I'm aliiiiiiiive! Done my school semester and the ridiculousness that is the holidays. Next chapter coming soon I swear! We're nearly there man! Nearly at the end of the Twilight bit. Then onwards to New Moon and beyond we go! :D
It didn't take me long to be texted by both Angela and Jessica in Biology when they noticed that Edward wasn't with me. I was trying hard to concentrate on the lesson, and Angela seemed to get that when I mouthed 'later' to her across the room. Jess wasn't as quick to catch on. My phone buzzed at least four more times before she stopped, and looked over at me. I mouthed 'after school' to her. She pursed her lips resignedly but also bounced in anticipation. Have you ever noticed that time goes particularly slowly when you're anticipating something - like the return of Edward, and yet particularly quickly when you aren't anxious for it to? I wasn't looking forward to trying to explain anything to Jess, and so naturally, the two periods flew by as if they hadn't existed at all. In the change room at gym it was harder to avoid my scars being seen, as Jess lingered longer than usual waiting for me.
"Look - go catch Angela would you? We can all go to the diner, have coffee and talk." As soon as she heard this, she smiled excitedly.
"Okay! I'm sure she isn't far!" Jessica's small frame disappeared and I hurriedly switched shirts and pants, and then walked out to find the both of them. They were standing under the entrance to the building, I joined them and we all split off into our own cars, as the diner I had been referring to was a little out of the way for all of us. It would be fun to have some girl time though, and I started to smile at how happy Charlie would be that I was fitting in and finding friends here. He was happy enough when he heard I was teaching Angela and Jacob to sign. If I told him about a girls get together he'd be thrilled. He was always so worried about leaving me alone too much. To be honest - I definitely enjoyed the peace and quiet. Hanging out with people for extended periods could get exhausting. Of course - this didn't apply to Edward. I made sure to text Charlie, to let him know what I was doing, and who I was with before setting off.
We all drove to the diner, and made it inside just as it started to pour. Hanging up our jackets, we settled down in an empty booth and each ordered milkshakes. Angela first dived into her story about the date she'd had with Mike Newton earlier this week. It took me a few seconds to figure out where I would have been on that day. It was the day after the Port Angeles scare - I think. She talked about how sweet he'd been, even buying her food at the movie theatre, and how much they'd talked at dinner afterwards.
"Wait - you went to a movie, and then dinner?" I clarified. She nodded. "Isn't it supposed to be the other way round?"
"Rookie mistake there Bella. If you go to the movie first, then you know you have something to talk about during dinner. It's an excellent conversation starter."
"That makes a heck of a lot of sense. I can't believe I hadn't thought about that before."
"These are tips and tricks I get from things like magazines, Bella. You should buy one occasionally."
"I'd rather come to you two if I need dating advice." I laughed. "More interaction."
Angela lifted her hand subtly to catch my attention.
"Speaking of which..." She smiled and left her sentence hanging. I ducked behind my milkshake glass while I thought.
"Oh come on Bella, I just spilled. Your turn." Jessica said, loudly enough that even though I wasn't looking I could hear her.
"Alright, alright. Well, Edward and I have been talking a lot lately. That's all." Not even close.
"Talking about what? You two spend more time together than Mike and I." Jess said. It was definitely true.
"Well, our lives. I don't know really. Growing up, the past few years. Sometimes its silly things like music, and sometimes it's serious things like family." That sounded normal. "I think he likes me."
"No shit Sherlock." Jess waved her hand at me irritably. "Do you guys have a date planned or anything? I see you drive him in to school a lot."
"Yeah. It's a good time to talk. I don't know what to tell you. We've been on a few walks together. He walked me home after the blood typing incident in biology." I searched my brain for anything else that I could divulge, something that two normal teenagers would do. "And he wants to bring me home to meet his parents tomorrow."
I looked at the two of them sheepishly. Angela was glowing with happiness. Jess' mouth had popped open slightly.
"Oh. My. God." Jess said, filtering the sentence through her brain. She would undoubtedly begin a round of questioning, or a round of 'you have to tell us every detail of everything', if not side-tracked.
"I'm so happy for you!" Angela chimed. "I'm not sure how I'd deal with meeting someone's parents." It was a perfect escape.
"I was hoping for some advice Jess. You're the only one here who would know what to do. I'm not sure what I should wear, for example."
This got her started on a detailed explanation of how to look nice, but not like you tried too hard. I did actually listen for the most part, because I legitimately had no idea how to dress. I mean, I normally wouldn't care, but this was an important meeting. I knew that any clothing that wasn't ripped, sweaty, or covered in blood would be a definitive improvement for Carlisle. But Esme, Edward's mother… the way he spoke about her. It was with reverence. He admired his parents, and to be honest, I was ardently hoping that I wouldn't disappoint. His siblings had seen me at school, from afar, but I'd never actually spoken to any of them. Alice seemed at least positive enough to smile at me if she caught me looking.
I managed to divert the conversation to Jessica and Mike, and eventually Jessica exclaimed that she needed to head home to dinner. Jessica lived furthest, and had dinner the earliest of the three of us. Angela and I stayed talking for a few more minutes, but since we were both relatively quiet, the conversation speed diminished quickly. We began practicing signing discreetly in the booth. We discussed her family, and the overall school semester. It wasn't until my phone buzzed to remind me of my dinner approaching that we began to wrap it up. Angela invited me over on Saturday, after I'd met Edward's family, to talk about how it went. I gladly agreed to go, secretly happy that I'd be able to sneak away if I wasn't welcome.
We said our goodbyes and I coaxed my truck into life. It began raining hard again and it took me a little longer to get home than I was hoping. When I did pull into the driveway, Charlie's cruiser was there, silent and soaked. I clambered into the house, and yelled my arrival. Regardless, I still jumped when he appeared at the hallway.
"How you been?" he asked.
"I've been good. Been hanging with Angela and Jessica. We got milkshakes after school."
Charlie's face lit up.
"I always feel like I'm leaving you alone too often. I'm glad you've got a good set of friends." He ran his hand nervously through his hair. "Any plans for this weekend? I was going to head out with Billy. I mean we were probably going to be out fishing and I feel bad leaving you alone again."
Did I tell him that I'd be meeting Edward's parents? Or leave him out of the loop? He was a cop, after all. There could be guns involved. Still, he seemed terrified that I would get bored in Forks, like mom did. A flicker of sadness ran through me. I suppose I could let him in on my life. It wasn't as though he could forbid me to do anything after all – I was an adult legally.
"You don't leave me alone too much dad. I'm happy - I swear. And yeah actually, I do have plans tomorrow. You know the Cullen kids?" Now it was my turn to weave my hand nervously in my hair. "I'm going over to their house." I turned away to shed my boots, coat, and began to head towards the kitchen when I felt a pull of fabric on my shoulder. I looked back at him.
"The Cullens? I didn't know you hung out with them."
"Yeah." I said, trying to play off a cool tone. "The two youngest, Alice and Edward." If I softened the blow with Alice (I'd make it up to her later), maybe there wouldn't be the Spanish Inquisition. At the mention of both names he smiled, and straightened up.
"Good. It's good you have so many friends Bells." We walked to the kitchen together. I began prepping a quick veggie stir-fry, keeping my eye on Charlie in-case he continued to talk. As I got the frozen mixed vegetable bag out, he piped up again and I focused on his lips. "I was worried at first, you know, when the Cullen family moved in. But they're a good bunch of kids. Not one - of trouble. More than I can say about most - that live here."
Despite the loud and direct tones I still had issues with moustaches. I narrowed my eyes and tried to prompt him to sign and speak by responding in sign.
The doctor has helped me more than enough. His kids seem similar to him.
Charlie raised is hands. Owe him. "For you I mean. Helping you out. Means a lot to me to have someone so qualified taking care of you." Charlie laughed, while I rolled my eyes.
"I can take care of myself." It was my turn to derail the train now. "Besides… I'm glad you like them. I'm sort of…" Interested in Edward. I chickened out of speech and signed the last bit. Charlie blinked a few times, as he stared at the space where my hand had been. Had he even caught what I said?
"I'm sorry but I think I missed that." His brow furrowed slightly.
"I saaaaid." I drew out sarcastically "I'm kind of interested in, and maybe going to be hanging around a lot with… with Edward."
There was no move or sound in the kitchen – as far as I could tell. The spit of some hot oil singed my arm and I backed away from the stove slightly before turning it down and stirring the vegetables.
"Well, I didn't actually sign all of that, but I fleshed out so you'd catch the drift." I peeked at him through my hair. He was still processing. Standing, stock still, and frowning.
"I mean come on dad. You can't truly disapprove. Between him and his father and their life-saving antics, they're as close to private cop-like security as I can manage." On the watch 24/7 after all, and even sometimes pre-emptively. I swore I'd make it up to Alice. I'd used her name to soften a shock with Charlie, and owed her for two separate lifesaving instances after all. Normally I'd do something like bake cookies, but in this case… I suppose I wasn't beyond skewering and wrapping the local wildlife. My own morbidity made me laugh as Charlie still stood, leaning on the fridge. I only got him to wake up out of his silence as I budged him to get some leftover rice from the fridge.
"I… I suppose I wanted to see you socialise. Get past all the…. Well the stuff that happened in Phoenix."
I wrinkled my nose at that, but nodded happily. "Yeah you did. So far I've got a pretty solid group of friends, a way more active social life, and maybe even a boyfriend on the horizon. You're doing great dad. I'm more happy here than I was. Trust me." Trust me. I signed, reiterating.
He nodded, still frowning, but we got on with dinner peacefully after that point.