The Dancing Ghost ★ Edward Cullen

xvii. The art that you are

Anastasia watched from behind the glass as people crossed the busy street, the smell of coffee in the air as she waited for the barista to brew her cup of black coffee.

Two days have passed, it felt like nothing has happened, but she still found found herself wondering how she's even still here.

Of course, the world hasn't changed in a way that mattered.

People were going on with their lives, the sun had rised again and later, it will set yet again, all while she watched from afar, locked inside her mind.

She touched the world with a heavy heart, yet it didn't even ripple.

"Here you go, enjoy" The barista said with a warm smile, handing her the cup of black coffee.

Anastasia gave her a polite smile, taking the warm cup into her cold hands, her bandaged wrist hidden under the sleeve of her jacket.

"Thank you" She smiled, paying and leaving a tip before leaving the small shop, her footsteps trailing on the thin layer of snow before going into her car.

She checked her flip phone, it was now six a.m. still too early but she has a lot of assignments she had missed, practice in the afternoon and she also has to pick up Meredith and James from the airport at night.

Playing the crystal castles cd, she took the road to her university, her windshields pushing away the frail snowflakes that fell.

The campus was open but there wasn't many students this early in the morning, making her footsteps echoe as she walked to the library.

She searched for a few books she needed before sitting down and taking out her notebook and started working on her assignments.

Three hours have passed, oblivious to Anastasia who had lost the usual watch she wore a few days ago, making her forget to check the time.

Students started to arrive, their courses starting and the library was getting a bit more crowded, but she was sitting in an isolated corner to be able to focus.

Anastasia felt a small shiver when she felt a particular presence, looking up from her essay for the first time in a while when the chair across of her was moved back, her eyes meeting Edward's golden ones as he sat down.

"Sorry for interrupting you, do you have a moment?" He spoke up, his rich voice wasn't laced with a british accent but with something other than modern English.

Anastasia felt a pang of pettiness when she remembered how he had ignored her a few days ago.

"No, not really." She said in a monotone voice, going back to writing her essay, trying hard to act unaffected.

"... I'm sorry for suddenly not speaking to you, I really wanted to I just... Couldn't." Edward stayed silent for a moment then sighted, standing up from his chair as he spoke up with a trace of guilt, "It's alright, I get it."

Anastasia tried to push down her twirling thoughts and questions about her memories but failed quite quickly much to her embarrassment.

As he turned around to walk away, she quickly got up and reached to hold his hand to stop him from leaving.

When her fingers wrapped around his longer ones, she fought back a flinch of surprise from how cold his skin was.

"Why was your skin sparkling in the sun?" She blurted out.

Edward froze slightly, turning around to meet her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Anastasia frowned, "Yes you do. Back in the museum, I saw it. Your skin was sparkling under sunlight and then it was..." She hesitated to say the words from how crazy it would sound, "...It was almost transparent..."