Chapter 10- At Last
On the ride to school, I wouldn't look at Edward at all. Neither did Jasper, because he sensed my mood. In fact, no one would look at Edward. Even Emmett was unusually silent, but maybe he was thinking of something else. Edward kept looking at me, probably wondering what was wrong, but this time I had blocked my mind successfully.
"Alice," Edward began. "What . . ."
All of us, besides Emmett, that is, shot venomous glares at Edward.
Edward flinched and furrowed his eyebrows, reading the thoughts of each and every one of us, or at least trying to. He wouldn't get through this time. I was sure I could block him out.
"Listen, everyone . . . I know that this may endanger us, but I am very sure that Bella won't tell anyone. After all, she didn't tell anyone about the van incident, did she?" I had no idea who Edward was directing that at. Perhaps it was Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie, because that was not why I was mad.
Rosalie, who had been glowering at Edward, but staying silent until then, finally lost control. "Endanger us? No, that can't be possible. Lifting up a van in front of a human's face without destroying all the evidence and talking about our secret so casually in a cafeteria couldn't be dangerous, could it? Now why would that endanger us?" Rosalie practically screamed.
"She won't tell," he said calmly.
Rosalie let loose a long snarl, beyond words. Now Emmett did glare at Edward. He patted Rosalie's hand and tried to soothe her.
"Jasper, I know that Alice is mad, but you don't even know why she's mad . . ." Edward coaxed. I knew exactly what he was trying to do. Edward knew that Jasper knew why I was mad, but Jasper must have been hiding it.
"Don't," I said to Jasper, gritting my teeth. "He's not worth it." I regretted those words as soon as I said them, and Edward knew it, so he wasn't offended. However, he did catch the mood I was in.
"Alice, you could at least tell me . . ."
Oh, I'll tell you all right.
He was silent, waiting for the explosion, most likely. I rarely had any of these, and I wanted to keep it like that, so I exploded in my mind. No one but Edward would hear what I had to say.
I was only trying to help you! What can I help it if I just see that!? You don't notice what I hear you muttering under your breath when you're thinking! 'Alice and her visions don't deserve my attention.' Whether you meant to say it out loud or not, I don't care . . .
"Alice, I'm sorry . . ." Edward said. "I didn't mean it. I was just angry, and frightened . . ."
Emmett snorted at that.
"You know that I don't want that to happen to Bella," Edward continued.
Speaking of Bella, you don't even let me talk to her. She's not yours! I could just go myself and talk to her, but I still listen to you! Can't you just—
Another vision drifted past, but this one was bright, and rock-solid. After I saw it, I gasped and a hint of a grin began to form on my face. "You'll do that for me? Yes!" I squealed, when I saw it was true.
Edward grinned and nodded. He parked the car in the garage. I practically flew out of the car and skipped to my room, humming. My mood change did not go unnoticed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Emmett shake his head, grinning. Edward smiled smugly. Jasper stared at me, incredulous, and Rosalie sighed.
Edward was going to introduce me to Bella at last . . . Since he was going to go hunting with me, he'd thought that it would be more convenient. I saw myself go up and ask him if he was ready, so it would happen in that time. The start of our friendship; I smiled to myself.
Before we left, we were going to get Bella's truck key and drive it to school for her. I sifted through my past visions. We were going to find it in the laundry, in a pair of jeans at the bottom of the pile.
I showed him my vision again, even though he definitely caught it the first time I saw it.
Today, at lunch, I was beaming so wide, my teeth were dangerously clear, but no one noticed at all. The Cullens were freaks to them, anyway. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Edward and Bella interact in their quiet conversation. Once in a while, I would stop to listen to a string of words, wondering when I could jump in. Edward said he'd tell me, but I didn't want to miss it.
". . . Not in Phoenix," Bella said reluctantly. I wondered what the original question was.
Edward's lips pressed together in a hard line.
A vast wave of déjà vu engulfed me. It was almost time to jump in . . . I got up from the table, bid goodbye to Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie, and sauntered over to the trash cans. I was about to dump my tray of untouched food (an apple and a sandwich), but I hesitated and thought better of it. I put them in a plastic bag, and stuffed them both into my bag. It could end up useful.
They weren't finished talking, so I sat down with Jasper again.
"Didn't you just say goodbye to all of us?" Emmett asked jokingly.
I rolled my eyes at him. "Edward isn't ready. Anyway, didn't you miss me? I was gone for fifteen seconds!"
Jasper snickered.
I tuned my ears into Bella and Edward's conversation. Hopefully, Edward was too absorbed in the conversation to pay attention to my eavesdropping. If he found out, I would be in deep, deep trouble.
". . . I should have let you drive yourself today," Edward announced, while Bella chewed on her lunch.
"Why?" Bella demanded immediately. Her reaction was slightly quicker than most.
"I'm leaving with Alice after lunch," Edward said, unwillingly. Even so, I felt a zing of happiness when he mentioned my name to her.
"Oh," she blinked, disappointed. My face must have fallen, because Jasper patted my hand anxiously. She didn't think much of me yet . . . but she would. "That's okay; it's not far of a walk." Bella's eyes were downcast.
Edward frowned at Bella impatiently. "I'm not going to make you walk home. We'll go get your truck and leave it here for you." So that was why we were going to find Bella's truck key.
"I don't have my key with me," Bella sighed. "I really don't mind walking." She looked like what she minded was losing time with him.
"Your truck will be here," Edward insisted, "and its key will be in the ignition—unless you're afraid someone might steal it." He laughed at the thought. I couldn't hold back my giggles either. Who would steal Bella's truck? It was so old and decrepit. No one could steal it either. The wheezing of the loud truck would give the thief away. It was so laughable.
"All right," Bella agreed, pursing her lips, her voice challenging. She probably wouldn't have thought us to stoop so low as to search for her key in the bottom of her laundry. Speaking of laundry, I would have to find a way to sneak some better clothes for her to wear. She had no sense of fashion at all! But she would, when I had finished with her.
I decided to stop listening until Edward called for me. I felt a little guilty.
Still, chatting with myself wasn't all that appealing either. Rosalie was fuming, Jasper and Emmett were daydreaming, and Edward still couldn't wrap it up. They were so in love . . .
So, after a while, I started listening again. After all, what else was there to do?
". . . Why are you going with Alice?" Bella wondered. Hearing my name in her voice pleased me very much. I beamed in delight.
"Alice is the most . . . supportive," he allowed himself. He frowned after a moment.
"And the others?" Bella asked timidly. "What are they?" She glanced at our table. I quickly stared in another direction.
"They don't like me," Bella guessed sadly.
"That's not it," Edward lied, so badly anyone could see through it. "They don't understand why I can't leave you alone." Well, that was true. Good, at least Edward was being honest. Esme would have been proud.
She grimaced, and I had to hold back my giggles. "Neither do I, for that matter."
Edward shook his head slowly, and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. He had perfected that movement with a lot of practice. "I told you—you don't see yourself clearly. You're not like anyone I've ever known. You fascinate me," he concluded smugly. Bella blushed and glared at him at the same time.
Again, I felt guilty. This was a private conversation, and it was getting more and more personal.
I drew myself out of it and began to ask Jasper if he was going to save his food and donate it to charity. He wasn't very interested, and didn't really care, so I just bagged the food for him, and started to stare into space again.
Perhaps this was my form of sleep. I was so sluggish, I felt like a zombie. Yet another mythical creature for me to ponder.
Rosalie and I were both listening and trying not to listen to the conversation between Edward and Bella. I was having more success than she was. Suddenly, she turned and glared at Bella. Bella met her gaze, bewildered.
Edward turned and hissed balefully at Rosalie until she turned around.
I wanted to know what they had said to make Rosalie suddenly lose control, but I struggled with my longings for a while. In the end, my less noble side won. I tuned out the babble of all the people in the cafeteria besides Edward and Bella.
". . . Yes," Edward was saying. "It's probably for the best. We still have fifteen minutes of that wretched movie to endure in Biology— I don't think I could take any more."
I picked up my bag, stood, and flitted to Edward's side. I couldn't stand waiting and eavesdropping anymore.
Bella started.
Edward greeted me without looking away from Bella. I sighed. That couldn't be helped. "Alice," he said.
"Edward," I answered.
"Alice, Bella—Bella, Alice," he gestured with his hand, smiling wryly.
"Hello, Bella," I smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you." I might have stressed the "finally" a little bit too much, so Edward glared at me.
"Hi, Alice," Bella murmured shyly as I beamed at her.
"Are you ready?" I asked Edward.
"Nearly. I'll meet you at the car," he said, his voice aloof.
Fine. Be that way . . . See you!
And with that, I sauntered out of the cafeteria, feeling Bella's eyes follow me out the door. I felt all light and bubbly inside.