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CHAPTER NINE - SMOOTH

BELLA DROPPED HER backpack roughly on the ground after the two sisters made it home, Laura rolled her eyes at her over-exaggerated actions. The brunette was still in a bad mood from her spat with Nathaniel.

Laura had had quite a pleasant bus ride back to school and had gotten to know Alice Cullen in more depth than she had before. The pixie haired teenager had officially proclaimed that they were best friends from that day forth, Laura had just smiled and nodded along absentmindedly as she stared at the back of Edward's head while he sat in front of them with Nate.

 Charlie was reading a newspaper at the table when he glanced up at them. "Your mom called. Again."

"Well, that's your fault. You shouldn't have told her about the 'almost' accident." Bella retorted, grabbing Charlie's empty plate of food and taking it to the sink. "You finished?"

"Yeah." Their dad quipped, taking a sip of his beer. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. She always did know how to worry. She seems different. She seems happy. Phil sounds like an alright guy."

"Yeah, he is. But he's nothing compared to you, dad. You know that you're always my first choice." Laura assured, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"Thanks, L. You know I love you both, right?"

Bella didn't say anything and walked out of the room. Laura sighed before replying, "Always. Now finish your beer and get an early night, dad. You have work in the morning."

"All right."

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The girls walked into the cafeteria at the beginning of lunch on Friday afternoon and over to where their friends were, but not before catching sight of the Cullen boys who quickly averted their gaze.

"Hey." Jessica greeted.

"La Push, baby. You in?" Eric asked with a cheeky grin, looking at both of the Swans.

"Should I know what that means?" Bella questioned cluelessly.

"It's a beach down at the Quileute Rez." Laura informed.

"We're all going tomorrow." Mike added.

"Yeah, there's this big swell coming in." Jessica piped in, putting her fork in her mouth.

"And I don't just surf the internet." Eric said as he mimicked surfing on a surfboard.

"Eric, you stood up one, and it was on a foam board."

"But there's whale watching too." Angela spoke up, deciding that she should finally join into the conversation. "Come with us."

"La Push, baby. It's La Push."

"Can't. I have work. Dr. Cullen said that I could have a few days off, but I feel fine so I'm gonna go in." Laura replied, not really wanting to go in the first place. She hated sand, the way it got in between toes and into shoes. And don't even get her started on when it was wet! She shivered just thinking about it. Call her Anakin Skywalker if you want, but she would never go near it if she could. Pebble beaches were superior.

"But it's La Push." Eric whined.

"Okay, I'll go if you stop saying that, okay?" Bella gave in, smiling at them.

"Seriously, dude. It's creepy, man." Mike agreed.

Laura shook her head in amusement, walking away to where the food was. She stood by the table and rearranged some of the fruit because it gave her slight OCD to just see them unorganised.

"Edible art?" Questioned a deep voice from behind her. She spun around in shock, knocking off an apple as she turned. The apple hit a shoe, bouncing up into Edward's hands. Weird. "Laura." He greeted.

"Cheers." Laura thanked, grabbing the apple and taking a large bite of of it. She walked past him with a bowl of fruit that she had selected, including the apple. "What mood do you have today then, Edward? They are totally giving me whiplash."

"I only said it'd be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't wanna be." He replied.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" She exclaimed, looking at him with a raised brow.

"It means if you were smart, you'd stay away from me."

"I'm not even trying to stay near you, it's completely the opposite." Laura stated, "But, let's say that I'm not smart, would you tell me the truth about what your brother did then?"

"No, probably not." Edward mumbled. "I'd rather hear your theories."

"All right then, you asked for it." She warned. "I've considered radioactive spiders and adamantium."

"That's all superhero stuff, right? What if my brother and I are not the hero? What if we're the bad guys?"

"I'm not finished." Laura said, glaring lightly at him. "Then, I thought about zombies, human experimentation and maybe even vampires."

Edward's posture stiffened as she said this, making her narrow her eyes in suspicion. "If you think you're a bad guy, then so am I. I've done things that I regret in my life and i'm sure you have as well. Now, I would ask if we could hang out tomorrow, but I have work so I'll see you around."

"I could swing by, convince Carlisle to let you off earlier? We could get something to eat? Whatever you want." Edward offered.

"Sounds good." Laura grinned and then walked away from him.

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Edward had stuck to his word and convinced Carlisle to let Laura off early the next day. Carlisle had given her a brain to eat before she left and advised her to take the leftovers home. Who's? She didn't know, just that she might have a slight case of kleptomania in the next few days. She wasn't really looking forward to that. 

Carlisle had made sure that the container that the brain was in was secured shut so that his adopted son couldn't smell it when he left with Laura. She asked Edward if they could stop at her house so that she could change out of her work clothes (and drop off the leftover brains), and he agreed.

They sat in his car as he drove along the road, refusing to tell Laura where they were going and she was getting impatient. 

"Am I going to like it?" She asked, "I'm not a very big fan of surprises. In fact, I'm a very strong believer in knowing spoilers." 

"Good to know." Edward smiled, keeping his eyes on the road. "And yes, I'm sure you'll like it."

They pulled up by a cliff that towered over the sea, Laura's eyes widened in delight at the beautiful view. That fact that the sky was cloudy didn't bother her in the slightest. To be honest, she was relieved that it wasn't sunny, it would've just blinded her and ruined the experience.

"I've never been here before. It's so beautiful." She breathed, moving closer to the edge where Edward had set a blanket down on the grass. Which was good because she was wearing a dress and she did not want to get grass stains on it or her legs.

"I've never taken anyone here before." Edward admitted, moving to stand next to her. "This is the place I go to for silence."

"Then why bring me here?"

"You give my mind a sense of peace. I can't figure you out like I can others."

"Carlisle said that you have a way of knowing what people are thinking. It must frustrate you to no end not being able to get into my head like you can others." Laura mused, moving to go and sit down on the blanket.

Edward followed and sat down beside her. "You cannot begin to imagine how much I wish to be able to get into your head like I used to."

"You never knew me until a few weeks ago. How could you have known how I used to think?"

"I didn't need to know you to see who you were."

She stared at him with a blank look, "You smooth bastard."

Edward smiled again and chuckled, causing to two of the them to begin laughing hysterically. Laura could get use to this.

❝I AM ALREADY DEAD.❞