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It's been weeks since Shelley saw the Cullen twins. She planned to confront Esdras and demand to know what their problem was. But they never showed up. Bella seems to be depressed and sad about Edward's absence.
Shelley and Bella walk out the house early in the morning after getting ready for school. Suddenly, Bella slips and falls in front of the house, making the blonde nearly burst into laughter.
"You alright?" Charlie questions as the younger twin tries her best to control herself not to laugh.
"Yeah, I'm good." Bella gets up on her feet. "Ice doesn't really help the uncoordinated."
"Yeah, that's why I got new tires for the truck. The old ones were getting bald." Charlie says. "
"Maybe if you get more careful about where you step, it might help not to slip." Shelley comments.
"Maybe, next time." Bella says.
"Well, I'll probably be late for dinner. I got to head down to Mason country. A security guard at the Grisham Mill got killed by some kind of animal." Charlie states.
"An animal?" Shelley questions.
"You're not in Phoenix anymore, Shells. Anyway, I'd lend a hand." Charlie says.
"Be careful, dad." Shelley says.
"Yeah." Bella nods.
"Always am." Charlie assures his daughters.
"And thanks for the tires." Bella adds.
"Yep." Charlie smiles.
It is heavily raining when the twins reach the school. Just before they enter the classroom, Eric stops them.
"Prom committee is a chick thing, but I gotta cover it for the paper anyway, and they need a guy to help choose the music… So I need your playlist. Hey listen, um I was wondering… did you have a-a date…" He asks Bella, struggling for words.
Mike walks in and shakes the wet cap over Bella's head. "Wassup, Arizona? How you liking the rain, girl?"
"Yeah, Mike, you're real cute, man…" Eric scoffs, making the younger twin laugh.
Bella looks at Edward, who is magically sitting on his seat. She looks at her sister and smiles. The blonde thumbs up at her, before she nods and sits beside Edward.
As usual, Shelley sits on her spot which is located next to Esdras. Just when she is getting ready for the lessons, Esdras decides to speak.
"Hello. I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to introduce myself last week. I'm Esdras Cullen. You're Shelley?"
She nods. "Um… yes."
"Onion roots tip cells! That's what's on your slide right now, okay?" Mr. Molina tells the class. "So, separate and label them into the phases of mitosis. And the first partners to get it right are gonna win… the golden onion."
Esdras pushes the microscope towards his lab partner. "Ladies first."
"You and Edward were gone."
"Yeah, um, we were out of town for a couple of days. Personal reasons."
"Like sibling fighting?" She asks, observing the slide.
He laughs. "Yeah, something like that."
She pushes the microscope towards him. "Uh, prophase."
"Do you mind if I uh, look?" Esdras requests and she nods. He takes a look before confirming. "It's prophase."
"Like I said." She says.
"So, are you enjoying the rain?" He asks, making her laugh with amusement. "What?"
"You're asking me about the weather?" She giggles.
"Yeah, I-I guess I am." He shrugs, with a glimpse of a smile.
"Well, um, I don't really like the rain. Any cold, wet thing, I don't really…" She says making him laugh this time. "What?"
"Nothing, uh…" He laughs and observes the next slide. "It's uh, anaphase."
"You mind if I check?"
"Sure."
"Anaphase." She confirms, after observing it by herself.
He smiles. "Like I said. If you hate the cold and rain so much, why did you move to the wettest place in continental U.S.?"
"It's complicated."
"I'm sure I can keep up."
"Uh… my mom remarried and um…" She trails off.
"So you don't like the guy?" He cuts her off.
"No, that's not it… um… Phil's really nice." She says as Esdras observes the new slip.
"It's metaphase. Wanna check it?"
"I believe you."
Soon Esdras and Shelley walk through the hall. She is holding the golden onion as they won the damn thing since they finished it before everyone else.
"Why did you and Bella move with your mother and Phil?" Esdras asks.
"Well, Phil's a minor league baseball player, and uh, he travels a lot, and mom stayed with me and Bella, but we knew it made her unhappy, so we figured we'd stay with our dad for a while." She shrugs.
"And now you're unhappy?"
"…no."
"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to figure you out, you're kind of difficult to read."
"It's okay. It's not like you're a mind reader." She says, making his eyes widen for a second. That is when she notices the change of the colour of his orbs. "Hey, did you get contacts?"
"No." He replies with hesitation.
"Your eyes were… black last time I saw you. And now they're like golden brown." Shelley states and he closes his eyes.
"Uh yeah, I know. It's the uh, it's the fluorescents, um. Ugh." He replies and walks away.
"Weird." She mutters to herself as she watches him disappear into the end of the hallway.
