Disclaimer:: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me. Advil isn't mine, either. Although, I have a large bottle of Advil for those nasty headaches.
Alice
The whole first week of school was uneventful, but the second started getting fun. Bella's plan was genius, and it was easier to keep from everyone than I thought it would be. Jasper knew something was up, because we were all, and I quote, "being secretive and…happy."
Like we aren't naturally happy vampires? Ha-ha, yeah, I guess when you put it that way…Monday morning was the morning we were going to put out plan into action – everyone knew that Jazzy and Rosalie weren't quite right, but the teachers didn't know yet. This is, of course, exactly how we wanted it. I walked into Biology – could you believe that some obscure relative of Mr. Banner taught it now? – with an extra spring in my step. The brunette I sat next to, Melissa, asked what was going on.
"You'll find out soon," I smiled. She shook her head, mumbling something about me being crazy. I laughed as Ms. Bently walked in.
"Hello, class. Today we're going to take a little break from the usual curriculum and learn about the brain."
It was perfect timing. One of those 'couldn't-be-more-perfect-if-you-tried' moments that everyone loves so much. And, believe it or not, I hadn't planned it.
"Ick," Melissa moaned. I could picture the disgust in her green eyes that normally accompanied anything in class other than flirting with Blake, the heartthrob of this generation. Poor Blake was about to become more of a heartthrob than anyone even knew.
I raised my hand. "Yes, Alice?"
"So, what part of the brain is responsible for eating disorders, mental instabilities, and addictions?"
There was a varied reaction from the class. Half gasped audibly, some laughed, others pulled out their phones and started texting under the table, and a couple cheered me on.
"Why, Miss McCarty?"
"I'm just curious."
"Well, there is some debate about what does cause all those things, so we'll start with the main parts of the brain. Can anyone name them?"
The lecture began, with Ms. Bently avoiding a true answer to my question. It's not like I cared, anyway. I just wanted to start gossip and raise teacher awareness that there was something (or someone) amiss in our midst.
"Miss McCarty?"
"Frontal Lobe."
The rest of the class continued in such a fashion until the bell rang, signaling the imminent approach of Pre-Calculus, where I sat right next to Blake McIntosh, who, ironically enough, hated apples. And the corporation.
"Alice? Can I see you?"
Perfect. I gathered my books and walked slowly up to the front of the room.
"What's this about eating disorders, addictions, and mental instabilities? And why did it garner such a reaction from the class?"
"It's just a rumor, Ms. Bently."
"May I hear this rumor?"
"I dunno. Something about a couple kids – one's a lush and an addict, and the other's totally bulimic. But you didn't hear it from me."
"Who are these children?" She looked appalled. "Why aren't their parents doing anything?"
I laughed. "I forgot that part, didn't I? Their parents are dead. That's why they're doing all this. And their foster/adoptive parents are never around. I dunno who they are, though. Anyway, I have Pre-Calc…so, can I go now?"
Ms. Bently was over at her desk, scribbling away. She nodded and ripped off a pass, handing it to me. As I walked out the hallway, I rolled my eyes. They didn't really need to send me to the principal and the guidance counselor.
Eddie! I called. Bella! Stage one's complete, I giggled. I heard Bella scoff and I could picture Edward rolling his eyes. Skipping down the hallway, I went over the options for how Pre-Calc was going to go. Deciding on one right before I walked in, I swung the door open to find the teacher taking roll.
"Miss McCarty." The pompous ass looked down his nose at me. "I'm assuming you have an explanation."
"You know what they say about assuming, Mr. Jones."
"Yes, yes, Alice. May I hear your story?"
"Well," I started grandly.
"The facts, please. This is not drama class, its mathematics."
"Right," I took a deep [albeit unneeded] breath. "So, we were talking about the brain in Biology, and I asked what part controlled, like, addictions and eating disorders and mental issues, and then Ms. Bently tried to distract us all, because she didn't want to discuss it, I bet, and she never really answered my question, so I'll Google it tonight, and then after class she wanted to talk to me about why I asked the question and I told her it was 'cause the rumors, you know, and she wanted to know what rumors so I explained them and then she wanted to know who they were and why no one was doing anything so I told her that their parents were to blame because they were dead and then she wrote it all down and I think I might be in a little trouble, but then she handed me my pass to come here so I can't be in too much trouble 'cause I didn't go to the principal's office directly and anyway then I came here and, well, you know what happens next." I rambled on, taking a breath after 'what rumors' and speaking fast for a regular person.
"Miss McCarty," Mr. Jones sighed. "Take your seat, please." Again, the class had mixed reactions. Anyone in Biology with me was laughing; some people I had other classes with were laughing or sighing, and half the female persuasion was texting. Average.
"Gotcha," I smiled and put my pass on his desk, walking to my seat.
"Whoa," Blake whispered as he began his lecture. "That was wicked." I smirked, grabbing my homework to pass in. "Like, you told the teachers a rumor, but then you talked back to Mr. Jones and rambled on and on. And you still don't have a detention!"
"Mister McIntosh. I would appreciate it if you would leave Alice alone and focus on the lecture."
"Yes, sir." Blake then looked over at me, eyes wide, and gestured toward the whiteboard. "See?" he mouthed.
I smiled, shrugging, and went back to taking my notes.
At the end of class, Blake waited for me as I packed up my bag. "Seriously. How do you do that?"
"What?" I slowed down as we entered the hallway, waiting for Bella, who was in the next room over.
"Not get in trouble for anything."
I laughed. "I don't know. It's not like I plan it." Not exactly a lie…
"Sure. Hey, Bella."
Behind me, Bella greeted Blake, catching up to me. "Whatcha talking about?"
"How Alice never gets in trouble. Seriously. She totally talked about the rumors about Jasper and Rosalie in class and got away with a brief questioning, then talked back to Mr. Jones and rambled on and on, and all he did was tell her to go sit down!" Blake exclaimed, turning to walk backwards through the empty halls. Anyone with any sense was already at lunch – it was pizza day, which was the only time there was any good food, mainly due to the fact they ordered in from Vellini's – so he didn't have to worry about running in to anyone.
Bella laughed. "She's always been like that. In fact, it seems to me she used to talk back all the time." I realized she was referring to back when it was a huge deal to talk back – at this same school, actually.
"You, Alice McCarty, are a goddess."
"I know," I smirked. "Feel free to kiss up." We all laughed, stopping at Bella and my lockers. Spinning the lock, I spoke quickly to Bella.
"Don't forget, you're with Emmett and I'm with Blake, here."
"Yeah, yeah," was her quick response.
"You guys ready? I don't mind walking with a couple slow pokes, but if I don't get pizza, you're in for it."
I smiled. "I'll buy you your own pizza, Blake."
"For real?"
I nodded, rolling my eyes like I was so annoyed but really not. "Even if you get some today. It's a deal."
"Yes!" he pumped his fist, a gesture no one used anymore. Although, I had noticed that Blake used older phrases and gestures. "Come on," he grabbed my arm in one hand, Bella's in the other, dragging us along.
"What," demanded Bella, "do you think you're doing?"
"I'm making the best out of this deal. If I get pizza today and pizza later, I will be the luckiest guy here."
"Because you got pizza?" I clarified.
"No, because I got pizza from you. Now let's go!" I squealed as he pulled us along, stumbling occasionally for show. As we all tripped into the cafeteria like a bunch of drunks, all noise ceased. I swear; at the exact same moment, everyone stopped breathing and moving and thinking anything but 'holy fucking shit! How did those bitches get tight with Blake?!' The only reason I know that last part is thanks to Bella.
"Come on!" called Blake, loosening his grip on us to weave through the shell-shocked crowd and toward the lunch line. Walking up to Shelly, one of the nice waitresses at Vellini's, he ordered three slices for him, turning to us for our orders.
"I'll have one slice," I stated. Blake's eyes went from my head to my feet and back, while he nodded appreciatively
Boy doesn't want to waste any pizza. Bella's voice in my head was as clear as if she had spoken out loud.
"What about you, Bella?"
"Um," she twirled some hair around her finger, her eyes looking toward the sky as another finger twitched, as if doing a complicated math problem in her head. I'll give her this: Bella missed her calling as an actress. Too bad she could only be a poised liar once she dropped that blush. "I'll have…one slice," she said slowly, nodding.
Blake looked at her skeptically. "One?"
"Yeah…?"
"You sure?"
She sighed softly. "You're right. I'll pass. Can I have a PB&J sandwich, instead?"
"One slice it is," Blake rushed out, staring at Bella like she had just simultaneously eaten a puppy and run over his firstborn with a bus. Dropping our arm to grab the tray holding our pizzas and rummage in his pocket for money, I rolled my eyes and handed Shelly thirty dollars, telling her to keep the change. Blake looked shocked.
"You know, you keep acting like we're horrible, or shocking, or amazing, or something. We're just regular people." I shook my head, tucking my wallet back in the bag I had gotten when we took Bella shopping.
"You don't act like regular people," he mumbled, clearly not intended for us to hear. Bella caught my eye.
"Does he know anything?" she hissed, too quickly and low for anyone but me to hear.
I shook my head imperceptibly. "I don't know. Get ready to catch me," I waggled my eyebrows. "There's about to be a change in the plan." With that warning, I started searching through the future, letting myself go limp.
"Alice!" I heard Bella call. I was merely a foot from the floor before I felt myself be caught. I was too focused on the future, though.
It's dark, and there's not much going on. We're in a field. It looks a lot like our baseball clearing, but it's overgrown. A result of us being gone, of that I'm certain. From the trees surrounding the area comes a resounding crunch of branches. From where I'm sitting on a group of rocks, I can tell that someone is coming. I hear Bella behind me.
"Alice?" Her voice is worried. She has no clue what's going on. Neither she nor Edward can hear this new person. It has everyone on edge, and Jasper's stressed. He's praying that it's not a human. Please, don't be a human. He doesn't think he can take it, he whispers into my hand, which he's holding from his spot next to me.
"I-I don't know. I can't see." I'm uncertain. I've seen this before, but I don't know the outcome.
Rosalie paces on a thin ledge above us, watching the edge of the forest. All we can do is wait. There's nothing else in our hands. Esme flutters around the edges of my vision. She's talking to Emmett, in Carlisle's arms, pacing with Rosalie, comforting Jasper, soothing Bella, warning Edward to not loose his head.
"Well," Carlisle comments. "At least we know they're just as worried as we are."
Just as he makes his comment, the person emerges, as if they were waiting for us to say something to condem us. Immediately, we're all standing. I picture we're like an arrow. Carlisle is the point, with Emmett and Edward flanking him. Esme stands behind Carlisle, grabbing the hand he outstretches behind him. Rosalie, Bella, and I grasp each other's hands, standing behind them. Rose is behind Emmett and Bella whispers to Edward from her post behind him. I feel Jasper's strong hands on my shoulders, the eyes from behind.
The stranger before us is not a vampire, and I hear Jasper stop breathing. Moments later, he realizes just as I do that this person is not human nor werewolf, either. I can't tell what's going on – I can't see werewolves, presumably because I don't have experience with them, but I can see this person. This thing.
In front of us stands a small girl. Her curls look similar to Edward's – brown with a tint of red. It must be 'auburn.' Edward snorts about the same time Bella sighs. As the girl approaches, I see she's wearing grey rain boots with little blue clouds holding yellow umbrellas. Tucked into the boots are a pair of dark jeans, and on top she has a yellow tank top. Her shoulders are tan, but have a subtle sparkle. It's not a vampire-sparkle, but more like body glitter. I see her eyes are a deep brown, flecked with green. Smiling, she reveals a set of straight, white teeth, but what's presumably a retainer. A deep dimple adorns her left cheek. She holds up one finger and turns back to the woods, calling out in a strange language. Another small girl emerges wearing a dark purple racerback dress paired with gray flats with purple dots. Over one shoulder is a gray bag that I love. Shaking myself, I focus on the girl. She has red hair with brown tint, and green eyes with brown flecks. Looking closer, I can tell they are complete opposites. The girl in the dress scowls.
"Edward," Bella's voice is strained.
"That would probably be wise." I miss out on the mental conversation, but when Bella's grip on Edward's hand loosens, I realize she's protecting us. The girl wearing the boots holds up two hands, swiping them in opposite directions, and I hear Bella gasp and see Edward tense up.
"Relax, Edward." Carlisle's voice manages to calm him down, with effort from Jasper, I'm certain.
"We just want to talk." The girl's voice is smooth, melodic. She sounds like she's trying to subdue a small child, and her voice has a hint of an edge.
"Oh, please," the other girl states, stalking up to us. She turns and looks at me, smiling. Her right cheek has a deep dimple, and she has a retainer, too. "We do just want to talk," she amends. "But you're not allowed to know anymore until it happens, pretty girl." With that, she flicks her wrist and I feel myself fall.
With a start, I woke up in the cafeteria, on the floor. Looking up, I found my head in Bella's lap, where she was speaking soothingly to me while Rose glared and yelled at anyone who tried to get close. I looked around panicking for Edward, Jasper, or Emmett. Anyone. Someone needs to tell Carlisle, or Esme, or someone. I didn't care if they call the fucking national guard, but this is a big problem.
"Alice, sweetie," Bella started slowly. "Are you okay?"
"No," I rasped. "No, I'm not okay. Bella – it was so scary and they won't let me see and I don't know who they are, or what they want and and and," I stutter, trailing off.
"Shh, I know. It's okay," her tone sounded like she's trying to please a crazy person, but her mind reassured me that they know for real. "Edward's getting the nurse, because you might have had some kind of breakdown. Emmett's getting Esme, because we figured you might want her. Jasper is getting your stuff."
"No. I want Jasper here."
She nodded, smiling a little. "I figured as much. Give him a minute, or two."
One hundred and seven seconds later, Jasper comes striding into the door, my bag and coat in hand. His eyes connected with my surely frantic ones and he jogged over, kneeling next to me. "What happened, Ali?"
I sat up slowly, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Oh, Jazz. It was so scary. We didn't know what was going on and they knew us and they got past us and nothing worked and they…" I broke down, shaking like an addict.
"Hey, man," I heard from behind me. Blake. Shit. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she'll be okay. This one seemed to be worse than some of the others, but she'll be fine. Just needs to be given a clean bill of health and she's going home, I think." I nodded weakly against his shoulder.
"Tell him he can have my pizza," I whispered, holding on tighter.
"She says to eat her pizza."
Blake chuckled. "Yeah, sure. Bye, little one."
I rolled my eyes but don't move.
"Excuse me, pardon me, coming through." The nurse's voice carried across the crowd to where we are trapped in our little bubble. "Now, look here, move out of the way!" Her yells and threats of detention, dammit (yeah, our school nurse is so cool she swears at us and doesn't bust us for it) got her through.
"So, you're Miss McCarty, I assume," she smiled down at me.
"That's my sister. I'm Alice."
"Fair enough. So, Alice, can you explain what happened?"
"I dunno. I felt myself falling, and slipping, but I couldn't stop it like usual. And then I was in a field, and we were all so afraid, and the little girls knew everything and they got through to us and the one sent me back here, saying I couldn't know yet."
"Well. That's quite the happening. Do you have these daydreams a lot?"
"They aren't daydreams."
Her eyebrow went up a little. "Then, you mind telling me what they are?"
"I see the future."
"Oh, you poor dear. I think you just need to go home and rest up. Must be all those all-nighters catching up to you." I know she's referring to the under-eye circles. Turning to Jasper, she tells him that Esme called and said she was on her way, and to have me take an Advil, or something, if I need it, but that I'm fine, otherwise. Nodding, he puts my coat on me and lifts me up. Bella follows behind with my bag.
"So, we'll be home right after school. Emmett's planning on skipping out right now, but I don't know how well that'll work. Explain everything to Esme and Carlisle, so they're caught up and we'll talk about what to do when we get home." Bella talked as we walked down the hall and into the rain, where Esme's car sat idling at the curb, waiting for me. "Bye, Alice," she kissed my cheek, handing me my bag and ran at a human pace back into the cafeteria.
"I love you, Alice."
"I love you, too, Jasper." He kissed my cheek and opened the door, setting me on my feet. Getting into the car, I waved as he retreated back into the building, feeling bad about what we were doing and what we were going to go through.
At the house, Carlisle stood pacing, the windows closed up. Esme walked up and wound an arm around his waist, calming him down.
"What happened, Alice, dear?"
"We're playing a little game," they nodded. "Okay, so you know about the game. Anyway, I was going to pretend I was having a vision, so I started shifting through the future, and I was sucked into this clip. It wasn't like anything I've ever seen before. I mean, it felt like I was there, but I had no control over leaving, or anything. It was as if I was truly living it, not watching a movie.
We were in the baseball field, all waiting for something. We heard the branches snap, and we were all nervous. Rose was pacing on a ledge; Bella was asking what was going on. I was so confused. This was one battle I didn't know the outcome of – I didn't know any outcome. Jasper was praying it wasn't a human. He had gone longer without hunting than ever before, but he was worried about his control. He was stressed. Emmett was standing around, waiting for a fight – waiting for anything. Edward was pinching his nose, leaning against a rock. You," I nodded to Esme, "were everywhere talking to everyone, doing your best to diffuse the situation, and you," I gestured to Carlisle, "were just standing still as a statue. Then, right as you said they appeared to be as nervous as we were, a little girl walked out."
I described her as best I could, from her hair to her boots to her retainer. Going on to explain who I could only assume was her sister, I got quiet as the end of the story approached. "Edward and Bella had been tense, because they couldn't hear the people. Then, they both responded to a thought as we fell into rank, I suppose. They weren't vampires, or humans, or any other species I had ever heard of. I could see them, even though I usually can't see species I don't know. Bella asks Edward something, but half their conversation is in their heads. I figure out, though, that she's using her shield. The girl in jeans says they just want to talk, and makes a parting gesture with her hands." I demonstrated, parting the air.
"Bella gasps, and Edward…well, Edward gets even more tense than he was." Esme's scolding at my not-really-veiled attempt to mock Edward was half-hearted. "Then her sister scoffed. 'Oh, please,'" I quoted. "She walked up and grinned at me, showing her own retainer, white teeth and dimple. Then she said that they did just want to talk, but that I wasn't allowed to know anymore until it happened for real. She flicked her wrist," I showed them again what happened. "And then I fell, waking up in the cafeteria."
Carlisle sighs, turning to Esme. "Looks like we're about to meet The Twins."
And the plot thickens. Yes, we are getting into the true story now. Obviously, this will be a long one. Anyway, here it is, before September. The day before school starts and I spent it writing this for you. Ugh. I better get at least one review for this chapter. Yeah, so....bye! Oh, and in case you didn't notice, I changed the rating to T because they're going to start swearing a lot. Just the way it goes. So, sorry if you don't want to read it because of that, but I don't think it's worth reworking it so a few people read it still.
.xoxo.
diizzy