normal
A snippet from this chapter of 1935, in which Rosalie is getting to know a fellow engineering major. This is her first time going to college. Edward POV.
"Edward, for once, could you just leave me alone?"
Rosalie twisted her arm, breaking my grasp. Is it so bad that I want to have lunch with one of my classmates? You know I won't let it go anywhere.
"This is a bad idea," I growled as George walked up to us the second he entered the dining hall. He was frowning at me.
"Is there a problem?" he asked, lowering his voice. Oh, come on.
"No, my brother was just leaving," Rosalie said through her teeth. Get lost.
George relaxed visibly. I turned to him and crossed my arms, giving him a silent, menacing stare.
Good thing he's her brother… wouldn't want to have THAT for competition. "Well, let's go," he said to Rosalie, brushing past me. I followed them in and stood right behind them in the line, much to Rosalie's annoyance. George handed her a tray and gestured for her to step in front of him. The three of us passed through the line silently, loading our trays with the awful-smelling food. I wondered if it smelled any better to George; it seemed a little nicer than the fare at the high school, but I wasn't really the best judge of that.
As soon as George had paid for their food, Rosalie quickly walked over to a tiny table with two chairs. If you're going to be annoying, at least be annoying across the room. I frowned at her and went to sit alone at a similar table about fifty feet away.
Rosalie picked up her fork and started poking at her food, chattering away with George about the quiz. It was obvious he had found it difficult, but he was trying to hide that fact from Rosalie.
"He only got seventy percent of them right," I muttered, knowing she could hear me.
Rosalie ignored me; if anything, my interference seemed to be egging her on. She combed a delicate hand through her hair, smiling to herself when George's heart rate sped up. She folded her hands under her chin and leaned forward. "Oh, well, enough about engineering. Tell me about yourself, George. Where are you from?"
My fork clattered on the table in frustration. This was getting ridiculous.
George gladly talked about himself for most of the lunch hour, occasionally asking Rosalie questions about her own life, which she answered smoothly. She took special pleasure in pointing out that I was actually a year older than her, but had been held back while I was in foster care. "It's not that Edward isn't intelligent," she said cheerfully. "It's just that he was a little immature back then. He cried all the time."
George snuck an anxious glance over at me. "He's not your real brother?"
"Well, he is now. Carlisle and Esme adopted both of us eventually. My father was a brain surgeon up in Pennsylvania. He and Dr. Cullen were close friends. So when my parents died in the accident, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen adopted me."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I had no idea. Do you miss your parents?" George asked. And why isn't she eating anything? Maybe she's nervous, too.
She shrugged. "Not really. I was only three when it happened. But tell me more about your family."
I stood up abruptly, carrying my still-full tray past them on my way to the trashcan. I purposely bumped into Rosalie on my way. "Stop messing around," I growled under my breath.
"I take it back," Rosalie said loudly to George. "He's still immature." George smirked up at me, encouraged by our banter.
"It's too bad you have plans tonight," he said wistfully.
"Well, I suppose I could reschedule them. It was only a family thing, anyway. Maybe we could—"
My glass shattered in my hand, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. I quickly stuck my finger in my mouth, wincing at my "cut." After a moment, the conversations around us resumed, and I headed back to Rosalie's table, pushing my way through the crowd.
George was leaning forward conspiratorially, speaking quickly before I could reach the table. "Really? That's great! Could I pick you up at six?"
Rosalie hesitated just briefly. "That sounds lovely." She reached over and scribbled our address on George's napkin.
I finally reached them. "Let's go," I said sternly. "We don't want to be late for English." I picked up Rosalie's tray, quickly sweeping up George's napkin onto it when he wasn't looking.
See you tonight, Rosalie mouthed to him as I pulled her anxiously away. The human just grinned, reaching down for his napkin. He frowned when he realized it was gone.
My smug smile disappeared when I heard his next thought; he didn't need the napkin. He had already memorized our address.
.
.
.
We got to English with two minutes to spare. As soon as we sat down, I turned to my sister angrily. "That was idiotic, you know, even for you. He could tell you weren't eating. And I can't believe you gave him our address!"
"What was I supposed to do?" she hissed back. "Tell him I'd run over to his house?"
"You're not going anywhere! You are going to cancel the whole thing when you see him later."
"No, I'm not. And besides, I don't have any more classes with him today. And it's not like we really had plans tonight."
"Rosalie, if you don't cancel it, I'm going to tell Carlisle."
Now she was getting angry. "Go ahead! He'll probably tell you to mind your own business."
I snorted. "I doubt that."
She leaned in closer, talking at vampire speed; the professor was entering the room. "Just because you don't want any friends, doesn't mean that I don't. I just want someone to talk to."
"Why can't you talk to a girl?"
"You know there aren't any other girls in my major. I'll just go on this one date, and that'll be it. And you had better not follow me."
"I'm not following you, because you're not going," I whispered back. The professor began his lecture and we turned our eyes to the front of the room. Rosalie focused intently on the lesson, but she shot me one last thought before blocking me out.
I just want to be normal, Edward. Can't you understand that?