Chapter:17
"Mom remarried two years ago. I would expect that you would move on as well. Come, on, I want to meet her, for real."
"Sure, fine. We'll go to that Italian place in town." He resumed cleaning the lens fervently, while a small smile played on his lips. I suppose he was happy that it wouldn't be as hard of a transition for me, accepting Maggie into my life. I mean realistically, I couldn't blame either of my parents for their separation any more than I could blame them for finding suitable mates years later. They had gotten married too young, because Mom was pregnant and stayed together far longer than they should have for my sake. I wanted them both to be happy even if it was without each other.
We were interrupted by Alice's rapping on the front door and I kissed him on the cheek as I grabbed my bag. She frowned when she saw my outfit and made a whiny sound.
"Do you want to borrow the dress, Ali?" I asked, opening the car door. She smiled and shrugged her obvious answer being yes. "You can borrow whatever you want whenever you want it. My closet is your closet. I mean it." She beamed in her seat, and it made me giddy knowing I'd made her happy.
The sound of a car caught my attention as a silver BMW sped down the street from the Cullen home. It slowed at the foot of my driveway and I watched Jasper lean over to the driver's side window. Alice chatted cheerily with him while I made brief eye contact with Edward. He smiled gently, looking down at his hands and I said, "Morning."
"Morning," he repeated shyly. Though he was wearing the biker jacket again and a steel gray shirt underneath, he looked moderately threatening enough to intimidate. But the shyness in his voice was soft and childlike and I immediately felt something in my chest flutter.
What. The. Hell. Was. That?
They sped off down the road. Alice and I stared, fascinated at their vanishing image.
"You're right Al, Edward is definitely gaspy."
Rose and I chatted incessantly for the first ten minutes of class while Mike Newton tried to worm his way into our conversation. He had introduced himself to me, boldly and assumingly throwing his arm around my shoulders as I walked into third period. Rose practically flicked his forehead in effort to extricate his arm from my body, telling him I would need to be quarantined. He had a certain charm, and he wasn't without decent looks, but I found no interest in him.
Though I had always considered English as not only my best subject, but my favorite, I found myself really looking forward to fourth period. I was caught up with the reading assignments, and I was admittedly eager to see Edward again.
He was already in class by the time I arrived, slouched in the chair. He was reading an email on his phone, trying to be discreet about it by hiding it under the desk. Every few seconds he'd laugh quietly- a sound which tickled my insides. Once the teacher settled the class, he slipped the phone into his back pocket, never looking over at me.
It went without saying that I was thoroughly disappointed.
It was the same during fifth and sixth period as well. Edward never made eye contact with me, nor did he say hello, even at our Bio table where we were given a quiet reading assignment. He sat two feet away and couldn't manage to utter a simple greeting.
In study hall, I'd signed in, and looked around for an empty table. The main area was crowded and pretty damn noisy for a library. Walking through the doors to the reference section, there were two unoccupied tables in a really small enclosed area with a giant window overlooking the courtyard. I sat, peering out the window and pulled out my books.
I was immersed in history homework when a bag thumping on the table startled me. When I looked up his eyes struck me. They were a pale gray today, not at all green. "You're sitting at my table." He said flatly, causing my involuntary smile to fade into a frown.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know," I replied meekly, looking around at the empty table next to us. "I'll sit over there, I guess," I said quickly, gathering my things.
"No, stay. It's fine," he said quietly. His mouth moved to say something else, but he closed it and shook his head. He pulled out the chair with a grating sound as it scraped the floor and slid down into the seat.
"Thanks," I muttered quietly, insulted and even a little hurt. I thought at least after yesterday in the tree house, we could have considered each other friends, or at the very least acquaintances. But he seemed to not want much to do with me.
I continued with my homework, sneaking quick glances at him across the table.
Occasionally his eyes would meet mine, but he would quickly divert his gaze elsewhere. Toward the end of the period, Jessica Stanley, Lauren Mallory and Makenna Santiago plopped themselves down at the table. I sighed, steeling myself for their presences and the reputation I had heard they earned in the past few years.
"Hey, Bella. Nice to have you back in town," Lauren said, as she propped her chin in her palm, her voice thick with insincerity. Edward rolled his eyes in annoyance across the table as he continued writing in his notebook.
"Hey guys... how are you?" I replied, feeling instinctively territorial. I hadn't spoken to them in years, and the last I remembered was that they had begun to drift away from our crowd. I knew Lauren and Jessica from elementary school, but I'd never met Makenna until Rose had pointed her out in the cafeteria. She was petite, with dark curly hair and really pretty hazel eyes.
"Hey, Edward. I like your jacket. It's very James Dean," Makenna said, reaching across the space between them to touch the leather. His eyes widened as they followed the path of her hand. He inhaled deeply and she retracted her arm back to her side, clearly sensing that her touch was not welcome on his property. The silent exchange made everyone uncomfortable.
"Thanks," he muttered, staring directly at me. I took it as a look that meant that if I wanted to sit at his table, then that included myself and excluded present company.
"Um, so listen...we were wondering if you wanted to hang out with us this weekend?" Jessica asked, moving closer to me. The Lauren inched closer as well and I leaned back in my chair increasing the space between us. It was like those documentaries on the Discovery Channel with the hyenas going in for the kill.
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