LL Chapter 15

LL Chapter 15

In a New Light

The things that I found out about Bella from her father this morning were still weighing on my mind when I got to biology. We had another lab to work on in class today. Thankfully, it was one of the things that Bella and I had worked on Saturday night. We were more than ready to work on this. This was a good thing because I could not keep my focus. All through class all I could think of was the pain and torment she had gone through. I could literally see the damn photographers chasing her, and God, the thought of her having to sit in court and face not one but two monsters made my blood boil.



I had not realized that I was staring at her until she commented on it.



"Do I have something on my face?"



"No. Why?"



"Then why are you just sitting there staring at me."



"Sorry, I didn't realize that I was. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."



"It's ok. I guess. I'm not uncomfortable, just self-conscious."



"Sorry again."



"It's ok Edward. But really, are you going to help me with this lab or am I on my own?"



"Is that your way of say that you can't do it yourself and need my intelligence?"



"Oh. You wish you were as smart as I am Edward Cullen!"



"I'm not as smart. I'm smarter."



"Am not!"



"Am too!"



"Am not!"



"Am too to infinity."



Bella started laughing hysterically at that. "You so did not just say that." She was laughing so hard that she started to fall off her stool and I lunged to grab her before she hit the floor. Of course, now I was laughing, too. At that point, the whole class had stopped what they were doing, and were staring at us as if we were insane. Of course, they would think that I had lost it. I had never behaved this way in class at all.



"Mr. Cullen? Ms. Swan? Is there a problem?" Yeah, we even attracted the attention of the teacher.



"We fine Dr. Banner. Sorry for the interruption." Bella apologized for us and we got back to work. A few seconds later, I heard a small noise coming from Bella. I looked over and noticed that she was biting her lips and looked like she was fighting something like a cough or a sneeze.



"You ok?"



"Mmhmm?" was all that she said adding a nod but looking away from me.



"Are you sure?"



"Mmhmm." Then she looked over at me and a couple of laughs started to escape her lips.



"I hope that you are not laughing at me young lady." I said sternly.



"Of course not. I would never laugh at you." Then she started out right giggling which earned us another stern look from Dr. Banner so we did our best to concentrate on the lab for the rest of class.



When biology was over, it was time to head to math. That was the only other class we shared together. She grabbed her stuff and stood to head out but I reached out and tugged on her ponytail. "Wait up. We'll walk together."



I know that she probably thought that I had gone insane for the complete turnaround in my attitude towards her. But I really wasn't treating her much differently than I treated Rose or Alice. With one exception, as much as I hated to say it, especially since Alice was my twin, but Bella was special but she could challenge me intellectually. Actually, she was the first person that I had ever met that could.



There was no time to talk in math as all we were doing was taking notes from the teacher's lecture. But I was taking time to look around the room. Everyone had noticed that Bella and I had walked into the class room together and that we were talking. As there were only a few people that I was willing to talk to I knew that people were interested in why I was talking to Bella. But what worried me the most was the fact that two people in particular were interested in the fact that Bella and I were being friendly, Lauren and Jessica. That worried me greatly. They would not hesitate to use anything they could to make her life a living hell.



After math was over it was time for lunch, and it was about time too. I was starving from not eating dinner last night and only having cereal this morning.



"Hey Bella, would you like to start sitting with me and the rest of the group today?"



"You wouldn't mind?"



"No. I wouldn't mind. I told you that I wanted to be friends. Come on. I know that Emmett will be thrilled to have Rose back at our table again."



We were the first ones to get to the table. Bella bought her usual salad and I grabbed a burger, fries, and a soda. When we sat down I caught Bella staring at my lunch.



"You are drooling over my burger."



"I don't really care. I miss burgers."



'You can't have one at all?"



"I'm not allowed red meat at all right now. There was this old fashioned burger joint near my home in Phoenix with amazing burgers and shakes."



"You must miss it there."



"I do and yet I don't. I left too many bad memories there to really miss it."



"I get that." Then I looked up and saw that Rose, Jasper, and Emmett had entered the lunchroom and were staring at Bella and me like they were seeing aliens sitting in the lunch room. I just turned my attention back to Bella and asked if there was anything special I needed to know or do while I babysat for her this afternoon. I knew that I was going to be dealing with my sister and her nosy nature but what worried me worse were the sadistic smirks on the faces of Lauren and Jessica. They were up to something and it did not take a genius like me to know that whatever it was would centered around hurting my new friend Bella. And that was going to be fucking unacceptable.



A/N:



Happy Saturday! I am enjoying my quiet weekend without my son. From what I've heard is being a complete angel for Nana. Maybe more tomorrow. It depends on the call volume at work.