Songs for this chapter:
*I'm just a kid – Simple Plan*
*Sooner or later – Breaking Benjamin*
*Bruised – Jack's Mannequin*
*Welcome to my life – Simple Plan*
I am aware that most of the songs don't fit the story but they do wonders for when I have writers-block :D!
*~Edward~*
Smack that all on the floor
Smack that, give me some more
Smack that all on the floor
Smack that, Oh
My phone blared to life the vibrations reaching my ears...I knew instantly who it was as I had every contact under a specific song of my own choosing...It was the infamous Jessica Stanley no doubt wanting me...As if last night did pleasure her enough for a couple of days at least...! Fair enough we just made out seeing as my dad was a Doctor and I don't want him hearing rumours that his (at the moment) underage son is sexually active. There is no such thing as a secret living in Forks. I groaned throwing my arms around my head and grabbing my pillow and throwing it across the room, having no idea where it landed. I sat up forcefully feeling flustered and grabbed the phone off of my bedside table and didn't bother looking at the screen...Instead just pressing the 'reject' button. Well I am up now thanks to miss neediness...I stumbled out of bed clumsily...My head throbbing more as I got to standing damn liqueur I cursed to myself as I went into my bathroom and had a shower...I had to get the smell of my shower gel on me to make me feel like I wanted to be alive for the day ahead and if I was going to last five minutes in my OWN company let alone with anyone else's.
Once I was showered I made no immediate effort with my clothing, pulling out a dark green jumper almost absent-mindedly and grabbing my usual jeans from my drawer...I threw my boxers from last night in my hamper at the corner of my room and was interrupted by the sound of my door crashing against the wall...I turned gasping from the shock.
"Good morning, Sleeping beauty" my sister Alice sang at me with her annoyingly high-pitched voice...I could handle her voice after midday but not before.
"Alice..." I sighed positioning myself to fully face her now with a scowl on my face.
"Ahh Edward I see you have been lacking somewhat in the sleeping department...That wouldn't have anything to do with a certain Jessica Stanley now would it?" Alice asked me her eyebrow rising as she mentioned Jessica's name. If there is anyone in the world capable of making someone majorly pissed off in the morning it would be Alice...She seemed to have an amazing aptitude to wind me up each and every day of our lives.
"What makes you think that it is any of your business, Alice?" I replied to her...Just wanting her to disappear and stay out of my way until we reached the school environment.
"Come on Edward....Do you honestly think that Jess Stanley is a match for you, can you see this as a long-haul thing?" Alice replied...Going all cupid on me once again.
"Alice...Fortunately for some of us, we do not need to look for soul-mates...We have no desire to make a commitment to any kind of girl and so we can have as much fun as we want without any unwanted feelings or emotions flying to the surface." I pinched the bridge of my nose as my head throbbed more violently.
"Okay Edward...But believe me when I say that you will fall in love...And I mean really fall IN love with someone and those words will come back and bite you on that toned behind of yours and I will have the enjoyment of standing by and watching you fall!" Alice said forcefully before skipping out of my room leaving me standing there more annoyed than I had been when Jessica had woke me up.
Love? There was no such thing....I loved my family of course but I am not 'in-love' with them...I do not know whether anyone is in love...I think they just get bored and get married because either they feel the need to as they are reaching the 'golden years' of their lives or whatever it is they call it these days...I call marriage boredom because no one has anyone else that is better for them and so they choose second-best.
I grabbed my keys and phone from my bedside table and went out up the stairs to the fourth floor which had only one room in it and this was the only room in the house where I wouldn't be disturbed by anyone else.
I stared at my piano feeling a tinge of sadness as I hadn't played it in so long...my mother, Esme always praised my playing and after a while I got sick of it...I suffered writers block because I had no other important person in my life to write about...Let's just say every member of my family has their own piece of classical music and now I was stuck for inspiration.
I walked over to lift up the dusty lid and wiped the keys with the back of one of my sleeves and sat down causing the stool to creak and wobble slightly underneath my weight...I had no idea about what I was going to play...I had hundreds of pieces of sheet music stored up here but seeing as I didn't have the time this morning I went with a song that described Esme (Esme's lullaby) I wrote this piece for her when she was in hospital one year and now she cannot seem to get through a day without it being in her head, if I am not playing it she is humming it as she flits around the house.
I was half-way into the song when Emmett's booming voice took me out of my trance
"OI PAVAROTTI...Hurry up man I got practice early this morning and if you want to carpool with me then you better get going!"
I groaned and slammed both hands on the keys...I swear I can never have a moment alone to myself in this house especially not at the moment as Emmett was grounded by my dad last night; Now him and his piece on the side, Rosalie will be spreading their DNA all over this house...I cringed at the thought and pulled down the lid.
Grabbing my bag I went back down to the second floor to Alice's room; I knocked on the door and opened it not waiting for her to respond...Jesus, Alice's room was torture! PINK....EVERYWHERE luckily I had only been in her room a few times so my eye-sight hadn't been affected in the long term.
Alice was sitting on the stool of her vanity unit putting on a nude colour lip gloss when she smiled at me, took the brush-thing away from her lips and back in the bottle...rubbing both the upper and lower parts of her lips together and then facing me in the mirror.
"What is it, little brother?" Alice asked with a mischievous smile on her face
"Are you heading to school or what?" I asked dully, still mad at her from this morning.
"Yes, Jasper should be here in a moment to drive me....Did you want a ride or something?" Alice replied.
"No, Emmett's driving me...Thanks for the offer though, Alice" I told her, curving my mouth up at how both Alice and Emmett looked after me, we may want to hit and break each other most of the time but we know that if anything bad happened we would always be there for each other...That was what family was all about...Right?
"You're welcome, Edward...Listen could you do me a massive favour today?" Alice asked me swinging her legs from around her chair to full face me but still remaining to sit.
"Of course, Alice what is it?" I asked leaning myself against her door frame.
"I have a media thing last period and I won't be home until late...If dad comes home will you tell him that I am still at school, please?" Alice asked pouting her lips and fluttering her eyelashes at me.
Alice may be annoying but the one thing I could never resist was her puppy-dog eyes and pout face and it had always annoyed me because she knew what she could do, she knew what she wanted and she always knew how to get it....No matter what the cost was to the people she influenced....It was her boyfriend, Jasper who I felt the most sorry for after all he spent the most time with her...I have never seen any guy so pussy-whipped by a girl in my life so I reckon he has dug himself that hole voluntarily...Better him than me.
I eyed Alice suspiciously as I thought about the after-school activities held in school...I was one of the most avid members of after-school activities and clubs purely because I didn't like being at home every night and I have never recalled seeing the Media and Technical Arts advertising for a club after school...If I knew that they did my name would have been the top of the sign-up list before it had even been pinned properly to the wall.
"Alice...You know that there isn't an after-school club for the Media department don't you?" I told her in the most persuasive voice I thought possible.
"Yes, Edward I am aware of that...I have an assignment to do" Alice said her eyes now avoiding my gaze...There is only one meaning when that happens and that is that she lying.
"Alice...Just tell me the truth, I won't tell dad if that's what you prefer" I told her, I never understood why both Alice and Emmett think that everything they tell me would reach my dad's ears...I remember sometimes being a snitch as I kid but come on...I have grown up of that now and besides I had way too much information on Alice and Emmett..Stuff that they don't even know I know about and I doubt that my dad would believe me if I tried.
"Okay...You have to promise you won't tell dad, but me and Jasper are going on a date"! Alice squealed with a huge grin on her face.
"Um...Alice haven't you been like going out for a year? I thought dates were what happened at the BEGINNING of a relationship." I told her, confused...Why bother with dating when you have already ended up in a relationship...Staying in is the better option – it saves money and time.
"That shows just how much you know, Casanova...Besides we haven't had time to spend on our own lately" Alice replied that pout appearing when she mentioned that both her and Jasper never had time together...Well that was definitely bullshit the two of them were in-separate I doubt even a murderer with a chain-saw could break them away from each other.
"You have spent time together here, every night for the past week....!" I exhaled
"Edward, do I really have to spell it out for you....We need....TIME....TOGETHER.....With each other." Alice replied emphasising her words when then it hit me...Alice was talking about her and Jasper...Alone....UGH! I felt my stomach flip and extreme nausea hit me like a thunderbolt...I couldn't move... I was frozen like an idiot unable to say anything.
"There you go...You catch on fast little bro...So you promise you won't tell dad?" Alice asked...Fighting back her laughter by biting her lips together tightly.
I nodded as she then giggled and skipped up out of her stool, grabbed her bag and walked out her room and down the stairs...I was still leaning against the door frame...For god sake Edward pull yourself together..I snapped out of my haze although I would have done better without having that mental image of my sister in my head all day...The idea of her just kissing Jasper makes me gag. I picked up my bag once more and practically ran down the stairs to find Jasper in the living room, his hair soaked from the rain outside...Could he be any quieter? There are detectives in the secret service who could enter rooms louder than he could and that was saying something...Alice was running her hands through his hair and giggling uncontrollably.
I got to the foot of the stairs "Alice...Come on, haven't I suffered enough from our episode just now...Go and make out in the car or something"! I demanded just desperately needing her to stay out of my way until after lunch then I could find her company bearable again.
"You're just jealous little brother" Alice squeaked the sound hitting my ears and my still-throbbing head.
"Oh yes because I heartily desire that it be me snogging the face off of Jasper and not you" I replied sarcastically...Alice stuck her tongue out and without another word stepped out of the front door arm in arm with Jasper and closing the door as they went.
Waiting for Emmett to come down...I went to the kitchen and opened our medicine cabinet pulling out a tube of Tylenol and placing it on the side...I then grabbed a glass and poured some tap water into it. I swallowed the tablets and put the tube back into the cupboard and the now empty glass on the draining board.
"You ready then, mate?" Emmett asked as I turned to find him at the door with his rucksack in his hand...My mom, Esme had also entered the room and smiled at both of us as she went straight to the fridge to get the food out for tonight.
"Bye, mom" I called to Esme as I walked out of the door but Emmett was out of there so fast I didn't have time to hear a reply.
Emmett climbed into his 4x4 Jeep and threw his rucksack on the floor of the passenger side, I then climbed in and put my bag next to his...Emmett sighed and turned on the radio, blaring it at full volume thank god I had taken pain killers.
"Can you believe that I am grounded for two weeks!" Emmett huffed as he turned the key into the ignition and backed out of our driveway.
"Emmett you did attack Newton pretty bad...besides you know dad, one minute he says you're grounded and the next he is saying that you should go to a party...He will forget about it soon enough no doubt coming home tonight and telling us about his stories in the world of medicine" I answered him with some element of truth.
"I guess you're right, it just doesn't help that Rosalie's parents have their anniversary this week and I probably won't be able to go." Emmet replied sighing...I knew the one thing to do with Emmett is to calm him down, I have been hurt many times due to him having a bad mood about the life that he leads. Emmett was brilliant when he had something to take his anger out on like a football or a punch bag without them it's hard to determine where he is going to go.
"I am sure that you will find some way to make it up to her, man"
"Aw Eddie, you cracked a dirty joke...Well done my friend, it looks like both myself and Alice are finally rubbing our influences off on you" Emmett answered with a tone of pride. Trust him to turn something completely normal into sex.
"Yeah, sure you have" I answered back with sarcasm.
"Well there is always that Jessica Stanley...If I were a few years younger I'd tap that...Don't you dare run off and tell Rosalie that!"
"Emmett I can barely stand to be in the same room as your girlfriend so actually striking up a conversation is something that wouldn't happen if the world was covered with piss and she lived in a tree!" I answered him. Emmett chuckled and continued on to the main route to school.
I have no real HATE for Rosalie, because that was a strong word but she was awful in the way that she acted. Her and Emmett were a very similar match in the way that both of them act like the people they are not in school and they never let their inner selves out even to their own families and I guess in a way, that is a good way to go through life but I would personally be hated for what I am then liked for something I am not. Rosalie was no doubt, beautiful and I had to give that to her...People like Kate Moss would shiver in their designer boots if Rosalie burst onto the runaway but she did not have the personality to match.
I was a fine one to preach...Jessica Stanley was known as the school 'whore' and I knew in the back of my mind that hanging around with her on my arm was something that the men would hate and the girls would hate...It was a lose-lose situation...I suppose I am just with her to have someone on my arm...Thinking that maybe it would give me power or take away some of the loneliness I felt inside that never showed itself to either my friends or family. I make up all these opinions about not wanting to commit...But now as I am getting older I am inclined to think that it wouldn't be so bad....I mean it wouldn't...Would it?
Emmett pulled up into the school parking lot and parked his car next to Jasper's...Rosalie was standing at the school gate with a cigarette and I climbed out of the car and grabbed my bag quickly so that I wouldn't get locked in.
I walked past Emmett and Rosalie who were re-connecting their mouths and into the main corridor to my locker...Opening it to put my bag in, taking out my biology and physics textbooks for the first and second periods.
The day went by extremely quickly...Before I knew it, the bell had gone for lunch and I was heading into the cafeteria to our usual table at the very back of the room away from the wannabes and freaks that populated Forks High School...Alice and Jasper were already there as they both waved to me as I sat down in my usual seat.
"Hey, Edward" Jasper greeted me with a smile, I may not like Rosalie but Jasper was a good guy, quiet but a good guy all the same.
"Hey Jasper, how's your mum doing now...I heard about your Grandmother from our dad...I am sorry, man"
"Thanks buddy, she's doing okay at the moment...The only thing we can do is wait for it all the grief to end" Jasper was smart, that I could never deny.
"EDWARD!" I heard that screechy voice from all the way over the other side of the cafeteria and recognised it immediately...Jessica!
Jessica had sprinted from the her table, at least attempting to considering she had stilettos on and stood in front of me, almost flying on her face in the process.
"I rang you this morning, pookie...I missed you" Ugh if there was one thing I didn't like was pet-names.
"Hi Jessica" I greeted her sully I was in no mood to justify why I had not answered her call, I didn't need to...People like her don't care about real things they just want their needs met...In any way possible near stalking you until you do.
"I had fun last night...Maybe we could do it again sometime" She gave me a flutter of her eyelashes and edged towards me with her hips out...I stood up abruptly making her jump.
"Listen, I was drunk Jessica...Alcohol can do wonders when people need to get laid and I don't think I will be able to schedule another time because well...I don't feel like it and I will probably end up practising for the school choir because that would be SO much more cooler than being with you...Go find some other moron to persuade...I am sure it won't take much on your part." I told her before storming out to the mutters of other students and feeling the stares at the back of head.
Okay, maybe that wasn't the best come-back or even the best way to handle a situation like that but I was not in the mood for Jessica Stanley this morning...I had too many things going around in my head. I stormed down to the music room, closing the door behind me.
I walked out to the parking lot at the end of final period to the looks of Alice and Emmett who were leaning against their cars...I exhaled loudly before reaching them.
"Listen, Edward I think you hurt Jessica's feelings back there" Emmett said with sarcasm fighting back laughter...No doubt Alice would have informed him of lunch time...I smiled thankful that Emmett could always crack a joke at the worst of times.
"I am proud of you, Edward...I think my words affected you this morning" Alice sang in her soprano voice.
"Don't count on it, Alice...But thanks" I replied to her, smiling a little as she responded and nodded her head in understanding that I did not want to take that conversation any further. Alice then climbed into her car and pulled out of the lot, her Taylor Swift music blaring all the way to the main road.
Emmett had a disgusted look on her face "Great girl when it comes to fashion, awful taste in music" he chuckled heartedly at our sister's ridicule...I chuckled in response and we both climbed into Emmett's jeep without another word.
It was around half seven before my dad came home from work...We were all sitting at the dinner table waiting for him, I was gnawing on a breadstick because my mom had this rule about not touching our knives and forks until everyone was seated (this was of course, with the exception of Alice who was still around Jasper's)...My dad entered with a smile on his face.
"Hello everyone" He greeted us all warmly...Walking over to kiss my mom on the cheek and then taking his place at the table...Emmett had grabbed his knife and fork and had already started indulging in his food, I was more occupied with my breadstick at the moment.
"So I have some news..." My father began, barely taking a bite of his food before placing his cutlery back down again. Emmett groaned under his breath but I was the only one who could hear him, I smiled at him and then turned to face my father.
"I was going to have this conversation with Esme on our own but I figure you are all old enough now...Wait a minute, where's Alice?" My father asked his eyebrows burrowing in confusion as he looked over at Alice's empty seat.
"She had an assignment....She should be back any moment" I replied trying to prevent panic.
"Ahh I see...Well you will just have to fill her in but...How would you feel if I adopted someone to join the family" Dad asked.
There was an awkward silence as we all registered what he had just said...Someone else? To join the family...I am all for it as long as I don't have to be the youngest anymore but glancing over at my mom and Emmett I don't think that it was going to go down as well.
"Well, I think it is a brilliant idea, my darling!" My mom almost squealed...Always the earth-mother and still now, there was no exception to that. Dad and mom shared a content glance across the table as we waited on Emmett.
"Yeah, dad that would be cool" Emmett answered, still occupying himself with his food.
"Will you tell us a little bit about her Carlisle? It is a her right?" My mom asked...I could sense that she would prefer another girl as her and Alice were both outnumbered.
"Yes it is a girl, she is my newest patient actually...Her name is Isabella Swan" Dad began.
Isabella Swan? That was an unusual name to say the least...I am sure I would get used to it however..."She is under our care due to being taken away from her alcoholic mother...I can't quite pin-point it Esme, but there is something about this girl that I like immensely and I am almost certain that she will get along with you and Alice" There was something about this Isabella Swan...My dad was right, his facial expression almost seemed to light up when he talked about her and if anyone could have that effect on my dad...Let's just say they were a keeper.
"I will have to undergo the normal procedure in Port Angeles but considering the fact that we have adopted before...It shouldn't be a problem." My dad finished...It's true that both Emmett and I were adopted from the ages of four and seven but neither of us knew about our old lives and we didn't need to..We were well looked after by Esme and Carlisle and they are now officially our parents going under the names of 'mom and dad'. I couldn't help feeling regretful that this Isabella Swan hadn't had an easy life...It's hard knowing that the people who brought you up weren't connected to you by blood but I would rather have Esme and Carlisle than be living by myself making my life harder.
"Well...Carlisle, I look forward to meeting our new daughter" my mom beamed...That smile was priceless and I haven't seen her smile like that in a while. Isabella Swan was already proving to be a hit before she had even walked through the door.
We ate the rest of our dinner in silence, Emmett had gone upstairs to his bedroom after receiving a call from Rosalie beforehand...I was now in the living room flipping through the channels on the TV whilst lounging on the sofa when Alice burst through the door.
"Thank you for that, Edward!" She said as she took a place next to me smiling brightly.
"No problem, Alice. Have you seen mom and dad?" I asked her smiling back
"No...Why?" She replied, now looking at me slightly confused.
"There is to be a new member of the family" I replied feeling apprehensive of her reaction just as I had done with my mom and Emmett.
"Really?" Alice beamed...The same look as Esme, which made sense considering that Alice was the only child of Carlisle and Esme biologically.
"Yeah, dad came home and asked us how we would feel if he adopted another girl...Some new patient of his...Isabella Swan is her name" I continued failing to keep a straight face as the now wideness of Alice's smile.
"Wow! I will have a sister...Oh this is great, I will go and talk to dad now and then ring up Jasper...I will have a shopping buddy at last!" She sang her voice bouncing off of the walls in an echo...Alice shot up and ran out of the room without another word as I smiled contently and continued to flip through the channels of our TV.
It was official now that Isabella Swan was ALREADY a member of our family.