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There was so much to think through, so much I still wanted to ask. But, to my great embarrassment, my stomach growled. I’d been so intrigued, I forgot I hadn’t eaten yet. I realized now that I was ravenous.
Edythe frowned. “I’m sorry, I’m keeping you from dinner. I’ve never spent so much time around humans. I tend to forget.”
“Still, I want to stay with you a bit longer.” It was easier to say in the darkness, knowing as I spoke how my voice would betray my vulnerability.
“May I come in?” she asked.
“Would you like to?” I couldn’t picture Edythe sitting in Charlie’s ordinary kitchen chair.
“Yes, if it’s all right.” I heard her get out of the car, and almost simultaneously she was outside my door, opening it for me.
“Slower than I thought,” I teased her.
“Surely by only a few seconds.”
She walked beside me in the night, so quietly I had reach out and take her hand to be sure she was still there. In the darkness she looked different. Still my beautiful Edythe, but no longer the fantastic, if a little ridiculous, sparkling girl of our sunlit afternoon.
We reached the door and she waited. I paused to reach under the eave for the key, and unlocked it. As I replaced the key, she opened the door for me. I stepped inside.
As I reach to flick on the porch light, I noticed her stopped halfway through the frame. I raised my eyebrow.
“Is something wrong?”
“No,” she said, hesitant, “I’ve just never been in a girl’s house before.”
“Ah. No need to be shy,” I said, giggling. “Nothing scary in here.”
I went ahead of her for the moment and gestured down the hall to the kitchen. She stood there for a bit longer, taking in the details of the living room, then followed. In the kitchen, she sat in the very chair I’d tried to picture her in. Her presence lit up the room, and I was suddenly reminded of Renée, in the days before the divorce, how my mother could illuminate the house in the same way. It was a moment before I could look away.
I concentrated on getting my dinner, taking last night’s lasagna from the fridge, placing a square on a plate, heating it in the microwave. It revolved, filling the kitchen with the smell of tomatoes and oregano. I didn’t take my eyes from the plate of food as I spoke.
“Would you like to…?” I asked casually.
“Hmmm?” She sounded as if I had pulled her from some other train of thought.
Suddenly embarrassed, I changed my question. “What do you think of the house?”
Then we both heard the sound of tires on the brick driveway, saw the headlights flash through the front windows, down the hall to us. Edythe was by my side in a moment as I stiffened, my hand darting down to grip hers.
“Does your mother know I’m here?” she asked.
I thought about the silver Volvo in the driveway. “She will now.”
“Should I leave?”
“Do you want to?”
She laughed nervously, but her hold on my hand remained steady. “I’ll stay.”
“Alright,” I said, taking a deep breath.
My ma’s key turned in the door.
“Bella?” she called. It had bothered me before; who else would it be? “Whose car is outside? You going to introduce me to your friend?”
“We’re in here Ch- ma.” I hoped she couldn’t hear the nerves in my voice. I grabbed my dinner from the microwave and sat at the table as she walked in. I heard a chuckle and glared in Edythe’s direction as I burned my hand slightly in my haste to sit down. Charlie’s footsteps suddenly sounded so noisy after my day with Edythe.
I scrambled back up as she walked in, “Hello Bells! Hope you had a good day?” She smiled and winked as she took in the scene (and Edythe) then stepped on the heels of her boots to take them off, holding the back of my chair for support.
“Yes,” I rolled my eyes at her, “Ma, meet Edythe. Edythe, this is my mother Charlie, though you probably already know her as the sheriff.”
Edythe stood up fluidly, though a mite too fast to be completely calm, and shook Charlie’s hand after the boots were out of the way, “Nice to meet you Sheriff.”
“Oh please, just call me Charlie,” she wasn’t used to this level of polite respect in a pretty rural town where everyone knew her by her first name. “Bella, did you offer our guest some food?”
We started speaking at the same time,
“Edythe isn’t hungry-”
“I already ate, thank you-”
I took my food with me, scarfing it down as I got her dinner. It burned my tongue. I filled two glasses with milk while her lasagna was heating, and gulped mine to put out the fire, busying myself so I wouldn’t have to reply. She didn’t seem to expect one anyway. As I set the glass down, I noticed the milk trembling and realized my hand was shaking. Charlie sat in the chair, her expression bright, lighting up the room almost as much as Edythe had, though her hair and skin were much darker.
“Thanks,” she said as I placed her food on the table.
“How was your day?” I asked. The words were rushed; I was dying to escape to my room.
“Good. The fish were biting… how about you? Did you get everything done that you wanted to?”
“Not really — it was too nice out to stay indoors.” I took another big bite. “Edythe took me hiking.” Why was my face so hot all of a sudden?
Edythe chuckled so softly I thought I might have imagined it.
“Oh really?” Charlie looked between the two of us in amusement. “Nothing too strenuous though?”
Oh my mom, always protective. Edythe hurriedly assured her that it was more like a walk and then a picnic in a clearing in the Preserve.
Finished with the last bite of lasagna, I lifted my glass and chugged the remains of my milk.
Charlie surprised me by being observant. “In a hurry?”
“Not really? I just…” I had made the mistake of looking over at Edythe and my treacherous brain short-circuited and started hyperfocusing on her freckles and the few strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face.
Edythe swooped in and saved me by asking Charlie about the success of her fishing trip. She could go on for quite awhile on the topics of fish and other wildlife.
I quickly scrubbed my dishes clean in the sink, and placed them upside down on a dish towel to dry, trying to take deep breaths and hoping I didn’t look so much like a tomato anymore
“So is Edythe staying the night?” Charlie asked, hip-checking me as she slid up with her plate and fork.
“Mommmm!”
“I’ll just leave you girls to it then! Go show her around Bella, I’ll finish the dishes.”
Another musical chuckle from Edythe, who, to my surprise, seemed to be blushing as well. I took her by the hand before I could chicken out and dragged her out of the kitchen. She may have been shorter than me, but I’m sure if she’d wanted to, she could have stopped me. I tried not to slam the door but my relief at escaping Charlie’s pointed questions was sizeable. She meant well, but sometimes, well, sometimes a girl just needed space!
“Were you really that desperate to get me alone, Bella?” Edythe was incredibly close to me all of a sudden, amber eyes almost glowing in the dark.
I flipped the switch to turn on the strings of lights on my ceiling, scoffing, “I could ask you the same question.” Where was all this confidence coming from? My heart fluttered like a hummingbird, wanting to take flight right out of my chest.
Edythe laughed loudly, flopping down on my bed, bronze hair splaying out around her head like a halo.
“So, give me the grand tour then, Bella Swan.”
I played with the tassel of an old tapestry Charlie had gotten me, from back when Lisa Frank had been an obsession, “Nothing much to show really.”
Edythe sat up suddenly, her face momentarily in shadow.
“You okay?” I peeled myself off the wall.
She stood up, suddenly looking a bit stiff and uncomfortable. “I’ve never been in a girl’s bedroom before.”
I stared at her a few moments before letting loose a giggle. She looked over at me and the spell was broken, her smile curved easily across her face.
“I know that sounds strange when I put it like that.”
“No, I think I know what you mean.” I said, taking her hand more slowly this time, aware of her every movement. I looked down at her and saw she was blushing again. I pulled her to the window, not able to stand the intensity of her gaze for long.
“Here’s my wishing tree.” I pointed out to the gnarled old hawthorn underneath my window. “I would try to make a wish as I’d watch the leaves fall in the autumn, watching one twirl, before it settled on the ground. Or I’d try to guess how many berries were on a branch. If I was right I’d get another wish.” Edythe’s hand was now warm in mine, almost completely normal.
I turned to see her watching me with a fond smile playing across her face. “You never fail to surprise me, Bella Swan.” She gave my hand a squeeze and went over to my bookshelf.
I watched her eyes scan the shelves, then her arm with an upraised finger, poised to pull a book down, but hesitating.
“Warrior Cats? Really?”
I stumbled over in shock. “I…”
“Cinderpelt was innocent,” she said with a grin. Then suddenly she lay, smiling hugely, across my bed, her hands behind her head, her feet dangling off the end, the picture of ease.
“Oh!” I breathed, putting out a hand to brace myself, dizzy from shock.
“I’m sorry!” She sat up, gazing worriedly at me, “too fast?”
“Just give me a minute to restart my heart.”
She carefully reached out a hand and tugged me onto the bed beside her.
“Why don’t you sit down,” she suggested, putting an arm around my shoulders. “How’s the heart?”
“You tell me — I’m sure you hear it better than I do.”
Her shoulders shook with silent laughter.
We sat there for a moment in silence, both listening to my heartbeat slow. I leaned my head onto her shoulder and felt her arm slowly warm to match my temperature. I didn’t want to move.
“Can I have a minute to be human?” I asked as I realized I couldn’t remember if I’d even brushed my teeth this morning.
“Certainly.” She gestured with one hand that I should proceed.
“Stay,” I said, trying to look severe.
“Yes, ma'am.” And she made a show of becoming a statue on the edge of my bed.
I hopped up, grabbing my pajamas from off the floor, my bag of toiletries off the desk. I left the light off and slipped out, closing the door.
I could hear the sound from the TV rising up the stairs. I banged the bathroom door loudly, cursing my dyspraxia. I opened it back up and shouted, “I’m fine,” back down the stairs so Charlie wouldn’t worry. I heard her laugh and say, “Don’t take your frustration out on inanimate objects Bells, you know they can’t fight back.” I definitely heard Edythe laughing then, and stuck my tongue out in her general direction. She didn’t see it but it made me feel better.
I meant to hurry. I brushed my teeth fiercely, trying to be thorough and speedy, removing all traces of lasagna. But the hot water of the shower couldn’t be rushed. It unknotted the muscles in my back, calmed my pulse. The familiar smell of my shampoo made me feel like I might be the same person I had been this morning. I tried not to think of Edythe, sitting in my room, waiting, because then I had to start all over with the calming process. I shut off the water, toweling hastily, rushing again. I pulled on my holey t-shirt and gray sweatpants. Too late to regret not packing the Victoria’s Secret silk pajamas my mother got me two birthdays ago, which still had the tags on them in a drawer somewhere back home.
I quickly put my hair into two cornrows, then tied my silk scarf around my head. I threw the towel in the hamper, flung my brush and toothpaste into my bag. Then I flew into my room, closing the door tightly behind me.
Edythe hadn’t moved a fraction of an inch, a carving of Aphrodite perched on my faded quilt. I smiled, and her lips twitched, the statue coming to life.
Her eyes appraised me, taking in the scarf, the tattered shirt. She raised one eyebrow. “Nice.”
I grimaced.
“No, it looks good on you.”
“Thanks,” I whispered. I went back to her side, sitting cross-legged beside her. I looked at the lines in the wooden floor.
She lifted my chin, examining my face.
“You look very warm.”
She bent her face slowly to mine, laying her cool cheek against my skin. I held perfectly still.
“Mmmmmm…” she breathed.
It was very difficult, while she was touching me, to think coherently. I felt her hand, lighter than a moth’s wing, brushing a short lock of hair that had escaped the scarf, so that her lips could touch the hollow beneath my ear.
“So I was wondering…” I began again, but her fingers were slowly tracing my collarbone, and I lost my train of thought.
“Yes?” she breathed.
I closed my eyes and sighed, forgetting what it was I might have been wondering at the time.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No — the opposite. You’re driving me crazy,” I explained.
She considered that briefly, and when she spoke, she sounded pleased.
“Really?” A triumphant smile slowly lit her face.
“Would you like a round of applause?” I asked sarcastically.
She grinned.
“I’m just pleasantly surprised,” she clarified. “In the last hundred years or so,” her voice was teasing, “I never imagined anything like this. I didn’t believe I would ever find someone I wanted to be with… in another way than my sisters. And then to find, even though it’s all new to me, that I’m good at it… at being with you…”
“You’re good at almost everything,” I pointed out.
She shrugged, and we both laughed in whispers.
“But how can it be so easy now?” I pressed. “This afternoon…”
“It feels right,” she sighed. “But this afternoon, I was still… confused and scared. I didn’t understand what I was feeling. I am sorry about that, it was unforgivable for me to behave so.”
“Not completely unforgivable,” I disagreed.
“Thank you.” She smiled. “You see,” she continued, looking down now, “I wasn’t sure if I was enough…” She picked up one of my hands and pressed it lightly to her face. “And while there was still that possibility that … it might be hunger,” — she breathed in the scent at my wrist — “I was… scared. I made up my mind that I was strong enough, but now I don’t have to worry, do I?”
I’d never seen her struggle so hard for words. It was so… human.
“Not about eating me you don’t,” I said.
She threw back her head and laughed, quietly as a whisper, but still exuberantly.
“Not in that way anyway,” she amended, winking, her hands encircling my wrists as she spoke.
I blushed furiously and struggled for words. She laughed her quiet, musical laugh. She’d laughed more tonight than I’d ever heard in all the time I’d spent with her.
“You seem more… playful than usual,” I observed. “I haven’t seen you like this before.”
“Isn’t it supposed to be like this?” She smiled. “The glory of first love, and all that. It’s incredible, isn’t it, the difference between reading about something, seeing it in the pictures, and experiencing it?”
“Very different,” I agreed. “More powerful than I’d imagined.”
I started pulling back, to look in her face, and her hands slowly released my wrists, lingering for a few moments before she let go completely. "What —” I started to ask, when her body became alert. I froze, but then she suddenly leaned back, shifting to put space between us.
“Charlie’s coming,“ she whispered urgently. I laughed at her startled expression.
I heard the door crack open as Charlie peeked in.
“You girls need anything?”
“No, ma, we’re fine.” I said, turning to look at her with a combination of pleading and embarrassment.
“Alright, well I’m turning in. Goodnight girls, don’t stay up too late.”
“Goodnight Charlie.” Edythe said solemnly, as I tried not to glare.
Charlie chuckled and closed the door.
Then Edythe’s cool arm was around me; almost like she needed comforting.
"What, did you expect her to threaten you with a rifle?” I muttered, trying not to laugh, my heart still crashing in my chest.
She shook her head and chuckled. “I’m used to having to hide, not getting close to anyone outside my family. Instincts took over I guess. I only seemed to notice later that her thoughts were amused and not aggressive.”
“I think Charlie teases me about girls because she doesn’t want me to feel alone, but when she saw how I am around you- I guess she picked up on the fact that this isn’t just a crush. She might’ve been the one to try to give you the shovel talk a year ago, but we’ve talked a few times. She trusts me to come to her if I need anything. ”
She hummed a melody I didn’t recognize; it sounded like a lullaby.