Chapter Two: Beginning of the End
Today, I woke up to the alarm clock instead of Lizzi. Edward shut if off before pulling me closer to his chest, kissing my forehead quickly. We got ready for school quickly and grabbed a couple pop-tarts on our way to the Volvo.
"Are you ready to be a senior?" Edward asked me through a mouthful of pastry.
"As ready as I can be," I said after swallowing loudly. Edward laughed at my tone of voice as he drove ten miles under the speed limit. Ever since Carlisle's accident, he won't let me drive and he won't drive anywhere near the speed limit. His driving is paranoid. I begged him to let me drive once and he was so intense that I didn't want to ask again. I'll give it a little more time.
"We both have most of our credits. Besides, this year we get seventh period off," he smiled over the console at me. I was excited to have some extra time with Edward, especially because he's working four to eight now. Esme needs to stay at home with Lizzi until next year, when she can go to affordable day care. Carlisle left behind a lot of money he inherited from his deceased parents, so they're fairly well off. Only a fourth of Edward's income will go to Esme and Lizzi and the rest of it will go to an almost complete college fund.
"Bella! I haven't seen you in over two weeks!" Alice squealed before I'd opened my door all the way. I was tackled back into the car by Alice and Edward had to catch my head before it smashed into the console.
"I missed you, too," I chuckled as Jasper finally pulled Alice off me. Edward let go of my hair and I stood up.
"It's nice to see you, Bella," Jasper said politely but sincerely, pulling me into a one-armed hug.
"You too," I smiled at him, getting a smile in return. Edward came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist comfortably. Edward was about to speak when Emmett and Rose pulled up in Rose's convertible.
"Little bro and sis!" Emmett cried, opening his door before the car had stopped. Rose rolled her eyes as she pulled into a parking spot and watched Emmett run over to our group. He pulled Edward and me into a bone-crushing group hug and Edward had to put himself in between Emmett and me to preserve my ribs.
"Emmett, let them go," Rose ordered. Emmett let us go instantly but kept a goofy smile on his face.
"Thanks Rose," I smiled at her and she smiled back warmly.
"No problem, Bella. I try my hardest to stop him from doing that." The warning bell broke up our reunion and we all rushed to our classes. This year, Edward and I have the same classes, which will make for an interesting year in gym. I put off getting my PE credit until the last year and now I'm regretting it. I walked into first period and I found I had another person to hug.
"Angela! It's been a month," I exclaim quietly so the teacher won't notice. She smiled and stood up, pulling me into a soft hug.
"I know it's been a while. Take a seat." She pointed to a seat next to her and I took it. Edward sat in the only available seat: the one behind me. He could massage my shoulders during class now. The class passed quickly and before I knew it Edward and I were taking seats beside each other in second period. And so the morning passed, full of syllabi and introductions.
"I'm starving," I groaned when the lunch bell rang. Edward chuckled and pulled me through the crowd by the hand. We got our lunches and began to look for the rest of the gang. The cafeteria had been rearranged so there were tables of six. That meant that, since Angela sat at our table, there was only one seat for both Edward and I. Edward sat down first and, noticing there wasn't another seat, pulled me down on his lap. My body instinctively leaned back into his chest and I relaxed.
"How's Lizzi?" Angela asked conversationally from across the table.
"She's doing great…." The rest of the day passed comfortably until sixth period.
Gym. Torture chamber. PE. Hell. Take your pick.
"I know you're clumsy, but you can't be that bad at sports," Edward insisted.
"You'll know in another ten minutes that, being me, I can." We split ways at the locker room door and I almost groaned out loud when I saw who was also in my gym class.
Jessica.
I already knew this was going to suck, but now I have to deal with Jessica, Edward, and booty shorts. Shoot me now. I changed quickly and walked out of the locker room at the same time Edward was exiting his own. He smiled and gave me the once over. We had to wear shorts that went to about three inches above my knee and a shirt with practically nonexistent sleeves.
"I like the shorts. You should wear those more often," Edward smirked at my legs. I kicked him jokingly in the shin.
"Everyone, find a seat in the bleachers," Coach Huff yelled. I have a feeling that there's no way I could ever like him just because he's a gym teacher. Edward and I had just sat down when Jessica decided it was time to make an appearance.
"Edward, I haven't seen you all summer!" she said, her loud voice echoing if the hardwood floor. She sat on Edward's other side and pressed her leg against his.
"Hello, Jessica," Edward responded coldly. He rested his hand on my thigh and, even though I knew he was doing it to get Jessica to go away, my heart still fluttered. I could tell by the look on Jessica's face that she noticed.
"We really need to get together sometime. There's this club that doesn't ID and they have a couple's night," she winked, trying to look seductive.
"Bella and I were thinking about checking it out, right honey?" he turned his attention to me.
"I remember talking about it. I was going to wear that red dress you said you liked so much," I played along, leaning my elbows on his leg. Before Jessica could respond, Coach Huff told us to form teams of two and grab rackets. It seems the first sport I'll mess up is tennis.
"Edward, let's be a team!" Jessica squealed. Yeah, not happening.
"I promised to be Bella's partner, sorry. Mike over there looks like he'd like to team up with you, though." Edward moved his hand from my thigh to my hand and led me down the steps to the rackets.
"Are you sure you want to be my gym partner? I'd understand if you don't," I told him honestly. I know I wouldn't be my gym partner if I had a choice.
"Of course I'm sure, love. I don't think it's going to be that bad," he laughed, thinking I was overreacting. Yeah, I wasn't.
"Your funeral," I muttered. With my luck, we were the first team to play. And we played Jessica and Mike. This oughta be good. I took my stance by the net as Edward served.
Let the fun (torture) begin.
Mike hit it back and it came straight at me. My mind scrambled immediately. What do I do? Do I let it hit me or just let Edward deal with it? I tried to hit it to Jessica over the net, but instead it bounced under the net and hit her in the shin. The next time the ball came towards me, it was over my head so I stretched my arm up, sticking the racket in the air. I fell backwards and landed directly on my ass. It hurt.
"Bella, are you OK?" Edward rushed forward and helped me up from the ground.
"Yeah, that happens all the time when I try to be athletic," I grumbled, dusting my butt off. The game went down hill from there. My new favorite sound in the whole world is Coach Huff's whistle because it ends my pain for twenty-four hours.
"It wasn't that bad, love," Edward tried to comfort me as we walked back to the locker rooms, his arm around my waist.
"That was only day one. We've got a whole year left." I changed quickly and tried not to notice Jessica's D cups that she displayed as she pranced around the locker room in a sports bra. I'm not really modest, but I do face the wall for a semblance of privacy. Jessica obviously doesn't have the same decency.
"Bella!" Jessica called, stopping me right before I opened the door. "Are you and Edward still pretty close?"
"Yeah, I really love him," I smiled at her. Her face dropped at the sincerity in my words and smile. When I opened the door, I saw Edward resting against the wall next to the door. "I'm ready to go home," I told him as we started walking.
"I love having seventh period off to spend with you." I nodded as Edward took my backpack for me. I think I pulled something in my back.
"I don't want to go home yet. Could we go grab some ice cream before you need to go to work?" I asked, needing some energy after attempting to be athletic.
"If that's what you'd like, love." We were standing by his Volvo now and I was about to get in when I stopped. I turned to face Edward and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"You're amazing. You know that, right?" I whispered. He shrugged and I laughed at his facial expressions. Edward cut off my laugh with a quick kiss, pulling back sooner than I'd like.
"I would hate for the principal to bust us for PDA our first day as seniors," Edward explained, releasing his hold on my waist.
Today was the beginning of the end.
AN: Don't expect updates more than once or twice a week, but this week I was sick so I got some extra time to write. I got a great response to the first chapter. I got over fifty alerts and over thirty favorites but only twenty-six reviews... But still, thanks to everyone who reviewed.
FUNFACT: I finally got Facebook today. My friends have been begging me to get it and I finally caved. I want to be friends with all of you, but...my mother wouldn't like me having a ton of freinds I don't know. :(
I will try to update 'Amazing Catch' in the next hour, so keep a look-out. My amazing unoficial beta, Music ADD, was able to look over the chapter so it should be better than the first. Thanks for reading and I like reviews, Emma