ch- 10 : (Aftermath)

Edward Cullen did not come to school the next day.

Thank God.

Bella seemed deflated, especially after she didn't see him at the Cullen table during lunch. I had to squeeze her hand several times under the table. Mike also invited Bella and Jessica to sit with him, which Jessica seemed pleased with. She wore a huge smile as she, her friends, and Bella made their way over there. I had to show extreme restraint to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Mike was clearly attracted to Bella, even though I knew Bella did not understand why. Despite how Bella described herself in the book, she was slender, curved in all the right places, and her face was an innocent kind of beautiful. She might not wish or know how to dress for her body type, but her face and eyes were enough to make up for this. The guys at school would not find her attractive if this was not the case.

After sitting down, it was easy to see that Jessica was also clearly attracted to Mike. Reading these things was definitely not the same as witnessing them. In real life, it was quite nauseating to watch the pinning. The way she blushed a bit, as he looked her way - Bella was sitting next to her, and he was actually trying to talk to her - the way she twirled her necklace, or tried to touch Mike's arms more than once when she talked to him.

Brittany was less than enthusiastic about sitting away from her crowd again, but I reassured her, I would sit with her tomorrow. I even invited Bella, who seemed more eager, after Brittany explained the table was in a place where you couldn't see the furthest corners, so Bella wouldn't be able to look at the Cullens. Those weren't Brittany's words, but what I gathered Bella took from the description, since she so readily agreed.

English had also been a bit weird since we were being paired up for a project on one of Shakespeare's Sonnets which we had to hand in a written essay about next Friday. Of course, everyone was paired by seating partners. Thanks for disappearing to Canada, Edward. I knew he had to leave, of course, to get some distance between him and Bella - but damn! I didn't want to write and analyze most of this by myself!

This also meant he had to reappear again on Monday.

Some part of me was scared he wouldn't. I nat he would stay far away and not fall in love with Bella. I almost hid my face in my hands as I thought that. Edward's empty seat only worsened my growing anxiety.

Couldn't I have been paired with Brittany instead? At least then I knew I wouldn't have to make anything by myself.

She and I were also getting closer by the second. In U.S. History, she introduced me to some of her friends. Jerry, a smaller, blonde-haired boy - who also liked to draw Emily, a skinny auburn-haired girl with an eyebrow piercing she had done that one herself, she had proudly proclaimed and lastly, a tall and dark-haired girl named Erica - who I at first had assumed was a boy, due to her very short hair and angular facial features. All of them were in the Art Club. Some of them also in the Book Club.

I knew I had to tell Bella about Book Club. She would most definitely want to join. Maybe it would take her mind off Edward for a little while. Plus, she'd have somewhat of a normal, teenage social life. At least in the regard of engaging in conversation about books. Reading was her favorite pastime.

Gym was a near catastrophe. Reading about Bella's clumsy tendencies was one thing - witnessing them another entirely. She managed to serve the volleyball directly onto Mike's head, not once, not twice but three separate times. Dude was a champion about it. He just rubbed his head a bit, smiled at Bella, and told her it was no big deal, although she apologized profusely every time. I was pretty sure she had only been supposed to hit someone once. Maybe it was my presence changing events? I desperately hoped not.

After the third time, Coach Clapp finally decided to put her somewhere she couldn't hurl the ball at someone.

As for myself, I wasn't clumsy like Bella, but I also wasn't especially athletic. I could hit the ball when I had to, and my height 5'7" -meant that I was often placed more to the front of the net. Hitting the ball hard enough to send it longer distances across the Gym, on the other hand, was not a strength of mine. I was slender, bordering on skinny, no matter what or how much I ate. My muscles were not at all defined. I had a touch of curve to my hips and waist but that was most of it. At least the Gym uniform was slightly oversized, to hide some of my skinnier parts.

Back home in Salem, we had been allowed to bring our own Gym clothes, as long as they were the same color as the uniforms. I had always brought baggy sweatpants and T-shirts. Here the uniform was a T-shirt and shorts. Most of the beginning of class, I had tried to pull the shorts longer down my thighs, but that made them slide down and reveal some of my stomach. I reluctantly admitted defeat and had to accept that this was the only time I showed this much of my skin.

At least the other girls weren't pointing and staring at the 'stick girl' like some used to do at home.

After school Bella announced that she was going grocery shopping and could drop me off at home first, but I refused. I needed some sketching materials.

"It's not that I don't trust you," I told her, as she woke the truck from its slumber. "But I'm pretty sure you wouldn't know the difference between sketching pencils and regular writing pencils."

Bella huffed, as she looked out the side mirror and watched the Cullens walk into the silver Volvo. Then she narrowed her eyes and her knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. She shook her head and turned to look at me again. "Fine. Just promise me not to get lost between the paint and the brushes while we're there."

I laughed and clutched my stomach. "Yes, M'am!" I saluted her after my laughter died.

Dinner that night had been uneventful, except for the part where Charlie told Bella and me that Mike Newton was a nice kid, Brittany Gray's mother owned a flower shop in Port Angeles and they had moved here six or seven years ago. He also vehemently defended the Cullens. All that gossip was nonsense. They were all well-behaved kids and their parents were also nothing but respectful to the community.

I even threw in that Edward had been very nice to me in English. Bella glowered at me when Charlie got up to watch TV again. I just shrugged and mimed 'wait' and 'pitchforks' as well as I could.

According to the book, Edward was supposed to return Monday. Each day that week he was away, my anxiety grew and Bella's disappeared. She seemed to smile more

and became relaxed. Especially after I mentioned the Book Club. Her eyes widened in wonder and an actual wide smile grazed her face. The next meeting was in two weeks and she had to read "Cather in the Rye". I was invited too, but declined. Art Club would be enough for me, with all that I would the next long time. hopefully have to oversee for

Most days that week, my mind was a nervous wreck. What if Edward decided never to come back? What if me being here, had thrown him off somehow? Maybe the fact that he almost had to kill four people instead of three was the last straw. How would I then get him and Bella together?

Because of this, I decided to copy down all my notes for my classes. Except for French, since the majority of students probably had Spanish - but everything else. Hopefully, he took the same classes as me. It was the only thing I could make myself do, to not go insane with the way my mind was jittering. A distraction from actually thinking of him.

He had to be lonely in Canada. Well.... As lonely as one could get when visiting another vampire coven. I couldn't even begin to understand the torture it must be, to be around couples all the time, while never finding that for yourself. And to always know what they were thinking about each other.

I shuddered.

Edward was probably far lonelier than I had thought about. Yet again, I surprised myself by forgetting these were people with emotions, fears, dreams...

Even the vampires. And especially Edward.

Giving him my copied notes on Monday would be good. An excuse to probe his mind. Or for him to probe yours...

I groaned and buried my face in my notes. The paper felt slightly wrinkly against my forehead. When he came back, I would give him the notes, and try to be as polite and

ignoring as possible. While guiding him towards Bella. Or at least do that with Bella.

The weekend came and went without much happening. Brittany and I texted every day, and Bella began reading "Catcher in the Rye" for Book Club. She also found some time to visit the local library on Saturday. She came back empty-handed though, complaining of the poor selection they had.

I was desperately trying to analyze that blasted Sonnet for English but ended up sketching in my new sketchbook instead. Every single drawing I did, was of Edward. Every. Damn. One.

As Bella and I entered school Monday morning, my sketchbook had quite a few torn pages and even more folds from dog ears and crinkled pages. I had not been the nicest towards it that weekend.

In Biology I was paired with Alice, as we looked at the out-of-order slides through microscopes and identified the different stages of mitosis. She was perfectly polite and nice during it all, but something seemed off about her throughout the whole class. Even so, we were the first pair to finish the lab. I tried not to notice that Alice was trying not to touch me, as we handed each other the slides.

I didn't recognize what was wrong before the last five minutes of the class. Her eyes seemed far away every time she stopped talking to me.

"Are you okay?" I quietly asked before I could stop myself.

Alice blinked a few times and turned her perfect, pixie-shaped head in my direction. She smiled, but her large round eyes were guarded. "Of course, I'm perfectly fine." She answered and gave a small, laugh that reminded me of bells chiming.

I laughed nervously, not knowing what else to do. "Go -good to know," I spoke and gave her a thumbs up. Internally I was smacking my head against the table. Again and again and again. Why is it so difficult to get words out when I'm near them?

The actual bell buzzed right then, and just like that, Alice had moved out of the room. A part of me was hoping, that she was looking into the future, as to see what Edward would experience with Bella.

Inside of my shoes, I crossed my toes.

Outside, snow was beginning to fall, and I felt the cold air on my cheeks when I walked out of class. I also stuck out my tongue to try and catch some of the falling flakes. I succeeded once and heard someone laugh to my right as I did a victory dance.

"Nice catch," Brittany told me, as she hooked her arm through mine.

I laughed and squeezed her arm with mine. "We didn't get snow in Salem for Christmas, so I'm allowed to be childish and happy!"

She snorted and shook her head at me, her coarse, coily hair hitting me in the face. Then we heard frantic screaming before turning to see Eric haul a snowball directly at Mike's back. Bella was standing next to him with a big frown between her brows.

A part of me wanted to understand why she disliked the cold so much. Why did she prefer the hot and humid air in Phoenix? Before I could finish my musings, however, Mike had grabbed a handful of snow and was now chasing after Eric.

Brittany and I were laughing loudly and I shortly locked eyes with Bella, before she shook her head and went on her way to Govenment.

Trig went faster than usual. The newly falling snow was the buzzing topic talked about during class. Mr. Varner - more than once had to silence everyone and remind them to work. But the excitement of the first snow of the year, future snowball fights, and building snowmen was too great to silence them for long. Even I had to smile at Eric, as he vowed revenge on Mike during lunch.

I had just finished hanging my fluffy, black winter jacket on the hooks inside the English classroom when I stopped dead in my tracks.

Edward Cullen was once again sitting in the seat next to mine.

His bronze hair was messier than I remembered, newly fallen - and now melting snow coated many of the strands. He wasn't looking at me, but rather out the window.

Instantly I relaxed and moved towards our table. He had come back! Twilight is back on track baby!

I flinched, for a moment forgetting that he couldn't read my mind. Then, pain flooded through my thigh. "Ow! Mother-"

"Are you alright?"

Rubbing my sore thigh, my eyes flew down to Edward. His eyes were the most fascinating combination of yellow, orange, and brown colors I had ever seen. Butterscotch, honey, and gemstones, all blended perfectly inside the colored parts of his eyes.

I blinked, realizing I had stared and not answered him. "Y -yeah!" My voice cracked slightly. "Just bumped into the corner of the table." My hand was still rubbing on the sore spot.

Edward's concerned look didn't disappear. "Are you sure? That looked like it hurt." He looked down at my hand still rubbing.

"I'm fine," I told him with a firmer voice this time, before grabbing the chair next to his to sit down. "Bella must be rubbing off on me." Finally, I was sitting in the seat.

Edward frowned. "What do you mean?"

My hand twitched beneath the table, as I fought the urge to slap myself across the face. "Bella trips and falls easily," I told him as I bent down to grab my things for class inside my bag. "It's been a while since we've seen each other before coming here, so I must be mirroring her or something." My hand was still inside my bag. Why couldn't I find that blasted English book?

"I guess that sounds plausible," Edward carefully said.

There! My hand finally got hold of the right book! "Score!" I whispered as I pulled out the book.

Edward chuckled. I almost smacked the book into my face as I quickly pulled it towards me. My cheeks felt warmer than a second ago. "You heard that?" I squeaked.

He leaned just the slightest bit closer to me, smirked, and whispered," I promise not to tell a soul."

My whole face was aflame. I was sure of it. My heart hammered inside my chest, trying to claw its way out no doubt. What did you answer to that? I couldn't even form a coherent sentence right now, so I just awkwardly laughed before turning towards the blackboard.

Mr. Mason got up from his seat and told us he was leaving for 5 minutes. "Work on your essays while I'm gone!" Then he was out the door.

Ugh... the essay.... I almost groaned out loud. I had completely forgotten about it. The sketching and copying homework had taken priority.

My eyes widened. The copied homework! My hands snatched up my bag again and fumbled through the soft layers, before retrieving the neatly packed notes I had written.

"I uh," I began as I handed Edward the stacks of paper. "I noticed you were gone last week, so I copied my notes from my classes for you," I had to look away as he grabbed the papers. "Not sure if you even have the same classes as me, but I figured most students have classes together," my right hand found my left arm and began squeezing through my green flannel. The fabric was softer than I was used to, thanks to Bella's laundry skills. I swallowed. "Are, you feeling better now?" I forced myself to look at him, hoping the question sounded innocent enough.

To say that he looked shocked was a bit of an understatement. His eyebrows were raised high before he frowned just slightly. Then he looked down at the notes. My cheeks flushed again. Could he even read my handwriting?

"Thank you," he said gently, before looking at me once more. His expression was unreadable. He wasn't smiling or frowning. Wasn't sad or angry. Guarded perhaps? "I'm fine now."

I laughed a bit to try and diffuse the tension. "Good to hear!" I said. I was still squeezing my arm. "If you're ever sick again, I can copy my notes, if you want?" Maybe I shouldn't have asked him before. Maybe I had revealed too much. He had to be suspicious of me now. I knew why he had gone, Bella would have talked to me and told me things. He must be thinking about that right now.

Crap.

Instantly Edward relaxed and also laughed. "I'd like that, thank you."

Nervous, I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. This was going to be the death of me.

After my failed attempts at analyzing the Sonnet by myself last week, having Edward there was a big improvement. He had the most colorful and poetic way of forming sentences. We were already halfway through analyzing it, when the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Mr. Mason had permitted us to work on the essay during the last 30 minutes of class.

"Thanks again for the notes," Edward said as he got up from his seat.

My heart began hammering faster in my chest. Stop that! "Anytime!" I replied, sure that my voice sounded squeakier than normal. "See you tomorrow?" I asked, a small part of me hoping he would smile at me again.

He did. "See you tomorrow." Then he was out the door.

Only then, did I bury my face under my arms on the table. "Ugh...."

Behind me, Brittany laughed. "He must really like you."

"No he doesn't," I muttered through my arms. Why was this so hard? I had to make him not like me, and guide him toward Bella. But I also knew that I was easier to talk to than her. My blood wasn't making him go crazy every time he was near me. Maybe denying everything would make it easier.

Brittany laughed again. "Keep telling yourself that girl."

U.S. History went slower than I wanted it to. Brittany kept sending me knowing glances, and I tried to dissuade her, but my cheeks kept betraying me by turning red. Why was this happening? I mean, of course, he's drop-dead gorgeous with his boyishly chiseled face, and wonderfully beautiful eyes - but that doesn't mean I like him!

Right?

I almost groaned out loud.

As the lunch bell finally rang, I was nervous again. Bella would see Edward and her newfound joy bubble would burst. She would no doubt be looking to me for strength and guidance.

Edward must also be wondering why I was being so nice to him. I had seen him give Bella the death stare in the office last week. Naturally, he would assume Bella had told me everything. That I would side with her and give him the silent treatment.

Maybe I should have done that, instead of giving him the copied homework. Crap.

I found Bella at Mike's table with Jessica and joined them, sitting down next to Angela. She was the nicest out of all Jessica's friends, but also the most shy. I found I enjoyed that more than I had anticipated. I also wondered why Bella wasn't acting nervous yet. Had she not seen Edward sit with the Cullens yet?

At the other end of the cafeteria, Brittany was looking intently at me, as she sat next to Jerry, Erica, and Emily. I had told her, I would be sitting with Bella today. Her constant wiggling brows and suggestive words about Edward had been too much by the end of class, but I hadn't mentioned that to her. I'd promised her, that I would sit with her tomorrow though.

As I was quietly talking to Angela about the English sonnets, my gaze wandered and finally landed on the Cullens. They were in the middle of their playful 'normal human' act. Emmett was leaning forward and shaking his snow-filled hair at the girls, covering all his siblings in the melting slush. They were all trying to cover their faces with their hands and yelling or laughing. It looked too perfect too scripted.

But also fun.

Edward was smiling brightly, the most upturned I had seen his mouth. White teeth were showing, even though I couldn't clearly see them. Part of me hoped he would smile like that more often. Let it reach his eyes.

Clang!

I looked to my left, seeing Bella staring at the Cullens too. Her apple had fallen onto her tray. I found her hand beneath the table and squeezea. Right then, Edwara chose to look at us. I was sure his gaze was curious, but I forced myself to look at Bella and squeeze her hand again. Finally, she turned to look at me.

Eric asked if Bella was alright, to which she told him she was. Thankfully, no one else at the table seemed to notice that we weren't joining their conversation.

Bella's eyes were wide and anxious, and her eyebrows were raised. Her mouth had turned down, almost frowning. I knew I couldn't risk talking out loud, so I mouthed to her instead. "No pitchforks. His side, remember?"

She swallowed at that, not at all reassured. She was probably scared that Edward would glare at her again.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you."

Both Bella and I were startled by Jessica's words. My eyes darted towards him against my will. He looked curious and friendly.

"He doesn't look angry, does he?" Bella cautiously asked. She was pressing into my side, no doubt covering and trying to hide.

"No," Jessica asked, sounding confused. "Should he?"

Bella tensed. I squeezed her hand again. We had not let each other go yet.

"Not at all," I told Jessica. "Just a big misunderstanding that's all."

Jessica frowned at us, before looking towards the Cullens again. "He's still staring."

"Don't look at him!" Bella hissed, as she removed her hand from mine, to hide her face in her arms on the table. I had to laugh and so did Jessica.

My eyes found Edward again, against my better judgment. He wasn't looking unfriendly or angry. But he wasn't looking curious anymore. He was frowning slightly, looking at me and not Bella.

Crap. Had I said too much again? I really needed to think before I spoke. Even if it would take all of my self-control.

I shouldn't have elaborated. I should have kept my mouth shut. Why was this so hard?

"Dang it stopped snowing," Mike suddenly said, saving me from my thoughts. "I was looking forward to the epic battle of the blizzard." I took the opportunity to look outside, instead of at Edward. The windows were slowly being coated in raindrops, instead of melting ice.

Jessica mirrored Mike's disappointment. Bella still buried her face in her arms, although I swore I could see a small smile as I looked at her cheek. I hoped her Biology class would go well. Hopefully without my interference everything would run smoothly.

French was slow again. I wondered if it would always do that when Bella and Edward were together. Back home, it had always been one of my best classes. Here though, it would probably not be. Not if I would be distracted all the time.

Miss Anderson was thankfully patient with me when she called on me, and I had to get her to repeat her question every time. This resulted in her inevitably asking me to stay behind after class. She told me that I had to focus instead of doodling in my notebook. She could tell I knew the answers when she asked, but being distracted all the time would not get me good grades. I agreed with her and promised to try and do better. Which ultimately made me late for Gym. Luckily Miss Anderson had written a note for Coach, so I wouldn't get written up for being tardy. This also meant that I couldn't talk to Bella about Biology until we were in the truck. All through the class my legs were bouncing up and down, my fingers were twitching and my body refused to stay still. It was good for my team since we scored many points due to my constant moving.

Bella's team, on the other hand, were not faring well. Twice now, Bella had hurled the ball at other students without meaning to. They had also not scored a single point yet.

"Way to go Henderson!" Mike exclaimed, smiling as he ran past me and raised his hand for me to high-five. I indulged him.

"Thanks," I answered but didn't smile. My gaze found Bella's on the other team. She looked so miserable and uncomfortable. My chest tightened. If only I could go over

there and comfort her for a bit....

Thankfully, no other incidents happened, and soon after, Bella and I walked towards the truck. As we got in, I slowly inhaled, trying to gather as much courage as possible. "How was Biology?"

Bella almost fell out of the truck as she slipped on one of the steps. I was already inside and went to grab her hand, but she had steadied herself. She got in, closed the door, and put on her seatbelt.

"It was.... Interesting." She told me but didn't elaborate.

I smiled. "Interesting?"

She glared at me, as she turned the keys in the ignition, waking the roaring truck to life. Then she rolled her eyes. "He was... friendly. Not mad. Asked me a lot of questions," she told me, as she began to drive out of the parking lot. "Knew my name." She finished and turned her eyes to me.

I laughed. "I'd be surprised if he didn't. You are new to school."

"He called me Bella."

Immediately I sobered. Oh. Of course. She would make the connection that I might have told him in English. I scratched the back of my head. "I might have let that slip during English class." Why did I feel guilty about this?

"Of course you did," she frowned. "Since he's so nice to you."

Now I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I didn't get an answer, as Bella almost drove into another car. A few parking slots ahead of us, the Cullens were getting into the silver Volvo. Edward looked like he was smiling or laughing, as he slipped into the driver's side.

Of course, he had to hear this conversation! My cheeks were instantly aflame.

We didn't talk the rest of the way home, Bella

Not answering my question, and me not wanting to ask any more of her.