thing.
Interesting... "That's a good sign. Was she pretty?"
Hmm. Jessica thought more of it that I did. Must be a female thing.
"Very," Bella told her. "And probably nineteen or twenty."
Jessica was momentarily distracted by a memory of Mike on her date Monday night-Mike being a little
too friendly with a waitress who Jessica did not consider pretty at all. She shoved the memory away and
returned, stifling her irritation, to her quest for details.
"Even better. He must like you."
"I think so," Bella said slowly, and I was on the edge of my seat, my body rigidly still. "But it's hard to tell.
He's always so cryptic."
I must not have been as transparently obvious and out of control as I'd thought. Still...observant as she
was... How could she not realize that I was in love with her? I sifted through our conversation, almost
surprised that I hadn't said the words out loud. It had felt like that knowledge had been the subtext of
every word between us.
Wow. How do you sit there across from a male model and make conversation? "I don't know how you're
brave enough to be alone with him," Jessica said.
Shock flashed across Bella's face. "Why?"
Weird reaction. What does she think I meant? "He's so..." What's the right word? "Intimidating. I
wouldn't know what to say to him." I couldn't even speak English to him today, and all he said was good
morning. I must have sounded like such an idiot.
Bella smiled. "I do have some trouble with incoherency when I'm around him." She must be trying to
make Jessica feel better. She was almost unnaturally self-possessed when we were together.
"Oh well," Jessica sighed. "He is unbelievably gorgeous."
Bella's face was suddenly colder. Her eyes flashed the same way they did when she resented some
injustice. Jessica didn't process the change in her expression. "There's a lot more to him than that," Bella
snapped.
Oooh. Now we're getting somewhere. "Really? Like what?"
Bella gnawed her lip for a moment. "I can't explain it right," she finally said. "But he's even more
unbelievable behind the face." She looked away from Jessica, her eyes slightly unfocused as if she was
staring at something very far away.
The feeling I felt now was loosely similar to how it felt when Carlisle or Esme praised me beyond what I
deserved. Similar, but more intense, more consuming.
Sell stupid somewhere else-there's nothing better than that face! Unless it's his body. Swoon. "Is that
possible?" Jessica giggled.
Bella didn't turn. She continued to stare into the distance, ignoring Jessica.
A normal person would be gloating. Maybe if I keep the questions simple. Ha ha.
Like I'm talking to a kindergartener. "So you like him, then?"
I was rigid again.
Bella didn't look at Jessica. "Yes."
"I mean, do you really like him?"
"Yes."
Look at that blush!
I was.
"How much do you like him?" Jessica demanded.
The English room could have gone up in flames and I wouldn't have noticed. Bella's face was bright red
now-I could almost feel the heat from the mental picture.
"Too much," she whispered. "More than he likes me. But I don't see how I can help that."
Shoot! What did Mr. Varner just ask? "Um-which number, Mr. Varner?"
It was good that Jessica could no longer quiz Bella. I needed a minute.
What on earth was that girl thinking now? More than he likes me? How did she come up with that? But I
don't see how I can help that? What was that supposed to mean? I couldn't fit a rational explanation to
the words. They were practically senseless.
It seemed I couldn't take anything for granted. Obvious things, things that made perfect sense,
somehow got twisted up and turned backwards in that bizarre brain of hers.
More than he likes me? Maybe I shouldn't rule out the institution just yet.
I glared at the clock, gritting my teeth. How could mere minutes feel so impossibly long to an immortal?
Where was my perspective?
My jaw was tight throughout Mr. Varner's entire trigonometry lesson. I heard more of that than the
lecture in my own class. Bella and Jessica didn't speak again, but Jessica peeked at Bella several times,
and once her face was brilliant scarlet again for no apparent reason.
Lunch couldn't come fast enough.
I wasn't sure if Jessica would get some of the answers I was waiting for when the class was over, but
Bella was quicker than she was.
As soon as the bell sounded, Bella turned to Jessica.
"In English, Mike asked me if you said anything about Monday night," Bella said, a smile pulling at the
corners of her lips. I understood this for what is was-offence as the best defense.
Mike asked about me? Joy made Jessica's mind suddenly unguarded, softer, without its usual snide
edge. "You're kidding! What did you say?"