Chapter 1: Outgrow
"Do you remember when we were just kids?
And cardboard boxes took us miles from what we would miss,
Schoolyard conversations taken to heart,
And laughter took the place of everything we knew we were not."
-"Inevitable" by Anberlin
October 17, 1990
All great stories have humble beginnings.
The beginning of my story transpired on a foggy October morning in the early 90's. I stood in front of a brownstone building that smelled like Lysol and tempera paint, wishing that I could just turn and run.
Aunt Esme adjusted the straps of my backpack, and then straightened the collar of my Polo shirt. She dusted off my khaki shorts and checked my shoelaces for the fourth time.
It was my first day of school in Forks, and I was terrified but immaculate.
I'd just gone to live with Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle because Dad had been deployed to Afghanistan because of Desert Storm. Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle had never been able to have kids, so they'd taken me in.
Uncle Carlisle was a doctor who had moved from London, England to work in the U.S. Aunt Esme was a self-proclaimed housewife and a volunteer on the rescue squad.
They lived in a Podunk little town in costal Washington state called Forks. Up until I was like eight or nine I'd thought all the towns in Washington were named after cutlery.
Aunt Esme gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, "Are you gonna be ok, Edward?"
I nodded and grasped the handle of my Batman lunchbox tighter and squared my shoulders, I had to be brave. Like Dad. He was always really brave, one day I promised myself I would fight—like him.
So with renewed determination I took to the hallways of Forks Elementary School which were limned with crayon masterpieces and flyers for T-ball and kiddie soccer tryouts.
Esme walked me to my classroom and knocked on the heavy wooden door. The teacher, Miss Elbert, was stout with a thatch of curly, bright red hair. She was also devil incarnate, which I would learn later.
Esme kissed me once more and smoothed my hair as Miss Elbert pulled me into the classroom by my arm and introduced me to everyone.
She told me that there was an empty seat next to Jasper Whitlock—a tall, skinny boy with long white-blonde hair—and so began a great friendship.
Jasper was gangly and Southern and absolutely hilarious. He always gave his opinion on every matter and he always knew the right thing to say. He introduced me to all of the kids in our class and when we got to lunch he dragged me over to a round lunch table inhabited by four other kids.
"My friends and I always sit together at lunch, even though we're in different classes," he intoned dragging me forward to his table.
Jasper introduced everyone to me, pointing to each person in turn, "First, this here is my girlfriend Mary Alice Brandon." He said proudly, holding hands with a little girl with long black hair.
"And there's Emmett Swan he's in the fourth grade"—because when you're in the first grade, eating with fourth graders is quite possibly the coolest thing on the planet—"and then there's Isabella Swan, Emmett's baby sister, next to Bella is Rosalie she's in Emmett's grade."
"Hi there! What's your name?" Emmett said, shaking my hand. I felt strangely grown up, shaking the hand of a big kid. He was really tall and kind of pudgy with dark curly hair.
"Hi," I squeaked back, flexing my fingers. "I'm Edward Cullen."
"Hi Edward!" Everyone chirped like a support group.
Hi, my name is Edward and twenty years from now I'll be a pathetic loser. Hi Edward.
Jasper ushered me to a seat next to Isabella. Isabella Swan. He was chattering on about something, but I wasn't paying attention to Jasper—I was enthralled by Isabella Swan.
She had long, brownish red hair that was French braided down her back. She had the most pretty dark brown eyes. The colour of chocolate or mud or coffee. She wore a pair of faded denim overalls and a shirt with flowers embroidered on it. She smiled at me, showing me a grin that was missing a front tooth.
"Hi, Isabella," I said, trying not to blush.
"Call me Bella," she said quietly.
"Bella," I breathed. Gosh, she was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen.
"What kind of sandwich do you have?" She asked amiably, indicating to her own Jiff peanut-butter on Wonder bread.
"I've got a jelly sandwich," I said, holding up the little plastic baggie with my sandwich in it.
"Why just jelly?" She asked.
"Why just peanut-butter?" I challenged.
She harrumphed and swiped my sandwich. She then proceeded to dissect both of our sandwiches, replacing one jelly-coated slice of my sandwich with a peanut-buttery one of her own. Then she put the extra pieces together. She laid both new sandwiches on the tabletop and then smashed them together with the palms of her hands.
"There, now we both have PB & J sandwiches," she said, grabbing hers and taking a big bite.
It was then that I started to love Bella Swan. To this day I cannot eat a PB & J sandwich without thinking about her.
And thus, it began.
From then on, Bella and I were in a word: inseparable. She was in Mrs. Loren's class in the classroom next to mine. I begged Aunt Esme to let me change classes—I told her it was because Miss Elbert was an alien or from hell or something—but really, it was just because I wanted to be in the same class as Bella.
Finally, after Spring Break of that year, Esme gave in and went to the school to ask for a change of class. The next morning I walked into Bella's classroom, proud as a peacock.
I even got to sit in the desk next to her.
I was the luckiest boy in the world.
She was smart and funny and gorgeous. I came home after my first day in class with her with a smile on my face that no one could wipe off. Someone could have told me that Santa Claus wasn't real that day and I still would have smiled.
Uncle Carlisle figured out pretty quickly that I had a crush on a girl. But it wasn't just any crush. I was in love with her.
Aunt Esme told me not to get my hopes up, but I told her that I would never love another girl. I knew that Esme thought I would outgrow my love of Bella Swan; but, that has yet to be seen.
These first couple of chapters are going to be the past to set the stage for the present story. I loved writing Little Edward! He's a cutie!
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