A/N: Hello again, lovelies. Someone asked me for the favor of not posting this fic on the same day I posted Nightmare. Technically it isn't the same day, right? A tee hee.
~Edward~
"Welcome, children, to Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters."
Edward's class of first graders look at him with varying degrees of perplexity and amusement. A few of them giggled. Even fewer glared, unimpressed.
"Mr. Cullen. This is Evergreen Academy for the Talented and Gifted," one of the unimpressed ones, a boy named Demetri St. August, said.
Edward fought a smirk. Demetri's condescending tone was adorably marred given that he spoke with a pronounced lisp. After all, Demetri was only four years old.
"It's from the X-Men, dummy," a boy, Henry Hale, said. "Don't you know the X-Men?"
"Henry," Edward said warningly. "We don't use disrespectful language in this school. We're kind to each other here." He stepped over to one side of the classroom and pointed to one of the posters on the wall. "Who wants to help me read this?"
Many hands shot up.
"Cynthia. Do you want to read the first line?" Edward asked.
"How to say sorry," she said dutifully.
"Good. Thank you. Now Henry, Demetri, will you please come up here."
Demetri did so readily, Henry more sullenly, which was understandable. He knew he was in trouble.
He walked all the children through what he expected out of an apology: I'm sorry for…, This is wrong because…, In the future, I will… Will you forgive me? It was a good lesson for any kid, but perhaps especially these. Obscenely smart people could be just a little bit too big for their britches.
Throughout their first lesson together, Edward tried to absorb as much as he could about the children. Rambunctious Henry. Prissy Demetri. Eager Cynthia. Twins Jane and Alec who seemed to him strangely calculating. Katie, a day-dreamy kid who had to be asked to pay attention twice. Anxious Alistair, a kid who seemed nervous about everything. Adventurous Garrett with the brightest green eyes Edward had ever seen. Benjamin. Tia. Charlotte. Eric.
They were a cute group of smarty pants if ever Edward had seen one.
The curriculum at the school was designed to keep the kids moving, so it wasn't long before Edward was directing them out the door. "Katie," he said, putting a hand on the little girl's shoulder. "You're going to be left behind."
Katie blinked at him and then gasped, realizing her classmates were gathering with the hall monitor at the door and she was still by the window. "I'm coming," she said, running off to join them.
Edward shook his head and turned his attention to straightening out the classroom. He jumped when a booming voice broke into the silence of the room. "You're good with the kids."
On the first day of school, there were always a few parents hanging around. The kids who went to this school were typically in high income households with at least one parent who could afford to take time off, worked at home, or didn't work at all.
The parent, a bear of a man with curly brown hair and a grin that made his face look like a college frat boy, laughed. "Sorry. Didn't mean to spook you."
Whatever tension Edward felt at finding himself facing a parent drained away. A lot of the parents were snooty at best, demanding at worst. Everything about this guy's body language radiated ease. He wasn't here to yell or criticize.
"I'm Edward Cullen," Edward said, offering a hand. "Are you new to the school? I haven't seen you before, I don't think."
"Yeah. I'm Emmett McCarty." His shake was firm and confident. "We-"
He was cut off by the ring of his cell phone. "Hold up," he said, digging the thing out. Edward almost laughed. Mr. McCarty definitely wasn't like some of the hoity-toity parents for sure. "Hello? Babe, why are you calling from a blocked number? Did you lose your phone again?"
Mr. McCarty looked to Edward and rolled his eyes in that fond way people did when they were talking to their significant others. He grinned and nodded. "Uh huh. I thought so. Yeah, yeah. I'll be there in a second."
As he spoke, Mr. McCarty was already heading for the door. He briefly held the phone away from his ear and caught Edward's eye. "Hey, it was nice to meet you. Seems like my kid is in good hands here. Gotta run."
He gave a jaunty wave and was gone before Edward could say another word, his voice echoing in the hallway as he talked on the phone.
Edward chuckled to himself as he turned back to his classroom. For minutes, he enjoyed the temporary quiet as he straightened everything and prepared for his next lesson. He ended up by the window, looking out at the water. That was another perk of working at such a posh school. The view was incredible.
Strange how life turned out. He'd moved around so much in his youth that he didn't really consider any place home. Seattle was a comfortable fit, though. After he graduated from Stanford with a Master's of Education with an emphasis in Learning, Design and Technology, he'd sent his resume to many places around the country. Evergreen Academy wasn't the only place that had offered him a job, but it was the one that called to him most.
Often, Edward wondered if he'd chosen Seattle because of that girl he'd met. It was forever ago. She'd been a freshman at Stanford when he was a junior. They'd known each other for only a few months before she disappeared off the face of the planet.
They'd talked about Washington a lot. Neither of them had ever been there. Not really. Once, Edward and his parents drove through Washington on a road trip, but that hardly counted. When she disappeared, dropped out of college and stopped returning his calls, Edward had always assumed she'd ended up here.
Funny how something could get stuck in his head so firmly. Random moments in a random life. Edward had learned a long time ago his dad was right. Life wasn't about careful planning as much as it was playing the hand you were dealt.
All in all, Edward couldn't complain. He was a little lonely, but he was fulfilled. He was happy.
Who could ask for more than that?
~Bella~
"Hey, honey. You done for the day?"
Bella looked up to find Siobhan leaning into her cubicle. She smiled at her coworker and resumed cleaning up her desk as she talked. "My brain was done for the day at least two hours ago."
"I know, right?" Siobhan laughed. "Today was brutal." She leaned in, talking conspiratorially. "Ms. Mallory was a real pain in the ass."
"Tell me about it."
"Anyway." Siobhan straightened up again. "I think this calls for happy hour across the street. A bunch of us are going. Want to come?"
Bella almost said no automatically, but she stopped herself. All that therapy, and she was still used to shying away from social situations. The idea often made her tired. After a long day at work, she liked going home to her little apartment and her laptop. It gave her a chance to decompress and write.
"Yeah, okay. I'll go," Bella said. She was reluctant, but it was one of those things where she knew she'd have fun if she went. She always did, and she didn't have to stay long.
Siobhan grinned. "Excellent. See you there."
"See you...oh wait! No. I'm sorry." Bella ran a hand over her eyes, feeling foolish. "I totally spaced out. It's my little brother's birthday. Crap. I have to drive by my apartment. I didn't bring his present with me. I knew there was something I forgot to do at lunch."
"Ha, oh, Bella. My little space cadet."
"I know. I lost my badge again last week, did I tell you?" Bella shook her head. Her losing things wasn't exactly a new development. "I swear, at some point I'm going to be working to pay for replacement badges."
"No kidding. So how old is baby brother today?"
Bella's heart gave a pang. "Four." She made an attempt to smile at Siobhan, trying to tamp down the overwhelming sadness she always felt when she thought about young kids.
"That's fun. It's not a full-fledged party, is it? Not on a Monday night."
"No. Karen-that's my stepmother-took cupcakes for his preschool class, but he's still a little young for a huge party."
Siobhan scoffed. "My sister threw a huge party for her one year old. I didn't get it. She was so stressed out, and for what? He'll never remember."
"Yeah. Tyler would probably remember at this point, but luckily for Dad and Karen, he's fine with just the family, lots of attention, and presents."
"Pfft. Kids today. Attention and presents is the important part." Siobhan gave Bella's shoulder a friendly squeeze. "Next time, okay? Let's do lunch later this week."
"I can manage that," Bella said with a genuine smile.
Good girl, Bella. You can almost pass for human now.
Bella shook the thought away. She was beginning to finally accept that she would always feel different; she might have looked like the rest of them but she wasn't built with the same parts. Her therapist said this was her own version of normal. It was difficult for people who had been through as much trauma as Bella to feel as though they were even the same species as everyone around them. After all, she was still young enough she should have been relatively carefree. But that part of Bella wasn't just broken, it was missing.
That was what made socializing so tiring even though she knew she'd have a good time on some level. It was difficult being reminded she'd never be capable of that kind of lightness and ease. Most people existed in the moment. They engaged easily with coworkers, friends, family. Bella was almost always disengaged-drifting, lost in her own head.
Oh, well.
Dismissing the moment of self-pity, Bella hurried for the parking garage. She could still make it to Charlie's house on time to leave with the family if she hurried.
Forty minutes later, Bella pulled up outside her father's house. She didn't even have a chance to get out of the car before the door opened and Tyler came barrelling out.
"Bella! Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella," he chanted as he ran, and then he launched himself at her.
"Oof." Bella caught him and laughed. "Heya, birthday boy."
As she carried him inside to where the rest of her family waited, Tyler chatted her ear off, telling her about the cupcakes Karen had made for him and how the whole class sang for him. Bella ruffled his hair-a mass of curls the same color as hers-when she set him down. "Sounds like a good day so far, bub."
"It's the best now that you're here," he said, taking her hand to lead her into the kitchen.
Bella's eyes filled with tears, and she smiled, stooping to hug the boy one more time. "You're the best kid in the world, you know that?" she whispered. "Don't tell Mikey and Angela."
"I won't," he whispered back.
"Hey, Bells. Is that you?" Charlie said as he stepped around the corner from the kitchen. "Great. Glad you got here on time." He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into a side-hug, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. "Tyler was going to blow a gasket if you didn't get to ride with us to the restaurant."
"We're going to Denny's," Tyler said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I picked."
"Denny's?" Bella glanced at Charlie who rolled his eyes. "Well that's….exciting."
"I'm gonna get the shrimps. They have good shrimps."
"You're the boss."
"He's boring," Mike said, stomping down the stairs. "Denny's is stupid."
"Mike," Charlie said.
"Hey, Bella," Mike said, ignoring their father to give Bella a hug.
"Angela," Charlie called up the stairs. "We're leaving you behind. And where's your mother?"
"Charlie?" Karen appeared at the top of the stairs. "Have you seen-" She huffed as she spotted Tyler clinging to Bella's hand. "There you are. Where did you run off to?"
"Bella's here!" Tyler announced.
"I can see that." Karen smiled at Bella. "Hello, honey. I'm glad you made it. Tyler really wanted you to sit by him."
"That's the word on the street," Bella said, ruffling Tyler's hair. She was smiling in earnest now. Her father's busy, noisy house never failed to make her happy.
It took another ten minutes but eventually they were all loaded into the van. Mike and Angela were in the very backseat, and Bella was next to Tyler just like he wanted.
Tyler had brought a few of his toy cars and was making vroom and crashing noises as he drove them around in the air. "Eeeerrr, kchwom," he exclaimed, crashing a blue van into Bella's arm.
"Ouch," she said, though of course it hadn't hurt.
Tyler looked up at her and giggled. "Hey, Bella?"
"What's up, kid?"
"Do you want to come back and live with us yet?"
"Oh, Ty."
"It's just that I miss you,"
"Yeah, Bella. I miss you too," Angela said.
"I bet she doesn't miss you fart faces," Mike said, causing predictable protests from his siblings.
"Will you guys knock it off?" Charlie said. "We already had this discussion, Tyler. Bella's all grown up. She needs her own space."
"But I still love you." She looked over her shoulder. "All of you. Even you," she said to Mike. "Fart face," she whispered.
That finally got sullen pre-teen Mike to crack a smile.
There was a time when Bella thought being here, surrounded by a happy family who loved and wanted her, was nothing but a pipe dream. She remembered her terrifying flight from her mother's house, and the tiny light of hope that was all she had.
What if her father, who had no idea she existed, wanted her?
Bella hadn't had a lot of luck in her life, and it took her a long time, especially with everything else going on, to accept that her fantasy had become reality. Her father was as her mother promised-kind. Most days, Bella still couldn't believe any of this was real.
It was more luck than anyone who came from where Bella had could ever expect. She was lucky. She was so lucky.
Bella swallowed down a thick lump in her throat, tears stinging at her eyes as she looked at Tyler and ached.
She was lucky. That was what she told herself over and over. One miracle was more than she ever expected and probably more than she deserved. She of all people knew life wasn't perfect, and nothing about it was fair. It was useless to feel so cheated when it was one miracle less than what she wanted.
A/N: I know. Short update is short. But hey, only a couple days apart (You're welcome, MaritaMtzC- MWAH).
It might be because I'm really excited about chapter 3.
Hmm.
Anyway. Please remember, if you're so inclined, that my books are available on Amazon, link on my profile. Finding Purgatory is new. Duplicity and One to Tell The Grandkids are free through tomorrow. :)