Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of Stephenie Meyer. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
The Gloaming - Chapter Nine
I stumble backward from the uppercut Mike delivered to my jaw and fall into Eric Yorkie who promptly pushes me off him. My feet tangle and I land on my rear in the grass by the sidewalk outside the science building. Did he just hit me?! How asinine.
I'm still partially in shock when a female voice says, "Edward are you okay? Mike, you jerk, what's wrong with you?" It's Jessica Stanley. She's knelt down next to me and she's touching my face. We're drawing a crowd. That can't be good.
"Did you see that? He fell like girl. What is it, nerd, can't fight back?" Mike is laughing like a hyena. I would blush, but I'm too angry. I'm going to kill that little piss-ant.
I turn to look at Jessica. Why is she touching me? She has a strange expression on her face. As I start to pick myself up I notice that Mike isn't laughing anymore. I look up and see Emmett pick Mike up by the neck and put him against the building. "Give me a good reason not to end you right now, Newton," he growls.
Emmett doesn't need to do that. A teacher is going to show up soon and he'll get in a lot of trouble. "Emmett, put him down. He isn't worth it. I'm okay." My pride is hurting more than my jaw. "A teacher is going to show up soon and you don't want detention. Just leave. Go." Emmett puts Mike down and releases his neck. Mike starts to say something, but the look on Emmett's face stops him. Bella pushes through the crowd and gets to Emmett. She touches his arm.
"Emmett, go to class. Edward and I will handle this," she says. Emmett leaves just before Mr. Molina walks out of the building.
"What's going on here?" Eric and Tyler back away from Mike. They're going to throw him to the wolves. What great friends you have, Mike.
"Mike punched Edward," Jessica announces. She reaches up to touch my face again. I flinch away from her. I don't feel comfortable with her touching me but I don't want to hurt her feelings. So, I smile apologetically at her.
"He started it. He insulted me." So, he did understand. That's surprising.
"Edward, what happened?" I look over at Bella. She's glaring at Jessica. I clear my throat to get her attention before I answer. She looks at me, scowls, and then looks at the ground.
"I was coming to class when these three Neanderthals stopped me and blocked the door. Words were exchanged; I'm not going to lie to you. When I tried to go around them and into the building, the little one there sucker punched me." I hate Mike Newton!
"I know you're angry, Edward, but that's enough with the name calling. Mike is that what happened?"
"He insulted me." I didn't say anything that isn't true. Is it still an insult if it's the truth?
"How? What did he say?"
"He called me names and said that I ride the short bus." No, I said that he didn't ride the short bus. See, he is stupid. I spoke the truth.
"Edward, what did you say to Mike?"
"I called him immature, egotistical and an imbecile and said that his dad paid so he wouldn't have to ride the short bus." Mr. Molina puckers his lips and then sucks in a breath. He bites his upper lip. I think he's trying to not laugh.
He turns back to Mike. "So you hit him?"
"Well, yeah, he insulted me." He sounds like a broken record.
"You could have just walked away. Did anyone witness anything?" Mr. Molina looks around the gathered crowd.
"I was coming in the building when I saw Mike hit Edward. I didn't see Edward provoke Mike in any way." Thank you, Jessica. Bella still looks mad, but she's added a touch of gratitude to her glare.
"You, bit…." Watch it, Mike.
"Mr. Newton, you are in enough trouble do you want to compound it?"
"What?" Surely he knows that he should have used his words and not his fists. Who am I kidding? He doesn't think he did anything wrong.
"Mike, detention, after school, every day this week."
"I have to work at the store after school." Crap, he's right. That should be fun.
"Not this week. I'll be calling your parents shortly to explain the situation. Edward, do you need to see the nurse?"
I'm about to say no when Bella lightly touches my hand and says, "He should have that jaw looked at. It's starting to swell. I'll go with him." Now Jessica is the one doing the glaring.
"Thank you, Miss Cullen. Everyone else get to class. Mike, come with me. We have an appointment in the principal's office and I need to call your father. Miss Stanley, could you please start the roll call in my class for me. I'll return shortly." Mr. Molina and Mike head toward the main building while Bella and I go to the nurses office in the gym.
"Bella, I really don't need to see the nurse. Nothing is broken. I'll bruise, but that will be the extent of it." I reach up and touch my jaw; I flinch. Definitely going to bruise. Have I mentioned that I hate Mike Newton?
"I know that, but I don't want to go to class right now. Between Mike and Jessica I'm too angry to be in a room with that many humans. I need the fresh air. And you seem to have a calming effect. Humor me, please?"
We walk around the back of the gym to the football field and stand at the fence. I can't take my eyes off of her. She's wondrously beautiful. Why does she seem to want to be with me? I'm nothing.
"I'm going to have to stay away from Mike for several days," she suddenly says. Her hands have made dents in the rail of the chain-link fence.
"Why is that?" I touch her hand so she'll release the fence.
"If I see Mike Newton right now, I will kill him. He's crossed a line. If I don't murder him, then Emmett will. That won't be good for our family. So, I will need to have very, very little contact with Mike for several days."
"So, you'll be absent for a few days?" I don't know if I can handle not seeing her for several days. I don't like it. There has to be another way.
"I don't know. Maybe." She sighs and finally turns to look at me. "I don't want to not see you though. It's… uncomfortable; not seeing you."
"Yeah, tell me about it," I mutter.
She smiles. "What's your next class?"
"Ugh, PE. I hate PE." Plus, I don't want to see Ben anymore today.
"Can you look, I don't know, disoriented?"
"Why?" Where's she going with this?
"I thought that we would actually go to the nurse and get you a pass so we can skip next period and get out of here for a little while."
"How are you going to skip too? You aren't hurt; she won't give you a pass."
"We'll see."
We walk into the gym. The offices are at the far end and I try to look more hurt than I am. I will never win an academy award, that's for sure. I hope Bella has a plan. She turns to look at me before we go into Nurse Arrington's office. "Lose the smile and keep your head down. Rub your jaw a little before we go in to make it look more irritated." I do what she says and she looks me over again and sighs. "Don't say much. I'm going to have to really pull out all the stops with this one. You aren't going to be much help."
"Thanks. Now I'm self-conscious."
"Just follow my lead, okay?"
We walk into the office and I keep my head down as instructed. Bella does all the talking. "Um, Ms Arrington, Mike Newton hit Edward and his jaw looks bad to me. I was wondering if you could give us passes to leave so that I could take him to my father's office to have it x-rayed." Then, she smiles. People have a strange reaction to her smile. It's dazzling.
Ms. Arrington stutters a yes and goes to her desk for her pass book. She writes out the passes and hands them to Bella. She never really looks Bella in the eye. "I hope everything is alright, Edward." I nod and follow Bella out of the office.
"You are a horrible actor. Never, ever consider that as a career option." She's heading for the parking lot.
"I could have told you that. I don't lie well either. By the way, where are we going?" I have to jog to keep up with her.
"First, we're going to see Carlisle to get doctors' excuses for tomorrow and then I thought that you would like to meet Esme before I take you to work."
"Who's Esme?"
"Esme is Carlisle's wife and my mother for all intents and purposes."
"Okay." Meeting the mother is a good thing, right? "There may be no need to take me to Newton's this afternoon. I'm probably fired."
"Not necessarily. Give me a second. I need to text Alice that we've left so she and Emmett will know to ride with Rosalie." Just then her phone alerts and she laughs. "Well, never mind that. She already knows." She shows me the text from Alice saying that she and Emmett would ride home with Rosalie. The phone alerts again and she checks the message and smiles. "You still have your job."
"Is she ever wrong?" I kind of wish she'd warned me about the punch from Mike.
"Occasionally about people. She can only see the path that they're on when they're on it. If they change their mind, then the future will change. She also doesn't always see split second decisions, like that punch from Mike. She's extremely accurate with the weather." We pull into the hospital lot and go into the emergency room. Thank God that Renee is working at the nursing home in Port Angeles today. She would have a fit about this.
"Hello, Cynthia. Is my father busy?"
"He should be in his office, Bella. Go on back."
"Thank you." We go through a set of double doors and down a hallway to Carlisle's office. Bella knocks on the door and I hear a velvet voice tell her to come in. We enter the office and Bella says, "Hi, Carlisle, I believe you know Edward."
Carlisle stands and walks around his desk to us. "Ah, Edward, how is your head?" Then he sees my jaw and his face changes. "What happened, son?" His ice cold hand gently touches the side of my face, turning it so he can get a better look.
"It's nothing, sir. I'm fine." I know I'm blushing because Bella has stepped to the far side of the room. How can Carlisle be so close to me and not be uncomfortable?
"Mike Newton hit him this afternoon. I think he'll be fine. It isn't broken, but it's going to bruise. We actually came for excuses for school." He's still inspecting my face. "Thank you Carlisle. Yes, I know." She's answering questions he isn't asking… at least not out loud. "I thought I'd take him by the house to meet Esme and then he has to work. Sure, I hadn't thought of that, but you're right."
"That's rude, you know." They're acting like I'm not even in the room.
Carlisle looks up into my eyes then and says, "Pardon?"
"The conversation you two just had about me of which I was only allowed to hear the one side." I turn to Bella. "It's rude."
"I apologize, Edward. Bella and I are so used to communicating this way that we are sometimes insensitive to those around us. You're right, it's rude. We'll try to not do it again." He looks at Bella and smiles. He walks back to his desk and gets an excuse pad out of his desk. "I'm writing you one for work also, Edward, just in case my beautiful wife keeps you at the house too long this afternoon." He tears off the three excuses and hands two to me and one to Bella. I put mine in my bag.
"Thank you, sir."
"Please, call me Carlisle. Let's try to see each other under less painful circumstances next time." He shakes my hand and we leave his office.
"I'm sorry about the mind reading in there. I shouldn't have done that. You're right it was rude. I don't realize I do it sometimes." She looks at the floor, sheepishly. We get in her car and get on the highway. I look at the time. I have to be at work at 4:00. It's 3:15 now.
"How far is your house?" Finally I get to see her home. It's only fair since she apparently hangs out at my house of occasion.
"Not far. Why?"
"I have 45 minutes before I have to be at the store." I hate late.
"Oh, do you want to skip the meeting with Esme?" She looks disappointed. Yet, another Bella I don't like to see and will endeavor to never see again.
"No, but I don't want to be late either."
"We'll be quick." She turns off the highway onto a tree lined road. As we drive I realize that it isn't a road, it's a driveway. We drive through trees for a while before we come to the most beautiful home I have ever seen. Its three stories and mostly glass. You can see into the living room from where Bella parks her car. It's filled with white furniture. I'm still staring out of the window when Bella appears at the side of the car. "Are you getting out or not?" She's smiling that crooked half smile at me. I probably look ridiculous.
I get out of the car. "Wow. Your house is amazing."
"What did you expect?" She laughs.
"I don't know. A castle, with turrets and a mote?" Where do vampires usually live?
"You've watched too many movies." She takes my hand and pulls me toward the front door. We enter the house and Bella takes me into the white filled living room. I'm afraid to touch anything. I might get it dirty. I see a large piano through a set of sliding doors at the far end of the room. I turn in time to see a beautiful woman walk into the room. She's taller than Bella, but not as tall as Rosalie. She has the most beautiful auburn hair that falls to just below her shoulders in loose waves. She has the same pale skin and golden eyes as all the rest of them. "Esme, I want you to meet Edward."
"Hello, Edward. Bella has spoken of you often. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She extends her hand for me to shake. It's ice cold like all the rest.
"Yes, ma'am. It's nice to meet you, too. You have a beautiful home." Every piece of furniture in this room is probably an antique.
"Please, call me Esme and thank you. I love to remodel and redecorate. I'm in my white phase now. Do you have time for a tour of the house?" She gestures to the staircase.
"Not, today, Esme. I have to get him to work by 4:00." She glances at the clock on the wall. We have fifteen minutes.
"Then Bella will have to bring you back to visit us again. Next time she can play for you. Has Bella told you that she is a talented musician?"
"Esme, please?" Bella looks at the floor and twirls a piece of hair around her finger. This must be vampire embarrassment.
"No, ma'am, I mean Esme, she hasn't mentioned it." I turn to look at Bella and I swear she would be blushing if it were possible. "I'd love to hear you play sometime."
"Okay, we need to go now. I promise I'll bring him back another time for that tour. Let's go." She takes my hand and drags me out of the house. I look back and wave to Esme. She's smiling and waving.
We get outside and I say, "Bella, that was rude too."
"You didn't have to listen to her." She opens the car door and looks over the top of car at me.
"What do you mean?"
"Let's just say that my mother is extremely excited for me and is basically screaming it in her head. She's probably in there dancing a jig now." I turn back toward the house. "Don't look. It's embarrassing. Get in the car before you're late for work."
I laugh at her. It's funny to see her so uncomfortable. She's usually so confident and in control. This is a nice change. "You're cute when you're nervous and embarrassed." I reach across the console and squeeze her hand. She smiles and looks down at my hand, but she doesn't pull away. My heart gives me away as it races at the contact.
"That feels nice. Your hand is so warm. I like it." She looks back at the road. She still hasn't pulled her hand away. I still haven't moved my hand. I wonder how long I can make this last. All too soon we pull into the lot at Newton's. I see Mr. Newton inside. I'm dreading going in there and after the car ride with Bella I really don't want to leave her.
"I don't want to go in there. What's he thinking?" He's thinking that he's going to fire me.
"Oh, now I can use my gift." I give her a look. "Fine, he's concerned that you're going to sue them. Mrs. Newton is in the back. She's more concerned that you're hurt. They're both anxious for you to be here. They don't know you're in the car." She closes her eyes and leans her head back against the headrest. "They're mad at Mike for hitting you. He's going to be grounded for a week." She looks back at me. "You'll be fine. What time to your get off work tonight?"
"If they don't fire me when they find out what I said to Mike, I should be done at 7:00." I so don't want to get out of this car.
"They aren't going to fire you, but if you're really worried about it…. Give me your hand." She takes a pen from her purse and writes a telephone number on my palm. "Call me if they do fire you, otherwise Rosalie and I will be back at 7:00 to pick you up. Don't forget your doctors' excuse."
"Yes, Mom." I roll my eyes at her. I really don't want to get out of the car. "I'll see you at 7:00 then." I open the door and get out of the car. I take a deep breath and go into the store. This shift cannot be over fast enough. I turn back as Bella pulls out of the lot and onto the highway. I turn toward the store to see the Newton's staring at me. Well, here goes nothing.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Work went surprisingly well. Mrs. Newton hugged me and apologized for Mike's behavior. Mr. Newton assured me that Mike would be punished at home. I went ahead and "'fessed up" that I had insulted Mike's intelligence. Mr. Newton actually laughed and said that Mike proved my point when he hit me. At 6:50 the bell on the door rings announcing a customer. I look up to see Bella come in the door.
"Hey, I'll be done in about ten minutes," I say to her as I finish counting down the register.
Mr. Newton comes out from the back. "May I help you?"
"No, sir. I'm just waiting on Edward."
"Oh? Who's your friend, Edward?" He's giving me a strange look. I'll have to remember to get Bella to tell me what he's thinking.
"Mr. Newton, this is Bella. She's giving me a ride home tonight because my truck is on the fritz." He hasn't stopped staring at her yet. I don't blame him. The woman is breathtaking. I still can't figure out why she's paying so much attention to me.
"So you're Bella. I have heard a lot about you recently. It's good to finally put a face to the name. You can go ahead and go now, Edward. I can finish up here." He pats me on the back as I take off my vest and get my things. Bella has a Cheshire cat grin on her face. I definitely have to know what he's thinking.
"Thanks, Mr. Newton, I'll see you tomorrow." I walk to Bella's side. "I guess I'm ready." We walk out the door. When we get to the car I see Emmett and Rosalie in the back seat. Emmett waves wildly, Rosalie looks… well like Rosalie; beautiful, but ticked off. Bella still has that silly grin on her face as we get in her car. "Do you mind telling me what's so funny?"
"Mr. Newton." She giggles then. "He is extremely proud of your choice in 'girlfriends' and he understands now why his son got so upset. It's hilarious." She bites her bottom lip – adorable.
"Can we please stop laughing at the humans and get to this boy's house so I can go back home?" Rosalie still doesn't want to be here.
"Thank you, Rosalie, for looking at my truck. I can't afford to take it to Dowling's. I really appreciate this. I know you aren't comfortable with me, but I can assure you that you don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone." I don't know why I want her to like me, but I do.
Emmett reaches over and squeezes her knee. "She knows that."
"No." Rosalie swats his hand away. "He has a right to know. The whole family will be implicated if this… this thing between you and Bella goes badly."
"What do you mean 'goes badly'?" She cocks her head to the right and raises her eyebrows. "Oh, you mean, if she kills me?"
"I'm not going to kill you." She says that a lot.
"You don't know that, Isabella. You could slip. It wouldn't take much with how he sings to you. Remember what happened to Emmett that time?"
"Rose, I don't want to talk about that. I messed up, okay? I regret it and I don't want to be reminded of it."
"I know that, Emmett, and I'm sorry that bringing it up causes you pain, but Bella needs the reminder."
"No, I don't. I suffered with Emmett, remember? Jasper and I both suffered. I remember it distinctly. I'm not going to do the same thing. I can control it."
"Can you?" I look at her beautiful face, contorted in anguish and I wonder if she can control herself.
She turns to me and looks at me with… I don't know; affection, maybe? She smiles and says, "Yes, I can. I will control it." She reaches across the console and takes my hand. "It's worth it."
"Aw, ain't that sweet. You guys are holding hands. I may cry with happiness."
Bella puts her hand back on the steering wheel. "Shut-up, Emmett. And you can keep those thoughts to yourself. You're a pig."
"Oink, oink." Then he reaches across the seat and musses Bella's hair. She scowls and pushes it back out of her face, but then she smiles. You can see the love she has for her 'brother'. I always wanted a brother. I always imagined that it would be like it seems to be with them. It's nice.
As we pull into the drive at my house I see Renee pull back the curtain in the kitchen and look out. "My mom is home. Um, do you want to meet her?" I'm not sure how Renee will behave and I'm a little nervous about it.
"I'd love to meet your mother, Edward. Do you want all of us to come in?"
"Do you think it's… safe?" They are vampires, after all.
Rosalie rolls her eyes and says, "Oh, for the love of God, yes it's safe. I've never tasted human blood and I don't intend to start with your mother. Come on, let's get this over with."
We get out of the car and walk toward my house. Before I can open the door, Renee jerks it open and steps out onto the porch. "Hi, Sweetie, what's going on?"
" Mom! Um, my truck wouldn't start this morning and Bella was nice enough to give me a ride to school and work. This is her brother Emmett and this is Rosalie Hale. Rosalie is going to see if she can fix the truck."
"Oh, you're Bella?" Renee smiles and then looks pointedly at me.
"Yes. ma'am. It's very nice to meet you. My dad speaks highly of you."
"Really?" Renee smiles and turns a light shade of pink. Then she giggles. God, what must she be thinking? I could crawl under the porch.
"Mom, can we come in now? I need to get my keys for Rosalie."
"Oh, sure, sure. Come in, please. Are you hungry? Can I get you guys anything to eat or drink?"
"Say no to the food, trust me on this one." Maybe this can count as a date and get me out of trying tonight's concoction.
"Edward! I'm not that bad," she says indignantly.
Emmett steps forward then and says, "No thank you, Ms. Masen, we've already eaten." When he smiles I can tell that he's just dazzled Renee. Can they all do that?
"Oh, okay. Please, call me Renee. Hmm. So you're Dr. Cullen's son?" Renee and Emmett retreat to the living room and sit on the couch.
Bella smiles, "He'll keep her distracted so Rosalie can work. Where are your keys?"
"Here you go, Rosalie. And again, thanks."
"Yeah, whatever." She motions for Bella to come outside with her. "Come with me. I may need a jack."