Chapter 3

It was another week later that Edward Cullen showed up in Biology class again.

I had grown used to having the entire bench to myself, and doing the experiments myself, so it was a shock when I walked into the classroom on Monday afternoon to see him sitting there.

I tensed.

Was he going to glare at me all class again?

Was he going to just straight up murder me finally?

Or was this statue of a boy, or man, going to act like nothing had happened.

I made my way to the far side of the classroom and organised myself for the next hour. It was going to be a practical class again, identifying the stages of mitosis in onion root tip cells. A class I had already done several times, and something I could easily do myself if he wasn't going to cooperate. And I wasn't going to go out of my way to be nice to him either. Sue Clearwater's warning had stuck in my head. There was something off about the Cullen's, and I didn't want to be involved.

I sat down as Mr Molina stood at the front of the class and began to explain the mundane experiment and waited for the worksheet to be passed back. I took it from the guy in front and passed the pile to Edward.

Our fingers brushed, and I nearly jumped at the freezing temperature of his hand.

"Sorry." He said quietly, as he passed along the pile further.

I looked at him properly for the first time in two weeks and was nearly stunned.

He was beautiful, of course, all his family were. But his eyes seemed so different. They were an unusual shade of bright gold, though I could have sworn they were black and had dark shadows. He looked lighter overall.

"And I'm sorry I hit you with the door last week, I was in a rush and needed to leave due to a family emergency, and I didn't see you." He continued as if I wasn't just staring at him with an open mouth. His brows twitched slightly, as if he was vaguely confused by something.

"Also, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself either. I'm Edward Cullen, you must be Isabella Swan?" His voice was melodic, rich, and silky. It was like melted milk chocolate spooned straight into your mouth. There was something incredibly alluring about this man.

I snapped myself out of it before I looked like a complete fool.

"It's just Bella, I prefer Bella." I responded a little breathlessly.

"Well then Just Bella, would you like to take the first look under the microscope?" He almost laughed at his own joke as he pushed the already loaded microscope towards me.

I quickly pulled it and looked as quickly as I could to name the right stage.

"Prophase." I said quietly, but confidently.

"Do you mind if I check?" He spoke.

I waved towards the microscope for him to check.

He looked so briefly I wondered if he had even had time to see.

"Prophase." He agreed with a little half smile, almost a smirk.

"Like I said." I added. "I've done this class a few times already."

"Yeah, me too." He agreed with a chuckle.

We recorded our answers silently on the printed worksheet to be handed up. I tried to focus on writing this legibly and snuck a quick glance at my partner's work. His writing was perfect calligraphy, like what I would imagine Jane Austin or any of her characters to have used. It seemed so out of place on the paper of a teenage boy. My musings were interrupted by his melodic voice.

"So, what made you come to Forks? You were from a big city somewhere, right?" He said, seeming to know a little too much about me already. Though who didn't in this tiny town?

"Yeah, Phoenix," I answered quickly. "But my mom remarried so I decided to come live with my dad and leave the newlyweds for a while."

As I spoke, he loaded the next slide into the microscope and quickly peaked.

"Telophase." He spoke. "So, you don't like your mother's new husband?" He asked, as if he was asking about the weather.

"Mind if I check?" I asked, already pulling the microscope towards me. "And no, I love Phil, I just missed my dad and my other family around Forks." I added. "You were right, telophase." I quickly recorded our answers.

"Do you have a lot of family in Forks?" He asked.

"No, no one other than my dad in Forks, but I have about a hundred teenage cousins up in La Push." I answered with a slight laugh. Only slightly exaggerating how many people were there. It seemed right to mention I knew people there, if there was some kind of history between his family and mine, I wanted him to know where I stood. I decided to play dumb again, see if I could get any more information as we continued to assess the slides under our microscope.

"I practically grew up in La Push, have you had a chance to check out the beaches?"

"Oh," He responded, "My family have had some disagreements with some of the elders on the reservation, so we tend to avoid it."

"That's a real shame, it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen." I sighed. "But I know my Uncle Billy sure can be stubborn sometimes, so if your family have had disagreements with them…" I trailed off.

"You're family with the Black's?" He asked.

I didn't want to outright lie, so I just nodded.

"And the Ateara's." I added, at least that one was true.

He made a somewhat strangled noise that I think was supposed to be a nonchalant acknowledgement. But I knew I was onto something.

I let my hair fall over my shoulder once again to hide the smirk from the strange man next to me, and then sat back up again to continue looking into the microscope.

And so, the class continued. He finally seemed to have satisfied any of the curiosity he had, and instead made some small talk about the weather and how I was finding life in the northwest. I was happy for the lighter topics; he knew too much already about me for someone who had seemed to want to murder me a few weeks ago.

We each sat there working and waiting for the other person to make a mistake to pick them up on, but we were both focused on not making the mistake.

When the bell for the change of lesson came, we handed our worksheets to Mr Molina, and as we went to walk separate ways, I realised Edward was standing very close to me, and I unconsciously took a very deep breath, and was filled by the most enticing cologne I had ever smelled. I felt lightheaded in a way that was entirely pleasant, and I almost felt dazed, like when I first looked at him in the classroom just an hour earlier.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Bella." He said, his voice almost caressing my name.

I just mutely nodded and started walking in the direction of my locker, not quite knowing how to properly move my body, and feeling very stiff.

What the fuck had just happened?

…

The next day, Edward barely spoke to me in Biology. He was polite, courteous, but reserved. It was like there was something on his mind.

I didn't mind his quietness though; I was still puzzling over the different reactions I had about him depending on our proximity.

His scent yesterday had seemed to linger as I made my way to gym, and it wasn't until I was halfway through the class that I felt like the cloud had been lifted from me. I could think clearly again, and once again I was wary of this strange man.

He and his family looked so out of place, so different. They all looked like statues of Greek or Roman Gods. Carved of marble by the hands of master artists. Dressed to perfection in subtle designer clothes, always subtly coordinated and screaming of the extreme wealth they had. Their cars were top of the range, I had seen a red convertible, an enormous Jeep, the closest thing to a normal car they had was a shiny silver Volvo that was still worth double anything else in the parking lot.

And then the way they acted. They kept to themselves, most of them seemed to be dating each other, they didn't speak to others, the crowds seemed to part around them. And then I had noticed they didn't eat. The smallest girl I could imagine wouldn't be one to eat much, but the rest of them always dumped a whole tray of food at the end of lunch too.

Edward spoke to me in class, but that was the only interaction with a student outside of his family I had seen in my weeks in Forks. But when he spoke to me, there was something about him. He seemed to know way too much for someone who wasn't in any of the social circles. It was like when he spoke, he just wanted me to confirm what he already knew rather than give him information. And the language he used was straight out of a classic novel rather than the mouth of a teenager. It was like he was a time traveller trying his best to fit in. There was something not quite right.

It was another week later, in early February, when it became painfully obvious just how different he was.

It had rained all night, and then the temperature had apparently plummeted right around dawn, leaving the entire town coated in a thin layer of ice. I skidded my way to the truck in the morning, thankful I had invested in a decent pair of boots with plenty of tread and drove to school at a snail's pace. I noticed a few other cars seemed to be driven with more confidence than I had, but thankfully most people seemed to be on the same page as me.

I would rather be late then dead. I even turned the radio down to be barely audible as I wanted my full concentration driving in the ice.

Thankfully the truck had handled the icy roads like a champ, thanks to the ice chains I had noticed, that Charlie must have put on my truck this morning.

In the school parking lot, I was able to find a park close to the grassy nature strip beside the sidewalk, somewhere for me to be able to walk a little more confidently, and I used the truck as a crutch to get from my door to the safety of the grass. The park was right at the entrance to the parking lot, and not the most convenient, but it was worth it to not walk on the slick sidewalk more than I needed to. I was still adjusting to ice.

When my feet where firmly planted on the solid ground, I fished through my pockets for my phone, and wrote a message to Charlie.

Thanks for the snow chains, made it to school safe. B x

As I sent the message, I felt the prickle on the back of my neck that someone was watching me.

I looked up from my phone and scanned around quickly.

Across the entrance to the parking lot, approximately fifty feet away, I made eye contact with Edward.

His light amber eyes still seemed alive and cheerful when I looked towards him, and not wanting to appear impolite, I began to smile in acknowledgement.

And then, his face turned murderous once more.

But before I could react, the screeching of tires interrupted my thoughts. I jumped out of my skin and automatically looked to where the screech was coming from.

Someone in the street was blaring their horn.

A large blue minivan was coming towards me and a frightening pace.

I froze.

The world froze.

And then I felt something slam into me, and I hit the ground. Hard. My left side took all the force, and my head just barely missed the pavement.

All my breath left in an instant, and I was so winded I couldn't draw another.

It was so cold. Freezing cold.

I could hear several people screaming.

I was screaming.

My left arm felt hot with pain.

But I was so cold.

"Bella!" Someone forcefully said, while gently shaking my shoulders.

I stopped screaming and hissed in pain as my arm was jostled.

"Bella, breath." He commanded again.

I followed the barked instructions and as I took a deep breath, I was overcome by the most heavenly scent.

I took another deep breath.

And then I saw Edward on the ground beside me, no longer touching me.

We were on the sidewalk just in front of my truck. The minivan resting alongside my truck, front bumper right where I had been standing seconds ago.

When Edward was fifty feet from me.

I should be dead.

I began to shiver, and managed to scootch myself into a sitting position, holding my burning hot left arm to my chest. It throbbed uncontrollably.

My breathing became ragged.

"Bella, try and calm down." Edward said again. He was close enough that his heavenly scent that was like a masculine floral drenched me, and I held onto the strange drug of a cologne in an effort to ground myself and keep me here.

"Are you hurt?" He said quickly.

I took a mental note of my body from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. Only my arm was painful.

I simply nodded.

"Bleeding?" He said incredibly quickly, almost like he was running out of breath.

I shook my head violently.

If I had been bleeding, then I would have passed out. Blood was not my friend.

He seemed to relax a bit. Perhaps he wasn't good with blood either.

I took another breath, and then I heard the screaming again. But this time it was from people who had witnessed the accident and had been in shock over the last couple of seconds. Or had it been hours since that happened?

Suddenly, I could hear the teachers rushing out to check the commotion, and in the distance, I could hear a siren.

Mr Molina was the first to reach us, and the relief on his face as he realised, we hadn't been pulverised was tangible. The man quickly crossed his heart and muttered a thankful prayer as he approached.

Edward took this as his time to stand up, and offer that he was fine, had been talking to me about some homework and had seen the car coming, and had pushed us out of the way.

I tried very poorly to stand but keeping my arm to my chest while standing on the slippery concrete was too great of a task.

Mr Molina insisted I stay where I was, the EMTs were on their way, and they would need to check us all out.

He then ran to the blue minivan, where I could see Tyler was sitting in shock behind the wheel, blood pouring down his face from where he had hit the windscreen.

I couldn't find it in myself to feel sympathetic towards him, he had nearly killed me.

I continued to shiver on the ground, cold and definitely in some shock, until the ambulance pulled up. One EMT ran towards me with a bag, the other to Tyler. Edward seemed to talk them out of even checking over him, if my arm hadn't had been obviously broken, I would have tried the same move.

As is, all I managed to talk them into was no stretcher for me, I would ride sitting in the chair, and allow them to place my arm in a sling to get me to the hospital. Thankfully, she also wrapped me in one of those silver space blankets once she had me firmly on my feet.

I allowed the young woman to guide me to the back of the ambulance, and almost snuck in before Charlie turned up on scene.

I knew he would be there, and I knew he would be incredibly concerned, but I would have rather the whole school didn't have to see the overprotective cop-dad routine he decides to enact. He fussed over me, checked to see that I was okay and coherent, and then began the inquisition into what had happened.

"Dad, I'm okay, really." I started to answer, glancing over to Edward who was hovering just outside of what I would consider hearing range but clearly listening. "Edward came over to ask me about some homework, he saw the van coming towards us, and pushed us out of the way. I just landed wrong." I said gesturing to my arm.

At this stage, Tyler was loaded onto the stretcher, and the EMTs were ready to take us to the hospital.

As he was uninjured, Edward talked them into getting a lift with his siblings to the hospital and somehow, they agreed, I tried again to see if I could get a ride with Charlie, and as he was well known to the EMTs they finally agreed, said it would be easier for them to look after Tyler anyway.

Fortunately, the ride to the hospital was quick, I wanted to be in there and receiving some pain killers. The pain in my arm was growing and an immense rate, and I just wanted it to be over. They were expecting us when Charlie leads me from the parking lot into the emergency room, and we were quickly taken through. It seemed like half of the junior and seniors at school were packing into the waiting room, and I was glad to be away from their prying eyes.

The nurse got me seated on a bed, and then the doctor walked in.

He was gorgeous, and clearly Edward's father. Or adopted father. Apparently. They weren't supposed to be related, and yet they were more like brothers than father and son. Dr Cullen couldn't have been older than his mid-to-late twenties, and supposedly was a super qualified and incredible doctor and had five teenagers?

I wasn't buying it.

There was something incredibly strange about this family, and I wanted nothing more than to be as far away from them as possible.

But for now, he was a doctor, offering painkillers and an x-ray, and I wasn't going to refuse that.

…

Of course, I was right about my arm being broken. Thankfully it was a very minor break in the grand scheme of things, and after the x-ray was read by Dr Cullen, he was happy to let me know a break to the ulna like this was common after a fall and easily supported with a brace rather than a cast.

It was only a few hours we ended up having to spend in the ER, unfortunately for Tyler, he would be spending the night and then once he was released, he would have one angry Cheif Swan asking a lot of questions about the accident.

And I had questions of my own for Edward.

Trying my luck with the innocent questioning tone again, I asked Dr Cullen where I could find his son before I left the hospital. Because I wanted to make sure he was okay.

Fortunately, he seemed to buy it, and directed me to a waiting room by his office where I would be able to speak with Edward, who had been given all clear of injuries, and nearby to another entrance I would be able to leave from without seeing the half of Forks High that seemed to be sitting waiting for news. And using this morning's incident as a way to skip school.

Charlie left me at the waiting room where Edward was waiting as promised, as he went to fill my pain killer prescription and get the car, and I waited for Charlie to leave before entering the room.

He gave me a small smile as I moved to sit in the chair opposite him.

"Bella," He began. "Are you okay? You hit your head in the accident?"

"Edward, I'm fine, no head knock at all, just a fractured wrist." I answered, not liking that he was ready to imply I had hit my head. He was trying to sow the seeds of doubt in my mind as to what had happened. Maybe someone else, the average seventeen-year-old girl, would fall for it. But I had lived with too many of Renee's shitty ex-boyfriends to fall for this.

"I didn't hit my head, and I want to know how you got over to me so fast?" I insisted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," He smoothly answered. "I had come over to ask you about the biology homework and pushed you out of the way."

My eyes narrowed.

"Well, we both know that isn't the truth, but clearly you aren't ready to discuss it. I'll leave you to wait for your father, perhaps I'll see you in class tomorrow?" I said as I stood.

Edward sighed.

"Bella, it's better if we aren't friends." He said, sounding almost like he was trying to convince himself of this.

"Well, it's a good thing we aren't friends then." I said, finally standing, and moving to the door of the room.

I kept walking, wanting to be away from this strange man as quickly as possible. All I wanted from him was some answers as to how I was alive. But if he wasn't ready to give them, I was going to so it myself. I would get to the bottom of this puzzle, and somehow, I was sure it involved the Quileute's as well as the Cullen family. And with the boys on the res already being my cousins and friends, perhaps I would gain more ground on their side of this problem.