I woke up the next morning, not to my alarm clock, but to Edward, gently shaking my shoulder.
I groaned and rolled over, then mumbled, "Edward, what are you doing here?" but from where my face was angled in my pillow, it sounded more like "Edwd, wt you do her?"
He laughed. "Well, I woke up really early this morning because I wanted to save my best friend from waking up without some Advil and some water on her bedside table, and then I figured, why not just wake her up instead of letting her alarm clock wake her up?" We both laughed, and then I realized, I really did need to Advil. So I grabbed the small pills out of his hand, trying to ignore the spark of electricity, now familiar to me, and drank greedily from the glass of water.
Then, because even though he was my best friend I couldn't let him watch me dress my wounds, I shoved Edward out of my room. I didn't usually care what I wore, but today I felt unusually happy, so I looked through my closet for my favorite pair of skinny jeans, ankle boots and a flowy floral top with a gray cardigan. Then I took to the tedious task of covering up my aching bruises, cringing with each pat of the makeup brush, but otherwise making it of my room unscathed.
I skipped my way down stairs and into the kitchen where Edward sat, eating a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. "Happy today, are we?" he asked through the cereal. I smiled and grabbed a Pop-Tart instead of answering him. He watched me, still smiling, but I could see the wonder in his eyes.
After I sat down though, he asked again. "Really, Bells, what's got you so happy? I can't remember seeing you in this high of spirits especially after..." he cringed.
"It's okay, Edward. Charlie's already at work," I told him as if he were talking about last night's English assignment that I luckily finished. "And to answer your question, I have no idea. I just woke up, and the first thing that popped into my mind after 'What the hell is Edward doing in my room?' was 'Today is going to be a good day.'"
He glanced at me, a smirk on his face. "Why did you think it was weird that I was waking you up? For all you know I sleep in your room at night!"
As soon as he finished, the phone rang, and I became immediately cautious. We glanced at each other, deciding without speaking it would be safer for me to answer the phone.
"Hello?" I said into the receiver.
"Bells." Jacob's voice came out rough and scratchy, but it still held an air of authority, one that Edward could obviously hear and made him go ram-rod straight in his yellow kitchen chair. "I can't make you come over tonight," he said. "I'm sick. Usually I wouldn't really care but..." I could tell he was trying to make up his mind on what to say. "Billy...he said...I...can't." It was a made up excuse, but it didn't matter to me. It made my day so much better already. But I was careful to keep my voice the same.
"I'm sorry, Jacob. I hope you feel better soon."
"Ngh," he grunted at me. "Don't mean I won't be watchin' you, little girl. You know that, right? Just 'cause we don't go to the same school or live in the same town, I know things, things that would make your hair stand on end. Things worse than me." But the way he said it, it sounded like a preprogrammed response that was mechanical.
"I know, Jacob."
"Good. Bye." And he hung up.
Despite the awkward ending, I smiled as I hung up the phone, running to a now standing and smiling Edward for a hug.
"I'm free for the day!" I yelled.
"I know!" he yelled right back, laughing. "What do you want to do to celebrate?"
"Get through school," I laughed, walking out the door, my best friend not two steps behind.
It was already lunch, and the day passed smoothly and happily. However, rumors spread like wildfire about the four new kids, all extremely beautiful from what I'd heard.
And finally I would see them.
Edward and I walked into the cafeteria, grabbing several things al a carte before sitting down at our usual table and both of us searching the cafeteria for four new faces.
Not long later, Edward tapped my arm, pointing to the very corner table away from all the other students.
And they were the most beautiful people I'd ever seen.
They weren't the kind of beautiful that made you want to befriend the girls or date the guys, but it was the beauty that made you think twice about how you looked.
There was a girl that was incredibly short and petite, even compared to my 5' 4". She had a pixie cut that was styled elegantly into little curls, short bangs falling just over her eyes.
Next to her sat a beautiful boy with honey-blonde hair, and he was grasping her hand so hard that from across the crowded room, I could see one large blue vein standing out. He was very tall and seemed more like a sophomore in college, rather than a high school student.
Across the table from him sat a large, burly boy that didn't look like a boy, but a man. He had a buzz cut and he was smiling largely, sowing off a set of very white teeth. But despite his masculinity and overall demeanor, I wanted to hug him.
And next to him, his arm around her waist, sat the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. She had long blonde hair that went to the middle of her back. Her face was stoic, but not in a way that said she was angry or uncomfortable, just no emotion.
The only things about the four of them, all so different, that were the same were their auburn eyes, like liquid gold, and their pale skin, paler than that of my mother who, despite living in the Arizona sun, managed to never tan a day in her life.
"Wow," I said to Edward.
"I know," he said. He paused, then looked at me with his irresistible puppy dog eyes. "Bella," he said in his sweetest voice.
"What?" I replied cautiously, drawing out the word.
"I know you always say you're awkward around new people, but will you please, please, pretty pretty please with sugar on top go over there and talk to them with me? They look so lonely!"
I glanced at them again, seeing that they really did seem isolated. So, despite my insecurity, I sighed, stood up, then grabbed Edward's hand and said "let's go" as he smiled and stood up too.
The walk across the room never seemed so short.
Before I wanted to be, we were standing next to the small group.
"Hi," Edward greeted. He started to let go of my hand but, because I was nervous, I just gripped his more tightly, making him concede to what I want. "My name's Edward, Edward Cullen. And this is my best friend, Isabella Swan." He grinned at me in a way that said 'now you have to say something! ha!'.
So I awkwardly replied to a smiling pixie, "But I don't like being called Isabella. I like Bella."
"Hi, Bella, Edward!" the small girl told us. "I'm Alice, Alice Brandon. And this," she said, gesturing the blonde boy beside her, "is Jasper Hale, my boyfriend. The girl over there is Rosalie. She's Jasper's twin sister, and then that big guy over there is Emmett McCarty, also known as Rose's boyfriend." Everyone in presence said their respectful hello's to everyone else, and luckily, Edward broke the silence quickly.
"So, what grades are you guys in?"
"Well," Rosalie said. "Alice is a junior, and Jasper, Emmett, and I are seniors, thank God." She smiled jokingly, though she did seem very relieved. "What about you two?"
"We're both juniors," I said for us, trying to at least sound a little bit confident.
And though I couldn't be sure, I could've sworn I saw Alice say something very quickly to the others, but it was too fast for me to even know what happened.
"Maybe we'll have some classes together!" Alice said, bouncing up and down excitedly. I couldn't help but smile at her exuberance.
"I hope!" I told her, and found myself meaning it, also finding confidence enough in myself to let go of Edward's hand.
Just then, the bell rang, signaling ten minutes to get to class, and I like to go in early and beat the rush to biology.
"Well, I think we're gonna go now. But maybe we can all plan t hang out some time soon," Edward said in parting. The group nodded, waving as we walked away.
"See," he told me. "That wasn't so bad." And he put his arm around my waist, causing me to shiver because of the pulsing, pleasing, electric heat pulsing through my veins.
So I'd be willing to bet you're ready to kill me about now. I haven't updated in who knows how long, then say I want someone to take it over. But, I was in the middle of typing out a request of how I wanted it to go to lalalajazzi, and I realized: I love this story too much to give up. So I'm going to be trying extra hard to pump out chapters for this story, because it's my first story, and I can't give it up.
Thank you for putting up with me and my shit. And I can say that, with any luck, some action will be going on soon. ^_^
I love you.
Erin.