Chapter 7

Bella's P.O.V.

I waited for Edward at the steps the next day. He never showed.

For a few days I kept waiting.

Charlie had started to get worried. Every day I came home and my clothes were soaked through from standing out in the rain.

Then days turned to weeks.

I asked everyone I could but no one had any answers. The teachers said that he was ill, that'd he'd caught something infectious and had to stay at home.

They were lying.

Edward was avoiding me.

He made me feel helpless and stupid. I tried to just stop thinking about him but I couldn't. His red lips and piercing eyes; I saw them in my dreams every night.

I didn't want to obsess over over a boy that wanted nothing to do with me. There was just something about him. Something that sucked me into his world and wouldn't let go.

I needed to know.

'What have I done to make you hate me?'

I had friends at school. There was Jessica and Angela and Mike and Eric. Then there was Alexander.

Every time I saw him my heart started to race. He made me behave like an idiot, barely able to string a sentence together.

It had taken me weeks to act normally around him.

But he wasn't Edward.

Distracted I walked into biology. Immediately that day started to replay in my mind.

The second I had stepped foot in the classroom Edward had looked ready to throw up. It didn't make any sense.

I had checked everything, I didn't smell.

He didn't even give me a chance to say a word before he chose to hate me.

I hadn't seen Edward for weeks. Maybe I never would again.

And then...he was just there.

He was sat in his seat. Still impossibly pale. He hadn't changed.

"Hello."

I gave a small nod in response.

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last time. I'm Edward Cullen. You're Bella, the new girl."

His voice was gentle and attractive. He didn't try to impress me or make me laugh like Mike or Eric.

But that didn't matter.

Did he see me as some kind of joke? Did he think that if he was nice to me, after disappearing for weeks, that I'd forget what he'd done

"Yes."

"Onion root tip cells, they're on your slides right now. You're going to look for the phases of mitosis and the first partners to get it right are going to win..."

The teacher paused dramatically, "The golden onion!"

The class booed.

"Ladies first." Edward said, pushing the microscope across the table to me.

I didn't want to talk to him like this, as if we were friends, "You were gone."

He smiled awkwardly, "Yeah, I was out of town for a couple weeks. Personal reasons."

I pushed the microscope back towards him, "Prophase."

"Do you mind if I look?"

Part of me desperately wanted to answer yes, I did mind. I minded that he'd suddenly vanished and now all of a sudden he wanted to be my best friend.

Instead I just shrugged.

Behind the anger and confusion; I still wanted to get to know him. If I told him, if I hurt him, I might never be able to talk to him.

I hated myself for thinking it but I couldn't live like that.

"It's prophase."

'I already told you that.' I thought.

"Like I said."

The comment made the corners of his lips curl upwards, showing his perfectly white teeth. That was how he was, perfect. Or his face was at least.

Pausing for a moment he jotted down our notes in his book.

"So are you enjoying the rain?"

I couldn't help but scoff at his question.

"What?" He asked softly.

He wasn't angered by my response. No, he was enjoying this.

"You're asking me about the weather?"

I could see the realisation dawn on his face.

The thought made me hate myself even more, but I couldn't help thinking that his stunned face was kind of cute.

"Yeah. I guess I am." His tone reflected his surprise at his own behaviour.

"Well, I don't really like the rain. Any cold, wet thing, I don't really..." I trailed

Edward smiled and his lips pursed. As if he knew something I didn't.

"What?"

He shook his head and laughed, "Nothing."

'He's weird.'

"Anaphase." He said, looking up from the microscope.

"You mind if I check?"

The parallel of the situation was obvious and Edward clearly noticed. His knowing smile proved it.

"Sure."

He was smart. I could tell. Smart and gorgeous.

"Anaphase." I repeated.

"Like I said."

The joke was stupid and obvious.

Edward Cullen. The, Edward Cullen. The idol of countless girls, Jessica and Angela included, the icy prince of Forks High school, was making a dumb joke.

"So if you hate the rain and the cold so much, why'd you move to the wettest place in the continental US?"

Scoffing I answered, "It's complicated."

"I'm sure I can keep up."

He'd done it. Somehow, some way, he'd made all my anger and frustration wash away.

His golden eyes stared at me.

"My mom remarried."

He nodded slightly, "And you don't like the guy?"

"No, Phil's great." I said without thinking, accidentally telling him even more about my life.

"It's metaphase, you want to check it?"

"No, I believe you."

The bell rang.

"Why didn't you live with your mum and Phil?" Edward asked. I hadn't even realised we were walking together through the corridor until he spoke.

"Well Phil's a minor league baseball player, he travels a lot. My mom stayed home with me and I could tell it made her unhappy so I figured I'd stay with my dad for a bit."

"And now you're unhappy?"

The question was sudden.

It made me think of the diner last night with Charlie. There was my untouched childhood bedroom and the constant rain and cold. This place, it was the exact opposite of Arizona.

"No." I answered.

I wasn't. I wasn't unhappy. It was strange, maybe I should've been. But I wasn't.

"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to figure you out. You're very difficult for me to read."

"Uh-" I started to respond. Then something distracted me.

"Hey did you get contacts?"

All of a sudden Edward looked uncomfortable for some reason, "No."

"Your eyes. They were black last time I saw you, now they're like golden brown."

"It's the fluorescents."

That wasn't true. I knew it wasn't true.

"But-"

I didn't get to finish my sentence.

Edward's figure retreated down the corridor in my vision. He had left.