner using the diagram in your book to identify the parts of the cells on both sides of the paper."

I turned it over and noticed that there was both an animal cell and a plant cell, one on each side of the paper. This would be easy. I started immediately filling out the answers.

"Sooooo," Edward blew the last part like he was exhaling, "I see you already know this stuff."

"Huh? Oh, uh...yeah. I took AP Biology last semester in Phoenix."

"Oh, that's cool. So you've already done all this. Do you understand this pretty well?"

"Yep," I responded.

"Ok, cool. 'Cause I'm not that great at it."

Oh so this was why he sat next to me, so he could cheat off me. I guess he figured the fat girl would have nothing better to do then to study on Friday nights. Then he could have fun over the weekends and I'd get stuck with all the work. This just gets better and better.

I continued working, silently. He opened his mouth a couple times like he was going to say something, then closed it again. Then opened. then closed. He turned back to his book and began looking through the pages.

The rest of the period we sat in relative silence both filling out our worksheets individually.

E POV

How is it that I'm sitting here? Better yet, why is it I'm sitting here next to this shy and intriguing girl?

I spent the rest of lunch staring at my tray of food, only a couple times glancing up at the brown-haired girl who had caused my blow-up. When the lunch bell rang I tried to spy her again, but she had already left.

"Hey Jazz, why don't you go ahead and save us a couple spots in class, I need to talk to Edward for a second."

Jasper nodded, swiftly kissed Alice's temple and continued down the hallway. Alice turned quickly to me with a look I recognized. It was the look she used when she was worried and wanted information.

"Edward, are you okay? And don't tell me yes because even Emmett noticed you were upset, and he is particularly obtuse."

"Alice, I'm fine. I promise," I was telling the truth, "I was just tired of people trashing the new girl. It seems to be all I'm hearing today. She's new to the school, she's shy and yes she maybe 'full-figured'," I air quoted as I said that last word, "But it doesn't mean people get to disregard and belittle her."

"I completely agree Edward, and I can see there is something different about Bella. I don't understand why people have to make fun of her behind her back. If I were in her position I wouldn't want people to treat me like that."

"I know what you mean," I agreed.

I did know what she meant, I had spent the entire lunch wondering why I was so drawn to this new girl. In reality I knew exactly why, but I wasn't ready to admit that to myself, let alone anyone else because despite the fact that I was one of the most popular guys in school, I was still vulnerable to the constant shit slinging that high school entailed.

"Good. Then I better head off to class. Good luck in Biology. I'll see ya after school!" With that Alice practically glided down the hallway.

I checked the clock, I had one and a half minutes left to get to class. I took off at a light jog.

I arrived just as the bell rang, so there weren't many seats left. Tanya beckoned to me to sit next to her and added a wink to top it off. Did she really think I was going to sit next to her after what ocurred at lunch today? Damn that girl had issues.

My eyes landed on Bella, the draw was strong and I couldn't resist. I made my way to the back of the room where she sat.

"Is it okay if I sit here?" I asked, flashing my best panty dropper smile at her.

"Uhh..." was all she could respond with.

Damn, I was good. I knew what that smile did to girls, of course using it on her felt like cheating. She couldn't have had many boyfriends, could she?

"I'll take that as a yes." I slid into the seat next to her and tossed her a wink.

The teacher began passing out the syllabus and then told us to introduce ourselves to the person we were sitting with as this would be our new permanent lab partner. Thank God I didn't sit next to Tanya, her knowledge of Biology began and ended with her spreading her legs.

"Hi," her first word to me was as faint as a whisper..

"Hey there Bella, I'm Edward Cullen. Nice to meet you."

A weird look came across her face. She asked how I knew her name, which was stupid because who didn't know her name.

"Well you're the fresh meat here at Forks, everyone knows your name."

She grimaced. Was it something I said?

"I didn't mean how did you know my name, I meant how did you know I liked to be called Bella?"

Oh so that's what the expression was for, everyone else called her Isabella.

"Oh," I scoffed, "My sister Alice heard you tell someone in a class you have that you corrected them that you'd rather go by Bella."

"Ah," another half a word was all she responded with.

The teacher announced we'd be working on cell structure. That was simple enough, I'd known about cellular structure since my dad bought me that book on bacteria when I was 12. I'd always been interested in this kind of stuff since I was little. I wanted to be a doctor, follow my dad in his footsteps.

I glanced at Bella to see if she was sweating this. She rolled her eyes and bit her lip. Was she bored by this topic? Maybe she knew this stuff already. Wow, she had a gorgeous complexion, so light and blemish free. How did she escape being tan in someplace like Phoenix.

"Yes?" She caught me looking at her.

"Oh, sorry, nothing." I turned back.

Crap, she must have thought I was checking her out. I grabbed the copy of the worksheet being passed out and handed one to her. Her skin looked so soft, I had to touch it. I accidentally on purpose bumped my hand into hers. Well, her hands were as soft as silk, my mind wandered to what other parts of her skin must feel like...No, I had to stop thinking like that for both my sake and hers.

"Okay, work with your partner using the diagram in your book to identify the parts of the cells on both sides of the paper."

How was this going to work? Was she going to do one side and I do the other. Did she know this stuff well enough to be able to do it on her own?

"Sooooo," I hated awkward moments like this, "I see you already know this stuff."

"Huh? Oh, uh...yeah. I took AP Biology last semester in Phoenix."

Wow, smart too. This girl was different. Great even more of a pull to her.

"Oh, that's cool." I responded. Shit how was I going to keep up our conversation if I couldn't even help her with this assignment. "So you've already done all this. Do you understand this pretty well?"

"Yep," she popped the p. Damn she had pretty lips. I wish she were less shy. I could watch her talk all day. Maybe if I pretended to not know this stuff she would offer to help me. I bet that would get her to talk more.

"Ok, cool. 'Cause I'm not that great at it."

The only thing that caused her to do was to fold in on herself more and let her hair fall between us. What could I say? Shit I was a fish out of water. Usually girls tripped all over themselves trying to make me talk. This was new and...difficult.

Well the only thing I could do now was to pretend like I had no idea what I was doing and look through my book for the answers. I didn't want to pressure her or make her feel uncomfortable by trying to get her to talk.

I silently worked on getting the wrong answers, not all of them, just the ones that could be easily mixed up.