Once again: I don't own any of this: it is Stephenie Meyers!
To all the people who reviewed, thanks so much and remember to keep them coming. They were all so positive, they made my day. I'll post one of my favorite reviews every time I update, so today….(drum roll please)
People-Are-Crazy
"YOU ALREADY HAVE CHAPTER TWO WRITTEN? WHY ISN'T IT ON HERE! GRRR I COULD BE READING IT RIGHT NOW! ugh! I want that next chapter SOON! ...please? I love you and the story!"
Well I love you, so thanks so much. I had chapter two kind of written out, but not typed out. And now I do, so Enjoy (and do not forget to review)! :D
But before you read we must all thank HappyMess because she is my amazing beta and without her my already horrible writing skills would be horrendous! :D So thank you and now...Enjoy!
Chapter Two-Welcome Back
Recap: Oh, they're here…he's here. Here I go, wish me luck.
I take a deep breath as I approach the infamous shiny silver Volvo. As I get closer I look to see that Alice is sitting in the back. That's odd. When I decide to glance at Edward, he does the unthinkable. He reaches over from the driver seat and opens the passenger side door for me. My inner 13-year-old squeals out of excitement and then hides behind the couch. As I get in I have to remind myself to act cool, I can't go embarrassing myself, like I normally do. I am one of the clumsiest people you'll ever meet and I blush at almost everything. But it's okay. I can do this, I tell myself.
Oh, who am I kidding? It's freaking Edward Cullen, I can't do this!
As I enter the car I am instantly consumed by a myriad of smells. One part lemon Pledge, a quarter of Alice's Coco Mademoiselle, and one part completely Edward. I think we like this smell. Yes, yes we do. 13-year-old Bella decides to stick her head out from behind the couch and nod at me.
"Good morning, Bella!" Alice nearly sings as I enter the car. "Did you wake up okay? I'm presuming my dear friend Renee gave you my message?"
The odd thing here is that Renee and Alice are actually really good friends; sometimes I think more than Alice and I are. And don't even think about getting me started on Charlie, who adores her. Sometimes I think they love her more then me and I'm their daughter.
"Obviously, Alice. And I woke up all sunshine and roses this morning and decided to sing to the birds. Thanks for asking."
This earns me an amazing velvety chuckle and I turn to look at the owner of this wonderful chuckle and I must say, if it were possible to get prettier by the second, Edward Cullen would be a master at it.
He decided to forgo the glasses today and go with contacts. No complaining here, his green eyes are magnificent, if I do say so myself. It's mid-December, so he's all bundled up in a coat, scarf, and gloves looking extremely adorable. My inner 13-year-old starts giggling from behind the couch. His crazy one-of-a-kind bronze hair is sticking up in every direction as usual looking devilishly handsome. Man, this is so not fair. I begin contemplating how far out of my league Edward actually is when he himself decides to interrupt my inner pathetic rant.
"So, how do you like junior year, Bella? How are those math skills treating you?" He adds with a chuckle.
Cue the blush.
"My math skills are fine thank you very much and high school is just… high school. What do you think?" I reply. I can't believe I am even able to form a sentence. Maybe the tea is kicking in or something. My mojo seems to be working.
My reply seems to make him chuckle again. Yup, my mojo is definitely on game today.
"I just can't wait to get out of here." I decide to add to see how far my mojo can go.
"Oh believe me I know. I'm so glad to be out of there. College is like a whole new world with so many different people." He tells me as he looks and smiles and then I go die again.
How can one person just be so pretty? He's 6 feet tall and has a good amount of muscle on him. I know he works out. The Cullen's have a home gym in the basement and a pool outside in the back. On numerous occasions I have caught Edward emerging all sweaty from the basement or all wet from the pool. Let me tell you, it is a sight for sore eyes. My inner 13-year-old so humbly agrees. I also know he works out at the school gym at UW since Emmett basically lives in the gym, he's seen Edward from time to time. Emmett always mentions it in passing and then teases me about it.
I'm sure the girls flock though. I mean, Emmett got all the good looks in the family. He got grandma Swan's baby blues and my dad's curly brown hair. Me, on the other hand, got grandma Swan's wavy brown hair and my dad's big brown eyes. Can you call that dull or what?
And since Edward is equally as pretty as my idiot brother I'm sure he probably has a girlfriend by now. Seriously, there are college girls. College girls! Aren't they every boy's wet dream come true? He did say he met some different people and from the tone of his voice it sounded positive. 13-year-old Bella starts to worry, but before my self-moping can go any further, Alice decides to embarrass me further. I don't know which is worse.
"Edward, did you know that Bella has been named the editor-in-chief of the Fork's High Gazette this year?" Alice so eloquently interjects from the backseat, which causes me to blush, again. I'm so pathetic. Edward's enthusiasm only adds to the chagrin.
"Really, Bella? That's great. Congrats. And you want to be a writer right? This will look really great on college applications." He looks at me with so much excitement in his eyes and a big gorgeous smile. He's happy for me. Why? I have no idea.
Not only is Edward sweet, caring, handsome, sexy, and smart (among other things) but he's enthusiastic about the most mundane things, like my math score or my Fork's Gazette position, but he also remembers little things, like the fact that I want to become a writer. What girl wouldn't be head over heels for him?
Besides Alice of course.
"Thanks. It's really not that big. There weren't many people to fill the position anyway." I say as I look down shyly. Yeah, I'm really beyond pathetic.
"Oh, come on Bella! Don't be so modest!" Alice nearly yells, "You got the job because you deserved it and you are an amazing writer."
"Thanks Alice," I add with an eye roll. I guess the Cullen enthusiasm runs in the family.
I try changing the subject so I decide to ask and because I'm partly curious, "Alice, What did you buy this time?"
Edward flat out laughs at this, such a nice sound, and adds a "this is good" under his breath, which earns him an infamous Alice glare.
"Just two pairs of shoes," she mumbles.
"Alice," I say slowly turning my head toward her in the back, " How much did these shoes cost?'
"$500," she mumbles kicking the car mat.
"More like $500 each," Edward decides to add for her.
"Alice! You spent $1000 on two pairs of shoes?" I yell. That's just too much money.
This earns me another amazing chuckle (13-year-old Bella high fives me) and a whine from Alice.
"They were really nice shoes Bella! I don't even understand the issue here. The whole trying to teach me responsibility thing is just so stupid. It's not like we don't have the money."
That was true. The Cullen's are well off. Like, really well off. They come from old money on both sides of the family. The fact that Esme and Carlisle both have decided to work for some reason (they both say they feel useless if they don't) only adds to their dough. Not to mention both Esme and Carlisle are award-winning practitioners in their fields, only raises their salary even more than usual. But as Spiderman once said, with great power comes great responsibility, so before their trust funds kick in at the tender age of 21, the Cullen's would like to teach their children a little bit about responsibility and how not everyone in the world is as lucky as they are. Even though Alice has an American Express platinum, it is the only credit card Esme and Carlisle will allow her to own (shocking I know). She also is only allowed to spend a certain amount each week. It seems she broke that limit. Again. They do keep on changing it though; the more she breaks her limit, the more her limit goes down.
"Yes Alice, I'm sure they were," I try to reassure." But all in one sitting?"
Another chuckle. Go me!
"You wouldn't know Bella!" Alice whines.
Okay, she had me there. While Alice was all couture and Chanel, I was all Converse and cotton. I also wasn't as filthy rich as she was. But even if I was, I don't think I'd dress any differently. At least I don't think.
"There's more," Edward adds and I'm happy to listen. "She knew she was going over her limit so she tried to compensate by buying mom and dad gifts too."
This gets me full on laughing really hard. Typical Alice. Edward already is laughing pretty hard and those laughs have already made my insides all warm and gushy. Something we've always enjoyed talking about was Alice. I guess because we both have her in common.
"The look on their faces," Edward adds mid chuckle, "was priceless. I thought they were going to cave. Get this, she got mom a new state of the art pressure cooker which she's been dying to have for ages and my dad, a months supply of Chicago made cheesecake, delivered to the house."
"Oh No! Not cheesecake?" I almost whisper. One of the biggest Cullen men weaknesses is cheesecake. Give any Cullen man a piece and he'll do anything for you. Even Edward.
Hmm, I guess I should store that in for future reference.
"I must say, I was a little excited over the cheesecake," he continues (point proven)."But they had to put their foot down. They seemed pretty upset." He looks so amused and happy. What I would give to put that look on his face. A lot, let me tell you.
"Poor Carlisle and Esme." I honestly did feel bad for them. Alice is a force to be reckoned with. Trust me, she's my best friend. The only difference is that I am a huge sucker for her charm. If it were me, I would have taken the gift and ran. Maybe it's just a Cullen thing. I can't seem to say no to Esme and Carlisle either.
"Don't worry," Edward reassures." You should have seen them after. Dad compensated by stating that 'Esme makes the best cheesecake anyway, better then any Chicago maker', to which my mom told him she'll gladly bake him an yearly supply of cheesecake whenever he wanted it and then of course he promised to buy her the pressure cooker. They got all giddy after that, they were like two lovesick teenagers, it was hysterical."
"Esme and Carlisle are good like that," I finish with a sigh.
"Yeah, they are aren't they?" He adds with a sigh of his own and a glance toward me that makes me feel like he's staring deep into my soul. It was kind of scary to tell you the truth. I start getting a bit uncomfortable so I ask him Alice's new limit.
Edward quickly glances at the backseat and then whispers to me, "$300."
"Wow. That's going to be hard for her."
"Tell me about it. She asked me if she could look at my wallet earlier because it's the same color as a handbag she wants."
"Let me guess, she figured if she used your credit card, you're parents would think it was you."
"Precisely."
You see, Edward already went through this little responsibility test and passed with flying colors. After he graduated, Esme and Carlisle both gave Edward his monetary freedom because they trusted him not to spend that much.
"So what did you do?" I ask, completely amused at this point.
"He didn't give it to me," Alice whines suddenly from the back. "He kept on interrogating me and I cracked, okay? Gosh, what do I have to do for a nice pair of shoes around here?"
It was so cute to watch her because she looked like a really well dressed child throwing a tantrum. Poor Alice didn't reach five feet in the height department, she barely made it, and so her feet didn't exactly touch the car floor. Adorable or what?
"She stomped her foot when they told her no and said she might as well never shop again," Edward tells me through Alice's quiet tantrum in the back. This gets me laughing again. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard this early in the morning.
"Are you two done making fun of me now?" Alice defiantly asks.
"Yes, Alicey Poo," Edward answers for her, "Because we are here. Here you go ladies, Forks High School, our final stop. Make sure to take care of yourselves and to learn a lot"
"Thanks, Dad." Alice responds with a glare as she steps out of the car. As I turn to get out of the car I hear Edward call my name and I turn my head back to look at him.
"And Bella?"
"Yeah?" I ask, breathless.
He gives me his signature crooked smile and says, "Remember to watch those feet." And then he winks. He winks! I can't believe he just did that. Ugh he's just so gorgeous. I just stare at him with a little drool coming out of my mouth (no joke) unable to form words. I just make an inaudible sound and turn to walk to school.
I can't believe how pathetic I am. Okay, maybe I can, but still; how is it possible for him to make me react like a deer caught in headlights 95 % of the time? I just try to clear my thoughts and rush in when an idea hits me.
All right Edward Cullen, two can play at that game.
I stop walking and then turn my head back and yell, "Hey Edward," to find him already staring at me. Okay, that's a little unnerving, but I keep my game on. My mojo is powerful.
"Welcome Back." I say with a little wink of my own and then turn around to rush into school.
That's right, Bella Swan has totally got game. 13-year-old Bella has scurried from behind the couch and is now staring at me, jaw wide open in complete disbelief. She can't believe I did that. What 13-year-old Bella doesn't know is that, neither can I.
I really hope you guys liked it! I've already got start on chapter three, so give me hope and review! Please! :)
Much Love,
LaTiDo