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Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Edward or Bella... any of the characters, really... not even the dirt on the silver Volvo... but I like to play with them a little bit...
So, this is the beta-ed version... Thanks a million to MeteorOnAMoonlessNight for helping me with this story!
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Chapter 3: Different shades of green
BPOV
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We stayed on the bleachers watching everyone play basketball and goof around like they were supposed to do, after I had changed my gym uniform for my normal clothes. Once, in the middle of the class and when my compress was no longer cold, a ball came closer to us. Edward was about to get up, but he couldn't do it with the oxygen tank by his side. I prepared myself for the hit, but a blond guy stepped in the way and caught it. He threw it hard at the same blond the coach called 'Newton' when he hit me, and turned around to tip an invisible hat to Edward.
"Thanks, Jasper," my bleachers partner said and the guy smiled.
"No problem, Cullen." He turned around to Newton. "Hey, Newt? Do you need a compass? Or are you so bad at basketball that you need to keep hitting people in the head so no one will notice?"
Everyone laughed except Edward. He blushed lightly and opened his red notebook quietly. Me, being 'Bella-nosy-Swan' couldn't keep quiet.
"What's that?" He jumped slightly; he probably didn't expect me to point out his notebook.
"Doodles," he answered. I frowned. If what I saw earlier are 'doodles' to him… a voice behind me made me jump this time.
"He's bluffing. He's drawing. He's always drawing," Jasper said with a little of a southern accent in his voice. "He just doesn't appreciate his talent like he should."
"Shouldn't you be scoring baskets, cowboy?" Edward asked with an eyebrow raised at Jasper. A bitchbrow… nice!
"I'll be back to that in a second, apple pie." I giggled at his nickname. "He gets cranky when someone compliments his drawings."
"Did you seriously just called him 'apple pie?" I kept laughing. Couldn't help it. Edward was mumbling something behind me but I focused on Jasper.
"Did you see his eyes? They're like little apples. And since he's so sweet." I laughed again. "Besides, just because Rose and I came from Texas, doesn't mean I'm a cowboy, apple pie."
"Whatever, Jasper. Just go get some points for your team," Edward mumbled, and Jasper smiled at me before returning to the game.
I turned around and saw that Edward was whipping his pencil around the page of his notebook.
"What's wrong, Edward? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's just… never mind." He returned to his notebook and I sighed.
"Can… I mean… can I see?" Edward looked at me with those pretty green eyes and I stumbled in mid speech. "Your drawing… I mean, I know I can't draw anything but stick figures, so…" Stop rambling, Bella. "Right, so…"
"Sure," he whispered and I saw his face. He had a little smile, his cheeks tinted red, and I smiled as well.
I went to sit by his side on the bleachers; my face hurt a little from smiling so much, but I didn't care. There on the notebook was the same rose I had seen at homeroom before. But every little line he added put a lot more detail to the drawing. It was perfect. Almost like a photograph printed in black and white.
"How did you do… just, how?"
"My mother taught me to draw when I was little. Then I went to an art school for 2 years until I… had to move here," he whispered, and closed his notebook after adding his name and the date at the bottom of the drawing.
"It's amazing, Edward." He blushed and I smiled. "Really. I'm not bluffing."
"Thanks. I might believe you if you keep saying it."
"Whatever." He smiled and I threw my warm compress to the floor. "So, you're not from here, either? It's that why you and Alice are so nice to me?"
"No, Alice is nice to you because you have some sarcastic undertone she actually likes. Me, I'm just starting to know you, Swan, so don't get ahead of yourself." I grinned. Stupid, sarcastic, artistic, gorgeous, asshole. "And, yeah, we're not from here. We moved here a couple of years ago."
"Okay, so I'm not the only one crazy enough to move to the rainiest place in the continental US, then."
"Well, Alice and I didn't have a choice. You might have to join Jasper and Rose on the whacko-mobile, though." Right, Jasper was from Texas, he said so himself. "You're from Arizona, right? I think I caught that when you rambled at Coach Clapp."
"Ugh. Don't remind me. There's nothing I hate more than rambling in front of a group of strangers to prove to them that, even if I'm new, I can be part of their class."
"Have you transferred schools before?" he asked, and, even if I didn't know him, just bits and pieces, I wanted to tell him the truth.
"Well, you see… my mom is kind of a free spirit. Since she divorced my dad, we've been travelling around the US. Florida, Chicago, New Jersey, California, Arizona… you name it. I think I've been in 10 different schools since I was 6."
"Really?" He was shocked. I could tell from the way his pretty eyes… I mean, his eyes, were wide open while I said all that.
"Really. That's why I hate moving so much. Even though I love knowing new places around the country, I wanted to stay in one place for a little while. Since my mom wanted to move to Georgia this time, and I didn't know how long we would be staying, I decided I wanted to live with my dad for awhile so mom could have her little adventure and I could finish my senior year without having to move mid-way through it."
"I see. No wonder you hate it. I can't imagine moving around so much…" He stopped to cough a little and I winced.
"You okay?" He nodded. "Well, at least it left me with amazing photographs and cool memories. And since I used to spend my holidays here, I came to the only place I always returned. Home." He smiled and didn't pressure me to come up with more details, and I was grateful for that. "Oh, but you didn't tell me. You moved here from where?"
"Savannah. My parents went there when my mother knew she was pregnant. She said she always wanted to raise her children by the sea." He had a sad little smile on his face while he talked about his mom. Oh, sweet little boy… what happened to you? "But, well, we're here now."
The bell resonated through the gym and I grimaced. "I guess I have to show my eggplant-face in the cafeteria now, huh?"
"No one will care, Bella," Edward told me, and footsteps could be heard behind me.
"Of course no one will care. You're still the hot new piece of meat at this school." A guy—if that's just a guy, then I'm a little ladybug—a massive guy walked up behind me and I almost cowered behind Edward until I saw the little dimples on his face. "I'm Emmett, by the way." He looked at Edward. "You done with the side-kick?"
"Stop calling it a 'side-kick', Em."
"What do you want me to call it? I can came up with new names for it, but you know me, I'm not really that good… now, Jasper on the other hand…"
"Don't ask for Jasper's help. Just don't." Emmett laughed while Edward removed the cannula from his nose and then Emmett took the backpack like it weighed nothing.
"I'm gonna leave this in the car. Make sure to save me some pizza at the cafeteria before it disappears!" He jogged to the doors of the building and Edward sighed.
"Sorry. I'm pretty sure Mom or Dad dropped him on his head while he was little," he said, and I laughed while he showed me the way out of the gym.
"You don't know that. Maybe he shoved too many crayons up his nose." He laughed, and I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. I was talking to the gorgeous and talented Edward Cullen and I wasn't being an idiot! YAY! "Emmett is… your brother?"
"Nah, he's my cousin."
"But you just said…" He said mom and dad… wtf?!
"Oh, it's just that his parents adopted us. We just call our aunt and uncle Mom and Dad. It's easier." Right, they were adopted.
"Oh, I get it. By the way, where is Alice?"
"Probably already in the cafeteria. She always likes to arrive there as soon as the bell rings so she can save the table she likes."
"She's like that, huh? Picky," I said while I grinned. I really think I could like Alice very much. Like 'best friend' very much.
"Yeah, it doesn't help that Jasper gets there to make sure the lunch lady sets some vegetarian stuff aside for Rosalie," he said and I looked at him like he had antlers on his head. "Oh, I didn't say anything…"
"Alice has a thing for Jasper?" I could picture it, actually. The blunt, outgoing pixie with the charming little Texan boy.
"Don't let her know that I implied that. She would dye my hair blue overnight to get back at me. Or feed me to Rosalie."
"I won't say anything. I swear. Feed you to Rosalie?"
"Jasper's twin." Another set of twins? Interesting. "She's kind of… scary."
"Interesting." We reached the cafeteria and Jasper was waiting at the front door. He smiled at me and then grinned at Edward. This should be good.
"Hey there, New Girl. Apple Pie."
"My name is not New Girl. I'm Bella." I liked Jasper, but if he called me New Girl one more time, I would make this a rodeo.
"My bad, Bella."
"How is it that you correct her name but not mine?!" Edward asked while pushing Jasper away.
"Because you'll always be my Apple Pie." I giggled. Couldn't help it when Edward looked so mad about it.
"That's the nickname for today, huh?"
"Sure is. Let's go join Alice before she throws a fit or throws a slice of pizza at my head."
Alice was easy to spot even if the cafeteria was half-full when we arrived. She selected a table by the window. You could see the parking lot and the rain falling down on the cars there. A lot of people were rushing through it to get to their destination. I liked it.
"Hey there. I'm glad you didn't get lost there, Famous Bella Swan." She smiled at me, showing me that whatever happened between us at the gym was forgotten.
"Your brother didn't let me get lost. I should go get some food."
"I got food for everyone. Even Emmett and his huge stomach. You just need to get your drinks."
"I'll go get them. What do you want, Bella? Edward?" Jasper asked us, and after I asked for a lemonade and Edward said he didn't care, he went for the vending machine. Emmett and a statuesque blonde sat opposite Edward and I. I suppose this is Rosalie.
"So you're the new girl everyone is buzzing about, huh?" she said, and I recoiled a little "Don't worry, I don't bite unless I absolutely have to. I'm Rosalie, by the way."
I introduced myself and Jasper returned with our drinks. We ate while keeping up the conversation between us, getting to know each other, in a way. I learned Jasper hated cowboy things. Rosalie liked mechanics and technology. Emmett was amazing at building stuff and Alice had a portfolio full of designs she does in her spare time. I also shared bits about me. Like the fact that my dad couldn't cook to save his life. That my mom once bought me a goldfish and thought we could feed it shrimp just to see him lying belly-up the next morning—which earned me the nickname 'Darla' from Jasper, the Disney freak. Edward finished his lemonade and got up to get a new one and we continued with our conversation until Alice tensed and got up from the table. We all followed with our eyes until we saw Edward and the blond guy that hit me in the head face-to-face at the vending machine.
"What's up, Firecracker? Why so alone?" the blond one—Newton?—said to Edward in a mocking voice. I actually started to see red. "You don't wanna talk to me?"
"Stop it, Mike." I could hear Edward's voice even if he didn't raise it. The whole cafeteria was quiet, watching the conversation. Stupid, gossiping teenagers.
"Stop what? I'm just saying hi, Firecracker. Come on, we didn't see each other all summer. We need to catch up." I didn't like the mocking undertone Mike's voice had. Edward tried to avoid him, but he pushed him so hard the vending machine moved. "Come on, Cullen. Don't you wanna catch up with friends?" Edward coughed a couple times and the lemonade rolled to the floor. Emmett and Jasper got up, but Alice was already there.
"You better leave my brother alone, Newton!"
"Or what, half-pint?"
Alice didn't give him any more time. I just heard the boys by my side mutter "shit" and leap to Alice's side when she struck Newton on the nose with her fist. He flew to the floor, losing his grip on Edward and holding his bleeding nose.
"What the hell?"
"I told you before, asshole. Leave my brother alone. If you can't understand that, I'll make sure to make the message clear as crystal." Emmett and Jasper were by her side now and she turned and patted Emmett's bicep with a smile. "Help Edward to the table and call Mom. The principal is going to call them anyway." She then left everyone in their spots and marched to the front door of the cafeteria. I turned to Rosalie.
"Where is she going?"
"The principal's office."
I sat back down while everyone returned to their stuff. Alice's green eyes when she saw Newton bullying her brother had a kind of fire I hadn't seen before. I thought that Edward's eyes were beautiful. That moss green—or Apple green like Jasper called it—with swirling emotions. But Alice's had been fierce and amazing when she left the table.
I guess Forks did have different shades of green. All beautiful in their own way.
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AN: Well, hello. I'm sorry for the delay. I think that, I will compromise from now on updates on Wednesday and if I can, I will update occasionally on weekends. We met the rest of the gang now. I actually like Jasper and his nicknames. My friend and I used to name each other a lot of ridiculous names. But if you guys have suggestions, let me know. (Who hates Mike now?) ;)
I can't thank you guys enough for the support and the nice words. The fact that you took the time to read my crazy ideas is just so wonderful. I hope I don't disappoint.
Let me know what you think. Next update will be on the weekend or Wednesday at the latest.
See ya! ;)
AYEN.