Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: Still loving the reviews. They make me happy, like sticky toffee pudding and ice cream and chocolate and...well you get the idea.
x
I had rethought the possibility of taking Edward out into busy public places. Our trip to town had shown that there were just some places that he couldn't go without getting hassled. So that meant we stayed at home a bit more.
We spent most of our time listening to music. I would introduce him to new music styles and artists, whilst he educated me on his favourites from past decades. Sometimes we'd go back to the park, or take a walk round the nearby countryside and beaches. I had yet to take him to my cove. To me it was like his meadow, special to me and I was waiting for the right time to show it to him. It somehow just didn't seem the right thing to do, too personal.
Although most the time it was just Edward who visited, the other Cullen's had started stepping foot into my world. Alice would come over and check out the latest fashions in our world, or bring clothes she'd found in her closet for Ash or me.
Once Alice started visiting Rosalie would sometimes come along, then Jasper would make an appearance, then Edward, Jasper and Emmett. Dad loved that day, he introduced them to rugby and revelled in the company of three boys as they cheered and ridiculed the players on TV. Emmett's voice could be heard half way down the street when a game was on.
All this visiting finally led to this moment when all the Cullen's except Carlisle and Esme now sat in our living room as we battled on wii sport, tennis. It seemed that the wii couldn't register their super fast reactions so that evened out the competition.
So far in our little tournament Alice and Rosalie had decided to pin their hopes on me winning for the girls' side since Ash lost to Emmett. Watching them had been hilarious, they were both very competitive and of course Ash was screwed when Emmett decided to block the sensor with his massive body. Emmett was now playing against Jasper to decide third and fourth place, then I would play against Edward to find the ultimate winner.
The score was currently 4 – 3 to Jasper. It was out of five. So far Jasper had been playing fair, but we could all see Emmett starting to let his competitive side take over. He was edging closer to Jasper every second.
"Ha suck it, Jazzy, I'm going to woop your ass goooood!" Emmett bellowed as he evened out the score.
"Bring it, McCarthy," Jasper replied calmly. He was keeping his emotions in check, but something was brewing underneath. He had a mischievous glint in his eye.
Alice giggled, closely followed by a wide smile sweeping across Edward's face. She'd seen something and the game was soon going to heat up.
The deciding game started and the gloves came off. Emmett served and dived at Jasper grabbing him in a headlock only to drop to the ground sobbing as Jasper returned his shot whilst he blasted Emmett with a wave of misery.
Emmett recovered swiftly and chose to try pinning Jasper's arms instead. Of course, Jasper retaliated sending an overwhelming wave of calm at Emmett. The next sight I saw was something I'm sure I'd never see again. Emmett eyes drooped as he tried to lunge to return the shot.
"NOOoOOOOooooo," Emmett slurred as he stumbled around the room in a daze.
He lost the game.
I couldn't help the loud laughter that burst from my chest; Ash and I were in hysterics. The image of Emmett stumbling round like a drunk was beyond strange.
He finally went to sit by Rosalie sulking over his loss as she lovingly stroked his hair and whispered condolences.
It was time. Edward and I stepped up to our places.
"You're going down, Eddie boy," I smirked at him; I knew he hated my little nickname for him but I was planning of doing anything possible to win this little tournament. Prove that humans could compete with vampires and win.
I gripped the control in my hand and took one last nervous glance towards the girls on one side of the room. The boys had moved over to Edward's side.
"I wouldn't be so sure." He gave a devilish grin, and I felt butterflies fluttering wildly in my stomach. I placed them down to nerves but I couldn't be sure.
The game began, and it started off fine. We were both feigning nonchalance as we flicked our remotes to score the first point. We were only playing three games so the first game was crucial. As the points racked up the tension built. Edward was quick, but sometimes too quick and the remote couldn't catch the movement. I, on the other hand, had a lot of practice with wii tennis and so knew some of the little tricks.
Our audience were cheering and chanting.
It was level at 2-2 the next game would mean everything. My excitement built every time I gained a point and it all exploded when I got to 30-15. Just win two more serves and I win the whole thing. As soon as it turned to 30 I cheered and broke out into my victory dance.
To learn, just follow: shake your ass to the right, and then to the left, do a spin, then jazz hands at the loser. As I completed this, I realised it had went very quiet. Laughter broke out around me as Edward stared with a look that simply said 'What-The-Hell'.
"What was that?!" Emmett spat out through laughing as Jasper joined him.
I raised my head and brought my posture up straight, ignoring the blush that made my face glow. "That my friend was a victory dance, and a very good one if I do say so myself."
"Yeah, Emmett, it's a victory dance, and I think it's fabulous," Alice chirped in, as her, Rosalie and Ash then proceeded to copy my victory dance, including their own made up tune to go with it. Somehow Rosalie and Alice made it look like a graceful routine instead of a silly little dance with awkward moves.
"Come on boys it's fun," Rosalie cooed. Emmett immediately copied; Jasper wasn't quite as enthusiastic and instead just stuck to a spin and the jazz hands. The image of Emmett shaking around was too much to take. I doubled over laughing; till my laughter turned silent and my stomach had developed a happy ache.
Edward just stood and stared, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Aren't you going to join in, Eddie?" Emmett bellowed as Edward flinched at the name.
"No, but I'm ready to win this game if Holly cares to continue."
I turned serious and looked him dead in the eye.
"I'm warning you, Edward, it's time to play dirty." With that said I fired my first shot. Edward returned it perfectly.
I dodged in front of him as he sent his return. We kept this up dodging and swerving round each other till Edward levelled and what a sight we got when he did
"Yes!" he exclaimed as he power pumped the air and turned to get high fives off the Emmett and Jasper.
I stopped and gawped at him. He mocked me for being overly excited, and then he has his own little outburst. I thought he was meant to be reserved and restrained.
"What? Are you jealous of my skills, Holly?"Edward smirked, and I just shook my head in disbelief. That boy was not the Edward I had read from Twilight. I liked that he was already changing because of Bella's influence; then again he hadn't even done that when they were together. Maybe it was just because there was always so much happening in they're world. There was never really anytime to just play around.
I focussed back on my game plan.
We were at 45-45. The decider. I needed something to put Edward off his game. And then I had my light bulb moment.
I chuckled as it ran through my head. Time to play dirty, for real.
I felt the thought build in my mind. Images of lingerie, sexual innuendos, sudsy girls splashing around, moans and panting acted as the soundtrack to my little movie. Just as I fired the last shot I sent the images into Edward's mind. His eyes widened and his shot faltered. He turned to stare at me in wonder, as the Winner sign flashed on my side of the screen.
"I did say I would play dirty" I flashed him a grin and went over to celebrate with the girls. The perfect way to distract a virgin, show him something saucy.
The difference in Edward during the first few weeks of friendship was surprising to see. His smile was brighter, he laughed and joked. Although he hadn't mentioned her much to me unless I asked, it seemed Bella was working her magic on him. I wasn't sure how their relationship was progressing because the timeframe in the book didn't seem quite right. According to Alice nothing out the ordinary had happened to Bella. So that meant she hadn't been in her car accident or been attacked in Port Angeles. The events that caused Edward to wake up and realised he loved her before then avoiding her for her own good. It was winter so her accident would probably happen in the next week or two. I knew he was in love with her already, his eyes held a new light in them, but when I'd asked Jasper or Emmett if he'd mentioned her or saw her at school they just said he would sometimes look at her across the lunch hall but never talked to her. Jasper couldn't even figure out his feelings.
I knew Edward worried about hurting Bella. He was the same with me and Ash. All the Cullen's were. They monitored their strength constantly. I just hoped that Edward could see that he was so much more capable than he gave himself credit. To be honest I just wanted him to step up and make Bella his, I knew from the book that she was popular with the boys at school. The jealousy must have been eating Edward up, especially knowing what she meant to him. I knew I shouldn't meddle but something in me felt uneasy at Edward's lack of talk about Bella. I refused to let him watch her from afar when he could have her with him always.
A plan formed in my mind. I would need a little help from Alice and would have to deviate from the Twilight plot, not that it seemed to be going quite as it was supposed to be. I grabbed a suitcase and started packing some clothes. It was time to take matters into hand, I was going to Forks.
"Are you sure this is ok? Holly just sprung it on us when we got home; apparently it's some kind of volunteer project?" Mum and Dad were talking with Alice, Carlisle and Esme.
"It's perfectly fine, the kids will love having Holly around and she's no trouble. She'll just stay in the guest room for the few weeks their doing the project. It certainly sounds like a wonderful cause, teaching underprivileged children. I plan on helping out myself." Esme smiled at my parents, and they instantly fell in love with her. No one could be suspicious of Esme she was too sweet and kind.
I had managed to get packed up with Alice's help whilst the parents talked through the details. I had launched the idea on Mum and Dad when they got in. I knew they'd be going out again to their salsa class so that would be the perfect time to leave through the portal.
"OK, well I guess we'll see you in a month, Holly-berry, try to stay out of trouble and we'll see you at Christmas." Dad ruffled my hair and pulled Mum out the front door. Leaving me with messed up hair and panicking about buying Christmas presents.
"Time to go, we've got the room all set up at home, and I may have done a little shopping for you." Alice grinned, I knew what she meant by a little shopping. To me it was not so little.
We stepped through the poster and I did the usual round of hugs and greetings, getting the breath squished out of me by Emmett.
"It's gonna be so much fun having a human living with us!" A light bulb seemed to flash on in his head.
"Dude! I'm making pan cakes!" He then rushed off to the kitchen followed by a clatter of pans, Esme charged after him when she heard a crash.
"Emmett! Be careful with that bowl!" Another crash followed her instruction.
"Esme! I spilt the white powdery stuff!"
"Emmett, that's flour." Esme's soft voice replied, her mothering nature coming through. To be honest it wasn't surprising because Emmett had the enthusiasm of a five year old.
"Feels just like home," I sighed and climbed the stairs to settle into my temporary room.
The rest of the weekend went by in a bit of the blur. Saturday night was a girlie sleepover as the guys headed out to hunt. We all had manicures and pedicures whilst watching The Notebook and My Sister's Keeper courtesy of my DVD collection at home.
When it hit the early hours of the morning I felt myself drifting off and sturdy cool arms lifted me from my spot on the floor. Seconds later I was tucked up in bed snuggling into the softest pillows I'd ever experienced.
It seemed having a human about brought out even more of Esme's maternal side. She was always asking if I wanted anything, and although I didn't want to be a burden it was hard to refuse her amazing cooking. She cooked gorgeous plates of food with the occasional help from Emmett. He seemed very proud of his new found skill. Although, it did take some work. His pan cakes from the first night were.... interesting.
Edward would often join me just to talk, or sometimes just sit near me for company. He disappeared every now and then, obviously to check on Bella, although he still didn't talk about her which wasn't too unusual. Rosalie wasn't too keen on Bella for whatever reasons, so the mention of her earned you a glare.
Monday finally came, and it was time for my first day at Forks High School. Alice attacked as soon as my alarm went off, quickly shovelling me into the shower whilst she rummaged through her new purchases for me to find something to wear. It would seem I shouldn't have bothered packing any of my clothes. It was obvious she wouldn't let me wear any of them.
I rushed through breakfast since Alice had taken a little longer than I thought blow drying my hair, doing my makeup, and stuffing me into a grey high waist short-shorts, black top, dark grey knit tights, and distressed leather black heeled boots. She let me keep my big parker jacket and chunky knit scarf since it was freezing outside.
As the cars, since there were too many of us now for one car, pulled into the school lot I felt my stomach do flip flops. I would be the new girl; sure it's the temporary new girl, but that would still make me the new gossip subject. I hadn't been the new girl... ever. I'd never moved schools in between years, so I'd always known people there. Now I'd be starting a school where I knew hardly anyone. Plus, mix in the fact that I'm English and not the posh tea drinking stereotype English. The northern English, I didn't have a particularly strong accent but it would be enough for people to pick up on different pronunciations.
"Aww crap, I'd forgotten about the fact I have to come to school," I muttered.
"It'll be fine. I'll take you to the office. They'll need these." Edward held up the faked forms Jasper had prepared that stated I was an exchange student.
I perked up a bit at the thought that I wouldn't have to go to the office alone. After opening my door Edward slung his arm loosely around my shoulders as we walked through the school. He seemed relaxed, maybe even happy, to be walking through the corridors with someone who wasn't part of his family and knew who he was. I didn't mind having his arm around me, it was just in friendship. I could hear the whispers and feel the stares of people we passed, but I ignored them. I was happy that he was happy.
The office paperwork was done in no time. Edward had charmed his way through altering my timetable so I had the majority of my lessons with the Cullens. My first lesson was English with Rosalie. I walked awkwardly into the classroom after waving Edward goodbye. Rosalie seemed pleased to see me and shifted the coat and bag she had placed on the desk next to her - obviously preventing anyone else in her class from sitting too close.
I was making my way to the seat when the teacher stopped me and forced me to do the dreaded introduction to the class.
"Hi, I'm Holly Jules. I'm an exchange student from England." I gave them a faint smile as I made my way towards the seat next to Rosalie, my boots seemed to ring out through the classroom
Jeez it's like they think I'm from another planet
I looked around me and saw a few people gawping openly at me, even turning round in their chairs to look behind them to stare, whilst other's tried to be discreet and glance out the corner of their eyes.
The class passed with me and Rosalie quietly chatting about the boys in the class. Whenever she so much as glanced at them they'd hyperventilate, and it became a weird kind of entertainment.
I had to wait three more classes before I met Bella. Surprisingly, it was the only lesson I had without one of the Cullens, French. I had already done an A level in French and scored well, so I wasn't too worried about the lesson. Even the introductions had become a little less embarrassing, and I was starting to recognise a few people. It was strange meeting the Forks characters from the book. The majority of them fit their descriptions perfectly but some seemed a little different. Lauren Mallory actually had a pleasant conversation with me in Math whilst Alice and Jasper sat quietly beside me.
As I walked into French class I glanced to the table on the far side where Bella sat with Mike and Angela. After my introduction I made a bee line for the seat opposite Bella and beside Angela. They seemed a little surprised at my eagerness to join them.
"Hi." I beamed at Bella.
Please like me, please, please, please.
I had no reason to worry. She was Bella after all; of course she'd be nice.
She smiled weakly at me, but it was Mike who spoke.
"Hey, Holly, you were in my English right?" I noticed Mike shift and place his hand around Bella's chair. The shocker though, was that she didn't move away from it. She didn't show any signs of being uncomfortable by his closeness.
"Umm yeah English, yeah. So um ..." That was my coherent answer. I was too confused by the situation in front of me, this didn't happen in Twilight. Bella did not accept Mike's touches. Something was wrong and somehow I needed to fix it.
A/N: Thanks for reading
x