I am so sorry I took so long again. I know I've been saying that a lot but its true. I had trouble with this chapter. I wanted to make it perfect so I had different approaches to take. I had to choose how to write it out and when I finally decided, it didn't come out right. So I have about 3 different versions of this chapter and this is one is by far the best. So I'm really sorry I took so long. I know you all are anxious to see how Edward will get Bella to like him especially when she can't be dazzled by his good looks and startling green eyes swoons Anyway, here is the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. I tried to kidnap Stephenie Meyer, but it was too difficult. Sorry.
Chapter 4: The Message
EVOP
"Hey Edward, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jasper and I were now in the kitchen, attempting to find a new container for the leftover pickles from the bet. The evening's events had been hysterical. With Emmett trying not to choke on pickles, eating the perfect pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni, and myself getting mesmerized every few seconds by Bella's laughter, I had had an excellent time.
Unfortunately, my gawking didn't go unnoticed. Fortunately for me, Emmett wasn't the one who noticed. Always the intuitive one, Jasper caught on fairly quickly that my eyes were set on Bella. My mind was still trying to recall every detail of Bella's beautiful face when Jasper's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Edward, just hear me out okay?" My mouth was already open to question him, but I decided against it and just nodded for him to proceed.
He took a deep breathe and continued, "Okay, Edward, I know you are going to deny this, but I saw you gawking at Bella." He held up his hand to stop me from objecting. "Edward, I know you have your eyes on her. She's very pretty and I can see why you would want to pursue her." My mind was processing what he was saying and still I had no idea where he was going with this. The only objection I had so far was that he said Bella was merely pretty when he should have said she was the most beautiful woman in the world. But then again, I doubt that would have gone down well with my sister, Alice a.k.a his girlfriend.
"What I mean is she's not just any other girl." If only he knew. "She's Emmett's little sister, for crying out loud. And she already feels like the little sister I never had. Just because Rosalie is my twin doesn't mean I ever had to protect her. She was always fine on her own. Bella is a different story. She's innocent and Emmett and I can feel a little protective of her. She doesn't need the school player trying to get to her. She can't be just another one of your 'projects'." He used air quotes to emphasize that last word.
My mind was already registering every word he said. I couldn't believe he had said that. I always knew how he and my friends felt about my ways with girls, but they never worded it, per se. I wasn't going to let it bother me, though. Bella was just a girl and if I wanted her, I would have her.
"Jasper, you have no idea what you're talking about. Bella is just another girl. Anyway, I don't need to go after her. There are plenty of other girls out there." I knew I was being arrogant, but I had to do something to get Jasper away from the idea that I was pursuing Bella. The less suspicious he was, the easier it would be for me to go after her. Even though the words weren't true, it still hurt to say that Bella was just another girl when clearly she wasn't.
"All I'm saying is that if you hurt her, Emmett and/or I will hurt you." I was shocked. Emmett would use violence often, but never Jasper. Was the ever calm person in the group who didn't like to get caught up in fights, but hearing the slight menace in his voice told me to believe every word he had said.
I nodded and Jasper left me to my thoughts. I would have to find another way to get Bella to like me. Girls often fell for my looks for reasons I really couldn't understand, but with Bella, the situation was completely different. Not only was she blind and obviously couldn't see me, but it felt as if she could pierce through me and into my very soul. And not only that, but I was attracted to her much more than I had been to any other girl. Normally, I merely found a girl pretty, but with Bella, I felt as if I had been blinded by the lights of Heaven. And these blinding lights were nothing short of beautiful.
Perhaps, if I let Bella see me for me, we could at least become friends. Because honestly, now that I had met her, I couldn't even bear to think of a life without her in it.
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BVOP
I could feel my mind slowly begin to un-cloud as I awoke. After the accident, I would become easily confused when I woke up because when I would open my eyes, I could see nothing. But now, I had grown used to the fact that even though my eyes had finally betrayed me, my body and mind knew when I had to wake every morning. Every morning, I would wake up at 6:30 AM and just relax. I wouldn't allow my mind to wander because I didn't want to think about things. I wanted to forget. So instead, I would wake up and listen to the sounds that I wouldn't normally hear.
For a person with sight, in order to not get lost in your own thoughts, you find it easier to look at something or things and focus on that. For me, I would listen. Blindness had given me heightened senses which allowed me to listen to everything. Even now, I could hear Emmett's loud snoring from the attic. I laughed quietly to myself and climbed out of bed.
I made my way towards my dresser, feeling around for my clothes. I found my favorite outfit, a deep blue v-neck sweater and my favorite jeans. It may seem strange for me to somehow know what my favorite outfit is, especially when I can't see it, but what others didn't know was that I had a reason to why it was my favorite. I could actually remember exactly how it felt and exactly what it looked like. I remember from right after the accident, I didn't remember every single detail about all my clothing. But the blue sweater was something I would never forget. I had actually found it at the store when Renee had taken me. Renee had gone out and bought me clothes that I would never actually wear, but this sweater was one that I found all by myself and every single detail of it was fresh in my mind to this day.
I walked to the bathroom and turned on the hot water. Today was sure to be a busy day. Emmett was going to have to haul me over to the school and I would have to memorize the floor plan. I heard the school wasn't big from when Charlie described it. Just several small buildings that I would have to learn my way around. It didn't seem that difficult. At most, it would take me about two days to memorize everything, including the insides of my classes, which, thanks to my disability, I already knew which ones I would be entering. Ah, the power of having a disability.
I undressed and stepped into the hot water, slowly allowing my skin to adjust to the high temperature. After a few moments, I relaxed and allowed the hot water to soothe my tense muscles. After shampooing my hair with my favorite strawberry shampoo and using my favorite lavender-scented body wash, I stepped out of the shower and changed. Waking up early had its perks; I never had to rush things. I ran a brush through my tangled hair and left it down so it could air dry. I made my way down the stair, hoping desperately not to trip and risk waking Emmett and Charlie.
As I made my descent, I could hear the coffee maker bubbling, the scent of freshly brewed coffee spreading throughout the lower level of the house. After making a successful trip down the stairs without a single fall, I walked into the kitchen, my stick carefully feeling around for chairs and other small objects that may be in my way. I heard the sound of someone breathing quietly.
"Ch-Dad?" I heard them clear their throat and then they spoke, "Edward, actually. Would you like some coffee?" Ah, that would explain the coffee. Momentarily I thought about where Charlie could possibly be, and then I remembered the day. It was Saturday and surely Charlie would be out fishing with Billy Black, an old family friend that lived on La Push reservation.
"Sure, coffee sounds great." I felt around for my coffee cup and poured myself a cup. I held it to my nose and allowed the warm and comforting scent wash through me. I thanked Edward for the coffee and sat at the table, the warmth from the mug spreading through my hands. Quiet moments like these were the moments I cherished the most. I loved things to just be silent, so I could revel in it. I allowed my senses to wander, my ears picking up on the noises from outside. There was a slight rustling, possibly from the birds and there was the light pitter-patter of rain. It was probably just drizzling, but then again, it was Forks, so when wasn't it?
I heard the light creaking up a bed coming from the attic and assumed that Emmett had woken up. There was a bit of rustling and some incoherent whispering followed by the loud footsteps and yawns of Emmett and if my assumptions are correct, Jasper as well.
"Morning Bells…" Yes, Emmett does not seem to be a morning person. Jasper mumbled a greeting and I nodded. Seems the only boy who is a morning person is Edward.
"So guys, what do you want for breakfast?" It seemed like an innocent enough question, but I didn't receive an answer, so most likely, they were staring at me incredulously, wondering how the heck I was going to manage making the breakfast.
"Bells...how…exactly do you…plan on making…breakfast if you…can't…well…see?" Emmett stuttered throughout his whole question, obviously scared that I would for some reason have a breakdown right then and there.
"Emmett, I lived with Renee for long enough to know how to make breakfast. Just because I'm visually impaired doesn't mean that I can't cook. I learned how to do it without seeing. I just need you to grab the ingredients in order for me to do it. I haven't reorganized the fridge yet, so I have no idea where everything is." I spoke sternly to get my point across. I moved to Forks to live a new life without pity, and I'd be damned if something as small as concern from my brother about making breakfast was going to get in my way.
"Okay, Bells. We don't have a lot. How about we just make some eggs and bacon?" I nodded as I heard the refrigerator door open and the sound of a few items being taken out and place in front of me. I made my way across the small kitchen, feeling around for a pan. As soon as I found one, I got to work, turning on the stove, heating and greasing the pan, cracking the eggs and frying the bacon. Soon, we were all enjoying a nice breakfast.
"Bells, Charlie said that at noon, I'm supposed to take you to the school. The principal is gonna be there to open up the doors so you can memorize the floor plan. I'll be there too in case you need any help." I nodded again and waited for the boys to finish eating. Once everyone was done, I started picking up the plates and taking them to the sink. After I began washing the dishes, I heard Edward begin speaking to me.
"Would you mind if I helped you with the dishes," he asked politely. "Go ahead, I'll wash, you dry." And so the cycle began. I would wash and Edward would dry, allowing us to finish in half the time. I thanked him and made my way to my room. I decided that now would probably be the perfect time to use the Easy Talk. I turned on the monitor and sat in front of it. I spoke clearly to it, "Check time."
In a clear and mechanical voice, it responded, "Time is 11: 45 AM, Bella." I smiled at that. Emmett and Jasper had programmed my name into it. Before I could proceed to check my email, Emmett called me downstairs so we could leave for the school. After grabbing my jacket, and getting downstairs, we were off to the school.
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After arriving and having to deal with the annoying stares from the principle and the unnecessary attention, such as him offering to take me by the arm and guide me throughout the entire school, I was able to focus on finding my way around the classrooms. Being that is was the week before school started, teachers were in their classrooms, decorating and preparing the first quarter's lesson plans.
I had been able to meet every single one of my teachers, each in which treated me like a child and tried to baby me by guiding me and thinking about every word they spoke, feeling that I would get mad if they said words like "blind" or "impaired." It would have been very amusing had I not been the subject of their pity. After explaining to them that I wanted to be treated like everyone else in the class, they slowly began to understand that I was more than capable of doing the work just like everyone else.
Of course, there was the problem with assignments. Seeing as I could not see the writing on the paper, I asked them to email me all assignments; therefore, I could do them on the Easy Talk. Having a computer to do whatever I wished really was gods send. I did have a bit of trouble with the trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner. He assumed that I was just using my disability to get out of doing work in class so I could cheat on it later. I then just told him that he could send the work to my father and he could watch me do it. It was very amusing to hear him stutter and say that he believed me. I could already tell I wasn't going to like him. But then again, his hate of me may have been caused when I accidentally tripped over a mat and dropped a stapler on his foot.
And thus, I had the entire school's floor plan memorized by the end of the day. Since it was only mid-afternoon, I decided to ask Emmett to take me to the grocery store to gather all the ingredients that I would need in order to cook proper meals for Charlie and Emmett. I have yet to find out just how exactly they survived all these years without me.
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After about five minutes of pleading and pouting my best puppy dog pout, Emmett gave in to my will and took to the store. Though Emmett protested when it came to coming into the store with me at first, I quickly reminded him that without being able to see, I couldn't exactly pick out what was what. Sadly, Emmett wasn't exactly the biggest help.
"Hey Bells, what is ricootay cheese?" I burst out laughing at his mispronunciation and quickly corrected and informed him on what exactly ricotta cheese was. After many laughs and a few scoldings from elderly women in the store, we checked out and left.
When we to home, Emmett and I unloaded the groceries and made our way into our humble abode. After having Emmett grudgingly rid the refrigerator of whatever "food" that was in there, I applied Braille labels on the food items and stored them away. Wanting to go to bed early after such a long day, I made simple spaghetti for Emmett and I, while leaving a plate in the microwave for Charlie to heat up once he got home.
I bid goodnight to Emmett and returned to my room. I sat on my bed and began to read a Braille-written copy of Wuthering Heights when I remembered that I had yet to check my email.
After opening up my email, the computer read an email I had received form Renee aloud. IN the computer's monotonous voice, Renee's frantic words were hilarious. After replying several times to her many messages, I had the computer open up another message from an unfamiliar email address.
"You have one audio message from Victoria Scott," the computer said. Victoria Scott. She had been one of my old friends from back home. She had abandoned me after the accident. I was tempted to just delete it. I had started this new life and she was not a part of it.
Reasoning that I should at least listen to the message, I allowed the computer to play it. Hearing the familiar voice reminded me much of Phoenix, but the words that I heard next made all the blood drain from my face.
"Hello, Isabella," Victoria's child-like voice sneered my name with venom that I never knew existed, "Today was the first day of school and everyone noticed you weren't here. It's pathetic really. You hid your ugly face like the coward that you are. You couldn't even face everyone after what you did. James shouldn't have died; you should have. Instead, you got away with nothing but a few scratches and blindness while James died. Everyone hates you. Your life isn't worth anything. You don't deserve to live. Goodbye Isabella."
I didn't realize until the end of the recording that I was near hyperventilation. I calmed myself down as best I could and sat on my bed with my chin resting on my knees. I wanted so badly to just scream and cry, but if there was one thing that Victoria was right about, it was that I didn't deserve it.
I didn't deserve that emotional release that I so dearly wanted and needed. I wrapped myself up in my blanket, rocking back and forth until consciousness left me and my mind filled with the horrific memories of the accident.
How was that? Sorry I took forever again, but I'm already half way done with the next chapter. I hate to do this, but if it comes down to it, I will require a certain amount of reviews if I don't get enough. I'm pretty happy so far, but I've been getting less and less. Please review.
OH yeah, Ericaisdazzled, IN YOUR FACE!! I put in the word STAPLER!! I WIN….for now….
