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Chapter 218

Bella

Nervous. I was. I couldn't even put into words how nervous I was.

I paced back and forth in the living room, chewing on my lower lip, running my fingers through my hair erratically.

Every time I heard the pen scratch on the paper, I got goose bumps. Every time Edward cleared his throat, my stomach turned. This had been going on for several minutes now, and I was in for several more minutes of this horror. Edward was reading my thesis. With a red pen in his hand. What the hell was I thinking?!

Eighteen minutes later, Edward slammed the stapled stack of papers shut, sat up straight, took a deep breath, and ran it through his hair, brooding.

I closed my eyes and let my head fall defeated against the door frame behind me.

That was it. My work was not worthy of a doctorate. He was probably just thinking about how he could teach me most gently without hurting me. But I already was. Deeply hurt and disappointed in myself. I had worked so hard at this. Had sat at the PC just as consistently this past week when the twins were writing their exams every day. I had neglected Ced this week by having Esmé watch him every morning. But I had a feeling that I was on the verge of final success. All the lab tests had been done, all to my and Professor Stewart's satisfaction. All I had to do was to put it all down on paper properly and conclusively. Apparently, everything had been in vain.

Cool fingers settled under my chin and lifted it. Edward was standing right in front of me.

I hadn't noticed that at all.

He peeked quite emotionless. He breathed a kiss gently on my lips and a smile played around his mouth.

"Congratulations, Doctor Isabella Black!" he said, whereby his smile seemed a bit more liberated.

"What?", however, I asked.

Somewhere my mind had just shut down. Better said, he still hung after my disillusioned thoughts.

"Your work is excellent! In terms of content: you have carefully outlined the topic in order to logically support and prove your elementary statement. No experiment you elaborate on was beside the point, but purposefully advanced your initial thesis further and further, whereby you have also made substantial negative-experiments. Stylistically, it is very confidently written. Topic-related, without going too far afield. For biologists familiar with this subject matter, it should be quite an exciting read."

"But ... what did you correct so much then?", I asked when I understood his words.

"Essentially spelling and grammar. Here and there I replaced some words with technical terms. Only one paragraph I really rewrote for you. There you tended to want to explain your thesis at a high school level knowledge. But this paper is only read by scientists and biologists. They don't need a digression into basic knowledge," he smiled at me.

"The part about what mitochondria even are," I reflected.

He nodded.

"I wrote that one when I first went back to Professor Stewart after Ced was born."

"When you had to think yourself back into the matter," he noted.

I nodded.

I had never liked the paragraph anyway, but once written down, I didn't get to rewrite it in any meaningful way because I was too attached to what was already there.

"Then you think it's good?", I asked.

"More than good, Bella. It is truly outstanding, and one will accept this doctorate at Brown and honor you highly deservedly with the doctorate. Of that I have no doubt at all. It is better than my work and I have a great deal of respect for you getting the degree."

"Thank you, Edward. For giving me the time, you and Esmé, and for reading through it. Your judgment is very important to me," I said and kissed my husband.

Then I went to the table and flipped through the pages inattentively, paying attention only to all the red in between.

"Then I'll have something to do on Monday when you're at school," I sighed, but smiled as I did so.

I trusted Edward's opinion and he was happy with the work. So I was too.

"I could do that for you, too. I have nothing to do when our children are asleep anyway, since you're leaving me alone for the next two days. Tomorrow morning I'll take the final version to Professor Stewart. He will certainly have read it through by Sunday, so that he can devote himself eagerly to his new doctoral student on Monday. Then your work should be available to the appropriate committee no later than Tuesday," Edward said.

"But you're not changing anything other than what you marked!", I determined.

"Holy word of honor!" he vowed.

I agreed with that, when Esmé also came with Jasper.

We expected Esmé, but Jazz did not.

Actually, school would still be, but because of the exams, the lessons for everyone else was also already over at noon. And since today was Friday and thus the last day of exams, our kids were already celebrating. Edward seriously reckoned that he would pick her up drunk, but not very late, if they started partying/drinking at that hour. I didn't necessarily believe that.

With Esmé, I would leave for Atlantic City right away and not return until Sunday.

Zoey and Alex had their fifteenth wedding anniversary tomorrow. To mark it, Zoey would surprise her husband with a second set of vows. It wasn't two o'clock in the afternoon. Alex would still be assuming a short vacation for the two of them at the moment, if everything had gone smoothly. Since Zoey and Esmé had hit it off right away, Esmé had been invited to fly to Atlantic City with us. They also met occasionally or ran into each other here at my place. But why Jasper was here, I didn't necessarily understand.

However, he explained it by himself before I could ask.

"Do you remember when we were supposed to get a tax audit thanks to Arnold Hanks?" he asked me, which kind of sounded like a trick question.

"Yes ... I was worried about that," I knew quite well.

He held out an envelope to me.

"Here's the result of that. Take a look," he said.

"By the way, you co-married my tax debt!", Edward teased me.

I stuck my tongue out at him, but was thoroughly curious.

Actually, I was still concerned about what might have come out of such an audit.

Edward picked up Ced from our neighbors while I was busy reading.

Tax notices were written in a rather cumbersome official language, so that it was difficult to understand. That was probably the idea behind it and would apply just as much to such an audit report. I was not mistaken. I had to read some passages several times to understand it. An account in the Cayman Islands had not been disclosed and the interest had to be back-taxed. Interest of $1.78. A costly medical course for Carlisle had been misstated due to a numbers error. Some mileage had been in dispute ... Carlisle actually got money back on his bottom line.

I was speechless.

"Well, my heart. Satisfied with the result?" asked Edward, who was already back with Ced.

"I'm ... surprised," I stammered.

"Jasper just knows what he's doing," my husband kissed me on the temple.

"I see," was all I meant.

In return, I picked up my baby and cuddled him while I still had time.

"Did you have a good time at Emma and Grace's?", I asked him, and he showed me.

That still hadn't changed. He spoke a few words or even complete sentences now and then, but he still mostly used his gift to communicate. Since Grace was born, we made sure that David's children got to see our little angel every day if possible. That's why he had been over there for lunch. We did this to prevent any of the children from noticing a developmental leap in Ced. It was inherent in human nature that changes were not necessarily noticeable if those changes were consistently witnessed. Such things as hair growing, a child getting taller, or the like. Since Ced was developing faster overall, it would be more obvious to them if they didn't see him for a few days. Especially since they were witnessing normal human development through Grace.

Then, unfortunately, it was already time to leave.

I had already said a rampant goodbye to the teenagers this morning, but not yet to my husband.

My knees buckled as Edward kissed me while I witnessed his omnipresent and unconditional love for all of us. Ced was still sitting on my hip and touching us both, exposing my spouse's thoughts to me. Driving away now felt so superfluous to me. But Zoey was just my best friend, even though we were slowly but surely drifting apart. Sonya clearly replaced her in my life. I did this more or less knowingly. Zoey knew that with Edward, Ced, Esmé, and the others, she was not dealing with people, but with beings who did not grow older. That's all she knew, though, while her husband Alex knew absolutely nothing about any of this. He had never seen Ced either. That's why I've been avoiding long meetings with just the two of us for some time now, so that I wouldn't let too much information slip out. Zoey understood this background, though, especially since summer was getting closer and closer. The end of my humanity. She had only insisted that we should not lose sight of each other completely. And I had to go with her to Atlantic City!

"And behave as a wife of a man my age should!", Edward gave me to take along as we arrived to the front door.

"Uh ... Dead?", I briefly rolled over his age.

"Demure!" he corrected sternly. "I know what kind of town Atlantic City is!"

"Esmé will take care of me," I comforted him. "I'll miss you."

"That's what I want to mean!" he said arrogantly.

I smiled at that.

"You have to go, or you'll be late. See you Sunday, my heart!"

We drove to the airport and thought about what Alex would say when he found out the destination of our spontaneous short vacation.

We were not the first. A befriended couple was already waiting. They had been the witnesses at the first wedding and would be again. Two friends of Alex arrived shortly after us. One of them had thought of some matching welcome accessories for Zoey and Alex. The men each got a party hat that was shaped like a cylinder. We ladies got a hair clip with a veil on it and a mini plastic flower bouquet.

Zoey saw us already from a distance and tried to suppress her laughter, while Alex just looked at her disturbed. He then peeked quite confused when he stood in front of us.

"ATLANTIC CITY!" we answered loudly in chorus when he asked why we were dressed up.

Alex then got a T-shirt that looked like a tuxedo. Zoey one like a wedding dress.

In a good mood we boarded the plane to Philadelphia, treated ourselves to the first drink at the airport and flew on to Atlantic City.

We quickly checked into our rooms and then met for dinner across the street from the hotel.

Esmé was excused with travel sickness from flying, but she rejoined us after dinner.

As befits the day before the wedding, we had a stag party today.

Men and women nicely separated from each other, we moved through the city. A drink in a cocktail bar, a game in the casino, with bare feet a little snack on the beach, 'One-Armed Bandits' in the 'Wild Wild West' casino, more cocktails in the Hard Rock café, where I got T-shirts for my children as usual, if there was such a store in town.

In a bar we met the male part of our travel party.

Alex had wanted to drag Zoey off, but we all prevented that. After all, that wasn't proper one night before the wedding.

Then we ended up in a strip bar. And I had a lot of fun, although at some point we danced with the really hot men on stage.

But it was more funny than offensive. This opinion, however, could well be due to my alcohol level. What excuse Esmé had, I did not know. Regarding her promise to Edward that she would take care of me: She just devotedly spread oil on a pronounced six-pack of one of the Chippendale dancers. In the process, she had his bow tie hanging around her neck.

I fell into bed completely knocked out when we got back to the hotel in the middle of the night. I only managed to slip my shoes off my feet and fell asleep immediately. However, it was spinning continuously in my weird dream.

"Mmm ... Edward," I mumbled as I smelled coffee.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you on that one, dear," Esmé chuckled.

With a slight shock, I wrenched my eyes open. Directly in front of me I saw a smoking cup, but behind it a floor-to-ceiling window through which I could see the city.

Ah, yes. Atlantic City.

Gratefully, I took the cup from her, sat up and reached for my cell phone.

It was noon and I had a new message. A picture of my family having breakfast, all greeting the camera in a good mood. Underneath it said:

Good morning, my angel.

I hope you had fun and just a little fluffy hangover ;-).

I smiled.

As a 'fluffy hangover' Edward described my condition after an alcoholic debauched evening, but without a significant hangover the next morning. But that's how it usually was when I drank. Something like that morning, when he pulled me out of my abyss, only happened to me when I drank way too much and then a lot of different alcoholic beverages. I knew that and that's why I didn't do it.

Esmé briefly brought me up to date.

Our group, billeted in the rooms around us, was still partially asleep. Zoey had slipped messages under our doors.

Zoey was a notorious early riser. Even if she had been completely drunk. I don't know how she did it.

In any case, yesterday we had actually agreed that we would meet for breakfast. But now Zoey suggested, since the evening had become quite long, that we should all take it easy today and rather relax in the spa area of the hotel, once we were awake and had eaten something. They hadn't announced their ceremony until the early evening, so we could all take our time.

That explained why Esmé hadn't woken me up.

While I drank my coffee slowly, I called home.

I missed my family.

They were just sitting together over a midday snack.

A little break between tinkering in the workshop and standing as a model for Alice. Afterwards swimming and an evening in the cinema room was planned. The forecast for tomorrow in Saco was glorious sunshine, so the kids then wanted to go to the beach to surf. Leah said that the surf instructor was totally cute. And they were going to take Ced, who was really looking forward to it. Edward, on the other hand, would spend the sunny day in the woods. Hunting with Carlisle.

I ordered some food to my room, took a shower and we joined the others in the basement.

We were not the last. The befriended couple didn't join us until the afternoon. With a headache.

We relaxed in a good mood with a few cocktails in the swimming pool.

Alcohol-free. We were not twenty and could not do such a thing two days in a row.

The wedding chapel was here in the hotel, so we could relax in peace. They had different ones here to choose from. Quite romantically decorated, stylish and gorgeous, elegant and modern.

But Zoey had wanted all the kitsch that was available. She had already had a dream wedding fifteen years ago. Therefore, we then stood in the Las Vegas variant.

A few cheap white folding chairs with cardboard hearts stapled to them. Gold fabric was draped over the backs to hide the folding chairs. Zoey and Alex had borrowed clothes here. Zoey had picked out a dress that was a little too big for her. She was almost lost under all the pink ruffles. And she had the bouquet of flowers she had wanted. Garish plastic flowers, but it could play the wedding overture. Alex's tuxedo fit better, but was made of extremely shiny white fabric. Plus plenty of glittery fringe and a pink top hat.

An Elvis impersonator married the two. In a bright red skin-tight suit, which was covered with rhinestones and glitter. He sang some passages in Elvis style.

As silly as the overall picture was, his voice was actually good. He compared, in the short speech, marriage with life as a show star. With reference to himself, of course.

We threw glittery confetti as they ran out of the chapel laughing happily and newly remarried.

In the foyer they stopped, kissed in love and were photographed by some tourists. Afterwards, we were invited to a show gala dinner here at the hotel. Between various exquisite courses, various artists performed - singers, dancers, illusionists.

Esmé could not excuse herself from the meal again, that would have probably been noticed. Since there were manageable portions, I grabbed one or the other from her plate in unnoticed moments or she offered it to the others with the reason that she would not like it.

We enjoyed the evening with the visually stunning stage show, the delicious food, a little wine, but went to bed much earlier.

For breakfast this time I let myself be excused with a headache.

Couldn't always be just Esmé, who turned out for a meal.

I ordered something for my room. After that we met with the others.

We still had time before we would fly back and saw a bit of the city.

The magnificent casinos, very reminiscent of Las Vegas, the Boardwalk and still visited Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. A museum full of curiosities.

It had been a nice and fun short trip to Atlantic City overall, but I was also glad when Esmé dropped me off in front of my house that evening.

It was already after eight o'clock. Later than expected, because the flight had been delayed.

Through the windows I saw only dim light in the living room.

Quietly I entered, as I heard absolutely nothing. I smiled as I looked into the living room. Edward was lying on the sofa and smiling at me. Apparently he had been reading. A book was lying close to him. He didn't come to greet me as our Knob was on his torso.

Ced slept ... with his Kraken in his hand.

Continuing quietly, I walked over to my two men and looked at Edward.

He was so beautiful when he had just been hunting. The rich golden eyes. His skin was not quite as pale as usual, but looked a little rosy.

We kissed, long and playful, glad to have each other back.

"How long has he been sleeping?", I asked afterwards.

I was surprised. At just after eight o'clock, it was rare to get our little angel to bed voluntarily.

"Almost an hour already. He wanted to wait for you, but the day at the beach with his siblings was exhausting and nerve-wracking."

"Why nerve-wracking?"

Edward sat up carefully, careful not to disturb our son's dreams. He reached for the little hand that was turned away from me.

Around one finger Ced had a colorful band-aid.

"He cut himself on a shell. Together with the salt water, it was exceedingly bad. It could only be treated with chocolate ice cream, for which they also took quite a long time to figure out," the physician expertly stated.

I smiled.

Ced never stumbled. Those were his father's genes. Thank God! He did, however, bump his head, he slipped and then couldn't find his footing, or a dog ran him over. Kids, that's all. But when he hurt himself, which was simply unavoidable, he was all the more snivelling.

"Let's put him to bed," I said, taking him from Edward.

I diapered him once again; he already had his pajamas on and then he lay in his crib. Blissfully asleep.

Edward proudly stated that they had also brushed their teeth. Both.

Edward had taken my suitcase upstairs, already unpacked and everything in place.

I was still standing by the cradle watching my little angel sleep when Edward stood before me with a scowl on his face.

It was not real. His gaze was too gentle.

"Mrs. Black. You've been very neglectful of your marital duties these days!" he said matter-of-factly.

"Well, that's unforgivable," I stated in downright shock.

"I agree."

"And is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"I think I have an idea," he murmured, pulling me into his arms.

I don't know how exactly I got to bed, but when I landed there, I remembered something else.

"So when are the kids coming home?"

"For the time being, no. They just disappeared again earlier," my lover smiled audaciously.

So I fulfilled my marital duties. And Edward his. Very extensively. Very devoted. Very ... wow.

"Why do we even have to go to school anymore?" grumbled Jake at the breakfast table the next morning.

"The exams are through, and the teachers are unlikely to start any new subjects now!", Leah backed up Jake's opinion.

"Nothing is really happening now!", Becky was also offended.

"That's just sitting around for time until they finish writing the report cards!" complained Marcus.

I was standing in the kitchen with Edward, we had just scrambled the eggs together.

Actually, the teenagers were right. Nothing more would happen in the next two weeks. That is, as far as the content of the lessons was concerned.

I looked at my husband questioningly.

"Do you have any counterarguments there?", I asked him.

"Officially, your senior year ends with you receiving your report cards from the principal. Not a minute earlier. So you continue to go to school!", the vampire determined adamantly.

I suppressed a chuckle for the stern tone.

The children snorted contemptuously and preferred not to speak a word to their parents.

We then cared more about the child who was not mad at us. Ced. And we were in a very jovial mood this morning, as Ced had some things to show me from the weekend.

Then, when the school-age part of my family was gone and I had put away breakfast, I called Professor Stewart.

He had already read my dissertation in its entirety and sent it yesterday in the mailbox in the direction of Brown University. He praised me very much for my work, but now we could only wait for the time being. Maybe the chairman would contact me this week, but it could also take a few weeks. It just depended on how busy he would be and was impossible to predict.

And then I sat there.

I had nothing left to do. No work at the Prescott Institute, no helping Esmé renovate and decorate David's house, no doctoral thesis. What did one do with free time?

The answer smiled at me from the carpeted floor, and I smiled back.

I grabbed my son, plus a child car seat, strapped both into Jake's Mercedes - Leah was driving our teens to school today - and hit the road.

Ced was all excited when I stood with him in the swimming pool at Carlisle's house. We frolicked and swam. We jumped off the edge of the pool and off the diving board. I slipped, but luckily only got a new bruise. The skin was a little scraped from the tile grout, but it wasn't really bleeding. From then on, I was a little more careful.

Esmé joined us at some point, continuing to romp with the little bundle of energy while I took a well-deserved break.

This was now again one of those moments when I could hardly wait for immortality. As a vampire, I would neither fall down nor have to rest. It would not take much longer. Only a few weeks and I would say goodbye to humanity. We had not agreed on an exact date. Edward hoped that this explicit wish would not cross my lips. But he was wrong about that! Soon I would ask for the transformation. What was keeping me in my human life, except for a few friends I could keep in touch with by phone, when I was officially just moving somewhere else with Edward. It was just this week and next week of school, then the kids' prom, the following week the official graduation ceremony with report card presentation, and then - Wednesday - was the wedding date for our kids. What did I need my humanity for after that? Yes, exactly. For nothing! But what was waiting for me afterwards was worth the three days of agony of transformation. Well, I was really afraid of them, but what did it matter? I would never fall and hurt myself again. I wouldn't need a break when I was romping with my son. I would be able to run through the forest with Edward. With my two wolves. I would no longer have to waste nights sleeping unnecessarily. The twins wouldn't have to take care of me when I got old and doddery ...

With all this mental anticipation, I fell asleep on the lounger, but was very pleasantly kissed awake by my husband.

Okay, I would probably miss that as a vampire. Maybe also the morning coffee. How did vampires actually get along without coffee? I would find out soon.

The next few days were very relaxed.

Edward stayed at school until the afternoon every Tuesday and Thursday. He had not expanded to three afternoons.

The teens had many dates with friends before they would scatter to the four winds after graduation.

Learning had been settled for the entire cohort, after all.

Once they had called in the middle of the week and asked if they could stay away overnight.

Our parent commentary on this: You are of age; you decide for yourselves what you do.

They hadn't quite gotten used to it yet. When they left the house, we just asked for information about when to expect them back. So we wouldn't worry. Our children already told us what they were doing.

Leah and Becky practiced a lot. They still had the final game ahead of them.

Against the team from Scarborough, in which Marcus last girlfriend had played. The favorites who had won the championship two years in a row. So it would be a very tough game, for which the two wanted to prepare as best they could. Therefore, in addition to Jake and Marcus, Jasper and Emmett also trained with them.

Marcus' knee, meanwhile, had survived his final game without after-effects and he was able to put full weight on it again. His various sports and also his studies in sports science should not be a problem, in Carlisle's opinion. Provided he allowed his knee sufficient rest when he again fell awkwardly on it.

Becky and Marcus' tattoos were completely healed. Jake had also survived his tattoo, as he pointed out several times.

Boys could really be hypersensitive sometimes, even if they were wolves.

The weekend was unusually quiet.

Akai and Tom did come to the weekly training, but our teens were not there.

Akai told that Kate had contacted them.

She had intended to do so earlier, but there had been so much going on in Boston that she hadn't had the chance. She had looked for another shared apartment. One where she didn't expect Nanuk to walk through the door at any moment. Besides, she had written her bachelor's thesis. Now she was done studying and had accepted a job in California. She would be leaving there in a few weeks. With a photo of Nanuk in her luggage.

Our kids were at a music festival that entire weekend. The twins had given Becky and Marcus these tickets for Christmas, and they stayed there from Friday to Sunday. Brandon and Lisa were there too and the six of them somehow shared the two rooms they had booked there for those days.

On Sunday at dinner we were told so much about music and various bands that I dreamed of music.

No matter what direction it was, Edward even played bass guitar on his grand piano in it.

Then, on the last school Wednesday, we were already sitting in the stands at Thornton Academy cheering on our girls.

For the very last game, everyone came along again.

Marcus wasn't there yet, but he would come straight from his school with Jules.

Edward's parents and siblings were in full attendance. Carlisle, as the team doctor, was of course down on the players' bench.

David with his complete family.

Except Cookie. He looked after the house.

Marcus' mother sat with us to cheer on her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. Along with her daughter Maggie, who had taken time off early to watch at least one of her sister-in-law's games.

Zoey had come. Becky's parents were there with Bryan. But also some other guests were there today.

Ciara Young and Billy Black and Charlie and Sue.

All four of them had arrived today and had come a few days earlier on the occasion of the upcoming wedding. For Billy and Ciara this time it was also the move to a new home. Esmé had found a suitable little house for them. Ground level, age appropriate, in a nice quiet area, with the forest adjacent to the garden. Billy was especially happy about the latter. He was a nature person. In addition, the wolves could look past times.

I had been helping Esmé with her work with the house for the past few days. Ced, too, of course, as he proudly showed his grandfather.

Ced, however, kept changing his spectator seat - as agreed with him. We said nothing to the ignorant among us about Ced's presence.

As Edward heard in the thoughts, it was assumed that the child belonged to Zoey or maybe Sonya. After all, it was only Becky's and Marcus' family who didn't know about our son. And of course our kids' friends, who were also sitting in our neighborhood.

We spread out over three rows.

Such considerations, however, were overrun by events on the field.

The game was even tougher than we had expected. They didn't give each other anything and it didn't necessarily give the impression of a harmless high school game.

But these two teams were leading the table almost on equal points. So winning this game meant this year's championship for both teams. For Scarborough, it was a matter of honor. If they won today, they would make history. They would have won the championship three years in a row. There had never been anything like it in this league. But our team was determined not to let that happen.

After the third nerve-wracking set, they would have to send the second substitute onto the field right away. Two girls had already injured themselves.

But now there was a break and I urgently needed something to drink.

When Edward returned with some cups and nachos, he brought Marcus with him. He was accompanied. Jules, of course, his little sister.

Let's better say - younger sister. She was now sixteen and definitely no longer a small child. But Marcus also had Nate with him. We had met at one of Marcus' games and I had heard a lot about him. He was one of Marcus' best friends, they were on the basketball team together, a perpetual single guy who just didn't have any luck with girls. Although he didn't look bad, as far as I could tell.

"What an enchanting young lady!" he extended a hand to Emma after a quick round of introductions.

She giggled sheepishly.

Accordingly, his manners didn't seem so bad either.

Jake was already down by the railing that separated the bleachers from the playing area because of the break. Marcus also ran down quickly to greet his wildcat. It was quite a lengthy greeting, with loud comments coming from the opposition. These were the guys who belonged to the Scarborough players.

I remembered them. When we were at their place in the first round last year, they had kidnapped Marcus after the game and tied him to a makeshift stake - a lamppost. His girlfriend Lily had been on that team, which is why he was part of the sworn group. Or rather had been. Now Marcus was, after all, involved with an opponent, which they made him feel again today.

Emma, meanwhile, pulled Nate onto the bench between all of us and she tried to explain to him where he was right now.

Down there were her girlfriends Leah and Becky and they would play a volleyball game against the other girls down there. Nate knew that, of course, which is why he came along, but he patiently let the little princess explain it to him.

A buzz announced the end of the break and Jake and Marcus gave their girls final kisses of encouragement.

The only question was what they were cheering for. It didn't really look like volleyball.

Marcus still went by his old friends who wouldn't let him leave, but Jake came up to us.

"Wow ... Who's that?" I then heard Nate next to me marvel.

Jake asked who exactly he meant.

"The cute blonde at the front of the net. The one next to Becky," he specified.

"That's Charly," Jake said succinctly.

"She certainly has a boyfriend," Nate stated.

"Nope, she didn't. She dumped her last boyfriend at Easter. He was trying to make a real girl out of her."

"Huh ...? Girl?"

Jake told that Charly - actually Charlotte Benson - was a rather practical girl. She didn't wear makeup, didn't wear high-heeled shoes, preferred to drink beer instead of sparkle wine or cocktails. She had never been seen in a dress or skirt, couldn't stand glitter, soap operas and the like, but liked cool cars. She drove a Shelby GT. It was ancient, but she knew enough about cars to keep it running. She would study automotive engineering in Portland after the summer. She probably could have easily gone to MIT to study, but at her parents' garage, they depended on her to help out.

Nate had listened exceedingly attentively without taking his eyes off Charly.

The game continued to be exciting. We jumped up from the benches a few times.

To cheer or because our hearts stopped in shock. The girls all slapped the floor so hard at one point that I thought they wouldn't get up again. But they did again and again. Jake and I were on the verge of a nervous breakdown when the whistle finally blew off the fourth set.

After that the score was 2 : 2.

There was only a short break before the decisive last set began.

The team that got fifteen points first won the championship.

A dogged fight. If one team got a point, the other immediately caught up. The various fans roared excitedly when the score was 14 : 14. On both sides, players had to be replaced again due to injury.

Marcus had told us and reminded Leah and Becky that this team not only practiced in school, but also in their free time and then with their boys. They hit the balls a lot harder, which is why the team was so good and they were the favorites.

The coaches gave final instructions to their teams. The girls ran to their positions.

I held my breath.

We had serve. Charly hit the ball over the net. Stumbling towards the ball, it was taken. To the setter. Butterfly ball. We got the ball. Our server. Becky jumped up. Smashed. Reaccepted ...

At some point I felt a slight cold pressure on my shoulder, and I gasped for air.

Edward. He was sitting one row behind me.

Over my shoulder, I smiled gratefully at him before looking back to the field.

The ball was still being played. Sneakers squeaked across the gym floor. I could hear the players shouting various things to each other. A few spectators cheered for the teams. The coaches were yelling. I even thought I could hear the big clock ticking above the field.

Then I held my breath again and saw everything as if in slow motion ...

One of our balls was returned at the net with a direct powerful attack. In the area where it would land, the player from us was still on the ground from her previous reception. Becky took off running. She had the ball right in her sights. She tripped over the feet of her teammate, who also reached toward the ball but missed. A loud squeak from Becky's shoes. She was still able to intercept herself. She leapt after the ball. Her arms stretched out wide. Her lower wrists hit the ground first and she slid a little further. Then the ball arrived. The powerful ball slammed hard on the inside of her wrists. Becky gave a shrieking scream. In our rows of fans, some jumped off the benches in dismay.

Me too.

Jake, on the other hand, stormed off.

Stunned, I continued to look at the field, again noticing Edward at my shoulder.

Becky managed to pull her forearms up and pass the ball to her teammates behind her. Once again, her wrists hit the ground.

Charly accepted Becky's ball.

I could tell she was torn. Check on Becky or accept the ball. She chose the latter. Charly played it very high. Leah jumped. Smashed. Point! The game was over, we were champions. And Becky was still lying motionless on the floor.

Carlisle was now immediately with Becky.

Her team and the coach surrounded her. The opponents were quickly with her.

Jake jumped down the bleachers. It was just about acceptable for a normal boy because of the height. Marcus was close behind him.

I couldn't see Becky anymore because of all the people, so I turned to Edward. He was already sitting again, but he had his eyes closed and was concentrating.

"What about her?", I asked him quietly and deeply concerned, leaning towards him a bit.

He sat between Billy and Charlie, who looked at him as anxiously as I did.

"Her wrists," he muttered.

"Broken?" asked Sue, who had also leaned over to him.

"After the initial palpation, no, but Carlisle will definitely take an X-ray to make sure. She's conscious, though," he said, nodding down to the field.

I followed his gaze.

One made Becky straight place from the crowd. She walked independently, but was held securely by Jake in addition. She looked a little pale and weak, but she was talking. But I also saw that her hands were shaking, and she avoided touching anything with them.

Leah ran into the locker room, presumably to get Becky's clothes. Marcus held a bottle to her lips to drink.

Meanwhile, Becky's parents, standing anxiously by the lower railing for their little girl, were already talking to Carlisle.

Becky buckled a bit, which is why Jake then took his star completely in his arms.

According to Edward, this was probably just a small circulatory weakness due to the excitement.

On the way out of the gym, Becky got a great round of applause from everyone.

We still waited for the award ceremony, where Edward of course had to take pictures.

A girl from the opposing team - Mel, I was told - accepted the silver cup. People applauded and cheered the team, who then lifted the trophy into the air all together.

Leah was the team leader of our team, and she was presented with the big golden trophy. It was passed through the entire team, the Saco audience went wild with excitement, our principal also looked more than satisfied.

Leah picked up her own congratulations from Marcus as the trophy kept moving and all sorts of confetti and such swirled through the air.

Actually, the team had arranged to celebrate at a teammate's house, but Leah wanted to go home first and wait for Becky. She could celebrate later, if she still wanted to.

"Hey, Nate. Do you actually know Charly?", Leah introduced the two before she left the gym with us.

She told us that they had wanted to get Nate and Charly together earlier, after Charly had been available for a relationship again after her last boyfriend. It just hadn't come to pass.

Leah was still in the shower when Carlisle arrived with Jake and Becky.

At first I was surprised because I hadn't expected them yet. But then I remembered that the farewell in front of the gym after the award ceremony had dragged on forever. There had been a lot of spectators from us today, who all left for their own homes after the game.

Becky didn't look so pale now, but she was wearing bandages around both wrists.

Nothing was broken - fortunately - but the ligaments were overstressed. With an ointment and the immobilization of the wrists, however, that should be cured within the next few weeks.

"But I'm not wearing these things next Wednesday!", Becky Carlisle angrily held her index finger up to his face.

One generally smirked at this gesture of the patient to the doctor. Wednesday was her wedding day after all. The bandages would certainly not match the dress! However, she hissed a little afterwards, as if her wrists still hurt, which they had now reminded her of.

"If you go easy on her until then, I might allow it!" the doctor thundered back sternly.

"I'll make sure she takes it easy!" Jake then clarified once.

He smiled so winningly. The youths then disappeared after all to celebrate their championship.

And then it was already Friday night. Prom ...

Thank you for reading!