It's time for reading.
Reading is useful( чтение полезно), особенно когда читаешь хорошую книгу. На этот раз предлагаю вашему вниманию отрывок из романа Стефани Мэйер "Сумерки"( " Twilight"). Enjoy your reading!;)

"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He

doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough

for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd

turned her down.

I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was

turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted, as if he were

smiling, too.

After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They

all were noticeably graceful — even the big, brawny one. It was

unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again.

I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have

if I'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for class on my

first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me

that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me the next hour. We walked

to class together in silence. She was shy, too.

When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab

table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In

fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I

recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single

open seat.

As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my

slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he

suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes

with the strangest expression on his face — it was hostile, furious. I

looked away quickly, shocked, going red again. I stumbled over a book in

the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl

sitting there giggled.

I'd noticed that his eyes were black — coal black.

Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about

introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he had

no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room.

I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by him, bewildered by the

antagonistic stare he'd given me.

I didn't look up as I set my book on the table and took my seat, but I

saw his posture change from the corner of my eye. He was leaning away

from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face

like he smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair. It

smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favorite shampoo. It seemed an

innocent enough odor. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a

dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.

Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd already

studied. I took notes carefully anyway, always looking down.

I couldn't stop myself from peeking occasionally through the screen of my

hair at the strange boy next to me. During the whole class, he never

relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from

me as possible. I could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a

fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. This, too, he never

relaxed. He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his

elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his

light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly

brother.

The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the

day was finally coming to a close, or because I was waiting for his tight

fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like

he wasn't breathing. What was wrong with him? Was this his normal

behavior? I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch

today. Maybe she was not as resentful as I'd thought.

It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't know me from Eve.

I peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down

at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion. As I flinched away from

him, shrinking against my chair, the phrase if looks could kill suddenly

ran through my mind.

At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Edward Cullen

was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose — he was much taller than I'd

thought — his back to me, and he was out the door before anyone else was

out of their seat.

I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It

wasn't fair. I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to block the

anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up. For some reason, my

temper was hardwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried when I was angry,

a humiliating tendency.

"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" a male voice asked.

I looked up to see a cute, baby-faced boy, his pale blond hair carefully

gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me in a friendly way. He obviously

didn't think I smelled bad.

"Bella," I corrected him, with a smile.

"I'm Mike."

"Hi, Mike."

"Do you need any help finding your next class?"

"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."

"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that

big of a coincidence in a school this small.

We walked to class together; he was a chatterer — he supplied most of the

conversation, which made it easy for me. He'd lived in California till he

was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. It turned out he was in my

English class also. He was the nicest person I'd met today.

But as we were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Edward

Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."

I cringed. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently,

that wasn't Edward Cullen's usual behavior. I decided to play dumb.

"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" I asked artlessly.

"Yes," he said. "He looked like he was in pain or something."

"I don't know," I responded. "I never spoke to him."

"He's a weird guy." Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the

dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked

to you."

I smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He

was friendly and clearly admiring. But it wasn't enough to ease my

irritation.

The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn't make me dress

down for today's class. At home, only two years of RE. were required.

Here, P.E. was mandatory all four years. Forks was literally my personal

hell on Earth.

I watched four volleyball games running simultaneously. Remembering how

many injuries I had sustained — and inflicted — playing volleyball, I

felt faintly nauseated.

The final bell rang at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my

paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and

colder. I wrapped my arms around myself.

When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked

back out.

Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of me. I recognized again that

tousled bronze hair. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance.

I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be

free.

He was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up

the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology

to another time — any other time.

I just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something

else, something that happened before I entered the Biology room. The look

on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was

impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike

to me.

The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the

room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face.

The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the

wire basket, and walked out again. But Edward Cullen's back stiffened,

and he turned slowly to glare at me — his face was absurdly handsome —

with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, I felt a thrill of

genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms. The look only lasted a second,

but it chilled me more than the freezing wind. He turned back to the

receptionist.

"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see

that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And he turned on

his heel without another look at me, and disappeared out the door.

I went meekly to the desk, my face white for once instead of red, and

handed her the signed slip.

"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.

"Fine," I lied, my voice weak. She didn't look convinced.

When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed

like a haven, already the closest thing to home I had in this damp green

hole. I sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly.

But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and

the engine roared to life. I headed back to Charlie's house, fighting

tears the whole way there.