The interphase
Still with Annar at the school cafe as we continued with our discussion.
"The Cullens do not like anybody, they do not even notice anybody enough to like them. But he is still staring at you."
"Stop peeking at him," I hissed.
She chuckled and looked away.
I put up my head enough to make sure that she did what I asked her, and I was even contemplating violence if she resisted.
Minutes later, Antonio intruded. He was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the school parking lot and that will be after school period and he wanted us to join.
Annar enthusiastically concurred. And the way she glanced at Antonio left little doubt that she would be up for anything that Antonio would suggest.
I kept silent because I do not have plans to join them. I would have to hide in the gym until they cleared the parking lot.
For the rest of the lunch hour, I carefully kept my eyes on my table. I was determined to honor the bargain I had made with myself. Since he did not look angry, that means I would go to biology class.
But at the thought of sitting next to him again in Biology class, my stomach did frightened little flips.
I do not want to walk to class with Antonio as usual, because he seemed to be a prominent target for the snowball snipers.
But when we went to the door, everyone besides me groaned in unison.
It was raining, washing all traces of the snow away in clear, icy ribbons down the side of the walkway. I pulled my hood up, secretly pleased.
I would be free to go straight home after Gym.
Antonio kept up a string of complaints on the way to building four.
Once we were inside the classroom, I saw with relief that my table was still empty. Mr. Banner was walking around the room, allocating one microscope and box of slides to each table.
The class did not start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. I kept my eyes away from the door, busy doodling idly on the cover of my notebook.
I heard very clearly when the chair next to me moved, but my eyes stayed carefully focused on the pattern I was drawing.
"Hello," said a calm, musical voice.
I looked up, amazed that he was speaking to me.
He was sitting as far away from me as the desk allowed him, but his chair was angled toward me.
His hair was dripping wet and even disheveled. He looked like he had just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel.
His fascinating face was friendly, and open, and he had a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful.
"My name is Alessandro Demetrio," he continued.
"I did not have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Aria Swan."
My mind was busy spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing? He was perfectly polite now as he spoke to me.
I had to speak because he was waiting for me to respond. But I could not think of anything conventional to say.
"H-how do you know my name?" I sputtered.
He gave a soft enchanting laugh.
"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town has been waiting for you to arrive."
I scowled. I knew it was something like that.
"No," I persisted stupidly.
"I meant, why did you call me Aria?"
He seemed confused.
"Do you prefer I call you Ariana?"
"No! not really, I like Aria," I said.
"But I think Klaus, I mean my dad must call me Ariana behind my back and that is what everyone here seems to know me as."
I tried explaining, feeling like an utter moron.
"Oh." He let it drop.
I looked away awkwardly.
Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. I tried to focus as he explained the lab we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order.
Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly.
We were not supposed to use our books. In twenty minutes, Mr. Banner would be coming around to see who had it right.
"Get started," Mr. Banner commanded.
"Ladies first, partner?" Alessandro asked.
I looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile so beautiful that I could only stare at him like an idiot.
"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile faded; he was wondering if I was mentally competent.
"No," I said, flushing. "I will go first"
I was showing off, just a little. I had already done this lab, and I knew what I was looking for. It should be easy.
I snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied the slide briefly. My assessment was confident.
"Prophase."
"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as I began to remove the slide.
His hand caught mine, to stop me, as he asked. His fingers were ice-cold, like he had been holding them in a snowdrift before class. But that was not the reason why I jerked my hand away so quickly.
When he touched me, it stung my hand as if an electric current had passed through us.
"I am sorry," he mumbled, and he pulled his hand back immediately. However, he continued to reach for the microscope.
I watched him, still staggered, as he examined the slide for an even shorter time than I had.
"Prophase, " he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on our worksheet.
He swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily.
"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke. I kept my voice indifferent.
"May I?" He smirked and pushed the microscope to me.
I looked through the eyepiece eagerly, only to be disappointed in myself. Dang it, he was right.
"Slide three?" I held out my hand without looking at him.
He handed it to me, it seemed like he was being careful not to touch my skin again.
I took the most fleeting look I could manage.
"Interphase."
I passed him the microscope before he could ask for it. He took a swift to peek, and then wrote it down.
I would have written it while he looked, but his clear, elegant script intimidated me. I did not want to spoil the page with my clumsy scrawl writing.
We were finished before anyone else was close. I could see Antonio and his partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group still had their book open under the table.
Which left me with nothing to do but try to not look at him… unsuccessfully.