Sorry for such a late update and keeping you all waiting. I won't go through this long list of excuses (believe me, I have them) but I'd much rather just let you get on with the story, so here you are and I hope you enjoy.
I awoke slowly in the morning, blinking against the stream of sunlight that fell through the open windows. It had been a restless night's sleep, what with the constant nagging thought that Edward was there, staring at me while I lay beneath the sheets. I had slept with the covers all the way up to my chin so as not to let him catch a sight of "perfect figure" as he called it.
Hoping that he wasn't still there in the room, I threw back the covers and made my way to my dresser, pulling out some of the new clothes that Alice had bought me – a navy-blue sweater and some light-wash skinny jeans. I changed in the bathroom, not daring to risk the chance of assuming Edward was still in the bedroom, then came out quickly. I had to get breakfast ready for me and Alice before I headed off to my new work.
As I was heading out, however, I was distracted by the beautiful sight out my window. I really did pick the perfect house. My room overlooked the sprawling green of Forks, the forest stretching on for miles. The sun was breaking over the far line of trees on the horizon.
"There, now, you look much better in those clothes than that baggy get-up you usually wear," his velvety voice greeted me. I jumped, but sighed knowingly. I knew he'd still be tagging around. Turning to face him, I was hit full force by the beauty of his face in sunlight. It practically gleamed with the light of a million-faceted jewels, and his emerald eyes were shining brightly, as if he had just been laughing at a good joke.
"And what exactly was wrong with my clothes before? They were comfortable," I explained, defensively. He smirked.
"Yes, but they made you look frumpy and they completely hid your figure – I much prefer being able to see your…curves," he ended his sentence seductively, hinting. I scowled at him.
"My late-husband had no problem with them. In fact, he bought me most of those and he said I looked beautiful in anything. We both agreed on comfort before vanity and it suited us just fine." I raised my chin in defiance. He chuckled then shook his head, frowning at my words.
"And I suppose he chose those ridiculous, amorphous outfits on purpose to hide you. Seems like a right-controlling prick, he does. But you didn't really love him, did you?" he asked, his eyes sparkling as he waited to see my reaction. All I could do was splutter at his outrageous assumptions.
"What – I – you – that's not – Uggg!" He laughed and turned to look at the windows.
"Why in the world did you uncover them? I liked my privacy and the dark…The whole room is full of blasted light now…How can you stand it?"
"How can you stand the dark?" I returned, giving him an incredulous look. "And what do you mean, you like your privacy? There is no one near here to disturb you - you built this house in the middle of nowhere! Plus, you are dead." He rolled his eyes, but I continued. "No, it's much better like this, with the windows clear. I enjoy what little sunlight there is out here…" Edward rolled his eyes.
"If you don't enjoy darkness so much, why in the world would you move up here. It's overcast 80% of the time." He was staring at me now, his eyes looking curiously at my face, as if my answer were truly important, as if he were trying to lift it out my head himself.
"I moved here because I had to…get out…I wanted to be somewhere different than where I was. This place is actually the complete opposite of where I used to live. And I don't mind the darkness so much, because there's plenty of light in my life besides." He didn't say anything, just continued to look at me with an intrigued expression.
"Look, I have to go get breakfast before I go to work. I can't be late, it's my first day," I explained, moving towards the door. Edward walked with me, unfortunately. I didn't know what I'd do if he followed me down to the kitchen and Alice was there…
"Ah, you've got work have you? And what exactly is it?" We were down the stairs now and he continued to follow. I sighed and replied back, hoping to give him sufficient enough information that he'd leave.
"I'm going to be a bookshop keeper's assistant." He laughed and I stopped short in the hallway outside the kitchen, looking at him.
"What's so funny?" I asked, hands on my hips. He was still shaking with laughter.
"I should have known you'd be the book-wormy type," he replied after his laughter subsided.
"I happen to think the job suites me perfectly and I will thank you not to laugh. At least I'll be getting paid to do something I enjoy." With that said, I entered the kitchen and began making breakfast. I broke eggs and started making an omelet. Edward, who seemed particularly determined to be known today, followed. I continued to pray Alice stayed in her room. I didn't even know if Alice would be able to see Edward like I could or if Edward was visible to everyone.
"Indeed, I think that is an excellent idea. What I find amazing, however, is the irony of it all! Imagine, a book lover who has absolutely no idea that she's stumbled upon a goldmine of literature." He laughed again and I froze. What exactly did he mean by that?
"I'm sorry, I don't understand. What are you referring to?" Edward just shook his head and walked out of the room. I stared after him until I heard the snapping and popping and turned my attention back to my nearly burnt omelet. After plating it I set it aside and walked out the way I saw Edward go, but it was the hallway next to the kitchen so he could have gone either way.
"Hey!" I called out. I waited, but there was only silence. I huffed and was about to turn back into the kitchen when Edward appeared by my side again. I yelped and jumped in surprise, causing him to smirk.
I reached out to smack him, but he stepped back, not allowing me to touch him – then I wondered whether I'd be able to touch him at all…him being a ghost.
"Follow me," he commanded, and turned to walk down the hall. I watched his back, still lost in thought, but then shook my head and walked after him. He stopped just at the wall at the end of the hallway and turned to me.
"I suppose it would have been more fun to see if you would ever find this place, but then again…what would be the point? You found my sacred space annoyingly quickly, but I'm giving you permission to…use this space as you wish…now that I know you are a…lover of literature, like myself." With that explanation, he turned and pressed his hand against a bronze-colored tile in the middle of the wall, which I had thought was merely part of a pattern, but what turned out to be a cleverly masked latch that opened a panel in the wall. The tile gave way under the pressure Edward placed on it and the wall panel popped out enough for him to slide his fingers against, prying it all the way open. It swung forward like a door and on the other side, I laid eyes on an awesome sight.
It was a room, much larger than my bedroom, with shelf upon shelf of books – books lining the walls, eight feet tall, shelves that lined like dominoes in the center of the room. I couldn't do the math of that immense size, but from all that my eyes were taking in, there had to be hundreds of thousands of books in that room. I turned to Edward, my eyes wide with shock.
"How can you have this many books? How old were you when you died? To have collected that many books…you must have been filthy rich! Edward!" He laughed at my surprise.
"Indeed, I was filthy rich…You better believe it. And I spent as much of it as I could on books. And on my piano. And on building this house. When you're rich, Bella, you have so many options," he told me sincerely. I thought about that, about how he had so many things, and they all seemed to be items that he could enjoy in solitary, without companionship. It was almost as if he were determined to keep private.
"If you're so insistent on your privacy," I blurted out, "then why do you have so many secret rooms like this!?" I questioned. He shook his head and shrugged, choosing not to comment. I frowned at this, but let it go, letting my eyes wander over the spines of the books nearest us.
"Edward?" I began again, thinking.
"Hmm," he replied. I turned to look at him and he was staring at me intently. I felt myself blush at the intensity of his eyes.
"You say I can use this place?" I asked.
"Whenever you feel the need to use it," he replied, smiling.
"Does that mean Alice can use it too?" I questioned. Edward frowned at the mention of Alice.
"I'll leave that up to you, I suppose. If you feel you should tell her about it, you may…But not about the other place. That's mine." His face was tight. I decided it would be better not to tell Alice. The more things she didn't know about this house, the better. Knowing Alice, she might get suspicious about my intimate knowledge of the secret workings of this place after having only been here three weeks or so.
"I won't tell," I replied, then thought a moment before adding, "What would happen if, say, you were talking to me, like before in the kitchen, and Alice walked in? What would happen? Would she see you?"
"No," Edward replied, stepping closer to me and looking down into my face. "Only you can see me, and that's how I'll keep it." He smiled.
"But why can I see you? Why would you just remain invisible? Can you turn it on and off, this invisibility? Pick and choose?" I asked. I had so many questions, but the morning was running out and soon I'd have to run off to work.
"Yes, I can choose who can see me and who can't. I decided to let you see me because it's what you wanted. You were very demanding, don't you remember? And I kind of liked it, you were so strong-spirited, I thought it would be much more fun to reveal myself to you than remain a constant, invisible presence, stuck with only watching you. I much prefer interacting with you…" Here he trailed off, his eyes softening and he reached out his arm, as if he were going to touch my face, my cheek, perhaps, but then he blinked and withdrew his arm, as if he had thought better of it. That made me think.
"Can – can we touch?" I asked hesitantly, peering up at him. Edward's eyes darkened, their green becoming much more potent, as if he were struggling to come up with the right answer.
"Yes – and no," he replied, his brow furrowed. "We can touch, but…it would be cold for you…and probably not pleasant. I think it's best that we stick to a non-contact friendship for now," he decided. For some reason, my brain got stuck on the "for now," part of that sentence, thinking about the possibilities of touching him in future…My heart fluttered at the thought, but I quickly squashed that foreign feeling before smiling up at him.
"Fine, well, it's nice to finally figure some of this stuff out. We should talk later…I think you owe it to me to answer some more of my questions. But right now I have to get to work."
"Yes, of course. Work, well, enjoy that. I'll see you later in your bedroom, Isabella," he whispered in my ear, before stepping back and disappearing into the shadows of the room. I rolled my eyes at his insistence on drama – it was right out of a cliché dramatic action-flick – and headed back into the kitchen, making sure to close the secret door behind me.
When I rounded the corner, I spotted Alice. She was tying into my omelet. I sighed. Looks like it was cereal for me – I had no time to make myself another breakfast.
"Good morning!" she greeted me cheerily. I smiled and got out a bowl for my frosted flakes. "I slept really well, for once," Alice continued, "and man, this is good. Thanks!" I nodded my head before getting some milk. "Are you leaving soon?" Alice asked.
"Yeah, I have to be there at eight. I'll be back before too late, probably I'll be off at three. Are you going apartment shopping?" I asked.
"Yes, I'll be looking for a place. Hopefully I'll be able to find some place near here."
"I hope so too," I added. I went over and hugged her briefly. "You know, Alice, that I love you and I'm not trying to kick you out, or anything, right? I – I just need some space…I came out here for space, to clear my head…which is proving rather difficult," I added, under my breath so that Alice couldn't hear. I was referring to Edward, of course. Edward, the most confusion, annoying, strangely comforting new fixture in my life…Alice hugged me back.
"I understand, Bella – You know I do. I just want to make sure that you're alright because you know how much I care about you. But don't worry," she added, standing up and taking her dishes to the sink, "I'm going to find a place today and then I'm going to invite Jasper over." She said this with conviction and I hoped that didn't mea what I thought it meant.
"And to do what, exactly?" I asked, trying to be subtle but she merely rolled her eyes and I knew she knew to what I was hinting at.
"Come on, Bella, you know me better than that. I've just met the guy and despite the fact that we've hit it off really well, I'm not about to do anything with him just yet. So don't you worry." I nodded then glanced at the time on the microwave: 7:50.
"Nerds! I'm late!" I cried and basically slammed my dishes into the sink before rushing off to grab my purse. Having made sure I had absolutely everything I needed I called out a goodbye to Alice and quickly shut the door with a slam behind me and dashed off towards my car.
Playlist:
Behind the Sun – The Good, The Bad, & The Queen
Bring On the Terror – Robbers On Highstreet
Reckoner – Radiohead
Tougher Than it Is – Cake
Soil, Soil – Tegan & Sara
Well, that's it for now, sorry it's not longer. I hope you enjoyed it and that it answered some questions as to the nature of Edward the ghost. I will hopefully be posting again soon, but I won't make any promises, in case I can't keep them. Review please! Cheers!