As soon as the sun rose, Esme dismissed Rosalie to return to Serafina. She had to. If she didn't, she would have to endure more of Serafina's whining and complaining from upstairs. They even had to endure Serafina singing "Volver Volver" by Vicente Fernandez. She was so passionate she even felt her own dead heart stir. The couple happily embraced and cuddled until they would have to get ready for school.
"Lesson learned; do not withhold Rosalie from Serafina," Emmett groaned, "please never do that again. I hate when she sings Vicente Fernandez. It makes me want to cry, then I can't; it's upsetting."
"I was here too, Emmett, I know," Esme sighed.
"Where's Alice?" Emmett asked in annoyance.
"I may not have seen her start being annoying, but as soon as she was, I forced a vision and saw she kept being annoying all night. So we left," Alice said as she walked through the back door back into the house with Jasper.
'Why did you stay?' Jasper asked Edward off to the side telepathically.
"I wasn't paying attention and missed Alice's vision. I had to suffer with Emmett," Edward answered him lowly.
"You could've shared that information, Alice!" Emmett glared. He thought momentarily, "Wait, is this why you didn't complain when separated from her, Rosie? You knew she would act like that, didn't you?" Emmett suddenly asked.
Rosalie laughed, "You think I don't know how my girlfriend can be? Of course, I knew." She called down the stairs while being held tightly by Serafina, who chuckled into her shoulder. She kissed her girlfriend, "I needed you all to know how bad of an idea it would be so you'd never do it again."
"Now we know," Esme mumbled as she returned to work, "You kids relax for a bit and then have a good day at school."
A few hours later, the group got ready for school and went. There was snowfall that caught everyone's attention. Emmett initiated a snowball fight with Jasper's help. Serafina panicked as she saw them begin. She couldn't use her ability, and with how angry she knew she would get from being hit, she knew she couldn't fight back since she'd melt the snow. She made a snap decision when she saw the snowball approaching; she picked up Alice and used her as a shield.
Not even Alice saw it coming. She was held in the air with her mouth agape as the others laughed. Emmett got more excited as he prepared more snowballs specifically for Alice when he began being pelted by Jasper to distract him. Rosalie laughed as she followed behind Serafina and her Alice shield as they made their way inside laughing.
Alice huffed in her anger with her hands on her hips as soon as she was put down. But then she got a mischievous grin that had both Rosalie and Serafina eye her suspiciously as she showed them that her hands weren't clenched as tightly as they thought. She had two snowballs. She jumped and quickly smashed one in each hand on both of their heads before high-fiving Edward as he walked into the building with a grin.
The two women didn't see the mental conversation or see the quick passes of snowballs to fulfill the plan. All that happened when Alice was being used as a shield. They glowered at the two as they passed by. The two women quickly went to the restroom to fix themselves up, vowing revenge.
Serafina made it a point not to ditch any classes that day. She wanted to see how Edward reacted. She could still win her bet. She knew it was terrible to think that during school hours since it would mean she would probably have to murder countless people to keep everything under wraps. But she was willing.
Their group waited at the door for everyone to assemble, thinking it would be easier to control Edward together. Edward felt they were being excessively annoying. He was embarrassed. They looked very odd entering the lunchroom together like that. Mainly Emmett and Alice. Emmett took his job very seriously and looked like secret service guarding the president. Alice was the same. Looking at the two, you would think they were children pretending to be secret agents, trying not to be caught by the enemy. Jasper began singing the Mission Impossible tune under his breath. Making the others laugh.
"It's going to be okay," Alice said seriously while nodding to Emmett, who nodded back. They began making their way through the cafeteria when Alice continued, "We shouldn't be able to catch her scent if we sit at our usual table."
"Knock it off, Alice! It's not like we're going to change tables! You're getting on my nerves! I can handle it!" Edward growled out.
Serafina reached over and smacked him on the back of the head, "Leave her alone bitch! She's just looking out for you and your bitchy running away self!" Serafina glared back at him.
"Emo," Rosalie whispered with an eye roll.
His anger dwindled, knowing they were right. Alice was being extra vigilant to help him. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in him. He could see she believed he could do it. She was trying to improve his odds, and he knew it. He didn't know why. But he knew she did. Unlike the others who thought he would snap and kill the poor girl at any moment—or even Serafina, who was debating doing the deed herself to end his suffering.
He sighed, "I'm sorry, but I'll be fine. Thank you, Alice."
"You're right," Alice smiled. She had never taken offense.
The group sat around the table, discussing nothing important as usual. But they kept an eye on Edward, who continuously glanced in the girl's friend's direction. He had already told them he couldn't read her mind, so they figured he was probably trying to glean whatever information he could from her friends. Serafina knew that wouldn't bear any fruit but didn't say anything.
"Anything?" Jasper asked.
"Nothing, I don't think she told anyone I scared the daylights out of her last week," Edward admitted.
The others but Alice shared a look but tried not to think about it and averted their eyes from each other.
"What?" Edward asked.
Emmett couldn't help chuckling, "Well, maybe you're not as scary as you think." He shrugged.
The others began chuckling.
"I would think pompous ass before scary," Rosalie snarked. Making the others start chuckling at Edward's expense.
"I'm scary," Edward said with offense.
This time, Alice chuckled, "You're really not. But it's okay! I'm not either." She smiled.
Edward scoffed but was stopped by Serafina before he could speak, "It's true. Me and my baby have a naturally intimidating countenance. We don't even have to try, and people are afraid-"
"Resting bitch face!" Emmett smiled, pointing at her face, cutting her off before she could continue.
Both women glared, but Rosalie continued while Serafina smacked him, "Emmett, although usually harmless looking, can be very intimidating if need be. His size works to his advantage there."
"Yeah, and Jasper is so on edge, he terrifies everyone without trying. Plus, from his time in the military, the dude is built and has that, I don't know? Good posture? But, like, too good of posture, the scary kind." Emmett continued.
After having that pointed out, Jasper attempted to slump a bit but couldn't get it right. Alice calmly rubbed his back in comfort so he would stop trying. Jasper gave up and sat as usual, with Serafina and Rosalie giggling at him.
"But you and Alice? Now, there's nothing scary about you two. Sorry. If we're going appearance-wise, then you two are the least threatening of us all, Alice, with how tiny and adorable she is. And you're just a skinny fuchi-faced nerd." Serafina finally laughed out.
Edward scowled at the others as they laughed. But suddenly Alice froze.
"She's coming! Act casual!" Alice said suddenly.
Emmett flexed as he leaned on the table and laughed too loudly to have been normal. But that reaction caused real laughter to erupt from their group again, except for Edward, who was still too embarrassed at their behavior. He focused on the girl while pretending to be part of their laughter. It was passable, but not really.
Edward sat too still as he eavesdropped on the human's friends. His family began telling him so in their minds. Emmett finally couldn't take it. He groaned loudly, startling Edward.
"Would it be that big of a deal if you just kill her? It's just one girl," Emmett frowned.
"You would think that," Edward mumbled.
"Apparently, you would too," Serafina growled at him. Edward glared back.
"I do think that. I've had some slip-ups in the past. I got over them. I don't wallow," Emmett explained.
"Maybe you should. It was wrong," Edward argued.
"Oh god," Serafina sighed.
Before she could complain about Edward's statement, snow was thrown across the table into Emmett's face. The group was stunned for a moment. Jasper grinned as he gestured to Emmett's head. He took the reminder and leaned over the table to shake the snow from his hair toward Alice. Rosalie quickly pulled Serafina back and away from Emmett, who was shaking his hair like a dog with a look of disgust on her face.
The boys laughed while pushing and shoving. Rosalie and Serafina complained about how gross they were being. But Serafina could see a silent conversation occurring between Alice and Edward. Then she heard the human talking with her friend about how Edward was looking at her. She figured that's what the two were talking about—the girl. The lunch continued as usual. They saw the group of humans leaving, but the Cullens remained seated. They were watching Edward.
"You should be fine. You can make it through the hour!" Alice smiled after she was silent for a moment.
"Maybe you shouldn't risk it," Jasper commented.
"Don't screw it up, I don't want to move yet," Rosalie glared.
"But if you do screw it up, it'd be alright. Don't worry about it," Emmett said as he clapped a hand on Edward's shoulder while his other hand gave him a thumbs up. He stopped momentarily, "You know, just get it over with. We'll deal with whatever happens." He finally shrugged.
Edward sat silently, contemplating everyone's opinions. His expression soon grew firm.
"Yes! No, you guys, he'll be fine!" Alice soon scolded everyone, "Don't worry, Ed! I'm pretty sure you'll be fine!"
"If you need me, let me know," Serafina said. She took Rosalie's hand and pulled her from the table to lead her out of the cafeteria.
Serafina led Rosalie to class but ditched this time. She never did when she had a class with Rosalie, but Rosalie understood. Serafina, Alice, and Jasper stayed close but far enough away that Edward couldn't hear them or their thoughts. Alice sat cross-legged on an outdoor table with the other two seated around her. They just chit-chatted mindlessly while they waited for her to tell them whether they needed to help.
Near the end of class, Alice looked frightened but didn't signal Serafina or Jasper to do anything. She sighed in relief a moment before the bell rang. They returned to class now that they didn't have to babysit anymore.
After school, they met at Edward's car and saw him laughing to himself with his radio playing some of Emmett's heavier rock music. They looked at each other, questioning, but got in the car.
"I think he's finally lost it," Emmett said sympathetically.
"No, it's nothing. Let's go home," Edward said as he drove them home with a small smile.
That night, Edward had to hunt again. Emmett and Jasper wanted to go with him, but Carlisle surprised the family by trading shifts at work. It seemed he wanted some father-son time with Edward and asked the two young men to hang back. He wanted to check in to see how Edward's first day back was. He and Esme were worried. Emmett and Jasper gratefully accepted Carlisle's request. They figured he would be the best to get him to open up.
While the two were having a heart-to-heart, the others split up. Serafina and Rosalie went to their tree house to speak alone. Emmett asked Jasper to play catch with him with a baseball. But Alice decided to stay back with Esme.
When the teens got home, the others were all home. They noticed a somber mood throughout the home. They looked to their parents, Alice, and Edward, to see what was up. But they kept tight-lipped about whatever happened. For some reason, the others felt they shouldn't ask. If it were important, they would tell them right?
They hoped Edward finally decided how to deal with the human. They were all pretty annoyed with the situation but tried not to think about it so they wouldn't upset Edward. But it wouldn't last long.