So, here's my new plan on updating, that will hopefully stay true for a while. I will upload new chapters every Tuesday and Friday. If by the time I check on Saturday (evening) there are twenty or more reviews since Tuesday, I will upload an additional chapter that Sunday.
Now, this chapter backtracks a bit, but helps portray a character in a certain light. enjoy.
Shay205: So glad you're enjoying it
kouga's older woman: coming right up! =P
DelSan 13: it was necessary.
VampireLover010: I want more Glen too *pout* but the next few chapters are centered around Jake and Bella, so can you really complain? And, Whitney had to die along with the rest of the French Coven for a reason. Though I had much larger plans for the French Coven, they were unfortunately cut short for all but my favorite member, whose 'gift' is the one I thought I could do the most with. Also, thank you for being the only one to answer my questions. I appreciate your feedback.
Thanks so much to all my reviewers, much love to you all! Megan39 (4x), FlameAngel15 (2x), TeamSethLover (16x), Guest (5x), Shay205 (10x), lacysangels, DelSan 13 (8x), psycovampirefreak, kouga's older woman (5x), VampireLover010 (3x)
Your comments brighten my day every time I read them!
If you have any questions at all, please drop them in a review, and I'll either answer them in a PM or at the beginning of the next chapter. Even if you don't have a question then please leave a review. They keep my spirits up in addition to making my day every single time I see someone reviewed.
I'll post the children's ages here, for your ease of access, even though many might not appear in the chapter:
Bella-15
Ren-15
Glen-17
Jake-14
Rachel-17
Rebecca-17
Quil-13
Embry-14
Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable.
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Chapter 20
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~EdwardPOV~
How could I let myself be torn away from my love by the dictation of that mutt. He knows nothing of how to treat a lady with such a refined touch as mine, that much was made certain at the ball where his partner abandoned him as soon as they entered the premises.
Edward, calm down. Alice thought.
What does she know? She knows nothing of the pain I feel at the separation from my singer. Her blood sang to me as soon as I arrived on the school premises, the sweet scent of strawberries and cherry blossoms with the tiniest amount of lemons called to me, drawing me first to her car, a real old hand me down that looked like it could have been in existence while I was still human. But more on her absolutely unsafe sack of gears later, what enraged me more than her apparent lack of self-preservation was the presence of another, male scent. I vaguely recognized the scent, but from where I couldn't pinpoint.
A growl built in my throat before Alice set her hand on my shoulder, shaking her head. It's not worth it Edward.
How dare she tell me that removing my singer from the threat of another male wasn't worth it.
We don't want to draw attention. We'll see her at lunch and then you can gather information from her mind.
Hesitantly, I agreed.
Rosalie and Jasper were enrolled as juniors while Emmett, Alice and I were sophomores.
All through my morning classes, I wondered how cruel whomever controlled our actions must be, to ensure that me singer and only shared one class.
The constant chatter of other's thoughts that I'd learned to tune out over the decades was back in full force now. I was unable to concentrate on blocking them out, though it served some positive purpose after all. I had learned my singer's name and schedule. Isabella. My dearest sweet Isabella. Just knowing her name was enough to quell my disdain over being separated from her most nearly the entire day.
At lunch, she was again with the mutt. They looked happy together, but I knew that I would soon replace that dog at her side, that he would soon run away with his tail between his legs; and then, Isabella would be mine, all mine.
A smile graced my lips at the thought, the way her body would feel against mine…
No, I mustn't be too hasty in my daydreaming, lest they head to me doing something regrettable in a public setting such as this, not to forget that the mutt was right next to her. Though my family would surely aid me, a genocide occurring at a high school would surely catch the Volturi's attention, as the effect would be of that beast transforming in this setting. I have no doubt that we would be able to put the beast to rest and make off with my mate.
Bringing my mind back to the present, retrieving my tray of human food from the lunch line and sitting beside my 'siblings', I allowed myself to seek out the surely sweet voice of my Isabella's innermost thoughts. Surely the voice that accompanied such a sweet scent would be just as sweet, if not more so.
It took me a minute before realizing that I could hear nothing from inside her head, nothing at all.
I tried the better part of five minutes, just trying to hear a whisper of her sweet inner voice, but alas, nothing.
"What's wrong Edward?" Jasper asked, most likely sensing my distress.
"I can't hear my sweet Isabella's mind."
Emmett smiled while the rest of my family shared a look of shock as Alice's gaze drew distant.
"Isn't that a relief bro? Now you don't have to hear how creepy she thinks you are… Ouch! Rose why'd ya do that?" Emmett stated, before being hit in the back of his head by Rosalie.
"Shut up you moron. She's his singer. He doesn't need you riling him up about her."
Ah Rosalie, ever quick to aid me even though you don't know it.
"Don't worry Edward, you'll be assigned to work with her on a project for English Lit, and then you'll take her to Tolo…"
Sure enough, just as all her visions are, Alice's vision was correct.
A few months later I was paired with Isabella to 'translate' and act out a scene from one of Shakespeare's plays, which were drawn at random.
I hoped vehemently for Romeo and Juliet to be out play, but alas it was not meant to be. From the hat, Isabella drew the slip that had the title 'All's Well That Ends Well' written on it, in Mrs. Gran's elegant old-styled cursive script.
Isabella kept our interaction about the project outside class to a minimum, nothing more than a few exchanged emails, until Alice told me that today was the day that I had to make myself seen with her at lunch. And so I did. I asked her an innocent question about how she read a specific line that I myself understood perfectly well, making sure to catch her a short ways before we walked into the lunch room. I could hear the mutt's thoughts loud and clear. He thought that Bella betrayed him, and instead asked the girl whom was pining after him to Tolo. I would wait until the next day to ask my sweet Isabella.
The next day, Isabella had obviously shed a few tears over the matter that the mutt had asked someone else. I comforted her and waited until she was distracted in our work before asking. She said yes. There was no doubt in my mind that she would agree, but humans are such unpredictable creatures sometimes. However, I knew that my Isabella wanted to hurt the mutt just as much as he had hurt her.
One thing I hadn't counted on was that the mutt's date would leave him behind, just using him as a trophy to flaunt to her friends, that 'Jacob Black asked her to Tolo.' I almost felt bad for the mutt, that was, until my Isabella started conversing with him.
When I heard my Isabella's skin come into contact with the mutt's, I was instantly worried. Alice had tried to stop my actions, but I knew that the mutt wouldn't do anything so long as Isabella was near me.
What I hadn't anticipated however, was how easily my Isabella's skin could be marked, and how far the mutt would go in order to protect her. As her father stood in front of Carlisle, Esme, the school principle and I, I once again regretted not listening to Alice's warning as a restraining order was served against me. A horrible oversight on my part, foregoing the fact that her father was the chief of police, got me not only removed from her classes, but required me to have lunch elsewhere on the campus.
And as such, any contact I might have with my Isabella is now cut off.
But I don't care what the flimsy human law dictates I do. I will not be separated from my mate. I will bend to the law for now, but I will have her; I'll make sure of that.
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