Crescent Night

Chapter 3

The topic for gym class was volleyball for now, which was a good thing since it was the only sport I enjoyed, and knew the rules to. This along with my height and size, made me a fairly decent player. And this was something I'd been proud of my entire life.

Until this very moment.

It turns out that the new girl is a safety hazard on the court. So much so that the coach thought it would be beneficial to the student body to pair her with someone who could teach her the basics. And just like in the movies, the ethnic minority must go first.

So I was sacrificed to the monster that was Isabella Swan.

Jessica volunteered me for the role, and as I side eyed her I caught a satisfied grin on her face. At that moment I knew this was my punishment for not accepting her offer to join the volleyball team last semester. I made a mental note to get back at her.

After the Isabella problem was resolved, the rest of the class continued their mock games as usual. The two of us made our way to the section of the gym that was designated for us.

"I'm Bella" she introduced herself in an embarrassed tone. So it was Bella not Isabella, noted.

"Eleonor"

"I know, Erik told me you transferred last semester" I nodded and she continued. "He said you were Mexican, that's a big change"

I bit back an unpleasant comment "Puerto Rican" I corrected.

"What?"

"I'm Puerto Rican, not Mexican"

Her ears turned red "Oh!" she avoided eye contact "I'm sorry"

I shook my head "Don't worry about it, you didn't know" I'm sure it must've sounded bitter because she threw an annoyed look in Erik's direction.

Bella was pleasant, and didn't push for details when I avoided the transfer subject. She did explain her move though, and how she did it for her mom because she wanted to travel, and Bella didn't. She said she chose to do it, but I was pretty sure she was at least a bit angry at her mom.

The rest of the class went rather smoothly, no one else was injured in Bellas wake, including herself. At the end of class the coach let me know that I'd continue to be paired up with Bella since he was satisfied with the results. I wondered how long that would last given that the next subject was badminton and I'd never held a racket in my life.

"So you're sitting next to Edward in Biology, huh" I decided to figure out if she'd actually noticed his strange behavior, or if she was just jumpy in class.

"Oh, yeah" she answered as we walked to the locker rooms "But i don't think he likes me very much" so she had noticed.

"Que que!, he looked like you killed his dog or something" I laughed "Did you say something to him before class?"

She shook her head rapidly "Nothing!" she defended herself "I just saw him at lunch that's all, i didn't even talk to him!"

"That's weird"

"It is?"

"Yeah, he's usually pretty polite"

She let out a groan "Great, so it's just me?"

"Looks like it" I joked "Don't worry, i don't think anyone else noticed, and he's not one for gossip"

"Good" she sighed "i don't want any unnecessary problems while i'm here"

I laughed again, I could understand that.

When Biology class rolled around the next day, Edward Cullen was nowhere to be seen. Bella shot me an alarmed look, and I tried to tell her that the Cullens were prone to absences, though usually it was on sunny days. As I watched the rain outside the window, I decided she didn't need to know the last part.

I did see her point when he didn't show up the next day, or the day after. That was weird.

I decided to curb my curiosity and finally asked Alice and Jasper if their brother had indeed fallen off the face of the earth. After what I considered to be too long of an explanation, with all the details only a liar would give, I decided that maybe he just didn't like Bella, and was having a hissy fit over it.

Still, I relayed the dubious knowledge to Bella during Gym class in an attempt to make her feel better.

"The flu?"

"Yeah, apparently he started feeling sick at lunch and was trying not to throw up in class"

"Why didn't he just go to the nurse's office?"

"Maybe he didn't wanna make a scene"

I had my doubts about the excuse, but Bella seemed satisfied with the response and let it go.

I became convinced though after he failed to show up the next week. Surely no self respecting parent would let their kid miss two weeks of school over a tantrum, so he probably was sick.

It wasn't until the third week that Edward Cullen made his return to Forks High School.

As I took my seat during Biology I saw Edward in his seat, early as always. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see if he had the same reaction to Bella as the other day.

He turned to look at me and smiled politely, which I half returned nervously and looked away.

Eventually Bella showed up, stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the doorway. She looked at him, and then her nervous eyes found mine. I shrugged, also not knowing what to make of the redhead.

She gave me another glance as she took her seat and I gave her a discreet thumbs up for courage. Bella isn't a pushover, or at least I didn't think she was, but I'm sure she'd been dreading his return, not wanting to prove or disprove the flu excuse.

It wasn't until the teacher began to explain today's assignment that Edward decided to get talkative. Which annoyed me, because it meant I wouldn't be able to listen to their conversation. Still, he seemed polite enough, and after enough time, Bella seemed to relax. Maybe the other day was a fluke, and he was just riddled with disease and didn't want to throw up on the new girl.

With that thought, my lab partner and I continued to struggle with the assignment. I thought about just giving up on the whole concept of Biology until I felt something light hit my temple. It fell next to my hand, and I looked in the direction it came from, Bella and Edward's table.

He waved politely at me, pointed at the paper and mouthed.

Open it

I looked at Bella who nodded enthusiastically, so I did as they asked. There on the crumpled piece of paper were three beautifully written words.

Prophase, Anaphase, Interphase.

I blinked, once, twice. The answer to the assignment?

I looked back at their table, they both smiled and Bella returned my thumbs up from earlier. Had they noticed me struggling with the assignment?

Thank you. I mouthed at them and wrote down the answers quickly before the teacher came over.

Maybe Edward wasn't as frigid as I originally thought.