Hello! For those of you who have read my first story Eliza CullenBlack: The True Story, this is my attempt at a sequel. There are a few minor details that I have decided to change from the first story (there is a note on that story going more into detail about changes), but I hope you enjoy this future take anyway. To those of you who are new readers, thank you for reading. You don't have to have read the first story to understand this; in fact the early chapters of that story are not quite to my liking anyway. I can only guarantee one other chapter of this, though there may be more if time permits. The title of this chapter is taken from a quote by my favorite author John Green in his book Looking For Alaska, which I highly recommend. One last bit of information before you get to reading: this is by far the longest chapter of a story that I have ever written and it came the easiest to me than anything else I have written. That being said, it means a lot to me that you're reading this and I sincerely hope you enjoy. (Also reviews are appreciated)
-Juliebean
Future Nostalgia
Rain splattered against the windows as I sat doing college level calculus and having a light conversation in French with Edward. I loved this arrangement; Nessie, Jake, and I decided on it right after we moved into our new house. We were risking too much sending me to regular school since I looked and behaved older than a mere thirteen-year-old. Of course Edward was the best candidate to home-school me, and that September I started going over to the Cullen house everyday to soak in information.
That year I was able to learn enough to advance to my junior year of high school, not that I would ever want to go to a high school after my best year of schooling. I even took the SAT's early and now, and almost two years later, I was a month away from finishing my entire "high school career". I would really miss homeschooling when this was all over, but the thought of being done with studying simple material geared toward the average high school student was hard to resist.
"Je fini ce chapitre. Qu'est-ce que nous faisons maintenant?" I asked Edward.
"L'histoire peut-être...mais il n'y a pas plus temps." he replied. Sometimes Carlisle or Jasper would jump in with history lessons, but today they were hunting.
"Que parlez-vous?" Alice suddenly appeared, trying to join in on the lesson, curious about what we were talking about.
"How I have to leave soon," I replied, breaking the French streak.
"You do, but I was hoping to talk to you en Français about it." She seemed only mildly frustrated.
"Sorry to burst your bubble," I said absentmindedly as I closed up my calc book and turned off my calculator.
"You're going to La Push after this." It wasn't a question; Alice was probably referring to the fact that she couldn't see my future as of now.
"The Uley's are having everyone over for dinner to celebrate Maddie's birthday."
"She grew up quickly," Edward commented.
"They always do," Bella joined us, walking over to wrap her arm around Edward and he in turn kissed her temple. They both gave me a significant look. "How old is she turning?"
"Three." They all nodded thoughtfully.
"Do you need something to wear?" Alice offered eagerly.
"No, I'm okay, thank you." This was just a family get together and my slightly embellished sweater paired with some nice pants would be over dressing compared to the wolves' usual wardrobe of cutoff jeans, and very rarely, old t-shirts.
"Well I tried." I rolled my eyes. Some things never change. "Have fun, Liza." Alice gave me a kiss on each cheek, and disappeared as quickly as she had come.
"Tell everyone 'hello' for us," Bella said, handing me my handbag so I could dig around for my keys.
"See you on Monday." And before leaving, I called, "Bon weekend, Alice! As-tu heureuse maintenant?"
"Oui, merci! Et toi, bon weekend!" Alice replied, appearing at my side long enough to give me an appreciative hug and then she rocketed back upstairs. A glance at the clock on my phone told me that it was time to leave so I waved goodbye for the last time and stepped out the door.
The air was chilly for late April, but that was Forks. I ran to my car so I wouldn't get too wet, threw the door open, and climbed inside. It was still weird to be able to drive and to even have my own car, but I was extremely grateful nonetheless. Jake offered to build me a car but I insisted that I really just wanted a small, simple car, so I ended up with a sleek new Volvo. Driving relaxed me after all of the mind-stimulating activity that I did at the Cullen house. I was about to turn on the radio when my phone vibrated but I waited to check it until the next stop sign.
All I saw was "Nessie" on the screen, along with a text message that I wasn't going to read while I was driving. I was still a bit over-cautious when it came to being on the road. Without taking my eyes off the road, I dialed her number and she picked up in seconds.
"Let me guess: you're driving," Nessie greeted.
"Yep. You should be proud that your daughter is being safe."
"I am. You just answered my question. I'll see you in a few minutes."
"Will do." We both hung up and now I was only a minute away from turning into the La Push reservation. The rain persisted with even more gusto than before as I drove through the reservation. If I listened closely, I could hear the waves crashing against the shore. With a smile on my face, I parked in front of Sam and Emily's house and turned to grab Maddie's gift from the passenger seat. Finding a gift for a three-year-old was harder than I expected; it took me almost an hour of winding through the aisles in Toys-R-Us to find an assortment of adorable stuffed animals that she was bound to fall in love with.
I made a mad dash to the door, holding Maddie's present like a football, and let myself in without too many rain splatters to show for it. As soon as I set one foot through the door, Maddie came hurtling at me in a huge purple frilly skirt and matching shirt. Her arms wrapped around my legs as she squealed my name excitedly.
"It's Madison, the birthday girl!" I exclaimed, picking her up and balancing her on my hip. She giggled and her face had the beauty of Emily and tiny versions of Sam's nose and eyebrows.
"Mommy made me a princess cake!" She told me excitedly.
"That's so cool, Maddie! I bet it's super yummy." Emily entered the room when I said that, carrying a squirming baby boy in her arms. I set Maddie back down and she ran over to cling to her mother.
"Hey, Eliza. Everyone's in the kitchen, though I'm not sure how they all fit…" Emily wrapped her free arm around me and I laughed at her joke. She took Maddie's present from my grasp and set it on top of the pile of pink and purple parcels on the coffee table.
"Is it just me or has Chase grown since the last time I was here?" I asked, stroking his soft face gently.
"He's been growing like a weed," Emily replied. "Maddie didn't grow this fast as a baby. He's going to be a big boy like his daddy." Chase babbled happily as Emily gently kissed his forehead. Emily was made for this job. The children running around the Uley house emphasized the fact that the pack was a tight-knit family.
Speaking of the pack, they had probably been too distracted up to this point to notice that Emily was missing, but one of them had slipped away and was walking down the hallway toward us.
Exactly the person I wanted to see. Seth was walking fast, but unfortunately, Maddie intercepted his path, demanding his attention. But he dodged her with ease, kneeling down to whisper something in her ear that sent her running into the kitchen. Before following after her daughter, Emily asked me one more question.
"Any progress on the college front?" Seth's muscles tensed slightly, enough that no one but me would notice. College was a touchy subject for us both. I had my eyes set on none other than the finest schools, but they were all extremely far from home and Seth and I would have to be apart for long periods of time. Already, I had been accepted into Dartmouth, Stanford, Yale, Swarthmore, and Whitworth University, and only the last one was anywhere close to La Push. There wasn't much time left for me to decide where to go, but I was greeted with a pain in my heart every time I tried to make the decision.
"No, not yet," I sighed.
"Hopefully you can make the decision soon." And with that Emily left Seth and me alone. For a moment I looked on after her, but Seth reached out for my hand, and I couldn't resist looking at his improbably gorgeous face.
"You look beautiful, Eliza." Seth wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. As usual, he had an elated look in his eyes that he saved for when he was looking at me.
"You and your flattery…" I joked, pressing my lips to his briefly. I could do this all day, but we had a party to go to. His strong arms prevented me from walking anywhere though.
"One for the road?" he asked innocently, but with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
"For you? Anything," I laughed, waiting for him bring his lips to mine this time. I let him kiss me a little longer, relishing the feeling of his soft, warm lips on mine. "We have to stop," I whispered, pulling away. He started to voice a complaint as I dragged him toward the kitchen, but I interrupted him with a whispered "Later."
"There you are," Nessie said when we entered the kitchen. "How were lessons today?"
"Great. As usual," I responded with a smile. All of Maddie's favorite foods were sitting on the counter including chicken fingers and French fries. Broccoli was being served on the side to make it healthier, though the broccoli plate was suspiciously empty…
"Why hasn't anyone taken broccoli?" I asked to no one in particular.
"Because no one likes broccoli. Duh," Jared answered.
"But I love broccoli," I retorted, piling it onto my plate.
"Exactly," Embry said. The guys from the pack who were listening shared a laugh.
"Guys, come on. Don't laugh at my girlfriend," Seth said. That got a few more chuckles, but I was finally left alone to enjoy my meal. There was some of the usual banter, but with Maddie and Jared and Kim's daughter Chloe running around, conversation either included them or was about them.
"So, Eliza," Quil started while I was making my way over to the counter to get seconds. "Are you still stuck trying to pick a college?" I didn't like where this was going, but I nodded. Everyone was looking at me, eager to have a say in the matter.
"The choices are still Dartmouth, Yale, Swarthmore, Stanford, and Whitworth," Jake offered.
"Why would you even consider that Whitword place if you got into Yale?" Paul asked.
"Whitworth. And I have my reasons," I replied.
"Except for Whitworth, those schools are awfully far away, Liza. But if you go to Stanford, it won't be as bad…" Rachel thought out loud, resting her hand on her protruding belly.
"But she got into Yale and Dartmouth for Pete's sake. She should go there," Embry jumped in. The conversation escalated into a full-on debate and with each remark, I was feeling more and more uncomfortable. Only my parents and Seth were as quiet about the matter as I was. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I uttered a quiet "Excuse me" and quickly exited the room. I made for the stairs but didn't make it far when I already heard footsteps behind me. I continued up the stairs as if I didn't notice and toward the closest room. But Seth was much faster than me and he grabbed my wrist before I could turn the doorknob.
His arms were around me in seconds and he pulled me into the room, which happened to be Maddie's bedroom, and toward the window seat. He pulled me onto his lap before voicing his concern.
"Why are you so upset about this, Liza?" He asked me, using his thumb to wipe a tear from my cheek that I had not known was there.
"It's just…" I tried to collect myself enough to explain, but tears were pouring down my face at an alarming rate. This whole college ordeal had cause more stress than I had ever had before. More nights than none, I could be found sobbing in my room at the prospect of being away from Seth. I had mostly kept these moments to when I was alone, though, and I especially kept them away from Seth. But he was handling this well, stroking my hair comfortingly and waiting patiently as I cried into his chest.
"I'm…I'm s-s-sorry," I stammered into his chest, shaking with my sobs.
"Don't be," he replied immediately. He slid his fingers under my chin and tilted my head up so he was looking into my eyes. "Just tell me what's bothering you and I'll fix it," he said with conviction.
"If it were that easy I wouldn't be b-b-blubbering like an idiot," I managed to spit out before another sob shook me. "Making the decision of where to go to college is k-k-killing me Seth. I w-w-want to go to a really good s-s-school, but…" I paused, sniffling.
"There's nothing stopping you from doing that, Love," Seth interrupted. But I shook my head.
"I don't want to leave you the way Bella was when Edward left," I whispered. In truth, I didn't know much about this, other than Edward left Bella completely torn apart in an attempt to protect her, back when she was still a human.
"That's it? That could never happen, Eliza. I would miss you more than I know right now, but I know that you will sill love me no matter what. I am 100% positive that you would come back and see me. You going off and following your dreams would never hurt me." I looked up at him hopefully and I could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth. "Please don't make this decision for me. In the end, college is about what makes you happy. You picked Whitworth because it's close to home, but don't go there. I know you don't want to. Go somewhere else and as long as you're happy with it, I will wear t-shirts with your school's name with pride."
My tears slowed down a bit at this and I gave him a watery smile. "Thanks, Seth. I really needed that."
"I'm just doing my job," he replied with a shrug. I could see the relief in his face that I was able to collect myself. A few minutes later, we walked back downstairs and rejoined the party like we hadn't left. Nessie and Jake gave us relieved looks, but no one else seemed to have noticed our absence.
"I think it's time for cake," Emily announced over the chatter. Maddie was jumping up and down like she had springs in her shoes. It took me a moment to realize that what Emily was holding was a cake and not a doll; the cake was in the shape of a ball gown and a Barbie doll was sticking out of the top. It was perfect for Maddie who was eyeing the cake with a gaze only slightly short of worshiping.
"Geez, Em. You made that?" Jared asked amazed. Chole had left his side and joined Maddie in an adorable chant for cake.
"Don't act so surprised, Jared. My wife can do anything," Sam replied, looking at Emily with pure admiration. She responded by giving him a quick kiss before lighting the candles on the cake. Sam scooped up his daughter just as Emily turned off the lights, and we treated Maddie to a very off key rendition of "Happy Birthday". As soon as we were done, she blew out the candles with more force than was probably necessary and we all cheered. Cake was passed around as quickly as Emily could slice it, and gobbled up even faster.
Soon Maddie was nagging Emily to let her open presents and we were all ushered into the living room to watch Maddie tear apart the massive pile of gifts. Luckily, Sam and Emily were able to prolong the madness by making Maddie thank each person one by one as she opened their gift. So far, she had received a baby doll, some costumes for dress-up, and a few board games. When she reached for my gift, I couldn't help but feel my stomach flip-flop with excitement.
"I gave her that one," I whispered excitedly to Seth. Maddie tore into the sparkly pink wrapping paper without even bothering to look at the card. Emily snatched it off the torn paper as Maddie squealed excitedly at the array of stuffed animals.
"Happy Birthday Mads," I said walking toward her.
"Don't forget to say thank you to Eliza for the present," Sam reminded her.
"Thank you for the aminals Liza!" she chanted wrapping her arms around my neck.
"What are you going to name the animals?" I asked to buy Emily and Sam more time before the next gift.
"This one is Spotty," Maddie pointed to the spotted puppy. "And this one is Oinkers." She pointed at the piglet. I picked up an adorable stuffed kitten and handed it to her.
"Can you name this one Eliza? For me?" I asked, giving her my best puppy-dog face.
"Okay!"
"Thanks sweetie." I kissed her forehead and walked back to my spot next to Seth.
"Could you be more stuck-up?" muttered Embry.
"I think the better word choice would be narcissistic," I replied nonchalantly.
"And you're proving my point even more by saying that," Embry shot back playfully.
"I'm not going to say anything." Maddie had made it through two more gifts while Embry and I were talking and it only took a few minutes more to finish off the pile. You could see that Maddie was worn out and Chase had been asleep in Emily's arms for at least 15 minutes.
"Em and I are going to put the kids to bed, but you're all welcome to stay," Sam said taking the sleeping baby from Emily's arms.
"We should probably leave too," Kim said. "Chlo's pretty beat." Jared was carrying Chloe, who was resting her head on his shoulder sleepily. While everyone said goodbye to them, I stepped away from Seth to talk to Jake and Nessie.
"What's the story, morning glory?" Nessie asked when I approached her. I cracked a smile.
"I was just going to ask you the same. Are we staying any longer?" I replied.
"We were planning on staying, but you're probably pretty tired, so maybe we should leave sooner," Jake said.
"Then I think I'll leave now," I decided. "But you guys can stay longer. I'll be fine."
"Okay, but we're not staying long. We don't want to leave you home alone for too long," Jake said. Before walking off to say my goodbyes, I kissed each of their cheeks. I still loved my parents as much as I did when I was little, if not more. It took about ten minutes to say goodbye to everyone and by that time, I was definitely ready to leave.
"So…" Seth started, but I cut him off.
"You think I'm leaving you? Come on, Seth. You know me better than that. Can I give you a ride home?" I knew as well as he did that he didn't need a ride home, but neither of us were going to give up extra time together.
"Yeah. Thanks Liza." He grinned at me with his beautiful smile. "Let me go tell Leah, and we can get out of here." While he told Leah, I informed Jake and Nessie.
"Alright. We'll leave in half an hour then to give you two some time," Nessie responded.
"Thanks. See you in a bit," I said, staring Jake down for the slightly-over-protective-father look that he was giving me.
"Have fun," he managed. Nessie had her palm on Jake's face while I pulled out my keys and met Seth at the door.
"Ladies first," he said, opening the door for me.
"Why thank you, kind sir," I replied. The night air was frigid compared to being inside with a bunch of feverish wolves so, as if he had read my mind, Seth kept his arm tightly around me until we reached the car.
"It's weird watching Maddie grow up so quickly and realizing that I grew like three times as fast," I mused as I started the car. "Time seems to pass more slowly when you're young."
"I was thinking the same thing," Seth replied. "And now you're looking into colleges…" He glanced at me to see if the topic of college would still upset me.
"I'm fine, Seth. I actually feel ready for it, but I wish that Dartmouth or Stanford or Swarthmore would move to Washington."
"But don't you want to go too new places?" We were already at Seth's house, but I idled to buy us more time.
"Yes, but…you know."
"I do. No one's forcing you to make the decision now. Just go somewhere that will make you happy." There was a moment of silence, and then I climbed over the center-console to sit in Seth's lap.
"You're perfect," I murmured into his chest, breathing in his scent. He never wore cologne, but I liked it better that way because then I could smell the forest and a delicious scent that was completely unique to him.
"I would have to disagree on that. You are the perfect one," he countered.
"Oh, no. We're not doing this. Every single thing you do is perfect."
"But then you're not talking about me, you're talking about yoursel—" I covered his mouth with my own and we were kissing in a way that felt like love. His hands held me by the waist, sending chills up my spine as they trailed up and down my back. It wasn't a conscious decision for me to start using tongue, but I was immediately glad that I did. Seth's chest rumbled in response and the resulting kisses were better than I had ever experienced. When we finally pulled apart, we were breathless and had goofy grins on our faces. Seth effortlessly lifted me from his lap and set me back in the drivers seat.
"How do you do that?" Seth whispered, taking my hand and kissing each knuckle in turn.
"I can honestly say that I had no control over it."
"Either way that was my number one best kiss ever." My smile grew so wide that it hurt, but I was too euphoric to feel it.
"Mine too."
"I love you," Seth said leaning over to kiss me one last time. Just a peck, but it was still charged with the electricity of our previous kiss. "Sleep well and I hope you can finally decide what college to go to."
"Thanks, Seth. Now get out of my car," I joked. He opened the door and stepped out of the car, but before he could walk away I said, "I love you more than anything." I waited for him to get inside before I drove away. What I would do without Seth when I was in college, I didn't know, but at least because of him I would be able to make my decision with full confidence that I could be happy.