The First Drop Of Rain

Chapter Thirty Eight

School carried on as it always had, I was doing my best to ignore and stay away from the Cullen's. Besides of course from French, where I was forced to practice with them, and home Ec where Edward was my own personal hell. It felt like a cruel punishment, and Edward was not spared from the mental tirade I went on about how ridiculous it was for them to study a foreign language when they were already fluent in so many. I used the same reasoning in home Ec where I pointed out the absurdity of Edward learning anything remotely domestic in nature.

We were almost a month into school already and I was getting antsy. I rode my bike to school every day that the weather permitted, especially since Gaia spent as much time as she could on the rez with Paul, still somehow oblivious to the supernatural shenanigans that were happening just under foot. Maybe it was better that way, she could keep her busy schedule, never wonder if the cause was supernatural in origin, and she could go to college in two years with a clear conscience.

It felt strange, holding so much optimism for someone else's future when my own felt so bleak. After all, how could I have a bright future when it was so marred with my otherworldly knowledge? I still held some fragments of hope for a normal life outside of Forks, though I knew the darkness I was encountering here lurked in other shadows in other cities. I knew because I had visited those places, seen the Alaskan coven first hand. I had heard the conversations of nomads Wandering close when the Cullen's thought I was sleeping. Their world was no stranger to me, even though I was to it.

Something I would forever be grateful for however, was how removed from this world of monsters and mayhem Angela was. It felt only right to keep her in the dark about it all. I wish I had been kept in the dark about it as well, that the nurse's evil love had never been in the hospital that day, that I didn't have the reminder of it all in the form of a scar that ran smoothly down my leg. I hadn't been surfing nearly as much as I had wanted over the summer, and the desire burned deep in me. I made the mental note to drive to the beach and surf the first chance I got after passing my test.

I had a whole list of things I was going to do immediately after getting my license. First up was to secure a job. I had toyed with the idea of working beforehand, but with only my bike as reliable transportation, and the ever looming downpour, I opted to wait until I could drive the second car that had been stored away when my dad no longer used it daily. He rarely left unless it was for work, otherwise Charlie picked him up.

Charlie had agreed to drive me to take my test on the morning of my sixteenth birthday, which happened to be today. I sat anxiously on my bed, sorting through shirts to find the one I wanted to be on my license until I was eighteen. None of them were satisfying me, and the part of me that had grown to love the Cullen's wished desperately that I could call Alice. Something told me she ached to help as well. With a sigh, I chose an oversized sweater and pulled it over top of my plain black tank top.

If everything went according to plan, I would show up to school at lunch, driving my own vehicle of course. It was Friday, so that meant I would only have Gym, History, and Home Ec to worry about. Okay, just make it through two periods with the Cullen's. Alice and Jasper are easy enough, and if Chef didn't make a big plan for today, I won't have to deal with Edward much either. I thought logically as I dug through my unfolded clean clothes basket for a pair of pants. Finally my hands locked around jeans and I began pulling them from the basket. They were almost halfway out when they caught on something, my hand immediately slipping and slamming me in the eye. "Son of a bitch!" I groaned and leaned back cupping my face. After a few moments, I sat up, silently hoping there wasn't a mark while I shimmied into my jeans helplessly. Once I was officially trapped in a pair of jeans that was arguably a little too small, I grabbed my converse and my bag, rushing from my room and skipping down my stairs.