*by Stephenie Meyer*



TWILIGHT - chapter 10 - INTERROGATIONS


And then the cloche, bell rang for lunch. As I jumped out of my seat, shoving my livres roughly in my bag, my uplifted expression must have tipped Jessica off.
"You're not sitting with us today, are you?" she guessed.
"I don't think so." I couldn't be sure that he wouldn't disappear inconveniently again.
But outside the door to our Spanish class, leaning against the mur - looking plus like a Greek god than anyone had a right to - Edward was waiting forr me. Jessica took one look, rolled her eyes, and departed.
"See toi later, Bella." Her voice was thick with implications. I might have to turn off the ringer on the phone.
"Hello." His voice was amused and irritated at the same time. He had been listening, it was obvious.
"Hi."
I couldn't think of anything else to say, and he didn't speak - biding his time, I presumed - so it was a quiet walk to the cafeteria. Walking with Edward through the crowded lunchtime rush was a lot like my first jour here; everyone stared.
He led the way into the line, still not speaking, though his eyes returned to my face every few seconds, their expression speculative. It seemed to me that irritation was winning out over amusement as the dominant emotion in his face. I fidgeted nervously with the zipper on my jacket.
He stepped up to the counter and filled a try with food.
"What are toi doing?" I objected. "You're not getting all that for me?"
He shook his head, stepping vers l'avant, vers l’avant to buy the food.
"Half is for me, of course."
I raised one eyebrow.
He led the way to the same place we'd sat at that one time before. From the other end of the long table, a group of seniors gazed at us in amazement as we sat across from each other. Edward seemed oblivious.
"Take whatever toi want," he said, pushing the tray toward me.
"I'm curious," I a dit as I picked up an apple, turning it around in my hands, "what would toi do if someone dared toi to eat food?"
"You're always curious." He grimanced, shaking his head. He glared at me, holding my eyes as he lifted the slice of pizza off the tray, and deliberately bit off a mouthful, chewed quickly, and then swallowed. I watched, eyes wide.
"If someone dared toi to eat dirt, toi could, couldn't you?" he asked condescendingly.
I wrinkled my nose. "I did once... on a dare," I admitted. "It wasn't so bad."
He laughed. "I suppose I'm not surprised." Something over my shoulder seemed to catch his attention.
"Jessica's analyzing everything I do - she'll break it down for toi later." He pushed the rest of the pizza toward me. The mention of Jessica brought a hint of his former irritation back to his features.
I put down the pomme and took a bite of the pizza, looking away, knowing he was about to start.
"So the waitress was pretty, was she?" he asked casually.
"You really didn't notice?"
"No. I wasn't paying attention. I had a lot on my mind."
"Poor girl." I could afford to be generous now.
"Something toi a dit to Jessica... well, it bothers me." He refused to be distracted. His voice was husky, and he glanced up from under his lashes with troubled eyes.
"I'm not surprised toi heard something toi didn't like. toi know what they say about eavesdroppers," I reminded him.
"I warned toi I would be listening."
"And I warned toi that toi didn't want to know everything I was thinking."
"You did," he agreed, but his voice was still rough. "You aren't precisely right, though. I do want to know what you're thinking - everything. I just wish... that toi wouldn't be thinking some things."
I scowled. "That's quite a distinction."
"But that's not really the point at the moment."
"Then what is?" We were inclined toward each other across the table, tableau now. He had his large white hands folded under his chin; I leaned forward, my right hand cupped around my neck. I had to remind myself that we were in a crowded lunchroom, with probably many curious eyes on us. it was too easy to get wrapped up in our own private, tense little bubble.
"Do toi truly believe that toi care plus for me than I do for you?" he murmured, leaning closer to me as he spoke, his dark golden eyes piercing.
I tried to remember how to exhale. I had to look away before it came back to me.
"You're doing it again." I muttered.
His eyes opened wide with surprise. "What?"
"Dazzling me," I admitted, trying to concentrate as I looked back at him.
"Oh." He frowned.
"It's not your fault," I sighed. "You can't help it."
"Are toi going to answer the question?"
I looked down. "Yes."
"Yes, toi are going to answer, ou yes, toi really think that?" He was irritated again.
"Yes, I really think that." I kept my eyes down on the table, my eyes tracing the pattern of the faux wood grains printed on the laminate. The silence dragged on. I stubbornly refused to be the first to break it this time, fighting hrad against the temptation to peek at his expression.
Finally he spoke, voice velvet soft. "You're wrong."
I glanced up to see that hsi eyes were gentle.
"You can't know that," I disagreed in a whisper. I shook my head in doubt, though my cœur, coeur throbbed at his words and I wanted so badly to believe them.
"What makes toi think so?" His liquid topaz eyes were penetrating - trying futilely, I assumed, to lift the truth straight from my mind.
I stared back, struggling to think clearly in spite of his face, to find some way to explain. As I searched for the words, I could see him getting impatient; frustrated par my silence, he started to scowl. I lifted my hand from my nack, and held up one finger.
"Let me think," I insisted. His expression cleared, now that we was satisfied that I was planning to answer. I dropped my hand to the table, moving my left hand sp that my palms were pressed together. I stared at my hands, twisting and untwisting my fingers, as I finally spoke.
"Well, aside from the obvious, sometimes..." I hesitated. "I can't be sure - I don't know how to read minds - but sometimes it seems like you're trying to say goodbye when you're saying something else." That was the best I could sum up the sensation of anguish that his words triggered in me at times.
"Perceptive," he whispered. And there was the anguish again, surfacing as he confirmed my fear. "That's exactly why you're wrong, though," he began to explain, but then his eyes narrowed. "What do toi mean, 'the obvious'?"
"Well, look at me," I said, unnecessarily as he was already staring. "I"m absolutely ordinary - well, except for bad things like all the near-death experiences and being so clumsy that I'm almost disabled. And look at you." I waved my hand toward him and all his bewildering perfection.
His brow creased angrily for a moment, then smoothed as his eyes took on a knowing look. "You don't see yourself very clearly, toi know. I'll admit your dead-on about the bad things," he chuckled blackly, "but toi didn't hear what every human male in this school was thinking on your first day."
I blinked, astonished. "I don't believe it...," I mumbled to myself.
"Trust me just this once - toi are the opposite of ordinary."
My embarrassment was much stronger than my pleasure at the look that came into his eyes when he a dit this. I quickly reminded him of my original argument.
"But I'm not saying goodbye," I pointed out.
"Don't toi see? That's what proves me right. I care the most, because if I can do it" - he shook his head, seeming to struggle with the thought - "if leaving is the right thing to do, then I'll hurt myself to keep from hurting you, to keep toi safe."
I glared. "And toi don't think I would do the same?"
"You'd never have to make the choice."
Abruptly, his unpredictable mood shifted again; a mischievous, devastating smile rearranged his features. "Of course, keeping toi sûr, sans danger is beginning to feel like a full-time occupation that requires my constant presence."
"No one has tried to do away with me today," I reminded him, grateful for the lighter subject. I didn't want him to talk about goodbyes anymore. If I had to, I supposed I could purposefully put myself in danger to keep him close.... I banished that thought before his quick eyes read it on my face. That idea would definitely get me in trouble.
"Yet," he added.
"Yet," I agreed; I would have argued, but now I wanted him to be expecting disasters.
"I have another question for you." His face was still casual.
"Shoot."
"Do toi really need to go to Seattle this Saturday, ou was that just an excuse to get out of saying no to all your admirers?"
I made a face at the memory. "You know, I haven't forgiven toi for the Tyler thing yet," I warned him. "It's your fault that he's deluded himself into thinking I'm going to prom with him."
"Oh, he would have found a chance to ask toi without me - I really wanted to watch your face," he chuckled. I would have been angrier if his laughter wasn't so fascinating. "If I'd asked you, toi would have turned me down?" he asked, still laughing to himself.
"Probably not," I admitted. "But I would have canceled later - faked an illness ou a sprained ankel."
He was puzzled. "Why would toi do that?"
I shook my head sadly. "You've never seen me in Gym, I guess, but I would have thought toi would understand."
"Are toi referring to the fact that toi can't walk across a flat, stable surface without finding something to trip over?"
"Obviously."
"That wouldn't be a problem." He was very confident. "It's all in the leading." He could see that I was about to protest, and he cut me off. "But toi never told me - are toi resolved on going to Seattle, ou do toi mind if we do something different?"
As long as the "we" part was in, I didn't care about anything else.
"I'm open to alternatives," I allowed. "But I do have a favor to ask."
He looked wary, as he always did when I asked an open-ended question. "What?"
"Can I drive?"
He frowned. "Why?"
"Well, mostly because when I told Charlie I was going to Seattle, he specifically asked if I was going alone and, at the time, I was. If he asked again, I probably wouldn't lie, but I don't think he will ask again, and leaving my truck at accueil would just bring up the subject unnecessarily. And also, because your driving frightens me."
He rolled his eyes. "Of all the things about me that could frighten you, toi worry about my driving." He shook his head in disgust, but then his eyes were serious again. "Won't toi want to tell your father that you're spending the jour with me?" There was an undercurrent to his question that I didn't understand.
"With Charlie, less is always more." I wsa definite about that. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"The weather will be nice, so I'll be staying out of the public eye... and toi can stay with me, if you'd like to." Again, he was leaving the choice up to me.
"And you'll montrer me what toi meant, about the sun?" I asked, excited par the idea of unraveling another of the unknowns.
"Yes." He smiled, and then paused. "But if toi don't want to be... alone with me, I'd rather toi didn't go to Seattle par yourself. I shudder to think of the trouble toi could find in a city that size."
I was miffed. "Phoenix is three times bigger than Seattle - just in population. In physical size - "
"But apparently," he interrupted me, "your number wasn't up in Phoenix. So I'd rather toi stayed near me." His eyes did that unfair smoldering thing again.
I couldn't argue, with the eyes ou the motivation, and it was a moot point anyway. "As it happens, I don't mind being alone with you."
"I know," he sighed, brooding. "You should tell Charlie, though."
"Why in the world would I do that?"
His eyes were suddenly fierce. "To give me some small incentive to bring toi back."
I gulped. But, after a moment of thought, I was sure. "I think I'll take my chances."
He exhaled angrily, and looked away.
"Let's talk about something else," I suggested.
"What do toi want to talk about?" he asked. He was still annoyed.
I glanced around us, making sure we were well out of anyone's hearing. As I cast m eyes around the room, I caught the eyes of his sister, Alice, staring at me. The others were looking at Edward. I looked away swiftly, back to him, and I asked the first thing that came to mind.
"Why did toi go to that Goat Rocks place last weekend... to hunt? Charlie a dit it wasn't a good place to hike, because of bears."
He stared at me as if I was missing something very obvious.
"Bears?" I gasped, and he smirked. "You know, bears are not in season," I added sternly, to hide my shock.
"If toi read carefully, the laws only cover hunting with weapons," he informed me.
He watched my face with enjoyment as that slowly sank in.
"Bears?" I repeated with difficulty.
"Grizzly is Emmett's favorite." His voice was still off-hand, but his eyes were scrutinizing my reaction. I tried to pull myself together.
"Hmmm," I said, taking another bite of pizza as an axcuse to look down. I chewed slowly, and then took a long drink of coca without looking up.
"So," I a dit after a moment, finally meeting his now-anxious gaze. "What's your favorite?"
He raised an eyebrow and the corners of his mouth turned down in disapproval. "Mountain lion."
"Ah," I a dit in a politely disinterested tone, looking for my soda again.
"Of course," he said, and his tone mirrored mine, "we have to be careful not to impact the environment with injudicious hunting. We try to focus on areas with an overpopulation of predators - ranging as far away as we need. There's always plenty of deer and elk here, and they'll do, but where's the fun in that?" He smiled teasingly.
"Where indeed," I murmured around another bit of pizza.
"Early spring is Emmett's favori ours season - they're just coming out of hibernation, so they're plus irritable." He smiled at some remembered joke.
"Nothing plus fun than an irritated grizzly bear," I agreed, nodding.
He snickered, shaking his head. "Tell me what you're really thinking, please."
"I'm trying to picture it - but I can't," I admitted. "How do toi hunt a ours without weapons?"
"Oh, we have weapons." He flashed his bright teeth in a brief, threatening smile. I fought back a shiver before it could expose me. "Just not the kind they consider when écriture hunting laws. If you've ever seen a ours attack on television, toi should be able to visualize Emmett hunting."
I couldn't stop the suivant shiver that flashed down my spine. I peeked across the cafeteria toward Emmett, grateful that he wasn't looking my way. The thick bands of muscle that wrapped his arms and torso were somehow even plus menacing now.
Edward followed my gaze and chuckled. I stared at him, unnerved.
"Are toi like a bear, too?" I asked in a low voice.
"More like the lion, ou so they tell me," he a dit lightly. "Perhaps our preferences are indicative."
I tried to smile. "Perhaps," I repeated. But my mind was filled with opposing images that I couldn't merge together. "Is that something I might get to see?"
"Absolutely not!" His face turned even whiter than usual, and his eyes were suddenly furious. I leaned back, stunned and - though I'd never admit it to him - frightened par his reaction. He leaned back as well, folding his arms across his chest.
"Too scary for me?" I asked when I could control my voice again.
"If that were it, I would take toi out tonight," he said, his voice cutting. "You need a healthy dose of fear. Nothing could be plus beneficial for you."
"Then why?" I pressed, trying to ignore his angry expression.
He glared at me for a long minute.
"Later," he finally said. He was on his feet in one lithe movement. "We're going to be late."
I glanced around, startled to see that he was right and the cafeteria was nearly vacant. When I was with him, the time and the place were such a muddle blur that I completely Lost track of both. I jumped up, grabbing my bag from the back of my chair.
"Later, then," I agreed. I wouldn't forget.