And here we see the Cullens! Yay!
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Chapter V - Gold
"Hello." A pleasant sounding voice stated, interrupting Edgar mid-stroke. The girl held the tainted paint brush up, just as it was about to touch the canvas, and turned to see who'd come to talk to her. It wasn't something that happened often -people going out of their way to talk to her-, so she found herself a little bit surprised.
Edgar was greeted with the sight of the Angel of the Oneto Tomb look-alike, one of the beautiful beings who had been at that table sitting with Aphrodite the other day. She stood on Edgar's right next to the Canvas Stand with a large smile, hands clasped behind her back and golden eyes sparkling brightly. She seemed expectant for some reason. Edgar blinked in confusion, wondering what she could possibly want. She looked around the rest of her art class, who were all busy with their own painting (they had been tasked with painting the bowl of fruit on the ornate marble draped with a drape of maroon Velvet acting as a screen behind them). Mr Brogue was watching the two of them curiously, but otherwise made no move to interrupt.
Her grey eyes turned back to the girl next to her, seeing how positively eager she seemed to be, but for the life of her, Edgar couldn't fathom why. "Hullo." She replied after a long moment of staring at the smaller female.
"I was wondering if you'd be able to help me get the colour of the marble right? It seems to be a very light beige, but I can't get the correct shade. Mr Brogue said I should ask you." The pixie-like girl explained in a chipper voice. Edgar looked back to her own painting, at the stand she too was in the middle of painting. To her it was relatively simple, but she supposed that not everyone understood.
"It's quite simple actually, I just mixed a light Rose with a heavy amount of Cotton white, and then added thin streaks of Ivory before blending it in with a clean brush. However, don't do it too heavily, just brief up and down flicks from the tip should do it. Do you need an example?" Offered Edgar, since most people worked best by demonstration than theory. The dark haired girl next to her nodded.
"That would be really helpful, thanks." She said. Edgar reached into her bag next to her on the floor and pulled out a plain piece of paper. Dipping a brush into the white paint, she streaked it across the blank page before doing the same with the Rose she had mixed earlier on her palette. Quickly running the brush back and forth across the streaks until the two colours blended into a barely decipherable pink, she then added in the Ivory.
"Like I explained," Said Edgar as the girl next to her watched in interest, "You'll only need a little bit of it, since too much of it will end up making it too dark." She rinsed the bristles in the cup of water before drying it on her apron and dipping it into her newly mixed blend.
Edgar flicked her wrist four times in quick succession, each time the brush held delicately over the paper until she had achieved the right colour and handed it to the girl next to her, who took it and regarded it carefully for a moment before giving Edgar a bright smile.
"Thank you so much. It really helps." She gushed brightly, before tilting her head to the right and looking carefully at Edgar's painting. "You're very talented. My sister even thinks so and she's very hard to impress."
"Sister?" Edgar asked in confusion, not knowing who she was referring to. The pixie-like girl smiled at her.
"The one you did the portrait of two weeks ago. She's my older sister." She explained, before her eyes widened as if she just remembered something. "Sorry I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Alice Cullen." She stated.
Edgar nodded in acknowledgement. "Your sister is Aphrodite then?" She asked in interest and Alice let out a laugh. Edgar thought it was a pleasant sound, it sounded more like the tinkling of wind chimes than anything.
"Her name is Rosalie. Although she does kinda look like Aphrodite doesn't she?" Alice asked agreeably. Edgar nodded.
"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" Asked the smaller girl. Edgar blinked at her.
"Do you want me to?" She asked curiously. Edgar figured that most people didn't particularly care to know who she was, therefore she never bothered to give her name unless they went out of their way to ask for it.
Alice frowned at her. "Well of course I do! I gave you mine didn't I?" She asked, only causing Edgar more confusion.
"Yes you did, but that doesn't mean you wanted me to reciprocate in turn…"The grey eyed girl honestly didn't understand what Alice meant. How could Edgar have known she wanted to know her name if she hadn't asked?
Alice let out another laugh, but it was soft so as to not draw attention to themselves even though they were in the back. "Well, most people don't necessarily have to ask for another person's name when they offer their own. The other person automatically gives it. It's common courtesy." Alice didn't say it in a bad way, just merely explaining it like it was.
"It is?" Asked Edgar and Alice held her dainty hand to her mouth to muffle her laughter.
"You're a strange one." The pixie-like girl declared. Edgar wasn't really sure how to take Alice's comment. Did she mean it in a good way or a bad way? If anyone was strange, Edgar thought, it was her. "What's your name?" Alice asked with a genuine smile.
"My name is Edgar Beauregard." She frowned thoughtfully. Alice seemed nice enough she supposed, if a little weird. "It's a pleasure to meet you Alice." She added finally with a small smile.
Alice grinned back. "It's great to meet you too Edgar." She chirped. Mr Brogue chose that moment to loudly clear his throat, drawing both girl's attention. He was giving them both a frown, and Alice smiled sheepishly, before looking back at Edgar.
"Well, I better get back to my own painting." She said gesturing to her empty spot in the middle of the class. Edgar looked at her painting and realised that it was extremely good. In fact, Edgar couldn't see a reason as to why Alice would need any help at all if her piece was as good as her own, maybe even better. She looked back at Alice again with a frown of confusion. .
"Thanks a lot for helping me Edgar." She said with a wave, before basically skipping back to her place.
The girl really was weird, she thought.
"Her name is Edgar. Edgar Beauregard." Alice chirped brightly, taking a seat next to her siblings in the cafeteria after her art class ended. Jasper gave her hand a squeeze and she smiled at him.
"Who?" Asked Emmett in confusion, not knowing who she was referring to. Rosalie was giving her a wary frown.
"The girl who drew Rosalie's portrait of course." Alice huffed, before taking a sip of water. They found that water didn't really taste bad to them, well, it didn't really taste like anything. It just tasted like normal water, and it also helped with the thirst, so it was an added bonus. Rosalie's frown turned into a glare and she crossed her arms angrily.
"Alice," She hissed in displeasure. "I thought we agreed to leave her alone. It's too risky." The blond said but her younger sibling merely waved her hand uncaringly and gave her a smile, clearly not fazed by her ire.
"It's not like I'm really doing anything Rosalie. I was just curious. Besides, I'm not the only one, Edward even spoke to her a couple of days ago." That shocked them, but they couldn't ask the subject in question since he was absent. Rosalie's glare darkened.
"When was this?" Emmett asked in confusion. Edward hadn't told them anything about it.
"On Sunday." Alice stated nonchalantly. "He was going to pick Esme up from the Soup Kitchen when he met Edgar at the Petrol Station."
"Edward didn't tell us." Jasper said with a frown. Rosalie growled.
"That idiot. He's putting our family in danger." She said and Emmett put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.
"I'm sure it wasn't about anything important then, otherwise he would have said something. They probably just met at the checkout or something, and it's not like that's the type of place for an in depth conversation." He said jokingly, trying to lighten her up. Rosalie seemed to relax, but only a little.
She scowled. "We should just be careful. I don't want to have to move again because you guys couldn't get over your curiosity." Jasper snorted, ignoring the dark look sent in her direction.
"You shouldn't have let her draw you then." He retorted. "I myself find myself curious. Any human brave enough to approach us without fear is worthy of our interest." He declared and Emmett grinned.
"I say. She just marched her way over here, and asked Rose to draw her. Rose." Emmett uttered pointedly, and the blond gave him a smack on the shoulder, making him cringe.
"And what's that supposed to mean, Emmett?" She asked in annoyance, but he merely chuckled.
"Nothing, nothing." He answered, backing off wisely. Alice giggled softly.
Just then, Edward entered the cafeteria (ignoring the longing stares he received from both sexes) and made his way towards them. Rosalie's bad countenance returned immediately and she didn't even give him a chance to open his mouth before she was on him.
"You spoke to the girl." She accused, pointing at him. "Edgar Beauregard. I thought we agreed not to pursue the topic." She stated. Edward rolled his eyes at her tone, only furthering to make her more annoyed. The others merely sighed at his actions.
"It's not like it was about anything serious. I just wanted to know her name." He answered flippantly. Rosalie fumed silently.
"Oh calm down Rosalie," Alice interjected before the blond could start insulting him -no doubt she already was, and judging by Edward's growing scowl, he could hear her loud and clear- "Like Emmett said, they just met up at the checkout. There's nothing bad about that, and it would have been rude to ignore her anyway." Rosalie turned her icy gaze on her.
"And what's your excuse for talking to her, Alice?" She asked in a cold tone, making Jasper frown deeply at her. Alice gave an innocent smile.
"I needed help in Art Class." She answered casually. They all stared at her.
"You needed help?" Jasper asked, dubious. Her siblings didn't look all that convinced either, in fact, Edward looked downright amused.
"Right." He drawled, sarcasm palpable. Emmett snorted, but under Rosalie's angry glare, quickly swallowed some water on the pretence of choking, nevermind the fact that beings of their kind couldn't.
"Carlisle even told us not to talk to her!" The blond exclaimed indignantly and Alice shook her head a wagged her finger with a grin.
"No, he said we shouldn't actively seek her out." She corrected in a knowing tone.
"Either way, you disobeyed his orders. You didn't need any help, you were just looking for an excuse to talk to her Alice." Rosalie stated. Alice sighed wearily.
"Honestly Rosalie, I think you're overreacting. You really should relax." She said to her sister. Edward winced. He knew what was coming and he was not looking forward to it.
Rosalie's eyes darkened, "No I will not 'relax' Alice!" She spat vehemently, "One mistake. Just one little mistake and our whole family is in danger! The Volturi doesn't give second chances, you know that. This isn't a joke Alice. Perhaps pretending to be a human teenager for so long has dulled your intelligence, but please try and act your age and think for a second, because your interest in one inconsequential human can get us all killed." And with that, she got up and stomped away, barely restraining herself in front of the other students.
The others watched her until she disappeared from sight, shocked at her outburst, Alice the most affected. Emmett gave her an apologetic smile, before following after the blond. Next to her, Jasper fumed angrily at how Rosalie had spoken to her, but Alice merely sighed softly and held his hand tighter. She could acknowledge that Rosalie was correct and that she shouldn't be risking the safety of the family. She was being selfish, she was aware ofthat, however she just had a really good feeling about Edgar.
There was something about the dreamy girl that had Alice interested, and though she couldn't see anything especially big about her at present, she knew that she wouldn't regret befriending the girl. And Alice knew she wasn't the only one interested, even Edward was. Edward, who normally regarded humans with cold disdain and thinly veiled apathy had managed to find himself fascinated.
So, while Alice knew what she was doing was wrong, not to mention extremely dangerous, she couldn't help but want to listen to her intuition. And even if sometimes her visions failed her, her instincts never had, and because of that, she trusted it wholeheartedly –consequences be damned.
