Only by Moonlight

Chapter 8

With special thanks to my pre-readers, ladylibre at FanFiction and EmmyDana at Wattpad. And ladylibre’s advice and encouragement is making this story sing—she gives the best feedback!! If you haven’t read her stories yet, you need to!! :)

Chapter 8

            After Alice’s rapid departure, I readied myself for bed before pulling out some homework that was due tomorrow. I still felt unsettled, more by Alice’s warning about meeting James than about our parallel experiences with Edward. Somehow I felt more at peace after our discussion because not only was I not clinically insane, but Alice was also nearly as curious about Edward as I was.

            And she was still holding back about Halloween, that little bugger….

            So knowing the amazing accuracy of her visions regarding Edward, I felt more uneasy than ever about ignoring her warnings regarding meeting James tomorrow.  

            Distracted, I forced myself to tackle the class assignments, skating by with doing the bare minimum that allowed me to be adequately prepared for my Friday classes. Fortunately, my long lunch break would give me time to study for my afternoon courses, so I focused on my morning classes, managing to complete the assigned reading within two hours. Eyes heavy, I gratefully put away my books and crawled into bed.

            Despite my exhaustion after all of the events and revelations of the day and evening, it took me at least an hour to fall asleep. Tossing and turning, often sitting up to pound my pillow into a more sleep-inducing shape, I huffed impatiently. I was simply unable to relax enough to sleep with different phrases from my talk with Alice cycling through my mind. While many images appeared in my mind’s eye, the sweet words engraved in the pocket watch and the locket were definitely the most memorable.

            Edward’s parents must have loved each other greatly if his father had etched such loving and beautiful words into the locket, his wedding gift to Edward’s mother.

            I sighed, wishing once again for a love like that of Edward’s parents and of my own parents. Losing my mom two years ago was the most traumatic event of my life, but watching my dad suffer along with her, experiencing mentally every pain that she physically felt, was heartbreaking.

            My parents were made for one another—a perfect example of the truth of the old adage “opposites attract.” And when my mother died, my father had died, too, in a way. They had been so different, yet their hearts had truly melded into one. Even now, when I looked into my dad’s eyes, there was a dullness and emptiness there—as if half of his existence had left with my mom—that I think he will live with until he joins her again.

            If such a thing were possible, that is.       

            And that’s the kind of love I was holding out for—the kind of love that transforms lives so that even death cannot truly separate them.

            And perhaps, I thought snarkily, that is why I’ve never dated.

            I mean, who could live up such an impossible standard?

            But I also refused to settle for less.

            Guys in high school were so immature, plus being the police chief’s daughter in a small town was a proven killjoy. The time or two in which I had attempted to date (mostly to silence Renee’s persistent nudgings), Charlie had met my date at the door, rifle in hand, then insisted on sitting at the kitchen table while he cleaned the intimidating weapon while bragging about his excellent marksmanship while I finished getting ready. After these little “chats” with my father, my dates were reduced to near tears and were afraid to even speak my name, much less enjoy time with me. Renee scolded Charlie for scaring away the boys, but he usually grinned and was absolutely unrepentant. Even though I was expecting it, I was still disappointed when not a single boy braved Charlie’s notorious “chats” in order to ask me to the prom.