A/N: So this is my first FanFic and I appreciate all feedback and comments. I've never written a story before so you might have to bear with me as I figure some things out. If you have suggestions or concerns I'm open to hearing all of them as well. If this story gets some traction, I will try my best to upload on a consistent (and timely manner) I know how frustrating it can be to wait for such a long time. I also have every intention of finishing this story, but again that kinda depends on if people actually care to read it or not! Cheers -A.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of this material, it is all SM's and I'm just writing around her work.
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Edith
Edith was sitting at the rectangular grey laminate table with her family trying her best to tune the thoughts Mike Newton was having about Jessica Stanley when she first noticed him. She saw a crop of messy dark brown hair bobbing along the path that ran parallel to the window alongside the cafeteria.
It wasn't the boy that initially caught her attention, but the shout, "Watch out!" from the group of guys playing catch with a football out in the field. She looked up and saw the football hurtling towards the boy who had his earphones in listening to some music.
She heard Emmet think, "this is going to be hilarious!"and Jessamine pray silently, "Please don't let him bleed, please don't let him bleed…"
Edith felt bad for Jessamine, as she was the newest to their "vegetarian" diet and had the most trouble controlling her urges for the regular food source of their kind. She also felt bad for the new kid who would probably get a black eye from the football about to strike his face. She noticed that he was quite tall for his age and was wearing some green pants with an oversized dark navy wool sweater and a red backpack with a bunch of patches plastered all over the place. She heard that he was listening to a rock band which she hadn't heard before, which was saying something, considering how long she'd lived and how much she enjoyed music.
Edith analyzed all of this information in the span of time it took for the boy to take a half step forward. As the boys in the field shouted their warning, the new boys head snapped up and his eyes opened wide. He reeled his head back and lunged for the football with his right hand. He actually managed to catch it, but he started to fall towards the glass window and the shrubs lining the walkway. As he teetered forward he tried to spin around and throw the ball back to the guys playing in the field. In doing so however he managed to fall directly into a large puddle on the side of the path and completely soak his pants, shirt and backpack.
Emmett let out a huge gawfah of laughter and Rosalie smirked at the boy. Archie just sighed and pushed his pizza around on the tray of food thinking, "damn that wool sweater is gonna take forever to dry and will probably shrink in all the wrong places if he doesn't take care of it properly…" Leave it to her fashion conscious brother to think of the clothes!
Edith, with her keen hearing heard the boys outside exclaim, "Nice catch man! Sorry about that, you saved us from breaking the window though!" and another boy yelled back, "Damn dude, you should try out for the football team!"
The boy who fell in the puddle was slowly getting to his feet and assessing the dampness of his clothes by wringing out the hem of his sweater. Archie winced theatrically and Edith smiled at him. The boy yelled back laughing, "No worries guys, I needed to get used to the wet here eventually! And if falling on your ass makes for a good football tryout then count me in!"
Edith was surprised, she would have thought most people after falling into a puddle would have been chagrined, but this boy seemed genuinely amused by his soaked state. The boys exchanged names quickly and Edith caught the new kids name to be Beau Swan.
Beau kept walking around the building and entered the cafeteria directly across from the Edith and the Cullens. He stopped momentarily at the entrance and surveyed the tables looking for a seat. Unfortunately most seats were taken this late into lunch, so his options were limited to a table by himself in the corner of the cafeteria or one of the seats at the Cullens table, which normally remained empty as the Cullens tended to scare off the other students.
As Beau was looking around, his eyes fell on Edith for a moment and Edith, trying to get a better read on him, tried to focus on hearing his thoughts, which was when she noticed that his thoughts were completely silent. Nothing. She had never encountered someone who she couldn't read before. She'd prayed sometimes to be able to block out some incredibly disgusting or disturbing thoughts before, but she could always understand what someone was thinking at any given moment. This scared her, but also intrigued her. Beau was a mystery to her. She also noticed that she was staring and quickly averted her eyes. She didn't want to encourage him to walk over here, as it wouldn't help his social standing to be seen with her family.
"Oh my god," whispered Emmett, "super soaker is coming over here!" Archie chuckled and whispered back, "be nice Emmett, he'll probably take one look at you and turn heel and run!"
Edith looked back at the doorway, and sure enough Beau was meandering his way over to their table. He stopped across from Archie and asked, "hey guys do you mind if I grab a seat with you? All the other tables are taken and I don't feel like a time-out in the corner." Archie stared at him for a quick second before replying, "for sure man."
Beau looked relieved and took his backpack off, placing it on the floor next to his seat. He looked up then and introduced himself, "Thanks for letting me sit down here. By the way I'm Beau Swan, I just moved into town recently."
"It's nice to meet ya man," Archie said and then went around the table naming off his family, "this is Rosalie and Emmett, Jessamine and Edith, and I'm Archie. We're the Cullens."
Beau looked at each of her family members and studied their faces. It might have been Edith's imagination, but she thought she saw Beau's eyes widen when he looked at her. Instead, Beau said, "Wow you guys must have won the genetic lottery or something eh? Can't imagine what your parents look like." Then he flushed and put his hand over his face. Edith stared at his face, that blush looked… delicious.
"Damn that came out completely wrong," he mumbled. "I mean you are obviously all very good looking, but I can't believe I said that two minutes into a conversation." Edith took pity on him and chuckled, "Thanks Beau. You're not bad looking yourself, but we're actually all adopted. Our mother can't have children, so we've become her large adoptive family." If anything Beau seemed to blush more which threw Edith off until she remembered that she told Beau he looked good. If she was capable of flushing, she was sure she would at that moment, instead she quickly glanced away and caught Archie smirking at her giving a suggestive eyebrow waggle. Idiot she thought.
Beau picked up on the short silence and said, "wow that is so cool! You must have some amazing parents to deal with six teenagers at once." Rose spoke up for the first time and with heartfelt emotion said, "Yes Carlisle and Esme are more than we could have ever hoped for."
Emmett being Emmett had to take the moment to make some joke as he shook his head and laughed, "are you this late to school because you decided to swim here?"
Beau looked up at Emmett and did a double take then whispered to himself, "damn what do they feed the kids here…" Edith laughed to herself, thinking that Beau really didn't want to know what Emmett "ate", but outwardly Beau chuckled and said, "That bad eh? I thought the dark clothing might hide it better. I'm actually late because I got a flat and had to change tires and then I got lost on my way over. But I'm a tad damp because I managed to fall into a lovely puddle not 20 steps from school after pulling off an amazing aerial 360 catch and return. I wouldn't be surprised if recruiters will be showing up in the next couple days to offer me some wide receiver positions. Though you really had to see it to appreciate it."
"I'm sure you had to," Archie said dryly. "Too bad we caught the entire thing. Front row seats and all," he said gesturing to the window in front of them. The entire table laughed and Beau smiled hugely. Edith still couldn't get a read on Beau, but she found herself smiling at self-deprecating humour. After the laughing died down, Beau reached down to his backpack, unzipping it and bringing out an insulated cloth lunch kit. He pulled out a glass Tupperware filled with some red paste looking food that made Edith's nose crinkle in disgust from the smell. She couldn't fathom how she used to enjoyhuman food, it all smelled absolutely terrible to her.
Jessamine looked at Beau and quietly asked, "you bring your own food to school? You know we have a cafeteria here right?" Beau looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah I'm aware, but I love to cook and plus it helps me save money by bringing my own food." After a quick moments pause he also added, "I also think that cafeteria food is one step away from being cardboard and I try my best not to eat things that taste like paper products." Beau looked at the table and smirked, "which I can see that most of you would agree with."
Edith started. Her and her family never really ate anything on account of their diet, but for Beau to pick that up after sitting with them for such a short period of time spoke of his attentiveness. She squinted her eyes at him, trying, and failing to read his mind yet again. Archie laughed and said, "you got us! We actually just ate before coming to school. Family brunch ya know?" Nice save, thought Emmett.
Beau laughed along with Archie, seemingly unaware of the hard looks that four vampires were giving him. He sat up and scratched his sweater, making a face when his hand came up wet. Beau looked around the cafeteria and spotted a radiator in the corner next to the table that Mike Newton and Jessica Weaver were sitting at. He got up and said, "excuse me, I'm just going to go and hang up sweater up near the heater until lunch is over." While walking away he pulled the sweater over his head. Underneath the was wearing a white t-shirt tucked into his green pants. The t-shirt was completely soaked through and stuck to his torso. At first Edith was shocked by the sight as she noticed that the baggy sweater had hid a very lean figure with defined muscle. He had a wide back and shoulders and a slim muscular waist. However, the shock came from looking closer at what she could see through his shirt. There were multiple circular scars that were spotted over his back. Luckily Beau was walking away from the table and couldn't see her staring at him, but she heard Archie think, "damn I wonder what happened to him… maybe he has some sick backstory like he fights crime at night as a vigilante…"
Edith heard Beau approach the table that Mike was sitting at, which now had less people sitting at it, and ask, "Hi there guys, I was wondering if I could borrow the spare chair here to hang up my sweater?" The girls at the table tripped over themselves to assure him that no one was using the chair and console him on his soaked sweater. Unfortunately Edith could hear the girls thoughts too.
"oh my god he's so hot, look at his abs"
"look at those eyes, they're so blue!"
"I wonder if he would say yes if I ask him to the dance?"
Edith shook her head. The boys thoughts were't much better.
"oh great, another guy to show up"
"Jeez, pushy much. Trying to steal all the ladies… two can play at that game"
That last thought was from Tyler Crowley, who reached over his head to pull his sweater off and place it on the table, stretching and flexing his arms the entire while.
"Pathetic mating behaviour wouldn't you say Edi?" Thought Archie looking at her with a smirk on his face. Edith couldn't help but agree, but Beau didn't seem to take any notice of the batting eyes or the stink eyes directed his way. He just smiled and scraped the chair over to the radiator and primly arranged his sweater on it so that the hem was closest to the heater.
Walking back over to their table, he garnered more looks from other tables and glancing down at himself, noticed that his shirt was also soaked through. Self-consciously blushing a little he stepped quicker over the Cullens. Edith was able to look at his front now and noticed that the scars she noticed on his back were also present on his chest and stomach. She wanted to ask him about them, but he was already faintly red in the face and she didn't want to pry and make him more embarrassed.
Beau turned around once he sat down and saw other students frowning over at him. He quickly turned around and asked, "Okay tell it to me straight. Did I just do something really stupid? Like why are people staring over here and frowning?"
Archie chuckled and said with a teasing tone, "hmmm maybe the gals are looking at a snack? You've been holding out on us man, what do you do, crunches, pilates, hot yoga?" At this Beau laughed a little and blushed slightly. I need to make him do that thought Edith covertly it's really adorable. Then she mentally put the brakes on. What am I thinking? This is a mortal boy, one slip and I could kill him and ruin everything that Carlisle built for us here. Mad at herself Edith glared at Beau. At that moment however Beau met Edith's eyes and flinched away. She knew what he saw, a smouldering black eyed glare that could make even the toughest man flinch. It set off primordial alarms in any humans mind. This was not someone you wanted to cross, and you should run away now. She quickly cleared her face and tried a tentative smile at Beau. It wasn't his fault that she had thought his blushes were sweet.
Beau looked positively dumbfounded for a moment, but then returned a tentative smile in her direction. Oh well, it'll have to do for now Edith thought.
Beau looked back to Archie and in a monotone and blank face said, "hardy har-har Archie. I like to be active, climbing, biking… those sorts of things."
Trying to extend the olive branch, Edith tried to explain the school dynamic to Beau a little better. "The rest of the students don't tend to associate with us generally speaking. We don't try to keep to ourselves but over time as we spend more time with our family than other students a little resentment builds up. I think that the rest of the students just find it odd that you're sitting with us and not at another table."
"Oh," Beau said. "That's too bad, the rest of them don't know what they're missing. You guys seems great."
Edith smiled warmly at Beau. "Thanks Beau, it's nice to talk to someone who doesn't make terrible jokes on an hourly schedule or someone who doesn't do moderation." At that last comment, Edith elbowed Archie in the ribs. If she had done that to a human, their chest cavity would have fully collapsed. Archie just playfully winced and said, "Edi, you wound me! I don't do boring. Boring is the death of fun and I am the physical embodiment of fun!" Then Emmett piped up, "HEY! Were you talking about me when you said someone tells terrible jokes?! My jokes are clever and thoughtfully crafted for maximum humour!"
Beau laughed at the banter between the siblings but he slowly stopped and his smile took on a sad cast. Reaching down into his bag he pulled out the school map, which was completely soaked through. "Damn it, now I'm going to be walking around like an idiot trying to find the proper buildings… Do you guys know where calculus with Jefferson is?" Archie smirked and thought, "he could just ask any of the girls over there and I'm sure they'd even carry his bag if he asked nice enough."
Edith scowled at Archie and then looked to Beau. "I'm actually in that class. I could walk over there with you if you'd like?" Part of Edith hoped that Beau would decline, it would make things so much easier for her and her family if they could return to being the social pariahs of the school and keep up their ruse. The other smaller part of her really wanted to talk to Beau and get to know him better. He was a mystery, she couldn't hear his thoughts, his blood smelled incredibly strong even mixed with the scents from all the other humans in the hall, and he genuinely surprised her with how he seemed to handle life.
Beau perked up a little and said, "that would be great Edith, thank you."
She looked at him and knew she was damning herself to an exquisite torture of smelling his undiluted scent, but still hoping he would accept when she casually said, "Would you like to head over now? I'm not hungry and it looks like you're already finished."
Beau smiled and agreed. The rest of her family gave her shocked looks, and Archie grabbed her hand as Beau walked over to get his sweater from the radiator. "Edi, you know I would tell you if I saw you killing that poor kid, but split second decisions can change the entire future. Are you sure this is wise? You're setting up a situation that could go very wrong, very quickly. Why are you doing this?"
Edith stopped for a second. Why was she doing this? She told herself that she wanted to talk to Beau alone and get to know this interesting man more, but was it something more? Was it something more insidious? Was she trying to lure him to a secluded spot so that she could drink him dry? The thought chilled her already cold body. She didn't want to be this person anymore, she didn't want to be a killer. It was too late to back out with Beau already walking back with a shy smile on his face, but she instantly regretted opening her mouth. What right did she have to endanger this boy? She was dangerous, the perfect killer. Edith began to panic, hoping that Beau wouldn't see the terror in her eyes. Jessamine sensed Edith's growing worry and calmed her down with her power. Edith gave Jessamine a grateful look and then squared herself to the task of having a normal conversation with Beau without killing him.
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