My legacy of lies | twilight | COMPLETED

Ch. 11 | Double Date

I wasn't ready to talk to Madame Claire Wednesday afternoon and didn't ask Grandmother why she had gone to see her. Obviously, she was feeling haunted. Questioning her would only make her more hostile toward me. That night I tossed and turned in bed. I discovered the one advantage to lack of sleep : lack of dreams. Still, my mind raced with thoughts as strange as dreams.

If Edward were Maxton, then he must have held me once, he must have kissed me. I quickly squelched that daydream. According to Madame Claire, there were a lot of girls in Maxton's life before he settled on Katherine. It occured to me that his love for Katherine was not a proven fact. Madame Claire told me what she believed at the time, but for all she knew, Maxton may have been planning to break things off with Katherine the night she had died. He and Katherine might have had a terrible fight. Perhaps the negative feelings from that time had carried over; it sure seemed as if Edward had set his mind against me before we met.

By eight fifteen Thursday evening I had spun so many theories in my head I didn't know what I thought about Maxton and Katherine. But my belief that Edward and I had been reincarnated waned: The two of us meant for each other in a previous lifetime? No. He and I were nothing more than a pair of high school kids, cousins who occasionally got along, heading off for Karaoke. We set off in his Volvo to pick up Kate and Demetri.

"I hope Jane won't mind Alice, Kate and me coming," I said when we stopped at a red light. Knowing she was going to be there with some boytoy.

"She told us we better have dates," Edward replied. "Which doesn't mean she will be nice," he added. "But you can handle her."

"Of course I can," I said, which made him laugh. "It's Kate I'm worried about."

"I'll look after her." He assured me.

We picked up Demetri at the college.

"Stay where you are, Bella," he told me as he climbed in the back. "It's a short ride to Kate's."

She lived on Shipwrights Street, in the middle of a block of small wooden houses, each one two stories high, two windows wide, and a porch spanning the front. Their tiny yards were neatly hemmed with picket fences.

As soon as we drove up, Kate came out, followed by her three younger sisters, the oldest of whom looked about nine. The trio lined up on the porch steps to watch.

"Girls." We heard a voice coming from the house. "Gi-irls."

They made stretchy faces and slowly trooped back inside. Meanwhile, Demetri had run around the car to open doors.

"Hey, Kate," I greeted her, about to climb out of the front seat so she could sit there.

I saw her hesitate.

"Oh, yeah," Demetri said. "I forgot about that. Bella, do you mind riding up front?"

I looked at him surprised.

"Or I can," he offered.

When I saw Kate blushing, I quickly pulled in my feet. "No problem."

As soon as she and Demetri were settled in the backseat, she leaned forward. "Sorry, it scares me a little up there."

"Don't blame you, the way Edward drives." I replied.

Edward glanced sideways at me, one side of his mouth curling up. "Kate," he said as we drove off, "have you been to the new karaoke bar?"

"No, I heard it's awesome."

"It is! Its got such a retro vibe to it." Demetri said, "but also modern. Right down to the sinks! They're so deep."