It was Jessica,

It was Jessica, and she was jubilant; Mike had caught her after school to
accept her invitation. I celebrated with her briefly while I stirred. She
had to go, she wanted to call Angela and Lauren to tell them. I suggested
— with casual innocence — that maybe Angela, the shy girl who had Biology

with me, could ask Eric. And Lauren, a standoffish girl who had always
ignored me at the lunch table, could ask Tyler; I'd heard he was still
available. Jess thought that was a great idea. Now that she was sure of
Mike, she actually sounded sincere when she said she wished I would go to
the dance. I gave her my Seattle excuse.

After I hung up, I tried to concentrate on dinner — dicing the chicken
especially; I didn't want to take another trip to the emergency room. But
my head was spinning, trying to analyze every word Edward had spoken
today. What did he mean, it was better if we weren't friends?

My stomach twisted as I realized what he must have meant. He must see how
absorbed I was by him; he must not want to lead me on… so we couldn't
even be friends… because he wasn't interested in me at all.

Of course he wasn't interested in me, I thought angrily, my eyes stinging
— a delayed reaction to the onions. I wasn't interesting. And he was.
Interesting… and brilliant… and mysterious… and perfect… and beautiful…
and possibly able to lift full-sized vans with one hand.

Well, that was fine. I could leave him alone. I would leave him alone. I
would get through my self-imposed sentence here in purgatory, and then
hopefully some school in the Southwest, or possibly Hawaii, would offer
me a scholarship. I focused my thoughts on sunny beaches and palm trees
as I finished the enchiladas and put them in the oven.