8 CH 8

She resumed the movie and we watched the rest of the playlist in comfortable silence, me having progressively more of the snacks I prepared than her.

She also got more comfortable around me, laughing unrestrained when she wanted, while pointing out various inconsistencies and faults in the movie along with me.

I had to admit that I was liking this side of Edythe even more than the past few days I had spent with her. I could sense that something had changed and improved between us, though I didn't know what it was, I was happy it had.

-x-x-x-x-x-

We were finally going to school again now, after my time of 'rest and recovery' had ended. Edythe admitted that she kind of wanted us to bunk a few more days and enjoy with me.

I took Edythe down to the underground garage, I had to take a car from my brother's collection, since mine had 'died' for all intents and purposes. I asked Edythe to choose one she liked and pressed a button on the garage wall that lighted up the garage and revealed all the cars.

For the first time I saw her shell shocked, well even I was when I first saw the beauties, and that was when I had known what they were beforehand.

Edythe just looked on in silence, her eyes moving from a Chevrolet Camaro SS, to a BMW M6 Convertible, a Dodge Viper Srt-10 ACR , a Gumpert Apollo S, Two Jaguar XKR (One Was Customized For Racing), and a Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, which frankly had me drooling when I first saw it.

Other cars in the back included a Mercedes-Benz SI 65 AMG, a Porsche 911 GT2 RS, and a Pagani Zonda Cinque. Edythe walked around the cars like a ghost, her hands hovering an inch above their surface, as if afraid of damaging them.

"Oh my god, why are these beauties locked up in here?" Edythe called out in awe, shock and horror. She walked up to the Gumpert and hovered her hand barely above the hood.

I could see that she really wanted to drive it, and chuckled at her reaction. When she glared at me, I raised my hand in surrender and explained.

"Well, as you can see my brother was kind of an enthusiast, with more money than he knew what to do with. So, he just bought whichever car he liked, going as far as to acquire some that were not legal for streets or not available for public. This is the collection he left for me, there were others that he left for some of his friends who were similar enthusiasts."

"And you don't drive them?" Edythe said in horror while I chuckled at her expression.

"Well, I had another beauty with me, which got totaled in that accident. I had customized her with my own hands, so i was kind of partial to her. Anyway, it is time to move on, so I need to choose one of these. Go on, pick one of these, I will let you drive one of these to school with me."

"Oh, you are the best!!" Edythe came like a whirlwind and hugged me, a bit harder than I expected.

I also thought that my eyes must have been playing tricks on me, because she seemed to have moved faster than I could see with my eyes. But I was distracted out of my thoughts as Edythe gave me a kiss on my cheek, before prancing up to the Gumpert Apollo S.

"Let's take this one!" she said excitedly.

"Sure, the keys are right there on the wall there, in that display box." I said while going back to the house "you bring it out front while I go check up the house one last time and lockup."

When I was about to finish locking up, I could hear impatient horns from the front of the house. I looked withy a chuckle to see Edythe impatient gesturing me to come.

I chuckled mirthfully and jogged up to her. I slid into the car and threw the bag in the backseat, before putting on the belt. Immediately, Edythe took of like an arrow from a bow, the click of my belt and her pressing of the pedal almost simultaneous.

As she zoomed on the road expertly, neatly navigating the road despite the slight icy coating it had now, I could only look on in amazement. I probably knew the car inside out better than her, but she sure was a much better driver.

We reached the school in minutes, thanks to her expert driving. Apparently she was still in the mood to show off, as she executed a perfect drift parking, aligning neatly in a safe distance away from a silver Volvo.

"Color me impressed, that was terrifying yet exciting." I gave a thumbs up to her "By the way, is that not your brother's car? What if we had dented it?"

"Well, what better sacrifice than someone from your own family?" she gave a devilish smile in response. I chuckled as I unlocked the belt and got out. A few of the boys around were already admiring the car, giving us looks of jealousy and envy.

"Seems you are drawing some attention to yourself Edythe" I said with a pointed look at the crowd.

"Oh, I am used to it by now" Edythe said with a carefree wave of her hand "its only more blatant now because of the stunt my brother pulled a few days ago."

"Why? What did he do?" I asked curiously.

"He saved Bella Swan from being crushed to death by an out of control van while not getting a scratch on himself." I could sense some exasperation in her voice, as if she was mad at him for doing it.

"Is it not a good thing he did that? And is Bella okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, she is okay. Why, do you have a crush on her too or something?" Edythe asked casually but seemed to be waiting for an answer pointedly.

"No its not like that. You and her are the only two friends I managed to make after all, of course I would be worried." I said defensively.

"Oh, sorry then. But you can relax, she barely had a scratch. It was the driver of the van, Tyler Crowley who was in a much worse shape." she explained "By the way, would you mind if I looked at you routine for a moment?"

"Sure," I said "Can I ask why?"

"Well, would you be weirded out if I was to somehow be able to change my classes to suit your routine?" She asked.

I pretended to think "Well, it is pretty sudden, but I have a feeling the right answer is that I don't mind?"

"And you would be right!" She gave a bright smile as her hand gently grazed mine, placing the routine back in my hand at the same time "I will go on ahead then, I apparently have some people to talk to." she pranced away with a smile.

I smiled at her antics as I hoisted my bag and walked towards the class. My first class was Trigonometry and I saw Bella, who was sitting with the girl named Jessica Stanley, who had for all intents and purposes adopted Bella into her clique.

Seeing me enter, Bella's eyes widened marginally as she gave me a small wave with a smile. I smiled and gave her a nod, while noticing Jessica who was suddenly looking at me with interest after seeing Bella waving at me.

I took a seat at the bench near the back of the class while waiting for the class to start. I caught Bella looking back at me while mouthing a question.

It took me a few seconds to realize that she was asking if I was alright. I smiled and gave a thumbs up followed with an okay sign to indicate I was fine.

She gave a small nod and turned back to the front, just in time to see Mr. Varner entering while being followed by Edythe, who looked in my direction and gave a quick grin before schooling her expression.

"Due to some personal reason, Miss Cullen has requested some changes to her class routine. As she passed the preliminary test put forth by the Principal, making her more than qualified to directly pass this year's exams, her request to change the placement of few of her classes has been allowed."

"She will now be joining us for our class and I expect all of you to take an inspiration out of this and start working on your own academics seriously." He said with stern expression to the whole class, momentarily giving a pointed look to Bella who shrunk in her seat.