"Damn it!" Came the sound of Emmett's voice from the kitchen, the frustration evident.

Esme zoomed into the kitchen, catching him a mere second away from slamming his fists onto the table. "Emmett, no!"

He froze and looked up at her, sighing to himself as he lowered his hands carefully to her newly refurbished kitchen table. He'd ruined the last one in the same way. "I'm sorry." Emmett muttered, dropping the broken pieces of his pencil onto the table.

She crossed the room at human speed, taking a seat next to him. "What's wrong?"

"This fucking- sorry."

She waved him off, rolling her eyes. She'd told him before that she'd heard (and said) far worse; however, his upbringing told him that swearing in front of women was rude. That rule seemed to slip his mind whenever Rosalie was around, though. She'd heard the two of them curse like sailors over a game of scrabble.

"This math homework. It's so different from what I learned back in school." He flipped the paper over and then back in frustration before sitting it back down. "Edward and Rose don't even have to pay attention in class. And all these sixteen year olds don't seem to be having any problems either!"

Esme smiles sympathetically. It was Emmett's first year of school since becoming a vampire. They'd been worried about him controlling his thirst but as the year went on, it became apparent that being around humans was the least of Emmett's problems. He'd been struggling in a number of classes- math, earth science, English.

"What are you working on? Let me see."

Emmett slid his paper to her. "Math."

She nodded, looking over the paper. The rows of different math problems were covered in pencil marks, in eraser shavings. He'd obviously been at it for a while, had obviously been struggling.

"Why didn't you ask for help?"

He sighed, leaning back in the chair. "It's embarrassing, Esme. Edward and Rose don't have any trouble in school. I really think she's a genius."

Esme smiled a little. "You could have come to Carlisle or I."

"Oh, yeah. Because that wouldn't have been embarrassing. Carlisle's...Carlisle. He's so smart. And you're just as smart as the rest of them!"

Esme sat the paper down, watching her newest son's display of distress. This wasn't like him. He wasn't so quick to frustration; he didn't overthink like this. He was known for being the carefree one of the three children, the one to lighten up their moods. "This is nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Yes, it is. How the hell am I supposed to keep up with the rest of you? I didn't go to some fancy school like Rose or a nice city school like Edward. I spent more time...hunting than reading books."

"You know, when I first joined the family I felt the same way you do."

"You did?"

Esme nodded. "My schooling experience wasn't much different than yours. I mean, I grew up on a small farm in Ohio. I went to a tiny local school. I missed school for harvests and to help my mother if she needed it."

"Weren't you a teacher?"

She smiled, remembering the smiling faces of her last class of kindergarteners. "I was and that took some extra schooling but...I was not the scholar that Edward or Carlisle were." Esme explained. "They'd discuss authors and scientific theories that I'd never heard of. And, oh goodness, it took years before I could beat Carlisle in a game of chess."

"I haven't been able to beat any of you."

"You will one day." She assured him. "Carlisle, Edward, and I have been around longer than you. We've had a chance to go through high school and college a time or two."

"Two? I think you mean two hundred for Carlisle."

"Yes, that's probably about right." She laughed. "And Rosalie, like you said, she's incredibly gifted when it comes to academics. She also had a much more extensive education than you or I. You can't compare yourself to all of us."

"It just- it feels like you're all doing so much better than I am."

Esme rests her hand on his arm. "None of this is a competition, Emmett. We all want to see each other succeed."

Emmett nodded a little, reaching for his paper. "You really think I'll be able to go through school as easily as Edward and Rose in a few years?"

"I do. You just have to give it time" She told him. "Believe me, one day you're going to wake up and be proud of how far you've come."

"Is that how you felt after you graduated college?" He asked. Esme had recently graduated with her art history degree. Thankfully, it had been a cloudy, dreary day and the whole family was able to go out and watch her walk across the stage.

"Yes." She said. "That's going to be you one of these days. And we'll all be there embarrassing you from the audience."

Emmett chuckled, remembering how loudly he'd cheered when they called Esme's name. "Might just be you. I couldn't get the rest of them to yell."

"I'll yell loud enough for all of them." Esme told him, standing to grab a new pencil from one of the kitchen drawers before sitting back down beside him. "Now, let's take another look at this."

Later that week, Emmett moved ahead of Rosalie and Edward on the driveway up to their home, speeding into the house.

"Esme?" He called as he threw the door open.

Esme was in the living room in less than a second. She looked flustered, worried by the urgency in his voice. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He stepped further into the room, dropping his bag onto the couch and fishing around inside. He looked around for a second before pulling his latest math test from the pocket of a folder. He and Esme had spent hours going over problems, so much so that he was one of the first ones finished with the test. "Look!"

Esme took the paper from his outstretched hand. "Oh, Emmett, you got an A!" She beamed at him, pride shining in her eyes. Before he knew what was happening, her arms were around him and his feet were scraping the floor. "I knew you could do it!"

Emmett laughed, hugging her back as she set him down on the ground. "Thanks to you."

"You did this. You worked so hard, honey. I'm proud of you."

Behind him, he could hear Edward and Rosalie stepping into the house.

"Did you see this?" Esme asked them. "Emmett got an A on his math test."

Rosalie reaches out and took the test, looking at the score before turning her proud, golden eyes to him. "Good job!"

Edward took the paper next, handing it back to Emmett. "Mr. Anderson was impressed with your work. I heard him grading your test."

Esme smiled at them, reaching out to rest her hand on Emmett's bicep. "Go show Carlisle and then tell him to come down here so we can all go out hunting to celebrate."

Emmett nodded and headed for the stairs at human speed. As he took each step he could hear them talking downstairs, the excitement in their voices undeniable.

Maybe he could do this.