All recognized characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.
This chapter has been beta'd by the ever amazing: Strae
Monday, the worse fucking day of the week. Does anyone like Mondays? I mean, seriously?
Even after sleeping thirty of forty eight hours, my alarm clock went off too early. I showered, though I didn't bother shaving for the second week. I had some serious, nasty looking scruff going on. I looked like a dirty homeless man, in expensive clothes. Maybe I'd start a trend.
My hair was a mess, my face was unshaven, my eyes were bloodshot, but my clothes were pressed and debonair. Definitely. Edward Cullen the trend setter. Wow, I really was starting to sound like a fag. Oh well, the thought of being 'stylish' amused me.
My mother had my breakfast ready for me and some money alongside my limited one per day Oxy. Wouldn't want the doctor's son to be a drug addict now, would we?
I drove to school with my iPod blaring heavy metal through my car speakers. Jasper was waiting by my parking spot.
Jasper Hale was really an unfortunate bastard for being so fortunate. His mother worshipped the ground his father walked on. She was a tactless woman, with nothing but her rich husband and athletic, smart kids going for her. She's the type of woman that would have worked at the local McDonald's and screwed up everyone's change, if not for her husband. And thank God for him, he had good, strong DNA. He was a prick, true down to the core prick, but he was a smart prick with standards – when it came to his kids at least.
Jasper's twin sister, Rosalie, was the queen bee of Forks High. The song "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" played over the loud speakers as she walked down the halls. Every school had one, there was just no way Rosalie Hale wasn't going to be Forks'.
Thank God Jasper was normal, for the most part. He was the calmest person I'd ever met. Maybe it was because he was so honest. How he remained grounded and honest with all the bullshit his family puts him through, I'll never know.
"You look like hell," he told me.
"I get that a lot lately."
"Maybe you should try shaving and doing something with that mop on your head."
"What are you, my fucking stylist?"
"I'm just saying, you used to actually try to look decent."
"Honestly Jasper, what the fuck is your point?"
"Alright, I'll shut up."
"Thank you."
I made my way to my locker. Long, wavy dark locks of hair caught my eye a few lockers down from mine.
Bella Swan. A great friend, and my tutor. She had moved to Forks the same summer as me and we started high school that same day. Ever since I saved her that first day of school from being ran over by Tyler Crowley when she tripped into his path, we'd been friends.
She'd just parked that hideous mess of a rust bucket she called a truck and started up towards the main office, looking just as confused as I was. Everyone was looking at her; she was hard not to notice with that loud backfire the Chevy had given. I followed her towards the office to get my schedule. She had a small piece of paper in front of her face and was scrutinizing it so hard, she didn't hear the car that was coming or notice the pothole in the pavement.
As the van with music bumping barreled toward her, I waited back, planning to allow the car to pass before I crossed. Bella would have made it just fine, but her foot dipped into the pothole and she stumbled. My natural instincts kicked in and I rushed forward. I caught her, wrapping my arms around her waist, and kept her from falling in the path of the car as he continued to drive, not even noticing the fact that he would have killed her had I not been there.
Mere inches separated me from the dark blue van and I still had Bella held in my arms. I was gasping for breath, having just saved a life did that to you.
"Um," said a sweet voice.
It was then that I realized that I was practically crushing her frail body to me. I released her and she stumbled away from me. Neither of us said anything else to each other as we walked to the office together. The school secretary, Ms. Cope, gave us our schedules and I held the door open for her to walk through as we left.
"Thank you," she muttered quietly, "er, for everything… like my life."
She was cute, the complete opposite of the Cali-girls I was used to. She was sort of short and her hair was dark, but she was really pale. Her complexion was all cream and roses, she blushed easily and it was lovely. Her lips were full and soft looking. But her eyes… Her eyes. It was possible to get lost in those chocolate orbs and impossible to look away. So big, so brown, so deep.
She looked away from me first, blushing as she stared at the ground.
"I'm Edward Cullen, I just moved here from LA," I told her.
"Bella Swan, I just moved here for Phoenix."
"Huh, really?" I'd never have guessed Phoenix...maybe Alaska, but definitely not someplace so hot and sunny.
She nodded. "Moved back really, but I guess I should go find my class now."
"Er, yeah, me too. What do you have first?"
"Gym," she said in a tone of voice that held no enthusiasm, more loathing.
"Me too. Maybe we can stick together, the noobs!"
She laughed and we walked. "I won't hold you to that. Sports and I don't get along."
I laughed, but soon found out what she had meant. The first day of school just equaled a lot of running, sit ups, pull ups, basically just Coach Clapp testing all of our physical abilities. I was among the ranks of Jasper Hale and Emmett McCarty, and apparently that was saying something as they were the school's star athletes – before I came along anyway.
Bella, well, yeah… I started out next to her in a timed run and lapped her quickly. I felt bad, genuinely. Poor girl couldn't run to save her life. I ended up partnered with her for the sit up count. I couldn't help but think how cute she looked as she tried not to look at me as she did her curls. I was the opposite, I stared at her as she counted my sit ups, getting lost in those deep pools of soft brown. Unfortunately, she told me she forgot how many I did, though I had counted as well. After shuttle running and doing pull ups, we played dodge ball the rest of the class. We were to find a partner and pair up for badminton that would start tomorrow.
I intended on pairing with Bella for the shear fact that I knew no one else, but some spiky-haired twerp – otherwise known as Mike Newton – already got to her. I ended up with Jessica.
After that fateful day, Bella and I were friends. We didn't see each other outside of school much, sports kept me and even though I was attracted to her, I wouldn't allow myself the distraction of having a crush on anyone. The years flew by and Bella and I were on the same ground as ever.
I sighed. What was the point of dating in high school? I had to concentrate on sports…had to. Now I had to concentrate on my academics and who better to help me concentrate then Bella Swan. My lab partner, my study buddy – her GPA was practically off the charts.
We had a date tonight, a study date – a real date was out of the question. There was no point, or so I kept telling myself. Even if I did like her, even if I did find her attractive there was just no point. She was a good friend, dating would complicate that, plus we'd never get anywhere… Edward Cullen didn't date. On that note, neither did Isabella Swan. No point.
After putting my things in my locker and grabbing what I'd need for study hall, Bella was still at her locker. I crutched up behind her, she didn't hear me. I pulled my phone out and texted her.
Turn around. Send.
I heard her phone buzz in her pocket and she reached back and pulled it from her seat pocket. My little plan got detoured by the fact that I was distracted by her butt. She had such a grabable ass, touchable, lovable, got-to-haveable. She turned then and I remembered my point.
"You've just received the worst news of your day."
She looked confused, and utterly adorable. "And that is?"
"You have to spend the night with this."
Her eyebrows raised. "Really?"
I doubted that the fact that I'd just said spend the night with me on accident got lost on her. "Study date?"
"So you did remember? I should start making sure you're drunk when I tell you things."
What did that mean? It was my turn to look confused. "When was I drunk?"
She snorted. "Oh come on, Edward," I loved how she said my name, "you were plastered, stop acting like I'm stupid."
"Honestly, Bella," I loved to say her name, "I have no idea what you are talking about…"
She shook her head, giving me an incredulous look. "Seeing as I took you home and put you to bed Friday night, I know for a fact that you were indeed drunk."
What? She took me home? Put me to bed? Well, at least I knew how I got home now. "Oh."
"You don't remember?"
"No. What did I do?"
She blushed. Damn it, she blushed. What had I done? Thinking back real hard, I remember something about a cat. Well that was random, what did a cat have to do with anything? "Nothing, other then slurred a lot and made less sense than usual."
She closed her locker then and started in the direction of the study hall. I followed. "You haven't told me what time…er, or I don't remember what time."
"Same time, same place, the usual. Bring everything, it might be a long night."
"You sure you want to spend the night with me?" I asked, motioning towards my haggardness.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, believe it or not, you can't scare me off with hair. You're going to have to try harder to get out of studying."
I chuckled and continued to the back of the room. I had a Calculus assignment due in an hour, a History assignment due in two, a Biology assignment due at the end of the day, and probably something to make up in Spanish. I was screwed.
I started with Calc, and thankfully it wasn't a long assignment, fairly easy as well. The History wasn't as easy. I hated History, it was so bloody boring. I was determined to actually get my homework done for once though. My head was twisted into place today. Partially, at least. I could have had it done sooner, but why else did they give us study hall?
Ten minutes before study hall hour was over, I was struggling on the Bio work.
"Bella," I whispered.
She either ignored me or didn't hear me. She tended to get a bit absorbed in the books she read. Dork.
"Bella."
Her head turned back towards me. "What?" she mouthed.
"C'mere," I whispered.
She sighed, closed her book, and walked back to me. "Hmm?" she asked.
"Help me, please."
She sighed and looked at what I was working on. "This is an important assignment, Edward, why don't you have it done yet?"
"I'm working on it… I need help."
She pulled the chair noisily from under the table and sat next to me. She looked over the work I had completed on my own. "This is good, why do you need my help?"
"That took me like ten minutes for the one problem, I can't get this done alone."
"I'm not giving you the answers, Edward."
No, obviously not. Bella Swan would never be caught cheating. "Just help me, you know I do this better when you talk."
And I did. She had a melodic way of describing things and it made them click into place faster. So she helped me, and when the bell rang I was just finishing up my last problem.
"You are a lifesaver."
"Yeah, yeah, don't be late tonight, scruffy."
I grinned at her. I swear, only Bella could make me actually smile anymore. And when she smiled back, it made my heart leap.
"There he is," she muttered.
"Huh?" I asked, confused.
She shook her head. There who was? I looked behind me and saw Jacob Black tossing a football with Emmett outside. Damn athletes got to skip first hour as long as they maintained good grades. Why had Bella said that, though… Jacob had a thing for her, that was obvious, but did she have a thing back? She was still staring at me when I looked back. She sighed and turned to leave.
I looked back out at Jacob, who was now running up with Emmett towards the school for second period. What if him and Bella were an item? I hated the thought. Why should I though, she was just a friend. And I didn't know if there was anything but normal friendship between them.
The time it took me to make it out of the classroom and back to my locker, Jacob had already made it to Bella and was chatting her up.
He was too close for comfort as he asked her, "What are you doing tonight?"
I smirked. Bella answered, "I have to study with Edward."
Jacob's angry eyes flashed up towards me, but I was quick and pretended to be digging in my locker. I tried not to look again as I eavesdropped.
"Tomorrow night?"
"I have a project."
"Wednesday then?"
"Studying with Edward."
"What about the party on Friday then? Do you want to go with me?"
"Uh, I'm already going with Alice."
I looked then. Bella was going to another party. Two in a row? That was unlike her. But she'd be there… Jacob caught a lock of Bella's hair, unbeknownst to her. I wanted to punch him in the face as he rolled its silky, shininess between his unworthy fingers.
"We could double, Jasper and Alice and you and I?"
"Er, no thanks, I'm pretty sure I'm just going with Alice."
Too bad it wasn't me she was going with, that would have really pissed off Jacob. No, Edward.
Right, no dating. Jacob seemed angry, but he was persistent. "When can we go on a date again then?"
Again? Again? A-fucking-gain? She'd went out with him? Fuck, no, fuck. God damn it.
She was free to do as she pleased, I reminded myself. No, no she wasn't. We didn't date, we didn't date together, that worked for me. Her dating didn't work for me, because if she was dating, I wanted it to be me, damn it. What was I going to do now?
"I don't know Jacob," she said, sounding a bit miffed. "I'm really busy."
I saw his jaw clench and he caught me watching this time. He gave me a glare that would have terrified someone more fragile, I didn't even take it as a warning, more of a… challenge.
"Alright, babe, I understand. Later then." He walked away, in the opposite direction of mine and Bella's class. He was a year younger, thank God for that.
I grabbed my books and caught up to Bella as she started to class. "You went on a date with Black?" I asked.
Her eyes darted up to mine. "Where'd you hear that?" she muttered.
"Er, well…"
She glared at me. "You snoopy-" she stopped there. "Yes, and I'd appreciate if you'd keep that to yourself."
"Why did you go out with him?"
I got the glare again, then she tripped. I dropped my books and crutch to catch her arm. Her books fell to the ground, but she did not. She collected her bearings, straightening herself, and was pure red as she bent for our books and my crutch. I took what she handed to me and she muttered a thanks.
I gripped my crap in one hand and used my other hand to push her disheveled hair from her face. "Are you alright?" I asked.
She blushed deeper, staring at the floor. "I'm fine, just tripped." She looked up at me then and our eyes locked. "They made me," she blurted unexpectedly.
"What?" I asked confused.
She looked away and started walking again, we were going to be late for class if we didn't walk and talk. "I got grounded for back talking the Chief, Alice intervened and somehow talked my dad into letting me off. But get this, I had to start being more 'social' for it. They made me go on a date with Jacob, and now Alice is dragging me to parties."
"Police Chief Swan wants his daughter to party?" I asked.
"Don't ask me how or why, but apparently I'm not social enough, plus Alice has Charlie wrapped around her little, tiny, capable pinkie finger…"
"So you didn't want to go on a date with Jacob?"
I saw her peak up at me. "No…why do you care anyways?"
Good, our no dating agreement was back. "We are friends, aren't we?" I asked.
"Sure," she said, indifferently.
"So, do you have to go out with him again?"
"I hope not."
I chuckled and went to my table at the back of the room. I opened my text and something foreign fell out. This wasn't my textbook. And my name was on the note that fell out…What the hell?
"Edward, do you have my book?" Bella asked from her seat.
I grabbed the note and quickly stuffed it in my pocket. "Yeah, you must have switched them."
She came back with my text and swapped our books. Mr. Varner called for everyone to take their seats and class began. I pulled my text open and grabbed the note from my pocket. I hurriedly scanned the note and found my name again.
But he's Edward Cullen, Alice, don't be stupid, Bella had wrote.
I scanned upwards. You have to tell him how you feel, was in Alice's hand writing.
I scanned lower again. Don't be a coward Bella, I think he has-
"Mr. Cullen?"
Shit. What? "Yes?"
"The answer?"
Fuck, to what? "Uh, 1.77245..."
"I didn't ask for the square root of pi." He strode back towards me then and I wasn't stealthy enough. He pulled the note from under my text where I'd stuffed it. Shit, that note wasn't even mine.
He didn't read it though, he simply tore it up into small pieces and dropped it into the garbage. I sighed and relaxed, for two seconds. Then I remembered what the note had said.
What did Bella feel? What did Alice think I had? Damn it.
I peaked up at Bella who was hunched over her table and either doodling or taking notes. Probably the latter, she was always writing something.
As much as I tried to concentrate through the day, I couldn't help but feel preoccupied by the fact that Bella was feeling something for me. Contempt maybe? Maybe worse? Was she afraid to tell me she didn't want to tutor the idiot ex-jock anymore?
Most of our classes were together, that's just how it worked in a small school. Only two hours were we not in the same class, she took some excelled pre-college crap that I should have also been taking. Oh well, next semester. I was even more inattentive then usual as I stared at the back of her head, trying to see inside of it and get my answers. It proved ineffective and at the end of the day, I had learned squat, taken no notes, and had zilch for homework, though I'm sure we'd been assigned something.
"See you later," I heard her call as I put my books into my locker. How was I going to carry all of this crap?
"Hey," said a chipper voice from behind me. I didn't have to look, I knew who it was.
"Hi Alice."
Alice Brandon, Bella's cousin that lived with her and her father. After Alice's parents both died in a car crash, she'd moved in with Charlie and Bella. Alice was a great friend, not only because she was dating my best friend, but because she just was. Plus, if you needed anything, Alice was the one to count on.
"Ali, will you be a dear and carry my books?"
She gave a quiet laugh. "You are such a dork. Got a big date with Bella tonight?"
"Yeah, an allnighter."
"Oooh, you two are getting busy!"
"With homework, fun." Was there a way I could ask Alice about Bella's "feelings"? She grabbed my books and started towards the parking lot.
She was so tiny, not even five foot. Jasper liked to call her "fun sized". I didn't even want to know.
I unlocked the Volvo and she threw my books into the passenger seat. "There you go, Donnie Dorko, don't get into too much trouble with my cousin."
I snorted. "I'll try not to." She snickered and waved over her shoulder as she went. "Alice, wait." She stopped and turned. "Er, do you know—I mean, do you think Bella really wants to do this?"
She raised an eyebrow at me. "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's just that—I mean, if you know she doesn't want to do this tutor thing anymore, you'd tell me, right?"
"She doesn't mind, Edward."
I nodded. "Okay." I turned to get in my car.
"Edward." I turned back around and Alice was staring at me, her mouth half open like she was going to say something. She shook her head and gave me a friendly smile. "Never mind." With that she ran back into the school.
I climbed into my Volvo and drove home to kill some time before dinner and going to Bella's.
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