SKIN DEEP
seven | appointment

Imogen dragged herself into the hall just as gym class was about to start. She obviously didn't partake, but she did have to show the permission slip to get out of it. But this time, instead of her having to take the annoying walk to the other side of the hall, the gym teacher simply glanced over at her and nodded in her direction as sort of a you go, I've got it covered.

Under her breath, Imogen muttered, "Well, that took long enough." She was talking about the fact that she had shown the gym teacher the slip many times over the last few weeks and yet it took this long to get it in their head that she obviously won't be partaking in the gym class and will therefore be forced to show the slip repeatedly even though the teacher could take it upon themselves to just remember the obvious and mark her as present anyway.

Just as she turned around, Imogen halted when she heard the very familiar voice of the quiet girl she would say that she had been quite nice to over the last few weeks. "Hey, Imogen?"

Turning her head, she witnessed Isabella Swan stumble as she jogged forward, before reaching the girl already huffing and puffing. "Are you sure you don't smoke a pack of cigarettes a day?"

Isabella glared at Imogen, "Pretty sure. It's a disgusting habit."

Imogen sighed, looking longingly through the open doors to the gymnasium, "You called?"

Bella looked to her feet and shuffled, "Sit with us at lunch again, please?"

Imogen sighed. She really couldn't stand the people she had been forced to sit with on her first day at the school - the people she had been sitting with sporadically since Bella started due to her asking Imogen repeatedly and putting it out there that she wouldn't pick Imogen up anymore if she refused. 

Imogen managed to escape sitting with them half of the time by saying maybe to Bella when she would ask her every morning, but would get away from doing so by walking in the opposite direction of Bella anytime she saw her throughout the day. But there was no escaping it now, considering lunch was after gym and there was no way Imogen could say that she forgot.

Nodding her head, Imogen glared at the girl who let a small smile slip onto her face, "You owe me."

Bella frowned then, losing the smile, "Isn't be driving you back and forth enough?"

Imogen smirked and shook her head, "Not with what you're putting me through, it's not."

Bella smiled gratefully, knowing that she would see Imogen at lunch and turned around to head back into the gym class.

***

Sitting on a fallen tree in the woods, Imogen sat with a book on her knees, attempting to complete the work set for her mother's class after dinner. Recently, she struggled to concentrate, especially when all she could think about was the wolf she now remembers she saw in the woods before passing out and waking up to hear her parents conversing with Sam Uley.

She went to the woods during her gym class in hopes to see the wolf again and work out why it hadn't attacked her, but she hasn't seen it as of yet. The woods were good for another thing though: finding somewhere she actually felt comfortable and was able to concentrate.

Imogen sighed and ran her hands through her short hair before slamming the book shut and throwing it in her backpack. She would have to finish it during lunch, if the 'populars' would shut up for just a second.

Standing up, she dragged the roller bag with difficulty. In the end, she was practically dragging in and picking it up for a second before dropping it and repeating the process. She grumbled out loud, "That's what you get for going into the woods with a roller bag, dumbass."

***

Imogen threw her backpack on the floor beside the chair reserved for her by Bella, and flopped into the chair in a huff.

Bella took her eyes away from the table in which some of the Cullens sat and asked Imogen with concern in her voice, "You okay?"

Smirking, Imogen's eyes flittered over to the table containing two blondes and two brunettes, "A no show again, huh?"

Bella bowed her head down, clearly flushed, "Yeah. Do you think I smelt funny or something?"

Imogen chuckled, still watching the table of pale faces and said, "Sure. Like a dumpster. Real bad, girl. You needed a bath, but we had just met so I felt bad saying so. Also, didn't want to lose my ride."

Bella reached over and lightly punched Imogen's arm before continuing to work on some school stuff, which made Imogen reach into her bag for hers. Out of the corner of her eye, Imogen noticed that Bella would continue to lift her head and glance at the table, as if Edward would appear suddenly.

After watching her do it for the fifth time, Imogen sighed and stood up with her book and pen in hand. Bella's head whipped around to face her and whispered out hurriedly, "What are you doing?"

Imogen smirked, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to find out where my great friend Edwardo is." Bella shook her head in disbelief at the nickname, while Imogen also added on, "Also, I need some answers from Jasper." 

She winked at Bella and strutted over to the Cullens table, which wasn't easy considering she had to roll a bag containing her life support behind her. Before she was even standing in front of the table, the whole clan was looking at her.

She smiled sweetly at them, which made three of the four of them smile at her. The one who didn't was Rosalie, but she wasn't glaring, just assessing. She still didn't know what to make of Imogen King.

Instead of asking where Edward was straight away, she asked the first words they ever heard her speak, "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

Alice practically jumped up and down in her seat, "No not at all, sit with us!"

Smirking slightly at her enthusiasm, Imogen took a seat that was next to Jasper and placed her book and pen on the table. Immediately, Jasper knew she needed help and pulled out his book and pushed it towards her slightly, which made Imogen smile and whisper a quiet, "Thanks."

Alice watched Jasper watch Imogen write and smiled, before turning to look at the slightly scowling Rosalie. "What's wrong, Rosalie?"

Rosalie turned to look at Alice, stating the obvious that wasn't really bothering the rest of the clan. "That Isabella is staring at us, still."

Imogen looked up, just having finished writing and chuckled at Rosalie's statement. "She's curious."

"At what?"

Chuckling, Imogen subtly pushed Jasper's book back towards him while answering Rosalie's question, "Well, on her first day she met our dear Edwardo who didn't seem to take much of a liking to her and after seeing him try to switch classes to get away from her - presumably - he hasn't been to school since."

Everyone at the table exchanged glances, which confirmed that it was about Bella. "I get it, it's a secret." She smirked and turned to Jasper, "Thanks, I'll see you in class." 

As she stood up, she waved awkwardly to them before Alice practically screamed out when jumping out of her seat and running around the table, "Sit with us again?"

Imogen nodded and smiled, before joining Bella at the table again. Sadly, she sat down just as the rest of the group sat down at the table and started talking about absolutely nothing of importance.

***

The following day, Imogen didn't get a ride home from Bella due to her having an appointment with Carlisle Cullen. Instead, she was forced to ride with her mother, who didn't say anything the entire drive, but sat there smiling brightly.

As she took a seat in the same chair she had before, Carlisle smiled brightly at her. "So, my adoptive children seem to have taken a liking to you."

Imogen practically spluttered out, "What?" That was the first thing that Carlisle had said to her. No hello or greeting of any kind, just that statement.

He smiled, "You made a good first impression on Edward and Alice. The others are warming up to you, especially Jasper which is particularly strange."

Imogen frowned, "And why is that?"

Carlisle shook his head and turned the subject away from Imogen, "We're here to talk about you." But, before Carlisle could actually get Imogen to talk about herself, his phone rang and within a couple of seconds, the call ended.

"Sorry, but we're going to have to cut this short," Carlisle said all serious, completely different to how he was a few seconds before.

Imogen frowned and stood up, readying herself to say farewell and leave, but Carlisle had made it around the desk and held onto Imogen's upper arm. "It's Isabella Swan. You're friends, right? You should come and see her."

Without so much as allowing her to have a word in edgewise, he walked out of the door and down the halls, which in turn had Imogen practically jogging to keep up with him, the squeaking wheels of her roller bag echoing through the halls. 

As they made it into the room Bella was in, Carlisle greeted Charlie and Bella, before rushing into giving her a quick check-up to see if she was okay.

"Isabella," Carlisle read off the sheet.

Imogen smirked when she heard Bella state quietly, "Bella."

As Carlisle Cullen checked Bella over, Imogen stood there awkwardly with her arms crossed before she heard Bella mention Edward.

"It would have been a lot worse if Edward wasn't there. He knocked me out of the way."

Shocked, Charlie Swan who was stood practically crowding over his daughter, questioned, "Edward? Your boy?"

Bella then looked Imogen in the eye, which meant that there would be more of an explanation later, "Yeah, it was amazing. I mean, he got to me so fast...he was nowhere near me."

Carlisle just sounded cool and collected as he said, "Sounds like you were very lucky." Turning to Imogen, he said, "Just give me a couple of minutes and we'll continue with your appointment."

Imogen nodded in agreement before turning to Bella, "You sure you're okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah, fine."

Charlie cleared his throat, "Come on girls, lets get you back to Dr Cullen, and you back home." Both girls nodded and walked side by side, while Charlie rushed off like Carlisle had, saying that he had some paperwork to do and then he would take Bella home.

As the girls stood at a corner, Imogen whispered to Bella, "So, what really happened?"

Bella looked her in the eye to show that she was telling the truth, "He was by his car on the other side of the parking lot and managed to get all the way across it within a couple of seconds, before stopping the van from crushing both of us with his arm."

Imogen's eyes widened, believing the unbelievable. But, before she could actually say anything about the matter, her ears picked up whispering from around the corner, which resulted in Bella also seeing the three Cullens whispering.

As the three noticed the two teenage girls, Carlisle called over, "Let's continue with your appointment, shall we?" As Imogen walked towards Carlisle who had his arm slightly around Rosalie, she passed Edward who just gave her a tight-lipped smile.

Imogen continued walking while Carlisle started leading Rosalie in the same direction as them. Carlisle looked down at Imogen as she walked and asked, "I hope you don't mind, but Rosalie is going to sit in till the end of you session."

She shook her head, not really bothered by it at all. With the interruption, her session had less than half an hour left anyway. Just as they reached Carlisle's office, Imogen turned to the two Cullens and asked, "How did Edward reach Bella?"

Rosalie looked at Carlisle before rushing out, seeming to say something that was either practiced or a lie, "He had an adrenaline rush." Imogen was suspicious of her answer due to the way she answered it and the practically impossibility of it happening, but she couldn't think of any other probable answer as to how he saved Bella.