Ebb and Flow (Twilight x Reader)

Chapter 15

"I thought my birthday was about what I want."

"I'll get her from Charlie's right after school," Edward told her, ignoring Bella altogether.

"I have to work," she protested.

"You don't, actually," Alice said smugly. "I already spoke to Mrs. Newton about it. She's trading your shifts. She said to tell you 'Happy Birthday.'"

"I—I still can't come over," she stammered, scrambling for an excuse. "I, well, I haven't watched Romeo and Juliet yet for English."

Alice snorted. "You have Romeo and Juliet memorized."

"But Mr. Berty said we needed to see it performed to fully appreciate it —that's how Shakespeare intended it to be presented."

Edward rolled his eyes.

"You've already seen the movie," Alice accused.

"But not the nineteen-sixties version. Mr. Berty said it was the best."

Finally, Alice lost the smug smile and glared at her. "This can be easy, or this can be hard, Bella, but one way or the other—"

Edward interrupted her threat. "Relax, Alice. If Bella wants to watch a movie, then she can. It's her birthday."

"So there," Bella added.

"I'll bring her over around seven," he continued. "That will give you more time to set up."

Alice's laughter chimed again. "Sounds good. See you tonight, Bella! It'll be fun, you'll see." She grinned—the wide smile exposed all her perfect, glistening teeth—then pecked Bella on the cheek and danced away, pulling me along.

"I'm not sure she's going to forgive you," I warned as we headed down the hall.

"She will eventually," Alice said, unbothered. "Especially since you're coming."

I blinked at her. "What? I thought it was just a thing for Bella—"

"It's your birthday, too. There's no reason you shouldn't be there."

"I can think of one," I mumbled.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Edward doesn't hate you."

"I beg to differ."

She sighed, but let the issue drop.

We sat at our usual table for lunch.

A strange kind of truce existed at that table. Edward, Alice, and Bella sat on the extreme southern end of the table. Now that the "older" Cullen siblings had graduated, Alice and Edward did not seem quite so intimidating to the others, who also sat with us. Mike and Jessica (who were in the awkward post-breakup friendship phase), Angela and Ben (whose relationship had survived the summer), Eric, Conner, Tyler, and Lauren (though that last one didn't really count in the friend category) all sat at the same table, on the other side of an invisible line. That line dissolved on sunny days when Edward and Alice always skipped school, and then the conversation would swell out effortlessly to include Bella.

I sat on top of this invisible line, in between the two groups, but Edward always sat as far back as he could, as if my physical presence pained him like he'd said. I knew he was a brooding vampire, but really, there was no need to be dramatic.

After school, Edward unfortunately accompanied Bella home to watch Romeo and Juliet, but thankfully I had my room to disappear into until a little before seven. I dressed nicely, as Alice had instructed, but I still wasn't sure about tonight. Still, I forced myself to pull the truck out of the driveway and follow Edward's Volvo to the Cullens' residence.