"Good first day, I take it?" Charlie asked as I buckled my seat belt and smashed my bag between my feet on the floor in front of me.
I smiled brightly. "Yes. I made at least three friends so far. I like it here."
His returning smile was all I needed. He was happy I was here.
School for the next few months went flying by. Nothing out of the ordinary ever seemed to happen in Forks so I not only had to ward off advances from the boys, but I had to turn down invitations to dates and dances at least once a week. Emmett made fun of my embarrassment and Alice playfully slapped his arm for it. They'd become such close friends to me. I learned they were blood related while the three beautiful people they met up with at the end of school were their siblings. Edward, a tall, lean boy with unruly auburn hair and a bad boy scowl on his face; Rosalie, just like the valley girls from Phoenix except with a body to die for and skin more pale than me. Her light blonde hair hung in loose ringlets around her face and in waves down her back. Jasper was the last one. He was just a little shorter than Edward and was more muscular up top. His broad shoulders filled out his leather jacket and his jeans fit like a pair of wranglers on a Texan. He was good looking with chin length golden blonde hair. I never did see them any closer than from the end of the parking lot or with their backs to me in the cafeteria. Alice assured me that he was hers and I laughed.
"No worries there, Ali. I'm not looking."
She stopped our ascent to the parking lot toward my dad's cruiser and put her hand on my arm. It never ceased to amaze me that her fingers were ice cold. I had learned that she was sensitive about her poor circulation.
"But you're looking for someone right?"
The way she said it had me curious. "No, why would I be?" I had just turned sixteen a couple weeks ago and I was set to graduate with the current senior class at the end of the school year in five months. I had college to think about and volunteer work to do and research to read. There was no time for boys.
"Huh." She hummed to herself before she shook herself from her daze and smiled brightly at me. "That makes sense."
She twirled around and jogged over to her siblings. I raised a hand to wave goodbye, the confusion thick on my face. Emmett laughed, coming up from behind me and smacked his hand on my shoulder roughly.
"You get used to it, shorty." He continued laughing as he ran off to join her.
I shook myself out of my thoughts as I got out of bed for the day. I'd had a massive migraine all night and struggled to stop hitting the snooze button on my alarm. Emmett had been right all those months ago. I had gotten used to Alice and her dazzling charms. She was bubbly and had a terrible attention span but made me laugh and had a great sense of fashion that she forced on me more often than not. Emmett had kept to his word since my first day of school and had kept away most of the boys that advanced toward me as if I were the new gravitational pull in Forks. Angela and I had also become very close. I didn't really hang out with Alice or Emmett much outside of school, the odd outing to the park on cloudy, cold days or a shopping trip to Port Angeles, forty minutes away. However, Angela was a frequent guest in Casa de Swan as much as I was over at her house. Her preacher father and elementary school teacher mother were both very welcoming of the police chief's daughter spending so much time around their daughter. We did a lot of research together, quietly. Her with her nature documentaries and me with my medical research.
I decided when I was about thirteen years old that I wanted to become a surgeon. I was pushing myself to learn all I could and even practiced techniques with yarn and thread on an array of different materials that resembled the elasticity and durability of human skin.
That probably hadn't helped my social standing back in Phoenix very much, now that I think of it. Renee was so proud of my focus and drive that she had told everyone on the PTO board at school as well as everyone in our church. It hadn't deterred me though, from studying to become the best I could possibly be in the field of my choice.
By the end of April, I had sent numerous applications to several colleges across the states along with all the other required documents. I detailed my volunteer work and my extra curricular activities. I wasn't sporty in the least but Angela had gotten me on the Yearbook Committee and her friend Eric - who I was sad to say I still didn't know him well - had gotten me on the Mathletes. Now that the end of the school year was here, I was graduating with high honors two years earlier than I would have, had I not skipped a year and tested out.
All of Charlie's friends attended the graduation ceremony as I walked across the stage to receive my diploma. I was thankful that the gown wasn't long enough to trip on as I slowly made my way off the stage. I felt proud of myself as they all gathered around me to hug and praise me. Uncle Harry Clearwater hugged me gruffly before awkwardly patting my head and I bent down to give Uncle Billy Black a hug in his wheelchair, his long black hair tickling my cheek. When my dad hugged me, I felt like I was going to burst into tears. His voice was tight with emotion as he congratulated me and patted my shoulders with such a proud look on his face.
"Not even seventeen and you're graduated high school. God dang, kid. I am so proud of you."
I sniffled and wiped my tears, careful of the makeup that Alice had artfully applied to my face. She had designed my hair and makeup from some magazine based in the UK and told me I just had to wear this adorable dark blue halter skater dress. I had tried to protest considering we were going skating later, but she just smiled wickedly and held up a pair of black leggings. Grinning up at my dad, I leaned in to kiss his cheek, leaving a bright red outline of my lipstick. I giggled as he pretended to be offended.
"So when will you know about college, Bells?" Billy asked, his eyebrows high on his forehead with his inquisition.
"Hopefully by mid summer. Rejection letters take longer so if I don't get in, I will definitely know by fall." I stated, my hopes dashing at the thought that I might not get into some of the more prestigious schools.
"Oh hogwash." Uncle Harry grunted. "Smart as a whip you are. You'll get into that John Hopkin place easy peasy and be trained by the great Doctor Burke. I just know it."
I laughed at his wording. "I can only pray to get into Johns Hopkins Medical School."
I had been working nights in the library on my studying, and had gone to the local community colleges for my prerequisites as well as the MCATS. Even with all of that, Johns Hopkins was extremely hard to get into. I just wasn't sure if my community college test scores would cut it. Charlie would tell me I was an overachiever and mock me for my massive brain, saying I got all my intelligence from him. It was fun to tell him I thought different.
Angela made a formidable study partner, making me keep my focus, and was even toying with minoring in the medical field herself. Alice and Emmett gave me rides to college at night and even helped me get into a program that allowed me to work on cadavers. It had been an eye opening experience and I was eager to start more over the summer while I waited for the letters to come in, deciding my fate.
"My dad's a surgeon, did I tell you that already?" Alice mentioned one trip to the community college.
My eyes widened. "No I didn't know that. What's his specialty?" I asked, extremely interested to know more about Alice and Emmett's elusive family.
"General surgery but he excels in cardiothoracic surgery as well. He's up there with Preston Burke." She bragged and I couldn't blame her.
Preston Burke would be a God among men to work under. If he trained me, I would definitely be the best and that's what I was setting out to be.
"Really!?" I gasped. "That's amazing. What's his name? Is it McCarty too?" I knew that they were all adopted but I didn't ask many questions about it because it upsets Alice and when Alice got upset, Emmett got testy so I just let a lot of my questions die on the tip of my tongue. I didn't like when Alice was upset either.
At that exact moment, a deer darted out into the road and Alice shrieked before swerving and narrowly avoiding missing the animal. My heart galloped in my chest and I pressed a hand over it. "Holy crow." I breathed, looking behind us for the deer but it must have taken its second chance at life and run with it.
"That was close." Alice said, her voice shaking with nerves.
"You're telling me!"
It wasn't long after that, we parked on campus and Alice said she would pick me up in a few hours. All my questions about her father had gone out the window.
Charlie and I would be celebrating my graduating from high school when Renee landed in Seattle this weekend so I was free after the ceremony to celebrate with Alice and Emmett, who were still juniors and grumbling about it.
"I just don't see how a little pipsqueak like you, Smarty McSmartypants, can graduate at sixteen and start college at seventeen. What, are you going to get pregnant now too?" Emmett sniped at me, his mood infectious as he joked with me. He knew I worked hard to get where I was and he had told me numerous times how proud he was.
We were on the way to the roller skating rink in Port Angeles, meeting up with Angela, Jess, and a few others who were celebrating with me that also wouldn't be graduating until next year.
Emmett wore his signature tight tee with an over shirt unbuttoned and loose fitting jeans that still looked tight around his muscular thighs. His Nike Jordans were enormous. I could see his forearm muscles flex every time he moved the steering wheel. Alice, of course, was the height of fashion with her hair artfully styled, glittering jewelry, and a cashmere sweater dress that had strands of shining material all through it, causing the light blue material to glitter with her diamonds. Of course with the warming weather, she now wore heels instead of fluffy booties and she still managed to have better balance than me.
I laughed loudly at his question. "Oh heck no. No kids for me, thanks very, very much."
"Why not?" He asked, looking perplexed as Alice turned towards me from the front seat with wide, curious eyes.
I was buckled but I had stretched the seat belt as far as it could go so I could sit on the edge of the bench seat and be closer to them as I spoke. I smoothed the edges of my dress down, the frill resting on my knees. I had been glad to ditch the graduation gown and slide on the leggings once I'd climbed in the car. Thankfully, Alice acquiesced to me wearing my black ballet flats instead of some monstrosity heels she'd tried to get me in.
"Kids are smelly and loud and they ruin things. I have medical school for four years, interning for four more before residency and then I'll be a," I crossed my fingers over the console between their faces, "world renowned surgeon who practiced under the magnificent hands of Preston Burke. I have no time for kids!"
Emmett laughed along with Alice. "Good point, shorty. No kids for you."