The First Time: Bella's POV
Being a vegetarian had never been a nuisance before. I quite enjoyed the lifestyle apart from the never ending thirst. My husband, Edward Cullen, made it all worthwhile, but today the lifestyle tested my patience.
It had been seven years since my transformation into a vampire, and the Cullens and I had been going to high school in Pennsylvania for a year now. My daughter, Renesmee, decided to stay in Forks with my best friend, Jacob Black. We had an argument about it for months before deciding that we would allow it if she called us every day on Skype.
Anyway, Edward and I were walking through the lunch line in the cafeteria when I noticed Edward grimacing. I quickly came to realize that if Edward made a facem someone was either thinking something exceptionally dirty or something bad was about to happen.
"What's wrong, Edward?" I asked while I started to reach for the disgusting soup.
Edward grabbed my hand to stop me. "I would grab something solid if I were you, love."
I gave him a confused look, but complied to his request by taking a slice of pizza instead. Edward looked at the pizza, to me, and then toward our table. He started laughing lightly, earning him a strange look from the lunch lady. Edward paid for both of our lunches and lead us to the table where the rest of our family waited.
As Edward and I took our seats, Alice gave me an apologetic glance. I felt myself blanch. Every time she did that, something bad happened… or she did something she didn't want to get in trouble for. The pixie was the best at getting out of trouble.
"Alice, what did you do?" I asked hesitantly.
"I didn't do anything," Alice quickly said, "but some of your admirers-" Edward growled slightly at the word admirers. "-are beginning to take notice of you never eating."
"And?" I questioned, but my mind quickly caught up. I felt my eyes widen slightly. "No," I gasped.
Alice nodded slowly, sympathetically. "You need to eat human food."
I turned to Edward, glaring. "You knew," I accused.
Edward shrugged. "At least I had the decency to tell you to grab something solid to eat. It's worse to eat liquids."
"Why?" What was the difference? Human food was all the same; it's repulsive. I don't know how I ever ate it.
"Which would you rather do?" Rosalie asked quietly. "Choke something up that's solid or liquid?"
I thought about it for a moment and winced. Vomiting up liquid sounded disgusting. "Solid," I answered and glanced at Edward. "Thanks, love."
He smiled slightly and nodded to the pizza. "It's best to just get it over with."
I crinkled my nose at the thought of putting the slice of pizza anywhere near my mouth and nose. I picked up the pathetic excuse for food and brought it closer to my face. I almost gagged from the odor radiating from it.
"A hundred bucks she hurls after one bite," Emmett interjected quickly. My situation seemed to fuel Emmett's betting problem.
"I say she pukes after half of it," Jasper countered.
They were about to shake on it when Edward pipped in. "I think she will finish the whole thing."
Everyone looked at him with mouths hanging open. Edward never bet on anything that had to do with me. Emmett and Jasper soon got over their initial shock and shook hands with their brother.
"Jerk," I muttered before taking a bite.
I almost puked right away. The taste was so repulsive that I felt the urge to gurgle blood to get the taste out of my mouth. I know, not the most appealing thought, but I was desperate.
I could taste all the individual components which made it all the worse. I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that this used to be one of my favorite foods as a human. How could I love something so repulsive?
"I'm going to win," Emmett said cheerfully. I quickly realized I didn't swallow yet: I still had the chunk of pizza in my mouth. I quickly chewed the gooey substance and forced myself to swallow it. Swallowing the lump of dough and cheese was the weirdest feeling I had in a long time. It was so uncomfortable as it passed down my esophagus that it was almost painful. I felt it land in my stomach and I immediately felt the urge to vomit it back up.
I gagged and Edward rubbed my back. "Don't worry, love," he whispered. "It gets easier the more you do it."
"Doubt it," I gasped softly. I quickly forced myself to take another bite to make sure Emmett didn't win the bet. I heard him groan distantly.
I continued to bite, chew quickly, and swallow, and almost gagged it up until only one bite remained. I stared at the offensive crust in my hands. I couldn't bring myself to eat the last bite.
"Come on, Bella, you can do this," Alice cheered softly. "Just one more bite. Do it for Edward."
I sighed and shoved it into my mouth and swallowed. "Edward wins the bet," I said softly, my velvet voice coming out almost rough.
There was about ten minutes left of lunch when I couldn't hold myself together. "I'm going to be sick," I muttered to Edward.
Edward stared at my face for a moment before he nodded. He took my hand and guided me to the woods around the school. Once we were out of view of the buildings, I bent over and began to dry-heaving. Edward held my hair back out of my face and kept whispering I love yous and encouragements to me. When all the pizza was free from my stomach, I straightened up.
Edward lightly kissed my head. "You handled that better than Emmett; he puked after the first bite."
I laughed lightly though I was still breathless from choking it up. "Good to know." I stared straight into his eyes and saw pride and love in them. "I'm sorry for making you eat human food when I first figured out your secret."
"Don't worry, love. You didn't make me do it. Besides, I only ate one bite."
"True…"
Edward grabbed my hand. "We should get back to school or we'll be late for Chemistry."
I smiled widely as I giggled. "We have Chemistry together."
Edward threw his head back and laughed. "That we do." He quickly pecked my lips before leading us back to the school. I know for a fact that I will never pick up a slice of pizza for my fake lunch ever again.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this short little one-shot. I hope you all have a great day. ~JerinAnn