"Stephenie Meyer - Twikight 02 - New Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Meyer Stephanie)

teacher's salary. Charlie wasn't getting rich at his job, eitherтАФhe was the police chief here in the tiny town
of Forks. My only personal income came from the three days a week I worked at the local sporting
goods store. In a town this small, I was lucky to have a job. Every penny I made went into my
microscopic college fund. (College was Plan B. I was still hoping for Plan A, but Edward was just so
stubborn about leaving me humanтАж)

Edward had a lot of moneyтАФI didn't even want to think about how much. Money meant next to nothing
to Edward or the rest of the Cullens. It was just something that accumulated when you had unlimited time
on your hands and a sister who had an uncanny ability to predict trends in the stock market. Edward
didn't seem to understand why I objected to him spending money on meтАФwhy it made me
uncomfortable if he took me to an expensive restaurant in Seattle, why he wasn't allowed to buy me a car
that could reach speeds over fifty-five miles an hour, or why I wouldn't let him pay my college tuition (he
was ridiculously enthusiastic about Plan B). Edward thought I was being unnecessarily difficult.

But how could I let him give me things when I had nothing to reciprocate with? He, for some
unfathomable reason, wanted to be with me. Anything he gave me on top of that just threw us more out
of balance.

As the day went on, neither Edward nor Alice brought my birthday up again, and I began to relax a little.

We sat at our usual table for lunch.
A strange kind of truce existed at that table. The three of usтАФEdward, Alice, and IтАФsat on the extreme
southern end of the table. Now that the "older" and somewhat scarier (in Emmett's case, certainly) Cullen
siblings had graduated, Alice and Edward did not seem quite so intimidating, and we did not sit here
alone. My other friends, Mike and Jessica (who were in the awkward post-breakup friendship phase),
Angela and Ben (whose relationship had survived the summer), Eric, Conner, Tyler, and Lauren (though
that last one didn't really count in the friend category) all sat at the same table, on the other side of an
invisible line. That line dissolved on sunny days when Edward and Alice always skipped school, and then
the conversation would swell out effortlessly to include me.

Edward and Alice didn't find this minor ostracism odd or hurtful the way I would have. They barely
noticed it. People always felt strangely ill at ease with the Cullens, almost afraid for some reason they
couldn't explain to themselves. I was a rare exception to that rule. Sometimes it bothered Edward how
very comfortable I was with being close to him. He thought he was hazardous to my healthтАФan opinion I
rejected vehemently whenever he voiced it.

The afternoon passed quickly. School ended, and Edward walked me to my truck as he usually did. But
this time, he held the passenger door open for me. Alice must have been taking his car home so that he
could keep me from making a run for it.

I folded my arms and made no move to get out of the rain. "It's my birthday, don't I get to drive?"

"I'm pretending it's not your birthday, just as you wished."

"If it's not my birthday, then I don't have to go to your house tonightтАж"

"All right." He shut the passenger door and walked past me to open the driver's side. "Happy birthday."

"Shh," I shushed him halfheartedly. I climbed in the opened door, wishing he'd taken the other offer.