6. The Best Gifts Are Big and Metallic

The days leading up to my first day flying solo in high school seemed to drag on forever. Between Alice and Rosalie dragging me to every upscale boutique on the east coast and Bella constantly reminding me of things I should keep in mind at school I was starting to get really nervous about my first day.

It was an uphill battle reigning in Alice and Rosalie. They finally chilled out a bit when I compromised allowing them to buy me a pair of high end designer boots to go along with my several pair of designer jeans and shirts. I figured it was a reasonable compromise since they would have had me looking like a teenybopper Carrie Bradshaw wannabe otherwise. By the time we were finally done shopping I was glad to have quite a few outfits that I was actually quite happy with and would feel halfway comfortable in.

I woke up for my first day of school to a very early alarm. I had given myself a ton of extra time to get my nerves calmed and get groomed and ready for my first day. I wanted to look as good as possible which meant a lot of steps that I didn't really bother with on a daily basis.

This was definitely one of those mornings that I was glad that I didn't have to worry about waking the rest of the house by blasting music early in the morning. I turned up my stereo full blast choosing a song with a strong bass beat and an upbeat tone to keep me positive and motivated. I had warned my Fashionista Nazi sisters that they were to under no circumstances bother me this morning with make up tips or anything of the sort. I was going to do the things I deemed necessary and not a bit more and they were to keep their mouths shut if it wasn't enough. Thankfully they obeyed me and let me get ready in peace.

An hour later I was finally dressed and took a moment to observe the results in the mirror. It was strange to see myself all made up; in addition to my usual mineral base I had utilized my extensive options of colors to give my cheeks a light rosy appearance to bring out my cheekbones and narrow my face a little more. I also combined brown, pewter, and a touch of green eye shadow to create a smoky eye that also brought a bit of my eye color out. I wore my hair down and soft around my face, a new one for the girl who pretty much lived in a ponytail for most of her life. For my first day outfit I chose a pair of artfully faded designer boot cut blue jeans and a green and purple short sleeve chiffon shirt by a designer I had never heard of but Alice and Rosalie couldn't stop drooling about. It was a bit dressy for the first day, but not too terribly bad and I did like how it hung on me and what it did for my eyes. The one lesson I learned early from Rose and Alice was to always play up your best feature and my eyes were all I had to work with so I ran with it. I also wore my new designer flat heeled biker boots…I'm sure they weren't what the girls had in mind when I agreed to our compromise, but in the end a highly recognized designer's footware are still designer so they couldn't say too much. I really couldn't see myself tottering precariously on the skinny little heels on the higher heeled boots all day. I might have been more graceful than my sister, but I was also a lot harder on my shoes and I could see those things snapping in five minutes.

Finally after a few minutes evaluation I decided it was as good as it was going to get and if I waited too much longer I was going to be late. I left the bathroom, stopped by my room to grab my book bag and new black patent leather jacket that the girls had insisted on and made my way to the front room wondering who my chauffer for the day was going to be.

I had my license and was actually an extremely good driver, although I did have a bit of a lead foot, (Not that anybody could fault me…my teachers were the ultimate speed demons) but I wasn't allowed to drive anywhere because my siblings still considered me a slow driver. I didn't have a car of my own yet because there was no need and I never went anywhere alone anyway.

I reached the end of the hall and started down the stairs. I wasn't even halfway down the staircase when I heard a gasp of inhaled air, all taken in unison by everyone in the room. I froze wondering what I did wrong, fighting the instinct to run right back to my room and hide, but when I turned to look at the expressions of my family, I didn't find the looks of dismay and/or confusion that I had expected…instead they looked sort of in awe. Even Alice and Rosalie, who helped me pick out my outfits and pick my make up colors, seemed to be taken aback by my new look. I flushed in embarrassment and then finished descending the staircase.

I felt really uncomfortable standing there in front of my family of angels and having them all regard me like a priceless work of art. I had seen my reflection in the mirror and I was far from equal to this level of appreciation. Finally my Mom came forward and hugged me. If she were capable of crying there would have been tears brimming her eyelids.

"You look absolutely breathtaking Lina! You are going to have a wonderful first day of school…I just know it!"

"Okay, first of all, thanks Mom…and secondly, would you guys please stop working so hard to make me feel better? I know exactly what I look like today and I definitely don't deserve the looks you guys are giving me now. So please stop before you guys freak me out even more!"

Edward shook his head with a half smile on his face. "Bella, she inherited your inability to see herself clearly. What's up with you girls? Is this something you inherited from Renee?"

"Don't ask me, I'm not sure where she gets her ideas!"

I stood there rolling my eyes at them all making a mental note to myself that they have all become far too masterful in their skills of deception and made my way into the kitchen to grab something to eat really quickly before school. I was so anxious that I wasn't that hungry, but knew I'd be starving by lunch if I didn't eat something so I grabbed an apple and a soda.

"Fruit and Caffeine, the breakfast of champions" I said to myself as I sliced the apple and tossed it in a plastic sandwich bag to take with me. I had already decided as soon as they all let out that ridiculous gasp that I was going to get to school early and maybe see if I could meet a few people before the first class of the day.

I went to spin on my newly purchased designer heels and suddenly realized that my whole family had been standing in the doorway watching me get my breakfast together, all smiling like the cat that ate the canary.

"Okay, so who's taking me to school today? I want to get an early start." Then they all started to chuckle a little.

"What are you guys looking so very suspiciously sneaky for? What's up?"

Edward stepped forward with his trademark half grin and handed me a small box with a bow. I looked at him questioningly and then at the rest of the family all watching in anticipation.

I slowly opened the box to find a set of keys with a very distinctive keychain. My mouth fell open not fully absorbing what the small keychain really meant. Surely they didn't. They wouldn't…Would they? For a few minutes all I could do was stare at the keychain unable to formulate even the smallest of sounds from my throat. I looked up at Edward my mind full of a dozen questions I couldn't make my lips form.

Taking my elbow he laughed a little and said, "How about we just show you." as he led me to the front door. He opened it for me and I looked out and there it was…in real life…truly sitting right there in front of me on the lawn all shiny and metallic in a gorgeous sapphire blue hue and in completely mint condition. It was an original 1968 Shelby Mustang GT500, my most dreamed about car in the whole world…just like Eleanor in the movie Gone in 60 Seconds. Of course Edward would know full well what my dream car was…I had only dreamed about that car every time a family member would get a new car since the movie came out. He was very pleased when I did eventually show am interest in cars, but disappointed that my tastes led more toward American muscle cars than his foreign jobs.

I stood in the doorway staring in disbelief…that is until I started to sway and get dizzy, and that's when I realized that I had forgotten to breathe. Edward and Emmett each caught one of my elbows as I began to fall backwards while laughing so hard that their grip vibrated me in their arms. Suddenly my utter and total joy broke through my shock and amazement and I squealed at the top of my lungs and turned throwing my hands around Edward's neck and jumping up and down.

"You got me Eleanor? I can't believe you guys got me Eleanor!" I was so excited that if it weren't for the designer clothes, shoes, and the hour I had just spent making myself as presentable as possible for the day I would have taken off doing cartwheels across the lawn.

When I finally recovered my senses I froze. "Wait, is this really mine?"

"Yes!" everyone said in unison.

Then my face fell, "But wait, won't it draw too much attention?"

"That's the beauty of it," Edward said, "Nobody but you will know it's original. If anybody asks, tell them that your brothers found in disrepair somewhere and fixed it up as a present for you. They'll buy it because no normal parents would ever give their 17 year old an original Shelby!" He threw in winking at our mom and dad. "And it's not all a lie. We did add a few extras for you…a new stereo and of course a governor so you don't go too Mustang Sally on us."

"Wow," I whispered and then turned to face the whole family. "Thank you all so much. I can never tell you how much this means to me! You guys are the greatest!"

"Well, you deserve it. You're the best kid we've ever known and we've lived quite a long time kid!" Emmett shouted. "By the way, didn't you say you wanted to get to school early or something?"

"Oh…yeah….um, I guess I should go then." I hesitated at the door, not sure now that I was actually leaving how I really felt about really going out there all by myself to face the world. I was suddenly very nervous…feeling rooted in my spot and wanting to run back up to the safety of my room where I was nice and safe. I felt that way for a few seconds until I realized that nobody was sending me out alone…I knew as sure as I knew that the sky is blue that one of my brothers will most definitely be following me to school covertly. I was going to have an escort even if there was no chauffer.

"I love you guys….wish me luck!" I yelled over my shoulder as I bounced off the porch toward my beautiful new car.

They all yelled their own wishes of luck as I made my way to the beautiful classic, grazing my hand lovingly over the trunk lid as I pranced past it and slid into the driver's seat. It even smelled like heaven!

I put the key in the ignition and fired it up. The whole car rumbled to life under me and I giggled at the pure exhilaration. I gunned the engine a few times to feel the power under my fingertips and then put the car in gear and gunned the engine again fishtailing slightly before the traction took hold propelling me forward like a shot.

I let out a loud "WAHOOOO!" as I sped away from the house and waved out the window to my family watching from the porch behind me. Bella looked so tense that for a second I thought she might run after me and tell me to be more careful. Emmett was nowhere to be seen…probably took off as soon as my back was turned and had already beat me to the end of the drive that big punk! Oh well, I was on my way, hello big world…or at least big high school!!!