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Chapter 8

Learning to Live part two

After my third class had ended, it was time for lunch. I made my way to the cafeteria and was looking for Alice, when Mike popped up in my vision.

"Hey, Aaliyah, how's it going?" He asked.

"Hi, Mike. I'm OK, just looking for someone." I replied, still looking for Alice.

"Aren't you gonna sit with us?" He questioned.

"Oh, sorry Mike. I already promised Alice." I said.

"Alice? As in Alice Cullen?" He stared at me, eyes wide.

"Cullen? Like Dr. Cullen?" I said a little dejected.

"Yeah, exactly like Dr. Cullen. Alice is one of his kids. All of his kids are adopted, and they don't like to socialise with people outside of them. So it's kind of weird that she's taken a liking to you all of a sudden. Not that you're unlikable, or anything like that!" He quickly rushed out.

"I know you didn't mean it like that, it's fine. Um, I'm gonna go find Alice, I kinda need to talk to her about something important. See you later, Mike." I said, already walking off.

It took me another minute to find where Alice was sitting. When she saw me approaching she stood up and walked over to me. She looked a little concerned. When she reached me, she took my hand and led me to an empty hallway.

"Alice, what's this about?" I asked.

"I saw you talking with Mike and you looked sad, so I wanted to make sure you were OK." She said quietly.

"Oh, well I told Mike that I was going to sit with you during lunch, and he seemed really taken back by that. He said that you all don't really socialise outside of your family. I was wondering if your dad put you up to this." I said, not looking her in the eyes.

"Put us up to what?" She asked.

"Being my friend. Your dad was the one who diagnosed me, and he seems like a good man. So of course he would try to set up the dying girl with his kids as friends!" I almost yelled. "Oh, Alice. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice."

"You're dying?" She said, her face looking so sad.

"I could die essentially any day. My organs could rupture if I do too much. Or it just might happen in regardless of how careful I am." I said looking down at the ground. "Look, if you're being friends with me out of pity, I don't want it."

"I'll be honest, my dad did say something about you, but not because he wanted to make us friends. You're right, he is a good person. So when he came home and was so depressed, he told us about a girl who had been diagnosed with a life altering disorder. He didn't give us any specifics of who you were, so I had no idea that it was you until just now." She said honestly.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I guess this is still a sensitive subject for me. I'm sorry for accusing you like that, I had no right." I said.

"No, you had every right. It was wrong of my dad to even tell us about you. The reason I approached you this morning was because I was drawn to you for some reason. My siblings and I don't really get along with others, but my intuition was telling me that you were different. So I wanted to try and make an actual friend for once. And it seems like Emmett also really likes you." She said smiling at me.

"Well I guess that's all cleared up." I laughed a bit. "Still, I'm sorry about this."

"Stop apologising. Let's get back to lunch, OK? We've still got some time left to meet the rest of my siblings."

I nodded and we walked back into the cafeteria towards a table of four other very beautiful people. Emmett was there sitting next to a gorgeous girl with long golden hair and eyes. She had a mole above the right side of her lip that gave her an extra bit of grace that I've never seen on someone this young.

Next to her was a young man who looked strikingly similar to her. He had short curly golden hair that poofed up and out a bit. He had a nicely shaped and chiseled face almost like a Greek God.

Then next to him was another young man who had dark brown hair with lighter brown highlights. He also had golden eyes and dark, thick eyebrows which framed his face perfectly and made him look more manly.

All in all, they were a gorgeous family, and it seems like Dr. Cullen had an eye for specific kids. Almost like they were his, or at least a relatives. But that's none of my business unless they wanted to tell me.

Alice and I sat down at the table. Everyone in the cafeteria stared at me with their eyes bugging out. I felt very anxious for a few seconds until a wave of calm washed over me, and I took a breath to regain my composure.

I looked back and introduced myself to the rest of the Cullen siblings.

"Hi, my name is Aaliyah Swan. Um, it's nice to meet you all. Alice told me a little bit about you all, but I'm still not sure who everyone is." I said a little nervous.

"Yes, everyone, this is Aaliyah, she's new to the area. I planned to introduce her to everyone today, so I'm super excited to bring in a new friend." Alice exclaimed

"Well, you already know me." Said Emmett, "This lovely lady right next to me is Rosalie. Then there's Jasper, our southern belle. And then Edward, our handsome devil, who also happens to be single." He winked at me and my face flushed.

Rosalie rolled her eyes and said, "Ignore him, he's just teasing."

"Sorry, Ali. Didn't mean to embarrass you again." He apologised.

"What do you mean again?" Rosalie glared at him.

I quickly interjected, "It's OK! He was just teasing earlier in class. It's not very hard to embarrass me."

"If he ever does anything you don't like, let me know and I'll kick his ass for you." She said.

"Well what an introduction!" Said Alice "Anyway, Jasper doesn't talk much, but he's really good once he opens up. And Edward is just moody as always."

"I'm not moody, I just don't know how to add to the conversation. It's nice to meet you, Aaliyah." Said Edward.

Jasper just smiled at me when I looked at him, I gave him a reassuring smile in return. It was an interesting dynamic, but it was very clear that they all cared for each other. I really liked all of them, especially the girls. Not in a love way, but I do fear that I'll have a crush on them because they are extraordinary. All of them resemble beautiful art, almost like a sculpture from different time periods. Compared to them, I'm ugly and insignificant.

As if he could sense my inner turmoil, Edward gave me a genuine smile which brought me out of my thoughts and back to the conversation. It was the best school lunch I had ever had, this is the first time I've ever enjoyed a conversation like this. Edward, or Rosalie would ask me questions, while Emmett would make me laugh and Alice just observed, looking happy. I was so happy that I didn't even notice that they weren't eating anything.

It went like this for the remainder of our lunch period and then we all had to go our separate ways. I left the cafeteria feeling on top of the world, like I had just made friends with Gods. The rest of the day went by fairly smoothly, and then I walked home. Then I went on with my nightly routine and went to bed.