I'm really sorry for the long wait. And unlike my Rent readers, you guys didn't even get a warning, because I didn't get to finish this chapter soon enough, I'm sorry. I was pretty sure I wouldn't get anythign published last month. First, I was gone fora week for Sea Camp. Then, it was crunch time for my play and I had practice almost ever day. The second to last weekend was my Key Club Convention and the last weekend was the play. But, everything is over and done with now (~sniff~) so I'll be able to write more often. :)

Before I go onto this chapter, I have three things to address:

1. I totally sympathize with people who think the plot is moving too slowly. I HATE it when plots move slowly. However, at this point it is crucial to move slowly. We have to actually build a relationship between Bella and the Cullens before we can move on, or else the rest of the story seems a bit ridiculous and random. So, we'll have several more chapters this year and then it'll be about one chapter per year (unless we need more than one chapter to tell a section of the story) until she gets to about her teen years, then things will slow down again, Kim will take over, and you people who keep wanting Bella to be a teen now and get to the romance will be satisfied. :p

2. Bella is two, the concept of death isn't usually THAT well developed at that age. Yes, she's noticed that her parents are gone and probably not coming back, but it hasn't fully manifested in her brain because she's so young. To her right now, it's more like she gets to spend some time with these nice people she likes. Losing her parents will be fully addressed.

3. Another thing that, I promise, will be addressed, is Rosalie. There are reasons behind her reactions to things and it will eventually be resolved. You can't rush these things. :p

Enjoy. :)


There are three words most children hate to hear. Back to school. Even if you're technically not still a child, these words can still suck if they apply to you. Edward hated going to school normally. It was a tedious wasteland filled with pointless coursework, boring lessons, and the same things being taught over and over again. And that wasn't even including the people. Arrogant, egotistical children so shallow that their lives only consisted of who was dating whom and what Ashley wore last week. Teachers with superiority complexes who lived to make that one intelligent student mess up, just once, to prove that they were smarter. Of course, there were always several exceptions, but the majority of the time, this was how it was. You would think schools would change a bit over several decades, at least in coursework.

This time, however, it was infinitely worse to walk out the door of his home and head off to the eight-hour purgatory. This time he actually had to leave something behind. It was bad enough the week earlier when he had had to leave to go hunting; at least then he had something to occupy his mind. At school, there was nothing. Just the unavoidable paranoia and worry creeping up with a faint part of his mind working on tuning out the inane mental chatter of the children around him.

He wondered how Bella was going to take this. She seemed ok after the hunting trip, but that was when she had other things to distract her, as well. Alice and Jasper couldn't visit her if they were attending school as well. And this wasn't a rare occurrence, he would have to leave every day. He thought back to the night before, when he had explained the situation.

"What do tomowwow?" Bella asked as Edward scooped her up, laying her down in bed and pulling the covers around her.

"Bella, we have to go back to school tomorrow," he said cautiously, not sure if she would understand what this meant. She looked confused. He couldn't tell whether this was because she didn't know what school was or because this was the first time he had responded with something other than "Whatever you want to do."

"What dat?" she finally asked.

"It's a big building with lots of kids where kids go to learn things."

"Wike hewe?" she asked. Edward chuckled. While their house didn't have a lot of kids, it was a place mostly devoted to teaching Bella. They would spend hours wondering around the house while Bella pointed out things so Edward could explain what they were. Esme was constantly letting Bella help her in the kitchen, pointing out all the things they used and helping her read the instructions that were not really needed, but she wanted to help Bella learn to read. Whenever Alice and Jasper came over, they would play with the little flashcards that Alice had decided to buy to help her learn numbers and colors. And every night Bella and Edward curled up on the rocking chair with several books and Bella would attempt to make out the words written on the page.

"Sort of, only it's more structured there."

Bella thought this over and then laid back on her pillows.

"When?" she asked suddenly.
"Sometime early in the morning. It'll last several hours and we'll be home sometime in the afternoon. It won't be too long." He wondered whom he was trying to convince more: Bella or himself.

Bella thought this over some more and then snuggled under her blankets, closing her eyes.

"You know, we don't have to go to school," Emmett said suddenly, pulling Edward out of his reverie, "We can always just skip straight to college."

"Oh, yes, let's do that," Rosalie said with the first true enthusiasm Edward had heard her use in almost a month, "I hate high school, college is way more fun."

"But if we do that, we'll have to leave sooner," Esme countered, "Bella will be fine, Edward, don't worry."

"Weady!" a voice called from behind them suddenly. They all turned to see Bella standing in the hallway. Edward was surprised she was awake, he had made sure she was sleeping soundly before leaving her room and they had all been extra quiet, so as not to wake her. She had dressed herself and the look was quite comical. She has on a dressy skirt (backwards) with a dinosaur t-shirt and two tap shoes that were on the wrong feet. On her back she had on a Care Bears back-pack and Edward could see Bun-bun sticking out of the top of it.

Edward chuckled and walked over to her, kneeling in front of her.

"Bella, what are you doing?"

"Schoow."

Edward glanced back at the others and they looked back sympathetically. Even Rosalie looked a little pitying. He turned back to the child.

"Uh…Bella…You can't come with us…"

Her face fell.

"Why?"

"Bella, school is for big people, you're too young to go."

"Pwease?" She started to use the abandoned puppy dog eyes again, but Esme saved him.

"Bella, sweetie," she consoled, kneeling down on Bella's other side, "It's nothing against you personally. It's just that they won't let you in because you are almost a quarter of the size of all the other students. Plus, high school isn't a fun place for someone like you. You would have to sit still all day and you wouldn't understand a thing anybody was trying to teach you."

"Yeah," Emmett agreed, "You'll have way more fun here, shrimp. And if I had a choice, I would much rather stay here and play games with Esme than have to go there. You're pretty lucky."

She seemed slightly consoled by this, but wrapped her arms around Edward's neck anyway.

"No go," she said. He hugged her back, not wanting to go, but he knew that if he didn't, it would be harder for them to keep up their charade and would just make things more difficult.

"I have to, angel, I'm sorry. But you'll have fun with Esme and I'll be back before you know it."

He pulled back and kissed her on the forehead before turning to leave with Emmett and Rosalie. Bella started to head for the door and Esme picked her up to stop her from trying to follow them. The little girl just stared at the door for a few minutes and Esme wondered what she was doing. Then she burst into tears.


"Maybe I should skip today," Edward said, turning to go back into the house. Emmett grabbed his shoulder and turned him back around.

"No, Edward, she'll be fine."

"She's crying!"

"Because she's two, ok? She'll be fine for a few hours."

"But…"

"Edward," Rosalie interrupted as she and Emmett got into the car, "If you don't let her spend some time without you, how is she ever going to grow up to be independent? She'll just be dependent on you her entire life and that's not going to help her at all. Now get in the car and let's go."

Edward and Emmett stared at her in shock.

"Get in!" she screeched and he jumped before opening the back door and sliding in.


"Bella, do you want to color?" Esme asked. It had been an hour since the children had left for school and she just sat on the window ledge, staring morosely out it down the street. She shook her head. "Do you want to watch a movie?" More shaking. "How about all those toys Edward bought you? Some of them are still in their packaging. Do you want to take them out?" More shaking. "Bella, are you just going to sit there until Edward comes home." This time, nodding. Esme tried her best to stifle her laugh. "Well, Edward will be very upset with me if I don't at least attempt to keep you entertained, so let's go see if we can find something for you to do."

She carried Bella upstairs to her room and glanced around at the shelves.

"How about we play with some stuffed animals?" she asked as she spotted the large net filled with animals in the corner of Bella's room. She walked over to it and tried to figure out how best to work it. Was there a way to undo it, or did you just pull the animals out one-by-one? She finally decided to try and unhook it off the wall, but jerked it too hard and pulled the entire corner of the net out of the wall, leaving a small hole. "Shoot." she muttered as all the animals tumbled to the floor. Now she was going to have to fix that hole…

That, she decided, could wait, however. Esme's slip-up with the net had, apparently, been very comical to Bella, as she had started giggling. Then she toddled over to the pile of stuffed animals and started digging through it, pulling out a few animals every once in a while and tossing them into a pile off to the side. Then she sat down in front of them and gestured for Esme to sit across from her. The two spent the next few hours playing with the animals; a huge improvement from that morning.


Edward hadn't thought it was possible to become even more bored with school than he had already been. He now found everything even more pointless than it had originally been. He already knew everything, so why should he bother coming at all? Every class was exactly the same. The teacher would introduce herself (or himself) and then pass out the sheet with all the rules on it. Even though the rules were exactly the same in every class and the students had been abiding by these rules since the dawn of time, every teacher felt the need to go over them one by one.

As if that wasn't enough, he also had to deal with the onslaught of never-ending thoughts about him and his family. Most of them revolved around how attractive each one was, with the particular odd-ball thought about how strange they seemed. This was the time when Edward most regretted being the only one his family without a mate. The others were very obviously paired off and, so, no one ever bothered them. There would be the occasional brave person who would think they could steal one away from the other, but they were quickly put in their place and this would, in turn, deter most other future attempts by others.

Edward, unfortunately, didn't have this advantage. He was obviously alone. The odd man out. Which, in human eyes, meant fair game. By lunch, he had been hit on by seven girls, two guys, and one teacher who tried to make her flirting seem subtle, but was so obvious; Edward didn't need to read her mind to know what she kept implying.

He really hated high school.


Bella refused to take a nap after lunch. Esme suspected that she was waiting for Edward to come home, afraid that he would while she was asleep and she would miss it. She had tried to explain that Edward wouldn't be home until 3:00, but the child still refused to go into her room and sleep. So, instead, Esme put on Aladdin and sat down on the couch, Bella nestled in her arms and wrapped in a blanket. Her plan worked and Bella was out by "A Whole New World".


One hour left. Just one school hour left and Edward would be free to go home. He wondered how Bella had spent her day and what Esme had come up with to entertain the girl. He knew Bella loved coloring and thought of all the pictures she had colored for him last time (Between those and all the other pictures she had colored and drawn, Edward was on the way to having completely wallpapered his room.) and wondered if she would do more or if Esme would come up with some new idea. Bella still had a lot of unopened toys in her closet and toy chest.

He wondered if he could get away with standing up and walking out the door right now. The teacher probably wouldn't notice, she as too busy going over the rules of the classroom and all the other students were too bored to pay much attention to anything, having heard these five times today already. He could just walk out the door and run home. The idea was very tempting…

Fifty-nine minutes left.

"Now, onto the grading scale," the teacher droned, "As you can see, the grading scale is a bit different this year…" Edward and no idea why she thought anyone could see that. This was a class full of Freshmen, none of them knew how grading went last year.

Fifty-eight minutes left.

He glanced over at Alice, who was staring intently at her own sheet of rules as if it were the most interesting thing on the face of the planet. In reality, she was planning out every single tiny detail to Bella's birthday party. She had a week left and was wondering if it was too short of notice to hire the cast of Sesame Street to show up. He couldn't help but scoff to himself over her absurdities. Alice heard him and shot him a glare before returning to the much more realistic plan of hiring a clown. Which quickly turned into hiring a circus. Edward wondered if Bella would like a circus at her birthday party. Kids loved circuses, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea…

Great, now she's got him doing it…

Fifty-five minutes.

He soon found himself wondering what Bella was doing again. That was a bad idea because it lead him straight to what he had been trying to block out all day-everything that could go wrong. What if she tripped and fell down the stairs? Or locked herself in the oven when Esme wasn't looking? What if she stuck a fork in an electrical socket or a rabid squirrel came in through a window and bit her? So many things could go wrong and instead of being with preventing them, Edward was sitting here in a classroom full of children listening to some woman ramble on about proper conduct in the classroom.

He just kept going over all the things that could go wrong, getting worse and more violent the more he thought about them. Finally, he just couldn't take it anymore. He stood up, a little too quickly, as he shoved his desk noisily across the floor. The teacher stopped speaking and the whole class looked up to stare at him.

"Do you have a problem Mr…." The teacher glanced down at her seating chart, "…Cullen?"

"Uh….I feel sick. May I please go to the office?"

She gaped at him for a moment. He could tell that she had ever intention of telling him "no" and that he looked perfectly fine, but h suspected the expression on his face must've convinced her otherwise. Finally she just nodded and he had to resist the urge to run out the door.

He didn't go the office. He found the nearest exit and practically ran out it ignoring the shouts of a teacher on plan behind him. He rounded the corner of the building and broke into a dead sprint for home, not caring if anyone saw him or not. He didn't stop running until he reached his home.


"Ok, what's the next step say?" Esme asked sweetly, watching the toddler as she stared at the back of the box of cake mix.

"Two…" Her little brow furrowed as she tried to decipher the letters that followed the number. "Ee…. E…ges?" She looked up at Esme to see if she was correct.

Esme walked closer to the stepstool the child was standing on and kneeled closer so she could point at the box.

"What letter is that?" she asked sweetly.

"E!" she proclaimed.

"Very good. And what sound does that letter make?"

"Ee!" she exclaimed again, pronouncing it the long way.

"Right, but remember that letter has two different sounds. What's the other sound?"

Bella just stared at her.

"What sound does the letter 'E' make in your name?"

"Eh," she said, pronouncing it the short way this time.

"Very good. Now, what's the next letter?"

"G!"

"You are so good at this," she praised, "Now, what sound does 'G' make?"

"Jah?"

"What's the letter after 'G'?"

"G again."

"Right, it's not an 'E'. So, that means it makes what sound?"

"Gah!"

"Right!"

She gave Bella an enthusiastic hi-five and the girl was all smiles.

"I wead!" she said.

"Yes, you are a very good reader. Now, would you please go get me two eggs out of the fridge?"

She nodded and hopped down from the stool, dragging it over to the fridge. Esme couldn't help but smile at her. She looked so adorable in her mini-apron. Esme had gone to the store the week before and bought them matching aprons since Bella seemed to love helping her out in the kitchen so much. Esme heard the front door crash open and went to see what was the matter. Edward was standing in the doorway, taking his backpack off. He tossed it onto the sofa as he walked into the house.

"Where's Bella?" he asked.

"In the kitchen. We're making cupcakes. Why are you home already? School doesn't end for another forty-five minutes, doesn't it?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but there was a slight clattering sound in the kitchen and then a small scream. The two bolted into the kitchen to see Bella standing in front of the open fridge on her stepstool, staring down at two eggs that had hit the ground and broken. She was crying.

"Eggs dwopped!" she cried and Esme immediately picked her up and started shushing her.

"Shhh, sweetie, it's ok. Accidents happen. You aren't hurt, are you?" She shook her head. "Good, then nothing's wrong." She rocked the toddler for several minutes while she calmed down. Edward would've intervened, but Esme seemed to be doing a very good job and she seemed to have a good time playing the mother role.

Once Bella's tears had subsided she glanced around the room. Her eyes fell on Edward and her face lit up as a huge smile spread across her face.

"Edward!" she exclaimed and reached her arms out for him. Esme barely had enough time to actually pass her over to Edward before almost dropping her. She threw her tiny arms around Edward's neck and hugged him what must've been tightly for a two-year-old; he hugged her back as tightly as he could without her hurting her.

"Edward, we pwayed animaws!" she exclaimed, "And we make cupcakes!"
"I can see that," he said, smiling, glad to have her back in his arms.

"Edward, you never explained why you are home so much earlier than your siblings," Esme said with a slight scolding tone to her voice. He looked at her with a slightly desperate expression.

"I just couldn't stand being there anymore. I kept thinking of all the bad stuff that could happen and I panicked and bolted out the door."

Esme nodded and turned back to the mixing bowl as Bella resumed her chattering. Edward sat down in a kitchen chair with Bella seated on her lap and listened to her recount everything that had happened during her day. She had been completely safe, of course, but Edward felt a slight pang of something he couldn't quite identify. He didn't like how Esme got to be there for all those things and do all that stuff with Bella while he was stuck at school. It took a while of concentration before he realized he was jealous. Which was both ridiculous and stupid. He decided to ignore it and just focus on Bella's story, since she could tell he wasn't paying attention and kept shouting "You wistening?" at him.


Edward had just gotten Bella to sleep when Esme and Carlisle called him downstairs to talk. He was 99% sure that it had something to do with him bolting out of his classroom earlier that day. First day of school and one of the Cullen kids already had some weird, freaky episode. That definitely wasn't going to help them fit in.

"You're not in trouble," Carlisle said as Edward entered the backroom, "We were just wondering how bas things were earlier."

"Not too bad…At first. But, when I got to last period, I just sort of snapped. I think I'm just too paranoid and I know half the stuff-ok, most of the stuff, really-is completely illogical and will probably never happen, but I still can't stop the panic."

Esme chuckled lightly.

"You're like a new mother," she said. She got a thoughtful expression on her face before speaking again, "Maybe it would be best if you not go to school for a while and just stay home with Bella. She was miserable without you around and I had to keep her occupied every second of the day or else she would get mopey and return to just staring out the window and down the road, waiting for your car to drive back up. And you, obviously, aren't doing very well with this."

Edward shot a glance at Carlisle to see what he thought.

"I think Bella is going to need to learn to be independent and not need to have you around all the time. But it's only been a month since her parents died. She needs stability right now, and you're the closest thing she has to that right now. If you go away for several hours each day, it's more likely that it'll do more damage than good."

"What will we tell everyone about why I'm not in school?"

"We'll come up with something. We can just say that you've decided to go to different school with better classes for your or something. It's New York, there are tons of schools in the area. You deciding to go to a different one isn't that peculiar."

Edward nodded.

"So, am I allowed tog o now?
Carlisle laughed.

"You act as if we were punishing you for something. Yes, you may go."

"Thank you." Edward smiled and raced back up the stairs, glad he would be able to go back to spending every waking hour with Bella.


And that's chapter eight. We still need gift ideas, so if anyone has any, please let us know. :)