Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters.
A/N: This is an AU fic and hopefully you, dear reader, will be able to put the pieces together with ease.
Chapter 1 – Complacent
Jasper POV
"Emmett, can you be any slower?" Alice yells at my biggest brother.
"Yes, I can." And with that he begins moving at a snail's pace. He mimes tripping over his feet and I can't help but laugh.
"Jasper, don't encourage him," Esme scolds from the driver's seat. We are posing as troubled children, so our mother drives us to school. The town is under the impression that our parents don't want us stealing the family car and running away. "Emmett, car, now!"
"Fine," he says after finishing his fall and doing a somersault. "I was just trying to lighten the mood."
"That's my job," I reply and I get a small chuckle out of my family members. Still laughing, Emmett closes the passenger door and Esme starts the half hour drive to school, never going more than five miles above the speed limit. Rosalie and I have yet to figure out how she can stand it.
We are all Cullens this time around, the adopted children of the always good doctor Carlisle and his brilliant wife Esme. Over the last couple of decades, Esme expanded her architectural hobby into a fairly large construction company. It is part of the reason we are in Montana to begin with; she is overseeing a project that will produce a new neighborhood complete with a gigantic park. Even as we drive down the road, she is on the phone with the foreman discussing permits and zoning. I never liked the paperwork that goes into building but Esme makes up for it by creating some amazing things over the years.
We never really liked Montana; the weather is too unpredictable. However, the scenery is gorgeous and we love our house. It is second only to our home in Forks, but we don't go there anymore.
"Jasper, don't," Edward hisses at me from his seat in the back of the vehicle. I can feel the sadness and guilt shoot through him; I had broken one of our unspoken rules.
"Sorry," I respond as I turn my attention to the other members of my family. I need to lighten the mood. There was no use triggering an Edward-moment so early in the school year. I hear my little brother growl at me and I direct my attention to my 'twin' sister.
"Rose, are you going on that hiking trip Tuesday?" We were both in third period Botany and our teacher passed out permission slips for the trip last week.
"Alice, how's the weather looking?" Rose asks while keeping her gaze out of the window but we all know she was looking at her reflection. I am the only one that feels the hint of self-loathing lingering in the sea of vanity that surrounds her.
Looking into the future, Alice's eyes become unfocused and she pouts. "It's going to rain Tuesday so the trip will be postponed for a day that happens to be the last sunny day until March."
"To answer your question: No, Jasper. I am not going on the hiking trip Tuesday," Rose tells me in an amused tone. I smile at her and sigh at the news. I was actually looking forward to plant collecting.
We continue our small conversations all the way to school. Esme even joins in a couple of times while still talking on the phone. Soon, we are at McAllister Day School and we gather our backpacks and packed lunches. People look over at us with the same curious expressions as always, some are a little bit afraid. I blame our cover story for that more than anything.
"Alright, you all have a good day!" our mother calls out to us as we get out the vehicle. She is dialing the number of one of the construction crews, feelings of determination and excitement flow around her. She is in her element.
"Bye mom! And make sure the green truck doesn't park in the mud!" Alice yells back with a cryptic smile and a wave before heading over to the middle school wing. She fought Carlisle long and hard about her academic placement but conceded when it was clear that we would be able to stay long enough for Esme to see her project through to completion. The new neighborhood is our mother's largest public project ever and she deserves the chance to see it finished. The last time she had something so expansive, Esme had to let someone else oversee the final touches because Alice had an incident.
"Bye Alice!" Esme yells back, smiling and nodding to let Alice know she understood her message. "Jasper? Come here for a moment please."
"Ma'am?" I walk back over to the SUV and lean in through the open window.
"What happened with Edward earlier?" She asks me with a worried look. I didn't think she caught that moment.
"Oh, mama, I was just thinking about the house and how we liked it and how it was our second favorite." I smiled at her, knowing how much she cares about our opinions on where we live.
"Which house is the favorite?" There is humor in her voice and I don't want to ruin the moment.
"The one in Forks," I mumble. Her face hardens and I feel her sadness.
"Well, we will just have to make this house the family favorite from now on," she says cheerfully, masking the hurt she feels from being reminded of when the family really suffered.
"It's getting there," I say just as the first bell rings. She gives me a kiss on the cheek and pulls off.
"Keep an eye on him!" I hear her say over the vehicle's engine and the conversations of other families dropping of their children.
"Don't I always?" I quietly respond as I jog through the front doors of the high school wing.
Alice POV
I love assemblies. There is at least one mixed school assembly a week, but this one sneaks up on me. It's the only time during the school day that I can sit with my family. The middle school and the high school share the cafeteria and the auditorium. But the middle school students eat earlier than the high school students so I don't get to see my family beyond travelling to and from school.
My class is usually one of the first in the large auditorium and I can rush to get good seats in the back for me and my family. My teacher always yells at me even after the meeting with Carlisle and Esme. They told Mrs. James that I was having difficulty being separated from my siblings and that it was good for me to sit with them during mixed school functions, even if it was against the rules. They even added on that it gave my siblings a break at home because I don't bug them so much on days when I get to see them during the school day.
Today is different though. My class is the last one to be seated. We are really separated by schools and there are more people here than normal. I don't know any of the new faces. On days with complete perfect attendance, the auditorium is hardly more than half full. This time, the teachers can't even sit down.
I try to look ahead at the future but my mind is cloudy. This is not a good sign.
Edward? Edward? EDWARD! I mentally call out to my brother. In my vision, I see him answering me.
Am I the only one that remembers the notice that went out last week?
Oh, right. They are merging our school with Grayson County High School because their building was damaged in a wildfire last summer. The school district tried to do what they could but nothing helped.
The principal, Mr. Grant, walks onto the stage and everyone quiets down.
"Good Thursday to you all," he begins. "I know that we just had a gathering earlier this week but this one is even more special."
Everyone groans as they remember Monday's assembly on the new school uniforms we will have to wear beginning next month. I didn't mind it actually. Our school colors are black, gray, and white; these colors I can work with.
"Now, now. Don't be discouraged. I am going to turn the microphone over to Mr. Halliwell." We quiet down and really pay attention now. Mr. Halliwell is the school district superintendent; he is mean, gross, and powerful. Everyone is terrified of him, even our family.
The middle-aged man struts to the podium and doesn't acknowledge Mr. Grant when he reaches out to shake his hand. Some of the teachers make disgusted faces.
"Children, children," Mr. Halliwell says in a tone that sounds like he is calling the teachers children also. I am wondering how Jasper is holding up with all the hostility in the air and turn around to look for him.
"Alice Cullen! Face forward!" Mrs. James yells at me. Her voice echoes and I hear Emmett laughing at me along with a few other people.
"Sorry," I say as I make a mental note to get my brother back.
"If I may continue," Mr. Halliwell says in my direction, "I have a large announcement for you all." He pauses for effect. "I know that you all have heard of the wildfire that damaged the Grayson County High School over the summer." Some of the students nod their heads. "Well, after assessing the damage, the school district has decided to shut down Grayson County High School until further notice." We knew this also. "And we have decided that they ALL will be attending this wonderful school!" That is new because before we were only supposed to get a portion of the school's population. The student body groans, remembering too late that the new students were already in the auditorium when we came in. Everyone quiets down out of shame.
Thanks Jasper.
For the first time, I am glad to be in middle school. Looking ahead, I see my siblings spending the rest of the day going through multiple course schedule changes to accommodate the newcomers. It is tedious and not worth the day of no classes. But that is all. Nothing more specific comes up in my visions and I become even more worried.
Mr. Grant goes back up to the podium and we can hear Mr. Halliwell saying something about small schools surrounding a larger one. "Everyone! Our newcomers already have their schedules but current students have the option to change theirs." Some of the seniors cheer.
"Of course you all will be following strict guidelines," he says in response to the outburst. Mr. Grant smiles at everyone; he is always an agreeable man. "But first, our middle schoolers should head back to class while the high schoolers use the day to get adjusted."
He nods to the middle school teachers and with that our teachers begin ushering us to the side doors and out of the auditorium. I try to get a glimpse of my family but Mrs. James stands in front of me and tells me to turn around and march. The last thing I see is Rose's face laughing at me.
Rosalie POV
I swear she does act like a thirteen year old sometimes. Embarrassing, immature, spoiled. I didn't blame her for throwing a fit over going to the eighth grade since being in high school was bad enough, but she didn't realize it looked good on her. She was happier than she has ever been whenever we played school.
For some reason, we are all happier and it's not Jasper's doing.
I think it has something to do with Esme moving away from her stay-at-home mom status. We didn't need the money but I think she just wanted to get away from Edward. Our mother has sort of given up on her youngest child and the situation makes me sad. Decades ago, Esme couldn't wait until her little boy returned, and now it's as if she is counting down the days until he leaves again. I don't blame her. Jasper says she stopped feeling guilty about not trying to interact with him a long while back, probably the second or third time he came home with red eyes after being away for years. Even Emmett has told me that he thinks Carlisle only lets Edward return home out of pure hope that he will change back into a little bit of the person we love.
And we do still love him. At least we love the thought of him, the memory of him. The walking sack of disappointment and rage we see every day isn't our Edward.
All of a sudden I worry that he can hear me but I don't think he even knows where he is right now. There are students and teachers everywhere handing out schedule forms and he just sits in his seat, staring into space. For someone whose eyes just turned back to gold a month ago, he really is calm.
I look for Jasper but he is concentrating on something. I turn away so I don't draw any attention to him and he can work in peace. As a precaution, I find Emmett who is gleefully filling out a new schedule. I know he isn't trying to get all of his classes with me because it won't work. Carlisle gave the school strict rules to not let any of us take classes together, except for me and Jasper since we are twins.
Right on cue, Jasper sits next to me in a seat I didn't realize was free. He waves Emmett over and I know we have no more than five minutes to talk before a teacher separates us.
"Someone here is furious," Jasper says low enough so that only we can hear him.
"Is it Ed?" Emmett asks with sadness in his voice. He is the one hurting the most from our little brother's behavior. He stopped trying to make him laugh years ago.
"No, it's one of the new students. That is all I know. But—" he abruptly stops and an incredulous look forms on his face.
Emmett and I follow his gaze and our mouths drop open.
Four of the new students look at us with violet eyes, the only kind of violet possible by putting blue contacts over red colored eyes.
We are not alone.
A/N: The next chapter introduces Bella into the story. Thank you for reading and please review.