Juliet Swan in Twilight | A Jacob Black Love Story

Chapter Six: Hello

          As I drove to school, it started to rain. Great. I forgot my umbrella at home but it was too late to drive back. By the time I ran into the building, I was soaked.

          "Bet it doesn't rain like this in Hawai'i!" Eric teased as we walked together.

          We started talking about prom despite it being at the end of the school year and he wanted my playlist. As I shared some music, he sneakily tried to bring up having a date but Mike interrupted.

          "Hey, Julie! Want to borrow my jacket? I can warm you up, too," he winked at me, purposely standing between Eric and I.

          I laughed and shoved his face away with my hand, "Keep trying, punk."

          He and Eric started to bicker that Mike was ruining Eric's playing skills. My attention was taken when I saw that Edward was back and staring right at me. By the time I sat next to him, the cold overpowered my confidence and I sat in silence. The water dripped from my hair onto the floor, creating the only noise between us.

          "Hello," he said softly, making me jump.

          I looked at him, regretting it as I made eye contact, "H-Hi."

          His eyes were topaz but I swear they were black last week, "I apologize that I didn't introduce myself to you last week. I'm Edward Cullen. You're Juliet?"

          I nodded and broke eye contact first, "Um, yes. You can call me Julie, if you want."

          Mr. Molina began class about onion roots, interrupting our conversation briefly. He challenged us to differentiate the different phases of onion roots with labels. The first pair to get all correct would win a golden onion. Vampires can't eat onions, right? I glanced at him and he used his hand to push the microscope towards me.

          "Ladies first," he said with an awkward smile.

          "Oh," I said, getting shy, "right. Um, how come you were gone?"

          "Yeah," he leaned on his forearms on the desk, "I was out of town for a few days. Personal reasons. You gave my homework to Alice."

          "Jasper," I corrected him and pushed the microscope back to him, "Prophase."

          He nodded and reached for the microscope, "Do you, uh, mind if I look?"

          I opened my hands to him, letting him know he could go ahead and he really was handsome. Almost like Adonis, the Greek demigod.

          He looked briefly and nodded, "It's prophase."

          I wrote it down and collected the next sample, "I told you."

          He chuckled and glanced outside, "Are you enjoying the rain?"

          I scoffed and put the next sample in, "You're asking me about the weather?"

          He looked confused for a bit and smiled, "I guess I am."

          I pushed the microscope to him, "I love the rain. I used to surf almost every day. I hate the cold, though. Not a fan of ice."

          He started to laugh and looked into the lens, "Anaphase."

          I rolled my eyes, "Mind if I check?"

          He smirked and pushed it to me, "Go ahead."

          I looked in it and was annoyed further, "Anaphase."

          "I told you," he teased, copying my words.

          I smirked at him and got the next sample, "Whatever."

          "So," he said and took the microscope after I put in the next sample, "if you hate the cold, why move to the wettest and most northern part of the continental U.S.?"

          I pulled the microscope back before he could look in it, "It's complicated."

          He exhaled a laugh and took the microscope again, "I'm sure I can keep up."

          A little breathless, I let him, "My mum is traveling with her boyfriend in the military. I haven't seen my dad here in years. They just want me to graduate here without having to move so much."

          He always kept eye contact with me but broke it to look into the lens, "It's metaphase. Did you want to check?"

          I was a little shaken and shook my head, "I-I believe you."

          We ended up winning the golden onion and Edward continued to talk to me even after class. I'll admit, I wasn't expecting him to be like this after our first impression of each other. He did ask a lot of questions though and it was nice to talk to someone about it since my friends here didn't really seem interested why I was here from Hawai'i.

          However, at one point, I stepped closer to him, "Hey, did you get contacts?"

          He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, "Uh, no. It's the fluorescents."

          Without saying anything else, he turned and almost jogged out of the hallway.