The next morning, I woke up and noticed something different.
The light was what was different. I had immediately recognised that it had snowed during the night. I sighed and walked to the window, realising that the snow had stuck to the top. All the rain from yesterday had also frozen solid, coating the ground in a deadly ice slick. I sighed aloud before getting ready for the day. Quickly, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen, where Renee and Charlie were talking.
"Morning Bells" Dad said as he saw me with a smile. "Katherine and Matthew aren't coming today. They claim they have a cold." He stated, keeping his expression neutral. I knew they both had big tests today, and were more than likely faking to wag for the day.
I smiled. "All good Dad. Have a good day at work" I replied before making my way outside to the car. I knew the ice was going to make it impossible for me to not slip today. I put the car into reverse and drove out onto the road, pulling it into drive and driving towards school.
The car had no trouble over the ice and I made it to school safe and sound. I wasn't used to travelling to school on my own, as normally one of the twins would come with me. My main goal for the day was to stay alive, and not slip on the ice layer that covered the ground.
I got out of the car, I realised why I had so little trouble. I held the side of the car and examined my tires. There were snow chains crossing my tires. I was used to one of my siblings doing it normally before I woke up, but today Charlie must have put them on before he left for work. Suddenly, I heard an odd sound.
It was a high-pitched screech and I could hear it becoming louder and closer. I turned around.
It wasn't in slow motion, like what you see in movies. The adrenaline rushed to my head and everything seemed to go much faster than normal, making it able to absorb many things at once.
One of those things was Edward Cullen standing over four cars down, a look of terror and shock covering his face. Demanding my immediate attention was Tyler's dark blue van that skidded towards me, the tires obviously locked and the brakes on. It was coming at me, and I didnt even have time to register anything more or even close my eyes.
Before I heard the shattering crunch of the van around my car, something cold and hard pushed me, not from the direction I was expecting. My head hit the icy road, and the cold and hard thing pinned me down to the ground, lying me on the pavement behind the tan car I'd parked next to.
I didn't have a chance to notice anything more, as the van was still coming. It had curled around the edge of my car and was spinning about to collide with me, again.
Two long white hands shot out protectively from underneath me towards the van, and the van shuddered at the impact a foot from my face, large hands imprinting in the truck a deep dent into the side of the van's body.
Suddenly, his hands moved so fast that they blurred, and my eyes struggled to keep up. One was gripping the underbody of the van, and then something was swinging my legs around like a ragdoll until they hit the tire of the tan car. I heard a groaning metallic thud, which hurt my ears and the van settled exactly where my legs had been a second ago.
The sudden silence was deafening for a few seconds, before the screaming happened. I could hear more than one person calling my name, but clearer than all the yelling, I could hear Edward Cullen's low, frantic voice in my ear.
"Bella? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine" my voice sounded strange, and as I tried to sit up, I realised he was holding my body against his side in a grasp that felt impossible to break out of.
"Be careful" he warned me as I struggled to sit up. "I think you hit your head pretty hard" His words drew attention to the throbbing pain that was coming from my head above my left ear.
"Ow" I said, merely surprised.
"That's what I thought" He sounded like he was suppressing laughter.
"How…" I swallowed before continuing. "How did you get over here so fast?"
"I was standing right next to you Bella" his tone changed seriously as he spoke. I tried to sit back up and this time he let me, releasing his hand that was around my waist to sit as far as possible from me in the small amount of space we were confined in. I looked up at his concerned, innocent expression before I looked at his gold-coloured eyes. What was I asking him again?
The crowd of people found us with tears streaming down their face.
"Someone get Tyler out of the van" Someone yelled.
"Oh my gosh, Bella! Are you okay?" Jess asked, her voice panicked. Suddenly, I was grateful that my siblings had stayed home.
"Yes, Help me up. It's cold" I asked her as one of her hands pulled me up by my shoulder. I heard a low chuckle from Edward under his breath.
"You were over there" I hissed to him when I knew Jess wasn't listening. "You were by your car."
His expression suddenly turned hard. "No I wasn't"
"I saw you" I held onto this argument, knowing I was right. The adults started to arrive from the school, and I could hear the faint noise of sirens in the background coming towards the school. An ambulance I assumed.
"Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way" he looked at me, his eyes unleashing something as if what he was saying was crucial.
"No"
"Please, Bella." I looked into his eyes and they blazed back at me.
"Why?" I demanded back at him.
"Trust me," He insisted, pleading with his voice overwhelming the softness of it.
"Will you promise to explain everything to be after?"
"Fine" he snapped, exasperated.
"Fine," I repeated angrily. It took several people to move the van far enough away from the scene to allow the stretchers in, My feet trying to trip over each other as I walked away to allow for more space. Without a word, Jess grabbed my hip and helped me out of the way. When they offered us stretchers, I refused, and so did Edward. They insisted, and I compromised, saying that I would ride with them to the hospital. They agreed.
We drove to the hospital, Tyler in the stretcher across from me silently laying there. Eventually he turned to me frantically.
"Bella, I'm sorry!" he apologised loudly. I smiled politely at him, letting him know I wasn't mad at him at all.
"It's okay, Tyler" I reassured him. "Don't stress"
"I don't even know what happened. I was going too fast… I think I hit the ice wrong and… I could've killed you Bella!" I could see him panicking, but thankfully, we arrived at the hospital and they wheeled him out of the van and inside. A nurse came out and told me that they had heard I had hit my head, and took me to go and get an X-ray. I told them that there was nothing wrong, and I was right.
I asked if I could leave, and they said I had to see the doctor first. I sat there, across from Tyler with his endless apologies. I shut my eyes, trying to block out his voice.
"Is she asleep?" a musical voice asked, and my eyes flew open. Edward was standing at the foot of my bed with a smirk adorning his lips. I glared at him, with was difficult. It would have been easier to ogle at him.
"So what's the verdict?" He asked me, flashing a smile of his teeth. He moved to sit on the edge of Tyler's bed, facing me.
"There's nothing wrong with me" I stated. "But they won't let me go" I looked at him for a second. "How come you aren't in here with the rest of us?"
He smirked. "It's all about who you know," he said, smirking at me. "Don't worry, I came to spring you"
Suddenly, The doctor walked around the corner, and without control my mouth fell open. He was young and blonde, and handsomer than any movie star that I had seen. But he was pale and tired looking, and from these similarities I could tell this was Dr. Cullen, Edward's father.
"So, Miss Swan," Dr Cullen said, in the same appealing voice his son had. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine" I answered for the last time, I prayed. He walked over to the lightboard above my head and turned it on.
"Your X-rays look good." He paused "Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit your head pretty hard."
"It's fine" I repeated with a sigh, throwing a look at Edward.
The doctor's cool fingers prodded along my skull, noticing when I winced.
"Tender?"
"Not really" I've had worse before.
"Well your father is in the waiting room, you can go home now if you please. Come back though if you have any trouble with eyesight and dizziness"
"Can I go back to school?" I asked.
"Maybe you should take it easy today," he suggested.
"Is he going to school?" I asked, glancing at Edward.
"Someone has to spread the news that you're okay," He said smugly.
I stood up, and regretted it immediately as I staggered and Dr. Cullen caught me. He looked at me concerned. "I'm fine" I insisted, assuring him. We didn't need to go down the clumsy isle.
"Take some Tylenol for the pain" He suggested to me as he steadied me on my feet.
"It doesn't hurt that bad," I insisted.
"It sounds like you were extremely lucky." he stated, signing my chart.
"Yeah. Lucky Edward was standing next to me." I started with a hard glance to Edward.
"Oh well, Yes" Dr. Cullen agreed, then occupied himself with the papers in front of him. He looked away towards Tyler, and walked towards his bed. I realised then, the doctor was in on it too.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?" I hissed under my breath. His face and body became serious suddenly.
"Your father is waiting for you." He said through his teeth. I glanced at Dr. Cullen and Tyler.
"I'd like to speak to you alone, if you don't mind" I pressed. He glared at me and then turned his back and strode down the hallway. I almost had to run to keep up with him. Suddenly he turned around to face me.
"What do you want?" He asked, sounding annoyed. His eyes looked coldly at me, intimidating me.
"You owe me an explanation," I reminded him.
"I saved your life. I don't owe you anything"
"You promised"
"Bella, you hit your head — you don't know what you're talking about." The resentment in his voice made me flinch, his tone cutting through me.
"There is nothing wrong with my head" I snapped, glaring at him.
"What do you want from me Bella?"
"I want to know the truth," I pressed. "I want to know why I'm lying for you"
"What do you think happened?" he snapped.
It all came out in a rush, a slurry of words blurring together. "All I know is that you were over by your car, then you were next to me. That van was going to crush us both, but yet it didn't. Your hands left dents in the side of the car, and yet your completely fine. The van should have smashed my legs and you were holding it up…" I trailed off, hearing how crazy I sounded. I couldn't continue, the mad tears begging to escape from my eyes. I had to grind my teeth together to stop them from flowing.
He stared at me, his face tense and defensive. "You think that I lifted a van off you?" His tone questioned my sanity, but it was delivered like it was rehearsed for a movie. It made me suspicious.
I nodded, not trusting myself enough to use my words.
"Well, nobody is going to believe you," he spat.
"I wasn't going to tell anyone" I said, controlling my fueling anger. He looked at me, surprised.
"So why does it matter?" he pressed.
"I don't like lying" I stated, "So I better have a good reason for doing it"
"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"
"Thank you" I waited for his response. My rage over the boiling point.
"You aren't going to let this go are you?"
"No"
"In that case. I hope you enjoy disappointment"
We scowled at each other before I turned my gaze to the floor, my anger rising. Staring at his face too long would make me say things I didn't want said.
"Why did you even bother?" I asked quietly. He paused for a brief moment, his face morphing vulnerably.
"I don't know" he whispered before turning his back to me and walking off. I walked off after a couple of minutes, finding Charlie waiting for me.
"Bella!" Charlie said as he got to me, wrapping me in a tight hug.
"Perfectly fine, Dad," I assured him. He nodded, believing me before he placed one hand behind my back and took me to his police cruiser.
We drove in silence until we reached home, where Katherine and Matthew were both waiting in the kitchen. I ignored them, listening to them asking me what had happened and if I was okay. I assured them that I was okay. I spent the rest of the day reading, and at night, I made sure to grab three Tylenol before going to bed.
That night was the first night I dreamt of Edward Cullen.
