We made our way to English, but Bella seemed out of it. We were late and when we walked in, class had already started.
"Thank you for joining us," Mr. Mason said in a disparaging tone.
I flushed and hurried us to our seats.
It wasn't until class ended that I realized Mike hadn't glued himself to Bella's side and Eric seemed a little distant. But they met us at the door as usual, so I figured we weren't totally unforgiven. Mike became more himself as we walked, talking about the beach trip and the weather with Bella. Since it wasn't a conversation I was invited to, I tuned him out mostly.
The rest of the morning passed in a blur, besides Bella telling me about what happened before class. Christian was right. When I didn't seem in total shock, I filled her in on what he had told me.
My sister seemed impatient as we entered the cafeteria with Jessica. Anxiously looking towards the Cullen's table, disappointment took hold of her face when we noticed only four people sitting down. Edward wasn't there.
"Edward Cullen is staring at you again," Jessica said, snapping Bella out of her own head, "I wonder why he's sitting alone today."
I followed her gaze and saw Edward, smiling crookedly at my sister across the cafeteria from where he usually sat. He raised an index finger and motioned for her to join him. I turned back to Bella in disbelief.
"Are you gonna go?" I asked her.
"Maybe he needs help with the Biology homework," she muttered towards Jessica. "I better go see what he wants." And just like that, she took off with only a lemonade in her hands.
Jessica gave me a look of suspicion, but I dodged it and grabbed a tray of food, walking with her to our table. When we sat down, the seat next to mine was empty. No one tried to fill it and for that I was thankful. Mike's mood had again dropped considerably; I watched him as he glared towards the table Bella and Edward were sitting at.
"There's still one missing," Eric said, glancing over to the Cullen/Hale table.
As if summoned by that sentence, a tall figure plopped down in the seat next to me. "Yes, indeed. He's right here."
Not wanting to look, I already knew who had taken my twin's spot. Eric, who at first looked surprised, changed his features to something that could only be described as burning contempt. I wondered if he had seen Christian's arm around me this morning. I ducked my head in embarrassment.
When I looked up again, everyone was awkwardly glancing at each other, obviously not sure what to make of the Hale cousin at our table.
"Oh, don't mind me guys, I'm just here to see Alex." He said, throwing his arm around my shoulders for the second time today.
"It's Alexandra." I corrected as I shrugged him off.
Jessica threw me a look as if to say that I would have some explaining to do later and I resigned to stare at my tray, picking at the food that I'd grabbed without looking.
"Do you want some of mine? Yours doesn't look too appetizing." Christian started to switch our trays when I put a hand out to stop him, flinching slightly at the cold.
"I'm fine."
And lunch continued like this, awkwardly, until it was finally time to go.
"I won't be in class today," Christian called out as I was walking to catch up to Bella.
I didn't spare him a second glance as I continued to storm off.
When I caught up to my sister, she was half-running to class. We were definitely almost late. I hurriedly told her about what happened at our lunch table. She took time to tell me that Edward was also ditching class and to point out it had stopped raining.
We got lucky arriving to class, Mr. Banner wasn't there yet. We settled into our seats. Mike was staring at Bella, looking resentful.
Mr. Banner came into the room then, calling the class to order and juggling a few small cardboard boxes in his arms. He put them down on Mike's desk first and instructed him to pass them around to the class.
"Okay guys, I want you all to take one piece from each box," he said as he produced a pair of rubber gloves from the pocket of his lab jacket and pulled them on. The sharp sound as the gloves snapped against his wrists seemed ominous to me. "The first card should be the indicator card," he went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displaying it. "The second is a four-pronged applicatorâ" he held up something that looked like a nearly toothless hair pick "âand the third is a sterile micro-lancet." He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. The barb was invisible from this distance, but my stomach flipped.
"I'll be coming around with a dropper of water to prepare your cards, so please don't start until I get to you." He began at Mike's table again, carefully putting one drop of water in each of the four squares.
"Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with the lancet..." He grabbed Mike's hand and jabbed the spike into the tip of Mike's middle finger. Oh no. Clammy moisture broke out across my forehead.
"Put a small drop of blood on each of the prongs." He demonstrated, squeezing Mike's finger till the blood flowed. I swallowed convulsively, my stomach heaving.
"And then apply it to the card," he finished, holding up the dripping red card for us to see. I closed my eyes, trying to hear through the ringing in my ears.
"The Red Cross is having a blood drive in Port Angeles next weekend, so I thought you should all know your blood type." He sounded proud of himself. "Those of you who aren't eighteen yet will need a parent's permission â I have slips at my desk." He continued through the room with his water drops.
I unsteadily got myself up from my seat and sat in Edward's empty chair beside Bella. Holding myself steady with one hand white knuckling the table, I put my other hand on her back and she put her forehead down against the cool surface.
"Bella, Alexandra, are you girls all right?" Mr. Banner asked. He sounded alarmed.
"We already know our blood types, Mr. Banner." I heard Bella squeeze out weakly.
"Are you feeling faint?"
"Yes, sir." I said. Maybe Bella and I should've skipped class, too.
"Can someone take the Swan sisters to the nurse, please?"
I didn't need to look over to know who'd volunteered. Any chance to help...
"Can you girls walk?" Mr. Banner asked.
"Yes," I whispered. Just let us out. I'll crawl if need be.
Mike seemed eager as he put his arm around my sister's waist and pulled her arm over his shoulders. Seemingly forgetting that there were two of us, no move was made to help me, too. Bella used her free arm to pull me against her and together, we pulled each other slowly across campus.
When we were around the edge of the cafeteria and out of sight of building four, Bella stopped walking.
"Just let us sit for a minute, please?" she pleaded.
He helped her and she helped me sit on the edge of the walkway.
"Whatever you do, keep your hand in your pocket." I said to Mike. Bella and I, thinking alike, both slumped against the cold cement of the sidewalk, it seemed to help.
"Wow, you're green, Bella." Mike said.
"Alex?"
"Bella?"
Two scarily familiar voices called out from a distance. Please, I pleaded, for both of our sakes, just let them disappear.
"What's wrong â are they hurt?" Edward's voice was closer now, and he sounded upset. I watched Bella squeeze her eyes shut and followed suit; I focused on trying not to throw up.
Mike seemed stressed. "I think she's fainted. I don't know what happened, she didn't even stick her finger."
"Bella." Edward's voice was closer still, relieved. "Can you hear me?"
"No," my sister groaned, "go away."
I felt a hand on my head, lightly stroking my hair.
"I was taking her to the nurse," Mike explained in a defensive tone, "but she wouldn't go any farther."
"And what about Alex?" I heard Christian right next to me. He must be the one touching my head.
"Oh, yeah... her, too." Mike sounded embarrassed now.
"We'll take them," Edward said. "You can go back to class."
"No," Mike protested. "I'm supposed to do it."
Suddenly the sidewalk disappeared from beneath me. My eyes flew open in shock. Christian had scooped me up in his arms as easily if I had weighed ten pounds instead of one hundred and twenty.
"Put me down!" Please, please let me not vomit on him. He was walking before I finished talking. I could see Bella was struggling all the same.
"Hey!" Mike called. He was already ten paces behind us.
Christian ignored him. "You look awful," he told me, grinning.
"Put me back on the sidewalk." I moaned. The rocking movement of his walk was not helping. He held me away from his body, gingerly, supporting all my weight with just his arms â it didn't seem to bother him.
"So you faint at the sight of blood?" He asked. This seemed to entertain him.
I didn't answer. I closed my eyes again and fought the nausea with all my strength, clamping my lips together.
"And not even your own blood," he continued, enjoying himself.
I don't know how he opened the door while carrying me, but it was suddenly warm so I knew we were inside. I hoped Bella was fairing better than I was.
"Oh my," I heard a female voice gasp.
"They fainted in Biology," Edward explained.
I opened my eyes. I was in the office, and Edward was striding past the front counter toward the nurse's door. Ms. Cope, the redheaded front office receptionist, ran ahead of him to hold it open. The grandmotherly nurse looked up from a novel, astonished, as Edward swung my sister into the room and placed her gently on the crackly paper that covered the brown vinyl mattress on a cot. Christian did the same for me. Then they moved to stand against the wall as far across the narrow room as possible. Their eyes were bright, excited.
"They're just a little faint," Edward reassured the startled nurse. "They're blood typing in Biology."
The nurse nodded sagely. "There's always at least one."
Christian muffled a snicker.
"Just lie down for a minute, girls; it'll pass."
"We know," I sighed. The nausea was already fading.
"Does this happen a lot?" She asked.
"Sometimes," I admitted. Christian coughed to hide another laugh.
"You boys can go back to class now," she told them.
"We're supposed to stay with them." Edward said this with such assured authority that â even though she pursed her lips â the nurse didn't argue it further.
"I'll go get you some ice for your forehead, dears," she said to me, and then bustled out of the room.
"You were right," Bella groaned, letting her eyes close.
"I usually am â but about what in particular this time?" Edward replied.
"Ditching is healthy."
"You scared me for a minute there," Christian chimed in after a pause. His tone made it sound like he was confessing a humiliating weakness. "I thought Newton was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods."
"Ha ha." I still had my eyes closed, but I was feeling more normal every minute.
"Honestly â I've seen corpses with better color. I was concerned that I might have to avenge your murder." Edward said towards Bella.
"Poor Mike. I'll bet he's mad." Bella didn't sound sorry, though.
"He absolutely loathes me," Edward said cheerfully.
"You can't know that," She argued, but I wondered suddenly if he could.
"I saw his face â I could tell."
"How did you see us? I thought you two were ditching." I was almost fine now, though the queasiness would probably pass faster if I'd eaten something for lunch. On the other hand, maybe it was lucky my stomach was empty.
"We were in Ed's car, listening to a CD." Such a normal response â it surprised me.
I heard the door and opened my eyes to see the nurse with cold compresses in her hands.
"Here you go, girls." She laid them across our foreheads. "You're looking better," she added.
"I think I'm fine," I said, sitting up. Bella followed suit. Just a little ringing in my ears, no spinning. The mint green walls stayed where they should.
I could see she was about to make us lie back down, but the door opened just then, and Ms. Cope stuck her head in.
"We've got another one," she warned.
Bella and I hopped down from our cots, holding each other's arms for support. We handed our compresses back to the nurse. "Here, we don't need them," Bella said.
And then Mike staggered through the door, now supporting a sallow-looking Lee Stephens, another boy in our Biology class. We drew back against the wall to give them room.
"Oh no," Edward muttered, looking towards Christian. "Go out to the office, girls."
I looked at Bella confused, and she looked bewildered.
"Trust us. Go," Christian ordered.
I spun and caught the door before it closed, darting out of the infirmary. I could feel my sister following close behind me.
"You actually listened to me," Edward was stunned.
"I smelled the blood," Bella said, wrinkling her nose. Lee wasn't sick from watching other people, like us.
"People can't smell blood," he contradicted.
"We can â that's what makes us sick. It smells like rust and salt." I explained.
Christian was staring at me with an unfathomable expression.
"What?" I asked.
"It's nothing."
Mike came through the door then, glancing from Bella to Edward. The look he gave Edward confirmed what he had said about loathing. He looked back to Bella, his eyes glum.
"You look better." He accused.
"Just keep your hand in your pocket," I warned him again, a little bristled at his attitude towards my sister.
"It's not bleeding anymore," he muttered. "Are you going back to class?"
"Are you kidding? We'd just have to turn around and come back." Bella replied.
"Yeah, I guess... So are you going this weekend? To the beach?" While he spoke, he flashed another glare toward Edward, who was standing against the cluttered counter, motionless as a sculpture, staring off into space.
"Sure, I said I was in."
Christian looked towards me after that. "Are you going too?"
Mike stiffened and ducked his head. It was obvious that he was embarrassed for forgetting I existed again. He really had it bad for my twin.
"Yeah, I was also invited. I'm excited to see the beach."
"Okay! Well, we're meeting at my dad's store at ten." Mike's eyes flickered toward Edward again. His body language made it clear that it wasn't an open invitation.
"We'll be there," Bella promised.
"I'll see you in Gym, then," he said, moving uncertainly toward the door.
When Mike left, Bella groaned, "Gym."
"I can take care of that," Edward said from beside Bella. "You two go sit down and look pale."
That wasn't a challenge; we were always pale, and our recent swoon had left light sheens of sweat on our faces. We sat in the folding chairs, my head on Bella's shoulder and her head against the wall. Christian sat on the other side of me, looking worried. I guessed he was trying to make this more convincing.
I heard Edward speaking softly at the counter. "Ms. Cope?"
"Yes?" I hadn't heard her return to her desk.
"The girls have Gym next hour, and I don't think they feel well enough. Actually, I was thinking we should take them home now. Do you think you could excuse them from class?" His voice was like melting honey. He sure laid it on thick.
"Do you need to be excused, too, Edward?" Ms. Cope fluttered.
"No, we have Mrs. Goff, she won't mind."
"Okay, it's all taken care of. You feel better, Bella, Alex," she called to us. I nodded weakly, hamming it up just a bit.
"Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you again?" With his back to the receptionist, Edward's expression became sarcastic as he spoke to my sister.
"I'll walk." She said, grumpy.
Christian looked at me as if to ask the same question. I glared at him and he seemed to get the message. Putting my hands on the chair arms to brace myself, he held his hand out to me to help me stand. I didn't take it.
We walked out into the cold, fine mist that had just begun to fall. It felt nice, washing our faces from the perspiration. Bella and Edward walked slightly ahead of us and it looked like they were talking, so I walked a little slower to give them privacy. Now that they were on talking terms, Bella couldn't deny her good mood and I didn't want to interrupt.
"So, are you going? This Saturday, I mean?" I asked, turning toward Christian. Part of me was hoping he would, even if he was unbelievably annoying. It was unlikely, though. I couldn't picture him loading up to carpool with the rest of the kids from school; he didn't belong to the same world.
"Where are you all going, exactly?" He was looking ahead, expressionless.
"Down to La Push, to First Beach." I studied his face, trying to read it. His eyes seemed to narrow infinitesimally.
He glanced down at me from the corner of his eye, smiling wryly. "I really don't think I was invited."
I sighed. "I just invited you."
He shook his head, not giving me a clear answer.
Christian grabbed my wrist as I watched Edward pull Bella by her jacket hoodie. It seemed she was trying to go to our truck. Judging the reaction of both boys, it was obvious we wouldn't be allowed to go home by ourselves. He walked me to the Volvo, never letting go of my wrist and I climbed into the backseat, deciding that this wasn't the best idea to try to fight. I was surprised when Christian climbed in after me. I thought he would've claimed shotgun and Bella and I would be together in the back.
I watched on as Edward dragged my sister to the passenger side of the Volvo before letting her go. It took her a minute, but she finally climbed in.
"This is completely unnecessary." She said stiffly.
Edward didn't answer. He fiddled with the controls, turning the heater up and the music down.
"Clair de Lune?" I whispered to Christian, surprised.
"You know Debussy?" Edward sounded surprised, too. I didn't mean for him to hear me, and I could feel my face heat up.
"Not well," Bella corrected. "Our mother plays a lot of classical music around the house â we only know our favorites."
"It's one of my favorites, too." He stared out through the rain.
Christian looked at me when his cousin said this and made a gagging face. I had to stifle a laugh. I wasn't sure if I was successful or not, though.
"What is your mother like?" he asked me suddenly.
I glanced over to see him studying me with curious eyes.
"She looks a lot like Bella and me, but she's prettier," I said. He raised his eyebrows. "I have too much of my dad in me. She's more outgoing than I am, and braver. She's irresponsible and slightly eccentric, and she's a very unpredictable cook. She's Bella's best friend." I stopped. Talking about her would make my sister depressed.
"How old are you, Bella?" Edward's voice cut through our conversation, sounding frustrated for some reason I couldn't imagine. He'd stopped the car, and I realized we were at our house already. The rain was so heavy that I could barely see the house at all. It was like the car was submerged under a river.
"We're seventeen," she responded, a little confused.
"You don't seem seventeen."
His tone was reproachful; it made me laugh.
"What?" he asked, curiously looking at me from the rear view mirror.
"My mom always says we were born thirty-five years old and that we get more middle-aged every year." Bella laughed, and then sighed. "Well, someone has to be the adult." She paused for a second. "You don't seem much like a junior in high school yourself."
He made a face and changed the subject. "Have fun at the beach... good weather for sunbathing." He glanced out at the sheeting rain.
"Won't I see you tomorrow?"
"No. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early."
I turned to Christian at this, mouthing to him if he was going, too. I didn't want to break up Bella's conversation. He nodded.
"What are you going to do?" This time I asked aloud.
"We're going to be hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier."
I remembered Dad had said the Cullens went camping frequently.
"Oh, well, have fun." I tried to sound enthusiastic. I don't think I fooled him, though. A smile was playing around the edges of his lips. As I got out of the car, I caught the tail end of Bella's conversation.
"Will you do something for me this weekend?" I watched him turn to look Bella straight in the face, utilizing the full power of his burning gold eyes.
She nodded.
"Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet. So... try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?" He smiled crookedly.
She glared at him now. "I'll see what I can do," she snapped. Bella then slammed the door behind her with excessive force.
He was still smiling as they drove away.