"Wake up, Bella." I felt a smooth, cold hand touch my cheek. I reached up and grabbed it. "Edward?" I asked groggily, opening my eyes. "Today's the big day, Bella. Ready to be Spelling Champion of the fifth grade?" I smiled up at him. "Of course I am," I said.
Even though I was still a little nervous, I wasn't that nervous because we got a packet of the words we might get, and Edward helped me practice a lot of them. "Good. You're going to do great!" "Jeez, you're more excited than I am. Calm yourself." I teased. "You're still able to come, right?" "I wouldn't miss it for the world. I have to sneak in a little later, but it'll be before your turn."
"What about Alice?" She was one of my best friends, especially since Jess didn't really want to talk to me much anymore. She would rather hang out with Lauren. "She's-um-getting ready for something tonight." he said evasively (that was one of the words on my list!). "But she'll be watching, don't worry!" he pretended he hadn't said anything unusual.
"Not a party!" I groaned. "I'm afraid so." he said solemnly, mocking me a little. I squinted my eyes at him. "Sorry!" he said quickly, pulling me out of bed. I laughed. Even after all this time, he still thought it was possible for me to be mad at him. "Alright, I'm going to leave so you can get dressed. Eat a good breakfast," he said.
Carlisle had specifically told us the importance of sleep, and breakfast yesterday, for the brain to work right. Edward was paying more attention to braiding my hair than listening to his dad, but it didn't matter. I'm pretty sure that since Edward doesn't need to either eat or sleep, Carlisle was talking to me in particular. We left early last night, since apparently I needed to go to bed at nine thirty-five. I rolled my eyes, but he still insisted.
"See ya, Edward." I said and he smiled before he jumped out of my window, running quick so my parents couldn't see him out of the kitchen window. I got out of my pajamas and got the dress I was wearing today from where it was hanging on my closet door. Alice called it "plum" but that was just her stupid nickname for "dark purple".
I slipped the dress over my head and looked in the mirror. I frowned and looked away. I was too tall, too skinny, and I didn't have to wear a bra yet. I was still too scared to shave so I had to wear tights. I looked clumsy even when I wasn't moving. I tried not to scowl and I put my nice shoes on.
Going downstairs, I focused on not tripping, and forgot about my stress for a little bit. I had Raisin Bran instead of Pop-Tarts that morning, because it was healthy. Mom and Dad were ridiculous, taking photos, and saying over and over how much I was growing up. I tried not to be awkward, especially when they hugged me.
Mom and I got in the car, and Dad promised to come later, right after work. I smiled at them, but inside I was really nervous. It was way easier to be confident when Edward was with me, but since I knew he'd be there, I knew it would be okay. He said he didn't care if my spelling was perfect, and that he'd be proud of me no matter what. Although it was kind of cheesy, it was still sweet, and made me feel better.
The morning went by fast. I was so distracted I answered a question about Little House in the Big Woods wrong, even though it was my favorite book, and so nervous I could barely even eat my fish sticks at lunch.
I ate as much as I could with all the butterflies in my stomach and then I walked into the gym. Lots of parent volunteers were setting up chairs, and Eric Yorkie was taking pictures with a big, expensive-looking camera. He stopped to wave at me and then pointed me to the line of everyone else doing the spelling bee. I mouthed a "thank you" to him and ran over to find my spot in line.
Angela and I spotted each other at the same time and waved. We already agreed not to get mad if one of us beat the other. I don't think we would have anyway, but it was still reassuring.
She was towards the end, because her last name is Weber, and I was kinda at the back of the middle. We snuck of of our spots in line to talk to eachother.
"Are you nervous?" I asked. "Yeah," she admitted. "I have a ton of family members coming... even ones I haven't met!" "That's rough." I sympathized. "Are you nervous?" she asked me. "Yeah, but I don't think either of us need to be. Our spelling tests are always perfect," I was trying to assure both of us when I said that, and it worked for one of us. "We'll do great!" she said. "Good luck!" "You too!" I said going back to my spot. The parents were arriving.
About half of the fifth graders were doing the spelling bee, so I still had some time before it was my turn. I looked around the gym and saw my mom and dad wave at me from the third row. I waved back. My stomach got really full of butterflies when I saw how many parents were in there.
I fidgeted nervously as the first person went up. They got it right. The next one did too. It seemed to go so fast. Then I thought about the words I'd studied. They were words I knew, words I could spell... on a stage... in front of everyone's parents... okay, I stopped, focusing upon my breathing instead.
Suddenly, at least it seemed that way, I was at the front of the line. Anxiously I scanned the audience one more time, and then I saw Edward in the very back, giving me a tiny wave. I resisted the urge to wave back and gave him a little smile instead.
"Spell 'melancholy'," someone said. It was a man I didn't know. "Your sentence is: The death of our dog has caused us all great melancholy."
"M-E-L-A-N-C-H-O-L-Y." I said, focusing on seeing the word in my mind, and hearing Edward say it in my memory.
"Correct," I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, and walked to the back of the line, which had gotten a lot shorter. I gulped, still nervous, even though I hadn't had any trouble just before. As more and more people got out I panicked a little but Angela came up and whispered, "It's okay, Bella. We're practically the only ones who studied." "You're right." I said. I needed to think positively, like Angela did.
I went through each round, always checking to make sure Angela made it. After that I wasn't really listening to whose names were being called, what letters were being said. I didn't really pay attention until I heard them say my full name.
I looked up and there was a huge gap in the line, in fact, there was no one in front of me. I looked behind me in a panic.
Everyone was out except me, Katie, Samantha, Ashley, and Angela. I shifted uneasily, and my eyes flicked over to my mom, my dad, and then to Edward. I felt a little more confident.
"Spell 'oblivion'. Your sentence is 'No one could reach him in his oblivion." I struggled hard to focus on spelling, and not on the audience.
"O-B-L-I-V-I-O-N."
"Good," he said.
Ashley was out, because she tried to put an A in the word 'tedious'. Katie was next, and I felt bad for her. She looked terrified. She got nervous and forgot a letter.
"Spell 'oblivion'. Your sentence is 'No one could reach him in his oblivion." Was it my turn again already? I struggled hard to focus on spelling, and not on the audience.
"O-B-L-I-V-I-O-N."
"Good," they said.
"Spell 'evasively'," he told Angela. "Your sentence is, 'He evasively avoided the subject,'".
"E-V-A-S-I-V-E-L-Y."
"Correct."
Samantha Wells went after her and misspelled 'dialect' with an e instead of an a. That was when it was just me and Angela. I looked at her nervously and we sheepishly smiled at eachother. She got the word 'incentive', and then I got the word 'culminate', and then she was out for misspelling 'millennium'. I gave her an apologetic look and she rolled her eyes at me, laughing, and then cheerfully applauded with everyone else. My mom and dad, of course, were hollering and embarrassing me.
"Great job, Bells! I knew I had the smartest kid in this town!" Dad exclaimed, hugging me, as I found my way over to my parents. "Thanks, Dad." I couldn't help but look over to Edward, who was leaving with the crowd. He made eye contact with me for just a second and smiled at me. Then he was gone and I was being patted on the back and hugged and congratulated by everyone. Eric wanted to take a picture of me with my prize, the golden apple. It was kind of weird, and I tried to slip away and find Angela again.
"Good job!" I said, hugging her. "Bella, you're the one who won!" she said, with an exasperated laugh. "So? Your words were harder than mine, and you did fantastic!" "Thanks, Bella. You, too." "I'm gonna be tired of that soon." I said, thinking about the party waiting for me at the Cullen's house tonight. "No kidding," she said. "I am already, and I only got second place. But it's kind of nice, too." "Yeah." I said, remembering Edward's proud smile as I got each word right. That made all the nervousness worth it.
Mom and Dad congratulated me all the way back home, but I was getting distracted, thinking about Edward and the party. Mom fixed dinner and Dad watched football, and I just got straight in my pajamas. The sooner I got to hang out with Edward, the better, even though that meant a party. After dinner I rushed to my room, giving a lame excuse about being really tired, and then they let me be.
Edward was in my room when I got there, smiling hugely. "Don't say 'congratulations' if you know what's good for you." I threatened jokingly as I walked in. "Fine. You did a fantastic job, congrats!" "I just said-" "What are you going to do about it?" he challenged, smirking. "I'll- I'll-" Dang it. I really hadn't thought that through. "Hmph." I said, because that was obviously the best comeback. He laughed. "Let's go party." I pouted, but crawled up onto his back. He jumped out of my window, and we were at the Cullen house in a matter of minutes.
"Congratulations!" everyone said as we walked in. "Thanks," I said, blushing and looking at my feet. "Figures you'd end up a know-it-all like Edward!" Emmett teased me. "I am not a know-it-all!" I exclaimed. At the same time Edward said irritably, but also amused, "Being a genius does not make her a know-it-all!" I rolled my eyes. "You don't need to be so dramatic. If I was a genius I would have skipped like three grades by now."
He raised an eyebrow. "I could arrange that." I shook my head, blushing furiously. "That will be quite unnecessary." He laughed, running a hand through my hair. That didn't exactly help with the blushing. "We may just end up with another doctor in the family," Carlisle said. I smiled up at Edward. He was the only one that knew I wanted to be a doctor. He winked at me and I beamed.
I saw the chocolate cake behind everyone and practically drooled... except that would have been embarrassing. I may have wanted to be a doctor, but I still had a huge sweet tooth!
"Alice told us what words you had to spell. It was very impressive." Jasper complimented. Rosalie smiled forcefully. "Congratulations, Bella. You're very smart." She said, but she was having difficulty. "Thank you, Rosalie." I said, trying not to let anything get awkward. Rosalie was not my biggest fan in the Cullen family.
Alice got everybody cake, and then everyone sat down in different parts of the room, talking to eachother. I mostly just wanted to talk to Edward, and so I did. "Can we go to your room?" I asked quietly, because whispering would get everyone's attention faster. He didn't say anything, just picked me up and then we were in his room. "Alice told me what's been bothering you," he said and I blushed. "Just girl stuff. Nothing for you to worry about." It was quiet for a second and I got really embarrassed.
"I can help you, or Alice can, if you would feel more comfortable." "That wouldn't be... weird?" I asked, unsure. "No, of course not." "I don't really think I'm supposed to ask for help with that."
"Everybody asks for help their first time shaving. I had to ask my father for help the first time when I was human." "Really?" That made me feel a little better. "Well, maybe you could just help me with my legs...?" I asked. "Of course," he said. He held my hand and we walked into the bathroom. He had me sit down on the edge of the tub, and he opened a razor from under the sink. He grabbed the pink bottle of shaving cream from the shower and kneeled in front of me. He rolled up my pajama pants and I blushed.
I had gotten used to hiding my legs from him. I didn't want him to see how hairy they were. I looked closely at his face, and luckily he didn't look grossed out at all. It was the same face he made when he painted my nails. He got his hand wet and rubbed it on my legs. "You always need to get them wet first, so you don't cut yourself," he said, then he put the shaving cream on me. He put the razor in my hand and I got nervous, but he didn't let go.
"Don't go from left to right. On your legs, you'll want to go straight up," he guided my hand from my ankle to my knee. "Hold it loosely- yes, just like that- so it can move easier." Each time I got to the top of my knee, Edward took the razor and quickly rinsed it in the sink.
Before I knew it, my legs were so smooth I wasn't even sure they were mine. I rubbed my legs together, grinning when it didn't prickle. Edward smiled and put the razor in a drawer.
"Look at that, not even a nick," he said, smiling. "You've got it down already." "Did you ever accidentally cut yourself?" I asked. "Yes, once or twice," Edward said. My eyes got wide. Edward's skin was so hard. I tried to imagine his face soft enough to be cut. I put my hand on his cheek and shuddered. He hugged me. "It never really hurt that bad, just stung a little. It was more embarrassing than anything else." "Ah." I said, and yawned. "Worn out?" he asked. "A bit." "Let's go say goodnight to everyone." "Okay."
Alice seemed disappointed we were going so soon, but I promised she could give me a makeover next time and she cheered up. Everyone said goodnight and when we were outside I climbed up onto Edward's back. I hid my face against his shoulder blade as he ran me home.
When we got into my room he lay down with me. I yawned and buried my face in his shoulder. He smoothed my hair a few times. "Good night, Edward." I said. Usually I tried to stay up all night talking, but I really was tired today. "Good night, Bella. Do you want to sleep in tomorrow?" I chuckled a teensy bit. Edward was much better than the alarm clock I'd only used twice. "Yeah. Thank you." "Of course," he said, smoothing my hair once more before his hand became still and he started humming my lullaby. I fell asleep almost immediately.
A/N: I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I hope the last part wasn't too awkward, though that's probably the best word to describe fifth grade! (Why didn't I get an Edward?) I skipped ahead, but I'll probably come back to little Bella eventually. I'm thinking about eventually making a story to go with this, that actually has a plot, and having Darkward and Bella be mostly one-shots from Bella's childhood and stuff. I also think I need a better title! I've been working on a few more stories as well, but I want to finish them before I put them up, so you don't end up with 5 month breaks like this! When I'm at my dad's place this summer, hopefully I'll get more done. Thank you so much for reading this! The fact that there are people who actually care enough to read and follow/favorite/review my writing is a source of encouragement and comfort in my life, and I can't thank you enough.
