Tick Tock ➙ Edward Cullen

Chapter Ten

It had been an entire seven days since Bella had confronted Edward in the woods behind Forks High School about his immortal status. It had been six days since Edward and Bella showed up at Forks High School in the morning as an official couple. Melinda felt her heart shatter in her chest as she watched them step out of Edward's Volvo together and walk across the school parking lot together. They both had offered Melinda friendly smiles but she pretended like they didn't exist as she walked right past them. The redheaded girl had gone home sick before she had the chance to endure Edward in their third period English class.

Melinda's pillow case had been tear stained for three nights before the girl threw it in the wash, literally cleansing herself of the sadness that had violently burrowed itself into her body. Her mind was exploding with a thunderstorm while her heart felt like it had been cracked open with a hammer. A hollow numbness had settled into her chest at the thought of Bella and Edward together while her eyes threatened to leak every time she saw them together.

Cindy was supportive enough to allow Melinda to stay home from school for a couple days, understanding how hard this was affecting the girl. Cindy knew all about the curse and that Edward was the soulmate Melinda had been searching for all these years. The main reason Melinda didn't want to go to school was because she didn't want Edward to read her mind. She wanted to put on a fake smile and pretend that everything in her world was perfectly normal, and she was in fact happy for the new couple instead of utterly devastated.

The only other piece of news that had come out of this situation was the truth that Edward was, in fact, a vampire. The first day Melinda had seen him at school after being away for a couple days, he asked her how she was doing then told her that her and Bella's accusations were true.  Melinda was nearly speechless, only managing to ask the boy to stay out of her thoughts. She was giving herself a headache with the chaos in her mind and didn't want Edward intruding.

Due to Melinda's absences from her English class, she needed to find a way to catch up on the work she had missed. Since her usual seat was beside Edward and he was one of the only people she talked to in that class, they were paired up to complete an assignment together. Melinda and Edward made plans to meet up one day after school and work on the assignment, so that's what Melinda was currently on her way to.

The red haired teenager sat in the driver's seat of Cindy's silver Acura as she drove herself to the Cullen household. Edward had provided the address and it seemed to be quite a trek into the middle of nowhere. The sedan on the road was surrounded by trees as Melinda turned down a different road and ended up on a paved driveway. Edward had said 'when you're on pavement just keep going straight until you reach the house.'

He was right since it didn't take long for Melinda to pull up to a charcoal grey and wooden brown house that seemed to be made entirely of windows. Edward's Volvo was parked in front of the garage beside a white Jeep Wrangler. Gardens stretched out along the perimeter of the house and there was a short set of stairs leading up to the glass front door. Melinda parked the Acura at the dead end of the paved driveway before walking to the front door, her trembling hands stuffed in her pockets as her heart hammered in her ears.

Edward met Melinda on the other side of the glass door with a small smile on his face. It was almost like he had been perched in a window waiting for the girl to arrive based on how he had pulled the door open before she could even knock.

"Thank you for coming." The bronze haired boy spoke as he stepped out of the way and gestured for Melinda to come inside. She cautiously entered, not being able to take her eyes off the interior design of the Cullen household. She had only seen the entrance and was already amazed. The floors were white with the interior structure being brown while potted plants were scattered around randomly. A black metal bench sat against one windowed wall. Off to the left was a staircase that Melinda assumed led to the rest of the home.