A/N: This is my first fanfiction so I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Playing House
Chapter One: Health Class
There were many shuffling feet as the junior and senior class was called to the gymnasium for our health class.
The principal was already in the middle of the court holding a microphone with some of the hair on his balding head gelled back making his wide forehead more prominent with the oil heavily coating it, making it shine. I was seated at the very back and I watched as the other students filed in chattering nonstop about their trivial social lives.
I pulled out my book to busy myself while waiting for the announcements to start instead of people watching. There's nothing else I could do and there was no one that I could talk to since I was a very shy person and my mother often wondered why, since I am very outspoken about my opinions at home. I would often retort to my mom that it was my home and they knew me ever since I was a baby- hell, since the moment I was born.
I opened the book at the part where I left off and started reading. I was so intent on the book that I almost didn't hear the principal's order to settle down and listen.
"Now," he sighed, "as you all know, there have been an increase in the number of teenagers who get pregnant because of the lack of safety precautions. So, the administration would like to impose upon everyone the dangers of sexual intercourse." He cleared his throat to silence the sudden outburst of laughs. It took him at least a full two minutes to get everyone to quiet down all the while giving the other stubborn jocks a death glare and a promise of two weeks detention if they don't stop their snickering.
That shut them up pretty quick.
"We have decided that all of you will need to learn this important lesson and to be prepared for the future in case you get your little bundle of joys a little early. I have already talked to your health class teachers and this project will count as ninety percent of your grade in health. So please cooperate and do your best. I'm going to leave you all now to Mrs. Bryans for you project. Have a good day and I would like to add that your parents are already informed of the project and will be making sure that every one of you will be doing your projects." He handed the mic to a middle aged woman who looked to be in her early forties with shoulder length dirty blond hair and strict looking face. They exchanged a few words and Mr. Greene motioned for her to get going and explain the assignment.
"As our principal, Mr. Greene, has announced, every one of you will be participating in a project that can help you throughout the hardships of being a parent early in your life. We are doing this to prepare you because there are many teenagers who are being impregnated and who do not even know what to do with their child once he is born. You cannot just depend on your parents for everything, which is why in this project you will need to get a job, with the assistance of the school of course, and you will have to pretend to get married today in this gymnasium with the whole junior and senior class as your witnesses."
There was uproar among the students. Waves of disapproval were coming from every direction while some of the female population was emanating hope and it could be easily deduced that it was for a certain Cullen sibling.
The Cullens were a group of five people who were popular without even trying. Only three of them actually bear the surname 'Cullen'. The two blondes, Rosalie and Jasper Hale, were adopted when their parents died in a fire. The two of them were over at the Cullen house at the time playing with the Cullen children when the fire started. Esme and Carlisle Cullen were good friends with Mr. and Mrs. Hale. They adopted the two orphans when they found out that the two did not have any family left. Since then, they have been like a family and stuck together throughout everything.
The three Cullens were Emmett, Edward and Alice. They were actually triplets as Rosalie and Jasper were twins. Emmett was the big burly dude with black curly hair. He was going out with Rosalie, the gorgeous blonde who looked like a supermodel with her great body that had curves in all the right places. She was every guy's fantasy in Forks High School and every girl wanted to be her. Alice Cullen was a pixie like brunette that had a skip in her step every time you see her. She was always very happy and was very graceful in her movements. She looked like she always dances instead of walk into a room. She is going out with Jasper Hale. Jasper is almost as tall as Emmett's 6'4 height and had a leaner build than him. He was always calm which was good because it balances out his girlfriend's energetic personality.
The last of their group is Edward Cullen. Every girl wanted him and every guy wanted to be him. He had a mop of bronze hair and had the same green eyes as his twin siblings. He was as tall as Jasper and had a leaner build compared to his brothers that looked like he was made for speed. He was very quiet but was very active in school. He joined many extra curricular activities and was in the football team with his brothers. He was the student body president and was part of the debate club. Like him, his siblings were very active though not as active as he is. Even though they were very popular, they were still very nice and didn't pick on other students and kept to themselves all the time.
"As I was saying," Mrs. Bryans continued in a firm voice that drowned out the protests of the other students, "you will get a job and get married. Along with it, you will also be taking care of a baby. At first the women will have fake bellies that will help them experience what a real pregnant woman feels. The women can only take them off when they take a shower. To make it interesting, they will have to act like real pregnant women. They will have cravings; they can be hormonal just so that the male partners will feel the pressure of taking care of a pregnant woman. After a week, they will be allowed to take off the fake belly and a baby will be handed to the partners. It's not real but it is a kind of robot baby. It looks like a real baby. It acts like a real baby and has the same urges that babies have. It can cry, fart, poop and it has a device programmed into it that will record what you are doing. It will record any case of man handling so I advice that you take good care of your babies. The project lasts for a period of six weeks. For the first two weeks, you will act like a married couple and do what married couples do and no, it does not require you to have intercourse with your partner but if you want to I guess we cannot stop you. After that, the women will be wearing the fake bellies and I would like to advice to all you girls to milk it for what it's worth. It's not everyday you get to boss around men." She winked and grinned at the girls.
"Then you will be taking care of your babies for two weeks and on the last week, an orphan will be assigned as your child and you will take care of him. We have already assigned partners for each of you so when I call your names please go down here for your wedding."
She started the roll call with the juniors and I got lost in my thoughts for a moment. I watched the 'weddings' and waited for the senior class' turn.
I was pretty agitated and shifted in my seat a lot so I got out my book and lost myself in it. It was a fascinating book about a girl's fight for survival in an arena of bloodshed. I was at the part where she was in a cave with another tribute that came from the same district that she did. I was so engrossed in the book I was reading that I was startled when Mrs. Bryans called my name and I dropped the book I was holding.
The guy next to me snickered and coughed, 'nerd' while giving his friend a high five. I stowed my book in my bag and descended the stairs and distinctly heard Mrs. Bryans call out my partner as, "Edward Cullen". I nearly tripped when she announced that he will be my partner. There was a lot of murmuring in the gym and a handful of disappointed groans.
"Her?" some of the girls said with resentment in their voices.
"But why her? Couldn't they at least pick someone who has a sense of style? At least that way Eddie won't need to worry about looking bad with her standing next to him." A blond junior said as I passed her.
"Well, at least this way we will like, have no problem with Eddie finding her attractive. I mean look at me and look at her. Such a big difference, right?" Her friend said in an annoying nasal voice.
I reached the center of the court and I could feel a lot of glares burning a hole in my hoodie.
I looked at Mrs. Bryans and she gave me a meaningful smile. I could read the pity clearly written in her eyes but couldn't quite place another emotion in them. Is it amusement? I don't know. It just looked like she knew something I didn't. I shook my head and stored the thought for later. I could feel somebody else standing next to me and looked up to see a pair of emerald green eyes staring back at me. He was smiling apologetically and I blushed.
Mrs. Bryans cleared her throat to get our attention and asked us to face her. And so the wedding commenced. I zoned out for a moment, thinking about my current predicament. I seem to be doing that a lot today. I was worried about what would happen in the succeeding weeks. I was never really good at conversing with other people and obviously, I would need to do just that to be able to communicate with him. Which house would we be staying at? Naturally, a supposed married couple would live in the same house. He also has siblings. Will I be friends with them? Will they even like me? Will he even like me? So many questions were going around in my head. I snapped out of my internal musings when it was time to say the 'I do's'.
"Do you, Isabella Marie Swan, take Edward Anthony Cullen as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall do this project?" Mrs. Bryans said in a loud, clear voice that echoed through the walls.
"Uh, I do." I answered softly while blushing profusely. I looked at Edward and he was grinning crookedly. I've never seen him grin before and I was taken aback by how much it affected me. I felt as if I was going to melt through the floor by just looking at his grin.
Mrs. Bryans turned to him and asked the same thing. "Do you, Edward Anthony Cullen, take Isabella Marie Swan as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall do this project?"
"I do." He answered with much more confidence than I had. I don't know why but a part of me was happy to hear him say those words and another part of me longed for him to say that in circumstances that were not created by the school and not fake. I quickly caught myself and I berated my mind for even thinking of those things.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." Mrs. Bryans announced.
What? Did she just say 'kiss the bride'? I didn't know that we needed to do that! Ugh! Way to go Swan! You should have listened in the first place! I panicked internally. I looked at Edward and was frozen as he lowered his head to kiss me. I was breathing heavily from panic and my brain was not functioning very well. Luckily, Edward kissed me on both cheeks and saved me from fainting.
I sighed but was a little disappointed. We both signed a document that newlyweds were supposed to sign and went back to our seats. I received a lot of glares from the female population so I pulled my hood up to hide my face from their eyes. I was blushing very badly and I watched as the last couples were wed. After that Mrs. Bryans made some other announcements and reminders for everyone.
"You and your partner should coordinate about which house you will be living in. The two of you will need to be spending your time with each other as newlyweds. Both will sleep in the same room and in the same bed but no fooling around people," she said with a stern glare directed at everyone.
"You will both be assigned your jobs next week so that you can use the first week as your getting to know each other week. The first week starts today so coordinate as soon as possible because you will need to sleep in the same house. Pack your bags for today and live the married life. Oh and before I forget, you will also write a 20 page essay on what you think about the project. You can write the things that you've learned and the moments you enjoyed, I don't really care but please no crude language. Okay, so good luck and you are dismissed." Mrs. Bryans smiled.
Everyone rose from their seats and went to their partners to coordinate with each other. I picked up my backpack and made my way to find where Edward was sitting but he was nowhere to be found. I looked around and finally decided to just go to my locker, put away my things and search for him in the parking lot instead.
I weaved my way through the sea of people and walked out the doors into the hallway. Some guy bumped into me and didn't even apologize as I fell on the ground. Ouch. Man that hurt! Was I really that invisible? I thought as I rubbed my shoulder.
I got up from my spot on the floor and made my way to my locker being extra careful not to get rammed by someone again. I deposited my things inside and shut my locker with a little too much force than necessary as some passers by turned to look at me. I blushed madly and ducked my head to hide my face.
I arrived at the parking lot and searched around for Edward's Volvo. It was nowhere to be found. Now what? Where the hell am I supposed to go now? Well, I suppose the teachers won't notice that we didn't coordinate. Oh man! Why do these things keep happening to me? Why? I guess I'll just look for him tomorrow then. I thought with resignation. I jumped up on my truck and drove home.
I noticed unfamiliar cars parked in the driveway and wondered who could be visiting. I reached for my backpack on the passenger seat and hopped down from my truck and walked to the front porch.
I went inside and shouted, "Mom! I'm home!"
"We're in the living room honey! Come and greet our guests!" Mom shouted back. I walked to the living room and froze in the doorway.
"Bella these are the Cullens. I'm sure you know them. You go to school with their children, right?" Mom asked.
"Uhh, yeah. I, uhh, good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Cullen. Uh, good afternoon Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice and Edward." I greeted them while I blushed.
"Oh dear please call me Esme," said the woman with caramel colored hair and vivid green eyes.
"Call me Carlisle," added the blond man sitting next to her.
"Okay." I replied in a meek voice.
I stood in the doorway awkwardly as I looked around the room. The Cullen children were sitting on the couch while their parents sat on the loveseat. My parents were sitting on both armchairs which left me nowhere to sit.
I rocked back on my heels and blew out a gust of air. "So, I guess I'll just cook dinner then. Later." I waved and bolted out of there.
I ran up to my room and changed clothes. I wore a dark blue plaid shirt with some dark wash skinny jeans. I threw my hair up in a half ponytail with my bangs swept to the side. I grabbed my iPod and went down to the kitchen to cook our meal.
I totally forgot the conversation I had with my mother the other night. She told me that we will have guests over and it completely passed my mind. She sometimes likes to have people over for no apparent reason. Maybe she was glad of the company since dad was at work and I was at school which left her alone in the house.
I grabbed the materials I needed for the meal I was cooking and immediately started work. I was listening to my iPod as I prepared our meal that I didn't notice an audience gathering in the doorway to watch me cook. I was too busy cooking and was working very fast that I almost looked like a professional chef.
The song I was listening to ended as I turned off the fire on the stove and waited for the lasagna in the oven to be finished. I reached up in the cupboards to get the plates and set them on the counter. I put the food in the plates when the lasagna was done and I put them all on the island.
I have to say that I was proud of myself for making so many meals in such a limited amount of time. Good thing I baked a cake yesterday and I had some dessert on the refrigerator or else we would not be eating some delicious dessert.
I smiled to myself in satisfaction and turned off my iPod. Then I heard clapping from the doorway.
Huh? Am I hearing that in my head? I thought.
I turned around and saw everybody in the doorway watching me. Some of the Cullens had their mouths open while my parents were smiling proudly at me. I blushed and asked them, "How long have you exactly been watching?"
"We just got here a while ago." My dad grinned. "It's okay. No reason to be embarrassed. We're actually very impressed." He continued.
"Your husband will be a very lucky man." Carlisle complimented me.
Here I thought I couldn't get any redder. I was so wrong.
"Hey Edward! You must be lucky then! Having a wife that can cook you mouthwatering meals. Mmm-hmm-hmm." Emmett smacked his lips.
"What are you talking about?" My mom asked curiously. She was looking at me with a questioning expression.
"Carlisle said that Bella's husband was a very lucky man right? So I said, 'Edward must have been lucky'. You did get the letters from our principal that we will have a health project right?"Emmett asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Yes. We were informed of the project that your principal cooked up. But what does it have to do with this? And please just cut to the chase already. We don't need any of your suspense." Carlisle replied.
"Fine then. Well earlier today Mrs. Bryans, our health teacher, announced the pairings. And guess who little Eddie got as a partner…" He trailed off, grinning wickedly.
"Oh my goodness! Really? Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Esme squealed loudly and almost skipped in glee. She was wearing a very excited expression and looked like she will burst any second! For a moment there, I could see the resemblance between her and Alice.
"Are we missing something…?" My mom asked with a confused expression on her face.
"Bella and Edward are partners for the project! Can you believe it?" Esme almost screamed in giddiness. I counted to five in my head and… cue my mother's scream.
"Aaahhhhh! That is so great! Good thing my daughter didn't get paired up with a jerk! At least I know who his family is. And he is good looking too so all I have to say is, SCORE!" My mom babbled uncontrollably. By now I had my very red face in my hands and I felt as if I would die from embarrassment.
"MOM! Will you please stop that! That is really embarrassing!" My voice was muffled because of my hands covering my face.
Some of the Cullens were laughing and I could hear my father's chuckles in the background. I was humiliated beyond belief and they had to make it worse by laughing at me?
"And the rest of you SHUT UP! I don't need you laughing at me and increasing my embarrassment!" I shouted as I dropped my hands from their previous position and stormed out of the room and sprinting to my bedroom upstairs.
I opened the door and slammed it behind me and locked it. I threw myself on the bed and grabbed the book that I was previously reading. I heard noises from downstairs but chose to just ignore them. I was SO not going to go back down. I've already embarrassed myself enough for the day. I thought to myself and continued reading my book.
I was almost at the end of the book when a knock came from the door. I closed my book and asked, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Edward. Can you please open the door so that we could talk? I just wanted to apologize for earlier. We didn't mean to make you upset." He said in a smooth voice.
I contemplated for a moment and finally decided that I have made a total ass of myself so maybe I should try to clear things up. I got up from my bed and opened the door to let him in. He took a look around the room as I resumed my earlier position in my bed. He surveyed the books in my study table as well as those in my bookshelf. "You sure do have a lot of books, don't you?" He commented and I took it as a rhetorical question.
"So… What do you want to talk about?" I asked him. I shifted uncomfortably in my place on the bed. I was a little self conscious in seeing him inspecting my personal belongings and I couldn't contain the blush that spread across my cheeks.
He stopped his inspection and turned on his heel to face me. "I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier in the kitchen. I'm really sorry for laughing at you. It's just that the situation was too funny that I couldn't contain my laughter. I'm really sorry for making you embarrassed. I also came up to talk to you about the living arrangements for the project. Well… I was wondering if you would mind it if we just stayed at my house…" He looked at me questioningly and waited for me to make the decision.
I was taken aback by his suggestion. Normally, a guy would just order around the girl and state things instead of asking for their opinion. This really confirmed my assessment that Edward was a nice guy. He was brought up a gentleman.
"Well… Maybe staying at your house would be better. I think Mrs. Bryans mentioned that we needed to start the project tonight if I heard correctly."
"Yeah. So, maybe we could tell our parents later and you could ride with me to my house." He smiled.
"Okay then. So… What now?" I asked.
"Well, your mom also sent me up here to call you down. We're going to eat dinner now." He grinned crookedly.
"Yeah so, okay. Let's go then." I stood up awkwardly and followed Edward out of my room. We descended the stairs and went inside the dining room. It looked like my mom already set up the table with the food I cooked and everyone else was already seated and looked like they were waiting for us to arrive. I blushed and apologized to everyone from my outburst earlier and we all sat down to eat.
Conversation was made and everyone chatted comfortably with each other. I was pleased with the compliments that I was receiving from my cooking skills. Whenever someone would ask me a question, I nodded politely to acknowledge them and answered in a respectful manner. It was quite entertaining to say the least.
Emmett was shoveling food in his mouth like there was no tomorrow. There was even one comical moment where he attempted to speak through a mouthful of chicken and some of it hit the person sitting right in front of him. Sadly, that person was Jasper. He was seething with anger the whole time and glaring at his brother from across the table. Everyone was laughing at their crazy antics and eventually settled down and ate in silence.
When dessert was served everyone filled their faces with cake and the fruit salad that I made the other day. I was happily chewing my way through a mouthful of cake when Edward suddenly spoke up.
"I think Bella should stay at our place for a while." He stated simply. I spit out the food I was eating in surprise and it landed on the person sitting in front of me which was Edward. My eyes were as wide as saucers and the whole table burst out laughing excluding the two of us. Edward was wiping off the cake that was on his face and the corners of his lips were twitching, almost like he was fighting a smile.
"I'm so sorry! I really am! I didn't mean to spit cake on your face. I just got caught off guard when you suddenly spoke. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't mean-", I was cut off in my rambling with Edward chuckling and smiling very widely.
"It's okay Bella. Don't worry about it. You have to admit that that was hilarious! I guess I should have given you a warning first. I should have also phrased my statement better." He grinned. He looked at the parental figures and explained the situation.
Of course, my mom was all too happy to kick me out of the house. My dad didn't have objections to it maybe owing it to the fact that he didn't know that we were supposed to sleep in the same bed. Well, maybe he wouldn't get that angry if he found out. He does trust me after all and he knows that I wouldn't do anything like that. Carlisle and Esme readily agreed to the prospect of me, staying under their roof. They actually welcomed it although; I was surprised to get an excited reaction from Alice and Rosalie of all people.
"Yay! I have a new shopping buddy!" Alice sang out loud happily.
"YES! I'm free from the pixie's clutches!" Rosalie fist pumped in the air and looked like she wanted to do a happy dance.
The both of them were overjoyed that I can't help getting pretty excited myself though not on the shopping part.
After dinner, I went upstairs and packed my bags so that I can ride with the Cullens to their home. I brought with me some of my favorite books and some that I just bought. I went down the stairs, carrying my backpack and duffle bag. As I entered the hall, the Cullens were already at the front door waiting for me. Edward took both of my bags from me and insisted that he carry it despite my protests. I said my good byes to my parents and we got out and got in the cars.
I rode with Edward in his Volvo while Emmett rode with Rosalie and the rest rode with Carlisle in his black Mercedes. We sped through the roads and when I say sped, I mean literally speeding down the road at 110 mph. I was a nervous wreck throughout the ride to his house and sighed in relief when we finally reached it.
I was dumbstruck upon looking at the big white house in front of me. It could easily have been called a mansion. It had a wraparound porch and most of the windows weren't just windows. They were glass walls.
I'm pretty sure I had my jaw on the floor but I couldn't remember how to function properly. This really is too much shock in one day. After a couple of minutes, I finally regained control of myself and quickly snapped my mouth shut. Edward was chuckling at my reaction the whole time.
He killed the engine and got out of his side and before I could open my door, he was already there opening it for me. Yup, I was right. Definitely a gentleman.
I blushed and thanked him then I followed him inside the house. If I thought the outside was breathtaking, I would have already fainted at the lack of oxygen from just seeing the inside of the house. The interior decoration was so precise. It was magnificent, right down to the color of the carpet. I guess this is what you get for having a world renowned interior designer for a mother. Edward led me to his room as everyone else retreated to theirs. We were all tired and we said our good nights to each other while yawning.
When Edward showed me his room, I had my mouth hanging open for the umpteenth time.
It was just like any other part of the house. It was well designed and everything was in their rightful place. There was a huge wall of CDs with a complicated looking stereo that I would have been terrified to touch in fear of breaking it. In the middle of the room sat a king sized bed with a golden bedspread and some black pillows on it. Next to the glass wall was a black sofa with some throw pillows and on the opposite side of the room sat the computer table and a wooden bookshelf.
I was amazed by his room but quickly became self conscious once it dawned on me that this moment was supposed to be awkward for the both of us. But mostly on my part.
"So yeah," Edward said from beside me, looking at me on the corners of his eye. "We're supposed to sleep on the same bed and I uhh, wanted to ask you if that would be okay. I mean I could take the sofa if it makes you feel more comfortable. I mean I uhh… " He stumbled over his words.
"It's okay. I don't mind. Mrs. Bryans did tell us to do it so I guess it will be okay. Besides, we're just going to sleep together. I mean… Oh man! I'm sorry that came out wrong. I meant we will just be sleeping on the same bed and you know what I mean," I rambled senselessly.
"Yeah. I do know what you mean. So I guess you could use the bathroom to change while I change in here…" He trailed off.
"Sure. Sounds great." I headed to the bathroom and quickly slipped on my tank top and short shorts. I brushed my hair and brushed my teeth.
I got out and told Edward that he can use the bathroom and he quickly slipped inside to brush his teeth. I sat on the bed and went under the covers to sleep. I heard Edward turn off the faucet and flick off the light switch in the bathroom. He came out and got under the covers on the other side of the bed.
Surprisingly, I wasn't so agitated anymore and I felt myself relax. I yawned sleepily and mumbled, "Good night Edward."
"Sweet dreams, Bella."
