Hi Everyone! I'm hoping that this next week I can get some more writing in so this story can really start to take off, but thanks to all who have read and listed reviews! Hope you enjoy this one :) I can't help but giggle every time I think of Jacob in a suit. He's definitely more uncomfortable than even Charlie was at Bella's wedding :P Anyways, enjoy. As always, reviews are nice!
Chapter 7
Hysteria had broken out over the new Cullen mansion. Esme scurried around the kitchen making a big breakfast for Jacob, Carlisle was receiving phone calls from the school board since he was the number one reference on Jake's resume, and Alice stood atop a mountain of clothing trying to dress Jake for his interview. Intrigued by this unusual sight, I decided to join them to see if I could be of any assistance.
"It has to be just perfect. You don't want to seem like you're trying too hard, but if you dress down too much, you'll end up looking like a student. I might suggest parting your hair slightly to the side, just to make you age a couple years. Also, maybe skip out on shaving today Jake. Most young high school boys aren't capable of producing any type of facial hair successfully." Alice was completely determined and in her element.
"Alice I'm pretty sure they'll be more concerned about my responses to their interview questions, not my ability to dress like a Harvard professor." Reading Jake's mind, I could tell he was a lot more nervous than he would ever let on. Carlisle had given him a three page paper to memorize all the appropriate names and studies that he was supposedly already familiar with. It was basically just a long cheat sheet on how to get hired. His irregular fast heartbeat was beating even faster than usual, and beads of sweat were beginning to perspire on the back of his neck.
"Wowy wow Jake!" Nessie had just appeared from around the corner. "Don't you look handsome!" She meant it too. I knew her crush for Jake dug deeper than any high school fling any other girls at school would have. It wasn't so much her response to him that irritated me as his response to her. His breathing shortened, and his heart stopped a beat. My daughter was gorgeous; she definitely took after her mother. Her long bronze curls hung over her shoulder, and her pink cheeks flustered at the sight of him. I have had several years of warning to get used to the idea of Ness gaining stronger feelings towards Jake, but it didn't mean that I liked it.
Jake's face lit up to her comment. "Ya think so Ness? I don't look too goofy?"
"I think you look perfect. Practically every girl in school is going to have a crush on the new History teacher." In reality, Nessie was just thankful that it was Jake being subjected to Alice's fashion torture instead of her.
"I have to get the job first Nessie. That in itself is going to take a miracle."
"Nessie could you run and grab me a comb in the bathroom?" Alice asked. "Also maybe a bottle of gel…"
"Gel? I think that's hardly necessary." Jake moaned.
"Shush Jake! I know what I'm doing."
"I'll just leave you guys to it," I muttered under my breath fighting back a smile. I turned out the door seeking out my beautiful wife.
When I found her emerging from the shower grasping her towel, I gaped in wonderment, racking my brain for something, anything noteworthy of this pristine goddess in front of me.
"Don't tell me I've rendered you speechless again," she mocked me. Her damp hair hang loosely over her back, and the sparse droplets of water glistened off her pearly white skin.
"I can't help it love. When you come out of the bathroom looking like that, I think you could potentially cast any man on this earth speechless."
"Har har," she sarcastically laughed.
I couldn't hold back any longer. In a short moment, I was at her side, slowly releasing the towel from her grasp. Gently pulling her against me, I bent down to kiss her forehead. Then again on her eyelids, down her neck, and finally onto her lips. She moaned softly and whispered "Edward, if you start this now, there's absolutely no way we'll make it on time to school."
"Nonsense! You know as well as I that it takes you less than two minutes to dry your hair and get dressed. The others won't be ready to leave for approximately thirteen, so that leaves us with eleven minutes to ourselves." I nudged her onto the bed and fell on top her, kissing her mouth again so she couldn't argue back.
Thirteen minutes later, we emerged from our room (which was in complete disarray) with Bella looking absolutely perfect. My hair was in its normal state of disheveled appearance, and we headed up the stairs to meet everyone else for a quick family meeting.
"Okay everyone. I understand that you all know how imperative Jake's interview is to this family. If any of you so much as jeopardize his opportunity for this job" Carlisle glanced over to Emmett, "then we will most likely be packed and ready to move again before you even return home."
"Oh come on Dad! You know I like to give him a hard time, but I'm not going to put Nessie in danger because I can't resist pulling a prank!" Emmett may be reckless, but he wasn't stupid.
Jacob stood in the back fidgeting with the papers Carlisle had given him earlier. They were a wrinkled mess and I doubted any of the words were even legible anymore. Ness stood by his side patting his back. "You're going to do great," she said.
Carlisle spoke up again. "Edward, you will take Bella, Renesmee, and Alice in the Volvo. Emmett, Jasper, and Rose, you will take the BMW. That way Jake can take my Mercedes and I will take Emmett's Jeep to work. No one is to acknowledge Jake at the school because you're not supposed to know him. Bella and Renesmee, I know this will be especially hard for you both, but understand that Jake will not be giving you any special treatment throughout the school year. Don't seek out more attention."
Renesmee sighed, and I knew it was going to be a tough year for her. She was ecstatic that she was now able to see Jake during her hours at school, but it may have well been torture for her. No hugs, no inside jokes, no direct contact.
Carlisle and I had planned out the interview perfectly. Bella and Ness would go to class as planned, and I would head to the administrative offices outside the Principal's door pretending to get my schedule changed. This way I could monitor the interview. We had planted a small earpiece into Jacob's ear so that if he didn't have the answer to a question, I could feed him the perfect response.
After hugs to Esme and Carlisle, we all started packing into our cars to leave. Renesmee stood behind with Jake to reassure him. "I'm gonna miss you!" she whispered.
"What are you talking about kiddo? I'm going to be at school with you!"
"You know it won't be the same."
"I know," Jacob sighed. "But I'll see you after school, and I'll tell you all about what happened. Maybe later we can go on a hunt if that's okay with your mom and dad…" He looked up at me hopefully, knowing I was listening in on their conversation.
"Sure you can honey. Jake will be here after school and you can leave then. Just make sure you're home before dark. We need to get a move on though guys!"
Ness hugged Jake one last time as she gracefully slid into the back seat of the car joining Alice. "See you at school Jake," I said giving him a quick nudge on the back. "You're going to do fine. I have yet to fail an interview, and if you're feeding them my responses, you're as good as gold!"
He smiled and walked over to the garage while I headed to the driver's seat of my new sedan.
All of a sudden, Alice was shrieking in the back seat. "Just what in the world are you wearing Nessie? Do you think I bought that top of the line, back to school wardrobe for you just to look at? You're supposed to wear the clothes!"
"Well these were in there too!" she yelled. I looked back quickly to see what her ensemble consisted of today. Simple designer jeans with a long sleeve white t-shirt. I couldn't help but chuckle.
"You are so like your mother, Ness." I said, remembering the same first outfit Bella had chosen to wear in her new life.
"I'm dressing you tomorrow!" Alice replied. She was already scheming in her head of only placing one ridiculous outfit in her closet each night, so she would have no choice but to wear what Alice had picked out for her.
When we arrived at the parking lot, Ness and Alice went ahead of Bella to meet Rosalie for Earth Science class. I had started to walk in the direction of the administrative office when Bella tugged lightly at my hand.
Don't be too long Mr. Cullen She thought. Her mind was so intriguing and soulful that I could sit for centuries just listening to it. She showed me an image of her sitting in the back classroom next to an empty desk.
"I'll be as quickly as possible sweetheart. I cradled the nape of her neck to draw her closer to my face for a delicate kiss. "Save a seat for me." She left me with another quick kiss to the cheek and sauntered off to our history class; the same one that Jacob would hopefully be joining us in later.
Seeing that Jacob hadn't arrived yet, I walked aimlessly around the hallway trying my best to ignore the comments of the shallow girls passing my direction. When Jacob's thoughts were closing in on my errant thoughts, I stopped to listen to them. He walked towards the door reciting every name and class that was on his cheat sheet that he memorized. The answers were more of a buffer if for any reason I couldn't answer a question right away, but it wasn't likely for that to happen. I took a step into the office and sat in an empty chair facing Mrs. Delany's desk. She ironically wasn't there, which simplified things. I wouldn't have to try and get rid of her. Jacob entered the office, looked down at me and I gave him a quick smile. He nodded and gulped as he walked past the secretary's desk, and knocked on Principal Berrett's door.
I heard footsteps approaching as Principal Berrett opened the door to his office. He was a large man, but not quite as tall as Jake. His belly reached out on all sides, and the mustache above his mouth moved as he tried to swallow the last contents of his breakfast. He was a good man, I could tell. His thoughts mostly enveloped around his wife and two daughters that were just beginning junior high. His eyes were kind, and very welcoming.
"Principal Berrett," Jake stuttered out, obviously surprised by the large stature of his interviewer. "My name is Jacob Black. You had invited me here this morning for an interview regarding the vacant History teaching position?"
"Mr. Black, so nice to meet you," he boomed. Soon after, Jacob had emerged into the office with the door closed behind him.
"So where to begin," the large man uttered. "I suppose you could start off by telling me about yourself. Obviously I have received your resume and letters of recommendation. That much I know about you, tell me about how you came to be interested in history."
Luckily, last night we had prepared for this question. "Well," Jake started, "If you can't tell from my ethnicity, I come from a tribe in the Northwest part of Washington. Our town is completely filled with legends and mythology. I had become quite enveloped in it at an early age, always wanting to gain more information. Once I had learned everything I could about my own ancestry, I became fascinated with the rest of the world and its cultures. I suppose you could say it has always been a part of me."
"Very interesting. May I ask what tribe you are from?"
"The Makah reservation." We had decided not to associate ourselves with the Quillute's for obvious reasons. The Makah tribe and Quillute's were close enough, so we figured we could fake it.
"How spectacular. You definitely have an advantage to teaching the classes part of your own history then. Now how about your schooling? I see you have letters of recommendation from Professor Hemingway at Harvard while you also studied there. We have already followed up on your references this morning, and Professor Hemingway assured us that you were a favorite pupil. Always receiving top marks on all your assignments. Can you tell me why a star student such as yourself with such high credentials would want to teach in a small Northwestern high school teaching students about History? Forgive me for saying so, but it just seems a little out of place."
"I've always been more of a small town guy. Growing up in a very tight-knit community has held its ground on me, and I would prefer to be somewhere closer to home. I've never really relished in the thought of having more money or a higher profession. I enjoy showing and teaching students the things I already love. It has a definite sense of accomplishment to it. I can only hope that these young adults will find their true passion in life within the next few years, whether it be in history, or any other hobby for that matter."
"It seems as though you might be just the person we need at this school. One more question, how on earth did you hear about this open position? Up until yesterday afternoon, Mr. Flemming, our current history teacher has been with this district for thirteen years. I knew he was interested in teaching college courses. I even supplied him with a letter of recommendation! But he called me last evening telling him of his resignation. Of course I felt a wave of panic knowing the school year had just begun, but after I rang the superintendent and had the position list it online, I received an email of your application! What are the coincidences of that happening?"
Jacob's mind ran blank and he didn't have an answer. Help me Edward! He yelled into my head.
"Tell him that you have lived in the area for a few months looking for an open position. After logging in for one last attempt last night before deciding you needed to move to another region, the vacancy opened up and you wrote them immediately."
"Well you see sir, I had moved to Enumclaw about two months ago. I found a great deal on a home, and the town seemed too perfect to pass up. I had applied to the local museum, the community college, but they too had no vacancies. I was beginning to think I would have to uproot again, when I opened my computer as a last resort again, and found that the high school had a new opening. You couldn't believe my enthusiasm upon realizing it was the history position that opened up!"
He was a natural. Principal Berrett bought every word.
"Well it seems it must be fate," Principal Berrett answered. "I personally think you are a perfect fit for this school and can't wait to get you on board. Of course there will be paperwork to fill out, and more hurdles to go through before this becomes a smooth process, but how about we head to your new classroom to meet your future students. I know Mr. Flemming is eager to be out of here since the college semester starts in less than two weeks."
"I would be happy to start as early as today!" Jake answered.
"Well let's get the legal stuff out of the way first, then we can talk about you starting tomorrow."
I heard a rustling movement as they stood and shook hands again, and I hurried my way outside the office doors.
They followed quickly behind and suddenly I heard "Young man, do you have a hall pass or an excuse as to why you aren't in class?"
I turned to look at my new principal and Jake standing behind me, Jake fighting back a smile.
Second day of school and you're getting yelled at by the principal. I'm totally telling your dad.