Chapter 2: A Coincidence
My siblings and I drive to school the same way every day, Edward driving with me in the front and everyone else in the backseat. I insist on this and as the youngest, I have my family in the palm of my hands. On Monday, when we get to school, I say my usual "See you after school!" and go my separate way. My gossipy friend Rachel comes up to me and starts chatting away as I listen intently.
"…and so she was totally caught cheating on him and they had a huge dramatic break-up in the theater lobby! God! I wish you were there, it was so…"
I said, "Um, remember, you texted me to read all of this on you Facebook wall yesterday night, and I texted you that I did."
"Oh, Yeah." And she did her famous blush because obviously this was the biggest and only thing that happened to her this weekend. So, I spared her the story of my trip with Alice to Los Angeles this weekend in which she scored me the absolute last pair of Marc Jacobs.
Out of nowhere, Alice came up and pulled me to the side.
"Hey, take off those high heeled boots and put on these adorable Converse sneakers!"
"But you're the one who told me these were the ONLY footwear that would complete this ensemble and liven up a mundane Monday!"
"Well, I just saw Bianca Wells with the same boots and I know that you like to dress like an individual like moi!"
Crap! She probably saw my tweet about the shoes on Saturday and bought them express online! Stalker.
"Thanks, Alice. You're a lifesaver!"
"More than you know!" Then she winked and practically danced away while I stood there looking confused.
"So, you know you're the only normal person in your family right," Rachel said in her condescending tone.
"How many times do I have to tell you, if you insult my fam, you disgrace me?"
"Well, I'm sorry but-"
"I'll see you at lunch," And I walked away to the bathroom quickly to change my shoes.
I am extremely defensive when it comes to my family. If these people want to gossip about them behind my back, fine, but don't do it to my face.
Classes went by like normal, being in a super-rich family, you'd think I'm stupid, but I'm in all honors or advanced classes. I even share a few with my siblings, who are all juniors and seniors. But lunch was interesting.
As I walked into the cafeteria and headed toward my usual table, I noticed a large group around it and many worried murmurs. As I pushed my way through the crowd I noticed Bianca Wells on the floor with a fierce look of pain as she was sitting in a large puddle of soda.
I asked Matt Yorke, standing next to me, about the details of this accident.
"She was just walking to the table about to sit down, and didn't notice the spilt Sprite, and took a pretty hard fall on her butt," he said with a smirk, "probably twisted her ankle pretty bad."
"Maybe if she wasn't wearing those insanely high heeled boots this could have been avoided," the nurse said as she was helping her up, "you kids and your fashions," she rolled her eyes.
Wow. That could have been me. If Alice hadn't told me to change into these sneakers, I'd be on the way the nurse's office now.
See, that's what I was talking about with Alice. This seems way too convenient to be a coincidence, and I would discuss this with her after school in the car.
As soon as the last bell rung, I sprinted off to the parking lot to confront Alice. When everyone piled into Edward's Volvo, I started with my suspicions.
"Hey, guys did you hear about the weird incident with Bianca Wells in the cafeteria?"
Edward said, "Um, didn't she fall and hurt her ankle?"
"Not exactly," I corrected, "She didn't notice some spilt Sprite under our usual table and fell because of her high heels."
"Why is that peculiar?" Edward asked.
"Well, it's just that I was wearing the exact type of shoes this morning until Alice wanted me to change into these," and I lifted my left foot up to show them." They all shared a look of nervousness.
"So, Alice did you have those shoes with you this morning on the way to school?"
"Yeah, of course," she said nonchalantly.
"Why?"
"Because you're my baby sister and I knew that later in the day you would be uncomfortable in those shoes, so I carried them in my bag, because I knew you would come to me asking to switch shoes, and you know how I love my Blahniks," she looked at her own shoes appreciatively.
"Oh." I instantly felt embarrassed for jumping to the wrong conclusions.
"It's not like I knew that was gonna happen, Olivia, I'm not clairvoyant," Alice laughed.
"Yeah, I know. It just freaked me out cause that could have been me," I said with a laugh.
Yes, that could have been me if it wasn't for Alice.
Chapter 3: A Sunny Subject
Dinner was normal, though everyone in my family ALWAYS seems to be on a diet so I look like a pig eating my lasagna and garlic bread while they nibble on celery, but I'm used to it.
After dinner, while watching the news, when the weatherman reported that it would be sunny for the rest of the week, I thought, "Here we go again."
"So, I guess it's time to break out the camping gear!" my dad said excitedly.
"So, I guess it's pretty pointless to try to ask you if I can go too, right?" I said in an annoyed tone.
"Sorry, sweetie, but we all know you don't like the outdoors as much as we do," my mom said in a soft voice.
"Yeah, but I've never even gone once, so how can you be so sure," I retorted.
"You did go with us once Liv," Emmett said.
"I WAS SIX! How the hell am I supposed to remember that!"
"Language," Esme commented.
I gave her an exasperated look. "This is not fair, I feel left out, and then I have to explain to everyone at school why I'm the only sibling who still has to go to school while my brothers and sisters are having fun swimming in a river somewhere."
"Olivia, trust me. You wouldn't like these trips, we're mostly just looking for animals to hunt for fun," Edward explained. Everyone but Alice shot him a shocked expression.
I ignored this, and said, "You do what? That's terrible; animals should not be killed for sport, that's ridiculous!"
"Which is why we don't let you come, we would all get a lecture and no one would have any fun," Edward said in a matter-of-fact way.
"Well," I sighed, "why didn't you say that the first time asked you months ago?" I just stalked up to my room, embarrassed for the second time today.
When I got to my room, I started thinking about this more. It's not just being excluded on these animal-killing camping trips, every time it's sunny out, they do not want to go out. They say it's a skin condition, yet they go camping. I don't ask about this contradiction because one of them would come up with a smart aleck retort and I would feel humiliated once again. I have caught glimpses of the sun on their skin, and maybe I'm crazy but when the sun is on them it looks like they sparkle, like the skin is made up of diamonds. But when they notice that I've noticed the sun on them they immediately race into the sanctuary of our house and say I'm just seeing things or say that it is their new lotion or perfume which causes the "glitter". Whatever. Sometimes, on those very rare days when it's very hot in Forks, they wear way too much clothing, covering all of their skin. They say they're not uncomfortable, but they sure look it. And speaking of their skin, why do they always feel so damn cold! Once again they say it a medical condition but come on! Whatever. It's just annoying that I can't lie down on my father's or brothers' shoulders without a blanket wrapped around me. When they say that they feel fine to each other and maybe I'm just a little overheated, that irritates me so much that they hardly ever use that excuse. And another thing, they never seem to use the bathroom, I mean-
"Hey, are you okay?" Edward walked in and lied next to me on my bed.
"Just thinking."
"About what?"
"Our family."
"What about our family?"
"We're just a little more abnormal than most families here."
We were silent for a moment.
"How about we take one of our famous walks, with you on my shoulders?" Edward suggested.
"Mmmmm, I'm kind of tired, maybe this weekend, okay?"
"Yeah, that's alright," he looked a little disappointed.
"How about tomorrow morning, hun?"
"Great!"
He looked at me and said in a jokingly cliché tone, "So how was school today?" He so gets me.
I was about to give my famous answer, "Ohmigod! It blew up!" but as he was looking at me, another question about my family popped into my head.
"So, explain to me why this morning your eyes were that pretty golden color, and now they're jet black?"
"He gave me a "Are you really asking this again?" look, and said, "You know we love experimenting with contacts, Liv."
I was hoping for a slightly different answer, but no. I let it go.
" On that note, good night, and tell everyone I said good night too."
He rolled his eyes and said, "I will, sweet dreams" and he blew me a kiss and I rolled my eyes.
Ever since I turned thirteen, Edward and I took walks in the woods around our home. Sometimes we talk about our deepest thoughts, and other times it's just a comfortable silence. But many a night or morning, we've gone on our famous walks either walking side by side or with me on his shoulders or back. I think if we ever switched brains, no one would notice because we know everything about each other and could easily act like the other.
I know everything about Edward Cullen.