Going Under
Ch. 9 – Together
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or New Moon. Never have, never will.
As I glided gracefully though the door to my next class and slid effortlessly into my desk, my mind was not here. It was with Edward. You look absolutely beautiful today. His words rang in my head over and over. I sighed happily and daydreamed through class. My teacher had called on me three times to answer the question being asked, and the kid behind me had to poke me in the back with a pencil before I registered what was happening.
"Miss Hadrian, I shall ask you again. What does the oxidation number of an element represent?" he asked, annoyed.
Deciding I could probably get away with whatever I said next, I made my golden eyes smolder and my arranged my features into a very apologetic expression.
"Forgive me for my lack of attentiveness, Mr. Aidan," I said sincerely. "The oxidation number of a given element would represent the number of electrons gained or lost during a chemical bond," I rattled off, and the look of appreciation I received went just a little bit beyond the fact that I answered the question perfectly.
"T-that's correct Miss Hadrian. Don't let it happen again," Mr. Aidan managed with a wink of his eye.
What a schmuck! I thought to myself, and smiled sweetly at him.
When the bell rang, I quickly exited the classroom. I had next hour with Edward and I would not waste a second of it if I could help it. As I entered my history class, Andrew and Olivia were already seated in their usual spots. Andrew was across the aisle from Olivia in the back of the class, and I sat in front of Olivia.
I sat down quickly, and Olivia gave me a very odd look. I wondered what facial expression I was using.
"Uh…why are you smiling like that Bella?" Olivia asked, and then apparently she remembered.
My reason for giddiness walked past me in that second, locking our eyes as he sat in front of me.
"Hello," Edward said simply, smiling his boyish grin.
My heart melted. "Hi," I said; my voice sounded alluring even though I had never intended it to.
"Are we still on for tonight?" he asked me; I could just see the hint of uncertainty in his topaz eyes.
"Of course," I reassured him.
He smiled just as the bell rang, and turned around in his seat.
"I need you to pass up your creative essays that I assigned on the first day of school please," the teacher asked, and I cursed inwardly.
I had completely forgotten about the essay! I turned quickly to my partner to ask him if he wrote his share and noticed that he had two papers on his desk; one was mine, and one was his. He was also staring at me with an odd look in his eye.
"Thanks so much for writing my half. I owe you big time," I said to him in a plain tone of voice. Even though I used absolutely no emphasis, he still acted as if I just gave him a new car.
"It was my absolute pleasure, Bella," he said in an unpleasant, nasal voice.
He knows my name? I've been in class one time! I thought to myself.
"I never got your name…," I said, and he answered immediately.
"Bob. Call me Bob," Bob said, and I smiled and turned around in my seat. As soon as I looked away from him I sighed and rolled my eyes. There was always one…
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
As I stood in my room tugging my clothes on, Olivia paced in front of my window, gabbling on and on about how adorable Edward (Eddy to her) and I looked together, how much she loved Alice, and how much fun we were going to have tonight. I never really replied; I was too preoccupied with getting the shirt on right. It was maroon, and the sleeves hung loosely off the tops of my pale shoulders. There were two small straps of fabric that came out of the neckline and tied around my neck.
"Olivia," I said, but apparently she didn't hear me.
"I mean, you both just look so absolutely in love! He looks at you like you are about to disappear any second. It's just so-" she continued.
"Olivia!" I tried again, a bit louder this time. I was completely tangled up in the shirt and I wasn't going anywhere.
"-cute! Come on, he told you looked beautiful today! Andrew tells me that all the time, but it just sounded so sweet coming from him! He is completely obsessed with you Bella. You must have been one good-looking human. Or good-smelling I guess," she kept on, gushing all this in one breath.
"OLIVIA! SHUT UP AND HELP ME!" I yelled, and her head snapped up as she watched me struggle.
"Sorry!" she exclaimed as she rushed over, a grin on her face, and helped me put the shirt right.
"Geez, stupid thing!" I exclaimed as I finally got it to fight right on my body. I tied the strap in less than a millisecond, and had my denim Capri's on in under five seconds.
"Thanks though, sorry I yelled," I apologized as I jammed my feet into my black flats.
She waved her hand as if it was nothing, and then disappeared to her room for a while. I knew she was changing her clothes and I looked myself over in the mirror once more.
I was so excited to finally be together with Edward again.
It was 4:58; they would be here in two minutes.
I walked down the hall and into Olivia's room. "Two minutes!" I said, and she basically freaked out in excitement as she arranged her belt to fall around her hips in a naturally crooked fashion. Andrew emerged from the closet, his shoes untied. He sat down to tie them quickly, and then we all walked downstairs.
There was a knock at the door. Olivia rushed forward to get it, but I grabbed her wrist and pointed to the stairs, where she and Andrew ran up quickly. I smoothed my shirt out and walked towards the door. My hand hesitated about the doorknob, but finally they made contact and I opened the door.
Edward stood there in a pair of distressed jeans, brown squared dress shoes, and a white button up Polo shirt. Before I could let a drip of venom-enhanced drool to roll down my chin, I quickly smiled and moved aside to let him inside. He stared at me for a second, and then realized that I was inviting him inside and snapped out of his trance.
"Hi," I said.
"Hey. You look nice," Edward replied.
"Thanks so do you," I replied. He had no idea how hard it was to stand there and have a perfectly normal conversation without throwing my arms around him, which I managed to resist somehow.
Andrew and Olivia loped down the stairs in graceful nonchalance and said hi to Edward. "Ready to go?" he asked me, and I nodded. Aaron and Michelle were out to a movie; no need to tell them where we were going.
We made our way outside, and I shut and locked the door to our house. I noticed that the car, a pitch black Chevy Suburban, was lightly rocking back and forth. I threw Edward a curious glance, and he shrugged at me. Bravely, I reached out and opened the door. Alice was bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement, shaking the car.
She squeezed the breath out of me as soon as she saw me. "Bella!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around me. I returned the hug, though not as rib-crushing, and smiled. "Hey Alice. Good to see you too," I said, smiling. She released me and hugged Olivia, and immediately they began to talk about clothes again.
Andrew joined Emmett and Jasper, who were in the third and final row of seats in the car, and they were going on about something, but I wasn't listening. I slid into the front seat, and Edward shut the door for me. By the time I buckled my seatbelt, he was seated and pulling out of the driveway.
We sat in awkward silence in the front seat, unsure of what to talk about; again.
"So…," I volunteered.
"So," he replied, glancing over at me as he turned onto the highway.
"Where are you living now?" I asked, and he increased the speed of the vehicle.
"Down by the Vernonia State Trail," Edward said, and I nodded.
I had no idea where that was.
"Is that far from here?" I asked, and he shrugged.
"Not when you drive like us," he said, and winked playfully.
I grinned back at him as we pulled into the parking lot of the mall. It was crowded; I could already pick out several of the faces that I saw at school. Edward seemed to be frustrated about something; his brow was furrowed in concentration. I guessed he was trying not to hit anybody. As we slid into a parking space, Edward's expression lifted and he got out of the car. I undid my seatbelt and was about to open the door, but he beat me to it.
"Thank you," I said, and he nodded back at me, closing the door behind me. He opened Olivia's door next, and they all slid out. Immediately, Jasper took Alice's hand and Andrew took Olivia's hand. Pretending not to notice them, I kept walking next to Edward, a safe eight inches between us.
Entering the mall, I realized that I wanted to get everybody into a store, and get me and Edward alone. I really wanted to talk about what he had done since he left. It would not sadden me, I was simply curious. Olivia and Alice were gone the second we passed the Versace store. Andrew, Emmett, and Jasper were attracted immediately into a RadioShack where there was a 75" plasma screen viewing a football game.
I looked up at Edward, who was looking down at me, and smiled. As we walked, we attracted many eyes; they followed us until their necks would snap with the effort they put into staring, and then turned back the way they were walking and continued with whatever they were doing before they saw us.
It felt so surreal to be here with Edward, at a shopping mall of all places. I looked up again stealthily to make sure that this was not all just a very cruel dream, and his facial expression shocked me. He was concentrating extremely hard on something; his face was contorted into a beautiful arrangement of despair and desperation.
"What's wrong?" I asked, alarmed.
"I can't read anybody's minds," Edward said quietly, looking down at me with pained eyes.
"Oh, sorry!" I said quickly, and his face changed again to relief as I let down my shield.
"Why are you saying sorry?" he asked, feeling more comfortable with his sixth sense back again.
"Well, that's my power. Vampires' special abilities do not affect me. I can also put up a kind of shield around anybody in close range of me, and it's kind of a knee-jerk reaction whenever we're in public," I explained; the look on his face was priceless.
"Bella, we have a lot to talk about," Edward said.
"Indeed we do. Let's find a place to sit," I offered, and he nodded in agreement.
As we walked around the huge mall, trying to find a bench that wasn't taken, we had subconsciously gotten a little closer to each other. His hand accidentally brushed mine, sending electric shocks up my arm. He looked down at me, and our fingers intertwined together. It felt unbelievably good to be able to touch him again.
Finally we found several loveseats pushed together in a cozy arrangement on a section of carpet in the middle of the mall. Edward led me to them, and we sat down next to each other, very closely I might add. Without letting go of his hand, I asked him, "What do you want to talk about?"
His answering smile was beautiful. "What happened after…well, after I left?" he asked, his smile fading quickly.
"Ah," I said. I knew that we would have to talk about this sometime if we were going to give 'us' another try, and I suppose with Edward it was sooner rather than later.
"Well, you left and I basically shut down. I hardly spoke with Charlie, never said another word to Mike, Angela, Jessica. Jacob came over sometimes but he stopped after a few weeks. I finished high school, and when I left I didn't have a single friend. I didn't realize it at the time because I never really paid any attention to anybody else," I began, looking at our hands as I spoke.
"I went off to college, WSU, and in the middle of the first semester, I was changed. I was in my dorm, and I had just gotten out of the shower. I had the window open earlier because my roommate had burned something in the oven and nearly caught the kitchen on fire. I guess the vampire got in that way, because I sure as hell didn't let him in. I have no clue whom it could have possibly been though. My roommate had gone home for the holidays, so I underwent the transformation alone. I knew that I couldn't scream out because somebody would hear me and the secret would have been revealed," I said, and finally looked up at him.
"Bella," Edward whispered; that same tortured expression in his eyes nearly tore my heart to shreds.
"It's alright. What's done is done Edward, we can't change it," I told him, and patted his hand with my other free one.
"After the transformation was complete, I fled the college. I went down to Colorado, and that's where I met the Hadrian's. They saved me. I was so lonely; I hadn't talked to anybody in ten years. They were the nicest people and they were so sincere. They took me in, and I've been with their coven ever since; a little over forty years. Anyway, we stayed in Colorado for a while, and then we went to Alaska, Quebec, and New England. We just moved here about two years ago; I started school as a junior and now, as you know, we're in senior year," I finished, and stole another glance up at him.
"What are the others' powers?" Edward asked.
"Michelle is extremely persuasive; she gets her way every time. Olivia is telekinetic; she can summon any object within about a mile radius. Andrew can control the weather, and it can get really bad when he gets really angry about something. He's practiced really hard, so Mother Nature controls most of everything. Very strong or powerful emotions are really what influences the forecast, and he's very laidback so it's alright most of the time. Aaron can take anyone back into someone's memory, and as you know, I have the power to block vampire abilities," I explained to him.
"That's so interesting!" Edward said honestly, taking it all in as if his life depended upon it.
"Yeah, what about you? Where've you been?" I asked.
"Well, when we left we relocated to Alaska and spent some time with Tanya's family. We stayed there for a very, very long time. Jasper is just as good about resisting human blood as Rosalie or I, and we converted several other covens into 'vegetarians' whilst we were there," Edward explained.
"We then moved here about a month ago and started school when you did," he finished.
"You were in Denali for almost half a century?" I asked in amazement, and he nodded.
"None of you went to school? Carlisle did not work?" I questioned.
"We didn't go to school since Denali is so remote, and Carlisle worked in a very small hospital for several years, but then quit. We were going to relocate and say that he was offered a position elsewhere, but he knew that Jasper desperately needed the training, so we stayed put."
"Where is Rosalie?" I asked suddenly, remembering her.
"Rosalie joined the foreign exchange program at school. She's enrolled in Banks High School, but they shipped her off to China to attend classes there," he said with a casual shrug.
"Wow. Poor Emmett!" I said, and he nodded.
"I know. Luckily, she comes back in a few more weeks," he added.
As he said this, the others approached us and we looked up at them. We had apparently lost track of time as we were talking; there were only several stragglers left behind, including us, and the custodians were mopping the floors.
Olivia looked hyper, Alice looked ecstatic to see Edward and me holding hands. Emmett and Jasper looked slightly annoyed, and were talking in disappointed tones to each other; apparently the New England Patriots had lost the football game. Olivia had ten shopping bags, and Alice had twelve. "Oh Bella, I found you the most adorable skirt!" Olivia gushed, and I couldn't help but grin.
"Thanks 'Liv," I said, and she nodded eagerly.
Edward stood up and I followed suite. Our hands were still locked together, and I expected them to stay that way for a while. As we left the mall, we stayed silent, simply enjoying each others' presence. The ride home was too short and nothing interesting happened.
When we pulled up into our driveway, I noticed that Aaron's blue Camry was sitting in front of the house and several lights were on inside the house. Olivia and Andrew bailed out, both saying goodbye to their friends. After they were inside the house, Edward walked me up to the door.
"Thanks for taking me out tonight, I had fun," I said.
His eyes lit up as I spoke, and he smiled. "I'm glad. I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked, and I nodded.
"Sit with us again at lunch tomorrow," I offered, and he told me he would.
We looked into each others' eyes for a while, and then apparently he remembered that his siblings were waiting for him in the car.
"Good night Bella," Edward said, and before I could tell him goodbye, his lips were pressed against mine in a beautiful embrace.
He pulled away too soon, though, and left me breathless. Squeezing my hand, he smiled at me and left. I walked into my house, locked the door, and walked up the stairs to my room, dazed beyond belief.
xXxXxXxXxXxXx
Months passed in much of the same fashion; Edward and I would meet at school, he would dazzle me there. He would take me out at night, and dazzle me there, too. Sometimes I went over to the Cullen's house after school. Esme and Carlisle were very glad to see me. They didn't ask very many questions though, so I guess Edward had told them what I had told him that one night at the mall.
It was so nice to be able to be back with my one and only again; sometimes we would drive up to Forks just to spend time in our meadow. Those were my favorite times spent with Edward. We would both sparkle in the sunlight and just enjoy each other. Even through all this bliss, there was always that little spot in the back of my mind that would never trust Edward again. After he left, some things would just never be the same. But that was the way that fate worked, and we would find ways to work around it.
It was almost Christmas time now, and I was at the Cullen's house helping Alice and Esme decorate the Christmas tree. Edward had his arm around my waist and he would lift me up when I needed to place an ornament up high on the tree. I always rewarded him with a kiss, and he always seemed pleased.
"What do you want for Christmas, Edward?" I asked him as I rummaged gently through the pile of glass orbs at my feet, trying to find a blue one.
"You for forever is enough for me Bella. I'll never want anything again," came his reply, and it made me smile, even though it was completely cheesy.
"Aw come on Edward, there's got to be something," I pressed, and he stubbornly shook his head.
"Okay then, I guess you'll be the only one who won't be opening anything for Christmas then," I said simply, and he smiled.
"That's fine with me, as long as you're here," he replied, and I gave up shortly thereafter.
Later that night, Alice pulled me aside before I went home. "He wants an Xbox 360," she whispered, and I grinned.
"Thanks," I told her, and she smiled and danced off.
"Bye Edward, I'll see you tomorrow. I have to go help Olivia and Michelle with the Christmas stuff over there," I said, and gave him a quick kiss.
"Goodbye my Bella. Be safe," Edward told me. He gently touched my face with his fingertips, smiled, and let me go.
When I looked in his eyes, I could see that he didn't want me to go. He also looked to be having some kind of an internal battle with himself over something. It worried me greatly, and caused me distress. I couldn't address it though, because I was scared.
Was it something simple that had nothing to do with me?
Or was he going to leave again?