Chapter Fourteen

Bella

A week had gone by since I'd arrived at Forks High School and the attention had just started to die down—slightly, I might add. The looks had died down when Charlie dropped me off and the questions had eased, too. Angela still stayed by my side, which was beginning to feel more like a friendship than a responsibility.

Overall it was . . . not awful.

Not great, but I could deal with it.

"Cullen's back," Jessica sang, hurrying over to Angela and I as we stood in front of our lockers. "And he does not look like he's recovering from some horrible illness, either."

"He always looks like he's recovering from some illness," Mike scoffed, slamming his locker with a loud clunk. "He's as pale as a ghost. Worse than even you, Bella." He smirked.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Well, he looks damn fine to me, not that he cares."

"Not even a little." Mike laughed. "Face it, he's weird and he hates everyone. Don't bother with him, Bella."

As he left, Jessica shrugged. "Yeah, he's right about that," she said. "Cullen is gorgeous, but weird. He doesn't talk to anyone. Like, he's better than us or something."

"To be fair, no one talks to him either," Angela said. "He's actually nice, but no one's given him a chance."

"You were lab partners with him once," Jess huffed. "What, do you have a crush on him now or something?"

She narrowed her eyes at my only friend, clearly forgetting how she'd just fawned over this guy. She was jealous, and that wasn't the least bit surprising. Jessica was one of the prettiest girls in school—something she clearly prided herself on—and the fact that this supposed gorgeous guy had shown her no attention probably infuriated her.

I didn't dislike Jess, but it was kind of funny to see.

"No, I just think it's crappy how everyone treats him," Angela said with a sigh as she closed her locker. "Anyway, we need to get to class."

I quickly followed her, catching up beside her as we walked toward history. "Are you okay?" I asked.

She smiled softly with a nod. "Yeah, it just gets to me how Jess and everyone acts, you know? Edward really is nice. He's just . . . quiet. No one gave him a chance. They all decided he was too different and not one of us."

"I believe you."

"Thanks, Bella. You'll probably be partners with him in biology now. Doubt Mr. Banner will let two people work alone since there's an even number again."

"Is he smart at least?"

"Crazy smart," she giggled. "You're lucky."

. . . . .

Forks High was a tiny school, and it seemed utterly impossible that by lunch time, I'd yet to encounter the supposedly gorgeous Edward Cullen—but it happened. The day was passing by quickly and I hadn't even noticed this fact until I heard Lauren and Jessica talking about him in the locker room after gym.

I tried to ignore their gossip, but it still caught my attention as I waited for the bell, and just like Angela, I felt bad for him. Carlisle was so incredibly kind and I was sure Angela was right about his son being the same, but these girls had already judged him long before I'd arrived.

He was weird, quiet, rude, didn't participate in anything, and sat alone at lunch—all the things people once said about me. Chances were even that he was actually rude, but Angela seemed certain he wasn't. And I easily believed her opinion over the school gossips.

I was thankful once the bell finally rang and I could get away from the locker room and their chatter. Angela and I always met up in the cafeteria since it was out of her way to meet me, which usually ended with me having to talk to Jess while Lauren scowled at me. I hurried ahead of them today, though, not at all in the mood to hear more about Edward Cullen.

"Hey!" Angela said, waving to me as I looked for her, holding my tray.

She was sitting clear across the room from Jess and them, which almost brought a smile to my face.

"How was gym?"

I shrugged, sitting down beside her. "They played volleyball and I sat on the bleachers with a book. Home Ec?"

"I finished my tote bag." She smiled, pulling it out for me. "Snazzy, huh?" She laughed.

"I actually love it." I chuckled.

"Keep it."

I cocked my brow, shaking my head. "I can't take your prized tote bag, Ang."

"I've made three this semester. Seriously, take it. I'm ready to move on to cooking already. Apparently no one else knew how to sew already, so we've spent all of our time on it."

I smiled, inspecting the blue and white tote, which happened to be perfect, and I truly did love. "Thank you. It's perfect for books."

"Isn't it? I made a pocket in there for pens, too. Really, I'm too good to be in this class. So, I was thinking, are you busy this weekend?"

I nibbled on my fries and shook my head. My weekends with Charlie had consisted of football, the sporting goods store, and reading. I wasn't complaining, though. It was actually pretty nice.

"I was thinking of heading to Port Angeles—to the bookstore. Do you wanna go with me?"

Her offer was so nice and genuine and, honestly, the first offer like that I'd ever gotten. It caught me off guard, though I suppose I should have seen it coming. Why else would she ask if I was busy?

"Um . . ." I bit my lip, wanting so badly to say yes.

"It's okay if you don't," she said, looking disappointed but smiling softly anyway.

"No." I shook my head. "I'd love to go, but I'd have to ask Charlie. Can I let you know later?"

She nodded. "Yeah! Text me. Do you have my number?"

I pulled out the phone Charlie had given me, placing it in her outstretched hand as the cafeteria doors opened. A figure caught my eye, and I knew.

"Is that . . .?"

Angela looked up at him. "Yeah, that's Edward."

He was . . . beautiful. He was tall and thin and his hair was a shade of bronze I'd never seen before—in complete disarray, too. His face could have been sculpted in marble, so perfect in every way. He was like his father—a Greek God.

He was Adonis.

And he was looking at me as I gawked at him—mouth open and all.

I quickly looked back down at my tray and felt my cheeks heat up with my blush. I was embarrassed. No, I was mortified. I'd just gawked at the guy, after all.

"Yeah, he does that to everyone." Angela laughed. "You'll get used to it. Or both hate him and love him like Jess and Lauren."

I shook my head. "No, he just caught me staring. I feel bad."

"Well, to be fair, he's still staring at you."

My eyes widened as I lifted my head slightly to look up at her. "Still?"

She smirked. "No, he's playing with a soda can now, doing what you're doing."

I sighed in relief, though my blush was still in full force. "Sorry."

She shrugged, pushing my phone over to me. "Don't worry about it. So, you'll text me?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, nodding. "Thanks for inviting me."

"I hope you can come. Whenever I go with Jess she deserts me for shopping."

"You don't have to worry about that," I laughed softly. "So, did you finish the reading for Beowulf?"


I don't own Twilight.