Yes, I am sorry that I didn't get this up the same night like I promised, I realised that I was barely finished it and it turned out longer than I expected it to, but hopefully I can keep this up. Enjoy!
The shrill ringing of my cell phone on my bedside table woke me up. Picking up the noisy object, I glanced at my alarm clock's glowing red numbers. 5:17. Ugh. I still had almost an hour of sleep left and that was probably going to go to waste if I didn't answer my phone soon.
"Hello?" I mumbled, still half asleep. I was greeted with a screech on the other end of my phone.
"Can you believe that we're seniors now Bella?" Alice squealed. I held the phone away from my ear slightly, still not used to loud noises this early in the morning.
"No, I cannot believe it, now would you mind letting me get back to sleep?" I asked her.
"I'm almost finished, and then you can get back to your wet dream," Alice teased. I rolled my eyes at her, even though she couldn't see me.
"Could you make it snappy then? My alarm is supposed to go off at six and want to be more energised than this when we get to school," I grumbled.
"Fine, snappypants. I just wanted to let you know that my cousin Edward is joining us at school this year. He's a senior like us, so he might be in some of our classes," Alice said cheerfully.
I sat there dumbfounded. She woke me up from the sleep I so desperately needed just to tell me that her cousin would be coming to school with us?
"Alice, I got off a plane from Florida about seven hours ago. I have travelled through time zones, on a plane that had a crying baby and a pervy man on it. I didn't want to fall asleep even if I could. You woke me up from much needed sleep to tell me something that you could've told me when we got to school?" I whispered furiously, trying to not wake Charlie up.
"I wasn't allowed to tell anyone before, as soon as I was allowed to tell someone I had to ring you, I couldn't keep it in any longer!"
I had to agree with her, Alice wasn't one to keep secrets, so it must have been killing her to not be able to tell anyone about this.
"Alright Alice, I might forgive you once we get to school, but for now, I'm going to go back to sleep and forgiving you depends on how much more sleep I can get. I'll see you in a few hours, Alice." I hung up before she could start babbling on about anything else.
I lay in bed with my eyes closed, trying to find that perfect spot where my entire body was relaxed, but I couldn't find it again. I rolled over onto my right side, then my left, trying to find that perfect spot. I rolled over onto my stomach, and then flipped right onto my back.
Stupid Alice.
I got up and grabbed the first clothes I laid a hand on. Unfortunately, they were some new clothes that Renee bought for me in Florida. Blue skinny jeans and a tight grey top. I grabbed some underwear and headed to the shower.
I got dressed and checked the time. 5:28. I had a long time until I needed to be at school. I grabbed my cell phone and dialled Alice's number, praying that she wouldn't pick up. She picked up on the first ring.
"How was your sleep?" she asked me teasingly.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm coming around for you to have free reign over my hair and make-up."
Alice squealed again. "I'll have all my brushes ready. When are you coming over?"
"Now? You're not sleeping are you?" I asked.
"I'll see you in five minutes!" she said excitedly.
I put my beaten, white Chucks on, grabbed my bags and keys, and then headed out the door. I didn't bother with food; Esme would be up cooking a feast.
I started my beaten up truck, wincing at the loud sound it made so early in the morning, hoping Charlie wouldn't mind the hasty note I left him:
Woke up early, gone to Alice's to catch up before school. See you tonight
Bella xx
I rounded the corner into the long, winding driveway of Alice's mansion. There was an unfamiliar silver Volvo parked next to Alice's yellow Porsche, belonging to her cousin Edward I assumed.
The door swung open as soon as my engine was off and Alice ran out to greet me.
"Florida was definitely good for you, look at your tan!" she exclaimed. It was true; my entire body was browner than when I left. Sure, the couple of days of sunburn hurt, but it left a healthy looking tan all over.
I grabbed my bag from the seat while Alice looked distastefully at my shoes. I'd had these Chucks since I was a freshman and I wasn't planning on parting with them anytime soon.
"Bella, if you're going to dress like that, then you at least have to wear shoes to match it; it just won't do if you're wearing a pretty outfit and those hideous... things." I chuckled internally. Alice didn't like Chucks, unless they were pink and sparkly. Or clean.
I took off my Chucks before she dragged me inside, where Carlisle was sitting at the breakfast bar drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper, while Esme was standing over the stove, pouring pancake batter into a frypan. I stood there for a second, craving some pancakes, until Alice yanked on my arm. Carlisle chuckled at us.
"I'll save you some, Bella," Esme called to me.
Alice set up all her brushes, rollers, hairdryers and pins in the bathroom while I sat on her makeover stool, feeling scared and regretful. Why did I agree to this?
"Okay Bella, you can sleep and I can work a miracle on your hair," Alice said, running her brush through my hair.
"I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to. Your phone call this morning woke me up too much. Continue with the torture," I sighed, really regretting letting her have full reign.
I sat there while Alice brushed my hair and set hot rollers in it, yakking away about what she and Jasper got up to in their holidays.
"...And then he pulls out a bottle of that stuff that tastes like wine but isn't wine and two wine glasses, making it the perfect picnic ever! So what did you do in your months away at Jacksonville?" she asked me.
I wish I had a better story to tell her, but it my usual nothing. "I went to the beach, went shopping, did the usual."
Alice looked shell-shocked. "YOU went SHOPPING? That's something I have to see for myself."
I sighed. "Renee has pictures, if you really want to see. She was shocked as well."
Suddenly, the bathroom door swung open and I half expected Alice's brother Emmett to come barging in on our girly session, asking in a high-pitched voice if I could do his nails while Alice did his hair and makeup.
Instead a tall God with bronze sex hair stumbled in, shirtless and stretching his arms above his head, revealing his beautiful abs. Did I mention he was shirtless?
"EDWARD!" Alice screeched.
The God's eyes shot open and they were a startling shade of green. He stumbled to close the door, while mumbling 'shit' and many curses and apologies under his breath.
Alice put the final pin in as soon as the door was shut so I stood up from the stool and got up to leave the bathroom.
"Bella, where are you going? We haven't started on your makeup yet!" she proclaimed.
"Let him use the bathroom Alice, we've finished with it," I said, opening the door.
The God was leaning against the wall outside the bathroom, still shirtless and with a towel in hand.
"Don't worry, we're not naked!" Alice yelled from inside the bathroom. She was still packing up her brushes.
The God looked up at me, his piercing green eyes burning right into mine.
I stumbled to find the right words around this dazzling God. "Bathroom's free," I managed to choke out before Alice came out with all her brushes in a roll-up bag.
"You might want to hurry with the bathroom, Emmett will be barging in about ten minutes," Alice said to him matter-of-factly.
The God shut the door quickly and moments later the shower started up. Alice ran back to her room to put away her brushes while I went downstairs for breakfast.
I seated myself at 'my' seat at the breakfast bar; it was 'my' seat because I sat there whenever I had breakfast at the Cullen's. Esme slid a stack of fresh pancakes with butter and maple syrup in front of me, and poured me a glass of orange juice. I grabbed my knife and fork and started digging in to my pancakes.
I was halfway through them, when the God came downstairs, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Esme smiled brightly at him.
"Good morning Edward, how did you sleep?" she asked him.
"Horribly. I kept tossing and turning and as soon as I got to sleep, Alice woke up me up with her clattering about," he complained. I snorted unattractively at his complaints. He shot me a look, asking me why I was laughing at his misfortune.
"Esme, I think you need to speak to your daughter about the ungodly hour she wakes up in the morning," I requested. She cocked an eyebrow at me, beckoning me to explain.
"I got off the plane from Florida at midnight and she rang my cell phone a bit past five," I stated. Esme's mouth dropped open.
"I will have a few words to her," she said. I quickly changed the subject.
"Am I ever going to get the recipe for your pancakes out of you Esme?" I pleaded.
"I will only pass it down when I am on my death bed, which hopefully won't be for quite some time," she said.
Alice appeared at the foot of the stairs holding a pair of grey suede boots with a heel in one hand, and holding my dirty white Chucks in the other.
"Those are nice boots Alice," I said, taking a sip of my orange juice.
"Thanks, they'll compliment your outfit well." I almost spit out my mouthful of juice, the God chuckling beside me.
"Alice, you know how I am with heels. Plus, my Chucks will also look good with my outfit," I tried to persuade her. She wouldn't budge, though I'd never known her to in my life.
"You're wearing the boots Bella. I'm holding your Chucks captive the rest of the day, you can come get them when school finishes," Alice said triumphantly.
Esme turned to the sound of her daughter's voice with a stern look on her face.
"Alice, you will let Bella wear the shoes of her choice, or else I'll take away your cell phone for a week so that you won't be calling Bella at five o'clock again. Do I make myself clear?" she finished in her deathly mother voice. I would hate to be Alice when she got in trouble.
Alice hung her head. "But you want to wear the boots, don't you Bella?" she asked me, giving me the most forlorn puppy-that-just-got-kicked look I'd ever seen.
I shook my head slowly. "Sorry Al, I'm going to stick to Chucks in this weather."
She pouted and slowly handed me my Chucks, retreating to her room to put the boots away. I glared at Esme.
"Why did you make me do that? I feel so mean now," I moaned, while she and the God chuckled.
"She needs someone to keep her in line and discipline her," the God said. His voice itself made me feel weak. It was velvety smooth with a slight huskiness to it, giving it that manly touch.
Alice appeared back in the kitchen, acting as if nothing had happened, while Emmett lumbered in behind her. Emmett spotted me and his eyes lit up immediately. I knew his plan of attack.
"Emmett, she just ate," Esme warned him, but he didn't listen to her.
"BELLY!" he roared, charging at me and throwing me over his shoulder. I squealed like a little girl, banging my fists on his back and kicking his chest, hoping that my breakfast wouldn't make a re-appearance on the floor. Or on Emmett.
"Emmett Cullen, put me down now or god help me when I next get my hands on you-" I started but I was cut off by a screech.
"Emmett I just did her hair perfect and you just fucked it up!" Alice screamed. Everyone went silent and I stopped banging my fists and kicking my feet. Time stood still for a moment, until the God started laughing and Emmett started laughing too, which scared me a little because I was still slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I started to laugh nervously, but Emmett and the God continued laughing, so I knew I had to cut in.
"Um, hello? Fucked hair girl is still hanging here," I said in a tone that simply stated that he put me down. Emmett slowed down to a chuckle and put me back on my feet as Alice flitted to my side and patted my hair down.
"Alice, her hair looks fine," the God said dryly. She shot him a fierce glare.
"She looks like she's just had sex," Alice stated bluntly. I blushed at her crude statement as Esme frowned at Alice.
"You're never spending the entire vacation cooped up in this house with your brother again," she muttered.
I glanced at the large ornament clock on the wall.
"Alice, if you want a good park and a make-out session, we'd better get moving," I said, wondering just what she and Jasper would get up to in the car before school started. They hadn't seen each other the entire break because he'd been in Texas visiting family with his sister Rosalie.
That also made me wonder what Emmett and Rosalie would get up to, seeing as they were even hornier than Alice and Jasper. I once caught them slipping into a closet after a sex Ed lesson. And then there was the mind scarring time when Alice and I decided to sneak into the house because we thought Emmett was sleeping. We didn't hear any snores; we heard a whole lot of moaning, a bit of growling and the bed banging against the wall. That was the worst memory I had so far.
"Alright, I suppose we should leave. I'm taking my car for obvious reasons and you and Edward can ride together," she said, waggling her eyebrows like an evil villain in a cartoon. I blushed again, while the God gave her a look.
"The whole point of me coming here was so I was 'riding' with anyone, and I haven't even been properly introduced to this beautiful girl yet, so I would at least like to be a gentleman and know her name," the God said in his sexy, velvety, husky voice. I blushed furiously and just about melted into my Chucks. He was definitely one to keep an eye out for this year; he'd have all the girls fawning over him immediately.
"Oh, right! Bella, this is my cousin Edward. Edward, this is my best friend Bella. The one I told you about? The clumsy one?" Alice prompted. I rolled my eyes at her. She was always calling me clumsy and telling people that I was 'the clumsy one'.
Alice dashed out to her car, in a hurry to see her precious Jasper, while Emmett was already in his Jeep and halfway out of the garage, obviously eager for the reunion with Rosalie. That just left Edward and I standing there, feeling like the fifth and sixth wheels.
"I can drive myself, if you want," I said to Edward.
"I don't know about you, but I don't exactly want to see Alice's face if we show up in separate cars. You know what she's like," Edward said as my face contorted into a look of dissatisfaction. Alice would have my head if she found out that Edward and I arrived at school in separate cars. It wouldn't be hard to miss the huge, red monstrosity that is my truck.
I grabbed my bag and headed out to Edward's car, the shiny silver Volvo, placing it carefully in the backseat while Edward opened up the passenger side door for me. I blushed as I sat in the seat.
"Thank you," I mumbled. Edward flashed me a dazzling, half-crooked grin that lit up his bright green eyes.
"You're welcome, Bella," Edward said, my name rolling off his tongue in a way that made me want to have him say it over and over again, just to get the satisfaction of hearing y name come from his lips.
I immediately stopped that train of thought as another blush took over my face. Hopefully Edward just thought that it was left over from the door opening. I was in luck. Edward didn't seem to be in a particularly observant mood right now, most probably because of the impending doom that was school.
We drove in silence, except for the radio which was playing quietly in the car. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed riding in Edward's car, but I was pretty glad when we pulled up at school. The awkwardness was too much for me to handle.
I stepped out of the car to be pulled into a huge hug by Rosalie, who smelled like sweat and sex.
"Eww, Rosalie you dirty girl, go take a shower," I laughed, fanning the air around my face. It must have been vigorous if she was sweating. I've never known her to break a sweat, even after going all out at cheerleading or after a double gym class.
"Shut it Swan. At least I'm getting some. Which brings me to my next point; are you ever going to get a boyfriend?" She asked me this question almost every time she saw me.
I sighed. "Maybe, not right now because it's senior year and I need to focus on that. But maybe."
Rosalie squealed at me, as Alice and Jasper joined us, Alice still coming down from her post-coital high.
"Did I just hear that? Did Bella actually just say that she's considering getting a boyfriend? Ladies and Gentlemen, this is truly a day to remember," Alice said dramatically, putting her hand over her heart.
I rolled my eyes as we entered the corridors of Forks High School. To say that we turned heads was an understatement. Everyone kept looking at me, like I was a new student or something. Then I realised that Edward was walking next to me, and he was a new student. That explained the stares.
"Everybody's staring at you," I whispered to him, with a small smile on my face. Edward chuckled and leaned down to whisper in my ear.
"I believe that they're all staring at you, because I don't see any eyes directed at me, except a few daggers. Have you changed since you were a junior?"
I met the stares of a few guys that were passing me in the hallway, and their lustful stares were definitely not directed at Edward. I gulped, fearing the unwanted attention that I didn't want or receive before.
There was a wolf-whistle made behind me and I quickly turned with a red face to see Riley Hunter standing behind me with a smirk on his face.
"Looking good, Bella. Summer's been kind to you this year," he said, giving me his half smile that usually made girls swoon. I blushed furiously and turned around, continuing to walk down the hall.
Alice tugged on my arm, giving me a wide-eyed look.
"B, that was Riley Hunter! One of the hottest guys in school, apart from Jasper. Do you remember my huge crush on him when we were freshmen?"
Of course I remembered. How could I forget? Riley claimed that he liked girl who were 'different' so Alice decided to put neon pink streaks in her hair. Unfortunately, she left the streaking cap on too long and her entire head of hair was bright pink the next day. She was so mortified at it that she didn't come to school for the rest of the week. And that was how she met Jasper. She was running to the toilets, running away from all the laughs and pointed fingers, that she didn't even notice a tall, blonde guy with a southern accent come out of the men's bathroom. She bumped into him and almost fell over, so he picked her up and said that he liked her hair. She muttered thanks and fled to the bathroom.
She continued to lust after Riley, even though he was one of the ones who laughed at her fluorescent locks. She never noticed Jasper lurking around her locker, her classrooms or even our lunch table. He became obsessed with her and she barely noticed him. Until there was another hair incident.
Alice's natural hair length was just below her shoulders and by this time her pink hair was starting to wash out, showing her natural hair colour in about three inches of regrowth. Of course, Esme was having her annual family photos that weekend and she wouldn't allow Alice to have faded pink hair for her photos. So instead of dying it like most do, she ordered Alice's hairdresser to cut off the pink tips, leaving her with short, boyish hair.
Alice wore a headscarf for almost the rest of the week, until Riley pulled it off her head. She immediately broke down in tears and ran for the bathroom again, Jasper fleeing to stop her before she disappeared to the toilets again.
I just saw Alice rounding the corner to the girls' bathroom when Jasper suddenly stepped out in front of her, grabbing her arm. I was about to go give him a piece of my mind, until I heard the words that came out of his mouth.
"I think you look beautiful, Alice."
Alice and I were both frozen in place, until she looked up at him, her eyes red and watery from her tears, but big and sparkling nonetheless.
"Really? You think I'm beautiful?" she asked him in her adorable teary voice.
He shrugged a shoulder. "I always have."
From that moment on, Riley Hunter was forgotten. Every now and then, I'd catch him gazing longingly at her, wishing that he'd taken the opportunity as Alice became more bubbly and outgoing, and slowly but surely climbing far on the social ladder.
We kept walking until we got to Jasper and I's homeroom. Alice and Emmett were in the same one, and we found out this morning that Edward and Rosalie are in the same one as well.
Since the Riley Hunter incident, Jasper and I quickly bonded as friends. We never realised that we were in the same homeroom until the day after the RHI. We were good friends, perfectly matched. We were both quiet, loved Alice and were fans of classic literature, not the teenage vampire shit that people force down teenagers' throats these days. While I loved Jane Austen and Shakespeare, Jasper was a history buff and loved anything to do with the Civil War.
We took our usual seats in homeroom and I got out a deck of cards I had packed in my bag earlier this morning. Jasper dealt them out and we began to play Go Fish.
The boring teacher started marking the roll in her monotonous voice while I asked Jasper if he had any three's.
"Jasper Hale?"
He answered both the teacher and I. "Go fish!"
The teacher just continued calling names as we continued our game.
"Isabella Swan?"
"Have you got any sixes?" I replied to the teacher, also asking Jasper if his remaining card was a six. He furrowed his brow and threw his last card down on the table. It was a six.
"Fuck you Swan!" he exclaimed loudly. Everyone except for the teacher turned to look at us.
"Keep the noise down please," she said, not looking up from her erotica novel, which had a very graphic image of a woman sticking her tongue into another woman's vajayjay. I always knew that she swung the other way.
I shuffled our cards and put them back into my bag just as the bell rang. Jasper and I met up with Alice at her homeroom, one of us on either side of her as we walked to our first classes. I had French while Jasper and Alice had Spanish. I only elected to do French as my language because at the time I had a crush on the French exchange student, James Doma, but I soon lost hope after I caught him and Eric Yorkie having a make-out session behind one of the school buildings. Now, I just dragged myself through class and hoped I'd pass.
I sat at my desk and opened up my blank French book, staring at the empty page as the spare seat next to me was pulled out.
"Maybe you can sit next to me in geometry? I have a spare seat in that class?" I heard Tanya Denali suggest to whoever was sitting me.
"Sorry Tanya, I'm in Advanced Calculus and we don't have any other classes together. Plus, I'm not really interested in dating anyone right now," I heard Edward say to Tanya.
Tanya headed up to her seat next to Jessica and sat down with a huff.
"You can thank me later," I said to Edward, giving him a smirk. He looked back at me with his crooked half-smile on his face.
"Or I can just thank you now and make sure that she stays away for good," he said cryptically and I turned to look at him, not knowing what he was on. He suddenly leaned in and kissed me on the lips, shocking me, and when he turned to look up the back, I followed his line of sight and saw Tanya and Jessica staring daggers at me.
I blushed and turned to face the front. The entire school was going to know by lunch time. They would pass it on to their army and their fuck buddies and they'd pass it on to the sporting teams and the nerds and then the nerds would put it on the internet and the whole world would know and my mother will ring me up first thing in the morning and say that she heard a rumour that I kissed Stifler. Then I'd be in deep shit because mom has watched the American Pie movies.
The teacher came into the room and wrote a few words up on the board. I made a mental note to actually learn the language now that Edward was in my class, I didn't want to be slacking off and have him look down on me. I was getting bored quickly, so I popped an apple slice in my mouth and hoped I didn't get caught. Unfortunately, Ms. Llama (because she has a long, hairy neck) caught me and pushed her face right up in mine.
"Isabella, qu'est-ce que tu manges?"
"Uhhh... Ummm... Lapin?" I answered nervously. Edward chuckled next to me, amused by my lack of education.
Ms. Llama frowned at me and resumed teaching. Edward was still chuckling.
"How was that funny?" I whisper-yelled to him, "I could have died."
"She asked you what you were eating," he started, "And you said rabbit."
He started laughing all over again and I frowned at him. It wasn't my fault that I was so horrible at knowing French.
I sat through the rest of the lesson in silence, not eating more 'lapin'. At least I now knew what that word meant. I took down notes from what Llamaface wrote on the board and vowed to learn the words.
The bell rang for second period and I walked to my Advanced Calculus class with Edward, where he sat in the seat next to me without even asking.
Luckily, I didn't have to worry about being caught eating in this class. Our teacher, Mr. Bryant (whom every student in the class called by his first and last name) tried to be firm with us, but failed. He had a strict no phones, iPods or drink bottles in his class, but within five minutes, everyone had at least one of them out.
He was attempting to teach us how to do surds for the billionth time. He failed because whenever he would say the surd, like three root two, someone in the class would snicker and mutter 'root' under their breath. I must say, I loved my Advanced Calculus class.
The bell for first break finally rang and I practically bolted from the room, Edward trying to keep up with me as I headed for our table in the cafeteria.
We were having a continuous table war with a group of freshmen who decided that they'd claim our table, but that was only because Emmett never used to sit with us, he used to sit with the football team. So when I reached our table, Emmett was sitting in a seat with his legs outstretched and his hands behind his head. The freshmen were all sitting at a table on the other side of the cafeteria, looking our way in fear.
I looked at Emmett in amazement. He shrugged his shoulders.
"All I did was sitting down with them and ask if they could get off the table. They scampered over there as fast as they could," Emmett said with a smile.
I shook my head in wonder. I'd been checked out by numerous guys, eaten 'rabbit', gotten the table from the freshmen and been kissed by Edward Cullen. And first break had only started.
I have a feeling that this will be a good year.
Playlist:
For The First Time- The Script
Cooler Than Me- Mike Posner
Tommy and Krista- Thirsty Merc
Little Kid- Mates Of Mine
I haven't started the next chapter yet, and I may not get the chance for a while, I've got exams this week, then in two weeks time I have more exams, and then I have work experience and I have a ballet concert to prepare for and THEN I'm going to the orthodontist because I shall be getting braces in a couple of short months. So please, bear with me and I'll make it happen. Does it help that I've already dreamed up the ending?
Review please!
