10

Bella POV:

The blaring alarm wakes me up on Monday, and I slap a heavy arm onto it, dislodging it from the bedside table in the process.

A pale arm flashes out to catch it, and returns it to the table. 'Wake up, sleepyhead.' Edward's musical voice alerts me to his presence, and I sit up, groggy. I'm not surprised he stayed again, having accompanied me for the whole day yesterday at home. 'Urgh... give me a human minute, will you?'

Edward grins at my state and retreats to the corner of the room. Stumbling out of bed, I stagger to the bathroom, wash my face, brush my teeth, and yank a brush through my knotted hair. I give up, after a few tries on trying to tame it, so I bunch it into a ponytail. I change into jeans and throw on a dark green hoodie. I rush back into my room, and drag Edward downstairs.

Blaize is seated at the kitchen table, and barely acknowledges me and and Edward. Edward speaks up. 'Would you like to ride to school with me and Bella?'

Blaize shrugs. 'Sure.' Then she adds, 'No smooching though.'

Edward grins, wrapping me in a tight hug while kissing my forehead. 'I can't promise that.' Blaize rolls her eyes and chucks Edward a bowl of cereal, knowing he would catch it with no problem, unlike me.

I finish breakfast quickly, and say, 'I'm ready.'

Blaize slides out of her chair and grabs her bag. 'Me too.'

Edward opens the door and opens it graciously, saying, 'Ladies first.' Blaize snorts and stalks out the door. I walk out after her, shrugging on a coat. 'Just a warning, I don't think Blaize is in a good mood today. She's often crabby when she doesn't get enough sleep,' I whisper.

Edward chuckles in reply. Blaize attempts to get to the drivers seat first, but Edward slips into the car in front of her. Blaize sighs.

Edward POV:

Damnit, comes Blaize's thoughts. 'My car,' I reply, grinning. 'And anyway, I would've never given you the keys.'

We speed to school, and throughout the whole journey Blaize is complaining in her head.

(He drives like a maniac, I should've never let him drive, my god he's going 110mph, Jesus Edward stop grinning, get out of my mind, you lunatic! Lalalalala get out of my mind!)

As I reverse into a parking space, Blaize instantly jumps out of the car. (Idiot. Oh, wait, fudge I have Biology with him,) she groans inwardly.

I open the door for Bella, igniting incredulous stares (and thoughts) coming our way. I look at Bella quickly. 'Hey, I won't be in Biology, so I'll see you at lunch, okay?'

She frowns at me. 'Why?'

'Let's just say... it's healthy to ditch class now and then.'

'Okay...' She gives me a brief smile before hurrying after Blaize.

Bella POV:

In Biology, I sit next to Mike, wondering why Edward would want to skip class. And then, right on cue, Mr Brown announces, 'We're blood typing today!' Oh, no. That's why.

I instantly start swooning, and my head feels fuzzy. My eyes meet Blaize's panicked expression and, from a distance, I hear her call, 'Um, Mr Brown? I don't think Bella's feeling that well...'

Familiar, firm hands hoist me upright, draping one of my arms over their shoulder. I look dizzily at Blaize. 'Thanks...' I mumble. She gives me the oh well look, and half drags me to the medical office. Suddenly, I hear Edward's voice. 'Is she alright?'

'What do you think?' I snap. Well, I try to, at least. It comes out more like, 'Whaffuthin?' I curse Edward as he scoops me up into his arms. 'I'm fine,' I protest.

Edward laughs his annoyingly beautiful musical chime. 'Looking that green? I don't think so.' As he swiftly makes our way to the medical office, Edward says, 'So, you faint at the thought of blood, huh? Not even the sight of it.' He sniggers at my state. How did you manage to do what you did in the bus that day, then?'

'I'm fine with my own blood,' I groan.

Edward chuckles at something and says, 'Blaize, I'm not a jerk, and if I put Bella down now, I don't think she'd make it to the office.'

Blaize mutters something inaudible and I hear her footsteps retreat back to class. I hear the nurse say, 'Oh, dear. Is this from blood typing?' Edward nods. The nurse sighs. 'There's always one.'

'Wrong,' Edward says quietly to me, grinning. 'There's two. Here comes Lee.'

Lee, a guy whom I have yet to talk to appears at the door, helped by Blaize again. He seems to be in an even worse condition than I am. I stand up to make room for him. Lee collapses onto the bench. Blaize joins us. 'You good?' she asks me.

'Kinda,' I reply. 'Just dizzy.'

Blaize elbows Edward. 'How about you just leave, and I'll look after my twin here?'

Edward sighs. 'Can't do that, sorry.' He clutches me to his body gently and flashes his teeth at Blaize in warning. She huffs, and says, 'Let's at least go outside. Headache.' Then she walks out of the building before I have a chance to reply.

Edward: We decide to return to school eventually. I grab Bella's hand, gently, and tow her towards the canteen. 'You're sitting with me today,' I smirk.

Blaize rolls her eyes, and attempts to make a break for Jessica's table. 'Bye, Bells.'

I wink. 'You too, Blaize.' She groans, but I can see that some part of her is pleased that she isn't left out. I'm third wheeling. Great. What does he want me for?

'Nothing in particular,' I murmur in reply.

Yay.

Ignoring all the stares from the school and the rest of my family, especially the glares from Rosalie, I sit down on an empty table in the corner of the room. Bella slips in next to me, and Blaize huffs.

After a while of thought, she grabs an apple from her tray and rolls it in her hands. 'If I dared you to eat this, would you?'

'If someone dared you to eat dirt, would you?'

Blaize shrugs. 'I did, once, and it wasn't as bad as I thought...'

'Why am I not surprised?' I sigh, and, after a heartbeat of hesitation, pluck the apple from her hands and take a small bite. Its scent alone is repulsive, so I swallow quickly, but continue the chewing motion to make a good show of it.

Bella stares curiously as I set the apple down on the table. 'What does it taste like to you?'

'It's just unappealing. Unpleasant. But tolerable. We do eat human food if necessary, in order to blend in. But we have to retch it up afterwards.'

Blaize pulls a face. 'That is unpleasant.'

I laugh, and reach for the coke, twirling the cap with my fingers. 'Hmmm... Since you asked me about my opinion on human food, what do you think about blood?'

To my surprise, Blaize answers almost immediately, unable to give me a chance to read what just passed through her head. 'I like the taste of blood,' she admits. 'I mean, I've never tried anyone else's blood beside my own, but from my experience, its pretty good.'

I raise my brows in surprise. Not what I was expecting at all. 'Well, I can certainly agree with that,' I chuckle.