A brief candle; both ends burning
An endless mile; a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine
So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything
The future, present and the past
Fly on proud bird
You're free at last.
I sometimes wondered what would be like to live in a big city. Like maybe New York, or Chicago, even Seattle. Anything other than this town of Cedar Springs in Michigan.
The population was 3,112 this year, 1960. Living in a town with that small of population had its advantages and disadvantages, for starters everyone knew everyone, whether you wish to count that has a disadvantage or advantage is entirely depending on your personal views. I found it as a disadvantage.
Our little town was established in 1856 as a lumber town, which is why we were nicknamed the Red Flannel Town. The city it's self is surrounding by trees in every part of the town, they heavily surrounded the only high school in the town; Cedar Springs High School where I was at my forth and last year of.
I lived in a three story dark brown house in the middle on the out skirts of town; the entire décor was done to fit my mother's ever so expensive taste. The high school was about a mile from my home, the large park with the town's only baseball diamonds and soccer fields.
There were small homes scattered in clusters everywhere, the city is actually very movie like, or neat I suppose. There will be roads with houses of every color (within in reason of course) built with the exact same space in between the yards and maple trees planted on the side of the road, also placed perfectively even. In the fall many of the locals enjoyed strolling under the golden, orange and red trees.
I did admit they weren't awful to look at but that was before I ended up raking the three trees leaves that we had in our yard. All they are to me now is work.
The small town had two elementary schools, one junior high and one high school. There was a small bank that was locally owned and a tiny bed and breakfast for the tourists, and believe there was not many of them. And so on so forth, there wasn't much variety unless you were a tree nut like some people.
People in the city had life planned out after high school, most graduates would go on to work with their father or mother in the local businesses, some would escape the town or a few would attend college. The rate of graduates of college or any other profession school was 3%, a fair enough deal below the state's average.
The jobs range quite widely, my mother for example, Esme, is the head of pediatrics and OBGYN unit at the local hospital. She grew up here in Cedar Springs and once she graduated she went off to attend the University of Michigan and then medical school at Stanford only to return here to practice medicine in the town she loved.
Mom is one of the smartest people of the town, with highest of jobs. Like I said, the jobs ranged all the way from that to the local mechanic shop where Emmett Swan worked, and owned. Some folks called him Emmett; you really can't be too formal here.
Emmett was only 28 and is business was quite successful considering he didn't take over from his father, grandfather or even uncle. But he had to be I suppose considering his sister.
Bella Swan was his little sister but he was also her caregiver. The Swan's parents were killed when Bella was ten, it was a mistake, to quote the minister (in the city's only Catholic Church) two innocent and bright people should have lived. Emmett had just graduated from high school and had been accepted into a school in Chicago with a full scholarship when the accident happened.
Emmett had no choice but to raise her, or saw it seemed to the rest of the town. He opened up his shop with the money his parents left him and has been doing well since. And that was eight years ago.
Bella is eighteen as well as me, we had gone to the same school since preschool but there was something else that was different about Bella. She couldn't walk.
Just because someone has legs doesn't mean they work right. She sat in a wheelchair since her first day of school; I still remembered those years in the misty fog of my memory. She didn't seem to notice anything different about her, the kids did but she didn't.
Honestly I didn't know why she couldn't walk; I assumed it because she just never had proper function of them. I asked my mom when I was in 4th grade. She merely told me, "Bella is special pumpkin. God had other plans for her than playing soccer or kickball." And I've never asked again.
No boys ever really thought twice about her, she was in a wheel chair and to be honest, quite plain. At first glance you saw the girl with a beauty mark, pale skin and full lips; the girl who wore overalls or at least knee length skirts and often sweaters or cardigans.
But why am I explaining Bella? Surprising that I have mentioned nothing about myself. Very odd. I'm not saying that I am shallow as some would say or self centered it is just if you were new to the town I would most likely be one of the people to talk about, good or bad; well it depends on the situation.
My name is Edward Cullen; I am the son of Esme and the late Carlisle. I am an only child, no brothers or sisters to play with when I was younger but I didn't have anyone to worry about either like some of my buddies. I'm not sure how to describe myself…uncertain maybe?
Well that's what the school counselor would have described me as anyway, "Oh that Cullen boy, he is just uncertain about life, and he will get figured out soon enough." That was really the polite way of saying that I pretty much had no hope and really wasn't destined to anything great with my life. I wasn't really offended by her; I mean at least she never really nailed me about these things like some of my teachers who thought I would be a good project for them. As if, I scoffed.
I heard my last name being called, most of the guys and some girls at the school just called me that. "Cullen!" My friend Paul hissed at me in the chill of the night. I shivered but focused. A few of my friends and I had snuck out tonight to graffiti the school in protest of a test that Ms. Anderson had assigned yesterday to study for. Math was not exactly my strong point; don't get me wrong, I did maintain a C average though.
"Sorry," I whispered while shaking the can of spray paint that Paul had grabbed from his father's garage. The can made a clinking noise as I shook it in chilly March night.
"Would you like to do the honors?" The guy named Jasper asked me. Jasper was a shady character, he scared little children in all honestly, he was dark and his thoughts and words sometimes spooked people. He wasn't my favorite but I could tolerate him.
"With pleasure," I smirked before bringing my hooded sweatshirt up over my mouth and nose so not to breathe in the fumes and began to spray right under room 227.
The next day I was sitting in my homeroom, cursing myself for staying up with the guys so late, on Tuesday mornings you need all the sleep you can muster up. I slouched down into my desk, propping my feet up with desk in front of me. I tapped my pencil, feeling the need to be moving.
The secretary, Mrs. Cope, a larger woman with bright orange hair and lips coated with thick red lipstick, was finishing the announcements over the intercom. Just as I thought she was finally done and I didn't have to hear her shrilly, high pitched voice the principal's voice caught our attention.
"As some of you students may have seen this morning it appears we have a graffiti problem in this school. The following was spray painted onto Ms. Anderson's outside wall, -17 x 394 = Stupid and Pointless, Math is awful, and Ms. Anderson is cruel." I slid farther into my seat as a murmur around the class arose. My homeroom teacher, Mr. Lynn looked at everyone sharply, efficiently halting all noise.
"If anyone has any leads as to who has done this please come to my office, this is not something we will tolerate here. I prided myself that you students knew that, but now I see I was sorely mistaken. Have a good day," and then the annoying static voice was off.
Some people glanced to their neighbors and the whispers started again, a few girls looked at me, some of the guys too but I knew I would not get caught. I had grown very good at making it appear as I am innocent all the time. None of my teacher's really suspected anything; from me at least.
There were five of us there last night, me, Paul, Jasper, Cody and Mitch. And ever since we have done anything that could remotely get us in trouble it was said that if a single person got caught they would take full blame and rat nobody out, we've only really got caught twice, and Jasper and Mitch have taken full blame of those two. So I was fairly confident that no one had seen us last night and therefore they would have some difficulty placing the blame for this.
"Well I know it was not any of my students, you are the most behaved bunch this school has seen." I silently chuckled while some guys laughed. Mr. Lynn had meant it has a joke but most girls took it seriously. I rolled my eyes at the way they nodded, especially Jessica, the cheerleader. I shuddered a little.
Jessica had a not so subtle thing for me. It was disgusting the way she hung around me, I had told her many times I was not interested in her but she would merely giggle obnoxiously and wink. It was like trying to leave a puppy behind, they would always come back and follow you at one point or another; very frustrating and completely unnecessary.
I'm not saying that I found myself ugly, or even unattractive, at 18 my muscles were actually pretty defined. In junior high I always felt completely out of place. It didn't seem that my dark brozne hair that was sort of long but I never slicked back, went with my green eyes or my slightly tanner skin, and my eyebrows were awful. I was convinced they were as bushy as caterpillars until I realized no one even cared and they were in fact not that bad.
All of this paled in comparison to some other guys here, or even the pretty girls, Jessica not being one of them.
The bell rang just as it had for the past four years making me jump, startled. "Get to class," Mr. Lynn said while sitting in his desk and shuffling some papers for his lesson plan. I slid slickly out of my seat with a yawn; school was not my favorite thing. But I only had about three months left of it.
As I was walking down the hallway with my books held lazily by my waist I saw Bella wheeling herself to her first class, smiling as the students and teachers said hi to her. I had failed to mention that Bella was just about one of the happiest people you will ever meet. She is so damn happy every minute of every hour of every day of every week, it went on, believe me.
I was about to hop on the back of her chair and wheel down the halls at a fast pace like I sometimes would but there were too many teachers, and many of whom thought I was great. They thought that I was well behaved and mannered. Now wasn't the time to prove them wrong with graduation quickly approaching.
I got to my first class right as the bell rang. I gave the teacher a sheepish smile before I slid into my assigned seat that was thankfully in the back. I hated world history; it was a bunch of dead guys with random dates that no one really needs to know. Honestly who cares about what year the Vikings sailed to Greenland? Well other than Sid Penske.
Sid was this annoying kid who skipped his freshman year because he was very smart, he sits right in the front row. Actually he sits where I was supposed to sit and I was in his spot but Sid asked Mr. Owen if he could be in the front to help his education. He is basically the only one who knows all of this stuff and he likes to talk- no, marvel about all of this.
Halfway through the class when we began our discussion on the colonization of Canada (I knew that would be something I needed to know in life) I asked Mr. Owen if I could go to use the bathroom. He agreed absentmindedly already engulfed in a conversation with Sid who had most likely read ahead.
The hall was empty as I slid out of the suffocating classroom, the door clicking shut behind me. My foot steps echoed as I slowly made my way to the boy's bathroom, not in any rush to get back to class. I shoved my hands in my pockets while walking past the rows of red lockers and with wooden classroom doors spaced in between them.
After I delayed going back to class the longest I could I began to head back through the hallway. I saw Bella Swan at the drinking fountain. I smirked, no teachers to see me. My footsteps stopped and she looked up at me her brown eyes suddenly go from content to tired. She sighed as I started to jog over her.
I hopped onto the pole in between the two back wheels and held onto the handle as the wheels of the chair sped down the hallway. Bella just shook her head and probably ignored me. I felt my hair fly as we sped down.
Then the wheels started to wobble and the grin slid off of my face as the chair got even more unsteady. Bella's body tensed as did mine before she suddenly slid off the chair in the front as if it couldn't hold her up. I jumped quickly off so my weight wouldn't crush the chair into her.
My shoulder nailed into the hard linoleum floor. I groaned and let my head softly fall to the ground while my right hand went up to rub my left shoulder that was most likely going to bruise, out of pure instinct. The pain jolted and spread through my arm, my hand was doing nothing to sustain it.
A door swung open fiercely, hitting the wall behind it with a loud bang. I lifted my neck up to see the principal coming out to investigate. I followed his gaze to where Bella was about six feet away from me.
The front wheels of her wheel chair were next to the slanted chair with a pole from what I assumed and been holding the front of it together was lying near it. Bella was sitting with her legs straight out, her left hand propping her up behind her and her right hand rubbing the back of her head, her brown hair tied up in a bun with strands around it.
My eyes reluctantly wondered back to the principal. Mr. Oakland was young guy, actually I think he was in the graduating class before Emmett but I wasn't sure. He had blonde slicked back hair, and most teachers found him handsome, but the guy really didn't have much muscle. At all.
"What is going on here? Bella are you alright dear?" He rushed over to her, bending down as his hands fluttered uselessly. I let my head fall back to the floor. I could probably get up but I was slightly annoyed that he hadn't even glanced at me.
Bella was not one to be made a big deal out of. She rushed to assure the principal she was in fact okay. "I'm alright Mr. Oakland, thank you. I think Edward may have hurt his shoulder though." I heard him sigh, whether it was of exaggeration or relief I wasn't sure.
I had never really done anything to personally offend him like I had to other teachers; I was always very careful where the principal was concerned. But he narrowed me out as the bad kid, the one who caused trouble, and well pretty much what I did. Yet he didn't ever bust me for little things because I honestly thought that he was sweet on my mom if you know what I mean.
"Mr. Cullen, are you alright?" He asked me as I reluctantly sat up with a huff. His head was looking at me in concern.
I nodded.
Then just for good sake I rolled my shoulder around, my eyes squinting at the discomfort that caused.
"Good. Now get into my office, now." I could tell he was glad I wasn't injured too badly but beneath that gaze and the tone in his voice I could easily predict some anger and yelling in my near future.
"Ms. Swan, can I carry you to my office, we should call your brother." Bella looked hesitant but realized she couldn't quite sit out here in the hallway and nodded. He stood up before bending over and latching his arms under her knees and on her back. I raised a confused eyebrow that went unnoticed.
It was clearly a struggle for him to lift this 120 pound girl. I sighed in annoyance before standing up, what did this man bench? 30 pounds max?
"Mr. Oakland I can carry her," I volunteered figuring I was in a lot of trouble and it wouldn't kill me to be on better on or a little better of terms with him. He looked back at me and then at Bella.
Bella's eyes were large, not in a wow this handsome guy is going to carry me, but more of, what happened to Edward Cullen? type of way. She nodded in answer to his silent question and he removed his hands. I crouched down and scooped her into my arms. It had been hard to tell when she was sitting but she actually was quite small.
"Follow me," Mr. Oakland said sharply. My shoulder ached in protest as I started to walk into the office. Bella brought her hand around my neck, just in case I decided to maybe drop her; which I could never do after breaking her wheel chair. I may hang around some of the bad boys but guilt was not something that you wouldn't have, no matter who you are.
The office it was a square shaped room. On the wall with entrance door, well it wasn't a wall it was class. Mrs. Voss had her rectangular desk in the center of the room and Mr. Oakland's office was directly behind. The nurse was to the right of his room and the school's counselor was on the left wall by the shelves for the teachers.
Mrs. Cope, looking interesting in her green and red floral dress with polka dot glasses looked up from her desk in the center of the room and gasped. "Oh my, what happened?"
"I will figure out Shirley," Mr. Oakland said while pointedly looking over his shoulder to give me a look. Ignoring it, I just kept walking, following his pace.
Why was everyone so soon to jump to conclusions? Maybe I had been coming from the bathroom, in a hurry to get back to history when I saw Bella, whose wheelchair was not working on the floor and then I ran to help her, tripping near her in the process… would that be so unreasonable to assume?
I answered my own question. Yes, yes it would be.
Smirking I glanced down at Bella who was blushing and trying to look anywhere but at my face or the principal's for that matter. This was clearly embarrassing her but I couldn't help but think that I could perhaps get her to go along with that story. But I doubted it, she was above lying, well I assumed so anyway.
Mr. Oakland glanced at me while he held the door open for me to come through. I looked at him, letting nothing of my emotions reach my eyes. He sighed before shutting the door and following me in.
His office was an average size, very cliché. It had the desk right when you walk in, a big wooden oak one with a swivel black chair behind it. Two red cushioned chairs with wooden uncomfortable armrests were directly in front of the desk. A book shelf was on the right side filled with pictures, books, and documents and a giant picture of the school when it was first founded hung on the plain white wall on the right side.
I walked on the flat grey carpet to set Bella down on the first chair to the right, the fabric was cheap and had been sat on many times making the parts roll into tiny clumps giving it that uncomfortable school feeling. It was like the feeling of worn pajama pants.
I sat down in the chair next to her, rubbing my neck where her hand had been though I didn't realize I had done. Mr. Oakland had taken a seat the same time as me and was looking through the filing cabinet behind his desk in the left corner. I slid into my seat a little bit, straightening my legs in front of me before casting a look at Bella who was looking at me like nothing was wrong.
"What?" She whispered to be as our principal found the file he was looking for and started to press buttons on his phone.
Bella didn't have a low voice, but it wasn't annoying and high like Jessica's it was a refreshing mix in the middle of two. Because whether or not they admit it, everyone knows someone who you just cringe when they are talking. Thankfully Bella wasn't that person.
"Aren't you mad at me?" I asked her under my breath, looking back at him though he was writing notes on a something on his desk while holding the phone with his shoulder. I felt like we shouldn't be speaking in here but Bella didn't seem to think so. It wasn't that I haven't been here, but for nothing this big.
I looked back at her as she shrugged, "What good would that do me?" I was about to answer but I closed my mouth. She had a very good point there, it really wouldn't make a much a difference if she was next to me fuming instead of waiting patiently for him to be off of the phone.
The noise of a phone hitting its base brought my attention back to my annoyed principal. I didn't think this was going to be a good day…
"I just called your mother Mr. Cullen and your brother will be here shortly Bella." I closed my eyes, inwardly groaning. My mother was definitely a character. That was an entirely different thing though I knew she would be livid.
My father had always been the one to discipline when he was alive but after he died my mom tried to take on that trait. She did try and sometimes I listened to her but she just wasn't a man, she didn't have the skills to communicate with guys like another male would. Yes, I cut her some slack and it wasn't like I liked to disobey her, it just didn't seem like she cared that much in the first place.
"What's going to happen Mr. Oakland?" Bella asked out of polite curiosity it seemed. Nothing would happen to her, it was me who was threading in shark filled waters right now.
"Mr. Cullen could quite possibly be facing expulsion today."
And there was the attack.
Chapter song: Awakening by Switchfoot
AN: Do I continue?