Well, I thought with dark humor, at least she has a guardian vampire. I smiled. How I loved my excuse to
stay. "Of course, keeping you safe is beginning to feel like a full-time occupation that requires my
constant presence."
She smiled, too. "No one has tried to do away with me today," she said lightly, and then her face turned
speculative for half a second before her eyes went opaque again.
"Yet," I added dryly.
"Yet," she agreed to my surprise. I'd expected her to deny any need for protection.
How could he? That selfish jackass! How could he do this to us? Rosalie's piercing mental shriek broke
through my concentration.
"Easy, Rose," I heard Emmett whisper from across the cafeteria. His arm was around her shoulders,
holding her tight into his side-restraining her.
Sorry, Edward, Alice thought guiltily. She could tell Bella knew too much from your conversation...and,
well, it would have been worse if I hadn't told her the truth right away. Trust me on that.
I winced at the mental picture that followed, at what would have happened if I'd told Rosalie that Bella
knew I was a vampire at home, where Rosalie didn't have a façade to keep up. I'd have to hide my Aston
Martin somewhere out of state if she didn't calm down by the time school was over. The sight of my
favorite car, mangled and burning, was upsetting-though I knew I'd earned the retribution.
Jasper was not much happier.
I'd deal with the others later. I only had so much time allotted to be to be with Bella, and I wasn't going
to waste it. And hearing Alice had reminded me that I had some business to attend to.
"I have another question for you," I said, tuning out Rosalie's mental hysterics.
"Shoot," Bella said, smiling.
"Do you really need to go to Seattle this Saturday, or was that just an excuse to get out of saying no to
all your admirers?"
She grimaced at me. "You know, I haven't forgiven you for the Tyler thing yet. It's your fault that he's
deluded himself into thinking I'm going to prom with him."
"Oh, he would have found a chance to ask you without me-I just really wanted to watch your face."
I laughed now, remembering her aghast expression. Nothing I'd ever told her about my own dark story
had ever made her look so horrified. The truth didn't frighten her. She wanted to be with me. Mindboggling.
"If I'd asked you, would you have turned me down?"
"Probably not," she said. "But I would have cancelled later-faked an illness or a sprained ankle."
How strange. "Why would you do that?"
She shook her head, as if she was disappointed that I did not understand at once. "You've never seen me
in gym, I guess, but I would have thought that you would understand."
Ah. "Are you referring to the fact that you can't walk across a flat, stable surface without finding
something to trip over?"
"Obviously."
"That wouldn't be a problem. It's all in the leading."
For a brief fraction of a second, I was overwhelmed by the idea of holding her in my arms at a dancewhere
she would surely wear something pretty and delicate rather than this hideous sweater.
With perfect clarity, I remembered how her body had felt under mine after I'd thrown her out of the
way of the oncoming van. Stronger than the panic or the desperation or the chagrin, I could remember
that sensation. She'd been so warm and so soft, fitting easily into my own stone shape...
I wrenched myself back from the memory.
"But you never told me-" I said quickly, preventing her from arguing with me about her clumsiness, as
she clearly intended to do. "Are you resolved on going to Seattle, or do you mind if we do something
different?"
Devious-giving her a choice without giving her the option of getting away from me for the day. Hardly
fair of me. But I had made her a promise last night...and I liked the idea of fulfilling it-almost as much as
that idea terrified me.
The sun would be shining Saturday. I could show her the real me, if I was brave enough to endure her
horror and disgust. I knew just the place to take such a risk...
"I'm open to alternatives," Bella said. "But I do have a favor to ask."
A qualified yes. What would she want from me?
"What?"
"Can I drive?"
Was this her idea of humor? "Why?"
"Well, mostly because when I told Charlie I was going to Seattle, he specifically asked if I was going alone
and, at the time, I was. If he asked again, I probably wouldn't lie, but I don't think he will ask again, and
leaving my truck at home would just bring up the subject unnecessarily. And also, because your driving
frightens me."
I rolled my eyes at her. "Of all the things about me that could frighten you, you worry about my driving."
Truly, her brain worked backwards. I shook my head, disgusted.