First Day of School
The day finally came. The first day of school. I was kind of nervous; what would it feel like, being surrounded by all those soft, warm bodies? Would I have a difficult time trying not to kill an innocent student? What would it be like being surrounded by the scent? I was afraid. Afraid I might expose us for what we were. Afraid I might end up truly being a monster. Edward had done his best reassure me of course.
"Don't worry, love." He'd said wrapping his arms around me. "You've done so well around other humans that even Jasper believes nothing will happen." He kissed my hair and I buried my face in his chest.
"But there will be so many, Edward. All packed in tightly in a nice warm little room. I don't think I can do this."
Edward sighed and lifted my chin so that I was staring into his eyes. His golden gaze was mesmerizing and I'm pretty sure I would have blushed if I still could.
"Don't worry, Bella. I promise we'll help. If Jazz senses something or Alice sees anything, we'll ditch the rest of the day. Promise."
"Promise?"
"Promise." And he leaned down to kiss me.
So the next morning found Rosalie, Emmett and I in Edward's silver Volvo in the school parking lot. (Alice was still excited over her new Porsche, so she and Jasper were riding together in her car.)
Staring out the window at the high-school kids walking past, I started to panic again. Edward gave my hand a quick squeeze and opened the car door.
"Come on everyone. It's time for them to meet the Cullens." Emmett laughed his booming laugh and opened his car door.
Rosalie tried to act like she didn't care about the whole first day of school thing, but I knew she was dying to show off her breath-taking beauty to new people. She flicked her hair back and followed Em out. I was the last person to follow. I stepped out slowly, stalling as much as I could. A few kids stopped walking and stared, eyes wide. I could smell them from over here and the burn in my throat flared hungrily. Annoyed and frightened, I tried to ignore the fire in my throat. Earlier this morning I had already fed. In fact, I had drunk so much that I felt sloshy and full and my eyes were a soft gold.
Emmett turned back to look at me. "Coming, little sister?" he asked with a grin. "Any century now." He laughed at his bad joke and turned to follow Rosalie, who was already practically at the door of the front office.
Edward came over to my side and put his arm around my waist. "Don't worry." He reminded me. I nodded. Right. We walked through the parking lot to the front office, all the while being stared at by the kids who had stopped. It made me self-conscious and uncomfortable, but I held my head up high, my face composed and calm. We finally entered the office, got our schedules and went to first period.
Thankfully, Edward was in all of my classes, so I finally began to calm down a little while we walked through the classroom door. All that changed the moment the smell hit me.
We had come in after class started, so of course everybody was already there. The scent was strong and filled my throat with a scorching heat. It was intoxicating.
Panicked, I pushed against the shield that protected my mind and felt it lift easily.
Edward!, I whispered with my thoughts. Do you feel that? I mentally indicated the burn, pushing it forward so that he could feel it. I'm still a newborn.
Edward gave a tiny nod of his head. Everyone in the classroom had turned their heads toward us, and I could hear them whispering with my sensitive ears: "Who are they?" "Those are the new kids, you know, the Cullens." "Did you see those cars?" "They've definitely got money." "Ooh, look at the boy! Totally hot."
I ignored all of the whispers and tried to breathe deeply. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I began to relax. Edward and I sat at the back of the classroom together and I pushed at my shield again. You know what? I think I'm going to be okay.
He smiled a little. "I told you so."
Later, at lunch I was sitting at lunch table with Edward, while Alice, Emmett, Rose and Jasper were in the lunch line. Our class was let out earlier than theirs so we already had our trays.
I gazed at Edward. I've never been able to understand what I'd done to deserve all of this. My immortality, my daughter, my loving family and Edward, my Edward with his flawless face and full lips and his deep golden eyes. I reached across the table, reminding myself to do it at a human speed, and picked up his marble hand, flipping it over so that I could trace the faint lines that marked his palm.
"Do you know the best part about being immortal?" I asked him.
He looked down, his eyelashes casting long shadows against his cheekbones. "I can think of one, but what's yours?"
"Guess." I smiled at him playfully. I heard whispers in the background, but I ignored them. There was only Edward and me, right now.
"Give me a hint?"
I shook my head. "Nope."
"Alright then. Hunting?" I shook my head again. "The heightened senses?"
"Not even close."
He tried again. "The beauty? The speed?"
"Wow. And I thought it was obvious."
"Tell me then."
I laughed. "The best part about being immortal is that I get you." I raised my shield and showed him my very first thoughts from when we'd first met up to when I was turned into a vampire.
He laughed. "Funny how the best part about being immortal for me is that I get you." We laughed together then. I stopped when I heard a girl whispering to her friend.
"Just go ask him out."
"No!"
"You're just going to keep watching him until you do."
"Okay."
I turned towards the whispered conversation, to see two girls across the cafeteria staring at Edward.
I decided to show them that he was already taken, and leaned across the table to kiss him at the same time he decided the same thing. As his lips moved against mine, I felt satisfaction as I heard the girl talking about asking Edward out sigh.
"I should have known they were together. They look like a couple."
"I'm sorry."
"Why? It's not your fault he's taken. It's her's."
Mentally, I rolled my eyes. The kiss was building up into something intense and I decided to end it before it turned into something better left at home. I pulled away.
Later, I told him. He smiled at me wistfully.
"Later." He agreed.