Twilight Fan Fiction ❯ The Fragrance of the Perfect Lie ❯ Blind Love? ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Bella grumbled and her hands stiffened on the straps of her book bag when she noticed Eric passing by her, no doubt on his way to English. I can do this, I’ll get through the day and see if Edward…exists or not, she cringed at the word “exists.” She’d experienced many weird things – hanging out with vampires and werewolves can do that to a human – but this one took the cake.

What if Edward and the rest of the Cullens do exist? Would they remember me? This can’t really be my first stay at Forks High…these thoughts haunted her very being. A sharp chorus of the school bell alerted her to her first class of the day. She hastily entered her English room and gave Mr. Mason her slip. She studied the room with anxious eyes and desperately tried to remember where she had previously sat before.

It was as she had feared – her classmates that stared at her with eager expressions were the same classmates that she knew in her junior year of English. She easily ignored her classmates and Mr. Mason for the rest of the hour. As the clock's hands seemed to tick by much more slowly than usual; a faint feeling of nausea twisted at her insides and made her heart pound in apprehension.

She met face to face with reality once the bell rang again. Eric turned around and gave her a friendly smile. "You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"

"Bella," She corrected with a strained smile.

"Where's your next class?" He asked with an eager expression on his face.

"Government with Jefferson, building six," She pretended to rummage through her bag for her schedule.

"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way..." She decided that it would be safer to stick with the same friends that she had made from before. "I'm Eric."

"Thanks." She genuinely smiled. They walked together to her next class and she said a good-bye before entering her next class. A sense of dread filled her when she
thought about how many classes she still had to go through before it was time for lunch.

She continued to receive curious stares from her classmates, even though she hadn’t spoken to any of them at all today. She was terrified to even try to talk; she felt that she would start crying if she did. Jessica turned around from her seat to talk to her. Oh no, Jessica! Would she be able to “meet” her again?

“Hi, you’re the new kid that everyone’s talking about,” Jessica greeted. “Isabella Swan, right? My name is Jessica Stanley. How do you like Forks so far?” Jessica chewed her gum noisily.

Same old, same old. Nothing new, I was just about to marry my true love when I found out that it’s all A DREAM!!!! Bella tried her best to not grit her teeth.

“I go by Bella. Forks is…interesting.” She struggled to keep a normal smile on her face. The bell rang again.

“Oh, it’s time for lunch. Want to join me?” Jessica asked, leading the way to the cafeteria. Sweat broke out all over Bella’s body when Jessica said this. This is where I first saw the Cullens. Should I play it casual and eat with Jess? Her original plan of repeating her first day at Forks suddenly looked like a terrible idea. Should I skip lunch? Should I avoid Edward? An endless amount of options appeared before her, with each one becoming more and more ridiculous. As they both entered the cafeteria, Bella’s body couldn’t handle the stress any longer and she felt herself going under. “Bella?!” Jessica’s screech was the last thing that she heard.

Soft, warm hands shook her shoulders lightly. Warm? It must be Jacob. Wait a minute. Why would Jacob be here? Bella thought that he wouldn't speak to her ever again. The warm hands shook her a little harder, and she floated closer to consciousness. The past with Forks had all been a dream, including Jacob. Still, he wouldn't have any reason to be here, at Forks High. Her curiosity demanded her to wake up, just so she could discern if the past year-and-a-half had been a dream.

Bella opened her eyes and nearly fainted at what she saw. It was Edward kneeling over her all right. But he was human! His concerned, green eyes had been the first clue. The next, obvious clue was that his touch was warm, not the stony, cold touch that had the capability to shock her entire system. It comforted her to know that his tousled, bronze hair hadn’t changed, and he was still pretty handsome.

“Are you alright?” His soft voice was a little huskier, she noted with a surprise. She stopped studying his features to notice a crowd behind him. It was Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper! Obviously they were humans too; their features hadn’t changed significantly.

“Oh, yes, I’m alright Ed - um, I mean…thanks for asking!” She poorly disguised the nervousness in her tone. “My name’s Bella Swan.” She added.

“Edward Cullen,” Cullen? Were Esme and Carlisle still his “adopted” parents? “This is Rosalie, Alice, Emmett, and Jasper,” Edward pointed behind his shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t need to see the nurse?”

“Positive." She made a face at the thought of seeing the nurse. "Thanks for, er, saving me." Well, I just left quite a cliché for him to remember me by; a phrase that a damsel in distress would say out of a cheesy $.99 romance novel. Time to dig up gossip about the Cullens from Jessica. She trudged back to Jessica’s table with a heavy heart.

“Hey Bella! Are you okay?” Jessica asked as Bella sat back down next to her.

“I’m fine,” She debated in her head whether she should ask Jessica about the Cullens or not. "What do you know about the boy who just now caught me? Edward Cullen, I think? And what about his family?" she asked with a fake innocence.

“The Cullens are practically royal! They’re really rich and they moved here two years ago. They’re pretty popular around here,” Well, this was not at all like her dream. “They're all kids from different families, except for Jasper and Rosalie, the blondes. They're twins. Dr. Cullen and his wife adopted them when they were kids, or something like that,” Jessica must’ve noticed her staring at Edward, because she added with a smirk, “I’m dating Edward.”

Never mind about this being a new Jessica, Bella concluded quickly. A commonly used cliché summed up her situation perfectly; she thought that her day couldn’t get any worse, and of course, it did. Just my luck, she thought in frustration. For the rest of the lunch period, she chatted with her "new" friends, and for the last few minutes of lunch, she shyly took quick peeks towards Edward's table.

Bella felt her heart pound uneasily in her chest; it was time for Biology. At least Edward’s intent isn’t to drink my blood. She weakly laughed at the thought. She told Jessica good-bye and walked to her Biology class in low spirits. She handed Mr. Banner a slip, and looked up at her old lab table in surprise.

At last, there was a repeated moment that she was eternally grateful for; Edward’s table was once again, the only empty table. She struggled to not skip down the aisle in glee, which would undoubtedly end up as a klutzy disaster. Bella sat down next to Edward and tried to look surprised at the coincidence of this accidental arrangement. This time, Edward didn’t scoot his chair far away from hers.

“Hello Bella,” he greeted politely.

“Hi Edward.” A hot flush accidentally crept up to her face. Argh, I can’t be blushing in front of him! She felt like slapping herself for this slip up. A hollow ache rang in her chest when she remembered how much dream Edward had masochistically loved the way she looked and smelled when she blushed.

He didn’t seem to take notice though; his attention turned to Mr. Banner at the exact moment. Foolishly, it had surprised her how different the class period turned out to be. She half expected him to glare at her with hungry, black eyes at any moment. Her posture didn’t relax at all being this close to Edward in Biology.

A breath she didn't know she'd been holding back whooshed from her lungs at the sound of the bell.

“See you around.” Edward gave her a gentle smile and somehow, his green eyes managed to smolder.

“Bye.” She replied back, watching him leave the room in a graceful pace.

“Aren’t you Isabella Swan?” A much too familiar voice asked her. Enter Mike Newton, she thought sarcastically.

“Bella.” She corrected him with a half-hearted smile.

“I’m Mike.” He smiled back.

“Gym’s my next class.” The words came out sharper than she had meant them – all the little déjà vu moments were starting to really aggravate her.

“Gym’s my next class too, follow me.” Mike was as cheerful and loyal as ever.

Dream or no dream, her eye coordination was still terrible as ever. She was definitely not going to enjoy going through two years of gym again, that’s for sure. All those little details washed out of her mind once her thoughts focused back to Edward. What was she going to do with Edward?

It hurt her deeply to know that he was dating already. I guess it makes sense though, she thought sadly. The last part of her dream – the wedding – stood out prominently out in her mind. The wedding had been so beautiful so far, before she’d woken up. She couldn’t believe that her dream self would be so stubborn about marriage. Would it have made a difference?

When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it’s not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end. Those were her words that she believed in when James was about to hunt her; now, she wasn’t so sure about the accuracy of those words.