• Chapter 10

    Edward’s Point of View

    We drove down the new driveway, the snow whispering down only to be swept off the car by the speed at which it was moving. Bella sat frozen in the passenger seat, not breathing. Nessie and Jake chattered with Jean in the back. Her smell hit me-not that I really noticed. Bella had cured me of my passion for normal humans. I leaned over to take Bella’s hand, but she remained frozen. I sighed-inaudibly to the human girl in the back. Bella was trying to hard, but to be this close to the intoxicating girl for so long…

    I watched the speedometer move up again. The faster Bella and Jean were separated, the better. Alice and Nessie would be heartbroken if anything happened to their new friend…not that Nessie knew. Alice…

    “Damn it,” I swore under my breath. This time the future would change. It would not happen again. But she knew…

    At the school, I alighted from the car, as did Bella. I grabbed her hand as she walked around the car.

    “You did great,” I murmured to her, so low the others would barely hear it. “I know it’s hard,” she grimaced.

    “How did you do it?” my love asked me, her golden eyes troubled. “How did you not kill me? The temptation…the only thing that has prevented me from taking her is that Renesmee loves her.”

    We all walked into the school. I heard everyone’s startled thoughts and a few other kinds as well…

    How do they know? I heard Jean’s voice sound. They-oh. Right. New kids. Yeah. And so beautiful…An image of me appeared in her head. I shook my head, not that she could see. I wished that she could know how greatly I was tied to Bella. But no one was immune to hope, and this girl was no exception, as exceptional as she was. I wished we could find her soul mate, and save her from her feelings from me.

    “What class do you have now?” Nessie asked Jean. I wish she could have English with me, but I’m a ‘freshman’…

    “Algebra II,” Jean said sheepishly. Why am I such a nerd? That’s a junior class!

    Rose, Emmett, and Jasper were in shock.

    What? That’s…

    But I thought she was a sophomore!

    Our math class? She’s too young!

    “What?” Jean asked them.

    “That’s our math class,” Jasper told her. “I guess you can escort us.”

    Alice pulled on my sleeve. “C’mon, we’ll be late for Driver’s Ed!”

    Oh no! Jenn’s mental cry shocked me. Those four have that class. Silver, Sunni, Starr, and Hilary! She seemed to have remembered my ‘skill’ then. Good luck, Edward, she thought, looking at the back of my head as I walked down the hall. I turned and flashed a grin at her over my shoulder. I would need that.

    Alice and I neared the class room closest to the student parking lot.

    Oh. My. God. Starr freaked out. Edward is in this class. And she isn’t here…It’s my time to shine. I smiled. This would be interesting.

    “Edward!” she called. “Come sit here, by me.” I obliged, not wanting to seem rude. And I supposedly didn’t know anyone else in the class…

    Starr giggled, and leaned towards me.

    “I need a partner today. Would you like to be mine?” I heard the double meaning behind her words. I wished she wouldn’t giggle. It was obnoxious. Bella never giggled.

    “I’m sorry, Starr, but my sister Alice will also be requiring a partner, and I think for this, it would be better if I was with her. Bella gets jealous very easily.” Starr seethed.

    Driver’s Ed was easy. After all, I’d been around for the history, and needed no studying to remember what had happened. Alice was fairly good too.

    As I walked to math, I passed Jean in the hallway, with her human friends, Laura and Charlie. Hilary ran up, completely flustered, recounting everything for them. I laughed quietly, as Bella approached behind me.

    “What’s so funny?” she asked me, her beautiful melodious voice reaching my ears alone.

    I gazed into her eyes, still deep even with the same golden tint as mine opposed to the brown chocolate she’d passed on to our daughter. I smiled the crooked smile I knew she loved, and heard her breath catch as it had when she was human. My breathing sped too-she was the most beautiful creature in the world, and there was no way I’d ever let her get hurt or hurt herself.

    “I’ll tell you later.” I kissed her gently, and then sent her off to her science class, hoping that Alice would help her through the antagonizing hour.

    I will not let anyone hurt my Bella in anyway. Alice had shown me what was to come. Jean has no choice-she needs to change.