The pale early morning light startled me awake, and when I searched my room with bleary eyes and found Edward staring at me from over the top of a book. He sat on my window seat, the soft light curling around him, and upon further investigation I found that the book was none other than the sixth book of the mortal instruments series. A smirk grew on my face as I stretched and sat up. "Finally finishing it?" I teased.
"You didn't tell me the author was going to do this." He looked like he was about to cry, and I knew exactly where he was in the book. Some part of my heart broke, perhaps it was the part I kept for fictional characters. I knew what emotional journey he was embarking upon, and I knew he would see the deeper meanings in the text.
"I'm very firm in my belief of a spoiler free experience." I felt the soft smile slowly creep onto my face. If I didn't already love this man, I would swear I was falling in love again.
"But to completely sponge the details from your mind before I read it!?" He shook his head in disbelief, dropping the book I to his lap. "You're a madwoman." If I didn't know any better, I would swear he looked impressed.
"Your madwoman." I gave a broader smile, moving to exit the bed. The moment my feet touched the wooden floor I yelped in surprise and pulled my bare toes back from the ice cold surface. "Nevermind. I can flirt from over here. It's cold."
"Every time I tried to turn off the air conditioner you would violently curse in your sleep at me." Edward raised a brow as if telling me I was in this position from my own obstinacy. I however, vaguely recalled the sleepy memory of my bedroom's personal AC making its power down sound.
"Did I really call you a rat nosed bastard?" I asked as I scratched the back of my neck. "Or was that one just a thought?"
He then lowered his brow and cast a dubious look at me. "You did more than say it, you yelled it. Maddie started barking at me for that one."
"Oopsie!" I shrugged playfully. "In my defense, the air felt wonderful from inside my den of covers."
"You sound like Ishmael." Edward teased, removing the book from his lap and closing it tenderly before placing it on the cushion beside him. "Will you be knocking people's hats off next?"
"Who says I haven't started?" I smirked and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. "Though I don't think I have it in me to one v. one a whale. I don't care how angry I am."
Edward then began to eye me skeptically, leaning forward and placing an elbow on his knee as he studied me like a work of art. "Did you actually read Moby Dick?" His voice was playful but his eyes were sharp and focused, studying me like I was about to reveal a grand secret he hadn't happened across in the nearly three years we had known one another.
"I skimmed it. I just needed to pass that one test anyway." I shrugged. "Huck Finn, however!" I smiled playfully. "I would never disgrace my eyes with that text again."
"Yeah, yeah!" Edward waved his hand through the air, clearly amused with my little jab at the classics. "You go shower, I will make your breakfast." He stood, the overcast light from the window softening his sharp edges like he was made of watercolors.
"Are you calling me stinky?" I placed my hand to my chest as if I were clutching my pears in offense.
"I'm calling you grass stained," he chuckled, "you still have the meadow on you, and Gaia will be here in a few hours so you can go shopping." As he spoke the words, his phone let out the indignant sound of a message. I knew it was indignant because the timing of such a chime could mean only one person. Edward fished the phone out of his pocket and looked down at the screen. "Alice."
"Let me guess. How dare I think I could go clothes shopping without her, she will be here in fifteen." I smiled in a way that mimicked Alice's trademark grin.
"So close!" Edward chuckled. "She will be here in twenty, she said she would give you time to shower."
"Well now I expect pancakes." I crossed my arms. "As payment for being called stinky twice."
"Yes ma'am." Edward chuckled and strode over to me, stooping down to peck a kiss on my lips before disappearing out the bedroom door.
By the time I finally reached the kitchen, showered and presentable, Alice was humming in front of the coffee machine. "Just finished brewing!" She said in a sing-song voice as she spun around and held out a mug. "Gaia will be here in seventeen minutes." Even though I was fully aware of what Alice was capable of, this still felt jarring.
"Thank you." I mumbled, taking the steaming cup. As I sat down at the table Edward swooped in and dropped a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of me. I smiled at him as he took a seat next to me, picking up the fork and soaking in the blissful morning for what it was. Alice fluttered about, citing that we would be gone longer than I had planned so she would knock out the chores I was "inevitably going to be too tired to do" by the time we got back.
Alice, in my opinion, was far too thorough and would force me to reevaluate all of my organizational habits. The kitchen was spotless now, and she had reorganized the cabinets to hold all of the tupperware in a less chaotic way. My father and I had always resigned ourselves to accepting the onslaught of a plastic avalanche whenever searching for the right container. Alice had, in the span of about fifteen minutes, done the humanitarian work of ending the seismic tremor that was the Jacks Residence Rubbermaid Containers.
Just as Alice promised, seventeen minutes into my pancakes and coffee, Gaia was knocking on the door. "Come in!" I called, recognizing that the knock was coming from the sliding door through the living room rather than the front door. "She came through the woods." I glanced at the curious look Alice gave as she poured Gaia a cup of coffee before even asking if she wanted one.
"Oh." She nodded as she returned the pot to its burner and stepped toward the kitchen door. "Coffee!" She smiled and held her hand out to Gi at the exact moment she rounded the corner with her bag slung over her shoulder and her hair in a tangle.
"Whaaa!" Gi jumped back with wide eyes and hands raised like she was going to karate chop the caffeine out of Alice's hand. When she realized who was standing there and what was being held out to her, Gaia slowly dropped from the defensive stance. "For someone with future vision you sure don't know how to give a gal some warning." She huffed and gladly grabbed the steaming cup.
"You get used to it after a while." I laughed, tipping my own cup towards my face. "Or you don't, I guess, I think Emmett still screams like a girl." Edward chuckled and shot me a smirk.
"Oh he definitely does." Alice laughed, leaning casually against the door frame as Gaia walked towards the kitchen table.
"So are we a fearsome foursome today?" Gi asked, reaching forward to pluck a stray strip of syrup soaked bacon from my plate.
"Edward has been ejected from the party, Alice voted him off the island." I smirked, feeling the playful energy that often bounced between Gaia and I.
Gi huffed and spoke around the bacon that now filled her mouth. "Total drama island style?"
"No marshmallow at the bonfire." I shrugged, looking at Edward with mock sympathy. He had a look on his face that told me everything. Even though he could read all the minds at the kitchen table, he had no clue what was happening in front of him.
"Maybe he will return for the Action season." Gaia swallowed the bacon and washed it down with a sip of coffee.
"He can only hope." I bat my eyelashes at him playfully.
"What on earth is happening right now?" He finally caved, laughing in defeat.
I shook my head and leaned toward him. "You will never know." I smiled, pecking a kiss to his lips.
"Okay love birds! We gotta get going!" Alice clapped her hands together in what could only be described as "an Emmett action."
"I'll see you tonight." Edward whispered, pulling my chin forward gently for a kiss.
We took Edward's car, mine not being fast enough for Alice to drive in her annoyingly Cullen fashion. Instead of Port Angeles like we had originally planned, Alice insisted we would find better clothes and deals in Seattle. Gaia agreed, though I figured it was more for the self-serving fact that Seattle photographed better as a backdrop for her portfolio than the port.
Hours of shopping later, we had come to the conclusion that Alice was an absolute powerhouse when it came to shopping. Nothing would stop her, not even the strange looks of the others in the shopping plaza. Gaia and I trailed behind her, both of our eyes wide with awe. "I know she's literally supernatural, but this transcends that." Gi whispered as she pulled me to her side.
"It's like she's a fashion seeking missile." I snickered as I looped my arm in hers.
"And I can hear you!" Alice shot a playful smile over her shoulder as she began to dig through another rack. "Haha!" She flipped a black shirt through the air before draping it over her arm and adding it to the ever growing stack of clothes she was wandering around with. "Ara, third rack from the wall, five hangers from the right. Those jeans may as well have been made for you."
"Oh!" I quickly spun and located the rack she was talking about. Each of us had random piles of clothes we threw over our arms or piled into the solitary cart we had commandeered. Alice had been directing Gaia and myself to odds and ends shortly after we decided we were going to look for specific clothing, and she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the trip.
After countless stores, and some serious shop till you drop attitudes, we were back at my house unloading our bounty. "Alice! You're a sale finding machine!" If I said with a grin as she flopped onto the floor and began to sort her clothes into season categories. She spent another hour with us, constructing outfits and discussing accessories, before she declared she missed Jasper and was going home. Another couple of hours passed as Gaia and I had idle chat, hammering out the plans for Friday night. We decided officially that she would stay the night Thursday since her mom was working nights.
"When does your dad come into town again?" I asked as I folded the new clothes and set them aside to wash them.
"He is finished up in Greenland right after Halloween, and he said if everything goes according to plan he will be home for Thanksgiving." Her voice began to give way to a squeal as she spoke. Gaia's dad hadn't been stateside in a long time, and almost never in time for the holidays.
"Dude! That's so exciting!" I squealed, jumping in joy. We talked more about her family, mine, school, college, Edward, and Paul.
"Speaking of Paul, I should get home before he's done with patrol. We usually talk while he eats." Gi smiled at me, gathering her stuff up and standing. I gave her a quick squeeze and told her to text me when she got home. I flopped onto my bed, counting the minutes until Edward came through my bedroom window.
•••
When Friday finally rolled around I was excitedly getting ready with Gaia for our double date. We sat in my bedroom, myself having gotten situated on the floor in front of my floor length mirror. I looked in the reflection as Gaia sat on the window seat with a mirror perched on her knee as she carefully carved out her eyebrow with her new brow pencil. I just sat and admired the sight for a moment, if I was like Gi, I would snap a picture of it. Maybe I would sketch it from memory later, the way the light and shadows played, my best friend's focused face, an overall light feeling that seemed to saturate the air.
With dad still in the hospital, albeit coming home soon, the lightness and overall joy seemed like it had to be forced in some ways. "Why do you insist on sitting on the floor when you have a perfectly good vanity right there." Gaia asked, never moving her eyes from her mirror.
"I need a new chair for it." I groaned, stretching my back as the reminder brought me back to reality. "The eyeliner mishap of freshman year killed the joy for me and I just haven't gone back."
"Wait! Is that how you got liquid eyeliner in your eye!?" This finally pulled her attention from her makeup, her eyes wide in bewilderment.
"YES!" I threw my hands up in anguish. "Ahh! Don't remind me! That hurt so bad." Tears welled in my eyes as I remembered the sting. "Okay, enough, what music do you want to play next?" I asked as the CD came to an end.
"Do you still have that one burned copy?" A smile grew on her face.
"Arrg matey." I laughed as I grabbed the gray disk with its sloppy sharpie scrawl.
"Who gave this one to you?" Gaia asked as the first song began to bump through my CD player.
"Collin." I smirked.
"The cheater!" She nodded in remembrance. "Man, can you believe he wound up moving away after that fling with Mrs.C?"
"Can I believe it! How long have I been saying that her kids don't look like her or her husband, but they look an awful lot like that senior from the class of '04?" I shook my head and flopped back down to the floor and began doing my makeup again. "I just can't believe the school board said they 'didn't find enough proof' to fire her."
"I can't believe that they said the same thing about her husband when he got caught with that girl at the school he teaches at." Gaia shook her head and began working on her eyeliner.
"Oof." I nodded. "I forgot about that, I wonder if that's why they work at different schools. The student body could just never be big enough for two predators in the teachers lounge." I smirked, hearing the shocked laugh erupt from the window seat, swiftly followed by an under the breath curse as Gi attempted to correct the eyeliner she had smudged.
Once we were done getting ready and the gossip had all run out, Edward and Paul showed up. The excitement of a group date was unmatched, though I hadn't expected Edward and Paul to get along so well. It appeared that they both shared a love for cars. Apparently Paul had been helping Jake fix his dad's old truck.
"Oh, do you guys mind if we stop by the hospital before we go to the movie? I want dad to see me in my dress." I smiled, looking down at the blue dress I had picked up in Alaska what seemed like a lifetime ago. Earlier in the day I had been standing in front of my closet with a classic case of clothing paralysis when Alice texted me. All she said was, "It's time. Alaska." and I knew, and she was right.
"Of course we can!" Gaia smiled, wearing an equally beautiful black dress. "I think he would want to see all of us dressed up, not everyday you get these boys in a suit jacket." Gi wiggled her elbow at Paul, to which he responded by grabbing her by the waist and tickling her until she screamed.
When we got to the hospital my mood only seemed to brighten. As I rounded the final corner in the maze of halls towards my dad's room, my eye caught an unlikely sight. I could see his smile before I heard the laugh I had been aching for all summer. It was unbridled, like even the pain I knew he felt with the jostling movement didn't matter. I studied the room through the window until I saw the source of his entertainment. There stood a smiling nurse, I vaguely recognized her from a few of my visits, though she had never been on my dad's team of care. I stood there for a second longer, not wanting to interrupt such a sight as my dad's joy, but I knew I had to move before we missed the movie.
"Hey dad!" I called as I walked forward, glimpsing the name on the nurse's badge as I entered the room. Lisa. I knew that name though I wasn't sure why.
"Ari!" Dad said, face still full of happiness. "To what do I owe the pleasure." He asked before his eyes bounced to the three additional persons who entered the room.
"Date night, I wanted to stop in before we went to the movies." I stopped at the end of his bed, my heels tapping excitedly against the floor as I looked at his obviously happy face.
"What are you going to see?" He asked, his eyes twinkling. "Both of you girls look so gorgeous I trust these men have the decency to also take you to a nice restaurant." He raised his eyebrows at Edward and Paul.
"The movie is a surprise, sir, and as for dinner that will also remain a mystery." Edward responded expertly as the nurse named Lisa tried to slip from the room without saying anything.
"Well, I can't force you to give up the night on my occasion." Dad smiled, his eyes studying all of us. "Give me a spin, Ari." I smiled and did exactly that, only becoming more excited as I did so. "You look stunning, your mother would be swooning over the woman you've become."
"Dad." I mumbled, walking over to him slowly, each step clacking on the linoleum along the way. "You're going to make me cry my makeup off." I swooped down and gave him a gentle hug.
"Go make memories, and then go make even more." He whispered as we embraced.
"Will do." I whispered, pulling away slowly. "I'll come back tomorrow and tell you all about tonight."
"You better." He wagged his finger at me like it was an order. "Now you kids go have fun."
That was exactly what we did, while the movie could have been better, the dinner was great, it was the trouble we got into that made the best story. How we convinced Edward to TP Mrs.C's house, I wasn't sure, though retelling the story the next morning to my father left him clutching his side in laughter. My favorite part of the story was when Gaia's shoe slipped from the side of her foot and she wound up barefoot face down in the ditch trying not to pee herself while we ran to the car. After that particular part of the story, Dad said he would excuse any misdemeanors so long as I did them safely.
•••
Once it was finally time for him to come home, Edward helped me get my dad into the house, and for that I was incredibly thankful. We had set up the living room with everything he needed. Luckily we had a downstairs bathroom tucked beneath the stairs that made it so he never had to venture upstairs on his own. I was incredibly nervous about what next week would look like when I went off to school, how Dad would handle himself while still recovering from everything.
We had decided to give Dad a bit of privacy and stepped off into the main floor office that had previously been my mother's art studio. "He will be fine." Edward mumbled as he pulled me into a hug. Dad was settled onto the couch, officially falling asleep from the exhaustion of moving from the car to the house. "Just give him a bit more time and he will be back in shape like before."
"I hope." I mumbled back, feeling a sob grow in my throat as I buried my face in Edward's chest. His scent filled my lungs and ignited my soul, I felt the yearning to be closer to him stir deep in my heart. I could stay curled in his arms for years to come, the idea of separating from that was as odd of an idea as severing my own arm. This room had seen me fall apart so many times, but never had it seen me fall apart in the arms of someone else.
Edward gently ran his hand through my hair, pushing it away from my face before finally speaking. "I can stay, keep you company before he wakes up." I nodded slowly as I pulled back from the hug, small pieces of my heart fracturing off to stay clung to his chest. "Let's get you something to eat then." Edward smiled down at me before gently taking my hand and guiding me back through the living room towards the kitchen. After some indecision, I had two grilled cheeses sitting in front of me and a bowl of tomato soup on its way.
While the microwave whirred across the room, I tore the two sandwiches into smaller pieces, a habit I had picked up from my mom. "I really can't thank you enough." I said, sadness pricking in my heart. "For everything, you and your family."
"You're one of us, of course we would do anything for you." Edward said as he sat beside me, placing the too hot soup beside my plate.
I let my eye fall to the table as I spoke. "But I'm not, I can never help you the way you've helped me." I shook my head.
"Ara, you help me every day just by breathing." Edward said, tipping his head forward, laying his forehead against mine. "Your existence is exactly what this world needed to make sense." His words felt like velvet the way they brushed against me as he spoke.
"I'm glad it makes sense to someone because it never has to me." I sighed, closing my eyes and breathing in his closeness.
I'm not sure how long we sat like that before Edward gave my jaw a gentle tap. "Eat before it gets too cold." He lifted his head and pulled my left hand into his own, leaving my right free to pick up the torn pieces of my sandwich and dip it.
When Dad finally woke up, he had to go to the bathroom so bad I thought he might cry. Thankfully Edward still hadn't left, he helped my dad to the door and then waited for him before leading him back to the living room. Once Dad laid back on the couch, stretching his torso to allow himself more comfort, Edward dismissed himself, kissing my cheek before leaving officially.
"What movie do you wanna watch kiddo?" Dad smiled through his obvious pain. I couldn't help but smile, even after a gunshot wound and copious amounts of physical therapy to come, he still wanted to watch movies when he didn't feel good. My dad was still Dad.
"No, you pick!" I said, dropping the small smile and replacing it with fake anger as I walked from the entryway. I made the determined march toward the bookshelf that was overflowing with DVDs and the odd leftover tape despite the fact that the VCR had bit the dust a few years ago. They had been crammed into just a few shelves so that they didn't remove vital space from the books mom had so carefully collected. Of the two bookshelves that bordered the entertainment center in our cozy little living room, only the bottom halves of them contained media that belonged beside the television.
The gears turned in dad's head, and as I crouched to be level with the collection, he spoke. "Fine… Peter Pan."
My hand dropped from the shelf as I turned my gaze from the neat, though haphazard, stacks to my dad's smug face. "Dad, that one's my favorite, not yours."
"My favorite movie is the one that makes your face light up." Dad smiled at me, his face entirely too genuine for me to let the comment fly.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Calm down there, don't get all sappy on me." I waved my hands in dismay before turning back to the stacks and searching for the case.
"Stop deflecting and put the damn disk in, Ari." Dad laughed and tossed a throw pillow at me. The pillow bounced off my head in a comical way as I popped the disk into the DVD player and tossed him the remote. "And bring me some popcorn."
"Oh so now he makes demands." I stuck my tongue out as I dove into the kitchen to put the popcorn in the microwave. Seconds after my body cleared the door frame another pillow sailed through the archway that connected the livingroom to the foyer. "Missed me!" I called in a sweet tone, the sounds of the movie began to swell in the living room.
It was almost like the bullet had never happened, like my entire summer hadn't been spent surrounded by antiseptic in the artificial glow of hospital lights. I had my old life back, even if it was only for the night.
•••
A week or so later, Dad insisted that I hang out at the Cullen's before going back to school, claiming that I was wasting too much of my summer on him. While I disagreed, I knew I would never win that battle and found myself driving the familiar route and tapping my fingers nervously against the wheel. I had sent a quick text to Edward that I was on my way, and he said he was out hunting but that he'd be back after lunch. The house was never empty so I knew there would at least be one member of the family to greet me.
No matter how hard I tried, my thoughts circled back to my dad. They tumbled back in nervously like the tide. What if he throws a clot and I'm not there? What if the house catches on fire and he can't get out on his own? What if he gets up to go to the bathroom and falls? They tumbled through the shores of my mind, wiping away all rational thought. With pure frustration I reached over and cranked the volume of my radio up, even without paying attention to the lyrics I knew it was a Lana Del Ray song. The ethereal feeling all of Lana's songs seemed to carry filled my mind and dispersed the anxious spiral for at least the next three minutes of my drive.
When the anxious journey was complete, I found the house to be only occupied by Rosalie, Emmett, and Beatrice. All the others were out for a hunt, however Carlisle was taking a shift at the hospital.
While I attempted to pester Rose and Emmett instead of being left to my own devices with Beatrice, I could tell Rose was on to me. "Go talk to her." She urged, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Don't live with regrets, you only have this one life."
"Did you just YOLO me?" I deflected, hoping to distract her. I even gave a fake incredulous look in the direction of Emmett hoping to derail the conversation through him. He shook his head, not buying into my ploy, and pointed in the direction of the kitchen.
"Just go talk to your sister." Rose hissed, ushering me towards the kitchen. As I stumbled through the door I shot an angry look at the couple before clearing my throat and walking to the fridge. All there was inside for me was a can of coke, begrudgingly I took it and made my way to the kitchen table where Beatrice sat with a sketchbook.
"You draw?" I asked, my eyes widening.
"Sometimes, I remember liking it a lot when I was human, but Maria didn't really allow much time for hobbies." She said softly as she blended the shadows of her drawing. I watched the image come to life, all the meanwhile wondering if my artistic capabilities were nature or nurture earned.
"So… mom." I could barely get my voice above a whisper as I sat alone with Beatrice. "What was she like?" Her hand stilled and when I glanced up I saw Beatrice staring at me with wide eyes. They still held the vague signs of the previous diet, but overall her irises were now golden.
After a couple moments of silence, Beatrice sucked in a breath and nodded her head. "She was stubborn, loved deeply, and had a smile warmer than the sun."
"Okay, but what was she like? Those all sound like the descriptors you would put on a detail card, but it tells me nothing." I shook my head in frustration. "That might as well be the list of ingredients to make another one of her, not the things that actually make her… her." I sighed, looking back at the table as I tapped my hand against the wood.
"I don't remember her all that well." Beatrice said finally. "She is blurry, so is Grandmama." Her voice sounded almost like it was choking up, making my own throat close a little. "Mama kept us apart for your safety as much as mine."
"She said all that in her letter, though she failed to mention you." I kept my eyes down, fingers itching to do anything other than grip the cold can of Coca-Cola.
"All that matters will come to light. That's what Grandmama always said to me." She nodded slowly. "Mama told me once, and I don't know why I remember this, but she said that fate was fickle. That while she could meddle and change as much as possible, some things would always come to light. Nothing could remain hidden for long. The truth will always out." Beatrice bit her lip before sighing. "If there is anyone I remember, it's Daddy."
"You remember him?" My head shot up and my eyes widened as I absorbed the information. I studied my sister, she stared down at the page in front of her in a posture that felt all too familiar to my own. In this light I could see similarities that tied us to one another. The shape of her nose, the natural pout in her lips, the idle tap of her fingers against the sketch book paper as she thought. While I could identify the differences much easier in the beginning, I began to recognize what vampirism had shifted slightly and what it had enhanced.
"I remember the way he used to take me to the fair. The last one we went to, it was after we found out you were on the way. He said it was our job to win you a fair toy." A smile broke onto her immortal face. "It was a tweety bird." She laughed lightly, and I knew there would be tears had she been capable of them. "After Mama ran away, and Daddy went after her, I was left with that tweety." She looked up and met my eyes. "That's why Daddy and I always called you a little bird, even before we met you."
My heart shattered, my world teetered from one side to the other. I was left without a tether, and then I felt a hand wrap around mine. When my gaze swam down towards it, I saw Beatrice's fingers delicately holding mine. "I had a whole family out there, and I never knew." The words slipped from my mouth without my permission, my brain pouring its contents before I even knew there was something to spill.
"I wish I could keep this from you, but it wouldn't be right." Beatice said in a breathy kind of quiet. "When Mama died… she was on her way to check on you. She wanted to bring you home."
"What?" My breath was firmly slammed from my lungs.
"Mama wanted to see what she had to do to bring you back, she wanted to see if it was possible, even for a summer." She pursed her lips. "I didn't know until I woke up from the… change." Beatrice muttered the word like it was acid. "That the ones who killed Mama and Grandmama were the ones who turned me."
"The ones who turned Jasper?" I had gleaned some information from the coven since Beatrice's arrival, but I had never had the chance to ask Jasper and Alice directly about this detail.
"Yeah… Jasper and I got to talk about that one." She nodded and slowly drew her hand away from me. "Turns out destiny has a way of bringing family together after all."
"It sure does." I nodded as I mulled over the thought. "Souls don't meet by accident…" I muttered.
"Tell me about your mom." Beatrice said suddenly, though her saying mom instead of mama felt incorrect with her twang. "The one who raised you." She clarified, though I knew what she meant.
"Well…" I smiled at the bittersweet pain of missing my mom. "Her name was Gwen, and she was probably the best person in the world." The memories swelled around me as I launched into some of my favorite stories.
Eight Years Ago: Long Before Anything Went WrongMusic drifted softly through the house accompanied by the sound of humming. The smell of French toast and maple bacon trailed behind sluggishly and filled my room with its delicious aroma. I groaned and climbed out of my day bed, shoving the teddy bear aside and jumping over the stacks of school supplies I had been sorting the night before. As I made my way down the steps I smiled at the sleeping dog at the bottom of the stairs. "Good morning Lucy." I leaned down and pecked a kiss on her graying snout. Lucy was older than me, but even in her elder years the golden lab still had energy to play. Luckily that matched with the tiny German Shepard puppy dad had just brought home two weeks ago, affectionately named Maddie.
Maddie clumsily bounded from the direction of the kitchen and gave a joyful "Arf!" I let out a gleeful squeal as the tiny pup tackled me with kisses. As I wrestled on the ground I heard footsteps approaching from the kitchen. When I looked up I saw the brightly smiling face of my mother. The sun seemed to wrap around her perfectly in that moment, the chestnut brown hair falling in gorgeous waves and framing her tan face like a painting. "Get off the floor honey, breakfast is ready." Her laugh was like silk, the warmth wrapped around me as I ran after her.
"Can we go to the park later?" I asked as I hopped into my seat.
"Well, I was going to do another drawer today so how about we go to the park while it dries." Mom smiled as she dropped French toast onto my plate.
"That sounds like a plan." I smiled. "Can we watch pride and prejudice while you paint it?" I kicked my feet excitedly as I poured a glass of orange juice from the container on the table.
"Absolutely!" Mom's smile grew as she walked back to the egg carton that sat on the counter. "Scrambled?" She asked as she picked two eggs from their home.
"I wanna try runny!" I reminded her, we had been talking about it for a while but it was finally time.
"How about I make myself the runny eggs and you scramble and then you can tell me if you like runny better." She cracked the eggs into the pan and began making them.
"Deal!" I grinned, sipping my orange juice and enjoying the music that filled the kitchen while my mother hummed along.
After I spent close to an hour gushing about my mom, Beatrice and I seemed to understand each other on a deeper level. We spent the rest of the day chatting on and off, to the point that Emmett had made a joke about Edward being left high and dry again.
It was so weird to experience having a sister, even after so many years of being an only child. It seemed so easy.
•••
Being nervous for the first day of school is easily one of the most ridiculous things I could do as a junior in highschool, but here I was. Nervous beyond belief. My knee bounced uncontrollably as Edward drove us closer and closer to the school. My hair was smooth, silky, and pin straight from the flat iron as I twisted my fingers through the ends of it. My outfit was cultivated directly from my tumblr feed for today. Gaia and I had both gone for layered looks, the entire week being forecasted to rain and keep it cool outside. Once Edward parked, he officially turned to face me and raised his brow. "What?" I said nervously as I side eyed him.
"Take a deep breath, and tell me what's going on in there." He reached over as he spoke and tapped my temple gently.
"Something is different about this year. I don't know. I just… feel it." I shook my hands, attempting to free the nasty feeling that radiated up and down my arms.
Edward's face got serious as he studied me, and I knew he was attempting to make sense of the jumble I could feel inside. "Is it because Gaia knows what she is going to do for college and you still aren't sure?"
"Maybe." I grumbled, not feeling particularly grateful for the reminder of that little tidbit.
He sighed as he thought harder. "Is it a bad feeling or a nervous feeling?"
"Bad." I choked back the anxiety for a second, the taste of bile souring my mouth. "Like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. First dad, now what?"
"Wasn't your dad the other shoe?" As he spoke I slowly turned my head to stare at him, the deadpan expression on my face screaming louder than I was sure my mind did at that comment.
"The other other shoe then." I groaned. "There is a whole new pair. The entire shoe store is coming down." Leaning forward, I put my head in my hands and rested my elbows on my knees. I did not want to be here like this.
"I think it will all be fine." Edward stroked circles on my back.
"When did you become the optimist in this equation?" I looked at him over the side of my hand with my face scrunched in a mix of playful disgust and earnest disbelief.
A smile grew on his face before he finally spoke. "When I realized that maybe optimism is the only way to make good things happen."
"Who the hell says something like that." The scoff that came out of my mouth was anything but subtle.
"You did. At least, you tend to think about it, even without realizing. It's your undertone." Edward said in a matter of fact kind of way.
"I have undertones?" I sat up, looking at him like he just shook on his head.
He had a growing smile, like he was scheming something, but I couldn't pay attention to what it may be when I heard the words he spouted. "When you're not freaking out about something you can't control? Absolutely."
"Aye! Watch it bat boy, you're on thin ice." I pointed at him like a mother would point at her unruly child.
"Bat boy!" Edward laughed, his eyes crinkling in glee.
"The machinations of my mind are an enigma." I smirked, seconds later my face dropped. "Holy shit, you sly dog."
"What?" Edward asked with a smirk.
"You know what you did." I smacked him playfully before reaching for my bookbag in the back seat. "Distraction worked, let's get inside before it stops."
"Yes ma'am." Edward nodded, grabbing his own bag. We both began the doom march towards the school.
Junior year… Here I come.