Everyone watched us as we walked together to our lab tables. Just as Christian sat close to me, when I turned around, I saw Edward had started sitting exceptionally close to Bella, their arms almost touching.
Mr. Banner backed into the room then â what superb timing the man had â pulling a tall metal frame on wheels that held a heavy-looking, outdated TV and VCR. A movie day â the lift in the class atmosphere was almost tangible.
Mr. Banner shoved the tape into the reluctant VCR and walked to the wall to turn off the lights.
And then, as the room went black, I was suddenly hyper-aware that Christian was sitting less than an inch from me. I was stunned by the unexpected electricity that flowed through me, amazed that it was possible to be more aware of him than I already was. A crazy impulse to reach over and touch him nearly overwhelmed me. I was losing my mind.
The opening credits began, lighting the room by a token amount. My eyes, of their own accord, flickered to him. I smiled sheepishly as I realized he was doing the same, peering sideways at me. He grinned back, his eyes somehow managing to smolder, even in the dark. I looked away before I could start hyperventilating. It was absolutely ridiculous that I should feel dizzy.
Christian reached his hand out slightly to grab mine under the desk and we sat like that throughout the class. The hour seemed very long. I couldn't concentrate on the movie â I didn't even know what subject it was on. I tried unsuccessfully to relax, but the electric current that seemed to be originating from somewhere in his body never slackened. I wondered to myself if this was some variant of his weather control, but that seemed silly. Occasionally I would permit myself a quick glance in his direction, but he never seemed to relax, either.
I breathed a sigh of relief when Mr. Banner flicked the lights back on at the end of class, and stretched my arms out in front of me, dropping his hand. He gave me a sideways glance and chuckled.
"Well, that was interesting," he murmured. His voice was dark and his eyes were cautious. "Shall we?" he asked, rising fluidly.
I almost groaned. Time for Gym. I stood with care, worried my balance might have been affected by the strange new intensity between us.
The boys walked Bella and I to our next class in silence and paused at the door; I turned to say goodbye. His face startled me â his expression was torn, almost pained, and so fiercely beautiful that the ache to touch him flared as strong as before. My goodbye stuck in my throat.
He raised his hand, hesitant, conflict raging in his eyes. This moment was different from the lighthearted way he'd put his arm around me. This was delicate in the way we were last night. So close, yet so far. He swiftly brushed the length of my cheekbone with his fingertips. His skin was as icy as ever, but the trail his fingers left on my skin was alarmingly warm â like I'd been burned, but didn't feel the pain of it.
He turned without a word and strode quickly away from me. Edward also left in silence.
I walked into the gym, lightheaded and wobbly with Bella as my support. I drifted to the locker room, changing in a trancelike state, only vaguely aware that there were other people surrounding me. Reality didn't fully set in until I was handed a racket. It wasn't heavy, yet it felt very unsafe in my hand. I could see a few of the other kids eyeing me and Bella furtively. Coach Clapp ordered us to team up in pairs. Bella and I didn't choose each other for once; it's better to have a partner who can actually play.
Mike paired with Bella and I paired up with a girl named Ariel who I'd noticed a few times in Gym. It didn't go smoothly. I somehow managed to hit myself in the head and Bella clipped Mike's shoulder. I spent the rest of the hour in the back of the court, the racket held safely behind my back.
"So," he said as Bella walked off the court to get me after class.
"So what?" She said.
"You and Cullen, huh?" he asked, his tone rebellious.
"That's none of your business, Mike," Bella warned. I internally cursed Jessica straight to the fiery pits of Hades for telling him.
"I don't like it," he muttered anyway.
"You don't have to," I snapped in defense of my sister. She gave me a look. She didn't mind that I defended her, but she didn't want me going and making enemies for her sake.
"He looks at you like... like you're something to eat," he continued, ignoring me.
I had to choke back a laugh that threatened to explode. He glowered at me. Bella waved and we fled to the locker room.
I dressed quickly, something stronger than butterflies battering recklessly against the walls of my stomach; my arguments with Mike already a distant memory. I was wondering aloud to Bella if the boys would be waiting, or if we should meet them at Edward's car. I felt a wave of real terror. Rosalie's car was parked next to Edward's. Would we see them? Christian once said he needed to protect us from his family. Did they know that we knew? Were we supposed to know that they knew that we knew, or not?
Bella smirked at me. "It seems someone's falling for another someone." She said in a sing-song voice, taunting me.
By the time we walked out of the gym, I had just about decided to walk straight home without even looking toward the parking lot, but my worries were unnecessary. Christian was waiting outside the gym doors for me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, as was his habit. The moment from before now long gone. Edward was waiting in the parking lot, leaning casually against the side of the gym, waiting for Bella.
"Hi," she breathed, smiling hugely.
"Hello." His answering smile was brilliant. "How was Gym?"
Her face fell a tiny bit. "Fine," she lied.
"Really?" He was unconvinced. His eyes shifted slightly, looking over my sister's shoulder and narrowing. I glanced behind us to see Mike's back as he walked away.
"What?" Bella demanded.
His eyes slid back to hers, still tight. "Newton's getting on my nerves."
"You weren't listening again?" She sounded mortified. I snickered quietly about Edward's jealous streak, hoping they didn't hear.
Christian had heard me and apparently didn't want me to be the only one unscathed. "How's your head?" he asked, looking down at me, disrupting my humor.
"You're unbelievable!" I turned, throwing his arm off my shoulder and tossing Edward a quick glare before stomping away in the general direction of the parking lot, though I hadn't ruled out walking at this point.
He kept up with me easily. We walked in silence â a furious, embarrassed silence on my part â to his car. But I had to stop a few steps away â a crowd of people, all boys, were surrounding it.
Then I realized they weren't surrounding the Volvo, they were actually circled around Rosalie's red convertible, unmistakable lust in their eyes. None of them even looked up as Edward slid between them to open his door. I climbed quickly in the backseat as Christian held the door for me. My sister slid into the passenger side, also unnoticed.
"Ostentatious," Edward muttered.
"What kind of car is that?" I asked.
"An M3."
"We don't speak Car and Driver." Bella chided.
"It's a BMW," Christian rolled his eyes.
I nodded â I'd hear of that one.
"Are you still angry?" he asked as Edward was maneuvering his way out of the parking lot.
"Definitely."
He sighed. "Will you forgive me if I apologize?"
I glanced away. I was slowly losing my will to be angry by looking at him.
He grabbed my hand. "Alex, look at me."
I regretted giving him permission for that name. I turned back to face him.
He had that stupid grin on his face and his eyes were too beautiful.
"Fine," I heaved as I moved my hand out from under his.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his smile grow across his face and I resisted the urge to try to wipe it off of him.
I was quiet, listening to the tailend of Bella and Edward's conversation about Saturday. He had promised to show up in the morning without a car and she seemed confused, but I figured it had to do with how fast they can run. I thought back to when Christian brought me to the clearing in the woods the day my sister almost died.
The car stopped. I looked up, surprised â of course we were already home, parked behind the truck. It was easier to ride with him if I only looked when it was over; it also helped that I was trying to hold onto my grudge with Christian the entire time. When I looked back at him, he was staring at me, measuring with his eyes.
I kept my expression firmly under control, expecting the swift flash of his eyes to judge my reactions to him. My face gave nothing away, or so I hoped.
But our eyes held, and the silence deepened â and changed. Flickers of the electricity I'd felt this afternoon began to charge the atmosphere as he gazed unrelentingly into my eyes. It wasn't until my head started to swim that I realized I wasn't breathing. When I drew in a jagged breath, breaking the stillness, he closed his eyes.
"Alex, I think you should go inside now." His low voice was rough; he looked physically pained.
I opened the door, and the arctic draft that burst into the car helped clear my head. I realized that, shockingly, Bella was already out of the car and waiting for me at the door. Afraid I might stumble in my woozy state, I stepped carefully out of the car and shut the door behind me without looking back. The whir of the automatic window unrolling made me turn.
"Oh, Alex?" he called after me, his voice more even. He leaned toward the open window with a faint smile on his lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."
And then he was gone, the car speeding down the street and disappearing around the corner before I could even collect my thoughts. I smiled as I walked to the house.
That night, Christian starred in my dreams, as usual. However, the climate of my unconsciousness had changed. It thrilled with the same electricity as before, and I tossed and turned restlessly, waking often. It was only in the early hours of the morning that I finally sank into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.
When I woke I was still tired, but edgy as well. It was obvious Bella didn't sleep any better than I had, as she had an awful look on her face when she rose in the morning. I pulled on my brown turtleneck and jeans. I knew by now that my sister was dreaming of summer clothes. I, on the other hand, didn't mind my jeans and winter sweaters. I didn't think blinding the general populace with the color of my legs would be a fun event. Breakfast was the usual, quiet event I expected. Dad fried eggs for himself; Bella and I had bowls of cereal. I wondered if he had forgotten about this Saturday. He answered my unspoken question as he stood up to take his plate to the sink.
"About this Saturday..." he began, walking across the kitchen and turning on the faucet.
I cringed. "Yes, Dad?"
Are you girls still set on going to Seattle?" he asked.
"That was the plan." Bella grimaced.
He squeezed some dish soap onto his plate and swirled it around with the brush. "And you're sure you can't make it back in time for the dance?"
"We're not going to the dance, Dad." Bella glared.
"Didn't anyone ask?" he asked, trying to hide his concern by focusing on rinsing the plate.
I sidestepped the minefield. "It's a girl's choice."
"Oh." He frowned as he dried his plate.
I sympathized with him, it must be a hard thing, to be a father; living in fear that your daughters would meet boys they liked, but also having to worry if they didn't. How ghastly it would be, I thought, shuddering, if Dad had even the slightest inkling of exactly what his daughters did like.
Dad left then, with a goodbye wave, and Bella and I shuffled back upstairs to take turns brushing our teeth in front of the one mirror. I gathered my books and she brushed her hair one more time.
When I heard the cruiser pull away, I could only wait a few seconds before I had to peek out of our window, with Bella over my shoulder. The silver car was already there, waiting in Dad's spot in the driveway. Bella bounded down the stairs and out the front door with me behind her, but I tripped on air right out the door and stumbled into her. After righting myself, I walked to the car, wondering how long this bizarra routine would continue. I wasn't sure I wanted it to end.
He waited in the car with Edward, appearing not to watch, I noted thankfully. Pausing shyly, Bella had caught up and we opened our doors simultaneously and I slid into the backseat. He was smiling, relaxed â and, as usual, perfect to an excruciating degree.
"Good morning." His voice was silky. "How are you today?" His eyes roamed over my face, as if his question was something more than simple courtesy.
"Good, thank you." I was always good when I was near him, apparently.
"How's your ankle?"
I cursed under my breath; he'd noticed.
"You look tired," he continued without waiting on my answer.
"Couldn't sleep," I confessed, automatically swinging my hair around my shoulder to provide some measure of cover.
"Neither could I," he teased, pushing away the hair I'd just pulled forward, exposing my face once again.
I turned towards him and his eyes locked me in, an air of electricity running between us again. My sister, Edward, and their conversation disappearing until the quiet purr of the engine startled me from my trance.
I laughed to clear the air. "I guess that's right," I said, remembering what Bella had informed me about their sleeping habits â or lack thereof. "What did you do last night?"
He chuckled. "Not a chance. It's my day to ask questions."
"What do you want to know?" My forehead creased. I couldn't imagine anything about me that could be in any way interesting to him.
"What's your favorite color?" he asked, his face grave.
I looked out the window, cringing from the irony as I said, "Green."
We were at the school by now. He turned to me as Edward pulled into a parking space.
"Did you have any childhood hobbies?" he asked, his face as somber as if he'd asked for a murder confession.
"Ah, I played the violin while Bella did ballet for about two weeks. I really enjoyed it."
"Why did you stop?"
"I lost my violin at one point and just never bought a new one," I said thoughtfully.
It continued like that for the rest of the day. While he walked me to English, when he met me after Spanish, all through the lunch hour, he questioned me relentlessly about every insignificant detail of my existence. Movies I'd liked and hated, the few places I'd been and the many places I wanted to go, and books â endlessly books.
I couldn't remember the last time I'd talked so much. More often than not, I felt self-conscious, certain I must be boring him. But the absolute absorption of his face, and his never-ending stream of questions, compelled me to continue. Mostly his questions were easy, only a very few triggering my blushes.
But when I did flush, it brought on a whole new round of questions.
Such as the time he asked my favorite gemstone, and I blurted out citrine before thinking. He'd been flinging questions at me with such speed that I felt like I was taking one of those psychiatric tests where you answer with the first word that comes to mind. I was sure he would have continued down whatever mental list he was following, except for the blush. My face reddened because, until very recently, my favorite gemstone was alexandrite. It was impossible, while staring back into his gold eyes, not to remember the reason for the switch. And, naturally, he wouldn't rest until I'd admitted why I was embarrassed.
"Tell me," he finally commanded after persuasion failed â failed only because I kept my eyes safely away from his face.
"It's the color of your eyes today," I sighed, surrendering, staring down at my hands as I fiddled with a piece of my hair. "I suppose if you asked me in two weeks I'd say onyx." I'd given more information than necessary in my unwilling honesty, and I worried it would provoke the strange standoffishness that flared occasionally.
But his pause was very short.
"What kinds of flowers do you prefer?" he fired off.
I sighed in relief, and continued with the psychoanalysis.
Biology was a complication again. Christian had continued with his quizzing up until Mr. Banner entered the room, dragging the audiovisual frame again. As the teacher approached the light switch, I noticed Christian slide his chair slightly farther away from mine. It didn't help. As soon as the room was dark, there was the same electric spark, the same restless craving to stretch my hand across the short space and touch his cold skin, like yesterday.
I leaned forward on the table, resting my chin on my folded arms, my hidden fingers gripping the table's edge as I fought to ignore the irrational longing that unsettled me. I didn't look at him, afraid that if he was looking at me, it would only make self-control that much harder. I heard a low chuckle come from him and figured he was laughing at my ridiculousness. I sincerely tried to watch the movie, but at the end of the hour I had no idea what I'd just seen. I sighed in relief again when Mr. Banner turned the lights on, finally glancing at Christian; he was looking at me, his eyes ambivalent.
He rose in silence and then stood still, waiting for me. The four of us walked toward the gym in silence, like yesterday. And, also like yesterday, he touched my face wordlessly â this time with the back of his cool hand, stroking once from my temple to my jaw â before he turned and walked away. Gym passed quickly as I watched Mike's one-man badminton show. He didn't speak to Bella today, either in response to her vacant expression or because he was still angry about our squabble yesterday.
Somewhere, in a corner of my mind, I felt bad about that. But I couldn't concentrate on him.
I hurried to change afterward, ill at ease, knowing the faster I moved, the sooner I would be with Christian. It seemed my sister thought the same, moving almost as fast as I was. The pressure made me more clumsy than usual, but eventually I made it out the door with Bella, feeling the same release when I saw him standing there, a wide smile automatically spreading across my face.
He smiled in reaction before launching into more cross-examination.
His questions were different now, though, not as easily answered. He wanted to know what I missed about home, insisting on descriptions of anything he wasn't familiar with. Even though I didn't miss much, honestly. We sat in front of Dad's house for hours â Edward and Bella had gone inside â as the sky darkened and rain plummeted around us in a sudden deluge. I didn't bother asking if that was his fault.
I tried to describe impossible things like the scent of creosote â bitter, slightly resinous, but still pleasant â the very size of the sky, extending white-blue from horizon to horizon, barely interrupted by the low mountains covered with purple volcanic rock. The way the wind found me when darkness fell, sweeping away the heat of the desert and blowing my hair around me. I found myself using my hands as I tried to describe it to him.
His quiet, probing questions kept me talking freely, forgetting, in the dim light of the storm, to be embarrassed for monopolizing the conversation. Finally, when I had finished detailing my cluttered, shared room at home, he paused instead of responding with another question.
"Are you finished?" I asked in relief.
"Not even close â but your father will be home soon."
"Dad!" I suddenly recalled his existence, and sighed. I looked out at the rain-darkened sky, but it gave nothing away. "How late is it?" I wondered out loud as I glanced around. Dad would probably be driving home now.
"It's twilight," Christian murmured, looking at the western horizon, obscured as it was with clouds. His voice was thoughtful, as if his mind were somewhere far away. I stared at him as he gazed unseeingly out the windshield.
I was still staring when his eyes suddenly shifted back to mine.
"It's the safest time of day for us," he said, answering the unspoken question in my eyes. "The easiest time. But also the saddest, in a way... the end of another day, the return of the night. Darkness is so predictable, don't you think?" He smiled wistfully.
"I like the night. Without the dark, we'd never see the stars," I frowned. "Not that you see them here much."
He laughed, and the mood abruptly lightened.
"Charlie will be here in a few minutes. So, unless you want to tell him that you'll be with me Saturday..." He raised one eyebrow as Edward came out of the house with Bella behind him.
"Thanks, but no thanks." I gathered my books, realizing I was stiff from sitting so long. "So is it my turn tomorrow, then?"
"Certainly not!" His face was teasingly outraged. "I told you I wasn't done, didn't I?"
"What more is there?"
"You'll find out tomorrow."
Edward reached over to open the door once again for my sister and I, but his hand froze on the handle.
"Not good," he muttered.
"What is it?" Bella said. I was surprised to see his jaw was clenched, his eyes disturbed.
Christian glanced toward Edward with a question on his face, his brows furrowed.
Edward glanced at Bella for a brief second. "Another complication," he said glumly.
He flung the door open in one swift movement, and then moved, almost cringed, swiftly away from her.
The flash of headlights through the rain caught my attention as a dark car pulled up to the curb just a few feet away, facing us. Christian's confusion disappeared and he tensed as well.
"Charlie's around the corner," he warned, staring through the downpour at the other vehicle.
I hopped out into the rain at once, despite my confusion and curiosity. The rain was louder as it glanced off my jacket and I suspected that Christian's mood began to affect it.
I tried to make out the shapes in the front seat of the other car, but it was too dark. I could see the boys illuminated in the glare of the new car's headlights; they were still staring ahead, their gaze locked on something or someone I couldn't see. Christian's expression was a strange mix of frustration and defiance. Bella stayed under the cover on the porch out of the rain, but just as confused as me.
Then the engine revved, Edward was in the Volvo and Christian had disappeared before I'd noticed. The tires squealed and they were out of sight in seconds.
"Hey, Alexandra," called a familiar, husky voice from the driver's side of the little black car.
"Jacob?" I asked, squinting through the rain. Just then, Dad's cruiser swung around the corner, his lights shining on the occupants of the car in front of me. I stepped back under the porch cover and Bella found my arm, a little more relaxed than before.
Jacob was already climbing out, his wide grin visible even through the darkness. In the passenger seat was a much older man, a heavyset man with a memorable face â a face that overflowed, the cheeks resting against his shoulders, with creases running through the russet skin like an old leather jacket. And the surprisingly familiar eyes, black eyes that seemed at the same time both too young and too ancient for the broad face they were set in. Jacob's father, Billy Black. I knew him immediately, though Bella seemed to take a little longer to process who this man was. He was staring at us, scrutinizing, so I smiled tentatively at him. His eyes were wide, as if in shock or fear, his nostrils flared. My smile faded.
Another complication, Edward had said.
Billy still stared at me with intense, anxious eyes. I groaned internally. Had Billy recognized Christian and Edward so easily? Could he really believe the impossible legends his son had scoffed at?
The answer was clear in Billy's eyes. Yes. Yes, he could.