Chapter 20

BPOV

Esme had wisely kept herself, Emily, and Kim busy preparing a feast for our return, anticipating a celebration. She had put Jared and Seth to work outside, setting up tables and chairs, manning the grill, and other preparatory tasks. They all ran out to greet us as we approached. Emily and Esme eagerly approached their lovers, finding themselves wrapped up in their mates' embraces, happy to be safely back together again.

Laurent unconsciously took a step toward Kim and Emily, but was stopped by a chorus of growls. "Humans?" he asked in disbelief. "You keep human pets along with werewolf pets?"

"We're not pets, leech!" Sam snarled angrily. "We're friends."

Laurent just looked confused, glancing from Carlisle and Esme to Sam and Emily. "Friends? With humans?"

"You were human once too, Laurent. Don't forget that," Edward reminded him. "Would you feed on and kill your own mother, your own child? Every human is somebody's child, somebody's family. Humans are sentient beings and without them there would be no vampires. It is important to preserve humanity. Besides, life is a lot more interesting with humans around." He smiled at me, then kissed me gently.

Laurent gasped and wrinkled his nose. "You are intimate with a werewolf? Doesn't the smell alone repulse you?"

Edward laughed. "She is actually a human, not a werewolf. She smells amazingly delicious for a human, which is why we have disguised her scent with werewolf odor. Normally, her scent is the most tempting I've ever smelled. She's my singer. She's also my soul mate."

"If she is your soul mate, why haven't you changed her yet?" Laurent wondered.

"There are still a few experiences I would like for her to have while she is still human. I would like to get married, for example, while she is still human, so her human mother can attend and her natural father can walk her down the aisle. Most of us don't have a choice in becoming what we are. We don't usually get the chance to get closure with our loved ones before we are dead to them. We want to leave her family and friends with the best possible memories of her, so they can know she was happy when she 'died'."

Laurent nodded in understanding, looking at me in a whole new light. I could practically see the wheels turning in his mind as he processed all he had learned this evening. "I would like to have a mate," he whispered, "to give meaning to my existence."

"You'll find one, if you are strong enough to stick to animal blood. You see, animal drinkers are stronger, not weaker. Perhaps not physically so, but certainly mentally. It takes a great deal of effort, self-control, and self-discipline to maintain an animal blood diet, since the blood doesn't taste as good and isn't as satisfying. Not many vampires have what it takes to succeed at this life. Only the elite few can handle it. The rest just take the easy way out. They are the ones who are weak, who have no self-control, not us," I declared loyally. I knew he might be confused by me saying 'us' when I was clearly still human, but I was already a member of the Cullen family, and I would be a vampire someday. When that happened, I would proudly join their diet. I was determined to follow Carlisle's example and never drink human blood.

I could see him processing my words, as his admiration and respect for me grew.

"How can a human be comfortable around all these creatures who could easily kill her in seconds, simply by accident?" he wondered.

I smiled. "Laurent, I'm a danger magnet. I'm used to trouble chasing me down and having its wicked way with me. Honestly, I could get struck by lightning, or get hit in the head by a stray meteor. I could slip in the bathtub, for that matter. Death and injury are always lurking right around the corner for me. If I never did anything that might hurt or kill me, I might as well do nothing at all. Do you know how many people pass away peacefully in their sleep? There is nothing that is truly safe for humans in this world, not even breathing. So frankly, I am comfortable with all of these people here, because they are my family. I love them and trust them and enjoy their company. I don't judge people by what they are, but by who they are. Most of us don't have a choice as to what we are, but we do have control over who we are. Every day we choose to be good or evil, to do right or wrong, to be selfless or selfish. Those choices are ours whether we are human, vampire, or werewolf." Laurent's eyes were wide with amazement by the time I finished my lecture. Interestingly enough, so were Edward's. I don't think he had ever considered that aspect before. The real test would be if this caused him to go psycho with a complete nervous breakdown, freaking out with every breath I take, searching the sky for stray meteors, and trying to watch me in the bathtub, or would he finally relax and realize that getting hurt and risking death is a natural part of life. Risks could be minimized, but not removed completely. Would he be on the internet later, trying to find a bubble to contain me to keep me safe from the world, or would he finally take each day as it comes and help me enjoy our time together. Of course, if he wanted to stay in the bubble with me, I might not mind too much. I would prefer if he would just relax a bit and live on faith that we are meant to be together, and whatever happens between now and my change we'd handle together as a team.

I smiled at him, hoping for the best. "I'm going to go take a shower now. I'm feeling rather grimy." I looked pointedly at Edward's shirt, where it had been in contact with my muddy one. He looked down at himself and made a disgusted face, causing several of us to chuckle.

He gave me his crooked smile and gestured up the stairs. "You go first, love. I'll get cleaned up when you are finished."

Several of the showers upstairs were already in use. I hoped their hot water tank was really, really big, or there wouldn't be any hot water left by the time Edward got there. I winked at him and headed upstairs. I figured he wanted to keep an eye on Laurent.

"Why don't I tell you about our cousins, the Denali clan," I heard Edward offer before I was out of hearing range.

By the time I got out of the shower, dressed and came back downstairs, Laurent had already left for Denali. I wasn't terribly surprised he didn't feel comfortable getting cozy with our Forks family, particularly the werewolves and humans. Seth and Quil had volunteered to escort him, making sure he actually followed through with his decision to go there, as that was the only reason we had agreed to let him go. I felt bad about Seth missing the party when he had already missed out on the baseball game, but Edward told me Seth was hoping Laurent would make a break for it, so he would have a good reason to chase him, rip him to shreds, and burn the parts to ash. I rolled my eyes. What is it with boys and their love of violence? I knew Laurent had made it safely to Denali in Meyer's books without a werewolf or vampire escort but, considering the changes we had made, it was better safe than sorry. I couldn't wait to hear about his first meeting with Irina.

"Has anyone called the Denali clan to tell them to expect Laurent and two werewolves on their doorstep?" I wondered.

Edward grinned. "Yeah, Carlisle called while you were in the shower. It would have been quite a shock for them otherwise."

"Depending on their previous experiences, I think they may be shocked anyway," Jasper concluded. "Those wolves are enough to strike terror into a vampire's heart. I have a feeling they'd be awfully tempted to attack first and ask questions afterward, if they hadn't been informed to expect them."

"They better not hurt Seth or Quil," I threatened angrily.

"Relax, my Bella," Edward soothed. "They won't now that they know the wolves are part of our family."

"Are you sure it was wise to tell them? Remember that Irina and Laurent both betrayed us in Meyer's future," I reminded Edward. His eyes widened as he remembered. The Volturi's surprise at the appearance of the wolves was a major factor saving us in that Breaking Dawn book. Without the advantage of that surprise, would the confrontation have turned out so well? Would they have stopped? Would they have been better prepared to fight us? Had we just dug our own grave? I had a niggling feeling that facing the Volturi was one of those major things fate would not allow us to avoid. We would be more careful to keep away from them, to hide the knowledge of ourselves from them, but someday, something would trigger them. At least Edward would never be stupid enough to go and ask them to kill him. We wouldn't be voluntarily walking into the lion's den to awake the sleeping beast this time. No, we would keep our cards close to our chest and hide a few up our sleeve as well. We'd do whatever we could to stack the deck in our favor, just as we had done with James and Victoria.

"The Meyer psychic warned that Laurent would betray us, and you just let him go?" Jasper demanded, furious and in full deadly soldier mode. His body practically vibrated with tension.

"Relax, Jasper," I explained. "Alice is perfectly safe. He only came to kill me after all of you abandoned me."

"Only?" he shouted, glaring at me.

I put my hand on his shoulder, and he flinched involuntarily, but did not shake me off of him. "Jasper, in Meyer's version of events, your whole family abandoned me without saying goodbye, and Edward told me he didn't want me or love me, that our whole relationship had merely been a game to him. That isn't going to happen, since now Edward knows it would be the biggest mistake he ever made and would destroy our entire family for no reason. Secondly, it was Victoria who blackmailed him and lured him away from his mate and the vegetarian diet. He didn't want to hurt me, and did offer me a quick death, as opposed to the extensive torture Victoria had planned for me. Since Victoria is gone, there is no reason for him to leave Irina or Denali."

"It's better safe than sorry," Jasper scowled, folding his arms across his chest. "We should have disposed of him while we had the chance, instead of constantly having to watch our backs in the future, especially since Alice's visions are now impaired."

I squeezed his shoulder with my pitiful human strength and looked into his eyes. "Jasper, he is Irina's mate. She's been alone for a thousand years. Don't you believe she deserves this chance at happiness?"

His face softened, and he appeared convinced, but suddenly his features hardened again. "Didn't you just say that she betrayed us too?

"Yes, but it was just a misunderstanding. She thought we created an immortal child and reported it to the Volturi. She repented when she discovered the truth and stood up for us in the end, but the Volturi killed her for it anyway. Actually, they killed her in an attempt to get us to attack them, so they would have an excuse to kill us, but we managed to hold firm."

Jasper sighed, obviously torn. "I see it was a difficult decision to make. We'll keep an eye on them then, at least, after the wolves leave we will."

"Thanks, Jasper," I whispered, giving him a big hug.

"For what?" he asked, stunned.

"For understanding," I answered with a sweet smile.

Something flashed in his eyes, but then he smirked at me. "If this comes back to bite us in the back, don't be surprised to hear 'I told you so' a few hundred times over the course of your existence."

I grinned. "Fair enough, Jasper."

He grinned back and gave Edward a playful shove. "Go get that shower already, Edward! You stink!"

Edward shoved him back. "Watch it, Jasper. I'm sure the wolves would be happy to give you a nice, big group hug to make you feel better."

Jasper made a disgusted face, wrinkling his nose, and shuddered. "Thanks, but I'll pass."

"Aww, come on, Jasper. You know you like it," Embry taunted from outside. The wolves that had already showered were busy piling food onto their plates. "A nice hug to show our brotherly affection is just what you need, bro."

"Yeah, I'm really not the touchy, feely type," Jasper responded. "I'd prefer we express our brotherly affection in ways that aren't so up close and personal."

"Aww, Jasper, you're hurting my feelings, man," Jared teased.

Jasper laughed. "Uh, yeah, Jared, nice try. Sorry, but the empath isn't falling for that one."

We all laughed, and Edward headed upstairs for his shower. I followed Jasper outside and went to sit by Alice. Alice gave me a quick hug and then quirked her brow. I matched her look and waited for an explanation.

"Aren't you going to get a plate of food?" she inquired laughingly.

"Oh, yeah, well, I'm not that hungry," I started, but my stomach chose that moment to prove me a liar, snarling loudly in protest. I smiled sheepishly at my best friend. "Okay, I'm hungry. I was just going to wait for Edward to join me."

"Bella, Edward doesn't eat food," Emmett told me, his face perfectly serious.

I looked at him as if he had bats in his belfry. "I know that!"

He shrugged. "So why are you waiting for him? It's not like he's going to get a plate of food tonight. He doesn't need to go through the line with you or anything."

I rolled my eyes. "It's the polite thing to do."

He rolled his eyes back at me. "If you're waiting for him to join you for dinner, you're going to be waiting for a long, long time. Unless you want me to catch him a fox? I can bring it back to the table for him and then you two can have dinner together."

He was being sarcastic, but I was feeling a little intrigued.

It was Jasper's turn to stare at me as if measuring me for a straitjacket and a padded cell. "You're intrigued? Are you insane? Did you even stop to think about it? What do you think would happen if Emmett brought an animal back here for Edward, and the smell of freshly spilled animal blood filled the air? Do you want to be surrounded by seven thirsty vampires? Besides, don't you faint at the sight of blood? You'd be unconscious and miss the whole thing anyway."

"It's not the sight of blood that bothers me. It's the smell," I muttered, embarrassed.

"The smell?" he asked blankly. "Humans can't smell blood."

I sighed, "Well, I can. It smells like rust and salt. Besides, I know that's not true. I've seen movies and read books where people realize they smell blood nearby."

"That's in large quantities and after it starts to decay," he argued. "You've got a superior sense of smell for a human. I wonder if that will come with you as a power in your vampire life. Maybe you'd be a good tracker, with a sense of smell that surpasses other known vampires. Hmmm. What is it going to mean for you as a vampire if you're so disgusted by blood as a human?"

"It actually will give me great control, because human blood won't smell all that great to me. It'll smell really delicious, but not irresistible."

Jasper was clearly impressed. "Really? Now that's a nice power to have. If I wasn't currently mastering my blood lust with Carlisle's blood training, I think I'd be quite envious."

"How's that going by the way?" I wondered.

He smiled proudly. "I've pretty much mastered your scent. Carlisle brings home small samples of blood from the hospital that would have been thrown away otherwise and uses them to help me resist human blood in general, not just yours. I've actually started to be able to discern the different aspects that make up a particular scent, whereas before all human blood smelled the same to me—irresistibly, fantastically delicious.

Alice had been giving him a proud, supportive hug throughout his elucidation. Now it was my turn to hug him and let him feel how proud I was of his progress. His whole face lit up as he felt my admiration and trust for him. I ruffled his hair playfully, and he grinned lightheartedly. Alice was happy to see him so happy.

"So, did you recognize James at all?" I asked Alice.

"No, should I have?" she responded curiously.

"Remember, I told you James was the reason you were turned into a vampire."

She was flabbergasted. "When did you tell me that?"

"Back when we told you guys all about the stuff in Meyer's books."

"You told us so much stuff that night. I could search my huge memory banks, but why don't you just tell me again," she retorted.

"You were in a mental institution. A vampire who worked there cared about you. James caught your scent and considered you that vampire's pet, so he decided to hunt you as a game to pit himself against your caretaker. Your protector decided to change you to keep you safe from James. He took you from the asylum and ran with you. When James tracked you both down, you were already changing and it was too late for your blood to taste good. James was angry and killed the other vampire for 'winning' the game. That's why you woke up alone."

Alice was listening intently, while Jasper rubbed soothing circles on her back and kissed her head.

"What else?" she asked. I racked my memory. It had been quite a few weeks since I read the books, which was a long time to remember something you've only read once, at least if you're a forgetful human.

"Um, your human name was Mary Alice Brandon. You have family still alive in Biloxi."

With that announcement, she jumped up and grabbed my shoulders.

"I have family?" she shrieked. "Who? Tell me everything." She was a bit scary as she demanded answers. Answers I didn't have.

"Umm, I'm sorry, Alice," I admitted. "I honestly don't remember."

She got a panicked look in her eye. "Shush," I cooed calmly. "Remember, Edward read the same thing I did, and he has a perfect memory, so he'll be able to recall it for you."

"Edward!" she called, bouncing in place, wringing her hands nervously.

In a matter of seconds he was there in front of us. "You rang?" he smirked.

"Tell me about my family, Edward!" she ordered impatiently.

He smiled at her attitude. "You had a younger sister named Cynthia. She had a daughter. Your niece is still alive and living in Biloxi."

Alice squealed so loud, we all clapped our hands over our ears. I was expecting to see the windows shatter, but apparently she must not have hit the right note, as they remained firmly in place. Jasper was so overwhelmed with her ecstatic joy that he jumped up to share her giddy excitement. The two of them began dancing a jig across the lawn. We all laughed, watching them. Edward went and fetched a plate for me while I watched the loving couple. He came back with a plate piled high, nigh unto overflowing, with lots of yummy delicacies.

By the time I finished eating, Alice had calmed down enough to sit beside me again. "So, when are you going to go and see her?" I asked.

"Jazz and I'll go this summer over break!" she exclaimed, grabbing my hands. "I'm so excited! I finally have a past!"

Life is good. My soul mate loves me and will never leave me. My best friend is happy beyond belief. James and Victoria are dead. My entire family is safe and unharmed. Now I just had to survive the Prom and the After-Prom party. Oh, yeah. And shopping for a prom dress. With Alice. I groaned. They might as well start carving my tombstone now…

BPOV

It seemed strange to head off to school, and 'normal' life, come Monday. After almost being eaten by sadistic vampires and playing baseball with werewolves, school seemed too tame. Where was the excitement, the adrenaline rush? I was starting to realize how bored my family must be, spending hours on end amongst clueless humans, listening to teachers drone on and on about things they already knew, and trying not to bite the petty teenagers around them who were concerned more about acne and alcohol and who was doing what with whom than anything important or meaningful. Frankly, I was amazed they had lasted this long without snapping. I was personally considering biting a few of them myself, but didn't want to get my mouth dirty.

Alice gave me a strange look. "Care to tell me why I see you suddenly going on a rampage and biting certain students who get on everybody's nerves?" she whispered.

Edward had seen her vision and was grinning in amusement. I laughed. "I can't believe you guys have been here for over two years and some of these kids are still alive and in one piece. You have better restraint than I do."

"That doesn't bode particularly well for your newborn year, Bella," Edward teased. He knew as well as I did that I wouldn't have a problem with bloodlust.

"Thanks," I grumbled, rolling my eyes and whacking him with my pencil. I didn't want to hurt my hand. He whimpered and cradled his hand, pouting at me. I froze for a second, believing I may have actually hurt him, but then detected the twinkle in his eyes. So he wanted to tease, did he? Well two can play that game.

"Aww, poor baby. Would you like me to kiss it better?" I purred seductively, reaching out for his hand. His eyes darkened with passion as he laid his hand gently in mine and nodded. I held his hand up to my mouth, placing kisses on his flesh and teasing him with my tongue. He swallowed hard and started shifting in his seat. I grinned. "All better now."

He glared playfully at me as I gave him his hand back. "Yes, but now I'm aching elsewhere."

My lips twitched, and I replied as seriously as I could manage. "Maybe you should use an icepack to help reduce the swelling."

Alice giggled, clapping her hand over her mouth so she wouldn't draw attention to herself, but it was too late. The teacher heard and frowned at her.

"Is there a problem, Miss Cullen?"

Alice put on her 'innocent' face. "Yes, Mrs. Butler, my brother has a, uh, little problem and needs to get an icepack from the nurse."

"Do you need to go to the nurse now, Edward?" Mrs. Butler inquired, her expression softening as her eyes lit on Edward's face. If looks could kill, Alice would be a pile of ash from the look he gave her. He said something I couldn't hear, but I knew him well enough by now to know he was threatening her.

"No thank you, Mrs. Butler. I'm feeling much better now, thank you," Edward politely declined. The teacher nodded and went back to her boring lecture and glassy eyed students.

At the lunch table, Alice announced, "School picture day is this Thursday!" She waggled her eyebrows meaningfully at Rose and me. I felt my conscience perk up and take notice. My guts twisted and guilt crept up within me. I sighed heavily.

"Look, guys, I don't think we should actually play those pranks."

"What?" Rose shrieked indignantly. "Where's your backbone, girl?"

"Huh. I didn't see that coming," Alice mused in confusion.

"Remember what Carlisle said last night at the victory party?" I reminded them. The all rolled their eyes and nodded.

Jacob, Quil, and Embry were getting a little out of hand with their celebration following the feast. They were becoming more and more derogatory in their comments about James and Victoria, laughing and mocking them. Finally, Carlisle stood up and sternly put a stop to it.

"Enough! It is not right to rejoice over the death and suffering of others, even your enemies. Do you remember how the Palestinians danced and celebrated in the streets following the tragedy at the World Trade Centre on 9/11/01? Thousands of lives lost, people we would deem innocent, but the Palestinians considered them all enemies. How did it feel to see the video of them publicly rejoicing at the tragic loss of life? It is fine to rejoice that our family is safe, secure, happy, and uninjured. It is acceptable to be proud of our prowess in battle, at successfully protecting our loved ones. It is okay to be relieved that the threat is gone, that they will never bother us again. It is not right to laugh at their pain and suffering, no matter how much you believe they deserved it. Instead, we mourn the fact that they chose an evil way of life and can now never know the peace of choosing to live their lives in good and helpful ways. They will never walk the path of righteousness. They will never have the love and loyalty of family and friends. It would have been far better if they had surrendered like Laurent and chosen a different way of life. So we mourn for the loss of the people they could have been had they made better choices."

We all solemnly bowed our heads for a moment of silence in acknowledgement of the passing of two sentient beings who could have and should have chosen to be productive instead of destructive. Many in our Forks family participated more out of respect for Carlisle himself than in agreement with his beliefs, but either way, it made Carlisle happy and content, which made everybody else happy and content as well. After the moment of silence, the festivities began again with laughter and fun, talking and playing, peace and love all around.

"Well, instead of getting upset with those girls, we should really pity them," I explained. "After all, we got the best guys ever, who truly love and adore us. They don't have a snowball's chance in hell of stealing our guys away, so we can afford to be the better women in this situation. It must be distressing for them that they can't get a guy of their own to love them the way our guys love us. That's why they deserve our pity. They don't even have guys of their own who like them, much less love them. How pathetic is it that they couldn't even find single guys to ask out? They must have been pretty darn desperate to ask guys who wouldn't even give them the time of day, ones who would clearly be rejecting them."

"So we just let them get off scot-free for trying to steal our men?" Rose demanded hotly.

I smirked. "I never said that. I do think we should let them know publicly how much pity we feel for them and their inability to attract men of their own."

Rose and Alice both wore evil smirks, beginning to catch my drift.

"I also think we deserve a bit of entertainment as a stress reliever after all we've been through recently," I added. They nodded, eyebrows raised, trying to guess my intentions by reading my expressions. "I think we should make the decision one at a time to pull each prank, so Alice can have a vision of it, and then she can use her incredible art skills to draw us some pictures of the pertinent facial expressions of our intended victims, just for laughs."

Alice and Rose exchanged glances and shrugged. "Fair enough," Alice agreed. "We can do it at our house after school. I'll use my good coloured pencils so I can get the skin tones and hair colors just right." We snickered, remembering our pranks.

"After seeing the pictures, we won't be able to help laughing every time we see their faces. It'll drive them absolutely crazy!" Rose stated confidently.

"Now that the pranks are settled, Bella, we have also decided to go to L.A. to shop for prom dresses."

"Why can't we just go to Seattle?" I wondered.

Alice grimaced. "Silly girl! We always go to Seattle. Prom dresses are special! We need to shopping on Rodeo Drive. Beverly Hills, here we come!"

I winced at the thought of how much money this little trip was going to cost us. I had no desire to spend two days being dragged around stores where a single item cost more than my entire life savings. Yet, Alice was absolutely determined, which meant it couldn't be avoided. It would be cool to see the sights, do the whole touristy thing, if I could get Alice out of the shops long enough. Hmmm. Perhaps a compromise is in order.

"Okay, Alice, I'll make a deal with you," I decided.

"Tell me more," She commanded suspiciously.

"I'll come and let you buy me a whole ensemble for prom, but in exchange, for every hour we spend shopping, we spend an hour sight-seeing," I suggested.

"But that's only 12 hours of shopping a day!" she whined.

I snorted. "I still have to sleep, Alice."

Her eyes widened. "Only eight hours a day to shop!" she groaned loudly, as if she were in physical pain."

"And I still have to eat," I reminded her.

She glared at me. "You can eat while shopping," she commanded, daring me to deny it.

I laughed. "Fine, Alice. I'll eat while shopping and sight-seeing too."

She sighed deeply. "You drive a hard bargain, missy."

"Alice, there's more to life than spending money!" I complained.

She gave me her patented 'innocent' look. "There is? Are you sure?"

Rose giggled. "Yeah, there's naked time alone with your husband too."

Alice's eyebrows rose, and she tapped her chin. "True, true. So there are two things in life. If only I could figure out how to spend money while having naked time alone with my husband, my world would be complete!"

Rose leaned over and whispered something in her ear. I watched Alice's eyes light up, and she grinned excitedly. "Rose, you're a genius!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, going into a vision. After the vision she was even more excited, which I hadn't been sure was even possible until I saw it in action.

"Guys, I'm feeling a little under the weather and I think it may be contagious," she murmured. She met Jasper's eyes down the table, where he and the others were working on their own hit list. I saw Jasper's eyes turn black as his eyes locked with hers, and he quickly stood, faking a cough.

"I'm feeling a mite sick," he declared, pretending to cough again. "I think I'd better be going home early."

"I think I've got the same bug, Jazzy," Alice purred, standing as well. They headed out of the cafeteria arm in arm.

"Somebody got bit by the love bug!" Emmett laughed, watching them walk away. He turned to Rose. "I'm feeling a bit love sick myself, babe. How about you?"

Rose giggled and pretended to cough discreetly into her hand. Emmett's eyes lit up. "I've heard this bug is quite contagious," he leered playfully. "We'd better quarantine ourselves before it runs rampant."

"Looks like you two are on your own for the rest of the day," Rose snickered, as she and Emmett turned to leave together. "See you later."

Edward and I chuckled.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Emmett warned, waving goodbye.

"Is there anything you wouldn't do?" I asked in good-natured disbelief.

Emmett paused midstride to look back at us thoughtfully. Then he shook his head. "Nope! In that case, don't do anything that would make Esme or Carlisle mad."

"Rats!" I quipped. "There goes my plans for the afternoon."

Emmett's laughter boomed around the room, before he turned it into giant hacking coughs.

"Don't quit your day job," I whispered, commenting on his acting skills. He actually started to choke a bit as his hacking laughs broke through. Rose pounded him on the back enthusiastically, but not hard enough to sound like thunder, as she dragged him out the door.

Edward and I enjoyed a chuckle together at their antics. I rested my head on his shoulder, and he rested his head on top of mine. We enjoyed a few minutes of peace and quiet, well as quiet as we could get in a school cafeteria, before our next class began.

A/N I am so sorry I have been gone so long because I was in a car accident and was in a coma for 5 months and have just gotten out of the hospital. Hope you enjoy the update. More chapters coming soon.