11. Pretend

"Yes, we go to school together." I heard the voice telling Mrs. Boyle, which was without any doubt Edward's.

It was almost 4 in the evening. I had of course not gone to school. Dad had woken up for a few minutes but they put him back under because of the pain. I had not seen Dr. Cullen again. His intern had come for dad's post-op. She told me he'd be conscious soon, but complete recovery would occur in around 3 weeks.

I left dad's side to see what was going on.

Edward was there outside the ICU with Mrs. Boyle, trying to convince her to get me to come out.

"Hi." I greeted awkwardly, walking towards him. I couldn't believe I was still attracted to him.

"Hi. I heard about your dad. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." I said for the tenth time that day. "Mrs. Boyle, can you be with dad for a while?"

She left giving me a consoling pat on the back.

"You want to get some coffee?" Edward asked.

Since when did vampires had coffee?

We sat in the hospital cafeteria. I was surprised to see Edward actually drink his coffee. I suppose he was trying to convince me that he was normal.

"At least, you weren't alone here. Dad told me that there was someone here with you last night." He said.

I didn't even need to observe his tone to tell this was an outright lie. He was obviously here last night. I remembered what he said when Jasper had threatened me. Why was he so protective of me?

"Well, Jacob is a good...... friend, I guess? I haven't known him long. But I'm grateful he was here."

He nodded. "This must be really hard for you. So, where were you when he collapsed?"

So, he was fishing for information.

"Actually, I was out. I couldn't sleep so I went out for a drive. Then I had a headache and returned. Thank God, I did."

I wasn't going to let him know so easily that I knew his secret. They might be good vampires but I wasn't sure how they'd react if they found out that I, who belonged to the community which was responsible for the eradication of their species, knew about their deep dark secret.

I decided to change the topic. "So, has Jessica spread any crazy rumor about me yet?"

"As a matter of fact, she has. She is telling everyone that you are a witch."

I wasn't very good at controlling my expressions. If he didn't have any suspicions about it before, he definitely did now.

"Are you?" he asked.

"So, you believe in witches now?"

"Well, you believe in vampires." He countered.

I was terrible at changing topics.

"Anyway, it looks like I won't be coming to school for some time. Could you do me a favor by finding out my assignments and letting know?"

"Yeah sure, no problem." He looked over my shoulder. "Do you believe in werewolves?"

I turned and followed the direction of his gaze. I saw Jacob walking towards us.

"I should go." Edward said, standing up.

What did he mean by that, I thought as he walked away. Jacob wasn't a werewolf, was he? No, of course not. It was a full moon night yesterday and he was here all night.

"Did your boyfriend leave on my account?" Jacob asked as he sat down.

"He's not my boyfriend." I said, somewhat displeases by the fact.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

"You'll have to go to school now." Dad insisted.

It had been two weeks since his aneurysm burst. I had rarely left his side and had no intention of doing that now.

"But I'm all caught up. I've been doing all my assignments." I protested.

"Yes, I know. Edward has been getting you those assignments. He is a nice boy and good looking too. You like him?"

"Dad!" I whined.

"What? I know this is something you'd want to talk with your girlfriends, but considering you don't have any..................."

"I've been friends with attractive boys before. That doesn't necessarily mean I like them." I evaded the question.

"That doesn't answer the question." Dad was quick to catch.

"If I agree to go to school, can we stop having this conversation?"

Dad gave me a sly smile.

I sighed. "I suppose you'd want me to join back my job and the cello lessons too? I really don't want any more cello lessons."

"But you've had only three lessons."

"Trust me, three are enough."

"Okay. I also don't want you to go back to your internship either."

"Why?" I was surprised.

"There have been two animal attacks in the forests near the town border. I don't want you working in the Forest Department after this."

I didn't say anything. After that dramatic revelation about the Cullens and dad's hospitalization, I had completely forgotten about that homicidal vampire.