T u r n i n g F o r t y

Chapter One: The Bargain

I never thought I'd relive my nightmares from many years ago. Somehow, being chased by ravenous vampires in my youth had been nothing compared to this. Holding fast to my promises, repeating vows, I was sure he'd fulfill his part of the bargain. But when the chance came, and the choice... he hadn't followed through.

His words about the Volturi were more true than I could imagine. Edward had said that they were so slow that they might not come until I was thirty. They'd checked in once, to clean up the mess Victoria left behind, but after that...nothing. The Cullens had visited them once, leaving me a safe distance behind, and had offered a series of bribes to keep them away from me. Surprisingly, it worked. But I was so upset that I wanted to go to Italy myself. Of course, Alice was always one step ahead of me.

But he was also very wrong. I wasn't thirty, I was thirty-nine. Forty, if Alice was right this morning, and she was never wrong. If the Volturi had come when I was thirty, I mightn't have been as angry as I was. Edward still loved me as much as he always had, and I loved him unconditionally, but to the studious eyes of the neighbours, I was Esme's sister. Edward's aging aunt, to be more precise. And in some ways, they all felt more like my children.

I was going to ask Carlisle, or Alice, but I didn't want to go against Edward's word. I'd made my promise to him, and I wanted him to poison my veins, even if I was elderly. He was my husband, and it felt wrong to betray him. If I went to Carlisle behind his back, then it would be just as bad to look in his eyes for the next few thousand years.

It wasn't so terrible, really. I still got to live with the Cullens, and I still had the life most would dream of. Charlie still happily awaited my visits, and he had no problems whatsoever with Edward never coming. Actually, I think it made his days.

We moved north to British Columbia a few years after Edward and I were married. The original plan had been Alaska, of course, so we spent some time there. After my condemnation plans were foiled, though, we found another place to live. One of the attractions of BC was that it, too, was green. I'd come to realize that green really grows on you after a while. No pun intended.

It felt like my first day in Forks all over again when I walked into the town's high school. The population was slightly higher than Forks, so the school had more kids in a class, but it was still rural. McBride Secondary School was the perfect place for me to work, but it was still a school, which made me nervous. Childish, immature teenagers, all representations of the perfect stereotypes. The worst thing was leaving Edward when I got to the office. He had my English class, ironically enough, but I was positive that I wasn't the only brunette in the room who would have my eye on him. Seriously, who didn't?

My job as a teacher for the Advanced English class entailed reading 'complex' classic novels to the students. It was bound to be challenging, especially with Edward as my student. The grading was also going to be biased, not that any of the Cullens needed it.

I walked in through the office door, and worked up the courage to ask for the Principal. He looked at me sternly, but not unkindly, and narrowed his eyebrows. "Yes?"

"I'm Ms. Swan, sir. The new Advanced English teacher."

He shook my hand firmly. "Thank you so much for coming, Ms. Swan. You don't know how limited our staff has been lately."

"Well I figured I should finally contribute to the family." I laughed mirthlessly. "And I really love this sort of thing."

"Of course you do! I read your transcripts. You were in the top five percent of your class in university. And your degree in English Literature makes you perfect. I'm convinced that you're perfect for the job!" And I was convinced that no one else wanted the job. Or that he was taking Porsche-sized bribes.

"Your first class starts in ten minutes," he said, replying to my blush, "so I suggest that you find your way to room 110 on the second floor. If you need help, I'm sure one of your nieces or nephews can help you. They've been here long enough to know their way around."

The chances of me asking for their help were dismal. "Thank you," I said.

Room 110 was slightly larger than the English classroom in Forks had been. It had a big desk for me to sit in, which made me a bit uncomfortable and intimidated. The kids were standing in clusters, talking on cell phones, loudly chewing gum, and with their ears plugged into MP3 players. I wondered why these things had never annoyed me before. All but five model students were already getting on my nerves.

Edward and Alice were having a mental conversation, while Rosalie was showing Emmett some pictures in a fashion magazine. The girl in the photo must have been pretty, too, because the dimples in his cheeks began to show. Jasper had his eyes closed, claustrophobic to the emotion pollution, but otherwise content.

I clapped my hands together once, drawing the attention of the students. I almost wished that they would go back to talking, like before.

"I'm your new English teacher, Ms. Swan," I said, taking a whiteboard marker and writing my name in cursive on the board. One boy snickered, and another boy raised his hand.

"Yes?" I asked quietly. I could sense what was coming.

He smiled flirtatiously. "What's your first name?"

The Mike Newton's of the world would always be around, no matter how old I was, it seemed. I guess I did look young, like Edward had said. Either that, or they were making fun of me.

"I'm married. Now sit down." I noticed Edward grin from the corner of my eye. "Today we'll be starting Romeo and Juliet, which I'm sure you've all read before..."

They blinked at me. I guess I was wrong.

A short, plump girl with light brown hair raised her hand, straight in her seat like a whip. "Should we be taking notes on this? I'm Maria, by the way."

Jasper's ears perked at the name, but there was clearly no relation.

"I haven't given you anything to take notes on," I said blankly. A few kids laughed. "Just listen, Maria. Please."

The day proved to be very rough. It took a full hour for me to explain the meaning of the introduction of Romeo and Juliet to them. Apparently they had never done a complex work of fiction before, and definitely not Shakespeare. Maria did take notes, and some of the other students did, too, but they clearly didn't understand the concepts. I wondered vaguely if Edward could help me make a breakthrough with them.

I had a free class now, so I went to the staff room. Edward caught my wrist from behind the door.

"Do you need any help finding your way?" he teased.

"Edward," I hissed. "I'm your teacher." Well, that's what I tried to say. With him leaning in my ear like that, it was hard to say anything. He had pulled me into the back stairwell, too, and there was no one around.

"Here, you're my teacher. At home..." He slyly smiled. I tried to say something back, but everything blurred around me. One split second later I was outside the staff room door, and Edward was nowhere to be found. Even now, all these years later, I couldn't get used to him just pulling me places without me knowing where we were going...

I opened the door, and no one even looked up as I walked in. There was a seat by the photocopier that wasn't so large as the others, that didn't look so intimidating. That was where I sat, spreading my English book across my lap. In the crease of the hard binding was a folded piece of paper.

In the cursive I recognized so well, Edward had written:

Happy Birthday, Bella. I know you always say not to wish you happiness for being older, but I think it reason to celebrate. It means that you've been living another year, living a life in happiness. There are so many things that I would promise you for each birthday, but I cannot promise the one you want. Maybe someone else could, but not me. Your soul will remain as untouched as the blood in your cheeks right now. I can promise you forty more years of blushing, however. And if you forgot your birthday just like last year, I'm sure Alice can remind you.

I loved the way he had it worded, so that no one who read it but me would have the slightest clue what he meant. But I knew. The one thing he couldn't promise was that he would turn me, which was the one thing I wanted. Of all the birthday gifts, for every year I'd been with him, that was the one thing I wanted.

Alice had reminded me about my birthday this morning. Still, the thought of being forty rather than thirty-nine ran a chill through my spine. I continued to think of myself as in my thirties, or better yet, my teens.

There was a sharp knock on the door, but no one but me turned toward it. I guessed that the teachers had become accustomed to ignoring students. I got up, sighing dramatically to let everyone know that I, new teacher, was doing all the work around here.

"Bella!" The sharp scream belonged to Alice, although I hadn't had enough time to see her before she jumped, throwing her arms around my neck. "Happy Birthday!"

"You already did the whole jump and scream thing this morning," I reminded her. I was having serious déja-vu. Just like every other birthday, Alice was too excited.

"Yes, but I didn't know what we were doing for your birthday this morning!" She ran a hand through my hair, and I realized she was tying a ribbon through it.

"I was thinking we do the same old thing. You know, just relax." As much relaxing as Alice would allow. "By the way, I don't think a ribbon is appropriate with my outfit."

Alice sighed, and pulled the ribbon out. She was truly disappointed by my response. "But you should look young..." She said it quietly, only just loud enough for me to hear. She grabbed my hand in her ivory hand, and her eyes narrowed quite a bit. I recognized the expression. She was upset that I was aging, but refused to admit it.

"Yes, Alice," I whispered. "I should be young. And the reason why I'm not young is as stupid as the reason why you're planning a party for me that I don't want. If you'd just bite me already–"

She put a finger to my lips. "Shush!"

I looked away from her, into the hall where all my students were. I wanted to look young and beautiful, and match up to my 'nieces' and 'nephews'. No one actually believed that I was related to them anyway. But I couldn't take back the years.

AN: So that is the first chapter to my new fanfiction. I know you probably think that would never happen, but if you look at the things Edward has said in the past... This story WILL get better, funnier, whatever, but you'll have to keep reading! Try to open your mind to the idea, whatever you think. The reasons why Edward left Bella human are important, so think about that. REVIEW, please, so that I keep writing this!