Mute girl

Chapter ten - An early morning.

A/N Yup, it's me again! As always I own not a thing of the twilight saga, except for my own storyline and writing of course. I'm literally just a demented fanboy, hibernating in my room until I'm called down to dinner.

I woke up to the soft feeling of Alice's hand on my face, gently stroking my cheek to wake me up. I brushed the hair out of my face, with my eyes only opened half way. "Good morning Bella, are you okay?" She said, her voice ringing like wind chimes in the silence of the house.

I nodded my head slowly and buried my head back into her arms, trying to regain the peace I'd found while she was there. It was the first time I'd slept properly in months, and I didn't know how long it would be till I slept so well again. "Bella, you really need to wake up." She giggled. "It's not exactly an early morning, not at all! In fact it's just gone twelve o'clock." I jerked straight out of bed, my eyes wide open and my mouth curled into a frown.

Alice raise her eyebrow and smiled, obviously guessing what I was worried about straight away. "Calm down Bella, Carlisle has already called us both in sick — he told the school that you were staying over at our house for the next few weeks and that we'd both caught a very nasty case of influenza, so we couldn't possibly come in today. Him and Esme are going to call the police later on today." So they were actually going to out Charlie. I swallowed the humungous lump of ice stuck in my throat and blinked away the tears — I would not cry anymore over that man.

"So anyway Bella, what do you want to do today? We've got right up until the end of the school year to 'get better' so you better get used to my company!" She giggled and sat up next to me, her infectious laughter making me giggle softly as well. "I think you need to eat first though." She stated, casting a worried look over my skinny frame and hollow face. Pausing for a moment, she sniffed the air excitedly and then winced in a way that made her look like a funny snapchat filter. "I think Esme heard us talking, she's already started making you some breakfast. You better watch out Bella, she's going to spoil you rotten!" She laughed again and sprung up out of bed and through the door, not waiting for me to catch up with her.

I pulled myself lazily out of bed — there was no way I was ready for the day yet. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and combed my fingers through my hair. I can get dressed later. I thought. No point doing it now. I reasoned with myself as I stumbled back down the stairs, taking extra care not to fall down the last few steps.

The smell of buttered toast flooded into my nose as I stepped into the bright kitchen; the welcome aroma nearly making me faint as I tried to remember the last time I'd had a proper breakfast. Too long, definitely. I turned to see Esme, her caramel coloured hair swinging loosely over her shoulder as she set the toast on a pretty China plate. "Good morning Bella, or should I say afternoon?" She joked as she handed me the plate and a warm cup of tea. I sat down at the large dining room table and closed my eyes, taking a moment to smell the toast and tea before I began. It's real. I thought. Or at least a very convincing fake.

Alice swung herself into the seat next to me while Esme took the one opposite, a concerned look etched onto her face. "Bella dear, how long has it been since you ate a full meal?" I shrugged my shoulders but kept my eyes glued to the plate. No offence to Esme or Alice, but I wasn't going to talk anytime soon and they knew that. They were only distractions from the food.

"I'd say a few weeks at least, to get that kinda' hunger." Came the faint southern drawl of Jasper, his dark eyes piecing the back of my skull as he waltzed into the room, with his legs set on full swag mode. I felt the jumpy nerves and grogginess set in my mind evaporate as he leaned in for a kiss with Alice, his face still deadly serious. I scowled into my toast, focusing a strong wave of annoyance and distrust especially for Jasper. Hey, no fair with the mind control. I thought as hard as I could, hoping for some of it to bleed through into my emotions.

"There's no need for that!" He said just loud enough for me to hear. I took another bite of toast and sipped my tea, without looking up at Esme's confused face. Jasper laughed and Alice soon followed — of course she'd seen it coming earlier. "Bella's just messing with Jasper's ability." She said, sending me a wink from in between Jasper's arms. "Poor Jasper, he's not used to someone with this much control!" She leaned up to whisper something in Jasper's ear while Esme gave me an even more confused look. "How can you have more control over your emotions than us?" She asked. "We've been around him for decades."

I blushed deep red and looked down again. Because I had to be in control whenever he was near... I couldn't have you finding out that way. I thought, but I knew I would never tell them that. Besides, you just sort of go numb after a while... I added on, my thoughts taking a surprisingly melancholy turn.

Alice continued to whisper into Jasper's ear, and I could tell from Esme's face that she could hear it too. So why was she making the effort just to hide it from me? I bit my lip and drank down the last of my tea. Whatever it is must be bad. I reasoned. Why else wouldn't they tell me?

Alice jumped up from the table and grabbed my hand. "We need to decide what we're going to do now we've both got influenza!" She said as she dragged me up the stairs, not even letting me take my plate to the sink.