5A/N: Hey, thanks for reading this old thing! I missed you guys, so much.
Chapter 3 – Gone
Edward wasn't in school the next day. I felt incredibly stupid as I looked around the lunchroom for him, and saw only the others of his family. I was almost stupid enough to walk up to them, and say "Hello," but I knew that that would not end well. By the look on Jasper's face today, he was having trouble concentrating again.
I tried to feel some sense of normal as I went through the classes. I recognized most of the faces by now, and I of course knew all of the names. I had several good conversations with my new friends Jessica and Angela, but I still felt very awkward. Nearly everyone in the school had been staring at me most of the day, and this hadn't lessened.
It felt strangely empty in Biology, with no Edward sitting next to me. I told myself that that was ridiculous; I'd hardly even met the guy and I already felt like I missed him. Though, I reminded myself, I had read several books about him…
Gym was just as horrible as it had been yesterday. I tripped, stumbled, and fell several times. I had a feeling that I was going to be a danger to myself and others, in this class…
The week progressed in the same general fashion; and I hardly noticed as the time passed. But I did notice the day that he came back.
I saw him immediately as I walked into the cafeteria. There was just a different feeling to the air when he was in it. I saw him and his family laughing, shaking snow from their hair, and Emmett hurling a particularly nasty ice-ball at Alice, who ducked away successfully.
Sort of in a trance, I bought a soda, and sat with Jess and Angela.
"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica giggled, not long after we'd sat down.
I looked up to meet his gaze, and then instantly looked down again.
"Stop looking at him!" I said nervously. I had to force myself not to look back up at him. I didn't know why I was resisting; this was Edward-flipping-Cullen for crying out loud! I was supposed to be a Twilight fangirl, right?
I considered this as I drank my soda. I had never been as obsessed as some of my friends, and I had never crushed on Edward.
…before now…
I froze as the thought hit me, and buried my face in my arms on the table. Jessica giggled, misunderstanding my reaction, thinking I was nervous.
In truth, I was going into shock.
"Hey, Jess?" I said, trying to distract myself, "Have you heard of Stephenie Meyer?"
Jessica giggled again. "Of course I have! Her book, The Host, was on the best seller list!"
Then I realized something: I knew for a fact that no one here at this school had read Twilight, or maybe even heard of it. For, if they had, I'm sure they would have made the connection already between the book-Cullens, and the real ones.
But no; the Cullen family sat alone at their table; no screaming fangirls or twi-hards surrounding them, and no one even looking towards them at all.
Except me, that is.
"Jessica, have you read Twilight?" I asked, knowing the answer.
"What's that? It doesn't sound familiar."
My mind, at this point, was freaking out. Was I the only one at this school who actually knew who and what the Cullens are?
"It's not important," I said, "Never mind."
"Okay…" Jessica said.
I finished the soda, and got up. The next class was, of course, Biology; and I would be sitting next to Edward Cullen.
I tried to slow my heart rate as I walked into class, but I was no longer in control of my own body. My legs walked towards the table, though my mind was somewhere else entirely.
I sat down, and he was already there, staring at a book, but not reading the words. Then, abruptly, he looked up at me, and smiled. It was all I could do to restrain a gasp.
The color of his golden eyes was so vibrant, and his smile so kind, that I almost forgot where I was, for a second. His hair was wet, but still very beautiful
"Hello," he said, "My name is Edward Cullen." His voice was a smooth as melted honey, and my voice sounded rough in comparison. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."
"H-how do you know my name?" I stuttered, out of impulse. I didn't even realize that I was quoting from Twilight; in fact, I had stopped noticing anything about Twilight in general, now. I was too caught up in reality to think of an unreal representation of this perfect creature before me.
He chuckled, and I felt as if I was melting; so sweet was his laughter.
"Oh, I think everyone knows your name," he said, "The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."
"No," I said, feeling like an idiot, "I mean, why did you call me Bella?"
"Do you prefer Isabella?" He looked perplexed.
"No, I like Bella; but I think Ch-my dad," I corrected, "must call me Isabella behind my back. That's what everyone here seems to know me as."
"Oh," he said simply. I looked at him again, to see an expression of—amazement?—on his face, and insatiable curiosity behind his eyes.
That conversation ended, then, when the teacher started speaking. I noticed that Edward wasn't breathing, and still had his chair turned away from me slightly, but it didn't matter.
There was a lab today, and Twilight flooded back into my head. Why did it have to be the same lab? I sighed to myself, earning a strange glance from Edward, which I did my best to ignore.
After Mr. Banner explained the lab, Edward turned back towards me.
"Ladies first, partner?" he asked teasingly, and smiled.
Oh my gosh. My mind blanked of all but one thought; that this was the smile. This was the famous crooked smile that every fangirl went crazy over.
Edward was apparently confused by my dazed expression. "Or, I could start, if you wish…" he offered.
"Uh…no…I'll go ahead …" I blushed.
I took the microscope, and the first slide. I knew what to do in this lab; I had been studying this for a while. I adjusted the zoom, and clamped the slide down into place
"Prophase," I identified quickly, feeling a little proud that I could get the answer that fast. I started to put the slide back in the box.
"Do you mind if I look?" Edward asked; his voice as soft as velvet. He reached towards me to stop me detaching the slide from the microscope, and our hands touched. I jerked back immediately.
It wasn't because of the temperature, which was, as I had expected, cold as ice. No, it was because of the sudden electric zap that I felt when I touched him. It was strange, and I hadn't anticipated it.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, sounding embarrassed. He reached for the microscope again, and took even a shorted look than I had. "Prophase," he confirmed, and wrote it on our sheet of paper.
He switched out the slide for the next one, and studied it. "Anaphase," he said, and wrote it down."
"May I?" I asked, almost a mocking edge to my voice. He smiled at me again, and nudged the microscope towards me.
I knew that he was right, but I wanted to question his intelligence anyways. I was unsurprised, as I handed the slide back, and asked for the next one.
When he handed it to me, he was more careful not to let my skin touch his; though I doubt I would have minded, this time.
"Interphase." Edward took the microscope from me again, and after a split seconds' examination, wrote that down also. I looked at his elegant handwriting, and almost wanted to trace the gentle lines with my finger, but stopped myself before I could.
We went on identifying slides until we were finished, checking each other's work after each answer. None of the others in the class were done with the lab yet, so we just sat back and didn't say anything.
Then, I turned to him, and he met my gaze with his now golden-colored eyes. I liked the color; it didn't stand out as much as the black had, against his pale skin.
I couldn't help but smile. "There's something different about your eyes, this week," I said softly. No, I had already decided that I wasn't going to blurt out, "Did you get contacts?" Such a stupid question!
Edward was staring at me in a mixture of worry and amazement; did he honestly think that I couldn't see the change in his eye color?
Mr. Banner came up to talk to us about the lab, and check out answers, but I was too sufficiently distracted to notice much of what he said.
"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward asked.
Had it snowed earlier today? I remembered that it had, picturing the white flakes dropping from the sky. I had just forgotten about it, I guess. Too much to think about already…
"Not really," I admitted. "I don't like the cold…or the wet."
"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live."
"You have no idea," I answered wryly. I'm using Twilight quotes again, I mused. I need to find a way to mix this up a little…
The look Edward gave me was almost surprising. He looked as if he was concentrating very hard, and the way that he was staring into my eyes made my heart pulse unsteadily.
"Why did you come here, then?" The pure curiosity in his voice and eyes made me backtrack for a moment—why would this perfect, beautiful person be interested in me?
I did my best to explain to him—it was harder than it looked—about how I had forced myself to come here, so that the others in my small family could be happy. About how Phil and my mom wanted time alone; and my father needed someone to cook for him, anyways.
"I don't understand," Edward finally confessed; fascination and confusion on his face.
"It was best for all of them, if I came," I said, and sighed.
"But, now you're unhappy. It doesn't seem fair." His concern for my happiness made me feel slightly warmer inside, but I tried to ignore it. Why should he care, anyways? I was just another human, of no importance at all.
"Life isn't fair," I shrugged. He looked at me thoughtfully for a few moments, before responding.
"You put on a good show, but I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."
I looked away, and blushed a bit, pretending to ignore him.
"Am I wrong?" he asked, his gentle voice slightly closer as he leaned towards me a bit. This time, the reason I didn't answer was not because I was trying to ignore him. This time, it was more because my mind had suddenly blanked.
"Why does it matter to you?" I spat, irritated slightly. But in truth, I knew that I couldn't be that angry with Edward.
"That's a very good question," he said; as if he wanted the answer as much as I did.
Forgetting what he was for a moment, I unthinkingly tossed my hair over my shoulder. Edward instantly froze, and I was instantly apologetic.
I sighed, forgetting why I was annoyed with him, even as he turned his seat farther away from me.
"So," I said, calm again, "How was Alaska?"
My earlier wish that I would stop quoting from Twilight was now fulfilled. Edward stiffened even more in his seat, his eyes meeting mine as I glared back at him, unaffected by his stares.
"Bella," he asked desperately, "How do you know?" His facial expression was pained.
I looked more deeply into his eyes. "Someday, maybe I'll tell you. But for now…it's best that you don't know."
His face clouded over slightly; perhaps he had realized that I had just and many secrets to hide as he did. I knew, though, that his secrets were more serious than my own.
Our gaze broke as the bell rang, and he departed swiftly. And just like last week, I gazed after him.
I left class numbly, not really paying attention to Mike's lament about how difficult the lab had been.
"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," he commented, Edward's last name breaking into my reverie.
"Yeah…I wonder what was with him last Monday," I said.
I went through gym class in almost a daze, messing up more than usual. I just sat out for most of it, though I got the feeling that Mike was trying to impress me by covering my spot as well as his own. I didn't really care.
After all of the torture of the day was through, I went out to the parking lot. As I climbed into my truck and turned on the heater, I looked around at the other students.
And there he was; the creature of perfection; leaning against his Volvo, which was several cars away.
Edward looked at me, and then smiled slightly.
