Disclaimer: All characters and some dialog belong to the wonderful Ms. Stephenie Meyer. I'm very appreciative that she lets me use Alice!
A/N: Many thanks to Tnuccio for her amazing Beta skills, and her willingness to fix all my crap while she's at work! Hooray!
Promises
The look on Rose and Emmett's face was priceless! Of all of the out-of-the-way rooms that we could have gone, we chose Rose and Emmett's hideaway. Jasper and I ran to the next corridor hand in hand. As we rounded the corner, I tried, unsuccessfully, to fight off hysterical giggles. I slumped against the dull beige cinderblock wall, one hand over my mouth the other across my aching stomach. Jasper covered up his laughter with a mock scowl.
"You'd think a psychic could find a safe place to mess around," he grumbled and raised an eyebrow, "Why do I keep you around again?"
I let loose a fresh round of giggles, since it made him fight all the harder to maintain his serious expression. His mouth stayed stern, but his eyes danced with laughter, the corners crinkled like I loved. Just before the scolding facade dissolved, I leaned forward and kissed him with all the pent up frustration from this morning's endeavors. I broke the kiss before he could twine his fingers into my hair.
"That's why you keep me around, remember?" I fought the urge to kiss him again, "I recall you saying Emmett just doesn't kiss like I do."
I watched with a self-satisfied smile as hunger replaced the humor in his eyes. By the expression on his face, I could tell that Jasper was looking to carry me off to some other 'secluded' area of the school. We had to stop the spontaneity. I really didn't want to start something we couldn't finish for a third time.
"Three strikes and you'd be out, my love, so why don't we just wait for the relative privacy of home." I put one finger over his almost protesting lips, "Plus, you were right. I can't leave Edward here alone."
His shoulders dropped in resignation, but he smirked as his own words came back to bite him.
"Then let's go, wee-one. It's third period. Allow me to escort you to English while you think of a good excuse for your tardiness."
"I better think of something good, we have a pop quiz." I replied after a sudden vision cleared. "Good thing I've read Wuthering Heights more times than Mason has."
Our footprints left a lonely trail across the sidewalk on our way back to the Language Arts wing of the school. The snow tumbled in clumps, clinging to our hair and faces. I reminded myself to tell Jasper to brush himself off before going to class. Nothing drew suspicious stares quite like snowflakes resting unmelted on your face. We approached my classroom and Jasper gave me a chaste peck on the cheek then headed for Calculus. I heard the groans from the class as Mason told them to clear off their desks for the quiz. I opened the door and slipped into my desk as unobtrusively as possible.
"How nice of you to join us Ms. Cullen. Do you have a pass?"
"No sir, I don't"
"Well, can you give me a reason not to write you up for being 10 minutes tardy?"
"Well sir, I couldn't get my locker to open so I went with someone to find the maintenance closet."
"You mean you went to find someone in the maintenance closet?"
"No, but my brother Emmett did, sir."
"Your brother Emmett did what?"
"Found someone in the maintenance closet, sir."
"Well, I assume the problem was fixed?" He had quit handing out papers and had turned to me to better follow our dialogue.
"Not to my liking, Mr. Mason, but I'll make sure it's taken care of later."
It was so very difficult to keep my face solemn and my eyes innocent while I played word games with the poor confused man. I knew he wouldn't press the issue. I had a perfect score in this class as well. Mr. Mason usually sent me out of the room on errands since missing class didn't seem to impact my grade. I finished my quiz and doodled in my notebook while we were supposed to be reading. The bell finally rang and I headed off to PE.
Coach Clapp caught me outside the locker room.
"Your sister is looking for you. We're playing volleyball today, and I've seen you play before. Go ahead and see what Rosalie needs, she looked upset."
Upset? That was odd. I didn't see anything happening to Rosalie today. If I had, perhaps I would have picked a more secluded closet. I went into the PE office to see her sitting in the coach's chair, gazing at her reflection in the TV screen. I cleared my throat.
"Whatcha need Rose? You don't look nearly as upset as Clapp made you out to be."
Her smile was wicked and conspiratorial, and it vanished the instant the door opened again behind me. Only a hint of it remained in her eyes as Coach entered his office and told us to take as long as we needed. Rose bowed her head; the pout on her face made her look like a damsel in distress. I quickly moved to put my arm around her. Clearly uncomfortable with the potential for tears, Clapp excused himself and left to start class.
"Well played Rose, I desperately wanted out of PE. Neither of us reads minds though, so why are you here?"I was still frustrated that I hadn't seen her plan.
"The boys are going to ambush us before lunch. Emmett accidentally let it slip this morning." I rolled my eyes at "accidentally", Rosalie just laughed, "I knew I sure didn't want my hair messed up, and your scarf is hand-dyed cashmere…can't have that getting ruined."
"Rosalie, I already knew about the ambush. Psychic…remember? Now, why are you really here?" Rosalie sighed and took a deep breath.
"I just want to apologize for being a rotten sister these past few days. I know we aren't exactly best friends, Alice, but we are sisters and there's been some real tension lately. And before you say it, I know, I've been horrible to Edward too. He's next on my list, once he gets this ridiculousness with the human girl out of his system."
I raised my eyebrow, skeptical of her apology. It was so unlike Rosalie to do anything as selfless as accept responsibility for her actions. She seemed sincere though, and I had noticed the tension in the house as well. This would be as good a time as any to dissolve it.
"Apology accepted Rose. Now…let's see if we can avoid the boys."
I looked inward for a second, and confirm that they would be waiting to waylay us on the way to the cafeteria. I watched as the vision melted into another as I 'decided' to go out the back doors to lunch. Chuckling I saw that we'd be able to get a few shots off before they realized where we were. If we were lucky, we'd actually avoid getting hit.
"Alright Rose, this is the plan…" I proceeded to fill her in on our alternate route. She grinned at the strategy and we slipped out the office door right before the bell rang to get a jump on the boys.
The sneak attack worked like a charm, we managed to hit Edward and Jasper twice and Emmett once before they figured out where we were. By the time they regrouped we were almost to the doors of the cafeteria. The chaos of flying slush and running humans had provided great cover.
"We're not going to make it Rose!" I squealed as the vision of Edward and Jasper pummeling us melted from my mind. I grabbed her hand and tried futilely to pull her towards safety. Knowing that was a lost cause I switched tactics and grabbed Rose to huddle behind a narrow post. I braced myself for the onslaught. It never arrived.
As the flying snow was about to slop onto our pathetic cover, a fast-moving blur took a direct hit.
"Superman to the rescue! You ladies look like you could use a superhero." Emmett bellowed, slush dripping from his coat. I couldn't contain my laughter as he took my hand and kissed it, then grabbed Rosalie in his arms and spun her around.
"What do you say Alice, truce until the snow melts?" His laughing eyes met mine over Rosalie's golden head.
Before I could answer, yells of traitor echoed clearly through the din of the snow-flinging students. Emmett was pelted with two well-aimed slushballs that exploded on contact with his thick skull and showered Rosalie and I with smatterings of wet. She leapt from his embrace and ran into the building. I quickly scooped up a handful of the heavy snow and lobbed up upwards. It dropped neatly onto the top of his head, and smashed like an egg.
"Alls fair…" was all I could get out before Emmett made a grab for me. I danced lithly out of his reach and ducked in through the doors.
The cafeteria was more chaotic than usual. The snowfall excited the humans; there was an electric feel to the air. The feeling was mutual. We loved the snow as much as they did. I couldn't wait until tonight when the real stuff would fall, and we wouldn't have to censor our actions. I was going to pay for my little stunt with Emmett, but I didn't mind.
I walked through the line with Rosalie and picked a diet soda and bag of chips to play with today. Rosalie grabbed a bottle of water and nothing else. We were lucky; both of us were so thin that we could get away with putting barely anything on our trays. Emmett had it the worst. The amount of food he wasted daily could have fed a small village. It couldn't be helped though.
We took our usual table. Rose and I sat with our backs facing the general population, leaving the boys to sit across from us. They stomped over to the table with full trays, bickering over who was the real winner of the skirmish. The argument was punctuated with laughter as they recounted the carpet bombing of Emmett's head.
"Boys, boys….I think we all know whose attack was the most successful. 5 for 5 shots, no casualties aside for a tiny bit of shrapnel from previously mentioned friendly-fire." Rosalie took a swig from her bottle of water and promptly spit it back while pretending to take another. She had the motion down to a science, and it was incredibly believable.
"No casualties? NO CASULTIES?" Emmett was roaring with laughter. "I'll show you no casualties!"
He stood and braced himself on the table and shook his soaking head at Rosalie and me. We both leaned away, avoiding the spray as much as possible. Edward and Jasper dissolved into laughter, and Jasper spread the wealth causing the rest of us to join in.
"You…you look like a –dog, Emmett" I gasped through giggles. Then I heard a hushed voice from across the lunchroom.
"Bella, what are you staring at?"
Edward's head jerked up and he looked across the cafeteria, I assumed at the subject of the spoken comment. His gaze was intense, but lasted only a fraction of a second. Only I was aware of his focus; Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper were discussing the inevitable snow war, and what would and wouldn't be allowed. Edward looked at me briefly, aware that I knew what he had done, and shrugged. He immediately launched into the rules and regulations of this evening, lending an embattled Rosalie some support. I moved to join them. That's when it started. I grabbed the edge of the table before the scene completely took over.
The Swan girl was finally making decisions, and they weren't the right ones. After seeing all of us in the lunchroom, she wasn't sure what her path would be. Then she saw Edward. His quick gaze told her what she wanted to know, and she's decided she is going to go to Biology. Edward, caught up in the intrigue of not being able to read her mind, is going to break his promise, and talk to her in class. The path has started, but where will it end? I frantically focused, trying in vain to keep the vision from dissolving. I was beginning to wonder if she really did have a death wish.
"Dammit" I cursed under my breath. Jasper had already moved next to me and pulled me close so my slump wasn't evident. Emmett and Rosalie looked concerned. I had to throw them off. I carefully avoided Edward's eyes, and smiled brightly at my brother and sister. As much as I hated doing it, I focused on the previous laughter to get the emotion right so Jasper would be fooled as well.
"Just a little preview of tonight," I brightly lied, "nothing that I am going to tell you either."
There was some grumbling, but the cafeteria was clearing out and we all had to get to class. Don't you go anywhere Edward! I need to talk to you. His gait slowed, and he hung back from the others. I dumped my tray and caught up to Jasper. I rose up onto my tiptoes to brush his lips with a kiss.
"Sorry Jazz, I've got to go talk strategy with Captain Girlteam. Plus I want to give him a little encouragement before Bio."
Jasper nodded, and leaned down to kiss my forehead.
"I love you Lis, meet you after class. We've got an evening to plan." He smiled that heart wrenching smile and loped over to throw his arms across Emmett and Rosalie's shoulders. I made a mental note to check and see if Rosalie was going to pull a Benedict Arnold. Edward, lets make this quick.
He walked up behind me.
"Yes, Alice?"
"I know you saw my vision, Edward, don't play stupid. I saw you going to talk to the Swan girl. You agreed you wouldn't make any contact with her, remember?"
He nodded.
"Please don't put me in a position where I can't support you, Edward. I've seen that she is safe, that you control yourself. But I saw that when the others asked me to look ahead for you after you promised."
I looked at him beseechingly, although he had told me before that that face only worked on Jasper. He sighed.
"Fine, Alice, alright. No contact. I'll do my best."
"No, Edward, promise me you won't talk to her. Promise me right now."
He shook his head slowly.
"I'm sorry little sister…I can't make that promise. I told you there was something odd about her, something I can't put my finger on. If I can figure it out, maybe I can get her out of my mind."
I immediately turned and stormed off. That's not good enough Edward, and I won't be able to come and save you from the next building. You had better be ready to explain this to the others tonight, especially if we're packing our stuff. I didn't bother to turn to see the hurt on his face. I heard it though, in his whispered response.
"Alice, I won't tear us apart again. I won't harm our family. I swear it."
I hope you know what you're doing, because, for once, I don't.