First off, I wanted to give a special thank you to 'nashonne'. She gave me the most wonderful review, which pushed me to give you all another chapter so soon! Thank you so much, you have no idea how much that mean to me!
Second, I want to explain that there are a lot of boring, technical terms in this chapter that have to do with Optometry. I work in an optometrist office, so I incorporated some of the things that I know into this, which in my opinion makes it sound like it could be real. Hello, Edward, in scrubs, looking hot!
D/C: I do not own Twilight, nor do I own any of the characters portrayed in the book/movie.
Please Read and review!! It makes me happy!! *AM*
I was brought out of a deep slumber that following morning, and I will never forget the shock that laced Alice's voice.
"Isabella Swan! What the hell are you doing in here?" I shot up and looked to my left, expecting to see a sleeping Edward. That alone would send incriminating messages my way, but I sighed with relief when I saw that his pillow was bare.
"You snore like a woodsman," I spat at her. Her eyebrows rose, but I didn't care if my words hurt her. I let my head fall back on the pillow, relishing in the smell of Edward in the blankets.
"Well as wrong as that is," she rolled her eyes, "it's time to get up. We have to go into the office for your training, remember?" I did remember, but that didn't mean I wanted to leave the warmth of cotton.
"I'm up," I sighed. With one last deep breath, I slid out of the bed and towards Alice.
"Do I have time to get ready or are you going to drag my in my pajamas?" Alice's eyes raked over my body and she laughed.
"I'm sure Edward would die if I brought you in like that, so change quickly. We'll grab breakfast on the way out." I blushed at the mention of Edward, and headed towards Alice's room. I threw on jeans and a sweater, heading down the stairs with a backwards glance at Edward's bedroom door. When did he leave the bed? Had he stayed all night or leave me as soon as I fell asleep? I had no answers for my questions, and ran to the kitchen to find Alice.
"Edward here?" I asked slyly. Alice glanced at me with a smile, shaking her head.
"Nope, he headed to the office ahead of us so he could set everything up." She tossed me a granola bar and pointed to the orange juice that was already set up on the counter. "It takes a long time to learn this stuff, so we're hoping to shove your brain full of as much information as possible in just one day. Don't panic." Panic was not the word I would use to describe the feeling I was having. I felt stressed, horrified, alarmed, and confused. I knew close to nothing about Optometry, and I was getting a crash course today.
"Let's do this madness," I whispered as I bit into my granola bar. After I finished, I lead Alice to my car, sighing as I sunk behind the wheel. The previous night came flooding back to me, but I had to push the thoughts away. Picturing police cars and broken mirrors was not helping my level of emotions this morning.
"You okay?" Alice pressed. I glanced at her, offering a tentative smile.
"Nervous," I admitted. She laughed and started to talk my ear off about the office and the people we would be working with. I drove straight to the office, proud that I remembered the way. Alice hadn't taken a breath since we left her driveway, and I had to force a pause when I pulled into the parking lot. Edward's Volvo was already there, parked dead center. As we walked to the front door, I did a double take.
The mirror that had been bent and broken last night now looked like nothing had happened.
"How did he get that fixed so quickly?" I all but shouted at Alice. She glanced from me to the car, and I saw her eyes widen just slightly.
"Uh, he probably took it to our car guy this morning. The dude's a genius." I looked at her in amazement. She was lying, I could tell. But without another word, she turned and opened the front door to the office. Everything was quiet, and I glanced around nervously.
"We're going to start off with Edward leading you through the pre-testing," Alice said, "and then I'm going to go over contact lenses with you. I'm not great at it, but with Edward's help we can make you very knowledgeable."
"What happened to the old contact person?"
"She moved. Husband joined the military and got shipped off to Virginia." I nodded, and followed Alice into the back of the office. I hadn't seen this part when we came the other night, and I let my eyes roam around appreciatively. There were several doors surrounding us, along with two small tables to the side.
"These tables right here," Alice pointed, "are the contact lens dispensary area. When patients come in and have contacts in, we bring them here to have them take them out before the exam. Also when Dr. Allen fits them with new prescriptions, we have them sit down here." I was already lost, but listened carefully.
"When it comes time, I will be teaching you how to do classes, or what we call I&R's. Insertion and Removal. Basically teaching people how to put contacts in and take them out." I interrupted her there.
"But I don't wear contacts, I don't know how to do that."
"None of us wear them," a voice sounded from behind me. I turned abruptly and smiled when I saw Edward standing in one of the doorways. He looked delectable standing in khaki pants and a red long sleeved shirt.
"Hey," I whispered. He grinned and stepped forward, placing a soft kiss on my cheek. I blushed and turned back to Alice, who was looking at us in utter excitement.
"Shut up and keep going," I warned her. She couldn't hide the grin, but did as she was told.
"It's okay if you don't wear contacts, Bella. I can still show you what is involved." I nodded and tried to ignore Edward's presence beside me. Alice pointed to the wall behind the two dispensary tables and I saw that they were covered with tiny plastic shelves.
"These are the contacts. They are separated into the brands, and then the base curves." I was lost again. Base Curves? "And then the diameters." Diameters?
"We will explain what all of this means when time comes," Alice said, recognizing my facial expressions. I nodded and followed her to the back of the office.
"This is where the exam starts, which is what Edward does." I glanced back to him and saw him smile. "There are four different tests that patients take part of, only two of them mandatory." I nodded again as Edward stepped forward. He led the way into the room and I followed, intimidated by the small machines that Edward was pointing to.
"I'm going to explain what they all are, okay?" Edward looked at me, waiting for confirmation. Alice pushed me forward and stood back against the arch of the door. I understood then that this was Edward's area of expertise and would be the one who taught me.
"This here," he continued, pointing to what looked like a sewing machine, "is the Auto Refractor." I made a mental note, but then shook my head, thinking quickly.
"Should I be taking notes?" Edward smiled at my question but shook his head.
"No, not necessary. I have a study guide for you to take if you'd like. But I think you'll be fine." I shook my head, not believing him, but listened to him as he continued.
"The Auto Refractor, or AR, takes the measurement of the eye for the doctor. Basically gives an estimation of the prescription for glasses or contact lenses. This here," Edward pointed to the next machine, which looked almost identical to the first, "is the Non-contact Tonometer, or NCT. It takes a measurement of the eye pressure. It blows a puff of air into the patients' eyes and measures how fast the air comes back to the machine. Great for people who might have glaucoma and whatnot." Should have taken notes.
Edward led me to the next machines, showing me the Visual Field first and then the Retinal Photo. I nodded, listening to the explanations of each machine. Edward was very patient, and I had to force myself to concentrate on several occasions. After the explanations, I started with the lesson on how to use each one. Alice gladly jumped forward, eager to be the guinea pig. I laughed as she sat in the chair, and again tried to pay attention as Edward showed me how to adjust the table and each machine to fit each patient.
It took longer than I would have liked, but Edward was able to show me how the AR and NCT machines worked. Alice jumped each time I puffed the air into her eyes, and after the third time I did it just to be funny.
"Hey!" Alice was blinking furiously, and I moved with Edward to the Visual Field. I learned quickly that the machine was purely patient run.
"It's there to test their peripheral vision, so they have to press the clicker to show when they can see a light. We just set the machine up and put in their age." I listened to Edward go over the speech we were to give each patient, forcing myself to look away from his lips and listen to the words.
"You are never going to remember this stuff if you don't stop giving my brother the sex-me eyes." I gasped at Alice's words, and turned quickly to slap her. Edward didn't help the situation by laughing, but soon after we were able to gravitate towards the Contact Lens area.
I was tired, brain-tired, about everything. To Edward and Alice, this all seemed so easy. But I tried to remember that they had been doing this for a while, for hours and hours a week. They had to have gone through this stage before, right?
"So you think you have an idea of how these all work?" I nodded, very pleased with myself that I was able to understand such complicated machines, especially how each of them worked. As I followed Edward out of the room, I watched as his hand hit the table and all of the machines snapped back to their starting position. I stopped.
"What did you just do?" My voice was low, but I didn't trust it to rise to a higher octave. Edward turned though and followed my gaze. His eyes widened momentarily but smiled.
"Oh! The machines have to be put back to their original positions after you're done with them. It takes a while to get used to, but you get the hang of it." I shook my head though, wanting to stop him as he began to walk again. He did not make sense.
"No, I mean, all you did was touch the table. What did you do?" I looked to Alice and saw that her eyes were wide again, as they were when we were outside. With his car…
"There's a trick," Edward smiled to me. I could see the smile was forced, and he walked over to me quickly. "See, watch." Edward reached out and pushed one of the machines so that it moved along its base. With a bump of his hand on the table, the machine moved back to its original position. I didn't know what to think.
"See?" I nodded. Alice eyed him and walked out into the hallway.
"How did you get your mirror fixed so quickly?" I blurted out. I wanted to smack myself. Alice's step faltered but kept walking regardless. Edward though, looked after Alice as if he couldn't believe she left him with me.
"Woke up early," he explained. "We have a family friend who fixes cars, so he helped me out." Could I argue with any of that? Why was I arguing with it all? Paranoia?
"Sorry," I whispered. The rest of afternoon flew by as I went through the rest of the pretesting measures with Edward. Alice carefully showed me the different types of contact lenses, glad that I was able to grasp onto that quickly. It was easier than I thought it would be, and just compared all of the measurements for the lenses to my math class in school. Alice loved that I did that, and I couldn't help but smile at her.
"So, do you have any questions? Or do you think you'll be all set for tomorrow?" Edward was staring at me with expectation in his eyes, and I couldn't help but shrug.
"I guess. It's one of those wait and see types of things I suppose." I was right, and they knew that. I helped them close up the office, and we headed out into the setting sun.
"How long were we in there?" I asked. I didn't have a watch on, but fished for my cell phone.
"For about six hours or so," Alice laughed. I glanced over to Edward's car again, eyeing the mirror that had been fixed. I didn't know why, but I felt an odd sensation in my stomach when I heard his explanation to how quickly it had been taken care of. What was I saying? There was no other way, except for someone to sit down and fix it.
"Shit," Alice whispered. I looked away from the silver paint and to her face. She was staring over my shoulder to the road, with wide eyes filled with dread. Looking in the direction, I saw a police car turn its way into the buildings parking lot, heading directly for us.
"Shit," I echoed. I glanced at Edward and saw that he was calm and collected. How did he do that?
"Bella?" I turned back to the police car, eyes wide.
"Jake?" Of course. The tall figure of Jacob Black started to unfold from the drivers' side of the car, and he was eyeing Alice and Edward with a stern look.
"Hey, what are you up to?" His question was innocent, but I felt alarm spread through me.
"I start work here tomorrow and Alice and Edward were just training me before working with Dr. Allen." Jacob nodded and looked to our cars. A wave of confusion seemed to pass over his face, and then realization.
"Were you guys in Port Angeles last night?" Jacob asked. Fuck! FUCK!
"No, we were at my house, why?" I refused to look at Edward when he said this, afraid to give away his lie. Edward had lied. To Jake. To the police.
"Yeah? Anyone with you guys?" Jacob was in cop-mode now, and I recognized the tone of the questions as the same my father would have.
"Jasper, Rose and Emmett were with us. Does that count? What does it matter anyway?" I sighed, glad Edward was taking charge of the answers.
"There were racers at one of the residential communities last night, description of the cars match yours actually." Shit. Shit. Shit. My pulse was starting to race, and I knew my face was bright red.
"Really? That's a coincidence! Too bad they didn't get plate numbers on them," Alice said, somewhat calmer than I expected. Jacob glanced at her while adjusting his belt. My eyes drifted to the gun in his holster and the handcuffs on his hips.
"Who said we didn't?" Jacob's retort was quick, and I jumped.
"Because if you did you wouldn't be questioning us," Edward said. He had drawn himself up to his full height, a defensive move I hadn't seen him do as of yet. I felt secluded from the real world all of a sudden. There were no cars driving along the side roads, no noise blowing in the breeze. The clouds above were gray, threatening rain upon us any moment now. Looking back to Edward, I saw that he was staring Jacob down. I wanted to warn him not to do that; but no words escaped my lips. The six inch difference in height between the two was noticeable, and though I found Edward to be tall, Jacob would always be taller. His muscles were noticeably a bit larger. He was not someone to stand up against. Jacob had crossed his arms tightly over his chest, staring at Edward as if he knew he was lying.
"Is there anything else we can do for you Jacob?" I asked quickly. He looked at me quickly, crossing past me in just a few steps and then up to Edward's car.
"Can I help you?" Edward spat angrily. Jacob held his hand up and stepped to the drivers' side door. Oh my… he knew. His eyes slid down to the mirror, studying it carefully. A full minute passed before Jacob straightened, shaking his head carefully.
"Just glancing around. You guys have a great day." And with that, Jacob headed back to his car, slid in and started the engine. With one last look at us, he drove away.
"Shit," Alice whispered into the silence. I looked at Edward, seeing how he wasn't breaking down from his defensive stature.
"That's why you fixed the mirror so quickly," I said. Edward didn't look at me, but nodded.
"If that mirror had been broken, we would have been arrested." He was right.
"Let's get out of here," Alice said calmly. Her attitude was already bouncing back from the fear we had been in. I didn't speak, instead climbing behind the wheel. Alice slid into the passenger seat, leaning her head out the window to speak to her brother. I didn't listen, only stared straight ahead. So many thoughts were rushing through my head—the fear and the realization of what had almost happened hit me.
"Follow Edward." I nodded, of course listening to Alice.
I was out of it until I pulled behind Edward's stopped car. Looking around, I realized I didn't recognize where we were. But when Edward opened his door and emerged, I followed his movements.
"Where are we?" I asked Alice over the hood of my car. She grinned and motioned forward. Edward was walking towards a house, very nice proper, set back from the road. I glanced around and noticed how there was plenty of land around that house. Bare land with no trees.
The front door opened and Jasper walked out, giving Edward a manly hug and then heading straight for Alice. She jumped in his arms and let out a laugh as he spun her around.
"Hey Bella," Jasper greeted me. I laughed and motioned around us.
"Hey Jazz, where are we?" He smiled and kissed Alice before setting her down.
"This is my home. Complete with race track in the back." Race track? What?
"What do you mean you have a race track? If you have a race track here then why did we go all the way to Port Angeles to race last night?" I was confused. So far beyond confused that I was laughing.
"It's no fun racing around in a circle Bells!" Alice was laughing as well, grabbing Jasper's hand and following after Edward. Her brother had long since disappeared around the side of the house, and I wondered what we were doing.
"Are your parents going to mind that we're here?" I asked Jasper as I followed them. Alice slid a look towards her boyfriend, but all I did was blink and she was looking straight ahead again.
"I'm emancipated," was Jasper's response. I stopped walking, staring at the back of Jasper's head. His hair swirled in the breeze as he turned to meet my gaze, but I didn't know what to say. Alice squeezed his hand and let go, casting one final look over her shoulder as she trotted after Edward.
"Do you have a minute?" he asked. I nodded quickly, following him in the opposite direction as the others. Jasper seemed awkward for a moment, leading me back to his front door. I glanced around and noted how the porch wrapped all the way around the house, giving it an old country feel. A porch swing started to move next to the door, and I followed Jasper as he sat on it.
We were quiet for a moment before Jasper set his hand on mine.
"I know I seem odd to a lot of people, almost too quiet." Jasper's voice was filled with an emotion I couldn't recognize, and I wanted to hold him in my arms even if I was scared of crossing a line unseen. "To some I even seem scary." Jasper laughed at this, but looked me in the eye.
"In order for you to understand how I am, you need to hear some of my story. And don't get me wrong, I don't want to force it upon you, but you're a great person and we all want you to stay around for a very long time." I smiled and tightened my grip on Jasper's hand.
"When I was ten, my father died." All he had to say was that, and I would have taken that as an explanation. But he kept going. "My mother was crushed, but took her grief much differently than most people." The sound of an engine starting from somewhere behind the house made me jump, but I ignored the sound as it drifted from the back of the house.
"My mother started working too much down at the hospital as an RN, too many hours. My father had left behind money, but it was locked away in a trust fund that was meant solely for me for when I turned eighteen. My mom didn't like that, so started almost retaliating. She met someone at the hospital who dealt with narcotic prescriptions, and she started taking them. I don't know what she got out of it, if it was purely for pleasure or for the fact she could pull longer hours at work. But she became a different person." I stared at him in horror, imagining young Jasper so frail and unprotected from the cruel world.
"When I was fifteen, my mother was arrested for stealing prescription drugs from the hospital. I was supposed to be sent away as property of the state after that, but Edward and Alice's dad stepped in. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen let me stay at their home until the trial for my mother was over. That's when I became friends with Edward and Alice." I smiled, seeing the connection between the three. Almost like a family.
"My mother was sentenced to ten years in prison, and talk of me being sent into foster care came around. I refused, and Dr. Cullen helped me to speak with lawyers and I fought to become emancipated. Along with that, we realized there were fine lines among my trust fund from my father. In the case that my mother was out of the picture, either dead or custody of the law, the money is released to me in full." I let my mouth drop open.
"How much…" I didn't know how to phrase the question, but Jasper laughed.
"How much money did he leave me?" I nodded. Jasper glanced around and leaned in. "Six million dollars." I jerked back and gasped.
"You have six million dollars?!" I didn't mean to sound so dramatic, but I was in complete and utter shock. Jasper didn't seem to flaunt around like he was a millionaire and I loved the fact that he didn't parade his misery around to everyone. Or maybe it was because everyone already knew…
"Well," Jasper laughed, "it's more like five and a half million now. I bought this house and my car, set aside my money for college. Not to mention, I try not to be a tight ass. I don't worry about pinching pennies just yet. I'm having fun, taking my girl out and just being a teenager." We sat on the swing for a few more minutes, and I let my gaze run over the land surrounding us. Jasper was a lot different than I thought he was. I never thought badly of him, not even for a moment, but now respect was mixed in with the friendship we had.
"Thank you for letting me understand you a little bit more," I said. Jasper laughed and leaned in for a hug.
"You are more than welcome Bella. It's so good to have you here. Edward seems so happy, and it's nice to have the group complete." I completed them. Did they not know they were the ones who completed me?
We stood after that and started our walk around the house. Jasper kept his arm draped around my shoulder, pulling me along with him.
"Now, Jasper, you're not trying to steal my girl from me, are you?" I turned to see Edward and Alice laughing, and I rolled my eyes. Jasper's arm fell from my shoulders as he turned to hug Alice.
"So, I'm your girl, huh?" Edward blushed and I grinned. Alice and Jasper were clearly waiting for an answer, staring at us with open mouths. I crossed my arms, standing two feet in front of him, waiting for an answer. It was something I had been wondering since the night before. Even though we had been talking all week, holding hands and sneaking each other glances every five seconds, I wanted to know where we stood. And why not put him on the spot? It made things so much more fun.
"Uh.. well," Edward was red, embarrassed, and clearly not able to form a coherent thought.
"I'm just playing with you Edward," I laughed, "I do not expect you to answer that." I turned to look at Jasper's backyard, but felt Edward's hand around my wrist.
"If I had an answer for you now, though, would you accept that?" How had his voice become so sure? I turned my gaze back to him, seeing Alice from the corner of my eye. Her eyes were going back and forth between me and her brother, waiting for something epic to happen.
"Yes, I would accept an answer now," I smiled back. Did he really have an answer? The sound of engines roared in the distance, and I wondered only momentarily what was making that sound. But the golden depths of Edward's eyes were drawing me in, smiling at me in his tantalizing way.
"Well," he whispered. Alice leaned in slightly. "I would like you and I to be together, if that's okay with you." My grin widened.
"Is that an invitation?" I was teasing him, I knew this. But seeing the gorgeous specimen in front of me squirm, was worth every teasing word.
"Bella, will you go out with me?" His words were soft and full of an emotion I couldn't recognize coming from him.
"Ohmigod! Edward and Bella are going out!" Alice's scream deafened me, and I moved to cover my ears.
"Alice! She didn't say yes yet!" Jasper grabbed the small girl around the waist and started to walk off with her. She started thrusting in his arms, trying to get free.
"Jasper! I want to hear what she says! Put me down dammit!" I was laughing and listening as the threats started to fly out of her mouth.
"I don't know what exactly I'm saying, I guess, but I want us to try going out. Dates, and see where this ends up." I was thrilled at Edward's words.
"Of course the answer is yes," I said. Edward pulled me into a hug and I smiled into his shirt. I breathed into his scent, letting his hands roam over my back.
"Thank you," Edward whispered into my neck. I laughed, pulling back.
"You're thanking me? It's not like I'm doing you a favor!" His eyes were full of fire, and he lifted me off the ground in one quick movement. My scream echoed through the air, and I heard Emmett's loud laugh match mine. When Edward put me back on the ground, he pressed his lips to my own. My air escaped me, and I melted into the cool touch. Edward's lips were rough against me, passionate to the extreme. I let my lips become captive in Edward's teeth, moaning slightly. Carefully I grasped onto his bottom lip, sucking gently on the soft skin.
"Get a room!" I broke free from Edward's embrace and flipped Emmett my middle finger. Edward laughed and grabbed my hand.
"Come on beautiful." I followed Edward until we reached what looked like a garage, before I looked up to study the race track. My mouth dropped open in shock as I understood the definition of race track. The backyard of Jasper's house stretched into oblivion, what seemed to be miles of land bare of homes or buildings. Green and brown stretched to the horizon, and I felt the pang of jealousy.
"Is all of this yours?" I whispered, knowing Jasper could hear me.
"Sure is," he answered immediately. I shook my head in disbelief, watching as Emmett and Rose folded their bodies into cars I hadn't seen before.
"Holy shit." I knew no one could hear me, but I blushed regardless. There was definitely a race track, and it could easily pass as a somewhat professional course.
"This is Jasper's track," Alice said proudly.
"It's only a mile course, not as big as I wanted. But because of zoning regulations this is all I could do." All he could do? Seriously?
"Ya, I guess it'll have to do," I said sarcastically. They all laughed and I shook my head. Emmett was waving to us from the car, and Alice ran forward immediately.
"Whose cars are those?" I asked. Edward squeezed my shoulder and pulled me to a long bench that sat on the side of the track. I was in awe, staring at the paved track before me. Never before had I seen something like this in front of me, and I wondered if I pinched myself would I wake up.
"Those are the extra cars we got to practice with," Jasper answered. My head shot to him and I let my mouth drop open again. Extra cars?
"Don't worry Bella, it's not like we have a million extra cars just sitting around. We all pooled together to purchase these, not brand new or anything, so that we wouldn't put wear and tear on our own personal cars." I glanced at Jasper again, trying to let his words sink in. I suppose because all of them were well off, the spending of the money wasn't out of the ordinary. But coming from the crowd in Phoenix, I hadn't seen something like this before. Especially in a backyard.
"Okay," I muttered. Edward's arm nudged me and I felt myself smiling. Alice went to stand between the two cars as she had the night prior with me and Edward, and I saw that she was laughing at something Emmett was saying.
"On your mark! Get set! Go!" And with that Emmett and Rose were off. I could barely contain my excitement at seeing this, and found myself out of my seat in one swift moment. Alice ran towards us with a grin spread across her face, and I grabbed her to my side.
"Go Rose!" I heard myself scream. It was odd that I already picked sides in their race, not knowing either of them and their racing skills well enough. Jasper went to stand beside Edward, laughing at how Alice and I were jumping up and down.
"Man, we have to cheer for Emmett, just to give him some backup!" I understood the testosterone thing, really I did. But from what I could see on that track, Rose had Emmett in the palm of her hand. She was driving a small red car, what looked to be an older Mustang. Compared to mine it was beat up and used, but I had to understand that it was a backup car. Emmett was in a BMW, black and sleek. I would have driven it any other day, not just here on that track.
Rose was in the clear lead, at least two car lengths ahead of Emmett. I could see her face from where I stood, and she seemed triumphant.
"I had no idea she could drive like that!" I yelled. Alice grabbed my arm tighter and started to scream encouraging words.
"Go Rose!" A minute later the race was over, and Rose was unbuckling herself from the harness, giving her boyfriend a sultry smile.
"Baby! Are you okay?" Emmett was looking at her with disbelief, and then looked to the group watching.
"I think he's in shock," Edward muttered. But Emmett didn't seem to be the sore loser type, and embraced Rose in a tight hug.
"That's my girl!" his voice yelled out. I stood with my friends as we decided who was going to race next. Edward made the decision that he and I would not race against each other until we had a little break. After all, last night was very stressful for us both. I laughed at his explanation, but agreed regardless. I strapped myself into the BMW as I eyed Jasper from the other car. For some reason he wanted to see if I was really that good or if Edward was really that bad.
Revving the engine, I concentrated on the path before me. I was driving a car I was not used to, but tried to calm my nerves by telling myself that it didn't matter. I was a great driver, and good at concentrating. Alice stood before us, arms up in amusement. She wasn't sure who to cheer for it seemed, as she mouthed 'good luck' to both of us. I was happy either way, I realized. If I lost, it would be to a great person. If not, that great person would probably give me a hug. I smiled to the pixie girl and waited for her to release us.
"Go!" And I was off. Within seconds I saw Jasper pull ahead of me, flashing me a toothy grin. I laughed and shook my head, shifting into fourth as I turned around the track. I couldn't hear any of the cheering, but I saw everyone standing on the side of the track, screaming. Without really knowing, I guessed that Edward and Rose were cheering for me, and Alice and Emmett were cheering for Jasper. It was fine, as long as we were having fun, right?
On our second turn of the track, I slammed my foot onto the gas pedal, hoping that I would be able to find a burst of speed lying within the cars' engine. But as we approached the bright yellow line that had been painted along the track, I watched with a sigh as Jasper shot ahead of me, winning our little race.
Carefully I stepped onto the brake, slowing the car to a stop. It didn't take long to park next to Jasper, and when our engines were cut I could hear the cheering.
"That was great!" Alice's voice was getting closer, and I looked through the windshield to see her running to us. I grinned and opened the car door quickly.
Crunch.
"Shit!" I looked down and saw a small cement pole, embedded into the door of the BMW. "Shit!" I could feel my face get warm as I turned to the others.
"I am so sorry! I didn't even see this! What the hell is it? Who the hell puts a cement pole on the side of a track!" Jasper and Emmett were laughing loudly, and Alice started to giggle as well. Rose didn't seem to be laughing, but smiling regardless. Edward though, had his forehead creased with worry.
"Bella, are you okay?" I rolled my eyes, shooting him a look.
"Of course I'm fine, but I put a dent into the side of the car!" I felt tears prick my eyes, threatening to spill over. "I am so sorry; I'll pay to have it fixed." I couldn't believe I had dented their car. What was wrong with me?
"Bella, it's fine," Jasper was saying. "That's what insurance is for!" He was right, I knew, but immediately thought of Charlie. What would he think when I had to have the insurance company pay for this? Would he know I was racing? Would the Cullen's get in trouble? Jasper? Rose? Emmett? I started to panic, wondering all of these things.
"Bella, it's fine," Edward echoed Jasper. I shook my head, walking away. I didn't want them to see me break down, and I had to get away as quick as possible. Running around the side of the house, I listened as everyone shouted after me. But I ran to my car and dug through my bag, unearthing my cell phone. Dialing the person I didn't really want to speak to, I waited.
"This is Chief Swan." I sighed.
"Hey dad, it's Bella." I waited, and was not disappointed when I heard him panic slightly.
"Bella? What's wrong?" I slammed my car door shut, turning to see Alice walk around the house with concern etched on her face.
"Everything is fine, but I had a quick question about our car insurance policy." Here we go.
"Car ins—Bella were you in a car accident?" His panic was evident and I breathed deeply.
"No, I'm fine. I was hanging out with the others at Jasper's house and I accidently put a dent in his car door. I figure it has to go through us, right?" I started to walk to Alice, ignoring the questions in her eyes as we walked back to the track. Edward was bending down to examine the dent in the car, and I sighed when Jasper turned to me. I stopped though when I saw panic in his eyes when he saw me.
"Bella, I wish you were more careful," my father said, "but yeah, it would go through us. We have a small deductible, but I have to check with our insurance agent to see how much it is. Are you able to find out how much it would cost to get the dent fixed? Aren't those boys smart when it comes to that?" My dad was right, they were, but I didn't know how to ask them that. I walked around to look at the dent again, and I froze.
"Bella?" My dad was waiting for me to answer. But I was staring at Edward.
"Dad, let me call you back." And I hung up.
"What the fuck," I said. I watched as Emmett pulled Rose and Alice to the side, away from the angry Bella I assume.
"Look Bella," Jasper said calmly, "Edward was able to get the dent out." I shook my head immediately. No, I remembered the dent very clearly. It was the size of a soccer ball, maybe two inches deep. Some of the paint had been scratched off, which I could still see missing. So yes, it would still need a touch up, but the ragged edges of the dent were now smooth.
"No, there's no way." I was in denial, I knew this. But I glared at Edward in question. "What did you do?" Edward stood up and brushed his hands off on his khakis.
"I thought you left Bella," Edward said. He looked at Alice and Jasper quickly, his panicked look mirroring Jasper's.
"No, I was trying to find out if my car insurance covered this. Now, what did you do?" Edward cleared his throat and brushed his hands off on his pants again before raising one of his hands to brush through his unruly hair.
"It wasn't that bad, just needed to be knocked back into place."
"No! Don't lie to me Edward, I saw the dent!" Jasper forced out a laugh, which Alice joined in with. I closed my eyes, sighing when I felt a drop of rain hit the back of my neck.
"Let's get this stuff out of the rain," Emmett interrupted. As much as I appreciated his sentiments to get us out of the rain and stay dry, I wanted to smack him for breaking apart this conversation. I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.
But Alice's hand wrapped around my arm, and Jasper started to rub my back. I turned to look at Edward once more before I was pulled away, and saw that he was staring down at the car in confusion.
"Meet you guys back at the house," Edward called over to us, glancing up only once as I walked away. I nodded to him, trying to send silent signals to him that I wanted to talk later. But he just smiled and walked towards the drivers' side door. As Alice and I piled into my car, I heard the roar of an engine. I was sure it was just Edward putting the car away, but it still made me curious.
"What happened?" I asked Alice when it was just her and I in the car. She just shook he head, laughing.
"Bella, you sure do have an over-active imagination! Edward and Jasper were able to knock the dent out. It was fairly easy." I didn't believe her. My mind raced as we pulled into Alice's driveway, and my head started to throb as Alice made small talk over sandwiches and soft drinks. When her phone went off, she excused herself into the other room, while I remained motionless on a barstool.
When I heard Alice's voice rise in anger, I sat up straight. I never heard Alice angry, and it spiked my interest. Carefully and silently I slid off of the wood stool and crept to the archway between the living room and the kitchen.
"You were stupid! So careless!" Alice's voice was low and she was almost hissing into the mouthpiece. I hid behind the wall, straining to hear the one side of the conversation.
"I don't care Edward," she continued to whisper. "I won't accept that excuse anymore. What if she figures it out? I know we're all used to it, so we don't think twice, but Bella is different. You can't do this stuff in front of her." She paused and I wondered if I should run back to my stool. But her anger towards Edward had me intrigued. So what if I was caught? What would she do?
"I've seen you Edward! You're becoming careless! Your mirror, at work, her door. You have to stop!" She paused again, sighing. "Yes Edward, she's here. Just ate dinner with her. I'll make sure she's gone before you get home. Bye." I was in my stool before she could even hang the phone up. When she walked back into the kitchen, I saw that even though she was smiling, it was clearly strained.
"Well, I better get going," I said. "Thank you for dinner." Alice didn't argue with me, seeming relieved that she didn't have to kick me out in any way. I hugged her good night, telling her I would see her at school the next morning. But on my drive home, I ran over her phone conversation with Edward again and again. Something was wrong, and little by little the façade was slipping. As I pulled into my own driveway, I stared at my house through the rain, wondering how in just one week I had gone back to feeling just as lost and confused as I did when I first started school.
What will happen next? What is Edward and Alice keeping from Bella? How will she react when she finds out such a secret? When will Bella and Edward race again? Will they get caught?
So many questions asked, so many freaking answers. Remember all, please review. I'm working my ass off on this story, and I want more enthusiasm!!
~*AM*