All I could think was: awkward.
Rosalie, the person that would kick beautiful off the dictionary, was driving me to school in her red convertible.
"Um...are you doing well with school?" Rosalie's singing voice asked nervously.
"Yeah," I replied shyly, "I'm doing good. I guess the better word is mediocre."
She laughed beautifully.
"You're a smart girl—or, better yet, woman." She smiled at me.
I blushed.
"We're here," she announced.
I saw the dreadful school building.
"Okay, bye, Rosalie. Thanks for dropping me to school," I said sincerely.
"You're welcome, Bella. Be safe." She smiled warmly at me before pulling out of the parking lot.
Be safe.
That's what he wrote to me when he went hunting that time.
I sighed at the memory.
I saw Angela running towards me with Ben trailing behind her.
"Hey, Bella," she greeted.
"Hey, Ang," I greeted back. "Hey, Ben. Are you okay? You looked stressed out."
He smiled sheepishly at me. "I've been working all night on my presentation."
"Oh."
"Did Rosalie Hale just drop you here?" Angela asked incredulous.
"Yeah. She doesn't hate me so much anymore."
"But...why her sudden change of heart?" Her eyebrows furrowed.
"That's what I've been wondering as well," I murmured.
"Well, you'll find out, Bella." She smiled at me. "Let's go to class."
I walked with Angela and Ben to our classes. I miss Edward. I felt so bleak and empty without him. This isn't the first time he wasn't here to go hunting. I'm just not so used to him not with me.
"By the way, Bella, where's Alice and Edward?" Angela inquired.
I remembered the excuse Esme told me for them. I hoped I practiced enough. "Alice has a doctor's appointment; Edward's sick."
She was convinced. "Oh. Send my 'Get well' message to him."
I smiled at her. "Will do."
The bell rung. My class was still a little bit far away. I can't run even if I tried. And if I did, I would be visiting Carlisle yet again.
Crap.
-x-
I saw Rosalie's red convertible, but it wasn't her in the car; it was Esme.
"Hi, Esme," I greeted as I stepped inside the car.
"Hello, Bella," she greeted back. "How was school today, dear?"
"Boring. Bad luck," I replied. "Not to sound rude or anything but why are you picking me up?"
She laughed. "I wanted to pick you up from school for the first time. I haven't does this." I heard a hint of sadness in her tone.
"You can pick me up from school anytime you want." I tried to cheer her up.
She smiled at me. "Thank you, dear."
She pulled out of the parking lot and started to go more than 100 miles per hour. A typical Cullen.
"Everyone in the family loves speed," she informed me.
I giggled softly.
"And, in case you're wondering, Rosalie's out buying food for you, using Carlisle's car."
"Why didn't she use her car?"
"She wanted to surprise you."
"Oh."
We drove in silence for awhile. Esme broke the silence.
"Are you okay, Bella? You look so gloomy today," she said, feeling concerned.
"I'm just...not so used to Edward without me," I mumbled. My heart ached for him again.
She patted her hand on me—it reminded me of Edward's cold hand holding my hand. "You'll get used to it."
"I guess so," I sighed.
She pulled into the Cullens' driveway.
"Does Charlie know where I am?" I asked.
She nodded. "I spoke to him while you were in school. I told him that you volunteered to help me with my newly thought designs—which are true, the designs I mean. I hope you don't mind."
"Oh, it's fine, Esme. Me volunteering to help you sounds a lot like me."
She smiled warmly at me. "You're so helpful, Bella."
We both got out of the car and headed toward the beautiful house.
"Rosalie should be here by now," Esme suddenly murmured as we stepped inside.
I panicked inside. What if my rapist got to her?
Esme sensed my panic. "Oh, Bella, I'm sure she will be just fine. I didn't mean to make you worry. I'm so, very sorry."
"It's okay, Esme. Would you mind if I went upstairs to Edward's room to do homework?" I asked kindly.
"Oh, you go right ahead, dear. You don't need to ask." She headed to the living room. "I'll be working on some sketches. By the time Rosalie comes here with the groceries, I'll make you something," she called back; her voice sounded so beautiful.
"I—I can do it myself, Esme! I don't want you to—"
In a second, she was in front of me. "Nonsense, dear," she said. "Now, you go do your homework. I don't want you slacking off now," she said in a motherly tone; I could tell that she was joking, though.
I smiled at her. "Yes, Esme."
She went over to me and hugged me. "Thank you so much, Bella."
I hugged her back. "For what?"
She pulled back. "I think you know." She was gone.
I stood there, feeling confused for a moment before going up to Edward's room. I carefully walked up the steps. I opened Edward's door, and suddenly felt calm. I smelled Edward's scent in here.
I dropped my bag on the black leather couch Edward pushed to the wall. I sat on the comfy carpet, and took out my Spanish homework.
Okay, Bella. Don't let yourself mope around. Just do your homework with ease.
"All right. 'Translate love,'" I read. I wrote down my answer and went on to the other questions.
After a couple of boring questions, I picked up my homework to check my answers.
Love—Edward.
I gasped. I quickly erased his name, feeling pain while I did it, and wrote down "amor."
Hero—Edward.
What the heck is wrong with me?! I erased his name and wrote down "héroe ."
Happy—Edward.
"Ugh!" I groaned. I erased it and wrote down "feliz."
Name—Edward Anthony Masen Cullen.
"What is this?!" I spluttered. I erased the wonderful name and wrote down—with extreme force—"nombre."
After seeing Edward's name in every translation of Spanish, I dropped my pencil, and fell on the carpet.
Edward Cullen—look at what you did to me.
"Bella?" a beautiful voice called.
I quickly sat up.
"Rosalie," I said.
She was holding a tray full of food—food that you would find in a fancy Italian restaurant.
"I brought you food," she said shyly. "We didn't know what you wanted, and we didn't want to bother you while you did your homework, so we settled for Italian."
She walked slowly—and amazingly gracefully—towards me. She set the tray in front of me.
"I hope you'll like it," she said warmly.
"Thank you, Rosalie. Please say that to Esme, too," I said, feeling so sincere toward them.
"Of course, Bella. Is there anything else I can get you?"
"No, thank you."
She sat down next to me. "I need to tell you something, Bella," she said, looking down on the carpet.
"Sure. What is it, Rosalie?" I began nibbling on the garlic bread. For a couple of vampires, they can cook. "You wouldn't mind me eating, would you?"
She smiled at me. "Oh, no, of course not. You go eat."
I stared at her patiently, waiting for her to speak.
"I know that I wasn't the best person to you. And I'm sorry for that."
"Rosalie, it's—"
She held out a hand to stop me. "Please let me speak. I didn't hate you at all, Bella; I was just...mad at you for bringing such danger to our family. I knew that you didn't mean no harm, and I knew that you didn't mean to bring harm to us; but...I just couldn't trust you. Emmett tried to convince me that you're bringing happiness to our family, and you did. You brought so much happiness to our family, especially to Edward. You made Emmett grin more; you made Alice much more hyper and cheerful; you made Esme do all these motherly things for you when she couldn't during her human life; you made Carlisle love his work even more now that you visit him more often; you made Jasper feel more content—he sometimes felt Edward's sadness. You also made Jasper happy, because you're the only one that reads with him in the family and you're presence alone makes everyone happy and him more happy as well; you made me happy, too, by making everyone happy, and somehow you just know how to make me smile; for Edward...I think you know." She smiled happily at me—the smile I've never seen.
"What did I do?" I asked, feeling all warm and fuzzy by all this happiness.
She laughed softly. "It's simple. You made him the happiest man on earth."
I smiled at her. "I...don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything."
"But...weren't you guys happy before I even entered your lives?"
"Yes, we were. But that doesn't matter now, because you made us feel even more happy. That's all that matters."
I stayed quiet, absorbing all of these compliments. I would've been happy if Alice told me this, but, coming from Rosalie, it meant a lot more.
So, I hugged her.
She was surprised for a moment but hugged me back.
"Thank you."
"No, thank you."
I pulled back. "I have a question, Rosalie."
"Go ahead."
"Why were you the one who was the most furious when you heard that I was...raped?" I asked slowly.
Her expression startled me; she suddenly became livid. "You didn't deserve to be raped. Nobody deserves to be raped."
I didn't say anything.
She took a deep breath. "I'll tell you my background story, Bella. When I was young, I was used to getting everything I wanted. Everything. Everybody thought I was perfect. All the men wanted me, and all the women envied me. I was used to it. Then I met my father's boss's son, Royce King the Second." Her fists clenched, and she gritted her teeth at the name. "I was at my father's work to send him the lunch my mother forgot to send him. He was interested in me, and he was also handsome—not that I care now. My mother approved of him. And suddenly I was betrothed to him before I'd known him for two months.
"Then, one night"—she closed her eyes—"I was walking home, and it was very dark. I saw Royce and his friends drunk. He started telling his friends about me, and he wanted to see what I was hiding under my dress. He got up, and so did his other vile friends. They started to come toward me, and took off my... They left me there cold and dying. Carlisle saved me by changing me. Edward didn't approve of it, but he was too late. I found him irritating right away. And then I was even more irritated with him when he didn't want to have a thing towards each other." She shook her head. I heard her murmur, "Stupid, annoying brother..."
I smiled.
She looked up at me. "Oh. I'm sorry for keeping you from your meal. I was so focused on my story. Forgive me."
"Oh, no! It's okay, Rosalie. I find this story very interesting. I didn't know that you were raped like me," I said sadly. "We're alike."
She gritted her teeth. "Yes, but you weren't saved. They had to find you."
I bit my lip, trying hard not to think of the memory.
"Tell me, h-how did you meet Emmett?" I asked quietly. I wanted to change the atmosphere to something more happier.
It work; she smiled hugely. "I was out hunting, and that's when I saw him almost getting mauled by a bear. I grabbed him and ran 100 miles to Carlisle so he could change him. I wanted to, but I didn't think I had the strength. You want to know why I saved him, Bella?"
I nodded, awed by their unique romantic meeting.
She giggled. "He reminded me of Vera's, my close friend, son, Henry. Dark brown, curly hair, those cute dimples... And when I saw him I felt this feeling towards him. And here I am—happily in love."
I didn't notice that I was crying, so I quickly wiped them off.
She laughed.
"That was so sweet!" I gushed.
"I'm glad you think so," she said. And then she looked out the door. "They're here!"
-x-
Here's a chapter showing Rosalie and Bella! Some of you won't understand it if you didn't read Eclipse.
Review, please!
Monica-san
