Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
"Preparation" – Chapter 2-
Edwards POV
"Where are my curlers? Alice, I know you have them! You don't even have enough hair to curl! Why would you want them anyway?" Rosalie thundered down the hall towards Alice's room.
"Why would you need your stupid curlers? It's not like your hair could get any bigger, honestly! Have you seen yourself lately? Its embarrassing having a sister with the biggest hair on campus." Alice met Rosalie directly in the hall in front of my bedroom door. These stupid hair styles of the 80's! I mean how could Rosalie follow trends so blindly, Alice thought derisively.
"You little rat! You hid them on purpose!" Rosalie's voice radiated through my bedroom door. I rolled across the leopard print rug I was laying on, to turn up the volume on my boom box. I stared up at the ceiling and tried to focus on the lyrics of the Duran Duran song in an attempt to tune out my sister's furious thoughts.
"Girls! Girls, what is going on?" Esme's voice cut through the scuffling sounds coming from the hall.
Alice and Rosalie both shouted their side of the story overlapping each other's voices, making both arguments unintelligible.
"She's trying to ruin my life!" Rosalie wailed.
Hmm, I thought to myself. What life would that be?
"No, I'm trying to save you from future humiliation. I've seen it Rosalie! Ugh! Gag me with a spoon! Next year your hair style will be totally bogus. You will cringe in horror when you realize how heinous you look. Just like when you wore bell bottoms, remember the yearbook picture!" Alice was hitting way below the belt with that comment. A loud crash against the adjacent wall sent books, music sheets, and pictures tumbling from my bedroom shelves.
Oh-ho, did she just say…Rosalie fumed
Wow, I have not seen her this mad since Emmett broke her air ratchet ! I wonder what she will do when she finds out what I did to her hair crimper? It's only fair, after she acid washed my jean jacket! Alice was looking for revenge.
"Edward! A little help here?" Esme pleaded.
With a sigh I rolled to my feet, walked across the room and opened my door. Rosalie pinned Alice to the floor. She gripped Alice's neck with both hands, a maddened look in her eyes. In turn Alice had seized large handfuls of Rosalie's hair and pulled roughly. Esme was pulling at Rosalie's fingers trying to get her to release Alice.
"You are so dead!," Rosalie hissed.
"Too late," Alice grinned devilishly.
"Stop it, Rose! Now!" Esme insisted.
We pulled them up and I wedged myself between my sisters forcing Rosalie to release Alice. Esme wrapped her arms around Rosalie and pulled her away. Alice pushed against my back trying to get pass me to ready to deliver a payback. Rosalie beckoned with her fingers taunting Alice whose arms reached around me throwing futile punches into the air.
"Let it go," I hissed.
I heard the sound of car doors slamming and knew that reinforcements had arrived at last. The front door banged open, and foot steps ascended the stairs.
Not again!
Dude, we left poor Edward home alone with the girls, that it seriously ill.
"Alice! Rosalie get a hold of yourselves! This is completely uncalled for." Carlisle planted himself between the warring glares of the two contenders.
"Everyone downstairs now!" Esme used her authoritative 'mother' voice.
"What did we do?" whined Emmett, gesturing at Jasper and himself. He was rewarded by an icy glare that quickly stopped his protests.
Once downstairs Alice and Rosalie pointedly sat on opposite sides of the room. Jasper sat next to Alice and cradled a large gray box with a rainbow colored apple on the side. He held it protectively, eyeing Alice cautiously. The reason for the trip to town was to retrieve his computer from the repair shop, and he was clearly afraid it would come to harm as a result of Alice's cloudy mood. I sat on the green vinyl footstool opting to avoid taking sides on the matter. This was so silly what was the big deal about? Rosalie and Alice quarreled occasionally, but it was nothing compared to the fights that had occurred between the males of the house. Esme and Carlisle were in the kitchen talking about what to do with their unruly 'children.' I don't know why they bothered we could all hear them anyway. Rosalie tapped her stiletto heel restlessly against the floor and I heard Alice's thoughts bridle in reaction. Jasper pressed one hand against his temple, the tension in the room was palpable to everyone. Emmett carefully placed his hand on Rosalie's knee to stop the tapping.
Carlisle and Esme entered the room, and instantly had everyone's attention.
"For the past few months," Carlisle began, "You have all been…impossible. Squabbling and bickering over the simplest of things. The next time we move…" he paused for dramatic effect, I shuddered as I heard the verdict roll through his mind. "You will all attend High School once again." He was answered with an audible groan that tore from all our throats. "We knew you were getting tired of it, so we let you enroll in college this time around. But it is not working out. When you all attend high school together, you also work together. You are more united, and more tolerant of each other's short comings. Unless…you can prove that you can behave yourselves" He was giving us an opportunity to redeem ourselves, and I prayed that Alice and Rosalie would resolve their differences quickly.
"In the mean time," Carlisle continued. "Alice and Rosalie you two need to learn to get along."
"So we have a task that you will both work on together," Esme finished. "You will set up a service project that Edward will use for his application to medical school. You will find an appropriate project, make all the preparations, and assist your brother in carrying out this project. In fact you will all participate in carrying out the service project."
"What?" shrieked Rosalie. "We have to do his work for him?"
"It's not just for Edward. It is for this whole family. And it will help us make up for some of our… errors." Her head turned slightly, reflexively towards Emmett.
Will I ever live that down? It was years ago…well okay a few months ago, and it was an accident. Emmett's thoughts were filled with self loathing. And I feeling of sympathy welled up inside me.
"Why don't we do two projects? Rosalie can do one, and I can do another one. Then Edward will have two projects to use on his applications." Alice glared at the floor in front of the couch, where Rosalie was sitting.
"Yeah, and then we can have a contest to see who's project is the boss!" Trust Emmett to turn this into a competition.
"No, no, no. That is not the point!" Esme shook her head in exasperation. "The point is for you to work TO-GETHER. There is no compromise on this and that is final." Esme did not normally have much of a temper; she was usually so patient. I could hear how much it hurt her when we fought. All of that anguish was coming out in her voice.
Jasper must have noticed too because he said, "alright, well lets get started. I'll go set up my computer and you can use it to brain storm ideas."
Alice and Rosalie stared at each other in defeat. Emmett trudged toward the stairs pulling Rosalie after him.
I stood in anticipation of leaving the room, but Carlisle's thought stopped me. Edward stay, we have more to talk about. My siblings rapidly disappeared from the living room.
"Esme will go hunting with you." Its best if you are not at all thirsty when we go to the hospital this afternoon.
I nodded and walked calmly to the door.
Despite the overcast sky and the thick air it had not rained in several weeks, the ground was too dry to distinguish any animal tracks. This left me to using my sense of smell to find my prey. Not a problem since my sense of smell was much better suited for hunting anyway, but I was impatient to finish this hunting trip. Esme's thoughts were full of worry and it made me even more nervous, about the evening's scheduled events..
"It will be okay," I don't know who she was trying to reassure me or herself. "Edward, if it gets too hard just go outside and get some fresh air. Take a break, Carlisle does not expect you to push yourself too far."
"I know Esme, I've been a vampire longer than you have," my voice was harsher than I meant for it to be. Esme looked away, and her thoughts were full of hurt. "I'm sorry," I whispered, "I know your just trying to help."
"You're right, you don't need my advice. I just worry that's all."
I caught the scent of a heard of elk and guided us in that general direction. Who would have thought that sweet motherly Esme would drink blood as though it were going out of style. It was another sick and twisted aspect of this reality that was our existence.
"Edward…when you are at the hospital, and well, if you decide to spend much time in the hospital…"
"Yes, Esme?" We were on our way home, after I had ensured I was so full that I would have no desire to drink any blood, not even if I mountain lion crossed our path.
If you ever meet a girl… a girl your interested in…
"Stop!" I did not want Esme to continue to think like this. "Don't you remember what happened last time! I could never put anyone through that." I remembered how disappointed Esme had been when the planned relationship for me and Rosalie had not worked out.
"But Edward if a person was going to die anyway?"
"No," I insisted. " I know you're worried about me being lonely, but I'm not. I am just fine, I don't need that… not like the others."
Esme sighed, I'm sorry, I just want you to be happy Edward.
"I know, but don't worry about me I'm fine."
A/N I decided to se this story in 80's since that might have been a time period in which Edward may have attended medical school. So some of the dialog, and references may seem a little strange, that's because the slang of that time was really silly.