Chapter Ten: Claire's Story

EPOV

I stared in awe. Bella went from nervous to confident in a matter of two beats. She transformed before my eyes and became the confident Bella that I cared for so much. I felt a pull towards her and I stepped up to the next row. I carefully put my hand on the small of Bella's back and I felt her start a little. I smiled and relished the feeling of her body heat on my hand. After she ended the song, Bella surprised me by grabbing my hand and pulling me through the crowd of kids.

Claire met my eyes and had the audacity to raise her eyebrows at our clasped hands. I winked and her eyes widened as she started laughing. Bella took off through a row and I let go of her hand to go to the row above. I started doing the hand motions that went along with the chant and the kids yelled out the words. I glanced down at the end of the row and saw that none of the parents were watching the cheerleader's perfectly choreographed routine. Instead, they were watching the band's pure excitement and adrenaline.

The percussionists were in their element. I met Steven's, the first chair percussionist, eye and he smiled while he continued hitting his snare at a flying, but controlled, tempo. I was impressed that none of them had chicken arms, which is were their elbows stick out and their arms fly too far up to keep a fast tempo. As they began the ending sequence, I ran back down to meet Bella at the front of the band. At the last click, the band starts laughing, screaming, and applauding themselves.

There was something about the thrill music gives me that makes me want to experience it over and over again. Everything about music draws me in. The trumpet melodies that you hum under your breath for the rest of the day, the bass drum that you feel in your chest when you put you hand over your heart, the first and second part clarinet harmonies, the short, scrawny guy playing the huge tuba with the best air support I've seen in a middle school kid, the trombones stretching their arms to hit seventh position, the happiness it gives people, the excitement and emotions that goes beyond half notes, quarter notes, slurs, accents, black notes, black lines, white pages.

I was startled when Bella started yelling something along the lines of, "Keep it up." I moved to stand directly behind her and leaned down close to her ear so she could hear me over the loud kids.

"I don't know what you were so worried about," I said. I saw her shoulders release some of the tension that she'd been holding all day and tried to hold back a chuckle. She turned to look at me and I thought she was going to say something, but instead she just stared at me.

"Neither do I. Thank you," she said sincerely. Bella surprised me by pulling me into a tight hug. I relaxed and wrapped my arms around her waist lightly and enjoyed her perfect smell. Bella pulled back suddenly and her face was bright red.

"I'm sorry, that was inappropriate. I shouldn't have done that, much less in front of the kids. Pretend like I didn't," Bella said, turning away from me.

"It's not a big deal, love. They weren't paying attention and I didn't mind at all." I smiled at her rambling. She's cute when she's nervous.

"Claire, Emily, and Alice were paying attention," she mumbled under her breath, her blush becoming more pronounced. I glanced up and saw Alice whispering to Claire and Emily. They started giggling ominously. I'm sure Alice was having a blast telling all about Bella and me. Fate hates us.

"Ignore them. They are probably just gossiping about Brittany Spears, T Pain, and Angelina and Brad." That was bull shit. They were talking about us and Bella knew it, but she nodded anyway and swallowed my lie. I looked up again and met Alice's eyes, giving her my best glare. In response, the little pixie smiled and waved while trying to hold back her laughter. Claire and Emily were in hysterics.

That's it. I'm going up there. I waited until Bella was occupied with flipping through her music to jump up a few rows to where Claire, Emily, and Alice were sitting.

"How are you, Edward darling?" Alice asked sweetly.

"I'd be better if you stopped embarrassing Bella. Don't make her feel uncomfortable, please," I said, meeting all of their eyes.

"Mr. Cullen, we didn't mean to make her feel uncomfortable," Emily, the most innocent of the three, said apologetically.

"I know you didn't, Emily, but Alice and Claire were," I said, sending a pointed glare in their direction.

"Edward, loosen up. I know you don't want Bella to be uncomfortable, but she'll be fine. She needs to be more comfortable around you anyway," Alice said with a wink.

"Yeah Mr. Cullen, Bella needs to chill when it comes to you." I rolled my eyes.

"Just…be more discreet about it, OK? Do whatever you want, just don't get caught."

"Yes sir." "Yes Mr. Cullen." "Sure Edward." I shook my head and started walking back towards the front of the band.

After playing All Star, Rock and Roll All Nite, 8675309, and a few other songs, the band was released for third quarter. They quickly stowed all of their instruments in their cases and sprinted for the concession so they could get their sugar highs from sour candy. I saw Claire take off quickly, pull her phone out of her pocket, waver her friends off, and head towards the corner of the stadium.

"I'm sorry to leave you, but I am needed at the moment," I told Bella as I got up and began fast-walking towards Claire.

Claire was the strongest person I've ever met and she was only fourteen. Her story is a sad one. Her father was never in the picture, but that made her devotion to her mother, the only family that Claire had, that much stronger. When her mother was diagnosed with cancer around Christmas last year, she was given six months to live. That was eight months ago and, as of last week, her mother wasn't going to last much longer. At the moment, Claire and her mother had a hospice nurse named Peggy living with them around the clock to deal with any health problems that may arise. They were living off of the money Claire's mother inherited from her parents, who died years ago and were from the upper crust of society. The past few weeks have been especially hard on Claire. She told me that her mother was having problems eating and staying awake for more than a few hours at a time.

Through all of this, I had never seen her cry.

She told me so that someone inside the school would know the situation and she wouldn't have to call the school when her mother died. Last year, I gave her my cell phone number so that she could always call me and I would deal with the school and get her excused from class without making it a big deal. She didn't want everyone to ask why she was gone for a couple days because she didn't want anyone to know.

Claire never explained to me why she never told anyone else about her mother's cancer. I did, however, have faith in her and I trusted that her reasons were valid. I refused to believe that she was ashamed. Instead, I think she was trying to hold her world at school together while her world at home was falling apart around her. Her silence is her way of controlling her life. She could be a total mess at home, but she refused to let it affect the seven hours where she can let her cares go.

While that sounds like she was being amazingly blasé, I think she cared too much. She knew that if she thought about her mother's sickness at school, she would breakdown and she wouldn't be able to face school after her mother is gone. It was a defense mechanism that ensured she would have a constant she could hold on to when she couldn't hold on to her mother.

She made it look easy. She laughed, she lived, she ate, she danced, she made music, she kissed Quil, she loved Bella, she did her homework, she was a ball of happiness and love. She made me swear last year that I would forget that her mother was sick and treat her like anyone else, and for the most part I did because she acted like nothing was wrong. When she first asked me to forget it, I thought she was crazy to expect me to forget something that big. As time went on, she made it easy for me to think of her as every other stress-free student.

In the back of my mind, I was always reminded of the strength that Claire possessed and used every single day. It was the strength to laugh, to forget, to love, to persevere.

"Claire, what happened?" I asked as I finally reached her. She closed the phone slowly and started taking deep, rhythmic breaths. Her whole body was tense, but her face refused to show any sadness or fear.

"She's…doing a lot worse. I won't be at school tomorrow. Can you figure out some lie to tell Bella?" she said in a flat voice and refused to meet my eyes.

"OK, call me if you need anything at all. I mean it, anything. Do you need a ride home?" I asked. I didn't push her to tell Bella the truth; I didn't ask for details, all I did was offer help. That's what she needed from me, not someone to confide in. I had a feeling Bella would be that person when the time came.

"Peggy already called a cab. Can you take my clarinet back to the band room?" she asked, looking up at me for the first time. She didn't hide the fear from her eyes as they met mine. I nodded before gently pulling her into a hug and chastely kissing her cheek in an attempt to provide some comfort. "Mr. Cullen, I really appreciate everything you've done for me."

"Don't mention it, sweetie. I promise that I'm glad to help." I released her and patted her back once.

"My mother told me to thank you. She made me promise to tell you," she whispered, looking down.

"Tell her that she has a wonderful daughter that deserves to have a helping hand," I said softly, letting her stare at the ground.

"I'll tell her. I know she'll love to hear that you said that. I'll call you soon, Mr. Cullen." Without meeting my eyes, she turned around and began sprinting to the yellow cab that was pulling up to the stadium.

I hoped I wouldn't get that call any time soon.

AN: I know it has been almost two months. I'm horrible. But...to make up for it I have the next chapter written and should be up before the weekend. See? Do you feel a little bit better now? Is the sun shining and unicorns dancing around you? BTW, do tell me how you feel about this twist. I have an idea of where I'm going to take this story and...I think it'll work.

FUNFACT: Today in French, I asked my French teacher what 'zut' meant because I'd heard it on SNL when they have that French comedian on during the Weekend Update. Turns out it means 'damn!'. I just asked my teacher about the word 'damn'. That was super embarrassing when she made me look it up and read it to the class.

Thanks to my wonderful Beta, Music ADD, for....everything. That's broad enough. Thanks for reading and I like reviews, Emma