Summary: He's a high school student with no hope for the future. She's the pretty breath of fresh air that makes him smile. Will she be enough to keep him from making the biggest mistake of his existence?

AN: Did you miss me? :) I have a bit of downtime between novels, so I wanted to write a little something for you guys. My plan is for this to be a short story with quick updates.

Disclaimers: Twilight and the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Enough

Chapter 1

Bella gripped her biology book and scanned the classroom, looking for an empty chair.

And preferably, an empty lab table.

It wasn't that she was anti-social. Quite the opposite, actually. At her high school in Phoenix, she'd been a social butterfly. Sweet. Popular. Kind. But this was a new school, and she was nervous. No one had introduced themselves. Nobody had even smiled in her direction.

Probably because you're the chief's daughter, Bella thought to herself.

Despite that, Bella wasn't about to complain. She was finally in Forks—right where she wanted to be. Her plan was to be friendly, pay attention in class, and, hopefully, figure out the combination of her locker before the end of the day.

"Isabella Swan?" the teacher asked as he shuffled some papers.

"Bella," she corrected. "Yes, I'm Bella."

The teacher introduced himself and glanced around the room. His face twisted into a grimace before giving her an apologetic smile.

"Bella, I'm afraid there's only one available seat," Mr. Banner whispered, pointing toward the back. "I apologize in advance for your lab partner."

Bella's forehead creased. What a weird thing for a professor to say.

She thanked Mr. Banner and made her way back to the only available chair.

And that's when she saw him.

To say he was cute would have been the biggest insult in the history of the world. This guy was, without a doubt, the most handsome man she'd ever seen. With his strong chiseled jaw and dark eyes, he was impossibly perfect.

Biology was suddenly her new favorite class.

Bella didn't even have to force a smile as she dropped her books onto the table and climbed onto the stool.

"Hi," she said brightly. "I'm Bella Swan. I'm new, obviously. Transferred from Phoenix. I just moved to Forks to live with my dad. You probably know him. Everybody knows him, and while that's probably going to be annoying and keep me from getting invited to a lot of parties, I'm so glad to be out of the dry heat of the desert."

She knew she was babbling, but he wasn't saying anything. He was looking at her, though, and his stare was intense. Now that she was closer, she could see that his eyes weren't just dark. They were pitch black. His penetrating gaze didn't scare her, necessarily, but it did make her heart beat just a little faster.

Before she had the chance to say anything else, Mr. Banner began passing out yesterday's quiz papers. If the deafening groan of the students was any indication, it had been a pop quiz, and the results weren't good.

"Excellent job, as always, Edward," the teacher said as he placed the paper on the table.

Edward.

If Edward was excited about his grade, he sure didn't show it. He simply folded the paper and placed it inside his biology book.

"Good grade?" Bella asked.

He said nothing and stared straight ahead. She did notice his hands were balled into fists at his side.

Is he in pain?

"Since most of us didn't seem to grasp the phases of mitosis," Mr. Banner said from his podium, "perhaps we need to review."

The phases of mitosis? Seriously?

Bella had studied that last year. This had been typical in her classes so far. In this morning's literature class, they'd studied Romeo and Juliet, a play she'd read and analyzed to death when she was a freshman. With her luck, they'd probably be playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" in her Advanced Piano class.

She giggled at the thought, and, suddenly, she heard Edward's quiet gasp. Her head quickly turned in his direction, and she found his eyes gazing deeply into hers.

His nostrils flared. Flared.

That's weird . . . and hot.

Bella smiled, and she had the satisfaction of watching Edward's eyes flicker to her mouth. For one heart-stopping moment, she thought he was going to lean closer. For just a second, she was positive he was going to kiss her, right there in the middle of the classroom.

Instinctively, she moistened her bottom lip.

She heard a soft growl resonate from his chest. It was quiet . . . so quiet she was positive she'd been the only one to hear it.

But she had heard it, and she liked it.

A lot.

Deciding she'd better pay attention to the teacher, Bella reached into her bag for her glasses. Perching them on her nose, she stared down at her textbook and tried to concentrate on the teacher's lecture. It was all pretty boring, but throughout the presentation, she could feel Edward's eyes on her.

She'd turn her head.

He'd look away.

They played that game for the last ten minutes of class, until finally, the professor announced they were dismissed.

Edward leapt out of his chair, grabbed his book, and sprinted out of the room.

Sighing heavily, Bella grabbed her own book and bolted for the door. Suddenly, she heard two voices behind her. They didn't talk to her, of course, but they were definitely talking about her.

"Did you see the way Edward Cullen was staring at the new girl? Like she was something to eat. What a creep."

"C'mon, Jess. You're just jealous that he's never looked at you that way," the other girl said with a laugh.

"Whatever. She's not even that pretty. I didn't know they even made designer jeans in that size."

Bella quickly turned on her heel.

"Jess, is it?" she asked, staring at the girl.

The girls' eyes widened.

"Yeah, I'm . . . Jessica."

"Nice to meet you, Jessica. I'm Bella. And maybe you don't think I'm pretty, and maybe my designer jeans are a size twelve, but I am a great friend, and it's a real shame that you just blew your chance to find out just how great of a friend I can be to people who actually deserve my friendship."

And with that, Bella walked out into the crowded hallway.