Sunset Chapter 3: (Open Book) Let it snow!
The next day was even better. Well, it was for me.
Today it was dark, but not quite raining. Mike had decided to take my spot next to Bella in English so I ended up sitting by myself. At least, I did before Alice came over.
"Hello! Emma, right? Jasper and Emmett told me all about you yesterday and I just knew that I had to meet you. I'm Alice Cullen," She said, practically vibrating in her seat. The smaller girl looked so excited that I was afraid that she would start slipping. Alice suddenly pulled me into a hug that wasn't entirely unwanted. She was cool, but not uncomfortably cold like I was expecting.
"Sorry," she rushed out, pulling away before I could hug her back. I felt a little sad at the loss of her touch. "I just got a little too excited. It's just, I can see us as close friends, is all." She looked like she was scared that I would reject her. I could never, Alice was just too sweet for me to be mean to, even if I didn't know her that well yet.
"No, it alright! I mean, I would like to be your friend too." I said, glad that Alice thought I was worthy to be her friend. She smiled back at me as class started. We passed notes back and forth for most of the time, getting to know each other better. I was glad that it had been Alice who had taken the first move, because after the disaster the was Rosalie there was no way I was going to have to courage to talk to her.
The rest of my classes were pretty much the same as yesterday. Even though less people watched me in the halls, I could still feel them looking. I sat with the same group at lunch with Bella and spent most of the time talking to Angela. I could tell that Bella was getting better with school but I could tell that she was disappointed that Edward was no longer here. I don't know why, it's not like she would have worked up the courage to say anything to him this early anyway. Thankfully I had Jessica to help me distract her.
The only bad part of my day was when I played volleyball in Gym. I like volleyball but it's hard to enjoy it when I have to spent the entire time trying to keep the ball away from Bella. At one point I didn't dodge in time so I got hit in the back of the head.
Ignoring Bella's many apologies, I changed quickly back into my jeans and grey long-sleeve shirt. Bella hurried us from the girls' locker room to the truck, looking happy to ditch Mike. I can't say I really blame her, but she could probably just save herself a lot of trouble if she just told him that she is not interested.
When I told her such, she just preceded to go on about why he "obviously doesn't like me like that." Bella, please open your eyes, people like you "like that."
Bella started looking in her bag for our "Food Money" jar so that we could get some groceries. After my sister found out that Dad hardly cooked (though his breakfast foods were fantastic), she decided that she was going to take over the cooking. I was only too happy let the job go to her. I did, however, want to go to the store so I could pick out some of my own foods and get some things that Bella might not want.
Bella turned on the car and backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to leave. As we waited, I saw the Cullens getting into Edward's Volvo. The only one not in the car, Alice, turned to me, waving and smiling. I smiled and gave a small wave back. Bella seemed to be too mesmerized by them to question why Alice waved at me. I'm not sure if I would have an answer for her.
The Thriftway was not far from the school, just minutes away. Bella and I (when I felt like it) would do most of the shopping in Arizona. I knew that Bella was ready to fall into her familiar pattern so I quickly split off and searched through the store for random things I wanted and found a few new things that I wanted to try out.
When we got home, I helped Bella unload groceries. I made sure to place the things that I knew Bella didn't like in a separate cabinet. As Bella started making steak and potatoes, I started on my homework, eating a small snack of jellybeans I found at the store.
"Your going to spoil your appetite if you eat too much," Bella said, grabbing her book bag.
"It's just a few Jellybeans, Jelly-Belly," I joked, throwing one in the air to catch. It managed to hit my nose but I caught it before it fell to the floor. "A little sugar won't kill you."
Rolling her eyes at me, she made her way to her room. "You're just missing out then," I muttered, finally eating the cherry bean.
When I was finished with homework, I took my bags upstairs and sent an email to Mom. She was worried that Bella never returned her emails and I reassured her that she was just settling in. I was pretty sure that today was when Bella checked her mail but I made sure to knock on her door and ask her if she had heard from Mom.
Heading down the stairs, I decided to watch random TV. Family Feud was on so I watched that for a while until Dad came home.
"Bella?" my father called out when he heard her on the stairs.
"Hey, Dad, welcome home."
"Thanks." He hung up his gun belt and stepped out of his boots as Bella headed to get the food.
"Hey Dad, how was your day?" I asked as I joined them in the kitchen.
"Pretty good. Bit boring – paperwork," he explained.
"What's for dinner?" he asked cautiously. Mom was an experimental cook and though sometimes you got a delicious surprise, mostly you got fire and uneatable "food".
"Steak and potatoes," Bella answered, and he looked relieved.
Dad and I went into the living room to watch TV while Bella worked. If I had nothing to help her with, it was better that I stayed out of the way.
We got called when dinner was ready, and Dad sniffed appreciatively as he walked into the room.
"Smells good, Bell."
"Yeah Bells, nice work."
"Thanks." And que the blush.
We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable. None of us were bothered by the quiet.
"So, how did you like school? Have either of you made any friends?" Dad asked as he was taking seconds. I reached over for more potatoes.
"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice." Bella shrugged.
"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid - nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here."
"I sit with them at lunch too. They're all very nice, especially Angela Webber. There's lots of people in my dance class that are cool. June Richardson and I get along pretty well." I didn't bring up the Cullens, unsure if I could count them as friends yet, even with how friendly they were.
"Do you know the Cullen family?" Bella asked hesitantly.
"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."
"They... the kids... are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."
Charlie surprised us both by looking angry. I had forgotten how strongly he felt about the Cullens in the beginning.
"People in this town," he muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder. "We're lucky to have him - lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature – I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should – camping trips every other weekend... Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."
I could feel Bella mentally backpedal. "They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive," She added, trying to be more complimentary.
"You should see the doctor," Charlie said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around."
We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started on the dishes, letting Bella head up to her room. She made the food, I could at least clean up. Dad went back to the TV, and after I finished washing the dishes I went to my room to change and start on one of our assigned reading. A little while later I went to bed.
The rest of the week was uneventful. By Friday I was able to recognize, but definitely not name, almost all the students at school. That surprised me as I thought there would be more kids than there were. In Gym, the kids learned not to pass Bella the ball and to step quickly in front of her if I was not there.
Alice, Jasper, and Emmett continued to talk to me. We didn't go in to anything deep but it was nice to get to know them a little more than "vampires who don't eat people." It made them more real. Rosalie didn't talk to me but she was never outright aggressive either. I counted it as a win.
As expected, Edward didn't come back to school. Every day at lunch Bella would eye their table until he failed to appear. On Thursday I told Bella that Alice had said that Edward had the flu and wouldn't be back until next week. That was a lie, of course, but now Edward had a cover so I hoped the Cullens would just go with it. She seemed a mixture of disappointed and relieved. I didn't know if I should feel annoyed or not that she cared enough about someone she hadn't even spoken to.
Lunchtime conversation mostly it centered around a trip to La Push in two weeks that Mike was putting together. We were invited and I agreed to go, glad to finally have a time to go back to First Beach and see some old friends.
Our first weekend here was pretty boring if I'm honest. Charlie worked most of the weekend and Bella spent most of the time cleaning the house or doing homework. I finished my homework on Friday and spent most of Saturday practicing dance in the backyard or watching trash TV while reading. On Sunday Bella drove us to the library. She wasn't really interested in anything there but I had a card and checked out an older movie I had wanted to watch.
When Monday finally rolled around, I was glad if just to see some of my new friends. It was getting colder but not raining yet. In English, Mike took his now semi-permanent seat next to my sister so I sat by Alice again.
"Good Morning! Sleep well?" I joked as I sat down.
Alice hummed but didn't answer. Had my joke been that bad? Well, technically she didn't know I was joking but it was kind of a two-sided joke for the both of us. It was unlike her to be this quiet. She normally was so full of cheer. Had something happen this weekend?
I didn't get a chance to ask as class got started. I was thankful that I had done some of the reading since we had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights. I'm sure Bella had an easy time but some of the questions I had to think about more than I would like to admit.
Alice seemed to disappear right after class ended so I didn't get to talk to her like I wanted to. Instead, I walked out with Bella and Mike only to see tons of people staring at the sky in wonder. The strong wind blew my hair around and I couldn't help but let out laugh of delight.
"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."
"Ew." Bella scrunched up her nose in disgust. I rolled my eyes and bit back my huff.
He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"
"No," I cut in, "Bella hates anything fun or exciting. I'm going to go mess around. See you later!" I ran away before Bella could yell at me. She could get her revenge later but she kind of deserved it. Who wanted to be so down about snow? This was great! I had never seen it before in person. It was always too hot in the summer for anything more than rain. I knew it wouldn't last the day so I refused to waste the time I had with it now.
I managed to have some sort of snow ball fight with a few kids as I made my way to and from my different classes. I even managed to get Emmett in the back before Chemistry. This only resulted in me getting hit while trying to run away after class. I saw Bella at one point trying to fend off snowballs with her binder. I almost hit her myself but decided not to be too cruel. I would have to ride home with her, after all.
Giggling and trying to get snow out of my hair, I made my way to my History class. Thankfully, I was not the only one covered in snow and the teacher didn't yell at us. Instead she only sighed, probably in regret for the poor janitors who would have to up clean after us.
"Attention, class," she started, "I am going to bet that by the looks on your faces that it would be near impossible to try to teach anything today. Therefore, you will all be allowed a study day today. Make sure you are all ready to learn tomorrow." The end of her sentence was mostly cut off by the sudden eruption of cheers. At least the teachers know when there is no hope.
"So, you like the snow?" Jasper asked, surprising me. I half expected that he would ignore me like Alice. Emmett talked to me, if less than normal. It might not have had anything to do with me. Most likely a Bella and Edward thing.
"Yeah! I've never seen snow in real life before now. It's really fun to play with. How did you know?" I questioned.
He looked me over before reaching towards my hair. I was confused until he pulled his hand back to reveal some snow I had missed. "Other than being covered in snow, I saw you earlier with Emmett. He said that I was to tell you that he wants a real fight next chance you both get."
I smirked. "Tell him to bring it! I'd love to have a real snowball fight." Okay, so it might not be a good idea to get into a fight (even if it was with snow) with a vampire. Especially if said vampire was the strongest of the coven. But he would go easy on the human, right? Probably.
Well, no one said I was smart.
Jasper let out a laugh at my declaration of war against his brother. My mind seemed to jam and I had to remind myself to breath. How in the living hell does someone's laugh sound hot? Adding in his accent and good looks and I had to physically restrain myself from melting into a puddle of goo. Good on you Alice, you sure know how to choose them.
"What about you? I know you all lived in Alaska before coming here. It must have been even colder than Forks." I tried to continue the conversation the best I could but didn't want to tread too deep into dangerous territory. Thankfully, even with my jumbled mind I seemed to be doing okay.
"It's alright. Colder, for sure, with a lot more snow. But, as you can tell, I used to live in the south." I felt like he was poking fun of me now. He had to know, he could literally feel my emotions. "Sometimes I miss the warmth. Do you miss Arizona at all?"
"Sometimes. More like I miss my Mother. But I like Forks and living with my Dad. Arizona just wasn't…" Home. "Where I needed to be." I tried to cover up my emotions but I don't think I did a good job at all. Taking a breath, I continued before I could dwell. "I think the change is worse on my sister than anything."
"Really? I didn't know."
I squinted at him. "You know, I can't tell if your serious or just messing with me."
Jasper raised a brow. Nope, still can't tell.
"Why did she come here, then? I can tell you want to be here but why didn't she stay behind if she dislikes it here so much?"
"It's... complicated," I said, stealing Bella's line. And it was, sort of. But I didn't feel the need to hide in the way that she did. Besides, I already knew more about him than he did about me. It was only right to share a bit. That's what friends do anyway, right? And we were friends or at least getting there. We would be eventually. Hopefully.
"Mom got remarried last September. Phil's nice enough and they wouldn't have minded us around but he travels a lot. Plays ball, minor league. You've probably never heard of him. Mom wanted to be with him but she had to stay with us. So, we sent ourselves here. I wanted to live with Dad anyway so it wasn't a big deal to me. Bella, on the other hand, treats this like some self-imposed exile." I couldn't help the eye roll. "She sent herself somewhere where she knew she would be unhappy yet she refuses to let people help her." I let out a sigh of frustration before turning red.
Oh God, had I just ranted to Jasper about my sister? He barely knew me or her, he didn't care about all if this. Hell, he didn't deserve to be on the end of this chatter of endless stupidity. Especially when all we were going to do was mess up his life in the incoming few years.
"I... I'm sorry about that." I apologized, "Sometimes I tend to say more than I mean to. You shouldn't have been forced to deal with any of that. Can we just forget I said anything?"
Jasper slid his hands over mine and unfolded them from the fists they had become. His hands were cold and if I didn't know any better, I would have said it was from the snow.
"Hey," he said softly, "It's okay, I understand. I live with Rosalie and I'm sure you can tell, she isn't always one for sunshine and rainbows. The others aren't any better." His tone was more playful now. "You should see Emmett and Edward when they fight. If it goes on long enough, it can lead to some serious damage to the house. Esme gets upset then it becomes a huge deal that can go on for days…" He fake-shivered, apparently remembering the last family argument. I tried not to laugh but couldn't hold back a tiny smile.
"Look, what I'm trying to say is that nobody is perfect and even if you say something about your sister, you still love her. I'll be here if you ever just want to talk, even if it's not about her. I might have a few stories to share of my own in turn." At that, he gave me a wink.
"Thank you," was all I could get out before the bell rung to signal the end of class. Jasper was gone before I could say anything else.
/-/
I was in a daze as I made my way to lunch, still not really believing what had just happened. I had done something stupid and had expected Jasper to laugh or not care. Instead he had been nice. I was pushed out my thoughts when a snowball hit me in the side. Not expecting it, I slipped and fell into a small hill of snow that once was someone else's attempt at a snowman. Rip snowman, you will be missed. Wiping the snow out of my face, I looked around to see Mike laughing at me.
"Ha, ha," I mocked him as I pushed myself out of the powder. "Very funny. Don't think I'm not going to get you back."
"I'd like to see you try," he smirked as we walked towards Jessica and Bella, who had been standing off to the side of the cafeteria building.
Lunch turned out to be less interesting than I thought it would with the return of Edward. Bella was quiet and hardly ate anything as I tried to stay out of her business. She needed to deal with him on her own.
The Cullens were actually looking, well, happy for once. They were all laughing at the Alice-caused snow that had ended up in each boy's hair. Both girls were leaning away from Emmett as he attempted to act like a dog and shake out the droplets on them. It was, dare I say it, normal in comparison to how they usually acted in school. I felt a pleasant warmth wash over me as I watched this family moment but forced myself to look away. I felt like a nosy outsider, peering into a world that I would never be a part of.
"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, her eyes going to the table. Bella dropped her head. I looked back over to Edward. He looked curious and unsatisfied, just like the last time I saw him.
"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica giggled.
"He doesn't look angry, does he?"
"No," she said, sounding confused by Bella's question. "Should he be?"
"I don't think he likes me," She confided. She put my head down on her arm.
"The Cullens don't like anybody... well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you." Guess wind of my interactions still hadn't reached her yet. Good, I wanted as much time to stay out of the gossip mill as possible before its inevitable betrayal.
"Stop looking at him," She hissed.
We both snickered at this, but she looked away. Mike jumped in on our silence to tell us about the "Super Epic Battle of the Blizzard" that was happening after school. Even though I knew the snow would be long-gone by then, I still agreed alongside Jessica. I hoped that maybe this one time, I'd be wrong about upcoming events.
Unfortunately, fate was still being a jerk. As we walked to the door everyone seemed to groan in unison. The rain had come and washed all of the snow away to my displeasure. Mike seemed to agree with me as he was still complaining as I broke off from the group.
The rest of the day was pretty normal. Other than some angry comments about the lack of snow, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. Since it was Monday, I didn't go to the gym so I just had to trust that Mike could handle Bella without me.
The rain had become mist by the time class was over. Bella seemed a lot happier than earlier as we climbed into the car.
"Anything good happen today?" I asked.
Bella hesitated before shaking her head. "No, not really. Just glad the snow is over with."
I hummed in acceptance of her answer. While I would have liked for her to share about Edward, I could understand her wanting to keep it for herself. I hadn't told her about Jasper after all.
"But you do know, don't you?" My mind told me. "She can never have anything to herself because you always know. You're being selfish, always knowing but never telling."
"Shut up," I mumbled to the window, my eyes closing as my forehead pressed into the cold window glass. "Just shut up."
My angst was ruined as the truck jerked backwards before stopping suddenly, throwing me back into my seat.
"Bells, what the heck?"
"Sorry," She replied distractedly as we finally made our way (carefully this time!) out of the parking spot. Looking over, I could see Edward laughing at us. I made sure to think something colorful for him as we rode off.
Author's Note:
Snow time fun is sadly cut short and I realized that I could have put more dialogue than I did. Also I have no clue where that self-hate came from in the last part.
*Squints at Emma and whispers, "What are you doing sweetheart? I want you to be happy and you pull out that."*
