Maria carries herself around school like a zombie the next day. She has deep purple circles under her eyes, a permanent frown etched on her face, and she is nothing like her usual, bubbly self. After the flashback the night before, Maria had hardly managed to get any sleep. She spent most of the night staring up at the ceiling and trying to distract her mind from spiralling, and when she did sleep, it was plagued with nightmares. Her father had been the first to notice her change in behaviour, followed by Bella and her friends, but as it has only been one day and she looks frightfully tired, they all accepted her excuse of exhaustion. Bella also seems a little tired and extremely fed up with the immense amount of attention she receives in school from absolutely everybody, bar the Cullen family, so the twins mope around together, sulking in silence.

Maria doesn't really talk to anybody until Biology, where she sits beside Edward with the sleeves of her hoodie pulled over her hands, hiding them. He smiles at her, and she barely even twitches her lips upward in response as she stares down at the desk and sighs. He frowns at this, noticing her slacking stature, pale complexion and dark eyes. His eyebrows knit together in concern.

"Are you okay, Maria?" he asks her, worried. Marissa sighs, he's not the first person to ask her, and he most certainly won't be the last to ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answers shortly, and Edward is a little taken aback. In the short time, he has known her and interacted with her, he has never heard her be short with anyone, and the harsh tone certainly doesn't seem natural coming from her.

"No, you're not," Edward states firmly. She looks up at him, slightly surprised by the forwardness of his response.

"How would you know?" Maria presses, frustrated with him, and he raises an eyebrow.

"Well, aside from your obvious exhaustion and your body language," Edward replies, pointing out how obvious it is that she is not in a good mood, "I'm quite good at reading people."

"Are you?" Maria sighs, resting her chin on her hand and staring at the whiteboard at the front of the class.

"Yeah, I am," Edward says.

"That's nice," Maria responds blankly, disinterested in what he is saying. He doesn't reply to her, pursing his lips and staring down at their desk with clenched fists. Maria looks over when he doesn't answer, looking at him quizzically, and then it dawns on her how rude she has been to him for the duration of their conversation. "Oh, Edward... I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me today... just tired, I guess."

"It's fine," Edward says curtly, and she sighs, her frown deepening.

"Really, I didn't mean to offend you or be rude... I just didn't get any sleep last night."

Edwards's eyebrows raise when she says this, and he looks over at her with a concerned frown, "Why not?"

"Um... I just couldn't sleep... I was worried about Bella," Maria tells him quietly, and he nods, but he knows there is more. Something she isn't telling him. "Thank you, again... for saving her. It really means the world to me. I wish there was some way I could repay you."

"You don't owe me anything, Maria," Edward shakes his head. "Nor does Bella. I only pushed her out of the way. I'm sure anybody would have done the same had they been in my position."

Edward glances over at her for a moment, fighting a battle in his head before he finally gives in and asks, "Did Bella tell you anything about what happened?"

"She just said that you were with her and you pushed her out the way," Maria tells him. "We didn't talk about it when we got home."

"Oh, right," Edward says, hiding his relief that Bella hadn't said anything to her.

"Is that what happened?" Maria enquires, wondering why Edward would think to bring it up. "Sometimes Bella lies because she's embarrassed... she doesn't like a lot of attention."

"Yes. I was talking to her beside her truck when Tyler lost control of his van and sped towards us," Edward explains to her quietly, looking her dead in the eyes as if he's making sure she believes him. "I pulled Bella out of the way. I have very quick reflexes."

"Well, it's a good thing you do," Maria smiles a little and he shrugs his shoulders. "I'm glad you were okay... you could've gotten really hurt too."

"I would've been fine," Edward tells her dismissively. "Trust me."

"You think you would've been fine after being crushed between a van and a truck?"

"Like I said, I have quick reflexes. If Bella wasn't there, I would've moved out the way by myself," Edward reiterates.

"Oh, right," Maria nods her head.

"You weren't in school yesterday morning," Edward states, his eyebrows furrowed together. "You weren't with Bella."

"Yeah, I was planning on taking the day off... spending some time alone," Maria answers vaguely and Edward seems dissatisfied with this response. It isn't much of an explanation. "I didn't really get to do that, though."

"Was something troubling you?" Edward asks, trying to figure out the reason for her absence and she looks at him, taken aback.

"What? No!" She replies frantically. She would really rather he doesn't ask any more questions as she definitely doesn't want to speak about her accident or the flashbacks yesterday and he frowns. "It was nothing really, just personal reasons."

Edward is still not happy with her answer but doesn't press any further, respecting her choice to not tell him the actual reason. Maria quickly changes the subject after this and they spend the rest of the lesson chatting to each other about school work or Forks. She doesn't really notice it until after class, but as she and Edward talk in class, her mood lifts considerably. So much so that nobody feels compelled to ask her if she's okay for the rest of the day. It leaves a warm feeling in her chest and a smile on her face and Bella raises an eyebrow at her as she climbs into the passenger seat of the truck, grinning like an idiot.

"You're in a better mood," Bella points out cautiously, not wanting to upset her again and Maria shrugs lightheartedly.

"Yeah, I am."

The rest of the month passes by in the same routine. Maria doesn't get much sleep, although it is improving steadily with every day that goes by which makes her more hopeful for the future. The reoccurrence of her flashbacks and nightmares had made it a lot more difficult for her to live by her usual philosophy which she struggled with a lot. The people around her suffered too, Charlie and Bella worrying constantly over her sudden low moods and her friends confused by her change in personality. She does apologise, blaming it on a lack of sleep which they accept, but they are glad to see that she is starting to cheer up a little. Speaking with Alice and Edward in class raises her mood the most. She's not sure why, but she just feels connected with them when they talk, especially Edward.

Her friends say it's weird for Edward and Alice to be so involved with someone that isn't part of their family, they say that Edward hardly ever talks to anybody, let alone asks people questions, although he seems to know a great deal about their classmates so Maria wonders how true this can be. How could he know so much if he doesn't ask them questions if he never speaks to them? She chooses to ignore them, not engaging in their gossip.

"You seem like you're getting better," Charlie says over the breakfast table to Maria, who is eating a slice of toast.  Her general mood, while still not where it was when she first moved to Forks, has improved considerably thanks to more sleep and her conversations with Edward and Alice.

"Yeah, I feel better," Maria tells him with a small smile. 

"Good," Charlie hums, nodding his head. "Are you going to Seattle with Bella?"

"You're going to Seattle?" Maria asks, furrowing her brows as she turns to Bella.

"Yeah... on the weekend of the spring dance," Bella tells her sister, who frowns. She would absolutely love to go on a trip to Seattle to buy some new clothes, but she's actually really quite excited to go to the spring dance. She doesn't have anyone to go with, and she isn't planning on asking anybody at the moment but she doesn't care. She briefly considered asking Edward but ultimately decided against it. She wants to go because it will be a fun night and she can spend some time with her friends, she doesn't need to go with a boy.

"Oh, I think I'm going to go to the dance, so," Maria shrugs her shoulders, answering her father's question.

"Are you sure you'll be okay in Seattle, Bells?" Charlie asks her, looking worried and she rolls her eyes.

"Dad! I'll be fine," she groans. "I told you already, Seattle is smaller than Phoenix anyway."

They head out for school after that and Maria is still wearing Edward's coat as her daily one. She should probably go out and buy her own so he can have his back but it is extremely warm and comfortable and she's not sure she's ready to part with it yet. Plus, blue is her favourite colour so it's as if the coat was made for her. He hasn't asked for it back yet, though and every time it's brought up he insists she keeps it so she might not even be allowed to give it back to him.

When Bella has parked at the school, Maria climbs out of the truck and her foot slips on the slippery, metal step and falls out of the truck. Luckily, she lands square on her feet on the wet concrete and doesn't hurt herself, but her bag falls out of her hands and lands in a puddle on the floor. She groans, and bends down to pick it up but just as her fingers are about to wrap around the canvas strap, a white hand flashes out and grabs it. She stands up straight, looking up in surprise, but relaxes when she sees that it is Edward and he's shaking the water off her backpack. He holds it out to her, smiling softly and she thanks him and slings it over one of her shoulders.

"You should be more careful," Edward tells her and she sighs, shutting the passenger door with a loud bang. She flinches from the sound, bracing to be hurtled into another flashback, but it doesn't happen.

"I'm not usually clumsy," Maria replies. "Bella is the clumsy one... she must have two left feet or something because she trips over air."

Edward chuckles softly at her lighthearted nature. "Can I walk you to class?"

Maria's cheeks flush crimson and she doesn't notice the way Edward clenches his jaw and balls his fists when he notices the blood pooling there. She smiles, a little giddy and nods her head. "I would really like that."

"Good," Edward says, motioning for her to follow him with her arm. "So, I hear Bella is going to Seattle the weekend of the Spring Dance?"

"Yeah, she is," Maria shrugs her shoulders. "I think she needs to get some new clothes."

"Will you be joining her?" Edward enquires, studying her carefully.

"No, I'd rather go to the dance," Maria tells him, smiling sheepishly. "I can go to Seattle whenever I want, but I'll only have one chance to go to the Spring dance this year. I wouldn't want to miss out."

"Oh, right," Edward says, looking a bit disappointed. Truthfully, he had been hoping to offer the girls a lift to Seattle in his Volvo, a way to spend more time with Maria, and to make sure she was safe, had she been planning to go. "Have you asked anybody to the dance?"

The dance is a lady's choice dance meaning that, for once, it is expected of the girls to ask the boys as dates. Maria blushes again as she meets his eyes. He's staring right into her eyes, one eyebrow raised and she shakes her head sheepishly. "Uh... no I haven't..."

"Good," Edward replies firmly. Maria looks up at him in surprise and he looks as though he isn't quite sure why he is celebrating the fact that she hasn't asked anyone yet.

"Did you want me to ask you?" Maria asks him, caught off guard by his response. In her head, she quickly weighs up whether or not she would like to go with him. While she doesn't necessarily need a date to the dance, it would be nice to have one and there's no denying that she's physically attracted to Edward, he's truly handsome. However, she doesn't want to ruin their friendship, which is still in its early days because he, along with Alice, are some of the only people who have helped cheer her up over the month. Although, Maria may regret it if she doesn't ask him to the dance and she doesn't want to live with a lot of regrets and poor decisions. At least if she asks Edward to the dance now, she'll know his answer.

"Well-"

"Will you go with me?" Maria cuts him off, not waiting to hear his response. He smiles a little, and then his whole mood shifts. His body becomes tense, his eyes darken and he frowns deeply at Maria.

"No," he answers roughly and Maria's face falls.

"Oh... okay. That's fine... I-"

"Maria, I think it would be best if we weren't friends," Edward says quietly and she stares at him, taken aback.

"What?" She asks, gobsmacked by his sudden mood swing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I was just asking."

"It's fine," Edward huffs, and then he marches away from her leaving her standing in the corridor. Maria rolls her eyes and then walks off to her class.

"Is there something wrong with your brother?" Maria asks Alice Cullen as she sits down beside her. "I was just talking to him and he went all funny."

"Funny?" Alice repeats Maria's words, weighing up how to respond and Maria shrugs.

"Yeah... well, I... uh, I asked him to the Spring dance," Maria admits, sheepish. "But then he just stormed off and said it's best if we aren't friends."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Edward can be a little shy sometimes," Alice explains kindly. "You probably just startled him when you asked him to the dance. I wouldn't give up if I were you. He likes you, you know?"

"Really?" Maria doubts Alice's words but the pixie-like girl just grins and nods.

"Of course he does!"

"I can't even tell, one minute he acts like I'm disgusting, the next moment he gives me his coat and then he says we shouldn't be friends? What does he want from me?"

"Look, don't tell him I told you this, but Edward has never had a girlfriend before... or ever even mentioned a girl," Alice tells her quietly. "I think he's just a bit confused... and I think he will regret saying no to going to the dance."

"Well, he didn't just say no. He basically ended our entire friendship because of it," Maria rolls her eyes and Alice sighs.

"Don't worry about it, Maria," she says, smiling. "I'm going to talk some sense into him tonight. He can be such an idiot sometimes."

They don't speak about Edward for the rest of the class, instead talking about what ideas Maria had for her Spring dance outfit. The conversation's about the Spring dance continues through lunch - Jessica is going with Mike, Lauren had asked Tyler and Angela is going with Eric.

"Aren't you going to ask anybody, Maria?" Jessica asks curiously, looking over at the blonde, who is happily eating a slice of pizza. Maria sighs and drops her pizza down on the plate in front of her. "Oh... did you get turned down?"

"Uh... something like that," Maria says and Jessica, Angela, Lauren, Mike, Tyler, Eric and Bella all stare at her, waiting for her to elaborate. "I asked Edward Cullen."

"What?" Bella demands, shocked and Maria shrugs her shoulders, looking rather embarrassed.

"Well, we've been talking almost every day and he offered to walk me to class... and he brought up the dance, so I thought I would ask him," Maria tells them.

"What did he say?" Eric asks, dumbfounded.

"He said he doesn't want to go with me and he doesn't want to be friends anymore."

"Well, I did warn you that the Cullens are weird," Jessica says in an attempt to cheer her up, but Maria's frown just deepens.

"They're not weird!" She snaps at Jessica. "I wish you would stop gossiping all the time, it's really rude. Edward has every right to reject my invitation to the dance, that doesn't make him weird."

"Okay, sorry," Jessica huffs, raising her eyebrows. "Must be a sore topic." 

Maria rolls her eyes and quickly stands up from her seat. She picks up her tray of food and her backpack and marches away from the table without another word. 

"Maria!" Someone calls her name and she turns around to see Edward Cullen sitting at a table by himself. He beckons her over with his hand and she glares at him for a moment before giving in and sitting opposite him. 

"What do you want, Edward?" Maria asks him, raising an eyebrow and he frowns at her hostility.

"I'm sorry about the dance," Edward tells her sincerely and Maria sighs. 

"It's not the dance I'm upset about... I thought you didn't want to be friends, so I don't even know why you wanted me to sit here," Maria says, standing back up again and Edward holds his hand up.

"Please, don't go," Edward pleads, looking at Maria with desperate eyes. "Stay."

Maria slowly sits back down, staring straight at him and he sighs before speaking again. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

"What that you don't want to be friends with me?" Maria queries, playing dumb.

"I said that it would be best if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be," Edward corrects her and she rolls her eyes. 

"What does that even mean?"

"You really should stay away from me," Edward warns her and her annoyed front falters. "But, I'm tired of staying away from you."

"Staying away from me? We talk almost every lesson," Maria points out and Edward chuckles. 

"I meant outside of class," Edward reiterates and she raises her eyebrows in surprise, her cheeks flushing red.

"Oh... right," Maria says slowly. "But, why did you say that earlier."

"I was just trying to warn you that I won't be a very good friend to you."

"Why wouldn't you be? You let me have your coat, you saved Bella's life, and you've cheered me up all month... what's not good about that? I think you put yourself down too much." 

"Cheered you up?" 

"Um, yeah."

"Why were you upset?" Edward asks, forgetting what their conversation was about. 

"It's not important... so, what does being friends outside of school entail?"

"Well, if you'd still be willing, I'd love to go to the Spring dance with you," Edward replies with a smile. A mixture of emotions crosses Maria's face and Edward watches her intently as she tries to decide her answer. She doesn't want to give in so easily, letting him get away with being so rude to her, but he has apologized and she would like to go with him. 

"I might let you go with me," Maria crosses her arms with a smirk. "If you find a way to make it up to me for being so rude... and don't think you can do it by buying me something pretty. Now, do you want to walk to Biology with me?" 

"Uh... no, thank you. I'm not going to Biology today."

"Oh, why not?

"It's healthy to ditch class now and then."

"Can I join you, then?" Edward laughs when Maria suggests this and she raises an eyebrow at him.

"Let me rephrase that, it's healthy to ditch class now and then when you actually understand Biology."