CHAPTER NINE
ɪɴᴠɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ
For most of the early morning, I'd debated staying home.
Only a few days after the accident in the car park, Bella insisted she was still going into school despite the fact she'd been told numerous times she needed to rest. Already she was the centre of attention, well wishes being sent to her behalf through our table at lunch by people who had never even spoke to her. Tyler wasn't in either, and he'd gotten off severely worse, thanks to Bella's saviour.
Even after a few days in which things had settled down, I'd still not been able to get over the fact that if Edward hadn't jumped in time, Bella could have been crushed. My hesitation scarred me- plaguing me with guilt throughout the long days and nights.
And even though I'd ran, I'd been seconds too late. And Edward had seen me moments after I'd appeared.
There was no possible way he could think I was normal now.
For the rest of the week, I'd agreed to let Bella give me a lift to and from school, on the terms that she definitely did not want to walk in on her own- especially since I'd told her of the attention she'd been getting. We both prayed it would die down once she attended classes again: her because she hated the numerous eyes on her, and I, because I knew that as long as the buzz still remained, Edward would forever be reminded of the fact that'd I'd been there.
"Are you sure you want to go in today?"
I sat in the passenger seat, legs tucked beneath me, bag resting against the dashboard. Her car smelled of oil and bleach. Bella scoffed.
"If I spend even another hour in that house, I think I'll go crazy," she shook her head, whispering, "I think I already am... I can't stop thinking about it."
"I suppose school is a good distraction. Though I'd happily take all the time off I could get."
Bella laughed. "Did I miss anything?"
"Besides the obsession that's arisen with this accident?" I said. Bella scowled. "No not much. We've moved on to Jane Austen in English."
She frowned noticeably.
We drove the rest of the way to school in silence, with me watching the road ahead as she turned corners cautiously. I was surprised she even felt comfortable getting in her truck, given that she'd almost been killed by a van days ago, but she seemed content enough, hands loosely wrapped around the wheel.
I watched out of the window, trees rolling steadily by from each angle, a green haze covering my eyes until we met the greyness of the car park. Her truck stuttered smoothly to a stop. Bella held no hesitation as she hopped from the seat and met me at the other side to walk up to the main building where we had English. Bella knew she would get greeting from the minute she stepped into the school corridors, and yet she was obviously overwhelmed by the time we stepped into our first classroom, eyes heavy with the annoyance of well wishes.
"We've only got three hours left, then home," I said, watching as Bella slumped down into her chair at lunch.
"I don't think I can survive that," she groaned. "It's every lesson."
At that moment, we could both feel the pressure of their eyes looking our way, so much heavier than that of those who glanced and chattered as we passed in the hallway. This stare was meaningful, curious, threatening and almost wary, in a way. So careful in the way that the observed us.
What if they knew?
The Cullens looked so intimidating, so intense. All except Alice, the only vampire I'd ever seen that could look so harmless, even when scowling- though I knew enough to restrain from underestimating. Especially when her siblings had scowls like thunder. I had no doubt that there was a biscuits bite behind her smile.
She blinked my way, as if she'd known I was thinking of her. What if she did know that? Each mechanical and forced movement- the steady rise and fall of her chest, the flutter of her eyelashes- looked so real, so natural, as if she'd faked it so many times it had become authentic. I wondered if she saw the same when she looked at me. Or if she saw the stutter of my blink and the missing inhale of breath sometimes and suspected what I was- and questioned why I was neither a normal human nor vampire.
I glanced away quickly, looking toward Bella who now stared at Edward, her face twisted as if trying to work something out.
"Has Tyler hunted you down yet?"
I'd acted as a sort of body guard all day.
She nodded. "He managed to get to me in between English and trig."
"Still adamant about making amends too?"
"Now more than ever."
"You do know that he'll use it as an excuse want to go to Spring dance with you?" I said.
The spring dance was girl's choice, hosted on the first Tuesday of March, two weeks away. And despite the fact that it would be our decision who to go with, it didn't stop a feeling of dread building as we thought of it. There was even more pressure for us to ask the boys.
"Are we talking about Spring dance?" Jessica butted in, leaning across the table next to Angela. Mike hadn't arrived with Tyler and Eric yet and her confidence in the matter had rocketed because of that. "Hey, Bella, you don't mind that I'm going to ask Mike, do you? You weren't planning on asking him?"
She cringed. "No, Jess. I'm not going."
Neither of us were.
"It'll be really fun."
Though Jessica attempted to convince us to come, the effort wasn't really there. And even if her attempt hadn't been halfhearted, it wasn't likely that either me or Bella would be going.
"You have fun with Mike," Bella encouraged, shooting a small smile. "I'm going to Seattle that weekend anyway."
Bella jumped as Eric's head popped between us, his chin moving to muzzle against my shoulder. I flinched out of his way, turning my head as he pulled up a chair. He leaned in.
"Are you going to ask me to the spring dance?" He whispered.
I smiled, leaning back in. "Not a chance."
And although I'd refused him, Eric turned around to Mike and barked out a sudden laugh at something his friend had said.
The biology lesson had started off weird enough, with Mike cornering Bella by her desk to ask her out to the Spring dance. He'd come back looking rather depressed, and I'd guessed, or rather knew, that she'd turned him down. For the first good bit of the lesson, he'd sulked, head down against the desk. The only time he'd looked up again was to glance her way, only to frown again, seeing her staring intently toward Edward, the strange boy looking back with equal intensity.
That had gained my attention also. He'd done everything to avoid her. I wasn't surprised either, given all that had happened with him saving her, and Bella's adamancy over what he'd done was not going to change.
The bell rang and I felt my closed book shift from beneath my elbow as Mike collected his own textbook from beneath mine, equally unused. I was ashamed to say that I'd listened in keenly as Edward opened his mouth to speak.
"Bella?" She flinched at the sound of her name falling from his lips.
"What? Are you speaking to me again?" She snapped.
"No, not really."
"Then what do you want, Edward?"
She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. The beating of her heart rose, whether in anger or as reaction to the fact that he'd even spoken.
"I'm sorry. I'm being very rude. I know. But it's better this way, really."
I was slow as I packed my bag, making sure to force everything down as if I didn't have the strength to do it. Beside me, Mike's eyes were trained on Bella and Cullen, his feet shuffling nervously with his folder hanging from two fingers by his waist.
"I don't know what you mean."
"It's better if we're not friends. Trust me," he explained and her eyes narrowed.
Mike nudged my side, whispering, "Elide. Elide." He nudged his head toward their desk. "Can you hear them?"
"No," I murmured, starting for the door behind him.
"Its too bad you didn't figure that out earlier. You could have saved yourself all this regret," she snapped.
"Regret?"
"For not just letting that stupid van squish me."
"You think I regret saving your life?"
"I know you do."
"You don't know anything."
That was anger in his voice. Bella must have noticed it too, as she spun in her heels, storming out of her desk space and toward the door dramatically. Her foot snagged, sending her books toppling forward, crashing to the floor. Cursing harshly, she reached toward them to find that Edward had already collected them into a pile and was handing them toward her.
I left her to stutter out an apology as Mike tugged me to gym.
After a single game of basketball, in which Bella had fallen twice, I'd managed to convince the coach to let us sit out. We sat on the benches to the side of the court, trying to ignore the loud squeaks of trainers against polished floor and the echoing of the bounces as we pulled out our English books.
My copy of sense and sensibility lay in the small space between us. Bella eyes the front cover, a beautiful illustration of the characters- it must have been ancient by now, the pages were practically falling out. But there was one drawing she gazed at in particularly, or rather glared at heatedly: Edward Ferrars.
I wanted to smirk or roll my eyes but refrained. Bella was hopelessly infatuated, reminded of him by a single character in a book. I wondered if she realised.
We managed to skip out of gym early and after getting changed out of our kit, we wasted no time in getting to the truck.
"You alright? You seem angry," I asked, shutting the car door behind me.
She didn't bother to pretend anymore. "Cullen."
"Aggravating you again?"
She snorted, covering her face in her hands. "Yes. He can't make up his mind whether he wants to ignore me or talk to me."
Bella pulled out of the space, groaning audibly as a sleek, silver car halted in front.
"Is that his car?"
She nodded, looking as if she was ready to cry. A tap on the window made her jump.
"I'm sorry Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen."
He smiled, leaning against her own window with his elbows. "Oh, I know. I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here," he said. "Will you ask me to the spring dance?"
She bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm in Seattle that weekend."
Tyler sighed, nodded his head and pushed off from against her truck. "Mike said that."
"Then why?"
"I was hoping you were letting him down easy."
"Sorry Tyler."
"A no from you too?" He glanced toward me, already knowing my response.
"Yeah."
He shrugged, lifting his arm as he walked to his own car. "We still have prom."
By the time I was home, I was wondering how it was possible for a vampire to feel in anyway drained. The whole day had been laborious, with mishaps after mishaps and the strain of worrying about the Cullens.
I wanted nothing more than to lay down my head and close my eyes and sleep for as long as my eyes. But even blinking felt uncomfortable and so sleeping was impossible.
Instead, I sat by the window again, ignoring Mrs Rochester was clattered around downstairs. She's been in her nightgown again, curlers in high when I'd gotten in at five. Outside, it was dull, drained off all colour. My hand edged toward the phone on my night stand.
I held it in my hand, the wire dangling against my knee. I needed to talk to someone. The silence of my room felt suffocating after being amongst noise for so long. It was always this same routine, feeling fine until a couple of months in when the loneliness would be crippling. A feeling that I was waiting for someone to come to me, and they hadn't shown, a feeling of some sort of rejection. Even after decades that routine hadn't faltered, hadn't eased into a numbness. It felt worse.
"Hello?" A man's voice crinkled on the other end.
"Hi, sorry, is this Bella's number?"
"Yeah, who's this?" Asked Charlie.
"Elide. From the hospital?"
He coughed awkwardly. "Oh, right." I heard him shout her name. "She'll just be a minute there."
"Thank you."
I cursed myself for even phoning. I had nothing to say.
"So elide, how's school?"
"As good as school can be."
Bella's voice was muffled at the other side. "Dad."
"Sorry, Bels."
"Sorry. Elide?" She said, her voice finally clearer.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"I wasn't going to phone, but..."
"Actually, I was going to call you," she said, voice louder.
"You were?"
"Yeah. Remember how I mentioned going to Seattle on the weekend of the Spring dance?" She said.
"Yeah. I thought that was just an excuse though?"
"Well it doesn't have to be. I was wondering if you'd like to come with me? I could do with doing some shopping and I've been looking for a book," Bella said.
I smiled into the phone. "I'd love to. I've never been, to be honest."
"Great!" She exclaimed. "I'll pick you up again for school tomorrow?"
"Yeah, thanks."
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