You guys are such darlings - I can't believe how many reviews came through for the first chapter! I wish I could give every single one of you a big hug, and whichever Twilight character you desire :-)
On we go, to Chapter Two...
ISABELLA SWAN
The next morning I woke quickly – no yawning or stretching. The memories from last night were fresh in my mind and I wanted, even more than avoiding cramps, to hear what Vanessa had to say about her current physical state.
This was why I barrelled across the hall, stubbing my toe on my door frame and accidentally knocking on Vanessa's door with my forehead.
"Are you alright, Bella?" she called out, but her voice didn't come from inside the spare room. Instead, it floated up the stairs, leading me to the assumption that she was already in the kitchen.
"I'm fine," I called back, kneading my forehead with the back of my hand.
I heard Charlie laugh from downstairs. He was in the kitchen too, apparently; and I wondered why he was still in the house at this time of the morning. He ought to be off to the station already.
Without even considering a hairbrush, I dashed as quickly as I dared down the stairs, the blood in my forehead thumping uncomfortably.
"Morning," Vanessa said as I rounded the doorway to the kitchen. She was working at the stove where something was sizzling. I smelled eggs cooking, and bacon too.
Charlie was halfway through a plate of the both of them; a half-eaten piece of toast hanging from the side of his high-piled plate. He grunted a 'morning' through a large mouthful, narrowly avoiding the lot toppling back on to his plate.
I settled myself in the chair opposite my father. "You're up early," I commented to Vanessa's back. "Are you trying to start off on the right foot or something?"
She turned to smile and I saw that she'd already hopped in to the makeup box. An inch of foundation had been fashioned to hide her bruises.
"Yeah, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, isn't that what they say?" She laughed as Charlie guffawed into his toast. "I just want you guys to know I'll do my fair share around here while I'm staying."
"They sound like the words of a woman who'll be staying more than a few days…" I ventured.
A wide smiled caused the lights in her eyes to flicker hopefully. "If you'll have me, that is." Apparently she hadn't let Charlie in on this information yet, because mid-chew he'd stopped dead, slowly swivelling his head around to peer at my cousin. I squealed with happiness and leant across the table, almost falling into Charlie's food.
"Please Dad? Please, please, please? Let her stay, c'mon, you know you'd love the company!"
I'd clasped my hands together in front of my mouth and nose like a kind of prayer. Slowly, Charlie put down his knife, fork and dangling toast. As he mopped the corners of his mouth with a tissue, the only sound in the kitchen was the infrequent popping and spitting coming from the pan behind Vanessa, whose spatula had frozen mid-flip.
Charlie cleared his throat and my muscles tensed slightly more.
Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes, please say –
"Okay, you can stay."
"YES!" I shouted, momentarily reminding myself of a crazy fan-girl. I knocked my chair backwards and seized Vanessa in a hug, hopping up and down on the spot and squealing a stream of happily incoherent sentences.
A moment later Vanessa detached herself from my grip and turned to Charlie while I continued to squeal and jump, squeal and jump.
"Thank you so much, Charlie," she said, leaning down to hug him. "You won't regret this, I promise, I'll be the model house-guest!"
Charlie chuckled, a little uncomfortable from the affection but all the better for it. "I know. And even if you weren't; how could I turn away family? This means you'll be attending with Bella, right?"
Vanessa's eyes returned to their beacon-like intensity upon Charlie's last sentence. "Oh, could I? Would you do that for me? Could you do that for me? I would love to go to school again!"
"Well I am the Chief of Police around here," he returned cheerily.
I seized Vanessa's hands again and we both squealed and jumped together, much to Charlie's amusement, who shovelled down the last few bites of breakfast silently.
"I guess I'll need to give the school a call, won't I?" he said, standing and reaching for the phone.
"You're the best, Charlie!" Vanessa exclaimed joyfully.
Charlie peered at the phone and began dialling. "Don't get too excited yet, kiddo, I'll have to work some magic before you can say that again." He held the phone up to his ear and the three of us waited with bated breath.
"Who're you calling, Dad?" I asked, hoping for one particular answer.
He looked at me with the phone pressed to his ear. "The Principal."
I squealed so loudly that Vanessa thwacked me in the arm to shush me up.
If Carlisle doesn't say yes then I think Edward will have to do some bribing on my behalf, I thought wickedly to myself. Oh, please let him say she can come!
After a few rings (it was that silent – we could hear noises from the other end of the phone), Esme picked up.
"Hello, Esme Cullen speaking," she said in a voice very clear for this hour of the morning.
"Good morning Esme," Charlie greeted pleasantly. "How are you?"
"Very well, Charlie, very well. What can I help you with?"
"I was looking for Carlisle, actually, is he available?"
"Just a second, I'll have a look for you." She must've held the phone away from her face while calling Carlisle's name because her voice was fainter, but Carlisle didn't seem to answer her. She called for Edward then, who answered but I couldn't make out his words.
There was a rustling as she raised the phone back to her ear.
"He's down in his office; I'll have to go tell him to pick up because Edward's in the shower at the moment. I won't be a minute," then there was another clatter as she put the phone down.
I distracted myself by thinking about Edward in the shower while she was gone.
Charlie cleared his throat and a half a second later Carlisle's voice rang through the speaker.
"Carlisle Cullen speaking."
"Hello Carlisle, how are you?"
"I'm good thank you Charles. How can I help you this morning?"
It was clear where Edward's excellent manners had stemmed from. They may as well have been running a five star business for the formality they used.
Charlie raised his hand and started playing with the spiralling phone cord, something I knew he only did when he was thinking deeply.
"Well, I have a bit of a situation here –" I hoped Vanessa didn't take offence to being called a 'situation', but from her expression when I looked over she didn't seem to have noticed, "– my niece came to visit from a long trip and likes the town so much that she wants to stay for the school year. She's in Bella's grade … a senior, that's right."
"It is a little late for applications, Charlie," Carlisle said, but he wasn't stern enough in tone. I could tell he was trying to let Charlie talk him into it.
"Well yes, I suppose it is, but it is a public school … I think so," he turned to Vanessa and covered the mouthpiece with one hand. "You passed the eleventh grade?"
Vanessa nodded vigorously. "All A's and B's," she spoke shakily and I knew she was nervous as hell. So was I.
"You heard that? All A's and B's, she said. She's a good kid, barely ever gets in strife."
Carlisle laughed something through the phone but I didn't understand properly. Charlie laughed too. But then Carlisle starting speaking normally again, though his voice had dropped and he was chattering very fast so all I heard was the continuous buzz of words.
Charlie's face became grave all of a sudden. Vanessa's eyes widened in fear and my heart jumped to my throat.
"Okay. Not a problem. Yes, I'll tell her. You have a good morning, and thanks for your time." Charlie hung up the phone and straightened the long twirling cord before he looked at Vanessa and I.
A huge smiled bloomed across his face. "You're in!"
I let out a great whoosh of air and caught myself on the back of the closest chair, having realised that I'd been holding in that breath for a while.
"Charlie!" Vanessa scolded, whacking him lightly on the arm. "That was cruel!"
Charlie just laughed. "It was worth it, though. Your faces were priceless!" He pushed his chair in, the smile still lingering. "I'd better be off to work – and the two of you have got school to get to. Catch you later!"
Vanessa and I squealed and ran up the stairs, our minds occupied by the day ahead.
I had completely forgotten about Vanessa's promise to tell me the full story.
- - -
Vanessa and I arrived at school with around ten minutes to spare. I warned her to keep her parka with her wherever she went – both to shelter from the weather and as a good way of hiding herself from curious onlookers.
"I'm only one person, Bella, there has to be more interesting things around here than the new girl."
I grimaced. "Trust me on this. You will be the most interesting thing to happen to this place for the next two weeks, at least."
The first place we went was the front office to get her timetable and books and things. When we stepped through the doors there was already someone taking Mrs Cope's time, so we sat down on the folding lawn chairs and waited. Vanessa looked around the office with interest, so I pulled out my phone and started texting Edward, who I recalled I had forgotten to call yesterday.
'Hey gorgeous,' I wrote quickly. 'Sry I cldnt call bt my cousin came ysrtday. She's comin 2 Forks High with me! Hw wickd is tht? U can meet her asap, she's awsum. Luv u, xoxo.'
I hit 'send' and pushed my phone back in to my pocket, taking care to switch the profile to 'silent' first. Vanessa turned round then, and I could see a question on her face.
"What subjects are you taking this year, Bella?"
Damn. I hadn't wanted to think about that just yet.
"History, Biology, English, Gym and Calculus."
"Gym?" she repeated, and eyebrow raised. "You hate gym."
I rolled my eyes and scrunched up my nose before answering. By the counter, Mrs Cope's phone beeped a few times. "Gym is mandatory all four years here."
"Damn."
"My sentiments exactly." I thought for a moment. "What subject are you thinking of taking?"
"Dunno. English, obviously, and Gym, because I have to. I hate Calc and am terrible at remembering dates for History, so neither of them… erm…" She trailed off, thinking.
"What about Bio? You were fairly decent at science, as far as I remember."
"Oh yeah. Add Biology to the list. Do you guys have Chemistry here?"
"Yeah." My phone beeped so I bent down to reach it. I hit the 'open' button, and as I waited for the message to open I said to Vanessa, "Chemistry, English, Gym and Biology. Choose one more."
Vanessa sat, thinking, while I read Edward's reply.
'Morning beautiful! Ur cousin, eh? Cool. Cnt w8 2 meet her. I hv a surprise 4 u 2, bt u wil jst hav 2 wait&see. Xoxo.'
Thinking about what surprise Edward could possibly have in store, I whipped my phone out of sight just as the door next to me opened, wary that a bad-tempered teacher would happily confiscate my phone before the first bell had rung.
The way he entered was like a scene from Days of Our Lives. The perfectly timed gust of wind whirled his jacket and scarf around his body, ruffling his hair and demanding the attention of everyone in the room. The sun had also broken through the clouds outside, casting a bright aura of light around the edges of his form, making him look more like a movie star than ever.
Principal Carlisle Cullen swept in to the office, briefcase in one hand and car keys dangling in the other. Vanessa made an appreciative noise from beside me. I didn't blame her – if this was what greeted the secretaries every morning, it wasn't their faults that they had huge crushes on him.
Good thing I had Edward.
I stood up politely when he stopped just in front of Vanessa and I.
"Bella! Lovely to see you," he pushed his keys in to his pocket and smiled like Christmas lights. "And you must be Vanessa," he said, seeing her stand up beside me. He put his briefcase down and seized Vanessa's hand with both of his own, clearly thrilled by the prospect of a new student. "I'm Principal Carlisle Cullen."
I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
"M-morn- Good morning," she managed to sigh.
He grinned movie-star style for a moment, then released Vanessa's hand and looped his fingers around his briefcase's handle. In my peripheral I saw Vanessa caressing her fingers with an expression of admiration.
Please don't develop a crush on my boyfriend's Dad… that's just weird…
"I'd best let you two ladies off to do your thing, eh?" he said, probably in an attempt to be seen using young-people language. Oh well. His heart was in the right place.
"Thanks Sir. See you later," I said, trying very hard not to laugh when Vanessa's 'goodbye' was so breathy that Carlisle didn't hear her.
"Wow." She sat back down a moment later. Clearly, she'd never met a man of Carlisle's … well, someone like Carlisle. Wait 'till she meets Edward…
"Look," I said, yanking her back up. "The secretary is free. Time to get you a timetable."
It only took Vanessa a few waves of my hand in front of her face before she sobered up. And ten minutes later, we were five minutes late for first period but with an excellent excuse under our wing.
"What was the fifth subject you chose?" I asked as we headed for English.
She didn't lift her head from the map of the school she was studying. "Um, Art Practical," she murmured, squinting closer at the paper to see something better.
"Good choice," I said, knowing Angela and Alice would both be in her class.
As we entered the doors I had to yank Vanessa sharply to the left to stop her running in to the door frame, but she didn't need any help hanging her coat up. Head held high, she followed me in to the room, where I quietly lead her to the back where Alice, Emmett and Rosalie were all sitting together. Angela was a little further up with Ben, and Ally and Tyler were sitting together beside them.
Miss Faulkner, my English teacher for the year, was nice enough to not make a comment at our tardiness. She did look at Vanessa with interest though – as did almost everyone else in the room. The only one who didn't seem surprised was Alice, who leaned heartily over me to shake Vanessa's hand.
"Alice Brandon," she whispered. She gestured to the other two. "My brother, Emmett, and Rosalie, his girlfriend."
"Vanessa Hicken," Vanessa replied quietly. Everyone within hearing distance repeated this information to their neighbour, so the room experienced a ripple-like effect until everyone knew her name.
I rolled my eyes at the predictability of it all.
"…so I would like you all to pull out your copies of The Kite Runner please, and we'll start the day by discussing themes…"
There was a scuffle as everyone lethargically leaned over to their bags, retrieving books and pens and pads of paper. Somehow I seized mine very wrongly and everything came sprawling out with a loud FLUMP, so when Miss Faulkner said in an exasperated tone, "What now?" I thought she was addressing me.
Brandishing The Kite Runner in one hand, I straightened up with an excuse ready to fly, but was confused to see Miss Faulkner looking not at me but at the doorway. Like every other head in the room I turned and stared at the newcomer.
"EDWARD!" I shouted, ecstatic. Everyone whipped around for a moment, looking for the source of the outburst and smiling in amusement. Many of the girls looked jealously at me for knowing his name.
There he stood in the doorway, brown canvas book bag over one shoulder and hands in pockets. He had on dark pants, a blue tee-shirt and dark jacket over the top; a leather strap around his wrist which I suspected was a watch; and his hair had been tousled by the rain and wind into a style reminiscent of a delicious self-serve ice-cream with sprinkles. Yum.
He grinned at me before looking back to the teacher. "Sorry," he said, slinging his books from his shoulder and starting to head in my direction (I immediately shoved Emmett with the force of a small bulldozer to make him free up a seat for Edward). "I'm new and I got lost on my way over here."
"You're the Principal's boy, aren't you?" Miss Faulkner said, either recognising the family genetics or working with information that I'd apparently missed.
"Yes m'am." He sat down beside me. "Surprise," he whispered to me. I almost jumped him then and there – Edward+rain = fantastic.
Miss Faulkner frowned, but in good nature. "Well, Mr Cullen –"
"It's Masen," I piped.
"Mr Masen, then," she continued, "I hope you don't expect to avoid detentions every time you're late for my class because of your 'connections'."
"I'd expect nothing of the sort, Miss Faulkner." Edward was perfectly mature and polite – Miss Faulkner's composure slipped when Edward used her name without being told what it was first.
"Very well," and she went back to her Kite Runner lecture.
"You're here!" I exclaimed as loudly as I could in whispers.
Edward beamed, his eyes locked on me. When he found my hand under the table and laced his fingers between mine, I felt my bones melt.
"Yes, Carlisle suggested the move."
My smile was almost painful. "But, your grades, your friends – what about Jared? Leah? What about everyone else?"
"…Okay class, I'll hand out your assignment sheets now so don't be too noisy…"
As expected, everyone erupted with chatter. Judging by the looks and stares being focused at the back of the room, most people were discussing the two newest additions to the school.
Edward, however, was entirely focused on me.
"We're all good enough friends that we'll see each other, and I'm not worried that they'll desert me for changing schools. I still live in Port Angeles, after all." He looked carefully at me, ducking slightly to look between my eyes. "Are you okay with this? Me, coming here, I mean."
I raised my free hand to touch his feathery cheek. "That is the silliest thing you've ever asked. Of course I want you here. This is fantastic!"
He chuckled as Miss Faulkner passed, handing both of us the assignment sheet. Something bumped my elbow and I looked around.
"Vanessa!" I cried, and she whirled around to see what I was shouting about. "Oh! Edward," I leaned back in my seat so they could see each other. "This is Vanessa, my cousin. Vanessa, this is Edward, my boyfriend."
"Lovely to meet you," Edward said, offering his hand. (I almost melted at his gentlemanliness.) Vanessa shook it.
"You too." She turned to me, ducking subtly out of Edward's line of sight. "You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend," she said under her breath in a mock-sexy tone. She then made a suggestive sound like bedsprings squeaking and raised her eyebrows.
My face went from pale to crimson so fast I was sure I could've passed for a fairy-light.
"Very funny," I hissed, trying to sound annoyed but failing. She just looked too mischievous.
I turned back to Edward, trying to regain composure. He, however, knew that Vanessa had said something suggestive just by looking at the blush slowly reddening my ears. His eyebrows raised but he smartly said nothing.
"So, this assignment," I changed the subject with a clear of the throat. "Looks ah, interesting…"
Vanessa started laughing silently beside me. "Subtle," she coughed.
I glared side-on. "Shush, you."
Edward, who still had my hand under the table, started dotting lines with his thumb along the ticklish spot on my palm. I bit my lip to keep from smiling but it didn't work.
"That's better," he said when I started giggling, and tried half-heartedly to pull my hand from his grip. "I missed your smile."
"Awww! How did I ever deserve you?" I squeaked, my throat constricted from smiling so widely.
He just leaned over and kissed me on the apple of my cheek.
Who's the luckiest? I'm the luckiest. Ever.
Well! That's it for chapter two... what do you think? Are things going well?
Chapter 2 Question:
What happened in the last dream you remember having?