Destiny
Chapter 2
I didn't see Edward for the rest of that day.
After Jacob went out of his way to drop my home I flopped onto the couch and pasted my eyes to the T.V.
I amused myself with imagining Edward still trying to catch up to me, running at a snail's pace that meant he was only halfway up the hill I had sprinted up first.
But there was something strangely unsettling about his absence. He usually always walked me home after school, like he had done every day since I met him in nursery. In those days our mums walked us home, or rather chased us home, and they became close friends meaning I usually say Edward every day after school.
When his mum died of cancer, 6 years previously when we were both 10, it was a serious blow to both our families. My mum had lost a most beloved friend and I lost a woman who was practically my aunt, if not a second mum.
The pain Edward went through rubbed off on the whole of my family in a continuous, abrasive scar. He missed school for a couple of moths but that didn't stop us from seeing him every day. Me, Mum, dad and the terrible twins: Alice and Emmet, visited Edward and his dad, Carlisle everyday and the pleasant memories we shared pulled both our families through the abyss.
I remember when I offered giving Alice and Emmet to Edward to balance the families out. I laughed as I remembered his horrified face at such a prospect: Alice and Emmet have to be the most annoying twins that ever besmirched the planet with their presence!
"What's so funny?" Mum asked as she walked into the room and pulled me out my reverie.
"Oh, hey mum," I said as I rose to hug her. "I was just thinking about my offer to donate Alice and Emmet to Edward after Esme died"
Mum smiled; a thing that had become well practiced over the years of effort to come to terms with her friend's death. "I remember that; he came storming down the stairs to complain to Carlisle about your horrible offer and then you started crying because you had wanted him to accept so badly"
"I don't remember crying" I said defiantly.
"Oh yes you did. You got tears all over my new blouse"
"Well, I haven't cried since then!"
"No, you haven't, you unfeeling child" She jested as she ruffled my hair. I was unimpressed.
I pulled a cushion off the couch and hit her with it, and so our evening continued as it often does in our household, in an upbeat, lively way.
And I forgot all about Edward and his absence.
Waking up is always an effort. You have to draw the veil between reality and the strange dream you had involving your maths teacher winning an Oscar for tap dancing; you have to wait for ten minutes till you've summoned the strength to open your eyes, one heavy lid at a time; and when your eyes are finally open, you have to get used to the ridiculously bright bedside light which turned on in your attempt to turn off the alarm clock; and then you have to wait another five minutes before you feel brave enough to leave the humid warmth of you duvet and let your feet meet the colder air that's outside the bed.
What a trial! Parents don't give teenagers enough credit for the battle faced every morning.
I finally conquered my sleep and dragged myself out of bed. The alarm clock, which was now on the floor after I smacked it so it would shut up, read 6:15. As I tell myself every single, I am insane. I pulled off my warm pyjamas and changed into my shorts and t-shirt. Heading down to the kitchen, I nearly decked it down the stairs in the dark. Again, I am insane.
I poured myself a glass of water and splashed it over my face to wake myself up. It never works that well, I just succeed in getting myself cold and wet.
Sighing, I stretched in the hall to warm up. It looked like a cold brisk morning outside; in the nights last effort to be night before dawn fully broke through the horizon.
Bracing myself I opened the door and stood, for a minute or two, in the temperature limbo: the place between outsides piercing cold and insides welcoming warmth.
I sighed again, my breath suspended like lace in front of my eyes, and started running.
I nearly wept as I realised I'd forgotten my iPod but I knew if I went back to get it I would dive straight under my duvet and never leave my house again. So I carried on and tried not to pay attention to the sharp air as it cut at my legs and arms and advanced down my lungs like an armed battalion with every controlled breath.
I ran down the hill, smiling as I passed the bush that I'd pushed Edward into, and rounded the corner running towards my school. I tried not to think about walking through those iron gates later on today so I turned my thoughts to Jacob.
We used to take our morning runs together but we found it was too distracting because all the talking and affectionate bickering made us lose our focus on keeping our breathing even. It was so wonderful to be able to be in a relationship with someone who I could be honest with. I was able to tell Jacob his company was distracting and find out he felt the same way with no offense taken on either side.
That is the thing about me: I have to be focused, especially when it comes to running. I can't stand being sidetracked by anything and giving less than my all. My training is so important to me considering I want to be girl's number one in the county and despite all my determination to be focused, I'm easily distracted anyway.
My run continued around the school's perimeter and led me up the long way to my house. I passed Edwards house round the block from mine and I thought of him, still in his bed, blissfully unaware of how cold it was out here.
As I reached my house I stopped outside my door and watched the sky change as the sun rose. The stripe of bleached white on the horizon ascended, engulfing the deep blue. It looked like oil in water: never fusing, separated by some invisible barrier. Warm colours started to awaken, stretching their long arms across the sky and pushing the deep blue farther away from the sun.
As I entered the house, I could tell it was going to be a glorious day.