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Scheduled for Friday
by Anton M.

35: Ọbatole

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Friday, February 3

I wore my (mom's) best-fitting high waisted blue jeans, a striped tweed blazer over a black turtleneck, and my beautiful, homeless-people's Chelsea boots that had never been polished. It was cold enough for my breath to be visible, and I buried my chin deeper into my (mom's) chunky crochet scarf as I exited Emmett's truck and walked over patches of grass to reach the other side of the parking lot. I discovered Edward's bike in its spot, helmet hanging off the handle and Edward crouched next to it, searching for something in his bag. He wore black ripped jeans, his gray jacket, a gray hood over his head and his blue home-made scarf around his neck. His frown gave an edge to his sharp features, and I felt a nervous burst of affection at the sight of him.

I wasn't sure why I was so nervous. We'd kissed all morning yesterday, we'd texted (and briefly called) in the evening and he knew I was coming to school today. But I'd never dated anyone. I didn't want to scare him with my over-eagerness, expecting too much too quickly, and he'd expressed his concern over dating two girls too close together, so maybe he wouldn't have wanted to show that we were together quite yet.

The thought made me stop dead on my tracks. I should've just headed inside, casually, no biggie, but my feet had already found him and I wondered if it was really that big of a deal that I was so excited to see him. Would he have preferred that I stay under the radar for a while so that the timeline of our dating wouldn't look quite so crazy?

Before I'd made up my mind, Edward lifted his head, and the way his eyes lit up at the sight of me touched something wild in my chest. He stood up. Still beaming, I couldn't resist walking up to him, but when I stopped a good few feet away from him, his face crunched up again and he ignored my greeting.

"What's wrong?" he asked, clearly referring to my distance from him.

"Nothing," I replied, unnerved by the rough edge in his voice.

"Bella," he warned.

I hid my smile in my scarf, remembering how he'd once called me fearless and wondering how little truth it held and how much sway Katie's and Mike's words had over me. "Don't laugh at me, okay?"

Edward's frown deepened. "Okay."

"A few people told me that, because you're the first guy I've dated, I was going to scare you away with my pathetic over-eagerness if I didn't keep it in," I admitted, smiling sheepishly, feeling like a moron for telling him the truth but knowing I'd lied enough to fill a lifetime. "And I'm kind of a noob at this, so I don't know how to express just the right amount of eagerness because—you're too cool to date me and I don't want to scare you away so, if you'd like me to go inside without you, and, and, pretend we're not—"

Edward's laugh cut me off.

I shrunk in shame. "I shouldn't have— I'm sorry," I whispered, mortified. "Never mind, I'll just—"

He stepped against me and took hold of my neck, his eyes torn and tender.

"Or," he whispered, tilting my chin up and pressing his lips against mine, filling me with his scent and the softest, loveliest lips that sent a longing ache through me. He lingered against me, refusing to pull back as his breath mixed with mine. "Or," he repeated, squeezing my neck. "I kiss you good morning and tuck you under my arm and we revel in Jasper losing his shit over seeing us together."

Relieved and full of affection, I kept my eyes closed as I smiled against his lips. "Okay."

Edward drew his cold nose over my cheek, almost reverently, and I adored how I could feel the vibration of his voice against me when he whispered, "Missed you yesterday."

He gathered his backpack and his helmet before he tucked me under his arm and stole a kiss. He stifled his smile.

"What?"

"If you could describe how many moles fit into the right amount of eagerness, that'd be great." Edward squeezed me against his side. "Thank you for telling me even if it sounds like a load of nonsense, but if you're worried," he continued, lowering his voice, looking like the cat that ate the canary. "You should probably know that I've slept in your hoodie since you returned it."

My jaw dropped.

"You haven't."

Edward grinned, his eyes flickering to the bits of attention we gathered with our obvious display of affection, but instead of moving away, Edward squeezed me closer to navigate the crowd more easily. I felt eyes on us.

"But, but—why?"

"Why do you think?"

Realization dawned on me that the morning I returned his hoodie and saw him sniffing it, he hadn't imagined Lauren. He got that tender, toe-curling, affectionate look because of me.

"I know you spent only a few hours in it, but—" He turned his head, speaking directly in my ear. "You smell amazing."

I felt afloat in his gaze.

Edward gave his helmet to the reception after we entered the school. We attracted some side-glances and whispers but I only gave people smiling nods and off-handed hellos as I walked to the lockers, tucked under Edward's arm like it was just another day.

"I'm glad your voice is better," he continued. "How'd you get it fixed so quickly?"

"An inhumane amount of tea, and—Buckley's cough syrup."

Having dropped off our jackets in our lockers, we were just in the middle of discussing the weirdness of both of us knowing about the syrup (Edward's mom's colleague had brought stacks of it from Canada while we ordered ours from Amazon) when Jasper spotted us from across the atrium.

His jaw dropped in the most exaggerated way while Edward smiled against my temple.

Edward's white-pink-and-purple threads, matching mine, were visible on his wrist with his arm slung over my shoulders. He pulled me into a half-hug, protecting my ear with his hand just as Jasper reached us. Eyes glinting, Jasper dramatically raised both of his arms.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Jasper shouted, starting to circle us, making most people stop in the atrium. "Today is a big day. It appears that the man officially grew a pair. Have no fear, I shall soon find out the how, but the outcome is clear, and we cannot know what the girl sees in the moron but—we all make mistakes."

Edward smacked the back of Jasper's head. Eyes full of secrets, the pair shared a conspiratory grin I wished I was in on, but the next moment, a passing teacher stopped and raised an eyebrow at Edward.

"It was consensual, sir." Jasper raised both hands. "I asked for it."

A rumble of a laugh threatened to escape Edward but he only nodded, relaxing his hold on me.

"Don't do it again," the teacher admonished.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Jasper said, deathly serious, only to smack the back of Edward's head the moment the teacher had turned his back on us. Jasper dodged Edward's further attempts to continue their slap-battle before Jasper held his flat palm in front of him and presented rolled-up money between his fingers. "One fifty. Keep the change." Jasper opened his mouth to surely continue with something loud and over-dramatic but his eyes fell on Alice, entering the school, and his face lit up. "Don't. Move," he insisted, making Edward accept the money before rushing to the entrance.

"Move, move, move," Edward whispered, half-nudging, half-lifting me to head to the A wing. Laughing and near-jogging next to Edward's enormous steps, I wrapped my arm around his waist and did my best to ignore the extra attention Jasper had drawn on us.

It wasn't difficult to ignore the eyes on us with my insides squeeing at having a boy hold me in his arms like it wasn't a big deal.

"I hope you weren't hoping to go under the radar," Edward whispered. I tilted my chin up to see his face. His green eyes were glinting, surrounded by the longest eyelashes, and his lips were gorgeously curved in a smile. "Fuck, Bella," he rumbled, burying his face in my hair, his lips touching my ear. "Don't look at me like that in school."

"I… didn't do anything."

Edward groan-laughed before he kissed my temple. It was soft and brief but no less surreal, getting used to little kisses from him, and he began to walk me to my first class when Lauren and a few of her friends gaped at us from across the hallway. Edward's jaw clenched as he locked eyes with her.

"Oh don't you worry, Lauren," Edward spat the words as we passed, his voice low and mocking. "It's not contagious."

Incredibly and all too briefly, we passed them, and I stared at Edward because his two little sentences finally put my puzzle together, giving me good ballpark of Lauren's opinions that had disgusted him enough to not only try to protect me from them but to also try to force her to reveal them.

"Last time, I promise," Edward misinterpreted my wide eyes.

Understanding why he didn't want to have this discussion off-handedly in the middle of the hallway, I squeezed his side and asked, quietly, "Will you tell me, later?"

And finally, seeing the understanding in my eyes of why he couldn't just randomly deep-dive into this topic, Edward nuzzled my temple and whispered, his breath ghosting over my face, "Of course."

…

The rumor of us together spread like wildfire, but the whispering began to die down by the first lunch break, so maybe it wasn't the worst approach to have had Jasper (who continued to look giddier than a schoolgirl) announce our dating in the atrium. A few people gave us smug smiles, a few commented, but overall, most friends treated us the same and it wasn't quite as overwhelming as I'd feared.

My biggest worry was (Edward's worry of) the timeline of everything happening, but not only was Edward steady as a rock beside me, I learned that… not many students dared to say much. Most were intimidated by him. Hell, some teachers were, too. I could always tell if a teacher had given Edward lessons by their reaction to him in the hallways if they wanted to talk to him or admonish him. Those who knew him used a gentle, almost sympathetic voice when talking to him, while teachers who didn't know him almost always tried to be overly strict and authoritative, assuming his character based on his somewhat rebellious appearance.

Edward took it in stride, though, probably used to it. Unless it was his aunt, he didn't talk back to teachers, 'yessirring' and 'yesmaaming' through most conversations.

It had only been a week since he'd broken up with Lauren, but it was a week full of everyone witnessing him struggle with whatever Lauren had said, and almost a month of people witnessing our friendship by the time we got together.

And like Alice said, "It's been a week. That's, like, a month in a non-high-school timeline."

Edward laughed against my shoulder but didn't disagree.

Upon hearing that I was about to flunk my geometry test (because I was supposed to study for it on Wednesday but never did), Edward took it upon himself to teach me during breaks leading up to it, and the only reason I could stay focused on his words and not his lips was my semi-desperate need to prove myself to him. It paid off well enough because when I described (what I could recollect of) the test and my answers to it, Edward predicted I'd get a B, which might've not been proof of my unparalleled genius but still made me happy. If Edward was disappointed, he didn't show it.

During the second lunch break, Edward and I sat behind my Anthropology classroom, eating our lunch in the relative quiet of the hallway. I was not even one third of the way through my hearty niçoise salad when Edward dumped his sandwich wrapper in the trashcan. He sat beside me on the floor again, leaning my knees over his thighs and wrapping his arm around me.

"One day, humans will develop teeth, and you'll be so amazed by the phenomenal innovation of chewing."

Edward laughed. Resting his chin on my shoulder, he watched me in silence, but I suppressed my smile and kept eating. His quiet presence, confident and attentive, made my heart all aflutter, and I wondered if the breathless bubble we found ourselves in helped in shielding us away from all the gossip.

"You've been awfully quiet this morning," Edward said, gently. "Everything okay?"

I lowered my lunchbox, offering it to him. "Help me finish?"

Probably worried that Edward hadn't packed his lunch again, mom had almost certainly doubled my portion, but the secret to Edward was that the boy was always hungry. Honestly, I wasn't sure where he put all the food but he could've probably inhaled five steaks and still have a pound of chocolate for dessert.

"You sure?"

He began gulping down my salad as I stewed over how to answer him. On top of this new, dazed, giddy existence next to a boy who liked me, I had an entangled mess living in the shelves of my mind. I wished with all my heart I could've shared every single nook and cranny of my thoughts and worries.

"I just had a tough day on set yesterday."

Edward paused. "Tough how? Acting or… other stuff?"

"Other stuff."

I'd agreed with my parents that it was okay for me to share Garrett's identity with Edward after I'd gotten to know Edward a bit more (and felt ready to share), but I was determined to chip away at my worries one thing at a time.

Before Edward could reassure me that I could trust him, I squeezed his thigh. "I'll tell you," I said, unprompted. "It's not a topic you can just dip in and out of. Just give me time."

Edward's eyes told me that he understood exactly how I felt. "I'll be here."

Blown away by how understanding he was, I kissed his cheek twice before pecking his lips. It was a dream to get to do that. His eyes fluttered half-closed as they lingered on my lips and he dipped closer to brush his lips properly against mine. Three seconds of smushing noses and breathing against each other's faces later, I was chewing on a piece of tomato. I'd have never thought it would feel intimate rather than disgusting to do that, but I returned his smile.

"My parents and I are moving to Smyrna in a few weeks."

Edward's eyes snapped to mine.

"Sorry." I gave him a sheepish smile. "Not really a perfect time to tell you that."

He dropped his fork to my lunchbox. His voice was sharp. "Why?"

"Safety, mostly, but… mom also got a fantastic contract for simultaneous interpreting of Mandarin, so… we're getting a bigger place with a yard full of trees, and a fence, and… security alarm."

Edward pulled his bottom lip in his mouth. "You're switching to Campbell in the middle of the school year?"

"No, my parents are working on an application to keep me here. Willie W. Smith is one of the few schools that allow students to do acting on the side, not that they have anyone other than me right now, but hopefully that's enough of a reason for the district to approve it."

"HB 251," he replied as if that meant anything. "My mom did that for me back in Roswell for my chess."

Edward put down my empty lunchbox and lifted my legs properly over his, snuggling me against him. I didn't realize how tense I was until Edward nudged my chin up and pulled on a curl behind my ear.

"Jesus, you look scared. I'm not mad, okay? Just taken aback. I'd miss you like crazy, but I'm half a year away from graduation, so it's not like I'd have a leg to stand on even if I did have a say in it."

I was relieved that our move wasn't the shining red beacon of my impending fame that I'd feared. His acceptance of it felt almost anti-climatic, and I wanted to question him about his own future but it wasn't the time.

"Will you come there with me this weekend? Or the next? I'd like to show it to you."

"Where is it?"

"Westover Gardens, just beyond the border with Mableton, south of North Cooper Lake Park. It's a fifteen-minute drive from your house." I stifled my smile. "Not that I checked. I'm very cool and chill and not at all over-eager."

For the first time since I told him I was moving, Edward gave me a proper smile, smushing his nose against my cheek. "Oh yeah?"

"You know, I don't care at all, to think of it. Also never checked if the garage could fit your precious XS 650 next to our car because that's just how much I don't care—"

Edward pulled me into a kiss. "Not caring is overrated," he muttered, squeezing my neck. "I'd love to see it, but—can I take you on a date first? Tomorrow night, pick you up at six?"

Warmth spread through me at the prospect of going on a proper date with Edward. "I might have to finish homework for Monday tonight, then, because there's no way I'll have energy for it on Sunday after being on set for two days."

Edward grinned against my lips. "Lucky for you I know a tutor to help you with that."

…

I pulled Alice into the single bathroom on the third floor (the one on the second floor was occupied) during the next break when I knew that Edward was talking to his chess teacher on the other side of the building and Jasper had two back-to-back classes in the gym. Alice, positively giddy from wanting to question me about Edward, began to do just that. I gave her a brief, two-minute rundown of Edward and I finally getting together—not at all what Alice was looking for—before I sat on the toilet with a closed lid, rubbed my face and groaned.

"Oh my God did Edward do something to—"

"No! No," I half-shouted, needing to unload my Garrett baggage. "It's something else. I need to tell someone before I explode because my dad is, ugh, he's crushed and… I'm scared and nervous but I'm also, like, a part of me is excited too, which is horrible, and I think I might go insane if I don't tell someone who's not my parents."

"Okay. Okay, okay," Alice whispered, crouching in front of me. "I'm here. Tell me."

I let out a shaky, energy-filled breath and locked eyes with her. "Please take a guess as to who's the man my director wants to play—you-know-who's father."

Alice searched my eyes, confused before her eyes widened and she laughed out loud.

"Nooo."

A giddy, half-demented near-laughter escaped me, a sound I'd never created and probably never would.

"Oh, yes."

"Holy motherfucking shit, are you fucking serious?! You're about to meet—"

"Shh!"

Alice shook her hands, back and forth, jumping up for just a second, full of the same near-giddy, suppressed energy neither of us could've explained. Done with her ritual, she crouched in front of me again.

"Does your director know?"

"Of course not. Nobody knows."

Alice smile faded as she blinked at me. "Oh my God your poor dad. Jesus. Was he—is he okay?"

I knew I could count on Alice to understand why this was so complicated.

BFFs since childhood, mom and dad were rock solid, but dad and I had had a few bumps along the way, and when those happened, I had thrown the 'you're not my real dad' card in his face more than once. Understandably, my childhood stupidity left a mark, which was why I needed to tell him myself, why I needed to talk to him without mom, and why his gut-wrenching reaction was easy to predict. It had been half a decade since my last serious fight with dad, and nothing would ever stand in the way of him being my dad, but… it was still incredibly cruel to hit him in the face with Garrett.

"He was as good as you'd expect, but—he has to take a sick day so that Garrett doesn't see mom and recognize her when I have a chemistry reading with him."

"Chemistry reading? I thought those were for, like, romantic roles."

I laughed. "No! They're for… crucial character interactions. That can be anyone important."

"Bella," Alice said, pausing, voice eerily silent. "You know the scene they're going to make you read, right?"

Blood drained from my face as our eyes locked. I blinked. Two seconds later, I let out the most empty, humorless laugh.

"Please kill me."

Nala's mother died during childbirth and her father Ọbatole abandoned her when she was three months old. Since she was born, the air surrounding Nala sometimes filled with whispers of dead people, and a legend predicted the birth of a Typahnon, a creature predicted to cover the world with the feeling of soulless misery and doom unless it was killed through a ritual before the tender age of eleven. Not having the heart to kill his believed-to-be-evil offspring but unable to live with her, Ọbatole ran away from the village with his daughter in the middle of the night and left her by a church door.

Because Ọbatole had been on the verge of death no less than three times, Nala recognized the now-powerful politician upon first sight, but she was a thirteen-year-old mute orphan slave at his swearing-in ceremony, and Nala bit back tears as she did her best to convey the nature of their relationship via sign language to her father. She was in awe of their meeting, believing it to be fate, a turning point in her miserable life, nervous and excited beyond what her shaking fingers could convey.

Ọbatole, not recognizing the girl and believing her to be begging at his ceremony, physically threw her out of the premises on a rainy night.

Unbeknownst to Ọbatole, they met multiple times at different events through the years where Nala had to watch her father raise a happy, beautiful daughter with his new wife.

"It might not be that one, to be fair," I told Alice. "It could be the one where I kill him later."

"You think that's better?"

The scoff-laughter sound I made answered her question for me.

Nala and Mathys discovered the mythical Typahnon during their journey, except Nala was convinced that the creature was nothing but a virus infecting the kid underneath, and through her research with witches, she found a ritual that could cure the poor child. What nobody knew was that, when performed by the one who could bring people's last words to life, her blood had to be sacrificed, and her abilities pulled her tortured father into the ritual. When she realized what she'd torn her father's soul from his body, Nala prematurely cut off the ritual, hoping to save his life.

She didn't. Both the child and Nala's father died, and not only was Nala's right foot sacrificed, cut off from the ankle, she could hear his last words for months afterward.

"I either cry my guts out about my father abandoning me, or I do the same about accidentally killing him."

"Well, look at the bright side," Alice replied with a twisted smile. "At least you won't have to go far to dip into those feelings."

I groaned.

"But your dad, is he not worried about your mom meeting Garrett?"

I personally thought the answer was a big, fat, resounding no, but I'd also gotten up at around two AM to get some water, and my parents' bedroom light had still been on. Clearly, they'd had a lot to discuss beyond what they wanted to share with me. Honestly, mom was not quite her chirpy self in the morning, either, so I wasn't sure my parents got much sleep at all last night.

"I mean, we don't intend to let them meet, so… I don't think so."

"But if they do, shouldn't he be… a bit worried?"

"Over what?"

"I mean… I don't know if you've noticed, but Garrett is… kinda hot. And I think he's single right now."

"Alice! Jesus!"

"I'm not saying I'd do him… but I'd definitely do him if he wasn't your father. I'm pretty sure all the girls in school are with me on this one… and some of the guys—"

"Jesus, Alice! You're with Jasper!"

"I'm sure I could convince him to be a part of a beautiful Garrett sandwich—"

I slapped my hand over her mouth. "No more words for you for the rest of the day."

Alice wriggled out of my grasp, opening her mouth to say something equally stomach-churning, but the bell saved me.

Eyes glinting with laughter, we ran downstairs to our classroom and returned to reality.

…