Title: Fast Times at Forks High
Summary: They seemed to speak a different language in the 80's. But the language of love will always remain the same. Edward and Bella navigate high school in different cliques, but beneath the feathered bangs and spiked hair, there, like, might just be more.
Your cruel device
Your blood like ice
One look could kill
My pain, your thrill
"'I wanna love you but I better not touch (don't touch),'" I sang as I curled part of my bangs down toward my forehead.
I loved this song, and pretty much had it on repeat in my cassette player. It had taken me forever to manage to record it off the radio, and I was going to get my time's worth.
"'I wanna hold you, but my senses tell me to stop.'"
Taking the upper section of my bangs, I curled them back toward the top of my head, grabbing the Aqua Net and spraying liberally along the curl.
"'I wanna kiss you but I want it too much (too much).'"
I used my comb to brush out the top section of my bangs, feathering them slightly, making them stand up high on my head. Happy with the result, I grabbed my Aqua Net once more, spraying practically half the bottle to hold them in place, groaning when I realized the can was nearly empty…again. Dad was going to kill me if I asked for more so soon after just buying me some on the weekend. He was on my case all summer about getting a job so I could pay for my "girly shit" myself.
The door to my room burst open suddenly. "'I WANNA TASTE YOU BUT YOUR LIPS ARE VENOMOUS POISON,'" my stepbrother, Jasper, wailed out, completely off-tune, coming into my room.
"WHAT THE FUCK, JASPER? GET OUT!" I screamed at him, frantically trying to cover the lower half of my body. "I don't have any pants on, you pervert."
Jasper's mom, Charlotte, had married my dad when we were in eighth grade. Getting Jasper to knock before entering my room had been an ongoing process. It appeared as if we were going to have to have another family meeting about boundaries and personal space.
"I know," he replied, waggling his eyebrows, "and your booty's, like, totally banging, Bella, like if society wouldn't, like, totally, like, bug out about it, I would, like, totally hit that shit."
"Ugh, gag me with a spoon, Jasper. I wouldn't touch you with Alice Brandon's vagina."
"I would, like, totally, like, touch Alice Brandon's vagina. I bet it would be, like, totally, like, a spiritual experience, you know?"
"Jesus H Christ, Jasper, would you quit talking like that? You make our generation look as if we can't string two sentences together. You went to California for two weeks, dude. Stop acting like you're the second coming of Spicoli for fuck's sake."
Alice Cooper changed to Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer." Glancing at the clock, I knew I was cutting it short for time if I was going to be able to get my pants just right.
"Did you need something, Jasper? I have to finish getting ready."
"Oh, right. Well, like, I just needed to, like, know if you, like, wanted a ride."
"Say it in English, Jasper."
"Do you want a ride to school?"
"No, thanks. Tanya and Vicky are coming to pick me up. Now, out!"
X
It took me another forty-five minutes to get my skin-tight jeans on–fifteen minutes to put them on and get them zipped and buttoned, using a pair of pliers to help; another thirty to put all the safety pins in them correctly at the bottom and carefully arranging my slouch socks, before shoving my feet into my plain white canvas sneakers.
I threw on an oversized sweater with the sleeves cut just past the elbow over the tank top I was wearing, just in time for Tanya to honk her horn, notifying me of her arrival. Grabbing my black, canvas Jansport backpack, I dashed down the stairs and out the door before my dad or Charlotte could comment on my makeup. Neither of them was a fan of the amount of blue eyeshadow I used—clown makeup, my dad called it.
I jumped into the back of Tanya's '86 Nissan Micra and slammed the door closed, telling her to floor it just as my dad came out onto the porch, screaming my name, and for me to come back and put on some clothes that didn't look painted on.
I knew I should have worn the drab, baggy parachute pants he wanted me to wear, but honestly, those were for lounging around the house on the weekend, or at a sleepover with your best friends. Plus, usually, I reserved the parachute pants to wear over top when I was wearing leggings, so Dad didn't literally have a heart attack. If he thought my jeans were tight, he would totally die if he saw those.
Vicky laughed as my dad shook his fist in the air at the retreating car. I couldn't wait to graduate and leave for college. It seemed the older I got, the more overbearing he got.
"Lord help you when McCarty sees the number of pins in the bottom of your pants, Bella Marie!" Tanya laughed once we made it to school and got out of the car. "He told you last time, if there were more than five in each leg, he'd give you detention."
"Well, McCarty can kiss my ass. Isn't he, like, our age? Besides, this is in fashion right now."
"He graduated three years ago when we were in ninth grade," Tanya said.
"Well, I hear he fucks Rosalie Hale in the gym hall supply closet after school sometimes," Vicky added.
And while I knew that particular rumor was true, because I'd actually heard them while serving detention, I wasn't saying anything. We all had our secrets–and mine would hopefully be waiting there for me after school today.
X
"Cullen, Swan, nice of you to join us finally. Please come see me," McCarty called out as soon as I exited the changing room.
Rolling my eyes, I walked over to him; I knew what was coming. I reached him at the same time Edward Cullen did. I took a minute to appreciate his fine ass in his short gym shorts, quickly looking away before getting caught.
"Isabella," McCarty said sternly, "how long is our gym period?"
"An hour and fifteen minutes."
"And how long did it take you to change into your gym uniform?"
"Thirty-five minutes. And if I wanna get to my next class on time, I'm gonna need to head into the locker room to change in about ten minutes...so I better go join a group."
"Forget it. Go change now. You want to waste my gym time because you feel the need to make your pants as tight as possible by pinning them up to your knees, I will waste yours after school. I requested—repeatedly—that you keep it to less than five pins per leg on gym days. You're dismissed."
I huffed. The worst part about gym was having to wait until class was over for someone to help me zip and button my jeans, not having my pliers with me.
Before heading back to put my stuff back on and try to repin my jeans, I lingered long enough to hear Edward tell McCarty that his hair couldn't be taken down because of the product used; he didn't give a fuck if McCarty was worried one of his three hair spikes could poke someone's eye out. Because, like the rest of us, he knew he would never need the fucking class beyond high school.
X
Lunch was my favorite period of the day. An hour and fifteen minutes of surreptitiously watching Edward with his friends out in the smoking section while pretending to listen to whatever gossip Vicky and Tanya were sharing.
"Oh jeez, don't look now, Bella, but Mike and Tyler are on their way over," Tanya said, gently elbowing me in the side.
I groaned under my breath. No matter how much I told Mike I wouldn't go out with him, it didn't seem to make it through his head.
"Hey, Bella," Mike said. Like usual, he and Tyler were wearing suits with T-shirts underneath, like their favorite characters from Miami Vice. "What are you doing after school?"
"Detention, again. Why?"
"Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the diner with me."
"Sorry, Mike, I have detention, and then I will have to go right home."
"Maybe some other time?"
Before I could answer, Vicky elbowed me. "Bella, why is Edward Cullen staring at you?"
"He's not. He's probably just staring past me at the wall."
Tanya turned to look. "Nope! He's looking right at you like you're something to eat."
"I don't like that guy," Mike said and narrowed his eyes. "His boots are weird, he wears chains, and his hair is too spiky."
"Well, I don't like you, 'cause I think you're a dweeb, but here we are," I snapped. "There's nothing wrong with how Edward looks."
Tanya and Vicky were nodding and looking at me appraisingly.
Thankfully, the bell saved me from having to answer their questions, and I waved goodbye to them, going in the opposite direction from them for my next class.
X
"How do you get it to stay like that?" I asked Edward after school in detention, touching the tip of the spike closest to me. I was sitting sideways on his lap.
"Super glue."
"You put super glue in your hair?" I rubbed the sides, which appeared to be growing in.
Normally, it was shaved right down to the skin. There was some stubble there now, making it soft and fuzzy.
He tilted his head into my hand as I rubbed.
"I can keep it up longer that way." He grabbed my hand and kissed the palm. "We really gonna sit here and talk about our hair?" he asked, rubbing my ass.
"What would you rather do?" I teased, knowing full well what he wanted.
His response was to kiss me. I was convinced Edward Cullen was the best kisser in the world. I hadn't kissed very many people before him, but that didn't matter. From the way his tongue stroked slowly against mine, to the way he gently nipped my lip at the end.
We stopped kissing and I jumped off his lap when we heard McCarty's door open down the hall, and Edward hurried to sit back in the seat he was in before McCarty left the classroom earlier.
"Isabella, Edward. You are free to go now. I expect both of you to be able to participate in the next gym class. I wouldn't want to have to tell your parents."
Neither of us said anything in response as we left, though Edward did give him the finger.
X
"Isabella Marie, what's this I hear about you having detention after school?" my father asked as we were eating dinner.
I glared at Jasper, who shook his head.
"Don't look at your brother for this. Mrs. Brandon told me that little Mary Alice told her that you've had detention an awful lot this year. Is this true?"
"Little Mary Alice Brandon is a total dweeb, Dad, and a liar. You can't believe anything she says."
"I would, like, totally do her, you know, but Bella's, like, totally right. She's, like, a total, like, Betty, but she does, like, totally, like to get people, like, in trouble for, like, nothing."
"What did he say?" Charlie asked Jasper's mother who shrugged her shoulders.
"He said he agrees with me, Dad. Alice lies about everything."
"But you and Mary Alice are really good friends. Why would she lie to her mother about you?"
"Dad." I rolled my eyes. "Alice and I haven't been friends since the fifth grade when she told everyone that I peed the bed when it was really her."
"Humph." Charlie huffed. "Well, I'd better not hear about any more detentions, Isabella Marie, or you'll be grounded. And don't roll your eyes at me, young lady."
"You won't, Daddy. I swear on Sebastian Bach."
"I don't know who that is."
"He's—"
"Never mind. Finish your dinner and do your homework."
I was gonna kill Alice.
X
The next day at school, I cornered Alice by her locker and explained to her, in explicit detail, what would happen to her if she didn't keep my name out of her mouth. She, of course, tried to deny that she had even spoken about me at all, but we both knew the truth.
Unfortunately, gym class was canceled due to an assembly, and since Edward and I had no other classes together, not getting detention together would ensure we wouldn't get in our daily make-out session. I wished there were a way I could tell him to meet me somewhere else, but I had no safe way. I still had lunch to look forward to, though. Maybe I could sneak him a note.
Except Edward wasn't at lunch. I didn't see him in the hallways, either. I found out why quickly in my next class.
"I heard they had to take him away in an ambulance!" Lauren shrieked.
"What-ever!" Jessica singsonged. "That is, like, totally not what happened. His parents did have to pick him up, though."
"Well, all I know is that Edward Cullen is going to be suspended, and maybe even expelled. He totally spazzed on Mike. There was, like, blood everywhere. It was totally grody," Lauren replied.
"What was his damage, anyway? Did he, like, just go totally crazy?" Jessica questioned.
"Well, I heard that Mike was bragging about going on a date and getting to second base with Bella Sw— Oh, hi, Bella! I, like, didn't see you there!" Lauren choked out.
I sat down. "What were you saying about Mike and Edward and a fight? You need to tell me everything."
X
I showed up at Edward's place after school. Charlie, thankfully, was in Seattle with Charlotte, and Jasper wouldn't give a shit, so long as I was home to make him dinner.
I rang the bell but didn't have to wait long before Edward opened the door.
"Bella?" he said, coming out on the porch and pulling the door shut behind him. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to find out why you really kicked the shit out of Mike today. Is it true they had to take him by ambulance?"
He barked out a laugh. "No, though I wouldn't put it past his mom to call one. He'll have a pretty nice black eye, though."
"I still don't understand what happened. Lauren was telling Jessica that it was about me. But I don't understand why you would beat up Mike because of me."
He huffed a breath, nostrils flaring slightly. "He was telling everyone that you were going on a date with him, and he was going to feel up your tits."
"But that's stupid. I'm with you. You know that."
"Yeah, I know that…but nobody else in school does. Even your friends don't know we're together."
"I thought you didn't want anyone else to know."
"Well, I thought you didn't want anyone else to know."
We both laughed, and he grabbed my hand.
"When I'm done being grounded, do you want to go out with me...so I can feel up your tits?"
"I would love to!" I laughed, shoving him playfully.
X
Well, if you wanted honesty
That's all you had to say
I never want to let you down
Or have you go, it's better off this way
"'For all the dirty looks,'" I sang, taking the shaver and carefully running it over the hair around the circle of hair being held by a ponytail holder.
"'The photographs your boyfriend took.'" I moved to the next circle, shaving just as carefully around that one.
"'Remember when you broke your foot / From jumping out the second floor?'" I shaved around the last and final circle.
Bringing the shaver in front of my face I belted, "'I'M NOT OKAY / I'M NOT OKAY'—"
"Daddy, what are you doing?"
I jumped a mile when my seven-year-old daughter Sophie walked into the bathroom. I turned down My Chemical Romance and grabbed her, sitting her on top of the counter while I finished shaving the rest of my head.
"Daddy is getting ready for his and Mommy's fifteen-year high school reunion."
"But why are you doing that to your hair?" she asked and cocked her head. "It looks whack."
"Oh, it does, does it?"
She nodded.
"Well, I wanted to surprise Mommy and do my hair like I had it in high school."
She scrunched up her nose. "Like how Mommy is doing that weird thing with her bangs and using a whole bottle of hairspray? Grandpa Charlie was saying something about the Ogone layer."
I laughed. "I think you mean the Ozone layer, baby, and yes, just like your mommy, only Daddy has to use glue for his hair! Want to help?"
She giggled and nodded.
Once the glue was dry, my chains were attached, and my feet were shoved in my Docs, I went downstairs to see Charlie curled up in his favorite chair with Sophie and our three-year-old son, Nathan. Jasper's daughter Harmony was curled up sleeping on the couch.
"Bella ready yet? I asked.
"I just finished," she said from behind me.
I didn't know how she managed it, but she had put on the same pants she used to wear in senior year—the skin-tight ones that clung to her ass. She had even pinned them at the bottom the way she used to. I was hoping to get a little alone time with her out of those pants before remembering what a pain in the ass they were to take off and put on. That had led to a really close call between us and her parents at least once in senior year. Thankfully, Jasper had done us a solid and warned us his mom had just called and said they were on their way home.
We kissed all the kids goodbye. "Okay, kids, we'll see you tomorrow. We can all have lunch with Aunt Vicky and Aunt Tanya too!"
The kids all cheered.
"Don't you go getting detention, Isabella Marie!" Charlie said with a wink.
"Duh, Dad, take a chill pill," she replied with a mischievous grin.
"What does that mean?" Sophie asked.
"Oh, kids, we're going to have so much fun tonight. I'll teach you all the things your parents used to say!" Charlie told them.
"And Grandma will show you girls how Bella used to wear her makeup!" Charlotte added.
Then Charlie had to finish off with, "Oh, and Soph, don't forget to ask Mommy for an allowance increase to help pay for all the makeup...and the hairspray you'll need."
Bella groaned and flipped off her dad, ushering me and Jasper out the door.
X
I woke to the smell of bacon, climbing out of the bed my wife had in high school. I groaned, stretching my back. Man, we were getting too old to be sharing this little twin bed. I pulled some track pants over my boxers and a T-shirt before heading downstairs.
As soon as I crossed the threshold to the kitchen, Harmony said, "Hey, like, Uncle Edward, like, how are you, like, today?"
I glanced at Jasper who groaned and buried his face in his hands.
"I'm very well, Harmony, how are you?"
"I'm, like, totally tubular today."
"What damage, Daddy?" Nathan asked, pulling on my pant leg, then putting up his arms. Once I picked him up, he patted my cheeks and said, "Big whoop."
"Gag me with a spoon!" Sophie said with a giggle. "That looks grody, Grandpa."
"Did we really sound like that?" Bella asked, coming up beside me.
I wrapped my arm around her waist, kissing the side of her head. "Some of us more than others."
"Okay, Harmony, that's enough." Jasper laughed as she told him that she, "like, totally, like, missed him, like, duh."
He turned to look at Bella. "Now I can see why you hated me in senior year."
We all laughed before grabbing the breakfast dishes and heading into the dining room. Hopefully, the kids would soon get tired of talking the way we used to, or I was going to have to kill Charlie.