Oh my god. Okay, I officially HATE OpenOffice with a burning passion. I had tons written down for this chapter, and then, on a whim, it just deleted everything. EVERYTHING. A tip of advice to other writers out there: Never, ever, ever, EVER in your life get OpenOffice. Stick with Microsoft Word or whatever you use that is NOT OpenOffice.
So, let's see if I remember what I had written. Some of it was in a notebook and some wasn't, so we'll see what happens with this. But most of what I have written in the notebook was written at two in the morning, so that might be a bit iffy anyway. XD
Esme Platt
"You... you want me to... date you?" For the few silent moments that followed my response, Carlisle and I had just stared at each other, the entire environment seeming completely silent as I contemplated his offer and struggled to get a firm grasp on what exactly he was asking. My eyes were dried from the tears that had filled them only a few minutes before as I straightened my posture and ran a hand through my hair, "I... I'd love to, Carlisle."
His eyes immediately lightened as soon as the words left my lips and he gave my shoulders another gentle squeeze, "You really want to?" he asked with a grin.
I let the corners of my mouth turn up into a small, content smiled as I slightly shifted closer to him, "Most definitely." I paused for a second, "Will your friends be angry?"
He sighed lightly and thought for a few moments, "They shouldn't be; it's not their place to be angry about that. We should keep quiet about it for a little while though, just to be safe. Actually, we could probably tell Ryan. He'd be okay with it... but Clark's a bit of a loudmouth, and Erin... its... its just best that she not know for now."
"Sure." I nodded. "So...what now?"
"We should probably find somewhere to go that's not out in the rain... want to go find somewhere?" Carlisle asked, blinking innocently as he awaited my reply.
I gave a small nod in response, "Sure. It's pretty cold out here." Over the past few moments, I had begun to shiver from, so I thought, the piercing cold rain that pelted against the roof of the gazebo and slipped through the cracks in the old wood. Still, though, I hadn't yet acquired a firm hold on the fact that Carlisle and myself were now, actually and officially, a couple.
"Esme?" Carlisle's soft voice broke the trance-like state my mind had been set it, snapping me back into reality. "You coming?"
"Oh...yes," I replied, beginning to stand up from my seat on the bench. It wasn't until a few split seconds after that I noticed Carlisle's tentative hand outstretched towards me in an offer to help me up. Gently taking his hand, I pulled myself into a standing position, cracking a slight smile as Carlisle's fingers closed around mine.
"Where to?" I asked softly, letting my hand mold its way into his.
"Um... we could go bowling at the alley down in town. That could be fun," he answered with a smile.
"Sounds great." Returning his carefree smile, I followed him out into the spring rain and towards our destination, all the while grinning like a young child on Christmas morning and feeling happier than I had in years.
##
The next few days of the week passed by effortlessly, due to my new unbridled joy. My uplifted spirits had been noticed by not only myself but others as well, including quite a few people at school – who now took the initiative to speak to me – and my younger sister, Alice. She'd obviously noticed it more so than the others, because she was the only one who gained enough curiosity to ask me about it.
"Hey, Ez?" she asked, calling me by my commonly-used nickname that was reserved for only her use. "Why are you so happy lately?"
I looked over my shoulder at her from my place at the kitchen table, "What do you mean, 'why am I so happy'?"
"You've been different in the past few days. You keep smiling all the time and stuff," Alice responded.
I laughed quietly to myself before fully turning around to face her, "If I tell you, will you promise not to tell Daddy when he comes home?"
"Why can't Daddy know?"
"I just don't want him to know. It'll be our little secret, okay?" Alice nodded and I smiled again, putting my hands on her little shoulders, "I got myself a boyfriend."
Her face immediately lit up with a wide grin, "Really?"
My head bobbed up and down in an enthusiastic nod, "Really. His name's Carlisle. He's so sweet; you'd absolutely adore him."
"When can I meet him?" Alice inquired, her mouth surprisingly managing to form words around her wide grin.
I paused for a few moments, thinking. Not wanting to disappoint my joyful younger sister, I replied, "Not sure. I'll ask him and see if we can work something out."
Alice giggled and threw her small arms around my shoulders, enclosing me in a tight hug, "I'm so happy for you, Ez. Who knows, maybe you two will grow up and get married!"
Gently hugging her back, I laughed nervously and answered, "Maybe. But don't count on that happening anytime soon, hun. We're only fifteen."
"Still older than me." She fake-pouted for a second before breaking down into a fit of giggles and bounding off to somewhere else in the house, leaving me sitting alone in the kitchen. Sighing lightly, I leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling. The chair creaked under my weight, but I ignored the sound, my mind drifting off to a much different place. I knew I could trust Alice, if anyone, but like all ten-year-olds, she had a tendency to say things that shouldn't be said around people who shouldn't be hearing them. If she were to slip up about my new-found relationship with Carlisle around my father, I was certain that it'd be the end of any further contact with Carlisle, and possibly even worse.
"I shouldn't think about that," I murmured to myself, letting my eyelids slide shut. Before long, I had drifted off into a relaxing slumber.
##
"Jesus Christ! What is that?" I exclaimed, being startled from my sleep and muttering a short string of profanities to myself as I fished around for the buzzing electronic device in my pocket. Finally, I yanked out the small cell phone and looked at the screen, where it informed me that Carlisle was trying to get a hold of me.
"Yes?" I said in greeting, flipping open the phone and holding it to my ear, "What do you need?"
"Are you free right now?" came Carlisle's voice from the other end. "I was wondering if you'd want to spend some time with me and... and Ryan."
I blinked in astonishment, "You mean your friend Ryan?"
"Yeah. I think it'd be good if you two got to know each other a little bit." I could picture him smiling as he said this.
"Sure, I'm free. Where?" I replied.
"Actually, I'll meet you on the corner of your street. Is that all right?"
"Of course. See you in a few minutes, then." I hung up the phone and smiled to myself before calling up the stairs to my sister, "Alice, I'm gonna go out for a little while. Are you gonna be okay here by yourself?" Her answer was inarticulate to my ears, but I made out enough of her reply to know that she meant 'yes'. Grabbing a light jacket, I made my way out the door and waited for Carlisle to appear. He did so a few minutes later, smiling gently and holding out his hand for mine.
"So where exactly are we going to meet your friend?" I questioned, taking his hand and beginning to follow him as he started to walk.
"You know that big oak tree in the park?" he replied. I nodded. "That's where we're going. He's gonna meet us there."
"So I'm worthy of the tree now?" I commented with a slight smirk.
He wore the same smile on his face as I turned to face him, "Of course you are. Any significant other of one of the 'members of the group' is always permitted," he explained, putting air-quotes around 'members of the group'. It was then that we reached the park, entering onto the moist, spring grass and making our way to the back of the area where the oak tree towered above the ground. It cast a shadow across the soil, from which emerged a boy about Carlisle's height with a head of shaggy, light brown hair, his eye color only a few shades darker. He walked towards Carlisle and I, lightly punching Carlisle in the shoulder before looking at me and holding his hand out for me to shake.
"I'm Ryan," he said, introducing himself with a friendly smile.
"Esme," I replied, shaking his hand, then afterwards stuffing them both in the pockets of my sweatshirt. Ryan then looked at Carlisle and raised an eyebrow, a smirk replacing the smile he had worn beforehand.
"So this is her, huh?" he murmured, the smirk growing wider.
Carlisle nodded slightly and looked down at the grass, his cheeks flushing into a bright pink, "Uh...yeah." I glanced between the two, confused, before asking:
"What do you mean?"
Ryan's smirk grew into a wide grin as he let out a short laugh, "Carlisle never shuts up about you. He goes on and on and on and on and...on. Which, obviously means, that he so totally lik -" Before he could finish his sentence, Carlisle leaned over and whacked him in the arm. Ryan laughed and whacked his friend back, rolling his eyes, "You know its true."
Carlisle sighed and shifted awkwardly, "Well, um, yeah... that's why I wanted to bring her to meet you, 'cause I figured that you should know that we're... err..." He paused for a second, gulping nervously, "dating."
Ryan's eyes widened and he glanced between the two of us a few times, "Seriously? You two? Together?" I mirrored Carlisle's actions, looking down embarrassingly as I felt my cheeks heat up with blush. The boy then burst into another grin, "That's cool. Does anyone else know yet? 'Cause school's gonna be hell for you two if it gets around..."
"As far as I know, nobody else but you and my little sister know; unless, of course, Carlisle opened his big mouth." I threw a skeptical glance in his direction, but then cheered it up with a small smirk.
Carlisle shook his head in denial, "Nope. I didn't tell anyone else."
"Good... but... are you gonna tell Erin?" Ryan inquired, his voice getting quieter towards the end of his question as he aimed his gaze at Carlisle. My... boyfriend (I guess I better get used to using that word), once again, shook his head.
"Not for a while. Just don't let it slip, okay?" he responded.
"Yup. Sure thing." The three of us stayed quiet for a few moments, before Ryan brought up the subject of my being new to the school this year. We continued chatting for quite some time, until dusk finally began to fall and I made my way back home, hoping with all my might that my father hadn't returned back to the house, and that the next day, and many more to come, would bring more joy and hilarity.
...there's chapter eleven for you. Sorry that it wasn't too exciting; it was more of a filler chapter to keep a little distance between the last few chapters and my next plot climax XD but, as per usual, reviews make me experience "unbridled joy and hilarity" XD