Okay, normally I avoid Twilight. (Vampire Diaries girl. Twilight is the girly version.) But I was inspired the other day to write about Edward before he met Bella. It also gives a better explanation for the glitter eventually. But I'm not there yet. Anyway, enjoy! (By the way all you Twilight-ers, I mean no offense and actually used to be one of you! Stephanie Meyer could have used a story that wasn't already written by L.J. Smith though, and made the vampires less….sparkly.)
I woke up to snow piled up on the windowsill outside my room in the mansion. It's not my mansion. It's not my parents' mansion. My parents work for one of richest men in Chicago. It's 1918, and Spanish influenza is running wild. Nearly half of my senior class is out sick. I stretched and went ahead to get washed and dressed before school. I put on my uniform, black dress pants and the school's blue blazer, along with a bright gold tie, which is horrible. I don't want to wear the last part of my uniform. This is the newest addition: a white mask. This has only been added since the flu epidemic began. I walked into to the kitchen to grab my lunch and say goodbye to my mom.
"Edward? Is that you, sweetie?" I heard her call out. I smiled, but concern creeps into me. She's smiling, but I can hear tiredness in her voice and I can see pain on her face.
"Hey mom, are you okay?" I asked. She nodded, but I wasn't convinced.
"Just a little tired." She told me and she brushed some flour off her hands onto her apron so she can hug me.
"Well get some rest, okay? You don't need to get sick." I warned her, but I knew she wouldn't listen.
"The one you should warn is your father." She told me, "He woke up with a sore throat and a headache."
"So that's what's really wrong." I frowned, worry creasing my brow.
"It's probably just cold." She said, more to assure herself than me.
"Well, it's better safe than sorry these days." I told her. She nodded and handed me my lunch pail. I tossed her a crooked grin and she smiled back as I walked out the front door. My mom was the cook, my dad was the gardener. He was already outside, shoveling snow off the front walk. My mom was right. He didn't look well. He was pale and seemed very tired.
"'Bye dad!" I called. He stopped and leaned on his shovel, slightly out of breath. Bit my lip in concern. Sometimes, being able to read people was bad. It made you worry and upset when you really needed to not worry and trust things would be okay.
"Have a good day!" He called and waved. I decided something was wrong. I jogged over to him and Sam. Sam worked under my dad. He was young, strong and respectful. He had dark skin. A lot people didn't like this about him, but it was my opinion that there was a reason the civil war was in the past. Many people told me it was best to keep my opinions to myself. I just think they need to move beyond what used to be. I started to open my mouth to ask if he was okay, but I knew he would say he was. I was as stubborn as he was. In fact, I was a miniature version of him golden auburn hair, with a slight wave, pale face, we even had the same build. I was tall but slim and muscular, as was he. The only thing I got from my mother was her eyes. They were a shocking emerald green.
"What do you need?" He asked. I shrugged.
"Just wanted to say goodbye." I told him. He clasped me on the shoulder and I hugged him. It was slightly strange for me, but something told me I should. I waved to Sam and ran out the front gate toward Birmingham school for boys. Across the street was St. Mary's, a catholic all-girls school. Mr. Harris, the gentleman my parents worked for, was paying for education. For some reason he had taken me into his favor. I was studying to one day take over his industry. Mr. Harris sold paper goods for a very highly reputable company. A company that he owned. My parents were very excited for me and proud. I was not as excited, or proud. I didn't want to run a business. But I didn't really know what I wanted at all. My parents were becoming concerned that I hadn't met a girl I liked yet. After all, I was nearly an adult.
Normally, I would meet up with James before school, but he too was out sick. Out of habit, I stopped at the same place we always met for a moment before I remembered he wouldn't be there. I began to walk away when I heard a voice behind me.
"Hey, wait!" I turned around James was puffing as he hurried to catch up to me. I smiled and walked back a little to meet him.
"I thought you were sick!" I exclaimed, happy to see my friend.
"Yeah, I was. But it wasn't as bad as they thought. Just a bad cold." He told me. I smiled. He still looked a little out of it, but I was overjoyed he was better. We walked beside each other the rest of the way to school. I helped him catch up on what he missed while he told me about the quarantine.
"It was strange. My mom cried a lot. My dad stared a lot. Ginny was always in the room with me. None of them ever took their masks off. I felt miserable. My fever was so high and that's why they put me on quarantine. I tossed all the time and never slept. I couldn't even imagine how terrible it would have been for someone who really had the flu." He said, shuttering a little. I felt horrible for my friend. The bell was about to ring as we entered the building for our private school.
"Late." I grimaced, "I'll meet you by the bushes for lunch."
"See you." He said and darted in a different direction. I sighed and walked to my destiny of boredom until the day I die.
James and I always ate near the bushes outside. Before the epidemic. He always wanted to peek at the girls from St. Mary's. I just enjoyed being outside. Now we had to eat inside. We both ate as quickly as possible and replaced our masks before we went outside.
"I just can't get rid of this headache." He said, running his fingers through his short blonde hair. He was a little shorter than me, a little skinnier, and a little more muscular. All of the girls loved him. He knew it too. He told me they loved me too, but I just wasn't interested. He turned and took a peek out of the bushes at the girls across the street.
"Hey, Ed, look at this. New girl." He said, nudging me. I rolled my eyes, but looked anyway. A girl with fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes was across the street, walking around the courtyard. She had on a pleated black skirt and a red blazer over her white button down. It was no different than any of the other girls, but somehow it looked better on her. I was absorbed in watching her every step. I could hear her giggle on the breeze as she walked beside her friend. It was light and happy. She too wore a mask and it covered the lower half of her face. I'm sure that half was just as flawless as the top.
"She is looking right at you, Ed." He said, but I barely heard. I shook myself out of my daze.
"Hmm? Oh, no I doubt that." I said and turned back around. James just grinned and shook his head.