A.N.
Hey all, thanks for your patience last week, and the well wishes. Something must have worked because I was offered the position yesterday and accepted it. Now I have to report to my new position April 6th. Things will be a bit hectic for the next while, but I am hopping to keep the schedule plus or minus a day here and there. Anyway, thanks again and here is todays offering.
(Thomas POV)
I stepped out of the truck and walked around to the passenger side just as Edythe and Leah shut their respective doors, getting out on their own. In Leah's arms were the robes and hats that marked the day's celebration, along with the video camera I had been responsible for yesterday.
Edythe quickly pulled on the yellow polyester monstrosity and settled the cap on her head with the tassel on the appropriate side.
I looked at my red robe in distaste; it was very unflattering with my hair and skin tone. But I knew I had to put it on anyway, knowing that it was a one-time thing helped. I also snuck in a kiss to Leah's lips when she handed it to me. Her blush was adorable.
Edythe laughed. "Your blush is adorable, Leah."
"I was just thinking the same thing," I said as I pulled the plastic feeling robe over my head.
"Shut up." Came the reply, "I am not used to showing affection where everyone can see."
Edythe smiled wickedly, "We will get you over that little hangup, love."
Leah blushed even more, "Maybe not so close to my hometown. Let's practice where not everyone knows us."
I laughed and looked around the parking lot just in time to see a line of cars stacked up behind one that stood out. It was Charlie in his police cruiser; he was just pulling in. No one passed a cop this close to a school zone, especially when you know you are going to the same place. Bella was in the passenger seat, and I burst out laughing when I saw Edward in the back seat.
"Edythe, hurry and bust out the camera. Look at the back seat of Charlie's car. We can't let him live this down…ever."
As quickly and discreetly as she could, Edythe got pictures of Edward arriving at his graduation in the back of a cop car. If you looked close enough, you could see the smug look on Charlie's face every time his eyes checked his rear-view mirror. This was ammunition for years.
"This is so going into the picture album for this year. I can already see Emmett using this to get wrapping paper made for their wedding gift when it happens."
"There is a money-making scheme. People send you pictures, and you make a roll of wrapping paper out of them for special occasions."
Leah laughed out loud, "I want to sign up for a roll to be made out of Seth's baby pictures so I can wrap his eighteenth birthday gift in it."
That had all three of us laughing as we walked to meet up with Bella, Edward, and Charlie.
Edward gave us suspicious looks at the laughter when Charlie opened his door for him. But he then chuckled as he read Leah and Edythe's thoughts about the reason for our laughter.
Bella looked oddly keyed up; there were the graduation nerves, sure. But there was something else that screamed 'I have a secret' that was just tugging at my suspicions.
"Leah?" Charlie said in surprise. "Fancy seeing you here. I'm expecting Jacob and Sam, but you are a surprise."
Leah looked a little nervous, "Thomas came to my graduation yesterday, so I wanted to return the favor."
Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. Just how would Charlie handle the idea of our relationship when it came out? Especially if Leah's suspicions were true about Sue's interest in Charlie. Leah explained to Edythe and me about the traditional year of respect and mourning that a Quileute widow observed. But there was little doubt that once she had given Harry Clearwater the year to complete his spirit journey, she would then be letting Charlie know how she felt and probably telling him how he felt as well.
And if my eyes were not deceiving me, he wouldn't need much convincing to give up his bachelor lifestyle, especially with Bella leaving for 'college' soon.
I was happy about the idea; Sue was strong enough to step over Charlie's reticent nature. Sue wouldn't let him get away with hiding from his feelings with work and alcohol. In fact, I rather looked forward to the strong influence she would have on him. With medicine today, it is even possible for them to have a child together before it becomes too dangerous for Sue to try to carry a pregnancy to term.
I pulled my mind back from that thought. Weird, I wonder if it's because of graduation that I am thinking so much about the future? I am even trying to plan out everyone else's before knowing much about my own.
"You kids ready?" Charlie asked.
I focused around me again and noticed that everyone had their gowns and caps on. But one was missing.
"Wait, where is Alice?" I asked.
Edythe was the one to answer, but not before I noticed Bella's face tighten. "She was coming with Mom, Dad, and Jasper. She is probably waiting inside for us."
I laughed, "Well, let's go give the teachers their last chance to order us around. I, for one, can't wait to be done with this whole thing."
With laughter, everyone made their way to the gymnasium.
Just as soon as we entered, we were directed where to gather to get our final instructions. Leah and Charlie went to the stands, and I turned my attention to Edythe arguing with the Vice principle.
"Yes Ms. Cul… Mrs. Raizel. I realize you have recently married. However, we were not notified in time to change the name on your diploma, so you will have to receive it under your maiden name. Which means you will join your brother in line, so there is no disruption to the name list used to announce you to the crowd."
Seeing the frustration mounting on Edythe's face, I placed my hand on the small of her back. "It's okay, love. We can get it changed later."
"But I want to stand and walk beside you." She pouted.
I smiled and looked her in the eyes, "You already have when it counted, love."
I saw her protests melt, and she lowered her eyes, "Fine… I'll go stand with my idiot brother."
I gave her a quick kiss on her lips. "We will gather when this is over. Though I think Charlie will insist on taking Bella and me to the Lounge for dinner. His graduation gift to us."
Edythe smiled, "Yeah, and when you are doing that, Edward and I will be setting up for the party at the house."
I smiled as Edythe played her part to keep the Cullens nature as normal as possible. Everyone nearby showed excitement at her words. A graduation party at the reclusive Cullen house was the main thing people talked about for the last two weeks, after Alice first suggested it.
Once Edythe walked to the front of the line to join her brother, I walked to the back to join Bella, well, I was a few people in front of her. I was glad, because she looked like she had her hands full with Jessica. Something I wanted no part of. Though I did hear enough to learn that Lauren had given birth to a little baby boy just the other day.
Not long after that, we were led out to our seats where we would sit while Eric. Our class valedictorian gave his speech along with the principal and Mr. Banner, who was the teacher of the year. An empty chair next to Edward caught my eye, still no Alice. Wonder what she is doing, that's so important?
Eric's speech was less memorable than the one given by Leah's valedictorian. He hurried through it, and his voice had no emotion. He was just reading from his notes, in a hurry to get the speech over with.
Ten minutes later, the first row stood up and filed to the side of the stage, and the name reading began. Within moments, I had to hold back my laughter as the principal called out the names too fast, barely giving his secretary time to find the next diploma for him to hand to the student in front of him.
I saw Alice appear just long enough to gather her diploma, and then she was gone again. Something was going on. I watched Edythe and Edward turn to each other and talk for a bit. Edward shook his head at the end of their brief conversation.
Not long after that, the row with Bella and me was motioned to stand and approach the steps to the stage. When my name was called, I walked up the stairs and glanced around until my eyes caught Leah. She was with Charlie, Billy, and Jacob, all cheering my name, and in Leah's hand, I saw the small video recorder capturing everything.
I gave a large smile and a discreet wave before collecting my diploma from the principal and walked back to my seat to wait for the last bit of my row and then the last one before being done.
The biggest surprise of graduation for me was that Bella managed to walk across the stage and not fall once. Though I thought she was tempting it by giving a wave to Charlie.
Then it was over. I didn't join the celebratory hat toss and held on to mine, even knowing I would never wear it again. I wanted the tassel, if nothing else.
Bella and I grouped up and then started looking for Charlie and Leah. I knew Edythe and Edward would have no trouble finding us once they spoke with their parents. I saw Ben and Angela holding on to each other in front of their parents, who, from what I heard, got along famously. Bella and I had spoken to them earlier and didn't want to interrupt a family moment, so we just waved and headed toward Charlie, whom I had finally located.
I noticed Jacob and Billy had left already but shrugged it off as Jacob still being a bit wary about the reaction to him kissing Bella forcefully.
Just as soon as I stopped next to Leah, Edythe appeared and wrapped her arm around my waist. "Next one of these, they will be calling me Edythe Raizel."
Charlie laughed, "You guys still planning to take a year off, or are you going to join these two in Alaska?"
When he gestured toward Edward and Bella, I noticed Edward's face was frozen, like he was in shock at something Bella just told him.
Edythe, seeing the same thing, stepped forward to keep Charlie occupied so he wouldn't notice anything weird. "We'd better go find my parents and Alice; I think we still have a few things to do before the party is ready to kick off." She grabbed Edward and headed off into the crowd.
"Hey Charlie, I hope you don't mind, but I invited Leah to dinner tonight. It is only fair since she took me to dinner last night after her graduation. We can meet you at the Lodge, maybe even call Sue to see if she wants to join us."
I saw some suspicion creeping into his eyes until I brought up inviting Sue, then he just froze for a second, "Well, I don't know if you need to go bother Sue. But…sure, Leah is welcome to join us."
"Great, meet you there. I want to get a head start. There is this ugly car with ostentatious lights on its roof that everyone drives like a grandma around, so I want to get on the road before them."
Charlie's face flushed, and Bella broke out in loud laughter, as Leah and I walked quickly to my truck. As soon as we got it, she used my phone to call home and tell Sue she had a dinner date with us at the Lodge.
Once she ended the call, Leah handed me my phone back. "She is seriously put out that we didn't give her more notice, but she will be there."
I smiled, "Did you happen to catch what Bella said to Edward that got him all messed up?"
Leah shrugged, "Something about everything being connected. I couldn't make out much more than that."
"Hmm. Weird. But anyway, thank you for coming to our graduation. It meant a lot to Edythe and me." I reached out and took her hand when I said this.
She just got a little red around the ears and squeezed my hand back. When I parked, we walked into the Lodge and requested a table for five and waited for Charlie to arrive. When they got there, Charlie insisted we order our food while he waited for Sue to arrive before ordering his. We had finished eating about the time their food arrived, and I looked at Bella, who kept glancing out the window.
"Hey, Charlie. How about we head off to the party from here? I am sure you don't want a bunch of teenagers watching you two eat."
"Oh… I thought I was going to drive Bella." He glanced at Sue, "I was going to make sure everything was okay. Maybe them seeing my car would keep some kids in line later on."
I laughed, "No worries, Carlisle and Esme are there, and Emmett is on duty to make sure no one drives if they have had anything to drink."
There was no use trying to convince him that no one would be drinking; he had a graduation party once, too. So, the best bet was to use Emmett as security to appease him.
Charlie gave me a long look before finally nodding his head, "Okay, just… Call me if anything gets out of hand, okay."
"You got it, Uncle Charlie. Let's go, girls. I bet there are still a few things to do before everything kicks off."
Once Bella closed her door, I was quick to ask, "So what did you tell Edward to freak him out so much?"
Bella hesitated, "Umm, well. I told him that everything is connected. The situation with the newborns in Seattle, the visitor… and Victoria. They are all playing with the blind spots in Alice's visions, and the possibility of all that happening at the same time is astronomical. Plus… I noticed my favorite shirt was missing. I planned to wear it today, but I realized it went missing the same time you smelled that vampire in my room."
My mind went blank for a moment as I felt shivers run up my spine. How had no one put this together? Just hearing her say it, I knew she was right. No wonder Edward freaked out. No one was after the Cullens; they just needed to get through them to reach Bella…and by extension, me. Leah also showed her shock.
It was a good thing that Alice had advertised the road to the Cullen home with thousands of sparkling lights, or I may have driven past it in my daze. As it was, I managed to follow the lit path down the Cullen driveway and right as my headlights hit the house, Edward and Edythe were standing there waiting for us.