It was a magnificently cloudy day in Forks, Washington and Alice was practically jumping up and down in excitement as she and her siblings got ready for their first day of school. The idea of meeting a bunch of new people making her positively giddy. Jasper did not share the same sentiments as his mate, but nonetheless he watched her with a fond smile as she put in her earrings.
"Today is going to be amazing, I can just feel it!" the short woman exclaimed, earning a scoff from Rosalie as she entered the room.
"You are the only one here excited to start high school again," the blonde remarked, crossing her arms as she stood next to her brother.
"Emmett's excited," Jasper added, having been able to feel the man's excitement even from across the house.
"That's because he likes seeing the poor other boys' faces when he tries out for the football team," Rosalie chuckled, a hint of pride in her voice.
"But then turn it down because..." Emmett chimed in, leaning against the doorframe with his arm slung across Edward's shoulder.
"We can't draw too much attention."
All of them said the words in unison, the phrase practically chiseled into each of their minds.
"Laugh all you want, it's kept us safe for this long," Carlisle said defensively as he walked down the hallway, ready to go to work. "C'mon, I'm driving you all to school."
"Why couldn't we have just pretended to be an age that could drive?" Rosalie complained as they all followed him through the house.
"Because that would mean we have less time here," Carlisle explained, getting a wave of deja vu since the conversation was one they had every time they moved.
"Goodbye! Have a great first day!" Esme called out to them from the living room where she was gathering all the blueprints she'd spent the night before sketching out.
"You too!" Alice replied, remembering that the woman was going into the city for her new job. "Have fun building new houses!"
"And we'll 'have fun' learning stuff we already now," Rosalie muttered under her breath as she got into the car, Emmett laughing and kissing the side of her head as he got in after her.
"Optimistic as always, Rose."
:::
Alice couldn't help but feel a bit self conscious as she sat in her third period class, the only class she had without any of her family. She could feel the eyes on the back of her head as she sat alone at one of the front desks, she could even hear their whispers about her thanks to her enhanced senses. Although she probably would've been able to hear them even without her vampire hearing, given that they weren't really trying to be quiet. She wished Jasper could be there with her, to calm her nerves. To make her feel like her usually bubbly self again.
She'd done it again. She got too optimistic, thinking that she would make friends, but instead she just got judged. Through their stares, Alice couldn't help but feel transported back into that place. That place where doctors looked at her like she was insane, where even the other patients made sure to stay away. She was just scared, and alone, and-
"Hi! Do you mind if I sit here?" A boy's out of breath voice broke Alice from her spiraling thoughts, the bell ringing which caused the boy to look behind him nervously.
"I don't mind," Alice replied, forcing her voice to be cheery and pushing forward a smile to match the boy's own. "I'm Alice, my family and I just moved here."
"That's cool! I'm Callahan but everyone just calls me 'Cal', it's nice to meet you," the boy, Callahan, introduced himself as he sat down. "Thanks for letting me sit here, I can't risk pissing this teacher off again. My mom might actually kill me if I get detention on the first day."
Alice glanced around the room as he spoke, noticing that there were several empty desks he could've sat at instead. She also noticed the confused looking group of boys in the back of the class, the same ones that had been sneering at her and calling her a 'freak' just seconds ago. She guessed they where Cal's friends by the way they whispered amongst themselves while staring at his back, trying to get the boy's attention.
"Thank you, for sitting with me," Alice replied quietly as a very moody teacher walked in.
"No need to thank me, you seemed cool," he whispered back with a smile. "I like your hair."
"Mr. Beckett! No talking in my class!"
:::
Alice's day only got better from there, discovering that she not only had third period with her new friend but also fourth. Edward was also there, but he'd been his usual antisocial self while Alice and Cal spent the whole class chatting. She learned that him and his mom had also just moved to Forks last year, and that his mother worked as a waitress at the local diner. The two talked about all the places they'd lived, realizing funnily enough that their families had just missed each other. Cal and his mom had lived in Alaska for a while and just as they moved out, the Cullens moved in.
Finally the lunch bell rung and everyone quickly filed toward the cafeteria.
"Our family is probably all going to be sitting together, do you want to join us?" Alice offered as the three of them stepped in to the crowded lunch room.
"Cal! Hey, Cal! C'mere, dude!"
Alice recognized the group of boys from their third period, deflating slightly as she realized the boy would probably want to sit with his friends. She glanced over at Edward as he let out a chuckle under his breath, a surprised expression on her face. The movement caused her to miss Cal throwing up a rather offensive finger in the direction of his friends.
"Yeah, that sounds fun! Hope the rest of your family is as cool as you are," he finally replied, walking right past the table of teenage boys with shocked and angry expressions on their faces.
"Yay!"
Alice actually was jumping up and down as she grabbed both Cal and Edward's arms, dragging them along to the table the rest of the Cullens were sitting at. Jasper was already watching her, a slight smile on his face as her happiness radiated through the room.
"Look! I made a friend!" Alice exclaimed as she sat down next to her mate, pulling Cal into the seat next to her while Edward sat next to Rosalie.
"Hey, I'm Callahan, but you can call me Cal," the boy waved, eyeing Emmett slightly. "So... you're all freshman?"
"I'm a sophomore," Emmett said with a laugh. "So are Rose and Jas."
"Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper," Edward introduced, pointing to each of his siblings in turn.
"Nice to meet you all, Alice told me a lot about you," Cal spoke as he pulled his lunch from his bag, getting slightly confused when none of them did the same. "Are you guys gonna get the school lunch?"
"No, we don't like it," Rosalie replied bluntly, an eyebrow raising in amusement as the boy tried to hide the pink sticky note that fell out of his lunch box as soon as he opened it. "Is that a little note?"
"It's from my mom," Cal mumbled, his face going red.
"That's adorable!" Alice smiled, leaning over his shoulder to try and read it.
In that moment, however, she was suddenly thrust forward. Her surroundings changing rapidly until she was no longer at school at all, instead she was at home.
Laughter filled the living room, shouting coming from the couch as Cal and Emmett went head to head in Mario Kart. Rosalie sat with Esme on the other couch while Edward kept standing in front of Emmett, blocking his view of the television. Alice was watching them from behind the couch, Jasper's arms wrapped around her as he laughed.
Suddenly she perked up, as if she heard something, and she quickly sped out of the room but not before grabbing a camera off the bookshelf. When she finally stopped she was in the doorway to the kitchen and she was greeted by the most amazing sight.
Carlisle hummed along to the song playing on the radio as he spun a gorgeous looking woman around in his arms. The two of them couldn't stop smiling at each other, too lost in their own world to notice Alice standing there until the snap of the camera went off.
"Alice!" the woman exclaimed, her surprise soon melting into laughter.
The vision quickly faded away and all Alice was left with was a feeling. A feeling of true happiness, of belonging. Like a missing piece had finally been found and put into place. She looked up at Edward, who was already staring at her with a surprised look on his face, both of them knowing exactly what that vision meant.
Carlisle had a mate.