The rest of the month following the accident was uneasy, tense and mainly, embarrassing. For the rest of the week following the accident, I found myself the centre of attention, even though everyone at school knew me. Nobody seemed concerned about Edward though, even though he was the hero of the story — how he had pulled me out of the way. I questioned Lauren, Ben, Mike, Eric, and Angela about it, in which they didn't see him there until after the van was pulled away. The only person who knew he was there and that was after the accident was Jessica, due to her helping me up.
I wondered to myself about how no one else had seen him standing far enough away that made it physically impossible to save my life. I realised, irritated, that no one else was as aware of Edward as I was — No one watched him the way I did.
He still sat as far as physically possible from me in biology. He seemed totally unaware of my presence. Only every now and then, when his fists balled up on his leg, did I wonder if he was quite unaware of my presence as he brought on.
The only conclusion that I could come to was that he regretted pulling me from the path of Tyler's van.
Throughout the days and weeks that went by, the only communication we had was the day after the accident — exchanging pleasantries.
Mike was pleased after the accident and the obvious coolness between my lab partner and I, much to Jessica's dismay. On the first Tuesday of March, Jess came to me to ask if she could invite Mike to the girls choice spring dance.
"You don't need to ask for permission Jess" I raised an eyebrow as we walked towards spanish. "You know for a fact that I have absolutely no interest in Mike"
"I know, but still" she said looking over to me, a small smile over her lips. "You never know when plans may change" she smirked.
"I'm not going anyway" I said, looking over to Jess.
"But it will be fun" She whined, dragging out the last syllable. I smiled at her politely.
"You have fun with Mike" I said before we entered spanish.
The next day, Jess wasn't herself. She was silent as we walked between classes and I was afraid to ask her why. I was afraid that Mike had turned her down, and I was sure I was the last person she would want to speak to.
I asked Katherine, who said that Mike did in fact turn her down, stating that he was waiting on me to ask him. I sighed, and at lunch, I saw Jess sitting as far away from Mike as possible.
Mike was quiet as he walked with me to biology, stopping before we went in and pulling me with him. He sighed, and I immediately knew where this conversation was going.
"So" He started, looking at the floor. "Jessica asked me to the spring dance"
"That's awesome Mike" I put in effort to make my voice bright and vibrant, because I was happy that he had asked her, and I knew that he had turned her down.
"Yeah… well I told her I had to think about it" he said. I was relieved he didn't downright turn her down.
"Why would you do that?" I asked, disapproving of his choices. He flushed bright red before looking down.
"Well… I was wondering of you might be planning to ask me"
I paused and hated the wave of guilt that followed suit. But, I saw from the corner of my eye, Edward's head tilt reflexively in my general direction.
"Mike" I started with a sigh. "You should tell Jess yes" I said.
"Have you already asked someone?" He asked, his eyes flickering over to Edward before back at me.
"No. I'm not going to the dance" I said.
"Why not?" He demanded.
"I'm going to Seattle that Saturday," I explained. It was suddenly the perfect time to go. "We all remembered what happened at the last one, anyway." I held back a laugh at my own expense. I had tripped at the last dance, and fell into three other people, ruining their night.
Mike chuckled and shyly smiled back at me. "Are you sure?" he asked. "We could go out another time if you want?"
I sighed. "Mike" I started. "I will gladly kill you if you tell anyone that I told you this." I said, looking over to him with a small smile. "But I think it would hurt Jessica's feelings"
"Jessia?" He asked, confused.
"Mike," I sighed, slapping my head. "Oh my gosh are you blind?" I asked exasperated.
"Oh yeah… Jess" he said, wandering into the class and sitting at his desk. I followed him in and sat down at my own desk. I closed my eyes and put my hand over my face, trying to block everything out.
As Mr. Banner started talking, I opened my eyes. I noticed Edward was staring at me with curiosity sparkling on his black eyes, but even then I could sense the frustration, and the slightest bit of humour. I wondered what he found funny. I stared back though, expecting him to look away, but he continued the gaze and the intensity grew. I couldn't look away and I felt my hands start to shake.
"Mr. Cullen?" Mr. Banner called, seeking the answer to a question that I had no clue what it was or let alone heard.
"The Krebs Cycle" Edward answered, seeming reluctant as he turned to look towards the front. I looked down at my own book and shifted my hair over my right shoulder as soon as his eyes left my face. My hair was an attempt to hide my face, as I felt the new serve of emotion pulsing through me. He shouldn't have this much influence over me, it was pathetic and unhealthy.
Through the rest of the lesson, I was extremely aware of his presence. The bell went, and I was expecting him to gather his things and leave at the speed of light as per usual, I gathered mine, turning my back to him.
"Bella?" His voice was so familiar to me, yet it shouldn't have been. I turned unwillingly to look at his perfect face, that was too perfect. I noticed his expression was unreadable.
"What? Are you speaking to me again?" I spat at him, angry with the continued silent treatment that had been happening over the past month. His lips twitched, fighting a small smile.
"No, not really," He admitted.
I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly through my nose, trying to control my anger and unaware I was gritting my teeth. "Then what do you want, Edward?" I asked, my eyes still closed.
"I'm sorry" He sounded sincere. "I know I'm being rude. But it's better this way" I opened my eyes and met his serious gaze.
"I don't know what you mean," I said.
"It's better that we're not friends," he explained. "Trust me"
I looked at him. I'd heard that before. "It's too bad you didn't figure it out earlier" I hissed. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."
"Regret?" The word and tone obviously caught him off guard. "Regret for what?"
"For not letting the stupid van squish me."
I started to walk away from him, but he grabbed me by the hood of my jumper, pulling me backwards. He stared at me in disbelief. "You think that I regret saving your life?" He spoke, and I could hear the anger bubbling in his voice.
"I don't think — I know you do," I snapped at him.
"You don't know anything" He was definitely mad at me. I turned with my books in my hands, and stalked out the room. Unfortunately for me, my shoe caught the lip of the door and my books tumbled to the floor. I considered leaving them, and decided against it. I bent down to pick them up, but before I could get there, Edward was already there picking them up. He handed them to me in a neat stack.
"Thank you" I said, my tone icey.
His eyes narrowed. "You're welcome" He said before stalking off. Katherine and Matthew were both waiting outside of the class, Katherine having a small smile on her lips, and Matthew glaring the direction that Edward had stalked off to.
"Oh my gosh Bella" Katherine started to speak and I looked up to her, glaring.
"I don't like him," Matthew said, as we walked. I had no clue why they were here. Normally they were across the school. I looked over to both of them.
"Why are the both of you here?" I asked them, raising an eyebrow and throwing a glare to both of them. They looked at eachother, and then Katherine decided to speak.
"We just wanted to check on our big sister" Katherine smiled with her response, obviously pleased with her answer. I sighed, knowing my obvious depression had come to our parents attention, and now my siblings. I entered Gym without a thought.
Walking back to my car, I was in a bit of a daze. My surroundings were the least of my concern. What did he mean when he said it was better off that we weren't friends? What was it even supposed to mean? All I knew was that I needed to have at least the tiniest bit of self respect. I realised what he meant. He didn't want to lead me on, as he wasn't interested at all.
I almost had a heart attack when I turned the corner and saw a figure leaning against my truck. I sighed, realising that it was just Eric. I started walking again.
"Hey Eric" I called as I pulled my keys out of my pocket.
"Hey Bella" he said, an uncomfortable edge in his voice.
"What's up?" I asked him, eyeing him cautiously.
"Uhmm… I was wondering if you would like to come to the spring dance with me?" His voice broke on the last word.
"I thought it was a girls choice?" I asked, looking towards him. "Anyway, I'm not going to the dance after what happened at the last one. I'll be in Seattle that weekend" I said, summarising it, and confirming my plans in one hit.
"Oh" He breathed, and then smiled towards me. "Well maybe next time"
"Sure" I agreed and then immediately regretted it. He trudged over to his car. From behind me, I heard a low chuckle and I saw Edward walking past the front of my car. My siblings arrived, Katherine not noticing Edward walking past and my obvious gaze at him, and Matthew glaring at the back of Edward's head. I wondered what that was about.
I jumped in the car and angrily thew it into reverse, ignoring my siblings stares. I pulled out into the isle, only to be stoped by Edward's car which was parked in the isle, stopping everyone from moving and forming a long line behind me. I saw his siblings over by the cafeteria, and realised he was waiting. The car behind was Tyler's, and he hopped out, car still running and came over to the passenger side window. Katherine opened it, and I looked over towards her.
"Sorry Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen" I said, annoyed.
"Oh — I know. I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the spring dance with me?" He asked. I looked over to Katherine who was just grinning ear to ear.
"I'm sorry, But I'm going to Seattle that weekend," I said, looking back over to Tyler.
"It's okay" He beamed, causing me to wonder why he was so happy. His next words confirmed my suspicion.
"We still have prom!" and he darted off to his car before I could respond. I could feel the shock on my face, and Katherine's eyes searching for it before I faced the front. In the rearview mirror in Edward's car, I could see him looking at me, and his body shaking as if he was laughing, as if he heard every word that Tyler had said. I moved my foot towards the gas pedal, knowing that one little bump wouldn't hurt the car or any of them, just the paint. Before I could even put my foot down, he sped off, all of the Cullen siblings in the car.
We got home, and I realised Renee was still out, and Charlie was still at work. Matthew took a seat in the living room, switching on the T.V. and I started on dinner for the family, simmering the onions and chilies to make chicken enchiladas. The phone rang, and Katherine picked it up. I could hear her talking from the kitchen. I let her talk to Jess before I heard the phone being hung up on the wall, and footsteps coming towards me.
"Mike said yes to Jess for the dance today" She stated, a smile on her face. "She said yes, obviously. I wonder who's going to ask me" She sat on a stool, and looked over to me.
"Someone will be lucky to have you" I replied, my thoughts jumbling over my head over a certain person.
"Yeah well I didn't just get asked to the dance three times in one day" She retorted, looking over at me. "And it's not like I can take Jake to the dance like I did last time"
I frowned. She had a point. Taking her ex to the dance was a massive no, so she would probably have to ask any other guys. "What guys would you ask?" I asked her, looking towards her and away from the pan. "It's a girls choice you know"
"I know" She spoke, but then I saw her flush and look away and out the window. "Mom's here," she announced, and then disappeared faster than I'd ever seen her. Renee walked through the door, putting her bags on the ground.
"Sorry Bells. We had parent interviews today and I totally forgot" she announced as she walked over to the kitchen and looked at what I was cooking. "You didn't have to cook dinner though"
I looked at her and beamed, hearing Charlie's cruiser pull into the driveway. "Well it's a good thing I did. Dad's home"
The cruiser door shut, and footsteps followed to the door. Renee ducked out to grab Matt and Kat before Charlie walked in the door. His lines above his eyes were more pronounced, guessing from the stress throughout the day. I smiled at him, and directed him to a seat near the table.
We started eating in silence, the only noise was the sound of the wind outside gushing through the leaves on the trees, and the sound of the television in the background. I decided to speak after a while. "I just wanted to let you know on saturday next week, I'm going to Seattle" I announced, all four heads turned up to face me listening.
"Isn't that the day of the spring dance?" Charlie asked. I nodded in response, thinking of my next words before Katherine spoke up.
"She isn't going" She said loudly, looking over to me. "She turned down Mike, Eric and Tyler today"
"Are you going by yourself?" He asked, his voice laced in thick concern.
"Yes. But I'll be fine" I responded, settling the argument. "Just getting some more books and stuff."
That seemed to settle him, and everyone resumed their dinner.
The next morning, I made sure to park as far as possible from the silver Volvo. I didn't want to put myself in the path of temptation. My siblings hopped out the car before me, walking over towards the entrance. My hand fumbled, and I dropped my key on the ground. As I bent down the grab it, a long white hand shot out and picked it up. I jerked my body upwards. Edward Cullen was leaning against my car, holding my keys.
"How do you do that?" I asked, irritated and amazed.
"Do what?" he asked innocently, holding out my key as he spoke.
"Appear out of thin air"
"It's not my fault you are extremely unobservant" He retorted quietly, his voice like velvet. I scowled at him and noticed his eyes were a light golden honey colour. I looked down, trying to rearrange my thoughts.
"Why the traffic jam last night?" I demanded "I thought you were supposed to be ignoring me, not irritating me to death"
"That was for Tyler's sake, not mine. Had to give him a chance" He snickered as we walked.
I froze in my tracks, him stopping a few feet in front of me. "You…" I gasped, but couldn't finish the rest of my sentence, my words were lost.
"And I'm not pretending you don't exist," He continued.
"So are you trying to irritate me to death? Considering Tyler's van didn't do the job?"
His eyes flashed a sense of anger, his lips pressing into a hard line. "Bella, you are utterly absurd" he said in his cold, low voice. My palms started to tingle, and I turned my back to walk away.
"Wait" he called as he easily caught up to me, feet sloshing in the puddles the rain was now forming. "I'm sorry. It was rude," I ignored him. "I'm not saying it's true, but it was rude to say anyway"
"Why won't you leave me alone?" I demanded in a low grumble.
"I wanted to ask you something but you sidetracked me" he said, a small chuckle confirming his sense of humour was back.
"Do you have a multiple personality disorder" I retorted.
"Your doing it again"
I sighed loudly and glared at him. "What do you want to ask?" In the corner of my eye I saw Katherine walk past with one of her friends from her year.
"I was wondering if, a week from saturday — you know the day of the spring dance-"
"Are you trying to be funny?" I growled, trying not to raise my voice.
He looked at me, amused. "Will you let me finish?" I crossed my arms and nodded, scowling at him.
"I heard you saying you were going to Seattle, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride?"
I felt my face soften slightly, and I nodded, thinking of my next words. "I can't keep up with you. You said you didn't want to be my friend"
"I said it was better if we weren't friends. Not that I didn't want to be"
"Oh thanks so much for clearing that up" I said sarcastically.
"Although it would be better for you not to be" He explained "But I'm tired of staying away from you Bella" His eyes intensely stared into mine, making me forget how to breathe. His voice smouldered as he muttered the last sentence.
"Will you come to Seattle with me?" He asked, double checking. I nodded, physically unable of speaking. "You really should stay away from me, you know," He warned me, his eyes speaking for him. "I'll see you in class"
His back turned to face me, and he walked back the way we came from.
Author's Note: Throughout this book, I'm going to try and modernise Edward and Bella and make their relationships and personalities more bearable. Things also with this situation that would be introduced at later points are Bella's ideals on marriage, her ideals on having kids, and with two new original characters, what would happen during the James portions, and New Moon and Eclipse. These are the sorts of things I am considering when writing as setting up this plot line directly interlates