6. First Day
Author's Note: I know that the chapters are short, but there will be lots of them to compensate for that. I do my stories on Microsoft Word so it looks long when I'm writing it, but then when it gets on FanFic, it is really short. I will try harder from now on to make my chapters longer!!! ~
As I had guessed, I was well adapted here in Juneau after just a few days. I was happy to see that Kate wasn't as sadistic with her powers as I had originally thought… once you got to know her, anyway. I also knew my way around the Denali's house now as if I had lived there for years, thanks to my photographic memory.
Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were living with the Denalis in their huge house too. Jacob was – against my will – living in our cottage with Edward and I. He usually gave us our privacy though, so I didn't mind that much. I just had to understand that it physically hurt him to be away from Renesmee, and the less pain I caused Jacob, the better. I also had to keep in mind that he had to leave his family behind in Forks too. He was going through the same thing I was.
As Edward, and I lay in bed one morning, something I hadn't thought about for days slipped into my mind…Mike Newton. How was he doing? What was in the Forks newspapers about the investigation?
My mind was still occupied with these questions when, suddenly, I remembered what day it was. August 13! Today was my dreaded first day of school. Ugh.
"Do I have to go to school?" I groaned.
"Of course!" Edward scoffed as if he had never skipped school before
"But I don't want to!" I whined, burying my head in his smooth, marble chest.
"Well…" he pretended to think for a while, "I suppose we could skip… but we want to make a good first impression, don't we?" he teased
"No!" I pouted.
He laughed and sat up.
"Come on! It won't be that bad…I promise!" he said as he pulled me out of bed. I reluctantly went to my huge closet to find something to wear on my "first day of school". One thing is for sure…there was absolutely nothing in my closet that would make me look like a normal person and not an angel – thanks to Alice.
We decided to take the Volvo and the Jeep, since they were the only two somewhat inconspicuous cars that we owned. Edward, Alice, Jacob, Jasper and I rode in the Volvo, while Emmett and Rosalie took in the Jeep.
Renesmee is going to be "home schooled" until she reaches her full maturity (in height). Although her growth has slowed, it's still too easy to see the difference to let her interact with humans. Once she stops growing, she'll come to high school with the rest of us. I never in my life pictured my daughter going to high school with me!
Esme is going to teach her some middle school math and a few different languages. That way, when she is dropped into high school, she will be as smart/smarter than everyone there. She already knows how to read and write flawlessly, so math and a few foreign languages are all she really needs to know.
The town of Juneau was like Phoenix except cold. On our way to school, we passed by tons of shops. There were restaurants, boutiques, businesses…things that you would almost never see in Forks.
As we pulled into the school parking lot, it made me feel a little bit better to see that we weren't the only ones that had fancy cars. There were cars like a Mercedes, a brand new Volkswagen, and a Cadillac. Whew, I thought, that's one more category we wont stand out in.
We found a spot near the back of the parking lot. People were scattered all around us. There were Freshman that were hopping out of the car as quickly as possible so as to avoid being seen still being dropped off by their parents ( unless like Edward, Alice, Jacob and I they were lucky enough to have siblings that could drop them off ), the sophomores and juniors were catching up with each other from summer break, and the seniors were busy looking cool and intimidating to the Freshman…ah, high school.
I stepped out of the car in unison with the others.
I saw Edward flinch – probably from all of the loud, happy thoughts that greeted him in this huge school.
I saw Alice sigh as if to say "Here we go again…"
Jasper inhaled deeply and took in the emotional climate.
Jacob just stood there with a bored expression on his face, looking freakishly huge and tan compared to the rest of us.
I stood there taking it all in.
Everyone's head turned to look at us when the hum of Emmett's jeep broke through all of the chatter. Rosalie and Emmett hopped out of the car, Rosalie flipping her hair back in a perfect imitation of a model. Emmett walked around and put his arm around her waist. The couple strutted through the parking lot as if nobody were there, then they disappeared through the doors of the building. They obviously didn't care what people thought.
I took a deep, fiery breath and followed suit, with Edward at my side, holding my hand. This was going to be a long day…
Edward and I walked through the double doors at the entrance of the school. His face was expressionless as we both searched for our lockers. Everyone was staring. If I could have sweat, I would have been drenched.
Of course Edward had made sure that we had almost every class together and that we had lockers by each other. I didn't even have to ask how he had made those arrangements. The only two classes that we didn't have together were biology and French – since he was taking Spanish.
I was unpacking my things into my locker when he said reluctantly, "You know, if you're too nervous, then we could always skip I guess."
"No," I assured him, " I'll be fine. I've just got the first day jitters."
"Alright." He grinned. "So, first on our schedule is…history, then we have…English, then next is…PE, and then we have lunch." He said eyeing the schedule as if he hadn't already memorized it.
"Good way to start off the day." I said, nodding my head.
"Off we go then!" he exclaimed, taking my hand and leading me off to history…..
Edward and I entered the lunchroom together after third period. Again, everyone who hadn't already seen us turned to stare. I could see nudges and nods, and hear people talking about us in low undertones, thinking that we couldn't see or hear them.
I entered the lunch line first and grabbed a tray. Today they were having spaghetti, rolls, and green beans. Yum, I thought to myself wryly. As we slowly moved through the line, I grabbed a little bit of everything. I handed the lunch lady a five dollar bill, and when I reached to get my change, she shrank away from my cold skin. That was another thing I had forgotten – no making physical contact with humans if you could help it. It freaked them out…I knew from experience.
When I was finally out of the line, I scanned the lunchroom, looking for Alice. As I had expected, I found her sitting in the back of the cafeteria. I thought Jacob would have been sitting with her, but she was by herself. As I went to go and sit with her, I asked, "Where's Jacob?"
She answered my question with a nod and a smirk towards the middle of the cafeteria. Sure enough, Jacob was sitting at another table, with three boys and two girls surrounding him. Apparently, he didn't have a hard time making friends.
"So how has your day been so far?" I asked Alice.
"Great!" She answered animatedly, "I like this school way better than our old school. You should have been there on our first day in Forks…it was terrible!"
"Hmm." I answered distractedly. I wasn't looking forward to the rest of the day. The next two periods were my two without Edward. Then I just had Math with Edward and then we could finally go home.
"Have you enjoyed your day so far?" Edward asked me.
"Yes." I replied, "But only because I've been with you. I'm not too sure how I'll fair without you, but I'm sure I'll live."
"Yes, I'm sure you'll live without me." He teased.
"Well…I wouldn't be too sure about that. I could die of loneliness."
"Sure you will…"
My PE experience had been much better this year. It seemed that you were good at everything once you were a vampire. I was the most graceful one in my gym class. I loved my new life and it seemed that it suited me perfectly.
We were playing volleyball in gym and all the boys ( who were playing basketball on the other half of the court ) couldn't stop staring at me. I almost laughed out loud at the look Edward gave them as he read their thoughts. When gym ended, he exclaimed, "How dare they think about my wife like that!"
"Hey," I then reminded him, "you were the one who listened to their thoughts."
Then, the bell rang, interrupting my flashback. I stood up, went to throw my plate away, and pecked Edward on the cheek as I say goodbye to him. "See you in Math." I sighed, reluctantly leaving him.
For biology, I had Mr. Keenly. He was rumored to be one of the nicest teachers in the school, but I would have to see for myself.
When I entered the classroom, I could tell that he was trying his hardest not to stare at me. It was nice of him to make the effort, even though he wasn't particularly succeeding. Naturally, I took the seat in the very back of the classroom. I pulled my notebook out of my book bag and got out a pen, dreading the next fifty minutes.
There were vacant seats in front of me and, noticing this, Mr. Keenly exclaimed, "Ah! Why don't you come up here and sit with the rest of the class Miss umm…"
"Cullen." I corrected him, "Bella Cullen."
I then gathered my things and moved to the vacant desk in the middle of the class. This was one of those times that I was glad I couldn't blush. The seat beside me was empty.
The rest of the class passed without incident, as did the rest of the day. When I arrived home, I flopped down on the couch and sighed. This is going to be what it's like the rest of your life Bella, I told myself. I was glad when Renesmee had fallen asleep and Edward and I could have our fun at last. Whatever ill feelings I had that night had been completely erased when we "went to sleep" that night.