All of my stories are beta'd by the wonderful Mullet86.
Tailspin
Chapter 11
When we were younger Emmett and I would spend part of every summer visiting our grandparents in Chicago. Unlike Forks, Illinois became unbearably hot and humid by mid July. To cool off grandma would take us swimming at the country club while grandpa played 18 holes with his cronies. Emmett, being the stereotypical big brother, could not only swim in the deep end, but also jump off the high board. I, on the other hand, was destined to bob along in the shallow end like a discarded piece of driftwood, because my scrawny body had yet to master the breast stroke, which of course was a requirement for swimming in the deep end.
The summer I turned 11 years old, I'd had enough of Em's taunting and showboating. I was determined to jump off that high board before we left for home. I was tired of being told to respect my limitations and that I couldn't just jump into things before I was ready. I'd sat all afternoon watching Em and his friends do back flips and cannon balls off the board while I paddled around in the shallow end with the rest of the toddlers. Finally, I'd had enough. Ignoring my grandmother's demands to come over and have more sun lotion applied to my pearly white skin, I made my way to the ladder of the high board. Em and a few of his friends had taken a break from the board and were prancing around poolside trying to impress a couple of bikini clad girls in the shallow end. I had a small window to conquer my fears without the attention of my brother.
I remember slowly climbing the ladder, pausing several times to shore up my courage. Slowly but surely I found my way to the top of the board. I closed my eyes and walked to the end of the board. Since I was a shallow end dweller, I had no idea that when you got to the end of the long board it moved. I mean the damn thing teetered like a coed on stilettos at a frat party. I stood there teetering on the end of the board for what seemed like hours. Finally, I closed my eyes tightly and jumped.
The seconds of free fall made me feel like I was flying. I felt I like I was invincible, right up until I landed in the water with a resounding SMACK! My breath was knocked out when I hit the water and my vision blurred as I sank down into the 15 ft depths. The next thing I remembered was Emmett yanking me out of the water and hauling me over to the side. I sputtered and spat out pool water as Em smacked me on the back. After making sure I would survive and giving me a stern lecture about understanding my limitations and to not bite off more than I could chew, he swam off to his friends. I clung to the side of the pool and watched them all point and laugh at me while I stewed in my humiliation and defeat.
Chalk it up to my Irish stubbornness or the fact that I didn't like being told what to do by my 13 year old brother, I gathered up what was left of my courage and pulled myself back out of the pool.
I watched the bigger boys laugh at me as I held back the tears. With a deep breath, I hauled myself out of the pool for a second time. Ignoring the stinging of my arms and chest, I made my way back to the ladder and got in line. I was about halfway up when Emmett saw me. "Get down Edward!" He ordered. I ignored him and kept climbing.
He got out of the pool and tried to grab me. I scurried up the last few steps until I was once again standing on top of the high dive.
Choruses of "Watch it, No budging in line and I'm going to tell", followed him as he pushed the other kids out of the way as he moved up the ladder. He silenced most of their protests with just a look. Even at 13, Emmett was an imposing figure. I turned to jump before he could grab me.
"Edward stop!" I squared my shoulders and moved forward.
Emmet reached the top of the board. "Edward wait. Please." I stopped. The board bounced as I slowly turned to look at my brother.
"You're not ready for this." I glared at him.
He put his palms up. "Look. If you want to learn to dive, I'll teach you. We'll start on the short board and work our way up. You can't jump into it like that. You can't do it. You're not ready."
Maybe he'd been right. I wasn't ready. Perhaps I should have started slowly and worked my way up. But that wasn't me. I flipped him off and jumped off the board. I experienced the same exhilaration as I did the first time. But I also knew that the pain was coming. I hit the water and lost my breath. I tried to swim but I couldn't move my arms or legs. The pain from the first belly flop was nothing compared to the second time. I closed my eyes against the sting of the chlorine and slowly began sinking once again to the bottom of the pool.
Just like last time, I felt two hands grab me roughly and pull me upwards out of the darkness.
I remember gasping for air as Emmett hauled me to the side of the pool. "Are you out of your mind?" Emmett spewed. "You could have drowned." I watched silently as he rubbed a hand over his dripping face.
"Why didn't you just wait and slowly work into it? Why do you always have to jump into things without thinking? What in the world…" The sound of his voice was completely drowned out by the ecstasy that was pounding in my little heart.
I'd jumped off the deep end without even thinking about the consequences. I knew I wasn't a strong swimmer; I knew that I could've been hurt and that it was stupid to jump in like that, but my heart said I could do it. I blocked out every other voice and jumped.
It wasn't the first or the last time I would be accused of jumping first and looking later. There was the great skateboarding incident of 2003, and the time Tyler dared to jump my bike over Mrs. Cope's sleeping form. Old Mrs. Cope's double D's were the first boobs outside of family that I'd ever touched. I don't think Mrs. Cope or I ever fully recovered from that failed attempt at glory. As a kid I was a huge risk taker. I lived life fully and loved with my whole heart, right up until Tanya turned my carefree heart to stone.
And now the first time in four years I opened myself up again, and the door was slammed right back in my face. History dictated that I should harden my heart and shake off Bella's rejection. I should feign indifference to her appearance.
I should pretend that every fiber of my being wasn't calling out to her, pleading with her to let me hold her forever.
I should stealthily try to slide off the bench and attempt to slither out from under the table and crawl out of the diner before making an even bigger fool out of myself.
Yeah, that's probably what I should do.
But instead, I called out her name alerting my brother and Jasper to the fact that the woman who'd left me broken only hours ago, had walked into the diner with the women they've both decided are their soul mates.
Oh, and one of those women happens to be my cousin who just happens to hate my guts.
Do you think they'd notice if I climbed out the window?
My brief thoughts of escape were short lived with the sound of my Bella's voice.
"Edward?"
Jasper and Emmett's faces instantly shone with recognition when I'd uttered her name. The blond that had previously been attached to my brother's face glared coolly at me, while Bella just looked stunned.
Not five feet away she stands still like a statue. I had to mentally tell myself to not reach out and grab her. Her deep coffee eyes were wide in surprise as we stared silently at each other. If it hadn't been for the usual Saturday morning noise of the popular breakfast place, you could've heard the proverbial pin drop at our table.
Before I could figure out how to get her back into my arms and erase the last few hours from our history, a screeching sound permeated the silence.
"Noooo!" I had only seconds to brace myself for the weight of my cousin Alice, affectionately also known as 'Taz' (not so affectionately known where I was concerned) began pummeling me with her tiny, perfectly manicured fists.
"What the fuck Taz?" I tried pushing her off me but the little devil was stronger than I'd thought.
"I'm not letting it happen again you asshole!" I fell back into the seat, bringing my arms up to block the blows.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I peeked around my arm to try and get a read on Bella's expression. Big mistake. The little hellion landed a direct hit to my right cheek bone.
"Sonovabitch!"
"I won't let you hurt her!" Hurt who? Bella? Did she think that I hurt Bella?
"Get the fuck off Alice!" I continued to block her hits hoping she'd tire soon and stop assaulting me. I may be an asshole but I would never hit a woman.
Not even my cousin from Hell!
"Jasper a little help?" I begged. The fucking jerk just stood there with what looked like pride on his stupid face. Realizing he would be of no help, I turned to my big brother.
"Em!" My fucking Benedict Arnold brother just smiled while Taz and her fists continued to bruise the shit out of me. In between blows, I caught a glimpse of Bella. Her horror stricken face broke my heart. She had both of her hands covering her mouth as she witnessed my humiliating beat down.
Damn!
My older brother, the brother that I looked up to, tried to impress, loved even, just stood there and let our own flesh and blood assault me in public. "You deserve this Edward." I glared at him in between blows. "Maybe not this time in particular, but you can't deny that in the past that your assaholic behavior has earned you her anger." I scoffed at his reasoning as the blows kept coming.
I shifted in my seat trying to gain a little leverage against Alice. If neither one of the two people I relied on to watch my back were going to help, I'd have to shake the little viper off myself.
"You asshole" Smack! Not Bella." Slap! "I won't lose another friend because you can't keep your dick in your pants!" Punch! "Not. This. Time!" Her voice got shriller as her hits got harder.
My elbow slipped on the table, knocking over a glass of water. Evidently the only thing Taz hated more than me was getting wet.
She ceased her assault on my body and moved quickly off me to stand at the end of the booth. Her fists were still shaking in her fury and her eyes were still staring daggers at me, but at least she'd stopped hitting me.
I hastily grabbed a bunch of napkins to sop up the water before it landed in my lap. I used the distraction to avoid looking at Bella.
"I think you got it bro." I looked down to see the dry table. In my attempt to buy more time, I'd cleaned up the spill and had proceeded to stack all of the dirty dishes into a neat pile in the middle of the table. I continued wiping the clean table as Emmett's hand covered my own.
"Edward, stop." I was startled at my brother's harsh demand. My hands immediately stop their aimless movements to fall silently into my lap. With a deep breath, I raised my head and looked up.
Jasper had moved to stand behind Alice; his arms encased her small body in the same comforting embrace that I longed to hold Bella in. Alice was still breathing heavily from her activities and was slumped against his body.
The blond woman had moved to stand behind my brother and was rubbing his arm soothingly as he continued to watch me.
I ignore them all and look at Bella. What I see is devastating.
Her face is blank.
Do you hate me or will you hang long enough to see if I can redeem myself?
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You have no idea how much your words mean to me.
~ Christa
