❝I can only remember the pain from before I met you, your silhouette haunting me, staying in the dark and out of my reach. Constantly reminding me that I won't have you, I won't hold you. That your sweetness will never be mine.❞
- The time before...
It was different this time around when he arrived to Biology class, shortly after she did. She was at her desk already, Mike Newton sitting on the corner of it. He held both Lux and Bella's attention, ranting about whatever it was that would get their attention. He could feel her eyes fall on him, no longer finding her drawn to whatever Mike had been speaking about. It was only for a split second that she looked to him, but it felt like a million years. Their eyes met for a brief moment, neither looking away. He was sure he could stay looking into her dark brown eyes forever if it meant he'd be able to withstand the sweetest scent of blood flow to ever fill his lungs.
Her gaze shifted away, only when Mike called for her. Edward took his seat next to Bella, Mike's speech slowing down. Bella's eyes fell to him for a second, right smile on her face in greeting. He listened to Lux's heartbeat. It was at a steady pace, slowing down every now and then when Mike would say something she didn't like. He wondered when he'd get the chance speak to her, if it'd ever come.
He wasn't at all surprised to see Nick Wylde, Lux's biology partner was missing again. It seemed the boy seemed to be more absent than Edward, and the Cullen's took their fair share of time off on the sunniest of days. When Mr. Molina finally came inside, Edward tuned him out at once. It wouldn't be difficult to understand what he'd been thinking, so he could easily tune everything else out considering their teacher loved to ramble on.
A student came in, note in hand quickly showing it to Mr. Molina. He looked to Bella, sliding the note down to her. It wasn't difficult for Edward to read the note inconspicuously, lazily written letters too big for the size of the paper.
"Student Dismissal Isabella Swan To the councilor's office, Building 7 Time: 1:10"
Edward pitied the girl. The counselors were strict, eyes only ever on college plans and due to them being junior, they were ready to get their senior schedules ready and lecture students about their five year plan. Edward had his meeting weeks ago and he dreaded every second of it. He was curious to know how Bella's would go.
He didn't dwell on the thought for too long, listening to the teacher's thoughts about Bella's leave.
Great, this was a parter contest. I guess I could always put Lux with Edward. Where is Nick anyway? Probably smoking behind the gym again. Edward couldn't contain the sudden feeling that ran through his stomach, making him feel like he was on air possibly. Like his feet would lift off the floor and he'd be floating above.
"Lux and Edward, if you could sit next to each other. It'll be a partner contest," Mr. Molina told them. He was ready to move, the sound of her chair being pushed back and feet dragging off the floor stopped him. The teacher came around, carefully placing their equipment in front of each group. Lux had her eyes on the golden onion, brows furrowed in thought.
Edward's did the same, curious to know what was going on in her mind. He couldn't understand why he was so curious about her. It couldn't be only because of her sweetness though he couldn't deny it was the first thing to draw him in. And maybe it was because of the lack one had to know what she was thinking. Where he needed so badly to know what she was thinking he couldn't. And it bothered him more because he was not used to being unaware of what someone thought of him. He watched closely at the small flower she doodles on the corner of her sheet.
"Hello," said his quiet, monotonous voice. It was hard to miss the look she had given him upon looking up, she looked stunned, fidgeting slightly. Her hair was slightly wet, she'd disappeared before lunch ended and he was certain she'd gone to her car. Maybe she'd forgotten to roll her windows up, or left homework in the backseat. Lux noted the way he sat in the chair, farthest from her as the desk would allow. It was a much different composure to that he had the first time she saw him in class. His posture was more relaxed, but it was obvious he was still a little tense as a result of something she'd never understand.
"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week, you must be Lux Ames?" Her brows stayed knitted together, over analyzing his words and wondering if it meant he would have gone out of his way to speak to her the last time around. In reality they had absolutely no interaction so what chance would he have had anyway?
"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked. Lux was caught up staring at him, trying to understand if whatever had upset him last week would do the same this week. Edward was beginning to grow nervous, her silence sparking insecurities inside him like maybe he'd gotten ahead of himself to think she'd want to be approached by him. "Or I could start, if you wish." His smile faded, Lux caught the action, shifting her eyes to the slides.
"No," she pushed a loose strands behind her ear, "I'll go ahead." Edward watched closely, partly to see how she'd move and fix the microscope, and second to make sure it was done right. She'd adjusted it to the 40x objective, peering down and mumbling, "Prophase."
She picked her pencil up, with her free hand she went to remove the slide. She was confident in her answer, she'd taken the class back home but Forks seemed to be behind a few units and it was material she'd already learned. His hand barely brushed over hers, but she pulled back in shock. The icy cold feeling making her warm hands free on the spot. He looked at her reaction, "May I?" He drew his hand back slightly before reaching for the microscope, "I'm sorry."
She didn't say anything, letting her hand fall to her lap. Her pencil hovered just over the answer slot waiting to see what he'd see. With his confirmation, she wrote it down quickly. Edward looked at her handwriting. The words were written neatly. Long letters slightly surpassing the middle of the lines, cramped together with short Ts and long S's. Lux had been focused on her sheet, not noticing when he switched the slide out, "Anaphase."
She looked down the instrument, "May I?" She didn't miss the light smirk on his face as he nodded. She looked in, bottom lip falling between her teeth at the slide which was in fact anaphase.
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He wrote the answer, tempted to cast his eyes toward her again, allow himself to take her appearance in with his own two eyes. He'd been wanting to do that the entire lesson, but the quicker he'd get the experiment done the sooner he'd be able to do so. "Interphase," she said writing it down, not waiting for him to catch a peek—which he had. They'd finished long before anyone else, Lux looked behind, Mike and his partner struggling to choose between two slides and which answer belonged to which.
If she stared at the clock she'd only grow annoyed that there was still too much time before class ended. If she were to stare at Edward he'd probably think of her as a creep, staring at him and only him. She glanced to the side, and he was staring. She'd never caught him staring, but the inexplicable look of frustration on his face made her wonder if she'd done something wrong.
"Did you get contacts?" She blurted out. Lux instantly regretted doing so, it'd only be noticeable due to her intense staring last week, where she couldn't draw her eyes away from him like he was some sort of magnet pulling her in.
He seemed puzzled for a moment. He wasn't. If anything he was upset, he'd already made two mistakes in less than an hour in her presence. The first was letting his hand touch hers, her skin burned his with electric while his made her shiver. His black eyes from where he was dying inside from hunger she'd noticed, and compared to his gold ones, there was a large contrast, "No."
"Oh," she mumbled, "I thought there was something different."
