Here we are with the new chapter~
Honestly, I've been planning this rewrite for half the year, so half of it is already written and ready, except for maybe a few minor things I might need to change. I have to forcefully restrain myself to not post everything in one fell swoop, it wouldn't be as fun if I did ;)
Thanks so much to my first fee reviewers, I love you guys! I hope you like this chapter, here we see more slight changes to our heroine's character, her willingness to interact with others a start, and a little more of the humor that makes her Arsinoë. Don't worry, I know this fic may seem angsty, but it is meant to be humorous.
I also forgot that since this I new fic entirely, and most of you don't know what she looks like. I really should find a place to insert her description...
Basically she has really bushy dark purple hair (yeah yeah, Mary sue I know, sue me), brown eyes and olive skin.
IN FACT, I'VE MADE AN INSTAGRAM FOR HER AND SOME OTHER CHARACTERS!
You can see what she and Lucianna look like there, as well as her siblings, though aside from Lucy's, I won't be revealing her siblings instas just yet.
Check them out when you have time at Pharaoh_zeizei and lucyauryn on Instagram. I'll add the links to my profile when I have time:)
Chapter Updates shall henceforth be every Saturday!
Sorry for the super long authors note,
Review?
In the end, the Yoga didn't work out, much to Nina'a dismay. Cleary frustrated, in an another attempt to get me to 'achieve inner tranquility and harmony', she proceeded to beat my sorry ass into the ground, under the guise of 'sparring' all the while berating me for not keeping fit.
To her credit, it did work, enabling me to take out my frustrations in a non self-destructive manner, and so she made it routine.
The rest of the week passed quickly meshed in a blend of music and social interaction. I hung out with my new friend group (and lo and behold, everyone was much more fun than they were depicted in the books, Bella lost the opportunity for some damn good times, had she only made the effort) and I gave everything my complete one hundred percent effort, be it school or P.E or even helping Nina out with her charity work - I was there and pumped up and eager. It was my attempt to keep myself going and not let anything get me down.
Sleep had always been a foreign concept to me, four nightmare filled hours a night being the most I could achieve without medicinal aid, but coupled with my newfound vicarious lifestyle, behind my bright smiles and loud laughter, I was half dead and slightly manic from my copious amounts of ingested caffeine.
Good vibes, I constantly reminded myself.
Edward had been gone for the whole week, and I could only find it in me to be only a little surprised, but it was a relief. I found I could breathe a little easier in class. The funny thing was, his family glared at me like it was my fault.Yes, I suppose, maybe it was in a roundabout way -but regardless, it wasn't nice to feel daggers piercing through one's head anytime they were in the vicinity.
On one hand, staying in Biology meant that I could remain with Edward, which, despite all I'd done to beat back my idiotic schoolgirl crush, made me a little bit happy. Just a little. One the other hand, staying in biology meant that I'd remain with Edward, the Vampire who loathed me and probably wanted me gone, and that wasn't a prospect that encouraged me.
In the end, I decided to just suck it up, keep to my little corner at our shared table, and attract zero attention to myself.
During the weekend, I attended one of my aunt's fashion shows, a common enough activity that apparently even carried into this dimension. Both she and my mother always encouraged me to attend big events, since it enabled me to meet important people and develop contacts for later in life.
Cue eye roll.
It was great fun in all honesty, though I avoided the camaras like the plague -being in the limelight was something that never appealed to me. Despite this though, I did dance a lot at the after-party, the nostalgia from hearing all the old songs from this decade was just too much. We ended up staying late, and so Sunday was spent being lazy. I took the opportunity however, to pay a call to my parents, to check on them and try orient myself on my current situation.
And that was the problem. My avoidance of my current reality. The first three days, I was extra vigilant, reminding myself that everything was all fake and that I didn't have to worry because I'd snap out of it soon and I could carry on living my life as normal, maybe after a few sessions of therapy.
But then the week passed, and I became fully submerged in this world, and it was terrifying to me because I could no longer figure out if I was imagining things or if it was all real. I'd barely gotten any sleep because of it, and I could feel myself slowing accepting it all as fact, feel my mind decieve me and go on its own way.
The idea of being transported into a different time -different dimension-, well to be frank, it was unbelievable, but also, everything was just so real, no matter how much I tried to deny it. I followed my doctor's orders diligently, taking my medication as prescribed at all allocated times of the day, I kept my checklist of things to do to help me stay focused, I never let myself be idle, and yet nothing changed. I didn't wake up, find myself back in Dublin, and realise that indeed it'd all just been my mind playing tricks on me.
I was still, despite all common sense, trapped in Forks.
So I paid the call to my parents, in vain hope that they could help me out, but it seemed like even they were deeply ingrained in this reality. An hour of awkward conversation with them about what exactly I was doing in Forks and why I couldn't just live with them in Seoul, yeilded nothing.
The official story basically, was that city life was far too distracting for a 'young, impressionable' girl like me, and I needed to be in a quiet place in order to focus on my studies in order to be successful.
Right.
The story would have been a lie even if this was myreality. My whole family and their dogs knew the real reason as to why I was sent here, and they were all probably gossiping about it behind closed doors.
Arsinoë Zeidan, the unstable family disappointment.
In a moment of emotional shut down, I passively accepted their words and hung up the phone.
I spent the rest of Sunday planning out how to 'survive' if you will. Lucianna didn't pick up any of my calls or answer any texts when I tried to contact her (learning that my sim-card worked in this dimension only served to confuse me even more), so I figured that I'd be on my own for a while. Just me and my continuosly fraying sanity.
Really, there wasn't much I could do aside from try get used to things until I found my way back 'home'.
So it was with that resigned outlook on life that I faced Monday morning. I didn't even grumble that much when my alarm rang, and if that wasn't a damn good sign, then I didn't know what was.
I got ready leisurely, wearing a pair of navy blue tights, a light blue Billabong T-shirt and a matching cardigan for the slight chill in the air. For my cold feet (figuratively and literally), I wore grey elf shoes, just like the ones Legolas hopped around in.
The Nikes for Elves, Lucianna had called them.
Breakfast was a quick affair. Aunty Zaho had already left the house so it was just me and Nina, who was busy sorting out my Aunt's closet upstairs. She made no secret of her disdain for my aunt's seemingly limitless collection, grumbling loudly and vehemently, much to my amusement.
The drive to school was spent loudly singing along to Lana Del Rey, even when I finally arrived on premises. Perhaps, I should have been more concerned with the fact that I was playing songs that techinally shouldn't have existed yet, but then I thought to myself, fuck it.
And then a silver Volvo drove in, all slow and dramatic, drawing everyone's attention away. I looked over at their car situated quite a ways from me, and rolled my eyes when I saw they took up three parking spots with no shame at all. It was unnecessary.
They all stepped out, seemingly as if in a movie, looking perfect as always. It was a wonder to me how they could have possibly kept their secret for so long, with them being, well, so them.
It was slightly embarassing to admit, but the only one who really captured my full attention was Edward, who emerged looking like some fabled Greek Deity -in dark jeans, a black long-sleeved sweater, his signiture grey coat and brown leather shoes. His hair fell in all directions, making my hands twitch with the need to run my hands through it, and I forcibly clenched them in an effort to calm myself.
Don't fall for him, Arsinoë. He's not real.
Alice, looking petite and pretty and always, whispered something in his ear, and he frowned slightly gaze landing on my car. When he looked through the glass at me, I saw his eyes were now liquid topaz. So different from the black of the previous week it was disorienting.
It was obvious to see why everyone immediately succumbed to him, Edward, quite plainly, was magnificent.
I didn't dwell on it for long however, instead forcing my attention to fully switching off the engine, and disconnecting my phone. I plugged in the earphones Nina had given me and walked into the school, eager to get the day overwith, fully aware of the gazes being shot my way. I was used to it, the blaring shine of my 'new kid' status hadn't quite worn off yet.
The morning passed quickly -classes weren't too complicated, and so I ended up being bored during most of them. I'd already done most of the subjects, and so the answers were already in my mind. Eventually lunch came along, where Jessica latched on to me as soon as I got my food with the strength of a vicious bulldog.
I had conflicted feelings concerning Jessica; I knew what type of a person she was from the books, being two-faced and superficial, and on principle, I tried to avoid people like her, however, I couldn't automatically assume she'd behave the same towards me. I preferred to watch from a distance in order to judge for myself. And anyway, she was nice enough, she always included me in conversations and made sure I was okay, so she couldn't be all that bad. She was just a normal teenage girl, at the end of the day.
She was chattering on about something I didn't pay attention to, too busy multitasking by trying to eat my chili-stuffed Sharwarma and participate in a heated debate with Eric, Angela and Ben about the West's claim of 'civilizing' the rest of the world. Ben and I were of the opinion that the term 'civilization' was debatable, and for example Africa and the Middle-East were already leaders in Education, therefore already 'civilized', whereas Angela and Eric thought that yes, even then, the West brought over technological advancements that pushed the world years forward with the Industrial Revolution.
And Mike was making important noises in the background, pretending to agree with me, the poor guy.
"-Alright, but also think of the way the West shut down all progress not made by them and-" It was in the middle of Ben's point that suddenly Jessica let out a squeal and shoved my shoulder, almost completely shoving me off my chair and making me choke on the bread, prompting a laugh from Lauren and stares from other nearby tables. I glared incredulously at Jessica, as I righted myself, raising an expectant eyebrow.
"Don't look now, but Edward Cullen is staring at you!" She whispered loudly.
'Don't look' obviously meaning "turn your attention immediately"
I huffed irritably, rolling my eyes and roughly took another bite of the pita bread in my hands. Ben promptly resumed what he'd been saying.
"That's it?" I demanded, my voice evidently showing my disbelief. "That's why you just tried to kill me by asphyxiation?" I asked, finishing the last bite and leveling Jessica with an annoyed look. "I could have died, Jessica."
Angela giggled behind her hand, attention half on us, "She could have died, Jess." She repeated mock seriously, to which we both laughed.
The blond girl huffed, but waved her hands in what she assumed to be a subtle gesture (which really looked like she was wildly swatting bees and only drew more stares) and slapped my arm insistently.
I snorted once more, but I decided to humor her nonetheless, turning around to see what she was talking about. Indeed said bronze haired Cullen was staring -quite intently, I might add- and even when I caught his gaze he didn't look away, his eyebrows just furrowing further.
I sighed softly, pursing my lips slightly in displeasure, before looking away, my hair acting as a barrier between us.
The fact that like with Bella, he couldn't read my mind, was worrisome, especially with the aforementioned girl's blatant absence. What did that mean for me? That I was supposed to take her place? Automatically conduct Edward's interest towards me? What was my mind trying to convey by playing out this story?
Those were all things I didn't have answers to, and I had no choice but to wait and see.
I would see him soon anyway.
The bell rang soon after that, and I slowly threw away my trash and headed out the cafeteria with everyone else, positively dragging my feet as I made my way to biology, dreading to see for myself just what fate wanted from me.
I took my time, procrastinating, and finally arrived just three minutes before class was supposed to start, sucking on a hard-candy mint after a trip to the girl's lavatory to freshen up and waste time. I wasn't surprised to see him in his seat already, much like the vast majority of the class, and I warily went to sit next to him. I had already placed my things on my side of the desk before I went to lunch, and I noticed they were in the exact same spot I had left them, not disturbed by an inch at all.
I sat down silently, trying to draw very little of his attention, before opening my notebook to a fresh page, copying the date and title from the board. I would wait and see what happened, and pray he paid me no heed.
"Hello." I heard, and I jumped a little, startled (and really, why was I surprised?) before slowly letting my gaze fall on him.
Clearly, the Gods weren't interested in my prayers.
His voice was just as breathtaking as he was, soft and smooth, and I could already tell he was the type of person who preferred to speak in quiet tones unless strictly necessary. Probably the result of having sensitive ears and living with people that could hear a whisper from the second floor. I didn't want to open my mouth, for some reason embarrassed. Much of my school experience before this (limited as it was) was spent being poked fun at because of my 'weird accent', as it was called, and though I'd gotten over it (mostly), I couldn't help but feel self-conscious all over again.
"Hi." I replied simply, whilst skimming over last week's notes so I could seem busy. Edward wasn't swayed by my standoffishness.
"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last week. I'm Edward Cullen. You're Arsinoё Zeidan, right?" I told myself to chill, and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Ah, you already know my name?" I asked. "And here I thought to deceive you with something else." Edward chuckled softly, aware that Mr Varner had just started the lesson.
"Something else like?" He asked, sounding vaguely amused, and I shrugged, getting out my stationary. Mr Varner walked around the room handing our the equipment necessary for the lesson.
"Something very fancy -Antonia Antoinette, possibly." I mused humorously, writing the date on a fresh piece of paper.
He gave a wry smile. "Forks is a small town. News travels fast." Was all he said back and I 'hmmed' in agreement before writing the topic at the top of the page. Then I looked back at him, catching him staring and my mouth opened before I could control it.
"You were gone last week." I said, and where was this newfound confidence coming from? I saw a flash of panic in his topaz eyes before it was smothered and replaced with a slight smile. I wished I could roll my eyes at him.
"Yes. I was out of town for a couple of days. Family reasons." He said. Unfortunately for Edward, I knew he was lying. I made a faux sound of comprehension and finished writing the summary from the board, and reached for the microscope placed on our desk.
"Oh yeah, I completely understand." I said, adjusting the lenses. "When my grandmother's sister's cousin's brother's daughter's friend's cousin's pet gold fish dies, I will always go running." I said in a understanding tone. Edward let out a surprised laugh next to me, but I looked into the microscope and remained quiet.
"Prophase." I stated absentmindedly, scribbling down the answer. Edward pulled the microscope towards himself.
"Mind if I take a look?" I nodded and he did as intended, before coming away from the lens with a smirk.
"Prophase." He acknowledged, sounding vaguely impressed.
"Told you so." I said dryly.
"Where did you hear that absurd story?" Edward asked, when we were done, sounding incredulous. I shugged.
"Everyone's been saying it." I replied jokingly, fiddling with my pen.
"And you believed them?" He asked, perfectly arching a dark brow. I laughed under my breath, and looked at him innocently.
"No, although you're reaction was funny." I paused in my pen twirling for a second, "And not everyone has been saying it, just a friend." Because Mike had mused it on the third day of Edward's absence, prompting Samantha, a diehard Edward fan girl, to smack him.
Edward made a sound of acknowledgement, an exaggerated "ah" sound accompanied by a sage nod, clearly meant to be humorous, and I bit my tongue so as not to smile like a fool.
"So, how are you finding the weather? Wet and Cold may as well be synonymous with Forks " He joked softly, changing the subject.
"You're asking me about the weather?" I asked, my eyebrows raised in surprise, Edward seemed to relax a tad and he smiled, and honestly, my heart skipped a beat.
"I suppose I am." He answered, with a shrug, "Is there a problem with inquiring about your opinion of our gloomy weather here in Forks?" He asked, cheeky.
Talking to him, as in him being an actual being, was very different than what I would have ever expected. He had much more personality than anything canon showed.
"None at all. You just didn't strike me as the type to make small talk. Or any talk at all." I answered, before saying "Anaphase." and sliding him the microscope automatically, already writing the brief description under my answer.
"Do you mind if I check?" I heard his voice ask and I mumbled a distracted reply. He took it as a positive and looked, before nodding and writing the same answer as mine, as well as a much better and more put together description.
"I've been known to say a few words, and you haven't answered my question." He reminded me, looking expectant. He was right and I sighed, nostalgically.
"In all honesty," I started, resuming my pen twirling, "I love the weather here. I just came over from Northern Europe, so it's not much of a change. The 'wet' and 'cold' as you put it, appeal to me very much. Its the quiet I'm not used to." I told him with a dry smile. "I'm a 'city-girl'."
"What made you move to Forks, then?" He asked, looking into the microscope and writing down the answer in his notebook quickly, and yet he still made it look like calligraphy.
I sighed, copying what he had written, followed by my own description.
I fumbled. "Its…um…complicated." I answered, though I knew he wouldn't drop it. How did I answer his question without it being a lie? "Oh, well you see, one second I was in my room and the next I was in Forks, the land of fictional characters." Ha, like that would go down well. He'd think me crazy.
"I think I can keep up." He pushed, sounding entirely interested.
"Peace, and the very quiet I'm not familiar with." I answered, sticking to the very story my parents gave me. Edward looked confused, tilting his head slightly with a puzzled frown on his face.
"My parents -well mother more precisely wanted me out of the city, because its apparently, 'full of distractions that I just can't afford with my university career looming right ahead'." The sarcasm in my voice was palpable.
"My mother has high expectations, with me coming from an..." I trailed off, unsure of how to continue, "…Important family so it was either Forks or boarding school. I'm not one for stiff uniforms and propriety in general, so I chose the former, as you can see." I explained with a huff, before quickly scribbling down the last two answers Edward had somehow procured during my explanation.
"Ah, according to you, the lesser of the two evils." He replied, nodding in understanding.
He casually put the microscope in the middle of the table, now that we were done with it. His hand brushed against mine. It was ice-cold, though I suspected it had more to do with the cool weather than normal. I pushed it away with my own hand with a wry smile, and he stared at me unreadably for a moment, before fully retracting it. I turned back to the clock, noticing we had four minutes left. The whole class was done, and Mr Varner was explaining the homework (a summary of how all the stages worked together) so I began packing away my things, much like everyone else in class. The male next to me, already had his things stacked neatly, and as soon as the bell rang, he had them gathered and was on his way without even a farewell.
History was interesting, but I didn't pay much attention, eager to go home. I was exhausted when the bell rang and by the time I had packed away my unneeded books in my locker, replacing them for the one's I'd need for homework, I was visibly dragging myself to my car.
As I fumbled with finding the keys in my bag, I felt eyes on me and looked up, only slightly surprised to see it was the Cullens. I looked at them look at me, and noticed that Edward wasn't with them. After a few seconds of silent staredown, I waved, pasting on the fakest smile in the world before getting inside the car. I didn't waste another second, immediately switching it on and joining the car line of other students eager to get home. From the left sideview mirror, I saw Edward arrive just before I turned out the gate and into the freeway, and I caught him giving my car a questioning glance. I looked away before he knew I could see him and sighed heavily.
Life was just too complicated.
"Couscous, couscous, does whatever it is couscous does! It is yummy, and delish..Look out, there you are couscous!" I sang, pushing my cart down the aisle at the grocery store. I'd come to help out Nina with the cooking, as contribution to the household, despite her protests. I didn't mind, cooking was second nature to me, and it was the least I could do besides.
As I was picking out the fancy packet with the Persian dude in a turban, I heard a very soft sound behind me, almost like a giggle. I raised my eyes from my inspection of the package and turned around, ready to ask the person if they needed something, still humming. I had no intentions of stopping my Couscous song because of them.
Much to my surprise though, I was met with the sight of a very beautiful woman smiling softly when I met her gaze. She had soft looking caramel hair that spilled down her shoulders in wavy curls, lovely golden eyes that held warmth, a perfect heart-shaped face with lovely high cheekbones and soft looking rosy lips, and curves in all the right places. Not to mention her pale complexion which made her look like fragile porcelain that could break at any moment. She was beautiful. Way too beautiful actually.
She must've been Esme, my mind concluded easily.
"Oh, excuse me, it's just, you're song…about the couscous I mean, was just adorable." She gushed, smiling brightly, and making my insides melt. Damn this woman.
I looked to the ground abashedly, whilst fiddling with the pack in my hands, not knowing how to reply under such attention.
"Er, t-thank you?" It was more of a question than a statement and I awkwardly tucked a strand of errant hair that was falling in to my eyes behind my ear, shifting from foot to foot. I didn't know what to do, I didn't think I'd ever meet this woman, and now that she was right in front of me, I felt like fleeing as fast as possible.
Esme giggled again, before hesitantly taking a step forward, basket in hand. I noticed it contained common food items that frequently ran out, milk, bread, eggs, the like. Keeping up appearances, of course.
"I'm Esme Cullen. My husband works down at the hospital." She introduced haltingly, but she didn't hold out her hand. It was weird to think that confident and sure Esme would be nervous because of me, she just didn't seem like type. She'd obviously seen how uncomfortable I was, and felt bad.
So I put on a smile, a soft and inviting one and asked with no little amount of wariness if she would like to have a cup of coffee with me (despite the fact that I knew she didn't actually drink coffee) at the little café next door. I didn't know why I asked, nor what promoted me, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. Something told me that she'd be important.
Luckily for me, she agreed easily and we quickly paid for our shopping, chatting happily all the while and soon bonded over mugs of steaming hot Chocachino's, which, surprisingly she drank without any outward signs of discomfort.
I was surprised at how easy it was to talk to her, even if she was only a perfect stranger not even hours before, and contrary to my initial assumptions, we had a great many things in common, we spent the rest of the afternoon talking about all our favorite female heroines in history and the different fashions of multiple historic eras. All in all, it was a pleasant time, and we left after exchanging numbers and promises to meet up again sometime.
That night, just as I was about to make my attempt at asleep, I couldn't help but think that for a mother of five, a wife, and a matriarch of a vampire coven, she was surprisingly easy to relate to.
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