Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters!!!!
Graduation. So far, I could honestly say that this was the best day of my life. Today, I would get out of school. Next week, I'd move out. And in the following weeks, I would marry Edward. Then, Edward would turn me into a vampire, like him, to spent the rest of eternity together. Could my life get any better?
A smile tugged at my lips. "What are you thinking about?" Edward asked me, piercing me with his honey-ocher eyes. Of course, I couldn't keep anything away from him now. Not after he looked at me in that utterly persuading way.
"Just about our future." I said, pulling my hand away from his so I could embrace him and give him a carefully forewarned kiss on the lips. His lips. Could God have made any lips that were sweeter than his in the whole universe. Every time we touched, my heart beat erratically, and this time I thought it would burst out of my chest as my mind raced to erase my thoughts of what Edward and I could do after I was changed.
Edward smiled at me as he pulled away. I blushed from my thoughts only seconds ago, trying to hide my face by nonchalantly letting my hair fall down on both sides of my face. No use. Edward notices. He chuckles quietly and shakes his head as if to say, "Bella, Bella. What am I going to do with you?" Instead, he took my hand and leads me from behind the building.
The weather was cloudy, but it wouldn't rain. According to Alice, the sun wouldn't come out either. Normally, I would have wanted my graduation day to be sunny and warm, but considering that Edward wouldn't be able to be here if that were the case, my preferences have changed to the exact opposite. In front of me, I saw all the parents of our graduating class. My own parents, Charlie and Renee, were sitting in the third row, not talking. I suspected the reason behind that was the argument we all got in last night when I told them of my plans to move out. Charlie was furious, but Renee, surprisingly, agreed without a second thought.
Edward squeezed my hand, probably having noticed my parents' silent feud five times faster than I. "What are they thinking?" I asked him. It's so convenient to have a boyfriend who could read minds. Well, not all. I was the exception, which is probably why I am here right now. Edward, a ravenous vampire, nearly killed me the first day we met. However, his family morals kept him from doing so. Then, miraculously, something I still don't understand, he started taking an interest in me.
"Charlie keeps thinking that he wants to kill everybody, meaning me and Renee, in order to talk some sense into you." He said this with a smirk, and I couldn't help but think about what kind of graphic images are going through my father right now. "And Renee," he continues, "wants graduation to be over with so she could talk to you. She's thinking about giving you 'the talk'. She's trying to come up with a way to approach you with it."
I laugh. Now that I looked closer, I can see that my mother has a look on her face that showed she was in deep concentration. " When is she planning to give me 'the talk'?" I asked.
"Tonight, before you go to sleep, she's planning in parading in your room and very subtly start a conversation with you. She's vowing on doing it before she leaves tomorrow night." The look on his face gave me a clue that he was hiding something.
My eyes narrowed. "Is there something I should know?" I ask. He put on a deliberately innocent face, widening his eyes to look the part. I cought on immediately. "You're not planning on listening in, are you?"
"No." He says, his voice a little too high to be truthful. I caught him in the act. "Edward Cullen, don't you dare listen in on tonight's conversation. That would be…" I struggle for a word, and then decide with the truth, "embarrassing." I finished, chagrined.
My mother notices me and waved elaborately, trying to get my attention. I waved back hoping she'll stop before she makes a scene. "Honey. Oh, honey. I'm so proud of you. I can't believe you're actually graduating. I remember, just yesterday, you were in a diaper, crawling around all over the place."
"Mom." I say in that way that conveys how embarrassing this is. "Oh, sorry." She says, looking at Edward. Edward laughs. "Diapers, you say? I don't suppose you have some pictures of that with you. I would just love to see Bella as a baby." He says this in such a polite manner that my mom ends up beaming with happiness. I groan at the topic, and Edward gives my hand a light squeeze. "No, but maybe one day, you guys will fly down to Phoenix. I have all of Bella's baby pictures there. That would be an incredibly fun afternoon." My mom says, grabbing my free hand and giving it a squeeze herself.
"I'm sure it would." Edward said, as we start to make our way towards the stage where the rest of our classmates were gathering.
Once the ceremony was over, everyone started crowding around talking, laughing, some even weeping. Families were debating whether to go out and celebrate or let their kids go out and celebrate on their own. I watched, not really seeing until Edward puled me back from my muses.
"Do you want to come over? Alice is planning something…" He didn't need to finish for me to know that this 'something' was a party with attention and, knowing Alice, gifts. "Can't you stop her?" I asked, knowing the answer, but hoping otherwise.
"You know I can't, and you know how much Alice enjoys living vicariously through you." Edward said, lowering his voice as we were nearing my parents, who were still not talking. "I don't know." I whispered back, too quietly for anyone to hear besides Edward with his super-vampire-hearing I couldn't wait to have myself.
I took a deep breath and prayed that I'd make it through the evening with my feuding parents. "Mom? Dad? What do you guys want to do now? I was thinking we could go to a restaurant and have lunch. I'm kind of going to be busy later. Alice is throwing a party at the Cullen's place." Not that I was anticipating it, but anything was better than spending the whole day with Charlie and Renee together.
Charlie and Renee looked up at me. Dad was wearing a scornful expression, all the while glaring at Edward. Mom looked a little upset and disappointed, which, I believed, was the result of my decision to spend the rest of the day with the Cullens. I couldn't stand to look at her, guilt coursing through my veins, so I looked down at my own feet, shuffling them around in the wet grass. Edward sensed my awkwardness and squeezed my hand, letting me know that he's here. I am forever thankful to have him and if my parents weren't here at this very moment, I'd lean in and give him a kiss to show my gratitude.
Mom came back to her senses, putting on a happy smile. I know she did it only half for my own benefit, the rest is to anger Charlie, but I wanted to thank her either way. "Okay so what exactly did you have in mind, Bella?"
I smiled. "hmmm. I was thinking we could go to this little restaurant Edward and I went to once in Port Angeles."