Page 35 of Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined (The Twilight Saga)

E VERYONE WATCHED US AS WE WALKED TOGETHER TO OUR LAB table. This time she didn’t angle the chair to sit as far from me as the desk would allow. Instead, she sat right next to me, our arms almost touching. Her hair brushed my skin.

Mrs. Banner backed into the room then, pulling an outdated TV and VCR on a wheeled frame. It seemed like everyone in the room relaxed at the same time. I was relieved, too. I knew I wouldn’t have been able to pay attention to a lecture today. I had too much to sort through inside my head already.

Mrs. Banner shoved the old tape into the VCR, then walked across the room to turn off the lights. And then suddenly, as the room went black, things got weird.

It wasn’t like I wasn’t already hyperaware that Edythe was right there, just an inch away from me.

I wouldn’t have imagined that I could be more aware of her.

But in the dark, somehow . . . It was like an electrical current was flowing through her body into mine, like those miniature lightning bolts that jump between live circuits were dancing up and down the small gap between our bodies.

Where her hair touched my arm, it was almost painful.

A crazy strong impulse to reach over and touch her—to stroke her perfect face just once in the darkness—almost overwhelmed me. What was wrong with me? You couldn’t just go around touching people because the lights were off. I crossed my arms tightly over my ribs and balled my hands into fists.

The opening credits started, and the room got a fraction brighter. I couldn’t stop myself from peeking over at her.

She was sitting exactly like I was—arms crossed, hands clenched, just glancing over to me.

When she saw me looking, too, she smiled, almost like she was embarrassed.

Even in the dark, her eyes still burned.

I had to look away before I did something stupid—something that would definitely not conform to her idea of careful .

It was a very long hour. I couldn’t concentrate on the movie.

I didn’t have any idea what it was about.

I tried to act normal, to make my muscles relax, but the electrical current never let up.

Now and then, I let myself take a quick glance in her direction, but she never seemed to relax, either.

The feeling that I just had to touch her face also refused to go away.

I kept my fists crushed safely against my ribs until my fingers were aching with the effort.

I sighed with relief when Mrs. Banner flicked the lights back on at the end of class, and stretched my arms down at my sides, flexing my stiff fingers. Edythe laughed once.

“Well, that was . . . interesting,” she murmured. Her voice was low and her eyes were cautious.

“Umm,” was all I was able to respond.

“Shall we?” she asked, on her feet in one liquid movement. She scooped her bag up with one finger.

I stood carefully, worried I wouldn’t be able to walk straight after all that.

She walked with me to Gym in silence, and then paused at the door. I looked down to say goodbye but choked on the word. Her face—it was torn, almost pained, and so unbearably beautiful that the ache to touch her hit me even more intensely than it had before. It was all I could do to just stare.

She raised one hand, hesitant, conflict clear in her eyes, and then quickly brushed her fingertips across the line of my jaw. Her fingers were icy like always, but the trail they left on my skin was almost like a burn that hadn’t turned painful yet.

She spun without a word and walked swiftly away from me.

I stumbled into the gym, lightheaded and unstable, and dressed down in a trance, barely aware of the other people around me. Reality didn’t fully set in until I was handed a racket.

It wasn’t very heavy, but I knew that didn’t matter. In my hands, it was dangerous. I could see a few of the other kids eyeing me and the racket. Then Coach Clapp ordered us to choose our own partners, and I figured I was about to be the last guy up against the wall.

But I’d underestimated McKayla’s loyalty. She came to stand next to me right away.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” I told her.

She grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep out of your way.”

Sometimes it was really easy to like McKayla.

It didn’t go smoothly. I’m not sure how I did it, but I managed to hit myself in the head with my racket and clip McKayla’s shoulder on the same swing.

I spent the rest of the hour in the back corner of the court, the racket held behind my back.

Despite being handicapped by me, McKayla was pretty good; she won three games out of four single-handedly, then gave me an unearned high five when the coach finally blew the whistle ending class.

“So,” she started as we walked off the court.

“So?”

“You and Edythe Cullen, huh?” Her tone was just slightly hostile.

“Yeah, me and Edythe Cullen,” I replied. I’m sure she could hear the sound of wonder in my voice.

“I don’t like it,” she muttered.

“Well, you don’t actually have to.”

“So she just snaps her fingers and you heel?”

“Guess so.”

She scowled at me. I turned my back on her and walked away.

I knew I would be last against the wall tomorrow, but I didn’t care.

By the time I was dressed I’d forgotten all about McKayla.

Would Edythe be outside, or should I go wait by her car?

What if her family was there? She’d parked right next to Royal’s car.

Just thinking about Royal’s face in the cafeteria had me wondering if I should walk home.

Had she told them that I knew? Was I supposed to know that they knew that I knew?

What was the etiquette on vampire acknowledgments? Did a nod work?

But when I walked out of the gym, Edythe was there.

She stood in the shade of the gym building, though the clouds were still black, with her hands laced together in front of her.

Her face was peaceful now, a small smile turning up just the corners of her lips.

The thin sweater didn’t look like enough, and though I knew it was stupid, I wanted to take my jacket off and wrap it around her.

As I walked to her side, I felt a strange sense of harmony—like everything was right in the world as long as I was close to her.

“Hi.” I could feel the huge, goofy smile on my face.

“Hello.” Her answering smile was brilliant. “How was Gym?”

I was suddenly suspicious. “Fine.”

“Really?” Her eyebrows shot up. “How’s your head?”

“You didn’t.”

She started walking slowly toward the parking lot. I automatically fell into step with her.

“You were the one who mentioned how I’d never seen you in Gym—it made me curious.”

“Great,” I said. “Fantastic. Well, sorry about that. I don’t mind walking home if you don’t want to be seen with me.”

She laughed musically. “It was very entertaining. Though I wouldn’t have minded if you’d hit that girl just a little harder.”

“What?”

As she glanced behind us, her mouth flattened into a straight line. I turned to see what she was looking at—McKayla’s blond hair bobbing as she walked away.

“It’s been a while since someone besides family thought those kinds of words about me. I don’t think I like it.”

I felt a sudden pang of anxiety for McKayla.

Edythe read my expression and laughed again. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t hurt your friend. If I did, who else would agree to be your badminton partner?”

It was hard to process. Edythe was just so .

. . delicate. But when she said this, it was clear that she was more than confident in her abilities.

If she wanted McKayla—or anyone—hurt, it would be very bad news for that person.

She was dangerous, I knew this, but I kept running into a wall when I tried to believe it. I changed the subject.

“What kinds of words has your family been thinking about you?”

She shook her head. “It’s not fair to judge people on their thoughts. Those are supposed to be private. It’s actions that count.”

“I don’t know. . . . If you know someone can hear, isn’t that the same thing as saying it out loud?”

“Easy for you to say.” She grinned. “Controlling your thoughts is very difficult. When Royal and I butt heads, I think much worse things about him, and I do say those words out loud.” She laughed her ringing laugh again.

I hadn’t been watching where we were going, so I was surprised when we had to slow, blocked from Edythe’s car by a crowd of kids.

There was a circle around Royal’s red convertible, two deep, mostly guys.

Some of them looked about to drool. None of her family was around, and I wondered if she’d asked them to give her some space.

None of the car enthusiasts even looked up when I edged by them to get Edythe’s door.

“Ostentatious,” she muttered as she slid past me.

I hurried around to the passenger side and climbed in.

“What kind of car is that?”

“An M3,” she said as she tried to back out of the space without hitting anybody.

“Um, I don’t speak Car and Driver .”

She carefully maneuvered her way free. “It’s a BMW.”

“Okay, I know that one.”

We pulled away from the school and it was just the two of us. The privacy felt like freedom. There was no one watching or listening here.

“Is it later yet?” I asked her.

She didn’t miss the significance in my tone.

She frowned. “I suppose it is.”

I kept my expression neutral while I waited for her to explain.

She watched the road, pretending like she actually needed to, and I watched her face.

A few different expressions flickered across it, but they changed so fast I wasn’t able to interpret them.

I was starting to wonder if she was just going to ignore my question when she stopped the car.

I looked up, surprised. We were already at Charlie’s house, parked behind my truck.

It was easier to ride with her, I decided, when I didn’t look until it was over.

She was staring at me when I looked back, seeming to measure me with her eyes.