Shifting Moon Ch 5

Thomas started paying attention to Ms. Goff, so he didn't appear rude for talking his way through his first class. The only reason they probably got away with the talking they were doing was because they spoke only Spanish. Emmett's accent was a little hard to place but it seemed like an older vocabulary, he must have learned from someone who was from a rural area in the dialect.

At one point after Ms. Goff had given out her assignment for the day, she began walking around the classroom and speaking to some of the struggling students. I had answered all 10 of the review questions quickly and was now just marking time for class to end. Ms. Goff came to the back of the room and spoke to Emmett.

"I noticed Edward didn't come today, is everything ok Emmett?"

"Yes Ms. Goff, he got a headache during lunch and was trying to tough it out during Biology, but it must have been too much for him. I will give him the assignment at home so he can turn it in tomorrow."

"Thank you, I hope he gets to feeling better soon." When she was done talking, she drifted back to the front of the class.

As the class was close to ending, everybody started to put their books away and wait for the last minute or two before the bell released us to the world. I looked over at Emmett, "It was good talking to you, Emmett. See you tomorrow."

Emmett gave his good-natured smile and returned the sentiment. "Yeah, see you tomorrow man."

With gym class being the last on Bella's schedule I knew I wouldn't catch her before she got done and seeing as it was in the same building as the main office she would get there before me. Ready to be done with the place, I got to the office just before a girl opened the door. I grabbed it keeping it open while she stepped in and dropped a small slip of paper in a wire basket, then she turned to leave just to see me holding the door for her. She hesitated for a moment but seeing I wasn't blocking the door she left quickly. I walked in and didn't pay any attention to the rush of wind when I allowed the door behind me to close, I moved to stand near Bella so we could turn in our class schedules together when I noticed the bronze-haired guy Edward standing stiffly at the desk.

He turned and gave Bella a furious look before saying something I didn't catch to the secretary, then he stormed out of the office. His attitude earned a frown from me, as I really didn't like the look he directed at Bella.

Bella and I approached and turned in our signed schedule and the secretary asked, "How was your first day?" I just shrugged and said, "It's different from what I'm used to but it's ok." Bella answered with a simple, "Fine." which I could tell was a lie. I wondered if she would talk about it on the way home or stay the silent martyr like normal.

We walked to her truck, and I could tell she was struggling with something. I knew better than to press her, so I waited for her to say something. Once we were in the truck and waiting for it to warm up a little like you have to with older vehicles, she sniffed her hair and then turned to me, "Do I smell funny?"

I looked her in the eyes, "Here I thought it was me that stepped in dog crap, but that smell is coming from you?" She had a horrified look on her face, and I just couldn't help laughing at her. "No Bell's, you smell like your normal self, Strawberries, and lilies. Why?"

She suddenly started hitting me almost in tears. "Don't. Why You! That. That's not FUNNY!" She punctuated each hit to my arm and chest with a word as I just laughed and squirmed in the truck seat. After hitting me a few more times she finally settled down and threw the truck into gear and drove us home. "Just for that, we are having noodle summer salad for dinner, no meat!"

"Nooo, that's not fair..." I cried out in horror; I really should learn to cook more than just a few breakfast things so she doesn't have this power over me. "Can we run by the sporting goods store before heading home? I need to get some gym clothes and shoes. I also wanted to look at their weight selection. The station doesn't have some of the equipment I like.

"Point the way, we will stop by the grocery store on the way back so you can't take too long at the sports store." She told me. She still had a little anger in her voice.

Newton's Olympic Outfitters leaned very heavily into the hiking and camping gear, but I managed to find a shirt and shorts for my gym class. Unfortunately, they didn't have any black sweats in my size. Shoes were very limited also as I refused to wear Nike. Once I was old enough to do my own research on the slave labor rumors and after watching crybaby basketball stars get rich of endorsements, I swore that brand off. I knew Adidas had just stepped up their push for an ethical union in Indonesia, so I was good with their running shoes. Most of the other brands in the store weren't ones I would work with if I had any other option.

I was also disappointed in their weight selection, all they had was concrete covered in plastic style. I didn't like them because they were awkward, and they took up too much room on the bar. However, I did manage to find a decent curl bar to replace the bent one at the police station. As soon as we had walked in, Bella was ambushed by a kid with short blond hair and a greasy smile. After a few moments I finally remembered he was in our government class, he had the feel of a generic rich kid, but I knew better than to make snap judgments. As I checked out, I asked if they did special orders and was disappointed that any orders were limited to clothing only.

"Guess we will be making a trip out of town at some point before long," I said to Bella as we walked towards her truck. She seemed very happy to have gotten away from Mark, or was it, Matt? I didn't care to remember. After grocery shopping, I requested Bella drop me at the police station so I could get in my afternoon workout and told her I would ride back with Charlie.

I could tell that Bella wanted some time to herself and she preferred working things out on her own rather than talking everything through. Maybe if she got caught up enough in her thoughts, she would forget her threat about dinner. I grabbed the new curl bar and made my way into the police station, I smiled at Geraldine the dispatcher for the station. She told me to call her Gerie and had already given me the rundown on all the single girls she thought I would be interested in. She even brought up a couple of girls at the reservation she knew through friends. One named Leah was apparently hitting some major rocks in her relationship, and she thought I could be the cure. Rumor was that her boyfriend took off for a couple of weeks and refused to say where he went.

I remembered that my great-grandmother came from the Quileute reservation back in the day. The family story was she ran off with an oriental merchant and brought shame to the Tribe, the Black family specifically as her brother was the Chief at the time. Hmm, I guess that made me part Indian. I would have to remember that when I put in for scholarships and grants. Though like all Americans anymore, I'm just a mutt. A general mixed breed from all over the world.

After my workout, Charlie drove me home but I guess Ken called in sick today so Charlie would have to go back after dinner and spend the night at the station. I had a theory that Ken hurt his back trying to lift weights like he did in his younger days, but my only proof was some weights being moved around and his sudden illness. Bella and I assured Charlie it was no big deal as we both wanted to impact his normal routine as little as possible. That night I could hear Bella struggle to sleep as the rain and wind were a new sound to the two of us. I dreamed again that night, the mall as usual. When I woke up this time, I felt like my body had been trampled by the fleeing crowd again. The kicks hurt my body and curses I was so familiar with echoed in my mind as I lay panting and staring at the ceiling. "Welcome to Tuesday Thomas" I said as I sat up.

I got up and stripped the bed sheets to wash later. When I went to the bathroom to wash my face, I heard Bella talking in her sleep again and shook my head. Looks like we will both be sporting Cullen-size sleep bags around our eyes for school today. I added a couple of extra miles to my run since I had the extra time. Once finished, I knocked at the door of the police station and saw that it wasn't locked, so I let myself in calling out, "Charlie?"

"I'm in here!" came a reply from the gym room. When I entered, I saw Charlie on the bench press with only a bit of weight on the bar. "Am I having a good influence on you already Uncle?" I said half-jokingly.

Charlie chuckled, "It helps me stay awake on long nights like this one. As soon as Jeff gets here, I will head home for some sleep and come back around noon."

"Well, be sure and eat before you sleep. That's when you replenish most of your energy. Eat as much of that noodle salad garbage as you want. Please." I told him as I started to stretch out. I decided I would get a few of those posters that had simple workout routines on them, and a good stretching routine poster was a must. Older guys like Charlie, Jeff, and Ken, would really hurt themselves with improper stretching. I still suspected that Ken had hurt himself by trying to relive his younger days and pulled a muscle in his back or something, but I had no proof.

Charlie and I talked, and he was asking about certain exercises to do at his age, and what was good posture with different equipment. My memory served me well in answering his questions and I could tell that Charlie was trying to connect with me. He asked a lot about Bella, and I knew he wasn't trying to snoop so much as to get a map so he could avoid any landmines. The best advice I could give him is that right now she has a lot going on, and his best bet was to treat her like a panicky horse in the corral. Give her space but make sure she knows you're there so she can get used to you.

When she picked me up for school, she had a big bowl of oatmeal for me. I ate in silence as I could see her doing one of her inner dialog arguments. I followed my own advice and left her alone with her thoughts. She parked in the same spot as yesterday and we went to the main building to get our books for the first half of the day. Promising to meet up at lunch we said goodbye, then it occurred to me that I would see her in government in an hour.

I got to Art class about 10 minutes early and as soon as I entered, I saw Alice was sitting in her seat but smiling at me in the doorway as I hung my jacket up. "You are early today, or was yesterday an unusual time to come to class?"

"I wanted to talk about our year-end project, I'll start coming early seeing as I have a partner now."

"What are our options? I didn't see anything in our syllabus." I asked.

"Ms. Ross left it as an open project so long as it had elements of art and it showed effort put in by both partners. She would judge it off her expectations. After yesterday, I assume her expectations will be high for us." And because I can't see you in my visions, I have no idea what we will do or what grade we will get. Alice thought to herself. Finding the unknown thrilling and new to her. She didn't realize until last night that her original vision for her project had disappeared, and she couldn't see anything about it.

When she told Jasper about this, he was uneasy. We tend to rely on my visions for safety but if Thomas could block them, then it was a risk in his opinion. She didn't bring it up to anyone else because of Edward and Edythe leaving. Thinking of the forced separation of her family made Alice sad and her face showed it. It came as a massive shock that Bella was Edwards's singer, even more of a shock was that Edward managed to stay next to her for a full hour and didn't feed on her. They had heard rumors of the singer, a human whose blood was tailor-made for a specific vampire. Emmitt even thinks he came across one many years ago, and he didn't even try and resist it, feeding as soon as he smelled her.

"You ok Alice? You have been frowning for several minutes?" Thomas asked her.

"I'm ok, I was just thinking about Edythe and Edward. They had to leave suddenly last night, and I don't know when they will return."

Thomas frowned hearing this, he had wanted to see if Edythe still looked mad at him. He thought of asking Alice about Edythe but then he decided not to, he always hated when guys asked for the inside track on Bella. You want her, get her yourself.

"I hope they come back soon; I was hoping to talk with Edythe. I am not sure how, but I seemed to have upset her at some point."

"When she calls to check in, I will let her know you asked about her," Alice said with a smile on her face.

They didn't talk much more as the class started covering paint types and styles from the 1500s to the 1800s. At the end of class, we decided to come up with an idea for our end-of-year project and present it to each other on Friday so they could have the weekend to think it over.

I went to government class and found Bella talking to Mike and Tyler. I say talking to her, but it was more like she was being talked at by them. They were both taking verbal jabs at each other with Bella being caught between them. "Mind if I get to my seat guys?" I said in a rather impatient voice, my anger spiking for some reason.

"Sure, sorry. Bella, we can talk more during OUR next class together." Mike said to Tyler more than Bella.

Tyler didn't say anything but gave me a glare for a moment, he didn't like that I took Mike's side in his opinion.

Bella just gave me an appreciative look and went back to her inner dialog. Whoever got her going is in for it. If she ever gets up the nerve to actually make her thoughts known. I did a quick review of my actions recently to make sure it wasn't me who she was upset with. All I came up with was yesterday's joke about her smell and I dismissed that as she already hit me a few times so no inner dialog was necessary.

Shrugging my shoulders, I decided it was none of my business until she made it that way. Instead, I started to have my own inner dialog about my temper getting the better of me. I knew it was always there but usually, I had better control over it unless pushed.

The rest of my morning was boring to the point of tears, I approached lunchtime with hopes that it would provide some entertainment. Once again, Bella met me at the door, and we went in together but this time both Lauren and Jessica were waiting with her. Not looking forward to sitting in the middle of the cafeteria, I was happy when Mike came along and offered his table with his friends at a more defensible corner. I unashamedly agreed on our behalf. None of the girls seemed to mind if I ignored Bella. I really hoped this wasn't deserving of another vegetarian dinner as punishment.

Bella seemed a little more relaxed after a short while in the new seats. I noticed Alice come in with Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett. When I waved at her, she waved back with a smile and Jasper gave me a nod of recognition which I returned. Then I went back to clearing my plate and taking the leftovers from Bella's.

After lunch, there was gym class, and it was boring to the extreme. Volleyball held no attraction to me as playing against teens was ridiculously easy. The coach said that badminton was next, and I looked forward to it as my strength wouldn't be such a cheat there.

During Spanish class, I talked to Emmett some more and brought up that I was looking for a lifting partner a couple of days a week so I could increase my weight. Emmitt looked rather unenthused when I told him I wanted to break into 375 pounds this month and if I could. I would like to break 400 by the end of the school year.

Emmett thought to himself, I guess that's a bit strong for a human. Wonder what he would say if he saw Rosalie lift that with one hand and no effort. I should just pawn him off to Jasper. "I am spending all the time I can with Rose right now Thomas, some family stuff going on has her on edge. I could talk to Jasper and see if he is free. He is stronger than he looks, even beating me in some wrestling matches."

"That's ok Emmett, I forgot that Alice said there was an emergency in Alaska. I don't want to pull anyone's focus from family, It's one of the most important things in the world." I guess I can try and talk to Jeff and Ken to spot me at the same time. Not too big of a deal. "Don't take too much time off Emmett, it doesn't take long for muscle to turn into fat if you're not careful.

Emmett just smiled at me, "I am not too worried about that, thanks though."

Not long after talking with Emmett, the bell rang, and it was the end of the day. I wasn't going to do an afternoon workout because my schedule called for today to be a break day. I don't want to hurt myself by overdoing it. I figured I would boot up the old computer at home and see if I could find the posters and stuff I had been thinking about, maybe get some ideas to present to Alice for an art project.

Bella was less lost in her own mind today and we talked over our thoughts on school so far. I laughed when she compared Mike to a retriever-type dog and Eric from her first class was over-enthusiastic about talking to her.

"Poor Bella, boys are finally noticing you and you're treating them like garden slugs. How do you ever plan to play out one of your great love stories in all those books you read if you don't give the guys a chance? Or do you have your eye on someone different?"

Bella flushed and snapped back, "What about you and Alice Cullen? As often as you wave at her I am surprised you haven't gone to sit with them. I know that table is at your optimal spot for your habit of keeping track of everyone that comes in and out of the cafeteria." She shot back at me rather defensively I thought.

I let her comment go as we were just pulling into the driveway, I remembered at the last minute that I wanted to look over her idle as I thought it was rather high. I could look up instructions for that while I was on the computer.

When I walked into the house, the first thing I did was turn the computer on. As old as it looked, I was sure it would be 10-20 minutes before it was ready to do more than crash. After dropping her book bag in her room Bella went directly to the kitchen and I followed in case she needed help with something. She put me to work wrapping potatoes in tinfoil after cleaning them as she pulled out several steaks and put some marinade on them. She turned the oven on placed the potatoes and then started talking about homework she needed to get done.

Leaving her to do her own thing I went to the computer and checked my email first thing.

Oh, an email from Renee.

Hello Thomas, I hope you are doing well in Forks. I mean you must be as I haven't heard from you or Bella yet. Write to me when you get a chance.

Oh, another email from Renee.

I still haven't heard from you or Bella? Write back and stop worrying me.

Oh, and a final email from an hour ago, also from Renee

If one of you two don't respond to me by 5pm I will call Charlie. I can't believe you are gone less than a week and you have already forgotten about me!

I laughed and called for Bella as I quickly replied. Not sure what time zone she was in and fairly sure she wouldn't wait for 5pm anyway.

Hey Renee, nothing major is going on here as I'm sure you know. Forks is so sleepy it could second as a graveyard. We have been settling in and getting used to school the last couple days. I will jump aside so Bella can email you about her time. Love you!

I quickly hit send and gave the computer to Bella to calm her overgrown child down. I loved Renee to death, but she was a quirky one to say the least. An outsider would swear that there was a Freaky Friday situation going on and Renee and Bella swapped bodies the way the roles were reversed between the two.

Once Bella calmed down her mother, I did my stuff and went out to tune up Bella's truck. It didn't help much but maybe it would be less apt to break down in the future. Whoever took care of the engine did all they could, and I honestly would be looking for a new one already. When Charlie pulled up, I followed him into the house and saw Bella put the steaks onto the broil pan and into the oven.

Charlie hung up his gun belt and went to change into his home clothes as Bella started to make a salad. I went to the living room and sat down to wait for Charlie to pick something to watch until dinner was ready. Once it was ready we all sat down to eat, about halfway through Charlie asked, "So what do you guys think of school here so far?"

Bella told him about befriending Jessica and Angela, also bringing up Mike Newton, and naturally Charlie named off their parents and what they did.

I brought up my budding friendship with Alice and talked about Jasper and Emmett a little.

Bella brought up how the Cullen's didn't seem to fit in well at school, and Charlie surprised us both by going on a sudden rant about how great it was to have Carlisle at the hospital and how there was never any trouble out of their kids "Witch is a dang sight more than I could say for some of the families that have been around these parts for a long time." He used his fork to drive the point home.

"I just don't understand the superstitious nature of some people" Charlie finished. It sounded like Bella had hit a nerve. Both Thomas and Bella took note of this and filed it away for the future.

The next few days passed in a haze of building a routine. Bella and I both started to get used to the school, the new people, and the weather. I met a guy named Ben that I enjoyed spending time with. He was a huge comic and anime nerd, so we had lots to talk about. He felt the same as me about the purity of classic anime that built the genre we see today. We looked past the big hits and talked often about the big failures like Evangelion and s-CRY-ed. His starter Anime was Mazinger Z and mine was Robotech, we were both delighted to have found a fellow connoisseur of the arts in this small town.

He was more into DC, and I was an Image Comics guy through and through, but we still got along despite his poor choices. He tried getting me interested in this light novel that was supposed to be an Amalgam of Beast Boy and Martian Manhunter, but he said the author was on a break for relocation and a new job. I promised to look it over if he started it up again. Sometimes life just gets in the way of the best of intentions. Still, I had never gotten into the world of Fan Fiction much until he recommended a few. It gave me something new to listen to on my runs.

Friday came along and I was looking forward to what Alice had come up with on our art project. When I got to class, I was the first one there besides Ms. Ross. Shortly after that, Alice came in and she had her usual smile when she saw me there already.

"Someone is excited to figure out our project," Alice said as she sat down.

"Sure thing Sprite, act like I am the only one excited here," I told her.

"Ok, you got me there. I am super excited." Alice squealed at the end of her sentence.

"Ladies first, let's hear your ideas."

Alice pulled out a folder that had way more pages in it than I thought we would make it through in a day, much less an hour. Luckily, she took pity on me.

"All of these are ideas I came up with, but Jasper being a stick in the mud, suggested that I trim it down to 3 main ideas."

"Tell your boyfriend that I love him a little bit right now. We would talk for days about the ideas in that folder, it's like four inches thick Alice."

"You want to complain or listen Thomas?"

"Do go on, my wicked little fairy." I smiled at her.

Alice pulled out a piece of paper and started talking. "My first idea was for us to both paint or draw the other in whatever style we wanted. My second idea was to build a miniature model of Forks from back in 1943 when it was recognized as a city. The last one I chose was, finding an art piece in our favorite movie and recreating it."

"Those are some good ideas; they make mine look like I didn't put much thought into them. I thought about the idea of us going to the Quileute reservation and trying to learn a new art form from them and showcase it to the class. Another thought I had was to draw each other in attire from any time frame before 1970 to choose from. My last thought was to combine between the two of us and paint the class together."

When I finished speaking, I noticed Alice had written down all the ideas and started to copy the page so we could each have one. I thought about just taking a picture with my phone, but her intense look made me drop that idea.