Esme put the car in park by the small, security house as the gates opened up for her vehicle.
A young, blond man, Mike, stepped out.
"Where were you when these two got out?" Esme asked him.
"I, uh.." Mike glanced at Edward in the passenger seat, who made a face as if to say 'I'm sorry'.
"Eyes on me Michael." Esme was motherly in her tone and when the young man nodded his confession she shook her head with disappointment and turned her back to get back into the car.
Mike put his hands out to the sides when he looked back to Edward who mouthed the word 'sorry' before Esme started up the car again.
Behind them a dark green station wagon with tinted windows slowly crept by before proceeding on past the school grounds.
"I'm sorry," Edward said to Esme as she parked in front of their house on the far side of the campus.
"Don't be late for my class." She got out of the car, not looking at him as she wandered back down toward her office leaving the boys staring at one another.
Esme grabbed a binder quickly from her office and went to hurry down the hall for one of the two English classes she taught. There were still ten to fifteen minutes left of the lunch hour and so she tried to take a breath and relax as she prepared her classroom.
Carlisle's knock on the door frame made her look up, immediately giving him a set of apologetic eyes.
"Did you at least get to eat your sandwich?" She asked him.
A smile decorated his face. "Did you?"
Esme sighed and shook her head. "I think I'm losing him Carlisle."
"Edward?"
She nodded and he paced the room slowly to where she sat behind her desk.
"I think he's a teenager.. with a mother that he knows loves him very much." Carlisle looked her in the eye. "Sometimes kids push the limits a little. He's a good kid."
"Yeah.." Esme breathed the word. "He is." She ran a hand through her hair and stared a blank permission slip for the Yosemite trip. Hesitantly, she began writing Edwards bake in the blank space at the top before pausing a moment and signing the bottom. Next to her signature she was forced to scribble in the date: 10/31.
Carlisle watched as she filled out the slip and then they two of them stared at one another. "You're sure you're comfortable doing that?"
"He has a point." Esme shrugged. "Up until today he's done nothing to break my trust. He's home on time. When Bella's over the door stays open to his room without complaint. They watch movies with me half the time. His lowest grade is a B+ in an AP Statistics class." She shook her head. "What's wrong with me? I need to reward him a little for just.."
"Being a good kid," Carlisle concluded.
Esme nodded. "Yeah. He deserves this."
Carlisle rounded the desk and gave her a hug as she rose to her feet. "And to answer your question there is nothing wrong with you. You're a great mother Esme. That's all there is to it."
Esme looked him in the eye. "Have I told you that I love you?"
"No." He smiled.
"Well I do. I love you Carlisle."
"I love you too." They shared a quick kiss before he stepped back. "You'll get a chance to relax too, ya know. You deserve it every once in a while for all you take on here." Carlisle headed toward the door to allow her to prepare for her class.
"Carlisle.." she called him back for a moment. "Thank you.. for everything."
He smiled and headed out of the classroom with a wave, leaving Esme to her lesson plan.
When the students began filtering in a few minutes later she prepped for a discussion on the book Frankenstein that they were in the middle of reading.
On the chalkboard she scribbled some of the main themes and wrote a message of 'No Homework' which she knew would draw excitement from all of them, especially with the upcoming camping trip.
Bella and Edward had the one class together and entered side-by-side before taking their seats at opposite ends of the classroom, though both near the back row.
Esme's lesson was soon underway and Edward remained silent in the back right corner, occasionally making a silly face at girlfriend to make her smirk or laugh quietly in the back left by the windows.
When Esme glanced in Bella's direction she quickly shifted her gaze out the window, noting she had been caught with a giggle a little too loud.
A smile still clung to her face as she daydreamed of her night ahead with Edward when the campus would be virtually empty. She sighed lowly and gazed around the wooded areas before spotting a face in the small, barred and paneless window that sat at the top of a big, brown door at the back emergency exit of the school. It bordered the woods and a black fence stretched out around the perimeter of the campus.
It's a mask, she thought to herself, not a face.
The black eye holes stared back at her, contrasting the white mask. It gave Bella a chill.
"Bella," Esme's voice made her snap back to face the front of the room. "Why do you think that Victor was finally able to confront his monster?"
Bella saw Edward's eyes on her from across the room but didn't look over at him.
"Well, uh.." she got her thoughts together. "I think Victor reached the point where he had nothing left to lose. I mean the monster had killed off everyone that he loved and he finally had to face it - it was about redemption. It was his fate."
Esme stared at Bella for a long moment. The answer was perfect though it drew parallels in her mind to her own life and her experiences with Michael Myers. A chill ran the length of her back and she acknowledged Bella's answer as being right on the mark.
Edward looked over at her and gave a silent clap, making Bella smile again though she immediately looked back out the window toward the door by the woods. The person with the mask was gone.
When the bell finally rang to end the class everyone stood up and Esme shouted out loud, wishing them all a nice time on the trip. When Edward went to pass out into the hallway she called his name and waved her to him.
Esme felt a wave of anxiety pass through her but she ignored it and handed her son the signed permission slip.
"What's this?" Edward asked.
"A permission slip." Esme smiled. "Go pack quick."
"I don't have to go-"
"Go." She shooed him with her hands. "It's good for you. It's good for me. So just call me.. and call.. call.."
Edward laughed.
"And when you think you've called too many times call once more." Esme looked at him directly. "Have a wonderful time."
"Thanks Mom." He gave her a hug, smiled and then headed out of the room to meet Bella in the hallway.
"What'd your mom say?" She asked quietly.
Edward showed her the permission slip. "She changed her mind about Yosemite."
"So now you're going?"
Edward smirked and crumpled up the paper. "I wouldn't say that."