Chapter Text
Bella honestly considered giving up.
It’s officially been two months since she returned to Forks. Two months of her trying— and failing— to capture the eyes and heart of Edward Cullen.
He never spared her a glance, always talking to his blond brother. She forgot all of their names, only remembering the one she set her sights on.
“Five guys today told me I looked hot. It can’t be the outfit, Jess.”
“Bells, I told you when you first got here to not get hooked on him. This is your fault for not listening to me.” Jessica shrugged as she applied her mascara, leaning more over the bathroom sink to focus. “He’s quiet, he’s shy, and he doesn’t like people. You’ll get over him, everyone else did.”
“But I like him! He’s cute, smart, and clearly has a good future ahead of him. What’s not to like?”
“Or.” Jessica capped her mascara, turning to look at her. “You just like that he’s not giving you attention. Again, that’s how everyone started.”
“It’s different!”
“I’ve heard that line before.” Bella groaned while Jessica laughed and pat her shoulder. “He’s just a phase, Bells. Your little crush on him will pass.”
She didn’t want it to pass. She wanted Edward to actually look at her. To acknowledge her efforts to try and appeal to him. But he never did.
Edward found Bella annoying.
No matter what anyone said, he feels completely justified in calling her annoying. Like a gnat that won’t stop pestering you on an already hot day. Or a cricket that wouldn’t shut up from somewhere in your room.
“She’s so fucking aggravating.” Rosalie was probably the only other person to understand him to the fullest extent. And Bella never paid her any attention, so imagine how Edward feels. “Just fuck her and get it over with.”
“I would rather not.” He mumbled, making a show of copying his notes into Emmett’s notebook.
“Ah, he doesn’t think she’s hot. That’s the problem.” Emmett joked, nudging him with a large grin. “The last girl almost got him. This one barely moves him.”
“Can we talk about something else? Anything else?” He shot his eyes to the couple in a glare, Emmett laughing loudly while Rosalie just rolled her eyes. “What if we switched schools?”
“You’ll regret it.” Alice sang from the other side of the table, adding a flower clip from her hair to Jasper’s. He smiled softly at her, nuzzling her hand when she caressed his cheek.
“Why won’t you just tell me? I hate surprises.”
“You’ll love this one. Trust me.”
“Is this everything?”
“Ye- oh! Your updated class schedule. I’m sure everything should be fine now. If not, don’t hesitate to come right back to us.” She smiled at the receptionist, taking the paper from her and looking it over. “Just follow me, I’ll take you to your first class.”
The halls were empty, all of the students in class. She could hear the different teachers as they passed by the doors, looking around the halls. They were plain, dull, and boring. And she stood out like a sore thumb.
“Oh, Mrs. Maize.” The music teacher paused attendance, straightening and smiling at the two of them. “Hello.”
“Mr. Maize. This is our newest addition to school, Whitney Smith.”
Edward could hear Alice squealing in his head when he looked at Whitney. Taking in her purple outfit, the polite smile on her face, and the way her hands folded in front of her.
“Lovely to meet you.” She had an accent when she spoke, distinctly European. She shook the teacher’s hand, smiling a bit wider when he bowed before motioning towards the back.
Where Edward was seated.
“There should be an open seat next to Edward. Just for today, until we can get you properly settled in.” Whitney started towards the back before he could lift his hand, eyes sweeping over the rows before settling on the empty seat to his right.
“Hello.” She greeted him politely as she sat down, offering him a smile when he just stared at her.
“…hi.” He could hear the thoughts of the other students close to them, could hear them start to whisper as their teacher went back to taking attendance. “I’m… Edward Cullen.”
“Whitney Smith. It’s nice to meet you, Edward.” And that marked the end of their conversation. Whitney turned her attention to their teacher when he stepped up to the middle of the class, Edward slowly following her lead. While making a mental note to thank Alice later.
Whitney smelled like his favorite puffed pastry. A sweetness he hadn’t smelled in a while.
“Woah. Did you actually fuck her?” Rosalie’s brows shot up when taking in the lovesick look on Edward’s face, the boy sighing and lazily turning his head to look at her.
“Fuck who? We got a new student, by the way.” And he was gazing at the doors again, waiting to see if Whitney would enter the cafeteria. “Whitney.”
“What? Did she kiss you or something? What the hell is going on right now?” He perked up when Whitney’s voice sounded close to the doors, trying to look as unaffected as possible.
“-nored to join you and your friends for lunch.” She dramatically said with a mock bow, Jessica pushing her shoulder with a laugh. “Where are you guys sitting?”
“Oh, she’s prettier in person.” Alice blinked in surprise, all of them watching Jessica drag Whitney to her friends. “Huh. Maybe I should have shown you. You would have the same reaction either way.”
“We sat together in class. It was nice.” He sighed wistfully, eyes drinking in Whitney’s smile. “She’s so pretty.”
“Oh my God. You’re the one that Cullen spoke to.” Lauren put those two things together after seeing Edward staring at their table, shoving Mike out of the chair next to Whitney so she could sit. “You’re the one that finally broke him. Wow.”
“‘Cullen?’ Are you talking about Edward?”
“Uh, yeah! The guy doesn’t talk to anyone besides his family.”
“He talks to me.” Angela quietly spoke up, being waved off and ignored by Lauren. “Ooookay then.”
“He thinks he’s better than everyone else.”
“If he doesn’t talk to any of you, how do you know what he thinks?” Whitney tilted her head in confusion, not understanding the conclusions Lauren was drawing together.
“It’s all over his face.”
“You don’t think she’ll believe them, right?” Edward was a bit worried. He started to regret not being friendlier with the other students. He would’ve had a lot more people in his corner if he had. “Alice?”
“Don’t ask me, you’re the mind reader.” Alice mumbled, preoccupied with fixing Jasper’s hair to properly pay attention to his panic.
“Right, sorry.” The only downside to being in a crowded area was the amount of thoughts he had to hear. Meaningless conversations, thoughts of math quizzes, a few mean words directed at “friends.”
Wow. Jessica hangs with bitches.
The thought startled him, loud and clear like Whitney spoke it directly into his ears. Bella had joined them, talking and agreeing with everything Lauren was saying.
How rude are they? Why does he owe you something because you think he’s cute?
“Angela, right?” Whitney cut through whatever spiel Bella was trying to give her, turning and looking at the quiet girl. She nodded to confirm her name, Whitney humming and pointing at her. “Since we share the same thoughts about him, I’m going to believe you. As they say, ‘innocent until proven guilty.’”
She was defending him without even knowing him.
Can she be any more perfect?
“She’s so pretty.” Edward sighed, head propped up on both hands. Eyes trained on Whitney as he zeroed in on her thoughts, feeling like he was on cloud nine when she defended his quietness towards the others.
“So, Whitney, you single?” It felt like a loud record scratch silenced the entire world at Mike’s question. He was leaning in close, a sleazy grin on his face as his eyes bounced over her features.
“And not interested.” She didn’t even spare him a glance, looking over her schedule and sighing heavily. “Ugh. I have AP History next. I hate history, it’s so boring.”
“Jasper-”
“Nope. Suffer.” Edward’s jaw dropped, blinking a few times and fixing the glasses on his face. “I’m not talking to her for you.”
“But-”
“Not happening.”
“Alice!” Jasper shot him a glare at that, Alice sighing and shaking her head.
“Eddie, just talk to her tomorrow.”
“You guys are useless!”
“Good morning.” He stayed as calm as possible when Whitney sat next to him, the girl smiling and whispering a greeting to him. “I’m sorry if I was a bit… off yesterday. It wasn’t a good day for me.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine. Besides, everyone has bad days. I won’t hold a grudge for that.” Whitney smiled a bit more and he nearly melted, smiling back at her and ignoring the curious eyes on the two of them. “Plus, you seem to be a bit more reserved than the average person. It would definitely take some time for you to feel a bit more comfortable around new people.”
“It’s not like I’m shy. If that’s what you mean.” He was speaking before thinking, a trait he thought he no longer possessed. “I just… I don’t know, I don’t enjoy talking with a lot of other people. Despite what they may think, there are a few students that I don’t mind talking to.”
“Like Angela? She’s a sweet girl, I don’t blame you. I talked to her for thirty minutes after school. It would have been longer if her friend hadn’t shown up to get her.” Her eyes shifted to his, widening a bit in surprise. “Oh! You have golden eyes, too?”
“Huh?”
“Ah, I met someone a few years ago. Yeah, she had the prettiest golden eyes I’ve ever seen. A really beautiful woman as well, God was I jealous.” She had yet to look away, admiring his eyes as she remembered sitting and talking to the woman for a long time while waiting for her parents to arrive. “Gold really suits some people. I like it, especially rose gold. The prettiest color to exist.”
“It really is pretty.” She had a few rose gold pieces of jewelry on. It enhanced her beauty to him, drawing him in more. Even though he (thankfully) stayed rooted in his seat. “It suits you.”
“Really? Thank you. That’s so sweet of you.” Her smile turned a bit more bashful, the teacher finally entering and clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention. “I think gold suits you.”
He preened at her compliment on the inside, staying collected on the outside and turning to face forward as attendance started.
Bella saw Edward lingering by the cafeteria doors, obviously looking for someone. She fluffed her hair, thinking he’d finally come to his senses-
“Sorry, I got caught up in a conversation. Have I told you that I love to talk?” Whitney brushed past her and made her way over to him, digging through her bag. “It’s my kryptonite. Did I even use that correctly?”
“In a way. Emmett could really use these notes, he’s failing the class.”
“I’m not sure if I’ll be of help, but okay. It’s just habit to write down everything the teacher says, I don’t actually absorb anything.” They even walked in together, Whitney flipping through her notes to be sure they were legible while Edward steered her towards the lunch line. “And- oh. Were you hungry? Sorry.”
“No, I don’t eat the school lunch. We always wait until we get home, our mom makes a lot. You don’t have a lunch with you, so I figured you wanted to buy lunch.”
“That. Just reminded me. What looks good?” Edward felt a bit proud when she seemed pleased with his choosing of foods, feeling giddy for some odd reason.
For some odd, human reason.
"Would you like to join me for lunch?"
"Aren't you sitting with your family? I wouldn't want to intrude." Fuck his family, he wanted to sit with the pretty girl.
"No, I have a project to work on for my art class. And I would love it if you kept me company." He was upping the charm, praying to any god out there that she would accept his invitation without further pushback. "Please? I wouldn't even mind you talking. In fact, I encourage it."
"Can we kidnap Angela?" He grinned and she smiled in triumph, marching right over to Angela and pulling her out of her seat. "You're coming with me, my darling. Say bye bye."
"...bye bye? Where are we- oh, hi, Edward."
"Hi, Angela." Edward offered her a polite smile, motioning to the seat next to the one he'd placed Whitney's bag on. "I saved you a seat."
"Oh, how kind of you."
"You think she fucked him already?" Lauren, Jessica, and Bella were watching the three intently. Edward drawing in his sketchbook, Whitney and Angela talking animatedly about something. Watching how Edward glanced at Whitney every so often, a soft smile on his face.
"Had to. There's no way- do you think they know each other from somewhere?" Jessica gasped when the thought crashed into her, looking at them with wide eyes. "Maybe that's why he's been this way! What if they're already dating?"
"They don't know each other." Bella mumbled, staring right at Whitney as she twirled a fork between her fingers. Jaw clenching when Whitney got Edward to laugh at whatever she said, a huff leaving her.
"How do you-"
"Because I fucking know, Jess."