Wherever You Go
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Chapter 1- January
Thursday January 1 2009
Actually getting on the plane and leaving was the hardest part of today. Mike held me close to his chest for what seemed like forever, not seeming to be able to let go of the little fantasy he had going on in his head that he seemed sure would happen this year. No matter how hard he tried I did not want to go out with him. He was a great friend and I wouldn't let a relationship get in the way of that. As soon as he finally let me go I was swept into a hug from Jake. It was distant and short, unsurprisingly but didn't hurt any less.
I knew he was cross about me leaving, but this was something I had wanted to do for years and he knew it. He would forgive me eventually; I would be back in exactly a year and had promised him that I would return to him. No one could replace him.
Emmett kissed my forehead, "call me when you get there squirt" he pulled me into a bone crunching hug briefly before setting my feet back on the ground. I loved my brothers and would miss them the most, even more than Jake. Jasper wrapped his arm around me briefly, never one for showing much emotion even though he was always so in-tune with every one else's.
Charlie finally wrapped his arm around my shoulder and lead me away from my group of friends, who were all waving at my retreating figure as Charlie lead me through the airport.
"You can come home anytime you like Bells" Charlie told me for the millionth time that week. I nodded in response, not wanting to say anything for fear of my voice cracking. He handed me my carry on bag and kissed me on the forehead.
"Have a good time Kiddo," he said as my flight was called. I pulled him into a hug before running off to show my ticket, not wanting to look back knowing if I did I wouldn't ever get on the plane. A lone tear trickled down my cheek, but the excitement bubbling up at the adventure ahead wiped away any sadness fairly quickly. The smile slowly grew on my face as the QANTAS Boeing 747 lifted weightlessly off the runway.
All my life I had wanted to go to Australia and my chance had come when the school offered an exchange program for the final year of my schooling. The only glitch in this was that Australian's start their school year in January so I had to leave now to get settled with my host family. Their sister, Rosalie was heading over to Forks when we began our school year and had 6 months off school until then. I was missing half of my junior year to do this, and had put in hours of extra study to pass the exams needed to do the exchange.
"Excuse me miss, would you like any refreshments" A flight attendant brought me out of my thoughts with a trolley loaded with food and drinks.
"Lemonade would be nice" she smiled and handed me one before walking on to the next aisle. I fiddled with the movies showing in the TV screen on the back of the seat and settled on watching Australia to pump me up a bit for the year ahead.
I awoke hours later as the pilot announced our descent into Adelaide. I turned my watch forward only to find that I had very little time left of the day and waited for the plane to land as I gazed at the barren airport out my window. Even at night you could tell that it was just a pile of brown dirt with hunks of concrete slabs as airstrips. I laughed quietly to myself as the brown rushed past as the plane hit one of the airstrips in the middle of Adelaide. It was so different to what I was used to. The contrast in places since I had left Seattle to Adelaide was amazing, it was no longer wet, cold and green, but dry hot and dusty.
"Welcome to South Australia, The driest state in the driest inhabited continent of the world" The pilot said into the speaker.
Friday, January 2 2009.
Getting through customs took about an hour. You'd think at one in the morning they wouldn't be so fussy, but it turns out Australia is very fussy about customs. Not much was allowed through. When I finally made my way away from the grumpy clerk at the customs desk I looked around for my host family. They had sent me pictures so I picked them out instantly without needing them to have been holding the cardboard sign with my name written across it in an elegant script. I smiled and waved before making my way towards them. I hadn't moved far before they got to me, taking my bags from me and introducing themselves.
"Hi I'm Carlisle Cullen; this is my wife, Esme, and two girls Rosalie and Alice. My son Edward is staying with friends for a few days but should be home around the fourth so you will meet him then, He is Rosalie's twin. I nodded taking in the family, they were beautiful there was no denying it. Carlisle was tall and blonde, his brilliant sapphire eyes shone with pride as he introduced his beloved family, but even after knowing him for such little time I could see a hint of sadness when he mentioned Edward's name. I figured I would find out the reason in due course and didn't mention anything.
Alice bounced around me talking at a hundred miles an hour about what she was planning on us doing and what she was going to show me while I was here. Her black pixie cut was bouncing around as she did, messing up even more than it was originally and sticking out in all directions. I liked it. It suited her.
Esme smiled warmly and pulled me into a hug, instantly making me feel comfortable around her. Her smile was welcoming and calming and her honey coloured hair was highlighted in the lights, giving her a halo of sorts as she welcomed me to the family. Rosalie kept her distance but smiled at me all the same. I felt like ugly Betty standing next to her stereotypical beauty.
When we eventually made it to the car I realized how exhausted I was even after sleeping for so much time on the plane and fell into a light doze. I awoke again as Carlisle lifted me from the car some 3 hours later and carried me inside like I weighed nothing more than a feather. I was asleep again soon after that, waking late that day to find Alice bouncing around my bed.
"Where am I" I asked, slightly disoriented.
"We are at Edithburgh, we are staying here for most of January before school goes back, because we have a shack here." She chirped.
"But don't worry, we will go back to the farm before the end of the holidays so you can learn your way around before we are shipped off to boarding school" she winked.
I laughed at her easy manner, knowing that I would get along with her while I was here and crawled out of bed, stomach growling in search of food.
Alice and I spent the rest of the short day exploring the beach and the town. Rosalie was nowhere in sight for the whole day but as Alice informed me she was just off on one of her 'slut-scepedes' looking for some local talent at the suicide point, where she promised to take me too the next day to go body boarding.
"Suicide point, sounds promising" I groaned. I wasn't the most coordinated person on the block and I told Alice so, eliciting a laugh from her in return.
"You'll be fine! Its not as bad as it sounds!" she teased.
She took me to one of the local café's for the most divine strawberry milkshake I had ever had in my life and giggled relentlessly at my reaction to my first sip. I laughed at her teasing before stealing a sip of her chocolate one. She glared playfully at me over her glass before stealing some of mine, winking at me.
"So Alice, tell me, what is your brother like?" I instantly regretted asking the question as she visibly flinched away from it, but it was too late to take it back now.
"Well, he is a very quiet guy, keeps to himself. Gorgeous of course, he knows it, but doesn't play it up like most guys would. I love him to death Bella, I really do but I'm worried about him. I can't tell you what is wrong though, that is for him to talk to you about himself when he is ready. I know you two will be friends, I can see it, just be careful with him Bella."
Saturday, January 3 2009
I awoke to Alice's face hovering over me. Of course my natural reaction was to scream, which sent her into fits of laughter at me, promising to do it every morning until I stopped screaming. She dragged me out of bed throwing some breakfast in front of me. It was a piece of toast with brown stuff smeared across it. I eyed it hesitantly before picking it up and taking a bite. I made a face at the salty flavour and instantly spat it out. Alice laughed at me before shoving another piece of toast in front of me with nothing on it and put some spreads for me to choose from on the table.
"What the hell was that?"
"Vegemite, I love it!" She laughed cramming a piece of toast in her mouth with copious amounts of the disgusting salty stuff on it. I eyed her, raising my eyebrow while putting some honey on my toast.
"That stuff is gross!! How can you eat it?" I questioned, pointing my honey covered knife in her general direction. She only poked her tongue out at me and skipped off to the bathroom to brush her teeth. I rolled my eyes and continued to eat my breakfast and get ready for the day ahead. My phone started to vibrate in my pocket so I pulled it out and answered it with a mouthful of toast.
"BELLA! Why haven't you called yet?" Jake growled into the phone.
"Sorry Jake! I have just been so incredibly busy, you wouldn't believe how hyperactive my host sister is!" I laughed trying to calm him down a little, but having little success
"Bells, I was going crazy with worry! Don't do that to me again!" he sneered into the phone. I knew he was right, I should have called him so I apologized and talked to him briefly before the scary little pixie I had come to know and love as Alice threatened me with more vegemite if I didn't get off the phone. Jake had to laugh at Alice's persistence and reluctantly let me go with an "I love you" and a "Call you in a few days"
"Go and put your bathers on! We are going to suicide point!" Alice screamed in my ear, pointing to the bedroom I had been sleeping in with her and Rosalie for the past too nights. Rosalie emerged as I went to open the door and smiled at me.
"I'm coming with you guys today, Royce is going to be there" she informed us, already in her tiny bikini and multi-coloured short boardies.
An hour later we were driving down a neglected dirt road on the edge of a cliff, Alice insisting that we take the scenic route. Her speeding had me gripping the edge of my seat as we flew around the corner. Rose was in the back seat nodding her head along to the Jet CD that Alice had turned up as loud as it could go. She pulled up on the edge of one of the highest cliffs I had seen so far and started to clamber down the battered stairs that wound their way down the cliff face. Rose and I followed suit, after getting all of our towels and boards out of the back of the cute little BMW that Rosalie was so in love with. Alice had to beg to be allowed to drive it and even then had gone though a lecture about doing anything to hurt 'her baby' I knew she would get along with Emmett, they would hit it off right away. When we had finally made our way down the cliff and onto the beach Rosalie took off running towards where Alice was sitting down impatiently waiting for us. I didn't understand why she ran away from me until I put my foot on the incredibly hot sand and took off after her trying to keep my feet off the ground for as long as possible to avoid them getting burnt. I threw my towel on the ground as I reached the two sisters and sat down on it as fast as I could. Alice giggled at me before grabbing one of the boards out of my hands and running off into the surf yelling at me to follow. I threw off the cover up dress I was wearing and ran after her, screaming as I the cold water hit me. Alice laughed loudly and caught a wave into the shore before coming out to join me again. It was so hot that we stayed out there all day happily playing in the waves, while Rosalie tanned on the beach until Royce arrived before disappearing for an hour or two up the other end of the beach where no one could see them. Alice made a face as they disappeared behind the rocks cutting the last few meters of the beach from every one else.
Once they appeared Rose had decided that it was time to head back to the shack and dragged everything up the cliff face for us while we dragged along behind, looking for an excuse to stay just that little bit longer.
Rosalie drove back this time, and I was more terrified of her driving than I was Alice's. She sped along the dusty roads laughing at my terrified face when we got just that little bit too close to a cliff.
"Just wait till she gets into a car with Edward" Alice muttered, making Rosalie bark a laugh
"She'll die!" she winked at me and for the first time I felt comfortable around her.
"How can anyone's driving be scarier than driving with you two?" I asked skeptically. Rose shook her head at me and winked again.
"Keep your eyes on the road" I muttered grumpily, causing the girls to erupt into another fit of laughter.
"He's home tomorrow you know Rose!" Alice squealed from the back seat, excited by the idea of seeing her brother. It was my turn to shake my head at her.
"You know, if Em or Jazz disappeared for a few days I'd be thrilled" I stated. Alice and Rosalie only laughed at me.
"Edward is Alice's favorite play-thing, she loves to tease him because he reacts so well, trust me you will enjoy their banter." Rose said as she pulled in at the back of the little blue shack. I laughed at the idea of little Alice picking on her older brother. If he were anything like Emmett or even Jasper in size it would be quite entertaining.
We decided to have a movie night and hang out at the shack the next day. I wanted to do some exploring by myself and Alice had some errands to run for her parents. Rosalie was going to spend the day with Royce in one of the towns close by so I had the day to myself.
Sunday January 4 2009
I awoke late, still trying to get accustomed to the time zone I was in and decided to go for a walk before I ate breakfast. I headed up the beach to the point in the distance with my Ipod blaring in my ears. I wasn't paying attention to much of what was going on around me but I was in the zone by the time I reached the point and decided to keep walking and see what was around it. The beach stretched out for miles once I got around the tip of the point and I could see people dotted along the beach half way up. It was winder around there and there were wind surfers and kite boarders decorating the water with the colours on their kites and sails.
I kept walking till I got past all the people then found a spot to sit on the sand and stare out to sea without anyone blocking the pristine view in front of me, I turned my Ipod down to get the full effect.
I was amazed that there were no shacks on this side of the beach, but enjoyed the fact too as basked in pride at finding such a secluded spot to just sit and have some time to myself.
I enjoyed being by myself some times, it wasn't because I was anti social or that I was shy, I just needed some me time every now and then or I went insane. I wondered how I was going to cope boarding later this year.
"G'day!" someone said to me from behind. I jumped startled before turning around to see their face. The sun was directly behind their head, blocking any proper vision of their face until they moved to sit next to me. I shuffled away a little uncomfortable.
"Nice day for it" The velvety voice said in my ear. I looked up to see the most incredibly stunning face I had ever seen. Shocks of bronze coloured hair fell into the greenest eyes I had ever seen, his impossibly straight nose jutted out from his face which lead me to look at his full, soft looking lips, as I unconsciously licked mine. His chiseled jaw line stood out and made my heart jump a little.
He held out his hand
"Edward" I took it firmly in mine, trying to regain some composure.
"Bella, nice to meet you"
Looking back I don't know how I didn't register that I was Alice and Rosalie's brother Edward, but that slipped my mind in that moment. Maybe things would have worked out differently if I had known, but this was the day that changed the course I had planned out for the rest of the year.
"Nice to meet you too, you looked a little lonely sitting there so I thought I'd come and join you." He muttered the last bit turning slightly red.
"I don't usually do this kind of thing" he stuttered.
"Neither do I" I admitted.
"I was heading to meet my family and this girl we have staying with us, but I don't think I'm quite ready to enter the chaos just yet. My family is a little full on."
We talked for hours, nothing very personal, mainly about books and movies and anything general we could think of. I had lost track of time and didn't even notice that I was hungry until my stomach growled. Edward chuckled and pulled a sandwich out of the backpack he had rested against his leg and threw it at me.
"Here I don't really want it"
"I couldn't!" I protested, shoving it back at him. He raised his eyebrow at me.
"Please eat it! It's the least I could to for keeping you out here for so long while I procrastinate going back Bella"
I couldn't say no when he begged like that so I compromised and gave him half of it back. He winked at me and started to eat. We got up to walk farther up the beach together when he told me that he had something he wanted to show me. The people farther up the beach disappeared from view and he stopped suddenly, looking down at his shoes, blushing furiously.
"Bella, please don't take this the wrong way, but I wanted to try something." I looked up at him confused, but didn't have to wait long to find out what he was talking about when his lips pressed to mine furiously. I kissed him back just as hard, Jake was the farthest thing from my mind at this point. I hadn't told Edward anything about Jake and I wasn't planning on it, I'd probably never see him again anyway. We sank to our knees our lips still welded together as he started to soften the kiss he brought his hand up to caress my cheek. I licked my tongue across his soft bottom lip, begging for entrance, which he happily granted. When we finally broke away panting he stood up abruptly.
"Thanks, I needed to forget, you were perfect." He said before turning on his heel and walking away.
I sat, bewildered, not knowing what had happened. I huffed and stood, brushing the sand off and plugging my Ipod back in to storm back to the shack to tell Alice all about the dick I had met on the beach.
The whole way back I was coming up with scenarios as to what I'd say to the bastard if I ever saw him again. The ass had used me, Id bet that he does that all the time, turns on the charm and makes girls go weak at the knees only to leave them when he finds out that they are easy. Not that I was easy. He was just good at what he was doing.
I stormed into the shack, slamming the door behind me. Alice looked up at me, her eyes brimming with tears, which brought me out of my angry thoughts.
"He was supposed to be back 3 hours ago Bella" She sobbed.
"What if something has happened to him? He hasn't called or anything" The door slammed as she muttered the last word and she was out of my arms and jumping on her brother as he walked in the door, I stood by patiently waiting to get a look at him as Alice punched him yelling at him for making her so worried. When she finally got down from his arms, you couldn't tell that she had been crying from the beautiful smile on her face as she reached up to finally hug her brother.
That's when I saw the hair.
And I knew it was the boy from the beach.
Monday January 5 2009
I had cowardly run to my room when I had seen him and not come out until later that afternoon when he had gone to bed, claiming to be tired. He didn't see me at all. I had told Alice and Rose that I was jet lagged to be able to hide away for so long, but that wasn't going to work anymore. I had read most of the day, Wuthering Heights, the only book Edward and I had argued over for the three hours we had been talking. We had agreed on liking or disliking so many books over the long discussion that we had had.
I dragged myself out of bed, knowing that I was going to have to face him at some stage.
He was sitting at the table with his head bent over his paper as he read, allowing me to sneak past and into the kitchen busying myself with making breakfast. Alice awoke soon after and joined me in the kitchen quietly for the first time I'd known her.
"What was upsetting you yesterday Bella? I know you weren't jet lagged." She whispered. I sighed.
"Nothing Alice, just a bit homesick I suppose" I muttered back.
Edward coughed from his seat.
"Oh how rude of me! Edward, Bella, Bella, Edward" Alice introduced us completely oblivious to the fact that we had already met.
I glared at him when Alice wasn't looking and his eyes widened. He said an abrupt hello and all but ran out of the room. Alice looked at me in confusion and I shrugged my shoulders, feigning indifference.
I didn't see Edward until the end of the day when the rest of the family had gone shopping. I had opted to staying home and reading my book, really wanting to confront Edward without the rest of his family around. He appeared ten minutes after the cars had pulled away from the house. Sauntering into the main room of the shack, thinking no one was there. It was my turn to cough to get his attention. He spun around his expressive green eyes hidden behind a pair of silver aviator sunglasses. He pulled them from his face and placed them on his head, glaring at me.
"What you did to me yesterday wasn't very nice, Edward" I sneered his name
"Sorry, Bella, I needed to clear my head and you were the perfect distraction, unlike you having your perfect little life. I suppose I'm being a bit harsh, but you really didn't expect anything to come out of yesterday did you"
"What the hell? You can't just use people to 'clear' your head Edward it's not fair on them! What the hell did you need to clear your head about anyway?"
Edward sat down on one of the wooden chairs around the table running his hands through his hair.
"Nothing" he muttered shaking his head.
"Nothing is wrong." He said, more to himself than to me. He held his face in his hands his shoulders shaking slightly as he drew in a shaky breath.
"I'm sorry Bella, I shouldn't have treated you like I did" he got up and went to walk out of the door.
"Wait! Edward… I, I don't know what to say. Why wont you tell me what's wrong"
"Bella, I don't want to be treated any differently, so I'm not going to tell you what's wrong."
I raised my eyebrow at him, confused but he just walked out the door and down the beach.
"Weird" I muttered under my breath shaking my head and returning to my book, or at least trying too.
It wasn't long before everyone got back and Alice and I started preparing dinner.
Edward didn't come back until late. Very late. Carlisle and Esme weren't even worried about him. They were sure they he would return when he was ready. Even so, I decided to wait up for him and at 11. 30 he finally showed his face. I didn't let him know that I was watching him, pretending to be asleep on the couch as he reheated his dinner in the decrepit microwave. I could feel him watching me as I lay there with my book over my face but instead of making my blood boil like it would have recently it just made me feel safe and eventually I dozed off.
When I awoke the lights were out and I was being carried to my bed in Edwards strong arms. I was too groggy to complain as he placed me into my bed. I kept my eyes closed pretending to be asleep, but could feel his eyes on me again and then his lips on my forehead. My eyes snapped open at the unexpected contact and I found myself staring into his shocked eyes. He paused briefly before trying to stand up and hurry out of the room. I didn't let him.
I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled his lips down to mine. He responded straight away, although tentatively brushing his lips carefully against mine. I growled at his lack of action and pulled him closer, forcing him to kiss me properly. When he finally started to relax I pushed him away and pointed at the door, hoping he would get my message.
Tuesday January 13
I had managed to avoid Edward for a full week. I was only ever in the room with him when there was someone else there. I know he was trying to talk to me but I refused to be alone with him until I could work out myself why I had kissed him. He had been behaving arrogantly for the entire week since the kiss, being rude to pretty much everyone and I knew it was my fault.
I hadn't been able to bring myself to call Jacob since the last time I spoke to him, even though he called constantly.
I looked up at Edward who was sitting across the table from me, glaring intently at the cereal box in front of him ignoring his phone as it danced on the table from the vibrating that had been going off for the past half hour.
"You gonna get that?" I asked, sick of the persistent caller interrupting the silence of the morning.
"Nope" he picked up his phone and threw it across the room. I watched it shatter the glass door as it went through it.
"I already know what its about" he said walking to the door and picking his phone up off the floor and walking it out, slamming it behind him as usual sending the remaining glass in the door frame crashing to the floor.
I stared after him in shock until I felt Alice put her finger under my jaw to close my mouth.
"Mum's not going to be happy!" she giggled skipping off in the direction of her mother's room dobbing him in straight away. Esme appeared and stared dejectedly at the door, sighing and trying to find something to use to cover the doorway.
"What was that about?" I asked Alice quietly once we had helped clean up the glass in silence.
"I wish I could tell you Bella, I really do. Its up too him though."
"What's with all the secrecy? He tells me that he wants to be friends after treating me like shit, but then wont tell me anything about himself, or what's wrong? I want to be friends, I want to help him, but I cant if he wont let me in!" I groaned at how clichéd that sounded even though it was all true.
Alice giggled, but then sighed.
"Still, don't pressure him, he will tell you when he is ready too." She warned me.
"And trust me Bella, I know he will tell you. He can't keep it from you for much longer." She trailed off, muttering something under her breath that I was obviously not supposed to hear. I glared at her, stomping off to our room to get ready to pack for the next half of the month back at 'the farm' as the Cullen's referred to their real house as. We were leaving the next day and I was really excited, and looking forward to having my own room again.
Wednesday January 14
I looked over at Edward who was driving the car back to the farm. Somehow we had been stuck in a car together. With no one else. We had been here for five minutes and already I was uncomfortable. Edward kept glancing at me out of the corner of his eye and because I couldn't seem to keep mine off of him I noticed his every surreptitious glance.
"Bella…" He whispered, his expression caught between pissed off and tortured, probably because I was that scary to talk to.
"Yes?" I snapped, deciding if he was going to be rude I would be back even though it was childish.
He was quiet for a minute before he answered.
"Why did you kiss me?" his smooth brow furrowed as he waited impatiently for my answer. It was then that I realized how closely I watched him. Watched for his every movement to see how he reacted to what I said. I scoffed at myself before realizing that he would probably take it the wrong way. Not that I cared, I mean I do have Jake and still no one can replace him.
"You didn't like it either did you? Doesn't feel that great when you get used does it?" I growled. I knew I was really angry with myself but he did deserve the slap in the face.
He sighed and shook his head in annoyance.
"I suppose your right" he concentrated on the road, effectively ending the conversation. We drove in silence for a while before the annoying ringing of a text message appearing on my phone sliced through the tension that was slowly building up in the shiny silver Volvo. I peered at the screen of the phone to read the message from Jake.
Having fun sweetie? I have decided to forgive you ;D the gang say hi and so does Charlie. Guess what? Jess and Mike are finally together! Miss you babe! Love you lots!
I smiled, suddenly missing him and quickly typed out a reply.
G'day! - ha ha had to pay it out! Of course I'm having fun! Glad you decided to forgive me! Say hi to everyone! Yay for Mike! Mayb he'll leave me alone now ;D miss you too hon. Xo Love you too as well.
"Who are you messaging?" Edward pried.
"Jacob, my boyfriend" I said bluntly.
"What! Why didn't you bloody tell me you had a boyfriend?" Edward all but yelled.
"It was none of your business! Why would I tell you anything after the way you treated me?"
"You fucking kissed me before you had any idea what the hell the situation was! He obviously means a lot to you!" he growled before turning the radio up to childishly block out my retort.
Monday January 26
Australia Day
I awoke in my large bed at the Cullen's farm to the smell of a barbeque cooking outside. I rolled over and looked at the red numbers on the alarm clock and saw that I had slept until 12, unsurprisingly since I had been up packing to go to boarding school the next day and talking on the phone to Jacob until late, well it was early for him.
I sighed and pulled the alarm out of the wall to throw into my bag.
We were heading down to Adelaide that night with promises of seeing Australia the new movie by Baz Luhrman. Alice had been excited about today for the past couple of days.
Australia day seemed to be an excuse for her to be 'a bogan' for the day as she decided to put it. I didn't really know what she meant until I walked outside and saw her in a pair of jeans (which was unusual for Alice) and a shirt like I often saw Carlisle wearing around the farm. Carlisle was a vet, but still ran his own farm. I don't know where he found the time but he still seemed to be successful at both. She wore a pair of flip flops on her feet, or as she called them, thongs and was really playing up the Australian accent and slang today in an attempt to teach me what it all meant.
"Mornin' shelia!" she droned as I made my way outside. I looked at her confused.
"Um, Alice, you know my name!" I accused.
"Of course I do! shelia is just another word for girl." I laughed and replied using another phrase she had taught me the night before.
"Fair Dinkum?" I asked. She laughed.
"you catch on fast mate" she winked skipping over to the CD player she had set up under the pergola and cranking Jet.
"Only fair Dinkum Aussie music today mate!" she laughed. I could tell t was unnatural for her to talk like that but Alice seemed to always get excited about things like this and I assumed it was natural for her to go over the top.
Rosalie appeared in the doorway laughing at Alice, holding a beer in her hand.
"Want one?" she asked, pulling one out of an esky sitting in the shade and throwing it to me before I could answer.
"Rosie! Its too early for that!" Alice complained catching the coopers pale ale swiftly before it even reached me. She returned it to the esky and pulled out the iced coffee she already had me addicted to playfully winking at me.
"Say it, or you don't get it!" she teased. I tried to mimic the broad Australian accent I had heard on the ad on television.
"It's a Farmers Union Iced Coffee, or its nothin'!"
"Dude! That was pathetic!" she laughed throwing me the milk carton all the same.
I poked my tongue out at her and flipped her off laughing.
That was when Edward appeared. Needless to say we hadn't spoken since the incident in the car on the way back to the farm. I can't say that I didn't care, because I did. No matter how many times I tried to tell myself that it didn't matter I still felt drawn to him. Like I could help him some way, but I would never know how until he told me what was wrong.
"Enjoying Australia day Bella?" he asked conversationally. To say I was taken aback would have been an understatement. I gathered myself together before answering to make sure that I could do it without making a total fool of myself.
"Sure am!" I watched him closely to see how he would react to my answer. He was smiling slightly to himself and I couldn't help but smile back.
Tuesday January 27
We were at the boarding house before I realised that I wouldn't be seeing Edward again until the first exeat sometime in February. I would be going back to the farm once a month for holidays and exeat weekends when we had Saturday and Sunday free to go home. We had actually had a civilized conversation the day before, it may have been short but it was progress and I was determined to make things right between us.
His words in the car had struck a cord and I realised that although Edward seems to have been nothing but cold towards me since the first time we met, that the Edward I had met that day must be under the mask he carefully wore everyday somewhere. As corny as it was I had firmly decided to see the real Edward again.
The heat today was excruciating, Alice had told me that it was over 45 degrees Celsius, which when I converted it back to Fahrenheitso I could understand I found that it was 113 degrees, nothing like the weather in Forks. I didn't know how I was going to survive the first few days of school.
Edward and Alice were helping me unpack my room. The seniors had one to themselves for which I was grateful. We had a meeting to go to in about half an hour about year 12's and introducing me to the rest of my year. I cringed at the thought, knowing the humiliation it was going to cause. I knew I would go red and start stuttering if I had to talk in front of a group of people who I didn't know.
"Almost done." Edward informed me as he made my bed for me while I was putting my clothes away in my closet. I hadn't noticed Alice leave the room but as soon as I did I felt slightly uncomfortable, not knowing what to say to Edward.
"I'm going to hang around for a few days to make sure you're settled in before I go back to the farm." He informed me. Edward had finished school 2 years ago, or so I had only recently found out. He was doing university by correspondence so he could help Carlisle out on the farm, and earn some money.
He seemed to blush a bit, before looking away.
"I'll miss you Bella, even though you hate me."
"I don't hate you Edward, you just frustrate me sometimes." He winked at me.
"Takes one to know one." He laughed and walked out of my room and I stared after him in a huff again. He infuriated me to no end!
Friday January 31.
I stuffed my visual art diary under my arm, heading to my first design lesson with Alice. It was finally Friday afternoon. It had only been a three-day week but I was exhausted because of the heat.
The design teacher glowered over her glasses at us as we sat down at the table in the Arts centre, 5 minutes late to class because our maths teacher had held us up.
"Being late to class will not be tolerated as of next lesson. Either show up on time or don't show up at all." She derided. I recoiled in my seat, already knowing that this was one teacher I wasn't going to get along with. All my other teachers so far had seemed great, so I was bound to have one I didn't like.
"Now that every one has decided to appear, I will give you your first assignment for the term. I want you to design a house, using illustrator, back up in your visual diary is essential and I will be picking it up in week 10! Hop to it!" I stared after her in disbelief. That was the easiest freaking assignment she could have ever given me. Well it was design, I suppose I shouldn't expect anything else.
"You really want to make sure that you do heaps of back up, she is a freaking Nazi when it comes to your research and development of your ideas. Maybe get Edward to help you on the exeat if your struggling 'cause trust me she will drive you insane. I'm going to be getting Edward to do heaps for me, he is really good at this kind of thing!" Alice whispered in my ear as she dragged me towards the computers, and logging in for herself and then me on the computer next to hers. The last hour of the day seemed to drag on forever with Mrs. McLean running around every now and then and scaring the crap out of the girls using design as a bludge lesson and playing Tetris while she wasn't looking. Alice seemed really eager to get back to the boarding house after school too, like she had something planned, which wouldn't surprise me.
Once we were finally back in the year 12 common-room packing up our bags with the homework we had for the weekend I really knew something was up. Alice usually waited fairly patiently for me to pack up my bag but today she was nagging me and tugging on my school dress impatiently, trying to drag me out of the door.
"Come on!" she whined. I scowled at her but followed all the same. When we were nearing the boarding house she put her hands over my eyes.
"I have a surprise for you!" she sang. Trying unsuccessfully to pull her hands away I replied,
"Alice you know I hate surprises!"
"Sorry, not much you can do about it now" a deep voice sounded somewhere to my left.
I screamed.
Phew *wipes brow* 16 pages on word, my longest chapter EVER! Please don't kill me if it's too long, just let me know if you want me to make them shorter.
Yeah, I know the first chapter is all over the place, there will start to be more sense in them from now on as January was just to set the scene.
Any who, hope you enjoyed I'll update ASAP, trust me nagging helps as long as you polite.
Jordi – lol if your reading this, that was so u, me and Hell in Art last year :P (except we read Fan fic too :P)
(Just so you all know, there will be a sequel to this, which I actually planned out first so please don't kill me at the end… EVERY THING I DO IS FOR A REASON :P)
XxX
Ally