Disclaimer: I'm too tired to try and be witty. I don't own Twilight.
AN: Kay, I'm going to try and keep these ANs short, because I need to get to bed, but because I'm super nice (haha :P) I wanted to give you guys a chapter tonight. So, I had fun writing this one, and I hope you enjoy. Also, I'm thrilled with the lovely response to last chapter!! You guys are amazing, keep it up! (And, my review problem is fixed! yay!) Now read! :)
As much fun as I was having getting to know my new "family", I still could not wait for school to start, so I was filled with joy, rather than annoyance, as on september first, I heard Esme calling to both me and Emmett from the hallway. "Boys! Up! " When Emmett groaned from the next room and muttered something unintelligible, Esme scolded "Emmett! you said you needed to be early!" But that, I was learning, was Emmett. He had the best plans, but never really thought of their reciprocations.
Like today. As he'd told me, today was not really a real day of school, it was when we picked up our timetables, and got a chance to "catch-up with", or, in my case, meet our classmates, as well as find out a bit about our classes, and sign-up for sports teams and clubs. Emmett wanted to go early, in order to show me around, but, of course, he neglected to factor in that this meant that he, the boy who was rarely awake before noon, had to get up at seven AM.
But, it seemed that he remembered why he needed to be up, because when I got downstairs about twenty minutes later, he was sitting at the island, albeit still looking quite sleepy. The reason for my unusual long delay was probably silly. I knew, I'd been told that it was me , me Bella loved, but I was still inclined to try and look my best, in case she needed some persuading. The thing that had been the hardest to get used to were the twenty-first century clothes, which I still found to be rather unattractive and garish, but at least I had a good supply due to my shopping trip with Emmett. In my spare moments for the past weeks, I'd been surreptitiously studying magazines and advertisements to try and put together an idea of what was considered appealing, and had, I hoped, managed to put together a fairly fashionable outfit that morning: snug, dark jeans, blue canvas high-topped sneakers - "converse" that seemed to be very in, and a simple, dark blue t-shirt, the sleeves of which I had rolled up. That seemed to be the "cooler" way to wear it.
I'd topped off my outfit with the one piece of twenty-first century clothing I really liked, if you could call it that - my big, dark "aviator" sunglasses. I realized I might have got something wrong, though, when I got downstairs, and Emmett grabbed them off my face. "Sunglasses inside, Edward? That's for hipsters and musicians. God, you're so weird sometimes."
He was teasing, but I was still somewhat affronted. "I play the piano." I protested.
He shook his head. "That doesn't count."
"fine." I grumbled, then went to grab some cereal, like he was already eating. As I did, I noticed that I wasn't the only one who had tried to look good today. hmmmm. He was wearing some sporty-looking shorts, an a white t-shirt that accentuated his football-player build quite flatteringly. And that had definitely been the intention. Also, he was wearing an almost choking amount of some kind of cologne. ugh. I considered commenting, but realized it would be so much sweeter once we got to school if I could figure out for whom he had made these extra efforts.
After what seemed like an age, we were both ready to go. I was so excited. Finally, I would see Bella. I grabbed my things, and we headed out to Emmett's car, a massive cherry-red Jeep. Why he needed something like that in the city, I was unsure, but it seemed like asking might be some sort of social faux-pas.
Anyways, we were soon situated in the Jeep, and he quickly drove the ten minutes to the school. Learning to drive was high on the list of twenty-first century things I needed to do.
If I hadn't already been to several crowded, public places with the Cullens, Mapledale High School would have been a total sensory overload. As it was, it was still pretty overwhelming.
The noise, for one thing. I was pretty sure that groups of adolescents from my time hadn't been nearly this loud. Talking, laughing, showing off, catcalling - everyone seemed to be making some sort of loud, obnoxious noise, and Emmett joined right in, exchanging shouted greetings with the many people he seemed to know as he almost dragged me through the throng of our classmates.
Then, there was the smell. Emmett definitely hadn't been alone in his overuse, abuse, almost, of cologne. Many of the boys seemed to have bathed in the stuff, and the girls weren't much better with their perfume. For a second I wondered if Bella was similarly abusive of scents. I hadn't had olfactory nerves as a ghost, and I fervently hoped that Bella wouldn't be like these girls.
And lastly, it was just the sights that overwhelmed. Garish clothing and even hairstyles in all colours imaginable, plus the bright posterboard signs over the various tables advertising clubs and sports teams.
I was hoping that we were heading to the less crowded periphery of the yard, but instead Emmett pulled me through the crowds, to a table marked "Varsity football tryouts" he ignored my feeble protests - we'd thrown around a ball a few times in the Cullen's large backyard, so he knew I was pretty good. I hoped that was all, but he insisted in bringing me around to almost all the sports tables. Not that I had an aversion to activity, but I didn't want to draw so much notice to myself. Emmett wouldn't even allow me to sign-up for the activities that I might've wanted to. He just snorted when I suggested a little variety might be nice, pointing to the sign for string ensemble tryouts.
Finally, we were finished all the signing-up, and Emmett led me off to the side of the yard, right beside one of the school buildings. There a group of his friends were waiting - all large, athletic types like he was. He introduced me around, and then we sort of stood off to the side, against the building. All the time, I'd been on the lookout for Bella, but hadn't spotted her yet.
Since we were outside, and I had a break to breathe, I decided to put back on my glasses. I liked how they let me see without feeling as seen. And it was outside, so although Emmet shot me a look, he didn't comment.
He did, however, soon after, start a running commentary on all the people around us. For the most part, I tuned him out, scanning the crowd for Bella, and nodding occasionally. Mostly his commentary was fairly long-winded, and sounded like a lot of gossip; "That's Jasper Hale, he mostly keeps to himself. Nobody knows much about him, but here are rumors about a brush with the law. . " I rolled my eyes as he continued with his monologue. The rest of his commentary followed along familiar lines, so I noticed when he broke the pattern. "and, that's Rosalie Hale" he mumbled. "Jasper's twin sister. She's a cheerleader."
His apparent lack of interest sparked my curiosity, momentarily drawing my mind away from Bella. I looked up to see where he was pointing, and saw a good-looking, statuesque blonde girl preening with a group of friends. From what I knew about Emmett so far, and from how he was looking at her, she seemed to be exactly his type. So that's who he'd been dressing up for. "Why don't you just ask her out?" I enquired innocently.
He immediately pulled his eyes away from her and tried to look casual. "Why should I ask her out?"
I simply rolled my eyes.
He ignored me for a few minutes, but he was soon back to his running commentary, and I was back to my Bella watching. In the end, though, his continuing monologue was actually useful. "Hey, who's that new girl with Stanley and Webber?" he mused, mostly to himself.
I followed his gaze, looking for a girl and two boys, but didn't see anyone. "Stanley and Webber?" I asked.
"Oh, sorry. Jessica Stanley and Angela Webber." he pointed.
following his gaze, I saw a group of three girls. One very short, with wildly curling dark hair, who was gesturing animatedly, and one tall, with light brown hair. The girl in the middle was small and slight with long brown hair, wearing dark clothes, and looking distinctly unhappy. Bella. I was almost sure.
At that moment, she looked up, and I could see her inhale sharply as she saw my face, and then close her eyes, shaking her head. I couldn't really blame her. I was supposed to be dead, after all.
I was almost positive that it was her, but I took off my glasses, just to be sure. Just then, she looked back at me, and I knew. I had a vague impression of Emmet calling after me as I strode away from him, but I didn't really care. She seemed to follow my lead, stumbling awkwardly towards me as I approached her, until she full out tripped and fell the last few feet between us, so I had to quickly reach out and catch her before she fell. Good thing I had such sharp reflexes.
I had planned a more elaborate greeting for our reunion, but "careful, there," was all that came out when I finally had her in my arms, and all I could do was grin stupidly at her.
She didn't seem to mind, though. "Edward?" she whispered, as if she still couldn't believe I was there.
"Isabella." I confirmed, relishing the sound of her name. The look of blissful happiness on her face was all the encouragement and permission I needed, so I didn't delay in picking her up off of her feet.
If I'd had any lingering doubts about whether or not I was really the one she wanted, they were all erased as her lips met mine.
AN: Well, there you go! I hope the (I think) eagerly awaited reunion chapter didn't dissapoint. I'm worried that it's maybe disjointed or confusing in parts. . . But I had lots of fun imagining what it would be like for a boy from 1918 to be dropped into a modern highschool. I hope I did a good job. :) Now, I'm going out tomorrow night, so you'll have to wait a bit longer for the epilogue. But while you're waiting, please leave me a review! As I always, I love to hear from you! Now, rrrrrrrrreview! :D
-SkySong. :)
