The First Drop Of Rain

Chapter Ten

The school day dragged on sluggishly, the torturous amount of linoleum and fluorescent lighting killing my eyes and will to exist in anything other than an astral plane. Lunch was the only period that went pleasantly okay. Mike was fawning over Jessica as usual. Angela was snapping pictures enthusiastically for the yearbook, as well as getting some for the next issue of the school paper. Gi was running in and out of the cafeteria every ten minutes with different flyers for different clubs and activities, putting them up through the school. The Halloween bash was coming up, then the rest of the year would fly by so fast it would make you question if Halloween had already happened. While we all sat at the lunch table Rosalie didn't seem too happy that I had learned their secret, no matter how it happened she seemed worried about something. "Are you guys going to the Halloween bash?" I asked Edward when I couldn't take the stony silence from Rose and Emmett's side of the table much longer.

"No, it's too dangerous," Rose answered. "We would do best to avoid large crowds this early on." She cast a glance over to Jasper, the meaning of which was lost on me.

"Oh... okay then, uhmm anyways..." I trailed off.

What is her problem? I thought to myself, instantly going cold all over when I heard a soft chuckle from Edward. This whole mind reading thing. Yeah. Already old. I bumped his knee with mine under the table and he laughed harder and held his stomach.

"What?" Rose looked up defensively.

"No Rose, it's okay. Arabella is just getting used to not having her thoughts to herself and some of them are just genuinely too funny." Edward shook his head and looked at me. "You think so vividly it genuinely catches me off guard."

"Well... with that note- I shall no longer think. Head empty only elevator music and vine quotes." I said matter-of-factly to him. With that I emptied my thoughts and was left staring at Edward's eyes, not a single thought crossing my mind. To this Edward's face became shocked.

"I'm not sure if I should be impressed or scared" He said with a chuckle, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"Both." I challenged, and with that lunch was over, of course the one period I actually wanted to be a part of ended the fastest. The rest of the day dragged but I somehow managed well enough. I met Edward in the parking lot by his car. We had to hang back for a bit for the lot to empty out because according to school records Edward couldn't drive unless Rose or Jasper were there since they were registered as the grade ahead and weren't (at least in the eyes of the fake records that got them school admission) fifteen. Then again what fifteen year old looks like THAT.

"Do you always have an inner monologue about me even when I can't hear you?" Edward laughed as he grabbed my bag from my arm with a chuckle and swung it into the back of the car.

"Do I wHaT!?!?" I looked at him shocked as I attempted to shimmy myself up onto the top of the trunk of the car. After a few feeble attempts Edward rolled his eyes in an amused manner and lifted me up before agily perching himself next to me.

"It's strange, at first I didn't notice it, but you have thoughts that are fully fleshed out and almost like you're speaking words directly into your mind, but then you have an underlying layer of thoughts." He tapped my temple briefly. "They almost seem involuntary, just little things, mostly sounds but sometimes it's like words pop into your mind and you don't even notice them at first. At times they are coherent but mostly it's things like at lunch you just kept repeating 'avocados from mexico.'" He laughed and shook his head like it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever said.

"Oh... oh no. Well this is unfortunate." I awkwardly scratched the back of my neck and looked away from him. Stop thinking, just stop doing it. Literally stop. No. KNOCK IT OFF. "Ya know I feel like we can't be friends any more." I joked with him as I looked back and saw him staring at me with nothing but pure amusement in those amber eyes.

"Anything you desire Ms.Jacks." He flashed a smile of ungodly pearly whiteness and offered me his jacket. "But you are freezing and the cold doesn't bother me so take this."

"Okay Elsa," I shrugged the jacket over my shoulders and began fiddling with the sleeves. "So... you've been alive for a hundred years... and you mean to tell me you don't have any fancy stories about dead celebrities? You have barely name dropped a single person this entire time. I find that disgraceful." I twisted my hands around the poles of my crutch absentmindedly as I had been doing periodically all day.

"I mean I did cross paths with Marilyn Monroe briefly but-"

"Edward Cullen if the next words out of your mouth are not about you hooking up with the literal sex icon of the century, I will personally deliver you to Jesus." I cut him off and held my hand up. "I won't even be mad, maybe a little jealous, but never mad."

"No, I did not hook up with the sex icon on the century." He chuckled.

"That's a damn shame." I laughed as I looked around the lot, somehow I hadn't even noticed it had completely emptied out while we were joking and chatting on the trunk of his silver volvo. "Oh! Should we go? I do have homework because apparently the universe hates me."

"Yeah here let me help you down." He slid off the trunk and then grabbed my hips as I slid forward into the circle of his arms. Trying my best to not allow my thoughts get the better of me or my face betray me I focused my eyes on the hem of the jacket he had draped over my shoulders. "Esme wants to meet you by the way, she's jealous that she's the only one who hasn't." He said as he opened my door and helped me in before taking the crutch and placing it with my bookbag in the backseat.

"Okay yeah I'm all for meeting her, and honestly seeing where you guys live because the image in my head needs to be satisfied." I thought of what kind of home they had. "It's probably all sleek and modern with a bunch of old things collected over time that give it whimsy and character." I laughed and as I shaped it in the air with my hands. "Or it's some dungeon with coffins and iron maidens- kinky."

He paused as he climbed into his side of the car and just stared at me hovering just overtop of the seat before finally plopping down into the chair. "How... how did you accurately think of it? The image in your mind of the layout and the colors and even as far as the artifacts around the house is so entirely accurate I would believe youve been there."

"I don't know, sometimes I just know things." I said with a shrug as I buckled my seatbelt and looked at him with a matter-of-fact smile. "Call it intuition, premonition, or just the powers of a teenage drama queen." I laughed and wiggled in my seat to adjust my body to be more comfortable.

"Interesting..." He mumbled as he sped out of the parking lot and down the narrow roads of the small town of forks.

__________________

I KNOW I KNOW IM EVIL. In my defense, I was an essential worker for the entirety of 2020 and had other priorities. I will at least try to update this more often but again no promises I am (almost) a 23 y/o and I am working on a book that isnt a fanfic base.