Chapter 44 - "Edward, You Don't Scare Me!"

A few minutes later, Edward starts muttering something low.

"Huh?" Ethan says, without thinking.

"What's your problem, Ethan?". Edward asked, irritated, gripping the steering wheel with his hands.

"What's it like?". Ethan retorted, imposing himself.

"Don't play dumb! I know what you are! I just want to know why you're messing with my family. Edward replied, raising his voice.

"Messing with your family? Come on, Edward! I don't want any part of your family. And by the way, what do you know I am?" Ethan asked, irritated.

"Do you really think we don't know your kind? You held that fucking car up with one hand!". Edward replied, irritated. "And you still kept those fucking men away from a little girl, with just your mind!". Edward added.

"I already explained that I didn't do that shit! In fact, you held the fucking car with one arm and didn't even get hurt! Do you really want to talk about it?". Ethan retorted, not taking his eyes off Edward.

Edward moved his head to the side, looking away. He held himself still for a few seconds, just controlling his own breathing, while Ethan saw no problem in continuing to stare at him.

"Man, I don't know what you want, but stop messing with Alice! She's not what she seems, and you're putting yourself in danger with her!". Edward replied, taking a deep breath, trying to be empathetic.

"Putting me in danger?" Ethan asked. He wondered if Edward was referring to Alice being a vampire, or if there was something more to this story.

"Just...stay away, okay? And I'll leave you alone. We don't talk about it anymore!". Edward said, pulling the car into the school parking lot.

"You're underestimating me too much, Edward!". Ethan said, getting out of the car.

"What's up?" Edward asked, walking quickly toward Ethan. "I'm just asking you to stay out of it!". Edward said, trying to be understanding.

"I won't!". Ethan said, staring at Edward.

They turned around and saw Alice, looking with a happy smile at Ethan.

"... But I'm not going to stop Alice from getting close to me!". Ethan added, with a wry smile on his face.

Edward glared at him angrily, stewing his chest and moving on Ethan, who just stood there staring at him.

"You're not going to do anything to me, Edward! You can't! It would ruin your family's reputation, wouldn't it?" Ethan said, watching Edward stop in front of him, looking away. "If you're that smart, you wouldn't do something stupid like that just because you're a little pissed off. Ethan added with a sadistic smile.

Edward looked around to see Bella staring at him, confused as to why he was messing with Ethan. He postured, trying to disguise himself, and went on his way, dodging Ethan.

Ethan just turned toward the entrance and started walking. It no longer made sense for him to totally hide his powers from the Cullens. They already knew that Ethan was different, and Ethan was already starting to get strong enough to protect himself. His powers were evolving faster and faster. It was only a matter of time before Ethan was able to kill someone.

Then Bella came up beside Ethan.

"What was that all about? What do you have with Edward?" She asked, puzzled.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ethan replied, playing dumb.

"Don't be silly! You barely spoke to the Cullens, and now you're hitching rides with them and having fights with Edward. What's going on?" Bella insisted.

"Nothing, Bella! In fact, I don't owe you any explanations, young lady. Ethan stared at Bella, speaking with a tone of irony.

"We're friends, so you owe me explanations!". Bella said, clenching her eyelashes.

Ethan looked at her and smiled, but continued on his way, ignoring Bella's presence, who continued to follow him around and ask questions.

Classes started and so the day passed without anything very interesting. Until the halftime bell rings.

Ethan arrived at recess and saw his classmates sitting at a different table today, near the one where the food was being served.

"Hi!" Eric said, looking at Bella and ignoring Ethan's presence. "La Push, cat. Are you going?" He asked.

"What's that?". Ethan asked, biting into an apple.

"La Push beach, near the reservation. We're going tomorrow!". Mike replied while eating a potato French fry snack.

"Yeah, the whole gang's going!". Jessica added, looking at Ethan, hoping he was going too. Jessica seemed to still have hopes that Ethan would like her again, but Ethan was sure he wanted to keep his distance for her sake.

"That's it! I don't just surf the internet!". Eric said, getting up from the table and making a strange movement with his hands, as if he were surfing on air.

"Eric, you stood once! On a Styrofoam board!". Jessica said, laughing at him.

"We can see the whales too. Come with us!". Angela said, inviting the two of them to join in.

"La Push, cat! It's... La Push!". Eric said, trying to sound cool, but it was pretty weird how he was acting.

"We are, right, Isabella Swan?". Ethan nudged Bella, jokingly.

"I will if you stop calling me that!". Bella said, nudging Ethan back.

Ethan sat down to eat with them while Bella went to serve herself.

"Hey, guys! Look who's going to talk to Bella!". Mike said, pointing toward the girl.

Then Ethan saw Edward approaching Bella.

"I saw them talking on the sidewalk. I wonder if they are going out." Jessica said, curious.

"Probably their parents must be close since Bella's dad is the police captain and Edward's dad is the head doctor!" Angela said, fixing her glasses to see better.

"Oh, I can't believe I missed my chances with Bella...". Eric said, annoyed.

"Wait, you were still considering that you had a chance with her?". Tyler said, laughing.

"She said she was going to travel on the day of the ball. She didn't turn me down". Eric said, irritated.

"Come on, man! Do you really think she would say that if she wanted to go? Of course, she dumped you!". Tyler said, laughing even harder.

"No, no! Eric's right!" Ethan said, causing everyone to look at them in confusion. "Let's bet. If Bella shows up at the dance, but with another guy, Eric owes each of us 100 bucks!". Ethan said, opening a can of soda.

"What? But it's a lot! What if I win?". Eric asked.

"Then we'll each give you 100 bucks!". Ethan said, taking a sip of his soda.

"I want in!" Tyler said, laughing.

"Me too!" Mike said, raising his hand excitedly.

"Think you can win a lot of money! At least 300 bucks!". Ethan said, already knowing the outcome of the bet.

Eric stared at them for a while and said:

"Okay! I still have a chance to make it. She just can't show up with anyone! It'll be too easy!". Eric replied, laughing, while Ethan held his laughter in his throat, lest he ends up spitting on the table.

They turned their attention back to Edward and Bella.

"Everyone's going to the beach. Come! And... Make out!" Bella said, stammering.

"To which beach?". Edward asked, curious. He then looked toward the table and faced Ethan, who was looking at him with a neutral expression.

"La Push!" Bella said hopefully.

"Yeah, I don't know! I..." Edward said, still staring at Ethan, but turning his gaze toward Bella.

"Is there something wrong with that beach?". Bella asked, pressing the issue.

"It's too crowded!". Edward said, walking out of Bella's way and back to his family's table.

Bella got a sad expression and walked towards Ethan's table.

"What were you talking to Edward Cullen about?". Jessica asked, teasing Bella.

"I tried to call him to come with us, but he doesn't seem to like the beach!". Bella replied, saddened.

"Oh, at least you tried! That was nice of you!". Angela said, trying to comfort her friend.

"You can call him to go to the movies or something!". Ethan said, staring at Eric, with a sadistic smile.

"A movie? That's bullshit! That's old man stuff! Don't call him to the movies!". Eric said, trying to keep Bella and Edward from getting any closer.

The break ended, and the students went to their respective classrooms.

After a few minutes, Ethan left his classroom to go to the bathroom and coincidentally ran into Alice in the middle of the way, near the stairs.

"Hi, Ethan!" Alice said, smiling.

Ethan moved closer to give her a kiss but saw Jasper coming out of his classroom.

Ethan pulled Alice by the arm and ran downstairs with her, hiding under the stairs that led to the second floor.

"What?" Alice's eyes widened, startled.

Then Ethan covered Alice's mouth with his hand until they heard the men's room door open.

"Jasper!" Ethan said, smiling, with his hand on Alice's waist.

He pulled her close and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, causing Alice to shiver.

"I need to go! Good class, baby!" Ethan said, looking both ways to make sure there were no relatives or inspectors in the hallway, and headed toward his classroom.

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