Not Me!

Questionable Mystery

(Y/N)'s POV

I sent a quick text to Bella before hopping into my car. The tires rolled along the slick road on my way to her house. The dark green forest framed the quiet road.

Her driveway came into view with her dad's police car and her old-fashioned orange truck close by. My car stopped on the gravel driveway leading up to the house. Bella stood waiting at her front door.

"Hey, Bella," My door slammed shut and the keys jingled in my hand when I stowed them away in my pocket.

"Hey, come in." She turned on her heel back into the house leaving the door wide. The space inside had a bit of clutter on tables here and there, but still relatively clean. The house's main color seemed to be brown and her dad sat on the couch.

He seemed to be sucked into the TV for the moment as sports players sprint across the bright grass on screen. A booming announcer's voice and sporadic whistles filled the air from the TV set.

We had hardly been noticed as we slipped by to go up the carpeted steps. Bella leads the way to a small bedroom with a purple-clad bed in the middle. She settled down into the bed and patted the area in front of her.

"Come sit." She slouched over her crossed legs with an elbow on each knee.

"Alright, so you wanted to talk about Edward?" I slowly settled into her bed looking at her from my side. My brow furrowed a little at the odd topic.

"Yeah...I noticed some things about him that threw me off." She raked her fingers through her dark brown hair. "His eyes had changed color...since he came back."

"What do you mean? I must have not noticed."

"They were this...dark color before. Now that he's back, they're a golden color." She shook her head, her eyes caught on her purple bed sheets.

"That is a bit off. Did you ask him about it?" I tried to remember to the best of my ability the color his eyes were. I didn't look as deeply into his eyes as she did, I suppose.

"No...not yet, but you agree that's off?" Her eyes flicked up to mine.

"Yeah, I suppose. He could be wearing contacts, maybe?" I couldn't think of any other possible reason it would be different. "How about his allergies?"

"What?...what do you mean?" She bit her lip for a short second before letting it go.

"He's allergic to strong smells...don't you know that?" Confusion slowly built between us both. "He told me that because he seemed to have a big reaction to my smell."

He was just this big question mark to everyone around him. A mystery that refuses to be told and gets more confusing with a closer look.

"No, he didn't tell me that..." She held a deep confusion in her eyes. "He seems okay. A girl behind us wears a lot of perfume...a guy has gotten a headache from it." Her fingers played with a strand of her long hair.

"Oh? Then what is it about me? He acts so disgusted by my smell, and he said that. I tried using soaps and stuff that don't have a scent." He's such an aggravating question mark. "Do I smell bad?"

"No, you don't. Well, you didn't...now you smell like nothing." She gave a soft smile with her eyes back on the bed.

We both took a long pause, trying to think of clues on what we know on this rabbit hole. "What about the disappearing act?"

"Yeah...he was gone for a couple of days." She added in.

"I knew about him since freshman year. He does stuff like this often. It felt like at least twice a month, he would be gone for a while."

"So that is normal for him?" She tucked a hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, every time the sun is out. He's sick, out of town, or camping." I shrugged my shoulders. "The excuses keep piling. I don't know how he manages to pass the year with all the absences."

"Bella, you need to go to bed." Her dad swung open the door for a quick moment. His eyes stopped on me. "Oh, hey." He gave a short smile. "You need to get going. It's a school night."

"Oh, okay. I didn't realize it was getting late." I turned to see the darkening night sky out her little window. "I'll go now. See you later, Bella."

I got onto my feet and left past her dad to the front of the house. The night air's chill circled me when I opened the door. My spine felt the chill as I tried to avoid slush and quickly get to my car to warm up.

Edward's questionable behavior filled my mind on my trek home. He had committed vanishing acts frequently. Now his eyes are different colors.

I couldn't possibly keep up with all of these new developments with him. Two of them slightly get in the way of practice. It frustrated me to have an inconsistent partner at a semi-important event.

I don't know what frustrated me more his absences or his exaggerated reactions to me. The absences got in the way of the task at hand, while the disgust was just annoying. My car stopped in front of my home.

The car lights spotlighted the porch. My back pressed against the cool car seat, hot air fanning over my face from the car's vents. Closing my eyes to collect my thoughts before I leave my car.

I don't need to be upset, it would make it harder to sleep. My hand found the key, leaning forward to turn the car off.

My eyes slowly opened back up to view my surroundings. One hand found the car door and the other found my bag. Slush welcomed me on my return home. What was more welcoming was when I could curl into my warm bed.
_______________________________________
1015 Words