9.
Big Girl Now?
Esme sat in her chair in the living room and looked lost.
"Esme, what's wrong, Love?" Said Carlisle from his chair a few feet away.
"I just can't believe Alice is starting school tomorrow. Where has the time gone?"
She looked over at the pictures of all the kids on the wall. "The boys will be going away to college any day now and Alice will announce that she's getting married, and they will all leave us!" muttered Esme.
Carlisle chuckled, "Honestly, Es, sometimes you are so dramatic. And Alice is going to college. She'll get married first, over my dead body!"
"They are just growing up way too fast, Carlisle," snapped Esme, "And you just sit there and laugh at me. What am I going to do when they no longer need me? I haven't worked in years and I have no idea if I'm qualified for anything any more."
"They will aways need you, My Pet, and so will I. Besides, Alice is only starting Kindergarten. She will be home every day by lunchtime." He laughed again. "It'll be a long time before she comes to us and announces that she's getting married. You have plenty of time to be needed."
"Ha ha! Easy for you to say. You don't see how fast they're outgrowing their clothes! Plus, you are among grown-ups every day. I don't know if I even remember how to talk to grown-ups."
Carlisle set his book aside and went over to her. Catching her hands in his, he lifted her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her. Kissing her on her worried forehead, he said, "Esme, have I not told you enough how perfect you are? If you spoke only Pig Latin, everyone you meet would still be enchanted in your presence."
Esme playfully slapped his arm, "Now who's being dramatic?"
Carlisle threw back his head and laughed, "Come on, My Life, let's go make sure Alice doesn't have Jasper climbing up a ladder outside her window, planning to elope."
"Carlisle! Bite your tongue! I want my only daughter to have a big, beautiful wedding with all of her family and friends."
Carlisle shook his head and clutched one hand over his heart while leading Esme up the stairs with the other. "You, My Darling, will be the death of me yet."
The next morning, Esme put on a happy face as she helped Alice get ready for her first day of school. She brushed out her long, dark hair and put a pink headband in place to match her pink jumper.
"Mommy?" said Alice, rubbing her tummy. "What if nobody likes me?"
"Alice! Everyone will like you! Why are you worried about that?"
"Edward says I'm a brat, but I don't mean to be. What if I am a brat and the other kids don't like me?"
"Well, Honey, just be yourself and play nice with the other kids. You are a sweet girl. You are not a brat. Edward just says that because he doesn't want to share Jasper with you. I'm sure you will have a lot of friends."
"OK, Mommy." said Alice, but she didn't look convinced.
Edward and Emmette were already in the kitchen eating bowls of cereal when Esme entered the kitchen. "Edward, please stop calling your sister a brat. She is so worried that the other kids won't like her, that her tummy hurts."
"Geeze, Mom, I only call her that when she's being a pain. I don't mean she's a brat all the time."
"Edward! You do call her a brat all the time!!" added Emmette.
"She thinks she's so cute that we should let her do whatever she wants and not get mad at her," complained Edward. "She's always bossing Jasper and me around and she won't let us play without bugging us."
"Well, she is cute! I don't ever get mad at her and she follows me and Rosie around all the time!" said Emmett. "You're just jealous cuz Jas wants to play with Ali more than you!"
"No, he doesn't! He's just being nice. He doesn't want to hurt her feelings!"
"Guys! Guys! Enough! Alice is just a little girl. Give her a break, huh? You both have tons of friends and she's been all alone here while you were at school. You guys, and Jasper and Rosalie, are all she has. Help her out today and make her feel safe, OK?"
"OK, Mom." said Emmette.
"Geeze! We gotta' take care of her at school now, too?"
"Edward Anthony Cullen! Be the good, thoughtful boy I know you are, and be nice to your sister. She is scared because she has never been to school before. You'll only have to help her the first few days."
"I'll try. She just gets on my nerves. Plus, I don't want my friends seeing me hanging out with a baby. I'll help her if she needs me to, but Jasper and I don't want her hanging out with us and our friends."
"She won't have to, Ed," said Emmette. "I'm sure she'll have her own friends in a day, or two."
"Besides, Edward, Emmett helped you out at first and he never once complained about it. You are being selfish! Alice is a sweet girl and she will have her own friends and not want to hang out with you any way.
"I sure hope so!" sighed Edward.
In the hallway, Alice stood stiff against the wall with tears in her eyes. "I'll show him!" she thought. "I won't ask him, or Jasper, to help me at all! If no one likes me, I'll just pretend I don't care. I'm a big girl now! I can do anything they can do!" She scrubbed her eyes with her little fists and walked into the kitchen, too upset to eat breakfast.
Alice began to get even more nervous as she and her mom entered her new classroom. Esme had brought the kids for their first day so she could meet Alice's teacher and let her know that she was available to volunteer if she needed her.
As soon as they had entered the building, Emmette, Jasper and Edward had taken off to find their first classes, and Rosalie had stopped to greet a group of friends. Alice was so happy that she had her mom with her. She would never admit it to Edward, but she was very scared.
Her teacher was really nice and, the other kids all looked nice, too. She saw all of the art supplies and toys and thought that, maybe, things would be okay. Her mom and the teacher were talking and she went over by the bookshelf. A bright yellow book caught her eye but, when she started to pull it out, a girl with yellow hair grabbed it from her.
"I am going to look at this book." she said. Handing another book to Alice, she continued, "You can look at this one."
"But I want to look at the yellow one. Maybe we can share."
"I'm not sharing it, so there!" the yellow-haired girl said. "If you want it, you're just gonna' have to wait." And she flounced away.
Alice was not used to being treated this way, but she tried to ignore it. She didn't want anyone to think she was a brat. Besides, there were a lot of other kids in the class, she would just stay away from the mean one with yellow hair.
She walked back over to her mom, who was still talking to the teacher.
"She's so small." The teacher said, "Does she need any special help?"
"Not really, unless something is too high for her to reach. She's really smart and usually figures out how to help herself."
"OK, we'll see how things go. I'm sure she'll be fine. Now, you say you are available to volunteer on Wednesdays?"
Alice looked around the room. All of the other kids were bigger than her. She looked at her hand, then her foot, "Why am I smaller than them?" she thought. She had never noticed before. All of the kids at home were older than her and she hadn't been around any other kids her age.
"Alice! Hurry up! We're gonna' miss the bus!"
"Alright, Edward! I'm coming!"
Alice grabbed her book bag and ran down the stairs. Edward was waiting by the front door. He held out his hand and she took it, stopping to give Esme a kiss good-bye as she walked up to see them off.
"Have a good day, Kids!!" she called as they both ran across the front lawn toward Jasper who waited by the road. "I'll be waiting for you at the bus stop after school, Ali!"
"OK, Mom!" Ali yelled, and, looking down the street, they joined Jasper to walk to the end of the block to catch the bus.
Alice was so excited! She had never ridden the bus before. Only the big kids had gotten to ride the bus and now it was her turn!
Emmett and Rosalie were already at the bus stop talking to some friends. Edward and Jasper were talking about a new video game they saw on TV and Alice was lost in her thoughts. The bus roared to a stop in front of them, and Alice began to feel afraid. The older kids got on first and she grabbed Jasper's hand and followed him onto the bus. Jasper let go of her hand and went down the aisle to an empty seat. Alice followed him to the seat and sat down. All of the other kids began laughing. Jasper turned red and told her she couldn't sit with him.
"Boys sit on one side, and girls on the other, Ali."
"Yeah, Ali. Go sit over there. I sit with Jasper." Edward grabbed her by the hand and pulled her up so he could sit down.
She was so embarrassed and, when she tried to find a seat, none of the girls would let her sit with them. She just stood there trying not to cry. The bus driver yelled back at her to find a seat and she had hurried to the very back of the bus where there was an empty seat.
That day at school, some of the kids in her class called her a baby because she didn't know how to ride the bus and teased her for being so small.
Jasper's classmates teased him, too. They asked him if Alice was his girlfriend or if he just liked hanging out with babies. He didn't want to be mean to Ali, but he decided he would just stay away from her at school. He hated when the other kids drew attention to him.
The next morning, none of the girls would let Alice sit with them on the bus. After that, it became a game to try to have a girl in each seat so that Alice had no where to sit. The bus driver was always mad at her for not sitting down and he finally made her sit in the first seat behind him. The other kids called it the 'baby seat' since she was so small and was the only kid to have an assigned seat.
Edward tried to stick up for her but the other kids ignored him. Jasper just sat there looking miserable. Neither of them knew what to do, so they both hoped the other kids would just forget about it in a couple days and leave Ali alone.
Alice was confused. She had never had people treat her like this before. Usually people were so nice to her and told her how cute and sweet she was. A lot of the time, they would even give her a treat. These kids went out of their way to be mean to her and now, even Jasper didn't want to be around her at school. She started getting a lot of stomach aches, but the doctor told her parents that it was just anxiety and would pass. Carlisle agreed and tried to convince her that things would get better.
The night after her doctor's appointment, Alice heard her parents talking. "Maybe Ali is just too young to start school, after all, Carlisle."
"She is very smart, Esme. If we keep her home another year, she will be a year behind the other kids her age, and will be behind all through high school. She will be fine. She just needs to adjust to school and gain confidence. I guess we should've put her in preschool so she would get used to playing with other kids."
Alice didn't want to be a year behind the other kids, whatever that meant, so she pretended that everything was alright at school after that, and didn't even complain about her tummy aches any more.
"Edward was right," sighed Alice. "I am a brat, and now no one will play with me. I wish I knew how to stop being a brat."
