changed in my thoughts that made her vision of the future more secure.
Would curiosity be enough to keep Bella Swan alive? Emmett was right, though-why not get it over with,
either way? I would face the temptation head on.
"Go to class," I ordered, pushing away from the table. I turned and strode away from them without
looking back. I could hear Alice's worry, Jasper's censure, Emmett's approval, and Rosalie's irritation
trailing after me.
I took one last deep breath at the door of the classroom, and then held it in my lungs as I walked into
the small, warm space.
I was not late. Mr. Banner was still setting up for today's lab. The girl sat at my-at our table, her face
down again, staring at the folder she was doodling on. I examined the sketch as I approached, interested
in even this trivial creation of her mind, but it was meaningless. Just a random scribbling of loops within
loops. Perhaps she was not concentrating on the pattern, but thinking of something else?
I pulled my chair back with unnecessary roughness, letting it scrape across the linoleum; humans always
felt more comfortable when noise announced someone's approach.
I knew she heard the sound; she did not look up, but her hand missed a loop in the design she was
drawing, making it unbalanced.
Why didn't she look up? Probably she was frightened. I must be sure to leave her with a different
impression this time. Make her think she'd been imagining things before.
"Hello," I said in the quiet voice I used when I wanted to make humans more comfortable, forming a
polite smile with my lips that would not show any teeth.
She looked up then, her wide brown eyes startled-almost bewildered-and full of silent questions. It was
the same expression that had been obstructing my vision for the last week.
As I stared into those oddly deep brown eyes, I realized that the hate-the hate I'd imagined this girl
somehow deserved for simply existing-had evaporated. Not breathing now, not tasting her scent, it was
hard to believe that anyone so vulnerable could ever justify hatred. Her cheeks began to flush, and she
said nothing.
I kept my eyes on hers, focusing only on their questioning depths, and tried to ignore the appetizing
color of her skin. I had enough breath to speak for a while longer without inhaling.
"My name is Edward Cullen," I said, though I knew she knew that. It was the polite way to begin. "I
didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."
She seemed confused-there was that little pucker between her eyes again. It took her half a second
longer than it should have for her to respond.
"How do you know my name?" she demanded, and her voice shook just a little.
I must have truly terrified her. This made me feel guilty; she was just so defenseless. I laughed gently-it
was a sound that I knew made humans more at ease.
Again, I was careful about my teeth.
"Oh, I think everyone knows your name." Surely she must have realized that she'd become the center of
attention in this monotonous place. "The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."
She frowned as if this information was unpleasant. I supposed, being shy as she seemed to be, attention
would seem like a bad thing to her. Most humans felt the opposite. Though they didn't want to stand
out from the herd, at the same time they craved a spotlight for their individual uniformity.
"No," she said. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"
"Do you prefer Isabella?" I asked, perplexed by the fact that I couldn't see where this question was
leading. I didn't understand. Surely, she'd made her preference clear many times that first day. Were all
humans this incomprehensible without the mental context as a guide?
"No, I like Bella," she answered, leaning her head slightly to one side. Her expression-if I was reading it
correctly-was torn between embarrassment and confusion. "But I think Charlie-I mean my dad-must call
me Isabella behind my back.
That's what everyone here seems to know me as." Her skin darkened one shade pinker.
"Oh," I said lamely, and quickly looked away from her face.
I'd just realized what her questions meant: I had slipped up-made an error. If I hadn't been
eavesdropping on all the others that first day, then I would have addressed her initially by her full name,
just like everyone else. She'd noticed the difference.
I felt a pang of unease. It was very quick of her to pick up on my slip. Quite astute, especially for
someone who was supposed to be terrified by my nearness. But I had bigger problems than whatever
suspicions about me she might be keeping locked inside her head.
I was out of air. If I were going to speak to her again, I would have to inhale. It would be hard to avoid#p#分页标题#e#
speaking. Unfortunately for her, sharing this table made her my lab partner, and we would have to work