My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself
last week. You must be Bella Swan."
My mind was spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing? He was perfectly
polite now. I had to speak; he was waiting. But I couldn't think of anything conventional
to say.
"H-how do you know my name?" I stammered.
He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh.
"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to
arrive."
I grimaced. I knew it was something like that.
"No," I persisted stupidly. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"
He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"
"No, I like Bella," I said. "But I think Charlie — I mean my dad — must call me Isabella
behind my back — that's what everyone here seems to know me as," I tried to explain,
feeling like an utter moron.
"Oh." He let it drop. I looked away awkwardly.
Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate as he
explained the lab we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order.
Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the
phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. We weren't supposed to
use our books. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.
"Get started," he commanded.
"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile so
beautiful that I could only stare at him like an idiot.
"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile faded; he was obviously wondering if I was
mentally competent.
"No," I said, flushing. "I'll go ahead."
I was showing off, just a little. I'd already done this lab, and I knew what I was looking
for. It should be easy. I snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and
adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied the slide briefly.
My assessment was confident. "Prophase.