Chapter 2 - Bella
"I hate Mondays" I grumbled, folding my arms over my chest and slumping down into the passenger seat of the Volvo. Edward chuckled, and brought his left hand from the steering wheel and laid it gently on my leg.
"Bella, I know the fact that its Monday is not your reason for being moody. So just so that you know, I'm very sorry I wouldn't let you drive."
I brushed his hand off and looked out the side window. I wasn't actually angry with him, the freezing temperatures outside had caused a sheet of ice and snow which had lain itself over Forks. We both remembered what happened last time it was so icy, and so Edward had insisted on driving me and escorting me right up to my seat in first period Spanish. Although it felt patronising, being looked after in this way, I was secretly glad that Edward wanted to protect me so badly.
I remained silent throughout the rest of the journey, staring through the window at the falling snow whizzing past as Edward sped down the through the woods. I picked up my bag from my feet as Edward manoeuvred into one of the parking spaces outside school. Before I had a chance to reach for the door Edward was there doing it for me. He leant over and undid my seatbelt, taking my bag out of my hands.
"Edward, I am capable you know." I murmured, allowing Edward's arm around my waist to escort me inside. Edward grinned and pulled me tight towards him as he lifted me out of the car and set me on my feet. We began to walk inside, Edward's pace painfully slow, even for me.
"Now watch out for any Tyler's coming our way." Edward whispered into my ear, grinning as he led me across the parking lot and into school. Edward took me, as promised, right up to my seat in Spanish, and pulled out my chair for me as I reluctantly sat down. He got my books out and laid my bag underneath my desk.
"As promised, Bella, you survived the ice" Edward said, as he kissed my cheek swiftly. "I'll see you at lunch."
As, Edward made his way out of the room, I looked round to make sure nobody had witnessed my patronising entrance, and saw, to my relief that I was the first into the classroom. Edward had been moved to the other Spanish set after Señorita Smith decided that he was becoming distracted from his work whilst I was in his class. This was one of the few times that we were apart these days, and whenever they occurred, I never felt completely whole. I mean, I was obviously in the classroom, sitting at my desk, but my thoughts couldn't function properly, and I passed through these times in a daze, the only moments which mattered to me were spent with Edward.
Reality was restored as I met up with Edward in the canteen at lunch. We took our now usual seat on the lunch table with Alice, Eric, Angela, Tyler, Jessica and Mike, and even before we took our seats, I could hear the buzz of excitement coming from the table.
"Bella!" Jessica exclaimed at an almost inaudible pitch as I took my seat in between Edward and Alice.
"Hey" I replied, trying to show some sort of excitement in my tone. What was going on?
"Tomorrow evening, pre-graduation party at my house!" she gushed, looking pleased with herself as Angela squeaked with excitement and clapped her hands together.
"Isn't graduation not for another four months?" I asked, casually taking a bite from my apple.
"Sure," Jessica began, looking quite put off. "But it's still an excuse for a party! You coming?" she enquired, leaning over the table hopefully for my answer.
"Is everyone invited?" I asked, my thoughts turning to Edward and Alice.
"Well my mum limited the numbers to about a hundred, so not everyone, but you guys are all invited of course." I breathed a sigh of relief as the news that Edward and Alice were not to be excluded reached me.
"That sounds awesome," I replied, my excited tone no longer put on. "I'll be there for sure." Jessica smiled before she whipped round to Mike and Tyler to discuss meeting times.
"What are you going to wear Bella?" Angela asked, looking excited as she took a bite from her sandwich.
"Umm, no idea." I replied honestly, finishing my apple and laying the core on my lunch tray.
"Oh Bella has the most perfect outfit ready." I heard a tiny yet sweet voice from my left. I turned to Alice, my grimacing face expressing my feelings.
"No, Alice" I pleaded, looking to Edward for support.
"Alice," Edward began, his cool voice silencing mine. "I'm sure Bella can find something to wear."
"But I really do have the perfect outfit for you Bella. Please." She whined, using the tone which I couldn't refuse.
"Okay fine." I replied, giving in yet again to Alice's charms. I heard Edward sigh to my side, and I squeezed his hand under the table. Alice squeaked with excitement, and turned to Angela to excitedly whisper the details of my outfit.
"Well." Eric began. "I gotta say Bella; you're going to have to try very hard to beat my awesome outfit." He leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his head.
"What is it?" I asked, trying to appear interested, for the sake of Eric. He tapped his nose and smiled; glad for the attention he was receiving from me. Edward smiled as he read Eric's thoughts; I knew we'd have a laugh about Eric's idea of "cool" later.
*
Later came earlier as expected as we were sent home after the heating stopped working at school. It was only 2 o'clock, so Edward drove me back to Charlie's for the afternoon.
"What are you making?" I asked as I sat at the kitchen table, flicking through the newspaper.
"Do you like pasta?" Edward asked, whizzing around the kitchen, opening and shutting cupboards.
"Um, sure" I replied, looking up and straining my eyes to decipher Edward's quick movements.
Before I had much of a chance to guess what Edward was trying to cook, it was there in front of me; pasta with a tomato sauce, nice and simple, steaming up into my face. I watched Edward take a seat next to me as I tried the pasta. It was delicious. Was there anything he couldn't do well?
"Is it okay?" Edward asked, a slightly worried look on his face.
"It's great, thank you. I barely ate anything at lunch." I replied, savouring every bite of the pasta.
"Obviously so enthralled by the prospect of Jessica's party tomorrow then I assume?" Edward joked, playing with a strand of my hair. I laughed and smiled at him deviously. His sarcastic attitude was lost into a frown.
"You do realise we are actually going." I said, finishing the last piece of pasta and moving my plate forward.
"I thought you were just saying yes to move off the subject? I thought you hated parties?" Edward asked, his brow furrowed.
"Only when they're for me! I know we were planning to spend the night in, but it should be good. Plus I doubt you've been to a high school party for a pretty long time." I said, grinning.
"Never" Edward replied, looking down at his shoes. "I never saw the appeal. What do you do at these parties then?"
"Well the ones I went to at Phoenix were pretty fun. People drink, hang out, dance..."
"And you'll be doing all of those things?" Edward questioned, smiling at me sarcastically.
"Oh shut up" I said, hitting his shoulder gently. "Everything but dancing then. I don't care how much you laugh at me Edward, we're going. You need a reality check on how young people live these days."
"If you want me to go Bella, of course I'll be there with you. However I don't think I'll be with you for the day tomorrow, which, as you know, upsets me tremendously. I overheard Alice's cunning plan to take you away to Port Angeles to get an outfit for tomorrow night because school's closed until Monday because of the heating problem."
"Ergh" I mumbled. I loved Alice dearly as if she were my own sister; her quirky ways, and bright outlook on life. But her knack of making me agree to act as her own human doll frustrated me. "Didn't she say she already had the 'perfect' outfit for me though?" I asked, hopefully.
"Alice will use any excuse to shop, you know that Bella. But I'll have you back before 6 at my house, and I'll drive us to Jessica's from there." Edward said softly.
"What about-" I began, but Edward beat me to it. He rested his cool finger on my lips.
"Alice called Charlie as soon as she left school, it's all agreed. At the time I heard her thoughts I didn't think we were actually going, so that's why I didn't tell you sooner. Are you sure you're okay with this Bella? We don't have to go." Edward finished, bringing his hand to mine and squeezing it gently.
"I think we should. It'll be fun, I hope. You can get to know everyone better." I said, smiling at him.
"Bella, I don't want to get to know anybody else. You're all that matters to me." Edward whispered, kissing my lips softly. I brought my hands to his back and tried to deepen the kiss, but, as always, Edward pulled away.
"Bella," Edward said, bringing me into his arms and, before I realised where we were, laying me down on the sofa. "We'll save that for tomorrow night okay?" he whispered into my ear, smiling my favourite crooked grin.
Edward saw the surprised look on my face, and brought his arms round me. He snuggled me close to him and kissed my neck.
"Okay" I replied, smiling and resting my head against him. Edward stroked my hair gently and began to hum my lullaby.
Now I was genuinely looking forward to tomorrow night.
Author's Note:
Hey everyone,
Hope you enjoyed chapter 2, it was shorter than chapter 1 because it kind of leads in to chapter 3. Expect lots of excitement and surprises in the coming chapters, and keep checking in to see if I've added any chapters. Chapter 3 should be fun to write, and so it'll probably be up within the next few days.
Thanks for your support, and if you've liked reading "Before a Forever of Love" (Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight series- it all belongs to the fantastic Stephenie Meyer!", I would appreciate any reviews you'd like to give, because this gives me the incentive to keep on writing the story!
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