I know, I know, ANOTHER ONE. Yes, I do feel the need to write incessantly and then forget to update. Sorry about that. I don't own Twilight, and yes, this has been done, but I'm hoping mine can establish it's own personality against the other bunch of them. Reviews please.
"Rowan Hall is north," my brother said, pointing at the school map, placed strategically at the corner where our parents dropped us, before finding a parking place from which they would haul the rest of our luggage all the way to our co-ed sophomore dorm.
I faced a direction automatically, then turned one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, realizing -in the exact same instant as my brother- that I was facing the wrong way. We shared a laugh before he tapped my forehead playfully.
"Wrong way, Alice," he said, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, sis."
Edward grabbed my hand and tugged me along, leading me like a child through the throngs of students and teachers and parents and faculty… Open house at Vulture Academy (creepy name, pretty awesome school) was a madhouse. We made it to our dorm building -a small, castle-like building that would be housing a mere fifty of the nearly six-hundred students (all sophomores, as the high school students were housed by single grades instead of double for underclassmen and -shudder- triple for the Kindergarten, first, and second grade) attending the K12 academy- and had to go different ways when we realized he was on the first floor and I the fourth.
"Good luck, Al," he said, squeezing my hand before letting it go. "Dad's got your stuff and Mom has mine. We're all meeting up in half an hour."
"Got it, Ed. Love you, big brother."
He smiled and swiftly kissed my cheek. "Love you, baby sister."
We parted ways, then I was all alone. I made it up to my suite, 413, and found two other girls inside. I walked to the untouched bed in the center of the room, under a large window -which, luckily, would have been my first choice anyhow- and dropped my bag, then turned and smiled brightly. "Hi! I'm Alice!"
The leggy blonde at the bed to my right turned, gave me a once over, then broke into a smile. "And why didn't you tell me you were rooming with me, bitch?"
I burst into laughter, rushing my old friend. "Maybe because I haven't seen you in, like, ten years, Rosie?"
Rosalie smirked. "Try two, and my parents were trying the whole 'home raised beauty pageant doll' thing with me. Obviously it didn't work. I think they might have been trying to show some kind of 'love' for me, but you know how that goes."
I suddenly remembered the other girl and pulled away from Rose, turning to greet her. "Hi! What's your name?"
The brunette -a size somewhere between my petite-to-the-extreme and Rose's Victoria's Secret model worthy height- gave a little smile. "I'm Bella."
"Bella and I attended summer session together," Rose said, winding an arm around my waist. "Alice and I were roommates in the Jr. High dorms across campus for fifth, sixth, and seventh grades."
The brunette reached out and shook my offered hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Is Eddie-boy here?" Rose asked, getting a familiar devious look in her eyes.
"Yes he is," came the tenor voice of said-brother from the door. "Al, Mom and Dad are waiting for the elevator and told me to tell you to get your tiny ass down there and help with your shoe bag."
I crossed my arms and smirked at him. "I highly doubt Mother or Daddy said 'tiny ass' in any universe."
"I may have embellished, miss I-must-have-every-color-of-Mary-Janes-in-existence," he jabbed, making Rose and Bella giggle. "Hey, Rose."
"Hey, Ed," Rose laughed, grinning flirtatiously. Lord, her ever-present crush was back at full force.
He gave his own little smirk that would have been sexy if he wasn't my brother (ew to the extreme) and I didn't know he slept in Star Wars sheets at home, and talked LOUDLY in his sleep to Leia. God, was I thankful we'd outgrown our once shared bunk beds and upgraded to separate rooms… "Hurry it up, Al."
Rosalie shamelessly stared at his backside as he left our doorway. "If he wasn't your brother I'd hate you. God, he's damn sexy…"
I burst into laughter, leaving Rose to her thoughts (and ever dirty mouth) and Bella to the insanity that was my best female friend. Well, my best friend, aside from Edward, but Edward and I were never just best friends. We were brother and sister, even in the beginning…
"We caught the elevator," my father said, appearing suddenly. "You, young lady, have far too many shoes."
"So brother-dearest says," I said, chuckling. "I can carry something."
"No, I made it this far. I'm fit, I'm healthy, I'll only need a little CPR after this," he joked, following me to my suite. He dropped my things on my bed -which already had my purse on it- and then wrapped me into a hug. "It's a good thing I love you, silly girl."
I grinned, hugging him back. "I love you, too, Daddy."
"Let's go grab something to eat before we say our goodbyes," he suggested.
Later that evening, after saying goodbye to our parents, Edward and I went to our respective rooms. It wasn't a tearful goodbye for us. We lived an hour away from our hometown. Mother and Daddy simply wanted the best education for their babies, and Vulture Academy was it.
"Night, sis," he said, hugging me hugely and swaying in that annoying way that makes me nauseous.
"Night, bro," I said, grabbing the hairs at the base of his neck (his weakness) to make him let me go.
I went back to my room and dressed for bed, then sat down on my bed. I took a few minutes to look around and appreciate my sophomore suite. We had our own private bathroom (having three people in a room instead of one or two gave us that benefit), a large closet that had plenty of room for all of our shoes and hanging clothing (and it didn't hurt that we shared some sizes of things, despite our height differences), a dresser with six drawers (two for each of us), two nightstands placed strategically between our beds, and three desks (a basic one from the school -Rose's, because she didn't even want a desk-, one from Bella's dad, and one from my parents). The upperclassmen dorms were also wired for wireless internet (a perk of being in the high school rooms), which was awesome, considering the library and wi-fi café had a tendency to get packed with Jr. High kids. I admit, my taste was above and beyond that of the designers of the room, but it would do. My room at home had nothing on the size of the suite (the bedroom/living area was as large as our cinema room at home), but the homey feel wasn't quite there yet. A few trips to the town half an hour away could fix that, though. Some pink curtains, an area rug or two, and a funky -in a good way- shower curtain that wasn't transparent (we might have to actually be the room at the same time once or twice, and despite the fact that we're all female, who really wants to see that?).
I flopped onto my back and stared at the ceiling, then grabbed my phone from the bedside table and put it next to my head on my pillow. I changed my mind and picked it up, flipping it open to see my wallpaper -a picture of my family on a roller coaster, all crowded into one little cart. I was sitting with Daddy in the front and Edward was sitting with Mother in the back, and we were all excited. My family loves speed.
"So, you're still the major Daddy's girl you've been since we were what, ten?" Rose asked, laying under her covers in her bed, catching site of my phone's wallpaper.
"Eight, technically," I said, grinning from my place in my own.
"Wait, you're almost sixteen," Bella said, confused. Of course she was. She didn't know my story, but I didn't mind telling it.
I looked at her and smiled. "I'm adopted, Bella."
She gaped, then blushed. "I'm sorry, I feel so-"
"No, it's okay," I laughed, smiling warmly. "It is confusing at first. You'll get it soon enough, though. My parents sent me here when I was six. They thought I was psycho because I'd get weird little feelings that they -being southern fundamentalists- thought were psychic visions, and that I was the embodiment of the devil." Think Carolina Moon. But I didn't say that out loud."I was just…a burden."
"Edward and I became fast friends. We were like brother and sister from the beginning. When I got older, they got meaner, and Edward was there for me. The summer between second and third grade, age eight, he'd call me everyday to check on me. Make sure my parents weren't being too mean. One day Daddy and Mother -Carlisle and Esme then- heard him consoling me when I was crying. They'd…" I struggled over the hard part. "…they'd locked me in the closet for five hours, and I'd managed to get out and call him.
"They called protective services, then fought like hell to get custody of me, and they'd never even met me. I'd never felt so loved and cherished. The night before the adoption was officially finalized -the summer before I turned ten- they heard me crying in my sleep in the bottom bunk of Edward's bunk bed. They came in and consoled me and held me like I was their flesh and blood. Edward, too. They've been my family ever since."
I realized I had tears in my eyes, as did Bella and Rose. "But that was so long ago, I barely remember my old life." Lie. "I'm totally fine now." Lie. "I love my life now." Not a lie.
Rose reached over the small space and we clasped hands in the middle. "I've missed you, Ali-Cat."
Bella sniffled. "Why'd you tell me that? I appreciate the honesty, but you don't even know me."
I smiled over at my new friend. "Like I said, I get weird feelings. I know we're all going to be close friends."
She smiled back and wiped her eyes.
That night, long after Rose and Bella fell asleep, I texted Edward.
I can't sleep.
LilMissInsomniac
He replied almost instantly. He knew my insomnia was no joke, despite my signature.
Do you need me to sneak up?
EAC
I didn't know if this was a good idea. Our previous advisors knew it was okay for him to sneak in, but we had new ones this year.
I don't think that's a good idea. Tomorrow we'll talk to Carlos and Fantasia about that. They seem pretty strict on the rules, though.
He took a little longer to reply.
Well we'll figure something out, sis. Past, present, or future?
I knew he meant what was keeping me awake. It was generally known in my family that I was kept awake by one of those three things.
Past. I can't get it out of my head. I feel claustrophobic.
About two minutes later, there was a light knock on my door.
I sprung from my bed and rushed to open it. "Ed! You're gonna get it trouble!"
"It's okay," he said, wrapping me into a hug, pulling me out into the hallway, in front of the security cameras. I guessed it was so they wouldn't think we were up to anything in my room (again, ew. Adopted or not, Ed was my brother). "You need fresh air."
I nodded into his chest, inhaling the scent that was my brother and my best friend. "That should help. I didn't realize I forgot my inhaler back home. When I reached onto my bedside table I almost knocked Rose's backup glasses off."
"Well have Mom and Dad mail it ASAP."
"Okay."
After a while in my brother's arms, I felt better, and sleepy. At least class didn't start for another week, so I could sleep in the next day. "Night, Edward."
"Night, Alice," he said, kissing my forehead softly and releasing me. "Love you, baby sister."
"Love you, too, big brother."
A/N: Reviews? This is gonna be kinda dramatic, because all I seem to be able to write lately is angst and drama.
~Sidney
