8. Change
Bella dropped off her car at her apartment and rode with Edward.
"So where are we headed?"
"Jasper and Alice's place. Alice's parents bought her a house a few years back. Small, but comfy and a bit secluded so no one notices when we try to execute our not so brilliant ideas."
"Such as?" Bella asked, curious as to how magical hijinks differed from the normal kind.
"Well, our last big disaster was when we thought we could create a version of a hover board. I controlled one sheet of metal, Jasper controlled the other, and Emmett was the unlucky guinea pig to try it out. Long story short, we weren't very good at keeping our sheets going at the same pace and same height. And it wasn't till Emmett was about four feet in the air and involuntarily doing the splits, that we realized, definitely not our best idea. Emmett was walking funny for days after that," Edward chuckled as he recalled the memory.
"Okay, so Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and one more person, right?" Bella counted off on her hands trying to get them straight. She was beginning to feel a little more nervous and was trying to do what she could to abate it.
"Rosalie. I would tell you more, but I think it's better to get the full unexpected effect."
"That feels so…comforting," Bella uneasily laughed.
"It will be fun! I promise! Except, we all have this paper that we need to work on and we have been procrastinating big time. We really should get some of it done tonight…"
"It feels strange to hear you talk about a paper. Shouldn't you be practicing spells or fire breathing or something less conventional?"
"As much as I love," his faced showed amusement at her suggestion, "fire breathing, still can't get away from the traditional methods of learning."
"So what's this paper on?"
Edward's voice took on a British, feminine accent as he stated the topic. "When casting a transfiguration spell, what elements are needed for a successful cast and what are the common pitfalls one runs into when casting incorrectly?"
"That doesn't sound boring at all!" Bella exclaimed. "I would way rather write about that than another paper about the downfall of the American dollar. To be able to learn about magic every day, it seems like a dream. And it's something tangible you can work towards. You have instantaneous results. Know if you're doing well or if you need to improve. It's exciting! And with econ, what will I end up with? Some piece of paper that will let me work in a boring finance career for the rest of my life."
"Well then maybe you should think about changing your path," Edward said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"But to what? How? I'm already so deep into this degree. I can't imagine changing now…"
"True, but look at your life right now. Sometimes change is the last thing we want, but the one thing we need."
Before Bella could respond, Edward pulled off the main road and onto a smaller paved street. It was an older neighborhood punctuated with quaint cottages. The longer they stayed on the street, the further apart the buildings were, till, after a bend in the road, they drove down a completely empty stretch with only a single cottage lit up at the end.
Edward parked his car next to a few others littering the driveway. She trailed behind him as he led the way to the front.
She was definitely nervous now. Somehow Edward seemed to fit perfectly in her life and her friends adored him. But would the same happen for her with his friends? And this really would be the first time with a group of magical people other than Edward. Would she feel lost in their conversations? Would she feel secluded because of her lack of magical knowledge?
Bella's heart thumped loudly in her ears as Edward opened the door.
The scene was completely unexpected and absolutely chaotic. A small petite brunette in the far corner of the room had her hands open commanding hoops made of water so they floated in midair. In a corner closer to the door, an Amazonian blonde, with a fierce beauty and a more ferocious attitude, casted hoops of equal size but instead made of fire. Two guys stood in the center of the room: one who was built like a linebacker and the other, shorter and lean. They both had their hands splayed in the air maneuvering paper airplanes with tiny Lego pilots through the hoops.
"Hurry up Jasper! That big oaf has already lapped you once! My grandma can spell that plane better than you!" the blonde shouted out.
"HEY!" the guys yelled, as the blonde simultaneously insulted both of them.
A plane took a sharp turn, the Lego man teetering dangerously on the edge, and plummeted so quickly through the hoop of water, that it slightly wet its wing passing through.
"Emmett, watch your turns!" the pixie like woman yelled into the fray.
"I know!" the giant man's voice boomed. He leapt up on to the couch as if the higher vantage point would help him steer the plane.
It was a mess of shouts, water, grunts, fire, insults, and wind all at once, until Edward cleared his throat very loudly. Abruptly everything stopped as four heads turned to face the two new ones that entered the room. The hoops of water crashed into a soggy jumble on the floor, the fire vanished into wisps of smoke, and the paper airplanes tumbled out of the air, the small pilots lost in the furniture. The three on the floor tried to tuck their hands demurely behind their backs or to their sides, but the large man was still standing on top of the couch, hands poised in the air.
Edward dramatically sighed. "Well…these are my friends," he gestured to the group.
The group hesitated a beat before the brunette came over as the official ambassador.
"You must be Bella. It's so great to finally meet you. I'm Alice." Alice moved with the fluidity of water and spoke in a soothing cadence similar to a babbling brook.
Bella moved forward to offer a handshake, but Alice used her handshake to launch into a hug. She hooked her arm through Bella's and pulled her forward.
"Come, meet the group!"
Bella gave a quick questioning glance back towards Edward, but his return said 'go on, they won't bite'.
They first stopped in front of the blonde.
"This is Rosalie. Don't be scared by her resting bitch face, she's only a bitch half the time." Rosalie's smile turned into a scowl. Bella laughed, easily comforted by their friendly dynamic.
"Hi Rosalie," Bella said with a reaching hand. Rosalie's handshake was somehow dainty and firm at the same time. She nodded her head slightly, her flawless blonde main shimmering under the light. But before Bella could spend time under Rosalie's intimidating stare, Alice whooshed her off.
"This is my boyfriend, Jasper."
"Please to meet you, Bella," he punctuated with a small bow.
"And that one still on top of the couch," he stepped down quickly, "is Emmett, Rosalie's boyfriend."
His giant hand could crush Bella's whole forearm, in the blink of an eye.
Before any type of awkwardness could descend, Bella could feel Edward's comforting presence at her back as he joined them in the center of the living room.
"So am I to assume that no dinner has been made since you were in the middle of the game?" A few heads drooped in shame. "And what was on the line this time?"
"Me and Jasper against Alice and Em. Five laps around through the hoops without killing the Legos, losers had to write the transfiguration papers for everyone," Rosalie answered. "And you interrupted just as Jasper was about to take the lead," Rosalie complained.
Emmett choked as he try to draw in a deep breath and outcry her insinuation.
"Okay, okay," Edward raised his hand before Emmett could retaliate and start a new war. "I swear you both act like enemies more than a couple."
"It's how we keep the spice alive," Rosalie gave a suggestive wink to Emmett.
"Gross. You two," Edward pointed to Rosalie and Emmett, "are in the kitchen with me. Alice?"
"Don't worry, we will keep Bella entertained."
The couple sauntered off, giving playful nudges and pinches behind Edward's back.
"Bella, come take a seat," Alice offered.
Now that things had settled a little, Bella had a chance to look around the room. The front of the cottage was deceiving as this room alone was huge. The living room was sunken in and littered with unmatched furniture. Alice and Jasper sat down on a huge latte brown suede couch, across from them sat two arm chairs, one forest green and the other a muted purple. Stairs ran up the side of the left side of the room and to a hallway where the bedrooms were. Off to the far right was an open archway leading to the kitchen. To the immediate right, off the entrance, was a wooden dining room table. The walls had a combination of every type of decoration: paintings, crudely drawn stick figure images, pictures of the group and their friends and families, holes haphazardly plastered over, burn marks, and on and on.
The cottage was an exact replica of the personalities of the group: some pieces were large and loud and dominating, others were soft and subtle, certain parts suggested formality while others screamed pandemonium, yet they all worked together in a strange harmony.
Bella picked the purple arm chair. She tucked her legs up underneath her body, getting comfortable.
"You have a beautiful home, Alice," Bella observing both the architectural design and the decorations.
"It's quirky, but we like it," Alice gave a meaningful look to Jasper.
"How do you all know each other?"
"We all mostly grew up together," Jasper answered. "Alice's and Edward's family were really close when they were younger. And over the years the rest of us moved into the area and we became friends. Plus us sane magical families needed to stick together," he joked. But before letting out a full laugh, he realized his mistake. Bella technically came from a magical family too, but was not a part of the cultural identity. "Oh Bella, I'm so sorry. I hope I didn't offend you, it's just I meant…"
"No worries," Bella brushed it off, "I only just discovered all of this magic stuff a few weeks ago. I can't be offended by missing out on something I didn't know existed," she finished with a shrug of her shoulders. However, looking around at all the memories, the intimacy, feeling the happy experiences radiate from their home, Bella felt a twinge inside her. She couldn't help but feel she might have missed out on what could have been a vitalizing part of her life. Why would her mother not let her know sooner about this world and instead leave her to navigate it alone?
Almost as if Alice was reading her thoughts, she asked, "How are you doing with all of it?"
Bella took a moment to gather herself, she didn't want to come off as emotional and ungrateful for what she was given, but also didn't want to lie.
"It's been a struggle. I thought I had my life figured out. I had a balance that I was used to, and then all of a sudden, this huge revelation that has left things a bit off kilter. But I'm managing." Bella gave them a wistful smile.
"I've always believed having your path set for you at such a young age was overrated. Disruption and change and variation are what make things exciting," Alice replied.
"Funny, Edward said something similar in the car," Bella commented.
"Yeah, those two have been together so long, it's like they share the same thought wavelength," Jasper reasoned.
"And for that reason, you should believe me when I say; you've been good for Edward. And he may be good for you too."
"Certain days I feel like I'm just hanging on trying to grasp all the new things in this world, and he is the one keeping me from falling. It's nice to know I might be giving something back to him."
Bella looked into the reassuring eyes of Jasper and Alice, surprised at how easily she was sharing feelings she hadn't even had a chance to come to terms with. It was then she realized why Edward turned out the way he did even though he was an only child. With friends like these, even without siblings, you could never be lacking in family.
They hopped from one topic to another with ease. Jasper talked a little about his family and told them about the desert they lived in until they moved into town. Bella told them how enamored her friends were with Edward and now she is constantly plagued with open beer bottles everywhere. Alice reenacted a funny story from her childhood in which Edward was punished for melting the wheels of a car to the street when he actually was just a bystander to Alice's bad idea.
"They made him wash the car by hand without magic, every week for two months," Alice recalled proudly.
"Do you know how difficult it is for a 10 year old to wash an SUV?" Edward demanded as appeared from the kitchen. "Actually you do since you sat and watched me every Sunday." Edward did a quick flick of his wrist and a couch pillow went flying through the air directly towards Alice's face.
In a very lazy motion, Alice slashed two fingers in the air in the direction of pillow and the pillow disappeared midflight and reappeared back on the couch.
"Now, now Edward, is that any way to act in front of a lady?" Alice crossed her legs delicately.
"No, so if you see a lady, let me know."
Bella cleared her throat. Edward's face quickly went from triumphant to trapped.
"Oh wait, no I didn't mean you, I was just referring to," and he limply tried to point at Alice. Everyone laughed.
Emmett came up from behind Edward and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder.
"Start getting used to it buddy, your future is filled with backtracking, apologizes, and a whole lot of groveling." Edward let his head droop in defeat. "Now who is ready for some roast?" Emmett announced.
Rosalie carried a fully cooked roast along with fresh roasted potatoes and carrots into the dining room. Alice and Jasper met her at the dining room table. In perfect synchronicity, Alice and Jasper began a symphony of precise wrist movements, finger manipulations, and flowing gestures. Plates, silverware, and cups floated out of the kitchen. Bella was mesmerized. Alice would begin one gesture and Jasper would pick it up midair and complete it. In perfect harmony, when Alice would raise her wrist high, Jasper would simultaneously lower his until they both arced and met again in the middle.
Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward didn't bat an eye, but Bella couldn't tear hers away. Never before had she seen dual casting and never before had she seen two people so familiar with each other that she couldn't tell where one set of magic began and the other ended. It was beautiful. Bella could only hope that one day she knew someone as well as Jasper and Alice obviously knew each other.
When the last two cups floated into place, everyone took a seat.
Emmett started filling up plates. Bella, as the guest, received hers first. The aroma was heavenly. The potatoes were perfectly cooked with a crisp on the edge but soft and pillowy in the middle; the carrots were just the right balance of sweet and salty; and the roast smelled like it had been slowly cooked for hours. Once everyone was served, Bella took a bite, and the meat fell apart in her mouth.
"This is amazing! How did you all make this in only fifteen minutes?"
"I know he doesn't look it," Rosalie answered, "but this lug here is a wiz with cooking magic." She reached over and gave Emmett a quick peck on the cheek. Emmett slightly reddened with the praise, but was proud nonetheless.
"How did you both meet?" Bella asked after swallowing another mouthful.
"I moved here when I was thirteen. And as cliché as it was, I was the new kid on the block so I was the easy target. A lot of the kids used to make fun of me," Rosalie said nonchalantly.
"That's awful. Just because you were new?"
"And because of my beauty. It made many of them feel insecure about themselves," Rosalie answered very matter-of-fact, honesty as sharp as a knife. "They thought they could raise themselves up by tearing me down. So I kept to myself a lot of the time. But one day, a group of girls decided they wanted to push me a bit farther. But they didn't realize, just because I was quiet didn't mean I was helpless. I was at my limit and was about to show all of them this nifty little trick where you can rip out every strand of hair on a scalp with one single motion…" Rosalie smiled to herself as she remembered the experience fondly. "But Emmett stepped in."
"She gets this look in her eye when she is about to demolish someone, a mixture of pure joy and evil. You can't deny how attractive a woman is who can destroy with just a look. Also, I knew I had to save those dummies from themselves," Emmett added.
"And we've been inseparable ever since," Rosalie beamed at Emmett.
"That's very…uh…romantic," Bella commented.
"I've stopped trying to understand their psycho dynamic years ago," Edward commented after a bite of food.
"Jealous?" Rosalie snickered.
"Not even in the slightest," he responded without any hesitation.
And that was how the rest of the dinner went. The group traded friendly barbs, shared funny stories, and enjoyed a great meal. Bella was shocked at how comfortable and seamless it felt. At times she sat back and listened as the group melded one story into the next and entertained her endlessly with Edward's childhood anecdotes. And at other times, Bella found herself participating as if she had been part of the group for years. She debated full heartedly with Emmett about why fighting fifty duck sized horses was way better than fighting fifty horse sized ducks. She bonded with Alice and Rosalie over their love of Sephora despite never having enough money to buy all the things they wanted. And she was particularly proud of getting Jasper to crack up at a joke Jessica and Angela deemed 'not worthy to ever be said out loud again'.
By the end of the night, Bella was almost sad she had to leave. She went through three rounds of goodbyes with several promises of seeing the group again soon before they let her walk out the front door. She was still chuckling over the last thing Emmett said as she and Edward climbed back into the car.
"They loved you," Edward finally spoke with a bit of disbelief. "I have never seen all of them, even Rosalie, take to anyone as fast as they took to you. If I didn't believe it before, I definitely believe it now, you must be magic."
Edward placed a hand against the side of Bella's cheek and leaned in, letting his lips softly rest against hers. Even just the slightest touch of his lips sent a vibration through her whole body. Her body naturally arched towards his and his hand trailed down her neck, resting in the sensitive area at the top of her collar bone beneath her ear. She simultaneously let out a small, heated breath while he drank it in. He pulled her in for a deep kiss for a quick few seconds, giving her just a taste, before he leaned back to start driving.
Bella felt flushed; intoxicated by this man who in seconds could make her feel so warm and alive and infused with happiness from a great night.
…
Later that night, as Bella sat bundled in blankets on her bed with Netflix on autoplay, her cell phone rang. She glanced at the name on the screen before accepting the call.
"Hi Dad."
"Hi Bells."
"It's a bit past your bed time, isn't it?"
"Even old men like to stay up late and party from time to time," Charlie laughed. "But actually just wanted to check in on you. It's been a while since we've talked, and I've been getting a strange feeling."
"What type of feeling?"
"Oh I don't know," Charlie mumbled becoming embarrassed. "Just something funny in my chest when I think about you. Hey Bells?"
"Yeah, Dad?"
"Don't grow up too fast, okay? I can't help but think something's changing. And I know you've got to get older, live your life, and all that, but don't do it too quickly."
Usually when her dad started talking like that Bella would just brush it off with a joke, but this time was different. This time, Bella knew her world was changing, and meant every word when she responded, "I promise, I won't."
"And you won't forget about your old dad?"
Bella could feel her eyes slightly sting with unshed tears. "I could never forget about you, Dad. No matter what. Things might change, but your part in my life never will."
She could hear him smile through the phone. "Good," he finished, closing the topic before switching to another.
…..
In the rays of the mid-October sunset, the path to the clearing was bathed in warm colors. Bella enjoyed the crunch of the multi-colored leaves beneath her feet, the sounds of creatures waking sooner as daylight hours became shorter, and the feel of fall taking over the forest.
Bella walked into the clearing, and took a deep breath of the crisp air. She was ready for another lesson.
She was excited to see that Edward didn't have the tables and chairs out which meant they might be doing something more than reading a book for an hour.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, no school girl outfit?" Edward reprimanded.
"potes meos suaviari clunes," Bella fluidly countered. You can kiss my ass.
Edward clapped his hands together in delight. Forgetting to be offended, he said excitedly, "Oh you've been studying!"
"I've added a few more phrases to my repertoire," Bella smoothly replied.
"Well that deserves a reward. Want to try something a little more complicated today?"
"Absolutely."
"So we've worked with your main element, earth, but I thought we would try something with water today."
Edward gestured for Bella to move into the center of the clearing.
"A prime rule of magic is you cannot create out of nothing. When conjuring anything, the components must come from somewhere else. The table for example. I can't just snap my fingers and a table that has never existed before now is here. Either I must create it from what I have around me or I pull it from a place it already resides. The same is applied to elements. We can pull elements from other locations to us and use it, but it requires a lot less power if you pull them from your surroundings."
Bella nodded.
"Alright, so we are going to work with water. Water exists everywhere. You could pull it out of the ground or from a plant but doing so can sometimes cause harm and possibly kill the item you are drawing from. Which is why I prefer to pull water from the air. Cup your hands in front of you," Edward commanded.
Bella did as she was told and brought her hands out from her sides.
"Now concentrate on the air. You can't see it, but you know it's there, millions of tiny, miniscule water particles. If you can combine enough of them, you can create an almost limitless supply of water for your use. Try pooling the water into your hands."
In a slow swiping motion, Edward ran his cupped hand through the air in a single circle. When he reached his starting point, Bella could see his palm overflowing with water.
Bella again nodded, ready to attempt the same.
She took a slow breath, forcing her thoughts and body to calm down. She focused hard on the air directly in front of her, feeling as she took a breath in and released it, imagining it filled with water molecules. She slowed her breathing down in even more and felt her magic begin to pulsate under her skin. And then like adjusting the focus knob on a pair of binoculars, the world slowed down exponentially and Bella could suddenly see the millions of particles in front of her eyes. She saw as they lazily floated up, down, past each other, into each other, and rebounded back into the air. It was amazing how many different layers of the world could exist all on top of one another.
She reached out a finger from each of her hands. Each finger found a water particle, and Bella pushed them together. With no resistance at all, the particles folded into each other, and floating around near the tips of her fingers was the combined molecule. She understood it now; she could see it; she could feel it.
Bella cupped her hands once again and said, "aqua". She watched in slow motion as the particles immediately stopped their lazy circle and ran into one another, globules of water melded and joined together, and fell heavily into Bella's waiting hands.
She took another breath, and the world sped back up to a normal pace and ready for her next command was the water swishing merrily around her hands.
"Perfect," Edward praised. Bella smiled. She opened her hands and let the water trickle to the ground. "You want to see a little more advanced elemental magic?" he asked surreptitiously. With no hesitation, she nodded.
Edward brought his hands out, palms vertical in the air. He whispered a few words low and in Latin. The temperature of the air dropped steadily. Goosebumps started prickling on Bella's skin as she could feel the water in the air becoming heavy as they froze to ice. She wrapped her arms around herself as the air became colder and colder. Edward whispered faster. The particles in the air in front of them angrily began to collide. An electrical charge was building. Bella's hair started to rise with static. And in a flash, a small bolt of lightning crashed out of the cloud of ice and struck the ground, leaving a small charred mark in the dirt.
Edward lowered his hands and the air returned to normal once again.
Bella couldn't hide her awe. "That was great! How do I do it?" Bella rolled up her sleeves so her hands were unobstructed.
"No, no, no, that's too advanced. We're working on small things. I just wanted to show you the extent of elemental magic."
"Are you kidding me?" Bella asked in disbelief. "You can't just show off some awesome move and not expect me to try it."
"You thought I was awesome?" Edward asked in a smug voice.
Bella snapped her fingers. "Edward, focus. Either you show me how to do it properly, or I'm just going to try random combinations until something happens." She crossed her arms in steadfast determination. She could see Edward weighing the options: his pragmatic, rule abiding side warring with his adventurous, teaching spirit. She watched as he made up his mind.
"Fine. But you have to listen to everything I say. If it starts getting too dangerous, I feel the magic get out of control, anything. We stop. That's the only way I'll show you."
"ita vero magister." Yes, teacher.
For a solid hour, Edward worked with Bella on the science behind how lightning is formed. They practiced turning water to ice. They perfected each step of the magic before putting it all together. Bella worked tirelessly on each move. Even after failing a certain technique six times, she pushed Edward to show her again so she could attempt the seventh. And finally after an hour with sweat forming on her brow despite being surrounded by the cooled electric air, Bella created her first bolt of lightning.
She yelled in victory.
It didn't matter how much her feet hurt from standing so long or how sore her fingers were from contorting them into unnatural poses or how her eye was slightly twitching after accidently shocking herself three times. All she could feel was the triumph of achieving her goal and the natural high from her elation. And Bella realized she could deal with any type of challenge for the rest of her life if attaining her objective felt as amazing as this. She could surround herself with magic forever and live in complete bliss. She wanted to do this. She was going to do this. Because no matter how content or secure her path in life felt before, it was nothing compared to this. This was living.
With a determination Bella had never felt before, and her magic proudly goading her from within, she turned to Edward.
"You remember talking to me about change? Well I think I'm ready for it. I want to join your school. I want to officially learn magic."