FOREVER

Certain Pale Person

Certain Pale Person

The rest of class was uneventful, if you ignore my constant staring at the girl next to me. Alice was, in her own unique way, very captivating to me. Her beauty, her mannerisms, her freaking perfume; it all just drew me in. I wanted more. I almost needed more. I almost laughed out loud at my own thoughts. It was like I was back in middle school and Alice was the popular girl that everyone wanted to be friends with in hopes that it carried over to high school. Honestly, I'd never been that girl. Not even in middle school. Reading a book in the corner of the cafeteria always suited me just fine. But now, now as a seventeen year old in high school I wanted to be friends with Alice...Alice what? Casually as I could muster, I glanced at the note sheet she'd scribbled her name on. Culler. Alice Culler. I wanted to be her friend. If not her friend, then I just didn't want to be hated by her. However, I didn't seem to be doing very well at the moment. Just then, she turned her head and looked up at me. She must have sensed my staring. Our eyes met for a brief moment. Before I could recognize, however, her eyes darted down to my empty note sheet.

"Uh..." I tried to speak but the girl was staring at me. She was so pretty. I wanted to tell her how pretty she looked but knew that it would come out weird. So instead, I mooed like a freaking cow. Good job, Swan; she definitely likes you now. Alice ran her tongue over her lips and I noted the shine of them afterwards. Then she softly grinned again and held her own finished paper to me. I took it without really knowing what was going on and she gave a short laugh and shook her head before turning away again, this time leaning even closer to the open window next to her. Released from her beautiful bind, I finally gained enough sense to stare down at the paper. Oh, she gave me her paper to copy. Great, now she thought I was a slacker. Huffing just a bit too loudly to where a kid in front of me turned around, I quickly scribbled the answers down, absorbing and memorizing Alice's handwriting rather than the material I was copying. It was so pretty, too. And the work she'd done seemed effortless. No scratch outs or rewrites of the work. I worked out a problem on scratch paper quickly and indeed the answer was right. So she was smart as well. Damn, I was a loser. I finished the sheet and glanced at her name again, deducting that her name was Cullen, not Culler.

She was still looking away when I finished so I casually tapped the paper against her shoulder. She turned and grabbed it lazily, not giving eye contact. It was like it was happening in slow motion. Her motions were so fluid, so...trained almost. Like she'd been perfected in everything she did. She was the finished version of what a human could be. Pristine and...did I mention beautiful? Alice was turning around again and I realized that I didn't want to her. Panicking, I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Cullen,"

Alice glanced at me again, turning her head to the side and furrowing her brow a bit. "What?" she asked. Though somehow I knew she'd heard me. It took me a minute to answer, however because I was still in shock over the sound of her voice. High, but not annoying. Rather, it was melodic and filling. It took me at least twelve seconds before I realized that I was supposed to respond. And even that wasn't enough time for me to develop a decent response to what I'd just said.

"Y-you're last name is Cullen," I stuttered, internally punching myself in the gut...repeatedly. Alice stared at me for a few seconds more before she gave me the 'I'm not trying to take your helmet' look and nodded.

"Yes, it is."

I opened my mouth to try to make up for my slip of the tongue but the bell rang before I could utter another syllable. It was probably for the best. Alice held my gaze a few moments more and I started to blush again, utterly hating myself. As soon as I felt the heat enter my cheeks, she was gone, out the door before I could even turn my head. 'Smooth move,' I scolded myself as I gathered my books and walked out into the hall. Math was next, pre-calc to be exact. Perhaps that would take my mind off of the jackass moves I'd just pulled against an innocent teen. This class was much easier to find than the previous one as it was just upstairs. I walked in minutes before the tardy bell and did the same process with my calculus teacher, Ms. Cassidy, who looked like she could kill you with her death glare. Looks weren't everything; however, as she was completely civil with me and gave me free seating. I looked around the room, which was slowly filling and felt that same unease entering me. Nothing was more embarrassing then sitting in someone else's chair, especially if you were the new kid. A sudden movement caught my eye and I glanced over to a girl with dirty blonde hair waving me over. Thankful for any sort of help, I quickly made my way over and sat down in the chair next to her.