BellaPOV:
Esme took us to register at the local high school. Edward, Alice, Elizabeth, and I would be starting the tenth grade. It was insane. In what universe did any of us look young enough to be fifteen? Edward assured me it would work, but I was sceptical. Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie would be attending eleventh grade; which made as little sense. Still, they all said it was a piece of cake once you got past the initial disbelief. I had to trust them; they had been doing this for years.
So, I entrusted Reneseme to Jacob for the day. He had promised to take her to the museum or something. I knew he'd do whatever she liked, no matter how much it would normally have bored him. We went in a rented minivan, because legally, Edward, Elizabeth, Alice and I weren't permitted to drive yet. Pretending to be fifteen had drawbacks. Edward had a solution though; as always. His documents were set so that he would be turning sixteen, the legal driving age in Alberta, on September 30th. This had prompted me to check mine and Elizabeth's ID's which bore the same birth date; my birth date, September 13th. Even in immortality I was going to be at least a few days older than Edward…
The short balding principle greeted us with wide eyes. I could understand, it had not been long ago that I was dazzled by the Cullen family. Esme had apparently called in to make the meeting to register us early, so I doubt he had been expecting exactly what was in front of him right now.
"Uh, hello. You must be Mrs. Cullen right?" he said approaching Esme, his hand extended to shake hers.
"Yes, I am. You would be Principal Edberg, then? May I introduce my children, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, Edward, and Bella and Elizabeth."
He gaped. "Pardon me, but you look too young to be a mother of seven," he replied.
"Oh. They're not my biological children. Jasper and Rosalie are my husband's nephew and niece. Their parents split up and the courts assigned us custody when they were still quite young. We adopted Emmett, Edward and Alice. We just felt that we've been so lucky, we ought to share our luck and love with children. I can't have children of my own, you see."
"What about those two, there? The twins?" he asked, gesturing to Elizabeth and I, who had purposefully dressed alike today.
"Oh, well their mother was a college friend of mine. She and her husband were doing missionary work in Africa when they caught a rare disease and died. Dr. Cullen and I took them in."
"Oh, how unfortunate. My condolences, girls."
"Thank you," Elizabeth said softly with just the right amount of grief in her tone. She was good at this.
I nodded in agreement.
"Well, then. Why don't you folks come on in? I'll give you a tour and then we can sit down and fill out the registration forms."
*****
"Well, wasn't that just painless?" Elizabeth asked as we walked back towards the house after registering for school while Esme returned the rental car.
Then, the front door opened and Reneseme flew out of it towards Edward and I. She came to me first, squeezing me in a tight hug around my waist. I hugged her back and bent down to kiss the top of her head. Edward scooped her up into his arms and kissed her cheek. He was beaming with pride.
"How was your day, sweetheart? Did you have fun at the museum?" he asked.
She must have been mentally reviewing her day as I watched the expressions play across Edward's angelic face. He smiled at this or that, and one he frowned briefly but it was quickly replaced by another smile. Finally, I looked at them both, waiting for my recap. Reneseme placed her hand up to my throat and I watched for myself.
She and Jacob had breakfast at IHOP; he has persuaded her to try to enjoy a nice human breakfast. She didn't really like the toast, but the eggs and bacon were pretty good. Jake drove fast, but still slower than her dad or Aunty Alice. He insisted that she use her seat belt. I'd have to thank him for that later. They visited the exhibits at the museum. The Aboriginal exhibit was her favourite because Jake filled in some blanks with Quileute legends. As he opened the car door for her on the way home, he had kissed her cheek. She was intensely proud of this. No wonder Edward had been frowning. I was almost frowning myself. I had known Jacob, and he wasn't exactly the purest minded person. Perhaps it was different when it came to imprinting. Still, I'd have to talk to Edward about this later. Then, a last memory, her beating Jacob brilliantly at the game of checkers they had been playing just before we arrived.
"Sounds like a busy day. Well, it was probably more excited than ours," I replied, making a face.
"Bella just doesn't want to be the first Cullen to fail high school," Emmett said jokingly.
"I'll remind you that I did quite well through high school my first time, Emmett. AND I didn't have a photographic memory then," I retorted, sticking out my tongue immaturely.
"We'll see about that when school starts next week, little sis," he mocked before heading out into the forest to hunt.
***********
One last weekend before school. Edward was monitoring Jacobs thoughts towards Reneseme just in case. So far, everything was clean. Guess imprinting did change a guy.
I called Charlie to give him an update. We talked for hours. When I said goodbye he seemed sad, but Sue was their and I think that was what kept him together. I was glad he had Sue.
ElizabethPOV:
It was that final glorious weekend of summer vacation for mortals. I celebrated by going for a long hunt in the woods. I preferred the smaller predators; lynx and bobcats specifically. Unfortunately, they were few and far between so I had to settle for black bear. I took my time, enjoying the silence, the peace, the stillness of being alone. I loved the Cullens dearly as I had ever loved anyone, but there was only so much time I could spend around five sets of perfectly matched couples. Especially after… no, I promised myself that I would stop thinking about that. I had to stop thinking about what had happened.
I ran back to the house at twilight. My room was comforting and I quickly changed into a pair of cotton short and a cotton tee, which I pulled my silk dressing gown over. I ran my finger tips along the books in the shelf, debating what to read. Austen was far too romantic for someone living out their existence alone, Hawthorne and Hardy would just upset me further, Tolstoy was a bit too dull to engage me in distraction, and Voltaire was just a bit too much of a flashback. Hmm. Perhaps Atwood would be fitting. She was Canadian after all. So, I pulled out the Handmaid's Tale and sat down to read it.
I was just getting into the second chapter, when I hear footsteps, that would have been unperceivable to human ears, approach my door. The lack of thought flow that accompanied it told me that it must be Bella. Odd. She didn't usually leave Edward's side after Reneseme was asleep.
"Come in," I said quietly, placing a bookmark on my page and uncrossing my legs on the sofa.
"Hey, Liz," she greeted.
"Evening, twin."
"I was wondering if I could talk to you."
"Yeah, sure. What about?"
"I guess I just wanted to know more about your life and…"
"And what? Bella, don't be afraid to ask me. I don't mind being open about my life."
"Well I'm still really curious about how your power works. Edward explained it but he was really vague," she said almost bashfully.
"Oh. That's all? No problem. Why don't you come sit," I invited, patting the sofa next to me.
"Thanks."
"So, I guess it's hard for Edward to explain my ability. It's really something you have to experience to properly describe, and seeing as how I'm the only one who experiences it… It's an odd thing really. I get near vampires and my body sort of senses their talent. I can feel it like a magnetic pull. Some abilities I can feel stronger than others. I'm not sure why it is, but I think it has to do with how often I'm near that person and how powerful their talents are."
"So why did you pick up Edwards thought reading so quickly? I mean you'd only been here a few hours before you were reading thoughts."
"Oh, don't worry Edward and I were never all that close. Just friends with a common plight. You see whenever I came to stay with the Cullens, well it was difficult for me. Seeing all the couples and being alone… it's tough. So Edward and I would have discussions while the others were off being romantic. We kept each other from killing the happy couples by bickering over our differing opinions."
"Oh, okay. Why haven't you found someone? I mean, you're gorgeous and you seem really great…"
"I… I have had a hard time finding love. It's very much unheard-of for a vampire to go as long as I have without finding a mate. I used to think maybe I had made a mistake in killing Herucio… its been a long time since I thought that, though," I said, dragging up all the pain and anguish. "I changed my mind… when I met a young man during the first world war, before I met Carlisle and the Cullens. He was a mortal and I… loved him. He wanted to fight for his country in the war. I begged him not to go… but I wouldn't change him to keep him safe, so he went to fight…"
"He died?" Bella asked softly, placing her hand on my knee comfortingly.
"Yes… I… It changed me. Strong emotions tend to change us."
