Twilight isn't mine, but the idea is. I was inspired to write this after a marathon of Fast and Furious. All the songs on the soundtrack helped me create this, so you should check them if you don't know them.
Many thanks to my dear friends m0t0b33 and TeamAllTwilight for the pre-reader and beta work.
And to you, my reader and followers, thank you! I wish I had to the to answer you, but we can discuss stuff in my facebook group. ;)
Posing in the good guy was harder than Edward anticipated.
He enforced some rules for his own good: to stay away from cars, school gangs and parties. If he could keep these ground rules, he was sure his efforts would impress the jury in the summer when they decided his fate.
Edward had informed Emmett of his self-imposed rules and his cousin was proud of him, but he didn't give him more than a month in respecting them. He thought he knew Edward better than he knew himself.
"Ready?" Bella inquired after pulling up in an empty spot in the school's parking lot.
"Yeah, let's get this show on the road." Edward stepped out of the car and opened the back door to grab his backpack.
"You still have your schedule?" she checked.
"Yes," he groaned, patting his jacket's pocket. "And it's not like I'll need it. We share all the classes."
"You'll get sick of me." Bella laughed, opening the school's door. "Welcome to Fredonia High School!" She elbowed Edward in the ribs.
He shook his head, chuckling.
There were students milling up and down the school hallways, getting reacquainted after being separated for three months. Some of the students attending in Fredonia weren't locals, the school district included unincorporated communities close to the Grand Canyon National Park, such as the Kaibab Indian Reservation. They were only a few dozen people living in the Reservation and they came down to the closest town for school and jobs.
"Okay, so I'll tell you about all of them. Like in every school there are groups."
"So I'm stuck with the Chess Club nerds?" Edward wondered teasingly.
Bella narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll have you know I'm the one of the two girls allowed in the bad boys' group. Of course, you're free to join the Chess Club… good luck with that, though since it's not even formed. We don't have such a thing."
Edward couldn't believe his ears. She was part of the bad boys' gang? Really? Maybe Emmett was right and he couldn't keep his promise to himself.
"We have a football team but we're not that good. There's the team." Bella pointed to a group of boys leaning against their lockers. "And of course, the cheerleaders are flocking around them," she added with a scowl toward the girls swarming around the team.
"So it's no use to try out? I like football," he said thoughtfully.
"Suit yourself, but don't go near them." She shuddered. "For your own…health…you know?"
He knew and nodded in understanding.
As they walked farther down the hallway, Bella pointed out different people, some teachers who were passing by trying in vain to keep the excited students under control. Edward figured everyone was hyped-up after a long summer break, no matter the place they were from.
"This is us." Bella nodded to their lockers, conveniently next to each other. "Oh, I thought they were skipping already!"
Edward looked up in time to see a group of five approaching. These were the Native Americans from the Reservation, he could tell by their skin color and strong built. The boy leading the group had shoulder length black hair, a blue shirt and dark jeans. His eyes were on Bella and when he reached them, he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up and spinning her.
"Long time, no see, Bells."
Bella placed her hands on his shoulders. "Yeah, well…you know James." She leaned down to kiss this guy's cheek, and once she was back on her feet, she took a step closer to Edward. "Guys, this is Edward, the exchange student. They're my friends: Jake, Seth, Paul, Sam and Leah." She introduced them.
"Any friend of Bella's is my friend," Seth, the shortest of the group, told Edward, extending his hand for a shake.
"Nice to meet you," Edward said, eyeing the wannabe intimidating group. He realized Jake had pulled Bella away and they were having a heated conversation. "I don't expect you to like me just yet, but you're kinda stuck with me since Bella's my host."
Jake turned his eyes on Edward, scrutinizing him up and down before nodding, walking closer and extending his hand. "You're in, man."
Edward internally patted himself on the back. He knew how this thing worked. He'd been the leader of his gang back in Chicago. Besides, Jake wasn't a good leader. He didn't have the right amount of negativeness in his life to be a bad guy. He tried, Edward had to give him credit for that. He was probably the son of the Indian's leader and he thought he didn't get the deserved attention because of his father. They could be friends as they related on that subject—the father being mighty and the son expected to be something else.
It didn't take long for Edward to understand the group's dynamics. Everyone listened to Jake, because he was the brains of the gang. Seth was their newest addition and was eager to prove himself, mostly messing up when he tried to be what he wasn't. Paul was the muscles of their group and resorted to throwing punches when someone didn't do as he wanted—like some sad fellow who was sitting in his chair in their English class. As if his name was written on that chair. Then there were Sam and Leah, the couple, which made them act like a team, usually having each other's back.
The whole group was a big chaos, and it made Edward sad, reminding him of his friends.
Of course, there was Bella, too, in the group. He hadn't figured her place yet, but what he noticed was that Jake was giving her long looks.
When school finally let out for the day, Edward learned about the group's way of transportation—dirt bikes. As he originally thought: wannabe bad boys. The bikes were Honda and of what he could see, they were in pretty good shape.
"Nice," Edward commented, gesturing to the bikes. "I'm more a car kinda guy, but these are nice."
"You know cars?" Jake asked hopeful.
Cursing his mouth for speaking without thinking, Edward shrugged.
"I have a '69 Mustang Mach and have no idea what to do with it."
Edward's eyebrows shot up. "What?" You want to give it me? He nearly asked that but stopped himself on time. "Are you joking?"
Jake pointed to Bella making Edward's blood drown from his head. "This one managed to get it on the best bargain ever. What was it, Bells? Two hundred bucks?"
"What kind of idiot sells a Mach on…nothing?" Edward was outraged.
"Some guy at the scrap metals junk yard. He gave me that car and two bikes as bonus. Crazy." She waved her hand in the universal he's crazy gesture.
"Wow. Then something must be terribly wrong with the car…and bikes," Edward said after thinking for a while.
"It is." Jake nodded mournfully. "Sam and I, we managed to make the bikes work." He gestured to his bike. "The car, not so much. It's hard to find components."
"I bet. I had a Talladega. I never found pieces."
"But you know what to do? Cars aren't exactly my thing."
Edward nodded against his better judgment.
"Cool, man!" Jake bumped his shoulder. "Bring him over this weekend," he told Bella before hopping on his bike, putting the helmet on and taking off. The others followed his lead.
"Are you sure about this?" Bella asked on their way to her car.
No. "Don't tell your brother."
"That won't be a problem." She winked.
When they arrived home, Edward saw for the first time James's cruiser. It was definitely not what he expected.
"Is that a Charger?" He needed confirmation because he hadn't seen a police car that brand, only in movies.
"Yeah. They need a powerful car to catch all the idiots who speed on the highway." Bella smirked at him. "My car won in a challenge between the two so I'm not impressed by his police car. But that was when this one had the nitro gas tank and it was…someone else's car."
Brady's, Edward thought to himself. "Huh. Well, still. I'm impressed with their vehicles. The police in Chicago have good old Ford Crown Vics."
"See, small towns aren't that bad." Winking, Bella left the car.
Edward followed her, his eyes on the Charger. He was a guy who lived for cars, no one could blame him for the eye-fucking.
Bella and Edward found James in the kitchen, on the phone and rolling the cord on his finger. He looked worried, unaware of the company. They couldn't make out what he was mumbling into the receiver but Bella grabbed Edward's wrist and tugged him to the living room. She threw her bag on the floor and flopped on the couch.
"When you see him doing that, you better stay out of his way. There's news about…a friend. Now it depends if they're good or bad, they're usually the same—bad," she explained. "Anyway…what's your first impression of high school here?"
Edward sat next to her on the couch, slouching low, stretching his legs under the coffee table. "It's good. I like it."
She grinned. "You'll see there's nothing to be afraid. Life here is as normal as anywhere else."
"I'm starting to see this. Your friend, Jake, he's cool."
Bella stiffened, looking worried over her shoulder. "Don't speak of him around James. He's always called on the Rez for the deeds Jake's doing—the bad deeds, of course."
"Hey, kids!" James called cheerfully from the doorway. "B, I'm going to Vicky's for a few days. You two good alone?"
"Yeah, we'll manage. Right, Edward?" She checked, bumping her knee into Edward's.
"Yeah, cool." He nodded.
"Alright. Can I talk to you for a minute?" James jerked his head toward the kitchen, motioning for Edward to follow him. He obeyed, worried of what the cop could want from him. He'd been good.
"Listen, kid," James said once they were alone in the kitchen. "I want us to be friends as I told you before. Promise you'll keep an eye on my sister. For a while she hasn't been herself. I swear she's doing this on purpose, to irk me."
"Sure. I'll take care of her."
"And if I hear you went back on your word about your old habits, we'll have a serious talk."
"I swear to you I want to change…forget what I used to do back home."
"I hope so, for your own good." He patted Edward on the back before leaving him in the middle of the kitchen.
That night as Edward lay in his bed, waiting for sleep to come, he thought of his promise to himself and of Emmett's words. If he could control this addiction—because he was sure racing had become an addiction to him—he knew helping Jake restore that car would be testing his limits. He loved living on the edge, and befriending Jake was going to be like dangling off the rim of the cliff. Edward hoped he wouldn't fall, he really hoped.
The following days were filled with getting used to the new school, becoming friends with Bella's friends and helping Jake make a list of car pieces he might need. Classes were annoying him because the teachers expected him to know more than his fellow students, like they taught him more in Chicago. He'd always tried to keep good grades, but there were subjects he absolutely hated.
That Friday, after classes, Edward was called to meet with Coach Stewart. He apologized to Bella for keeping her waiting around for him, but she waved him off, saying she'd chat with Jake. When Edward returned from his fifteen minutes talk with the coach, he was still in shock over the news.
He stopped next to Jake's bike where Bella and Jake were leaning, sharing a bag of crunchy Cheetos.
"You okay, man?" Jake asked, seeing how pale his friend was.
"Uh, I thought there were try-outs to get on the team," Edward said lamely.
"Stew got you on the team? Tell me you're not going to accept!" Jake scowled, throwing part of a stick in his mouth.
Bella elbowed Jake, pushing off the bike. "He likes football, idiot. If you get on the team, it's okay. We'll support you."
"I think…I'm already on the team?" Edward said unsure. "He told me to be there for practice on Wednesday."
"Guess, it wasn't a good idea to trip Alec in the cafeteria the other day, huh?" Jake guffawed.
"Fuck. Well, I trust my mad football skills to make him and the team forgive me." Edward beamed at his friends. "Anyway, what time can we come over tomorrow?" he asked Jake.
"Whenever, man. Really, Bella knows she's welcomed any time."
"Cool. We'll see you tomorrow, then." Edward was worried of being around a car again, but he had faith in his willpower.
On the way home, he realized that without noticing he'd broken his own promise in only one week. He was part of a school gang—the worst of the ones in that school, he was going to start repairing an old car and the temptation would be too much for him not to take the restored car for a spin, and of course the last on his list was parties. He'd have to attend at least one now that he was part of the football team.
Edward hated to tell Emmett that he had been right, so he decided to completely avoid talking to his cousin until he contacted him. Being a cop, he always sensed when Edward was hiding something.
Check out the pictures I'll post in my group on Facebook. There will be teasers, too. :) Also go subscribe to Fictease, I'll add there teasers and pictures.
Updates: Saturdays and Wednesdays.